an ansvver to the articles against master calamy, master martiall, master burton, master peters, master moleigne, master case, m. sedgwicke, m. evans, &c. and many other painfull divines who were impeached of high treason by his majesty : first answering particularly the articles themselves, then shewing the mis-information of his majestie by the bishops, concerning the same : expressing the great care and vigilancy of those theologians which they have and doe daily undertake with great zeale for the rooting out of popery the confounding of rome and for the erecting the pious truth and sincerity of the holy gospel of christ. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a31885 of text r23084 in the english short title catalog (wing c226). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 7 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 4 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a31885 wing c226 estc r23084 12493001 ocm 12493001 62418 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a31885) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 62418) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 249:e132, no 7) an ansvver to the articles against master calamy, master martiall, master burton, master peters, master moleigne, master case, m. sedgwicke, m. evans, &c. and many other painfull divines who were impeached of high treason by his majesty : first answering particularly the articles themselves, then shewing the mis-information of his majestie by the bishops, concerning the same : expressing the great care and vigilancy of those theologians which they have and doe daily undertake with great zeale for the rooting out of popery the confounding of rome and for the erecting the pious truth and sincerity of the holy gospel of christ. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [2], 5 p. printed for william bond ..., london : 1642. attributed to edmund calamy. cf. blc. reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. eng treason -england. trials (treason) -england -17th century. great britain -history -charles i, 1625-1649. a31885 r23084 (wing c226). civilwar no an ansvver to the articles against master calamy, master martiall, master burton, master peters, master moleigne, master case, m. sedgwicke, calamy, edmund 1642 1118 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-11 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-12 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2003-12 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an ansvver to the articles against master calamy , master martiall , master burton , master peters , master moleigne , master case , m. sedgwicke , m. evans , &c. and many other painfull divines , who were impeached of high treason by his majesty . first answering particularly the articles themselves , then shewing the mis-information of his majestie by the bishops , concerning the same . expressing the great care and vigilancy of those theologians , which they have , and doe daily undertake with great zeale , for the rooting out of popery , the confounding of rome , and for the erecting the pious truth , and sincerity of the holy gospel of christ . london printed for william bond , and are to be sold over against the white horse in grubstreet . 1642. doctrina parit virtvtem an answer to the articles against master calamy , master marshall , master burton , master peters , master moleigne , master case , master sedgwicke , master evans , &c. and many other painfull divines , who were impeached of high treason by his majesty . where vertue flourisheth , there malice strives to confound , and emulation to subvert . this hell-nourished malice has been entertained in the hearts of some malignant , and ill-affected members to the church , and in their inveterate spleene they have endeavoured to eradicate that basis or firme foundation of faith , which was laid in christ by zealous divines . i need not speake too obscurely , for my meaning includes the bishops , who have envyed the prosperity of religion a long time , and have diligently aboured to supplant the same by preposterous introducement of popery , ceremoniall superstitions , and canonicall innovations . and who soever that was zealous for the truth , and did in any manner oppose them in their prelaticall institutions , was either prosecuted by them in the extreame severity of justice , ( and that sometimes extended too beyond its limits ) or else suspended by them tam ab officio , quàm ábeneficio . thus they tyrannically insulted over the church , and without any let or contradiction usurped , whatsoever pleased themselves best . they have often times deluded the king with calumnious , and parasiticall suggestions , and by that meanes , under a pretence of his protection , have surreptitiously inserted divers things unknowne to his majestie . but they themselves being found too vitiously delinquent by the parliament , were many of them arraigned of high treason , and committed to the tower , where they maliciously first forged articles of high treason against master pym , the lord kymbolton , &c. and withall directed the same unto his majestie , with a stupendious declaration concerning them : and implored his consent unto them . but they were intercepted in that frustrate expectation : then they moulded second articles of high treason against master calamy , master marshall , master burton , master case , master sedgwicke , master evan , &c. with many other painfull divines : intimating againe to his majestie , that they were traitors , and were great disturbers of the church , who did not onely substract , or at least laboured to induce the people to substract lawfull obedience to his imperiall crowne , but also did derogate obsequious loyalty , both frō his royall dignity in postponing him behind the parliament . but give me leave ( gentle reader ) to discusse the verity of the thing , and to answer these poore or at least false subjections against them . as for the first article , their actions can sufficiently testifie to the contrary , for rather then disturbers of the church , they have laboured to extract all divisions , and disturbances from it , endeavouring to regulate the free power , and authority thereof , according to the holy word of god , as it is specified , or at least prototypically presignified in the scriptures . for their substraction of loyalty from the crowne , and their labouring to induce the people to substract their dayly practise in their preaching can apparently nullifie : for they have always pressed , and exstimulated the people with great fervency of affection to all possible obedience to his majesty , and all requisit loyalty to his imperiall crowne . and seeing these two have beene found false and erronious , the other consequently must be an untruth , for they have laboured to bring the people to become obsequious reciprocally , and mutually as well to the king , as parliament , so that by subsequent conclusion , no post-position can be found inclusive in them . but i suppose , that it was the bishops sole malice to misinforme the king , having an intestine envy against them . for because they would have introduced popery , and these laborious divines did beat it downe to the confusion of rome , and its adherents , therefore they have laboured by all possible meanes ( if they could ) to supplant them , and subvert their intentions . but ( alas ) god is more powerfull than the divell : men in authority may triumph , and usurpe too much arrogancy over their brethren for a time , but at length the same machination which they intended against others , shall fall on their owne heads . for these painefull divines have not onely zealously opposed those romish innovations , which lately began almost to flourish in our church : but have likewise laboured with all sedulity , care , and vigilancy to reduce the same to the sincere truth of the holy gospell of christ . yet notwithstanding they have beene opprobriously scandalized by the prelates , and their adherents , having invective aspersions cast upon their innocuous names ; the reason no man can perfectly enucleate , unlesse their intents were to bring the church to an anarchie : for if the pillars of the church be shaken , yea taken away , the structure can no longer remaine , and the foundation it selfe will be everted . yet in spite of all their malice , they are defended from the tyrannicall mindes and intentions of the bishops , and will maugre all their wolvish resolutions , be preserved from their nefarious machinations against them : yet envy is a most insufferable torment , and greater than any tyranny , therefore i will conclude with that sentence in latine . episcoporum — invidia siculi non invenêre tyranni majus tormentum . — finis . the royal remembrancer, or, a healing letter with arguments and reasons, to the presbyterians and nonconformists : seasonably offered, from divers learned and conforming persons, to the view of mr. calamy, mr. jenkins, and others. 1663 approx. 14 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a57797 wing r2150 estc r34009 13660199 ocm 13660199 101104 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a57797) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101104) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1045:26) the royal remembrancer, or, a healing letter with arguments and reasons, to the presbyterians and nonconformists : seasonably offered, from divers learned and conforming persons, to the view of mr. calamy, mr. jenkins, and others. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 8 p. printed for josias allen, london : 1663. reproduction of original in the union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng great britain -church history -17th century. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-01 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-02 john latta sampled and proofread 2004-02 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the royal remembrancer , or , a healing letter , with , arguments and reasons , to the presbyterians and nonconformists ; seasonably offered , from divers learned and conforming persons , to the view of mr calamy , mr. ienkins , and others . london , printed for josias allen 1663. a declaration , and proposals to the presbyterians , and independents , &c. since man became a traytor to his creator ; he has not feared to rebell against his king , his titular god : shimei cursed david . good princes do too too often meet with railing , and blaspheming subjects ; whereas they ought not to conspire against , or with violence resist , a wicked king , their lawful soveraign . flattering absalom , that unnatural son , that smooth fac't traytor , had his wise achitophel , as the devils oracle , to be his companion in his treacherous design ; and , was not that famous counsellor , and notable politician , rarely well qualified for a judge , or for a president ? how cunningly did the grand rebel absalom , by his false pretention unto justice unjustly steal away the hearts of his fathers subjects ? how wisely did he apply himself unto the people ? how did he catch them with a bait most proper , suitable and convenient ? thus sighting out an interjection of dissembling affection ( except unto ambition ) oh that i were made iudge in the land ! that every man , which hath any snit , or cause , might come unto me , and i will do him iustice : complaining of the present government , saying , that there was no man deputed of the king to hear mens controversies ; addressing himself with most familiar language unto the people ; and expressing towards them much condescension , great affability , and extraordinary courtesies . vvhen any man that had a controversie , came unto the king for judgement then , absalom called unto him , and said , of what city art thou ? and when any man came nigh unto him to do him obeysance , he put forth his hand , and took him , and kissed him : he also who had so wel studied the humour of the people , was not ignorant concerning their princes inclination ; and therefore endeavours to frame and fashion himself unto the devout minde of his good old father ; abusing his innocency , and credulity with a specious pretence o● piety , and devotion ; saying unto the king , i pray thee let me go , and pay my vow , which i have vowed unto the lord in hebron ; for thy servant vowed a vow while i abode at geshur in syria , saying , if the lord shall bring me again indeed to jerusalem , then i wil serve the lord ; and the king said unto him go in peace : after the common guize of dissembling rebels , in this very treason there was a profession of equity , and piety ; justice , and devotion ; and mention made of a religious vow , as there has been of an holy covenant . it was therefore no wonder that we read of 200 men , who being called , went with absalom in their simplicity , and they knew not any thing . may we , because of so glorious a profession , joyned with such a practice , wisely conclude that abs●lom and his adherents were most just and devout , then pious king david ? who as we read in 1 chron. 18. 14. reigned over all israel , and executed iudgement , and iustice among all his people . adoni●ah treading in the same presumptuous steps , playes the traytor also ; strengthning his rebellion with the confederacy of abiathar , and ioab ; the one a pious priest , the other a valiant and politick commander , a famous general . many more testimonies , in the holy bible , may be ppoduced of faction , treachery , treason and rebellion : historyes both sacred and prophane , afford us many relations of this nature ; wherein has been recorded not onely the perversness , and perjury of infidels , but also of christians , yea of good and believing christians ( of all ranks and degrees ) unto lawful authority ; and this indeed is the drift i aim at , that it may not seem wonderful unto us , to see men otherwise very good , religious , and conscientious engaged in faction , and infected with schism ; the one pernitious to civil societies , the other to ecclesiastical ; and indeed , what the one is to the state , the other is to the church : among these very corinthians , whom st. paul affirmed to be saints , santified in christ iesus , to have received the grace of god , to have been enriched by god in all knowledge , to have been called unto the fellowship of jesus christ our lord , among those ( i say ) were found schisms , strifes , envyings , divisions , and factions : while one boasted to be of paul , another of apollo , another of cephas , and another of christ as if christ had been divided : and although i do not peremptorily charge that great apostle st. peter as a schismatick , yet may i as a temporizer , one who through fear , and cowardize , did separate himself for a time from communion with the gentiles , because of the circumsed iews ; twice through fear did st. peter offend ; with him at this time did barnabas , and divers iews also dissemble , so as to withdraw from converse with the gentiles , upon which they were justly taxed by st. paul for not walking uprightly according to the truth of the gospel : and did not their separation upon this account almost amount unto a schism ? and now i wil not wonder at the temporizing , or time-serving ; yea , or at the schism of a presbyterian moderator : little reason has he to wrangle at that translation , be fervent in spirit , applying your selves unto the time ; i onely affirm , that good and religious men have sometimes been rebels , and schismaticks , through the darkness and ignorance of their understanding ; and through the obstinacy and perverseness of their own wils . this consideration cals for deep humiliation , and serious repentance from those amongst us , who have made great profession of religion ; and , yet contrary to the command of christ , requiring subjection to lawfull authority , have rebelled against their soveraign ; and being too too forgetful of our churches peace , happiness , & welfare , have separated , rent , and divided themselves from her communion ; and have bereaved her of many of her dear children by their most uncharitable practises ; these are they , who have preferred their private opinions , wild fancies , and strange enthusiasms , before the sound , orthodox , and established doctrine of the church of england . i profess ingenously , that i have much charity for many who have been accounted presbyterians , independents , anabaptists , and quakers ; and therefore i hartily desire them to beware of spiritual pride : consider seriously , how great a blow , how great a fall , religion has received by your pride , hypocrisie , & ambition : remember how sad a woe christ hath pronounced against those , through whom offences come . consider , that you of all parties , that ever were in the world , have most of all arrogated unto your selves the names of holy , godly , and religious men : let nor the truth and wayes of god be any longer blasphemed , or evil spoken of for your sakes ; but now give glory unto god ▪ and satisfaction to the church ; return unto her communion , and despise her not : be less censorious , and more charitable towards others , who are sinners , knowing that you are also in the body : be not high-minded therefore but fear . god almighty so defend me by his grace as that i may not so sin , as to rejoyce that you have thus sinned ; or to insult over you , that you are , or may be miserable , because you have thus sinned . in ecclesiastical matters ( seeing gods word commands not expresly any one certain form of church-discipline , to be imposed upon the churches of christ , ) he expects your submission unto the episcopal discipline as his established form of church government , most agreeable to the word of god , or at least , not repupnant unto it ; and most commonly , and generally , practised by the most pure , primitive and apostolical churches of christ ; and lastly , as most agreeable , suitable , and convenient for , and unto the temper and constitution of this english nation : and for the ceremonies , which if i may so say ) are pendent upon , and appertaining unto that form , as they are cirstances of it , and themselves of an indifferent and adiaphorus nature ; yet belonging to order decency , and conveniency , they be wisely prudently , and justly , enjoyned by the king , whose power is exercised about indifferent things . i will herein so freely declare my judgement , as to assert , that though i approve not of a church gorgeously decked and trimmed with superstitious ceremonies ; yet am i not so mad so rude , & so slovenly , as , with many of our non-conformists , to desire to honor , or embrace , a church in this world naked of all outward beauty , splendor , ornaments , or comeliness whatsoever . it must be granted , that visible and external things are many times serviceable , and profitable , for the attainment of things invisible , and internal : the serious observation of the making that transient and aerial cross on the fore-head of the child without any superstition , may many times become unto us an occasion of true devotion outlasting the aforesaid action . our aerial cross cannot be a relique , and monument of idolatry , because the word monument is deduced from remaining ; neither our particular transient crosses ever worshipped by papists ; our cross is not of the same kind with the popish , deferring therefrom in operations ; their cross is said to drive away divels , and to consecrate things unto god which things we ascribe not unto our cross : now the diversity of opperations doth sufficiently distinguish between things artificial , or the kinds of things artificial , of which number is the cross : the cross is a sign , yet not sacramental , but humane ; and voluntary ; not of our covenant with god , but of our profession towards men : it doth historically , not sacramentally , describe unto us christs death : therefore it is a slander that we add it to baptism , as sacramental , or essential ; this out of divers good instances i have chosen out , for the sense of seeing . now for the sense of hearing , i shall speak a little concerning church-musick ; which ( as i have read ) has been partly erected , partly allowed of , by athanasius in the east , ambrose in the west and augustine in the south : as god loves a chearful giver , so he loves a chearfull worshipper ; musick is requisite , that devotion may be refreshed by delectation ; there is a natural sympathy between mans soul and melody : of what excellent use are our bars herein for the furtherance of our piety ! as long indeed as we are in this world we shall stand in need of divers external helps for our devotion ; we shall need the pedagogie of forms , and manduction of ceremonies . i shall not now descend down unto other particulars ; but shall define the reader to consider , that i only endeavour to vindicate the established , and well known ceremonies of the church of england ; not any which have been introduced meerly by the bold innovation of presumptuous intruders . in a word , sundry memorable and most excellent testimonies , might be produced , in order to the vindication of the church of england , yet causelesly many of the non-conformists , grieved at our established ceremonies , and did mourn because of our liturgy ; when others of them did ( as causelesly ) mock at them , and deride them . oh! that these ungodly mockers would at length arise up out of the seat of the scornful , and meekly sit down in the school of repentance . these men who were so curious , nice , and narrow-throated , that they could not swallow down the commands of their lawful superiours ; when time was , did both feast and fast , and take oathes too , as fast as usurpers did command ; and indeed then , what did they leave undone , when commanded by that unlawful power ? yet then they pretended unto as good consciences ▪ and as great sanctimony , as evey men could lay claim unto . but their hypocrisie being so amply discovered , in a notable and ingenious discourse , in folio , ( intituled , a proposal humbly offered , for the farming of liberty of conscience ) it will not be here requisite to declare their game any further ; i rather desire their conversion and that every soul would be subject to the higher powers ; for we ought not onely to pay tribute to our king , ( as our king ) but we are also all of us , in our several stations , places , and capacities ; bound by the law of god , of nature , and of nations , to the uttermost of our powers , to defend and protect his royall person , and to maintain his dignity , and supremacy , against all opposers whatsoever . and very careful ought all his majesties subjects to be , to endeavour after , and to keep the peace of the kingdom , and the unity of the church . thus of old , writ dyonisius , ( the good bishop of alexandria ) to novatus , an enemy to the truth ; thou should'st have suffered any thing , rather then to rend asunder the church of god. so sayes a late friend to the non-conformists ; cast off that babe ( meaning the covenant ) whose production , wrought such a wilfull and hardned obstinacy , against the famous liturgy of our english church that it made them not only to dispense with their covenant with god , but also to break covenant with their lawful soveraign ; earnestly desiring them to come in , and embrace the discipline of their mother church ; and no longer to remain amongst such , whose doctrines and principles were chiefly grounded upon pernicious errors . finis . master edmund calamies leading case calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 1663 approx. 26 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 9 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a32039 wing c258 estc r7623 13131749 ocm 13131749 97865 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32039) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 97865) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1546:8) master edmund calamies leading case calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 16 p. [s.n.], london printed : mdclxiii [1663] imperfect: print show-through with loss of print. reproduction of original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng puritans -england. church and state -england. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-08 melanie sanders sampled and proofread 2004-08 melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion master edmund calamies leading case . behold how he seeketh a quarrel against me ? london , printed in the year , mdclxiii . mr. edmvnd calamies leading case . lord mayor's officer with a warrant . for as much as i have received a certificate from , and under the hand and seal of the right reverend father in god , gilbert lord bishop of london , that mr. edmund calamy late curate of the parish church of st. mary aldermanbury , in the said city of london being ( according as is provided and enacted by the late act of parliament made for the vniformity of publick prayers , &c. ) by reason of his inconformity disabled to preach or read any lecture or sermon in any church or chappel within his majesties realm of england , or dominion of wales , and town of berwick upon tweed , and continuing and remaining still so disabled , did since the feast of st. bartholomew last past , upon two several daies , viz. on tuesday the twenty sixth day of august last past , and upon sunday the twenty eighth day of december , 1662 in the said church of st. mary aldermanbury , presume , and take upon himself ( without any lawful approbation and licence thereunto ) to preach or read , and did preach or read two several sermons or lectures publickly before the congregation , then , and there in the said church assembled , contrary to , and in contempt of authority of the said act of parliament : these are therefore ( as i am required by the said act ) in his majesties name to will and command you to receive into your custody within the gaol of newgate , the body of the said edmund calamy brought unto you herewith , and him there detein for the offence aforesaid , for the term of three months from the day of the date hereof , without bayl or mainprise , according to the tenor and effect of the act of parliament aforesaid . and this shall be your warrant therein , dated this fifth day of january , 1662. church-members . far be this from you , good sir , spare your self , and retire until this calamity be overpast . come my people , enter thou ●nto thy chambers , and shut thy doores about thee : hide thy self as it were for a little moment , until the indignation be overpast . mr. calamy , what mean you to weep , and to break mine heart ? for i am ready not to be bound onely , but to dye for the lord jesus . brethren . now you will not be perswaded , we must cease , and say , the will of the lord be done . calamy . the lord jesus did not hide himself when he was to be taken for me , but said , here i am : i will not hide my self now i am to be taken for him , but will say , here i am : only i shall entreat some of your company , to my lord mayor , to whom you may give an account of that daies proceeding . brethren . with all our hearts : — lord mayor . as i would upon other occasions have been glad , so really i am now sorry to see you mr. calamy : equally sorry i am , that i must inflict such a punishment ( as i am obliged by the act ) upon a person of your years and profession ; and that such a person should dese●ve it : in charity i could not think your conscience could have allowed you at any time , so open an affront to the most solemn establishment of authoritie : i● reason i could not think your prudence could have allowed it at this time , when his majestie was so f●ll of gracious thoughts towards you , and all sober men of your way . calamy . in prudence i should not at this time have displeased his majestie : in conscience i cannot at any time displease god. lord mayor . i hope his majesties government is so just , so moderate , so agreeable to the great principles of religion and reason , upon which mankind joyn in a society , or christjan . in a church ; that there is no discreet and knowing person put upon the sad dilemma of either provoking god , or opposing the authority ordained of god. calamy . necessity is layd upon us , yea , woe unto us if we preach not the gospel . that you may have a reason of that which was done by me , and so may not think i did it unwarrantably , i offer your consideration what hath been much upon my spirit , from the 5. of the acts , as the apostles taught the people , the priests , the sadduces , the captain of the temple , came upon them , being grieved that they taught the people : and they layd hands on them , and layd them in hold against the next day : howbeit , many of them which heard the word believed , and the number of the men was about five thousand . and when they had called them before them , they asked them by what power , or in what name have you done this ? then peter filled with the holy ghost , said unto them : ye rulers of the people , and elders of israel , if we be examined this day of the good deed that we have done ; be it known unto you all , we have done it it in the name of the lord jesus christ. and when they saw the boldnesse of peter and john they marvelled , and they took knowledge of them . but when they had commanded them to go aside out of the councel , they conferred among themselves , saying , what shall we do to these men ; for that indeed notable things have been done by them , is manifest to all them that dwell at ierusalem , and we cannot deny it : but that it spread no further among the people , let us straitly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name . and they called them , and commanded them , that they should not speak at all in the name of jesus . but peter and john answered and said unto them : whether it be right in the sight of god , to hearken unto god more than unto you , judge ye ; for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard : so when they had further threatned them , they let them go , finding nothing how they might punish them , because of the people . l. b. l. if it were not our businesse rather to manifest our obedience to the act of uniformity in performing duty , then to dispute your disobedience in neglecting yours , we could easily show you how many waies you have wrested this scripture , as the unlearned and unstable wrest them , to their own damnation : and how wide your case is from theirs . for 1. they were silenced by no l●w ; you are silenced by a law : they could say with st. paul , acts 25. 8. for them●elves , and answer , that neither against the law of the jewes , nor against the temple , nor against caesar , have we offended at all . you must confesse , that against the law of the nation , against the church , and against caesar , in many things have you offended all . 2. they were forbid to preach in the name of jesus . you are onely forbid to rebel in the name of jesus : they were restrained from publishing the truth : you are restrained onely from publishing errors . 3. there the whole ministry was to be silenced : here you onely , and a few others , are suspended : so that now christ is preached , and you may rejoice . 4. they were suspended by the prevailing power of oppressions : you are silenced by the reasonable power of your own representatives in parliament . ●ewes silenced them without a law ; you by a law , which the men you have chosen have made , have silenced your selves . 5. a necessity which lay upon them , who were called of god , to reveal the gospel which was hid from ages ; doth not ly upon you , who many of you , are not so much as called by man to preach that word ; which for many years . god be thanked , hath dwelt richly among us . 6. they loved not their life unto the death , that they might preach the gospel ; you love your opinion so well , that you will rather not preach the gospel then hear it : they would not be silenced to save their lives , you silence your selves to ●al●● your r●pute and esteem . mr. calamy . o add not reproach unto affliction ▪ o sir , we would not have left our callings and stations for fear of death , we must now leave them for fear of that which is worse then death : we would willingly die rather then not serve the lord in our calling : we must rather not serve the lord in our calling then sin . an honest man. really i am afraid that while you think you avoid sin by refusing ceremonies which are indifferent , you committed sin in neglecting your calling , which was necessary . mr. calamy . let every man be fully perswaded in his own mind : what is but indifferent in your apprehension , was sinful in mine , and every man must give an account of himself . b.s. it is not what you think of the thing imposed can secure your conscience , but what they are ▪ that which is good remains good , and that which is evil , evil : and that in the very same degree of good and evil as it was before , neither better nor worse , any mans particular judgement or opinion thereof notwithstanding . mr. calamy . that 's true indeed , yet what is good or indifferent in it self , if i am perswaded it is evil , it is evil unto me : to him that esteemeth any thing to be unlawful to him it is unlawful , rom. 4.14 . b.s. to him th●● thinketh a thing unlawful , and is at liberty , whether he doth it or no , to ●im it is unlawful : but to him that thinketh a thing unlawful , bu● yet is enjoyned by lawful authority to do , to him if he hath not a clear rule to the contrary , it is l●wful . wh●tsoever it co●●●●ded us by those whom god hath felt over us 〈◊〉 in chur● , common-wealth , or family , which is not evidently contrary to the law and will of god , ought to be receivved and obeyed no otherwise , then as if god himself had commanded it ; because god himself hath commanded us to obey the higher powers , and to submit our selves to their ordinances , rom. 13. 1. 1 pet. 2.13 . mr. calamy . i hope i must not go against my conscience within me , to comply with my superiours above me . b.s. what a strange thing is this ! that when the blessed apostle commanded you to obey for conscience sake , you should disobey , and that for conscience sake too : your governors charge you upon your conscience to be obedient , and you pretend your conscience to be free from that subjection : it is a sad thing that you have brought your selves and other poor souls to such ● strait between two sins , and you can by no means possible avoid both , as long as you persist in this way ; for if you do the things commanded , you go against the perswasion of your own conscience , and that is a great sin ; and if you do them not , you disobey lawful authority , and that is a sin too . mr. calamy . truly neither fancy , faction , nor humor makes me not to comply , but meerly for fear of offending god : and if after the best means used to satisfie my self ; as prayer to god , discourse , study , i was not able to apprehend the lawfulness of what was required ; if it be my unhappiness to be in an error , surely men will have no reason to be angry vvith me in this vvorld , and i hope god vvill pardon me in the next . mr. s●rin . when i vvas called upon either to conform to the lavvs for uniformity , or to leave my ministry , i asked of my self tvvo things , whe●her i would rather suffer death then use the thing● imposed in a church professing the foundation , and urging them as things indifferent , not pressing them as binding consciences in themselves , or as needful to salvation ? and whether the execution of my ministry ( which was pressed upon my conscience with ● wo , if i neglected it ) should be as dear to me as my life . p.s. good god , to see to what pass small errors have brought us ! how difference of apprehension hath brought forth difference of judgment : and difference of judgment bath brought forth difference of practice , and disagreement of affection . the difference of practice hath moved authority to silence and suppress refusers of conformity . the disagreement in affection doth move you who are deprived , to speak and act against persons in authority ; whereby in the event the course of the gospel is interrupted , and of popery enlarged ; the friends of sion are grieved , the enemies rejoyce ; the enemy of mankind is gratified , and the lord is displeased ; the church is rent with schism , the truth scandalized by dissention ; the ministers undone by loss of living , and the unity of brethren living in the same house , professing the same faith and rejoycing in the same hope , is pulled in pieces , and this like to continue god knows how long . mr. calamy . it is sad that magistrates should enjoyn such things as should cause such divisions as cause great thoughts of heart . b.s. it is sad indeed that subject● cannot submit to such things as are enjoyned for peace , order , and decency . l. m. i wonder you should not consider how dangerous it should be to affront the most solemn injunction of the whole nation , a law so universally desired , so deliberately resolved on , so seriously pressed , as the greatest security of church or state. mr. calamy . i was several times persecuted for owning his majesties authority and interest . i did not think i should live to be imprisoned for opposing it . sr. t. e. the more favour his majestie had for you for former service , the more sorry he is that you have forfeited it by your presen● and 〈◊〉 . his majestie thought that mr. calamy would not have 〈◊〉 so , of any man in england . mr. calamy . really i did not do it upon mine own head , but upon the request of divers honourable and worthy persons who were otherwise like to be disappointed of a morning sermon . sr. r.b. it is generally reported , and upon the extraordinary concourse of people to your church , as generally believed that it was designed before hand ; several citiz●n● inviting one another to your church to hear you preach . mr. calamy . it might be a design upon me , it was no design by me : this is not the first time we have been tr●panne● . t.f. there are few that know you that can allow you so much indiscretion as to yeild to the private importunities of a few gentlemen , against the publick authority of a whole parliament . mr. calamy . i may say ( with reverence to the lord jesus , of whom it is written ) that i had compassion of the multitude , who were as sheep without a shepherd . e.w. you would have taught the people better by your silence , then by your sermon : your obedience had been better than sacrifice ● the misguided throng had been better taught by your cheerful submission to authority , then by your indiscreet discourse against it . when you had been importuned to preach , you should have said ; i pray you go home and learn what that m●aneth , submit your selves to every ordinance of 〈◊〉 for the lord's sake , whether it ●e the king as supream , or 〈◊〉 governor● 〈…〉 them who are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers , and for the praise of them 〈◊〉 do well , for so is the will of god● that wish well doing we may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men , as free and using your liberty as a cloak of ●icenti●●●ness , 〈…〉 wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for w●●th , but for conscience s●ke , 〈◊〉 13.5 mr. calamy . i hope an offence of this nature may be passed by , being so innocent in the design of it , so harmless in the consequence of it . w.f. how harmless it is in the design of it , be it between you and your god and soul : how dangerous it is in the consequence of it , any man may guess that considers what encouragement it may give your party , if you are not punished ; and what offence it may give them if you are . if you are winked at , why say others , are we not winked at too , without respect of persons . if you are punished , then they say , we are persecuted . it is sad that you are become such an occasion of offence between the king and his good people . mr. calamy . i hope i am not so unhappy . t.m. you were looked upon as the fittest man to break the ice , being a man so much esteemed for your own worth , and so much interessed in honourable friends and acquaintance . for as formerly cartwright was encouraged by the e. of lecester , travers was entertained by the l. treasurer cecill , walsingham was owned by secretary walsingham ; so you stir up your honourable women , and look for the favour of many excellent personages . mr. calamy . i hope his majesties gracious declaration may excuse me . f.h. when my lord of london acquainted his majestie with what you had done , his majestie said , i am sure he hath no encouragement to , if from my declarati●n : his majestie never intended any favour of this nature to you● and i fear this p●ssage will obabstruct that favour he intended . mr. calamy . so far i hope may this passage be from prejudicing his sacred majesty against us●● that it may rather incline him to favour us : considering the necessity he hereby may perceive of our service , and the reasonableness of his indulgence . m. o. flatter not your self with these v●in thoughts ; his majesty may pity you , but he doth not want you . god hath sent his word , and great are the company of preachers . mr. calamy . let not the rigour of one session restrain those whom the indulgence of another may release . n.p. it is a question whether the same parliament may repeal the act that made it : whether those things that have been over-ruled , may be debated by the same house . mr. calamy . i hope that what a popish priest may do without check , a protestant minister may do without imprisonment . r.b. neither the one nor the other may be endured to seduce the people , and with fair words to deceive the hearts of the simple , if any man teach any other doctrine , and consent not to wholesome words , &c. mr. calamy . i hope his majesty will use his interest with the parliament . a.c. you of all men should not expect it , who complained of his late majesties protecting delinquents against his parliament . a brother . it is an unheard of course that the church should be governed by civil laws , and ministers punished by lay-men . an honest man. since the reformation , by your leave and the papists , we have owned his maj. under christ , defender of our faith , and law-maker of our church : the church directs , the state establisheth . good women . al●s , that they should use the good man so unworthily and hardly ! a.b. when mr. calamy and mr. love , &c. were under restraint , and word was sent to the army in scotl. concerning it , harrison and others said , if godly men transgress the law , they should be punished by the law good w. alas what harm hath the good man done ? r. l. in short he abused the kings authority , he hath broken the settled law , he hath vilified the power of parliam . he hath disturbed the publick peace , he stands to the principles of the rebellion , and provokes another . good wo. i wonder what he preached ? a.b. he preached that glory was departing from our isr. good w. these courses will bring us to another war. a.b. not so we hope . what , will you endanger the publick peace rather then be restrained ? will you not scruple at rebellion , who scruple at a few ceremonies ? what would you do if you had power in your own hands , that are so bold without it ? shall the minor part impose upon the major ? shall a novel fancy bear down an apostolical institution ? shall a private opinion contest with a publick law ? g.w. alas that our teachers are removed into corners . a.b. our dangers begin at the pulpit , without the aid of seditious sermons , i do believe the strife had never come to bloud : he was a wise man that said , the single imprisonment of crofton hath quieted that party more then all the multiplied and transcendent favors of his majesty . good w. these are sad times . a.b. say not that the former times were better then these , for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this thing : when you guided the times others complained ; now others guide the times , you complain ; when shall we be quiet , i think it is our best way to rest where we are good w. good man , he hath discharged his conscience . a. b he hath it may be discharged his conscience , and my l. m. must discharge his : he who in order to the making of good christjan . , makes bad subjects , hath a zeal indeed , but it is seditious ; a religion , but it is rebellion . g.w. now you suffer for righteousness sake , happy is he . a.b. yes , but what glory have you , if when ye are buffeted for your faults you take it patiently . let none of you suffer as a murderer , or as a thief , or as an evil doer , or as a busie-body in other mens matter . mr. calamy . may i but 〈◊〉 ●espi●ed until ●o mo● row . l.m. yes , with all my heart upon your , and your fri●●ds word . sr. i.b. remember how you prayed , preached , and what you did june 6. 1641. and what was done jan. 6. 1644 , and i pray speak not with argyle as you go home . jeremiah 3●●38 . 1 this man se● hath not the welfare of this people , but their 〈◊〉 . 2 thou fallest away to the caldeans . 3 it s false . i fall not to the caldeans . 4 jeremiah said , what have i do●e against thee ' or against they servants that i should be put in prison . 5 let my supplication i p●ay 〈◊〉 , &c accepted before thee o king. 6 then took they jeremiah and sent him to the dungeon . 7 when ebed●●●lech the ethiopjan . the chamber lain of the kings house heard that they put jeremiah in the dungeon , he spake to the king , saying , my lord the king , these men have done evil in all they have done to jeremiah the prophet whom they have cast into the dungeon , &c. calamy 1 this man envieth the establishment of this nation , and seeks its hurt . 2 thou fallest away to the separation at hemsted . 3 it is false , i kept no convenucle at hemsted . 4 mr. calamy said , what have i done worthy of imprisonment ? 5 let my petition be re●●●ved by your most ●xcellent majestie . 6 then took they m. calamy & sent him to newgate 7 now when l.ch. heard that mr. calamy was in prison , he went to the king , and said , may it please your majesty , it is pity that reverend mr. calamy should be sent to newgate . pana ad unum , terror ad omnes . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a32039-e60 ●f . 26. 20. acts 2 ● , 13. act. 21.14 1 cor. 9.16 acts 14. the fixed saint held forth in a farwell sermon preached at mary-aldermanbury, london, august 17, 1662 / mr. edmond calamy. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 1662 approx. 27 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 13 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a31975 wing c244 estc r2986 12131362 ocm 12131362 54726 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a31975) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 54726) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 18:14) the fixed saint held forth in a farwell sermon preached at mary-aldermanbury, london, august 17, 1662 / mr. edmond calamy. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [4], 18 p. [s.n.], london : 1662. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng david, -king of israel -sermons. farewell sermons. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-08 melanie sanders sampled and proofread 2004-08 melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the fixed saint held forth in a farwell sermon preached at mary-aldermanbury , london . august 17. 1662. by mr. edmond calamy . london , printed in the year 1662. to the reader . the good acceptance that mr. calamy's work of faith and labour of love have found , and the good success they have had among the people of god have encouraged us to the recommendation of these his last words ( wherewith he commended his people to god , and the word of his grace , which is able to build them further , and give them an inheritance among them that are sanctified ) to the world . there is something considerable in the last words of all men ; so there are two things useful and seasonable in these . 1. the cause of affliction to humble us . 2. the use of affliction to instruct us : by the one we learn , that a living man should not complain , a man for the punishment of his sin . by the other● we learn , that though no affliction for the present seemeth joyous , but is grievous : yet it may yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them who are exercised thereby , wherein we rejoyce , though now for a season we are in heaviness through manifold temptations , that the tryal of our faith being much more precious● then that of gold , might be found unto our praise , and honour , and glory at the appearing of christ , whom we have not seen , yet love him , in whom now , though we see him not , yet do we believe and rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory . mr. calamies farewell sermon . august 17th ann. dom. 1662. sam. 24. 14. and david said unto gad , i am in a great strait ; let us fall now into the hand of the lord ( for his mercies are great ) and let me not fall into the hand of man. in which words we have three parts . 1. davids great perplexity and distress , i am in a great strait . 2. davids resolution . 1. affirmative ▪ let us fall into the hand of the lord. 2. negative , let me not fall into the hands of man. 3. we have the reason of davids choice , for the mercies of god are great , the mercies of wicked men are cruel , therefore let me not fall into the hands of men ; but the mercies of god are many and great , therefore let us now fall into the hands of god. 1. for the first , that is , davids great distress , wherein we must speak . 1. to the distress it self : then 2. to the person thus perplexed , i am in a great strait : david a great man , david a godly man. 1. in the perplex●ty it self , we shall consisider : 1. the reality of this perplexity . 2. the greatness of it . 1. for the reality of it : after david had sinned in numbring the people , god sends the prophet gad to him , and puts three things to his choice , as you may read in ver . 12. god was determined to make david smart for numbring the people , but leaves it to davids liberty , whether he would have seven years famine , or three months to flee before his enemies , or three dayes pestilence : this was a posing question , and david had cause to be in a great strait ; for these objects are not amiable in their own nature , they are objects to be avoided and declined ; in the first view of them they seem to be equally miserable , therefore david had cause to say he was in a strait . this perplexity was not only real , but exceeding great : i am in a great strait : and there are two things made this so great . 1. the greatness of the punishments proposed , famine , sword , and plague : these are the three besomes with which god sweeps mankind from off the earth : these are gods three iron whips , by which he chastiseth sinful man : these are the three arrows shot out of the quiver of gods wrath , for the punishment of man , they are , as one calleth them , tonsurae humani generis . in revel . 6. you shall read of four horses , when the four first seals were opened : a white horse , a red horse , a black horse , and a pale horse : after christ had ridden on the white horse propagating the gospel , then follows the red horse , a type of war , then the black horse , an hieroglyphick of famine ; then the pale horse , the emblem of pestilence . now god was resolved to ride on one of these horses , and david must choose upon which god should ride ; this was a great strait : let me present davids lifting up his eyes to heaven , and speaking to god thus : o my god , what is this message thou hast sent me ? thou offerest me three things : i am in a strait , i know which to refuse , but which to choose i know not : shall the land of canaan , a land flowing with milk and honey , shall this land endure seven years famine , and be turned into a wilderness , and dispeopled ? and shall i , whose hands thou hast taught to fight , and whose fingers to war , shall i that have subdued all my enemies , shall i in my old age , and all my captains , fly three moneths before our enemies and be driven to caves and rocks to hide ourselves ? o thou my god , who art my refuge , shall i and my people be a prey to the pestilence that walketh in darkness and destruction , that walketh at noon day ? o my god , i know not what to do , i am in a great strait . 2. the second reason why this strait was so great , was because of the guilt of sin that lay on davids spirit : for david knew that this severe message was the fruit of the sin he committed in numbring the people : but you will say , why was it a sin in david to number the people ? moses had often numbred the people , three times , and it was not counted sin ; iosephus answereth , the sin of david was , because he did not require the halfe shackle he was to have had from all were numbred exod. 30. 12. 13. others said , he sinned in numbring all ages , whereas he was to number but from 20 years ; but these are but conjectural reasons : i conceive the sin of david was because he did it without a lawful call , and for an unlawful end , si●e causa legitima : he sinned in the manner rather then in the matter ; for there was no cause for him to number the people but curiosity , and no end but vain glory : of●srael ●srael and number the people , that i may know the number of my people , ver 2. davids heart was lifted up with pride , and creature-confidence ; he begins to boast of the multitude of his people , and to trust in an arm of flesh ; therefore god sends the prophet to david to prick the bladder of his pride : as if god should say , i will teach you to number the people , by lessening the number of your people . now the burden of his sin did add much to the burthen of his heavy message ; ver . 13. after david had numbred the people , his heart smote him : the message smites him , and his heart smites him , and he said , i have sinned greatly in that which i have done : now i beseech thee take away the iniquity of thy servant , for i have done very foolishly . if david had been to suffer this great punishment out of love to god , or for a good conscience , he would not have been so distressed : there are two sorts of straits in scripture : some suffered for god and a good conscience : and there are straits suffered for sin . 1. there are straits suffered for god and a good conscience . heb. 11. 36 , 37. those martyrs there were driven to great straits : but these were straits for god and a good conscience , and these straits were the saints greatest enlargements , they were so sweetned to them by the consolations , and supportations of gods spirit ; a prison was a paradise to them . heb. 10. 34. they look joyfully at the spoiling of their goods . acts 5. 41. they departed from the presence of the council , rejoycing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name . straits for a good conscience are greatest enlargements ; therefore paul gloryeth in this strait , paul a prisoner , &c. 2. there are straits suffered for sin , and these are envenomed by the guilt of sin : sin puts poyson into all our distresses and perplexitys now such was the strait into which david was now driven : it was a strait caused by sin , and that made it so unwelcome and uncomfortable : so that from hence i gather this observation . doct. that sin and iniquity brings persons and nations into marvelous labyrinths and perplexitys : into true real and great molestations : a man free from sin , is free in the midst of straits : a man guilty of sin , is in a strait in the midst of freedom . after adam had sinned in eating of the forbidden fruit , the whole world was a prison to him : paradise it selfe was an hell to him , he knew not where to hide himselfe from the presence of god. after that cain had murthered his brother abel , he was brought into such a strait , that he was afraid that every one that met him would slay him . alass poor cain , how many was there then in the world ? we read but his father and mother , yet such was his distress , that he cryeth out , every one that met him would slay him , gen 4. 14. into what a strait did sin bring the old world ? the deluge of sin brought a deluge of water to drown them . into what a strait did sin bring sodom and gomorrah ? the fire of lust raining in sodom and gomorrah , brought down fire from heaven to destroy them . sin brings external , internal , and eternal straits upon persons and nations . 1. sin brings external straits ; sin brings famine : sword , and plague ; sin brings agues and feavours , gout and stone , and all manner of diseases : yea , sin brings death it selfe , which is the wages of sin . read levit. 26. and deut. 23. and you will see a black roul of courses , which were the fruit of sin . sin brought sion into babylon ; and when the jews had murthered christ , forty years after they were brought into that distress , when the city was besieged by titus vespatian , that they did eat one another , the mother did eat her child ; that whereas david had a choice which of the three he would have , either famine , plague , or sword : the poor jews had all three concatenated together in the siedge : sin brings all manner of external plagues . 2. sin brought persons and nations into internal st●aits : sin brings soul-plagues , which are worse then bodily plagues : sin brings hardness of heart , blindness of mind , a spirit of slumber , a reprobate sence ; sin brings a spiritual famine upon a land ; it brings a famine of the word , amos 8. 11. sin causes god to take away the gospel from a people : sin brings internal plagues : sin wakens conscience , and fills it full of perplexities : into what a strait did sin drive judas , after he had betrayed christ ? into what a strait did sin drive spira ? st. paul gloried in his tribulations for god : but when he speaks of his sin , he cryeth out , o miserable man that i am , who shall deliver me from this body of death ? david a valiant man when he speaks of sin , saith , they are too heavy a burden for him to bear : a wounded conscience who can bear ! saith the wise-man . 3. sin bringeth eternal straits : o the strait that a wicked man shall be brought into at the great and dreadful day of judgement , when all the world shall be on fire about him ; when he shall call to the mountains to hide him , and to the rocks to cover him from the wrath of god : then will he cry out with david , i am o lord , in a great strait . and when the wicked shall be condemned to hell , who can express the straits they then shall be in ? bind them hand and foot , and cast them into everlasting darkness , matth. 25. when a wicked man shall be bound with everlasting chains of darkness , then he will cry out , i am in a great strait . consider what dives saith to abraham : he desires that lazarus might but dip the tip of his finger in water , and that he might cool his toung : not his whole body , but his toung : but that would not be granted . it is impossible the toung of man should set out the great straits the damned suffer in hell , both in regard of the greatnesse and everlastingnesse of them . this is all i shall say for explication . use 1. i chiefly aim at the application : doth sin bring nations and persons into external , internal , and eternal straits ? then this sadly reproves those that choose to commit sin to avoid perplexity . there are thousands in england guilty of this , that to avoid poverty , will lye , cheat and cozen , and to gain an estate will sell god and a good conscience : and to avoid the losse of estate and imprisonment , will do any thing : they will be sure to be of that religion which is uppermost : be it what it will. now give me leave this morning to speak three things to these sort of men : and o that my words might prevail with them ! 1. consider it is sin only that makes trouble to deserve the name of trouble ▪ for when we suffer for gods sake , or a good conscience , these troubles are so sweetned by the consolations of heaven , that they are no troubles at all : therefore in queen maries dayes the martyrs wrote to their friends out of prison , if you knew the comforts we have in prison , you would wish to be with us : i am in prison before i am in prison , saith mr. sanders . famous is the story of the three children : they were in a great strait when cast into the fiery furnace ; binde them hand and foot , and cast them into the furnace : but when they were there they were unbound , dan. 3. 25. saith nebuchadnezzar , did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire ? and lo i see foure men loose walking in the midst of the fire , and the form of the fourth is like the son of god. i have often told you , when three are cast into the fire for a good conscience , god will make the fourth : therefore , i say , straits and sufferings for god are not worth the name of straits . david was often driven into straits , 1 sam. 30. 6. he was sore distressed when his town was burnt , and his wives and children taken captive by the amalekites : i , but that was a distress of danger , not of sin : therefore he encourageth himself in the lord his god. iehosaphat was in a great strait , 2 chron. 20. 12. we know not what to do , saith he : this was a strait of danger , not caused by his sin , and god quickly delivered him : but the strait that david was in , was caused by his sin , and that made it so bitter . i am loth to inlarge here : saint paul was in a great strait , phil. 3. 23. but this was a blessed strait , an evangelical strait , saith saint chrysostom , he knew not whether to die for his own sake , or to live for the churches sake , were best ; he was willing to adjourn his going to heaven for the good of the people of god : nay , christ was in a strait , luke 12. 15 , i have a baptism to be baptized withal , and how am i straitned till it be accomplished ? i am to shed my blood for my elect : that is the baptisme he speaks of . this was a strait of dear affection to the elect of god : all these were blessed straits : but now a strait caused by sin , these are imbittered and envenomed by the guilt of sin , and sense of gods wrath . it is sin that maketh straits deserve the name of straits : therefore you are spiritually mad that commit sin to avoid straits . 2. there is more evil in the least sin , then in the greatest outward calamity whatsoever : this the world will not beleeve : therefore saint austin saith , that a man ought not to tell a lye , though he might save all the world from hell : for there is more evil in one lye , then there is good in the salvation of all the world . i have often told you the story of saint austin : saith he , if hell were on one side , and sin on the other , and i must choos one , i would choos hell rather then sin : for god is the author of hell , but it is blasphemy to say he is the author of sin . there is a famous story of charles the ninth king of france , he sent a message to the prince of condy a zealous protestant , gives him three things to choose , either to go to mass , or to be put to death , or to suffer banishment all his life long : saith he , primum deo juvante nunquam eligo : the first ( god helping ) i will never choose , i abhor the idolatry of the mass : but for the two other , i leave it to the choice of the king to do as he pleases , there is more evil in the least sin them the greatest misery . 3. the third thing i would have you consider , that whosoever goeth out of gods way to avoid danger , shall certainly meet with greater danger . balaam went out of gods way , numb . 22. 22. and god sent an angel with a drawn sword , and he riding upon an asse , ver . 26. the angel stood in a narrow place , where was no way to go from the right hand or from the left : if his ass had not fallen under him , he had been run through by the sword of the angel. ionah for fear of the king of nineveh went out of gods way , but he met with a mighty tempest , he met with a whale : what do you do when you commit sin ? you make way to be cast into the eternal prison of hell : you destroy your precious souls to save your perishing bodies . use 2. if sin be the father and mother of all perplexity and distresses , then , i beseech you , let us above all things in the world abhor sin : all the curses of the bible are all due only to a sinner ; and all the curses not named in the bible : for that is observable , deut. 28. 36. every plague that is not written in the book shall light upon him : there are strange punishments to the workers of iniquity , iob. 31. 3 , is not destruction to the wicked a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity ; sin it bringeth the sinner to little ease : little ease at death , little ease at the day of judgement , and little ease in hell , tribulation and anguish : the word in the greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , little ease to every soul that doth iniquity . oh my beloved , will you promise me to look upon sin , and consider it in all its woful consequents , as the father , mother , and womb out of which come external , eternal , and internal straits ? more particularly there are twelve sins i especially command you to take heed of and avoid . 1. take heed of covetousness : the love of the world will pierce you through with many sorrowes ; the love of money is the root of all evil ; the love of the world drowns men in perdition , 2 take heed of the sin of pride : into what woful strait did pride bring haman ! god crossed him in what he most desired : god made him hold the stirrop , while mordecai rode in triumph ; and god hanged him on the gallows which he had made for mordecai . 3. take heed of drunkennesse ; look not on the wine when it gives its colour in the cup , &c. drunkennesse will bring you into snares , it will bite like a serpent , and sting like an adder , &c. 4. take heed of disobedience and rebellion against the commandements of god : it brought ionah to the three nights and three dayes in the whales belly . 5. take heed of fornication , and adultery , and all uncleanness ; this brought sampson to a woful strait : this brought david and solomon into great perplexity . 6. take heed of oppression , and all acts of injustice : this brought ahab into a great strait , insomuch that the dogs licked his blood . 7. take heed of unnecessary familiarity with wicked men : this brought iehoshaphat into a great strait . 8. take heed of mis-using the prophets of god : this made god destroy the children of israel without remedy , 2 chron. 36. 15 , 16. 9. take heed of coming prophanely to the lords table : this brought the church of corinth into a great distress , insomuch as the apostle saith , for this cause many among you are sick , and many weak , and many fallen asleep . 10. take heed of loathing the manna of your souls : this brought the people of israel into woful misery , that god destroyed all their carcasses in the wildernesse , save ioshua and caleb . take heed of slighting the gospel : this brought queen maries persecution , as many learned and godly men that fled for religions sake out of the land , have confessed their unthankfulnesse for , and unfruitfulnesse under the gospel in king edward the sixth's time , brought the persecution in queen maries time . 11. take heed of losing your first love : that makes god threaten to take away his candlestick . 12. take heed of prophaning the christian sabbath , which is much prophaned every where ; a day that christ by his resurrection from the dead hath consecrated , to be kept holy to god : certainly , if the jews were so severely punished for breaking the sabbath , which was set apart in memory of the creation , surely god will severely punish those that break the sabbath set apart in memory of christs resurrection . may be some will say , i have committed many of these sins , but am not brought into any strait . remember it was nine months after david had numbred the people , before he was in this strait : but as sure as god is in heaven , sin will bring straits sooner or later ; though a sinner a hundred yeares , yet shall he be accursed : may be thy posterity makes way for thy damnation : and this is thy greatest distress , that thou goest on in sin and prosperity . use 3. if sin bringeth a nation into marvellous labyrinths , learn what great caus we have to fear that god should bring this nation into great distress , because of the great abominations are committed in the midst of it ; our king and sovereign was in great straits in the dayes of his banishment , but god hath delivered him ; god hath delivered this nation out of great straits , but alas , we requite god evil for good , and instead of repenting for old sins , we commit new sins . i am told there are new oathes invented , oaths not fit to be named in any place , much lesse here : certainly the drunkenness and adultery , the oppression and injustice , the bribery and sabbath breaking , the vain and wicked swearing and for-swearing this nation is guilty of , must of necessity provoke god to say of us as he did of them in ieremiah 15 29 shall i not visit for these things , saith the lord ? shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? god will not only punish us , but be avenged on us . there is no way to avoid a national desolation , but by a national reformation . lastly , learn what cause you of this congregation and parish , what cause you have to expect that god should bring you into great straits , because of your great unthank●ulness and unfruitfulness under the means of grace , you that have so long enjoyed the gospel ; you have had the gospel in this place in great abundance ; doctor taylor he served an apprenticeship in this place ▪ doctor staughton served another apprenticeship : and i , through divine mercy , have served three apprenticeships , and half another almost , among you ; you have had the spirit of god seven and thirty years in the faithful ministry of the word , knocking at the door of your hearts , but many of you have hardened your hearts . are there not some of you , i only put the question , that begin to loath the manna of your souls , and to look back towards egypt again ? are there not some of you have itching ears , and would fain have preachers that would feed you with dainty phrases , and begin not to care for a minister that unrips your consciences , speaks to your hearts and souls , and would force you into heaven by frighting you out of your sins ? are there not some of you , that by often hearing sermons , are become sermon-proof , that know to sleep and scoffe away sermons ? i would be glad to say there are but few such ; but the lord knoweth there are too too many that by long preaching get little good by preaching , insomuch that i have often said it , and say it now again , there is hardly any way to raise the p●ice of the gospel-ministry , but by the want of it : and that i may not flatter you , you have not profited under the means you have enjoyed ; therefore you may justly expect god may bring you into a strait , and take away the gospel from you : god may justly take away your ministers by death or otherwise . have you not lost your first love ? why did god take away the gospel from the church of ephesus , but because they lost their first love ? are you not like the church of laodicea , that are neither hot nor cold ? therefore god may justly spew you out of his mouth ; what god will do with you i know not , a few weeks will determine : god can make a great change in a little time : we leave all to god ; but in the mean time let me commend one text of scripture to you , ierem. 13. 16. give glory to the lord your god , before he cause darkness , an● before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains , and while ye look for light , he turn it into the shadow of death , and make it grosse darkness . verse 17. but if you will not hear it , my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride , and mine eyes shall weep sore , and run down with tears , because the lord's flock is c●rried away captive . give glory to god by confessing and repenting of your sins , by humbling your souls before the lord , before darkness come , and who knoweth but this may pre●●nt darkness . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a31975-e80 causab . enthus l. 6. cic. de somn● l. 2. arist de vita● & mor● . l. 2. p. 118. lam. 3. 39● 1 pet. 1 6 , 7 , 8 , a serious advice to the citizens of london by some ministers of the gospel in the said city upon occasion of the horrid murder and dreadful death of nathaniel butler, an high malefactor. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a30736 of text r209007 in the english short title catalog (wing b6286). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 29 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 12 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a30736 wing b6286 estc r209007 15564424 ocm 15564424 103782 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a30736) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 103782) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1588:5) a serious advice to the citizens of london by some ministers of the gospel in the said city upon occasion of the horrid murder and dreadful death of nathaniel butler, an high malefactor. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [23] p. s.n., [s.l. : 1657] caption title. signed on p. [23]: septemb. 11, 1657. edmund calamy, simeon ashe, arthur jackson [and 12 others] reproduction of the original in the british library. eng conversion -early works to 1800. repentance -early works to 1800. a30736 r209007 (wing b6286). civilwar no the penitent murderer. being an exact narrative of the life and death of nathaniel butler; who (through grace) became a convert, after he ha yearwood, randolph 1657 5764 6 0 0 0 0 0 10 c the rate of 10 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-11 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-04 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2004-04 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a serious advice to the citizens of london , by some ministers of the gospel in the said city : upon occasion of the horrid murder and dreadful death of nathaniel butler , an high malefactor beloved in christ , as we thought it a great duty lying upon us , before the execution of the sentence of death upon nathaniel butler to lay out our selves to the utmost for the promoting of his spiritual and eternal good ; in frequent praying with him , or for him ; in endevouring to convince him of the superlative greatness of his sins , and in spreading the freeness of the grace of god in christ before him , according to the penitential workings , we observed in him . so ( having done our duty to him ; ( who is dead under the stroke of justice ) and as is hoped with some success too through the grace of god , for which we bless him ) we humbly judge there is a further duty incumbent upon us , unto you the inhabitants of this famous city , who have been spectators of this tragedy , in a serious recommending of this providence to you and the duty which it calls for . psal. 9 16. the lord is known by the judgment which he executeth . and surely this latter age ( though an age full of sin ) hath not set before you a more dreadful instance of mans sinfulness , and gods justice ( though in the end sweetned much with mercy ) then that which in and upon this notorious malefa●tor hath been laid before your observation . and therefore we cannot here be silent , but must take this advantage with all humility and affection to your souls good , plainly to open our hearts to you . by some ( we know before hand ) we shall be sleighted and censured as men too busy , and may be , as men too credulous ; but in the presence of god we can say , our aim is publick good and the discharge of our consciences , and therefore we are not discouraged . and we are not wholly without hope , but that some benefit may be reaped from these few lines , which here with all sincerity we do present upon that late providence which hath been before you . that providence we say , which like the cloud is on one side very dark , on the other side bright ; very dark as to the mans sin , but bright as to gods mercy unto him , as is believed . t is the daily and inward grief of our spirits , god knows it , that our ministry is so successeless , that we see so little fruit of the word preached by us , that in a city where there is such plain and powerful preaching , such horrid sins should be committed : this is a lamentation and shall be for a lamentation . but possibly some secure sinners may be a little startled and awakened by this terrible judicial hand of god ; and so a word setting in with this providence may be more effectual then many in an ordinance . we cannot but comply with the will of god in the use of all means for the furtherance of your salvation . and oh ! that god would so bless this dispensation that you all may hear and fear and sin no more . touching the sad occasion , we will not inlarge upon that : the hainous murder , the abominable uncleanness , the wicked theft , of which nat : butler was guilty ( of the former but once , which we speak not by way of extenuation ; for that 's too much , of the two latter very often ) as also the shamefulness and dreadfulness of his death : these we pass over , as being very well known to all of you , neither shall we interest our selves in any narrative of the workings of god upon his heart , during his imprisonment , and at his execution ; ( though herein we could speak much as being ( for the most of us ) very often with him in this time , and narrow observers of him . ) nor shall we expatiate upon some of those great truths of the gospel , which this famous instance doth lead us to ; namely that sometimes it pleases god in the sovereignty and prerogative of his grace to ceaze upon the greatest sinners ; and out of the coursest rubbish to erect the monuments of his unlimited mercy . 1 tim. 1. 16. the lord doth sometimes take the vilest wretches , and hangs them out as patterns of his infinite love that the freeness of his grace may be admired , and the greatest of sinners may be incouraged ; but still in the way of faith and repentance , we do not , we dare not limit the grace of god , as to exclude this notorious and bloody sinner from it ; nay we have good hope , that through the infinite mercy of the father , and the all-sufficient merits of the son , he is accepted to eternal life . indeed , when we consider the horribleness of his sin , the greatness of his joy , after a short humiliation ( yet deep and through we hope ) we easily conjecture , that some will question both the prudence of any publication , and the truth of his conversion . but we will meddle with neither of these , leaving men to jude of the former , and god alone ( who searches and knows the heart ) to judge of the latter . waving therefore all these things , our only design and businesse in this application , is to press upon you ( the inhabitants of this city ) to some of whom we are more neerly related in our respective charges ) the several duties , which do naturally result from this providence . we would exhort you in the first place , to be thankful to god for his restraining grace ; which though it be short of his renewing grace , yet t is with all thankfulness to be valued : oh! bless the lord , who keeps you from those sins which this poor wretch was guilty of , that you are not adulterers , theeves , nay , murderers and malefactors , to be punished by the iudge ; this is the lords mercy . 1 cor. 4. 7. who makes you to differ from others ? have not you the same natures ? have not you the seed and spawn of all wickedness in you ? and should god leave you to the baseness of your own hellish hearts , would not you also run to all excess of sin , and that with greediness too ? when you read over this sad story , we beseech you lay your hands upon your hearts , and say , what a mercy is it , i was neither the murderer nor the murdred ! we desire you to mourne over the crying sins that are to be found amongst us . oh! the scarlet sins that swarm in london , even in london ! swearing , drunkenness , uncleanness , profanation of the lords day , contempt of the gospel , and of the ministry thereof ; nay , even blood-guiltiness is to be found amongst us ! should not your souls , like the soul of righteous lot , be vexed within you for these things , 2 pet. 2. 7 ? should you not all come up to be ezekiel's mourners , in the remembrance of them , ezek. 9. 4 ? especially , considering that these things are done in times of reformation , and in a place of vision , even in london , where the light of the gospel shines so gloriously ; where the word is preached so plentifully and powerfully , even there these abominations are to be found . will you not lay them to heart ? and what reason have you to admire the patience of god to this city ? t is a wonder london is not made as sodom , that desolation doth not seize upon your houses , that you are not all swept away with the bee●ome of suddain destruction , that you are not hung upon the gibbet as spectacles of gods vengeance to all the nations round about ! what ? so much provocation , and yet the city to stand ! oh the patience and long-suffering of god! doubtless , if god had not a romnant amongst you , who seek him daily , and fear his name , you had been laid desolate long before now . isa. 9. we need not from hence to stir you up to submit to government , and to bless god that you live in a place where laws are executed . what a chaos ? what a wilderness of wild beasts should we be , if malefactors were not punished ? what confusion , cruelty , barbarousness , would overspread all , if by wholsome laws , and the care of good magistrates in the execution of them , we had not some boundaries set to the lusts of men ? whether would the heart of man run , if there were not some reins upon it ? t is sad the law of god will not keep men from sin , but seeing it will not , t is mercy we have the laws of man . many are afraid of the gallowes , which have no sense of hell . this great sinner is represented to you as an eminent instance of the grace of god , and so we hope he was . t is very necessary therefore , we should here insert a caveat against the abusing of this grace of god . how apt are we with the spider to such poyson , where with the bee we should suck honey ? how many will be apt from hence to encourage themselves in sin , and to say , let us sin , that grace may abound , rom. 6 1. or , let us sin , for grace will abound . man is not more prone to any thing then to catch at eminent acts of grace , and to make that fewel to his lust , which god intended only to be food to his faith . and never was there any age wherein there was more of this spirit of presumption , then this wherein we live ; insomuch , that upon this very account , some of us were very inclinable to think , that 't was better to have the story of this man suppressed then published . but since providence hath so ordered it that it doth see the light , we cannot but annex to it an antidote against presuming . sinners , do not pervert this grace of god ; god lets you have it , to keep you off from the rock of despair , not that you should run upon the rock of presumption . deut. 29. 19 , 20. if you sin you may have mercy , but if you presume to sin , can you then expect mercy ? grace rejected may yet save you ( though that will cost you dear ) but oh tremble to abuse the grace of god to incourage you in sins ! god sometimes gives some rare instances of his grace to notorious sinners that none may de pair , but he is very choice in these that none may presume . t is true , upon repentance the greatest sinner shall find mercy , but how do you know , that god will give you repentance ? how many are in the same condemnation that this offender was , that die without any such work upon them ? we affectionately beseech you and warn you , not to turn this grace of god into wantonnesse . these things we hint in general ; more particularly we shall address our selves to you in the several capacities wherein you stand . you the right honourable magistrates of the city , with all submission , and yet with all holdness we exhort you to do your duty . t is nor enough for you to punish sin when 't is before you , but you are to endevour the preventing of it , you see what is the sad fruit of ale-houses , whore-houses , and such places , we hope your zeal will yet continue , nay be heightned in the suppressing of them . down with them , down with them , spare them not ; they are the divels shops , and let him have no free-trade amongst us : if you will , none shall have so many customers as he . how many labourers drink that away at these houses , which should maintain their wives and children with bread ? how are the youth of this city debauched at them ? where they have their gaming , cheating , whoring ; and what not ? oh let your reformation be severe and throughout in this particular ! but herein blessed be god , we have great cause as wel to commend as quicken the zeal of many . we heartily wish that those who have power in the suburbs of the city , would be as active in the restraining of sin as you are ; that those places and persons which you will not indure in the city ( the naming of which would foul our pen ) might not be held up and harboured there ; otherwise it will be small advantage to smother whores out of one hive , when they have another ready to receive them . we hear and fear t is too true that priests and jesuites ( those romish locusts ) do swarm amongst us in the city and suburbs : we beseech you for the sake of jesus christ , and for love to the gospel , to put forth your power to the utmost for the discovering & suppressing of them : and the rather , because they and their party are so bold , as to intrude themselves upon prisoners condemned to die , to pervert them from the true religion , ( for this attempt they were bold to make upon n. b. before he was executed . ) we should also speak to our selves , and to our reverend brethren in the ministry . doth not this providence speak something to us ? should we not from hence be stirred up in our several congregations , more vigorusly to reprove sin , and to deter men from sin ? whither will sinners go , if we let them alone ? let our preaching be lively , quick , powerful , by gods blessing , it may be a means to prevent these abominable practises ; however let 's do this and then let our hearers do what they will , their blood shall be required at their own hands . ezech. 3. 18 , 19. we shall be free from it . let us beat down drunkenness . adultery , &c. and such scandalous sins ; and while we labour to preach down unbelief , let us take heed that presumption and gross sins do not break in upon us with a mighty breach . should we enlarge upon these things , we should be tedious . our principal intendment was to speak a word to you , the people and citizens of the place which we shall dispatch with all plainness and brevity . and here we will only take the liberty of advising you in the notion of governours and governed . you that are governours , ( we mean governours of families ) give us leave to set in with this providence , and to stir you up , to make more conscience of the family-duties and engagements , that lie upon you , in reference to your children and servants . probably ( if things be not mis-represented ) had there been a consciencious discharge of these duties in the family , where this young man lived , he had never come to this sad end . but we had rather awaken then censure ; was not that a brave resolution of ioshua ? i and my house will serve the lord . josh. 24. 15. gen 18. 9. can you have a better evidence of sincerity towards god , then a faithful comming up to relative and family-duties ? do not parents that send up their children to you , put a great trust into your hands ? are not their children dearer to them then all their outward comforts , and shall they miscarry under you for want of care ? will not their blood be required at your hands , if they perish through your neglect ? will it not be sad to have children and servanns to rise up in judgment against you and to bring in evidence at the great tribunall of christ ? lord my father never minded me ! lord my master never regarded me , i might sin , he never reproved me , i might go to hell , it was all one to him , will not this be sad ? will not this be sweet to you , when you come to die to be able to say , lord i have walked in my house with a perfect heart ? psal. 101. 2. have you no love to religion , to propagate it , and to provide for it's flourishing when you are dead and gone ? doth not your neglect of family-duties make all the endeavours of our godly magistrates , and of godly ministers to be ineffectual and frustraineous ? god hath put it into their hearts to do good , but t is but little , they can do in publick , because you are so remiss in private . and t is the desire of our souls to beat down sin but we groan under the sense of sad disappointment , and this is one reason of it , what we do at the church is undone by you again in your families ; no setting on the word , no praying over the word &c. oh that these things might be as so many spurs in your sides , to quicken you to family-duties . set up prayer in your families ; there 's a curse pronouned upon the families , that do not call upon god . the lord be mercisul to the thousands of families in the city , where there is scarce a prayer by the master of the family , from yeer to yeer . how can such hope for the blessing of god to be upon them , who , though he gives mercy freely , yet he will be sought unto for it ? ezek. 36. 37. how can such look for gods bounty , who deny him his worship ? doth not prayer procure all your family-comforts , and sanctifie all your family-comforts ? morning and evening call upon god ; and call in your servants , let them not want the benefit of prayer ; 't wil be poor to feed their bodyes , and to starve their souls . if you eate together , by all means pray together . catechize your children and servants ; instruct them in the fundamentals of religion ; would you keep them from error in the head , from loosness in the life , make conscience of this duty . how excellent , how necessary , how profitable is this ordinance , and yet how sadly is it neglected , we may in a great measure blame you for the many hereticks , and erroneous persons , with whom we swarm in these dayes . read and open the scrptures to them , but do this with all humility and sobriety , or else there will be danger . these are the magazine , the treasury of all knowledge , able to make you and yours wise to salvation ; let the word of christ dwell richly in you ; and in all that belong to you see that they frequent the publick ordinances let them follow you to the house of god , not out of state , but in love to their soules ; and when they are there , see they keep there , that they do not run out again to ale-houses and taverns ( as too many do , to our grief and your shame be it spoken ) when a publick ordinance is ended , call them to an account see what they remember , wherein they profit , how they relish the word ; this is to do good indeed to their soules . keep them to strict observance of the lords-day ; you will not let them trifle away your days , then you 'l hold them to their work ; oh! let them not trifle away the lords day . why do your children and servants stand gazeing at your doors upon the sabbath ? call them in , put them upon , reading wholsom books , and other exercises which are proper to the day ; be not partakers of their sin . what ever liberty you grant them at other times , hold them to a close sanctification of the sabbath . and spend this day with them , in prayer , repetition , singing of psalms ; this is to make your families as so many little churches of jesus christ . how little conscience do the generality of you make of sabbath-duty ; we might sadly bemoan this before the lord . for your selves you can make that day which is a day for physick for the soul , to be the day for physick for the body ; you cannot spare time all the weeke long , you 'l take it upon the lords day . and for your children and servants , let them walk in the field , play in the streets , sleep in their beds , or drink in taverns . 't is all one to you ! will god beare this from you ? certainly , this will be bitterness in the end . do not indulge your servants in idleness . that is the bane of youth , the devils in-let to all temptations . an idle person is like tinder that will take every sparke that falls upon it , let them be out of imployment , 't is a thousand to one , but presently they are in some sin . and yet those that know how to use their liberty , let them have it sometimes for lawful recreations , but this we leave to your prudence . in the pursuit of your own pleasures and conveniences have a care of your families ; many of you go to your country houses ( we condemne you not for it ) but what becomes of your servants ? as eliab said to david , with whom have you left those few sheep in the wildrnesse ? whilst you are in your pleasant gardens gratifying your selves in your creature-enjoyments , who takes care of them that are left behind to pray with them , to instruct them , to see they sanctifie the sabbath ; the health of some masters bodies is the ruine of their servants souls . set them in all things a good example , if they see you can strain in defrauding others , they 'l easily come to strain in the defrauding of you ; let them see you fear to sin and that will be an awe upon their spirits against sin . take your apprentices out of religious families in the country ; many of you are punished with vexatious servants , you may thank your selves for it ; you take your apprentices by the pound , not by good education , who will give most , not who will deserve most , and you smart for it afterwards . but how do these heads swell upon our hands , though we do but name them ! these are some of the things which we should present to the serious consideration of you , who are governours of families ; and the lord make them useful to you . in particular , it is of great use to prevent much wickedness to look to the keys and doors of your houses and to have them in your own custody not in your servants that so an occasion of sinning may be cut off from those that seek such occasions as most fit for their pernicious designs , keep up discipline , or rather restore it again ; how is it fallen in these times , how is it almost lost amongst us in the city ; the reins which your predecessors held with a very strict hand , are very loose in yours ; many of your servants will do what they list , and you let them alone ; we do very much lament the low ebb of discipline and government and judg that to be one cause of the many disorders which are among us ; we heartily wish it may be restored in church , in state , in families , if this be wanting , all things run up to strange confusion . a word to the youth and apprentices of this city , and we have done . oh that you would hear us now , least you mourne at the last , and say , how have we hated instruction , and our hearts despised reproof ? and have not obeyed the voice of our teachers , nor inclined our ear to them that instructed us . this great offendor was one of your rank , had he taken the advice of gods word , his sin had not been so great , nor his punishment so terrible . of all , we fear , our counsel to you will be the most successless ; youth is rash , inconsiderate , vain , proud , but sometime or other you will remember what we say . take heed of lesser sins . little sins will make way for greater sins ; if you sip of sin , you 'l be drunk of it at last . how modest is sin at first , but when 't is gratified , it growes impudent . this poor man lately executed , first he began to game , then to steal , then to whore , and then to murder . be careful of your company : associate with them that fear god ; say unto them that are vain and wicked , depart from us , for we will keep the commandments of god , psal. 119. 115. bad company is the way to corrupt and spoil you : can a man touch pitch , and not be defiled ? read the scriptures much ; by them you must stand or fall to all eternity ; when we walk by you in your shops , we see many have their shop-book in their hands , but few have the bible in their hands ; the shop-book is open , but the bible is shut . entertain high thoughts of holiness and holy men : the froth of your wits runs out too often in jeering godlinesse ; but take heed , tha●● not a thing to be dealt withal . many of you count sin to be gallantry , and religion but a low and disgraceful thing . god convince you of your folly . frequent publick ordinances , especially upon the lords day , because you have not opportunity so to do upon the week days . you 'l find more comfort in the word and prayer ▪ then in all your youthful delights . keep the sabbath ; you have six dayes , let god have one ; can he have lesse ? god out of special respects to servants , hath instituted and sanctified this day . how can you hope to keep an everlasting sabbath in heaven , if this sabbath on earth be profaned by you . many go to tiburn lamenting the profanation of the lords day , as that which ushered in all their wickedness . every day spend some time in private prayer ; 't is but rising a little the earlyer , and going to bed a little the later ; you shall never be the worse for that time you spend in the service of god . be subject and obedient to your masters ; study how to please them ; bear with their passionate infirmities : do not purloyn but shew all good fidelity , that the doctrine of god our saviour may be adorned , tit. 2. 9 , 10. be diligent in your callings ; if you be idle , satan will get an advantage . the sitting bird is easily shot , and the standing water gathers filth . love those that curb you , and restrain you in wayes of sin ; they are your best friends : 't is better to be held in , then to have a wicked liberty ; 't is better to have lust restrained then satisfied . be not angry with those who cannot see you damne your souls , and let you alone . enter upon the wayes of god betimes , the sooner the better : shall the devil have the best draught , and shall god be put off with the lees and dregs eccl. 12. 1. live alwayes as in gods sight , and know , if you sin , god will certainly find you out one time or other . alas how many wayes hath god to bring the most hidden works of darkness to light ; sometimes by startling mens own consciences to an accusation of themselvs , sometimes by awakening some of their complices to the discovery of the rest . if you sin together , you shall smart together . let this sad example never be forgotten by you for this : those that were confederates in sin , are made instruments and occasions of misery each to other . look not upon sin in the pleasure of it , but in the danger of it : the wine sparkles in the cup , but 't will be poyson in the belly . fear the strokes of god more then the stroaks of man what 's a fetter , a dungeon , a gallows to hell fire ? mortifie a spirit of pride never such pride amongst the youth of the city as now ; what vanity in apparel , what superciliousness in carriage , what contempt of authority ? oh , be clothed with humility , 1 pet. 5. 5. give not way to imaginary , speculative heart sins ; murder in the heart , will soon be murder in the hand ; uncleanness allowed in the thoughts , wil come to bodily uncleanness at the last . keep satan at a distance , if he get in , he 'l be too hard for you . to sum up all : a dreadful spectacle of gods justice , and of the fruit of sin , hath been lately set before you , we beseech you in the bowels of iesus christ , break off from all your sinful wayes by repentance ; one is smitten that many may fear ; he 's a warning to you , take heed lest you be made a warning unto others . if you would avoid his end , walk not in his sins ; as secure as you are , if you will allow your selves in that which is evil , you do not know whither the divel wil carry you in a way of sin , or to what god will bring you in a way of punishment stand in aw therefore and sin not . flee youthful lusts , ps. 4. 4. 2 tim. 2. 22. let him that thinketh he standeth , take heed lest he fal , 1 cor 10. 12. every day pray that god will keep you from and strengthen you against temptation : say not , 't is not possible i should ever be so vile as this malefactor was ; alas , if god leave you you 'l be as bad as he . blessed is the man that feareth alwayes . prov. 28. 14. in all things so carry your selves according to the rule of the word , that you may neither fall into the hands of men , nor into the hands of god , which is far the most dreadful . 't is a fearful thing to fal into the hands of the living god . heb. 10. 31. that governors and governed may th●● discharge their duties shall be the great design of our minstrie by gods assistance , and our constant prayer at the throne of grace . septemb. 11. 1657. edmund calamy . arthur iackson . iames nalton . tho. iacomb . robert hutchison . thomas white . thomas parson . thomas doelittle . simeon ashe . thomas case . will. tayto roger drake . geo. griffith . matthew poole . dan. batcheler . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a30736e-30 reverend mr. stork an eminent preacher in thi● city was wont to make this matter of much complaint . a sermon preached by mr. edmund calamy at aldermanbury, london, aug. 24, 1651 being a funeral sermon for mr. love on the sabbath-day following after he was executed ... also four excellent doctrines and proposition to the presbyterians and others to be by them practiced and meditated upon both morning and evening. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a32062 of text r23880 in the english short title catalog (wing c266). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 29 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a32062 wing c266 estc r23880 07916377 ocm 07916377 40436 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32062) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 40436) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1200:11) a sermon preached by mr. edmund calamy at aldermanbury, london, aug. 24, 1651 being a funeral sermon for mr. love on the sabbath-day following after he was executed ... also four excellent doctrines and proposition to the presbyterians and others to be by them practiced and meditated upon both morning and evening. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 5, [1] p. printed for g. horton, and published by a perfect copy, london : [1651?] reproduction of original in the union theological seminary library, new york. eng love, christopher, 1618-1651. bible. -n.t. -acts vii, 60 -sermons. sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons. a32062 r23880 (wing c266). civilwar no a sermon preached by mr edmund calamy at aldermanbury london, aug. 24. 1651. being a funeral sermon for mr. love on the sabbath-day followin calamy, edmund 1651 6054 47 5 0 0 0 0 86 d the rate of 86 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-01 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-02 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2004-02 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached by mr edmund calamy at aidermanbury london , aug. 24. 1651. being a funeral sermon for mr. love on the sabbath-day following after he was executed . containing these particulars : 1 the person that fell asleep . 2 the speech that he made , when he fell asleep . 3 what he did when he had finished his speech . also , four excellent doctrines , and propositions , to the presbyterians , and others ; to be by them practised and meditated upon both morning and evening . john 11. 11. our friend lazarus sleepeth . psal. 116. 15. precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints . london , printed for g. horton : and published by a perfect copy . mr. loves funeral sermon . act. 7. 60. the latter part . and when he had said this , he fell asleep . these words contain in them the happy closure and upshot of stephens life , wherein we have 3 particulars . 1. the person that fell asleep . 2. the speech that he made , when he fell asleep . 3. what he did when he had finished his speech . 1. we have the person that fell asleep , and that was stephen : he was a man full of faith , and full of the holy ghost , as you may see , act. 6. 5. he was the first martyr that ever suffered for the cause of christ ; hence i might gather this doctrine , viz. obs. that the best of men are subject to violent and unnatural deaths . stephen that was full of the holy ghost , was stoned to death , and iohn the baptist that was full of the holy ghost from the very womb , was beheaded ; peter was crucified , and so was andrew ; isaiah was sawed a sunder ; ieremiah was stoned , and zacharias was slain between the temple and the altar . but i shall passe this . the second part of the text , is the speech that stephen made when he fell asleep , hoc dicto obdermivit , that is , when he had finished his prayer , he fel● asleep . hence observe , obs. that it is an excellent way to close up our lives with prayer . to die praying is a most christian way of dying . they stoned stephen calling upon god . after this manner christ dyed , he prayed , father into thy hands i commend my spirit , and having thus said , he gave up the ghost . this he did that it might be a patern to all christians . prayer is a necessary duty at all times , but especially when we are a dying ; and that for these three reasons . 1. because when we are to die , we have most need of gods help , for then the devil is most busie , and we most weak . 2. because when we are to die , we are to beg the greatest boon of god , that is , that he would receive us into his heavenly kingdom . now prayer is the chief meanes to obtain this mercy , for it is porta caeli , clavis paradisi ; the gate of heaven , a key to let us in paradise . therefore we have great reason to die praying . 3. because when a saint of god is dying , he is then to take his last farewel of prayer . in heaven there is no praying , but all thanksgiving ; there is no need in heaven , therefore no prayer in heaven . now a saint of god , being to take his leave of prayer , when he is to die , therefore it is fit he should die praying . i beseech you remember this pattern in the text , st. stephen died calling upon the lord . let us die praying , as that emperor said , oportet imperatorem stantem mori ; so may i say , oportet christianum mori praecantem , it behoves a christian to die praying . quest . but what was the substance of stephens prayer ? answ. he prayed for himself , and he prayed for his persecutors . 1. he prayed for himself , lord iesus receive my spirit , ver ▪ 59. 2. he prayed for his persecutors , lord lay not this sin to their charge , ver. 60. i will not enter upon this part of the text , for it would swallow up all my time . therefore i shall wave it , and come to the third part , which is that , that ( by gods assistance ) i purpose to speak unto , viz. what stephen did , when he had finished his prayer , when he had this said , he fell asleep , that is , he died . behold here the magnanimity , the piety , and the christian courage of stephen . the people were stoning of him , and gnashing their teeth upon him ; and the good man dies with as much quietness of mind , as if he had died in his bed , he fell asleep , while they were stoning him . while he died he prayed ▪ and while he prayed he died . but what made stephen die thus quietly ? read the 55 verse , and you shall see the reason of it . being full of the holy ghost , he looked up stedfastly into heaven , and saw the glory of god , and jesus standing at the right hand of god . behold ( saith he ) i see the heavens opened , and the son of man standing at the right hand of god , ready to receive his soul , and that made him die with such an ex●●●ordinary quietness of mind : death in scripture , especially the death of gods children , is often compared to a sleep . it is said of david , that he slept with his fathers . and it is said , 1 thes. 4. 13 , i would not have you ignorant concerning them which are asleep ; that is , concerning them which are dead . and 1 cor. 11. 30. for this cause many are weakly and sick among you , and many sleep ; that is , many die . this expression is a metaphricall expression , and will afford us many rare and precious instructions about death . and therefore ( the grace of god assisting me ▪ ) i desire to spend the rest of the time in the opening of this metaphor . the observation is this . viz. that when a child of god dies , though his death be never so unnatural and violent , yet it is nothing else but a falling asleep : or , the death of a child of god , though stoned to death . though burnt to ashes , though it be never so violent and unnatural , is nothing else but a falling asleep , when he had said this , he fell asleep . somnus est mortis imag● , sleep is the image of death . there are many notable resemblances betwixt sleep and death , some of which i shall speak unto at this time . 1. sleep is common to all men ; there is no man can live without sleep . so it is true of death , death ▪ is common to all , it is appointed for all men once to die : and therefore david said , he was to go the way of all flesh ; statutum est omnibus semel mori , omnibus est calcanda semel ●e thi●ia , all men must sleep the sleep of death , or else be changed , which is a metaphoricall death . 2. as sleep ariseth from the vapours that ascend from the stomack to the head , and tie the senses , and hinder their opperations ; so death came into the world by adam s eating the forbidden fruit , and by the poisonfull vapour of sin , that brought death upon him . and all his posterity . by one man sinne entred into the world , and death by sinne ▪ and so death passsd upon all men , for that all have sinned , rom. 5. 12. had adam never sinned , adam should never have died : but in illo die , said god . in that day thou eatest the forbidden fruit thou shalt die the death , sinne brings omnimodam mortem , all kindes of death ; it brings death temporal , death spiritual , and death eternal . now because all men are poisoned with the poison of sine , therefore all men must sleep the sleep of death ; it is sin that hath poisoned all mankind . 3. as a man when he goeth to sleep puts off his clothes , and goeth naked into bed : so it is with us when we come to die ; vve came naked into the world , and we must go naked out of the world ; as we brought nothing with us into the world , so we must carry nothing with us out of the world ; and therefore death in scripture is called nothing else , but an uncloathing of our selves , 2 cor. 5. 4. death to a child of god , is nothing else , but the putting off his cloaths . the body of man is animae {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} vestiment●m , it is the souls cloathing ; and death is nothing else but the uncloathing of the soul ; it is just like a man going to bed , and putting off his cloths ; st. peter cals it , the putting off our earthly tabernacle , 2 pet. ● . 14. our bodies are the souls tabernacle , and death is the putting off of this tabernacle . b●loved ▪ when we come to die , we shall be stript naked of three things , 1. we shall be stript naked of all our worldly honour , riches and greatnesse . 2. we shall be stript naked of our bodies . and 3. which is above all , we shall be stript naked of our sins . and that is the happines of a child of god , he shall put off , not only his mortal body , but the body of sin . 4. in the fourth place observe , as no man knoweth the time when he fals asleep , a man fals asleep before he is aware : so no man can tell the certain time when he must die . there is nothing so certain as that we must die , nothing so uncertain as the time when we shall die ; death comes suddenly even as sleep comes upon a man before he is aware . 5. observe , as children and infants , because they do not know the benefit of sleep , are very loth to go to sleep , many times the mother is fain to whip the childe to bed ; even so it is with most of gods people , because they do not study the benefit of death , that death puts an end to all our miseries and sins , and opens a door to let us in unto everlasting happiness , and that we shall never see god or christ before we die ; i say , because gods people do not study the benefit of death , therefore they are like to little children , loth to die , loth to go to bed . and therefore death is called the king of terrors . death is terrible to many of gods children , because they are but infants in grace , and because they do not know the benefit of death . 6. observe , as when a man is fast asleep , he is free from cares , and troubles ; let it thunder ( as it thundred not long since , as you know ) yet a man that is fast asleep , while he is asleep he hears it not ; let the house be on fire , while the man is asleep , he sees it not , neither is he troubled at it . so it is with the death of gods children , when gods children sleep the sleep of death , they are free : from the thunder of this world , they are free from all cares , from all troubles ▪ they go to their grave● as to their beds , and rest in quietness , and are not sensible of any troubles that are in the 〈◊〉 . when a child of god sleeps the sleep of death , he doth not feel , nor is he sensible of any of the cal●mities or sad providences of god upon the earth . 7. when a man goeth to sleep , he goeth to sleep but for a certain time , in the morning he awakes out of sleep . so it is with the sleep of death ; and therefore death is called a sleep , because we must all awake in the morning of the resurrection . we are in the grave , as in our beds and when the trumpet of god , and the voice of the archangel shall sound , we shall all rise out of our grave , as out of our beds . death is but a sleep for a certain time . 8. sleep is a great refreshing to those that are weary and sick , and when the sick man awakes , he is more lively and chearful then he was when he fell asleep ; and therefore sleep is called medicus laborum , redinte gratio virium , recreator corporum , the great physician of the sick body , the redintegration of mans spirits ; the reviver of the weary body . and so it is with death , when gods people awake out of the sleep of death , they shall be made active for god , then ever they were before ; when you lie down in the grave , you lie down with mortal bodies ; it it sown a mortal body , but it shall rise up an immortal body , it is sown in dishonour , but it shall rise up in honour ; it is sown a natural body , but it shall rise up a spiritual body . 9. as in the morning , when we arise out of our beds , we then put on our cloathes . so in the morning of the resurrection , we shall put on a a glorious body , like to the glorious body of jesus christ , we shall put on stolam immortalitatis , the garment of immortality . 10. as no man when he layeth him down to sleep , knoweth the direct time when he shall awake . so no man can tell when the resurrection shall be . they do but couzen you , who say , that the general resurrection shall be such or such a year ; for , as no man can know the minute when he shall awake out of his natural sleep , no more can any man know when we shall arise from the sleep of death . 11. it is a very easie thing to awake a man out of sleep , it is but jogging of him and you will quickly awake him . 12 as when a man ariseth in the morning , though he hath slept many hours ; may , suppose he could sleep 20 years together , yet notwithstanding , when he awakes , these 20 years will seem to be but as one hour unto him . so it will be at the day of judgment , all those that are in their graves , when they awake , it will be tanquam somnus unius horae , but as the sleep of an hour unto them . lastly , and most especially , as sleep seizeth onely upon the body , and the outward senses , but doth not seiz upon the soul , the soul of man is many times most busie , when the man is asleep ; and god hath heretofore revealed most glorious things to his children in dreams , when they have bin asleep ; god appeared unto abraham and many others in dreams , the body sleeps , but the soul awakes ▪ so it is with the sleep of death , the body , that dies , but the soul doth not die . there are some men that are not afraid to teach you , that the soul sleeps as well as the body , and that when the body dies and fals asleep , the soul likewise continues in a dull lethorgy veternoso s●mno correptus , neither capable of joy nor sorrow , untill the resurrection . beloved , this is a very uncomfortable , and a very false doctrine . they indeavour to prove it from my text , they say , that stephen when he died fell asleep ; it is true in regard of his body , he fell asleep , but his soul did not fall asleep , that which was stoned fell asleep , which was his body onely ; for when he was stoning , he saw jesus christ standing ready to receive his soul into heaven ▪ lord jesu● saith he ▪ receive my spirit . stephens soul could not be stoned , though his body was stoned . so when jesus christ was crucified , his soul was not crucified ▪ i mean , when his body was killed ▪ his soul was not killed ▪ indeed he did endure torments in his soul , which made him cry out , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ? but yet his soul did not die . so when stephen died , his soul went to christ . it is true , when a child of god dies the soul goes to sleep ; how is that ? the soul goes to sleep in a scripture-sense , that is , it goes to rest in abrahams bosom ( o blessed sleep ) it goes ●o rest in the imbraces of god , it goes into the arms of its redeemer , it goes to the heavenly paradise , it goes to be alwayes present with the lord . but take heed of that wicked opinion , to say ▪ that the soul sleeps in an anabaptistical sense ; that is , that i● lies in a strange kind of lethargy , neither dead , nor alive ; neither capable of ioy nor sorrow , untill the resurrection . though stephens body fell asleep , yet his soul did not fall asleep , but immediatly went unto jesus christ in heaven . thus i have given the explication of the words . now give me leave to make some application of all unto our selves . vse 1 ▪ if the death of gods children be nothing else but a falling asleep , then let this comfort us against the deaths ▪ of our godly friends , though they die unnatural and violent deaths , though they be stoned to d●ath , though they be burnt to ashes ▪ though they be sawn asunder ▪ &c here is a message of rich consolation , which as a minister of christ i hold out unto you this day viz ▪ ●hat the death of a child of god , let it be after what manner soever it will , it is nothing else but a falling asleep ; he goes to his grave ▪ as to his bed ; and therefore our burying places are called 〈◊〉 ▪ dormitoria ▪ our sleeping-houses . a child of god when he lies he lies down in peace , and enter● into his rest ▪ and , as a man , when he is asleep , is free from all the cares and troubles he hath in the day time ; so the people of god , when they are fallen asleep , they are free from all the miseries and calamities , crosses , losses and afflictions that we are troubled withall ; therefore give me leave to say to you , as christ did to the women that followed him to the cross , bewailing and lamenting of him , o daughters of ierusalem , weep not for me , but weep for your selves , and for your children . so say i , o weep not for those that are dead in the lord , that are fallen asleep in jesus christ , they are at their rests , they do not know the troubles that we are troubled withall , abraham remembers us not ; they are not sensible of our miseries and afflictions , let us weep for our selves , and for the miseries that are coming upon us ; and let us know , that when gods children die , they do but lie in their beds untill the morning of the resurrection , and then they shall put on stolam immortalitatis , the garment of immortality , and their bodies shall be made like unto the glorious body of jesus christ . and know one thing more , which is all in all , viz. that when the body of a child of god fals asleep , his soul immediatly goes into the arms of christ , and there lives for ever in the imbraces of jesus christ ; though the body fals asleep , yet the soul is received into abraham's bosom . i beseech you comfort one another with these words . vse 2. let me beseech the people of god that they would look upon death , not as it is presented unto us in nature's looking-glass , but as it is set down in a scripture-dress . nature presents death in a very terrible manner ; and it is true , death is very terrible to a man out of christ ; but to you that are in christ , the sling of death is taken away , death is nothing else but a quiet and placid sleep , putting off our clothes , and a going to bed till we awake in the morning of the resurrection . death to a child of god is nothing else but a putting off his earthly tabernacle . a going from an earthly prison into an heavenly palace , a hoising up sail for heaven . the letting of the soul out of prison , as a bird out of the cage , that it may flee to heaven : a change from a temporary hell to an eternal heaven . a going out of egypt into ganaan , and therefore called exodos 2 pet. 1. 15. is not mors hominis , but mors peccati , not the death of the man , but the death of his sins . it is sepultura vitiorum : it is the pilgrims journeys end , the sea-mans haven ; an absence from the body , and a presence with the lord . let all gods people look upon death through scripture spectacles , and consider it as it is sweetly represented in this text ! remember blessed stephen stoned to death , and yet falling asleep . and remember also that excellent saying of austin , that a child of god should be as willing to die as to put off his cloaths , because death is nothing else to him but a sleep , and a departure from misery to everlasting happiness . vse 3. to beseech you all every night when ye go to bed , to remember this text , and especially to remember these four things . first , when you are putting off your cloaths , remember that you must shortly put off your bodies . and secondly , when you go into your beds , remember that it will not be long before you must go down into your graves . and thirdly , when you close your eyes to sleep , remember that it will not be long before death must close your eyes . and fourthly , when you awake in the morning , remember that at the resurrection you must all arise out of the grave , and that the just shal arise to everlasting happiness , but the wicked to everlasting misery . it is a saying of an heathen man , that the whole life of a man should be nothing else but meditatio mortis , but a meditation of death . and it is the saying of moses , deut. 3. 29. o that men were wise that they understood this , that they would consider their latter end . beloved , it is the greatest part of wisdom every day to remember out latter end ; that man is the onely wise man , and happy man in life and death , that is ever mindful of his death . quest . but before i make an end , i must answer one question , viz. whether the death of the wicked be not in scripture compared to a sleep , as well as the death of the godly ? answ. i answer , that wicked men in scripture are said to fall asleep when they die . it is said of idolatrous ieroboam , that he slept with his fathers . of baasha and omri , those wicked kings , that they slept with their fathers . quest . but then the question will be , in what respect is the death of the wicked compared to a sleep ? answ. even as a man which is asleep , sometimes hath no benefit , rest , or ease thereby ; when the sick man awakes he is many times more sick then he was before he went to sleep : some men are much disquieted in their sleeps by hideous and fearful dreams ; nebuchadnezzar when he was asleep , had a most scaring dream , and when he awoke , he was amazed therewith . so it is with a wicked man ; death to a wicked man is a sleep , but it is a terrifying sleep , the soul that goes immediatly to hell , where it is burned with fire that never shall be quenched , and where the worm that never dies is always gnawing upon it . the body , that indeed lies in the grave asleep , but how ? even as a malefactor that sleeps in prison the night before he is executed , but when he awakes he is hurried and dragged to execution : so the wicked man fals asleep in death ; but when he awakes he awakes to everlasting damnation . but now a child of god , when he sleeps the sleep of death , he sleeps in his fathers house ; and when he awakes , he awakes to everlasting happiness . vse 4. and this makes way for the fourth and last use , which is a use of very great consequence . and it is to beseech you all , that you would labour so to live , that when you fall asleep , you may sleep an happy sleep . there is the sleep that the wicked man sleeps when he dies , and there is the sleep that the godly man sleeps when he dies . now i beseech you , labour so to live , that when you fall asleep , your sleep may be an happy sleep unto you , that when you awake in the morning of the resurrection , it may be an awakening unto you . quest . but then the great question will be , how shall i do this ? i shall give you four or five helps for this . 1. if you would sleep an happy sleep at death , then you must labour to sleep in jesus christ . it is said , 1 cor. 15. 18. then they also which are fallen asleep in christ . and 1 thes. 4. 14. if we believe that iesus died and rose again , even so them also which sleep in iesus , will god bring with him . what is it to sleep in jesus ? to sleep in jesus is to die in the faith of jesus christ . 2. to sleep in jesus , is to die with an interest in jesus christ , to die as a member of christ united to him as our head . for you must know , that the dust of a saint is part of that man who is a member of jesus christ , and every believer when he sleeps in the dust , he sleeps in jesus christ , that is , he lies in the grave and his dust is part of christ mistical , and christ as an head will raise it up , and cannot be compleat ●●out it . now then , if ever you would sleep an happy sleep , labor to get a real interest in christ , labour to live in christ while you live . and then when you fall asleep , you shall be sure to sleep in jesus . there are many would have christ to receive their soules at death , and that say with dying stephen , lord iesus receive my spirit : but if ever you would have christ to receive your souls when you die , you must be sure to receive him into your souls whilst you live , if ever you would have him to receive you into heaven , you must receive him into your hearts . no man makes a will , but he saith , imprimis , i bequeath my soule unto jesus christ my redeemer but how dost thou know that jesus christ will accept of this legacy ? if thy soul hath not christs image upon it , if it be not regenerated and renewed , jesus christ will never own it ▪ thou maist bequeath it unto christ , but the devil will claim it , if thy soul hath the devills image upon it , if it be a swinish , polluted , unbelieving , unregenerate sou● , thou maist bestow it upon god , but the devil will recover it out of gods hands : pardon this expression , it is not mine , but st. austins . beloved , if ever you would raign with christ when you die , he must reign in you whilst you live : and if ever you would sleep an happy sleep , you must live in jesus that you may sleep in jesus . secondly , in the second place , if ever you would sleep an happy death , then you must take heed of overcharging your selves with worldly cares . a man that is full of oares cannot sleep : therefore when men would sleep , they lay [ as the proverb is ) all their cares under the pillow , o take heed of overmuch carking . thirdly , if ever you would sleep an happy sleep when you die , you must take heed of sucking too much of the pleasures of this life ; a man that eats a full supper , will sleep very disquietly , therefore they that sleep quietly use to eat but light suppers ; for when a mans 〈◊〉 is over charged , it takes away his sweet sleep from him . so if ever you would sleep an happy sleep , when you come to die● , o take heed of sucking too much of the pleasures of this life ; take heed of eating too large a meal of worldly delights , and of creature comforts , these worldly pleasures will make the sleep of death unquiet unto you . oh let no dalilah's lap , deprive you of abrahams bosom . remember that david by bathsheba's imbraces , lost the imbraces of god , i mean , the sense of the imbraces of god , the joy and comfort of them . fourthly , if ever you would sleep an happy sleep in death , then labour to work hard from heaven while you live . oh how delightfull is sleep to a weary man ? when a man hath taken pains all the day , as the traveller that hath travelled all the day , or the ploughman that hath been at work all the day , how quietly , how soundly doth he sleep in the night ? o beloved ! if ever you would sleep an happy sleep at death , then labour to work out your salvation with fear and trembling , and give all dilligence to make your calling and election sure . the more you labour for heaven the better , the sweeter will your sleep be when you come to die . and remember this , that as much sleeping in the day time , will hinder a mans sleep at night ; so you that idle away the time of your providing for heaven in this your day , you that sleep away the minute upon which eternity doth depend ▪ oh , you will take a sad sleep when death seizeth upon you , take heed therefore of sleeping whilst you live , that so your sleep in the night of death may be comfortable to you . lastly , if ever you would sleep an happy sleep when you die , then take heed of the sleep of sinne ; sin in scripture is compared to a sleep , awake thou that sleepest , that is , thou that sinnest . sin is such a sleep as brings the sleep of death . sin brings the first death , and sinn brings the second death ; all miseries whatsoever are the daughters of sinn . if you would sleep an happy sleep , and have an happy awakening at the resurrection , then take heed of the sleep of sinn , awake thou that sleepest , arise from the dead , and iesus christ shall give thee life , 5. 14. so rom. 13. 11 , 12 , 13. with which i will conclude ; and i pray you mark it well , for it was a text that converted saint augustine , knowing the time , beloved , that new it is high time to awake out of sleep , for now is our salvation nearer then when we believed : the night is far spent , the day is at hand , let us therefore cast off the works of darknesse , and let us put on the arm●ur of light ; let us walk honestly as in the day , not in roioting and drunkennesse , not in chamberin● and wantonnesse not in strife and envying , but put you on the lord iesus christ , and make provision for the flesh , to fulfill the lusts thereof . the saints rest: or their happy sleep in death. as it was delivered in a sermon at aldermanbury london, aug 24. 1651. by edmund calamy b.d. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a79011 of text r206731 in the english short title catalog (thomason e641_19). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 33 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 11 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a79011 wing c264 thomason e641_19 estc r206731 99865840 99865840 165946 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a79011) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 165946) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 98:e641[19]) the saints rest: or their happy sleep in death. as it was delivered in a sermon at aldermanbury london, aug 24. 1651. by edmund calamy b.d. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [2], 19, [1] p. printed by a. m[iller], london : anno domini, mdcli. [1651] a variant of the edition with "printed by a. miller" in imprint. annotation on thomason copy: "said to be for mr. love"; "septemb.". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng love, christopher, 1618-1651. sermons, english -17th century. a79011 r206731 (thomason e641_19). civilwar no the saints rest: or their happy sleep in death.: as it was delivered in a sermon at aldermanbury london, aug 24. 1651. by edmund calamy b.d calamy, edmund 1651 6319 2 15 0 0 0 0 27 c the rate of 27 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2008-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-02 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-03 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2008-03 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the saints rest : or their happy sleep in death . as it was delivered in a sermon at aldermanbury london , aug 24. 1651. by edmund calamy b. d. john ii. ii. our friend lazarus sleepeth . psal. 116. 15. precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints . london , printed by a. m. anno domini , mdcli . the saints rest . act. 7. 60. the later part . and when be had said this , be fell asleep . these words contain in them the happy closure and upshot of stephen life ; wherein we have three particulars , 1. the person that fell asleep . 2. the speech that he made , when he fell asleep . 3. what he did when he had finished his speech . first , we have the person that fell asleep , and that was stephen : he was a man full of faith , and full of the holy ghost , as you may see act . 6.5 . he was the first martyr that ever suffered for the cause of christ ; hence i might gather this doctrine , viz. that the best of men are subject to violent and unnatural deaths . stephen that was full of the holy ghost , was stoned to death ; and john the baptist that was full of the holy ghost from the very womb , was beheaded ; peter was crucified , and so was andrew ; isaiah was sawed asunder ; teremiah was stored , and zacharias was slain between the temple and the altar . but i shall passe this . the second part of the text , is the speech that stephen made when he fell asleep , hoc dicto obdermivit , that is , when he had finished his prayer , he fell asleep . hence observe , that it is an excellent way to close up our lives with prayer . to die praying is a most christian way of dying . they stoned stephen calling upon god . after this manner christ died , he prayed , father , into they hands i commend my spirit , and having thus said , gave up the ghost . this he did that it might be a patern to all christians . prayer is a necessary duty at all times , but especially when we are a dying ; and that for these three reasons . 1. because when we are to die , we have most need of good help , for then the devil is most busie , and we most weak . 2. because when we are to die , we are to beg the greatest boon of god , that is , that he would receive us into his heavenly kingdom . now prayer is the chief means to obtain this mercy , for it is porta coeli , clavis paradisi , the gate of heaven , a key to let us into paradise . therefore we have great reason to die praying . 3. because when a saint of god is dying , he is then to take his last farewell of prayer . in heaven there is no praying , but all thanks giving ; there is no need in heaven , therefore no prayer in heaven . now a saint of god , being to take his leave of prayer , when he is to die , therefore it is sit he should die praying . i beseech you remember this patern in the text , st stephen died calling upon the lord . let us die praying , as that emperor said , oportet imperatorem stantem mori ; so may i say , oportet christianum mori praecantem , it behovesa christian to die praying . quest . but what was the substance of stephens prayer ? answ. he prayed for himself , and he prayed for his persecutors . 1. he prayed for himself , lord jesus receive my spirit , ver. 59 . 2. he prayed for his persecutors , lord lay not this sin to their charge , ver. 60 . i will not enter upon this part of the text , for it would swallow up all my time . therefore i shall wave it , and come to the third part , which is that , that ( by gods assistance ) i purpose to speek unto , viz. what stephen did , when he had finished his prayer , when he had said this , he fell asleep , that is , he died . behold here the magnanimity , the piety , and the christian courage of stephen . the people were stoning of him , and gnashing their teeth upon him ; and the good man dies with as much quietness of minde , as if he had died in his bed , he fell asleep , while they were stoning him . while he died he prayed , and while he prayed he died . but what made stephen die thus quietly ? reade the 55 . verse , and you shall see the reason of it . being full of the holy ghost , he looked up sted fastly into heaven , and saw the glory of god , and jesus standing at the right hand of god . behold , saith he , i see the heavens opened , and the son of man standing at the right hand of god . this made him die with such a sweet , quiet and calm temper ; he saw jesus christ standing at the right hand of god , ready to receive his soul , and that made him die with such an extraordinary quietness of minde . death in scripture , especially the death of gods children , is often compared to a sleep . it is said of david , that he slept with his fathers . and it is said , i thes. 4.13 , i would not have you ignorant concerning them which are asleep ; that is , concerning them which are dead . and i cor. ii. 30 . for this cause many are weakly and sick among you , and many sleep ; that is many die . this expression is a metaphorical expression , and will afford us many rare and precious instructions about death . and therefore ( the grace of god assisting me ) i desire to spend the rest of the time in the opening of this metaphor . the observation is this , viz. that when a childe of god dies , though his death he never so unnatural and violent , yet it is nothing else but a falling asleep : or , the death of a childe of god , though stoned to death , though burnt to ashes , though it be never so violent and unnatural , is nothing else but a falling asleep . when he had said this , he fell asleep . somnus est mortis imago , sleep is the image of death . there are many notable resemblances betwixt sleep and death ; some of which i shall speak unto at this time . 1. sleep is common to all men ; there is no man can live without sleep ; a man may live long without meat , but no man can live long without sleep . so it is true of death , death is common to all , it is appointed for all men once to die : and therefore david said , he was to go the way of all slesh ; statutum est omnibus semel mori , omnibus est calcanda semel lethivia , all men must sleep the sleep of death , or else be changed , which is a metaphorical death . 2. as sleep ariseth from the vapours that ascend from the stomack to the head , and tie the senses , and hinder their operations ; so death came into the world by adams eating the forbidden fruit , and by the poisonfull vapour of sin , that brought death upon him , and all his posterity . by one man sinne entred into the world , and death by sinne , and so death passed upon all men , for that all have sinned , rom. 5.12 . had adam never sinned , adam should never have died : but in illo die , said god in that day thou eatest the forbidden fruit thou shalt die the death . sinne brings omnimodam mortem , all kindes of death ; it brings death temporal , death spiritual , and death eternal . now because all men are poisoned with the poison of sinne , therefore all men must sleep the sleep of death ; it is sin that hath poisoned all mankinde . 3. as a man when he goeth to sleep puts off his clothes , and goeth n●ked into bed : so it is with us when we come to die ; we came naked into the world , and we must go naked out of the world ; as we brought nothing with us into the world , so we must carry nothing with us out of the world ; and therefore death in scripture is called nothing else but an uncloathing of our selves , 2 cor. 5.4 . death to a childe of god , is nothing else , but the putting off of his cloaths . the body of man is animae {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} & vestimentum , it is the souls cloathing ; and death is nothing else but the uncloathing of the soul ; it is just like a man going to bed , and putting off his cloaths ; st peter cals it , the putting off our earthly tabernacle , 2 pet. 1.14 . our bodies are the souls tabernacle , and death is the putting off of this tabernacle . beloved , when we come to die , we shall be stript naked of three things , 1. we shall be stript naked of all our worldly honour , riches and greatnesse . 2. we shall be stript naked of our bodies . and 3. which is above all , we shall be stript naked of our sins . and that is the happinesse of a childe of god , he shall put off , not only his mortal body , but the body of sin . 4. in the fourth place observe , as no man knoweth the time when he fals asleep , a man fals asleep before he is aware : so no man can tell the certain time when he must die . there is nothing so certain as that we must die , nothing so uncertain as the time when we shall die ; death comes suddenly even as sleep comes upon a man before he is aware . 5. observe , as children and infants , because they do not know the benefit of sleep , are very loth to go to sleep , many times the mother is fain to whip the childe to bed ; even so it is with most of gods people , because they do not study the benefit of death , that death puts an end to all miseries and sins , and opens a door to let us in unto everlasting happiness , and that we shall never see god or christ before we die ; i say , because gods people do not study the benefit of death , therefore they are like to little children , loth to die , loth to go to bed . and therefore death is called the king of terrors . death is terrible to many of gods children , because they are but infants in grace , and because they do not know the benefit of death . 6. observe , as when a man is fast asleep , he is free from cares , and free from troubles ; let it thunder ( as it thundered not long since , as you know ) yet a man that is fast asleep , while he is asleep he hears it not ; let the house be on fire , while the man asleep , he fees it not , neither is he troubled at it . so it is with the death of gods children , when gods children sleep the sleep of death , they are free from the thunders of this world , they are free from all cares , from all troubles , they go to their graves as to their beds , and rest in quitness , and are not sensible of any troubles that are in the world , for abraham knows us not , isa. 63.16 . so 2 king. 22.20 . thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace , and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which i will bring upon this place . when a childe of god sleeps the sleep of death , he doth not feel , nor is he sensible of any of the calamities or sad providences of god upon the earth . 7. when a man goeth to sleep ; he goeth to sleep but for a certain time , in the morning he awakes out of sleep . so it is with the sleep of death ; and therefore death is called a sleep , becuse we must all awake in the morning of the resurfection . we are in the grave , as in ourbeds , and when the trumper of god , and the voice of the archangel shall found , we shall all rise out of our grave , as out of our beds . death is but a sleep for a certain time . 8. sleep is a great refreshing to those that are weary and sick , and when the sick man awakes , he is more lively and chearful then he was before he fell asleep and therefore sleep is called medicus laborum , redintegratio virium , recreator corporum , the great physician of the sick body , the redintegration of mans spirits , the reviver of the weary body . and so it is with death , when gods people awake out of the sleep of death , they shall be more active for god , then ever they were before ; when you lie down in the grave , you lie down with mortal bodies ; it is sown a mortal body , it shall rise up an immortal body , it is sown in dishonour , but it shall rise up in honour , it is sown a natural body , but it shall rise up a spiritual body . 9. as in the morning when we arise out of our beds , we then put on our clothes . so in the morning of the resurrection , we shall put on a glorious body , like to the glorious body of jesus christ , we shall put on stolam immortalitatis , the garment of immortality . 10. as no man when he layeth him down to sleep , knoweth the direct time when he shall awake . so no man can tell when the resurrection shall be . they do but cozen you , who say , that the general resurrection shall be such or such a year ; for , as no man can know the minute when he shall awake out of his natural sleep , no more can any man know when we shall arise from the sleep of death . 11. as it is a very easie thing to awake a man out of sleep , it is but jogging of him , and you will quickly awake him . so it is with the sleep of death , it is as easie for jesus christ to awake us out of the sleep of death , as it is for me , or you to awake a man out of sleep in bed . nemo nostrûm tam facilè excitat dormientem de lecto , quàm christus jacentem in sepulchro . 12. as when a man ariseth in the morning , though he hath slept many hours ; nay suppose he could sleep twenty years together , yet notwithstanding , when he awakes , these twenty years will seem to be but as one hour unto him . so it will be at the day of judgement , all those that are in their graves , when they awake , it will be tanquam somnus unius horae , but as the sleep of one hour unto them . 13. lastly , and most especially , as sleep seizeth only upon the body , and the outward senses , but doth not seise upon the soul , the soul of man is many times most busie , when the man is asleep ; and god hath heretofore revealed most glorious things to his children in dreams , when they have been asleep ; god appeared unto abraham and many others in dreams , the body sleeps , but the soul awakes . so it is with the sleep of death , the body , that dies , but the soul doth not die . there are some men that are not afraid to teach you , that the soul sleeps as well as the body , and that when the body dies and fals asleep , the soul likewise continues in a dull leth●rgy veternoso somno correptus , neither capable of joy nor sorrow , untill the resurrection . beloved , this is a very uncomfortable , and a very false doctrine . they endeavour to prove it from my text , they say , that stephen when he died fell asleep ; it is true in regard of his body , he fell asleep , but his soul did not fall asleep , that which was stoned fell asleep , which was his body only ; for when he was stoning , he saw jesus christ standing ready to receive his soul into heaven ; lord jesus faith he , receive my spirit . stephens soul could not be stoned , though his body was stoned . so when jesus christ was crucified , his soul was not crucified , i mean , when his body was killed , his soul was not killed ; indeed he did endure torments in his soul , which made him cry out , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ? but yet his soul did not die . so when stephen died , his soul went to christ . it is true , when a childe of god dies , the soul goes to sleep , how is that ? the soul goes to sleep in a scripture-sense , that is , it goes to rest in abrahams bosom ( ô blessed sleep ! ) it goes to rest in the imbraces of god , it goes into the arms of its redeemer , it goes to the heavenly paradise , it goes to be alwayes present with the lord . but take heed of that wicked opinion , to say , that the soul sleeps in an anabaptistical sense , that is , that it lies in a strange kinde of lethargy , neither dead , nor alive , neither capable of joy nor sorrow , untill the resurrection . though stephens body fell asleep , yet his soul did not fall asleep , but immediatly went unto jesus christ in heaven . thus i have given the explication of the words . now give me leave to make some application of all unto our selves . if the death of gods children be nothing else but a falling asleep , then let this comfort us against the deaths of our godly friends , though they die nnnatural and violent deaths , though they be stoned to death , though they be burnt to ashes , though they be sawn asunder , &c. here is a message of rich consolation , which as a minister of christ i hold out unto you this day , viz. that the death of a childe of god , let it be after what manner soever it will , it is nothing else but a falling asleep , he goes to his grave , as to his bed ; and therefore our burying places are called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , dormitoria , our sleeping-house . a childe of god , when he dies he lies down in peace , and enters into his rest . and , as a man , when he is asleep , is free from all the cares and troubles that he hath in the day time ; so the people of god , when they are fallen asleep , they are free from all the miseries and calamities , crosses , losses and afflictions that we are troubled with all ; therefore give me leave to say to you , as christ did to the women that followed him to the crosse , bewailing and lamenting of him , o daughters of jerusalem , weep not for me , but weep for your selves , and for your children . so say i , ô weep not for those that are dead in the lord , that are fallen asleep in jesus christ , they are at their rests , they do not know the troubles that we are troubled with all , abraham remembers us not ; they are not sensible of our miseries and afflictions , let us weep for our selves , and for the miseries that are coming upon us ; and let us know , that when gods children die they do but lie in their beds untill the morning of the resurrection , and then they shall put on stolam immortalitatis , the garment of immortality , and their bodies shall be made like unto the glorious body of jesus christ . and know one thing more , which is all in all , viz. that when the body of a childe of god fals asleep , his soul immediatly goes into the arms of christ , and there lives for ever in the imbraces of jesus christ ; though the body fals asleep , yet the soul is received into abrahams bosom . i beseech you , comfort one another with these words . let me beseech the people of god that they would look upon death , not as it is presented unto us in nature's looking-glasse , but as it is set down in a scripture-dresse . nature presents death in a very terrible manner ; and it is true , death is very terrible to a man out of christ ; but to you that are in christ , the sting of death is taken away , death is nothing else but a quiet and placid sleep , putting off of our clothes , and a going to bed till we awake in the morning of the resurrection . death to a childe of god is nothing else but a putting off his earthly tabernacle . a going from an earthly prison into an heavenly palace , a hoising up sail for heaven . the letting of the soul out of prison , as a bird out of the cage , that it may flee to heaven : a change from a temporary hell to an eternal heaven . a going out of aegypt into canaan , and therefore called {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} 2 pet. 1.15 . is not mors hominis , but mors peccati , not the death of the man , but the death of his sins . it is sepultura vitiorum . it is the pilgrims journeys end , the sea-mans haven ; an absence from the body , and a presence with the lord . let all gods people look upon death through scripture-spectacles , and consider it as it is sweetly represented in this text ! remember blessed stephen stoned to death , and yet falling asleep . and remember also that excellent saying of austin , that a childe of god should be as willing to die as to put off his cloaths , because death is nothing else to him but a sleep , and a departure from misery to everlasting happiness . to beseech you all every night when ye go to bed , to remember this text , and especially to remember these four things . first , when you are putting off your cloaths , remember that you must shortly put off your bodies . and secondly , when you go into your beds , remember that it will not be long before you must go down into your graves . and thirdly , when you close your eyes to sleep , remember that it will not be long before death 〈◊〉 close your eyes . and fourthly , when you awake in the morning , remember that at the resurrection you must all arise out of the grave , and that the just shall arise to everlasting happiness , but the wicked to everlasting misery . it is a saying of an heathen man , that the whole life of a man should be nothing else but meditatio mortis , but a meditation of death . and it is the saying of moses , deut. 32.29 . o that men were wise , that they understood this , that they would consider their latter end . beloved , it is the greatest part of wisdom every day to remember our later end ; that man is the only wise man , and happy man in life and death , that is ever mindfull of his death . but before i make an end , i must answer one question , viz. whether the death of the wicked be not in scripture compared to a sleep , as well the death of the godly ? i answer , that wicked men in scripture are said to fall asleep when they die . it is said of idolatrous jeroboam , that he slept with his fathers . of baasha and omri , those wicked kings , that they slept with their fathers . but then the question will be , in what respect is the death of the wicked compared to a sleep ? even as a man which is asleep , sometimes hath no benefit , rest nor ease thereby ; when the sick man awakes he is many times more sick then he was before he went to sleep : some men are much disquieted in their sleeps by hideous and fearful dreams ; nebuchadnezzar when he was asleep , had a most scaring dream , and when he awoke he was amazed there with . so it is with a wicked man ; death to a wicked man is a sleep , but it is a terrifying sleep , the soul that goes immediatly to hell , where it is burned with fire that never shall be quenched , and where the worm that never dies is alwayes gnawing upon it . the body that indeed lies in the grave asleep , but how ? even as a malefactour that sleeps in prison the night before he is executed , but when he awakes he is hurried and dragged to execution ; so the wicked man fals asleep in death , but when he awakes , he awakes to everlasting damnation . but now a childe of god , when he sleeps the sleep of death , he sleeps in his fathers house , and when he awakes , he awakes to everlasting happiness . and this makes way for the fourth and last use , which is a use of very great consequence . and it is to beseech you all , that you would labour so to live , that when you fall asleep , you may sleep an happy sleep . there is the sleep that the wicked man sleeps when he dies , and there is the sleep that the godly man sleeps when he dies . now i beseech you , labour so to live , that when you fall asleep , your sleep may be an happy sleep unto you , that when you awake in the morning of the resurrection , it may be an awakening unto you . but then the great question will be , how shall i do this ? i shall give you four or five helps for this , first , if you would sleep an happy sleep at death , then you must labour to sleep in jesus christ ; it is said , 1 cor. 15.18 . then they also which are fallen asleep in christ . and 1 thes 4 14. if we believe that jesus died and rose again , even so them also which sleep in jesus , will god bring with him . what is it to sleep in jesus ? to sleep in jesus is to die in the faith of jesus christ . 2. to sleep in jesus , is to die with an interest in jesus christ , to die as a member of christ united to him , as our head for you must know , that the dust of a saint is part of that man who is a member of jesus christ , and every believer when he sleeps in the dust , he sleeps in jesus christ , that is , he lies in the grave , and his dust is part of christ mystical , and christ as an head will raise it up , and cannot be compleat without it . now then , if ever you would sleep an happy sleep , labour to get a reall interest in christ , labour to live in christ while you live . and then , when you fall asleep , you shall be sure to sleep in jesus . there are many would have christ to receive their souls at death , and that say with dying stephen , lord jesus receive my spirit : but if ever you would have christ to receive your souls when you die , you must be sure to receive him into your souls whilst you live , if ever you would have him to receive you into heaven , you must receive him into your hearts . no man makes a will , but he saith , imprimis , i bequeath my soul unto jesus christ my redeemer . but how dost thou know that jesus christ will accept of this legacy ? if thy soul hath not christs image upon it , if it be not regenerated and renewed , jesus christ will never own it ; thou maist bequeath it unto christ , but the devil will claim it , if thy soul hath the devils image upon it , if it be a swinish , polluted , unbelieving , unregenerate soul , thou maist bestow it upon god , but the devil will recover it out of gods hands , pardon this expression , it is not mine , but st austins . beloved , if ever you would reign with christ when you die , he must reign in you whilst you live : and if ever you would sleep an happy sleep , you must live in jesus that you may sleep in jesus . secondly , in the second place , if ever you would sleep an happy sleep at death , then you must take heed of overcharging your selves with worldly cares . a man that is full of cares cannot sleep , therefore when men would sleep , they lay ( as the proverb is ) all their cares under their pillow , they labour to shut all cares out of their minde : o take heed that you do not murder your souls by the cares of the world ; beloved , a man that eats out his heart with worldly cares , will never sleep an happy sleep , the cares of the world will choak all the good seed of the word of god ; and therefore , as men when they sleep lay aside all worldly thoughts ; so if ever you would sleep an happy sleep , take heed of overmuch carking and caring for the things of this world ; and remember what you have heard this day , and that will regulate and moderate all your cares , naked you came into the world , and naked you must go out of the world ; why should we we take care for that we know not who shall enjoy after us ? thirdly , if ever you would sleep an happy sleep when you die , you must take heed of sucking too much of the pleasures of this life ; a man that eats a full supper , will sleep very disquietly , therefore they that would sleep quietly use to eat but light suppers ; for when a mans stomack is over-charged , it takes away his sweet sleep from him . so if ever you would sleep an happy sleep when you come to die , o take heed of sucking too much of the pleasures of this life ; take heed of eating too large a meal of worldly delights , and of creature comforts , these worldly pleasures will make the sleep of death unquiet unto you . oh let not dalilah's lap , deprive you of abrahams bosom ! remember that david by bathsheba's imbraces , lost the imbraces of god , i mean , the sense of the imbraces of god , the joy and comfort of them . fourthly , if ever you would sleep an happy sleep in death , then labour to work hard for heaven while you live . oh how delightfull is sleep to a weary man ? when a man hath taken pains all the day , as the traveller that hath travelled all the day , or the ploughman that hath been at work all the day , how quietly , how soundly doth he sleep in the night ? o beloved ! if ever you would sleep an happy sleep at death , then labour to work out your salvation with fear and trembling , and give all diligence to make your calling and election sure . the more you labour for heaven the better , the sweeter will your sleep be when you come to die . and remember this , that as much sleeping in the day time , will hinder a mans sleep at night ; so you that idle away the time of your providing for heaven in this your day , you that sleep away the minute upon which eternity doth depend , oh you will have a sad sleep when death seiseth upon you . take heed therefore of sleeping whilst you live , that so your sleep in the night of death may be comfortable unto you . fifthly , lastly , if ever you would sleep an happy sleep when you die , then take heed of the sleep of sinne ; sinne in scripture is compared to a sleep , awake thou that sleepest , that is , thou that finnest . sinne is such a sleep as brings the sleep of death . sinne brings the first death , and sinne brings the second death ; all miseries whatsoever are the daughters of sinne . if you would sleep an happy sleep , and have an happy awakening at the resurrection , then take heed of the sleep of sinne , awake thou that sleepest , arise from the dead , and jesus christ shall give thee life , ephes. 5 . 14. so rom. 13.11 , 12 , 13. with which i will conclude ; and i pray you mark it well , for it was a text that converted saint augustine , knowing the time , beloved , that now it is high time to awake out of sleep , for now is our salvation nearer then when we believed : the night is farre spent , the day is at hand , let us therefore cast off the works of darknesse , and let us put on the armour of light ; let us walk honestly as in the day , not in rioting and drunkennesse not in chambering and wantonnesse , not in strife and envying , but put you on the lord jesus christ , and make no provision for the flesh , to fullfill the lusts thereof . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a79011e-140 observ. observ. luk. 23.46 . 1 king. 2.10 . doct. job 18.14 . i cor. 15.42 , 43. use i. luk. 23.27,28 use 2. use 3. quest . answ . 1 king. 16.6 , 28. quest . answ . use 4. quest . answ . a just and necessary apology against an unjust invective published by mr. henry burton in a late book of his entituled, truth still truth, though shut out of doors by edmund calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a32033 of text r22520 in the english short title catalog (wing c257). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 32 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 7 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a32033 wing c257 estc r22520 12743363 ocm 12743363 93169 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32033) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 93169) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 376:19) a just and necessary apology against an unjust invective published by mr. henry burton in a late book of his entituled, truth still truth, though shut out of doors by edmund calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 12 p. printed for christopher meredith ..., london : 1646. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. marginal notes. eng burton, henry, 1578-1648. -truth still truth, though shut out of doors. a32033 r22520 (wing c257). civilwar no a just and necessary apology against an unjust invective, published by mr henry burton in a late book of his, entituled, truth still truth, calamy, edmund 1646 5971 46 30 0 0 0 0 127 f the rate of 127 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-08 melanie sanders sampled and proofread 2004-08 melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a just and necessary apology against an unjust invective , published by mr henry burton in a late book of his , entituled , trvth still trvth , thovgh shut out of doors . by edmund calamy b.d. and pastour of aldermanbury . exod. 20. thou shalt not bear false witnesse against thy neighbour . mat. 5.22 . but i say unto you , that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause , shall be in danger of the judgement : and whosoever shall say unto his brother , racha , shall be in danger of the councel : but whosoever shall say , thou fool , shall be in danger of hell fire . london , printed for christopher meredith at the sign of the crane in pauls church-yard , 1646. trvth , no longer truth , but turned into gall and wormwood : or , an answer to a late pamphlet written by m. burton , and entituled , truth , still truth , though shut out of doors . it was the law of the areopagite judges , that those that pleaded before them , should plead without prefacing , and without passion . m. burton quite contrary to this law , first begins with a preface , and then writes a book so full of passion , as that whosoever reads it will acknowledge , that at least when he wrote it , he was not only {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , ( as he confesseth of himself , pa. 2. ) but ( if i may invent a word to expresse that which cannot be expressed by any word now in use ) {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a man , not only of like passions with others , but made up all of passion ; and that whosoever will contend with him , shall be loaded with dirt , rather then with arguments , and forced not so much to answer objections , as to wipe off aspersions . for my part , i will not defile my self , nor my answer with reckoning up all the opprobries and calumnies that are cast upon me , not only collaterally and obliquely ( as the supposed pen-man of the pamphlet , as he cals it , to which he frames his reply ) but directly and by name . only i crave leave to present this true , but short character of his book . his words are swords and spears , rather then words . he fights with his heels , rather then with his head , and kicks , rather then argues , and whips , rather then answers . scarce any man since montagues appeal hath written with more bitternesse . i may say of him , as d. rivet doth of bishop montague , this man cannot mention a man from whom be differs , though but in sleight matters , without a reproach . and as plato said to diogenes , when he trod upon the pride of plato , thou treadest upon my pride with greater pride : so doth m. burton tread upon me , and whatsoever is blame worthy in me , with a pride more then episcopall . and surely , if to be railed upon and reviled be sufficient to bring a man into discredit , then must i be esteemed as {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , as the dung , off-scouring , and filth of the world . but to all his bitter invectives , i will return the same answer that austin did , who when he was told that his adversary was too hard for him in railing , he said . it was an easie thing that way to conquer austin ; but the reader should perceive it was , clamore , non veritate , by loud crying , not by truth . and what hierom said against helvidius , arbitror te verita●e convictum ad maledicta converti . it is a sign of a man not able to stand before the truth , when he betakes himself to reproachfull language . non eget veritas mauri jaculis , nec arcu . non taliclypeo , non defensoribus isti● . neither is it my purpose to meddle with the controversie between m. burton and aldermanbury ; i say , between m. burton and aldermanbury . for though m. burton saith , that his quarrell is only with four men in aldermanbury , yet , if the reader will lose so much time , as to look into his narrative , he will finde that he cals upon all aldermanbury to be ashamed and confounded for shutting him out of doors , as he phraseth it . but i will not make this quarrell mine . for as i was never thought worthy by m. burton to be desired to give leave to his first admission ; so also i was not at all made acquainted with his dismission , and therefore am not at all concerned in the businesse . and although i shall be willing to open , not only the doors of the church , but the door of my heart , in admitting m. burton in a brotherly and christian compliance ; yet , notwithstanding i shall for ever shut the door of my lips from speaking any more about t●is controversie . and the rather , because that whereas in the book to which he answers , there are these words , and that all men may be fully convinced of aldermanburies love and good affection towards m. burton , we doe here professe to all that read these lines , that if m. burton will be pleased to forbear preaching his congregationall way amongst us , and preach such things , wherein both sides agree , we will re-admit him with all readinesse and cheerfulnesse , and will promise to endeavour upon all occasions to come and hear him ; which offer , if m. burton refuseth , let the worldjudge , whether m. burton shuts himself , or be shut-out of the church-doors of aldermanbury . to this friendly invitement , he answers not a word ; which makes me for ever despair of his brotherly correspondency with us in our churches . and truly , if m. burton will not only refuse to take a pastorall charge in our congregations , but condemneth our churches , as having inseparable corruptions in them ( for so he saith , p. 13. and repeats it twice ) i say inseparable , till the very frame of them be made new ; wherein he sideth directly with the brownis● , and denieth our churches to be true churches , as wanting a right foundation , and constitution , pag. 14. in which , i am assured our dissenting brethren will be dissenting brethren from him also ) and refuseth to give us the right hand of fellowship , as it is , p. 13. and saith , that people cannot with a safe conscience communicate with us , as it is , p. 23. nor acknowledge our ministers to be their pastours truly , as it is , p. 23. and will not forbear to preach those dangerous errours in our churches , no wonder that any conscientious presbyterian should be shie of admitting him to preach to their people . neither is it my design to answer this book of 33. pages , in all the particulars , nam quis leget hac ? as one said to a philosopher , that in a great tempest at sea fell a asking many trifling questions , are we perishing , and dost thou trifle ? so say i to m. burton , is the ship of england a sinking , and are there truths of the highest concernment now in agitation , and shall i stand trifling away my precious time in long replies ? i cannot do this , if i would ; neither would i , if i could . and besides ; this truth is now grown stale and threed-bare , especially to this new-truth-itching age , and by this last book is so drowned in gall and wormwood , as that it may well lose : it's name , and be called gall and wormwood , as that star is , which fell from heaven , revel. 8.11 . and as cloathes when died receive the name of those colours into which they were died . and therefore i will not abuse either my self , or the patience of the reader , or an athenian eye so much as to frame an answer to every particular . but that which makes me put pen to paper , though most unwillingly , is , because i am in this bitter pamphlet painted out to the world in all my worst apparell , and rendred as blackamore-like , and as odious as the pen of an angry scribe could make me . now although , i thank god , i can say with the apostle , non aesti●o humanum diem , with me it is ● small thing to be judged of men ; and no new thing to be misreported and misrepresented : yet notwithstanding , because this report comes from so reverend a man as m. burton , and some may possibly believe it for the authours sake : i am bound in conscience not to be so cruell to my good name , as to see it murdered in my life time , and by my silence to consent to the murdering of it , or to suffer such a picture to go uncensured , when a few words will discover the maliciousnesse and falsenesse of it . and besides , i am twice challenged by name to answer him , and thorowout his whole book he speaks very undervaluingly of the reformation begun in our churches , and laieth stumbling blocks in our peoples way , which necessity cals to remove . all which i shall {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , in few words endeavour to do . to begin first with his index expurgatorius of my life . i read of a painter , that being to paint king antigonus that wanted an eye , painted that side of his face only that had an eye , that so his deformity might not appear . but m. burton quite contrary labours to set me out in all my deformity . page 5. he saith , i have not under pretence of enjoying my ministery , abased my self to the superstitious innovations of the prelates , and thereby caused many both ministers and people thorow my example to fall into the same snare . let the guilty apply it . and let some of aldermanbury remember edmundsbury , i say no more , verbum sapienti . here m. burton sets out himself in all his embroidery , that so my picture might be the more ugly . but m. burton may remember that there was a time when he did abase himself to the superstitions of the bishops , as hundreds in this city can witnesse . and when he was appointed by a prelate to satisfie the consciences of some that did scruple that wicked oath , ex officio , which he did endeavour to doe , as i am credibly informed . all which i relate to shew that that which he saith of himself is not true , and what little cause he hath to accuse others for things done 12. years agoe , that not many years before was guilty of as bad things himself . and whereas he bids some of aldermanbury remember edmundsbury , i would have him to know , that if it were lawfull to boast , i could tell him , that for 10. years i preached at edmundsbury faithfully and painfully thrice a week . and that there are many now in heaven blessing god for my ministery there ; and that i can have the testimony of all the godly people and ministery in bury , and thereabouts , in a larger manner then is fit for me to desire ; and that i refused offers of 400lb per annum to tarry with them ; and that i have been often called to return to them , with expressions of their unhappinesse in my departure : but i am a fool in thus boasting , let the reader pardon me , since i am constrained unto it . one thing more i will adde , that had not bishop wren put in his foul feet , to defile those clear waters , i should have lived and died with that people , whom i still love and bear in my heart , and am assured that if m. burtons book come amongst them , they will abominate it , because it makes use of edmundsbury to make me odious to aldermanbury . but m. burton , pag. 7. bids the scribe put m. calamy in minde how one at edmundsbury or rochford , that he might not suffer for the truth , did prostitute his ministery to all those superstitious and idolatrous innovations of the prelates in those daies , whereby he became a snare in mispeh , both to ministers and people : and that for so doing , according to divine canon , he was to be barred from his ministery as ezek. 44.13 . and he bids him tell me the example of origen , &c. the reader may perceive by these words , and those that follow , pag. 7. and pag. 8. that the indictment is drawn in very high language , and that i am charged as guilty , not only of superstition , but idolatry , and idolatry as bad as that of origen , when he offered incense to idol-gods ; and that for so doing , i am for ever to be debarred from my ministery : which accusation is so high , as that i cannot but say as the archangel faith , jude v. 9. the lord rebuke thee . in answer to this black bill of indictment , i say , that so farre as it holds forth to the world any thing that is true , i shall be willing to own it . of all austins works , there are two books of his which i have ever most prized , and desire most to imitate , his book of confessions , and his book of retractations . who doth not admire david in his psalms , which we call poenitentiall , or psalms of spirituall restitution , wherein he labours to satisfie the church for the scandall he had given ? and solomon also for his ecclesiastes , or his book of his spirituall retractations ? chrysostome observes it of paul , as his greatest honour , that although he had obtained pardon of god for his sins , yet he is not ashamed to reckon them up to the world , 1 tim. 1.13 . and therefore , i hope , none shall shew more willingnes in confessing or retracting any thing wherein i have erred . and if i have wanted the fore-wit of innocency , i will not be wanting in the after-wit of godly sorrow and true repentance . thus much i answer in generall . but in particular to m. burton i answer . 1. that whereas he cals himself , pag. 11. my elder brother ; he deals in this , not as a brother , much lesse as an elder-brother , that should have lesse passion , and more discretion . and whereas he cals me , pag. 9. a christian , he deals with me in this , not as with a christian . for suppose i were guilty of all he writes , yet i would answer him , as beza did the papists ( who , because they could not answer his arguments upbraided him with the vices of his youth ) hihomires invident mihi gratiam christi , these men envy me ▪ the free grace of god that hath pardoned these in me . and as austin answered the donatist ( that separated from all the christian churches in the world , and affirmed , that there were no true churches to be communicated withall but theirs , and were also divided amongst themselves in minutula frustula , as austin saith ) who not being able to confute his arguments , reproached him for his former life , when he was a manichee , the more ( faith austin ) you blazon my sins and spirituall diseases to the world , the more will i commend my physician that hath healed them all . 2. but i answer in the second place , that this indictment is drawn with a blacker coal t●●n the truth will bear , and is as false as odio● . and herein m. burton deals with me , just as christopher dow dealt with him . this christopher dow was one that undertook to answer m. burtons book , called an apology , or an appeal , and spends all his second chapter in ●ipping up the life of m. burton ; he tels us that . but i will not off●r s● much injury to m. burton , or discover so much malice in my self , as to copy out that foul picture that is there drawn of m. burton : i abhor such dealing . i believe not the things to be true : because i soppose them spoken out of malice , to render his adversary odious . ●re●ate the story , only to manifest to the indifferent reader , that m. burton takes just the same course with me , raking up from the dead what he conceives was done by me 12 years ago at least : which things , though they should all prove true , yet , i hope , the impartiall christian will no more justifie m. burtons practice against me , then they did christopher dows against m. burton . but when they shall perceive the charge to be false , they will conclude , that m. burton hath committed such a fault , which a sea of water will hardly wash off . first , he saith , let the scribe put m. calamy in minde , how one ● edmundsbury or rochford , &c. it shews then he cannot tell at which of these two places this idolatry was committed , whereby the reader may perceive upon what slender information he builds his heavy accusation . but let m. burton take notice of that , which thousands will attest beside my self , that i left bury ( a place for situation and wholsomenesse of air , so excellent , that camden saith , sol no● vidit ●rbem s●t● elegantiorem ) to go to rochford , where i got a quartane ague that continued many years , and s●ffered as much misery , i dare say , as any of our dissenting brethren did in their banishment into the unwholsome air of the low-countries , meerly and only to be free from conformity to bishop wrens innovations . he saith , that at edmundsbury or rochford , i did prostitute my ministery to all ●hose superstitious and idola●rous innovations of the prelates in those daies ; and i did this , that i might not suffer for the truth , and that by this i became a snare in mispeh to ministers and people , and that for so doing i am to be debarred from my ministery , and that in this i did as bad as origen , or the christian souldiers in julians daies , that offered incense to idol-gods . to all which , let not m. burton be offended , if i answer in his own words , p. 1. finde me a man that hath sharp teeth , &c. but i will not answer railing with railing . only , i say , this is a high breach of the ninth commandment : for can m. burton prove that i did prostitute my ministery to all those superstitious and idolatrous innovations , &c. i say , to all , &c. surely , i never bowed to ; or towards the altar , to , or towards the east . i never read that wicked book of liberty for sports upon the lords day . i never read prayers at the high altar , placed at the upper end of the church , where the people could not hear . i have often preached against innovations , and once i did it at a publike visitation , and was called in question for my labour , and should have been sent for to the high commission , had not god raised up a speciall friend to prevent it . i never justified the oath ex officio , nor ever prosecuted any man or woman at the high commission . i never ( to my best remembrance ) at any time preached for the justification of any of the innovations . in some few things i did , i confesse , conform according to the light i then had , out of the uprightnesse of my heart , not to avoid suffering for the truth ( the lord knoweth ) though m. burton sitting as lord over my conscience is not ashamed to judge of my intentions , as well as my actions , and to say , i did it that i might not suffer for the truth : which cannot but be a rash , if not a most unjust censure . and for those particular things wherein i yeelded , i had the consent of the godly people in bury , who did professe unto me , that if my conscience would give me leave to yeeld to those things , they would not be offended with what i did , nor like my ministery any whit the worser ; and how then could that that i did be such a snare to ministers and people ? but how will m. burton prove that that which i did was idolatry , and to be parallel'd with the idolatry to the heathenish gods , like that of origens , and of the christian souldiers in julians time , and for which i am to be debarred from my ministery ? surely , when he wrote these words he consulted more with machivil , then with his bible : i will answer in his own words , pag. 16 calumniate boldly , and some reproach will stick , by this time our stomack being accustomed to the poison under his tongue , hath learned to digest all . but let m. burton ask his own conscience how far in former times he hath been guilty of that which he accuseth others . and if i should be so wicked , i could name some of his brethren of the congregationall-way , that have yeelded far more to the prelates innovations then i have done . but i abhor to practise that which i condemn in others . but that which followeth is ( if any thing can be ) more oftensive and scandalous , and renders me more odious and abominable . pag. 7. but you will say , you have repented : would god it were a repentance not to be repented of . for were it so , how could the old spirit of bondage still remain , only turned into the spirit of domination ? or how could there be such an antichristian spirit in man to oppose the kingly government of jesus christ over consciences and churches , and to persecute all those of this way ? or how could men be still so ignorant of the waies of christ , and stand out so stifly against them , had they truly bewailed their former superstitious abominations ? they clamour on us to shew them a model , a patern of what we hold . we call upon them for sound repentance for their superstitious practices , in subjection to an antichristian hierarchy , according to that , e●ek , 43.10 , 11. if they be ashamed for all their iniquities , then shew them the patern of the house . thus farre m. burton . the plain english of these words is this , that none ever repented of their conformity to prelaticall innovations , but independents . and that there is a spirit of domination in all ministers that are not of his way : and that the government which he m●intains is the kingly office of jesus christ ; and that they are all of an antichristian spirit that oppose it : which words savour so much of that spirit of domination and antichristianisme , which he condemns in others , as that i wonder m burton is so blinde as not to see it . but i perceive by this very pass●ge , that let the presbyterian ministers meet never so often to humble themselves by prayer and fasting for their former conformity ( as they have of●en done ) yet , if they will not turn independents they must still be accounted amongst the number of those , that as m. burton saith , pag. 7. have been vassals to antichrist , and defiled themselves with doing the drudgeries of lording prelates , and without any more adoe , when occasion is offered , with dry eyes to pretend for christ in a way of reformation . surely such kinde of language will never gain proselytes to the congregationall-way . for my own particular i crave leave to declare to all that shall read these lines what i have done to manifest my repentance , and let m. burton then judge whether it be a repentance to be repented on , or no . first , i went to bury , and there made in a sermon , a recantation and retractation of what i had done , in the hearing of thousands . and this i did before the times turned against episcopacy , not out of discontent , nor because i was disappointed of my expected preferment at court . secondly , after my comming to london at the beginning of this parliament i was one of those that did joyn in making smectymnuus , which was the first deadly blow to episcopacy in england of late years . thirdly , my house was a receptacle for godly ministers in the worst of times : here was the remonstrance framed against the prelates : here were all meetings . i was the f●●st that openly before a committee of parliament did defend that our bishops were not only not an order distinct from presbyters , but that in scripture a bishop and presbyter were all one . i blush to sp●ak of these things , but the judicious reader will consider how i am provoked to it , and will pardon me . the lord knoweth i did these things to make reparation to the church of god , for what wrong i had done her . for my conscience was at last fully satisfied , that the bringing in of those innovations was but a shoing-horn to draw in , if not the pope , yet popery , and it was the grief of my soul that i had had the least hand in ushering in either the one or the other . but what is all this , as long as i turn not independent ? this will not satisfie m. burton . and therefore he brings that plac● , ezek. 43.10 , 11. if they be ashamed for all their iniquities , then shew them the pat●rn of the house . but may we not be ash●med of our iniquities , and yet continue to hold the discipline of the reformed churches ? hath god shewed the patern of his house to none of the reformed churches in geneva , fr●nce , scotland , & c ? this is a bold assertion : m●st we comply with m. burton in his model ( which i perceive by what is in his book , is farre different from the judgements of his brethren ) or else we shall never see the patern of gods house ? but what will m. burton say to those presbyterian ministers that never conformed either to the old or new ceremonies of the prelates ? what will be say to old m. dod , m. hildersham , m. ball , &c. m. rathbane , and many others ? did not those reverend ministers see the patern of gods house ? and yet it is well known that they wrot many books against those that refused communion with our churches , and were their greatest enemies . but m. burton goeth on to cast abroad his wilde-fire , and addeth , that all the reformation here and there pretended to be set up in parishes , hath rather cam●lion-like received it's form from the fashion of the times , then from a reall , intrins●cal change wrought in the heart by the spirit of christ . the best way of answering this pass●ge would be to rake a little , and but a little in m. burtons dunghill , and to bestrew him with two or three of his own dirty flowers , that he may tell others how sweet they smell , but i dare not , nobis non licet esse tam disertis , i mu●t follow the apostles rule , rom. 12.21 . be not overcome of evil , but overcome evil with good . but how dares m. burton say , that all the reformation set up here and there is but pretended to be set up , and that it hath no reall , intrinsecall change , & c ? the lord give him a heart seriously to consider the rashness and uncharitablenesse of this speech . but he adds , pag. 8. that such as now glory most in their new reformation , were they not among the very last that held up the service-book , a● loath to lay it down , till very shame left it ? here the reader may perceive that m. burton doth antiquum obtinere , and resolves to like no reformation , but what ends in separation . and why may we not glory in our new reformation , which in some places hath as much scripture puritie , as the best of theirs , and is joyned with unity also , which theirs want ? and what is m. burtons church , and his new reformation , that it must lift up it self above all other churches , and other reformations ? if i may believe reports , there are divisions not a few among his people , and — but i must not believe reports : yet notwithstanding , if m. burton takes leave in a bitter manner to s●y , pag. 13. doth he not bewray his grosse or wilfull ignorance , if not insolence , in asking what defilements are still in their churches ? i hope he will give me leave in a milde manner to demand of him , whether there be no defilements in his church ? and whether his church be purified according to the purification of the sanctuary ? and whether , if a church be not purified in every thing according to the purification of the sanctuary , a man cannot with the comfort of a good conscience communicate in that church ? for so he seemes to say , pag. 23. which is a doctrine , as fa●re from truth , as it is from peace and unitie . as for the service-book , let m. burton know , that at a meeting at my house , it was resolved by above a hundred ministers , after a long debate upon divers weighty considerations , that all that could in their judgements submit to the reading of some part of it , should be intreated for a while to continue so to doe . to this our dissenting brethren , then present did agree , and one of them made a speech to manifest his concordance . this is enough to give any man satisfaction for the late laying of it down . and if m. burton meanes that aldermanbury was among the last that held up the service book , he is exceedingly mistaken in this ; as he is in many other things , as hundreds can witnesse for me . and thus i have endeavoured to answer so much of the book , as relates to my former life and conversation . as for my answer to the other particulars , which amounteth to another sheet , i will condemn it to perpetuall silence ; and the rather , because as jacobs cattell by looking upon the rods , when they did conceive , brought forth cattell speckled and spotted , gen. 30.41 . so my fear is , left by conversing too much with his bitter invectives , i should also bring forth as angry a pamphlet as his is , contrary to my genius , and naturall temper . for as the painter engraved his named so artificially into the picture of min●rva , that whosoever should undertake to deface his name should be forced to deface the goddesse also : so hath m. burton so interlaced and interwoven his scoffing and railing speeches thorowout his whole book , that it is impossible to answer one , but i shall be necessitated to answer the other also , which will ill become a presbyterian , nor well become an independent ; and therefore i draw a vail over the rest . only i will put m. burton in minde of a saying that hi●rom relates of domitius an oratour , cur ego te , inquit , habeam at principem , cum tu me non habeas ut senator●m ? if he exp●●ts that i should account him as a brother , and as an elder brother , let him not account me as an heathen , and as a publican ; let him not so bitterly inveigh against our assemblies , if he looks to preach in our assemblies . and if he would be accounted as a confessour and martyr , let him not expose my good name to martyrdome , and therein make me a martyr , and himself a persecutour : for it will alwaies be accounted as great a persecution to be branded in our good names , and stigmatized for idolaters and time-servers , &c. to all posterity by m. burtons pen , as to be pillored and lose our ears by an episcopall hand . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a32033e-200 {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} non potest vir ille s●ne con●iti●● quenquam a quo dissentit vel in levissimi●●o minare . rivet . apol. aulus g●llius , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ? epist ad nepotianum , a sermon preached at aldermanberry church, dec. 28, 1662 in the fore-noon by edm. calamy. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 1663 approx. 35 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 14 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-08 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a32065 wing c267 estc r26578 09505981 ocm 09505981 43342 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32065) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 43342) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1326:23) a sermon preached at aldermanberry church, dec. 28, 1662 in the fore-noon by edm. calamy. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 25 p. [s.n.], oxford : 1663. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -o.t. -samuel, 1st, iv, 13 -sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-04 john latta sampled and proofread 2004-04 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a sermon preached at aldermanberry-church , dec. 28. 1662. in the fore-noon . by mr. edm. calamy , late pastor of the same congregation . oxford , printed in the year , 1663. a sermon preached at aldermanberry-church , dec. 28. 1662. 1 sam. 4. 13. and when he came , lo , ely sate upon a seat by the way side , waiting ; for his heart trembled for the ark of god. that you may the better understand these words , you must know that whatsoever god threatn'd against old ely , in the second and third chapters , because he did not restraine his wicked sonnes from their lewd courses , is here executed in this chapter : therefore we read there were four thousand israelites slain by the philistines : and the elders of israel met together to consult how to repair this great loss ; they confess it was the lord that had smitten them : for say they , wherefore hath the lord smitten us to day before the philistins : and they conclude , the way to repair this their loss , it was , to fetch the ark of the covenant of the lord from shiloh , and carry it into the battel ; whereupon they apoint hophny and phinehas to fetch it , whereby they imagined that the presence of the ark would save them from ruin , but herein they were miserably mistaken ; for this judgement befel them not because the ark was not in the camp , but because their sin was in the camp : the ark of the covenant would not preserve those that had broken covenant with god : and therefore there was a great slaughter of the israelites , and were slain thirty thousand men , and hophny and phinehas were slain , and the ark it self was taken prisoner . but what was old ely doing ? he was ninety and eight years old , and was not able to go to the battel , but sits upon a seat by the way side near the battel ; and there he sits , thinking what shall become of the ark : and loe , ely sate upon a seat by the way side , watching ; for his heart trembled for the ark of god , for fear lest the ark should be taken : he was not troubled , what should become of his two sons , or what should become of the people of israel , but what should become of the ark of god. in the words are three parts . 1. old elies solicitousness for the ark. 2. old elies heart-trembling for fear of the ark. 3. old elies preferring the safety of the ark , before the safety of his two sons , wife and children . he sate upon a seat by the way side watching , for his heart trembled for the ark of god. but what was the ark of god ? why should old elies heart tremble for fear of the ark ? i answer , this ark was the holiest of all the things of god ; it was so holy , that it made every place holy where it came , 2 chron. 8. 11. and solomon brought up the daughter of pharoah , out of the city of david , into the house that he had built for her : for he said , my wife shall not dwell in the house of david king of israel , because the places are holy , whereunto the ark of the lord hath come . this ark was the dwelling place of god , it was the habitation of god , psal. 99. 1. the lord reigneth , he sitteth between the cherubims . now these cherubims were placed over the ark : it was the speaking place of god ; he met his people there , and there he gave an answer to them : exod. 25. 21 , 22. and thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark , and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that i shall give thee : and there will i meet with thee , and i will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat , from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony of all things i shall give thee in commandment unto the children of israel . this ark was gods foot-stool , and all the people of god worship before the footstool of god , psal. 99. 5. exalt ye the lord our god , and worship at his footstool , for he is holy . the ark , it was the glory and the strength of israel , psal. 78. 61. and he delivered his strength into captivity , and his glory into his enemies hand ; and it was the terror of the enemies of god : and therefore when the ark came into the battel , the philistines were afraid , and said , wo unto us , for god is come down into the camp : and indeed this ark was called jehovah . numb . 10. 35. and it came to pass , when the ark set forward , that moses said , rise up lord , and let thine enemies be scattered ; and when it rested , he said , return o lord unto the many thousands of israel . in a word , the ark was a pledge , and a visible symptom of gods gracious presence with his people ; as long as the ark was saved , they were saved ; and when the ark was with them , gods presence was with them ; but when the ark was gone , god was gone ; his comforting presence , his protecting presence , and his preserving presence : and therefore no wonder that this good old man sate watching here for fear of the ark. i call him good old man ; many are of opinion that he was not good , because he suffered his sons to be so wicked ; and indeed his fault was great , but surely he was a good man , and i have two reasons to prove it : first , in that he took the punishment of his iniquity so patiently ; it is the lord , let him do what seemeth him good . and secondly , he was a good man , as appears by the text ; his solicitousness for the ark : he sate trembling for fear of the ark. now this ark was a type of three things : first , it was a type of jesus christ ; for god spake from the ark : so god speaks to us by christ. secondly , it was a type of the church of christ : for as the ark was the preserver of the two tables of the law , so the church of christ is the preservative of the scriptures . thirdly , the ark was a type of the ordinances of christ ; for as god did communicate himself by the ark , so god by his ordinances communicates his councels , comforts and grace unto his people : the ordinances of christ , they are the oraculum by which he conveys himself unto his people . thus i have shewed you what the ark was . i shall gather two observations from the words : 1. that when the ark of god is in danger of being lost , the people of god have thoughtful heads and trembling hearts . 2. that a true child of god is more troubled , and more solicitous what shall become of the ark , then what shall become of wife and children or estate . i shall begin with the first . doct. that when the ark of god is in danger of being lost , the people of god have thoughtful heads and trembling hearts . or if i may put this doctrine into a gospel dress , take it thus : that when the gospel is in danger of losing , when gospel-ordinances are in danger of being lost , and gospel ministers in danger of losing , that then the people of god have trembling heads , and careful and solicitous hearts about it . mark what i say ; i say not , when the ark is lost ; for that was death to old ely , that broke his neck ; and it cost the life of ely's daughter in-law , when the ark of god was taken , she took no comfort in her child , though a man-child she regarded : for the glory is departed from israel , the ark of god is taken . i say not , when the ark of god is lost ; but i say , when it is in danger of losing : when the gospel is in danger , the ministers of the gospel in danger , and the ordinances in danger to be lost , then the people of god have trembling hearts , and careful heads . when god threatned the israelites , that he would not go with them , they were troubled for the loss of gods presence , and would not put on their ornaments , exod. 33. 3 , 4. i will not go up in the midst of thee , for thou art a stiffnecked people , lest i consume thee in the way : and when the people heard these evil tydings they mourned , and no man did put on his ornaments ; 1 sam. 7. 2. and it came to pass , while the ark abode in kiriath-jearim , that the time was long , for it was twenty years , and all the house of israel lamented after the lord : that is , after the presence of god , speaking from the ark , 2 sam. 11. 10 , 11. david would have had uriah to have gone down to his house and made merry : and uriah said unto david , the ark , and israel , and judah abide in tents , and my lord joab , and the servants of my lord are incamped in open fields ; shall i then go into mine house to eat and to drink , and to lye with my wife ? as thou livest , and as thy soul liveth , i will not do this thing , 1 king. 19. 10. and elijah said , i have been very jealous for the lord god of hosts ; for the children of israel have forsaken thy covenant , thrown down thine altars , and slain thy prophets with the sword , and i , even i only am left , and they seek my life to take it away . thus you see when the ark is in danger , the people of god mourn and are sorrowfull . and there be four reasons , why the people of god are so much troubled when the ark of god is in danger . reas. 1. because of the great love they bear to the ark of god ; as god loveth the gates of sion , more then all the dwellings of jacob , psal. 87. 2. so the people of god love the ordinances of god , and the faithful ministers of christ , psal. 26. 8. lord i have loved the habitation of thy house , and the place where thine honour dwelleth , psal. 27. 4. one thing have i desired of the lord , that will i seek after , that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the dayes of my life , to behold the beauty of the lord , and to inquire in his temple . now love stirreth up the affections ; as young cresus , though he were dumb , yet seeing his father like to be killed , cryed out , do not kill my father : such is the love of the saints of god to the ark , that they cannot be silent , they cannot but tremble when they see the ark in danger ; and for sions sake they cannot hold their peace ; and they cannot be silent until the lord make the righteousness thereof go out like brightness , and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth . 2. the people of god are troubled at this , because of the interest they have in the ark of god : now interest stirreth up affections , as when another mans house is on fire ; as you had a lamentable and sad providence this last week , and it is not to be forgotten , how suddenly in all our feastings , may god dash all our mirth . now consider , how were they affected that had an interest in those that were burned ; so the people of god have an interest in the ark , god is the haven of a child of god , the portion and inheritance of a child of god ; and when god begins to forsake them , they cannot but be afflicted and troubled : the ordinances of god , are the jewels of a christian , and the treasure of a christian ; and the loss of them , cannot but trouble them : and jesus christ is the joy of a christian , and therefore when christ is departing , they cannot but be much afflicted at it . 3. the people of god are much troubled when the ark is in danger , because of the mischeifs that comes upon a nation when the ark of god is lost : woe be to that nation when the ark is gone . the heathens had the image of apollo , and they conceived , that as long as that image was preserved amongst them , they could never be worsted , but be preserved ; and the romans had a buckler , upon which they had a tradition , that as long as that buckler was preserved , rome could not be taken . but sure i am , that where god is in a nation , and where the gospel is preserved in purity in a nation , that nation cannot but stand ; but when god is gone , and the gospel gone , then comes the misery of a nation , and the tongue of man is not able to express the misery of that nation where the ark of god is taken : shall i give a hint , and set it out a little , in five particulars . 1. when the ark of god is taken , then the wayes of sion mourn , and none come to the sollemn assemblies ; it was the complaint of the church , lament . 1. 4. that is matter of sadness . 2. when the ark of god is taken , then the ministers of christ are driven into corners , and that is matter of heart-trembling . 3. when the ark of god is taken , then the souls of many are in danger ; when the gospel is gone , your souls are in hazard : there is cause of sadness . 4. then do the enemies of god blaspheme , and are ready to say , where is your god ? then do the enemies of god triumph , psal. 42. 10. as with a sword in my bones mine enemies reproach me ; while they say daily unto me , where is thy god ? 5. then is iesus christ trampled under foot , and the ordinances of god defiled and trampled on ; and then blasphemy and atheism comes in like an armed man. 4. the people of god must needs tremble when the ark is in danger , because of their accessariness to the losing of the ark ; and this was that which made old ely so much troubled , because he knew it was for his sin that god suffered the ark to be taken : he knew that his not punishing his two sons , was one great cause of that great slaughter the people of israel met withal , and that made him tremble . there is no person here in this congregation , but his heart will tell him , he hath contributed something towards the loss of the ark. none of us so holy but our consciences must accuse us ; we have done something that might cause god to take the ark from us : and therefore mr. bradford that blessed martyr , said in his prayer , lord it was my unthankfulness for the gospel , that brought in popery in queen maries dayes ; and my unfruitfulness under the gospel , that was the cause of the untimely death of king edward the sixth ; and those that fled in queen maries days , sadly complained that they were the cause of gods taking away the gospel from england . o beloved , it is for thy sin and my sin , that the ark of god is in danger ; and therefore the lord give us trembling solicitous hearts , what shall become of the ark. i come now to application . use 1. if this be the property of a true child of god , to be solicitous when the ark of god is in danger , and to have such a trembling heart for fear of the ark , then this is a certain sign there are but few that are the children of god in truth . o where is the man , and where is the woman , that like old ely , sits watching and trembling for fear of the ark ! i suppose you all believe , and have cause to believe , that my comming here this morning was not by way of design , but the meer providence of god , and therefore what i say should be premeditated ; but this i may say , and it must not be denied , but that the ark of god is in danger of being lost ; and that will appear by these reasons . first , in reference to the many sinnes in this nation ; for let me tell you , there is not one sin for which god ever took away the ark from any people , but it is to be found in england : did the church of ephesus lose the candlestick , because they had lost their first love ? and have not we lost our first love to the gospel , and to the ordinances ? and did the church of laodicea lose the candlestick , because of lukewarmness ? and are not we lukewarm ? did the people of israel , as here in the text , lose the ark , because they abhorred the offerings of god ? and do not you do so ; are not the sins of israel amongst us ? the sins of germany , and the sins of all other nations about us ? and can any man here before god this day . in this congregation , that considers the great unthankfulness of this nation , and the great prophaneness and wickedness of this nation , but they may conclude the ark is in danger , and god may justly take the ark from us ? i might tell you of the drunkenness , adultery , covetousness , injustice , and uncharitableness , &c. that doth abound amongst us ; and i might tell you of sanctuary sins , prophanation of sabbaths and sacraments , our unthankfulness and unfruitfulness , and unworthy walking under the gospel : and you of this place , god may very well take the ark even from you ; and indeed it was the great interest i had in you , the which while i live i shall ever own ; and that great affection and respect i had to you , that i would not send you home this day without a sermon , and let you go without a blessing . now can any of you in this parish , and this congregation ; can any of you say god may not justly take the gosspel from you ? you have had three famous successors , doctor taylor for seven years , and doctor stoughton for seven years , and my self , i have been with you almost four and twenty years , and may not god now unchurch you , by suffering you to want a faithful minister to go in and out before you ? this is one reason , upon which account i may safely say the ark of god is in danger , and aldermanberry may truly fear the loss of the ark. secondly , another reason is , the abundance of priests and jesuits that are in the midst of us , and the preaching of popery amongst us , and the proneness of people to run headlong to the garlick and onyons of egypt again . this is argument sufficient to make us believe the ark of god is in danger . and shall i add , the discontents and divisions in the nation , as christ saith , a nation divided against it self cannot stand ; but i leave these things to your considerations ; i do believe there is none here but will confess the ark of god is in danger to be lost . but now where are our old elys , to sit watching and trembling for fear of the ark ? where is phinehas his wife , that would not be comforted , because the ark of god was taken ? where are our moses's ? our elijah's ? our uriah's ? where are they that lay to heart the dangers of the ark ? you complain of taxes , and decay of trading , of this civil burden , and that civil burden ; but where is the man or the woman that complains of this misery , the loss of the ark ? most of you are like galio , he cared not for these things ; if it had been a civil matter , then he would have medled with it ; but for religion , he cared not for that : every man is troubled about meum and tuum , about civil concernments ; but who layes to heart ? who regards what shall become of religion ? there is a strange kind of indifferency and lukewarmness upon most peoples spirits ; so they may have their trading go on , and their civil burdens removed , they care not what becomes of the ark. there is a text of scripture , i shall not spend much time in opening it , but i would have you well consider it , hos. 7. 9. strangers have devoured his strength , and he knoweth it not ; yea , gray-hairs are here and there upon him , yet he knoweth not . shall i say gray-hairs are upon the gospel ? i come not hither to prophecy ; i say not the gospel is dying , but i say it hath gray-hairs ; for you have had the gospel a hundred years and above , and therefore it is in its old age ; and i dare challenge any schollar to shew me an example of any nation that hath enjoyed the gospel for a hundred years together . now that gray-hairs is to a hundred years , is no wonder : well , gray-hairs are here and there , and yet no man layeth it to heart . now shall i spend time to shew you what a great sin it is , not to be affected with the danger that the ark of god is in ; consider but three particulars . first , it is a sign you do not love the gospel ; if you had any love to it , you would be troubled more for the danger of the ark , then for any outward danger whatsoever . i read that among the romans , when any man was accused for his life , all his relations put on mourning apparel , and they followed him to his tryal in mourning , thereby to shew their love to the party in danger . now did you love the gospel , the ministers of the gospel , and the ordinances of christ , you would all put on mourning , and lament for the gospel , the ark of god that is in danger ; and because you do not , it is a sign you have no love to the gospel . secondly , it is a sign you have no interest in the gospel , for interest will stir up your affections ; it is a sign you are not concerned in the gospel , for if you were concerned in it , you would be affected with it , as those that were interested in those persons that were in that lamentable fire the last week , it is impossible but they should be affected ; and so it is a sign you have no interest in god and christ , if your hearts do not tremble for fear of the loss of the ark. but thirdly , there is a curse of god pronounced against all those that do not lay to heart the afflictions of ioseph , amos 6. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6. wo be to them that are at ease in sion , and trust in the monntain of samaria : yea , that put far away the evil day ; that lye upon beds of ivory , and stretch themselves upon their couches ; that eat the lambs out of the flock , and the calves out of the midst of the stall ; that chant to the sound of the viol , and invent to themselves instruments of musick ; that drink wine in bowles , and anoint themselves with the chief ointments ; but they are not grieved for the afflictions of joseph . wo be unto you that enjoy your fulness of outward things , and make merry therewith , and never consider the afflictions of gods people , and the danger of the ark. use 2. for exhortation , to beseech you all , that god by a providence hath so unexpectedly brought this day to hear me , and there may be a good providence in it , possibly i may do good herein ; i say , let me beseech you all to declare you are the people of god indeed and in truth , by following the example of old ely , to be very solicitous of the ark of god ; and let me exhort you to five particulars . first , let me perswade you to believe , that the gospel is not intailed upon england : england hath no letters patents of the gospel ; the gospel is removeable : god took away the ark , and forsook shilo ; and he did not only take away the ark , but the temple also ; he unchurched the iews , he unchurched the seven churches of asia , and we know not how soon he may unchurch us : i know no warrant we have to think that we shall have the gospel another hundred years ; god knows how to remove his candlestick , but not to destroy it ; god doth often remove the church , but doth not destroy it ; god removed his church out of the east , as the greek churches were famous churches , but god removed them , and now the turk over-spreads that countrey . secondly , i would perswade you , that englands ark is in danger to be lost ; were it only for the sinnes of england , those prodigious iniquities amongst us , and that strange unheard of ingratitude that is in the land ; but i will say no more of that , because i would speak nothing but what becomes a sober minister of the gospel ; but sure it is , that the ark is in danger to be lost . thirdly , i would perswade you , and o that i could raise you up to old elies practise ; he sat watching , for his heart trembled for fear of the ark : he had a thoughtful head , and an aching heart , for the ark of god that was in danger : and that i might move you to this , consider what a sad condition we are in if the ark be taken ; what will your estate do you good ? or what will all your concernments do you good if the gospel be gone ? wherein doth england exceed other places ? there is more wealth in turkie then in england : and the heathen nations have more of the glory of the world , then any christian king hath : what is the glory of england ? what is the glory of christianity but the gospel ? if the gospel be gone , our glory is gone . pray remember elies daughter in law , the wise of phinehas ; she hearkned not though a man-child was born , and would receive no comfort , but called his name ichabod ; for the glory is departed from israel , the ark of god is taken : o when the glory is gone , who would desire to live ! i am loath to tell you the story of chrysostom , he was but one man , yet when he was banished constantinople , the people all petitioned for him , and said , they could as well lose the sun out of the firmament as lose chrysostom from among them . o the sad , and lamentable , and woful condition we are in , if the ark of god be taken : o therefore , let us tremble for fear of the ark. fourthly , let me perswade you not to mourn immoderately , neither be not discouraged ; i would willingly speak something to comfort you before i leave you , i know not by what strange providence i came here this day , and the lord knows when i shall speak to you again ; therefore i would not send you home comfortless : o therefore , mourn not as without hope , for i have four arguments to perswade me , that the ark of god will not be lost , though it be in danger of losing . first , because god hath done great things already for this nation ; and i argue like manoahs wife ; surely if god had intended to destroy us , he would not have done that he hath done for us ; he that hath done so much for us , will not now forsake us . and therefore , though our hearts tremble , yet let them not sink within us . secondly , i argue from the abundance of praying people that are in this nation , there are many that night and day pray unto god , that the ark may not be taken ; and let me assure you , god did never forsake a praying and reforming people . when god intends to destroy a nation , and take away the ark , he takes away the spirit of prayer : but where god gives the spirit of prayer , there god will continue the ark. you all know , that if there had been but ten good men in those five cities , god would have spared them : we have many hundreds that fear god in this nation , that do not give god rest , but night and day pray unto god for this land : and who knows but for their sakes , god will spare the ark ? thirdly , another ground of comfort is this , that god hath hitherto dealt with england , not by way of rule , but by way of prerogative ; we have had un-churching sinnes all the reign of queen elizabeth , and of king iames ; and the godly ministers have been threatned ruin , from year to year ; but god hath hitherto saved england by way of prerogative : god hath spared us , because he will spare us ; according to that text , i will be gracious , to whom i will be gracious . god will not be tyed to his own rule ; and who knoweth but god will deliver us ? fourthly , another ground of comfort is , that god is now pouring out his viols upon antichrist , and all this shall end in the ruin of antichrist : god is pouring forth his viols upon the throne of the beast , and all these transactions shall end in the ruin of anti-christ ; though some drops of these viols may light upon the reformed churches , and they may smart for a while , and god may severely punish them , yet it will be but for a little while , but the viols shall be poured out upon anti-christ : god may scourge all the reformed churches before these viols be poured out , and persecutions may go through them all , the which i call drops of these viols ; but the viols are intended for anti-christ , and shall end in the ruine of anti-christ ; and whatsoever becomes of us , yet our children , and our childrens children shall see the issue of the viols poured out upon the whore of babylon ; this i speak for your comfort . fifthly , i am to exhort you , that you would all of you contribute your utmost endeavour , to keep the ark of god from being taken : and here i shall shew you , 1. what the magistrate should do . 2. what the ministers should do . 3. what the people should do . first , what the magistrate should do , i shall say but little of them , because i am not now to speak to them ; they are to use their authority for the settling of the ark ; for the ark of the covenant will be like the ark of noah , alwayes floating upon the waters , until the magistrates settle it . thus david , 2 sam. 6. 1 , 2. he gathered together all the chosen men of israel , thirty thousand to fetch home the ark : so solomon , he assembled the elders of israel , and the heads of the tribes , the nobles , the chief of the fathers of the children of israel unto ierusalem , with a great deal of pomp , to bring up the ark of the covenant of the lord into its place . o that god would encourage our nobles and magistrates , that they might be solicitous to settle the ark : magistrates must not do as the philistines , they had the ark , but what did they do with it ? they set it up in the house of dagon , but dagon and the ark could never agree : where false religion comes in at one door , the true religion goes out at the other ; you must not put the ark and dagon together . secondly , what must the ministers do to keep the ark from losing ? they must endeavour after holiness ; the ark will never stand steddy , nor prosper upon the shoulders of hophny and phinehas . a wicked , prophane , drunken ministry will never settle the ark ; it must be the sober , pious , godly ministers that must do it : how holy must they be that draw nigh to the god of holiness ? thirdly , what must the people of god do , that the ark may not be lost ? there be five things i shall commend you unto , and then commend you to god. 1. you must not idolize the ark. 2. you must not undervalue the ark. 3. you must not pry into the ark. 4. you must not meddle with the ark without a lawful call. 5. you must keep the covenant of the ark. first , you must not idolize the ark ; that was the sin of the people in the text ; they thought the very presenceof the ark would excuse them , and keep them safe , and therefore they carried the ark into the camp ; though they reformed not , and repented not , yet they thought the ark would save them . so many there be that think the ark will save them , though never so wicked ; but nothing will secure a nation but repentance and reformation . secondly , do not undervalue the ark ; this was michals , 2 sam. 6. 14 , 15 , 16. when david danced before the ark , and michal mocked him , and despised him in her heart ; but saith he , it was before the lord , and if this be vile , i will be more vile . some men begin to say , what need we any preaching , will not prayers serve ? others say , what needs so much preaching , will not once a day serve ? now this is to undervalue the ark : therefore let us say as david , if to preach the word , if to fast and pray for the nation ; if this be vile , then i will be more vile . thirdly , we must not pry into the ark ; this was the sin of the men of bethshemesh , 1 sam. 6. 19. they looked into the ark , and god smote them , and cut off fifty thousand and threescore men . be not too curious in searching , where god hath not discovered or revealed : for example , there be great thoughts of heart , when god will deliver his people , and set his churches at liberty ; and many men talk much of the year , 1666. that shall be the year wherein antichrist shall be destroyed : and there are strange impressions upon the hearts of many learned men , as to this year ; some go to the year , 1669. and others pitch upon other times ; but truly if you will have my judgement , and i am glad of this opportunity to tell you , this is to pry too much into the ark : remember that text , acts 1. 17. it is not for you to know the times or the seasons , which the father hath put in his own power . and thus to conclude upon any particular time , if you find you are deceived , it is the way to make you atheists , and that afterwards you should believe nothing : and those ministers do no service , or rather ill service to the church of god , that conclude of times and sea sons . a popish author saith , that in the year one thousand , there was a general belief over the christian world , that the day of judgement should be that year ; but when they saw it happened not , they fell to their old sinning again , and were worse then before , and believed nothing . well , gods time is the best , therefore let not us pry too much into the ark. fourthly , you must not meddle with the ark , unless you have a lawfull call to meddle with it : this was the sin of uza , 2 sam. 6. 6 , 7. the ark was in danger of falling , and he good man meaning no hurt to keep up the ark , took hold of it ; but he destroyed himself , and made a breach , and hindred the carrying home of the ark. we had a great disorder heretofore ; abundance of well-meaning people usurped upon the ministerial office ; they were afraid the ark was falling , and therefore they touched the ark , they laid hold on the ark ; but their touching the ark hath undone the ark , and themselves too . o take heed of touching the ark. fifthly , if ever you would preserve the ark , then keep the covenant of the ark , keep the law which the ark preserves : the ark was a place wherein the law was kept , the two tables ; keep the law , and god will keep the ark ; but if you break the law , you will forfeit the ark : the ark was called the ark of the covenant ; keep covenant with god , and god will preserve the ark ; but if you break the covenant of the ark , the covenant made in baptism , and that covenant often renewed in the sacrament ; if you break covenant , god will take away the ark. finis . the doctrine of the bodies fragility: with a divine project, discovering how to make these vile bodies of ours glorious by getting gracious souls. represented in a sermon preached at martins ludgate at the funerall of that worthy and reverend minister of jesus christ, dr. samuel bolton, master of christ college in cambridge, who died the 15 of octob. 1654. and was buried the 19 day of the same month. / by that painfull and pious minister of gods word mr. edmund calamy, b.d. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a78767 of text r207348 in the english short title catalog (thomason e814_8). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 45 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 12 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a78767 wing c229 thomason e814_8 estc r207348 99866405 99866405 118677 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a78767) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 118677) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 124:e814[8]) the doctrine of the bodies fragility: with a divine project, discovering how to make these vile bodies of ours glorious by getting gracious souls. represented in a sermon preached at martins ludgate at the funerall of that worthy and reverend minister of jesus christ, dr. samuel bolton, master of christ college in cambridge, who died the 15 of octob. 1654. and was buried the 19 day of the same month. / by that painfull and pious minister of gods word mr. edmund calamy, b.d. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [4], 19, [1] p. printed for joseph moore over aginst the pump in little-britain, and are to be sold at westminster, and in pauls church-yard, london, : 1655. [i.e. 1654] actual publication date inferred from date in title and thomason annotation. an expanded version was published in 1655 as: the saints transfiguration. annotation on thomason copy: "nouemb: 2d". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng bolton, samuel, 1606-1654 -early works to 1800. bible. -n.t. -philippians iii, 21 -sermons. funeral sermons -17th century. a78767 r207348 (thomason e814_8). civilwar no the doctrine of the bodies fragility:: with a divine project, discovering how to make these vile bodies of ours glorious by getting graciou calamy, edmund 1655 8151 7 30 0 0 0 0 45 d the rate of 45 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-04 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-10 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-10 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the doctrine of the bodies fragility : with a divine project , discovering how to make these vile bodies of ours glorious by getting gracious souls . represented in a sermon preached at martins ludgate at the funerall of that worthy and reverend minister of jesus christ , dr. samuel bolton , master of christ college in cambridge , who died the 15 of octob. 1654. and was buried the 19 day of the same month . by that painfull and pious minister of gods word mr. edmund calamy , b. d. london , printed for joseph moore over against the pump in little-britain , and are to be sold at westminster , and in pauls church-yard , 1655 ▪ to the christian reader . reader , wee live in such times wherein most men in the world cry out with those the psalmist speaks of in the 4. psalme , who will shew us any good ? inquiring and listening after the pleasures and profits and preferments of the world , spending all their time , and improving all their parts , abilities , and opportunities , for the promoting their temporall interests , and providing for their frail bodies , subject to diseases , infirmities , and corruptions ; and which ere long must be laid down in the dust : and in the mean time neglecting the concernments of their precious and never dying souls ; never valuing , or at least not labouring after the light of gods countenance , which is better then life , and the joyes of his salvation which are unspeakable and glorious ; but preferre their bodies before their souls , greedily pursuing the world , and only minding earthly things , whose end ( as the apostle saies ) will be destruction , both of soul and body , if they still run on without repentance . this sermon was designed to cure part of this evill , and to put a stop to the folly and madnesse of such people , by discovering to them a better way how to advance the interest of their bodies , and to make them happy and glorious , by having their conversations here in heaven , and securing the interest of their souls in the first place . possibly this ensuing discourse was only intended for the edification of that particular congregation where it was delivered , but being there taken from the authors mouth , by the pen of a ready writer , and now exposed to publique view , all good people may partake of the advantages that are therein recorded ; whereat i hope no man ought to be offended . a sermon preached at dr. samuel bolton's funerall . phil. 3. 21. who shall change our vile body , that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body , according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself . wee are here met at this time to perform the last office of love for a worthy , reverend , and godly minister of jesus christ , dr. samuel bolton master of christs colledge in cambridge ; and this text that i have chosen , will afford us many sutable and seasonable considerations for such a meeting : for here you have , first , the condition that the bodies of men ( even the best of men , the saints of god ) are in , in this life , they are vile bodies , the greek is very emphaticall {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , corpus vilitatis , that is , bodies of vilenesse , or a vile body , the greek {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} signifies abjectam conditionem , a vile and abject condition , such as is the condition of slaves or bondmen . 2. here we have the condition that the bodies of the saints shall be in at the glorious resurrection of the just , then their vile bodies shall be made like to the glorious body of the lord jesus christ , the body of vilenesse shall then be the body of glory . 3. we have h●●e the persons that shall be thus changed at the glorious resurrection , and they are such who have their conversations in heaven ; who shall change our , not every vile body , but our vile body , whose conversations are in heaven , from whence we look for the saviour the lord jesus christ , who shall change our vile body , that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body . 4. we have the person that shall do all this , and that person is the lord jesus christ . 5. the time when this shall be done , and that is at the great day of judgement , from whence we look for the saviour the lord jesus christ , who at that day when he comes to judge the world , shall change our vile bodies . 6. we have the means by which all this shall be accomplished , and that is , according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself , and therefore able to make this glorious transfiguration and transformation of our bodies . you may perceive by what i have said , that this text is a cabinet of many precious truths : here you have the doctrine of the bodies fragility and vilenesse ; and the doctrine of the bodies immortality and glorification at the resurrection of the just . you have the doctrine of the eternall day of judgement ; you have the doctrine of the main design and end why jesus christ will come to judgement , one chief reason of it is , that he may change our vile bodies , and fashion them like unto his glorious body . my purpose is to pick out two of these jewels to speak to at this time . 1. the condition that the bodies of the saints are in in this life . 2. the condition that the bodies of the saints are in at the great day of judgement . first , i shall speak of the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , of the body of vilenesse , or , the vile body : and then of the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , of the body of glory . 1. that the bodies of the saints as long as they are in this life , they are vile bodies . 2. that the lord jesus christ at the day of jugement shall raise up these vile bodies and make them formable to his glorious body . 1. that the bodies of the saints in this life , they are bodies of vilenesse : the holy apostle foresaw how prone men and women would be to be proud of the bodies and pamper their bodies , and spend their time and care about their bodies , even to the neglect of their precious souls , and therefore he is pleased to call our bodies vile bodies : and in 1 cor. 25. 43. there he cals them bodies of dishonour , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , bodies of dishonour , or bodies of vilenesse . object . but you will say , in what respect may the body of a saint be called a vile body ? answ. the bodies of the saints may be said to be vile in regard of his primitive creation , before it was defiled with sin ; for the body of man was made of the dust of the earth , ex pulvere terrae , not made of excellent materials , as silver and gold ; nor of celestial materials , as sun , moon and stars , but of perishing and contemptible materials , the body was made of dust , of clay and muddy dust , ex luto . 2. and more especially since the fall of adam , our bodies are called vile bodies , because subject to vile diseases ; there is no disease so vile , but the body of a saint is subject to it : take the example of job , a man eminent in godlinesse , yet his body full of sores and boyles , from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot ; and he saies of himself in job 7. 5. my flesh is clothed with wormes , and clods of dust , my skin is broken and become loathsome . 3. they may be said to be vile because subject to vile abominations , to vile wickednesses and impieties ; for since the fall , our bodies are become the instruments of iniquity unto iniquity , unto drunkennesse and adultery , to murders , and theeveries , and idolatries , &c. 4. in the best of the saints , their bodies are impediments to their nobler souls , and therefore the body is called vincula animi , the bonds and fetters of the soul , that hinders the soul from , and in heavenly operations . 5. the body may be said to be vile in reference to its finall corruption and dissolution ; for when the soul is separated from the body , then you will all say that the body is a vile putrified rotten stinking carkasse , turning to dust , and eaten up of worms , that saies to corruption , thou art my father , and to the worms , thou art my mother and my sister . 6. the body may be said to be vile in comparison of the precious soul ; for the body ▪ as one saies , is but the worst half of the soul ; it is half , but it is the worst half ; the body is but the cark●sse the shell , the box of the soul , intus est quod homo est , it is the soul of a man that is the man of man ; the soul is like an angell dwelling in the body , as in a house of clay . the soul is not made of the dust , as the body is , but the soul is made of the breath of god , ex ore dei , ( as one saies ) not made of the essence of god , but of the breath of god ; and therefore in that respect , in comparison of the soul , the body may be said to be a vile body . 7. and lastly , the body may be said to be vile in this life , in comparison of what it shall be at the glorious resurrection , for then it shall be a most glorious body conformable unto the glorious body of jesus christ . now for the application of this , let me beseech you sirs , that you would often and often meditate upon this appellation and epithet , that is here given unto our bodies , they are called vile bodies , vile when separated from the soul , vile when united to to the soul , vile before the fall of man , but especially vile since the fall of man ; subject to vile diseases and abominations : and one thing more which i forgot before , and that is , they are vile because subject to be abused by wicked persecutors , and by malicious tyrants , for though a tyrant cannot hurt the soul of a saint , yet he may torment the body ; and therefore in heb. 11. it is said of the holy saints ; that they underwent cruell mockings and scourgings , and bonds and imprisonment , and wandred up and down in sheeps skins and goats skins , being destitute , afflicted and tormented : all which is understood of their bodies , and therefore vile bodies because subject to be abused , and subject to all manner of wickednesses ; but especially vile in comparison of the precious soul , and in respect of what their bodies shall be hereafter . now let this meditation teach us these lessons . 1. let this epithet teach you a lesson of humility ; the bodies you carry about you are vile bodies , let us not then be proud of them : beza translates the words , corpus humilitatis , a body of humility : on purpose it was that god made the body of the lowest elements , that we might not be lifted up with pride of our bodies , but have a mean and low esteem of them ; and hence it is that the body in scripture is compared to things that are very mean and contemptible , as to the grasse of the field , to hay , and dry stubble , as in job 13. 2. to a leaf driven to and fro with the winde : to a rotten thing , and to a garment that is moth-eaten , in the 28 verse of this chapter , it is compared to such mean things , that we might learn to have a mean esteem of our bodies . why art thou proud oh dust and ashes ? what is thy handsome body , but gilded rottennesse ? what are all your riches and honours but heaps of dung and dust ? and god will shortly lay your honour in the dust . every bird makes her nest of that thou are made of ; every beast treads that under feet that thou art made of ; every creeping thing disposeth of that thou art made of ; every blast of winde scatters that which thou art made of ; and why then art thou proud oh dust and ashes ? what is man but rottennesse and corruption , but worms meat ? i remember what i have once read in a manuscript concerning a stone that was presented to alexander the great , the nature of it was this , that being put into one part of the ballance , it weighed down what ever was put in the other part of it ; but if a little dust were cast upon the stone , then every thing weighed down the stone ; and he that brought the stone being demanded what he meant by it , he answered . oh alexander thou art this stone , thou whilest thou livest , doest weigh down all that are against thee , and treadest down all before thee ; but when thou comest to die , and there is a little dust thrown upon thee , then every man will outweigh you , and then you will be lesse then any man in the world . remember you are but dust , dust you are , and to dust you must return , oh therefore cast dust upon your beauty , cast dust upon your riches , cast dust upon your bodies , and be not proud of your vile bodies . this is one lesson of humility . 2. here is from this epithet , a lesson of mortification , this vile body of ours is subject to be abused by the devill to vile abominations ; and therefore now let us go to jesus christ to get power to mortifie and crucifie this body of flesh , this body of sin that is in us ; for we have a body of sin , and that is it which makes this body of ours to be so vile , therefore i say let us bury our selves in the grave of christ , that so we may draw mortifying graces from the lord jesus christ , that may tend to the subduing of our corruptions , and the lusts of our flesh . excellent is that expression of the apostle in 1 cor. 9. 27. saies he , i keep under my body and bring it into subjection , lest that by any means when i have preached to others i my self should be a cast-away . upon which words , s. augustine hath this saying , if the great ram of the flock ( saies he ) hath need to beat down his body to bring it into subjection , how much more should we tender lambs use all means for the keeping of them under ? the body is called ( jumentum animi ) the beast of the soul , now when this beast begins to kick against the soul , we must labour to subdue it by fasting and prayer . 3. let this epithet teach us a lesson of heavenly courage and fortitude , let us not fear what man can do unto us . let us not fear what the worst of men can do , for they can but kill this vile body ; and therefore saies christ , fear not him that can but kill the body , and after that can do no more , they cannot reach the soul of a saint , they can but hurt the body , and that is a vile body too , subject to a thousand diseases and abominations , and therfore why should we fearwhat vile man can do against us , seeing they can only hurt this vile body , and when they have done all they can , this body in spite of them will rise again , and this vile body will become a most glorious body ? oh let us not make shipwrack of a good conscience , to save this vile body , oh let us not destroy our souls to save this vile carkase in a good cause . 4. in the next place from this epithet of vile body , let us learn this lesson , not to set the servant on horse back , and let the master go a foot ; let us not prefer the handmaid before the mistresse , let us not prefer the box before the jewell , this vile body before our precious and immortall souls . the body is made of dust , and who ever advanced dust ? we use to sweep that away off from our cloathes , and out of our houses ; oh therefore let us not advance our bodies that are but dust ; the body without the soul is but a lump of clay , a rotten carkasse , doe not then preferre it before thy precious soul . it is a sad thing to consider how most people , even those that beleeve the doctrine of the souls immortality , do spend the best of their time , and cares and affections upon these vile bodies , and in the mean time neglect to provide for their eternall souls . give me leave to illustrate this by a similitude , suppose a man should invite a noble man to his house , and only provide provender for the noble mans horses , without any provision at all for himself , only such as his horses feed on , would not this be a course entertainment ? and yet this is the disposition of most people in the world ; the soul is this nobleman , which dwels in this body of clay , as in a poor cottage , and we pamper our bodies , and provide provender for them , but take no care at all of our noble souls , we neglect them , our souls are never the richer for all our worldly wealth , nor are our souls the finer for all our golden clothes . i have read a prayer that i have oftentimes wondred at , and that is the prayer of s. john concerning gaius , in 3 joh. 2. he does there pray , that his body might prosper and be in health , even as his soul prospered ; if we should make such prayers for many of our people , we should rather curse them then pray for them , for if they had no better bodies then they have souls , they would have very leanbodies . you should labour so to live that this prayer might be fit for you , that we might pray that god would prosper your bodies even as your soul prospereth ; let your chief part take up your chiefest care . once more in the fifth place , let us from this epithet learn a lesson of thankfulnesse ; seeing our bodies are bodies of vilenesse , then if god hath formed you into a more handsom or healthful body then other men , if god hath made any of us ex meliore luto , of better earth , if god hath made us golden vessels in regard of our outward condition , if god hath raised any of us from the dust , and set us in high places , especially if god hath made us elect vessels , vessels of mercy in regard of our eternall condition , as i doubt not but there are many such here : oh give god a great deal of glory , and give god all the glory . if god hath made thy vile body an instrument of righteousnesse unto holinesse , if god hath sanctified it and made it a temple fit for the holy ghost to dwell in , then let me speak to you in the language of the holy ghost ; know you not that your bodies are the members of christ ? will you take the members of christ , and make them members of a harlot ? god forbid ▪ know you not that your body is the temple of the holy ghost , which is in you ? and , if any man defile the temple of god , him will god destroy . will you abuse that body that is the temple of the holy ghost , to sin and iniquity ? god forbid . but i must passe from this point and come to the second , which was , that our worthy and dear brother was very much refreshed withall , and did often repeat in my hearing , and upon that account i made choice of this text at this time . the second observation then is this . that the lord jesus christ shall come down from heaven at the great day of judgement , and shall raise those vile bodies of ours , and shall make them like unto his glorious body . this doctrine is an alablaster box full of precious consolation , it was a great comfort and support to our dear brother , when he was going out of the world ; and oh that it might be a precious cordiall to every one of us when we come to lie upon our death-beds ! i shall here by way of illustration , propound three short questions , and then answer them . quest . 1. what is that change that christ shall make in our vile bodies at the glorious resurrection ? answ. god will not make a substantiall change of our bodies , but only of the quality of them ; the same bodies that are now vile , shall then be glorious ; that look as a piece of wool when it is dyed into a scarlet dye , yet it is the same wool for substance , though it be made more glorious ; so likewise shall our bodies be at the resurrection , they shall be the same bodies , only made more glorious ; mat. 22. they shall be bodies of glorification ; we shall be made equall to the angels , not in regard of essence , but in regard of qualities . chrysostome hath a fine simile to this purpose , ( saies he ) as a goldsmith takes a little gold , and puts it into a refining pot , and melts it , and then out of that gold formes a golden vessell fit to be set before kings : so the lord jesus christ will melt the bodies of his saints by death , and then out of their dead ashes will form a vessell of gold , a glorious body fit to live before god , and sing halelujahs in heaven to all eternity . quest . what kinde of transfiguration or transformation , shall our bodies have at that day ? what is this metamorphosis , this change ? wherein doth it consist ? answ . it is impossible to set out those glorious excellencies that god will bestow upon our bodies at that great and glorious resurrection . augustine hath this expression , saies he , how great the glory of our spirituall bodies shall be at that day , because we have no experience of it , i am afraid it will be rashnesse for any man to speak peremptorily about it . if i had time , there are many places of scripture i would crave leave to open to you concerning this , we shall at that day be made equall to the angels : it is sowen a corruptible body , but raised an incorruptible body : it is sowen in dishonour , it is raised in glory : it is sowen in weaknesse , it is raised in power : it is sowen a naturall body , it is raised a spirituall body , &c. and many other places ; but i shall confine my self to the expression here in the text , these vile bodies of ours shall be made {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , conformable to the glorious body of christ ; and this is enough to set out the excellency of them ; for the body of christ now in heaven certainly is unexpressibly glorious , you have a specification of this in his transfiguration , the face of christ did shine as the sun , in so much that peter was swallowed up with the brightnesse of that glory ; and yet that was but a glimpse of his glory now in heaven , rev. 2. 2. there shall be no need of the sun there , for the lamb shall be the light of heaven . there are many divines of opinion , that the brightnesse that paul saw when he was struck dead off his horse , was the brightnesse of the body of jesus christ ; surely great is the glory of that body , now the bodies of the saints shall be changed into the likenesse of the glorious body of jesus christ . quest . but how shall this be done ? answ. my brethren , with man this is impossible : but with god nothing is impossible : my text tels you how this shall be done , even according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself . the lord jesus christ he is almighty , and therefore he is able to do it ; and let me tell you this , our dear brother did thrice repeat these words , according to his mighty power , his mighty power , even his mighty power , he is able to change this vile body of mine , and make it like unto his glorious body . object . but shall all bodies be made thus glorious ? answ. no , the bodies of the wicked shall rise at the last day , but it shall be to their everlasting shame and ruine and confusion ; the bodies of the wicked shall be immortall , but they shall be immortall fuell to immortall flames ; the bodies of the wicked shall come out of the grave , as the baker did out of prison in egypt , to be executed ; they shall go out of prison to the place of execution ; out of the grave as out of prison to be hung in chains for ever and ever ; the wicked shall rise , but their bodies in stead of being glorious shall be loathsome and abominable . object . but what is the character of those men and women whose bodies shall be made thus glorious at that day ? answ . there is one character of them in the text , if thou art one that hast thy conversation in heaven , then thy body shall be glorious . for our conversation is in heaven from whence also we look for a saviour the lord jesus christ , who shall change our vile bodies , and make them like to his glorious body , &c. if thou beest a man that mindest earthly things , if thou art an epicure and voluptuous , and given over to fulfill the desires of the flesh and of the minde , thy body shall rise , but it shall rise to the resurrection of everlasting condemnation . but you that are heavenly minded , that have your dispositions and conversations in heaven ; then when christ comes from heaven , he shall make your bodies glorious . 2. you that are members of christs mysticall body , christ hath a naturall body , and a mysticall body , all the godly that are true beleevers and really united to christ , they are all members of his mysticall body ; now if thou beest a member of christs mysticall body , thou shalt be made as glorious as christs naturall body . mistake me not , i speak not of the quality , but likenesse , he will make his mysticall body as glorious as his naturall body , therefore it is said in 2 thess. 1. 10. that at the day of judgement , he shall be glorified in his saints , that is , glorified in the glory that his saints shall have at that day ; here christ is glorified by his saints , but there he shall be glorified in his saints , in the glory that the members of his mysticall body shall then have , christ shall have a double glory in heaven , a personall glory ; and a refl●xive glory , the glory of the members of christ , shall be the glory of christ at that day , all you that are true and reall members of christs mysticall body ; your vile body at the great day of christ appearing , shall be made like unto his glorious body . 3. all you that have gracious souls now , you shall have glorified bodies hereafter . it was a rare saying that of bernard , and worthy to be written in letters of gold ( saies he ) christ hath a double coming , he comes now by his ministers to make thy soul glorious , and at the day of judgement he will come in his person to make thy body glorious . this is the great mistake of the world , they spend that time in pampering their bodies , which they should imploy in providing for their souls . this present time is not the time for thy body , this is the time for thy soul wherein thou shouldst labour to get that adorned with grace and holinesse , and then christ will come on purpose from heaven to make thy body glorious hereafter . do not therefore mistake your time , study to get good and gracious souls here , and you shall be sure to have glorious bodies hereafter : and you that defile and pollute your souls , and starve them by living in sin and iniquity , you that have vile souls here , shall be sure to have miserable and wretched bodies hereafter . there are many rare uses that may be made of this point , give me leave to name one of them to you , and that shall be to all you that have gracious souls , i hope i speak to many such this night , whose soules are adorned with the robes of christs righteousnesse , to all you that minde heavenly things , who have your conversations in heaven ; to all you that are members of christs mysticall body ; consider i beseech you what a glorious condition your vile bodies shall be in at the great day of christs appearing , consider it , and that in these two particulars . 1. let this consideration comfort us against the fear of death , and let me say to you as god said to jacob in gen 44. fear not to go down into egypt ( saies god ) for certainly i will bring thee out again . so say i to you that are the saints of god , fear not to go down to the house of rottennesse , fear not to lay down your heads in the grave , for god will certainly bring you out again , and you shall come out a glorious body ; fear not to have this house , this tabernacle of thy body pulled down , for god shall raise it up again , and make of it a glorious structure . 2. let this comfort us against the death of our godly friends ; when a childe of god dies , nothing dies in him totally and finally but sin , his soul doth not die at all , and his body shall be raised again a glorious body , it is sowen in corruption , it is raised in incorruption ; it is sowen in dishonour , it is raised in glory ; it is sowen in weaknesse , it is raised in power ; it is sowen a naturall body , it is raised a spirituall body . this body of ours in the grave is a member of christ , and united to christ , even in the grave ; and this dust of thine is precious , and therefore we are said to die in christ . there is a text that did very much refresh this our brother ( upon his death-bed ) which i never took such special notice of before , and that is in job 21. 33. saies job there , the clods of the valley shall be sweet unto me ; they made their graves in the valleys , and saies job , the mould and clods that fils the grave shall be sweet unto me : the earth shall be sweet to the saints . and then again let this comfort any of christ mysticall body , any of gods children that have deformed bodies , or diseased bodies ; you that are troubled with the stone , gout , dissinesse in the head , that makes you unserviceable to god in your places , and unable to doe what good you would ; here is comfort for you at the glorious resurrection , our vile bodies shall be changed , and all our diseases shall be cured , our stone , and gout , and head-aches , and infirmities shall be cured . and then again , let this comfort us and encourage us to be willing , if god cals us to it , to lose our ears for christs sake , to lose our hands for christs sake , and to lose this vile body if god call us to suffer for him : let us be willing to lose a member for christs sake , for you shall have all restored to you again at the resurrection ; therefore the day of judgement is called the day of restitution of all things , wherein god will repair all our breaches : as in that story in the book of martyrs of the seven children that were put to death ; and one of them , his tongue going to be cut out , comforted his mother in telling her , he should have a better tongue at the resurrection . from the consideration of this , let us be exhorted , and oh that i could speak so that my words might be effectuall , and operative upon all your hearts , let me humbly beseech you to glorifie god in your bodies . oh you that are the saints of god , whose bodies by grace are become the temples of the holy ghost , let me beseech you by the mercies of that god , that hath sanctified your bodies , and made them instruments of his service , that you would yeeld up your bodies , and present them a living sacrifice , holy and acceptable unto god , which is your reasonable service : make your bodies more and more the instruments of righteousnesse unto righteousnesse . and let us that are ministers think of this , let us not think it much to wear out our bodies in gods service , at the day of judgement we shall then have glorious bodies . let us not think we can do god too much service with our bodies , especially when we consider how glorious our bodies shall be at the resurrection , even conformable to the glo●ious body of jesus christ . here is another use i should make of this , which i shall but name to you , and that is a divine project how to make your bodies glorious : if there were such a physician amongst you that could cure all your deformities and diseases , and make your bodies immortall , how would you prize him ? beloved , i have this day told you of such a physician , and that is the lord jesus christ , that shall one day come from heaven , and make our vile bodies like to his glorious body . hearken to me , thou proud dust and ashes , thou that spendest all thy time in decking and adorning thy body with sinfull deckings , consider thy madnesse , that whilest thou takest more care for thy vile body then for thy precious soul , thou doest ruine and destroy both . do but hearken to me , and i will shew you a way how to get glorious bodies and glorious souls too ; labour to get gracious souls here , and you shall be sure to have glorious bodies and souls hereafter ; labour to have your conversations in heaven here , and then at the great day of judgement , jesus christ will let out some of his glory to make you glorious , he shall change our vile bodies , and fashion them like unto his glorious body , according to the working whereby , he is able to subdue all things to himself . but i must forbear and leave things imperfect , because there is another text that i must speak a little to . it hath pleased god now of late to take away many worthy and godly and learned ministers from amongst us . and certainly my brethren this is a great judgement , and so much the greater , because people are so little sensible of it . and it is not only a great judgement it self , but also a presage of a greater . the jewes had a saying , that it was an ill sign to the world , when the luminaries of heaven were eclipsed . god hath lately eclipsed many luminaries , and put out many glorious lights . i need not put you of this city in minde of dr. gouge , mr. walker , mr. whitaker , mr. gatiker , mr. strong . i need not put those of the university in minde of dr. hill , and now this reverend and worthy minister dr. samuel bolton master of christs colledge in cambridge . if i should enter into his commendations , i might justly say that which another said in the like case , that there is more fear , lest we should say lesse , then he deserved ; then that we should praise him above his deserts . he was a burning and a shining light in this our israel ; he was an interpreter one of a thousand , a man of excellent ministerial abilities , a workman that needed not to be ashamed , dividing aright the word of truth ; he was one that did not only preach well , but live well ; he was one whose life was an excellent commentary upon his sermons . as nazianzen said of john the baptist , who is called the voyce of the cryer , saies he , john the baptist was ( tota vox , ) all voice in his prudence , all voice in his habit , all voice in his diet , all voice in his dwelling , all voice in his conversation : so was our dear brother all voice ; he was a voice in his life , as well as in his doctrine : and let me tell you , that the life of a minister preacheth as much as his doctrine ; it was a saying that ruffinus hath of gregory nazianzen , which i may apply to this our brother , he not condemning himself by living contrary to what he preached , but he did do those things himself that he taught to others : he had not only dona sanata , but dona salutifera , not only gifts for the good of others , but grace for the good of his own soul . many ministers have rare gifts and parts , but they are like a pearl in a toads head , because their lives give a lye to their doctrines ; but this our brother was one that not only had gifts for the good of others , but grace for the good of his own soul , and that is his greatest commendation , he was an humble saint . there are 4. things , saies luther , that make a minister , prayer , reading , meditation , and temptation ; our christian brother was not only a man of reading , prayer , and meditation , but a man assaulted with many temptations , more i beleeve then many hundreds of ministers are ; he was much assaulted with temptations , and therefore the better able to comfort those that were tempted , with those comforts where withall he was comforted . and let me take the boldnesse to tell you , that he hath left a writing behinde him , wherein he hath recorded all the outgoings of god toward him , and all the experiences of gods shining with the light of his countenance upon him , and also of his withdrawings and hiding his face from him ; both those times when god was at a distance from him , and when he approached nearer to him . he was so zealous in his ministeriall function , that though he was head of a colledge in cambridge , yet notwithstanding for many years together , he preached freely without any salary , at the publique church in that city . and this puts me in minde of what was said in a sermon in print of that reverend and godly man doctor hill , that he preached the gospell without any charges to them that heard him : and so did this our brother for many years ; and for three or four years he was lecturer in this place , where he preached to the great satisfaction of the godly , both here and in many other places of the city , that duly waited upon his ministry . and though he be now dead , yet he still speaks , not only by the holinesse of his life and graciousnesse of his doctrine , but also by the many books that he hath left in print behind him , in which books you may see a fair character of his piety and ministeriall abilities . he was very orthodox and sound in judgement , no spirituall leprosie in his head , witnesse those two books of his , the arraignment of errors , and a vindication of the right of the law , and of the liberties of grace . he was a man of a publique spirit , witnesse that book of his , a work in season to a sinking kingdome . he was very carefull in his sacramentall admission , when he had a place wherein to exercise his ministry ; he was very exact in that particular , witnesse that book of his called the wedding garment . for the time of sicknesse it was long , tedious , and constant ; and yet notwithstanding it pleased god to measure out to him a great deal of patience and consolation ; and it is observable , and may be for the comfort and encouragement of those ministers or people that meet with a great many crosses , and troubles , and temptations in their life times , they do commonly receive the greatest comforts at their death . it pleased god to come in to this our godly brother with a great deal of comfort , in so much , that before he dyed , he said , his heart was as full of comfort as it could hold , and saies he , though the providences of god have been very dark towards me , yet i thank god i have light within me . when i was last with him , he was wonderfull desirous to be dissolved and to be with christ ; and i heard him say , oh this vile carkasse of mine , when will it give way that my soul may get out , and goe to my god ? oh this vile carkasse , when will thou be consumed , that i may goe to my god ? and when he did see any symptomes of death , any thing that did threaten death , which he called the the little crevises at which his soul did peep out , it was the joy of his heart . it was his desire to be buryed without any funerall pomp , which puts me in minde of good pell , when he was a dying , the scholars of the university came to him and asked him whether he would be buried in his scholastick habit or no , saies he , no , i desire to die as an humble christian , not as a doctor , as a humble saint , not as a learned man ; and i trust i shall appear at the great day , not clad with my doctors robes , but with the robes of christs righteousnesse . and this was the desire and the hope of our dear brother , and this text that i have preached on , he did with a great deal of earnestnesse of spirit rejoice in , when he considered of that day when this vile body of his , subject to so many diseases , should be made like to the glorious body of jesus christ ; in whose blessed armes we leave this our dear brother , beseeching god that he would make up this great losse of him , to the church of god in generall , and to the university of cambridge in particular . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a78767e-320 object . answ . vse . lesson 1. lesson 2. lesson 3. lesson 4. lesson 5. 1 cor. 6. 15 , 19. & 3. 17. doct. 2. quest . 1. answ . quest . 2. answ . quest . 3. answ . object . answ . object . answ . ans. 2. answ . 3. vse . rom. 12. 1. vse 2. eli trembling for fear of the ark a sermon preached at st. mary aldermanbury, december 28, 1662 / by edmund calamy ... upon the preaching of which he was committed prisoner to the gaol of newgate, jan. 6, 1662 ; together with the mittimus and manner of his imprisonment, annexed hereunto. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 1662 approx. 45 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 13 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a31910 wing c231 estc r170346 11901554 ocm 11901554 50589 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a31910) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 50589) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 18:11) eli trembling for fear of the ark a sermon preached at st. mary aldermanbury, december 28, 1662 / by edmund calamy ... upon the preaching of which he was committed prisoner to the gaol of newgate, jan. 6, 1662 ; together with the mittimus and manner of his imprisonment, annexed hereunto. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [4], 19 [i.e. 23] p. [s.n.], oxford : 1662. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng ark of the covenant -sermons. religion and state -england. sermons, english. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-11 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2004-11 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a copy of the mittimus and manner of imprisonment of mr. edmund calamy . for as much as i have received a certificate from and under the hand and seal of the right reverend father in god gilbert lord bishop of london , that mr. edmund calamy late curate of the parish church of st. mary aldermanbury in the said city of london , being ( according as is provided and enacted by the late act of parliament made for the uniformity of publick prayers , &c. ) by reason of his inconformity disabled to preach or read a●y lecture or sermon , in any church or chappell within his majesties realm of england , or dominion of wales , and town of barwick upon tweed , and continuing and remaining still so disabled , did since the feast of st. bartholomew last past , upon two several dayes , viz , on tuesday the twenty sixth day of august last past , and upon sunday the twenty eighth day of december , 1662 , in the said church of st. mary aldermanbury presume and take upon himself ( without any lawfull approbation and licen●e thereunto ) to preach or read two severall sermons or lectures publickly before the congregation then and there in the said church assembled , contrary to , and in contempt of authority of the said act of parliament : these are therefore ( as i am required by the said act in his majesties name to will and command you to receive into your custody within the gaol of newgate the body of the said edmund calamy brought unto you therewith , and him there detain for the offence aforesaid , for the term of three months from the day of the date hereof , without bail or maine prise , according to the tenor and effect of the act of parliament aforesaid . and this shall be your warrant therein , dated this fifth day of january . 1662. upon notice the 5 day of january instant that a warrant was issued against the sa●d edmund calamy by his lordship to apprehend him , the said edmund at night personally appeared before his said lordship , and desired his lordship that he might have favour not to be committed till the next day , and promising ( wi●h o●her sufficient persons that he would the six●h of january about eleven of the clock peaceably render his body to the goale of newgate upon sending a mittimus ; his lordship took the word of himself and sureties , and ●hereupon by mr. john marshall , one of the city marshalls and sworn constable sending the said mittimu● at the time desired , he the said mr. calamy went with the said marshall , and now is prisoner in the gaol of newgate . eli trembling for fear of the ark. a sermon preached at st. mary aldermanbury , dec. 28.1662 : by edmvnd calamy , b.d. late minister there . upon the preaching of which he was committed prisoner to the gaol of newgate jan. 6. 1662. together , with the mittimus and manner of his imprisonment , annexed hereunto . oxford , printed in the y●●●●●●● an advertisement to the reader . wee believe you have heard of the imprisonment of mr. edmund calamy ; as also of the matter of fact , viz. for preaching ; being dis-inabled thereunto for his non-conformity to the present state of affairs in the church of england . many ( we have heard ) do blame him for his imprudency , in acting against a known law , but nemo omnibus horis sapit ; yet we are so bold as to say , he is the more excusable , for as much as it was in a time of need : do you not knovv vvhat david did vvhen he vvas an hungred , and those that vvere vvith him , matth. 12.3 , 4 , &c. 't is well known mr. calamy went to church with no intention to preach , but to hear , but the minister that was expected , failing , mr. calamy being present was intreated and incouraged by some eminent persons there to perform the work ; who presently answered their desire , and it may be that scripture was urgent , 1 cor. 9.16 , &c. so that he preached not as curate , or lecturer , but onely occasionally , and that not in contempt of authority . we suppose you are desirous to see the sermon , we have therefore gratified your desire , and assure you that this is faithfully and exactly as he delivered it ; read it therefore , 't is verbum tempestivum . farewell . 1 sam . 4.3 . and when he came , ●o eli sate upon a seat by the way side , watching , for his heart trembled for the ark of god. that you may the better understand this text , you must know , that what ever god threaten'd against old eli , in the second and third chapters , it was because he did not restrain his two wicked sons from their leud courses , and is here ex●cuted in this fourth chapter ; and therefore we read in the beginning of the chapter , that four thousand of the children of israel were slain by the philistines ; and the elders of israel met together to consider what they might do to repair this great loss ; they confess that it was the lord that had smitten them ; wher●fore hath the lord smitten us ? but they foolishly imagined that the way to repair the loss , would be by fetching the ark from shil●e , and carrying it into the battel ; whereupon they appointed hophni and phineas to take the ark of the covenant , and carry it into the battel , thereby imagining , that the presence of the ark would secure them from ruine : but herein they were miserably mistaken ; for the reason why they were smitten , was not because the ark was in the camp , but because sin was in the camp ; for as augustine observes , the ark wherein the two tables were , would not pro●●ct those that had broken the two tables ; the ark of the covenant would not preserve those that had broken their covenant with god ; therefore notwi●● stan●●ng the presence of the ark , there were thirty thous●●● o● the children of i●rael slain in the battel , and hop●ni and phineas that bore the ark , were slain , and the ark its●lf was taken prisoner . but now let us consider what old eli was doing all the while the battel was fighting : the good old man was 98. years old , he was not able to go to the battel ; but he got upon a seat by the way side , near the battel where it was fought , and th●re he sits watching what wil become of t●e ark : and lo eli sate upon a seat by the way-side , watching ; fo● his heart tr●mbled fo● the ark of god : for fear lest the a●k of god should be taken . he was not troubled what should become of his two sons , he was not troubled what sh●uld become of the people of israel ; but all his trouble was for the ark of god ; he sate by t●e way side wa●ching , for his heart trembled for th● ark of god. in the words we have three par●s . 1. we have old eli's solicitousness concerning the ark , h● s●te watching , &c. 2. his fearfulness ; old eli trem●l●d for fear of the ark. 3. old eli's preferring the safety of th● ark before the safety of his two sons , and before the safety of his wife and children : old eli sate wa●ching , for his heart trembled for the ark of god. but you will say unto me , what was this ark , this ark of god ? why should old eli tremble for fear of the ark ? why , i wil ●ell you ; this ark was the holiest of all the holy things of god ; it was so holy , that it made every place holy where it came : solomon brought the daughter of pharoah out of the city of david , unto the house that he had builded for h●r ; for h● s●d my wife shall not dwell in the house of david king of israel , because the places are holy whereunto the ark of the lord had c●me ; 2 chro. 8.11 . this ark was the dwelling place of god : pray observe sirs , this wil make way for an excellent discourse by and by . this ark of god was the habitation of god , psal. 9● . 1 . the lord sitteth between the cherubins ; no● the cherubins were placed over the ark ; this ark was th● speaking place of god , it was the place where god met the people of israel when he gave them answer concerning any doubt : they came to consult with god before the ark , exod 25.21 , 22. thou sha●t put the mercy-seat above the ark , and there i will m●et thee , and commune with thee from above the mercy seat , from between the two cherubins which are upon the a●k for the testimony of all things which i wil give thee in commandment unto the childr●n of isra●l . this ark for which old eli was so solicitous , it was god's footstool , and all the people of israel did worship at this footstool , fall down before this foo●stool , psal. 99.5 let us come and fall down , and worship at his footstool , h.e. before the ark ; this ack was the strength of israel , so it is called psal. 78 61. he delivered his strength into captivity ; that is , the ark ; the ark it was the glory of israel , and it was the strength of israel , nay , l●t me add , this ark was the terror of the enemies of god ; therefore when the ark came into the battel , the philistines were afraid , and said , what shall become of us ? wo to us , for god is come down into the camp , 1 sam. 4.9 . for indeed this ark was called jehovah : when the ark was to move , there was a cry , ( num. 35. ) arise o lord , and let thine enemies be scattered . in a word , the ark was a pledge and visible symbole of gods gracious presence with his people ; as long as the ark was safe , they were safe ; as long as the ark was with them , gods presence was with them , the token of gods presence was with them ; but when the ark was taken away , that was a sign that god was gone ; his protecting , preserving , comforting presence was gone ; and therefore no wonder this good old man was so troubled for fear left the ark of god should be taken prisoner : i call him a good old man ; but many learned men think old eli was not a good man ; indeed his fault was great in not punishing his two sons ; but surely , surely he was a good man ; and there are these two reasons to make it out that old eli was a godly man : the one is this , that he took the punishment of his iniquity so patiently , when young samuel had told him what the lord had intended against him ; it is of the lord ( saith he ) let him do what seemeth him good . secondly , he was a good man , as appeareth in the text , his solicitousness what should become of the ark , and the trembling of his soul left the ark of god should miscarry . now before i speak to the point of doctrine , i must further tell you , that this ark was a type of jesus christs for as god spake by the ark , and from the ark , so god speaks to us by christ. and then secondly the ark was a type of the church of christ ▪ for as the ark was a preserver of the ●wo tables of the law , so the church of christ is a preserver of the scriptures . thirdly , t●e ark was a type of the ordinances of christ ; for as god did communicate himself to his people by the ark , so god by his ordinances doth communicate his counsels , his comforts and his graces unto his people . the ordinances of god are oraculum , the speaking-place of god , by which he conveys himself to his people . the text now being thus expounded , there are these two excellent conclusions to be learned from it . first , when the ark of god is in danger to be lost , the people of god have thoughtful heads , and trembling hearts . secondly , that a child of god is more troubled , and more solicitous what shall become of the ark , than what shall become of his wife and children ; or his estate ; he lays more to heart the danger the ark of god is in , than the danger his wife , children and estate is in . first , when the ark of god is in danger to be lost , the people of god have thoughtful heads , and trembling hearts . but if i may put this doctrine into a gospel dresse , take the doctrine thus : that when the gospel is in danger of losing , when the ministry is in danger of losing , when gospel ordinances are in danger of being lost , then the people of god have trembling hearts , and careful and solicitous heads . i do not say when the ark is lost , for that was death to old eli , he broke his neck , he was so troubled when the ark was lost ; it cost the life of old eli's daughter , phineas wife ; when the ark was taken prisoner , she took no comfort in her child that was newly born , she regarded it not ; they told her a man-child was born , that she had a son ; but she regarded it not ; for said she , the glory is gone , the glory is departed from israel . therefore i do not say , when the ark of god is lost , but when it is in danger of losing , when the gospel is in danger , and the ordinances of god in danger of being lost , then the people of god have trembling hearts and careful heads . thus we read exod. 33.3 , god threatens he would no● go with the people of israel ; i wi●● n●● go with you , for you a●e a stiff-neck●d people ; and they were ●o troubled for the loss of gods presence , that they put off their ornamen●s ; when the people ●eard this evil ty●ings , that they should lose the presence of god , they mourned , and no m●● pu● on his orname●ts . you shall read that they were without the presence of god twenty years , 1 sam. 7.2 . and i● came to pass , that while the ark abode in ki●ah jearim , that it was long , for it was twenty years ; and all the h●use of israel lamented after the lord , that is , after the ark , after the presence of god speaking from above the ark. so you shall read of uriah , da●id would fain have had him gone down to his wife , and make merry , but mark what uriah answered , 2 sam. 11 . 1● . the ark , and israel and judah abide in tents , ( mark it i p●ay ) & my lord kno●e●h ●he serv●nts of the lord ar● in the camp in the open field ; & shall i go down to my house to eat and to drink , and to be merry , and to lye with my wife ? as thou li●●st , and as thy soul liveth , i will not do this thing . we read also of elias , that he was very zealous for the lord of hosts , 1 king. 19 10. the c●ildren of israel have forsaken their covenant , they have thrown down thine altars , and slain thy prophets , and i am very zealous . now all this proves , that when the ark of god is in d●nger , t●e people of god have very much trembled ; and there are these reasons for it why the people of god are so much troubled when the ark of god is in danger . first , because of the love that they beat to the ark of god ; as god loveth the gates of sion more than all the dwellings of jacob ; so the people of god they love the gospel , they love the ordinances , they love the ministry and the faithful ministers of jesus christ above all other things in the world ; and therefore saith david ( psal. 26.8 . ) o lord , i have loved the habitation of thy house , and the place where thine honor dwelleth , and in psal. 27.4 . one thing have i desired of the lord , that will i seek after , that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the dayes of my life . now you know love stirreth up affection . you have heard me tell the story of croesus youngest son to croesus , who when he saw his father ready to be killed , though he never spake all his life time , yet the very love that he did bear to hs father , burst the strings of his tongue , and he cryed out , o kill not my father , kill not my father : such is the love that the saints of god have to the ark of god , that it must break forth , and they cannot be silent , that they cannot but tremble for fear the ark should miscarry ; for sions sake they cannot hold their peace , and for j●rusalems sake they cannot rest , til the lord make the righteousness thereof to go forth as brightness , and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth . secondly , the people of god cannot but be troubled when the ark is danger , because of the interest that they have in the ark of god ; now you know interest stirreth up affection ; when a man 's own house is on fire , or when another mans house is on fire , as you have had a sad and lamentable accident mu●h to be laid to heart , that happened yesterday morning , a very sad accident , and such as i suppose if the minister that was appointed to preach , had been here , he would have studyed to have affected your h●arts with that providence , and indeed it is not to be ●orgotten : how suddenly may we after we have been feasting , be burnt to ashes ? truly it was a very sad providence , and ought to be laid to heart . now interest as i said , stirs up affection ; how are they ●ffected that have an interest in those that were burned ! how are they afflicted with that sad providence ! why now the peopl● of god have an interest in god ; god is the heaven of a child of god , god is the portion and inheritance of his people ; and when he begins to forsake them , they cannot but grieve and be affected : and so the ordinances of god they are the jewels , the treasures of a ch●●stian , and he cannot but be troubled for fear of losing the ordinances . iesus christ is the joy of a christian , and when he is departing from them , they cannot go and be merry at such a time . thirdly , the people of god cannot but tremble when the ark of god is in danger , because of them m●schiefs that are coming upon a nation when the ark of god is lost ; wo be to that nation when the ark of god is gone from it . the trojans had the image of pallas , and they had a tradition , that as long as that image was preserv'd among them , their city should never be conquered ; and therefore they kept it in a tower , and called it palladium . and the romans had a buckler , and they called it anselam , and they had a tradition , that as long as that buckler was kept safe , rome should never be taken ; and they said that buckler came down from heaven . but sure i am , when god is present with a nation to protect them , where the gospel is preserved in purity in a nation , that nation cannot but be safe ; but when the ark of god is gone , when the gospel is gone , then the palladium , then the ans●●am , then the safety of a nation is g●ne . my beloved , had i the tongue of men or angels , i was not able to express ●he misery of a nation where the ark of god is gone , give me leave to set it forth bri●fly a little in a f●w particulars , which i shall but just name . first , when the a●k of god is taken , then the ways of sion mourn , and none come to her s●lemn assembli●s ; this was the complaint made in lament . 1.4 . the wayes of sic● moura , because none come to her solemn assemblies . and is not this matter of sadness ? s●condly , when the ark of god is taken , the minis●●rs of c●rist are driven into corners ; and that is matter of heart-trembling . thirdly , t●e souls of our wives and children are in danger to miscarry , when the ark of god is taken , and the gospel gone . fourthly , the enemi●s of god will then be ready to blaspheme and say , where is now your god ? w●ere is now your a●k ? now the en●mies of god triumph o●●r the people of god , and as david saith , p●al . 42 10. as with a sword in my bones mine e●emies rep●oach me daily , while t●ey continually say unto me , wh●re is n●w thy god ? fifthly , when the ark of god is taken , jesus christ is t●en trampled und●r feet , the ordinance of god are shut of door ; then bla●phemy , atheism , and all manner of wickedness comes in like an armed man. fourthly , another reason why the people of god must needs tremble when t●e ark is in danger , is , b●cause of their acc●ssariness in losing of the a●k : an● this was that which made old eli so much tr●mble , because he kn●w it was for his sins that the ark was taken prisoner ; and that god suffered it to be tak●n away , he knew that his not punishing his two sons was one great cause of the great slaughter that the people of israel met withall , and that made him to tremble . there is n● p●rson here in this congregation this morning , but his heart will tell him , if ●ver the ark of god should be lost in this n●tion , that he hath contributed something towards the loss of it : i sa● , there are no●e of us so holy , bu●●ur consciences must ac●us● u● , th●t we h●v● contributed something towards the lo●s of the ark , if it should be ●ost . and this mr. b●ad●ord that blessed mar●y● a●k●no●ledged in his prayer , as you have it record●d in ●●e book of martyrs . lord ( sayes h● ) it was my untha●kfulness that that caused the untimely death of king edward 〈◊〉 6●h . and those christians that were banished and fled in q● . ma●yes dayes , they profess●d wherever th●y came , that g●● for their untha●kfulness had taken the gospel from 〈◊〉 . we m●y all of us say , for my sins ' , and for thy sins the ark of god is in danger , and t●erefore we had need always to hav● trembling hear●s & solicitou● heads what will b●come of the ark of god. and so much for the explication of the doctrine . i come now to the application ; and if it be the prop●rty of a true ●●ild of god to be so solicitous when the a●k of god is in danger , and to have such a trembling he●rt for fear the ark should miscarry , then ' ●is a certain sign there are but few that are children of god in truth . oh where is the man or woman that is like old eli , that ●ets trembling for fear of the ark ? i suppose you all believe ( and you have cause so do ) that my coming hith●r this mo●ning was not by way of d●sign , but meerly by the providence of god ; and th●refore that which ●ow i say , was not premeditated for this assembly . it must not be denied but that the ark of god is in danger to be lost , and that upon this double account . first , in reference to the many sins that are in the nation : let me tell you , there is not one sin for which god hath taken away the ark from any people , but that sin may be found among us : did the church of ephesus lose the candlestick because she left her first love ? and have not we done so ? did the church of laodicea lose the candlestick ? you know the gospel is called the candl●stick ; and was not the gospel removed from them because of their lukewarmness ? and are not we guilty of lukewarmness ? did the people of israel here lose the ark because they abhorred the offering of god ? and do not we do so ? are not the sins of the people of israel among us ? nay , are not the sins of germany and all other nations among us ? and can any man that is here before god this day , that considers the unthankfulness , the great prophaneness that there is in the nation , but must confess , surely the ark is in danger , and god may justly take it away . i will not make a catalogue of our sins , for that is not my purpose ; i might tell you of our common-wealth sins , drunkenness , uncl●anness , bribery and oppression ; i might tell of our sanctuary sins , the prophaneing of sabbaths , and so of all our other sins , of unthankfulness , unfrui●fulness ; you of this place , sirs , god may well take the ark from you ; and indeed , it was the great respect i had to you of this parish , whom i shall ever own , and praise god for , as long as i h●ve breath in me ; it was my respect i bear to you , would not let me send you home this morning without a sermon . is there any of you of t●is parish or congregation , that can say , god may not justly unchurch you , and take away his gospel from you ? you have had it now in three famous successions , dr. t●ylor , dr. stoughton , and my pains in three or four and twenty years among you : do not your consciences tell you now , that god may justly unchurch you , and take away the power of the ministry ? for i count that an unchurching , when we want the power of the ministry , a soul-searching ministry , when we want a faithful minister to go before us ; and that 's one reason why we may safely say the ark of god is in great danger of being lost . secondly , i have another that i may without prejudice say , and that is the abundance of popish priests and jesuits that are in the midst of us , the growing and encreasing of pop●ry , and that proneness that is in people to run headlong back again to the garlick and onions of egypt : this argument is sufficient to make us all believe the ark of god is in danger . nay , shall i add , the discontentments and divisions that are in the nation ? and christ himself hath said , that a nati●n divided against it self canno● sta●d . but i leave these things to your consideration . i believe now there is not one that hears me this morning , but will confess the ark of god is in danger of being lost . but now where are our old elies ? whe●e ●re such as phineas wife , such women as she , that would not be comforted ? where are our moseses , our ur●ah's , our elias's ? where are those that lay to heart the danger of the ark of god ? m● brethren , you complain of taxes , of the decay of trade , you complain of this and that civil burthe● ; but where is the man , where is the man that complains & bemoans the danger that the ark of god is in ? most of you are of gallios temper , of whom it is said , act. 8 that he cared for none of tho●e things ; had it been for civil matters , he would have hearkened ; but when it came to matters of religion , gallio cared not for it , nor regarded it not . my brethren , every man is troubled about m●um and tuum , about his civil concernments , and very solicitous what shall become of him ; but who lays to heart , who regards what shall become of the ark of god ? there is a strange kind of indifferency and lukewarmness upon peoples spirit● , insomuch that most people so they might have their trading and their civil burthens removed , they care not what becomes of the ark ; there is a t●xt i would have you turn to , though i cannot spend time in opening it , because i shall be prevented ; it is in ho● . 79. stra●gers have ●e●oured his streng●h , and he knew it not ; ●ea , grey hairs are here and there u●on him , and he knows it ●ot . shall i say , grey hairs are upon the gospel ? i come not here to prophesie this morning ; i do not say the gospel is a dying , i say not so ; but i say it hath grey hairs ; for we have had the gospel above a hundred years now in england ( pray mark ) and therefore it is in its old age ; and i dare challenge any scholl●r to shew me any nation that ever enjoyed the gospel a hundred years together , except this nation of engla●d ; and we have enjoyed the gospel above an hundred years : therefore i m●y truly say it hath grey hairs after an hundred year● ; that is , no wonder grey hairs are here and there ; yet no man knows it , no man regards it , and no man lays it to he●r● . shall i spend a little time to shew you what a sin t●is is , not to be affected w●th the danger the ark of god is in ? consider it in these two particulars briefly . first , 't is a sign you love not the gospel , if you have no love to the ark ; for had you any love to it , you would be troubled more for the danger the ark is in , then for any outward danger what ever , i have read a remarkable story amo●g the romans , that when any man was accused for his life , all his friends and relations put on mourning garments ; and when he went to answer for his life , all his kindred and relations followed him in mourning before the king , therein shewing the love they bore to his person in danger . and beloved , did you love the ministry of the gospel , did you love the ordinances of christ , you would all put on mourning garments when they are in danger ; ●nd because you do not , it is a sign you have no love to the gospel . and then again secondly , t is a sign you have no interest in the gospel ; for interest wil stir up affection ; 't is a sign sirs , you are not concerned in the gospel ; ●or if it were your concernment , you would be affected with it ; for i said but even now , it is impossible that those that are concerned in the late lamentable fire , ( the like hath not happened in london since the gu●-powder got fire near the tower , when so many houses were blown up by the powder ; that was a sad , lamentable time indeed ; but since that ) the like hath no● been seen in london ; and it is impossible but that those that had interest in it , should be aff●cted with it : you have no interest in god , if you are not troubled at the loss of his presence ; you have no interest in christ , and in the ministers of christ , if your hearts tremble not , nor fear at the loss of them . nay , let me say , thirdly , there is a curse of god pronounced against all those that lay not to heart the afflictions of joseph ; give me leave to read to you amos 6.6 . wo to them that are at ease in zion , that trust in the mountain of samaria , that put far from them the evil day , that lie upon beds of ivory , that eat the lambs out of the flock . and dance to the sound of the viol , that drink wine in bowles , but are not grieved for the afflictions of joseph . oh wo , wo to you that make merry , and n●ver consider the danger the ark of god is in . use 2. the second use is , to beseech you all ; being this day unexpected , it is possible my coming may do much good , it may prove a good providence : let me beseech you then , that you would declare that you are the people of god in deed and in truth , in following the example of old eli : five things i would perswade you to : first , that you would believe that the gospel is not entailed upon england ; england hath no letters patents for the gospel ; the gospel is not perpetual and immovable ; god took away the ark , and forsook shiloh ; god took away the ark not onely from the children of israel , but took away the temple , unchurched the jews , unchurched the seven churches of asia ; and we know not how soo● he may unchurch us : i do not know any warrant we have to assure our selves that we shall enjoy the gospel anoth●r hundred years . i suppose many here know that i have often told you , god knows how to remove his candlestick , yet not to destroy it ; god will never destroy his candlesti●k , his church ; but god often removes his church f●om one nation to another ; he hath removed h●s church out of the east ( for greece was once the most famous church in the world ) this place now the church is gone from ; god knows how to remove his candlestick , though he never breaks and destroys it . secondly , i would likewise perswade you to this , that e●glands ark is in danger of being lost , were it onely for the sins and prodigious iniquities that we are guilty of . oh the strange and unheard of ingratitude that is in the land ! but i will say no more of that , because i wil speak nothing but what becomes a sober and peaceable minister ; yet i would have you be perswaded of the great danger the ark of god is in . thi●d●y , oh that i could raise you up to old eli's posture ! r●m●mber the tex● , he sate watching , and his heart trem●led for fe●r of the ark ; and to move you to this , consider wh●t a sad condition we should be in , should the ark be lost : alas ! what good would your estates do you , if the ark of god be taken away ? how can you look upon your wives and children with comfort , if the ark of god be gone ? wherein doth england● glory go beyond other nations ? other nations are more wealthy then england ; the turk hath mo●e wealth than any protestant king ; the heathen nations have more of the glory of the world then any christian king hath , more outward pomp , and rich apparel ; what then is the glory of engl●nd , but the gospel ? and if the gospel be gone , our glory is gone , and all our comfor●s are gone . remember phineas wife ; they came and told h●r she had born a son , but it was no great comfort to her , she regarded it not , she hearkened not unto them , but called his name ichabo● ; why so ? f●rth● glory is departed from israel . oh! when the glory is gone , who would desire to live ? i am loth to tell you ●h● story that i have heard of from unqu●stionable authors , of chrysostome ; he was but one man , who yet when ●o ●eave constan●inople , when he was put out of his pl●●● , and banished , the people of consta●tin●ple were so ●ff●●t●d with chrysostome , that they all went to the 〈…〉 petitioned for their minister , saying , they 〈◊〉 soon miss the sun out of the firmament , as miss chrysostom . but i will not enlarge upon these things . wo , wo , the sad , lamentable , and woful condition that we shall be in , if the ark of god be taken ; and therefore we had need sit trembling for fear of the ark . fourthly , another thing that i would perswade you to , is this , not to mourn immoderately neither : i would willingly speak some comfort to you , god onely knows when i shal speak again ; and therefore before i leave you , i would not send you home comfo●tless : mourn not therefore as without hope ; for i have four arguments to perswade me , that the ark of god wil not be lost , though it be in danger of being lost . arg. 1. the first encouraging argument is this , because god hath done great things already for this nation , and i argue like man●a's wife , surely ( saith she to her husband ) if go●●ould have destroyed us , he would not have done so much for us ; but god hath done so much for us , that surely he will not now forsake us ; and that may be some ground of hope , that though our hearts do tremble , yet let them not sink within us . secondly , another encouragement of hope is from the abundance of praying people in the nation : there are many that pray to god night and day , that the ark of god may not be lost ; and let me assure you one thing this morning , god never did destroy a praying and reforming people ; when god intends to destroy a natio● , to take away its ark , he takes away the spirit of prayer from that people ; where god continues a spirit of prayer , there god will be present , and there god wil continue his ark ; you all know if there had been but ten good men in five cities , god had spared the five cities for ●he ten mens lakes . now through mercy there are many hundreds that fear god in this natio● , and that do not give god rest night nor day , but cry to god for mercy on the nation ; and who knows but for their sakes god may continue the gospel to us ? thirdly , another ground of comfort is this , and i am much affected with it , god hath dealt with england not by way of rule , but by way of prerogative : for beloved , we have had church and sermon-sins in the midst of us all along queen elizabeths dayes , king james , and king charles the first his dayes ; we have also been an unthankful nation , and our ministers have threatned ruine and destruction upon us from year to year ; but god hath hitherto saved england by way of prerogative , though we have those sins among us for which he destroyed other nations ; yet god hath spared us , because he will spare us , according to that text , i will be graci●●● to whom i will be gracious . god is not tyed to his own 〈◊〉 , god may make an exemption ; and who knows whether god may not make england an exemption from his common rule ? fourthly , another ground of comfort is this , god is now a pouring out his viols upon antichrist , and all those wars that are in christendom , shall end in the ruine of antichrist : observe this , and carry it home with you . i say , god is pouring out his vials upon the throne of the beast , and all those wars that are in christendom , shall end in the ruine and destruction of antichrist , both easte●n and western antichrist ; and though some drops of these vials may drop upon the reformed churches , and they may smart for a while , god may severely punish them ; yet it is but for a little while , but the vials shall all be poured upon antichrist , there shall it rest , there shall it center ; indeed the lord may chastise his people , and scourge all the reformed churches before the vials be all poured out ; i say , god may scourge all the reformed churches , and a sound of persecution may go through them all , which are called drops of these vials ; but the vials are intended for antichrist , and shall all end in the ruine of antichrist , and in the fall of babylon , which is ground of great consolation to the people of god ; and whatsoever becomes of us , yet our children , and our childrens children shall see the issue of these vials poured out at last upon the whore of babylon , to the ruine of antichrist and all his adherents . fifthly and lastly , to draw to a conclusion ; i am to exhort you all to contribute your utmost endeavours to keep the ark of god from being lost . now here i should shew you what the magistrates must do to keep the ark from being carryed into captivity , and what the ministers must do , and what the people should do . first , what the magistrates are to do ; and not being to speak to them , i shall speak little of them . the magistrates are to use their authority for the setling of the ark ; for the ark of the covenant will be like noahs ark , alwayes floating upon the top of the waters , till the magistrates that are set over it , will endeavour to settle it . thus we read of david , & sam. 6. david and all his men were gathered together , thirty thousand men , all his noble men went in great pomp to the fetching home of the ark ; you may read the chapter at your leisure . and in 2 chron. 5. 2. there you find solomon and all his nobles with a great deal of pomp fetching home the ark . oh how should this encourage our nobles and our magistrates , that they might be solicitous in setling the ark of god. give me leave to say thus much to magistrates , you must not do as the philistins did , they had the ark , bu● what did they do with it ? why they set it up in the house of dagon ; but dagon and the ark will never agree ; always when dagon and the false religion goes in at one door , the ark and the true religion goes out at the other door : we must nor therefore put the ark and dagon together . secondly , what must the ministers do to keep the ark from being lost ? why the ministers that bear the ark must be ho●y , the ark will never prosper upon the shoulders of hophni , and phineas ; carry that home with you : it is not your wicked ministers that can sertle the ark ; it is not your prophane , drunken ministers ; no , it must be the godly , sober , pious and religious ministers . how holy ought they to be that draw near to the god of holiness ? so much for the duty of ministers . thirdly , what must the people of god do ? why there are four things that i will commend to you , and i will commend you to god. first , do not idolize the ark . secondly , do not undervalue the ark . thirdly , do not pry into the ark . fourthly , do not meddle with the ark unless you have a call . fifthly , keep the covenant of the ark . briefly of these , and i have done . first ; do not idolize the ark ; that was the sin of the people in the text , they thought the very presence of the ark would have secured them ; and therefore they carryed the ark into the camp ; though they did not repent and reform , yet they thought if the ark were in the camp , they were secure ; and thus many think , if they can get a good minister , certainly god wil bless them , though they themselves be never so wicked . this is to idolize the ark ; there is nothing that will secure a nation , but repentance and reformation ; 't is not the having the gospel , but the living answerable to the gospel , that wil secure the gospel . take heed therefore of idoliziog the ark . secondly , we must not undervalue the ark , this was michal her sin ; david danced before the ark , and michal mo●ked him ; but said david , it is before the lord , if this be to be vile , i will be more vile still . there are some men b●gin to say , what need we have any preaching , wil not reading of prayers serve the turn ? what need we preach , say others , what need is there of so much preaching ? will not once a day serve ? what needs all this ? oh! but firs , this is so undervalue the ark ; and the faithful ministers of christ must say , if this be to be vile to preach twice a day , to fast , and pray for the safety of a nation , we will be more vile still ▪ thirdly , we must not pry into the atk ; this was the sin of the be●hshemites , god destroyed 50000. of them for lo●king into the ark : you must not be curious in prying into wha● god hath not revealed : there are great thoughts of heart when god intends lo deliver his people ; give me leave to speak plainly to you : there are many that talk of 1666. they think the year of deliverance shal be that year when antichrist shall be destroyed ; and there is a book printed to prove that antichrist shall be destroyed in 1666 , and there are strong impressions upon the hearts of many learned men as to the year 1666. some go to the year 1669. for the ruine of antichrist ; some pitch upon a time that 's nearer , which i am loth to name to you : but truly my brethren , if you would have my judgement ( and i am glad of this opportunity to tell you so this morning ) this is to pry too much into the ark : remember that text , and live by it , t is not for you ●o know the times & seasons , you must not say , such & such a year ; for when that year is come , you find you are deceiv'd , 't is the way to make you atheists , to believe nothing : certainly those ministers do no good to the church , that prescribe times and seasons , for when those seasons are come , and we find our selves disappointed , after that we will believe the minister no more . give me leave to tell you a story , in the year one thousand , ( which i have from ancient authors ) wherein it was believed throughout all the chri●tian world , that the day of judgement should begin , and great humiliations and repentance was in all christian churches ; but when they saw the year end , and the day of judgement happened not , they al● fell to their old professions , and afterward would believe nothing . 't is more dangerous then you imagine , for men to pitch on times and seasons . gods time is the best time , and he that believeth , maketh not hast : we must not pry too much into the ark , lest the punishment of the bethsh●mites be our portion . fourthly , you must not meddle with the ark , unless called to it ; this was the sin of uzzah , he touched the ark ( you know the story ) the ark was in danger of falling ; he ( good man ) meaning no hurt , to keep up the a●k , to touch the ark , but it neither did him good or the ark , for he was destroyed himself , making a breach , and hindering the carrying home of the ark. we have had great disorder heretofore , and god is now punishing us for that disorder : there was abundance of well-meaning men that usurped the ministerial office ; and ( forsooth ) they were afraid the ark was falling , and they laid to their shoulders ; but their touching the ark , undid the ark , and themselves too , and brought a scandal on the gospel . if you would have the gospel settled remember , they that are consecrated must touch the ark. fifthly and lastly , if ever you will preserve the ark , keep the laws that the ark preservs ; for in the ark were the first and second table of the law ; now these two tables , the first and second table of the law you must keep ; keep the law , and god will keep the ark ; but if you break the law , you forfeit the ark. the ark is called the ark of the covenant ; keep the covenant with god , and god will preserve your ark ; but if you break your covenant made with god in your baptism , and the covenant renewed at the sacrament ; if you break this covenant , god will break the ark and you . and thus ( beloved ) i have adventured out of that great affection i bear to you , to give you this morning this discourse . the lord give a blessing to what hath been spoken . finis : the city remembrancer. or, a sermon preached to the native-citizens, of london, at their solemn assembly in pauls on tuesday, the 23 of june, a.d. mdclvii. / by edm. calamy b.d. and pastor of the church at aldermanbury. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a78766 of text r208432 in the english short title catalog (thomason e1676_2). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 90 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 46 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a78766 wing c228a thomason e1676_2 estc r208432 99867386 99867386 119696 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a78766) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 119696) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 209:e1676[2]) the city remembrancer. or, a sermon preached to the native-citizens, of london, at their solemn assembly in pauls on tuesday, the 23 of june, a.d. mdclvii. / by edm. calamy b.d. and pastor of the church at aldermanbury. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [16], 74 p. printed by s.g. for john baker, at the sign of the peacock in pauls church-yard., london, : 1657. annotation on thomason copy: "july 30". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng bible. -n.t. -acts xxi, 39 -sermons. sermons, english -17th century. london (england) -history -17th century -early works to 1800. a78766 r208432 (thomason e1676_2). civilwar no the city remembrancer. or, a sermon preached to the native-citizens, of london,: at their solemn assembly in pauls on tuesday, the 23 of ju calamy, edmund 1657 14370 28 75 0 0 0 0 72 d the rate of 72 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-04 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-06 robyn anspach sampled and proofread 2007-06 robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the city remembrancer . or , a sermon preached to the native-citizens , of london , at their solemn assembly in pauls on tuesday , the 23 of june , a. d. mdclvii . by edm. calamy b. d. and pastor of the church at aldermanbvry . psal. 87. 4 , 5 , 6. — this man was born there , and of zion it shall be said , this and that man was born in her ; and the highest himself shall establish her . the lord shall count when he writes up the people , that this man was born there . selah . london , printed by s. g. for john baker , at the sign of the peacock in pauls church-yard . 1657. to the right honourable , right worshipfull , and all other citizens of london , who received their first birth in so renowned a metropolis , and were of late assembled together for the acknowledgement of this passage of divine providence towards them . much honoured and beloved in christ , it cannot be denied , but that god hath blessed this city above most cities in the world with blessings of all kinds , and more especially , with the blessing of the gospel . and although our sins are many , and great , and such sins may be found amongst us , for which god hath destroyed other great cities ; yet notwithstanding he hath hitherto preserved us , and dealt with us , not according to rule , but according to prerogative . he hath made london an exception from his generall way of proceeding with other cities , and hath spared us upon the account alone of free-grace ; even so father , for so it seemeth good in thy sight . o that this extraordinaryand distinguishing love of god , might at last lead us to repentance ! and thatin this our day we might know those things which belong unto our peace , before they be hid from our eyes ; that our preservationsfrom former judgements , may not prove reservationsunto greater , and that we may not ( by reason of our unthankfulness , and unfruitfulness ) drink the dregs of gods wrath , and at last be be made a spectacle of divine indignation , and an exampleto others , because we would not learn righteousnessby their examples . the chief design of this ensuing sermon ( now made publick by your intreaty ) is , to persuade the citizensborn in this famous city , by their prayers , unity , piety , verity , and charity , to seek the welfare and happinessof it ; and to be so holy and heavenly in their lives , that they may be accounted able , and worthy to stand in the gap , to hinder the judgements of god from falling upon it . it is not only not contrary , but very suitable to christian religion to seek the good ( in an especiall manner ) of theplace where we were born , or bred up . because jesus christ was bred in nazareththerefore he preached first in that place . this he did ( saith one ) as a recompence for his education . because paul was bred , andbrought up in jerusalem , and of the stock of israel , therefore he was in great heaviness , and continual sorrow of heart ; and could have wished himself accursed from christ for his brethren , his kinsmen according to the flesh . religion doth not take away natural affection , butperfects it , it doth not extinguish , but order and regulateit . it is your great dutyto study to be blessings andmercies , as to the placeswhere you were brought up , so also to the places where youwere born . it is reported ofalexander the great , that he loved his master aristostle , as much as he did hisfather philip ; because ( as he said ) from his father hee received his being , and from his master his wel-being . i will not dispute , whether we owe more to the place where we were born , or to the place where we were bred , sure i am . we owe much to both ; and it is our duty to endeavour to beblessings both to the one , and to the other . it is a providence not to be slighted , that you are citizens of no mean city , but this will little avail , if you be not a credit and an ornament to it . the excellency of a cityconsisteth in the excellencyof the citizens ; without which an excellent city is rather a bethaven , than abethel , rather an hell , than a heaven . human storiesrelate what great blessings some persons have been to the places , where they received their first breath . the lacedaemonianswhen they laied waste all baeotia , sparedthebes , because pindar ( that famous poet ) was born there ; and when alexander destroyed it , he commanded his souldiers to spare pindars family , &c. the persians when they waged war withall grecia , would not hurt the isle of delos , because it was the place where apollo was born , &c. o let it be your care , that you may be noah's , abraham's , lots , and daniels to the place where you were born ; that god by your prayers and tears may be moved to spare this great city ▪ & multiply his blessing upon it . for this end and purpose , your great study must be towalk worthy of the gospel , which you enjoy with much purity , power , plenty , and liberty ; you must not onely have it with you , but in you ; not onely be professors , but practisers of it ; not onely be fellow-citizens of london , but of the saints , and of the houshold of god . you must labour to be citizens and freemen of that city which hath foundations , whose builder and maker is god . for you cannotsin at so cheap a rate in london , as some may do in other places . when you sin , you sin against greater light , and love , against greater means , and mercies than others do . and therefore your sins will more provoke thealmighty , and bring downgreater , and more sudden desolations upon you ; you arecapernaum-like , lifted up to heaven , and if you slight the gospel as she did , you shall be brought down to hell , and it shall be easier for capernaum at the great day than for you . the great god expects , that you should be like hananiah who feared god above many . that you should be in the highest for me of christs school , taller by the head in gracethan men in other places . he looks that you should do {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , something singular and extraordinary ; he hath given you more than he hathgiven to others , and he requires more from you , the lord grant you may return more ! there were many eyes upon you , beholding what you would do ( after this following sermon was preached , in which you were earnestly excited unto good works ) at your publique dinner . give me leave to tell you freely and plainly ; you have not as yet sufficiently answered the expectation , either of others , or of many of your own company ; there were some little spots ( this year also ) in your feast of charity ; ( i mean ) some defects , and blemishes , not ( i hope ) for want of affection , but of observing a due method ; howsoever ; thus much i must publish to the world both for thehonor of god , and for your honor ; you havedoubled your charity this year , above what it was the last year ; you have bound out 30. boyes to be apprentices ; you have given considerable summes to ministers born in london , and ministers widows , in distresse , and to poor scholars in the vniversities ; and my hope is , that the next year you will double the summe above what you have given this year . i am verily perswaded , that , what god said of corinth , is very true of london , he hath much people in this city ; though there are many wicked amongst us , yet there are many , yea , very many , both born , andbrought up in london , who truly fear god ; and for their sakes ▪ god hath hitherto spared us . my prayers is , that god would increasetheir number ; that this city may be a city of refuge , for distressed christians ; not an oppressing , or a bloudy city ; but a faithful and holy citywherein ▪ god may delight to dwell , and that salvation may be appointed to her for walls and bulwarks . so prayeth ▪ your 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and fellow servant in promoting the common good , edm. calamy . a sermon preached before the native citizens of london . the city remembrancer . act. 21. 39. but paul said , i am a man which am a jew of tarsus , a city in cilicia , a citizen of no mean city . we are here met this day , not only as christians , but as fellow citizens , to bless the name of the lord , that we were born not only in england , but in london ; that we are native-citizens of no mean city . for the better celebrating of this mercy , i have chosen this suitable text , which contains saint pauls just and necessary defence of himself against the unjust accusation of the chief captain of the roman band . the chief captain accuseth him for being an egyptian , a seducer , and a murderer . art not thou that egyptian which before these dayes madest an uprore , and leddest out to the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers ? in this verse saint paul makes his apology , which consisteth of three parts . 1. he describes his original ; he was {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , i am ( saith he ) a man which am a jew , i am not that wicked and cursed egyptian you speak on , but i am a jew , of a religious and noble extraction . for though the jewes are at this day the scorn and contempt of the world , justly odious to all good christians , because of their murdering of christ ; yet the time was when they were the only people god had upon earth , when they were a holy nation , when they were naturally holy , as it is , gal. 2. 15. we who are jews by nature , and not sinners of the gentiles . they were not sinners by nature , as the gentiles , but holy by nature ( i do not mean with the holyness of regeneration , but with a federall holyness ) they were all in covenant with god , and their very land was holy , it was immanuels land . the time was when they were not onely a holy , but a noble people : the honourablest nation under the whole heavens . for to them , as the apostles , saith pertained the adoption , and the glory , and the covenants , and the giving of the law , and the service of god , and the promises . whose are the fathers ( those noble and honourable patriarcks ) and of whom as concerning the flesh , christ came , who is over all god blessed for ever . jesus christ was not only the son of man , but the seed of abraham . this is the first part of pauls apology . he was a jew , of a godly and noble original . secondly , he describes the country where he was born ; he was not only a jew as to his original , but as to his country , he was a cilician , which is a province in anatolia , or asia minor , a country saith ammianus marcellinus , dives omnibus bonis , wealthy and fruitfull of all necessaries . he was born in a rich and fruitfull countrey . thirdly , he describes his native city , & the dignity and excellency of it ; he was a jew of tarsus , that is , born in tarsus of cilicia , so called , in opposition ( saith cajetan ) to another tarsus in bythinia . he was a citizen of no mean city , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . in these words , there is a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , where more is to be understood , than is expressed . he was a citizen of no mean city , that is , he was a citizen of a famous city . josephus calls it {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , stephanus , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . it was urbs celebratissima , a most renowned and celebrious city . it was the metropolis of all cilicia . solinus saith , it was mater urbium , the mother of cities , diodorus siculus saith , that for the kindness it shew-to julius caesar , and after him to augustus caesar , it was called juliopolis . in this famous city was paul born . the words thus expounded , may be handled two manner of wayes . 1. relatively , as they are purely apologetical , and satissactory answers to the unjust accusations laid to pauls charge , by the chief captain . i shall not meddle with them in this sense , because it would lead me to a discourse . heterogeneal to the occasion of this dayes meeting . 2. absolutely , as they are an historical narraration of pauls extraction , countrey , and native city . in this sense i shall speak to them . i shall sum up all that i have to say into this doctrinal conclusion . doct. that to be descended from religious and noble ancestors , and to be born in a famous country and city , are considerable privileges , and passages of divine providence not to be slighted or disregarded . this proposition consisteth offour branches , of which i shall speak in order . 1. to be descended from godly and religious ancestors is a desirable privilege , and no small honour . this was pauls prerogative . he was a jew descended from the holy patriarcks . it is a great happiness when a man can truly say , o god , thou art my god , and my fathers god , as it is , exod. 15. 2. and with jacob , o god of my father abraham , and my father isaac . for god hath promised not onely to be the god of the righteous , but of their seed ; and david saith , that the generation of the righteous shall be blessed . there is a saying amongst some men , happy is the child whose father goeth to the devil . but this is a wicked and cursed speech , for god punisheth the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him . but i rather say , happy is the child whose father goeth to heaven . for god sheweth mercy unto thousands of them that love him and keep his commandements . god promiseth to bless isaac , and to multiply his seed as the stars of heaven , because that abraham his father obeyed his voyce , and kept his statutes and laws , gen. 26. 3 , 4 , 5. and the apostle commends marcus to the colosstans to be regarded and respected by them , because he was barnabas sisters son ; he was the sisters son of a godly man . 2. to be descended from noble and illustrious progenitors is a considerable privilege . this was also pauls prerogative , he was of the stock of israel , of the tribe of benjamin , an hebrew of the hebrews . the wiseman saith , blessed art thou , o land , when thy king is the son of nobles , &c. to be nobly born , is naturale medium & stimulus ad virtutem & gloriam ( as one saith , ) it is a natural help , and a singular incitation and provocation to riches and glory . when bathshebah would disswade solomon her son from intemperancy in drinking , she brings an argument from the nobleness of his birth , prov. 31. 4. it is not for kings , o lemuel , it is not for kings to drink wine , nor for princes strong drink . it is not fit for any to drink immoderately , much less for kings and princes . alexander scorned to run a race with any who were not kings , because he himself was a kings son . and because themistocles was a great general , therfore he would not stoop to take up a rich booty , but bids a common souldier do it . nobility is a great spur to vertue . the very heathen could say , fortes creantur fortibus & bonis , virtue when it is joyned with nobility is much more glorious and illustrious , than when joyned with poverty . it is like a diamond in a golden ring : it is much more beautiful , and much more useful and serviceable . and therefore it is reckoned as a great judgement , when the nobles are cut off from a nation , isaiah 39. 12. they shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom , but none shall be there , and all their princes shall be nothing . 3. to be born in a rich , fruitfull and religious nation is no inconsiderable privilege . for that god which sets bounds to our lives which we cannot pass , doth also set bounds to our habitations , act. 17. 26. and hath made of one bloud all nations of men , for to dwell on all the face of the earth , and hath determined the times before appointed , and the bounds of their habitation . that one man is born in spain , another in france , another in turks , non fit casu sed à deo desinitur . it is not by chance and fortune , but by the wise ordering of god . when god first scattered men over the face of the earth , it was divino ductu & distributione , by divine guidance , and distribution , and as some think ( saith streso ) by the ministry of angels . as joshua distributed the land of canaan by a divine lot : so doth god by his providence , appoint in what places of the world every man shall dwell . it is no little happiness to us , that are now assembled this day , that wee are by nation englishmen . when julius caesar first came into britain ( which we now call england , ) hee thought he had found out another world . aristides a greek author cals it by way of excellency , the great island . charles the great stiles it ▪ the granary and storehouse for the western world . matth. parisiensis calls it , hortus deliciarum , puteus inexhaustus &c. a paradise of pleasures , a well which can never be drawn dry . iosephus saith , that if god had made the world round like a ring , as he hath done like a globe , britain might most worthily have been the gem of it . if all the world were made into a ring . britain the gem , and grace thereto should bring . there are four other considerations may be added in commendation of this fortunate island ( as it hath anciently been called ) of great britain . 1. it was one of the first nations that were converted from heathenism unto christianity ; the learned arch-bishop of armagh proveth by undeniable arguments , that ioseph of arimathea preached and planted the gospel in britain . the apostle 2 tim. 4. 21. makes mention of claudia , and pudens her husband , that this claudia was of the british nation , the same authour proves by an epigram in martial , claudia caeruleis cum sit ruffina britannis , edita , cur latiae pectora plebis habet ? &c. 2. the first king that ever professed christian religion , was king lucius born here in this nation . 3. the first emperor that ever owned christ and his gospell , was constantine the great , born in england . 4. the first king that ever renounced the popes supremacy , was king henry the eight ; and the first king that ever wrote against the pope , to prove him to be the antichrist , and the whore of babylon , was king iames of famous memory . and therefore i may safely say , that it is a providence not to be slighted and disregarded , that we are by nation englishmen . fourthly , to be born in a noble and famous city is a desirable privilege . paul reckoneth it as a mercy that hee was born in tarsus , and that he was a citizen of no mean city . there is ( i confess ) some contention amongst learned men , about the place of pauls birth . as seven cities strove about homers birth , so there are many places which challenge an interest in this holy apostle . hierome brings it as the common opinion of his time , that he was born in giscalis a town in iudaea , and bred up in tarsus . but in another place he recants this opinion and yet it is revived by beda , masius , and arias montanus . some say hee was born in graecia , others that hee was a citizen of rome . but ( as lorinus well saith ) paulo ipsi natale suum prodenti solum credendum est , wee must believe paul above all other witnesses , he saith expresly , that hee was {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} born in tarsus , indeed he saith of himself that he was a roman , but how ? not by birth ▪ but because tarsus was invested with the roman privileges . there was a time when it was a singular prerogative to be a citizen of rome , haec vox civis romanus sum , saepe in ultimis terris , &c. this word , i am a roman citizen , relieved and rescued many in the utmost parts of the earth . it was terror mundi , saith cicero . it was not lawfull to binde or scourge a roman citizen ; the chief captain paid dear for this freedom ; but paul was free-born , because born in tarsus , which was a roman colony , and made free of rome by m. antonius . it is no contemptible prerogative to us here present , that we were born in london ; a city famous in nero's time ( which is almost 1600. yeares ago ) for concourse of merchants , and of great renowne for provision of all things necessary . ammianus marcellinus gives it a glorious title , calling it , augusta , a stately and magnificent city . this was 1200 ▪ years ago . cornelius tacitus 300. years before him , saith , that it was , valde celebre copiâ negotiatorum & commeatu , very renowned for commerce , and multitude of merchants . it is the metropolis and mother-city of the nation . if england be a paradise of pleasure , london is as the tree of life in this paradise . and surely if plato accounted it a great honour that he was a grecian born and not a barbarian , and that he was not onely a grecian , but an athenian , it must needs be an honour to us here assembled , not onely that we are englishmen , but englishmen born in the noble and famous city of london , that we are citizens of no mean city . if any here desire to be farther informed of the excellency of this city , let me intreat him to peruse a booke printed this year , & composed by mr. james howel , called londinopolis . thus you have the propositiō explained in all the four branches of it . but now i must adde , that though the things forementioned be considerable privileges , yet they are but outward and temporal privileges , common to the worst , as well as the best of men ; cateline was born in rome , as well as caesar ; caligula and nero , as well as augustus and trajan . they are but fleshly and carnal prerogatives , which a man may enjoy , and yet be under the wrath of god , and guilt of eternal damnation . they are the privileges of paul a pharisee , and of paul a persecutor ; they are such privileges , which after he was converted , he accounted but as dung and dross in comparison of , and competition with , the lord jesus christ . but yet howsoever , they are privileges , & passages of divine providence , not to be sleighted . and therefore in the application , i shall first improve this propositiō , as it is a desirable privilege ; & secondly , as it is but an outward , common , and temporal privilege . first , as it is a considerable and desirable privilege ; and upon this account alone it will afford us three profitable and seasonable exhortations . let us this day bless the lord for this mercy , that we are englishmen and londoners born ; and especially , that we were born in england since it became christian , and since it was reformed from popish superstition . there was a time when britain was tristissimum superstitionum chaos , when london was {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( as paul saith of athens ) a city wholly given to idolatry ; when we offered our sons and daughters alive in sacrifice to those that were no gods , non ad honorem sed ad injuria●s religionis , not as an honour , but as a shame to religion . the time was , when we were drowned in popish superstition , when england was the popes vassail , and the popes asse ( as it was called ) to bear all his burdens ; but god out of his infinite mercy , hath freed us of those burdens , and we have enjoyed the protestant reformed religion , for an hundred years together . o let us bless god that we were born in england since it was reformed from heathenism and popery ; that we were born , not in egypt , but in goshen ; not in a valley of darkness , but in a valley of vision ; not in babylon , but in sion ; ( as you heard excellently the last year ) le● us bless god that we were born in london , not onely because of the excellency of the situation of it , and the many outward accommodations to be found in it above other cities ; but because of the abundance of the gospel of salvation herein dispensed . it is said of the isle of rhodes , that it is fo happy an island , that there is not one day in the year , in which the sun doth not shine upon it ; this is true of london in a spiritual sense ; there is not one day in the year , in which you do not enjoy the sun●shine of the gospel . this is the glory of london ; without this , london is no more than ligorn , or constantinople , or paris , or any other city . and this is one main end of our meeting this day , to praise the lord for this happy providence , that we were born in london , where we enjoy more of the purity , plenty , power and liberty of the gospel , than any other city in the world . besides this ; let us this day bless god that london is yet a city , and that it hath not long ago been made like unto sodom and gomorrha . it is most certain , that we are a sinfull city , a city laden with iniquity , a seed of evil doers , children that are corrupters , that are miserably apostatised , both in doctrine , worship , and conversation : as the sinnes of niniveh cried aloud to god for vengeance : so do the sins of london ; the pride , the hypocrisie , the covetousness , the injustice , the contempt of the gospel , the profanation of the sabbath , the drunkenness , perjury & whoredoms of london ; these and such like sins , cry to god for vengeance . now that god should not onely not destroy us , but multiply his blessings upon us ( as appears by our meeting this day ; ) that god should preserve us so many years from the man devouring plague ; & that in all the time of the late unhappy wars , god should preserve us from being plundered , from popular tumults and insurrections , from being burnt with fire , and turned into an heap of ashes ; this heightens the mercy of god , and makes it a blessing in folio . let us praise god exceedingly for it . this is a duty belonging to all that live in the city , but more especially to us who are native citizens . 2. let us labour to be a credit , and an ornament to the place where we were born ; as we are citizens of no mean city , so let not our conversation be low , and mean , but holy and honorable ; this was paul's commendation , he was a greater credit to tarsus , than tarsus was to him : therefore ignatius writing ( in one of his epistles ) to the tarsenses , calls them , pauli cines & discipulos , pauls fellow-citizens and disciples , as accounting it a great honor to them , that so famous a man , as paul , was born in their city ; thus austin was a greater credit to hippo , than hippo was to him , and hippocrates was a greater blessing to the island co● where he was born , than the island was to him . i here are some men who are curses , and plague ▪ soars , to the places where they receive their first breath , who viper ▪ like tear in pieces the bowels of the mother that bare them : such a one was nero , who set his own city on fire , and rejoyced to behold the flames of it ; such another was caligula , who wished , that all rome had but one neck , that he might cut it off at once : many such monsters there are in most cities , who are vomicae & carcinomata civitatis , diseases , impostumations , stains , and blemishes to the places where they are born ; who are citizens , but drunken citizens ; citizens , but adulterous citizens ; citizens , but covetous , and oppressing citizens ; but i hope better things of you here present this day . what must we do , that we may be ornaments to the place where we were born ? you must do two things : you must be just in your words , and actions towards men , and holy in your carriage towards god ; these are the two poles upon which the happiness of london turns ; then is a city happy , when justice and holiness meet together , when the men thereof make conscience of their duty to god , as well as to their neighbour ; and of their duty to their neighbour , as well as of their duty towards god , when there is a conjunction of holiness and righteousness ; blessed is that land , and blessed is that city , which is in such a condition ; happy london , if a minister could rationally pray jeremies prayer over it , the lord blesse thee o habitation of justice , and mountain of holiness . 1. you must be just in your words and actions towards men . there is a great complaint throughout the whole nation , against divers men professing godlinesse in this city , that they are false to their trust , unfaithful in their promises , unjust in their buying and selling : that they are very religious in the publique congregation , but very unconscienceable in their private shops ; that the faithful city is become an harlot , it was full of judgement , and righteousness lodged in it , but now her silver is become drosse , and her wine mixt with water ; now it is full of unrighteousness and un●ustice . this is a bloudy charge , and if true , renders y●u traytors and rebels , to the city of your nativity . remember this day , that god hates holinesse if it be not joyned with righteousnesse ; that an unjust holy man is an abomination to the lord ; that holinesse without righteousnesse is not holiness , but hypocrisie . 2. you must be holy in your carriage towards god ; you must not onely give man his due , but god his due ; you must not only have the gospel , but obey the gospel ; you must not onely be good citizens , but good christians . justice without holiness may make you good heathens , but will never make you good christians : an unholy justice is as odious to god , as an unjust holiness . remember the words of the apostle , without holiness no man shall see god ; though you be never so just towards your neighbours , if you be not also holy towards god , you shall never go to heaven . let us sincerely desire , and earnestly endeavour , and seek the good of the city wherein we were born . this was the great commendation of mordecah , fster 10. 3. he sought the wealth of his people ; not his own wealth , but the wealth of his people : such another was nehemiah , he sought the welfare of the children of israel ; he was a man of a publique spirit , he did not monopolize , and ingrosse all to himself ; he was a true common-wealth's man , not a private-wealth's man , he sought the good of the people of god , more than his own : such another was augustus caesar , it is said of him , that he found the city of rome weak and in rubbish , and left it adamantine and invincible : such must you be , you must seek the good of the place of your nativity , you must not onely labour to enrich , enoble , and greaten your selves , to make your selves happy ; but you must labour to enrich , enoble , greaten , and make london happy and blessed ; this you must do six manner of waies , 1. by your prayers ; you must pray for the peace of this our jerusalem , that peace may be within her walls , and prosperity within her palaces : for your brethren , and companions sake , you must say , and pray peace be within thee : for in the peace of london is your peace wrapt up , in the happiness of london , your happiness is involved . pray that the name of london , from this day may be jehovah shammai , the lord is there ; that the lord would make it an habitation of justice , and a mountain of holiness : pray that the sun of the gospel may not set in our daies , but that it may be continued to us , and our posterities for evermore . 2. by living together in love and union ; behold how good and how pleasant it is , for brethren to dwell together in unity ! it is like the precious ointment upon the head , that ran down upon the beard , even aarons beard , that went down to the skirts of his garments ; as the dew of herm●n , and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of sion ; for there the lord commanded the blessing , even life for ever . as long as ierusalem was a city compact together , and at unity within it self , so long it prospered ; but when it came to be divided into two sticks , into iudah , and ephraim ( the two tribes and the ten tribes ) these two sticks never left beating one another , till they were at last both of them destroyed . it is observed by learned men , that all englands enemies from without , were brought into the land by divisions from within ; intestine divisions brought in the romans , saxons , danes , and normans . tacitus saith , that the britains ( when caesar came in ) factionibus trahebantur , & dunt singuli pugnabant universi vincuntur , &c. the divisions of london at this day are very many , and very great . o that this dayes meeting might be some wayes instrumentall for the healing of them . that our feasting together may not onely in name , but in reality prove to be a love-feast . that he●●eforth we would cease striving one against another ; and strive together for the faith of the gospel . that wee would abstain from all dividing names , principles , and practices . that magistrates and ministers would joyn together for the publick good . that aaron and huz would hold up ( not weaken ) the hands of moses . alwayes remembring that sad speech of jesus christ , mat. 12. 25. every kingdom divided against it self , is brought to desolation , and every city or house divided against it self , shall not stand . thirdly , by your holy lives and conversations ; for holiness will not only preserve your own persons from hell , but the city wherein you live from ruine and destruction . here are assembled this day at least a thousand persons born in london ; now if all you were really holy , what a wall of brass would it be for the defence of the city ? for if god would have spared five cities , if there had been but ten righteous persons in them , how much more will he spare one city , wherein there are a thousand righteous men ? sin and iniquity brings down the judgements of god upon cities and kingdoms . there is a story of two men riding through a town in germany , burnt down by souldiers ; the one said to the other , hic fuit hostilitas , here the enemy hath been ; but the other wisely and christianly answered , hic fuit iniquitas , here sin hath been ; it was the sin of this place , which made way for the souldiers to come to destroy it . when phocas the murderer of the emperor mauritius had built a high and strong wall for his safety and defence , he heard a voyce from heaven saying to him , though thou buildest thy wall , as high as heaven , sin is within , and this will easily expose it to destruction . it is sin which causeth god to burn up cities ; and therefore you must by a holy life , seek the good of this city . fourthly , by your love to the godly , learned , and painfull ministry of the city ; contempt of the ministry is a city-ruinating-sin , it is a sin which brings destruction without remedy , 2 chron. 36. 16. they mocked the messengers of god , and misused his prophets , untill the wrath of god arose against his people , till there was no remedy . when hanun the ammonite abused davids ambassadors , this affront made him to stink before david ( as it is expresly said , 2 sam. 10. 6. ) and brought destruction upon him and all his people : ministers rightly called and ordained , are the ambassadors of jesus christ ; when you despise them , you despise christ ; when you starve them for want of maintenance , christ takes it as an injury against himself , and he will revenge their quarrel . one great reason , why god destroyed jerusalem , was , because she killed the prophets , and stoned them that were sent to her . and the reason why heidelberg that famous city was laid wast , was ( as i was told by a reverend and learned minister there dwelling ) for the contempt of the ministry . o let not this be your sin , lest you also perish as they have done . 5. by your constancy in the faith in these apostatizing dayes ; it will not , it cannot be denied , but that london is miserably infected and beleapred with errors and heresies ; and what is said of poland , and amsterdam , may be as truly said of this city , that if a man had lost his religion , he should be sure to find it ( be it what it will be ) amongst as here . we are a cage of unclean birds ; a receptacle for hereticks of all kinds ; heresie is gone forth from london , into all parts of the land . now you must know , that heresie will quickly bring ruine upon a city . pezelius upon sleidan , tells us , that the dissentions of the christians in the east , brought in the saracens and mahumetans : they were divided into ten severall religions ; and their divisions did armare saracenos in ecclesiae perniciem , did arm the saracens to destroy the christians ; and therefore if you would seek the good of the place of your nativity , you must be valiant for the truth , you must indeavour , according to the station in which god hath set you , to purge the city of these augaean stables , to hinder the growth of heresie : you must not be like children tossed to and fro , and carried about with every wind of doctrin . you must in malice be children , but in understanding be men . you must be stedfast and immoveable in the truth , that so at last god who is a god of truth , may delight to dwell in the midst of us ; and this city may be called as jerusalem was , a city of truth . 6. by your charity and liberality ; this doth especially concern such of you , upon whom god hath bestowed the riches of this world . a poor citizen may do good to his native-city , by his prayers and holy life , but you must also do good to it , by your bounty and liberality . charity is the queen of graces , without which all other graces are but cyphers and shadows ; faith without charity is nothing worth ; if a man gives his body to be burnt , and hath not charity , it profiteth him nothing . the protestant religion , as it teacheth us not to trust to good works , so also it teacheth us to be full of good works ; you have often heard us say , that though faith alone justifieth , yet the faith that justifieth , is never alone ; though faith justifieth separatim à bonis operibus , yet not separata à bonis operibus ; though good works be not necessary in the act of justification , yet they are necessary in the person justified ; though good works be not the cause , why we go to heaven , yet they are the way to heaven . thus wee preach ▪ let it appear this day , that you are real protestants by pract●sing this doctrine . let the proud papists trust to the merit of their works , but let us protestants trust in christ onely and his righteousness , and let us manifest the truth of our faith in christ , by our good works to the members of christ , alwaies remembring that laying of christ , whatsoever you do to any of the least of my brethren , you do unto me . you have many glorious precedents and put ternes left you by your predecessors , whose hearts god hath stirred up to build many famous hospitalls , and to endow them with large revenews , and to erect free-schools for the education of youth , and herein they become examples to you to follow their steps , and as you inherit their estates , so also to inherit their vertues . but i shall not press you any farther to charity in general ; i shall confine my discourse to one little piece and parcel of charity towards your fellow-citizens , that are in want and necessity . you are this day to dine together ; my hearts desire is , that this dinner may be a feast of charity . in the primitive times the christians had their {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , their love-feasts , on purpose to maintain brotherly love ; these feasts jude calls ( according to our translation ) feasts of charity , because in such feasts the poor were alwaies remembred ; my humble sute is , that this dinner may be a feast of love and charity , that some real good may be done at it , that you may not onely feast as good citizens , but as good christians ; and therefore you have a sermon here this morning , on purpose to prepare you for this feast , that so it may not onely be a civil , but a religious meeting . the apostle jude tells us of spots that were in the primitive feasts of charity , these spots were certain wicked and heretical persons , which crept into their feasts , and defiled and polluted them ; i hope their will be no such spots amongst us this day . the last year there were spots in our feast of charity , mistake me not , i do not mean it in judes sense , i am far from thinking , that there were wicked and heretical men amongst us , my meaning onely is , that there were defects and blemishes in our last years meeting . the reverend brother that preach'd here the last year , hath told the world thus much in print ; but he addes very wisely and discreetly , and ( i hope ) truly , that this was not for want of affection , but of contrivance ; not for want of liquor , but vent , not matter , but method , not conception , but obstetrication ; you did not want a fountain of charity , but onely a chanel cut out wherein your charity might stream it self ; this channel is now cut out for you , there are indeed four chanels , four glorious designes proposed by the stewards , for to draw out your charity and liberality , towards your fellow-citizens ; give me leave to read them to you , as they were sent me in writing . 1. for the relief of ministers in distresse , born in the freedom oflondon . 2. for relief of ministers widdows in want , whose husbands were born in the freedom of london . 3. for putting forth of poor children to be apprentises , whose fathers are or were freemen , and which children were born in the city of london , or liberties thereof . 4. that relief may be made for poor scholars , students in the vniversity , and there resident , who are unable to subsist of themselves , and who were sons of freemen , and have been horn in london , or the liberties thereof . here are four famous chanels for your charity to stream in ; four excellent materials to build your liberality upon . and let me tell you , that you are obliged this day , both in conscience , and honour , and you can neither sasisfie god or man , unlesse you do something worthy your selves . to move you , consider , 1. that you miscarried the last year , and therefore you are the more ingaged this year . when i say you miscarried , i do not mean as to the faithfulnesse of the stewards , who were very carefull and exactly diligent in laying out the money that was gathered , ( in testimony whereof you have 32. poor youths here before you whom they bound out apprentises . ) but i mean in regard of the littleness of the sum that was gathered . and this miscarriage was not for want of affection , ( as is said of you in print ) but for want of contrivance , not for want of liquor , but vent , of matter , but method , &c. behold now a method propounded ! behold a vent for your charity ! let it appear this day , that that which is said of you in print is true . let the fountain of your liberality stream out in these four chanels . 2. you have most of you got your estates here in this city ; here is the place where god hath blessed you ; and therefore the light of nature teacheth you to seek the good of this city , where god hath prospered you in the first and chief place . and there are many of you whom god hath blessed with great estates . as you are citizens of no mean city , so you are no mean citizens . now god requires of you , not only to be charitable , but a suitable proportion of charity according as he hath blessed you . you that are rich in estate must not only do good works , but be rich in good works , alwaies remembring that saying of christ , to whom much is given , of them much is required . 3. your charity will be a pattern and president to other persons and places . for though you must not do good works to be seen of men , yet you must do good works , which men may see , according as christ saith , let your light so shine before men , that they may see your good works , and glorifie your father w●h is in heaven . 4. i might here take occasion to tell you what the kentish men have done lately in their meeting , and what the warwick-shire men have done ; but this would be too much to undervalue you ; you are the mother city , and it is not fit that the daughters should be examples to the mother , but the mother to her daughters . i perswade my self , that you will this day exceed all former patterns , and be your selves a pattern to all others . 5. i might also here take occasion to put you in mind of one of the last years stewards , whom god hath suddainly taken out of this world . he was a godly man , and of good esteem ; his name was mr. john wallington . the egyptians in all their great feasts were wont to have a death's head served in as one dish , that thereby they might be put in mind of their mortality ; and learn to be sober and temperate in eating and drinking . i could heartily wish , that the death of this precious christian might serve this day instead of a death's-head to stir up your charity , and liberality , forasmuch as you know not how soon god may take you from your estates , or your estates from you , how soon god may call you to give an account of your stewardships ; or whether ever you shall live to have such another publick occasion , to testifie the greatness of your love to christ , by your charity to his fellow-members . and therefore while you have opportunity , do good to all , but especially to the houshold of faith . but why should i use any more arguments ? for the city of london hath alwayes been one of the best places in the world , for deeds of charity . let me speak it to the honour of god , and of this city , that even at this very day , the city of london is a sanctuary for all the distressed christians of the nation ; and a man may sooner get a 100 l. at a collection in london ; than an hundred pence in many other places . as god hath given you large estates , so also hath he given to many of you large hearts . and therfore why should not believe , and confidently conclude , that you will this day answer expectation ; and that you will be charitable , though not to be seen of men , yet so , as that men may see it , and bless god for you . i shall adde onely this one word more . you are citizens of no mean city , and no mean citizens of this city ; and therefore let not your charity this day be low and mean , but transcendent , and superlative , suitable to the place where you were born , and to such persons born in such a place . so much for the use of this proposition , as it is a considerable and desirable privilege . vse 2. i shall now further improve it as it is but an outward , temporall , fleshly , and carnal privilege , common to the worst , as well as to the best of men . as it is the prerogative of paul , even then when hee was a persecuting pharisee ; as it is a privilege which a man may enjoy , and yet be in the state of damnation . and here likewise ( if time would permit ) i should exhort you unto three things very seasonable and profitable . 1. let us not rest satisfied in being the children of religious parents , but let us labour to inherit the virtues of our parents . there are many children , who are blots and blemishes to their parents , as manasseh was to hezekiah , conmodus unto marcus aurelius antoninus , of whom it is said , that he had been perfectly happy , had hee not begotten such a son ; and that he did injure his countrey in nothing but in being the father of such an ungodly child . hoc solo patriae , quod genuit , nocuit . there are many citizens amongst us , who are the wicked sons of very godly parents , let such know , that it is a fearful thing to sin against good education , and to walk contrary to those religious principles , which they suck'd in from their very cradle ; that that which is a great mercy in it self , is to them a great judgement ; and that their very parents shall rise up in judgement against them , and be instead of a thousand witnesses to condemn them . 2. let us not rest contented in being born of noble parents , but let those that are nobly born , labour to be nobly minded ; for it is the noble minde makes a man noble , and not the noble title . it is a notable saying of gregory the great , a king may command his subjects to call a lyon a lamb , but he cannot make a lyon to be a lamb ; a king may give a man noble titles , but he cannot make the man a noble man , because he cannot give him a noble and vertuous minde . and therefore you that are nobly born must labour to be nobly and vertuously minded . nobility without vertue is , but , as a scarlet-roabe upon a leprous body , and like a jewel in a swines snout . there are very many who are ignobly born , and yet prove noble ; such was the coblers son who grew to be a famous captain , and when he was upbraided by a noble man with his mean original , wittily answered , my nobility begins with me , and thine ends in thee ; and there are many who are nobly born , and yet prove ignoble , to the dishonour of their progenitors ; such were the children of alcibiades ; such was hezekiah's son ; such must not you be , you must labour to be a credit to your ancestors . and you must not account it sufficient to be born of earthly parents , though never so noble , but you must labour to be born of god , and to be born from above ; for as christ saith , except a man be born from above , ( for so it is in the original ) he shall never enter into the kingdom of heaven . it is not your being born from below , ( though your parents be never so high ) which will intitle you to heaven ; unlesse you be born from above , unless you be heaven-born christians . a true christian is of a noble extraction ; he is the adopted son of god , brother to jesus christ , heir of god , and co-heir with christ ; he is the noblest man in the world ; such must you labour to be ; and in comparison of this all outward nobility is , but as dung and drosse . 3. let us not rest satisfied in being citizens of this famous city of london , but let us labour to be citizens of the new jerusalem , to be citizens of that city which is made without hands , eternal in the heavens . heaven in scripture is often called a city , and it is no mean city , glorious things are spoken of thee , o thou city of the living god ; all earthly cities aremean and poor , in comparison of it , and not worthy to be named that day in which we speak of this city ; the scripture calls it , a better countrey , that is , an heavenly ; as far as heaven exceeds the earth , so far doth thiscity exceed all earthly cities . it exceeds them . 1. in its greatness and bigness ; and therefore it is called agreat city , revel 21. 10. and , that great city by way of emphasis ; the holy jerusalem descending out of heaven . our saviour christ saith , that in his fathers house there are many mansions ; who can tell how many ? for there are in heaven a great multitude , which no man could number , of all nations , and kindreds , and people , and tongues . if the sun be 166times bigger than the earth , how big is this blessed city ? 2. in its sublimity and altitude ; it is a city seated above all visible heavens , as the apostle saith , ephes● 4. 10. therefore it is called ; the highest heaven , and the third heaven , farre above the aëriall , and aetheriall heavens . and this sheweth the excellency of this city ; for in the composition of the world , the purest , and the most excellent things are situated in the highest places ; the earth as the grossest is put in the lowest room ; the air above that , and therefore purer than that ; the fire purer than the air ; the starry heaven above them , and therefore of a more pure composition , which aristotle calls , quinta essentia ; but the heaven of the blessed is above the starry heaven , and therefore of a far purer composition , and as zanchy saith , it is inter omnia corpora simplicia simplicissimum . 3. in its beauty and glory ; for this city hath no need of the sun or moon to shine in it ; but the glory of god doth lighten it , and the lamb is the light thereof . and herein also consisteth the excellency of this city because it is a place where we shall be filled with the glory of god , the lord god almighty shall be the everlasting light of it , and our god the glory of it . 4. it exceeds all other cities in the wealth and riches of it ; for it is a city of pure gold , and the streets of it are of pure gold , the walls of it and the foundations are garnished with all manner of precious stones , and the twelve gates of it are made of twelve pearles , &c. these expressions are all of them metaphorical , borrowed from things that are most precious , and of highest account with men upon earth , to set out the incomparable wealth and riches of heaven . and surely if the streets be of pure gold , o how beautiful are the inner rooms ! how rich is the chamber of presence of the great king of kings ! 5. in the pleasures of it ; there are many cities which are pleasantly situated , and wherein all earthly pleasures are to be enjoyed ; this famous city of london is deservedly stiled not onely the store-house of profit , but the garden of pleasure ; but heaven is a paradise of all pleasure , and therefore it is called paradise ; earthly paradise was omnium voluptatum promptuarium , a promptuary and store-house of all pleasures , and delights , much more is heavenly paradise : it is the garden of the lord , wherein the saints of god are satisfied with joyes and unspeakable delights . 6. in the privileges and immunities of it ; every city hath its privileges , and immunities to invite men to dwell in it , & to be free of it . but now the privileges , and immunities of heaven are unexpressible ; there we shall all be kings , crowned with a crown of righteousness , a crown of life , and a crown of glory . there we shall be free from all misery , from the wicked and their persecutions , from the devil and his temptations , and above all we shall be free from the body of sin and iniquity . 7. in the necessary accommodations of it ; a city is a place where all things necessary for the comfort of mans life are to be found . the whole countrey round about bring in their commodities to it . we use to say of cheap side in london , that it is the best garden in england . but now heaven is a city wherein we shall have a perfect possession of all good things . it is an happiness made up by the aggregation of all things desirable . 8. in the excellency of the inhabitants ; it is one of the greatest commendations of a city , when the inhabitants of it are godly and religious . but now in heaven there are none , but the souls of just men made perfect in grace . the people which dwell there are all righteous ; therefore it is called , a holy city , because it consisteth onely of holy persons . 9. in the safety and security of it . it is a great commendation of a city when it is safe and secure from enemies ; there is hardly any city in the whole world which enjoyeth this happinesse . but now in heaven , there is perfect safety and security . therefore it is said , that the gates of it shall never be shut . they that dwell there , are above the fear , and hurt of men or devils . 10. it exceeds all other cities in the work & imployment which the citizens of this city have . in earthly cities men turmoil themselves with wordly businesses , and are troubled about many things , drowning themselves in the cares of the world &c. but in heaven there is no work but to sing hallelujahs , and to be alwayes praising god , and rejoycing in his presence . 11. it exceeds all other cities in the durableness & eternity of it ; the pleasures of this city are everlasting , and the glory , honor , riches and privileges &c. of it , are everlasting . therefore it is said to be a city which hath foundations . the apost. tels us , that abraham looked for a city which hath foundations . this expressiō is put down in oppositiō to abrahams dwelling in tents & tabernacles . a tent is an house wch hath a covering but no foundation ; a tent is a moveable house , easily reared up , and easily pull'd down ; but now the heaven of the blessed is a firm and an enduring city , a city which hath foundations . this phrase signifieth two things . 1. the unchangeableness & unalterableness of this heavenly city . 2. the everlastingnesse and eternity of it . both of them are expresly mentioned by the apost. peter , 1 pet. 1. 4. where he calls heaven not only an immortal , and undefiled , but an inheritance that never fadeth away . all farthly cities decay in time , and need reparation : but this is a city which never fadeth ; a place which needs no reparation . and is as a flower that is alwayes sweet , and never withereth , as excellent after 10000000. years , as at the first moment of its creation . it is unchangeable and unalterable . and so also , it is eternal and everlasting . earthly cities have no foundation , and therefore are fading and perishing . they are like cities made of wax or snow , which quickly melt away , like nebucadnezzars image , whose head was of fine gold , and breasts of silver , but the feet which upheld it were composed of brittle clay , that is easily dissolved . earthly happinesse like the earth is founded upon nothing . and as the cities we dwell in , so we that dwell in these cities have no foundation , unlesse it be in the dust , as job speaks ; therefore the apostle saith , we have here no abiding city , but we seek one to come . heaven is a kingdom , that cannot be shaken . a mansion-house , as christ saith , in my fathers house are many mansions ; ( so called from their perpetuity . ) but we have no {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , no abiding city here . nature ( saith cicero ) hath not given a dwelling place to us here upon earth , but onely a lodging place , as a guest in an inne for a night and away . therefore it is , that the saints of god in all ages have acknowledged themselves to be sojourners , pilgrims , and strangers in this world , traveling thorough it , as thorough a strange country unto their mansion-house in heaven . in a word ; all earthly cities , persons , and happinesse are subject , first to alteration , and next to dissolution . the longest day hath its night , and the longest life its death . the famous monarchies of the world have had their periods . kings dye , and kingdoms dye ; and great and famous cities are in length of time ruinated , and demolished . we in this nation have seen strange alterations , changes , and dissolutions . all earthly cities are changeable , and perishing ; but heaven is a city which hath foundations : it is an unchangeable and everlasting city . lastly , this city excells all other cities in the builder and maker of it ; earthly cities are built by men , but the builder of this city is god : so saith the apostle , he looked for a city which hath foundations , whose builder and maker is god . there are some who think , that the heaven of the blessed is an uncreated place : but this a great error . for every thing in the world is either the creator , or the creature ; ●f heaven were an uncreated place , it should he a god and not a creature . we believe in our creed , that god is the creator of all things visible and invisible . and the forementioned text tells us ; that god was the builder and maker of it . here are two words used {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the last word signifieth , that god made it , summo artificio , to set out his skill and workmanship . when great men build great houses for their own dwelling , they build them according to their greatnesse . when ahashuerosh made a feast , to shew the riches , and glory ▪ of his kingdom , it was a most magnificent feast . solomons temple ( built by him ) was justly accounted the glory of the world , pliny calls it , orbis miraculum , the miracle of the world . when nebucadnezzar built a palace for his own dwelling , it was a sumptuous one . the heathens tell us of glorious structures made by earthly kings . of the temple of diana ; the sepulcher of mausolus ; the walls of babylon ; the capitol of rome , &c. and the pyramids of egypt , one of which was twenty years building , and three hundred threescore thousand men alwaies at work about it . if all the kings of the earth should joyn together to build a palace , surely it would be a rare building ; but if all the angels in heaven should joyn , and set their wisdom on work to build an house , surely it would be an angelical structure . much more when god himself who is an infinite agent , infinite in glory , power , and wisdom , shall make an house to shew his skill , wisdom , glory , and power , this house surely must needs be superlatively excellent ; such an house and such a city is heaven , whose builder and curious artificer was god . and therefore it is said , to be an house made without hands ; not onely without earthly hands , ( for so all the visible heavens were made ) but without hands , that is , after a more excellent manner than the other heavens ; the other heavens are said to be made by the hand of god , psal. 19. 1. psalm 102. 25. but this was made without hands , that is , after a more glorious , and a more unconceiveable manner than all the other heavens . q. but for what end did god build this glorious city ? a. for two ends . first , for his own dwelling-house . christ calls it , his fathers house . god indeed dwells every where in regard of his essence , but in regard of the presence of his glory , he dwells onely in heaven . this sheweth the surpassing excellency of this heavenly house ; it is an house fit for god to dwell in . secondly , god made this city , that it might be a place where the saints of god shall live in the embraces of god for ever . come ye blessed of my father ( saith christ , ) inherit the kingdom prepared for you , &c. it is a kingdom of glory , and happiness prepared for the saints before the foundation of the world . in a word . god made this city to be the habitation of angels and saints after this life , in which they shall see god face to face ; and be made like to christ in glory , and enjoy such pleasures and delights , which eye never saw , nor ear never heard , nor ever entred into the heart of man to conceive . but here i shall draw a veil , not forgetting what the ancient fathers usually say , when they speak of heaven , experimento opus est ; we shall never perfectly understand the excellency of this city , till we come to be dwellers in it . o let us all labour to be citizens and free-men of this blessed city . here are this day assembled , multitudes of citizens and free-men of london : how happy would it be if all here present , were citizens and freemen of heaven . if there were a city in this world , in which whosoever dwelt should be alwayes rich , and healthfull , and young and happy , what flocking would be to such a city ? such a city is heaven ; it is a city in which the saints of god shall all be kings , and shall bee perfectly and perpetually happy . let us bind our selves apprentices to god in this life ; and when our short time is out , he will make us freemen of that city , which hath foundations , whose builder and maker is god . wee must not think to be the devils slaves here , and gods freemen in heaven ; but we must be gods faithfull servants here , and wee shall be his freemen hereafter . heaven is not onely an excellent ▪ city , but a holy city , into which no unclean person shall in any wise enter . in earthly cities wicked men dwell , as well as righteous , and more wicked than righteous ; but in this city , the people shall all be righteous , as it is isaiah , 60. 21. this city is the inheritance of the saints , and of all the saints , and onely of the saints , and unless we be born again , we shall never enter into this city . and therefore let us pray unto god , that hee would make us meet & fit to enter into this holy and heavenly city ; that he that made us creatures , would make us new creatures ; that god by grace , would make us fit to enter into glory . in a word , let us make it appear this day , that we are not onely citizens of london , but of heaven , by our deeds of charity distributed to christs poor for christs sake . god hath entailed not only temporal and spiritual , but eternal mercices upon charity and liberality ; and therefore let us make to our selves friends of the unrighteous mammon , that when we fail , they may receive us into everlasting habitations ; let us lay up our treasures in heaven , where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt , and where theeves do not break thorough and steal . let me speak to you in the words of the apostle paul : charge them that are rich in this world , ( a man may be rich in this world as dives was , and poor enough ( as hee was ) in the other world ▪ ) therefore if you would not only be rich here , but rich in the other world , you must not be high-minded , nor trust in uncertain riches , but in the living god who giveth us all things richly to enjoy , you must do good , and he rich in good works ( not only do good works , but be rich in good works , ) ready to distribute , willing to communicate , laying up in store for your selves a good foundation against the time to come , that you may lay hold on eternal life . the world foundation is not here to be understood in the builders sense , but in the lawyers sense , who call the evidences upon which they ground their plea , their foundation . the merits of christ , are our onely foundation to build our hope of heaven upon ; but good works are the evidencing foundation . let us lay up for our selves in heaven a good foundation , by works of charity , that at the great day of judgement , jesus christ may say unto us , come yee blessed of my father , inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world : for i was an hungred , and ye gave me meat : i was thirsty , and ye gave me drink : i was a stranger , and ye took me in ; i was naked , and yee cloathed me ; i was sick , and ye visited me ; i was in prison , and ye came unto me . so much for this text , and for this time . finis notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a78766e-210 mat. 11 : 26 luc. 19. 42. luc. 4. 16. elton upon rom. 9. act 22. 3. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . rom. 9. 2 , 3. aristotelem ha●d minus quam patrem suum initio dilexit , quod a patre , ut viveret , a praeceptore , ut bene viveret , accepisset pezelius . ejus gratiâ lacedaemonii in reliquam baeotiam saevientes thebanis pepercerunt . ita & alexander quum thebas everteret , & in omnes saeviret sine discrimine , pindari vatis penatibus familiaeque parci jussit . cicero contra verrem . eph. 2. 19. heb. 11. 10 mat. 11. 23 neh. 7. 2. mat 5. 47. i received a note of these particulars from the worthy stewards of the late feast . act. 18. 10. zeph. 3. 1. nah. 3. 1. isa. 26. 1. notes for div a78766e-2550 vers . 38. first isa. 8. 8. rom. 9. cajetan . in locum . vbi minus dicitur & plus intelligitur . ciliciae totius princeps & caput . the words may be handled two wayes . relatively absolutely . doctrine . the first branch of the proposition . gen. 32. 9. gen. 17 , 7. psal. 112. 2. col. 4. 10. the second branch the proposition phil. 3. 5. eccl. 10. 17. gaspar streso in locum . et tu ea tibi accepe non es enim themistocles . the third branch of the proposition . streso in acta &c. gen. 11. in panegyric orat. to constantius . speed . this saying of josephus is quoted by speed in his history of great britain . 4. things in commendation of england . de britanni carum eccle●●arum primordiis . the 4th branch of the proposition . libr. de scriptor . eccl. in paulo . in ep. ad philem. beda in c. 21. act. masius in c. 19. josh. arias montanus , in apparatu &c. ebionaei apud epiphan. haeres . 30. act. 22. 3. act. 22. 27. cicero . acts 22. 28. speed . vse 1. exh. 1. cambden . act. 17. 16 cambden . matth : parisiens . nulla digs tam nubilis in quâsol in hâc insulâ non conspiciatur . solinus . isa. 1. 4. exh. 2. two things are to be done that we may be a credit , and an ornament to london . jer. 31. 23. heb. 12. 14 exhort . 3. neh 2. 10. invenit late retia● reliquit marmoream . six waies to make london happy . ezek. 48. 35. the 2d . way to make london happy . psal. 133. psalm . 122 3. 3. the third way to make london happy . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . the 4th way to make london happy . luc. 20. 16. luc. 13. 34. scultetus , who afterward came over into england . the fifth way to make london happy . jer. 9. 3. 1 cor. 15. 58. zech 8. 3. the sixth way to make london happy . jam. 2. 14. 1 cor. 13. 3. mat. 25. 40 jude 12. jude 12. dr. horton . four several sorts of persons upon whom the charity gathered at the londoners meeting is to be bestowed . luc. 12. 46. matth. 5. 16. gal. 6. 10. vse 2. exhort . prorsus felicem futurum fuisse ( inquit ausoinius ) si hunc filium non generasset . exhort . 2. iphicoabes . genus meum à me incipit tuum in te desinit . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . joh. 3. 3. exho . 3. heb. 11. 10 , 16. heb. 13. 14 psal. 87. heb. 11. 16 heaven is a city , that exceeds all other cities in in twelves respects . joh. 14. 2. rev. 7. 9. rev. 21. 23 rev. 12. 5. isa. 60. 19. rev. 21. 18 , 19 , 21. 2 tim. 4. 8 rev. 2. 10. 1 pet. 5. 4. heb 12. 23 isa. 60. 20. rev. 21. 10 rev. 21. 25 heb. 11. 10 tectum habet , fundamentum non habet . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . job . 4. 14. heb. 12. 28 joh. 14. natura non habitandi sed commorandi diversorium hic nobis dedit . heb. 11 , 10 heb. 11. 10. nulla alia aedificandi pyramidis causa quam vana , & stulta ostentatio ut scilicet nec pecunia ipsa , nec etiam plebs otiosa esset pancyrolla . 2 cor. 5. 1. qeust . answ . 1. john 14. 2 2. rev. 21. 27. col. 1. 12. john 3. 3 col. 1. 12. isaiah 58. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12. luc. 6. 38 luc. 16. 9 mat. 6. 20 1 tim. 6. 17 , 18 , 19. mat. 25. 34 , 35 , 36. the saints transfiguration, or, the body of vilenesse changed into a body of glory a sermon preached at martins ludgate, october 19, 1654, at the funerall of that reverend and faithfull minister of jesus christ, dr. samuel bolton, late master of christs college in cambridg : with a short account of his death / by edmund calamy ... ; to which are annexed verses upon his death, composed by divers of his friends and acquaintance. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a32058 of text r5821 in the english short title catalog (wing c265). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 86 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a32058 wing c265 estc r5821 13693022 ocm 13693022 101409 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32058) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101409) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 840:33) the saints transfiguration, or, the body of vilenesse changed into a body of glory a sermon preached at martins ludgate, october 19, 1654, at the funerall of that reverend and faithfull minister of jesus christ, dr. samuel bolton, late master of christs college in cambridg : with a short account of his death / by edmund calamy ... ; to which are annexed verses upon his death, composed by divers of his friends and acquaintance. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [6], 35 p. printed for joseph cranford ..., london : 1655. reproduction of original in the university of illinois (urbana-champaign campus). library. eng bolton, samuel, 1606-1654 -sermons. bolton, samuel, 1606-1654 -poetry. bible. -n.t. -philippians iii, 20-21 -sermons. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a32058 r5821 (wing c265). civilwar no the saints transfiguration: or the body of vilenesse changed into a body of glory. a sermon preached at martins ludgate october 19. 1654. at calamy, edmund 1655 15559 11 100 0 0 0 0 71 d the rate of 71 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-11 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2004-11 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the saints transfiguration : or the body of vilenesse changed into a body of glory . a sermon preached at martins ludgate october 19. 1654. at the funerall of that reverend , and faithfull minister of jesus christ dr samuel bolton , late master of christs colledge in cambridg , with a short account of his death . by edmund calamy , b. d. pastor of aldermanbury in london . to which are annexed verses upon his death , composed by divers of his friends and acquaintance . the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart , and mercifull men are taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . isa. 57. 1. your fathers where are they ? and the prophets do they live for ever ? zach. 1. 5. london , printed for joseph cranford at the sign of the phoenix in pauls churchyard , m.dc.lv. to the right honourable robert earl of warwick , baron of leeze . right honourable : it hath pleased god to take unto himself a reverend , learned and pious minister dr bolton , one who feared god above many , who was ( not without just cause ) highly esteemed by your lordship , whose memory is very pretious to you , and who was very dear to a religious daughter of yours now with god ( whom i mention for honour sake ) the lady lucy roberts . the ensuing sermon preached at his sad funerals , i crave leave to dedicate to your lordship , as a publike acknowledgement of the many and great favours i have received from you . the design of it is , to wean christians from the overmuch love of their bodies . all men by nature are prone curare cutem magis quàm animam , to take more care and spend more time for their bodies , then for their souls : hence it is that they think no cost too much that is laid out for the feeding and cloathing of their bodies , no gift too great that is given to the physitian to heal them when diseased , but any thing too much which is given to a godly minister for the good of their souls : hence it is , that the working dayes are too few , and too short for their bodily profits and pastimes , but the lords day which is the queen of dayes , because it is the souls market-day for heaven , is burdensome to them , and very tedious . hence it is also that they are willing to lay out nine parts of their estate for their bodies , but unwilling to part with the tenth for soul-advantages . the scope of this sermon ▪ is to shew the vanity and sinfulness of these and such like practises . it tells your lordship that the body is the worst half of man , the boxe the shell , the carcasse : that the soul is the jewel , the life , the man of man . that the body is a vile body made of vile materials , subject to vile diseases and to vile abominations , and that he that provides for his body and not for his soul , is like unto a husbandman that in harvest time gathers in his stubble , and leaves his corn to be devoured by his hoggs ; or like unto a goldsmith , that weighs exactly his dross , but disregards his gold . and also he that provides for his body with the neglect of his soul , is like unto a merchant that overloads his ship so as to drown himself ; or to a man that makes so great a fire to warm himself by , as to burn his house and himself in it . it sheweth your lordship also that this vile body will never be changed into a glorious body till the great day of the resurrection , and that then the lord jesus will come from heaven on purpose to fashion our vile bodies like unto his glorious body . that this life is not the time appointed for the good of our bodies only or chiefly , but of our souls principally and especially . that the only way to make our bodies glorious , is by getting our souls to be made gracious . that the happiness of the body depends upon the happiness of the soul : if the soul be adorned here with christs righteousness , the body will be cloathed with glory unexpressible hereafter . if the soul when separated from the body be polluted and belepred with sinne , the body and soul will both of them be eternally miserable at the resurrection . these lessons are very suitable and seasonable for all sorts and degrees , but especially for you ( right honourable ) whose body now begins to wax old , and will shortly go down to the house of rottenness and be crumbled into dust . i doubt not but god hath sufficiently taught you the vanity and emptiness of all earthly greatness . that greatness without goodness , is like the greatness of a man with a dropsie , which is his disease not his happiness : that riches without righteousness are but heaps of dung : and that nothing but grace will make you truly and eternally honourable . god hath taken you off ( out of love to your pretious soul ) from all publike employments , and thereby hath lent you much time to provide for eternity . he hath given you a noble countess , a pretious consort , a beloved companion , a dear yoak-fellow ( united to you not only by marriage relation , but by true love and most entire affection ) who will be glad to go hand in hand with you in heavens way . to both of you my obligations are very many and very great , the characters of your love are visible and legible by all : all that know me know my relation to you : my prayers to god for you both shall be , that god would give you more of himself , and of those mercies which cannot stand with damnation : that he would keep you good in bad times , and constant to your principles in apostatizing times : that he would lengthen out your dayes for his glory ; and that this sermon may be instrumentall to make you minde your bodies lesse , and your souls more ; that when the great day of judgement shall come , your vile bodies may be changed into the likeness of the glorious body of jesus christ . so prayeth , my lord your servant in all spiritual things edm. calamy . a sermon preached at dr boltons funerall . phil. 3. 20 , 21. from whence also we look for the saviour , the lord jesus christ . who shall change our vile body , that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body , according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself . we are here met to perform the last office of love for a worthy , reverend and godly minister of jesus christ , dr samuel bolton late master of christs colledge in cambridge . and this text that i have chosen , will afford us many suitable and seasonable meditations and considerations for such a meeting . for here you have . 1. the condition that the bodies of men ( even the best of men ) are in in this life ; they are vile and contemptible : our vile body . the greek words are very emphaticall , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the body of vilenesse , a corpus humilitatis nostrae , or , b corpus nostrum humile . the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , signifieth , vilem & abjectam conditionem , qualis est vilium servorum , a vile and abject condition , such as is of slaves and vassals . the same word is used , luk. 1. 48. he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , it is is also used james 1. 10. 2. the condition that the bodies of the saints shall be in at the glorious resurrection : they shall then be changed , and made like unto the glorious body of the lord jesus christ , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , shall then be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , the body of vildnesse shall then be a body of glory . 3. the persons whose bodies shall be thus changed , and they are such who have their conversation in heaven : but our conversation is in heaven , from whence we look for a saviour who shall change our vile body . not every vile body , but our vile body . the bodies of the wicked shall be ugly and loathsome , but the bodies of those whose dispositions and actions are heavenly , shall be beautifull and glorious . 4. the person that shall make this great change in our bodies ; and he is the lord jesus christ our saviour . 5. the time when this great transfiguration shall be made , and that is at the great day of judgment , when our saviour the lord jesus christ shall come from heaven , for this very end and purpose , to fashion our vile bodies like unto his glorious body . 6. the means by which all this shall be accomplished , and that is , according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself , and therefore able to make this glorious transfiguration and transformation of our bodies . 7. the use we are to make of all this , and that is , to wait and expect , to long and look for the coming of our lord jesus to judgment , for the accomplishing of this glorious metamorphosis — from whence we look for a saviour . by what hath been already said , you may perceive , that this text is a pretious cabinet , full of many excellent jewels ; for here is the doctrine 1. of the bodies vility , fragility and mortality . 2. of the resurrection of the just . 3. of the bodies immortality and glorification at the resurrection . 4. of the great and dreadfull day of judgment . 5. of the great errand and message for which christ shall come to judgement , and that is to glorifie our bodies : now all these doctrines are very suitable to such an assembly as this is ; the lord make them as profitable to you as they are seasonable for you , my purpose is to pick out only two of these jewels , and to shew you 1. what is the condition of our bodies for the present . 2 , what our bodies shall be at the resurrection . first , to speak of the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , then of the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; first of the body of vilenesse , then of the body of glory . doct. 1. that the bodies even of the best of saints for the present are vile bodies . doct. 2. that the lord jesus christ at the great day of judgment , shall raise these vile bodies , and charge them into the likenesse of his own glorious body . doct. 1. that the bodies even of the best of saints for the present are vile bodies . the holy apostle foresaw how prone men and women would be to be proud of their bodies , to pamper them , to spend all their time , and lay out all their strength to provide for their bodies , even with the neglect of their more pretious souls : and therefore that he might wean people from the immoderate love of their bodies , he purposely calls them vile bodies : and 1 cor. 15. 43 , he calls them dishonourable bodies , or bodies of dishonour , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . qu. but you will demand ; in what respects may the body be said to be a vile body ? ans. the body may be said to be a vile body , 1. in reference to its primitive constitution , even before it was defiled with sin ; for it was made of dust of the earth , the and not of dust simply , but of dust mingled with water , of clay and muddy dust , ex pulvero limoso & lutoso : the body was not made of coelestiall materials , of the sunne , moon or starres ; nor of pretious materials , of gold or silver ; but of the worst and lowest of the elements , ex fragili & vili materiâ , of frail and perishing , of ignoble and contemptible materials , and therefore may fitly be called a vile body . 2. since the fall of adam , our bodies are called vile bodies , because subject to vile diseases , therei 's no disease so vile , but the body of man is subject unto : job was a man eminent in godliness , yet his body was full of soars and biles ●●om the crown of his head to the sole of his foot ; and he saies of himself , job 7. 5. my flesh is cloathed with worms and clods of dust , my skin is broken and become loathsome . who can reckon up all the diseases that mans body is liable unto ? the stone , the govt , leprosie , plague , colick , strangury , diabolicall possession , madness , sciatica and small pox , are not the tithe of them ; and therefore it may fitly be called a vile body . 3. because subject to vile abuses by tyrants and cruell persecutors : a tyrant cannot hurt the soul of a child of god , but he can torture and kill his body . it is said of the blessed martyrs , of whom the world was not worthy , heb. 11. 37. they were stoned , they were sawed asunder , were slain with the sword ; they wandred about in sheep-skins and goat-skins , destitute , afflicted and tormented . all these sufferings were bodily , and therefore it may well be termed a vile body . 4. because subject to vile abominations and wickednesses . for since the fall of adam our bodies are instruments of unrighteousness unto sinne , rom. 6. 13. they are servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity , rom. 6. 19 in some to drunkenness , in others to adultery , theevery and murder ; in others to sodomy , by which the bodies of men are made vile and dishonourable , according to the saying of the apostle , rom. 1. 24. wherefore god also gave them up to uncleanness , through the lusts of their own hearts , to dishonour their own bodies between themselves . 5. because even in the best of saints , it is a great impediment and hindrance to their immortall souls , and therefore called sepulchrum animae , and vinculum animae , the sepulcher of the soul , the fetters and manacles of the soul . for the most pretious soul , 1. it is hidden in the body as a man in a dark dungeon , or as a bright candle in a dark lantern , the excellent nature , beauty , and glorious operations of it cannot be seen . for it may be said of the soul ( as plato saith of vertue ) that if a man could but see it he could not but love it : but it is hidden in the body as in a prison . 2. it is hindred by the body in three respects . 1. it is hindred from heaven : for whilest we are at home in the body , we are absent from the lord . this earthly house must first be dissolved , before we can come to the house made without hands , eternall in the heavens . 2. it is hindred from heavenly operations ; for the body takes up all the time from the soul . as the lean kine of pharaoh devoured the fat , so doth the body devour the time that should be spent about the soul . it is with the soul and body as it was with abraham and lot , abraham had his servants and cattell , and lot his , and the country was too little for them . so the soul hath her work , and the body his work , and there is hardly time enough for both , so that the one must needs hinder the other , and they will never be right till separated . now this must needs be a great bondage , when the handmaid shall have more attendance then the mistresse , hagar preferred before sarah . 3. it is hindred in all its heavenly operations ; as a bird that hath a stone tied to its leg , is weighed down and cannot fly aloft : so is the heavenly soul in the best of saints , depressed and weighed down with the body , that it cannot fly aloft in prayer and heavenly meditations . the body is quickly tired in holy services , as sauls armour was a burden to david , so is the body to the soul . therefore the apostle saith . 2 cor. 5. 4. we that are in this tabernacle do groan , being burdened . the spirit is willing ▪ but the flesh is weak ; like a strong man riding upon a dull horse . 3. it is defiled and made more sinfull by the body . god gave man at first a heavenly soul and an earthly body , that the heavenly soul might lift up the earthly body : but it proves quite contrary ; our earthly bodies have weighed down our heavenly souls , and made them earthly and sensuall . tamdiu versata est anima in tabernaculo , ut ipsa versa est in tabernaculum . as clothes when they are died lose their names , and are called scarlet or stammell : so the souls of men have received such an ill tincture from their bodies , that they may fitly be called worldly , sensuall and carnall . the soul is diverted by the body from its true end : the true end of the soul is to love god and to live to god , but the body turns the stream , and ingrosseth all for back and belly , and therefore may very justly be termed a vile body . 6. the body may be said to be vile , in reference to its dissolution and separation , for when it once dies , it is then evident to an eye of flesh , that it is nothing but a rotten , stinking , putrifying carcass ; that body which while united to the soul seemed very lovely and beautifull , when once the soul leaves it , it becomes an ugly , deformed , gastly carcass , mouldring quickly into dust , that saith to corruption thou art my father , and to the worm thou art my mother and my sister , job 17. 14. 7. it is called a vile body , in comparison of the precious soul . the body is the worst half of man ; it is half , but it is the worst half : it is vilissima pars hominis : it is the box , the shell , the house of man ; but it is the soul that is the kernell , the jewel , the inhabitant . the soul of man is the man of man , intus est quod homo est . the soul is as an angel dwelling in the body as in an house of clay . plato tells us , that is is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , an heavenly plant , and of a divine offspring . the scripture tells us , that it was not made of the dust of the earth as the body was , but ex ore dei , by the breath of god : made a deo though not de deo , by god immediatly , though not of the essence of god . and when a man dies , the soul is not turned to dust as the body is : the soul doth not die with the body . stephens soul was not stoned when his body was stoned . when the body returns to the earth as it was , the soul returns to god who gave it , eccl. 12. 7. and therefore in comparison of the soul , the body may be said to be a vile body . 8. lastly , it is called a vile body , in comparison of what it shall be at the great day of the r●●urrection : for then it shall changed and metamorphized , and made like unto the glorious body of jesus christ , and therefore in comparison of what it shall be hereafter , it may well be stiled for the present a vile body . let us often meditate upon this appellation and epithete that is given unto the body : it is called a vile body , or a body of vileness : vile , when separated from the soul , vile whilest united to the soul : vile before defiled with sinne , but especially vile since it was defiled with sinne ▪ vile because subject to vile diseases , to vile abuses by wicked persecutors , to vile abominations : vile , because it is an impediment of the soul : vile in comparison of the pretious soul , and in respect to what it shall be at the glorious appearing of jesus christ . let this meditation teach us these lessons . 1. a lesson of humility . the body we carry about us is but a vile body , and therefore let us not be proud of it : it is corpus humile ( as beza translates this text ) or corpus humilitatis , a body of humility , and therefore let it teach us humility . god on purpose hath made the body of man of the worst and lowest element , that he might not be lifted up with pride , but have a mean and low esteem of himself . hence it is also that in scripture it is compared to things that are very mean and contemptible ; to the grass of the field , to dry stubble , to a leaf driven to and fro , to a thing that is rotten , and to a garment that is moth-eaten . it is compared to such mean things , that we might learn to have a mean esteem of it . why art thou proud oh dust and ashes ? what is man but handsome mudd and guilded rottenness ? what are riches but brighter dust ? and what are honours but heaps of dung ? dust you are , and god will lay your honours in the dust . why art thou proud o dust and ashes ? the birds make their nests of that which thou art made of : every beast treads under his feet that which thou wert made of : every crceping thing disposeth at pleasure of that which thou wert made of : every blast of wind scattereth that which thou wert made of , and why art thou proud oh dust and ashes ? bernard in three expressions sets out the vileness of the body , it is ( saith he ) sperma faetidum , saccus stercorum , esca vermium , it is worms-meat , it is a sack of dung , &c. i have read a story of a certain stone that was brought to alexander the great , which being put into one part of a pair of scales , weighed down whatsoever was put into the other part : but if a little dust had been cast upon the stone , then every thing weighed down the stone . the morall is t●ue though the history prove a fable ; as one of his wisemen told him ; this stone ( said he ) sheweth what thou art oh alexander . whilest thou livest thou weighest down all that oppose thee , the whole world cannot new content thee , when a little dust is cast upon thee , that is , when thou art dead , then every man will outweigh thee , & minor eris quam quicquid mundi , thou wilt be lesser then any man in the world . such another story is reported of the father of alexander , that he kept a boy on purpose , to come to him every morning and to bid him remember he was a man . let us be alwayes mindfull that we are but dust , dust we are and to dust we must return : let us cast dust upon our silks and velvets , upon our gold and silver , upon our beautifull faces : let the great ladies make this doctrine their lookingglasses to dress themselves by every morning : remember thy body is a vile body , and therefore be not proud of it . 2. a lesson of mortification : this vile body of ours is subject to be abused by the devil to vile abominations , and therefore let us go to jesus christ , to get power to mortifie and crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts . there is a body of sinne in all men , and this is that which makes this body of ours to be so vile . let us by a lively faith make application of the death of christ , that the old man being crucified , with him the body of sinne may be destroyed , that henceforth we should not serve sinne . excelledt is that expression of the apostle , 1 cor. 9. 27. but i keep under my body , and bring it into subjection , least that by any means when i have preached to others , i my self should be a castaway . upon which words austin hath this saying , si aries de grege , quid tener agnus , &c , if the great ram of the flock hath need to beat down his body and to bring it under subjection , how much more should we tender lambs use all means for the keeping of it under ? the body is called by hierom , jumentum animae the beast of the soul , and when this beast begins to kick against the soul , we must labour to subdue it by fasting and prayer , and say as hilarion did , faciam asine ut non calcitres . 3. a lesson of contentation : let us be contented with our condition though never so poor : though thy apparel be mean , and thy diet mean : mean things become a vile body . and if for a good conscience thou be put into a vile prison , into a dark and stinking dungeon as the martyrs have been , let us be contented with it , for our bodies for the present are vile bodies : thou canst not be poorer then thou wert at first , and wilt be at last ; for naked we came into the world , and naked we must return again . and though thou hast a diseased and sickly body , and hast met with many losses and crosses , yet be contented ; remember that the bodies of the best of saints in this life are vile bodies . i have read of themistocles , that he invited many philosophers to dinner , and that he borrowed divers dishes of one amyntas ; in the midst of dinner amyntas comes and fetches away half his dishes ; the philosophers asked themistocles how he was able to bear this affront ? he answered mildly , he might have took away all . if god hath taken away half thy children , half thy estate , be contented , all is his , and he might have taken away all . 4. let this epithete teach us a lesson of heavenly courage and fortitude ; let us not fear what the worst of men can do unto us , for they can but kill this vile body . this our saviour teacheth matth. 10. fear not them that can kill the body , and after that can do no more . if a tyrant could kill the soul , then indeed he might be feared , but he cannot reach that , he can but hurt the body , ths vile body , a body subject to a thousand diseases , and to innumerable abominatious ; a body that will shortly dye of its own accord ; and why then should we fear what vile man can do against this vile body ? especially if we consider , that when he hath done his worst against it , it shall in spite of him rise again , and of a vile body , become a most glorious body . oh let us not make shipwrack of a good conscience to preserve this vile body ; let us not destroy our precious souls to save this vile carcass ! 5. if the body be vile in comparison of the soul , then let us be encouraged unto soul-diligence . let us not set the servant on horseback , and suffer the master to go on foot ; let us not preferre the handmaid before the mistress , the box before the jewel , the vile body before our pretious and immortal souls . the body is made of dust , and who ever advanced dust ? we use to sweep away dust from off our clothes , and out of our houses . the body is but a lump of earth , a rotten carcass without the soul , oh let us not preferre it before the soul ! let us not bestow that time , that heart , those affections and endeavours upon the body , which are due unto the soul ! it is a sad thing to consider , how most people , even those that beleeve the doctrine of the souls immortality , do jacob-like , ( though upon a different occasion ) put their right hand upon the youngest sonne , and their left hand upon the eldest , spending the best of their dayes , and strength , and affections upon these vile bodies , and in the mean time neglecting to provide for their eternal souls . give me leave to illustrate this by a similitude : suppose a man should invite a nobleman to his house , and only provide provender for the noblemans horses , without any provision at all for himself , only such as his horses feed on , would not this be a course entertainment ? and yet so do most men deal with their immortal souls . the soul is as this nobleman , lodging in a body of clay as in a poor cottage ; the body is ( as you have heard ) jumentum animae , the souls beast ; and when you consume your dayes in pampering and cloathing your bodies , taking no care for your noble souls , this is but ( as it were ) providing provender for the horses , without any provision for the nobleman : for the soul is never the richer for all our worldly wealth , never the fatter for our delicate fare , nor ever the finer for our silken clothes . i read that st john in 3 joh. 2. prayeth for gaius , that his body might prosper and be in health even as his soul prospered . but if we should make such a prayer for many of our people , we should rather curse them then pray for them ; for if they had no better bodies then they have souls , they would have very poor , lean and naked bodies . let christians labour so to live that this prayer may be fit for them , that we may cheerfully put up this petition for them , that their bodies may prosper even as their souls prosper : let the chiefest part have the chiefest care , the best part the best of our strength and dayes . 6. lastly , let us from this epithete learn a lesson of thankfullness : our bodies are bodies of vileness , and therefore if god hath given thee a body more handsome and more healthfull then others have ; if god hath made any of us ex meliore luto , of better earth ; if he hath made us golden vessels in regard of our outward condition ; if he hath raised any of us from the dust , and set us in high places ; especially if god hath made us elect vessels , vessels of mercy in regard of our eternal condition , as i doubt not but there are many such here , oh give god a great deal of glory , and give him all the glory . if he hath made thy vile body an instrument of righteousness unto holiness ; if he hath sanctified it , and made it a temple fit for the holy ghost to dwell in , then let me speak to you in the language of the holy ghost ; know you not that your bodies are the members of christ ? will you take the members of christ , and make them members of an harlot ? god forbid . know you not that your body is the temple of the holy ghost which is in you , &c. and if any man defile the temple of god , him will god destroy . will you abuse that body that is the temple of the holy ghost to sinne and iniquity ? god forbid , i shall now pass from the first observation to the second , with which our worthy and dear brother was much refreshed , and did often repeat in my hearing , and upon that account i made made choice of this text at this time . the observation is , that the lord jesus christ at the great day of judgment , shall raise these vile bodies , and change them into the likeness of his own glorious body . this doctrine is an alablaster box full of pretious consolation : it was a great comfort and support to our dear brother when he was going out of this world , and oh that it might be a like pretious cordial to us when we shall be in his condition . for the better understanding of the doctrine , i shall propound these five questions , 1. what is that change that christ shall make in our vile bodies at the resurrection ? the bodies of the saints when dead , and separated from their souls , are not separated from jesus christ , and therefore are said to be dead in christ ; while dead they are united to christ , and by virtue of this union christ as their head will raise them at the last day , and at their resurrection they shall be changed , non quoad substantiam sed quoad proprietates , the substance of their bodies shall not be altered , but only the qualities , as wool when it is died into a purple or scarlet die , is the same wool for substance though it be made more glorious ; so the bodies of the saints at the resurrection , shall be the same for substance though made more excellent and more glorious . this was jobs comfort , that with those very eyes of his he should see his redeemer , and that he himself should see him and not another . the apostle tells us , that this mortall body must put on immortality , and this corrupt●ble body must put on incorruption . the ancient christians when they rehearsed that article of the creed , credo resurrectioneme carnis , i beleeve the resurrection of the flesh , were wont to add , etiam hujus carnis , even of this my flesh . it cannot stand with gods justice ( saith hierom ) that one body should sinne and another body be damned , that one body should serve him and another be crowned ; this is contrary to the justice of god , and to the very nature of the resurrection ; for a resurrection is , when the same body that dieth riseth again , otherwise , it is rather a new creation then a resurrection . as the body of christ after his resurrection , was the same for substance though much more excellent and glorious , so shall the bodies of the saints be at their resurrection . as a goldsmith ( saith chrysostome ) takes a little gold and puts it into a refining pot and melts it , and then out of that gold forms a golden vessel fit to be set before kings : so the lord jesus christ melts the bodies of his saints by death , and out of their dead ashes and cinders will form a vessel of gold , a glorious body , fit to live with god and sing hallelujahs in heaven to all eternity . 2. what are those transfigurations and transformations that christ shall make in our bodies at this day ? what is this metamorphosis , wherein doth it consist ? it is impossible to set out all the glorious excellencies with which christ will adorn our bodies in the great day of the resurrection . quae sit & quam magna spiritualis corporis gloria quoniam nondum venit in experimentum , vereor ne temerarium sit omne quod de illâ profertur eloquium , how great the glory of our spirituall bodies shall be , because we have no experience of it , i fear it will be rashness for any man ( saith austin ) to speak peremptorily about it : it will be the marriage day between christ and his saints , and he will endow their bodies with glorious qualities as well as their souls , for he assumed their bodies as well as their souls , suffered in body as well as in soul , died for their bodies as well as for their souls , and therefore will glorifie their bodies as well as their souls . give me leave to mention some of those glorious perfections with which our vile bodies shall be beautified at that day . 1. the bodies of the saints at the resurrection shall be free from all sinne , paul shall not then complain of a law in his members rebelling against the law of his minde , nor cry out , oh miserable man that i am , who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? we shall at that day not only have a posse non peccare , a possibility not to sinne , as adam had in innocency , but a non posse peccare , an impossibility of sinning . 2. our bodies shall be made immortall and incorruptible , 1 cor. 15. 53 , 54. this mortall shall put on immortality , as a garment never to be put off again ; death shall be swallowed up in victory adam in innocency , as he had a power not to sinne , so also not to die ; but the saints at the resurrection shall have an impossibility of sinning and of dying . not but that our bodies are naturally corruptible even at the resurrection , but by the presence of god filling them , they shall be made like the angels , immortall . and if embalming the body can preserve it from putrefaction for many years , much more will the presence of god preserve it from death for ever . 3. the third endowment is brightness and splendour , it is sown in dishonour , but it is raised in glory , 1 cor. 15. 43. the body is not so miserable under the curse , as it is blessed in the promise . as in the state of corruption it is abased lower then all created bodies , so in the state of glory it is exalted higher then all other bodies ; for the righteous shall shine forth as the sunne in the kingdom of their father . not that they shall not out-shine the sunne , but because there is no more shining body visible to us , therefore are the bodies of the saints in glory compared thereunto . the glory of the body ( saith one ) will exceed all the beauty and splendour of gems , pearls , heavens , sunne , moon and starres , yea even the heaven of heavens , though all were put together . this text tells us , that our vile bodies shall be made {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , conformable to the glorious body of christ . this is abundantly sufficient to set out the glory of our body at that day : for the body of christ now in heaven is unexpressibly glorious . we have a specimen of this in the transfiguration , matth. 17. 2. peter , james and john were not able to bear the sight of the glory there manifested , which yet was but a glimpse of that glory which he now hath in heaven . some divines are of opinion , that the brightness which paul saw when he was strook blinde and fell to the earth , was the brightness of the body of jesus christ . sure i am , that christs body is the light of heaven : and if stephens face in this life was seen as the face of an angel ; if moses his face did so shine in being fourty dayes with god , that the people could not behold it , how glorious shall our bodies be when we shall be for ever with the lord , and when our bodies of vileness shall be fashioned like unto the glorious body of jesus christ ? 4. the fourth endowment is beauty and comeliness : the bodies of the saints shall be perfectly compleat in all their parts ; if maimed and defective here , it shall be supp●ied at that day , which is a day of restitution of all things , acts 3. 21. and not only so , but all crookedness , lameness and ill-favouredness , which are the fruits of sinne , shall be removed , jacob shall halt no more , nor mephibosheth complain of lameness , nor isaac of dimness . as the body of adam in innocency was lovely and beautifull , compleat in all its parts , so shall ours be at the resurrection . 5. the fift is majesty : great shall be the majesty of the body at the resurrection . if a good man in this life hath such a majesty in his countenance , as to cause men to fear to sinne in his company ; if valens the emperour said of basil , that he never looked upon him , but his countenance strock an awe and terror into him : oh what majesty will be in the faces and countenances of the saints in that day ? 6. the sixth is spirituality : it is sown a natural body , it is raised a spiritual body , 1 cot. 15. 44. not spiritual for substance but for qualities : for 1. it shall have no need of meat or sleep , &c. but shall be as the angels of god , matth. 22. 30. non quoad angelicam essentiam , sed angelicas proprietates . tertullian saith , that the saints shall have corpora reformata & angelificata . if moses was fourty dayes upon the mount without meat and without sleep , upheld by the power of god in the state of mortality , much more shall we be upheld for ever in the state of immortality . 2. it shall be a spiritual body , because it shall be absolutely subject to the spirit . in the state of glory , the soul shall not depend upon the body , but the body upon the soul . in this life the soul is as it were carnall because so serviceable to the flesh , but then the body shall be spiritual because so serviceable to the spirit . 7. the seventh is agility and nimbleness : it shall be able to move upwards and downwards , like a bird in the aire ; luther saith , that the body shall be able to move up and down like a thought . austin saith , it shall move to any place it will as soon as it will . the scripture saith some such thing , 1 thes. 4. 17. we shall be caught up together in the clouds to meet the lord in the ayre , as so many aegles flying up to their blessed carcass . upon this account also it is said , that we shall be as the angels , because we shall be able to move as they do : if the saints shall be like the sunne in its brightness , why not ( saith one ) in its motion also , which the learned allow to move a million , and one hundred sixty thousand miles in an hour : if so swift may be the motion of natural , how swift the motion of glorified bodies shall be , we shall know when we come to make use of it . the eighth endowment is powerfulnes : it is sown in weakness , but it shall rise in power , 1 cor. 15. 43. the power that the body shall have will be wonderfull : luther saith , that it shall have a power to be able to tess the greatest mountains in the world like a ball : anselme saith , they shall be able to shake the whole earth at pleasure ; how true this is we shall know hereafter : sure i am for the present , that the weakest in glory shall be stronger then sampson in his greatest strength : and that the bodies power shall be so great , as to be able to be the souls instrument in the enjoyment of god in all the highest operations without intermission . in this life when the soul is busied about high and sublime matters , the body presently faints , dan. 8. 27. but then it shall attend without any faintness or weariness . in this life the eye is dazeled at the brightness of the sunne ; but then it shall be strengthened to behold glorious sights and not be dazeled at it : the body shall be elevated and strengthened by god , to bear that exceeding eternal weight of glory that shall be put upon it . unto all these glorious perfections and excellent indowments , i might add an admission to behold with our bodily eyes the sight of christ as man . that we shall see christ as man with these eyes , job manifestly testifieth , job 19. 25 , 26 , 27. and that this sight will add much to our happiness is easily evinced : for the sight of christ as man is the next object unto the beatificall vision it self : for the fullness of the godhead dwels in him bodily , and this doth as it were radiate through his body ; hence there must needs arise ( as one saith ) great joy unto the beholder , both from the eminency of , and our interest in this object . christ in glory , and christ in glory ours ; as much of the creator as is possibly visible in the nature of man , will be to be seen in christ ; as much contentation as the creature can be made partakers of by the sight of any one visible object , will be the portion of the beholders of christ , as he is man . all this is in answer to the second question . 3. how is it possible that ever these bodies of ours should rise again , and these vile bodies be made like unto the glorious body of christ ? with man this is impossible , but with god nothing is impossible . my text tells you how this shall be done , even according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself . the lord jesus christ is almighty , and therefore he is able to do it . he that can make a man being nothing , out of the dust of the earth , can certainly repair him out of that dust when he is something . it is as easie to god to give a body to a soul at the resurrection , as to breathe a soul into a body at the first creation . both philosophers and divines write of the phoenix , that first she is consumed to ashes by the heat of the sunne , and that afterwards of her ashes ariseth a young one , which is the same phoenix risen from the dead . the apostle tells us , that the corn must first be cast into the ground , and there die and rot before it will spring up ; which sheweth , that a resurrection from the dead is possible even in nature . what is every night , but the grave ( as it were ) of the dayes light ? what is the morning , but the resurrection of the day ? what is winter , but the death ( as it were ) of fruits ? and what the spring , but the resurrection of them ? what is death , but a pulling down of the house of our bodies ? and what is the resurrection , but the building up of the same house more gloriously ? and cannot the almighty god do this ? we see by experience , that our most curious glasses , are made by art even of ashes ; and cannot the omnipotent and everliving god , raise mens dead bodies out of ashes ? the earth and sea are gods stewards , with whom he hath betrusted the bodies of men ; and when god shall call them to give an account of their stewardship , they will faithfully discharge their trust , and will not keep back one dead body . the grave is but the bodies withdrawing-room or sleepi●g-place , and the time will come , when they that are asleep in the dust of the earth shall awake , &c. dan. 12. 2. and it is as easie for god to distinguish between dust and dust , and to give to every man his own dust , as it is for a gardiner that hath divers seeds in his hand to sever them , and know them one from another . a curious watch-maker can undo his watch , and put it together again . a skilfull alchymist can extract one mettall out of another : much more can almighty god distinguish one dust from another , as well as one man from another . in a word : it is as easie for god to make our vile bodies glorious , as it is for a beggar to put off his raggs , and to put on the apparrel of a king . our dear and reverend brother did fully beleeve this , and therefore he three times in my hearing repeated these words ; according to his mighty power , his mighty power , even his mighty power , he is able to change this vile body of mine , and make it like unto his glorious body . 4. shall all bodies be made thus glorious ? no : the bodies of the wicked shall rise at the last day , but it shall be to their everlasting shame , ruin and confusion . they shall be immortall , but they shall be immortall fuell to immortall flames . the bodies of the wicked shall come out of their gravos as out of their prisons , and as so many malefactors to appear before an angry judg. they shall come out of their graves as the chief baker did out of prison , to be hung in chains in hell for ever , where they shall endure all kind of extremities figured out unto us by the sad condition of dives , who could not get a drop of water to cool his tongue . the bodies of the wicked shall be as ugly , loathsome carcasses to look upon , and their faces shall gather blackness and darkness , isa. 66. 24. they shall arise with great fear and trembling , and shall call to the hils and mountains to cover and hide them from the presence of the lamb . oh the horror and astonishment that shall be at that day , when the foul of a wicked man shall come out of hell , and be again united to the body : how will the body curse the soul , and the soul the body ? how will they befool one another ? certainly this greeting will be very terrible ; the lord grant we may never come to have experience of it . 5. what are the characters of those men and women , whose vile bodies shall be made like unto the glorious body of christ ? 1. there is one character of them in the text : if thou art one that hast thy conversation in heaven , then thy body shall be made glorious : for our conversation is in heaven , from whence also we look for a saviour the lord jesus christ , who shall change our vile bodies , and make them like to his glorious body , &c. if thou beest a man that mindest earthly things ; if ambitious , covetous or voluptuous ; if given over to fulfill the lusts of the flesh , thy body shall rise , but it shall rise to everlasting condemnation : but if heavenly-minded ; if thy disposition and conversation be heavenly , when christ comes from heaven , he will make thy body heavenly and glorious . 2. if a reall member of christs mysticall body , thou shalt be made partakers of the glory of christs natural body . christ hath a double body , a body mysticall , and a body naturall : if thou beest a reall member of christs mysticall body , i say a reall member , not only a member by outward profession , but by a holy conversation ; if truly united by a heart-purifying faith unto christs mysticall body , thou shalt be conformable in glory to christs naturall body : and therefore it is said , that at the day of judgment christ shall be glorified in his saints . here he is glarified by his saints , but then he shall be glorified in his saints , that is , in the glory that the members of his mysticall body shall have at that day . for christ shall then have a double glory ; 1. a personall glory ; for he shall come with power and great glory , matth. 24. 30. 2. a sociall glory , a glory which he communicates to his saints , and by which glory he shall be glorified . for when christ who is our life shall appear , then shall we appear with him in glory . and the glory of the members shall redound to the glory of the head : therefore the saints are called , the glory of christ , 2 cor. 8. 23. if a member of christ , though but as the toe in his body , thou shalt be filled brim full of glory at the resurrection . 3. if thy soul be gracious here , thy body shall be glorious hereafter : if cloathed with christs righteousness , if enriched with the jewels of the spirit , thy body shall be everlastingly beautifull and glorious ; for the happiness of the body depends upon the souls happiness . if when thou diest thy soul goeth to hell , thy body at the resurrection must go thither also : if to heaven , thy body will follow it thither also : according as thy soul is , beautifull or deformed , so shall thy body be happy or miserable . so much in answer to the five questions . vse 1. to you that are the saints of the most high god , who have your conversation in heaven while you are upon earth , who are reall members of christs mysticall body , whose souls are adorned with the robe of christs righteousness ; to beseech you to consider the blessed and happy condition that your bodies shall be in at the resurrestion , for then your vile bodies shall be made like unto the glorious body of christ , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , shall be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; then shall you shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of your father : all sinne , and all sorrow , and all bodily deformities shall be utterly removed ; you shall be as the angels of god in heaven , your bodies shall be honourable , glorious , powerfull , spirituall , perfectly beautifull , lovely and majesticall , and ( as aquinas saith ) transparent like glass . let the consideration of this 1. comfort you against the fear of death : as god said to jacob , gen. 46. 3 , 4. fear not to go down into egypt , for i will go down with thee , and i will also surely bring theo up again , &c. so let me say to you , feat not to go down to the house of rottenness , fear not to lay down your heads in the dust , for god will certainly bring you out again , and you shall come out in a most glorious manner : fear not to have this house of your body pulled down , for god will rear it up again , and make of it a most glorious structure . 2. let this comfort you against the death of your godly friends ; for when a godly man dies , nothing dies totally and finally in him but sinne : death to a saint is nothing else but sepultura vitiorum , a burying of his sinne . non homo sed peccatum hominis moritur , the man dies not but his sinne ; for the soul doth not die at all , but is immediately taken up into the bosome of god ; and the body , though it be turned into dust , yet even this dust is pretious in gods sight ; this dust is part of gods elestion , this dust is united to jesus christ , ( and therefore when a saint dies , he is said to fall asleep in christ , 1 cor. 15. 18. and to be dead in christ , 1 thes. 4. 16. ) and at the last day it shall be raised up again . it is sown in corruption , but it shall be raised in incorruption : it is sown in dishonour , it shall be raised in glory : it is sown in weakness , it shall be raised in power : it is sown a naturall body , it shall be raised a spirituall body , there is a text in job , which our reverend brother did mention often in his sickness , and with which he did seem to be much refreshed , it is job 21. 33. the clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him . which words , though spoken of the wicked , yet are in a more eminent manner applicable to the true saint , who sleeps quietly and sweetly in his grave as in his bed , free from all trouble and molestation . 3. let this comfort those that have diseased or deformed bodies , that are troubled with the stone , gout , strangury , disiness in the head , or any other disease whereby they are made unserviceable , or at least not able to do that good they would : there will a day come wherein they shall be perfectly healed and cured : the resurrection is the saints best physitian . 4. let this encourage you to be willing ( if god call you to it ) to part with your ears , eyes , leggs , hands , or head it self , for the keeping of a good conscience ; for you shall have all your limbs restored to you again at the great day of restitution of all things . famous is the story that josephus tells of one of the seven children in the maccabees , who when he was to have his tongue cut out and his ears cut off , he said to his mother , these members i have received from heaven , and for the law of my god i despise them , and trust that i shall receive them again : i shall have a better tongue at the resurrection of the just . 5. let this exhort you especially that are true saints , whose bodies by grace are become the temples of the holy ghost ; to labour to glorifie god in your bodies as well as in your spirits , for they are gods , and they are bought with a price as well as your souls . to labour to keep under your bodies , and to bring them into subjection : to yeeld your members as instruments of righteousness unto god , and as servants of righteousness unto holiness . let me beseech you by the mercies of jesus christ who hath redeemed your bodies , that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice , holy , acceptable unto god , which is your reasonable service . think not any service too much for god with those bodies which shall one day be made so beautifull and glorious . let godly ministers be encouraged to wear out their bodies in their ministeriall imployments , for they that turn many unto righteousness , shall shine as starres for ever and ever . vse 2. to you that are wicked , that is , who are members of the devil , whose souls are beleapred with sinne , who minde earthly things , whose god is your belly , whose glory is your shame ; to beseech you to consider the sad and miserable condition you shall be in at that day . your bodies indeed shall rise , but they shall rise unto everlasting cindemnation , joh. 5. 24. and unto everlasting shame and contempt , dan. 12. 2. your vile bodies shall then be cursed bodies , and your sinfull bodies shall be tormented for ever with the worm that never dieth , and the fire that never goeth out . vse 3. a divine project how to make your bodies beautifull and glorious . if there were a physician here upon earth that could cure all your bodily diseases and deformities , and make them immortall , how would you prize him ? i have told you this day of such a physician , even the lord jesus christ , who shall one day come from heaven on purpose to make our vile bodies like unto his glorious body . oh that this word were mingled with faith ! methinks if any motive could prevail with you that are gentlewomen and great ladies , this should , behold a way how to make your bodies eternally beautifull ! what trouble and pain do many women that are crooked endure , by wearing iron bodies to make themselves strait ? what vast expences are many at for the beautifying of their rotten carcasses ? hearken unto me thou proud dust and ashes , thou guilded mud , that labourest to beautifie thy body by vain , foolish and sinfull deckings and trimmings , and thinkest thy self deckt in the want of decking , that pamperest thy body in all voluptuousness , and makest thy self by thy strange fashions so unlike thy self , as that if our civil fore-fathers were alive again , they would wonder what strange monster thou wert . hearken unto me i say , and consider thy madness and folly : by labouring so much to adorn thy body with the neglect of thy soul , thou undoest both body and soul . the only way to make thy body for ever beautifull , is ( as i have said ) 1. to have thy conversation in heaven while thou art upon earth , and when christ comes from heaven , he will change thy vile body and make it like his gloriom body . 2. to labour to be a reall member of christs mysticall body , and then thou shalt partake of the glory of his naturall body . 3. to get a gracious soul here , and thou shalt be sure to have a glorious body and soul hereafter . there is a saying of bernard worthy to be written in letters of gold : christ hath a treble coming : once he came in the flesh for the good of our souls and bodies : now he comes in the spirit ( by the preaching of his ministers ) for the good of our souls . at the last day he shall come for the good of our bodies to beautifie them and glorifie them . noli oh homo praeripore tempora , do not oh man mistake thy time ! this present life is not the time for thy body : it is appointed for the beautifying of thy soul , and adorning it with grace and holiness . the resurrection is the time wherein christ will come from heaven to make thy body glorious . how quite contrary to this do most people live ? let it be our wisdom ( with the children of issachar ) to have understanding of the times . study in this your day to get good and gracious souls , and you shall be sure at the great day to have blessed and most glorious bodies . labour to get your souls beautified by christs second coming with justification and sanctification , and christ at his third coming will make thy body glorious above expression . having finished my discourse upon the text , i know it is expected that i should speak something of our dear and reverend brother , whose sad funerals we now celebrate . it hath pleased god within a little space to take to himself many godly and able ministers , which without doubt is a very great judgment ; and the greater , because most people are so little sensible of it . and not only a great judgment in it self , but a presage of greater to come ; for the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart , and mercifull men are taken away , none cinsidering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . the rabbins have a saying , quando luminaria patiuntur eclipsim malum signum est mundo , it is an ill sign to the world when the luminaries of heaven are eclipsed . god hath extinguished many glorious lights of late , i need not put you of this city in minde of dr gouge , mr walker , mr whitaker , mr gataker , mr strong , &c. nor you of the university of dr hill , and now of this godly minister dr samuel bolton late master of christs colledge in cambridg . if i should enter upon his commendation , i may truly say what gregory nazianzen doth of his sister gorgonia , that there is more fear least i should speak too little , then that i should speak too much . he was a burning and shining light in this our israel , an interpreter one of a thousand : a man of excellent ministerial abilities , a workman that needed not to be ashamed , dividing aright the word of truth . he was one that did study not only {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , but {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , not only to preach well , but to live well : his life was an excellent commentary upon his sermons . as nazianzen saith of john baptist ( who is called the voice of the cryer , ) that he was all voice : a voice in his habit , a voice in his diet , a voice in his dwelling , a voice in his conversation , as well as in his preaching : so may i truly say of our reverend brother , he was tota vox , all voice ; a voice in his life as well as in his doctrine ; he lived his own sermons , and preached louder by his good conversation then by his heavenly doctrine . nam vita praedicatorum est vocalissima . what ruffinus saith of gregory nazianzen , may fitly be applied unto our dear brother ; he did those things himself which he taught to others , neither did he condemn himself by practising contrary to what he preached . he had not only dona honoraria , but dona salutifera : not only gifts for the good of others , but graces for the good of his own soul . there are many ministers that have rare gifts , but they are like a pearl in a toads-head , because their lives give a lye to their doctrines : but this our reverend brother had not only gratias gratis datas , but gratias gratum facientes , he was not only learned but religious , and ( which is his highest commendation ) he was an humble saint . there are four things ( saith luther ) that make a minister , prayer , reading , meditation and temptation : our christian brother was not only a man of prayer , reading and meditation , but a man assaulted with many temptations , with more i beleeve then many hundred of ministers are . he was often buffeted by satan , and therefore more able to comfort them that were in trouble , by the comfort wherewith he himself was comforted of god . and let me take the boldness to tell you , that he hath left a writing behind him , wherein he hath recorded all the outgoings of god towards him , and all the experiences of gods shining with the light of his countenance upon him , and also of his withdrawings and hiding his face from him : he hath written down both the apogaeum's and perigaeum's ( as i may so speak ) both those times wherein god was at a distance from him , and when he approached neerer to him . his desire to win souls to christ by preaching was so great , that though he was head of a colledge in cambridg , and had no ministeriall charge of his own , yet notwithstanding he preached gratis once every lords day for many years together . the like is said in print of that reverend and godly minister dr hill late master of trinity colledge . here i must not forget what hath been told me since the preaching of this sermon ; that our dear brother , in the ordinary course of his ministry , had preached over the third chapter to the philippians , to the latter end of the verse immediatly before my text : and behold how by the overruling providence of god ( unknown to me ) it hath hapned , that the last verse of the same chapter ( which he left unfinished ) was chosen for his funeral sermon . but though he lived not to preach of this verse , yet he now lives in heaven , waiting for that blessed time , when his vile body shall be raised out of the grave , and be made like unto the glorious body of jesus christ . before he was master of christs colledge , he preached three or four years in this place , six or seven years at saviours southwark , and for some time at andrews in holburn , to the great satisfaction of all the godly that waited upon his ministry . and though he be now dead , yet he still speaks , not only by the holiness of his life and graciousness of his doctrine , but also by the many books he hath left in print , in which you may behold a fair character of his piety and ministeriall abilites . he was very orthodox , and sound in judgment , he had no spiritual leprosie in his head , witness those two books of his , the arraignment of error , and a vindication of the rights of the law , and liberties of grace . he was of a publike spirit ; witness that book of his a word in season to a sinking kingdom . he was very carefull in admitting men and women to the sacrament of the lords supper ; witness that book of his called , the wedding garment . the time of his sickness was long , tedious and costly ; his diseases many , very many , but his patience was exceeding great : he would usually say , that though the providences of god were dark towards him , yet he had light within . a little before he died , he said to one that was lifting him up , let me alone , let me lie quietly , for i have as much comfort as heart can hold . the last time i was with him , i found him wonderfully desirous to be dissolved and to be with christ : i heard him say , oh this vile carcass of mine , when will it give way that my soul may get out and go to my god ? when will this rotten carcass be consumed , that i may mount up to heaven ? and when he saw any probable symptoms of death ( which he called the little crevises at which his soul did peep out ) he was exceedingly joyfull . it was his desire to be buried without any funeral pomp ; which puts me in minde of a saying recorded in the life of pellican , of an vncle of his who would not be buried in his scholastick habit ( as the custom then was ) testamento cavit ne aliter sepeliretur quam simplex alius christianus , he ordered it in his will , to be buried as a private christian , and not as a doctor ; and the reason he gives is , because he hoped resurrecturum se ad judicium , non ut sacerdotem & doctorem , sed ut humilem christianum , that he should rise at the day of judgment , and appear before god , not as a priest or doctor , but as an humble christian . this was the desire and hope of our reverend brother , and this text that i have preached on , was matter of great rejoycing unto him whilest he thought of that day when his vile body , subject to so many diseases , should be made like unto the glorious body of christ , according to the working , the mighty working ( as he three times repeated it ) whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself . and so i leave him in the arms of his blessed saviour , beseeching god to make up this great loss of him to the church of christ in generall , and to the vniversity of cambridg in particular . finis . to the memory of the right worshipfull samvel bolton , d. d. late master of chr. coll. in cambridg . come , let our petty brooks of sorrow fall into a full swolne stream of generall sadness , in pursuit of that blest soul hence put off to the eternal confluence and ocean of goodness ; happy he whose grief is swallow'd in that blissefull sea . weep we once more ( whose fathers hast'ned death and church-estate expiring with their breath , make us a lower sort of orphans ) we who found in him still freshest memory of whose we were , that tenderness of heart which the deceased spirits seem'd to impart . and yet nor we nor she ( from whose torn breast death snatcht away th'indearing close lodg'd guest , untimely , misaccounting his years summe and hudling up in 's life , dayes yet to come . such were our hopes , and such the promises of a firm tempers seeming healthfulness . ) nor we nor she to private loss must pay , what we should in the common treasure lay . in universaller calamity , there 's sacriledg in such a privacy . such is the fright when the main body flies or gives ground , or when a souldier spies a breach in the chief-fortress ; so were we ( who fanci'd a blest perpetuity ) appaled when we saw his strength decline whom we wisht as immortal as divine . the colledg scarce could hear 't , though by degrees we were dril'd on into our miseries . was it death's mercy , or deaths cruelty ? that we might feel , or fit our selves to dy ? we languish'd all the while in him , at last into th'dead colledg all our fellow 's past . this grief 's too straight still , and he little knew , what the world ow'd , that thinks his tears undue . doth not , if such a part of goodness fall , goodnesses common spirit convey to all a members sadness ? i'n't the church throughout its body pained when an eie's put out ? where shall we now such a meek moses finde to recall wrangling brethren to one minde ? many will help it on , but who 'le bemoan a sad church rent into division ? 't was the work of a soul , as his , orecome with benigne sweetness , such a one in whom dwelt th'image of full goodness , as above calme and serene in its firm peace and love . one to the world so dead that evermore in the worlds things he seem'd stept out of doore , as one that 's gone for some few hours abroad , or whom some small affairs call out of 's road . then was he at his home , then onely free when the employment was pure heavenly . how naturally in spiritual discourse was his speech fluent , ready , without force and unaffected , one might safely say , then he was in his temper , in 's own way . like him who tyred with a barb'rous sound in a strange country , happily hath found one of his natives : now he may reflect on his own home in 's well known dialect . view his divine attendance , his soul prest on messages to heaven , and addrest to his immortal fathers , not with words which malapert buffons speak to their lords : nor peremptory sauciness , built on a fond god-levelling communion . but in beseeming reverence . by and by ( as toucht by'illapses of divinity ) rais'd into heav'nly ardors : while just as bodies mov'd swifty , along where they pass by their own violence impress a motion ev'n on by-standing dulness . his devotion rouz'd and enliv'ned all the neighbour hearts by holy-magick touch more then the arts of pulpit-orators , more motive he snatcht our souls up by vigorous sympathy . such was his zeal , a fire not nourished by earthy matter , purer then what 's fed by popular applause and basest gain , his zeal was of a farre more heav'ly strain . it ner'e gave fire to cannon , nor did light musquitiers matches : in no civil fight was it a conduct , or ere serv'd in flame to burn dissenters bodies or their name . such searching fires earths mixture do proclaime ▪ when , like some wandring fires , from book to book skipt it ? from paul to littleton or cook ? 't was pure and steady , powerfull , nor fierce . by gentleness it had the might to pierce a sinners heart , asham'd to see more sense in him then in himself who did th'offence . in preaching , prayer and life we well might see divineness : man now , in mortality . plead not , blest soul , against us , that th'art gone as tyr'd with us dull to be wrought upon . that thou mad'st hast impatient of our stay who fondly loytring would not hie away . 't is but our guilt , hee 's more good now , nor farre , christs-colledg keeper still and tutelar . j. sedgwick . chr. col. c. an epitaph on the truly religious and learned doctor bolton master of christs colledge in cambridg . tyr'd with a body , and the age , here lyes one that was holy , learned , just , and wise ; liv'd when the court seem'd heavy , and the see grew proud , yet patience preach'd and modesty . though fears urg'd fears , and hope pursued hope , pulpits 'gainst pulpits bandied , yet the scope both of his text and life was peace ; fair peace ! heaven's legacy , the busie world's scorn'd ease ! by taking care of souls he did not mean providing lordships for his heirs ; so clean , so spotless were his aimes : his greatest store , was love and praise ; promotion made him poor . 't was not the practise of his zeal to grone against plurality and neglect his one . his matter alwayes did become the place , diurnals never turnd the second glasse . call'd from the city , he succeed one turnd out by death , fates sequestration : which place he serv'd with chearfull love and care , firm justice , open candour , hearty prayer , ( free from base shriveled faction , hungry strife , ) ev'n to the loss of riches , health and life . stay , reader , and bestow a tear on this dusty fruitfull bed , the spring will then dwell alwayes here , and violets ner'e hang the head . pray , the earth may lightly presse her entrusted urne below ; may the same prayer thy reliques blesse , when they shall rest , as his do now . t. standish . upon the death of the pious and learned samuel bolton , doctor of divinity and master of christs colledge in cambridg . not that my gadding muse affects to shew her courser beauties to the common view ; not that she thinks such harsh ill-tuned layes , as hers , are fit to celebrate thy praise ; dares she present these verses ; but as they who hundreds hold of others , yet do pay nought but a pepper-corn : by this she showes though she brings little , yet 't is much she owes to thy dear memory and honour'd name , immortal bolton , heir of lasting fame . whose known deserts and unreproved worth needs not her slender skill to blaze it forth : but can commend it self to after-times without the help of elegiack rimes . though others under brasse and marble plac'd , keep not their names and titles undefac'd ; though monuments themselves decay , and must confess their ruins , and resolve to dust ; though all things else be subject to the laws of fickle change and times devouring jaws ; yet wisdome hath a ne're decaying root and vertuous pains bring everlasting fruit : and they that labour'd have and liv'd like thee , their names shall last to all eternity . nor seems it strange that vertuous men should best oblivion scape , which oft involves the rest of things and persons , whose poor low desires are not affected with such high aspires . the principles by which most men do move are private interest and base self-love : so farre their friendship and their hate extends it self , as serves their own contracted ends . hence as that earth-begotten brood which grew from teeth which cadmus in the furrowes threw , within a while by civil discord slain , return'd unto her mother earth again and scarce left any token to appear to tell th'ensuing age that once they were : so bad men quickly vanish , and are gone buried in earth and dark oblivion . but those like thee whose more enlarged breast with better thoughts and purer fire 's possest ; who make themselves no scope to which they bend their actions but the common good attend ; cannot pass unregarded hence but fame ennobles and perpetuates their name . who ere did to the infant world impart some signal benefit or usefull art , had temples built unto him : hence arose ceres and bacchus and such gods as those . would truth dispense and piety admit of such like deities , 't were farre more fit t' account thee one then those that taught us how to tread the winepress first and hold the plow : since this grand difference 'twixt thee we finde and them ; they fed the body thou the minde . wm w bryche . on the deplored death of the reverend doctour samuel bolton master of christs colledge in cambridg . to mourn in verse , and write an elegie , is even grown as common as to die ; poëtick sorrow serves but for a mask to other passions ; 't were an easie task for grief that 's feigned , or at best but fain'd to boast it self in eloquent complaint . but where internall sorrow hath possest the very vitals , and corrodes the breast with inward care , where the oppressed heart doth inly languish with consuming smart ; the soul is choaked , and the spirits spent with mutual conflict , e're they finde a vent . such reall anguish , such unfeigned grief , doth scarce admit the pitifull relief of sighs and tears ; such dolour scarce affords imperfect sentences , and broken words . the case is ours , whom sorrows violence hath strongly touched with a vigorous sense of our calamity : whose deep distress our mindes with grief astonish'd can't express . no wonder then in so just cause of tears and sad complaints , so little pomp appears of mournfull elegies , and funerall songs ; this loss doth more affect our hearts then tongues . our sincere mourning seeks not after fame in these iust rites ; let others then proclaim their forced sorrow with exalted cries , our reall grief makes silent obsequies . w. leigh . upon the death of the reverend , his never to be forgotten friend , dr bolton master of christs colledge in cambridg . is bolton dead ? and shall not england weep , that we no longer such a saint could keep . alas ! the world not worthy was of thee , the saints above did want thy companie . thy virtues , graces , praises , and thy worth , no tongue alive is able to set forth . thou wast a burning , and a shining light in this ovr orb ; few left which shine so bright . thy minister ' all gifts , thy zeal , were rare thy piety , no less thy gifts in pray'r . and in a word ( blest soul ! ) thee to commend ; thy praise knows no beginning nor no end . john crofts minist. c. c. c. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a32058e-1530 a tremelius . b beza . corpus humilitatis pro eorpore humili ; hebraismo non ignoto . justinianus in locum . the greek for a body is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} quasi {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . 2 cor. 5. bernard . gen. 2. 7. vse . lesson 1. isa , 40. job 13. 25 , 28. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . lesson 2. rom. 6. 6. in vita ejus per hieronymum . lesson 3. lesson 4. lesson 5. lesson 6. 1 cor. 6. 15. 19. 3. 17. doct. 2. quest . 1. answ. 1 thes. 4. 15. job 19. 25 , 26 , 27. 1 cor. 15. 53. quest . 2 ▪ answ. aug. de civ. dei , lib. 22. rom. 7. mat. 13. 43. m. norton in his orthodox evangelist . acts 9. rom. 22. 23. acts 6. 15. exod. 34. 30. vbi volet spiritus , ibi protenus erit corpus . m. norton . norton in his orthodox evangelist . quest . 3. answ. tertul. 1 cor. 15. quest . 4. answ. quest . 5. answ. 1. answ. 2. 2 thes. 1. 10. col. 3. 3. answ. 2. matth. 13. 43. 1 cor. 9. 27. rom. 6. 13. 14. 1 chro. 12. 31. isa. 57. 1. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . gregorius vir per omnia incomparabilis , qui verbo & operibus clarus splendididissimum lumen scientiae ecclesiae praebuit , dum ca docuit quae fecit , nec seipsum condemnavit agendo contraria quam docebat . dr tuckney in his funerall sermon of dr hill . melchior adamus in vita pellicani . a patterne for all, especially for noble and honourable persons, to teach them how to die nobly and honourably. delivered in a sermon preached at the solemne interment of the corps of the right honourable robert earle of warwick. who aged 70 years 11. months, died april 19. and was honorably buried, may 1. 1658. at felsted in essex. by edmund calamy b.d. and pastor of the church at aldermanbury. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a79008 of text r207615 in the english short title catalog (thomason e947_1). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 99 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 26 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a79008 wing c262 thomason e947_1 estc r207615 99866656 99866656 118934 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a79008) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 118934) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 141:e947[1]) a patterne for all, especially for noble and honourable persons, to teach them how to die nobly and honourably. delivered in a sermon preached at the solemne interment of the corps of the right honourable robert earle of warwick. who aged 70 years 11. months, died april 19. and was honorably buried, may 1. 1658. at felsted in essex. by edmund calamy b.d. and pastor of the church at aldermanbury. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [8], 39, [1] p. printed for edward brewster, at the crane in pauls church-yard., london : 1658. title page in two states: line 12 reads (1) "who aged [blank] died april 19. and was" or (2) "who aged 70 years 11. months, died april 19. and". state 1 "[blank]" indicates a space left for the age to be inserted; "70" is inserted in ms. in thomason copy. annotation on thomason copy: "june 2d". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng warwick, robert rich, -earl of, 1587-1658 -early works to 1800. sermons, english -early works to 1800. funeral sermons -17th century. a79008 r207615 (thomason e947_1). civilwar no a patterne for all, especially for noble and honourable persons, to teach them how to die nobly and honourably.: delivered in a sermon prea calamy, edmund 1658 16792 87 110 0 0 0 0 117 f the rate of 117 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2007-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-09 elspeth healey sampled and proofread 2007-09 elspeth healey text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a patterne for all , especially for noble and honourable persons , to teach them how to die nobly and honourably . delivered in a sermon preached at the solemne interment of the corps of the right honourable robert earle of warwick . who aged 70 died april 19. and was honorably buried , may 1. 1658. at felsted in essex . by edmund calamy b. d. and pastor of the church at aldermanbury . psal. 82. 6 , 7. i said , ye are gods , and all of you are children of the most high , but you shall dye like men , and fall like one of the princes . rev. 14. 13. i heard a voice from heaven , saying unto me , write , blessed are the dead which die in the lord , &c. illius est nolle mori , qui nolit ire ad christum . aug. nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus . de imperatore theodosio fertur magis se gaudere quod membrum ecclesia dei esset , quam caput imperii . aug. ultima verba morientis grynnaei . ut nunc triste mori est , sic dulce resurgere : quondam christus ut in vitâ , sic quoque morte lucrum . in terris labor est , requies sed suavis in urnâ , in summo venient gaudia summa die . london , printed for edward brewster , at the crane in pauls church-yard . 1658. to the right honourable robert earle of warwick , baron of leeze . right honourable , the noble favours which i received from your deceased father , are so many , that i can never sufficiently expresse them , and ( i hope ) shall never be so ungrateful as to forget them . the chiefest requital i can now make for them , is to pray for your lordship , that as you are his heire , and inherit his estate , so you may also inherit his virtues ; and that whatsoever was good in him , may live in you . for as it is a happinesse , when a sonne is descended from religious ancestors ( he being hereby made partaker of their good counsels , prayers , and pious examples ) so also it is an invaluable blessing , when a father hath religious and virtuous children . it was a sad complaint of augustus , o that i had lived a bachelor , or dyed childlesse ! and concerning marcus aurelius antoninus , that he had been perfectly happy , had he not begotten such a wicked sonne as commodus was . and that he did injure his country in nothing , but in being the father of such an ungodly child , hoc solo patriae , quod genuit , nocuit . some children are blots and blemishes to their parents , as manasseh was to hezekiah . my prayer for your lordship is , that you may be an honour , glory , and crown of rejoycing to your family , and by your godly and virtuous life make your father ( though dead ) to enjoy a kind of happiness upon earth while you live . and that you may embalme his memory to posterity by the spices , and sweet odours of your godly life , and conversation . it ought not to be forgotten , but for ever to be remembred , that your lordship may not unfitly be called the lords passeover . for when he took away by death your only sonne and heire , he passed over you , and instead of the father took to himselfe the grand-father . this remarkable providence is alone sufficient to teach you to pass the time of your sojourning here in feare ; and to purge out the old leaven of sinne and iniquitie , that you may be a new lump of sincerity and truth ; and thereby have an undoubted interest in christ your passeover , who was sacrificed for you . this ensuing sermon was preached at your fathers funeral , and it is now dedicated to your lordship as yours by birth-right , and by many other obligations . it will much conduce ( if put in practice ) for the encouraging of you in wayes of holiness , and righteousness . for it teacheth wherein true nobility doth consist , and that nothing makes a man truely noble , but pietie , and godlinesse . sinne defiles a person and makes him vile and loathsome , though otherwise never so honourable . david calls a sinner a vile person , and his sonne solomon calls him a loathsome person . antiochus the great because of his wickednesse , is stiled by daniel a vile person . sinne makes us not only like unto dogs , vipers , and swine , but unto devils : nay , sin makes us devils . christ himselfe calls judas a devil : and saith , revelations● . 10. the devil shall cast some of you into prison , &c. meaning thereby wicked and devilish men . he that is a slave to his lusts is base , and ignoble though a king or emperour . nobilitie without virtue is but as a scarlet roabe upon a leaprous body . a true christian is of a noble extraction . he is the adopted sonne of god , brother to jesus christ , heire of god , and co-heire with christ . he is partaker of the divine nature , and without all controversie the noblest man in the world . the lord give you grace to believe this , that as you are nobly borne in reference to your earthly extraction , so you may be borne from above , and borne of god in reference to your heavenly original . this sermon will likewise instruct your lordship how to dye nobly and honourably . and that is , to dye in the faith . he that dyes in his sinnes , must of necessity be condemned for his sinnes : but he that dyes with a true faith in jesus christ , shall certainly live for ever in heaven with christ . it will teach you to build your sepulchre in your earthly paradises , and in the midst of your pleasures to remember your latter end . this will be a golden bridle to keep you from unlawful , and to moderate the use of lawful pleasures . it sets before you a double patterne for your imitation . the lives of the ancient and religious patriarcks , and many commendable , and praise-worthy things in your fathers life . and if your lordship will endeavour to write after these excellent copies and live as they lived , you will be happy both in life and death , which that you may be , is , and shall be the prayer of my lord , your humble servant in christ jesus . edmund calamy . a sermon preached at the funeral of the right honourable robert earle of warwick . heb. 11. 13. these all dyed in faith . these words are a description of the constancy and perseverance of the old testament saints in holinesse , notwithstanding all the difficulties and discouragements they met with . they did not only live in the faith , but they continued in it till death , and dyed in the same faith in which they lived . all these dyed in the faith . in the words we have two parts . first , the persons mentioned . secondly , the things mentioned concerning these persons . 1. the persons mentioned , these all . that is , ( as some would have it ) all the forementioned saints , abel , noah , abraham , sarah , &c. ( except enoch who dyed not , and yet continued in the faith , and in that faith was taken up ) these all . but i conceive that the holy ghost principally and directly , intends only such of the forenamed saints , who were heirs of the land of promise , and sojourned in canaan as in a strange country . these all . that is , all those who lived in the second world after the flood , abraham , and sarah , isaac , and jacob ; the husband , and the wife ; the father , the son , and the grandchild . these all . 2. the things mentioned concerning these persons . 1. it is said they dyed . these all dyed {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . though they lived long , and many score of years longer than we now do , yet they dyed at last . though they were very godly , and religious persons , though very noble , and honourable persons , yet they dyed . these all dyed . 2. it is said , that they dyed in faith , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . they died according to the faith in which they lived , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is here put for {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , or {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} as ver. 9. 11 , 17. they died according to the faith ; that is , in the faith , in ●ide , seu ●ide , seu per fidem . if you would know what this faith was in which they died , you must take notice of what followeth in the text — not having received the promises , but having seen them afar off , and were perswaded of them , and embraced them , and confessed that , &c. god had promised that the messias should come of their seed , and that in him all the nations of the world should be blessed . god had promised that he would give them the land of canaun , and not only an earthly , but an heavenly canuan . now all these died , perswaded of the truth of these promises , embracing , or ( as the greek word signifieth ) kissing them . they saw them afar off , and beleeved them . even as a mariner that hath been long at sea , when he seeth afar off the desired haven , claps his hands , and skips for joy . so did these holy men . by the prospective glasse of faith , they saw the performance of that which came not to passe till foure hundred years after , and rejoyced in it as if already fulfilled . they died in the faith of the messias , beleeving not only that he should come in the flesh , but expecting salvation , and life everlasting by him only . they died perswaded of salvation by christ , and embracing , saluting , and kissing the lord jesus . they died in the faith of the promised land of canaan , and they died looking , waiting , and resting upon god in christ for a better country , which is an heavenly , ver. 16. in a word , they died beleeving they should go to that city which hath foundations , whose builder , and maker is god , ver. 10. this was that blessed , happy , and noble close , and end of daies which these godly and honourable patriarks made . these all dyed in faith . from the words thus expounded i shall gather these following inferences . doctrine 1. that though a man liveth never so long , yet he must die at last . these all dyed though they lived long . abraham lived one hundred seventy five years , isaac one hundred eightie , jacob one hundred fourtie seven , and yet died at last . before the flood , some lived seven hundred , others eight hundred , others nine hundred years ▪ but it is added as the common epitaph of them all , mortuus est , he dyed , gen. 5. 8 , 14 , 17 , 20 , 31. death is the haven of every man , whether king , or beggar , rich , or poor . death is the gulfe which will swallow us all up . length of time cannot prescribe against death . the longest day will have a night , and the longest life a death . this life is nothing else but prolixitas mortis ( as one saith ) or tendentia ad mortem . a lingring kind of death , or a pacing , or journeying to death . some have a longer journy than others , but all must come to their journies end at last . there is a statute in heaven for it , heb. 9. 27. it is appointed for all men once to dye . and death is called the house appointed for all living , job 30. 23. and the way of all the earth , 1 king. 2. 2. all flesh is grass , isa. 40. 6. now then , if they who lived so long died at last , much more must we , who are dwarfes in years in comparison of them , and who are nearer death when first borne , than some of them were when an hundred years old . let me beseech you frequently , solemnly , and seriously to consider , that though we live never so long and labour by physick , and temperate diet , and wholesome aire to prolong our lives , yet we must die at last . as the king of persia told constantine the emperour , when he had shewed him all the wealth of rome ; these are indeed ( saith he ) wonderful things which you shew me , but i plainiy see , that as in persia , so in rome also men are subject to death . for dust we all are and to dust we must all returne . we must say to corruption thou art my father , and to the worme , thou art my mother and my sister . we have here no abiding city . as we had a day to come into the world , so we shall have a day to go out of it . the nature of man is wonderful prone to dreame of an eternal abode , and of a lasting happiness here upon earth . saint austin tells us of certain hereticks called aeternales , because they held the world to be eternal . we have many such eternalists , who phancy to themselves a kind of eternitie here upon earth , and are ready to say with the rich foole in the gospel , soul take thy ease , eat drink and be merry , thou hast goods laid up for many years , and in the mean time forget what god said to him , thou foole , this night thy soul shall be required of thee , then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ? it is said of wicked men , psalm 49. 11. their inward thought is , that their houses shall continue for ever , and their dwelling places to all generations , &c. they are ashamed to utter any such thing , but their inward thought is that they shall abide for ever . then it followeth , ver. 13. this their way is their folly , yet their posteritie approve their sayings . nevertheless man being in honour abideth not , &c. though he thinks he shall abide , yet neither he , nor his heires shall be continued , but he shall be like the beasts that perish . therefore we had all need to pray davids prayer , lord make me to know mine end , and the measure of my dayes what it is , that i may know how fraile i am . there are few who know practically and applicatively how fraile they are . most men say they are mortal , magis usu quam sensu , more out of custome than feeling ; for they live as if their lives were riveted upon eternitie , and as if they should never come to a reckoning . heu vivunt homines tanquam mors nulla sequatur , aut velut infernus fabula vana foret . let us supplicate unto god , that he would teach us effectually to remember our frailtie , and to consider that there will come a dying time , and that it will come certainly , shortly , uncertainly , suddenly and irresistibly . 1. that it will come certainly . there is an oporte● for it . we must all appear before the judgement seat of christ , &c. there is nothing certain in life but death . 2. that it will come very shortly . it is not long , but we must all go down to the house of rottennesse . this life is but as an hand-breadth , as a vapor , &c. swifter than a post , and passeth away as the swift ships , and as the eagle that hasteth to the prey , it is nothing else but a salve vale . 3. uncertainly , as to the time when , the place where , and the manner how . your almanacks will tell you when the next eclipse of the sunne and moone will be . but there is no almanacks will tell you when the eclipse of your lives will be . this comes uncertainly ; and therefore uncertainly , to provoke us to be always ready , because we know not in what hour the son of man will come , matth. 24. 42 , 44. 4. that oftentimes it comes suddenly like a thiefe in the night , 1 thef. 5. 2. like an evil net in which the fishes of the sea , and a secret snare in which the birds of the aire are suddenly caught , eccles. 9. 12. luk. 21. 35. psal. 73. 19. 5. that it comes irresistibly like paine upon a woman with childe , 1 thes. 5. 3. death will not tarry till we be ready for it . the young man as gregory the great relates it ) when he saw he must die cried out , inducias domine usque ad mane , lord tarry till to morrow ; but god would not heare . death comes unavoidably , and if it findes us unprovided , it sends us to hell without remedy . adde to this 6. it comes but once . it is appointed for all men once to die . when once dead , no living againe to provide better for death . and therefore we had need be careful ut semel pie moriamur ( as paraeus saith ) that we may once die well ; for we cannot live again upon earth to live better . 7. that after death comes judgement , and after judgement everlasting happinesse , or everlasting misery . death is nothing else but a passage to judgement . a thorough-fare to heaven , or hell . did we consider these things , and consider them seriously as we ought to do , it would work very many gracious and most glorious effects in us . therefore moses saith very emphatically : o that men were wise , that they understood this , that they would consider their latter end ; and prayeth very earnestly . so teach us o lord to number our dayes , that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom . the very heathens have been much in the meditation of death . plato tells us , that true philosophy is nothing else but a meditation of death . the egyptians in all their great feasts had a deaths-head served in as one dish , to teach them sobrietie and temperance in eating and drinking . this meditation if sanctified will be 1. a soveraign antidote against all sin . sume hoc remedium contra omnia peccata . would you have a preservative against all sin . remember thy latter end and thou shalt never do amisse . as a copy is then safest from blotting when dust is cast upon it , so are we from sinning while we remember that we are but dust . jerusalems filthiness was in her 〈◊〉 , because she remembred not her latter end , lam. 1. 9. 2. it will marvellously weane us from the love of the world . it is the apostles argument , 1 john 2. 15 , 16 , 17. love not the world , nor the things in the world ; — for the world-passeth away . it passeth away as jonas his gourd when he had most need of it ; and as absoloms mule which passed from under him , and left him hanging on the tree . to what purpose do we provide multum viatici , when we have but parum viae ; much victuals , when we have but a short journey ? the like argument is used , 1 cor. 7. 29. 30 , 31. 3. it will make jesus christ and his righteousness very pretious to us . for it is christ only that can unsting death , and sweeten it , and make it comfortable and desirable . and therefore the apostle accounts all things dung and drosse , that he might gaine christ and be found in him at that great day , not having his own righteousnesse , but that which is through the faith of christ , the righteousuesse which is of god by faith . and st. john saith , blessed are the dead which dye in the lord , for they rest from their labours , &c. he that dies in christ , shall certainly go to christ . 4. it will exceedingly quicken us to provide effectually , and to speed and hasten our provisions for heaven . there is nothing will more provoke us to labour for that life which never shall have an end , than the serious consideration that this life will shortly have an end . these all died . this is the first inference . the second doctrine . that the best of men must die as well as the worst of men . these all died . these godly persons died , as well as others . abraham the father of the faithful , and sarah the mother of the faithful . godly isaac , 〈…〉 jacob . these all died . the husband , and the wife . the father , the child , and grandchild , all godly , and yet all these died . the first that ever tasted of death was a godly man , even godly abel . for the godly have the same principle of mortality within them which others have . they dwell in houses of clay , whose foundation is in the dust . and they have the same remainders of sinne in them to make them liable to death which others have . they have idem fundamentum mortis , & idem demeritum . but besides these , there are proper and peculiar reasons why the godly must die not only as well , but rather than others . for , 1. they shall never be freed from sicknesse , sorrow , and laborious employments . they shall never have all teares wiped from their eyes till they die . 2. they shall never be free from the persecutions of wicked and ungodly men , and from the temptations of the devil till they die . 3. they shall never be rid of the body of sin , till they put off the body of the flesh . 4. they shall never be perfected in grace till they die . 5. they shall never see god face to face , never be with christ in glory till they die . they shall never be cloathed with the house which is from above , till they be uncloathed of their earthly tabernacle . therefore blessed be god that they must die . for if they had hope only in this life , they were of all people most miserable . o that i could perswade the people of god to look upon death with a paire of scripture-spectacles . death in it selfe considered , is the king of terrors , and of all terrible things most terrible . it is as a fiery serpent with a biting and destroying sting . but to you that are in christ 〈…〉 all comfortable things most comfortable . it is as a 〈◊〉 without a sting . it is ( as the brazen serpent was to the isralites ) not a hurting , but a healing serpent . it is your birth-day . the birth-day of heavens eternity . it is not an annihilation , or utter extinction of you , but an {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} as the apostle peter calls it , a going out of egypt into canaan . an {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} as the apostle paul calls it . an hoysing up ( as it were ) of the sailes for heaven , a letting out the soul as a bird out of the cage of the body , that it may fly to heaven . an {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} as old simeon calls it , a departure from earth to heaven : a going from your own houses , to your fathers house : a putting off of the ragges of mortalitie , that you may be cloathed with the robes of immortality . in a word . it is an out-let to all misery , and an in-let to perfect and perpetual happinesse . it is sepultura laborum , vitiorum & lachrymarum . the burying of all troubles , sins , and teares . when a godly man dies , homo non moritur , sed peccatum hominis . the man doth not die , but the mans sins . nothing dies in him totally and finally but sin . for the soul doth not die at all , but goes to live with god in endlesse happiness . and the body ( though turned to dust ) shall rise againe unto the resurrection of life , and be made glorious , like unto the glorious body of jesus christ . but the bloody issue of sin is totally and finally dried up by death in every true childe of god . let all that feare the lord comfort themselves against the feare of death with these considerations . this is the second inference . doctrine 3. that rich , great , noble , and honourable persons must die , as well as others . these all died . abraham a lord and a mighty prince or a prince of god , as he is called , gen. 23. 6. one who had three hundred and eighteen trained servants in his family . gen. 14. 14. one who was very rich in silver and gold and in cattel , gen. 13. 2. even he died . and isaac his sonne and heire a person not only gr●●● , but very great , even to the envy of those who dwelt near him , as it is gen. 26. 13 , 14. even he died . and so did jacob the grandchilde , a man of honour , and great renown , one who is called a prince , and as a prince had power with god and with men and prevailed over both . these all died . the cardinal of winchester ( commonly called the rich cardinal , who procured the death of the good duke of glocester in the raign of king henry the sixth , and was shortly after struck with an incurable disease , ) when he understood by his physitians that he could not live ; murmuring and repining thereat , cried out , fie ? will not death be hired ? will money do nothing ? must i die that have so great riches ? if the whole realme of england would save my life , i am able either by policy to get it , or by riches to buy it . but yet all would not availe , to keep him from dying of the same disease . what man is he that liveth ( saith david ) and shall not see death ? the hebrew is , what strong man liveth and shall not see death ? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave ? what 's become of alexander the great ? pompey the great ? charles the great ? are they not all dead ? this day we have a sad example before us of the death of a very great , and most noble person . wise men die ( saith david ) as well as fools , and great , as well as small . the mortal sithe ( saith one ) is master of the royal scepter , and it moweth down the lillies of the crown as well as the grasse of the field . these all died . and die they must though never so unwilling . i could tell a doleful story of a great man , who when he saw there was no remedy but he must die , cried out in a lamentable manner , let me live the life of a toad rather than dye . but yet he died . and of another , who when he saw he must die , caused himselfe to be carried to the place where his baggs of gold and silver were , and taking them up in his armes , and hugging them , was heard to say , must you and i part ? but part they did though unwillingly . rich men , and noble-men must die whether willing or unwilling . and when they die they must carry nothing out of the world with them . naked they came out of their mothers wombe , and naked they must returne thither . they brought nothing into this world , and it is certaine they can carry nothing out . and therefore when a rich man dies the ordinary saying is , what hath he left behind him ! for he cannot carry any thing with him . there is a famous story of saladine the great sultan of egypt , who when he was dying caused his coffin to be carried thorough the campe where all his souldiers were , with this saying , saladinus totus asiae dominator ex tanto imperio tantisque opibus , &c. saladine the great ruler of all asia , of all his empire , and all his wealth carrieth nothing out of the world with him , but his coffin and his winding sheet . death is the greatest of levellers . it levels the mountains with the valleyes . the skeletons and bones of great men have no inscriptions , or titles of honour put upon them . diogenes told alexander that he could finde no difference between the bones of his father philip , and other mens bones . when the chesse-men are put into the bagge they are all alike . there is no difference between the dust of an earle , and of a beggar . the only use i shall make of this is , to beseech those who are great in estate and in honours to remember that they must die as well as others . though they be as gods upon earth , yet they must dye like men . it is no easie matter to perswade rich and noble persons to remember their mortality . lewis the eleventh king of france in his last sicknesse commanded his servants not to name the word death unto him ; but when he saw there was no remedy , he sent for the holy water from rhemes , together with aarons rod , as they called it , and other holy reliques , thinking therewith to stop deaths mouth , and to stave him off ; but it would not be . o miser ( saith one thereupon ) hoc assidue timés quod semel faciendum est ? hoc times quod in tuä manu est ne timeas ? pietatem assume , superstitionem omitte ; mors tua vita erit , & quidem beata & aeterna . o miserable wretch , why doest thou daily fear that which one day must come to passe ? why doest thou feare that which is in thy power not to feare ? leave off thy superstitions , labour after true piety , and then thy death will become life , yea a most blessed and eternal life . if i be not mistaken this was one reason why ahashueroah would not suffer any cloathed with sackcloath to enter his courtgates ; least his excessive mirth and jollity should be damped , and interrupted by the sad thought of death . the wise man tells us , o death how bitter is thy memory to one who hath great possessions ! and indeed if the not thinking of death , could free you from the stroak of death , it were worth the while not to think of death . but whether you think of it , or not , death will come , and by not remembring of it your lives prove to be full of abominations , and death is made a trap-door to let you down into eternal damnation . and therefore let me beseech you to imitate philip king of macedon , who appointed a boy every morning to come to him and to say to him , remember thou art a man and must die . and the emperors of constantinople , who on their coronation day , had a mason appointed to present unto them certaine marble stones , using these ensuing words , elige ab his saxis ex quo ( invictissime caesar ) ipse tibi tumulum me fabricare velis . choose ( mighty sir ) under which of these stones your pleasure is ere long to lay your bones . or if you will have a scripture-example , let me beseech you to imitate that rich and great person , joseph of arimathea who built his sepulchre in his garden . in the midst of all your pleasures and pastimes remember you must shortly leave them . it was a wise speech of charles the fifth to the duke of venice , who , when he had shewed him the glory of his princely palace , and earthly paradise , instead of admiring it , or him for it , only returned him this grave and serious memento , haec sunt quae faciunt nos invitos mori . these are the things which make us unwilling to die . to prevent this unwillingnesse , build your sepulchres in your earthly paradises , and remember that you must very shortly die , and that after death comes judgement . and that you must all appeare before the tribunal seat of christ to give a strict and impartial account of whatsoever you have done in the flesh , whether it be good or evil . let great men remember , that great , and small must stand before the great god of heaven and earth at the great day of judgement , and that their greatnesse will nothing at all availe them at that day . greatnesse without goodnesse will be but as a great fagot to burne them the more in hell . they that are great in place , and greater in sin , shall have great damnation . where god hath bestowed great benefits , if they be accompanied with great iniquities , god will plague them with great punishments . it is said , rev. 6. 15 , 16. the kings of the earth and the great men , and the rich men , and the chief captaines , and the mightie men , &c. hid themselves in the dens , and in the rocks of the mountains : and said to the mountains ▪ and rocks fall on us , and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb , &c. therefore let rich men labour to be righteous as well as rich , and great men to be good as well as great ! for riches without righteousnesse is but as a golden jewel in a swines snout , and greatnesse without goodnesse is , but as the greatnesse of a man sick of the dropsie which is not his happiness , but his disease . remember abraham ▪ who though he was a lord and a mightie prince , yet he was also a friend of gods , and the father of the faithful : though he was rich in gold and silver , yet he was richer in faith and obedience . and though he had three hundred and eightteen trained servants in his house , yet he was exactly carefull to traine them all up in the wayes and commandements of god . and remember jacob , and how god himselfe changed his name , and called him israel because he wrestled with god , and as a prince had power with god and man , and by prayers and teares prevailed over them . when greatnesse and goodnesse meet together , it is like apples of gold in pictures of silver ; it is as an embroidery upon an embroidery . and therefore let great men labour to be good men . the more you have of holiness the fitter you will be for happiness . the more you have of grace , the fitter you will be for glory . this is the third inference . doctrine 4. that it is not enough for a christian to live in the faith , but he must also die in the faith . this text takes notice of the constancy and perseverance of these holy men . they persevered in the faith unto the end maugre all oppositions and temptations to the contrary . they did live in the faith , and continued living in the faith , and as they lived so they died . these all dyed in faith . perseverance in grace is maximum donum dei ( saith austin ) the greatest of gods gifts , or graces , without which no other gift , or grace , will availe unto salvation . therefore christ saith , he that endureth to the end shall be saved . and be thou faithful unto the death , and i will give thee the crown of life . no grace will make us worthy to obtaine the crown of glory , but perseverance : he that would go to heaven must not only live well , but die well . though a man continue never so long in holinesse , yet if he fall away before his death , all his righteousnesse that he hath done shall not be mentioned ; in his trespasse that he hath trespassed , and in his sin that he hath sinned in them shall he dye . if methuselah who lived nine hundred sixty nine years had fallen away from grace the last year of his life he had been undone for ever . wherefore my beloved brethren let me beseech you not only to beleeve , but to persevere in beleeving , not only to be holy but to persevere in holinesse , and as the apostle saith , to perfect holinesse in the feare of god . the greek word is to finish holinesse . the beauty , glory and goodness of every thing is when it is finished . a garment till it be finished is of no use , nor a shop , nor a house till finished . a house halfe built , and halfe unbuilt is good for nothing . the excellency of a christian is not only to be holy , but to finish holinesse , not only to have a good beginning , but a happy closure , and conclusion of his life . this is a necessary lesson in this apostatizing age wherein so many sons of the morning , and children of high illumination are fallen into the darknesse of sin , and errour : and many , who in outward appearance were as fixt starres , are now proved falling starres ; in so much , that if mr. fox were alive againe , he would see cause rather to write a book of apostates than a book of martyrs . and there are also some risen up amongst us , who ( being many of them apostatized themselves ) begin to preach the doctrine of the apostacy of the saints . give me leave therefore to perswade you , 1. to be rooted and established in the doctrine of perseverance . 2. to practise the doctrine of perseverance . 1. to be rooted and established in the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints . and to beleeve that whosoever is truly united unto jesus christ by a lively faith , shall be so preserved by christ in the use of all gospel-means , that he shall never totally and finally fall away . christ jesus at the day of judgement will have a compleat body mystical , as well as natural . he will not loose any of his real members , for then his body should be incompleat . there was a book written in king james his dayes by bertius , of the apostacy of the saints . this book the forenamed king calls ( in a letter written to the states of holland ) a book with a blasphemous title . and a learned professor of oxford calls it a book with an execrable title . and surely if it was blasphemous and execrable then , it is as bad now . i will notenter upon the controversie : there are books lately written to very good purpose for the justification of the doctrine of perseverance . to me it is sufficient ; that god hath said it ; and shallnot he do it ? he hath said , whom he justified , them he also glorified . he hath said , the servant abideth not in the house for ever : but the son abideth ever . he hath said , my sheep heare my voyce and i know them , and they follow me , and i will give unto them eternal life , and they shall never perish , neither shall any pluck them o●t of my hand . my father which gave them me , is greater than all , and no man is able to pluck them out of my fathers hand . he hath said , i will put my feare in their hearts , that they shall not depart from me . he hath said , neverthelesse the foundation of god standeth sure , having this seale , the lord knoweth who are his , &c. though hymeneus and philetas have not stood sure , yet the foundation of god standeth sure . he hath said , being confident in this very thing , that he that hath begun a good work in you will performe it untill the day of christ . and that we are kept by the power of god through faith unto salvation . and whosoever is borne of god doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him , and he cannot sin because he is born of god . he hath said , i have prayed for thee that thy faith faile not . and he is now in heaven at the right hand of his father making intercession for us . and the chief end of his intercession is , that god would uphold and continue us in his favour unto the end : christ doth not intercede ( as some would have it ) that god would save us if we persevere . ( there is little need of this , and lesse comfort in it ) but he intercedes , that we may persevere . and god in the covenant of grace , doth not only promise to give us heaven if we beleeve , and persevere ; but also to give us in the use of means to beleeve and persevere . now then , if god the father hath decreed the perseverance of the saints ; if he hath promised that they shall persevere , and that he will enable them by his power unto it . if god the son hath prayed that the faith of all those who were given to him by the father should not faile , and if he ever liveth to make intercession for them , that they may never utterly fall . if god the holy ghost be given to the saints to abide in them for ever , and if the seed of god abides in them to keep them from total and final apostacy ; then we may safely conclude ; that the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is most agreeable to scripture , and that it is our duty to be stedfast and unmoveable in it . quest . did not saint austin himselfe the great champion of free grace , against the pelagians , hold the doctrine of the apostacy of the saints ? for though he saith , that an elect justified person shall never finally fall away , yet he seems to say , that there are many truely justified who are not elect , and that justification , and election are not termes convertible . and that many are justified by a faith working by charity , who ( not being elected ) fall away totally and finally . answ. i must not deny but that this opinion is charged upon st. austin by some learned men ; and a reverend divine hath lately in a book printed about this subject asserted it as a thing undubitable and without controversie , and for this end he brings many sayings out of his works which favour this opinion . but this learned brother may , if he please , read an answer to most of those quotations long ago given by bishop abbot in his animadversions upon tompsons diatriba de amissione & intercisione justificationis & gratiae . and he may likewise find many sayings brought out of st. austin which do most fully and clearly prove , that he held not only that no elect man can finally fall away , but also that none but the elect are justified , and that those who are truely justified can never fall away . as for example . god ( saith austin ) calleth none with that calling which is according to his purpose , but such whom he hath predestinated ; and he justifieth none , but those whom he thus calleth ; and glorifieth none , but those whom he hath predestinated , called , and justified , &c. againe , speaking of the vessels of wrath and of the reprobates he saith , that god brings none of them to sound and spiritual repentance , by which a man is reconciled to god in christ , whether he waites longer on them , ( then on the elect ) or shorter . in another place he saith , that god doth not forgive the sins of all men , but only of those whom he hath foreknown and whom he hath predestinated . againe , he saith in another place . that the gift of the holy ghost , to wit , the love of god shed abroad in our hearts by the holy ghost is given only to those who shall raigne with christ for ever in heaven . strangers ( saith he ) that is such who shall never inherit the kingdome of heaven , have some of those things which are given to the house of god . but the gift of the holy ghost is proper to the saints , of which no stranger doth communicate , that is , no man that shall never inherit the kingdome of heaven . this is wanting to all the malignant , and sons of hell , although they are baptized with the baptisme of christ as simon magus was . therefore he calls that a peculiar fountaine of waters running down the streets of the saints , and no where else . in other places he saith , that christ justifieth none but those who are members of his body . and no man is made alive by the spirit of christ , but he that is a member of his body . and that no man is indeed and in truth a member of christs body , who shall not be with him in heaven to all eternity . these places and many more which might be brought and are brought by the forementioned author , are sufficient to prove that according to the mind of st. austin none but the elect of god are in time effectually called , and really justified and pardoned , and made partakers of the holy ghost and become real members of christs body , and therefore the effectually called , and justified , &c. can no more fall away than the elect , which all confesse to be under an impossibility of apostacy in st. austins judgment . 2. let me perswade you not only to beleeve , but to practise the doctrine of perseverance : for there are divers learned men that are so much scandalized at the great apostacy of some eminent professours in our unhappy dayes , that they begin to be stagger'd , and to doubt of the truth of the doctrine of perseverance . but these men forget the saying of the apostle , they went out from us , but they were not of us ; for if they had been of us , they would no doubt have continued with us : but they went out that they might be made manifest , that they were not all of us . for my part , i conceive , that these reverend and learned men should rather doubt of the truth of their graces whom they see thus foully to a postatize , than of the truth of the doctrine of perseverance . but howsoever , let us take heed of laying this stumbling block : least by our practical apostacy men should begin to turne doctrinal apostates . let us labour to dye well , as well as to live well , to continue and persevere in wel-doing . it is the great commendation of the saints in the text , that they died in the faith . these all dyed in faith . remember what christ saith , no man having put his hand to the plough , and looking back is fit for the kingdome of god . and what the apostle paul saith : if any man draw back , my soul shall have no pleasure in him : but we are not of them who draw back unto perdition , &c. and what the apostle peter saith ▪ it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousnesse , than after they have known it , to turne from the holy commandment delivered to them , &c. remember also lots wife . she did only look back , she did not go back , and yet she was turned into a pillar of salt . as god hath fire and brimstone for a sodomite , so he hath a pillar of salt for an apostate . but why do you exhort us to persevere when as you tell us , that if we be true saints we cannot but persevere ? 1. we do not say , it is simply and absolutely impossible for a saint not to persevere . ( for if you consider the saints as they are in themselves , and the mightinesse and multitude of their spiritual enemies , it is impossible for them not to fall away ) but we say it is impossible upon supposition . considering the unchangeable nature of god , and the unchangeable decree and purpose of god , and the unchangeable covenant , promises and oath of god , in this respect we say it is impossible . 2. scripture exhortations are divine motives and meanes to perswade and enable the saints to persevere , and they are so farre from interfering with , or nullifying of the promises of faith and perseverance , that they are ( many of them ) built and grounded upon them . phil. 2. 12 , 13. 2 cor. 7. 1. what meanes must i use that i may hold out and continue unto the end , and not only live in the faith , but also dye in it . 1. dig deep in humiliation . the stony ground fell away for want of depth of earth . humility is the best preservative of grace . the lower the foundation , the surer the building . spiritual pride paves a causey to apostacy . a chesnut put whole into the fire will fly out . it is the broken heart only that will persevere . 2. labour for sincerity and uprightness of heart . as the firmnesse of a pillar is in the uprightnesse of it ( if once it begins to bow , it will quickly break . ) so the firmnesse and stability of a christian is in his sincerity and uprightnesse . rottenness of heart betrayeth a man into apostacy . a rotten apple will quickly appeare so outwardly ; so will a rotten christian . if ever you would persevere , take heed of making use of religion for the promotion of your carnal interest . he that serves god for an earthly kingdome , when he bath got what he sought for , will forsake god as jehu did . he that followeth christ only for the loaves , will leave christ when he hath got them . 3. labour for a tender conscience . this will keep us from the least degree of apostacy . as hot water grow's cold by degrees : first it is luke-warme , before it is starke cold : so a christian declines into apostacy by degrees . lots wife first lingred , and then afterwards lookt back : first we slack our pace in religion , then we stand still , and at last turne back . but now a tender conscience will keep us from the least abatement of zeale and forwardnesse in religion . 4. be not high minded but feare . i speak not of a feare of diffidence and distrustfulnesse , but of a feare of diligence and watchfulnesse . he that would be secure from feare , let him feare to be secure . mr. saunders by his feare of falling away kept himselfe from apostacy : whereas dr. pendleton by his notorious presumption , and over-bold confidence fell away . 5. take heed least there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief , in departing from the living god . {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} will end in {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} : apostacy is the child of unbelief . faith will set us upon a rock higher than us , even such a rock against which the gates of hell shall never prevaile . 6. take heed of the inordinate love of the world and of the base feare of men . the love of mony is reckoned by the apostle as the root of all evil in general , and more especially of apostacy , 1 tim. 6. 10. — which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith , &c. and the base feare of men was the cause which made thousands apostatize in queen maries bloody dayes . and therefore if ever you would persevere , you must labour to love god above your corruptions , relations , and possessions , and to feare sin more than the losse of estate , or life . he that loves god above the world , will never forsake god to gaine the world . he that feares sin more than death , will rather dye than sin . 7. pray unto god the father , son , and holy ghost , that they would uphold you and enable you not only to live , but to dye in the faith . pray to the father that he would keep you by his power through faith unto salvation : that he would uphold you by his mighty hand and keep you from falling , as it is psalm 37. ●4 . psalm 94. 18. that he would put his feare in your hearts that you may never depart from him . pray to the son , that he would apprehend you and hold you so fast in his armes that none may pluck you out of his hands , and that you may every day enjoy the benefit of his intercession . pray unto the holy ghost that he would abide in you for ever , and give you the earnest of your inheritance , and seale you up unto the day of redemption . so much for the fourth inference . doctrine 5. that to dye in the true faith , is a noble , gallant , blessed , and happy ●anner of dying ; these all died in faith . herein especially consisted the happy condition of these godly patriarks , that they lived , and dyed in the faith . it is put down by way of commendation , and left upon record as a patterne for us to learne to die by . they died in the faith of the messias , expecting salvation by him only . they died perswaded of the promises and embracing the lord jesus . looking , waiting and confidently hoping for a city which hath foundations , whose builder and maker is god . there is a double manner of dying . 1. a dying in sin . 2. a dying in faith . 1. a dying in sin . of this we read , john 8. 24. if you beleeve not that i am he , ye shall dye in your sins . this is a said manner of dying . if any should desire me to give him a character of a man in a cursed condition , i would answer , he is one who is dead in sin while he lives , and dies in his sins when he dies . it is a happinesse to be dead to sin , but to die in sin is misery unexpressible . for he that dieth in his sins shall certainly go into everlasting damnation . he that dies in his sins dies out of christ ; and he that dieth out of christ shall never go to christ . 2. a dying in faith . this is a noble , gallant and blessed manner of dying ; heaven it selfe beares witnesse to this , rev. 14. 13. i heard a voyce from heaven , saying unto me write , blessed are the dead which dye in the lord , that is , united unto the lord jesus christ by a true and a lively faith . such as these are happy , if you will either beleeve a voyce from heaven , or the voyce of the spirit , for it followeth in the text — so saith the spirit . and they are blessed from the very instant of their death . so it is in the same place — from henceforth {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} from that very minute : for their souls go immediately to god to enjoy perfect and perpetual rest and happinesse , and their works follow them . it is a greater happinesse to die in the lord than to die for the lord . if a man die for the lord , and be not in the lord , he is not blessed in his death . a man may die for the lords cause , and not for the lords sake , but out of vain-glory . this is hinted by the apostle , though i give my body to be burned , and have not charity , it profiteth me nothing . if i do it not out of love to god , but out of love to my selfe and mine own praise , it is nothing worth . but he that dyeth in the lord is certainly blessed . the only use i shall make of this , is to beseech the new testament saints to follow this old testament copy and patterne . you have been often taught how to live well , give me leave to teach you this day how to dye well . it is not long but you must all die . let it be your care , that when you come to die , you may die in the faith of the lord jesus . there is a double faith in which you must labour to die ; in fide quae creditur & quâ creditur . 1. in the true doctrine of faith . 2. in the saving grace of faith . 1. in the true doctrine of faith . for there are damnable doctrines as well as damnable practices . there are doctrines of devils as well as works of devils . a man may go to hell for heresie as well as ●or iniquity . the scripture tells us of some opinions which subvert the soul , and overthrow the faith : which t●rtullian calls doctrines devouring a mans salvation , and the cankers of christian religion . and therefore let it be your care to avoid all soul-subverting doctrines , to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints , and to hold fast the ancient catholick and apostolical faith . now if you ask me in what religion i would have you to die ; i shall quickly returne an answer without the least haesitation . in the true christian protestant reformed religion . this is via tuta ad vitam aeternam , a safe way unto eternal life , as a learned knight hath sufficiently made known to the world : my soul for yours he that dies in this religion , wants nothing in point of doctrine necessary to salvation . for it is built wholly & only upon the scriptures ; it is purely apostolical , and teacheth us to deny ungodliness and all worldly lusts , and to live godly , soberly and righteously in this present world . it requires us to beleeve in christ for justification , and to manifest the truth of our faith by our holinesse towards god , and our righteousnesse , mercy and charity towards our neighbour . and when we have done all to account our selves but unprofitable servants , and to trust only to the merits of christ for salvation . it hath been sealed by the blood of many martyrs ; and he that professeth it and liveth according to the directions of it , may die with a tribunal-proofe confidence of everlasting salvation . let us therefore be stedfast and unmoveable in this faith : and take heed of the arrian and socinian heresies which unchristianize a man , and of all doctrines that are contrary to godliness , which drown the soul in perdition and destruction . let us abhorre the heresie , idolatry and tyranny of the romish synagogue , alwaies remembring that sad text , if any man worship the beast and his image , and receive his mark in his forehead , or in his hand , the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of god , which is poured out witbout mixture , into the cup of his indignation , and he shall be tormented with ●●re and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels , and in the presence of the lamb . let us be sure , that when we come to die , we may be able to say with the apostle paul , i have fought a good fight , i have finished my course , i have kept the faith . though i have lost my liberty , wealth , and honours , yet i have kept the faith ; and with that reverend bishop , i can deny my selfe , my estate , my reputation , but i cannot deny my faith . 2. in the saving grace of faith . he that dieth with faith in christ , shall certainly go to live in heaven with christ . he that dieth embracing christ , shall go from christ , to christ ; from christ by grace , to christ in glory . but then you must be sure that this faith be a true justifying-faith . a heart-purifying , sanctifying , and world-overcoming faith . a painted faith will never bring you to a real heaven . a dead faith will never please a living god . faith without works will send a man merrily to hell instead of lifting him up to heaven . it is faith unfaigned , the faith of gods elect , the faith which worketh by lov● , which will make the houre of death desireable and comfortable . and let me adde that you must not only labour to die with a true faith , but with a full assurance of faith ; not only to die bel●eving , but fully assured that your faith is of a right stamp . this is a heaven upon earth . this will put you into heaven before you come to heaven . this will cause you to die rejoycingly and triumphantly , as stephen did , when he saw the heavens opened , and christ standing at the right hand of god ready to receive him ; and as old simeon did with christ in your spiritual armes , and singing a nunc dimittis , now lord let thy servant depart in peace , for mine eyes have seen thy salvation . this then is thy great work o christian , industriously to endeavour , that when thou comest to die thou mayest die in the true doctrine , and true grace of faith , and in the full assurance of faith , that so thou mayst have an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdome of our lord and saviour jesus christ . but what must i do that i may be able to make this gallant and noble end ? he that would die in the faith , must first live in the faith . for if you observe it , it is not said in the text , that all without limitation died in faith . but all these : that is , all those who lived in the faith , died in the same faith in which they lived : these blessed patriarks had not their faith to get when they came to die , but they had got it in health . they lived a holy life , and died a happy death . life and death for the most part are like the voyce and the echo , the body and the shadow . such as the voyce is , such is the echo . such as the body is , such is the shadow . qualis vita , finis ita . if we would die happily , we must live holily . if we would die gloriously , we must live graciously . if we would go to christ when we die , we must get into christ while we live . if we would die with assurance , we must while we live labour to get assurance ▪ woe be to those who have their faith to get when they are dying , that begin to amend their lives when they are putting an end to them . woe be to those who begin to serve god when they can do him no service . that begin to live when they are ceasing to live . and sad is the condition of those , who have their evidences and comforts to seek when they are going out of the world . and yet i will not absolutely deny ( as some rashly do ) but that it is possible for a man to live a thiefe and die a saint , to live wickedly and to repent at death . we have one , and but one example of this . but this is not gods ordinary way ; and if i had ten thousand souls , i would not adventure one of them upon a death-bed repentance . we must not think to dance with the devil all day , and to sup with christ at night . to live all our life-time in dalilah's lap , and to go to abrahams bosome when we die . the ordinary way to die well , is to live well . in a word , if you would die as abraham did , you must live as he did : you must imitate abrahams faith , obedience , and heavenly-mindednesse . if you would die as jacob did , you must wrastle with god in prayer as he did . if you would partake of their happinesse when you die , you must be followers of their holinesse while you live . this is the fifth inference . doctrine 6. that it is an unvaluable blessing when husband and wife , father and child , and childs child live and die in the true faith . these all died in faith . not only some of them , but all . abraham the husband , and sarah his wife . abraham the father , and isaac his son , and jacob his grand-child . all these died in the faith . behold a true noble blood , a holy kindred , a blessed generation . worthy is abraham of all honour who was the roote of such a noble and blessed brood . and worthy are isaac and jacob of so good a father , who stained not their blood by forsaking their faith , but held it as they received it , and lived and died in the true faith handed to them by their father . behold here you that are great in place and birth ; behold , i say , wherein true nobility and gentry doth consist ; and what is the fountaine of all true honour . it is to live and die in the true faith . in this faith abraham died : and isaac his son and heire did not only inherit his fathers estate , but his fathers religion also . and jacob the grand-child follows both his father and grand-father , and dieth in the same faith with them . behold here jacob a true gentleman in blood . his holinesse and religion is in the third descent . let great men learn to adorne their gentility and nobility with these ensignes of true honour . it is a rare blessing when there is a succession of godlinesse in a family ; when godlinesse is entailed upon children , and childrens children . when a man can say to god as moses : o god thou art my god , and my fathers god , and my grand-fathers god . there are many families in which there is a succession of drunkards , swearers , and adulterers , &c. in which sin and iniquity is entailed , of whom it may be said , my father was an adulterer , a drunkard , a scoffer at religion , so was my grand-father and so am i . this is a sad pedegree . o labour for a holy succession . let parents write a faire copy to their children , let them live and dye in the true faith , and let children learne to follow such a copy . let husbands be patternes and examples of godlinesse to their wives ; and let wives follow their good examples . let wives imitate sarah , parents abraham , and children isaac and jacob . let us and ours so live , that when we come to die , it may be said of us , not that we died in our sins , but as it is in the text that we died in the faith . these all died in faith . i have done with the text . but there is another text of which i must of necessity speak something . and that is concerning the sad occasion of our meeting here this day . give me leave to speak to you in the language of david concerning abner : know you not that there is a prince , a great man fallen this day in israel ? and in the language of the children of seth concerning abraham , a lord and a mighty prince is this day to be buried : one who had so much worth and excellency in him , that whosoever will undertake to speak of him needs not feare ( as nazianzen saith of his sister gorgonia ) least he should spea● too much , but rather least he should speak too little , and by coming so farre beneath his due deserts , should dispraise him , even whil'st he is praising of him . for without all controversie he was a person who had not only noble and honourable titles , but was truly noble and honourable . it is an observable speech of gregory the great , a king may cause a man to be called a nobleman , but he cannot make a man truly noble . he may command such a man to be called an earle , or a lord ; but it is the noble minde which makes the man truly noble . such a noble-man was the earle of warwick . he was not only a noble-man by parchment , but he had a noble mind , a large heart , an intrinsecal worth and excellency in him . his nobility was inameled with humility . he was great in place , but humble in carriage , as all who knew him will testifie . there was in him a blessed constellation , and consociation of nobility , humilitie , pietie , and charitie . he was not only a great man , but that which is above all , he was ( i hope ) a godly and religious man . i should be loth to give flattering titles to any man whether alive or dead ; for in so doing my maker would soon take me away as job saith . it was well spoken by that learned minister who preached at the funeral of the earle of essex ( a kinsman of this earles ) that funeral encomiastickes of the dead do often prove confections of poyson to the living ; for many whose lives speak nothing for them , will draw the example into consequence , and be thereby led into hope , that they may presse a hackny funeral sermon to carry them to heaven . and st. austin if i be not much mistaken , doth somewhere bitterly enveigh against those ministers who were overlavish in the commendation of the dead , telling us , that there are many who are commended where they are not , and in the mean time tormented with fire unquenchable where they are . sure i am that a learned bishop doth quote a sharpe censure ( though in another case ) of a popish casuist concerning noblemens chaplianes , saying , that few confessors of great men went to heaven , because by their base flattery they became guilty of soul-murder , and for want of telling them of their faults , destroyed both their own , and their patrons souls . and therefore god forbid that i should say any thing this day for the hurt and disadvantage of the living , whil'st i am speaking in the praise and commendation of the dead . and yet notwithstanding all this i should be loth to offend in the contrary extreme . for i am not so strait-laced or superstitious , as when any mans life hath been eminently remarkable and exemplary , lest i should be guilty of idolatry in adoring him , to commit sacriledge in robbing both the dead of his just praise , and the living of an useful patterne for their imitation . and besides , ( as the forementioned author saith ) though common graves have no inscription , yet marble tombes are not without some epitaph . heroical examples should not go with a common passe , but with a trumpet . and therefore i doubt not , but i may safely say without the lest suspicion of flattery or falshood concerning this honourable person , that i have just ground in charity to beleeve , that this noble earle was not only under the awe of religion , but that he had the substance , and power of it in his heart . and therefore his death is the more to be lamented by us , because that goodnesse and greatnesse do so seldome center in one and the same person . in the god of heaven they both meet . he is optimus , maximus ; infinite in goodness , as well as in greatnesse . but in the gods upon earth they rarely meet : they are many of them pessimi maximi , greater in vices than in riches . it was a bold speech of buchanan to king james , who sent a messenger to him when he was dying to visite him , and to know how he did ; buchanan desired the messenger to tell the king , that he was going to a place where few kings come . indeed the scripture saith , not many wise men after the flesh , not many mighty , not many noble are called . but yet some are , though not many . such a one was job , the greatest , and the best man in the east . such were abraham , isaac and jacob . such was joseph of arimathea . and such a one was ( i hope ) robert earle of warwick : and therefore the losse of him is the greater . for great men are like looking glasses according to which all the country dresse themselves , and if they be good they do a world of good . when crispus the chiefe ruler of the synagogue beleeved , many of the corinthians hearing of it beleeved also . when schechem and hamor were circumcised they quickly perswaded their people to be circumcised . let me tell you , that we have lost this day one of the best natur'd noble-men in england , & one who had not only a good nature , but ( as i verily beleeve ) gracious principles , and religious inclinations , and dispositions . he was religious , 1. in his own person : for he was very exact in closet duties . i have been often with him at private prayer in his closet in which he was very zealous and devout . and he hath left behinde him reall manifestations of his personal piety , by many religious collections written with his own hand for the good of his soul . 2. in reference to his deare and neare relations , both by giving them a good example , and good instructions . and my prayer to god is ; that though the instructor be deceased , yet the instructions may live , and never die . 3. in his family-government . for he was very constant in his morning and evening publick service of god , and herein a rare patterne to the gentry of the country : he would not suffer any sports or pastimes to divert him from his dayly publique devotions . it is a great honour to god , and credit to religion when there is a forme and outside ( though but a forme and outside ) of godliness in great families . this is like a candle set upon a hill to illighten all inferlour families . it is reported of theodosius the emperour , that by his religious carriage in his family , he made all his court a nursery of religion . and it is said of the house of george prince of anhalt , that for the good orders therein observed it was a church , an academy , and a court . 4. in his conscientious observation of the lords day , and in causing the sermons preached to be repeated in his presence to the whole family . in his frequent attendance when he was at london upon weekly lectures , and by his example and encouragement , drawing many persons of quality to our congregations . and ( which is very remarkable ) in the moneth in which he died , he went constantly to the morning-exercise at st. martins in the fields , thereby ( as by a secret instinct ) fitting and preparing himselfe for his death , which hapned towards the end of it . 5. in his extraordinary care and diligence in preparing himselfe for the receiving of the sacrament of the body and blood of christ . herein he was very exact in setting apart a sufficient space of time for selfe-examination . and besides this , give me leave ( without offence ) to relate a passage which in my opinion conduceth much to his honour , and may through gods blessing become an example to his relations , and to the noble-men and gentlemen of the nation . when he first came to the sacrament at aldermanbury , he freely presented himselfe to the minister and elders to be examined : and although he gave ample satisfaction , yet being at that time indisposed in body by reason of a sudden distemper , he afterwards wrote me a letter in which he signified , that if we were not satisfied , he would rather come againe , than come without giving full satisfaction ; here was humility in a high degree ; here is a patterne to be admired , and imitated . 6. in his faithfulness to the trust committed to him as in other things , so more especially in disposing of his church-livings . herein he was very eminent , and very exemplary , being alwayes exactly careful to preferre able , godly , and painful ministers to them . and i doubt not , but there are thousands blessing god in heaven for the good they have got by the ministers put in by this noble earle . the truth is , he was a great patron and mecaenas to the pious and religious ministry . we ministers may say of him as they did of the centurion , he loved our nation ; we have great cause to weep over his herse , and to bemoane his death : for we have this day lost one of the greatest friends that the godly and painful ministers had in england . 7. i might adde ( if need were ) as a further , and a most signal testimony of his godlinesse , his singular care , that not only while he was living , but that after his death also his church-livings might be rightly disposed , but i forbeare . 8. there are three things yet behind which i must not omit . 1. he was bountiful and prince-like in his hospitality and house-keeping . 2. he was very merciful and charitable to the poor members of jesus christ . i have often and often been his almoner to distribute considerable summes of money to necessitous and pious christians . 3. he was a liberal and most loving master to his houshold-servants , and hath given competent pensions to all his old servants during life . 9. in a word : he was one who did not make use of religion for his own private gaine and interest ; he had no politick designe in professing godlinesse : his whole aime both by sea and land , both in parliament and in private was , to be serviceable to church and state , and in this particular he was a true nathaneel in whom there was no guile : he was a countenancer of religion in the worst times , : he appeared for god and for his cause and servants , when it was both dangerous and disgraceful in the eyes of the leading men of the nation ; he received mr. burroughs ( that eminent minister of christ ) into his family , and protected him for a long while , till at last he was forced to fly out of the land . he was a very special friend unto that man of god of famous memory dr. sibbs . to summe up all in a few lines , as it is said of socrates ( as i remember ) that he was so good a man that all that knew him loved him ; and if any man did not love him , it was because they did not know him . so it may be said of the earle of warwick : all who knew him loved him , and if any man did not love him , it was because he did not know him . as for the manner of his death , it was somewhat sudden : but you must know , that a child of god never dies suddenly , though he die never so suddenly ; though he may dye suddenly in regard of time , yet he never dyes suddenly in regard of preparation . a wicked man dies suddenly though he dyes never so lingringly , because he dyes unpreparedly ; but he that dyes with grace in his heart , cannot be said to die suddenly though he die never so suddenly . and yet this sad stroak of death was not altogether unexpected . for when the funeral of his grand-child was delayed longer than he desired or expected , he was heard to say , that if they tarried a little longer , they should carry him down also to he buried with him . my hope is , that he dyed as these noble patriarkes in the text , he died in the faith in which he lived . he dyed professing the true doctrine of faith , and ( i hope ) having his heart adorned with the grace of faith . and let me assure you ; that as he lived much desired , so he now dyeth much lamented , especially by men professing godlinesse . i have heard a memorable story of an ancient and religious gentleman mr. knightly of northamptonshire ( well known to some here ) who coming to leeze , and beholding the brave parkes , and goodly gardens , and other such-like accommodations there to be enjoyed , was heard to say to this our earle , my lord , you had need be very good , it is ill going to hell from such a paradise : it will be a doleful and dismal exchange . or as others relate it ; my lord , you had need make sure of heaven , or else when you dye you will be a great loser . a rare speech worthy to be laid to heart by all noble persons . now i verily perswade my selfe , that this our dear and honourable christian brother is no loser , but a great gainer by his death . he is gone ( i hope ) from earth to heaven , from an earthly paradise to a heavenly pallace , from a house made with hands to a house made without hands eternal in the heavens . it is true ( and it must be confessed least i should be accounted a flatterer ) he had his failings , and his many infirmities ; which i trust jesus christ hath covered with the roabe of his righteousnesse . my prayer to god is , that all his infirmities may be buried in the grave of oblivion , and that all his virtues and graces may supervive , and live in his son and heire ; that as he inherits the estate , so he may also inherit the vertues of his father . and that religion , piety , and godlinesse may be entailed upon the noble family of the riches , from one generation to another till the coming of the lord jesus christ unto judgement ; that while they live they may be professors of the true faith , and indued with the heart-purifying grace of faith : and when they come to dye , they may make that gallant , noble , and blessed closure and conclusion of their dayes which these godly patriarkes in my text did , of whom it is said , these all dyed in faith . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a79008e-340 utin●m caelebs vixissem , aut orbus periiss●m . prorsus faelicem suturum fuisse ( inquit ausonius ) si hunc filium n●n generass●t . 1 pet. 1. 17. 1 cor. 5. 7 , 8. psalm 15. 4. prov ▪ 13. 5. dan. 11 , 21. john 6. 70. notes for div a79008e-1640 perkins in locum . paraus in locum . vetus juxt● fidem . beza , secundum fidem . gen. 22. 18. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . n●●pe sicus navigantes terram , abraham didicerat expectandos quadringentes annos . grotius in locum . per fidem illi morituri videbant & spe quadam amplexabantur promissa quae non acceperant . metaphora à navigantibus qui portum eminus conspicati , laetis acclamationibus salutant , & contingere gaudent . paraeus . tria participia , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , refero ad promissionis rem significatam , patriam coelestem , quam unice desiderabant . hanc , inquit , in suâ peregrinatione eminus conspicati sunt , consisi sunt , amplexati sunt side . paraeus . doct. 1. joannes de temporibus armour-bearer to charles the great , l●ved 361 years , but yet dyed at last in the year 1139. so the old man of bengala in the east indies , who was 335 years old when he came to the portugals , from whom for his miraculous age he received a yearly stipend , dyed at last . use mira quidem haec , se● ut video sicut in persiâ , sic romoe hom●nes moriuntur . gen. ● . 19. job 17 14. heb. 13. 14. pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum , &c. luk ▪ 12 19 , 20 ver. 12. psalm . 39 ▪ 4. 2 cor. 5. 10. punctum est quod vivimus , et puncto minus . psalm 39. 5. jam. 4 14. job 9. 25 , 26. ideo dies unus celatur ut expectentur omnes . babilus the rom●n general in the very day of his triumph , was killed with a tile from an house . heb. 9. 27. si semel moriendum est omnibus , ne igitur immortalitatem in h●c vita sam●●em●●… sisemel ta●tum moriendum ▪ ut semel pie moriamur operam demus , atque ad {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} omenta nos praeparemus . deut. 32. 29. psal. 90. 12. mr. ward in one of his sermons in print tells a story of one who gave a prodigal a ring with a deaths-head , with this condition that he should one houre daily for seven dayes together look and think upon it ; which bred a strange alteration in his life . in the popes inthronization before he is set in his chaire , and puts on his triple-crown , a piece of tow , or wad of straw is set on fire before him , and one appointed to say , sic transit gloria mundi . phil. 3. 8 , 9. rev. 14. 13. doct. 2. 1 pet. 3. 6. enoch the best man in his generation lived the shortest time ; when others attained some to above 900 , others above 800 , the least above 500 , years of him the text saith , all the dayes of enoch were 365. yea●es , g●● . ● 23. job 4. 19. use {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . 2 pet. 1. 15. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . phil. 1. 23. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . luk. 2. 29. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . a godly man never begins to live till he dies , and then he lives eternally . it was the epitaph upon the tombe of joachimus camerarius , vita mihi mors est , mors mihi vita nova . doct. 3. gen. 32. 28. hos. 12. 4. psalm . 89. 48. job 1. 21. 1 tim. 6. 7. ●everus the emperour looking upon his urn had this expression , tu virum capies quem orbis terrae non capit . thou shalt containe him whom the whole world oun ot containe . sceptra ligonibus aequat . use psal. 82. 6 , 7. epit. hist. galt . ester 4. 2. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . john 19. 38. rev 10. 12. p●tentes potenter torque●untur . ingentia b●eficia , ingentia vitia , ingentia supplicia . gen. 2. 23. gen. 18. 20. gen. 32. 28. doct. 4. mat. 24. 13. rev. 2. 10. perseverantia sola coronat . nemo christianus nisi qui ad sinem usque perseverave●it . ter●●l . de praescript . fz●k . 18. 24. use 2 cor 7. 1. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . impossibile est quod somel vivificavit deus , ab ●odem vel ab alio occidi . origen . in jerem. hom. 1. repertus est ja● pridem petrus quidam bertius cacotheologus leydenfis qui librum edere baud veritus est titulo ●●rte ipso ex●crabile● de apostatiâ sanctorum . robert . abbot professor regius dr. owen . dr. kendal . rom. 8. 30. john 8. 35. john 10. 27 , 28 , 29. jer. 32. 40. 2 tim. 2. 19. phil. 1. 6. 1 john 3. 9. luk. 22. 32. sanctam ecclesiam christus secundum praescientiae suae gratiam de in aeternum permansuris sanctis construxit . greg. in cantic. cap. 3. aurum , quod pravis diaboli persuasionibus sterni , ficut lutum , potuerit , aurum ante oculos dei nunquam suit ; & qui seduci quandoque non reversuri poss●nt , quasi habitam sanctitatem ante oculos hominum videntur a●ittere , sed cam ante oculos dei nunquam habuerunt . gr●g . mor. lib. 34. cap. 13. cap. 8. non ergo alios , sed quos praedestinavit , ipsos & vocavit ; ill● s●ilicet vocatione secundum propositum ; nec alios sed quos ita vocavit , ipsos & justificavit ; nec alios , sed quos praedestinavit , vocavit , justificavit , ipsos & glorificavit , illo utique fine , qui non habet fiuem . depraedestin . sanct. cap. 17. istorum ( id est vasorum irae five ●eproborum ) ●eminem adducit deus ad poenitentiam salubrem & spiritualem , quâ homo in christo reconciliatur deo , sivem illis longior●m ▪ patientiam ( quàm electis . ) sive non imparem pr●beat . aug. contra . julian . pelug . lib. 5. cap. 4. non ●mnium deus , s●d corum quos praescivit , & praedestinavit , delicta dimittit . aug. contra . adversar . leg. & prophet . lib. 2. cap. 11. — non visibilem baptismum quem possunt habere & alieni qui regnum dei non possidebunt , sed hoc donum commendat spiritus sancti , quod proprium est eorum tantum , qui reg●abunt cum christ● in aeternum . — et poste● multa eni●s munera dei possunt habere & alieni , &c. ipsa etiam quae domui doi data sunt ▪ nonnulla ex eis habent alieni , id est , non possessuri regnum dei , &c. hoc est ergo donum spiritus sancti proprium sanctorum , unde nem● communicat alienus . hoc deest omnibus malignis & gehennae filiis , etiamst christi baptism● baptizentur , sicut simon ●uerat baptizatus , &c. aug. de unitato eccl. cap. 23. non justificat christus nisi corpus suum . aug. ep. 5. de spiritu christi non vivit nisi corpus christi . iden in joan. traictat . 26. non est autem rever a corpus christi , quod non erit cum ●o in aeternum . idem de doctrin . christ . lib. 3. cap. 32. 1 john 2. 19 ▪ luk. 8. 62. heb. 10. 38 , 39. 2 pet. 2. 21. luk. 17. 32. ob. answ. mar 24. 24. quest . answ. eph. 1. 14. eph. 4. 30. doct. 5. 1 cor. 13. 3. use 2 pet. 2. 1. 1 tim. 4. 1. gal. 5. 19 , 20 , 21. acts 15. 24. ● tim. 2. 18. dogmata salutis devoratoria & christianae religionis carcinomata . jude 3. heb ▪ 10. 23. sr. humphry lynd● . rev. 14. 9 , 1● . bishop jewel in his life . o quam ●ulti ●um b●c van . î ●ide ad ater●os labores desce●d●●t . heb. 10. 22. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . 2 pet. 1. 11. quest . answ. doct. 6. exod. 15. 2 sam. 3. 31. gen. 23. 6. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . job . 32. 22. mr. vines . laudantur ubi ●on sunt , & t●rquentur ubi sunt . bishop halt . dr. tuckney at the funeral of dr. hill . mr. vines . 1 cor. 1. 26. acts 18. 8. gen. 34. ecclesia , academia , curia . the monster of sinful self-seeking, anatomizd together with a description of the heavenly and blessed selfe-seeking : in a sermon preached at pauls the 10. of december, 1654 / by edm. calamy, b.d. ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a32041 of text r15527 in the english short title catalog (wing c259). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 95 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 22 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a32041 wing c259 estc r15527 12544652 ocm 12544652 63009 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32041) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 63009) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 308:12) the monster of sinful self-seeking, anatomizd together with a description of the heavenly and blessed selfe-seeking : in a sermon preached at pauls the 10. of december, 1654 / by edm. calamy, b.d. ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [7], 34, [1] p. printed by j.g. for nath. webb and will. grantham ..., london : 1655. errata: p. [1] at end. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. marginal notes. eng self-interest -sermons. a32041 r15527 (wing c259). civilwar no the monster of sinful self-seeking, anatomized. together with a description of the heavenly and blessed selfe-seeking. in a sermon preached calamy, edmund 1655 17202 79 35 0 0 0 0 66 d the rate of 66 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-09 melanie sanders sampled and proofread 2004-09 melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the monster of sinful self-seeking , anatomized . together with a description of the heavenly and blessed selfe-seeking . in a sermon preached at pauls the 10. of december , 1654. by edm : calamy , b. d. and pastor of aldermanbury , london . 1 cor. 10. 24. let no man seek his owne , but every man anothers wealth . 1 cor. 13. 5. charity seeketh not her owne . rom. 15. 2 , 3. let every one please his neighbour , for his good to edification : for even christ pleased not himselfe . qui neglectâ proximorum curâ , sui tantùm amator est , id assequitus , ut ne seipsum quidem verè amet ; quemadmodum enim in membris , unius detrimentum ad alia quoque membra pervadit ; & in aedificiis , unius partis ruina , ad alias extenditur : sic & in ecclesiâ , qui fratrem suum negligit , se seque tantummodo , & suam procurat utilitatem , sibi etiam ipsi vel invitus damno est . nam qui in rebus necessariis , periclitantem vidit fratrem , manumque non porrigit , in gehennam mittitur , majori detrimento , quam erat illud quo frater afficiebatur , &c. theophyl. london , printed by i. g. for nath : webb , and will : grantham , at the bear in st. pauls church-yard , neer the little north door , 1655. pack mayor . a speciall court holden on tuesday the 19. day of december , 1654. ordered that mr. calamy be desired from this court , to print his last sermon at pauls . sadler . to the right honourable , christopher pack , lord major , and the right vvorshipfull aldermen of the famous city of london . right honourable , this ensuing sermon was ordered by you to be printed , it hath stuck long in the birth , by reason of multitude of intervening impediments : now at last it is come into the world , and is here humbly presented to you , as an expression of that respect and service which i acknowledge to be due , and shall ever be ready to pay . the subject matter of it is to discover and anatomize that ugly and deformed monster of sinfull selfe-seeking , and ●o shew the sinfulnesse and cursednesse of it . there are two cities ( saith austin ) the city of god , and the city of the devill : the city of god is begun and built up by the love of god , and increaseth , even to the hatred of our selves ; but the city of the devill , begins from the love of our selves , and increaseth , even to the hatred of god , by the contempt of our brethren ; for he that hateth and contemneth his brother , will in a litle while hate and contemne god . it cannot be denied , ( no not by one made up of charity ) that there are many citizens of this city of the devill . many who instead of loving god , to the contempt of themselves , love themselves to the contempt of god : many who seek their owne , and not the things of jesus christ ' , or which is as bad , if not worse , who seek their owne , under the hpocriticall pretence of seeking the things of christ . it is reported of cnidius a great architectist , who building a sumptuous watch-tower for the king of egypt ( to discover the dangerous rocks by night to his marriners ) caused his owne name to be engrav'd upon a stone in the wall in great letters , and afterwards covered it with lime and morter , and upon the outside wrote the name of the king of egypt in golden characters , as pretending that all was done for his glory and honour : but herein was his cunning , he knew that the water in a little time would consume the plaistering ( as it did ) and then his name and memory should abide & continue to after generations . there are many such in this nation , who in their outward discourse and carriage , pretend to seek onely the glory of god , the good of his church , and the happinesse of the state . but if we had a window to look into their hearts , we should finde nothing there written , but selfe-love and selfe-seeking . my care hath been in the following discourse , to set out the greatnesse and grievousnesse of this sinne , and how destructive it is both to church and common-wealth . besides what is there said , give me leave to adde : 1. that it is one of the greatest curses under heaven , for god to give a man over to his owne hearts lust , to doe whatsoever seems good in his owne eyes , to make himselfe the principle , rule , and end of all his actions . better be given over to the devill , then to our selves . i read of one given over to satan for his salvation , but never of any given over to himselfe , but for his ruine and destruction . 2. that this sinfull selfe-seeking is not onely a sinne that makes the times perillous , but our condition damnable . it shuts the man who is guilty of it unavoidably out of heaven . when he dyes his motto may be , here lies a man-pleaser , and a selfe-pleaser , but not a god-pleaser , who sought himselfe while he lived , and lost himselfe when he died . who loved himselfe for a minute , and hated himselfe to all eternity : or thus , here lies a man who lived in ease while he lived , and now lives in easelesse torments : who by over-pampering his body , destroyed his soule : who lived undesired , and dyed unlamented , who lived to himselfe , and thereby undid himselfe . the lord preserve you from this sinne , and make you true common-wealth ( not private-wealth ) men . it becomes him , ( saith a wise heathen ) who would be a great man to love neither himselfe , nor any thing that is his , but just things , whether done by himselfe , or by another . i have made bold to adde a few lines to that discourse which i had before you concerning the blessed and heavenly self-seeking , wherein i shew , that a selfe-denying , selfe-examining , selfe-judging christian , is the truest selfe-seeker . that he that preferres the keeping of a good conscience before the keeping of his estate , or life , the good of church and state before his own good , is a blessed selfe seeker . he that loves himselfe and not god , loves not himselfe , and he that loves god and not himselfe , loves himselfe ; according to that excellent saying of a●st . nescio quo inexplicabili mod● , &c. i know not by what unexpressable way , but sure i am of this truth , that he that loves himselfe , and not god , loves not himselfe ; and he that loves god , and not himselfe , he loves himselfe . for he that cannot live of himselfe , dies presently by loving himselfe ; but when he is loved from whom , and by whom we live , in not loving himselfe , he loves himselfe the more , because therefore he loves not himselfe , that he might love him by whom he lives . the lord make you such selfe-seekers : such a one was nehem●ah , of whom it is said , that he sought not his owne , but the welfare of the people of god ; such another was david , who preferred jerusalem before his chiefe joy : such were old ely , ezra , jeremiah , daniel , &c. such ought you to be . it is not long since you kept a fast , to humble your selves before the lord , in reference to the many sad , lamentable , and unusual fires kindled amongst us . now it ought to be your care ( as the true fruit of this fast ) not onely in your personall capacities to abstaine from , but as you are publique magistrates of this city , to indeavour ( so far as your power will reach ) to suppresse all those sins for which god hath threatned this great judgement . this is a divine , blessed , and most heavenly self-seeking . god hath threatned to destroy a nation by fire , 1. for sabbath breaking , jer. 17. 27. 2 for despising and misusing the godly ministry , 2 chron. 36. 16. 19. 3. for assuming the office of the ministry without a lawfull call . numb. 16. 16 , 17 , 18 , 35. 4. for worshipping god after a false manner , lev. 10. 1. 2. 5. for breaking the brotherly covenant , amos. 1. 9 , 10. 6. for pride , idlenesse , fulnesse of bread , uncharitablenesse , for giving our selves over to fornication , and going after strange flesh , which were the sins of sodom ( ezek. 16. 49. compared with jude 7. ) and for which god raigned fire and brimstome from heaven for their destruction . the lord cloath you with zeale as with a garment , and inable you to be instrumentall to quench the burnings which these sins have kindled , and to make this famous city a habitation of justice , and a mountaine of holynesse , jer. 31. 23. that the name of it , from this day may be , the lord is there , ezek 48. 35. so prayeth your servant in the work of the lord , edm : calamy . phil. 2. 21. for all seek their owne , not the things which are jesus christs . these words may very fitly be called paul's complaint , or black bill of indictment drawn up against the times in which he lived . there are 4 things that make this complaint very remarkable : 1. because it is not made out of passion , faction , or any private discontent ; but by a holy man of god , as he was guided by the holy ghost : and therefore it is a true , and a most just complaint . 2. it is not spoken of the heathens , who knew not christ , ( for it is no wonder for them that knew not christ , not to seek the things of christ ) nor of apostate christians that had totally forsaken christ ; but ( as calvin and estius observe ) of brethren and fellow-labourers , of such christians , that were not onely baptized into the name of christ , but also professed a great deale of love outwardly to christ and his cause , and yet it is said even of those , that they sought their owne , and not the things of jesus christ , and therefore it is not onely a true and a just , but a great , most sad and heavy charge . 3. it is not drawn up by way of prediction , what should happen in the last and worst times of the world , but by way of declaration , what was practised in the apostles dayes when the church of christ was a virgin church , flourishing in all its beauty and glory , whilest the blood of christ was yet warm , and christians by this warm blood were sodered together in love and unity , whilest it was the golden age of the church , even in the apostles dayes , all men sought their owne , and not the things of jesus christ . had these words been a prophecy of our times , which are the last and worst times , the iron age of the church , in which it is crumbled into a thousand fractions , it had been no wonder ; but to charge them upon the primitive apostolicall times , that in the infancy of christianity , all men should seek their owne , and not the things of christ , this makes the complaint not onely very true , and very heinous , but also very strange and wonderfull . 4. the charge it selfe in its owne nature , is higher than any other in all saint pauls epistles , and ( if i be not mistaken ) i may truly call it , the blackest bill of indictment , that was ever drawne up against the pure primitive apostolicall age ; which that we may the better understand , we must consider , 1. the heinousnesse of the offence . 2. the multitude of the persons offending . 1. the offence is both affirmative and negative : 1. affirmative , all men seek their owne . their owne honour and advancement ; not the honour of christ , but their owne honour , their owne private gaine and advantage ; not the profit of religion , but their owne profit ; their owne delights , pleasures , and recreations ; their owne ease , safety and security , not the safety of the gospel , but their owne safety ; their owne wills , lusts , and carnall contentments . not to please christ and doe his will , but to doe their owne wills , and to please themselves . and to speak according to the language of our times , their owne private , carnall , and creature-interest . quest . but why are these things called their own ? answ. not because they are so properly , for there is nothing truly ours but our sinnes . our health , wealth , riches and honours are not ours , but gods , hag. 2. 8. the silver is mine , and the gold is mine , &c. hos. 2. 9. my wood and my flax , &c. we are but stewards of these things , and stewards at the will and pleasure of the lord . that is properly called our own , which we may keep as long as we please , and doe with it what we please , but we cannot doe so with our health , riches and honours , &c. for riches have wings and fly away from us whether we will or no , and so have honours , and health , & therefore cannot be said to be our own properly , neither may we use them as we please , but according as god hath prescribed , therefore they are called another mans , and not our owne . l●k . 16. 12. we our selves are not our owne , 1 cor. 6. 19. you are not your owne much lesse are these bodily comforts our own ; but they are here so called , because men have a civill title to them , and because in the opinion of the world , they are their owne . this is the positive and affirmative part of the offence , and it is of an high nature . for a christian that believes the immortality of his soule , to seek his owne bodily promotion and interest , and to neglect the profit and comfort of his eternall soule : for a christian that is elected and called to things heavenly and everlasting , to seek onely after things earthly , and temporary , this is a sinne of the superlative degree . and it will appeare the greater , if we consider , 2. the negative branch of the offence , and not the things of jesus christ . the things of jesus christ are the things of the church of christ , which are therefore called the things of christ , 1. because christ is the husband of the church , and the things of the wife are the things of her husband . 2. because christ hath purchased them for us by his death and passion . 3. because of the great love that christ hath to his church , which is so great , as that the churches interest is his interest , and her injuries his injuries , act. 9. 4. — 〈◊〉 . they that neglect the things of the church , neglect the things of christ . q. but what are the things of iesus christ ? a. in generall , they are nothing else but the preservation and propagation of the kingdome of jesus christ . the building up of the church of christ in verity , purity , and unity . but more particularly , the things of christ are , 1. the pure worship of jesus christ , the preaching of the word , and administration of the sacraments in christs way . 2. the precious truths of the gospel . 3. the government of the church according to scripturepatterne . 4. the day of christ . 5. the godly ambassadors of christ . 6. the reformation of the church , when corrupted in doctrine , worship , and discipline . now then the charge is , that the christians in the primitive times ( both ministers and others ) did seek their own interest , and not the interest of jesus christ ; to build their own houses , and not the houses of god ; to ingrosse a kingdome to themselves , and not to propagate christs kingdome . q did these primitive christians not at all seek the things of christ ? a. this word not is not to be taken positively , but ( as calvin saith ) comparatively . wee must not suppose that church-officers and church-members did absolutely throw away all care of christ , and the churches of christ ; but the meaning is , that they did not seek the things of christ cordially , sincerely , zealously , and primarily . they sought them in the least place , and in the last place . they pretended to seek the things of christ , but sought their own things , under colour of seeking the things of christ , and therefore are said not to seek them at all . the charge will be yet greater , if we consider , 2. the multitude of the persons offending : the text saith , all men . q. was there no man in the apostles dayes that sought the good of the church of christ ? a. the word all is not here to be taken collectively , but distributively ; not for every one of all sorts , but for all sorts ; not for all men properly , but for many , as it is taken 1 cor. 10. 23. or for the most of men , as it is 2 tim. 4. 16. all men forsake me , &c. that is , most men . thus calvin , quod omnes dicit , non urgenda est particula universalis , no nullam exceptionem admittas , erant enim alii quoque qualis epaphroditus , sed pauci : verum omnibus tribuit quod passim erat vulgare . the full meaning then of the text is this , that even in the apostles dayes , in aureo illo saeculo , in quo omnes virtutes effloruerunt , in that golden age , in which all vertues did flourish , there were many , and very many church members and church-officers that professed outwardly a great deale of love to christ & his church , and yet notwithstanding sought their owne ease , quiet , honour , and profit , more than the preservation and propagation of the kingdome of christ ; their owne private gaine and interest before , and more than the interest of jesus christ . the words thus expounded , are a perfect representation of the times in which we now live . methinks i can hardly see a man in place and power , but i can see it written upon his forehead in great characters , this man seeks himselfe and not the things of jesus christ . if i had a window to look into the hearts of all here present , i feare me i should finde many selfe-seekers , but few christ-seekers , so that this text may sitly be called , englands looking-glasse : wherein we may behold , 1. the great sinne of england , i may truly say the sinne , that is the father and mother of all her other sinnes , the metropolis of all sinne , and that is , her seeking her owne things , and not the things of iesus christ . 2. the great and chiefe cause of all the miseries and calamities that have hapned to this nation . the source and originall of all our unhappinesse , because all men seek themselves , and no man the things of christ . 3. the onely way and remedy to be freed from all our miseries and afflictions , and that is , by walking quite contrary to the text . by seeking the things of iesus christ , before our owne things , and more then our owne things , and by seeking them heartily , throughly , zealously and sincerely ; this is the only balme to cure englands soars , the onely england-preserving mercy . for these three ends and purposes , i have chosen this text ; the doctrine i shall insist upon is , doct. that amongst the multitude of christians , who professe love to christ and his church , there are many selfe-seekers , but few christ-seekers . or thus , that it is an antient , common , grievous and hidden iniquity , for a christian professing love to christ , to be a selfe-seeker , and not a christ-seeker . 1. it is an old and antient sinne , as old as the primitive times . a sinne of 1600. years standing . 2. it is a generall and land overspreading sinne . a sin that hath seized upon men of all sorts , upon ministers , magistrates , masters and parents . an epidemicall disease . 3. it is a great and grievous sinne , a soule-destroying , a church and state-destroying sinne . 4. it is a secret and hidden sinne , a sinne that most are guilty of , and yet few will confesse their guiltinesse . there is no sin hath more fig-leaves to hide it , more excuses to extenuate it , more cloaks to cover it , than this sinne . that i may the better uncase and uncloath this great transgression , i shall briefly answer to these 4. questions , qu. 1. whether all selfe-seeking , be diametrically opposite to christ seeking ? qu. 2. what is that selfe seeking , which is inconsistent with christ-seeking ? qu. 3. what is the reason that amongst such a multitude of christians , there should be so many selfe-seekers , and so few christ-seekers ? qu. 4 wherein the grievousnesse , and mischievousnesse of this sinne consisteth ? qu. 1. whether all selfe-seeking be contradictory to christ-seeking ? whether a man may not be a christ-seeker , and yet a selfe-seeker ? ans for answer to this you must know , that it is not simply and absolutely unlawfull for a man to seek himselfe , no more than it is to love himselfe . religion doth not destroy naturall affections , but onely regulates them , and sanctifieth them ; gratia non extinguit sed ordinat affectiones , saith aquinas , non tollit sed attollit naturam , grace doth not destroy , but elevate nature . it doth not dry up the stream of selfe-seeking , but onely turnes it into the right channell . religion doth not pluck up , but weed the garden of nature . as musitians when their instruments are out of tune , will not break but tune them . so religion doth not abolish , but onely tune and order our selfe-seeking . therefore you shall finde in scripture , that there are many arguments drawne from selfe-love , and selfe-seeking , to perswade us to holinesse , and disswade us from sin , deut. 28. lev. 26. deut. 32. 46 , 47. is. 1. 19. rom. 2. 7 , 8. rom. 8. 13. gal. 6. 8. the scripture gives us leave to love our selves , and to seek our selves , so it be in a right manner . moses did not sin in having an eye to the recompence of reward . nor did the martyrs who could not accept deliverance , that they might obtaine a better resurrection , heb. 11. 35. who received joyfully the spoiling of their goods , knowing in themselves that they had in heaven a better , and an enduring substance , heb. 10. 34. it is said , even of christ himselfe , that for the joy that was set before him , he indured the crosse , and despised the shame , &c. heb. 12. 2. there is a great difference between amor mercenarius , and amor mercedis , mercenary love , and the love of the reward . mercenary love is , when we serve god onely for reward . this is sinfull , but to make the hope of reward one motive of service , is not only lawful , but necessary . for it is our duty to use all gods motives , as well as all gods ordinances , and as it is a sinne for any man to say , that he hath no need of gospel-ordinances , so also to say that he hath no need of gospelmotives , amongst which , this is one of the chiefest . know therefore that there is a threefold selfe-seeking . 1. there is a lawfull and an allowed selfe-seeking . 2. there is not onely a lawfull , but a heavenly and blessed selfe-seeking . 3. there is a sinfull , cursed . and diabolicall selfe-seeking . 1. there is a lawfull selfe-seeking , and that is , when a christian seeks his owne private gaine and honour in the last place , and in the least place , when he seeks the things of christ , in the first and chiefe place , and his owne things lesser , and after the things of christ , when he seeks his owne things , not in separation from , opposition to , competition with , but in subordination to the things of christ . in a word , when a christan seeks his own things in due order and measure , so as not to hinder , but to further his seeking the things of christ , this is a lawfull selfe-seeking . 2. there is not onely a lawfull , but a most divine angelicall , heavenly , and blessed selfe-seeking . here i shall hold forth this scripture paradox , that no man can be truly said to seek himselfe , that doth not seek the things of christ . that the more we seek the things of christ , the more we seek our selves . that he that seeks not the things of christ , doth not seek himselfe , but destroy himselfe . that a christ-seeker , and a true self-seeker are termes convertible . qu. what is this heavenly and blessed selfe-seeking ? ans. to understand this aright , is a point of great concernment . for the more we know of this divine selfe-seeking , the more we will shun and abhor the sinfull self-seeking . give me leave to deliver what i have to say about it , in these ensuing propositions , which i doe not name as several distinct heads , but as divers instances of a divine and sublimated selfe-seeking , ( amounting most of them , to one and the same purpose . ) that man who seeks the good of his soule , more than the good of his body , seeks himselfe after a divine manner . the body of man is the worst halfe of man , vilissima pars hominis , the shell , the boxe , the carcasse of man . intus est , quod homo est , the soule of man is the man of man . animus uniuscujusque is est quisque . and therefore he that seeks to get his soule beautified with grace , to be made christs picture , and a reall member of his body , this man , and this man onely , seeks himselfe . he that seeks the good of his body , to the hurt of his soule , doth not seeke himself , but the destruction both of body and soule . that man that makes such a fire , as to burne himself and his house , doth not seek the good of himselfe nor his house . that merchant that so over-loads his ship , as to drowne it , and himselfe , doth not seek his owne good . even so that man that over-pampers his body , that laboureth curare cutem , magis quam animam , to stuffe his body with dainty food , to cloath his body with fine apparell , and in the mean time to neglect his most pretious soule , this man doth not seek himselfe , but ruine himselfe . for the happinesse of the body , depends upon the happinesse of the soule . if the soul goe to hell at death , the body at the great resurrection will goe thither also : and therefore he that beates downe his body , and brings it into subjection , and labours to make it a fit servant to his soule , that endures hardship with his body , as a good souldier of jesus christ , that weares and tires out his body in the service of god ; that works with his body for the good of his soule ; this is the true , heavenly , and blessed selfe-seeker . that man who seeks his eternall good more than his temporall ; who seeks not onely to make himselfe happy for forty or fifty years , but for ever and ever ; this man seeks himselfe after a divine manner . for what will it profit a man to be happy for a few years in this life , and to be miserable for ever in hell hereafter ; how quickly will a man in hell forget the happinesse he had here ? he that makes provision to live pleasurably and comfortably while he lives , but makes no provision to live happily when he dyes , this man may seeme to love himselfe for a minute , but sure i am he hates himselfe to all eternity . he that layeth up treasure for himselfe upon earth , but none in heaven , may be accounted rich in this world , which will quickly end , but he will be poore world without end . such a selfe-hater was dives , luc. 16. and the rich foole , luc. 12. and such are all they that lay up treasure for themselves , but are not rich towards god , luc. 12. 21. he is a divine selfe-seeker , who labours to live holily here , that he may live happily hereafter ; to live graciously here , that he may inherit eternall glory hereafter . he that denyeth his sinfull selfe most , seeketh himselfe most . he that hates himselfe as corrupted by adams fall , and seeketh the utter ruine and extirpation of the old adam within him , this man doth truly love himself . this is divine self-seeking , to kill thy sins , that thy sins may not kill thy soule . as zipporah by circumcising her child , saved the life of her husband : so the way to save thy soule , is to circumcise and pare off {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , all superfluity of haughtinesse , james 1. 21. this is the meaning of that which christ saith , mat 5. 29 , 30. if thy right eye offend thee , pluck it out , and cast it from thee , for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish , and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell . and if thy right hand offend thee , cut it off and cast it from thee , for it is profitable , &c the more thou hatest thy gainful and pleasurable sins , the more thou lovest thy self . as a man in a dropsie , the more he denieth himself drink the more he seekes himself ; because the lesse he drinketh the more he destroyeth his disease . even so the more thou deniest thy corrupt self , the more thou seekest thy self , because the more thou deniest thy corrupt self , the more thou destroyest thy spirituall diseases ; the more thou ruinatest the devils faction within thee , & weakenst the opposition of the flesh against the spirit . he that loves his sins , hates his own soul , pro. 8. 36. gal. 6. 8. he that soweth sin , shall reap hell , he that makes provision for the flesh , provides fuel for bel fire . he that nourisheth the old adam within him , cherisheth that which tainteth and polluteth all his holy duties , which indisposeth him to all good , and disposeth him to all evill , he cherisheth his souls greatest enemy , 1 pet. 2. 11. he delights in that , which was pauls greatest misery , and which made him cry out , o wretched man that i am , who shall deliver me from the body of this death , rom. 7. 24. therefore i may truly say , he that is the greatest selfe-denier , is the greatest selfe-seeker . he that seeks to doe most service to god in his generation , that seeks his own glory , by seeking gods glory , is a divine self seeker . the reason is , because the perfection of every thing consisteth , in attaining the end for which it was made . as the perfection of meat is to be eaten , he that hoards it up and will not eate it , destroyes it . the end for which god made man is to serve him , to glorifie him here , and enjoy him hereafter . therefore the more service we doe to god , the more we seek his glory ; the more we attaine the end of our creation , and therein we are the more happy . he that loves himselfe for himselfe , and for his owne ends , destroyes himselfe , because the end for which god made us , is to serve him , and not our selves . when all the streames of selfe-love flow into the great ocean of the love of god , this is divine selfe-love . oh that men would thus labour to love themselves , and seek themselves , to look upon themselves as servants and instruments unto god and his glory ; to say , lord , how may i advance my selfe , by advancing thy name ! how may i glorifie my selfe , by glorifying of thee ? how may i seeke my selfe , by seeking thy praise , and perfect my selfe , by disposing of my selfe of my understanding , memory , will , heart , affections and actions , in order to thee and thy glory . the more a man serves god out of pure love , without reflection to selfe , the more he seeks himselfe ; for this is a certaine truth , the lesse we seek our selves and our owne ends in any holy duty , the more we seek our selves , because the lesse we seek our selves , the more we seek god and his glory , and the more we seek god & his glory , the more reward we shall have . the lesse we look after reward for that we doe , the more reward we shall have ; and therefore the papists who teach men to doe good works that thereby they might merit heaven , ( supposing their doctrine to be true ) lose all the reward of their good worke . he that serves god to merit by his service , cannot merit by his service ; the more he eyes merit , the lesse he meriteth : he that serves god for his owne ends , doth not serve god but himselfe ; but he that serves god for gods sake , shall be rewarded by god . the lesse we eye our selves in any duty , the more reward we shall have , and therefore the more we seek our selves . that man who seeks the glory and honour of god , above his owne glory and honour , is a divine selfe seeker . the reason is , because the happinesse of man is more in god than in himselfe . as the happinesse of a member of the body is in conjunction with the body , ( take it from the body it dieth . ) so the happinesse of man is in conjunction with god , who is our chiefest good , who is an universall good , therefore he that seeks union with god most , seeks himselfe most . as the safety of the beame is more in the sun then in it selfe , and of the streame in the fountaine , then in it selfe . so the safety , comfort and happinesse of every christian , is more in god then in himself ; therefore he that seeks the glory and honour of god , more than his owne glory and honour , is a heavenly and blessed selfe-seeker . he that loves the publique good more than his owne private good , that seeks the prosperity of sion and jerusalem , of church and state more than his owne , is a divine selfe-seeker . oh that this word were mingled with faith ! a man that is in danger to have his head cut off , will willingly ( even out of selfe-love ) lift up his arme and suffer it to be cut off to save his head , because his life is more in his head than in his arme . our safety is more wrapt up in the publique welfare , than in our private , and therefore they who preferre the publique , before the private , are the truest selfe-seekers . thus did old ely , he mourned more for the losse of the ark● , than of his two sons . thus also did david , psa 137. 6. he preferred jerusalem above his chiefe joy , in a storme at sea , he that seeks the preservation of the ship , seeks most the preservation of his own trunk , for if the ship be drowned , his trunk cannot be saved . the truth is , if the church and the true religion be destroyed , to what purpose is it for a godly man to live ? i read of titus vespasian , that when the souldiers had destroyed the temple of jerusalem , they came to him and asked him , what they should doe with the priests that did supervive ? kill them ( said he ) for now their worke is at an end . when religion is destroyed , what will it advantage a godly man to live ? therefore they that seek the good of the church , more than their owne , are blessed selfe-seekers . that man who had rather lose wife , children , estate and life it selfe , than sinne against god , is a divine selfe-seeker : the reason is , because his happinesse is more in keeping a good conscience , than in keeping his estate or saving his life . the holy martyrs who loved not their lives unto the death , were the greatest selfe seekers . it is a most blessed selfe-seeking , to suffer the fire of martyrdome , to avoid the fire of hell , to lose earthly promotions , to attain everlasting honours : and therefore christ argueth from selfe-love , mat. 16. 25. whosoever will save his life shall lose it , and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall finde it ; so also mark . 10. 29 , 30. the antient martyrs did the like , heb. 10. 34. heb. 11. 35. he that loseth all for christ , shall finde more than he hath lost in christ . from all that i have said concerning this blessed selfe-seeking , i gather these three conclusions : 1. that no man is a true selfe , seeker , who is not a true christ-seeker . 2. that true religion , and a consciencious walking according to the rules of it is founded upon right reason , and that no man can be truely said to be a rationall man , who is not a religious man ; for the more religious any man is , the more he seeks himselfe and his owne happinesse ; the more irreligious he is , the more he ruinateth and destroyeth himselfe . 3. that whosoever would love himsel●e , and seek himselfe aright , must labour to seek the things of jesus christ . oh that i could perswade you to this blessed selfe-seeking , to seek your owne gaine and honour , in seeking the honour of god , and good of church and state . but now in the third place , besides this lawfull , and this heavenly , and blessed selfe seeking , there is a sinfull , cursed , and devilish selfe-seeking , a selfe-seeking which is complained on in the text , inconsistent and incompossible , with a true christ-seeking , which is the root of all the miseries that have hapned to this nation . the great church and state , and soul-destroyer . this leads me to the second question . quest . 2. what is that selfe-seeking , which is inconsistent with christ seeking ? answ. it is a spirituall monster with six heads . 1. when a christian seeks his owne things dividedly from the things of christ , when he seeks his owne case , safety and interest , and cares not at all what becomes of jesus christ , and his cause , when he sets up himselfe , and makes himselfe the principle , rule , and end of all his undertakings , acting from self as a principle , by selfe as a rule , for self as an end . when a man makes himselfe his god , worshipeth himselfe , and doth whatsoever he doth for his carnall selfe , serves himselfe in committees , army , parliament , ministry , and cares not what becomes of religion and reformation . this is the first head of this monster ; such a selfe-seeker was gallio the deputy , act. 18. 17. who cared not what became of religion . if it had been a matter of wrong , he would have heard it , but because it was a matter of religion , he cared for none of those things . such selfe-seekers , were the people of m●roz , and therefore the israelites were commanded to curse them , judges 5. 23. 2. when a christian seeks his owne things , and the things of christ also , but seeks his owne things antecedently to the things of christ . when he first seeks his owne things , and afterwards the things of christ ; of this the prophet haggai complanes , hag. 1. 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 9 , 10 , 11. the people said , it was not time to build gods house , but it was time to build their owne houses . therefore the heavens over them were as brasse , and the earth withheld her fruit . 3. when a man seeks his owne things , and the things of christ also , but seeks his own things , chiefly and principally , not onely before , but more then the things of christ , and that both in his value and esteem , and in his love and affection . when a man prizeth his owne profit and preferment , and loveth his owne praise and glory more than the profit , praise and honour of christ and his gospel . such were the gaderens , who preferred their hogges before christ . such were the merchants and farmers , mat. 21. 3. who made light of the call of christ , and preferred their farmes and merchandizing before christ and his gospel . such was demas , who forsook paul and embraced the present world , and such were the pharisees , john 12. 43. who loved the praise of men , more than the praise of god . 4. when a christian seeks his owne things in seeking the things of christ , when he pretends to seek the things of christ , and yet intends no such thing , but seeks himselfe even under colour of seeking the things of christ . such a one was jehu , who pretended a great deale of zeale for the lord of hoasts . come ( said he to jonadab ) and behold my zeale , &c. but he did but pretend a zeale for god , his zeal was to purchase the kingdome to himselfe . such a one was balaam , who pretended that if he had a house full of gold and silver offered him , he would not goe beyond the commandement of god , and yet notwithstanding he did but counterfeit , for he loved the wages of iniquity , and was mad after the preserments that balac proffered him . such another was demetrius the silver-smith , who pretended a zeal to the great goddesse diana , and therefore caused an uproare against paul to defend the goddesse , but it was the gaine he got by making shrines for diana , that was the principle that set him on worke , he pretended diana , but intended himselfe , he had dolum in idolo , as one saith . 5. when a man seeks his owne things , when they stand in competition with , and in opposition to the things of christ , when things come to so narrow a bridge , that either he must part with estate , liberty , and life , or with christ and a good conscience : if he chooseth to part with christ and a good conscience , rather than with his liberty , estate or life , this is a wicked self-seeker . such a one was the young man in the gospel , who forsook christ , rather than he would part with his great possessions . such was spyra , who himself tels the story ; that he placed wife , children , liberty , estate and life , in one part of the ballance ; and god , christ , the gospel , and a good conscience in the other , and forsook the last to preserve the first . 6. the last head of this monster is , when a christian seeks the good of his body , to the prejudice of his soule , when he bestoweth all his time , all his strength , and all his cares and indeavours , in providing for his perishing carcasse , and neglects to provide for his eternall soule , when he layeth up all his treasure upon earth , but hath no treasure layed up in heaven , when he is anxiously solicitous for his comfortable living in this world , but strangely neglectfull , to take care for his happy living in the other world , this is a sinfull , cursed , and devilish self-seeking . so much in answer to the second question . the third question is , how is it possible that there should be so many men who professe themselves to be christans and ( in words at least ) profess love to christ and his interest , and yet notwithstanding should seek their owne interest before , and more than the interest of christ ? answ. this soule-destroying and church destroying selfe-seeking proceedeth from six sinfull and cursed roots . 1. from want of true and unfeigned love to jesus christ , and his interest . love is a most powerfull affection , the masterwheel that carrieth the whole soul after it . amor meus pondus me● , saith aug. ●o feror quo●unque feror . as the primū mobile in the heavens carrieth all the other spheres about with it , so love carrieth the whole man with it . love is as strong as death , many waters cannot quench love , neither can the floud drown it . if a man would give all the substance of his house for love , it would be contemned , cant. 8. 6 , 7. if we did love the lord jesus and his gospel , in good earnest , we would rather part with liberty , estate , life , and all our own things , than lose the things of christ as the blessed martyrs did . but because there are few men that love jesus christ in sincerity , hence it is that most men seek their owne things , and not the things of christ . 2 this proceedeth from that cursed selfe-love , which is in all men by nature . of this you shall read , 2 tim 3. 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. where selfe-love is placed in the fore-front as the cause and r●ot of all the other sins there named . selfe-love is like a great tree , and eighteen sins as eighteen branches sprouting out from this root , because men are lovers of themselves , therefore they are covetous , proud , unthankfull , unholy , lovers of pleasures more than lovers of god , &c. from this sinfull self-love proceeds this sinfull self-seeking . as the love of christ is the root of christ-seeking , so the love of our selves is the root of sinfull self seeking . 3. from that immoderate and inordinate worldly love which is in all men by nature : for ( as a martyr well said at the stake ) if we should unrip and anatomize a wicked man , we should finde nothing in him but self-love , and worldly love : by nature we love the creature m●e than the creator , pleasures more than god , and the praise of men , more than the praise of god . by nature we love our own gain , and our own safety , and ease , more than the things of christ ; and therefore it is that we seek our own things , and not the things of christ . 4. from that hypocrisie , insincerity , and rottennesse of heart which is in all men by nature , hence it is that men pretend jesus christ , but intend their own private interest , because of the hypocrisie and falsenesse of their hearts . thus the pharisees , who were hypocrites , under pretence made long prayers that they might devour widdows houses , mat. 23. 14. thus herod pretends to worship christ , when his intendment was to worry him , mat 2. 8. thus jesebel proclaimeth a fast , and pretends religion , but intends onely to put naboth to death , and to get his vineyard . thus absolem covers over his rebellion with the faire cloak of religion , 2 sam. 15. 7. there are two things that are in all men by nature : 1. to make a shew of religion . 2. to cover over all manner of wickedness under the shew of religion ; ungodlinesse is so odious , that if it should appeare in its own colours , all men would abhorre it ; and therefore as the devill never sheweth himself but under some handsome form , sometimes under samuels mantle , sometimes transformed into an angel of light ; so doth sin and iniquity alwaies appeare under the form of godlinesse . the apostle tells 2 tim. 3. 5. that in the last times there should be men , who should be lovers of themselves , treacherous , heady , high-minded , without naturall affection , &c. having a form of godlinesse ; which last words are to be understood {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} as relating to all the former sins . they should be covenant-breakers , having a form of godlinesse , covetous , false accus●rs , blasphemous self-lovers , having a form of godlinesse . they should ( through the hypocisie that is in them ) cover all their sins under the vizard of a form of godlinesse . 5. this sinfull self-seeking ariseth from that spirituall ignorance and blindnesse which is in all men by nature . there is no wicked man rightly understands what it is to seek himself : for he thinks , that if he seeks to satisfie his corrupt self , he seeks himself ; if he seeks the good of his body with the neglect of his soule , he seeks himself . he thinks that if he seeks his own ease , gain , safety , and preferment , without looking after the things of christ , that he seeks himself . thus did the rich fool , luke 12. who built his barnes bigger , and said , soule take thy ease , &c. he supposed that he sought his own happinesse in so doing : and so did the rich glutton , when he cloathed himselfe in purple , and fared deliciously ever day , &c. but now did a wicked man convincingly understand , that this self-seeking is self-hating , and self-destroying : that the rich glutton by pampering his body , damned his soule : that the rich fool , by laying up goods for a few yeares , lost his soule to all eternity : that he that denieth himself most , seeks himself most , he that serves god best , seeks himself most : he that seeks the glory of god before his owne glory , and the good of church and state more than his own good , seeks himself most : that he that loseth his life for christ , shall finde a better life in christ . did he ( i say ) convincingly believe this , he would not sinfully seek himself : therefore this sinfull self-seeking proceedeth from that spirituall ignorance and blindnesse that is in all by nature . 6. lastly , it springs from that spirituall self-deceit and souldelusion that is in all men by nature : every man by nature , is ( narcissus like ) in love with himself , blinde in his own cause , and apt to think that he seeks the things of christ , when he doth not , and that he doth not seek his own things in opposition to , competition with , or comparison of the things of christ ; even as the philosopher , who could not be perswaded , but that snow was black , or the mad athen●an , hat all the ships that came to athens were his . so there are multitudes of christians , who fancy to themselves , that they do seek the things of christ , when it is apparent to others that they doe not : and by this self-deceit couzen themselves into hell . thus you see the cursed roots from whence this sinfull self-seeking proceeds . the fourth and last question is , wherein the grievousnesse and mischievousnesse of this sinfull self-seeking consisteth ? answ. it is a sin of the first magnitudô . though it be an inward invisible sin , and therefore not so infamous and scandalous to the eyes of men , as some other sinnes are , yet it is very odious and abominable in the sight of god . though it be minoris infamiae , yet it is majoris culpae . for , 1. it is a sin against the expresse words of the scripture . the apostle saith , 1 corin. 10. 24. let no man seek his owne , but every man anothers wealth . the sinfull selfe-seeker lvies antipodes to this text , he seeks his own , and not anothers wealth . 2. it is a sin against the light of nature . nature it self teacheth us , that no man is born for himself , but for the good of the common-wealth , in which he lives . the very heathens abominate a self-seeker . 3. it is a sin against the pattern that christ hath left us : for he came into the world , not to doe his own will , but the will of him that sent him ; he pleased not himself , rom. 15. 2. he made himself of no reputation , he humbled himself , and became obedient , even to the death of the crosse : he denied himself so far , as to be made sin for us , who knew no sin , that we might be made the righteousnesse of god in him . now it is a certain maxime , that he who doth not follow the example of christs life , shall never have any benefit by the merit of his death : christ is meritum only to those to whom he is exemplum . 4. it is a sin against the royall law of charity . charity is a most noble grace , the very queen of all graces ; it is as necessary as it is excellent for though we bestow all we have to feed the poore , thou●h we give our bodies to be burnt , yet if we have not charity , it profiteth us nothing . but now a self-seeker is made up all of uncharitablenesse . 1. he hath no love unto jesus christ & his interest , and there is a double curse pronounced against those that love not the lord jesus , 1 cor. 16. 22. 2. he hath no love to his neighbour , but for his owne ends ; it is amor concupiscentiae vel amicitiae , it is not love , but merchandize . 3 he hath no love to church nor state . all his love centers in himself : he is wholly compounded of self-love , and creature love , which is a composition god hates . 5. it is a sin that makes all our holy duties abominable in the sight of god . though the actions we doe be never so holy , yet if we do them upon politique designes , if we aim at our selves in what we do , the lord abhorres us and all we do , as we see in the pharisees , who in their almes , prayers and fastings , did all to be seen of men , and therefore god abhorred all they did . self-aimes pollute and putrifie all holy actions . 6. it is a sin of horrible hypocrisie : for it is making use of religion as a ladder to clime up to pre●ment , and then casting the ladder away ; it is setting up god as a pander to our ambitious and covetous interest , which is hypocrisie , to be abhorsed . this is uti deo ut ●ruamur nobismetipsis , which is no little transgression . 7. it is idolatry in the highest degree ; it is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} a worshipping of self ; it is making our selves and our own interest , the root , rule , and scope of all our undertakings , which is to make an idoll of our selves and to usurp the throne of god . it is idolatry against the first commandement , which is greater than idolatry against the second , by how much the heart is better than the knee . 8. it is a sin that is the fruit of six cursed roots ( as you have already heard ) and the root of many cursed fruits : it is 〈◊〉 omnium v●tiorum , a sin , and the cause of all sin , the pl●e so●e o● church and state , the great church-devouring , and state destroying sin to give some few instances . what is the reason that the government of the church , so happily began , is now obstructed , and almost quite broken in 〈◊〉 ? is it not because all men seek their owne , and no men the things of christ ? what is the reason that the house of god lieth wast , and every man labours to build his own house ? why is it that men complain of taxes and want of trading , but no man complaines that the house of god is neglected , the pure ordinances despised , and the godly ministry undervalued ? is it not because all men seek their own , and not the things of jesus christ ? what is the reason that the truths of christ are trampled under feet , and men are suffered to deny the divinity of christ and of the scriptures , and no man saith , why do you so ? but let a man but speak a word against the lawes of men , he shall be severely punished : is not this , because all men seek their own , and not the things of jesus christ ? what is the reason that so few gentlemen , citizens , and ministers ; appeare for the things of christ ? that so many silence themselves , and suffer religion to be almost lost , and yet dare not appeare for it ? why is it that our lectures are so little frequented in most places● that many think nothing too much to give to their 〈◊〉 , but any thing too much for their minister ? that 〈◊〉 master will be very exact to see his servant do his business upon the week da●es , but indulge him to do what he will upon the lord● day ? is it not because all men seek their own and not the things of jesus christ ? what is the reason that the things of the church drive on so slowly , like the egyptian chariots , when the wheeles were taken off ? what is the reason that there is so much oppression and injustice in places of judicature ? so much cousenage and false dealing in our commerce one with another , in a word , what is the cause of all our miseries both in church and state ? is it not because all men seek their own , and not the thin●s of jesus christ ? thus you have the greatnesse and the mischievousnesse of this sinfull selfe-seeking . so much for the explication of the doctrine , i come now to the application . is this be so , that amongst the multitude of christians that professe love to christ and his cause , there are many , yea very many , that ●ek their owne , and not the things of christ . let us then 〈◊〉 beseech you ) behold as in a glasse , the sinfulnesse and miserablenesse of the times wherein we live , for if the apostle compla● of his times , which were the first and the best times , the golden age , the primitive , apostolical , virgin-church , when the saints of god met together in one place , with one accord , much more may we of our times , which are the last and worst , the iron age , wherein the church of christ is wofully divided , and wonderfully apostatized : how justly ( i say ) may we take up this sad complaint against our t●es : all men seek th●i owne , not the things of jesus christ ? and yet i dare not say , all men collectively , i believe there are a few names even in england . which have not defiled their garments , and have not bowed their knees to baal , some magistrates , some gentlemen , some ministers and citizens yet remaining , who seek the things of jesus christ more than their owne , yea , with the neglect and losse of their owne , who seek the prosperity and welfare of sion , more than their own . some ezra's , nehemiah's , and daniel's , that lay to heart the desolations of the church , and with old ely are more troubled about the arke of god , than their owne private relations : but these are a very few in comparison it is certaine , that most of all sorts are guilty of this sinfull selfe-seeking , most magistrates , most gentlemen , ministers and citizens . now then let us examine our selves , whether we be not amongst the number of this multitude . to quicken you to this consider , 1. that this sinne is both a new and an old testament sinne . it reigned not onely in pauls time , but in debora's , and baraks , who tell us that for the divisions of reuben , there were great searchings of heart , because he abode among the sheep-folds , and cared not what became of the church of god , judges 5. 15 , 16. 2. it is a common and ordinary sinne , few are free from it . 3. it is a great and crying abomination , as you have heard . 4. it is a great and hidden iniquity , an inward , invisible , and spirituall sinne , that consumes england as a moth , not as a lion : it is threatned , hos. 5. 12. 14. that god would be to ephraim as a moth , and as a lion , murder , adultery , sodomy , injustice , &c. devoures england as a lion , but selfe-love and selfe seeking destroies it as a moth secretly , and yet certainly : let us therefore be very serious in the worke of selfe-trying . there are three sorts of men whom i indict as guilty of this sinfull and cursed selfe-seeking . 1. such as seek their owne things , and not at all the things of christ . 2. such as seek their own things before , and more than the things of ch●ist . 3. such as pretend to seek the things of christ , but seek their owne things , under the colour of seeking the things of christ . 1. such as seek their owne credit , profit , preferment , ease and safety , and not at all the things of christ : it is reported of agrippina , the mother of ner● , who being told , that if ever her son came to be emperor , he would put her to death ; she answered , ●eream ego modo ille imperet . let me perish so he may be emperour . there are many such , who say in their hearts , perat religio modo ego imperem ; so i may get an estate , and grow great in the world , no matter what becomes of religion and reformation . quest . are there any christians of this minde ? answ. there are many who are called christians at large of this minde , who have the name and but the name of christians , and carry this name as uriah did his letters to joab , non ad salutem , sed ad runam , not for salvation , but damnation , you shall know them by this character . let such men as these have their trading as formerly , enjoy outward prosperity , and be freed from taxes , they will thinke themselves sufficiently happy . it is all one to them whether all religions be tolerated , or none at all . these men say with tiberius the emperour , diis deorum curae sunto . let god take care of religion , all our care is for our outward estate ; these are they that make their money their god , who minde earthly things whose end is damnation , of whom i may say as christ of iudas , better they had never been borne . 2. such as seek their own things before , and more than the things of christ , who seek their own interest , more cordially , more industriously , and more vigorously , than the interest of religion . thus did the gaderens ( as you have heard ) thus doe most christians . quest . how shall i know whether i preferre in my judgement , affections , or conversation , my owne outward interest , before the interest of christ and the gospel ? answ 1. if the seeking of thine own things take up the first , best , and most of thy time . if thy marrow and strength of thy soule , goe out after them , if thou makest them thy {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , thy primum quaerite , and unum necessarium , and the things of christ , thy {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and idle houre . if the seeking of thine own , make thee neglect the things of christ , or seek after them negligently , this a signe that thou dost over-value and over-affect thine owne things , and undervalue , and dis-affect the things of christ . 2. if thou mournest more for personall miseries , than for the desolations of sion , it is a signe thou mindest thine owne things more than the things of christ , this is a frame of spirit , quite opposite to true saintship . ezra , nehemiah , david , daniel and ieremiah , were more afflicted with the miseries of the church then their owne . 3. if the seeking of thine own things take away thy courage for christ and his cause , and make thee come to christ by night , as nichodemus did , and the more thou hast of the world , the lesse thou appearest for christ and his gospel ; the more honours , the more fearfull : if the preserving of thine owne things make thee betray the things of christ by sinfull silence , or base cowardise , this is a sign thou preferrest thine own interest before the interest of christ . 4. if the seeking of thine own things make thee seek to find out excuses , and vaine pretences , to hinder thee from appearing for christ , this is a sign , &c , i read luke 14 18. when the servant was sent to fetch the guests to the great supper of the gospel , they all with one consent , began to make excuse , &c. the times wherein we live , are very sinfull and perillous : the truths and ministry of christ are trampled under feet , religion and reformation neglected . now god by us his ambassadors , calls upon you to appear for his truths , and for his gospel ministrie , and gospel-ordinances . methinks i hear the nobleman say , i have a great estate to lose , pray have me excused : i heare the rich citizen say , i shall be utterly undone in my trading , pray have me excused : i heare the voluptuous epicure say , i have married a wife , pray have me excused . take it for a certain rule , if the seeking of these outward things puts thee upon excuses , thou seekest them sinfully : for if you look into the text forementioned , you will finde that the excuses there made were 1. lying and false , they say they cannot come , whereas the truth was , they would not come , non posse pretenditur , nolle in c●usâ est . 2. poore and frivolous ; what is a farm in comparison of heaven ? marrying a wife in comparison of being married to jesus christ ? 3. vain and unprofitable . for notwithstanding the excuses they made , it is said , verse 24. that none of these men which were bidden shall tast of my supper . 4. unreasonable and unconscionable . for they made those things laqueos diaboli , snares and impediments to hinder them from christ , which would have been vincula obedientiae , motives and incouragements to bring them to christ . 5. lastly , if when thine owne things and the things of christ come in competition , and thou must either part with the one or the other , if thou choosest as spyra did , and as the young man in the gospel did , rather to part with christ and his gospel , than with thy profit and preferment , this is a sure note that thou seekest thine own things , before and more than the things of christ . i read of tiberius emperour of rome , that he sent to the senate to receive christ into the number of their gods , but they refused to doe it upon this account , because if they received him , they must reject all their other gods , and therefore chose rather to renounce jesus christ , than to receive him , and part with the rest of their feigned deities . if thou renouncest and rejectest the lord christ and his truths , rather than thou wilt lose thy creature-enjoyments , thou art a sinful self-seeker of the highest forme . but now on the contrary , if thou pursuest after the things of christ in the first and chiefe place ; if thou mournest more for church desolations than personall miseries ; if the more wealth thou hast , the more couragious thou art for god , and art glad , that thou hast an estate to lose for christs cause ; if the seeking of thine owne things doe not put thee upon lying , vaine , frivolous , and unconscionable excuses ; if thou art like unto hormisdas , a nobleman of persia , who was deposed from all his honours because he would not deny his religion , and afterwards restored again , and a little after solicited again to deny christ and his truths , but he rent his purple robe , and laid all his honours at the foot of the emperour , and said , si propter ista me denegaturum christum put as , ea denuò accipe . if you thinke to gaine me to deny christ for the re-obtaining of my honours , take them all back againe : if this be the frame of thy heart , it is a certaine token that thou prizest , lovest and seekest the things of christ before , and more then thine owne things . 3. the third sort of those who are guilty of this sinfull selfe-seeking are such who pretend to seek the things of christ , but seek their owne things , under colour of seeking the things of christ , who hold forth the preservation and propagation of religion as a stalking horse , to catch men by , as a blinde to deceive the world ; but aime a● nothing lesse then religion , but either with demetrius at their owne gaine , or with jehu at the obtaining of a kingdome , or with balaam at the wages of iniquity . this sinne of selfe-seeking is so odious both to god and man , that it never appeares upon the stage in its owne likenesse , but alwaies covered over with samuels mantle : there is no sinne hath more {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , fig-leaves and religious cloaks to cover it , then this sinne . by this meanes the pope of rome hath purchased his triple crowne ; it is said rev. 13. 11. that antichrist should have two hornes like a lambe , but yet act like a dragon , signifying unto us , that antichrist should under colour of religion , act all his villanies , and bloudy massacres , and by this means deceive all the world . therefore antichristianisme is called a mysterie of iniquity , that is , iniquity covered over with faire shewes and pretences of godlinesse ; what murders , what treasons hath not the pope committed under the colour of defending the catholique religion ? under pretence of being peters successor , and of having ●eters keyes , and chaire ? witnesse the holy league ( as it was called ) in france ; witnesse the gunpowder treason amongst us , undertaken under shew of religion , for the defence of the catholique cause . what i affirme of papists and jesuites , the like i say of all the errors and heresies that have been broached in the christian world ; the apostle tells us , that the first authors of heresies and schismes were great selfe seekers . men greedy of filthy lucre , who served not the lord jesus , but their owne bellies , who made merchandise of the soules of people , making gaine their godlinesse , not godlinesse their gaine . but though they were such , yet they did not appeare to be such , but seemed to be very holy and selfe-denying : therefore christ calls them , wolves in sheeps cloathing , ravening wolves inwardly , though innocent sheep outwardly . they honied over the poison of their doctrine , with good words , and faire speeches , to deceive the hearts of the simple , rom. 16. 18. such a one was pelagius ( one of the greatest enemies to the doctrine of grace that ever the church had ) who made such a shew of godlinesse , that when hierome first wrote against his heresies , he was forced to conceale his name , lest by appearing to write on purpose against him , his book should have been rejected by the people , who did so highly magnifie him . let me adde , this is a sinne which not onely papists and jesuits , schismaticks and hereticks , but most christians in the world are tainted withall . it is a most true saying , pauci amant iesum propter iesum , there are few , and but very few , who love christ for christs sake : most people follow christ for the loaves , and make use of christ to serve their own ends and interest . let a man be to marry a wife , and he will in words pretend , that it is religion and godlinesse that he most of all desires ; but if you had a window to look into his heart , you will finde that it is money which is his chiefe aime . but amongst all sorts of men , the great states-men , and deep polititians are most eminently guilty of this sin , who usually bring religion upon the stage meerly to usher in their politick designes . it is a cursed maxim in machiavel , that kings and princes should labour after a shew of religion , but not look much after the substance ; for the substance would be a burden , but the shew of it would be very usefull for the carrying on of their own ends and designes . this wicked advise and counsell is followed by many kingdoms & common-wealths at this day : there was scarce ever any state or church-reformer who did reforme religion for religions sake , but for his owne ends , either to be revenged of his enemies , or to gaine church-revenues , or to be a coy-duck , to draw a party to side with him . let me give in a few examples ; it pleased god so to order affaires , in henry the eights time , that the popes supremacy was abolished in england : but what was the principle that moved the king to doe this ? was it out of love to the true religion ? or was it not rather that thereby he might be revenged of the pope , who would not allow of his divorce from his first wife ? i have read of maximilian emperour of germany , who living in luthers time , professed a great deale of zeale after reformation ; and especially , in plucking down golden images . but the story saith , that it was not so much out of hatred to the images , as out of love to the gold , which made him undertake it . in the history of the civill warres in france , i read that when the princes of the blood fell out one with another , one party called in the protestants to their assistance , not out of love to religion , but that thereby they might gaine a party . that which i say of kingdomes and common-wealths , the like i say of armies ; i read of goliahs sword hid in a cloth behind the ephod , 1 sam. 2. 9. the sword never appeares to the world under bloudy colours , but alwayes cloathed with a linnen ephod , pretending reformation of abuses in church and state . but it is worth remembring , that this sword was the sword of goliah , who was a defier of the israel of god , and a great enemy to religion . the summe of all amounts to this , that in all ages of the church , especially in times of civil warre , and in times of reformation , there are thousands that hold forth to the world , in their words and declarations , a sincere desire to propagate the gospel and the kingdome of christ , and to advance the pure ordinances of christ , yet notwithstanding minde nothing really and inwardly , but their preferment and advancement . quest . but how shall i know whether i am but a pretender to the things of iesus christ ? whether i am one who makes use of religion to serve mine owne interest ? whether i am like demetrius the silver-smith , who minded his gaine more then his goddesse ? answ. if we would deale faithfully with our owne soules , we could not but easily know this . to help you in it , take these rules : 1. if thou art as zealous for the advancement of religion and reformation , when it doth not concerne thy int rest , as when it doth ; this is a certaine signe thou seekest the things of christ in sincerity : thus it was with moses , in the rebellion of corah and his company , there was a conjunction of interests ; the conspiracy was against god and mo●es , but the idolatry of the golden calfe , was onely against the interest of g●d , moses was not prejudiced by it , and yet he was every way as zealous for the glory of god in the latter , as in the former . but now on the contrary , if thou drivest furiously when any gaine is to be got by a reformation , but very heavily and slowly , when thy interest is not at all concerned , this is a signe that thou makest use of religion for thine owne ends . thus it was with iehu , he had a double idolatry to root o●t , the idolatry of baal , and of ieroboams calves ; he destroyed the first , but continued the second , because it was against his interest to abolish it . thus it is with many masters of families , if their servants play the theeves , they will cry out against them as dishonourers of god ; but let the same servants prophane the sabbath , or abuse the name of god by vaine oaths , they are not troubled at it , because it is not against their private interest . 2. a pretender to the things of christ , if he undertakes to doe service for church or state , he will doe it by halves , so far as it makes for his interest and no farther . this is the reason why the reformation of religion in most places of the christian world is but a patcht reformation , and as a cake halfe baked , because that states and kingdomes mould the reformation , not according to the word of god , but according to state-interest . thus it was in henry the eights time , he thrust out the popes supremacy because it furthered his designe of a second marriage , but he continued much of the popish religion , and made six articles called a whip , with six strings , which were the death of many godly men . erasmus hath a notable saying of luther , that he had been a good man , had he not medled too much with the monks bellies , and the popes triple crowne , the pope was willing to yield to a reformation of the church , so far as it might consist with the upholding of his triple crowne , and no farther , &c. 3. a pretender to the things of christ when he hath got what he aimes at , will leave christ wholly , and lay aside all his pretences . as the angels who appeared to abraham and lot , and divers others , assumed bodies , not out of love to the bodies they assumed , but onely to doe their errant , and when they had done it laied them aside . so there are many who assume a profession of religion for the pursuing of their ambitious designes , which when they have obtained they lay aside , as the fisherman did his net , when he was made pope ; when he was an abbot , and then a bishop , and then a cardinal , he would have his net spread for a table-cloath , to put him in minde of his meane and poor originall ; but when he came to be pope , he then commanded his servants to lay aside his net , for now he had caught what he had been so long fishing for . 4. he that seeks his owne things , under pretence of seeking the things of christ , will walke contrary to his protestations , declarations , vowes and covenants , even then , when he seems outwardly to be most solemne and serious in making of them . thus did balaam , he protesteth , that if he had an house full of gold given him , he could not doe any thing contrary to the will of god , and yet at the same time , he goeth with the messengers sent by balac . are there not many amongst us , who when they covenanted with hands lifted up to heaven , to endeavour the extirpation of error and heresie , and whatsoever was contrary to sound doctrine , did even at the very same time , secretly foment and countenance the things they covenanted against ? 5. lastly , he that pretends to the things of christ , and intends his own , cares not by what wayes and meanes he compasseth his ends , nor by what kind of persons ; whether the wayes be lawfull or unlawfull , the persons good or bad , it is all one to him so he may obtaine his ambitious intendments , which is a certaine signe of a notorious hypocrite . for he that truly and sincerely indeavours to promote the glory and honour of christ , will never goe out of christs way to obtaine his desires . for christ will be more dishonoured by his sin , than honoured by his indeavours , though never so laborious and sincere . let us i beseech you examine our selves , according to these severall notes and markes , whether we be guilty of this sinfull cursed and devilish selfe-seeking . and know , that if this sinne rule and raigne in us , it makes us accessary to a fourefould murder ; it makes us selfe-murderers , church and state-murderers , and christ-murderers . it brings us under a double gospel curse , for if any man love not the lord jesus christ , let him be ( saith the apostle ) anathema maranatha . the lord give us hearts seriously to weigh these things . the second use is , an use of exhortation , which is twofold : 1. to beseech all here present , whether magistrates , ministers or private citizens , to take heed of this sinfull selfe-seeking , and sixe headed monster , of seeking our owne gaine and credit seperatedly from the things of christ , or before , or more then the things of christ , of seeking our owne things under pretence of seeking the things of christ , or when they stand in opposition to , or competition with the things of christ , of seeking the good of our vile bodies , with the neglect of our pretious and immortall soules . as christ saith of covetousnesse , so i of this sinne , take heed and beware of sinfull selfe-seeking , consider the exceeding greatnesse of this sinne , and the wofull and mischievous fruits and effects of it . this is the plague-soar of church and state ; the great caterpillar that devours all the green things of the land . this hath destroyed our parliaments , our ministery , our gentry : this is that which obstructeth that glorious reformation so long expected and desired , &c. this is not selfe-seeking but selfe-hating and selfe-destroying : he that seeks to give satisfaction to his corrupt selfe , is just like a man who gives strong wine to his friend in a high feaver , which is not to love him , but to kill him . he that seeks to please his sinfull selfe , seeks to strengthen his disease , to maintaine that within him , which god hateth , and to nourish that which will destroy his soule . he that seeks the welfare of his body , and neglects the welfare of his soule , destroyes ( as i have said ) both body and soul . this is just as if a husbandman in time of harvest should gather in his stubble , & leave his corne to be devoured by hoggs . just like a father who takes care to feed & cloath his children , but not to instruct and teach them . in a word , he that seeks his owne ease and safety , his owne gaine and credit , his owne pleasure and satisfaction , and neglecteth and slighteth the things of christ , this man is the greatest selfe-hater , and selfe-destroyer ; for he that sesks not the interest of christ , shall never have any interest in christ . 2. to beseech you to labour for the divine , heavenly , and blessed self-seeking mentioned in the beginning of the sermon : physitians when they see men bleed immoderately at the nose , will let them bloud in another veine , that so they may make a diversion , and thereby stop the bleeding . oh that god would use me this day , as his instrument , to make a most glorious and most happy diversion , and to turn you all from self-seekers , into christ-seekers ! oh that i could prevaile with you , to seek the things of jesus christ before , and more then your own things ! oh how happy would london be , if it could be said of it ; all thy magistrates , ministers , and private people , seek the things of christ more vigorously and cordially then they doe their own things . to move you to this , consider , 1. what these your own things are which you so immoderately and inordinately seek after ? 1. they are not your owne in a proper sence , as you have heard . 2. they are not worth owning , they are vain and empty , empty of reality , and soul-satisfaction , they are vanishing & perishing , like houses made of snow or waxe , and not only so , but they are also vexing and tormenting , according to what is said by one that had full and ample experience of them , eccles. 2. 2 , 17 , 26. 2. consider the excellency of the things of jesus christ which you so much neglect & undervalue . the truths of christ , the ordinances , day , ministry , and government of christ , the preservaon , propagation , and reformation of religion : these are glorious and excellent things in their own nature , and so far exceeding your own things which you so greedily labour after , that they are not worthy to be named that day in which we speak of the things of christ . i want time to set out the transcendent glory and excellency of gospel concernments , and the vanity , emptinesse , and nothingnesse of all our own earthly enjoyments . onely let me desire you to take notice ; 1. that jesus christ sought not his owne things , he left heaven for us , and shall not we neglect earth for him ? 2. for what poor trifles you despise the glorious things of the gospel . 3. if you seek not after the things of christ more then your owne , you are in a cursed condition , and better you had never been borne . 4. the things of jesus christ shall prosper , though you seek not the prosperity of them . what mordecai said to ester in another case , i crave leave to say to you , enlargement and deliverance shall arise to the people of god from another place , but thou and thy fathers house shall be destroyed . there will a time come when the mountaine of the lords house shall be established in the top of the mountaines , and shall be exalted above the hills , and all nations shall flow to it ; when the kingdomes of this world shall become the kingdomes of our lord and his christ , when the little stone cuts out of the mountaine without hands , shall destroy all opposite kingdomes , and become a great mountaine and fill the whole earth , when every nation and kingdome that will not serve the lord jesus , shall perish , and be utterly wasted . for neglecting to set up this kingdome of christ , god hath destroyed many nations and kingdomes , and so he will us , if we follow their examples ; if we preferre the building of our owne houses , before the building of gods house , god will build up his owne house by other instruments , but he will destroy us and our houses . 3. lastly , consider : that man seeks himselfe most , who most seeketh the things of christ . he that is the greatest christ-seeker , is the greatest selfe seeker . for god hath said , seek ye first the kingdome of god , and his righteousnesse , and all these things shall be added unto you . when solomon begged wisdome , god gave him wealth and riches as an overplus . if we seek the things of christ , in the first and chiefe place , god will give in our own things into the bargaine , even as paper and thred is added to a bought commodity . thus i have put an end to the sermon of selfe-seeking , oh that i could put an end to the sinne of selfe-seeking ! two things i dare affirme : 1. that this sin hath been the originall cause of all englands miseries . 2. that it will never be well with england , nor shall we ever see better dayes , till this sinne be mortified . let us goe to christ , and labour by faith , to fetch power from his death , to crucifie and mortifie this sinne ; let it be our daily prayer , that england may have more christ-seekers , and fewer selfe-seekers ; or which is all one , that god would make us all true selfe-seekers , by making us true christ-seekers . finis . errata . page 2. line 18. their owne , what . in the marg. put into the text , next after their owne . p. 3. l. 28. leave out the figure 4. and joyne the line to the foregoing . p. 7. l. 7. for could r. would . p. 9. l. 33. for haugtinesse r. naughtinesse . p. 17. l. 14. for blasphemous r. blasphemers . p. 18. l. 29 for ●vies r. lives . p. 19. l. 17. for vel amicitia , r. non amicitiae . p 19. l. 23. for abhorsed , r. abhorred , p. 2● . l. 3. for runam r. ruinam . ibid l. 33. for thy r. the . p. 24. l. 36. for would r. should . p. 33. l. 25. for builing r. building . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a32041e-360 civitas dei incipit et construitur ex amore dei , et crescit ad odium suiipfius . civitas vero diaboli incipit ab amore sui , et crescit usque ad odium dei per contemptum proximorum . qui enim proximū odit , et contemnit , mox etiam deum odio babebit , et contemnit . aug de civ. dei , lib. 1. 1 cor. 5. 5. ● tim. 3. 2. decet sa●è cum qui mag● vir futurus est , neque seipsum , neque s●a diligere ; sed ju●a semp●r five ab ipso , five ab also geran●ur . nescio quo inexplicabili mod● quisqu● 〈◊〉 , non deum amat , non se am●t , & quisqu● d●um , non s●psum amat , ip●e se amat qui enim non potest vivere , d● se , mo●itur utique amando se : cum ve●ò ille dil●gitur de quo vivitur , ●on se diligendo mag● diligit , qui prop●rca se non diligit , ut cum diligat de quo vivit . aug de t●ctat . 123 in joanne● . neh. 2. 10. psal. 137. 6. notes for div a32041e-1870 no● loquitur de i● qui planè abjece●ant studium 〈◊〉 , sed de i● ip●s , quos pro fratribus habebat , in ò quos ferebat in su● 〈◊〉 . illos tamen ita calore dicitur rebus suis curandis ut sint ad opu● domini frigidiores . calv. in loc. de christians & ministris apostolo ser●o est . est. in loc. their own , 〈◊〉 ? non ita accipi● quasi suis tantum commodis intenti nullam p●or us ecclesiaecura 〈◊〉 haberunt sed quod impl● it● privatis co●dis ad publicum ecclesiae bonum p●omovendum negligentiores erant , calv. in loc. ●in . prop. 1. prop. 2. prop. 3. prop. 4. prop. 5. prop. 6. prop. 7. prop. 8. qu. 4. applicat . titus 1. 11. rom. 16. 18. 2 pet. 2. 2. 1 tim. 6. 5. mat. 7. 15. 2. use . exhort : 1. exhort . 2. ester 4 14. isaiah 2 2. rev. 11. 15. dan. 4. 35. 41 , 45. isa 6. 60. 12. the happinesse of those who sleep in jesus, or, the benefit that comes to the dead bodies of the saints even while they are in the grave, sleeping in jesus delivered in a sermon preached at the funeral of ... lady anne waller, at the new church in westminst[er], oct. 31, 1661 : together with the testimony then given unto her / by edm. calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 1662 approx. 92 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a32022 wing c255 estc r1658 13070138 ocm 13070138 97111 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32022) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 97111) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 409:21) the happinesse of those who sleep in jesus, or, the benefit that comes to the dead bodies of the saints even while they are in the grave, sleeping in jesus delivered in a sermon preached at the funeral of ... lady anne waller, at the new church in westminst[er], oct. 31, 1661 : together with the testimony then given unto her / by edm. calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [8], 32 p. printed by j.h. for nathanael webb ..., london : 1662. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng waller, anne, d. 1661. funeral sermons. sermons, english -17th century. 2002-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-01 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2003-01 spi global rekeyed and resubmitted 2003-02 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2003-02 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the happinesse of those who sleep in jesus , or , the benefit that comes to the dead bodies of the saints even while they are in the grave , sleeping in jesus . delivered in a sermon preached at the funeral of that pious and religious lady , the lady anne waller , at the new church in westminst . oct. 31 , 1661. together with the testimony then given unto her . by edm. calamy , b. d. and pastor of aldermanbury . rev. 14.11 . and i heard a voyce from heaven , saying unto me , write , blessed are the dead which die in the lord , from henceforth , yea , saith the spirit , that they may rest from their labours , and their works do follow them . john 11 11. our friend lazarus sleepeth , but i go that i may awake him out of sleep . upon which words st. austin saith . domino dormiebat qui eum tantá facilitate excitavit de sepulchro , quanta tu cx citas dormientem de le●to , hominibus autem mo●taus erat , qui eum suscitare non poterant . 1 thes. 4.16 . the dead in christ shall rise first . london , printed by i. h. for nathanael webb , at the royal oak in st. pauls church-yard , near the little north-door , 1662. royall oake printer's or publisher's device to the right worshipful , s r william waller . sir , it hath pleased the wise god , & your heavenly father , to exercise you with variety of sad providences , & to train you up for himself and his kingdom , by many troubles and afflictions . it hath alwaies been his method to prepare his children by light and moment any crosses , for a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory , and by imbittering the pleasures of this world , to sweeten the delights of a better this , sir , hath been your portion , and i doubt not but you have learned , and are instructed by god in whatsoever state you are , therewith to be contented , and are made able to say with david , it is good for you that you have been afflicted . this last trial was one of the sorest that ever yet betided you , being the loss of so precious a lady , so sutable a wife , full of so much goodness and prudence . but when you consider , that your losse is her gain , that she is taken away from the evil to come , that she is not lost , but gone before to her father , and your father , to her god , and your god ; that her soul is at rest in abrahams bosom , and her body , even while in the grave , asleep in iesus , and who it is that hath taken her from you ; this doth much allay the immoderateness of your sorrow , & enables you to say with holy iob , the lord giveth , and the lord taketh , blessed be the name of the lord ; and with holy david , i was dumb , i opened not my mouth , because thou didst it . there are three great truthes , which if well digested , will prove heart-quieting , and compose the spirits of gods people , and make them calm and satisfied in the worst of daies and dangers . 1. that all the providences of god , though never so dark and m●sterious , and seemingly contrary to his promises , shall all of them at last concur to the fulfilling of his promises ; for we know that all things shall work together for good to those who love god. 2. that sanctified afflictions are great blessings , and that correction , when joyned with instruction , is a certain character of election . that god had one son without sin , but no son without sorrow ; that afflictions are divine touchstones , to try the truth and strength of our graces , divine furnaces , to purge out the drosse of our sins ; divine files to pare off our spiritual rust , and divine framing houses , to dress us , and make us fit for heaven . 3. that iesus christ hath altered the nature of death , and made it a gate to everlasting life . that christ hath sanctified , sweetned , purchased , conquered , and disarmed death , so as it is now become the best friend we have next to iesus christ. for we shall never be free from sin , nor perfected in grace , nor see god face to face , till we die . this last grand truth is made out fully in the ensuing sermon , wherein also is shewed the benefit that the bodies of the saints obtain while in the grave , by sleeping in iesus . many sermons tell us the advantage that the soul reaps by death , but this will discover what our vile bodies gain even while they are rotting in the grave . sir , it was your desire it should be made publick , and out of pure obedience so it now is . for there is nothing in it that is elaborate , and more then ordinary , or that renders it worthy the perusal of a judicious eye . but the testimony given of your noble lady , as it is true , so ( i conceive ) it is worth reading and imitating , and may well be called a looking-glasse for ladies to dress themselves by every morning . it will teach them to make religion their business , and to spend more time in decking their souls with grace , then their bodies with vain attire , that a neck-lace of graces , is more worth then a neck-lace of pearles . st. hierom writes much in commendation of many holy and religious ladies , living & dying in his dayes , and proposeth them as patterns to others for their imitation . in like manner , i thought meet to propound the example of your most excellent lady , which if well followed in those things wherein she was praise-worthy , will without doubt bring us to everlasting happiness . the lord give a blessing to what is said in the following discourse , and make up to you in himself , what you have lost in the want of your dear consort , and be your comforter and counsellour in all conditions . so prayeth , your servant in the work of the lord , edm. calamy . the happinesse of those who sleep in jesus , or , the benefit that comes to the dead bodies of the saints , even while they lie in the grave , sleeping in jesus : 1 thess . 4.14 . — even so them also which sleep in iesus , will god bring with him . _●n the former verse , the apostle perswades the thessalonians not to mourn immoderately for the saints departed . he doth not forbid them to mourn , but not to mourn without measure . religion doth not abolish natural affections , but only mode 〈…〉 hem . grace doth not destroy , but rectifie nature ; it dep 〈…〉 ot of sense , but teacheth the right use of senses . and he b 〈…〉 divers arguments to diswade us from immoderate m 〈…〉 ning . because this would bewray our ignorance of the blessed estate of gods children after this life . this is set down , v. 13. but i would not have you to be ignorant , brethren , concerning them which are asleep . 2. this is to act as hopeless , heathens , not as christians . this is put down in the same verse , — that ye sorrow not even as others , that have no hope . though heathens who have no hope of a better life after this , do mourn immeasurably , yet this doth not become christians , who have hope in death , and who believe the life everlasting . 3. because the death of a saint is not an utter extinction , and abolition of the man , but only a quiet and comfortable sleep . verse 13 , 14. 4. because they are so far from being abolished , and utterly extinct , that they are asle●● in iesus . they are , even while they are in their graves , at rest in the arms of jesus . the greek is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , they that sleep by jesus . but as grotius observes , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , so it is taken , rom. 4.11 . 1 tim. 5.14 . and so it is expressely said , v. 16. of this chapter , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the dead in christ. and also , 1 cor. 15.18 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , they that sleep in christ. 5. because at the great day of judgment , they shall be raised from out of their graves , and raised to the resurrection of life , and raised by the power of god , and by vertue of their union with christ , v. 14. for if we believe that iesus died , and rose again , even so , them also which sleep in iesus , god will bring with him . even so , that is , as christ died , and rose again , so shall all that are dead in christ , rise again , by vertue of their membership with christ ( for if the head be alive , the members must live also ) and by the power of god. the same god that raised christ from the dead , will raise all that are united to him , and bring them with him at the dreadful day of judgment . 6. because christ will carry all his saints whom he shall raise , up into heaven with him , where they shall be for ever with the lord , in perfect happiness . the text that i have chosen contains three of these arguments , which i shall sum up in these three doctrinal conclusions . doct. 1. that the death of a saint is nothing else but a quiet , comfortable , and blessed sleep . doct. 2. that the bodies of the saints , even while they are in their graves , are asleep in iesus . doct. 3. that iesus christ will raise the dead bodies of the saints , and joyn their souls to them , and bring them with him to judgment , and then carry them into heaven , where they shall be ever with the lord. doctrine 1. that the death of a child of god is nothing else but a quiet , comfortable , and happy sleep . for the understanding of this i shall answer to three questions . quest. 1. what part of a child of god is it that sleepeth when he dieth ? ans. there are some who say , that the soul sleepeth as well as the body , and that when a man dies both body and soul lye asleep till the resurrection . and this they prove from the example of stephen , because it is said of him , that he fell asleep . but still the question is , what part of stephen fell asleep ? not his soul : for he commends that into the hands of christ ; lord iesus receive my spirit . and he saw the heavens opened , and the son of man standing on the right hand of god ready to receive his soul immediatly . it was the body of stephen fell asleep , but his soul was presently received by the lord jesus into heaven . when a man dies , his body returns to dust from whence it came , but the soul returns to god who gave it , either to be judged to everlasting happiness , or everlasting misery . indeed , in one sence the soul may be said at death to fall asleep , that is , it is at rest in abrahams bosome : but it is not asleep in the anabaptistical and socinian sence , so as to lie in a dead apoplexy or lethargy ▪ neither capable of joy or sorrow , of happiness or misery till the resurrection . this is a most uncomfortable and unscriptural opinion . when st. paul desires to be dissolved and to be with christ , he doth not desire to lye asleep till the resurrection , and neither to see , know , or enjoy christ , but to be made happy with him , and by him . when christ promised to the penitent thief , that that day he should be with him in paradice ; his meaning was , that he should enjoy unspeakable pleasures with him . thence the jews write upon the graves of their dead friends , let their souls be gathered in the garden of eden , amen , amen , amen . selah . the souls under the altar , of them that were slain for the word of god , and for the testimony which they held , are not in a dull lethargy without sence or understanding , but cry with a loud voice , how long , o lord , holy and true , dost thou not judge and avenge our bloud on them that dwell on the earth , &c. the souls of just men made perfect in heaven are not asleep , but enjoy coelestial felicity . and the soul of lazarus was immediately upon his death received into abrahams bosome , and filled full of consolation . polycarpe , that ancient and stout champion of jesus christ , when he was at the stake , amongst many other excellent words which he uttered , this was one , that his soul should that very day be represented before god in heaven . the truth is , this opinion of the soul-sleepers is as pernicious as the opinion of those who say , that the soul dies with the body , and riseth with the body . for this sleep must be either natural , or metaphorical ; of the first the soul is not capable , and the second is nothing else but death it self . therefore calvin , in his book written on purpose against these hypnologists , saith excellently , they that say , that the soul lives when out of the body , and yet deprive it of all sense and understanding , do feign to themselves a soul which hath nothing of a soul in it , and divorce the soul it self from it self : for the nature of the soul , without which it cannot any way consist , is to have motion , sence , and understanding . and as tertullian saith , that sence is the very soul of the soul. so much in answer to the first question . quest. 2. is not the death of a wicked man called a sleep as well as the death of a saint ? answ. this cannot be denied . it is said of baasha , omri , and ieroboam , who were three wicked kings , that they slept with their fathers . but then i answer : 1. that this is but very seldome used . 2. that the death of an ungodly man , though it be a sleep , yet it is not a quiet , and comfortable , but a disquietting and terrifying sleep . as nebuchadnezzar was much troubled in his sleep , and , as many sick men have very unquiet sleeps , so as they are more sick when they awake than before they slept , so is it with a wicked man. both good and bad ( saith st. austin ) sleep at death ; but it fares with them as with those who dream in their sleeps : some dream of things delightful , and are comforted : some of terrifying things , insomuch as when they awake they are afraid to sleep again , left their terrifying dreams should return . so ( saith he ) every man sleeps at death according to the condition of the life he hath led , and accordingly riseth and is judged . the souls of good and bad at death have different receptacles ; the good have joy and happiness : the wicked , misery and torment . the soul of the wicked goeth immediately to hell , where it hath little list to sleep , and his body lieth asleep in the grave . but how ? even as a malefactor that sleeps in prison the night before he is executed , but when he awakes he is hurried and dragged to execution . so the wicked man falls asleep at death , but when he awakes , he awakes to everlasting damnation . but a child of god , when he sleeps the sleep of death , he sleeps in the arms of his eldest brother , and when he awakes , he awakes unto everlasting happiness . quest. 3. in what particulars may the death of a child of god be compared to sleep ? answ. i have already in a sermon printed ( without my knowledge ) given thirteen resemblances between death and sleep , and therefore must of necessity here omit them lest i should seem actum agere . at the present i shall only mention these two . 1. the death of a child of god is called a sleep , because he is thereby layed to rest . the scripture calls their graves , their beds of rest . and the apostle tells us , that they which dye in the lord rest from all their labours . they are at rest from all corporal and spiritual evills . first , from all corporal evills . 1. from all sicknesses , diseases , pains , and all other bodily infirmities . death is that great physitian which will cure gods people of all diseases at once , and for ever . thus the blind and lame man said one to the other at the stake : bishop bonner will cure thee and me this day . 2. from all worldly griefe and sorrow . for at death all tears shall be wiped from their eyes , and there shall be no more sorrow , rev. 21.4 . 3. from all laborious and painful employments ; martha shall have no more need to complain of mary , nor shall the prophets of god waste their bodies by preaching . ipsa cessabunt misericordiae spera ubi nulla erit indigentia , nulla miseria . 4. from all the wrongs , injuries , and persecutions of the wicked world . in this life they are mocked , scoffed , and persecuted , but when death comes , they are like a man above in the upper region , where no winds nor storms can come . 5. from the evils to come upon the wicked world . thus st. austin was layed to rest immediately before hippo was taken by the vandals . luther , before the wars brake out in germany , and paraeus before heidleburgh was sack'd by the spaniards . secondly , from all spiritual evils . 1. from the hurt of the devil and his temptations . death puts them above his reach , so as he shall not be able to hurle one fiery dart any longer at them . 2. from evil company , and evil examples . in this life the wheat are mingled with chaff and tares , and cannot but hear the name of the great god blasphemed and dishonoured , which is a great vexation to them , as it was to lot in sodom . but at death they shall be separated from all chaff and tares , and shall never hear god dishonoured any more . 3. from divine desertions . in this life god many times withdraweth the light of his countenance from his sinning children , which is more terrible to them than death it self : for if his loving kindness is better than life , then his frowns are worse than death . but after death the light of gods countenance shall shine perpetually upon them , and never admit either of a cloud , or eclipse . 4. from the very being and existence of sin . the death of the body frees them perfectly from the body of death . death drieth up the bloudy issue of sin , root and branch . as sin at first begat and brought forth death , so death at last destroyes sin , as the worm kills the tree that bred it . therefore st. austin saith , plus restituitur quam amittitur . more is restored to a child of god than he lost in adam : for adam had only a power not to sin , but he by death hath an impossibility of sinning . sin was obstetrix mortis , a midwife to bring death into the world , and death is sepulchrum peccati , a sepulchre to bury sin in . insomuch as death is now become not so much the death of the man , as of his sin and misery . hence it is that our burying places are called by the greeks dormitories , or sleeping-places , and by the hebrews , the houses of the living . 2. the death of a child of god is called a sleep , propter spem resurrectionis . to intimate unto us the assurance of a resurrection . thus christ saith of lazarus , our friend lazarus sleepeth , but i go that i may awake him out of sleep . death is nothing else ( saith st. chrysostome ) but a temporary sleep . sleep is a short death , and death a longer sleep . as he that goeth to sleep , sleeps but for a certain time , and awakes in the morning out of sleep : so he that sleeps the sleep of death , when the trump of god shall found , shall awake , & arise out of his grave as out of his bed in the morning of the resurrection : st. austin saith , that the scripture saith of those that are dead , that they are but asleep , because of the certain hope of a resurrection , by which they shall speedily be awakened from the sleep of death , and raised out of their sepulchres as out of their beds . hence it hath formerly been , and still is a godly custom amongst christians when any of their religious friends die , to say of them , they are not dead , but obdormi●nt in domino , they are asleep in the lord. and this they do for the comfort of their relations , and to create in them a contempt of this present life , and a sure and certain hope of a resurrection unto life everlasting . before i make use of this , i shall speak something to the second doctrine . doctrine 2. that the bodies of the saints , even while they are in their graves , are asleep in iesus — they that sleep in iesus . this is a very excellent and singularly comfortable expression , worthy to be seriously weighed and considered . for the understanding of it i will shew , first , what it is to sleep in iesus . secondly , what glorious benefits and advantages come to the bodies of the saints by this priviledge . 1. what it is to sleep in iesus . this expression signifieth two things . 1. that a true saint dieth a member of christ , united to him by a lively saith . he is one that abideth in the faith till the last gasp , and ( as the apostle saith ) dieth in the lord ; that is , engraffed into the lord iesus christ. 2. that he doth not only die in christ , but continueth a member of christ , and united to him even while he is in the grave . for this text speaks of all saints departed from the beginning of the world — so also they that sleep in iesus ; that is , they that are now in their graves , and are there asleep in jesus . the like phrase is used , 1 cor. 15.18 . then they also which are fallen asleep in christ are perished . the apostle speaks of such who had been long in their graves , and yet all that while were asleep in christ. the bodies of the saints in the grave , though turned to dust , are yet notwithstanding united to christ , and members of his body ; and though separated from their souls , yet are not separated from christ : even as the body of christ , while in the grave , was even then united to his divine person . though soul and body were separated one from the other , yet neither of them were separated from the divine person . so the body of a man in christ , though separated by death from his soul , yet it is not separated from christ. though it say to corruption , thou art my father , and to the vvorms , thou art my mother , and my sister , yet it may say also to christ , thou art my brother , and to god , thou art my father . and therefore the saints , even while they are in their graves , are said to be christs , 1 cor. 15.23 . — afterwards they that are christs at his coming . and are said to be dead in christ , 1 thes. 4.16 . not only to die in christ , but to be dead in christ ; that is , to continue in christ even while dead . and that they do so , appears further by these two reasons : reas. 1. because the union between christ and a true christian is spiritual and everlasting . 1. it is spiritual , and therefore needs no vicinity of place to preserve it . a husband and wife , a father and his child are really united together , though a thousand miles distant . 2. it is everlasting , hos. 2.19 . i will besroath thee unto me for ever , &c. herein it exceeds the union between a man and his wife , which is only till death them do part . but the union between christ and a true christian is not separated by death : once in christ , ever in christ , joh. 8.35 . reas. 2. because death is christs purchase , and part , of the saints ioynture . the apostle tells the corinthians , all things are yours , whether paul , or apollo , &c. or life or death , &c. and ye are christs , &c. these words teach us these two lessons : 1. that death is part of the saints magna charta as well as life . death is the believers rich portion , and peculiar priviledge . 2. that christ hath purchased death for his children , as properly as life . he hath made over death for their joynture , and rich portion , as much as paul , apollo , or cephas , nay , as much as heaven it self . christ hath altered the nature of death , insomuch as that now it is become our best friend next to iesus christ : for we shall never be rid of sin , nor perfected in grace , nor see god face to face till we dye . it is become a gate to heaven , an outlet to all misery , and an inlet to everlasting happiness . now then if death be christs purchase , and a part of the saints ioynture , without doubt , it doth not separate us from christ , for then it would be but an ill purchase , and joynture , obtained not for our good , but our great hurt , contrary to the express words of the apostle , and also contrary to rom. 8.28 . all things work together for the good of those that love god. et mors praecipue , and especially death , as st. austin saith . the second thing propounded , is , to shew what those glorious benefits and advantages are , which the bodies of the saints enjoy while they are in their graves asleep in jesus . for answer to this , you must know , that as soon as ever the soul departs out of the body , the body presently loseth all its beauty and comliness , and becomes a rotten and stinking carkass ; it goeth down to the house of rottenness , to the dungeon of darkness , and is layed in the cold earth , dust to dust , ashes to ashes . and yet even then it hath a six-fold benefit , by being asleep in jesus . 1. though the body be turned to dust , yet that very dust is pretious in gods sight . as the death of the saints , so also their dust is precious to god. there is a twofold dust that god loves . 1. the dust of sion . 2. the dust of his saints . first , the dust of sion , psal. 102.13 , 14. secondly , the dust of the saints . the golden ore in the mine is not so pretious to us , as this golden dust is to god. iob tells us , that out of the earth comes the dust of gold ; but i may truly say , that in the earth there is golden dust , even the dust of gods saints . as balaam saith concerning the people of israel , who can count the dust of iacob , and the number of the fourth part of israel ? so may i say , who can sufficiently express the love that god bears to the dust of iacob , and to the bodies of his people , while in their graves ? the apostle tells us , that neither life nor death is able to separate us from the love of god which is in christ iesus our lord. god loves the bodies of his saints as well as their souls , and their bodies when turned to dust . that very dust is part of gods election , ( for god hath elected the bodies of his saints unto eternal life , as well as their souls ) and it is part of christs redemption , and the spirits sanctification . o what a comfort is this to a dying child of god! though all his friends will forsake him when brought to the grave ( the husband will leave his dear wife , and the children their dear father ) yet god will not forsake him , but go down to the grave with him , and the watchful eye of his providence will be over his dust and ashes . and as rispah kept the dead bodies of sauls seven sons , and spread a tent over them , so as the birds of the air could not hurt them by day , nor the beasts of the field by night . so will god keep the dead bodies of his saints , and spread the curtain of his protection over them , and as he took care of them while they were in the sepulchre of their mothers wombe , so he will also take care of them while they are in the sepulchre of their mother earth . he that loved them in sepulchro uteri , will love them in utero sepulchri . 2. they that sleep in iesus have this benefit by it , that christ by his burial hath sanctified the grave , and sweetned it , and perfumed it , insomuch , that though in its own nature , it be as loathsome prison , a house of rottenness , and a place of terrour ; yet to a man dead in christ , the nature of it is altered , and to him it is as a soft bed , wherein he is laid down quietly to take his rest , and there to remain asleep , free from all cares , fears , and troubles till the resurrection of the dead . though the grave in its own nature be a dreadful place , a stinking charnel-house , and a rotten prison to the wicked and ungodly , where they lye waiting for the great assizes ; yet to the children of god , christ hath made it a magazin and store-house to keep their bodies safe till the great resurrection . and he hath also made it a beaten and plain way to heaven . christ jesus himself went to heaven thorough the grave , and so must we and all the godly . we must first put off the rags of mortality , before we can put on the robes of immortality . to a wicked man , the grave is a thorough-fare to hell , but to a man asleep in jesus it is a passage to heaven , where christ is . and if st. austin was willing to go even thorough hell to christ in heaven , much more may we be willing to go thorough the grave to him . 3. they that sleep in iesus have this benefit also , that by their union with christ , and by the watchful providence of god , there is a substance preserved , so as they are not utterly extinct , and annihilated by death , but something of their bodies remain undestroyed . there is nothing utterly , totally , and finally destroyed in a child of god by death , but sin and misery . the rotting of the body in the grave is but as the rotting of the corn in the earth , as the apostle saith , 1 cor. 15.36 . the seed is cast into the earth , and there it dieth , and rotteth , but is not utterly extinct , but rotteth in the ground , that it may be quickned again : so the bodies of the saints rot in their graves that they may be raised again , and made like unto the glorious body of iesus christ. and this is another reason why the death of a child of god is called a sleep , because as a man asleep is not extinct , no more is he in the grave . there is a substance preserved , and as david saith of an afflicted righteous man , that god keepeth all his bones , not one of them is broken : so god keepeth the dust and ashes of his children , so as they shall not be utterly and totally consumed . object . but is there not a substance preserved also in the bodies of the wicked ? answ. it is true , their bodies are not utterly destroyed , but remain , not by vertue of their union with christ , but preserved by the almighty power of god as a terrible lord , and severe iudge , and remain , as in a prison , till the great day of judgment , in which they shall appear before christ , and then be condemned to hell . happy were it for a wicked man if his body were annihilated by death , ( as it were happy for a traytor if he died in prison , and escaped hanging . ) but herein consisteth the difference between him and a man asleep in jesus , a man out of christ is not properly preserved in the grave , but rather reserved by the power of christ to be afterwards tormented in hell : but a man in christ is not only reserved , but by vertue of his union with christ , and preserved to enjoy eternal glory with their souls at the great day of judgment . 4. he that sleepeth in jesus hath this benefit also , that though his body lieth rotting in the grave , yet his soul is all the while in heaven , where it enjoyeth the glorious presence of god , and of his saints and angels : i say , his soul , which is his best half , which is the man of man , is in heaven . indeed , his body , which is but as the box and carkass , is in the grave ; but the substance and iewel is in heaven . object . what benefit doth the body in the grave gain by his souls being in heaven ? answ. i gains this double benefit : 1. if his soul be in heaven , it is certain the body will come thither at last : for it is but as the shadow to the substance , and if the substance be in heaven , the shadow will undoubtedly follow . 2. though the soul be in heaven , yet it can never be perfectly and compleatly happy till it be reunited to the body . for god made the soul to be the form of the body , and to dwell for ever in it : and if it had not been for adams transgression , the body and soul should never have been separated . this separation is the fruit of sin , and therefore the soul in heaven hath appetitum unionis , a desire to have this breach made up , and to be united again to his body , because he shall have a more perfect and compleat being with it than without it . the scripture tells us , that it waits for the redemption of his body , and that it prayeth that god would accomplish the number of his elect , that so they may again be joyned to their bodies , and have coronam perfectam & publicam , a publick and perfect crown of glory . the souls in heaven ( saith bernard ) pray for their bodies in the grave ; they are not like the chief butler , who forgat ioseph when he was restored to his former dignity . they remember they have bodies still in the grave , which were companions with them in the service of god , in prayer , and fasting , and suffering afflictions for christ. and they know , that by reunion with them their happiness will be much increased ; and therefore they cannot cease pra●ing for them , and christ will in due time come in glory to raise them up unto everlasting life . a fifth benefit that accrueth to the body that is asleep in jesus , is , that christ himself cannot be perfect till it be raised from the dead . as a natural body cannot be perfect without all its members , no more can christ mystical , as head of his church , be perfect till every member of his body be glorified . therefore it is said , eph. 1.23 . that the church is the fulness of him who filleth all in all , which is to be understood of that voluntary condition , whereunto christ hath subjected himself in being the head of the body , that is , his church . so that as a natural body is maimed and imperfect if the least member be wanting : so is christ , as head of his church , maimed and imperfect till all the bodies that are asleep in iesus be reunited to their souls , and received into glory for ever with christ. lastly , the body by being asleep in iesus , hath this great benefit , that though it lieth rotting in the grave , yet it resteth in hope . this was davids comfort , psalm 16.9 . therefore my heart is glad , and my glory rejoyceth , my flesh also shall rest in hope . there is not a member of christ , but when he is breathing out his last breath , may use davids words with davids comfort — my heart is glad , my glory rejoyceth , and my flesh also ( which is shortly to be put into the grave ) shall rest in hope , in a forefold hope : 1. that it shall rise again . 2. that the same body shall rise . 3. that it shall rise by vertue of its union with christ. 4. that it shall rise to glory everlasting . and this leads me to to the third and last doctrine . doctrine 3. that iesus christ will raise the dead bodies of those that sleep in him , and raise them as their head and saviour , and bring them with him to iudgment , and then carry them into heaven , where they shall be ever with the lord. all these particulars are comprehended in the words of the text — god will bring with him . but before he brings them , he must first raise them . the bodies of the saints shall not alwaies dwell in the dust ; therefore the prophet isaiah calls upon them to awake and sing , awake and sing , ye that dwell in dust . a strange expression ! is there any cause of rejoycing for those who dwell in dust ? yes ; awake and sing ye which dwell in dust , for the earth shall give up the dead which are in it , and the sea also . as the whale cast up ionah on the shoar , so shall the sea cast up her dead . when ionah was swallowed up by the whale , one would have thought he had been utterly lost , yet god did but speak a word to the whale , and he cast him on the dry land . the grave to an atheistical eye is like the belly of the whale ; and an atheist is ready to think , that the child of god is utterly lost . but when the trumpet shall sound , and the arch-angel speak the word , the whale shall cast up ionah ; the sea shall give up her dead , and the earth also , for they are but gods stewards , unto whom he hath betrusted the bodies of his saints , and when god calls them to give an account of their stewardship , they will give in a most faithful account , and will not leave one body behind . they are but tyring-houses or with-drawing rooms for a while ; they are but sleeping-places . and as a man when he goeth to sleep hopeth to awake again in the morning ; so do the saints of god fall asleep by death with a sure and certain hope of a resurrection from the dead . so then , all that sleep in jesus shall rise again . and they shall arise with the same bodies , ( the same for substance , though not for qualities ) otherwise it were no resurrection , but a new creation . christ tells us , that all that are in the graves shall hear his voice , and shall come forth . the apostle tells us , that this mortall body shall put on immortality , and this corruptible body shall put on incorruption . this was iobs comfort upon the dunghill , that with these very eyes he shoould see his redeemeer . and it cannot stand with gods justice , that one body should sin , and another be condemned , and one body serve him , and another be crowned . the same body then shall rise . and rise by vertue of its union with christ. this is hinted in the text — for if we believe that iesus died , and rose again , even so them also which sleep in iesus will god bring with him . by the same power by which christ raised up himself , by the same power he will raise all that are by the spirit united to him : for he is the husband of his church , and the husband will raise his spouse . he is the shepheard and king of his church , and the shepheard will raise his sheep , and the king his subjects ; and therefore he is called the first fruits of them that sleep . as the first fruits did sanctifie the whole lump : so by christ's resurrection all that die in the lord are sanctified unto him , and assured of their resurrection by him . and it is said , as in adam all die , even so in christ shall all be made alive ; that is , all that are in christ shall be raised by the power of christ , as their head , and as their merciful saviour and redeemer . if the head be above the water , the body cannot be drowned , but will rise after it . and let me add . it shall rise after a most glorious manner ; it is sown in corruption , but it shall be raised in incorruption . it is sown in dishonour , but it shall be raised in glory . it is sown in weakness , but it shall be raised in power . it is sown a natural body , but it shall be raised a spiritual body . for jesus christ in his incarnation assumed our bodies , as well as our souls , and at his death , suffered for us , in his body , as well as in his soul. our bodies are united to him , and members of him , temples of the holy ghost , and instruments in his service , as well as our souls . and therefore he will glorifie our bodies , as well as our souls , and make them like unto his own glorious body . it is impossible to set out all the glory that god will bestow upon the bodies of his saints , at the great resurrection . eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , neither hath in entred into the heart of man to conceive what god hath prepared , even for the bodies of those that love him . some part of this glory i have discovered already in a funeral sermon in print , and therefore shall now forbear to mention it . the bodies of the wicked shall come out of their graves , as out of their prisons , as so many malefactors , to appear before an angry iudge . they shall come out of their graves , as the chief baker did out of prison , to be executed in hell for ever . they shall rise with great fear and trembling , and shall call to the rockes and mountains , to hide and cover them from the wrath of the lamb. but the bodies of those who sleep in jesus , shall rise out of their graves , as out of their beds , with great ioy and rejoycing . they shall come out of their graves , as ionah out of the whales belly , as daniel out of the lions den , as the chief butler , who came out of prison , to be restored to all his former dignities , and as ioseph , who after his release out of the go●l , was made lord of egypt . so shall the bodies of the saints be raised out of their graves , to be made like unto the angels , and to have their faces shine like the sun in the firmament , and to be crowned with everlasting glory . now the dead in christ , thus raised , christ will bring with him , at the great and dreadful day of judgment , and he will cause them to sit with him in his throne , as he sits with the father in his throne , rev. 3.21 . and he will advance them to be iudges of all the wicked and ungodly , and not only of wicked men , but of the wicked angels ; i say to be judges , as coassessors with christ , and approvers of his sentence . this is a high preferment , not proper ( as the papists think ) to the apostles , and such who have left all for christ , but common to all the saints of god , who are such indeed and in truth . i deny not , but that the apostles shall have eminentiorem thronum , a more eminent degree of glory then other saints . but yet this honour of judging the world , is common to all saints , to the least , as well as to the greatest . they that now are judged and condemned by the wicked of the world , shall one day , sit with christ in his throne , and judge their iudges , they that are now tempted , buffeted , and somtimes foy●ed by satan , shall one day be judges of him and all his angels . now after the day of judgment is finished , christ will carry up all that sleep in him , with himself into heaven , where they shall be ever with the lord in perfect happiness . so much for the explication of the three doctrines . use 1. let us not mourn immoderately for the death of our godly friends and relations . this is the use which the apostle would have us to make . mourn we may , but not as the heathen , who have no hope . let us remember , that the death of a child of god is nothing else but a comfortable and blessed sleep ; that he goes to the grave , as to his bed , and there lieth free ( as a man asleep ) from all cares and troubles , and at rest from all his labours , that even while he is in the grave , he is asleep in iesus , and there continueth a member of his body ; that his very dust is precious in gods sight , and part of gods election , christs redemption , and the spirits sanctification . that by vertue of its union with christ , his body while in the grave , is not utterly extinct , but there is a substance , not only reserved , but preserved , to be raised to everlasting glory . that christ hath so perfumed the grave , as that it is nothing else to him , but as a tyring-house , and withdrawing-room . in a word , that he lieth down in his bed till the morning of the resurrection , and then he shall put on stolam immortalitatis , the garment of immortality , and his vile body shall be made like unto the glorious body of iesus christ. let us comfort one another with these words : let us not weep immeasurably for those from whom all tears are wiped away , but let us consider their unspeakable g●in . death hath put an end to all their temporal and spiritual evils , and opened a door for them to everlasting happiness . use 2. let these doctrines serve as a precious antidote to all the people of god against the fear of death , and of the grave . why should we fear that , which if it should not happen , we should be superlatively miserable ? as the apostle saith , if we had hope only in this life , we were of all people most miserable ; and therefore when there was a rumour spread concerning st. iohn , that he should never die , he himself , ch. 21.23 . rectifieth the mistake ; yet iesus said not unto him , he shall not die . as if he should say , god forbid i should be so miserable , as never to die . though a man in christ could live for ever in this world , and be alwaies young , rich and healthful , yet he would account himself most miserable , because while he is here , he is absent from christ , who is his life , and from god , who is his happiness , and full of sin , which is his greatest burden . and therefore as iacob rejoyced , when he saw the chariots which should carry him to his son ioseph , so should the people of god rejoyce , when death approacheth , which will carry them to christ. and as god said to iacob , fear not to go down to egypt , for i will go down with thee , and i will also surely bring thee up again : so , methinks , i hear god saying to all his children , fear not to go down to the house of rottenness , for i will go with you , and tarry with you , and watch over your dead as●es with the eye of my providence , and will surely bring you out again , and raise you unto eternal glory . let us not look upon death , as presented unto us in natures looking-glass , but as it is set down in a scripture-dress . nature presents death in a terrible manner : the philosopher cals it , of all terrible things , most terrible . iob cals it the king of terrors , it is terrible three manner of waies . 1. because it is a separation between two dear and ancient friends , the soul and the body , who having lived long together , are very loath to part asunder . there is nothing more contrary to flesh and bloud , then the separation of the one from the other . 2. because it is the fruit of sin . for the wages of sin is death . had adam never sinned , we never should have died ; by one man sin entred into the world , and death by sin , and this makes it terrible . 3. because of the after-claps of death . for after death comes iudgment , and after judgment , everlasting salvation , or everlasting condemnation . this makes death very terrible to those who have the guilt of sin upon them unrepented of , and who are under the just fear of everlasting burnings , and indeed to all men out of christ , death is of all terrible things most terrible , as you shall hear in the next use. but to you that are in christ , the sting of death is taken away , and it is become of all desirable things , most desirable ; it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as the apostle saith ; it is much far better . it is nothing else but a quiet and placid sleep ; a putting off our cloaths and going to bed till the morning of the resurrection . therefo●e austin saith , that a child of god should be as willing to die , as to put off his cloaths , because death is nothing else to him , but a putting off of his body ( which is animae vestimentum , the souls garment ) and a departure from misery to everlasting happiness , a le●ting the soul , as a bird , out of the cage of the body that it may flee to heaven . death to a child of god is the birth-day of heavens eternity , a putting off of its earthly tabernacle , and a going to a house made without hands , eternal in the heavens . it is an uncloathing of himself , that he may be cloathed upon with his house which is in heaven . it is a going to his fathers house , where he shall enjoy perfect and perpetual happiness . there are 10 springs and fountains of consolation to a true saint against the fear of death . 1. when he dieth , though his body be laid in the grave , yet his soul is immediatly received up into heaven , his best part is at the instant of death blessed and happy . 2. his body at death doth not die , but only sleepeth ( as christ said of dead lazarus ) and is at rest , and is asleep in iesus , even while it is in the grave , and is part of that man who is a member of christ , and under the care and love of god. 3. his soul , though it be in heaven , can never be perfectly and compleatly happy , till his body be joyned to it . 4. christ himself , as he is the head of his church , can never be perfect till his body be raised from the dead , and crowned with a crown of glory . 5. christ hath conquered death for him , he hath not only sweetned and sanctified it , but conquered it , according as it was fore prophesied , — i will ransom them from the power of the grave , i will redeem them from death ; o death i will be thy plagues ; o grave i will be thy destruction . he hath led captivity captive , and death is one of those captives , as well as the devil . he hath disarmed death , and taken away the sting of it , so as to a man in christ , death is a serpent without a sting . it is like the viper which skipt upon s. pauls hand , which did not at all hurt him . it is like the brazen serpent , which though it had the shape of a serpent , yet it hadnot the nature of it , but was a healing , not a stinging serpent . so is death to a child of god. it is so far from hurting of him , that it is now by christs death , become his greatest advantage , and he may triumph over it , and say with the ap. o death , where is thy sting ? o grave , where is thy victory ? the sting of death is sin , and the strength of sin is the law. but thanks be to god , which giveth us the victory through our lord iesus christ. 6. there is this spring also of consolation against the fear of death , because he that hath an interest in christ , cannot die suddenly , though he die never so suddenly , that is , though he die never so suddenly in regard of time , yet he can never die suddenly in regard of preparation . for he is alwaies habitually fitted , and prepared for death , he is justified by faith , and sanctified by the spirit , and is above the hurt of damnation : for there is no condemnation to those that are in christ. he hath not his graces to seek , when he comes to die , which is no little happiness . 7. he can never die miserable , though he die never so miserably . though he die upon a dunghil , or in a goal , or upon the gallows , or at a stake , wheresoever , and howsoever he dies , he dies happily . for so saith the apostle , blessed are the dead which die in the lord. they are blessed , though they die upon a dunghil . though stephen was stoned to death , yet he died happily ; for while he was stoning , he saw the heavens opened , and christ ready to receive him . though lazarus was starved to death , yet he died blessedly , because the angels carried his soul into abrahams b●som . though king iosiah died in war , yet he died in peace . a man in christ dieth in the arms of christ , and though he dieth never so miserably , as to his outward condition , yet he may sing a nunc dimittis with old simeon , lord , now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace , for mine eyes have seen thy salvation . 8. there are 3 expressions which the scripture useth concerning death , which are singular fountains of consolation against the fear of it . 1. the apostle s. peter cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 2 pet. 1.15 . i will endeavour that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after my decease , &c. death is nothing else , but an exodus out of egypt , unto our heavenly canaan . it is not a dying , but a transmigration , a passage from the valley of death into the land of the living . 2. the apostle s. paul cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , phil. 2.23 . i desire to be dissolved , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is ( as grotius interprets it ) that my soul may return to god from whom it first came . others say , it is a metaphor taken from mariners , who are said to loose from the haven , when they depart from the shore . death is nothing but a hoysing up of sayl ( as it were ) for heaven . 3. old simeon cals it a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , now lord lettest thou thy servant depart in peace . the greek word signifieth a release , and dismission out of prison . thus it is taken , acts 16.35 , acts 5.40 luke 23.17 . and it holds forth these two lessons . 1. that the soul is in the body as in a prison . therefore the greek words for the body , are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , vincio . and petrarch saith , that he that glorieth in the strength of his body , glorieth in the strength of his prison . and when plato saw one of his scholars overcuriously pampering his body , he said to him , what do you mean to make your prison so strong ? the soul is in the body as in a prison , in 3 respects . 1. because the soul is hidden in the body , as a man is hidden in a prison . as plato saith of vertue , that if a man could see it with corporal eyes , he could not but love it . so may i say of the soul ; if a man could see the beauty , glory and excellency of it , he could not but admire it , and highly value it . but it is hidden in the body as in a prison . 2. because the soul is hindred by the body , and that three waies . 1. it is hindred from heaven . for whilst we are in the body , we are absent from the lord , and we cannot be with christ , till we be dissolved . and this is truly a prison wherein a man is absent from his best friends and acquaintance . 2. it is hindred from heavenly operations . for the body takes up all the time from the soul ; as the lean kine of pharaoh devoured the fat , so the provision for the feeding and cloathing of the body , eats up the time that should be spent about the soul. it is with the soul and body , as it was with abraham and lot. abraham had his cattel and his servants , and lot his , so that the country was too narrow for them . so the soul hath her work , and the body his , and there is hardly time enough for both ; so as the one must needs hinder the other , and they never will be well till separated . the cloath is too short to cover them both . and this must needs be a great bondage when the handmaid shall be preferred before her mistress , hagar before sarah . 3. it is hindred in all its heavenly operations . for the body weigheth down the soul. as a bird that hath a stone tied to its leg , is weighed down that it cannot fly aloft . so is the heavenly soul in the best christian depressed by the body , that it cannot mount aloft in prayer and other holy exercises . the soul and body are like a pair of scales , the more the one is up , the more the other goeth down . as sauls armour was a burden to david , so is the body to the soul. the body is quickly tired in the service of god. the spirit is willing , but the flesh is weak , like a strong man upon a jadish horse , &c. 3. because the soul is defiled by the body , as a man in a nasty prison . god gave man a heavenly soul , and an earthly body , that the heavenly soul might lift up the earthly body towards heaven : but now it fares quite contrary . our earthly bodies have weighed down our heavenly souls , and made them earthly and sensual . tamdiu versata est anima in tabernaculo , ut ipsa versa est in tabernaculum . the soul hath lived so long in a body of flesh , that it is ( as it were ) fleshified , and bodified . the soul looks through an eye of flesh , and every thing seems fleshly to it . it is diverted by the body from its true end. the true end of the soul is to know god , to love , fear and serve him . but the body diverts the stream , and turns the soul to serve men , and to provide for back and belly . and therefore it may fitly be called the souls prison . 2. it holds forth this lesson also , that death is the souls goal-delivery . it is the letting of it loose from its bonds and fetters . its is setting it at liberty , like a bird escaped out of a cage . now lord let thy servant depart ; that is , be set at liberty from the prison of my body . 9. there is this comfort also against the fear of death , that iesus christ is gone to heaven on purpose to prepare a place for the dead bodies of his saints , and he will come again , and raise them up , and take them to himself , that where he is , there they may be also , john 14.2 , 3. therefore he is said to go into heaven as a forerunner , heb. 6.20 . whither the forerunner is for us entred . now a forerunner supposeth some that are to follow . christ is entred before , to take up lodgings for all that are asleep in him , and hath ( as it were ) written their several names upon their several lodgings , as is intimated , heb. 12.23 . to the church of the first-born , which are written in heaven ; and keeps them empty till they come to heaven to fill them , as is hinted , 1 pet. 1.4 . — reserved for you in heaven . therefore we are said to fit with him in heavenly places , because he went up to take possession of it for our use , and benefit , and fits there in our nature , and as our head , not as a private citizen of heaven , but as a representative of all the elect of god , and will ere long come down , and take them up to himself , and so they shall ever be with the lord. 10. the last spring of consolation against the fear of death is , that death will put a perfect and perpetual end to all his miseries , whether spiritual or corporal ( as i have shewed ) and open a door to infinite and unexpressible happiness for ever and ever . let these ten considerations be made use of , as precious antidotes against the flavish fear of death . use 3. the woful and miserable condition of those , who die in an unregenerate condition , in their sins unrepented on , and whose bodies lye in the grave ● not asleep in iesus , but asleep in sin ; to these men death is of all formidable things most formidable . it is a most cruel , biting , and devouring serpent with eight stings . 1. to a man out of christ , death puts an end to all his outward contentments , to all his riches , honours , and pleasures , to whatsoever a wicked man accounts his heaven , and his happiness ; and this must needs be as a stinging serpent to him . we read of micah , that when the men of dan stole away his gods , he followed them crying , and they turned back , and asked him what aileth thee ? he answered , ye have taken away my gods , &c. and do you say to me , what aileth thee ? when a wicked man dies he looseth all his gods , for he maketh his riches , honours and pleasures his gods , and no wonder the memory of death is so bitter to him . 2. it deprives him of all his hopes . for when a wicked man dieth , his expectation shall perish , and the hope of unjust men perisheth . the righteous hath hope in death . his motto is , dum expiro , spero . but a wicked mans hope perisheth at death , and gives up the ghost , job 11.20 . his motto is dum expiro , despero death puts an end both to his hopes . earthly and heavenly 1. to his earthly hopes a wicked man builds castles in the air , and promiseth great matters to himself , and saith , as the rich man , soul , thou hast much goods laid up for many years , take thine ease , eat , drink , and be merry . but god saith to him . thou fool , this night thy soul shall be required of thee : then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided . death dasheth all his earthly hopes ; and that which is worse , 2. death dasheth all his spiritual and supernatural hopes . a wicked man is ready to nourish in himself a presumptuous hope of heaven , and doubts not but that he shall be saved ; but when he comes to die , all his hopes of heaven perish , and are as a spiders web , easily swept away , iob 8.14 . the lord rejecteth his vain confidence , jer. 2.37 . now this is a misery above expression , for a man to be disappointed of his eternal hopes . 3. death puts an end to all the sweetness , pleasure and profit that is in sin . there are two things in the serpent , sin . the speckled black , and the sting in the tail of it . the pleasures of sin for a season , and the eternal pains attending it . a man out of christ while he is alive and in health , sucks out the carnal sweetness that is in sin , it is as honey to his mouth . but when death comes , the sweetness of sin vanisheth , and nothing remains but the sting and torment of it . even as a thief , as long as he is unfound out , lives merrily upon what he hath stolen , but when he is found , and cast into prison and condemned to be hanged , then he feels nothing but bitterness and sorrow . so it is with a wicked man ; as long as he is in health and in prosperity , he takes great delight and content in sinning , but when he comes to be attached and arrested with death , then the misery and cursedness of sin appears before him . then he begins to say , where is all the carnal pleasure i once took in my sinfull courses ? nothing now remains but the sting . momentaneum quod delectat , aternum quod cruciat . that which delighted me was but momentany , but that which will torment me , is eternal . 4. death must needs be a stinging serpent to a man out of christ , because it puts conscience into office to wound and torture him . the great design of a wicked man in health is to blind , or bribe his conscience ; but death puts it into office , and sets it on his proper throne ; and conscience once awakened becomes a biting serpent , and a gnawing worm , never suffering him to be at rest night nor day . sin is like a piece of wood , which while it is in the water seems very light , floating on the top of it , but when it comes to the shoar , ten men can hardly stir that , which one man before might have carried which way he lifted . while a wicked man is in health and in prosperity , his sins seem light to him , but when he comes to the shoar of death , then they begin to be heavy , then conscience , like a mastive dog , flies in his face , and his sins appear in their ugly colours , with all the aggravating circumstances , and sting him exceedingly . 5. death puts an end to gods patience , to the day of grace and mercy , and to all the means of salvation . for there is no repenting in the grave whither we are going . this life is a day of grace and salvation . now ahashuerosh holds forth his golden scepter . now the hour-glass of patience is running , the draw-bridge is let down , and the white flag of mercy is hanged out ; but when death comes , the white flag is taken down , the hour-glass run out , the draw-bridge taken up , the day of grace and patience at an end . et qui fluvios sanguinis nunc dabit guttam aqua in inferno negabit . and he that will now give us rivers of his blood to wash away our sins , will not in hell give us a drop of water . 6. a man out of christ hath also this unhappiness , that whensoever he dieth , he dieth suddenly , though he die never so leasurely ; suddenly in regard of preparation , though not in regard of time , for he dieth like the foolish virgins , having his oyl to buy , his graces and evidences for heaven to get , which is no little misery . for death is a time of spending , not geting , whether you consider the soul , or the body . and as that man is in a sad condition , as to his outward estate , that hath laid up nothing in health to maintain him in sickness ; so he is in a sadder , as to his eternal estate , that is unprovided at death of a stock of grace , and scripture cordials . this man dieth suddenly though he die never so leasurely . 7. he dieth miserably , though he die never so happily ; though in his bed , and in his old age ; though buried in great pomp , yet dying in his sins he is cursed at death , and cursed after death . 8. lastly , and especially , because death opens a door to endless and easeless miseries . it is gaudiorum finis & malorum omnium principium , the end of all his joy , and the beginning of all his misery . if death were an utter extinction , and annihilation it were not so terrible ; but herein is the terrour of it , because it lets the soul out of the prison of the body , to go to the everlasting prison of hell. death is gods sergeant to arrest a wicked man , and after arrest to carry him to the iudge , there to receive the sentence of condemnation , and after that to be delivered over to the gaoler , to be carried to the fiery prison of hell , there to remain for ever . it deals with every wicked man as it did with dives , it carrieth him a tenebris ad tenebras , from the darkness of sin , to the darkness of hell. all these particulars shew unto us the woful and miserable condition of those who die out of christ. use 4. let us all labour so to live , that when we come to die , we may be sure to sleep in iesus . for all the ten forementioned fountains of consolation , against the fear of death , belong only to those who sleep in jesus . quest. what must we do that we may be made partakers of so great a happiness . answ. we must do two things . 1. we must labour to get into christ while we live , and we shall be sure to die in christ when we die , and sleep in him when in the grave . we must make it not our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , not our ultimum , but our primum quaerite . not our last , but our first and chief work to get out of the old adam into the new adam , out of the root of abomination , into the root of acceptation by a christ-appropriating faith. for it is the great office of justifying faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( as chrys. saith ) to bring us into the possession of jesus christ. we must be willing to part with all our goodly pearles to buy this pearle of price . we must account all things but dung and dross ( all creature excellencies , all church-priviledges , and all civil righteousness ) and suffer the loss of all things that we may gain christ. 2. we must labour to get a death-enduring assurance of our interest in christ. the reason why many of gods children are so unwilling to die , is , because they do not know their title to christ , and the happiness of those that die in him . before old iacob knew his son ioseph to be alive , he received no comfort by his being alive . before mary magdalene knew the person with whom she discoursed to be christ , she was not revived by discoursing with him . before a child of god knows that christ is his , and hath purchased death for his great advantage , it is impossible for him to embrace it with comfort . this then is the second work of every good christian , and the work of his whole life to get a tribunal proof assurance of his being in christ. quest. how may a man know that he hath an interest in christ ? answ. by three texts of scripture . 1. by 2 cor. 5.17 . if any man be in christ he is a new creature . he that is inwardly and outwardly renewed ( renewed in every part though imperfectly in every part ) may assure himself of his interest in christ. 2. by rom. 8.1 . there is no condemnation to them that are in christ iesus , who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit . a man may have flesh in him , and yet be in christ , but he that walks after the flesh and makes provision for it , to fulfill the lusts of it hath no share in him . but he that walks after the spirit , and is led by the spirit , and is spiritually minded , may be assured of his interest in christ. 3. by gal. 5.24 . they that are christs , have crucified the flesh , with the affections and lusts . they that make it their work to crucifie not only the flesh , but the affections and lusts of it , and are alwayes crucifying and mortifying it , are in a gospel-account esteemed as c●ucifiers of the flesh , and do crucifie it ( desiderio & conatu , though not actu ) in their desires and indeavours , though they cannot while in the body perfectly subdue it ; and may be confident that christ is theirs , and they are christs , and that christ jesus shall be to them in life and death advantage . that you may be the better encouraged to make it the work of your whole life , to gain christ , and an assurance that you have gained him ; let me set before you the example of this excellent lady ( the lady anne waller ) for whose funeral we are here met this night . of whom i may truly say as nazianzene of his sister gorgonia , that we need not fear lest we should exceed in praising her too much , but rather lest we should be deficient in praising her too little . it is not my custom to speak much in commendation of the dead ; but something i must crave leave to speak at this time , not so much for her commendation ( for she hath no need now of our eulogies ) but for our imitation . i shall not at all mention her birth and noble extraction , nor meddle with any thing that concerns her in her natural and civil capacities ; but only speak something about her piety and godliness ; which indeed is the truest nobility . she was ( as saint iohn stiles the lady to whom he wrote his second epistle ) an elect lady ; whether you take elect , for a choise and pretious lady , or for one who was elected by god from all eternity unto life everlasting : she was one who made religion her business , nor ( as some ladies do ) her idle hour , but her daily labour : one who sought first the kingdom of god and his righteousness , making it her care to walk before god in truth and uprightness of heart , and to keep a conscience void of offence both towards god , and towards man. she was early conversed to iesus christ , and that she continued stedfast in faith and holinesse to her lives end , appears by these following demonstrations . she was 1. a diligent attender upon gospel ordinances , delighting much in the house of god , and preferring the word of god above her appointed food . a constant writer of sermons , and wrote them in her heart as well as in her book , and her life was an exact commentary upon the sermons she heard . she hath a large book in folio written with her own hand , wherein under several heads of divinity , she hath registred the observations of her reading both out of the scriptures ( which were her delight ) and out of the writings of our best divines , and out of her own experiences . 2. very conscientious in observing the lords day . her custom was after sermon both in the morning , and afternoon to retire into her chamber , and to call before her her maid-servants , and such boyes as served in the house , to give account what they had heard ; helping their memories wherein they failed , clearing up the sense of what was delivered , wherein it might seem obscure unto them , exhorting and pressing them to be doers of the word , and not hearers only , concluding all in prayer with them . 3. very careful in receiving the sacrament of the body and blood of christ every moneth , if she were not hindred by indispensable necessity . and in her preparation thereunto she was most diligent . for help herein she had made a collection of the best rules and directions she could get about that subject . 4. taught of god not onely notionally , but experimentally to live by faith. for she met with many trials in her outward estate , both when a wife , and when a widdow . but by faith in jesus christ , she was more than conquerour over them all . 5. frequent and constant in her private devotions , both in praying , reading and meditating at set hours . 6. a fixed star in the firmament of gods church , not like a little child tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine , but rooted , built up , and stablished in the faith , and in the orthodox truths of christian religion . 7. abundantly charitable to all in want and necessity , especially to such who feared god , and had his image upon them . yea she was ready ( as the apostle saith ) even above her ability , to distribute to the necessities of the saints . for being advised by a friend , ( who well approved of her gracious temper and frame of spirit ) to take care of her self , and to remember her debts , and other occasions she had to discharge , she did with much affection and ●ears s●y , that she could not eat her bread with comfort , while the servants of god were in hunger and nakedness . 8. a lover and honourer of pious and painful ministers . upon the close of the late unhappy wars , so soon as she had a liberty to return to her estate and place of adobe near oxford , and when her estate ( through the calamity of those times ) was at a low ebbe , the first thing she did , was more then she could well do , her poverty abounding unto the riches of her liberality ) to provide and maintain at her own cost ( in effect ) a preaching minister there ( the poor old incumbent being superannuated , and unfit to serve the cure , though he received the profits of the place . ) upon her remove from thence to her husbands habitation , immediately after she was setled there , she fell to workagain , and set up a lecture in the parish , which was continued by the ablest ministers thereabouts , until it received interruption by the troubles which befel her husband . this good affection to the advancement of the gospel , and gospel-ministry , she sealed up in her last will , by a legacy of a considerable sum to be distributed to poor ministers . 9. of a publick spirit , not to be numerated amongst the sinners , but mourners in sion , for the sins of sion . she was one that sought the welfare of the israel of god , and was as solicitous and thoughtful about the concernments of christ and his gospel , as about her own , if not more then her own . 10. a very prudent dady , a credit to her profession , of very good understanding and iudgment in the things of god , able by her wise and christian counsel , to comfort , and build up others ; which she frequently did , insomuch that many have blessed god for the advice they received from her . 11. eminent in the discharge of all relative duties ( in the conscientious performance of which , the power and beauty of godliness doth especially consist . ) she was careful to keep up the observation of family-duties twice a day , and of catechising the children and servants once a week , commending those who were forward , admonishing and reproving those that were tardy and averse , and imposing little penalties upon them , payable to the poor , and by all the waies she could , endeavouring to win them to the service of god. as a daughter , she was very obedient to her parents , insomuch that her mother did once publickly say , a little before her death , that she was the child who did never disobey or displease her in all her life . she was an excellent mother , bringing up her children in the nurture and fear of the lord , and walking before them as an example of piety and humility . as a mistress , she was wonderful diligent in training up her servants in the waies of god ; insomuch , as that she was a means of the conversion of two of them ; one of them acknowledged it upon her death-bed ; the other yet living ( a sober christian ) will confess the same . she was excellent and transcendently eminent in her relation as a wife , insomuch that her husband saith of her , as the wise man of the virtuous woman , that her price was far above rubies , that his heart did safely trust in her , that she did him good and not evil all the daies of her life , that she stretched out her hand to the poor , yea she reached forth her hands to the needy . that she opened her mouth with wisdom , and in her tongue was the law of kindness ; that her children rise up and call her blessed , her husband also , and he praiseth her , and saith , many daughters have done virtuously , but thou excellest them all . let her own works praise her in the gates . the truth is , she was a lady of ten thousand , and they that knew her intimately , will confess that i do not hyperbolize , and they that knew her not , will i hope , believe that i dare not ( standing in this place , as gods ambassador ) give flattering titles , for in so doing , my maker would soon take me away . 12. and lastly , as she lived , so she died , she lived holily , and died happily . her last sickness was long and violent , wherein , though she was never heard to let fall one word unbeseeming the mouth of a blessed christian , yet she would often charge her self for complaining , though inforced thereunto by the extremity of her p●ins . but yet in the midst of all her anguish , she ceased not to testifie her faith in god through christ , as her only anchor-hold and supportation , exhorting with a powerful sweetness those about her , and her relations when they came to her , to make sure of that interest , and to apply themselves to the service of god with all faithfulness and diligence , which was that that would bring them peace at last . towards the end of her sickness , she took occasion to speak to some friends that were about her bed , touching an unhappy difference between her husband , and one of his sons ( wherein she had been most injuriously defamed , as a person that had done ill offices between them , and contributed fuel to that flame ) professing in the presence of that god before whom she was to make her account , that she was innocent from the thought of such an offence , and that no carriage of his , had ever so far transported her , as to make her to desire , much less to endeavour any thing that might be to his prejudice . and that she desired his good and welfare , with the same heart , as if both he , and the rest of the children had been all her own . ( i give you her own words . ) the day before her death , she challenged her husband to speak , whether she had ever instigated him against his son , or done any thing to keep up that difference . and he did then ( as in the presence of god ) clear her , and avow this truth , that she had many times made his peace , and brought him to a reconciliation with him ( once with tears ) but never had done him any ill office. one thing i must add of mine own knowledge ; that this excel-cellent lady was much troubled in her life time with the slavish fear of death . i told her then out of mine own frequent experience , that they that were so much afraid of death , while living , and thereupon , were careful to prepare for it , would be free from the fear of it when they came to die . and it happened accordingly : for though she had not those ravishing ioyes which some somtimes have , yet she had such a calmness and quietness of mind , and peace of conscience , that she could chearfully and most willingly surrender up her s●ul into the hands of her redeemer . in the l●st day of her sickness , it pleased god in some measure to allay the extremity of her pains , and to afflict her only with shortness of breath ( which increased upon her to her last ) but her understanding was clear , and her speech free a few moments before her departu●e . she continued throughout the day in an admirable composed , quiet and serene frame of spirit , and wholly gave her self to glorifie god , and to exhort all others to do the like , and to give up themselves to his service . a reverend minister coming to visit her , she entertained him with a chearful aspect , and desired him , to search and examine her heart , what way of wickedness he could find in it , and pressed him to deal freely and plainly with her , and not to spare her . ( i deliver her own expressions ) his discourse was comfortable to her . she complained of the sinfulness of her nature , and the wickedness of her heart , but still with a confidence in the merits of her saviour , upon whom alone she rolled her self . after that , she desired him to pray by her ; which he did , and she heard him with an unmoveable stilness and attention , giving him thanks when he had done . she continued in the same heavenly temper with many gracious expressions , until about eight of the clock that night , and then finding ( as we had reason since to suppose , though she made no shew of it ) that her death was approaching , she requested the minister to pray by her again ; he happened to be somthing long ( though contrary to his intention ) when towards the latter end , she made a sign unto him , which he taking notice of , and thereupon concluding , she said , i thank you sir , and forthwith bowing down her head , within a few minutes delivered her blessed soul into the hands of her heavenly father . thus she lived , and thus she died , and thus being dead , she yet speaketh ; and now is gone to that place where she hath no more need of prayers , but all her prayers are turned into hallelujahs . the lord give us grace so to imitate her holy life , that when we come to die , we may die in christ , and when layed in the grave , may sleep in iesus , and in the great resurrection , may both in body and soul be taken up into heaven , to be for ever with the lord in perfect happiness , amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a32022-e280 job 1.21 . psal. 39.8 . paula , marcella , euslochium , &c. notes for div a32022-e1250 act. 7 57 eccl. 12.7 anima eorum sint colligat● in horto edenis , amen , amen , amen , selah . rev. 6.9 , 10. heb. 12.23 euseb. lib. 5 cap. 11 the book is called , psychopannychia . qui animam vivere fatentur , illamque omni sen●u spo●●ant , prorsus animam fingunt quae nihil animae habcat aut animam ipsam a se ipsa avellunt ; cum cjus natura , sincqua consistere ullo modo ucquit , sit . moveri , sentire vigere intelligere : atque ( ut ait tertulli●ous ) animae anima sensus slt . dormit omnis mortuus , & bonus , & malus , sed quomodo interest in ipsis qui quotidie dormiunt , & exurgunt , quid quisque videat in somnis , alii sentiunt laeta somnia , alii torquentia , it a ut evigilans dormire timeat , ne ad ipsa iterum redeat : sic unusquisque hominum cum causae sua dormit , & cum causa sua surgit ; & interest quali quisque custodia recipiatur , ad judice● postea recipiendus , &c. habent omines animae cum de seculo exierint , divers as receptiones suas haebent guadium boni , & mal● tormenta . tract . 49. in joan. isa. 57.2 rev. 14.13 2 pet. 2.7 , 8 psal 63.3 peccatum peperit mortem , & silia devoravit matrem . homo non moritur sed peccatum mori●ur & miseria . k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . joh. 11.11 . mors non est mors , sed somnus & do●miti● temporaria , homil , 22. ad populum antinchenum . somnus est mors quaedam brevior , mors vero somnus longior , — consanguineus lethi soper . scriptura cos qui mortui sunt , vocat dormicutes ob spem resurrectionis , qua celerim●●vigilabunt ( x somno mortis , & ex lecto , id est , ex sepulchro . serm. 32. de verbis apostoli . tom 10. rev. 14.13 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 1 co● . 3.21 , 22 , 23. psal. 116.15 . job 28.6 . num 23 , 10 , rom. 8.38 . 2 sam. 21.10 . psal. 34.20 . rom. 8.23 . rev. 6.10 . isa. 26.19 . joh. 5.28.29 . 1 cor. 15.53 . job 19.27 . 1 cor. 15.2 . 1 cor. 15.20 . 1 cor. 15.42 , 43 , 44. mat. 13.43 . 1 cor. 6.2 , 3. 1 thes 4.13 . 1 cor. 15.17 . gen. 46.4 . job 18 , 14. rom. 6. rom 5. heb. 9.27 . phil. 1.23 . mors piorum est natalis vitae e●erna . obstetrix vitae melioris , profect o ad civitatem dei. ianua ad vitam eternam porta gloriae , medicamentum immor●alitatis . hos. 13.14 . eph. 48. acts 28. 1 cor. 15.55 , 56 , 57 , rom. 8.1 . rom. 12.13 . 2 kings 22.20 . luke 2.29 , 30. mors non est exitus , sed transi●us , non obitus , sed abitus . mortui non sunt amissi , sed praemiss●● , cypr. de mortalitate . profectio est quam putas mortem . tert. de patientia . luke 2.29 . qui gloriatur in viribus corporis , gloriatur in viribus carce●is . judg. 18.23 , 24. job 11.7 . luke 12.19.20 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . job 32.22 . englands looking-glasse presented in a sermon preached before the honorable house of commons at their late solemne fast, december 22, 1641 / by edmund calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a31933 of text r206351 in the english short title catalog (wing c236). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 106 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 36 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a31933 wing c236 estc r206351 13691192 ocm 13691192 101394 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a31933) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101394) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 840:31) englands looking-glasse presented in a sermon preached before the honorable house of commons at their late solemne fast, december 22, 1641 / by edmund calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [8], 62 p. printed by i. raworth for chr. meredith ..., london : 1642. caption and running title: a sermon preached at a fast before the honourable house of commons. "published by order of the house." reproduction of original in the university of illinois (urbana-champaign campus). library. eng fast-day sermons. great britain -politics and government -1625-1649 -sermons. great britain -history -charles i, 1625-1649 -sermons. a31933 r206351 (wing c236). civilwar no englands looking-glasse, presented in a sermon, preached before the honorable house of commons, at their late solemn fast, december 22. 1641 calamy, edmund 1642 20450 4 25 0 0 0 0 14 c the rate of 14 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-02 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2004-02 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion englands looking-glasse , presented in a sermon , preached before the honorable house of commons , at their late solemne fast , december 22. 1641. by edmund calamy , b.d. and preacher at aldermanbury , london . ezek. 18.31 . cast away from you all your transgressions whereby ye have transgressed , and make you a new heart and a new spirit , why will yee die , o house of israel . published by order of the house . london , printed by i. raworth , for chr. meredith , and are to be sold at the crane in pauls churchyard , 1642. to the honourable house of commons assembled in parliament . obedience is a virtue of such great worth , that luther did rather desire to have grace to be obedient , than power to work miracles . out of this very principle it was , that i first adventured to preach before such a grave and judicious senate , coram tam multis viris & tam paucis hominibus . and from the same principle it is , that i now present the sermon to a more publike view . the time allotted for the making of it , was so short ( by reason of your more serious affairs ) that it might have been a sufficient apology , to excuse both the preaching and printing of it , had not pure obedience justly silenced all such apologies . and now it is printed , the sermon it self is so poor and mean , that it may fitly be answered to me , what apelles once did to a painter , who having drawn many lines in a little space of time , and boasting to apelles that he had done so much in so short a time ; it was replyed , that he wondered that he had drawn no more . but yet howsoever , my humble request is , that you would accept of this poor mite , this little goats-haire , which your commands ( like a mid-wife ) have brought into the world . and indeed the kinde entertainment it found in the hearing , and the great acknowledgement of your thanks ( farre above all expectation or desert ) afterwards , is an abundantly sufficient incitement against all discouragement whatsoever . the subject of the sermon is of great concernment . it is about the ruine and repair of kingdoms and nations ; a matter sutable for you that are the representative body of the kingdom . sin ruines kingdoms . when nicephorus phocas had built a mighty wall about his palace for his defense , he heard a voyce in the night , crying {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . though thou build'st thy walls as high as heaven , sin is within , and this will easily batter down thy walls . sin is like a traytor in our own bosomes , that will open the gates to the enimy . sin weakens our hands , and makes them unapt to fight . sin taketh away the courage of our hearts . it was not the strength of ai that overcame the israelites , but achans sin . sinne causeth a great army to be overcome by a little one . the army of the syrians came with a small company of men , and the lord delivered a very great host into their hand , because they had forsaken the lord god of their fathers . the sins of england , are the enimies of england . these beleaguer our walls , and are as so many canaanites alwayes rising up in rebellion against us . but now on the contrary , repentance and reformation repairs and upholds kingdoms and nations : this is their fortresse and tower of defense ; their munition , armour , and wall of brasse to defend them . righteousnesse exalteth a nation , but sinne is a reproach to any people . the lord in mercy ruinate our sinnes , and not the nation ! the same lord worke a nationall reformation , and make you his instruments in this great work ! much hath been done by you this way already ( which is acknowledged in this ensuing discourse , with great thankfulnesse ) the lord enable you to perfect what you have begun . he that is the finisher of our faith , finish this much-desired reformation ! it is very observable , that when god raised up magistrates , such as nehemiah , zerubbabel , and others , to pity sion that lay in the dust , and to repair her breaches : at the same time he raised up prophets also , such as haggai , zechariah , and others , to strengthen the hands of the magistrates , and to encourage them in so noble a service : and therefore it is expresly said . then the prophets , haggai and zechariah prophesied unto the iews that were in judah and jerusalem in the name of the god of israel , even unto them . then ( and not before ) rose up zerubbabel and jeshua , and began to build the house of god which is at jerusalem ; and with them were the prophets of god helping them . and ezra 6.14 . the elders of the iews builded , and they prospered through the prophesying of haggai the prophet , and zechariah the sonne of iddo ; and they builded and finished it , according to the commandment of the god of israel , &c. by both these texts it appears , that the magistrates began and finished the reparations of gods house , by the help of the prophets of god . suffer me , therefore ( as divers others have done before ) the unworthiest of all gods ministers , according to my duty and place , to beseech and exhort you to the consummation of those blessed good things which you have begun to do for the church of god in england . and the god of all blessings , blesse you and yours . so prayeth your much obliged spirituall servant , edmvnd calamy . a sermon preached at a fast before the honourable house of commons . jerem. 18.7 , 8 , 9 , 10. at what instant i shall speak concerning a nation , and concerning a kingdom , to pluck up , and to pull down , and to destroy it . if that nation against whom i have pronounced , turn from their evill , i will repent of the evill that i thought to do unto them . and at what instant i shall speak concerning a nation , and concerning a kingdom , to build and to plant it : if it do evill in my sight , that it obey not my voyce , then i will repent of the good wherewith i said i would benefit them . this text may fitly be called a looking glasse for england and ireland , or for any other kingdom whatsoever ; wherein god almighty declares what he can do with nations and kingdoms , and what he will do . 1. what he can do . he can build and plant a nation . and he can pluck up , pull down , and destroy a nation . and when a kingdom is in the depth of misery , he can in an instant , if he but speake the word , raise it up to the top of happinesse ; and when it is in the heigth and zenith of happinesse , he can in another instant speake a word , and throw it downe againe into an abysse of misery . 2. what he will do . god will not alwayes use his prerogative , but he will first speake before he strikes , he will first pronounce judgement before he executeth judgement . and if that nation against which he hath pronounced the evill of punishment turn from their evill of sin , then will god repent of the evill he intended to do unto them : and not only so , but he will build and plant that nation , and of a barren wildernesse , make it a fruitfull paradise . but if that nation do evill in gods sight , and will not obey his voice , then will god repent of the good wherewith he would have benefited them , and pull down what he hath built , and pluck up what he hath planted , and of a fruitfull paradise , make it a barren wildernesse . by all this it appears , that as this day is a nationall day , and this honourable assembly a nationall assembly , so this text is a nationall text , every way sutable for the occasion about which we are met . the lord make it as profitable to you , as it is sutable for you . from the words thus explained , i gather these four doctrinall conclusions . 1. that god hath an absolute power over all kingdoms and nations , to pluck them up , pull them down , and destroy them as he pleaseth . 2. that though god hath this absolute prerogative over kingdoms and nations , yet he seldome useth this power , but first he gives warning . 3. if that kingdome against which god hath threatned destruction , repent and turn from their evill ; god will not only not destroy that kingdome , but build it , and plant it . or thus , nationall repentance will divert nationall judgements , and procure nationall blessings . 4. that when god begins to build and plant a nation , if that nation do evill in gods sight , god will repent of the good he intended to do unto it . the first is this , 1. that god hath an independent and illimited prerogative over all kingdoms and nations to build them , or destroy them as he pleaseth . this is set forth in the beginning of the chapter , by ocular demonstration . god bids ieremy arise and go down to the potters house , &c. them , and when he came there , he beheld the potter making a vessell of clay , and breaking it , and making it again another vessell , as seemed good to the potter to make it . and god himselfe makes the application ; oh house of israel , cannot i do with you as this potter , saith the lord ? cannot i make you vessells of honour , or dishonour ? cannot i save you , or destroy you as i please ? behold , as the clay is in the potters hand , so are ye in mine hand ▪ o house of israel . because nebuchadnezzar would not confesse this truth , he was driven to school to the beasts of the field , and he had the heart of an oxe , till he acknowledged , that god doth whatsoever he will in the army of heaven , and among the inhabitants of the earth , and none can stay his hand , or say unto him , what dost thou ? this supremacy of gods power , is founded upon this absolute right that god hath over us as he is our creator . for he is jehovah , that gives being to all , and receives being from none . of him , and to him , and through him are all things . all creatures are beams from his sun , drops from his ocean . if i speak ( saith the text , ) i in whom all men live , move , and have their being ; i that made all things out of nothing , and can as easily turn all things into nothing , if i speak . this power of god over kingdoms , hath two properties . 1. it is illimited and independent , which appears by three expressions in the text 1. by these words , at what instant ; which hold forth unto us , that god can destroy a nation in an instant , in the very twinckling of an eye . in the morning the sun shone upon sodome , but before night it was destroyed with fire and brimstone . the old world was drowned ( as luther thinks ) in the spring time , when all things began to bud and blossome . the flood came suddenly , saith christ , it came de repente , according to the vulgar translation of these words , when they least expected it . and on the contrary , god can in an instant make a nation happy . the israelites were in an instant brought out of egypt ; a and were in one and the same day , of all people most miserable , and of all people most happy , as calvin well observeth upon this text . 2. by these words — i shall speak . if god do but speak to destroy a nation , it is presently destroyed : he spake the word , and the world was made ; and if he speak the word , the world will return to its first principles . if i bring a sword upon a land , and say , sword go through that land , so that i cut off man and beast from it . though these three men were in it , as i live , saith the lord , they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters , &c. ezek. 14.17 , 18. on the contrary , if god do but speak to plant a nation , it is planted ; for gods benedicere , is benefacere . 3. this absolute power of god is likewise deciphered by three synonimicall expressions in the text , to pluck up , pull down , and to destroy . which three words do intimate , that god hath an illimited prerogative over kingdoms , and that he can overturn , overturn , overturn uhem , as it is said , ezek. 21.27 . or as hugo glosseth upon the words , he can pluck up all mercies , pull down all judgments , and destroy them ; that is , make an utter ruine of them . 2. this power of god , is universall . for the words run in generall , at what instant i shall speak concerning a nation : not this or that nation , but a nation indefinitely . there is no kingdome exempted from gods jurisdiction , or that hath letters patents to priviledge it . if i speak concerning ierusalem , or concerning england , &c. god is the governour of the whole world , all alike to this heavenly potter . if gods power over kingdomes be so large , if and so absolute ; let all the world stand in awe , and not dare to sin against such a mighty and terrible god : a god before whom all the nations of the world are as a drop of a bucket , and as the small dust of the ballance . and if all asia , africa , europe , and america be but as the drop of a bucket ; what a little drop of that bucket is one man , though never so great ? if all the world be but as the dust of the ballance , what a little little particle of this dust is one man ? who would not fear thee , oh king of nations ? forasmuch as there is none like to thee , o lord ; thou art great , and thy name is great in might . will ye not fear me , saith the lord ? will ye not tremble at my presence , which hath chained up the sea with fetters of sand ? &c. that am the god of earthquakes , the god of thunder and lightning ; a god that can cast both body and soule into hell fire . who art thou , that thou shouldest be afraid of a man , that shall dye , and of the son of man which shall bee made as grasse ? and forgettest the lord thy maker , that hath stretched forth the heavens , and layd the foundatons of the earth ? think of this you that are greater in sin , than in greatnesse , that make no other use of your greatnesse , but as of letters patents to free your selves from all humane punishments , and to licence you to make your wills your laws , and your lusts your gods ; and to commit not onely peccata , but monstra , that are pessimi maximi , not optimi maximi . the great jehovah against whom you sin , is greater than the greatest ; he bindeth kings in chains , and nobles in lincks of iron . he hath provided tophet of old ; yea , for the king it is provided . hell was made for great men as well as poore . observe how resolutely and emphatically the prophet speaks , yea , for the king it is prepared . potentes potenter torquebuntur . ingentia beneficia , ingentia vitia , ingentia supplicia . to whom god hath given great mercies , if they abound with great vices , god will inflict great punishments upon them . think of this you that trample the bloud of christ under your feet , by your prodigious oathes , and by the contempt of the day , worship , and servants of christ . the bloud which you contemne is nobler than the noblest bloud that runs in your veins : it is the bloud of the eternall god , of that god , before whom the great , as well as the small , must appear at the great day of judgment ; in which terrible day , the kings of the earth , and the great men , and the rich men , vnd the chiefe captains , and the mighty men will hide themselves in the dens , and in the rocks of the mountains : and say to the mountains and rocks fall on us , and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne , and from the wrath of the lamb , &c. they that are here cloath'd in silk and velvet , shall wish for the mountains to cover them ( which yet shall be but a poor shelter ; for the mountains melt at the presence of the lord , and the rocks rend asunder when he is angry . they that made others to flye away from them as innocent lambs , from devouring wolves , shall be afraid of the wrath of the lamb that sitteth on the throne . great men must dye as well as others , and when they are dead , there is no difference between the dead bones of philip of macedon , and other men , as diogenes told alexander . remember the wofull catrastophe of herod the great , agrippa the great , pompey the great . oh , let all men fear to sin against that god that removed the assyrian monarchy to the persian , and the persian to the graecian , and the graecian to the roman . that toucheth the mountains and they smoak , before whom the devils feare and tremble . oh , let not our hearts be harder than the rocks , worser than devils ! oh england , feare the god of heaven and earth ! oh you house of commons , tremble and sin not ; most in the world sin and tremble not . do you tremble , and sin not : we are all in gods hand , as a flye in the paw of a roaring lion , as the clay in the hand of the potter . do we provoke the lord to jealousie , are we stronger than he ? consider the advantages god hath us at , and our dependencies upon him , and let us not dare to sin against him . a sanctuary in all distresses and dangers . let us flye to this god of power , who giveth kingdoms , and taketh away kingdoms as he pleaseth . the great superintendent . fly to him as to thy ark , thy pella , thy city of refuge . and in our deepest miseries let us sing cheerfully the 46. psalm , as luther was wont to do . god is our refuge and strength , a very present help in trouble . i will not feare though the earth be moved and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea , &c. a divine project to secure a nation from ruine ; to make this great jehovah our friend ; for if god be on our side we need not feare those that are against us . deus meus & omnia : tranquillus deus , tranquillat omnia . and for this very purpose we are here met this day in gods sanctuary , flying to the horns of the altar , to beseech that god who is the only potentate , king of kings , and lord of lords , that only doth wonderfull things , that he would be reconciled unto us ; that he would quiet the commotions that are in ireland , reduce the rebels into order , sheath up the sword that is there drawn , and quench the flames that are there kindled . that the lord would knit the heart of our soveraign to his people more and more , and of his people to him . that he would unite both houses of parliament , that they may joyn together with one heart as one man , to relieve poor ireland , and reforme england . athanasius tells us that anthony the monk fought against the divell with that text , psalm . 68.1 . let god arise , and let his enemies be scattered , let them also that hate him flee before him . the divell is more afraid of this text , then any other : for he knows he is gods greatest enemy , and if god arise , he must needes be scattered . oh , let us set god on work this day , to destroy the implacable enemies of his church ; arise oh lord , and scatter the irish rebells ! arise oh lord , and confound antichrist , and build up the walls of ierusalem ! the romans in a great distresse were driven to take the weapons out of the temples of their gods , and to fight with them , and so they overcome . this is our course this day , wee fight with the weapons of the church , prayers and teares . the spartans walls were their speares : our walls are our prayers , our helpe standeth in the name of the lord , who hath made heaven and earth . lord speake a word and iericho shall fall , be favourable to england and ireland ; lord take away our tinne , and purely purge our drosse ! our trust is not in our bow , nor speare . let us labour to become gods favourites , and then we have all happinesse concentred in two words . the second doctrinall conclusion . though god hath this absolute power over kingdomes and nations , yet he seldome useth this power , but first he gives warning . i say he seldome useth it : for i do not lay it downe as a generall rule : deus non alligat suas manus ! god may , and doth sometimes destroy at once , and give no warning . thus he dealt with the heathen ammonites and idumaeans , as calvin observes ; but he seldome or never sends any great judgement upon his own people , but first he speaks before he strikes . first verba , then verbera , as it is in the text . at what instant i shall speak , &c. if that nation concerning which i have pronounced , &c. first god pronounceth a judgement before he executeth a judgment ; he lightneth before he thundreth ; he hangs out his white flag of mercy , before his red flag of utter defiance ; first he shoots off his warning peeces , before his murdering peeces . and the reasons are , 1. that all the world may take notice , that all punishments and afflictions come not by chance , or fortune , but from the immediate hand of the great god . it is he that forms the light , and creates darknesse ; it is he that makes peace , and creates evill , i the lord do all these things . and therefore god gives warning to imprint this doctrine : that there is no evill of punishment , but from god . 2. because god is loath to punish . minatur deus , ut non puniat : they that minde mischiefe , give no warning . when absalom intended to murder amnon , he spake neither good nor bad unto him , 2 sam. 13.22 . neither would god reveale his intentions to destroy us , but only because he desires not to destroy us . i reade of one that came to murder one of the roman emperors , and by speaking these words , hunc tibi pugionem mittit senatus , detexit facinus fatuus , & non implevit . another was seen whetting his sword , and by that , suspected and detected . but it is otherwise with god , he gives many items , and sets many beacons on fire before he destroyes a nation . as ambrose observes upon gen. 9.13 . he puts his bow in the cloud ; non sagittam , sed arcam , not his arrow , but his bow ; the bow cannot hurt us , but the bow forewarns us of the arrow ; and the string of the bow is to us-ward , to shew how unwilling god is to punish : he must first turn the bow and put in the arrow , before he can shoot . and as it is , psalm . 7.12 . if you will not turn , i will whet my sword , i will bend my bow , and make ready my arrow . first god whets his sword before he strikes , and bends his bow before he shoots , his arrow is unprepared , &c. and all this , because he is a father of mercies , and a father you know is loath to whip his child . i afflict not willingly , lamen . 3.33 . fury is not in me , isa. 27.4 . it is your sinnes that put thunderbolts in my hands . as a woman brings forth her childe with pain , and a bee never stings , but when he is provoked : so it is with our good god , he never punisheth , but when there is no remedy , 2 chron. 36. 15 , 16. when god came to punish adam , he came slowly , in the cool of the day ; but when he commeth to shew mercy , he comes leaping over the hills , and skipping over the mountains . god was but six dayes in making the whole world , and yet as chrysostome well observes , he was seven dayes destroying one city , the city of iericho . god gives warning for the glorification of his justice . that all those persons and nations that are destroyed , may have no apology , no excuse , but may be speechlesse at the great day of account , ne dicant sibi non praedictum cave . there is no christian nation , shall be able to say , that god destroyed them , and yet never gave them warning . read the second and third chapters of the revelation ; observe christs warning to the seven churches . this made them without excuse ; forewarned , forearmed . if this be gods ordinary course , let us admire and adore the patience of god towards our persons in particular , and towards this nation in generall , in which we live : a nation not worthy to be beloved , a nation as ripe for destruction , as any other nation . how many tapers hath god set on fire ? how many white flags of mercy hath god hung out ? how often hath he shot off his warning peeces , to forewarne this nation , that god would pluck it up , pull it down , and destroy it . ionathan shot three arrowes , not to hurt david , but to help david by foretelling him of sauls murderous intention against him ; but god hath shot not only three , but eight arrowes , to forewarne , and forearme us . the lord awaken our secure hearts , to the consideration of these things : god hath spoken eight wayes to this nation , by all which he hath intimated his intention to destroy us . 1. he hath spoken unto us by the voice of his ministers , that with one mouth and lip , have foretold us of desolation , and destruction . it hath beene the constant voice of gods faithfull servants , from the pulpit , for these many yeares early and late . now this voice is not to be slighted ; for surely the lord will do nothing , but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets , amos 3.7 . 2. he hath spoken to us by the voice of his lesser judgements . for god hath two sorts of judgements , rods and scorpions : footmen , and horsemen , as it is expressed , ierem. 12.4 . and he deales with a nation , as a physitian with his patient . if a lesser potion will not worke , the physitian will prescribe a stronger . god hath sent many lesser judgements , the small-pox , unseasonable weather , the plague in a moderate way ; but these judgements have beene slighted and contemned ; and lesser judgements contemned , are harbingers to usher in greater : god threatneth , levit. 2.6 . if his people will walk contrary to him , he will punish them seven times more : and afterwards he addes , that if they will not be reformed , he will punish them yet seven times more , and yet seven times more . vers. 18.21 , 24 , 28. i , even i , will chastise you in fury , seven times more for your sins . as the ancient consuls of rome had rods , and axes , carried before them : rods as ensignes of their lenity to penitent offenders ; but axes as tokens of their severity , against incorrigible offenders : so god hath his rods , and his axes , his puning knife , and his axe . if his pruning knife will not amend us , his axe will hew us down , and cast us into the fire . 3. god hath spoken to us by the death of his godly servants . for the righteous perish , and no man layeth it to heart , and mercifull men are taken away ; none considering that the righteous is taken away , from the evill to come , isa. 57.1 . thus methusalem that godly patriarch died , the very yeere the flood came . and his name signifieth , a messenger of death ; his death did presage the flood . thus austin was taken away by death , immediately before the sacking of hippo where he lived . paraeus before the taking of heilderberg . luther a little before warres came into germany , as he himselfe did fore-signifie at his death . thus the death of saint ambrose was a fore-runner of the ruine of italy . the many reverend preachers , the chariots , and horsemen of israel , that in these few yeares are gone to their graves in peace ; are as so many blazing comets to portend our ruine . 4. god hath spoken to us by the voice of other protestant nations beyond the seas , that have drunk deepe of the cup of gods wrath . herodotus tells us , that in a certaine egyptian temple , there was a statue built for sennacherib , ( this was he that besieged ierusalem , and blasphemed the god of israel , and was afterwards slaine by his sonnes ) and upon this statue was this inscription ; {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , look upon me , and learn to be righteous . me thinks i heare rochell , bohemia , the palatinate , and other parts of germany , saying : oh england look upon us , and learn to be righteous . god will not alwayes make you like goshen , when we are plagued as egypt : make you like noah in the ark , when we are drowned with a flood of miseries : make you like gideons dry fleece , when we are like his wet fleece , bedewed with sorrow and lamentation . you must not look alwayes to drink so deep of the cup of prosperity , when we have drunk so deep of the cup of adversity . god hath made us examples to you ; but if you amend not , god will make you your selves the next examples . it is a most true saying : legimus historias , ne ipsi fiamus historia . if you will not learne righteousnesse by our history , god will make you the next history . discite justitiam moniti & non temnere divos . this is a loud and powerfull voyce . 5. god speaks now more neerly unto us , by the bloudy rebellion that is in ireland ; the sword that is there drawn , is like the comet , that for a whole yeer hung over ierusalem , in the likenesse of a fiery flaming sword . this sword is gods warning peece to england : it is like tamberlaines red flag , threatning ruine , and desolation to us ; for it is an old saying , he that would england win , must with ireland first begin . a serpent , the neerer it is , the more dangerous it is . the sword is now come very neere us : it is like a serpent in our bosomes : the lord awaken our sleepy spirits . god hath 3. swords . the sword of the angel , which is the plague : the sword of the spirit which is his word : and the sword of the enemy . we have been wofully massacred with the first sword . the plague hath been grievously upon our bodies , but the plague of sin still remaines upon our soules ; this sword hath done little good . if the sword of the spirit will not now at last cut down our sinnes , we must expect the sword of the enemy to cut us down , and to destroy us . 6. god now also speakes unto us by the many sad divisions , and unhappy fractions that are in church and state . a kingdome divided against it selfe , cannot stand . it is observeable , that scarce ever any great enemy entred this kingdome , but when it was at schisme and division within it selfe . tacitus saith , that nothing gave the romans more advantage against the ancient brittains then this , quod factionibus & studijs trahebantur . mandubratius ( as caesar cals him ) out of hatred against cassibellanus , brought in iulius caesar . adminius , brought in claudius . gnortigernus first , and mordredus after brought in the saxons . toustains division and inrode , made way for the normans ; and there were more divisions than one to helpe in the danes . and there is nothing more likely to bring in the romans once more into our kingdome , than these mandubratians , the adminians , j had almost said these arminians . oh sad divisions ▪ these are as thicke blacke clouds threatning a great shower of desolation . 7. god speakes unto us by the great demur and delay of the reformation of the church . for the childe of reformation is come to the birth ; but there wants strength to bring it forth . this is a signe , that there are some great obstructions in the kingdome , that hinder the birth of this much desired childe . and it shrewdly presageth , as if god had begunne to repent of the good , that hee hath begun to doe for us ; and that , it will be with us , as it was with tamar , in the time of her travell , genes . 38.28,29 . zarah first puts forth his hand out of the wombe , but afterwards drew it in againe , and pharez came out in his stead . so it gives us cause to feare , least the childe of mercy should goe backe into the wombe againe , and the childe of judgement come forth in his stead . 8. god hath spoken to us by the voice of our owne consciences . there is no man that lives in any knowne sinne , but his conscience hath often told him as abner did ioah , will not this sinne bring bitternesse in the latter end ? and as reuben to his brethren , did i not tell you of this aforehand ? that this sinne would bring you to hell . there is a light which god hath set up in all our soules , which is as a beacon , set on fire , to give notice of gods wrath and vengeance . this light is conscience , which tertullian calls praejudicium judicij . this is gods bosome preacher ; and when this is silenced , it portends nothing , but utter ruine and desolation . and thus you see how many waies , god hath given warning to this kingdom . now i beseech you , let the long-suffering , and goodnesse of god , drive us to repentance . this is the use the apostle paul makes , rom. 2.4 . which is the more to be laid to heart , because that saint peter pickes out this exhortation from out of all the epistles of paul , as one of the choisest , and urgeth it upon those , to whom he wrote , as you may read , 2 pet. 3.15 . and account the long suffering of the lord , is salvation ; even as our beloved brother paul also hath written unto you . now i conceive , this is no where written , but in the place forementioned . let not that which is our salvation ( as peter saith ) become our damnation . let us follow the example of noah , heb. 11.7 . noah by faith being warned of god , of things not seen as yet , moved with fear prepared an ark , to the saving of his house , &c. noah had but one warning , and that of a judgement , which had no print in nature : but wee have had eight kindes of warnings , and there are many prints and foot-steps of gods judgements amongst us . o let us beleeve these voices of god and let faith worke feare , and feare worke care to prepare an arke , before the floud comes . let us be amended by gods warning-peeces , lest we be consumed by his murdering-peeces . there are two motives to quicken us to the obedience of this exhortation . gods warnings are in gods keeping . no man hath a locke and key of gods patience . hee is long-suffering , but not alwaies suffering , and how long he will suffer , no man knows . sometimes god is warning of a people 120. yeers , as he was the old world . sometimes but 40. yeeres , as he dealt with the jews , before the destruction of ierusalem , sometimes but 40. dayes , as in ninive's case . sometimes but one night as in lots case , who had warning of the burning of sodom , but the night before . we in this nation have had many yeers warning . i feare me , the taper is almost burnt out : that the sun of our prosperity is ready to set . and that the houre-glasse of our happinesse is almost run out . this is our last warning . mistake me not ; i doe not prophecy what god will do ; but what wee deserve god should doe , and what wee may justly expect he will doe , and what wee ought to provide , if hee should doe . let us amend now , or never ; before the day of mercy be past , before the draw-bridge be taken up . it may be too late the next yeer . the warnings of god , when they are slighted , they will necessitate and aggravate our condemnation . 1. they will necessitate our condemnation . for there are three degrees of gods wrath . his threatning wrath , his punishing wrath , and his condemning wrath. and this is gods methode . first , he threatneth ▪ before he punisheth : and if his threatning anger reforme us , wee shall never feele his punishing anger ; but if his threatnings prevaile not , wee shall certainly feele his punishing anger . and if neither threats , nor punishments prevaile , nothing remains but his condemning wrath. si non audies vocem misericordiae , senties vocem judicij . si nonaudies primam tubam , senties ultimam . si non audies deum minantem , senties punientem & condemnantem . what destroyed the old world , but because they did not regard noahs warning ? what destroyed lots sonnes in law , but because they mocked at lots warning . 2. they will aggravate our condemnation : for as a childe in the mothers womb , the longer it is in the wombe , before it comes forth , the bigger the childe will be , and the more pain it will put the mother unto . so the longer god keeps in his wrath , and is patient toward a nation , the bigger the childe of wrath will be , when it comes forth , and the greater will be our misery and affliction . this metaphor god himselfe useth , isaiah 42.14 . i have a long time holden my peace , i have been still , and refrained my selfe ; now will i cry like a travelling woman , i will destroy , and devoure at once . though god hath leaden feet , yet he hath iron hands . the longer he is before hee strikes , the heavier the blow will be , when hee strikes . patience is the proper purchase of the bloud of christ . there was no patience under the first covenant . deus non expectabat angelos , non expectabat adamum , god did not wait for the angels , nor for adam ; but as soone as ever they had sinned , hee throws the one out of paradise , the other into hell . but for us sinfull sons of adam , god for christs sake tarrieth , and waiteth our conversion . oh , let us not sinne against the merit of christs bloud ! read the 5c . psa. 21 , 22. these things thou hast done and i kept silence , thou thoughtest that i was altogether such a one as thy selfe : but i will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes . now consider this , ye that forget god ; lest i tear you in peeces , and there be none to deliver . let us not stop our ears from hearing these eight voices , lest god turne his words into blows , and stop his eares from hearing our voices in our extremities . there are two degrees of mercy in god , misericordia parva , & misericordia magna , his little mercy , and his great mercy . for god to wait our conversion , and to fore-warne us of evill to come , this is a mercy , and a great mercy in it selfe considered . but it is but a little in comparison of the second mercy , which is the great mercy . and that is , when god gives us grace to make a holy use of his patience , to make his patience our salvation , and to be led to repentance by it the lord bestow this great mercy upon us ! the third doctrinall conclusion . that nationall turning from evill , will divert nationall judgements , and procure nationall blessings . so saith the text : if that nation turne from their evill , then will i repent , and not only so , but verse . 9. i will build , and plant it , &c. the doctrine is a mercifull qualification of gods absolute power , he is so farre from using it , as that he indents and covenants with every nation . if they repent , i will repent . now whereas god is here said to repent , it is spoken {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , but it must be understood {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . god is not as man , that he should repent ; hee is said to repent , because hee doth that which men doe when they repent . i will repent , that is , i will turne my judgements into mercies . god doth sometimes will a change , but he never changeth his will . god from all eternity decreed to be served in the old testament with types and figures , and in the new-testament , in spirit and truth . here was a will of achange , but no change in gods will . when god is said to repent , the change is in us , not in god . as when the sun softneth the wax , and hardneth the clay ; here is a different act of the sunne ; but the change ariseth from the different object , not from the sunne . so god from all eternity decrees to punish the impenitent , and to blesse the penitent . and when a nation by gods almighty grace becomes penitent , god turnes his punishments into blessings ; but the change is in the nation , not in god . and now give me leave to speake my minde freely ; j am not come hither this day to feast your eares , but to wound your hearts ; you must not expect elegant and fine phrases . non licet in tanta miseria disertum esse , this is a day , not for humane , but divine eloquence . non loquor disertae sed fortia . a day wherein we are to cry mightily unto god , to knock aloud at heaven gates , and to extort mercy from gods hands , by a holy and acceptable violence . and for my part i know not any doctrine more sutable to worke upon your hearts and affections , then this plaine conclusion ; that there is no other way to procure blessings from god , or to turne away judgements from the land , but by turning from sinne unto god . the wrath and punishments which sinne hath twisted , repentance will untwist . sinne is as a thicke cloud , stopping the sun-shine of gods mercy ; but if we turne from sinne , this will melt the cloud , and cause the sonne of righteousnesse to shine upon us . sinne , it is as a divell in the aire , to hinder our prayers from ascending ; but if we turne from sinne , this will charme the divell , and make satan like lightning fall downe from heaven . sinne is like so many great peeces of ordnance , planted and charged upon high mountaines , ready to shoote downe cities and kingdomes : but if we turne from sinne , this will take away the force of these cannons , and make them as paper-shot . sinne is a wall of separation betweene god and us : to turne from sinne , will breake downe this wall . sinne is the great make-bate betweene god , and man : sinne dissolveth parliament unhappily : sinne puts variance betweene a king and his subjects . sinne destroyed rochel and the palatinate ; it brought the sword into ireland , and will bring it into england , unlesse we turne away from all our evill doings . to turne from sinne , is a key to unlock all the chests of gods mercies . it is clavis viscerum dei , a preservative against all misery . oh the divine rhetorique , and omnipotent efficacie of repentance ! this is that raine-bow , which if god seeth shining in our hearts , he will never drowne our soules . that starre which will bring us to christ . a repenting faith , is our sacra anchora to flye unto ; it is ilex misericordiae : it tyes gods hands , and charmes his wrath . there is no thunder-bolt so great , no wrath so furious in god , but repentance will abolish it . this abigail , will easily appeare our heavenly david , though hee march never so furiously . repentance is so acceptable to god , that he rewarded ahab for his hypocriticall repentance , that others by his example might be provoked to turne truely to god , who knew not his repentance to be hypocriticall . i have here a large field of matter , for a yeare , rather than a day : but as a little boat may land a man into a large continent ; so a few words may suggest matter sufficient to a judicious eare , for a whole lives meditation . i shall not spend time in unfolding the nature of this duty of turning from sinne ; or in shewing the reasons why this turning is so potent to divert judgements , and procure mercies ( this is the worke of every sermon . ) i will onely make one use of exhortation ( for it needes application , more then explication . ) to beseech you to turne the doctrine into practice , and to expresse the sincerity of your repentance , by two duties , which are as the two poles , upon which our turning from sinne doth move . by humiliation and reformation ; humiliation for sinnes past , reformation for the time to come : humiliation without reformation , is a foundation without a building : reformation without humiliation , proves often a building , without a foundation . both of them together , comprehend the essentialls of this great duty , which is the very quintessence of practicall divinity . 1 let us turne unto god by humiliation , for sinnes past . this day is a day of humiliation . a sabbath of weeping and mourning : wherein we should wash the feete of christ with our teares , wherein we should weepe bitterly , before the lord , powre forth our hearts like water , and strive who should put most teares into gods bottle . i beseech you , let us turne unto god with true penitent teares , drawne from the well of a broken heart , fetcht out with the backet of gods love . let us sanctifie a fast , and afflict our soules before the lord , that this day may become a day of attonement . and because the well is deepe , and our hearts are very hard , and some , it may be , want buckets to draw water withall : give mee leave to offer unto you seven buckets , which will serve , as seven helpes to humiliation . 1. let every man consider his owne sins , which hee himselfe is guilty of . have wee not broken the holy , and righteous commandements of god a thousand times , and shall not this break our hearts ? have wee not broken our vowes and covenants which wee have often made with god , and will not the meditation of this break our hearts ? god in scripture is said to have a bagge and a bottle . a bagge to put our sins in , and a bottle to put our teares in . have wee not filled gods bag with our sinnes , and shall wee not now fill gods bottle with our teares ? doth it not grieve us , that wee have so often grieved the holy spirit of god ? are we not heavy laden with those sinnes , with which god himself is pressed as a cart with sheaves ? is not god himself broken with our whorish hearts , and will not this break our hard hearts ? have wee not had yeares of sinning ? oh let us have one day of mourning ! have we not trampled the bloud of christ under our feete , and shall not the bloud of this scapegoate melt our adamantine hearts ? it is an excellent saying , that in all the sins we commit , we must not so much consider the sin that is committed , as the god against whom it is committed . and this will provoke us to great humiliation for little sins , as well as great sins . for there is no sinne simply little . there is no little god to sinne against . the lest minimum spirituale , the least offence is committed against an infinite god ; and therefore deserves infinite punishment . there was no little price paid for little sins ; the least sinne cost the shedding of the bloud of the eternall god . there is no little disobedience in a little sinne . for as there is the same rotundity in a little round ball , as in a great one : so there is the same disobedience against god , in a little sinne , as well as in a great one . to dis-obey god in a little , is no little dis-obedience . there is no little unthankfulnesse in a little sin . for the lesser the thing is , in which wee offend god , the greater is the unthankfulnesse , that we will sin against god , for so little a matter . there is no little pollution and defilement , in a little sin . a little puddle may dirty a man , as well as a great one . a little bodkin may wound a caesar to death . there is no little punishment , for little sins ; for the wages of sin is death . the wages of sin as sin , and therefore of every sin . a quatenus ad omne valet consequentia . non est distinguendum ubilex non distinguit . and therefore let us i beseech you , mourne with a great lamentation , for our little oaths , our idle words , our omissions of good duties , and defects in good duties , &c. can we mourne for the losse of our estates , for the death of our children ? and shall we not mourne that we have lost god , and the peace of a good conscience by our sins ; and that our hearts are so dead and dull to goodnesse ? can wee cry for the stone in the bladder , and not for a stony heart ? the stone in the bladder can but kill the body ; but a stony heart will cast body and soule into hell . weepe for those diseases that will destroy soule and body for ever . wee have beene often in the valley of hinnon , sacrificing our sonnes and daughters unto divels , by their wicked educations ; improoving our parts and mercies , to the service of the divell . oh , let us this day descend into the valley of bacah , and let us make this church a bochim , a place of weeping . we have many church-sins , sermonsins , sacrament-sins . let us have church-tears for our church-sins . a second help to humiliation , is the consideration of the sinnes of the nation wherin we live . this kingdome is an island incompassed with three oceans ; not onely with an ocean of water , but also with an ocean of mercies ( no nation more exalted in mercies ) and i may as truly adde with an ocean of sinnes . and that which makes our sinnes the greater , is because our mercies have beene so great . we have sinned under mercies ; we have provoked god , at the sea , even the red sea . this was a great aggravation of the israelites sin , and so it is of ours . wee have sinned not onely under mercies , but with our mercies , wee have made a golden calfe , with the jewels of mercies which god hath bestowed upon us . we have taken the members of christ , and have made them the members of a harlot . what sin is there under the cope of heaven , whereof any nation is guilty , which we have not ingrossed to our selves ? let us weepe for the beastly drunkennesse of this nation : but why do i call it beastly ? for generally beasts are sober : it deserves a name inferiour to beasts , for so it makes a man for the time . austin saith , that in his days drunkennesse was growne to that heigth , as that there was no remedy against it , but by calling of a synod . and in our dayes it is growne to that gyant-like bignesse , as that there is no hope of redresse , but in the parliament . woe to this land because of this sinne ; this is that which will make us unable to stand before our enemies , and to stagger like a drunken man . for this sin god gives a land over to the spirit of giddinesse . let us weepe for the blasphemous swearing that is in the nation , wherein ( if in any thing ) there is a pride taken in offending god , for other benefit of it i know none . for this sinne the land mourneth , and let us mourne . weepe for the adultery and fornication , which as an epidemicall disease hath overspread the nation . whoremongers , and adulterers god will judge . if man will not , god will . he that divorceth himselfe from his wife , and joyns himselfe to a harlot , god will divorce himself from such a man , and divorce his mercies and blessings from him . vveepe for the covetousnes of the nation . this sinne is the root of all evill : and for this sinne god will root out a nation . he that is swallowed up with earth , ( as corah , and his company ) his eares stopped with earth , his heart stuffed with earth , god will give him earth enough when he dyes ; and they that love earth so immoderately , are likely to have little enough of heaven . weepe for the oppression , extortion , bribery , lying , griping , usury , cousenage and deceit in trading . these sinnes will cause a fourth ocean to encompasse this island , and that is an ocean of misery . let us shed teares for the innocent blood that is shed in the land ; for the divellish pride that is amongst us : pride of heart , pride of apparell , in following the fashions of every nation almost . how justly may wee expect , that god should make us slaves to that nation , whose fashions we so eagerly follow ? mourne for the great prophanation of our christian sabbath-day : how can we expect that god should give us rest in this land , if we will not give him a sabbath , a day of rest ? oh , let our eyes gush downe with rivers of teares ! oh that our heads were fountaines of teares for the idolatry ( that land-devouring sinne of idolatry ) for the superstition , the apostasie , the contempt of the gospel , and of the ministers , and ministery of it that raignes amongst us ! it is time for god to deprive us of manna , when we begin to be weary of it ; the time may come we may have sermons few enough , that neglect them so much as some doe . the confessors that fled for their religion in queene maries daies , acknowledged ( as vrsinus relates ) that that great inundation of misery came justly upon them , for the neglect of , and unprofitablenesse under the gospel , which they had enjoyed in king edwards dayes . and if they were so severely punished for a few yeares contempt of the gospel ; what a superlative degree of punishment doe we deserve , that have had the gospel of peace , and the peace of the gospel , for almost an hundred yeares , and yet are so unlike the gospel in our conversations ? the time would faile , if i should make a catalogue of our nationall sinnes . oh , let us be one of the mourners in sion , for the abhominations of the land ; that so we may be mark't out for safety . and let us take this rule to perswade us . those sinnes which we know others to commit , and yet mourne not for them , these sins become our owne sins : and therfore we may well pray with austine , lord deliver me from other mens sinnes , which for want of mourning and grieving for , i have made mine owne . a third bucket to draw the water of teares withall ; is the consideration of the great breaches that are in church and state . we are divided in minutula frustula ( as austine of the donatists . ) let these breaches break our hearts , let these rents rend our hard hearts . for the division of england let us have great thoughts of heart . a fourth helpe to humiliation , is the consideration of the miseries that are like to come upon us as the woefull consequent of these breaches . as our saviour christ , when hee came neere ierusalem , and beheld the sinne of it , and the desolation that was impendent over it , he wept , saying ; oh that thou hadst known , even thou , at least in this thy day , the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes , &c. so let us contemplate the sins of england , and the destruction which wee may justly expect as the fruite of our sinnes ; and let us weepe over england , and say , oh england , england , that killest the prophets , and stonest them that are sent unto thee ! oh that thou hadst knowne , even thou , at least in this thy day , the things which belong to thy peace . it is reported of xerxes , that having prepared 300000. men to fight with the graecians , and beholding so great a multitude of souldiers ; hee fell a weeping out of the consideration , that not one of them should remaine alive , within the space of an hundred years . much more ought we to mourn , when we consider the abundance of people that are in england , and the abundance of sin perpetrated among us ; and what shall become not onely of our bodies within these few years , but what shall become of our souls to all eternity . a fifth bucket is , the contemplation of germany , which is now become a golgotha , a place of dead mens sculs , and an aceldama , a field of bloud . some nations are chastised with the sword , others with famine , others with the man-destroying plague . but poore germany hath been sorely whipped with all these three iron whips at the same time , and that for above twenty yeares space . oh , let us make use of this bucket , and draw out water , and poure it out before the lord this day ; let us send up our cries to heaven for germany . it is a signe that we are not true members of the body of christ , because we have no more fellow-feeling of the miseries of the same body . a dead member hath no sense of its own misery , or of the bodies distemper . if wee be living members , we will simpathize with the calamities of gods people . a sixth helpe to humiliation , is the consideration of the bleeding condition of ireland . i need not relate ( you have great reason to know it better than my selfe ) the inhumane , barbarous , canniballisticall , and super-superlative out-rages , butcheries , and massacres that are there committed by those bloudy rebels . oh , let us send up one teare this day , as an orator to the throne of grace , to plead for mercy for poore ireland ! this is one chiefe cause of this generall fast , to pray and weep for ireland . help it ( right honourable ) oh , helpe it vvith your prayers and tears . tears have voices as vvell as words . i thank thee , oh lord ( saith david ) that thou hast heard the voice of my weeping . where note , weeping hath a voice . and as musicke upon the waters sounds farther , and more harmoniously than upon the land : so prayers joyned with tears , cry louder in gods eares , and make sweeter musicke then when teares are absent . when antipater had written a large letter against alexanders mother unto alexander , the king answered him : dost thou not know that one teare from my mother , will wash away all her faults ? so it is with god ; a penitent teare is an undeniable embassador . an object look't upon when it is in the water , seemes bigger than when it is out of the water . let us looke upon irelands misery through the water of our teares , and this will represent it in its due proportion . let us weepe , because we cannot weepe , let our hearts weepe , because our eyes cannot weep . to move your hearts a little more , suffer mee to propound three examples . 1. the example of abraham , who was so zealous for the preservation of sodome , that by an humble importunity he brought god down to these terms , that if there had beene ten wheat-ears in sodome , all the tares should have been spared for these ten mens sake . and when god was gone from abraham , he continued so solicitous for the good or sodome ; that ( as luther thinks ) he could not sleepe all night . i am sure the scripture saith , he gate up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the lord , and he looked toward sodom , to see what was become of his prayers . if abraham did thus much for sodome , for wicked sodome ; ought not you to be much more zealous for the protestants in ireland , who professe the same faith , and are under the same government with us in england ? 2. let me offer the example of nehemiah , who though for his owne particular he was in great prosperity , and in great favour at the court ; yet when he heard of the afflict on and misery of the people of god at ierusalem , hee sate downe and wept , and mourned , and fasted , and never desisted , till hee had obtained leave to goe and helpe his brethren at ierusalem . 3. i shall propound the example of hierome , who was writing a commentary upon ezekiel ; but when hee heard of the besieging of rome ( a place wherein he had formerly lived ) and of the death of many godly people , he was so astonished and amazed at the newes , that for many nights and dayes hee could thinke of nothing . et in captivitate sanctorum se esse captivum putabat . he thought himselfe taken captive , amongst those that were taken captive . i might adde the story of phineas wife , but i forbeare . let these examples be your instruction and encouragement . me thinks i heare a voice in ireland , like the voice that was heard in rama , lamentation and weeping and great mourning , rachel weeping for her children , and would not be comforted because they are not . me thinks i see ( do not you so also ? ) the poore people of ireland looking out of their windows , and crying out as the mother of sisera . why is his chariot so long in comming ? why tarry the wheels of his chariot ? why is aide so long delayd ? where are englands bowels ? me thinks i see the very flames of this great fire that is kindled in ireland . oh , let this fire melt our hard hearts into pitty and compassion ! i doubt not but this bucket will draw out a great deal of water this day . there is one bucket more , the last , but not the least ; and that is the consideration of the lord jesus christ . his body was rent and torne for us . oh , let this rend and teare our hearts that ever we should sinne against such a christ ! his bloud was poured forth as a sacrifice for our sins . oh , let us pour forth our tears , for our offences against him ! beloved in the lord ; this is a day wherin we ought to make conscience to get our hearts affected with deep sorrow for sin ; otherwise we do but take gods name in vain . now there is no way more powerfull to produce this effect , then by going to mount calvary , and by burying our selves in the meditation of christ crucified . there is a story of an earle called elzearus , that was much given to immoderate anger ; and the means he used to cure this disordered affection , was by studying of christ , and of his patience in suffering the injuries and affronts that were offered unto him ; and he never suffered this meditation to passe from him , before he found his heart transformed into the similitude of jesus christ . wee are all sick of a hard and stony heart ; and if ever we desire to be healed of this soule damning disease , let us have recourse to the lord jesus christ ; and never leave meditating of his breakings kings and woundings for us , till we finde vertue comming out of christ , to break our hearts . let us pray to the great heart-maker , that hee would be the heart-breaker . so much for the duty of humiliation . the second duty wherein wee must expresse our turning to god is reformation . humiliation is not sufficient without reformation . it is not enough to be broken for sinne , but we must also be broken from sinne . as a bird cannot flie with one wing , nor a man walke with one leg ; no more can we get to heaven by humiliation , without reformation . both of them conjoyned , are the legs and wings by which we walk and flie to heaven , and therefore let me most earnestly exhort you to repent from sin , as well as for sin . the crown we fight for this day , the garland we run for , the marke we aime at , is mercy ; this is our joynt suit , that god would shew mercy to england and ireland . now the way to obtaine mercy is clearly expressed , prov. 28 13. he that confesseth and forsaketh his sins , shall have mercy . this god cals for from heaven ; this all the faithfull ministers in the city preach for this day , reformation , reformation , reformation . as master bradford at the stake cried out , so do i at this time , repent , o england , repent , repent . there is a three-fold fast , a fast from meat , from mirth , and from sinne . the two first will not suffice without the last . a beast may fast from meat . the divels fast , saith ambrose . the old world ( as some thinke ) did never eate flesh , and yet they were all drowned . though we could fast till we were perfect anatomists ; though we could pray and kneele , till our knees were as hard as camels knees ( as it is reported of iames the brother of christ ) yet all were to no purpose , without this turning from sin . this is jejunium magnum , as austin saith . this is jejunium totius anni , jejunium omnium partium . this is the great and the everlasting fast , to fast from sin by reformation . now this reformation , it must have two properties , vvhich are both of them mentioned in the text . 1. it must be personall , 2. it must be nationall . it must be personall ; for so saith the text ; if that nation against vvhom i have pronounced , turn from their evill , a malitia sua . every man hath some sinne vvhich is his peccatum in delicijs , his dilectum delictum , his beloved sin , the sin of his constitution . let us turne from that sin , vvhatsoever it is ; and if vve know not vvhat that sin is , let us turne from every sinne , and so vve shall be sure to turne from that sin . this the king of niniveh commanded that every one of his subjects should cry mightily unto god ; and not onely so , but every one to turne from his evill way , and from the violence that is in their hands . thus must we ; vve must be able to say vvith david , i have kept my selfe from my sin . we live in times wherein there vvas never more turning . some turne like the dogge to the vomit , and like the sow to the wallowing in the myre : some turne atheists , some papists , some socinians , some arminians . some turne like the weather-cock , which way the winde bloweth ; which way soever preferment goes , that way they turne : many turn neurers : many turne from christs side , to be of antichrists side ; many turne cold and icy for god and his church : some are like unto the chamelion , that will change it selfe into any colour but white . so many will turne to be any thing but good . if times turne ill , they will be naught ; but if times turne good , they will not be good . but i beseech you , let all us here present before the lord this day , turn sincerely unto the lord our god from all iniquity . let us strip our selves stark naked , of all the rags of the old adam . repent of your pride ; dust and ashes doth better become you . repent of your gluttony and drunkennesse , let weeping be your drinke , and fasting your meate . repent of your swearing . condemne your selves out of your owne mouths , that god may justifie you . repent of your covetousnesse : if ever you expect to gaine heaven , looke not after the earth so much . repent of your adultery , that god may marry you unto himselfe , and least you be married to eternall flames . repent of your security , that you may live securely . no way to escape damnation , but by repentance ; and no man that ever repented aright , but did escape damnation . oh that this day might be the conversion of some sinner , that they may be able to say , from such a fasting day , i began to turn unto god! oh that this fasting-day might be a festivall-day to the angels in heaven ; who rejoyce at the conversion of a sinner ! oh that some zacheus would make restitution this day ! that some prodigall childe would return to his heavenly father ! god almighty exceedingly delights to shew mercy to a penitent sinner . as a husband-man delights much in that ground , that after long unfruitfulnesse proves fruitfull , and calls his friends and neighbours , to behold that ground : as a captain loves that souldier , that once fled away cowardly , and afterwards returns and fights valiantly ; even so god is wonderfully inamoured with a sinner , that having once made shipwrack of a good conscience ; yet at last returns and swims to heaven upon the plank of faith and repentance . this is a notable provocation to all wretched hard-hearted sinners to turn unto god by true repentance . god is so farre from refusing you , that he rejoyceth in your conversion , and is more ready to receive you , then you are to come . and i may safely adde , that in some sense god delights more in a penitent prodigall , then in one of his righteous children . as the good shepheard rejoyced more in his lost sheep , then in his 99. sheep ; and the good woman in her lost groat ; and the good father in his lost sonne , more then in the sonne that went not astray . it is true , that innocency of life is better , simply and absolutely considered , than repentance : and it is more to be desired to live without sin , than to have grace to repent after sin . as a whole garment is better than a rent garment , and yet a rent garment may be so handsomely pieced together , that there shall be little difference between that and a whole garment . a penitent sinner , that feelingly apprehends the great mercy of god in pardoning so great a sinner as he was ; the sense of this distinguishing love of god towards him , raiseth up his heart to a higher pitch of zeal , and enables him to draw neer to god with more affection , and fervently to be more tender of sin , and to do , and suffer more for god many times , than those that are more righteous than he is . as suppose , two men at sea , the one comes safely to shore without danger , the other escapes to shore not without great hazard and perill of life : he that comes without hazard hath more cause simply to be thankfull ; yet ordinarily , he that had the greater danger , out of sense of his danger , will return more praise than the other . saint paul laboured more than all the other apostles , because he was a greater sinner than all the other apostles , and had obtained greater mercy . therefore mary magdalen loved much , because much was forgiven her we never reade that the blessed virgin ever came to wash the feet of christ with her tears . but mary magdalen , a great sinner she did it , and she comes first to the sepulcher , and afterwards ( as some report ) she spent 30. yeers in gallia narbonensi in weeping for her sins . gregory brings the example of david , who after he had obtained pardon for murdering vriah , and committing adultery with bathsheba , fell a longing after the water of bethlehem . but when the water was brought , he poured it forth before the lord , and would not drink of it , because it hazarded the lives of his men . observe how tender of sin david was after his repentance . he that before had spilt innocent blood , is now troubled in conscience , for putting the lives of his men in jeopardy : he that before longed for another mans wife , doth now repent , for desiring another mans water . bernard brings the example of peter , who before his denyall , considently told christ , though all forsook him , yet he would not ; yet afterwards , when he had repented of his denying of christ , he was so tender , that when christ purposedly asked him three times , lovest thou me more than these ? he answers not comparatively , as before , but positively ; onely lord thou knowest i love thee . and this is another provocation to exhort all sinners to lay hold upon this holy anchor , this wrath-charming repentance . come all ye prodigall children , all ye lost sheep that have gone astray : behold your heavenly father is not onely ready , but joyfull to receive you ; and if rightly understood , more joyfull , than in his faithfull children . was there ever mercy like to this ! oh that we had hearts to embrace it ! and the greater any man is in estate , and parts , the more honour god shall have , if such a man will turn to god this day . great men are the looking-glasse of the countrey where they live , according to which , most men dresse themselves : if they be wicked , the whole countrey is much the worser by them . the vices of rulers are rules of vices , quicquid faciunt praecipere videntur . if the head be giddy , the members reel , if the liver be tainted , the body is dropsie . ieroboam made all israel to sin . but when great men prove good men , it is not to be expressed , what good they do . when crispus the chief ruler of the synagogue , beleeved on the lord , many of the corinthians hearing , beleeved also . when the master of the family was converted , his whole family were also baptized . the lord make all great men , good men and good men ( of parts and abilities ) great men . 2 as this reformation must be personall , so also it must be nationall . for so saith the text , if that nation against which , &c. a particular man by turning unto god , may turn away a particular judgement . but when the sins of a nation are generall , and the judgements upon a nation generall , the turning must be generall . if the sea hath broken the banks , and overflown the countrey , it is not the care of one or two men , by repairing their banks , that can prevent the inundation . even so when god is overflowing a land with a generall destruction , there must be a generall endeavour to make up the whole breach . there must be a court-reformation , a countrey-reformation , a city-reformation , church and state-reformation , a generall-reformation . but how shall we do to obtain this generall reformation ? two wayes . if you that are the representative body of this nation , as you stand under this relation , be reformed , the nation it self may be said to be reformed . for you are the nation representatively , virtually , and eminently ; you stand in the place of the whole nation ; and if you stand for gods cause , the whole nation doth it in you . oh let it not be said , that the reformers of others need reformation themselves ! if the eye be dark , how great is that darknesse , &c. if the salt that seasoneth other things , be unsavoury , wherewithall shall it be seasoned ? this is the first way . the second way to reform a nation , is when you that are the representative body of the nation do , as much as in you lyeth , to reform the nation you represent . this is a duty that god requires and expects from your hands . it was the complaint of nehemiah , that the nobles of tekoah did not put their necks to the yoak of the lord , this was a great blemish to them . let not , i beseech you , the like brand of infamy be cast upon any of you . it cannot be denied but that this nation needs reformation , not onely in reference to the common-wealth , but also to the church . the prophet in the ninth verse , compares a nation to a house that needs building , and to an orchard that needs planting . and sure it is , that the house of this nation is much out of repair : the house of the lord lieth waste , and there is much rubbish in it . many pollutions have crept into our doctrine , much defilement into our worship , many illegall innovations have been obtruded upon us ; the very posts and pillars of this house , many of them are rotten , the stones are loose and uncemented ; the house exceedingly divided and distracted with diversity of opinions ; the very foundation is ready to shake , and the house to fall down about our ears . the garden of this nation is over grown with weeds ; and there are many not onely unprofitable , but hurtfull trees planted in this garden . now this is the great work that the lord requireth at your hands , oh ye worthies of israel ! to stub up all these unprofitable trees , and to repair the breaches of gods house , to build it up in its beauty , according to the pattern in the mount , and to bring us back not onely to our first reformation in king edwards dayes , but to reform the reformation it self . for we were then newly crept out of popery , and ( like unto men that come newly out of prison , where they have been long detained ) it was impossible but our garments should smell a little of the dungeon from whence we came . it is said of lazarus , that when he came first out of the grave , he came forth bound hand and foot with grave-clothes , and his face was bound about with a napkin . so it was with us in our first reformation : it was a most blessed and glorious work , like the resurrection from the grave : but yet notwithstanding we came out of this grave bound hands and feet with our grave clothes , and eyes-blinding napkins ; we brought many things out with us which should have been left behinde . our saviour christ rose from the dead , and left all his linnen clothes behinde him . so must we bury all superstitious ceremonies in the grave of oblivion , and perfect a reformation according to the word of god . and as our saviour christ , in the place forementioned , commanded his disciples to unbinde lazarus , and to take away his grave-clothes . oh that you also would command the apostles of christ , the faithfull and learned ministers of this kingdome to meet in a free nationall synod , for to inform you about the taking away of these grave clothes , and eiesblinding napkins , or whatsoever else shall appear to be prejudiciall to the piety and purity of of gods worship . but then i do most earnestly beseech you to take heed that those whom you call to this synod , be not like unto the cardinalls and prelates who met at rome , to consult about reformation of the church , of whom luther speaks . that they were like unto foxes that came to sweep a house full of dust with their tails , and instead of sweeping out the dust , they swept it all about the house , and made a great smoke for the while , but when they were gone , the dust fell all down again . i doubt not but if this motion ( which i offer in all humility ) succeed , your wisedoms will be carefull to make such qualifications both of the persons that are to chuse , and to be chosen , that no minister lyable to any just exception , shall have a voice in this synod , for fear lest our greatest remedy prove to be our greatest ruine . but this by the way . oh that the lord would make me an instrument this day to encourage you to go on in the work of reformation . for sions sake i will not hold my peace , and for ierusalems sake i will not rest , untill the righteousnesse thereof go forth as brightnesse , and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth . arise , arise , have mercy upon sion , for the time to favour her , yea , the set time is come : let it pitty you to see sion in the dust . let this be the product of this solemn fast to quicken you to a nationall reformation . when moses had been conversing with god , his face shone when he came down . you are now conversing with god in the mount ; oh that your lives might shine forth in holines , after this day : and that it may be with you as it was with hezekiah , when he and all his people kept the passeover together ; the first thing they did before the killing of the passeover was , the taking away all the altars that were at ierusalem , and casting them into the brook kidron . and when the passeover was finished , all israel that were present , went out to the cities of iudah , and brake the images in peeces , and cut down the groves , and threw down the high places , and the altars out of all iudah , and benjamin , in ephraim also , and manasseh , untill they had utterly destroyed them all . i speak not of any tumultuous , disorderly , illegall way , but of an orderly and legall reformation : which i desire ( like this of hezekiah ) may be the issue of this day . the motives are many . 1. if you build gods house , god will build houses for you , as he did for the hebrew midwives , he will blesse and prosper you . remember what the prophet haggai saith . is it time for you , o yee , to dwell in your ceiled houses , and this house lye waste ? now therefore , thus saith the lord ; consider your wayes , yee have sown much , and bring in little , yee eat , but ye have not enough , ye cloath you , but there is none warm ; and he that earneth wages , earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes . thus saith the lord , consider your wayes , go up to the mountain , and bring wood and build the house , and i will take pleasure in it , and i will be glorified , saith the lord , &c. read also , verse 9 , 10 , 11. 2. consider what mordecai said unto esther . think not with thy self that thou shalt escape in the kings house , more then all the iews , for if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time , then shall there enlargement , and deliverance arise to the iews from another place ; but thou and thy fathers house shall be destroyed . and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom , for such a time as this ? as ierome said concerning the day of judgement . that whether he did eat , or drink , or whatsoever he did , he did alwayes hear the voice of the arch-angel , arise yee dead , and come to judgement . so doe i desire that you would at all times , and in all places , remember and consider this soul-awakening speech of mordecai and esther . 3. consider the famous examples of ezra , nehemiah , and zerubbabel , what care and pains they took for the rebuilding , not only of the walls , but also of the temple of ierusalem . it is not enough to set the state in tune , but you must remember to repair the temple also . be not afraid of tobiah , sanballat , or of any other enemy . who art thou o great mountain ? before zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain . a parliament-man must be like athanasius , who was magnes & adamas . a loadstone , and an adamant . a loadstone by his affable carriage , and courteous behaviour , drawing all men to the love of him . but in the cause of god he was as an adamant , untameable and unconquerable . 4. if we reform and turn , god will turn ; if we turn from the evill of our sins god will turn from the evill of his judgements . tertullian speaks of himself , that he was born to nothing else but to repentance . an excellent saying for every one to lay to heart . the first text that ever iohn baptist preached on , was repentance . the first that ever christ preached on , was repentance . and the first thing that christ commanded his apostles to preach , was repentance . god himself hath consecrated repentance , by his own example , saith tertullian , dedicavit poenitentiam in semetipso . he repenteth to teach us to repent . this is that which god not only commands , and entreateth , but sweareth that he would have us to do . happy we for whose sake god swears , but most unhappy if we beleeve not god when he swears , and if we live not as we beleeve . will a nationall reformation certainly divert gods judgements from a nation ? did not iosiah reform , and yet it is expressely said , that notwithstanding this reformation , yet the lord turned not from the fiercenesse of his great wrath , wherewith his anger was kindled against iudah , because of all the provocations that manasses had provoked him withall . 1. a nationall reformation will certainly deliver us from everlasting misery . 2. it is gods ordinary way for the removeall of temporall judgements . there is no instance fully against it , but this of iosiah : but to this it may be replyed , that iosiahs reformation in reference to the multitude , was hypocriticall ; and therefore it did only prorogue and adjourn ; but not totally remove gods wrath . that it was so in regard of the people , appears , ierem. 3. 10. and yet for all this , her treacherous sister judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart , but fainedly , saith the lord . a sincere nationall turning will certainly divert nationall judgements , and procure nationall blessings . if we will not turn , reform , and repent of our sins , god will repent with a new kinde of repentance , he will not repent of the evill , but repent that he hath repented of the evill ; he will repent of the good wherewith he said he would benefit us . and this leads me to the fourth doctrinall conclusion . doctrine 4. that when god begins to build and plant a nation ; if that nation do evill in gods sight , god will unbuild , pluck up , and repent of the good he intended to do unto it . this is a point of great concernment , expressely set down in the tenth verse . it is certain that god hath begun to build and plant this nation , and he hath made you his instruments ( right honourable ) in this great work . we reade , zechary 1.19 . of four horns , which scattered iudah and ierusalem . by these four horns , are meant all the enemies of gods people , that are alwayes pushing at them , and goring of them . and verse 20 , we reade of four carpenters whom god raised up to fray away these horns . such carpenters have you been unto us : you have knockt off all those horns wherewith the fat buls of bashan pushed at us : you have endeavoured to under-prop the house of this kingdom , and to keep it from falling : you have stubb'd up many unprofitable trees , and taken away ( at least , in your endeavours ) many rotten posts : you have removed a great deal of rubbidge : you have been our ebedmelech's , to release our ieremies out of the dungeon . indeed you have done marvellous things , blessed be the name of the lord ! and we have cause to be enlarged in much thankfulnesse , though you never have opportunity to do more for us . ezra blessed god that had given them a little reviving in their bondage . a man that hath been for many yeers in a dark dungeon , will rejoyce exceedingly for a little crevise of light , though never so little . we have been in the dungeon of despair , and we blesse god for the little crevise of light let in by your means . we have lien among the pots ( inter ollas fuliginosas ) sullied with filth ; and there is a crevise of hope ( in the valley of achor ) that we shall be as the wings of a dove , covered with silver , and her feathers with yellow gold . and though this childe of hope be but yet an embrio ; we will not despise the day of little things . when ezra had laid the foundation of the temple , there was great joy and rejoycing . we doubt not but there is a foundation laid of better times , and such a foundation which shall never be taken away . the lord recompence all the pains you have taken , upon you and yours . and yet let me adde one word as a parenthesis ; that nehemiah after all his good services he had done for the church , sub-joyns these words . remember me , o my god , concerning this , and spare me ; he begs pardon for his noble work of reformation . blessed be god here is hope of a faire building , and of a most beautifull paradise , if things succeed as they have begun . but now marke the doctrine . when god begins to build , and plant , if that nation do evill , god will un-build what he hath built , pluck up what he hath planted , he will repent of the good , &c. for you must know , that god repents as well of his mercies , as of his judgements . when god had made saul king , and he proved stubborne and disobedient , god repented that ever he made him king . when god saw that the wickednesse of the old world was great upon earth , he was grieved at the very heart , and repented that ever he made man . when david was bringing home the arke with great pompe , because it was not brought home in due order ; and because of vzzah's sin , god repented of what he was doing , and the arke stayed in the middle way . when the people of israel were come out of egypt , and very neere canaan ; because they brought an evill report upon the land of canaan , and murmured , the lord repents of what he had done , and carries them backe againe forty years journey through the vast howling wildernesse . reason . 1. because gods covenant with a nation is conditionall . it is quamdiu se benè gesserit . if that nation obey my voice , then wil i build it and plant it : but if it disobey my voice , then will i pluck it up , pull it down , and destroy it . the lord is with you , while ye be with him : and if ye seek him , he will be found of you : but if you forsake him , he will forsake you . if you do wickedly , you shall perish , both you and your king . 2. because that sinne is so pernicious to a that where sinne rules , there god and his mercy will not abide . sinne takes away the favour of god , by which all nations subsist . and if gods favour be gone , all is gone . sinne dissolves the very joynts and sinews of a nation ; religion maintains and upholds kingdoms . the trojans had their palladium ; as long as that was safe , they were safe . the romans had their ancile ; as long as that was kept , they were secure . the israelites had their ark ; as long as that was sure , there was a defense upon mount zion . pure and undefiled religion , is the palladium , the ancile , the ark , to preserve kingdoms . but sinne betrayeth religion into the hands of superstition and idolatry . sinne is a serpent in the bosome , a thief in the house , poyson at the stomack , a sword at the very heart of a nation . if the serpent be in the bosome , it will bite ; if a thief in the house , he will steal ; if poyson in the stomack , it will pain us ; if a sword at the heart , it will kill us . use . hence we may learn what the reason is of the great delay in the reformation of the church ; why the childe of reformation sticks in the birth ; why the hand of mercy begins to be pulled in ; and why many observers of the times begin to fear that this is not , as yet , the appointed time wherein god will have mercy upon sion . i am very confident , that the fault is not in you to whom i speak ; but it is laid down , 2 chron. 20. 33. howbeit the high places were not taken away , for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the god of their fathers . the people of the land would not bear a thorow reformation . i deny not but that the land in which we live is a land of uprightnesse . as many amongst us truely religious , as in any place in the world , of the like bignesse . but yet the bulk of our people are wicked , and their hearts are not as yet prepared to the yoke of the lord . oderunt vincula pietatis . they are unreformed themselves ; and it is no wonder they are so opposite to a thorow reformation . it may be said of many amongst us , as ieremy did once say of his people , the prophets prophesie falsly , and the priests bear rule by their means , and my people love to have it so ; and what will ye do in the end thereof ? now it is this sin of the land that weakens your hands , and divides you sometimes one from another , and keeps you from perfecting this great work of reformation . and i conceive no way better to remedy this , than by sending a faithfull and painfull ministery thorowout the kingdom . for if you will be pleased to observe , you will finde that those places which are rud'st and most ignorant , most irregular ; and where the least preaching hath been , are the greatest enemies to reformation . this is a work worth , of serious consideration . the lord stir up your hearts to consider it , and open your eyes also , clearly to perceive that there are more with you , then against you ; and that when god reformes a nation , he doth not finde us prepared , but he makes us prepared . when god sheweth mercy to a nation , there goeth power with the mercy to heal the nation , ezek. 36. 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28. if when a nation doth evill in gods sight , god will repent of the good he intended , &c. let us repent of our evils committed against god , that he may not repent of the good he intends to do unto us . chuse which you will , if we repent , god will repent of the evill , &c. if we repent not , god will repent of the good , &c. and suffer me to tell you . that when god begins to draw back his mercies from a nation , that nation is in a wofull plight , god repented that he made the old world ; and what followed ? the next news you hear , is , they were all drowned . he repented that he had made saul king , and the next news we hear , is , that he was rejected from being king . he repented that he had brought the israelites out of egypt ; and thereupon he carries them back again , and swears that not one of them should enter into canaan , but that all their carkases should perish in the wildernesse . it is god only that can build and plant a nation . he is the only architect that can build our waste places , and make up our dilapidations , though never so great ; he is the only gardner to pluck up our weeds , and to plant usefull and fruitfull trees in the orchard of this nation . and if he please he can do it , and that in an instant with a word speaking . for so it is in the text , at what instant i speak concerning a nation to build , and to plant it ; though the house of the kingdom be never so much out of repair , god can in an instant build us , and plant us , and make us better then ever . but if god begin to repent of what he hath done , woe to the nation , for except the lord build the house , they labour in vain that build it , in vain to rise up early , and to sit up late , &c. god will unravell all , and though he hath brought us neer canaan , he will carry us back again , and make us to tarry forty yeers for a reformation , or it may be he will at last carry us back again to egypt , which was the last and greatest curse , threatned against the people of israel , and it is the greatest misery that can come upon this nation . but on the contrary , if we turn from our evill wayes , god will perfect his building , and finish his plantation , he will make us a glorious paradise , an habitation fit for himself to dwell in ; he will set up his ordinances after a purer manner , and watch over us for good from the beginning of the yeer to the end of it . oh that these words of mine might be as goads , and as nails to fasten this point upon your hearts , that it may take deep impression , and abide for ever upon your spirits . it may be some will say , that this doctrine is as common as the high-way : it is true , it is a common high way , but it is the high way to heaven . and though it be not a doctrine to glut your ears , yet it is savoury meat , such as iacob provided for esau , whereby he obtained the blessing . turn or burn for ever in hell . let every man labour first to turn himself , and then let us endeavour to reform one another . there is a great complaint in the kingdom . the ministers complain of their people , that they are factious , seditious , covetous , dis-respectfull of the ministery , &c. and that because they do not reform ; therefore the judgements of god are not turned away from us . the people complain of their ministers , that they are dumb dogs , greedy dogs , which can never have enough , and that they are superstitious , more for pomp then substance ; and that untill the scandalous ministers be removed , gods heavy hand will never be removed from us . the rich complain of the poor , that they are lazy , and theevish , the poor of the rich , that they are proud and hard-hearted . the superiours cry out against their inferiours , and the inferiours against the superiours . and because every man expects when his neighbour should turn , hence it cometh to passe that no man in particular turns . we look for that in another , which we forget to do in our selves . i know no way to reconcile this division , but by raising a new division , and by perswading all sorts of people to strive , who should be the first in turning to god , who should first get into christ , who should first get into the ark . every man strives for worldly precedency . oh let us strive for this spirituall precedency ! it is no pride in this to go one before another . he is the humblest that goeth first . and being reformed in our own persons , let us in the next place labour to reform one another . we are all of one nation , of one body , one flesh , one church . there is a nationall communion , a morall communion , a politicall communion , a spirituall communion amongst us . i may adde , there is a communion in misery . we are all in the same condemnation . let us labour to pitty one another , and to turn one another . let every man search what drunkard , what swearer , what adulterer , &c. he hath in his house , and either cause the sin to depart from the person , or both sin and person from his house . first reforme your own families , and then you will be the fitter to reforme the family of god . let the master reforme his servant , the father his childe , the husband his wife . will a man keepe a servant in his house all night , if he were assured he would murther him before morning ? such a servant is sinne , it will murther soul and bodie . let us cast it away from our selves , and from our families . there is one motive more , and that is from the ayd you are sending to ireland , to distressed ireland , that at this instant calls to england with aloud cry for help and assistance . i doubt not , but you are sensible that delay is as bad as deniall almost . i shall offer only one text to be considered on when you send forth your help , and that is deut. 23. 9. when the host goeth forth against their enemies , then keep thee from every wicked thing . if sin be in the host , it will make you turn your backs upon your enemies ; turn to god , and he will make your enemies turn their backs upon you . but it is not in my power to turn , unlesse i were praedestinated ? i answer with master bradford , that we must first go to the grammar-schoole of repentance , before we can be admitted to the university of praedestination . it is not a dispute about praedestination that will turn away gods wrath , but it is the practise of humiliation and reformation . it is most certain , that god is not the cause of any mans damnation . he found us sinners in adam , but made none sinners . thy perdition is of thy selfe , oh israel ! and it is as certain , that it is not in the power of man by nature to convert himselfe . and that therefore god commands what we cannot perform , that we might therby take notice what we should do , and what we once could do in adam , and where we should go to get power to do that which we cannot do of our selves . go to the word , that hath a creating power . god oftentimes in speaking gives power . go to prayer , for converting grace . pray with austine , lord give me what thou commandest , and command what thou wilt . it is an excellent rule observed by the same author . that there is nothing required of us from god as a duty in scripture , but it is either promised by god as a gift , or some of gods saints have prayed for it as a gift . as for example . god commands us to turn unto him , but ieremy prayes for it ; turn us , oh lord , and we shall be turned . and god promiseth it , deut. 30. 6. ezek. 36. 26. let us therefore be sensible of our inability to keepe the commandement of the text ; and let us beleeve in his promise , to give us power to keepe it , and pray for the performance of his promise . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a31933e-180 mallem obedire quam miracula facere . luther . 2 chron. 24.24 . prov. 14 34. ezra 5.1 . notes for div a31933e-680 verse 7. verse 8. verse 8. verse 9. ver. 10. doct. 1. verse 2. verse 4. verse 6. dan. 4.34 , 35. reas. 1. ro. 11.36 . a eodem die fuistis omnium miserrimi & omnium beatissimi . nox una non tantum vos a morte in vitam traduxit , sed ex abysso profundissima evexit supra omnem terrenam faelicitatem , ac si in nubibios equitaretis . vse 1. isa. 40.15 . iere. 10. 6 , 7. iere. 5.22 . isa. 51.12 , 13. text. isa. 30 33 reve 6. 15 , 16. psal. 4. 1 cor. 10.22 . vse 2. vse 3. athanas. in vita antonij . doct. 2. reas. 1. isa. 45.7 . reas. 2. cant. 2.8 . reas. 3. vse 1. in vita 1. agrip. lib. 5 de bell. gal. tertul. apolog. motives bernard . bernard . sermon de triplici miseric. bernard . sermon . de triplici miseric. & quatuor miserat . doct. 3. deus vult mutationē sed nunquam mutat voluntatem , aquinas . deus aliquando mutat sententiam , sed nunquam mutat decretum , greg. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , naz. tertul. de paenit . paenitentia radens & verrens peccata , ibid. use of exhortation unto two duties . 1 to humiliation . seven buckets to draw out the water of tears . job 14. 17 ps. 56. 8. eph. 4 30. am. 2. 13. ezek. 6. 9. six reasons to move us to great sorrow for little sins . buck. 2. ps. 105 7. aust. epist 6 4. heb. 13.4 . vrsin's preface to his catechisme . 3. 4. luk 19. 41 , 42. iustin. a fifth help to humiliation . a sixth bucket . ps 6.8 . plutarc . in vita . alexand. gen. 19.27 , 28. neh. 1.3 , 4 5. proemium cōmentar . in ezek. 1 sa. 4.19 . mat. 2. 18. jud , 5.28 . 7. in vita ejus apud surium . the second duty is reformation . this reformation must be , 1 personal . jona . 3.8 . ps. 18 . 23. luke 15. 2 sam. 23.15 , 16. quo grandius nomen ca grandius scandalum . act. 18.8 . 2 it must be nationall . quest . answ. nehe. 3 , 1. ioh. 1 1.44 . ioh. 10.5 . ioh. 11 44. sleidan convent . isai. 62.1 . 2 chron. 30.14 , 15. 2 chron , 31.1 . motives to a reformation . ex. 1.21 . hagg. 1.4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9. esth. 11. 13 , 14 , 15. zach. 4 7. tect . de poenitent . matth. 3. ● . mat. 4. 17. luk. 24. 47. tertul. de poenit . ezek. 18. tertull quest . 2 king. 23. 26. answ. 5. doct. 4. ezra 9 8. psa. 68.13 . zac. 4.10 . ezra 10. 11. nehe. 12.22 . gene. 6. 2 sam. 6. reason . 2 chron. 15 2. 1 sam. 12.23 . vse . ef. 26. ier. 5. 31. vse 2. psa. 1 : 7 1. deut. 28 68. object . answ. the great danger of covenant-refusing, and covenant-breaking. presented in a sermon preached before the right honourable thomas adams lord mayor, and the right worshipfull the sheriffes, and the aldermen his brethren, and the rest of the common-councell of the famous city of london, jan. 14. 1645. upon which day the solemne league and covenant was renued by them and their officers with prayer and fasting at michael basinshaw, london. / by edmund calamy, b.d. and pastor of aldermanbury london. great danger of covenant-breaking, &c. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a78965 of text r200648 in the english short title catalog (thomason e327_6). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 122 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 26 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a78965 wing c254 thomason e327_6 estc r200648 99861335 99861335 113468 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a78965) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 113468) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 53:e327[6]) the great danger of covenant-refusing, and covenant-breaking. presented in a sermon preached before the right honourable thomas adams lord mayor, and the right worshipfull the sheriffes, and the aldermen his brethren, and the rest of the common-councell of the famous city of london, jan. 14. 1645. upon which day the solemne league and covenant was renued by them and their officers with prayer and fasting at michael basinshaw, london. / by edmund calamy, b.d. and pastor of aldermanbury london. great danger of covenant-breaking, &c. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [8], 40 p. printed by m.f. for christopher meredith at the signe of the crane in pauls-church-yard., london, : 1646. subsequently published as: the great danger of covenant-breaking, &c. annotation on thomason copy: "1645"; the second 6 in imprint date crossed out. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng solemn league and covenant (1643) -sermons -early works to 1800. bible. -n.t. -timothy, 2nd iii, 3 -sermons. sermons, english -17th century. fast-day sermons -17th century. a78965 r200648 (thomason e327_6). civilwar no the great danger of covenant-refusing, and covenant-breaking.: presented in a sermon preached before the right honourable thomas adams lord calamy, edmund 1646 21308 4 35 0 0 7 0 51 c the rate of 51 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-04 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 john latta sampled and proofread 2008-08 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the great danger of covenant-refusing , and covenant-breaking . presented in a sermon preached before the right honorable thomas adams lord mayor , and the right worshipfull the sheriffes , and the aldermen his brethren , and the rest of the common-councell of the famous city of london , jan. 14. 1645. upon which day the solemne league and covenant was renued by them and their officers with prayer and fasting at michael basinshaw , london . by edmund calamy , b. d. and pastor of aldermanbury london . psal. 76. 11. vow , and pay unto the lord your god . eccl. 5. 4 , 5. when thou vowest a vow unto god , deferre not to pay it , for he hath no pleasure in fooles ; pay that which thou hast vowed . better it is that thou shouldest not vow , then that thou shouldest vow and not pay . london , printed by m. f. for christopher meredith at the signe of the crane in pauls-church-yard . 1646. to the right honovrable thomas adams lord mayor , and to the right worshipfull the sheriffes and the aldermen his brethren , and the rest of the common-councell . i read in the book of nehemiah , that when the wall of jerusalem was in building , the builders met with so much opposition , that they were forced to build with their weapons in one hand , and with their working tools in the other . they had enemies from without , and they had secret enemies amongst themselves . they met with many discouragements ; but god carried them through all , and at last they finished the wall to the confusion of their enemies , and the rejoycing of their friends . nehemiah's condition is our condition . the discipline and government of the church , is to the church as a wall is to a city . a city without wals is exposed to every enemy : so is the church without a government . this wall is now in building : the parliament ( blessed be god ) hath contributed very much to this building ; but yet we meet with mountains of opposition , and with many discouragements . our enemies say , what doe these feeble presbyterians meane ? will they fortifie themselves ? will they make an end in a day ? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burnt ? even that which they build , if a fox goe up , he shall even break down their stone-wall . our enemies also raise false reports to weaken the hands of the builders , and to make us afraid , as they did , neh. 6. 6. 10. they say , that the presbyterian government ( which is the government that comes neerest the word , and the government of the best reformed churches ) will prove tyrannicall , and episcopall . and that it is better to be under one bishop then under a hundred . but we answer , as nehemiah did , neh. 4. 4. hear ô our god , for we are despised ; and turn their reproach upon their own head . and as neh. 6. 9. now therefore , ô our god , strengthen our hands . but that which is worser then this , is ; that our seeming friends seek to undermine us , and to terrifie us , and say , as neh. 4. 11. they shall not know , neither see , till we come in the midst among them , and slay them , and cause the work to cease . and others are ready to discourage us , and say as it is , neh. 4. 10. and judah said , the strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed , and there is much rubbish , so that wee are not able to build the wall . it is impossible ( say some ) to purge our churches according to the rule , they are so full of rubbish , and therefore it is better and safer to study separation from , rather then reformation of our churches . but yet notwithstanding all these oppositions , and discouragements , i doubt not but god almighty will in his due time finish this wall of his , and so perfect his own work , that all the enemies thereof shall cast down their eies , and perceive that this work was wrought of our god , neh. 6. 16. for the effecting of this blessed work , god hath raised us up a happy parliament . and also god hath raised you up ( right honourable , right worshipfull , and the rest of the common councell ) and hath raised up your spirits to strengthen our hands to this work , and to build the wall together with us , ( each of us in our places ) that so the church may no longer lye waste , and open to all errors and heresies , and that we may be no longer a reproach to all other reformed churches . this work by your help will quickly bee finished , as it is written , neh. 4. 6. so we built the wall , and all the wall was joyned together unto the half thereof , for the people had a minde to the work . the times wherein you live are indeed very troublesome : but be not discouraged ; for it is foretold , dan. 9. 25. that the wall of jerusalem shall be re-built , even in troublous times . and let me say to you as mordecai to esther , esther 4. 14. who knoweth whether god hath not raised you up to be mayor , to be sheriffs , aldermen , and common councell men for such a time as this is ? go on courageously , and god will trouble those that trouble you , and bring good to you , and to the church out of these troubles . we reade of the pool of bethesda , that when the water was troubled , then it became a healing water . the untroubled water , was an unhealing water . so will god doe with you ; he will make the troubled waters of the sanctuary to become healing waters : insomuch as we all shall say , periissemus nisi periissemus ; we should have been undone had we not been undone . onely be strong and of a good courage : i say it again , be strong and of a good courage . i say it the third time ( for so did god to joshua in 4 verses , joshuah 1. 6 , 7 , 8 , 9. be strong of a good courage . the lord hath made you instruments to doe much good for church and state ; the same god make you every day more and more instrumentall . and be not terrified and dismayed because of the many heresies and errors that are in the city . for as when the wall of jerusalem was once built , all their enemies did immediately vanish into nothing , neh. 6. 16. so when the wall of the church shall be once erected , i doubt not but these prodigious errours will all vanish . and as when the sun ariseth , all wilde beasts goe to their dens ; so when the bright sun of christs kingly government shall appear in our horizon , i trust all these beastly errours will betake themselves to their dens of obscurity and oblivion . it was said of augustus , that when he was first emperour he found rome in a poor condition , but he left it in a glorious condition ; invenit lateritiam , sed reliquit marmoream . my prayer shall be ( and oh that god would hear me ! ) that you may be able to say , when i was first mayor , or first sheriffe , or first common-councell man , i found the city a city full of division , full of profanenesse , full of errors and heresies ; but now i shall leave it full of truth , full of holinesse , and a city at unity within it selfe . inveni lateritiam , reliqui marmoream . for the better bringing of this to passe , you did lately renue your solemne league and covenant ; at which time this ensuing sermon was preached . since which time , not only the sermon , but the preacher of it , hath undergone many harsh and bitter censures . it is the wickednesse of these dayes to build their own designes upon the ruine of other mens good name . but surely god will never prosper such bloody practises . it is said of antiochus , a vilde person , dan. 11. 28. that his heart shall be against the holy covenant . we have many amongst us , that in this are like unto antiochus , whose hearts , tongues , and hands , are not only against our solemne league and covenant ; but against all that preach for it , or write in the defence of it . there is indeed a covenant that some do much contend for , and make the very form of a particular church , without which a church cannot be a true church , which is called a church-covenant . for my part , i conceive that whosoever shall say , that a church-covenant ( i meane an oath expressed by formal words ) is an ordinance of christ , and necessary to the very being of a visible church ; doth not only un-church most of the churches of jesus christ , but doth also set up his own invention for an ordinance of christ . in the new testament we reade of no such church-oath at the admission of members . and there is no place in the old testament ( for ought i could ever reade ) that speaks of a church-oath to be taken at our admission into church-fellowship . indeed we have mention made of a nationall covenant , and of the covenant of grace , and of subscribing with our hands unto the lord . but what are these to a church-oath ; without which , no man is to be accounted a church-member , or to have right to the seales of the covenant of grace ? to urge this as an ordinance of christ , is to set our posts by gods posts , and our threshold by gods threshold , ezek. 43. 8. but if i should expatiate any further in this point , i should exceed the limits of an epistle , and therefore i forbear . my hearty desire is , that this covenant which you have now taken the second time , may be carried about you in continuall remembrance . and that it may serve in stead of a thousand arguments to make you zealously serviceable , to god , to church , and state . it is reported of theseus , that he was so taken with the wonderfull works of hercules , that he could not sleep for thinking of the wonders of hercules ; and when he slept , he dreamt of hercules wonders ; and was never satisfied till he had imitated him in working wonderfull things also . and it is also related of themistocles , that he had alwayes in his thoughts by night and by day , the victories of miltiades , and this made him insatiable till he had imitated him . oh that you would thus deale with the covenant ! that you would think of it in your bed , in your closets , in your walks ; and think of what particulars you have sworn unto , and never leave thinking untill you have fully performed your oath and covenant . and if you keep covenant with god , the great god will keep covenant with you , and all the blessings of the covenant which are mentioned in the book of god , which is the book of the covenant , shall be your portion for ever and ever . which is the prayer of your much obliged spirituall servant edm. calamy . the great danger of covenant-refusing , and covenant-breaking . 2 tim. 3. 3. — truce-breakers ; or , covenant-breakers . you are here met this day , to humble your soules before the lord , and to renue your solemne league and covenant ; i say , to renue it , and take it the second time . it is no unusuall thing for the people of god to repeat and reiterate their vows and covenants . the great and solemne vow which we made to god in baptisme , is renued every time we come to the lords supper . and upon every fast day wee binde our selves anew to god by covenant . the people of israel entred into covenant , ezra 10. 3. and the same people ( as chronologers observe ) did re-engage themselves in the same covenant , neh. 10. the scripture tels us , that almighty god did * six times make one and the same covenant with abraham ; and sware the same covenant twice to isaac , gen. 26. 4. 34. and therefore blessed be the great god who hath put it into your hearts to engage your selves a second time into a nationall covenant . there are six reasons to justifie this dayes solemnity before god and all that require satisfaction about it . 1. because this nationall covenant hath been a long time as it were dead and buried and quite forgotten amongst most people . and therefore it is high time to raise it out of the grave of forgetfulnesse : and i hope this day will be to the covenant as a resurrection from the dead . 2. because of the great scorn and contempt that is cast upon it by divers sorts of people . the malignants call it a conspiracy ; others , though not malignants , yet maligne the covenant , and call it a snare , a trap , a temptation , and account it a signe of a tender conscience to boggle at it , and of a loose conscience to swallow it without scruple . and therefore to vindicate the honour and reputation of the covenant , and to wipe off the aspersions that are cast upon it , you doe well to take it the second time . 3. because there are some that do openly professe their sorrow that ever they took it , and would fain recant and retract what they have done . and therefore to manifest that you are still of the same judgement , and that you doe not repent of what you have done , you doe well to take it the second time . 4. because of the pronenesse that is in all men ( even the best of men ) to break covenant with god . a covenant indeed is a golden girdle to tye us fast to god ; it is a joyning and glewing our selves to the lord . the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifieth an oath , comes from {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} which signifieth a hedge . an oath and covenant is a strong hedge to keep us from breaking out into disobedience . it is an entring into bond to become the lords ; it is a binding our selves apprentice to god . voluntas ( saith aquinas ) per votum immobiliter firmatur in bonum . but yet notwithstanding , the nature of the best man is very apt to break these bonds , and to run away from his great lord and master , to suffer this hedge to decay , and this golden girdle to loosen and untye , and to disjoyne and unglew himself from god . and therefore it is not only commendable , but very necessary ( and for this cause you are met this day ) to enter into bond the second time , to binde and inroll your selves again unto the lord ; to make up this hedge , to tye this golden girdle yet faster , and to joyn and glew your selves once more unto the lord in a perpetuall covenant never to be forgotten . it is reported of bishop hooper , that when he was at the stake to be burnt , the officers offered to tye him to the stake : but he said , you need not tye me , for that god that call'd me hither will keep me from stirring ; and yet because i am partly flesh , i am willing you should tye me fast , lest i should stir . so may the best christian here present say : lord i am carnall , sold under sinne , i have broken those golden cords of the covenant with which i have tyed my selfe unto thee . though i am spirit , yet am i flesh also : and therefore i come to binde my selfe anew . as dalilah dealt with sampson , &c. so do i desire to deale with my self , and to tye my self yet faster and faster to god , if by any meanes i might be kept firme to him . 5. because of the many glorious deliverances and salvations which god hath vouchsafed unto us . for since june last , we have had about 60 considerable blessings and mercies ▪ which all are as 60 arguments to call upon us not only to renue our thankfulnesse , but our covenant also . thus the people of israel , when god had delivered them out of egypt , renued their covenant at horeb , exod. 19. and when they were delivered from their wildernesse-enemies , deut. 29. and the same people did afterwards , when god had given them the possession of canaan , re-oblige themselves by a covenant , josh. 24. 6. because of the sad condition the church of god is in at this time . for though god hath given us glorious victories over our enemies , yet the churches of christ lye desolate , church-reformation is obstructed , church-discipline unsetled , church-divisions increased . the famous city of london is become an amsterdam , separation from our churches is countenanced , toleration is cried up , authority lyeth asleep . and therefore it is high time to take the covenant again , that so you may endeavour with renued strength , as one man , vigorously and courageously , for the setling of the tottering ark according to the sphere of capacitie in which god hath put you . you shall reade in scripture , that the people of god did never any great service for the church till they renued their covenant ; and you shall never read but that they did very great and glorious services for the church , after the renuing of their covenant with god . in zerubbabels time the temple-work ceased for many yeares ; but after ezra and nehemiah caused the people to enter into covenant with god , it went on prosperously and uninterruptedly . what famous things did the people of god after jehojada had drawn them into a covenant ! 2. kings 11. 7. 18. all the people of the lord went into the house of baal , and brake it downe , his altars and his images brake they in pieces throughly , &c. the like we reade of asa , 2 chron. 15. 14 , 15 , 16. and of king josiah , 2 chron. 34. 31 , 32 , 33. and thus i doubt not but you will endeavour to do in an orderly way according to your places . these are the arguments to justifie this dayes work before god to all the christian world . to help you in this , so pious , so christian , so necessary , so solemne a businesse , i have chosen this text . in the beginning of the chapter the apostle tels us the condition that the church of god should be in , in the last dayes . this know also , that in the last dayes perilous time shall come . in the second verse he tels us the reason why these times should be such hard and dangerous times ; for men shall be lovers of themselves , covetous , &c. the reason is not drawn from the miseries and calamities of the last times , but from the sins and iniquities of the last times . it is sin and iniquity that makes times truly perilous . sin , and sin onely , takes away gods love and favour from a nation , and makes god turn an enemy to it . sinne causeth god to take away the purity and power of his ordinances from a nation . sin makes all the creatures to be armed against us , and makes our own conscience to fight against us . sin is the cause of all the causes of perilous times . sin is the cause of our civill warres , 2 sam. 12. 11. sin is the cause of our divisions , james 4. 1. sin is the cause why men fall into such dangerous errours , 2 thess. 2. 11. sin brings such kinds of judgements which no other enemy can bring . sin brings invisible , spirituall , & eternall judgements . it is sin that makes god give over a nation to a reprobate sense . sin makes all times dangerous . let the times be never so prosperous , yet if they be sinfull times , they are times truly dangerous . and if they be not sinfull , they are not dangerous though never so miserable . it is sin that makes afflictions to be the fruits of gods revenging wrath , part of the curse due to sin , and a beginning of hell . it is sin , and sin only , that imbitters every affliction . let us for ever look upon sin through these scripture-spectacles . the apostle in four verses reckons up 19 sins , at the causes of the miseries of the last dayes . i may truly call these 19 sins , englands looking-glasse , wherein we may see what are the clouds that eclipse gods countenance from shining upon us : the mountains that lye in the way to hinder the settlement of church-discipline . even these 19 sins which are as an iron whip of 19 strings , with which god is whipping england at this day ; which are as 19 fagots , with which god is burning and devouring england . my purpose is not to speak of all these sins : only let me propound a divine project how to make the times truly happy , for soul and body . and that is , to strike at the root of all misery , which is sin and iniquity . to repent for , and from all these 19 sins , which are as the oyl that feedeth , & encreaseth the flame that is now consuming of us . for because men are lovers of themselves , vsque ad contemptum dei & reipublicae . because men drive their own designes not only to the neglect , but contempt of god , and the common-wealth . because men are covetous , lovers of the world more then lovers of god . because they are proud in head , heart , looks , and apparell . because they are unthankfull , turning the mercies of god into instruments of sin , and making darts with gods blessings to shoot against god . because men are unholy and heady , and make many covenants , and keep none . because they are ( as the greek word signieth ) devils , acting the devils part in accusing the brethren , and in bearing false witnesse one against another . because they have a form of godlinesse denying the power thereof , &c. hence it is that these times are so sad and bloody . these are thine enemies , ô england , that have brought thee into this desolate condition ! these are the sins that will recruit the kings army , if ever it be recruited : and if ever god lead us back into the wildernesse , it will be because of these sinnes . and therefore if ever you would have blessed dayes , you must make it your great businesse to remove these 19 mountains , and to repent of these land-devouring , and soul-destroying abominations . at this time i shall pick out the first , and the tenth sin to speak on . the first is selfe-love , which is placed in the fore-front ; as the cause of all the rest . selfe-love is not only a sin that makes the times perilous , but it is the cause of all those sins that make the times perilous . for because men are lovers of themselves , therefore they are covetous , proud , unholy , &c. the tenth sinne is truce-breaking , and for feare lest the time should prevent me , i will begin with this sinne first . the tenth sin then is truce-breakers , or , as rom. 1. 33. covenant-breakers . the greek word is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which signifieth three things . first such as are foederis nescii , as beza renders it ; or as others , infoederabiles ; that is , such as refuse to enter into covenant . or secondly , such as are foedifragi , qui pacta non servant , ( as estius hath it ) or sine fide , as ambrose ; that is , such as break faith and covenant . or thirdly , such as are implacabiles , or as others , sine pace ; that is , such as are implacable , and haters of peace . according to this three-fold sense of the word , i shall gather these three observations . doct. 1. that to be a covenant-refuser , is a sin that makes the times perilous . doct. 2. that to be a covenant-breaker , is a sin that makes the times perilous . doct. 3. that to be a peace-hater , or a truce-hater , is a sin that makes the times periloùs . to begin with the first . doctrine the first . that to be a covenant-refuser , is a sinne that makes the times perilous . to be foederis nescius , or infoedederabilis . for the understanding of this , you must know that there are two sorts of covenants . there are devillish and hellish covenants , and there are godly and religious covenants . first , there are devillish covenants , such as acts 23. 12. and isaiah 28. 15. such as the holy league ( as it was unjustly called ) in france against the hugonites , and that of our gun-powder traitors in england : such are our oxford covenants for the destruction of the parliament , and godly party . now to refuse to take such covenants , is not to make the times perilous , but the taking of them makes the times perilous . secondly , there are godly and religious covenants ; such as job 31. 1. i have made a covenant with mine eyes , why then should i thinke upon a maid ? such as psal. 119. i have sworne i will perform it , that i will keep thy righteous judgements ; such as 2 chron. 15. 14. and such as this is , which you are met to take this day . for you are to sweare to such things which you are bound to endeavour after , though you did not swear . your swearing is not solum vinculum , but novum vinculum , is not the onely , but onely a new and another bond to ty you to the obedience of the things you sweare unto ; which are so excellent and so glorious , that if god give those that take it a heart to keep it , it will make these three kingdomes the glory of the world . and as one of the reverend commissioners of scotland said when it was first taken in a most solemn manner at westminster , by the parliament and the assembly ; that if the pope should have this covenant written upon a wall over against him sitting in his chair , it would be unto him like the hand-writing to belshazzar ; causing the joints of his loynes to loose , and his knees to smite one against another . and i may adde , that if it be faithfully and fully kept , it will make all the devils in hell to tremble , as fearing lest their kingdome should not long stand . now then for a man to be an anti-covenanter , and to be such a covenant-refuser , it must needs be a sin that makes the times perilous . and the reason is , 1 because you shall find in scripture that when any nation did enter into a solemn religious covenant , god did exceedingly blesse and prosper that nation after that time ; as appeares , 2 chron. 15. 19. 2 kings 11. 20. and we have a promise for it , deut. 29. 12 , 13. that thou shouldest enter into covenant with the lord thy god , &c. that he may establish thee to day for a people unto himselfe , and that he may be unto thee a god , &c. and therefore to be a covenant-refuser , is to make our miseries perpetuall . 2 because as it is the highest act of gods love to man , to vouchsafe to engage himselfe by oath and covenant to be his god , so it is the highest demonstration of mans love to god , to bind himselfe by oath and covenant to be gods . there is nothing obligeth god more to us , then to see us willing to ty and bind our selves fast unto his service . and therefore they that in this sense are anticovenanters , are sons of belial ; that refuse the yoake of the lord , that say , as psalm . 2. 3. let us breake his bands asunder , and cast away his cords from us ; such as oderunt vincula pietatis , which is a soul-destroying , and land-destroying sin . 3 because that the union of england , scotland , and ireland , into one covenant , is the chief , if not the onely preservative of them at this time . you shall find in our english chroniclers , that england was never destroyed , but when divided within it self . our civill divisions brought in the romans , the saxons , danes , and normans . but now the anti-covenanter , he divides the parliament within it self , and the city within it self , and england against it self ; he is as a stone separated from the building , which is of no use to it self , and threatneth the ruine of the building . jesus christ is called in scripture the corner-stone , which is a stone that unites two ends of a building together ; jesus christ is a stone of union , and therefore they that sow division , and study unjust separation , have little of jesus christ in them . when the ten tribes began to divide from the other two tribes , they presently began to warre one against another , and to ruine one another . the anticovenanter he divides , and separates , and disunites ; and therefore he makes the times perilous . the use is , 1 to reprove those that refuse to enter into covenant with god ; and more particularly , those that refuse to take this solemne league and covenant . these are of two sorts . 1. such as refuse it out of malignity : 2. such as refuse it out of unnecessary scrupulosity ; that raise and foment doubts , to hinder themselves and others from taking it . as for the first , i will not call your goodnesse and my charity so much in question , as to spend time about them . and for the second , i conceive that those that scruple it , are amongst the number of those that are absent , and therefore i should but idle away precious time to satisfie the objections of those that are not present , to recover satisfaction . there are some men of whom i may say as the apostle doth to the galatians , gal. 1. 6. i marvell that you are so soon removed from him that called you , &c. and as gal. 4. 15. i beare you record , that if it had been possible , you would have plucked out your own eyes , and given them to me ; am i therefore become your enemy , &c. so may i say of many : i wonder and marvell to see how suddenly they are changed from that good opinion they once had of the covenant ; for i bear thē record , that there was a time when they not onely took it willingly , but would have hazarded their very lives in defence of it ; how is it then that the covenant is become an enemy to them , and they unto the covenant ? surely the change is not in the covenant , but in the covenanters . i have much to say in defence of it , and did say much when it was first taken ; which now to repeat will not be usefull , and i believe for the company here present , very unnecessary ; and therefore i forbeare . the second use is to exhort you to be covenant-takers this day , and to take it with these qualifications . 1. solemnly , and seriously , and tremblingly ; as in gods presence , ezra 10. 3. 2. with hearty griefe and sorrow for all our former apostasies and covenant-breakings , jer. 50. 4. 5. 3. with judgement and understanding , neh. 10. 28. rightly informed of the true sense and meaning of every particular . 4. with a full assurance that it is an act very pleasing unto god , and that god is much honoured by it . 5. freely and cheerfully , as they did , 2 chron. 15. 14. 6. faithfully and sincerely , with all your hearts and soules , and with your whole desire ; 2 chron. 15. 12. 2 chron. 34. 31 , 32. with a purpose to joyn your selves to the lord in a perpetuall covenant , never to be forgotten . jer. 50. 5. as for motives to perswade you to the practice of these things , and for rules and directions about the manner of taking of it , i shall leave them wholly to my reverend brother who is to succeed ; who will undertake this work fully and at large . my chief aym is at the second doctrine , which is , that for a covenant-taker to be a covenant-breaker , is a sin that makes the times perilous . for the opening of this point , i must distinguish again of covenants . there are civill , and there are religious covenants . a civill covenant , is a covenant between man and man ; and of this the text is primarily , though not onely to be understood . now for a man to break promise and covenant with his brother , is a land-destroying , and soule devouring abomination . we read 2 sam. 21. that because saul had broken the covenant that joshuah made with the gibeonites , god sent a famine in davids time of three yeares continuance : to teach us , that if we falsifie our word and oath , god will avenge covenant-breaking , though it be forty yeares after . famous is that text , jer. 34. 17 , 18 , 19 , 20. because the princes and the people brake the covenant which they had made with their servants ( though but their servants ) god tels them . because ye have not hearkned unto me in proclaiming liberty every one to his brother , &c. behold , i proclaim liberty for you , saith the lord to the sword , to the pestilence , and to the famine ; and i will make you to be removed into all the kingdomes of the earth ; &c. we read also ezek. 17. 18 , 19 , 20. that god tels zedekiah because he brake the covenant he had made with the king of babylon , that therefore he would recompence upon his head the oath that he had despised , and the covenant that he had broken , & would bring him to babylon , and plead with him there for the trespasse which he had trespassed against the lord . david tels us , ps. 15. 4. that it is a sin that shuts a man out of heaven . the turkish histories tell us of a covenant of peace made between amurath the great turk , and ladislaus king of hungary ; and how the pope absolved ladislaus from his oath , and provoked him to renue the warre . in which war the turk being put to the worst , and despairing of victory , puls out a paper which he had in his bosome wherein the league was written ; and said , o thou god of the christians , if thou beest a true god , be revenged of those that without cause have broken the league made by calling upon thy name . and the story saith , that after he had spoken these words , he had as it were a new heart and spirit put into him , and his souldiers , and that they obtained a glorious victory over ladislaus . thus god avenged the quarrel of mans covenant . the like story we have of rodolphus duke of suevia , who by the popes instigation waged war with henry the fourth emperour of germany , to whom he had sworn the contrary . the pope sent a crown to him with this motto : petra dedit petro , petrus diadema rodolpho ; but in the fight it chanced that rodolphus lost his right hand ; and falling sick upon it , he called for it , and said , spectate hanc dextram legitima supplicia expendentem , quae fidem sacramento munitam , & henrico domino meo datam , vobis urgentibus , praeter aequum & jus temere violavit . behold this right hand with which i subscribed to the emperour , with which i have violated my oath , and therefore i am rightly punished . i will not trouble you in relating the gallant story of regulus , that chose rather to expose himselfe to a cruell death , then to falsifie his oath to the carthaginians . the summe of all is , if it be such a crying abomination to break covenant between man and man , and if such persons are accounted as the off-scouring of men , not worthy to live in a christian , no not in a heathen common-weal : if it be a sin that drawes down vengeance from heaven , and excludes a man from heaven ; much more for a man to enter into a covenant with the great jehovah , and to break such religious engagement ; this must needs be a destroying and souldāning sin . and of such religious covenants i am now to speak there are two covenants that god made with man , a covenant of nature , and a covenant of grace . the covenant of nature ( or of works ) was made with adam , and all mankind in him . this covenant adam broke , and god presently had a quarrell against him for breaking of it , gen. 3. 8 , 9. and to avenge the quarrell of the covenant , he was thrust out of paradise ; and there was a sword also placed at the east end of the garden of eden , to avenge covenant-breaking . and by nature we are all children of wrath , heirs of hell , because of the breach of that covenant . and therefore we should never think of originall sin , or of the sinfulnesse and cursednesse of our naturall condition , but we should remember what a grievous sin covenant-breaking is . but after man was fallen , god was pleased to strike a new covenant , which is usually called a covenant of grace , or of reconciliation ; a copy of which you shall read , ezek. 16. 7 , 8 , 9. this was first propounded to adam by way of promise , gen. 3. the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpents head . and then to abram by way of covenant , gen. 17. in thy seed shall all the nations of the world be blessed . and then to moses by way of testament , exod. 33. it is nothing else but the free and gracious tender of jesus christ and all his rich purchases to all the lost and undone sons of adam , that shall beleeve in him ; or , as the phrase is , isai. 56. 4. that shall take hold of the covenant . now you must know that baptisme is a seal of this covenant , and that all that are baptized , doe sacramentally at least engage themselves to walk before god , and to be upright ; and god likewise engageth himself to be their god . this covenant is likewise renued when we come to the lords supper , wherein we bind our selves by a sacramentall oath unto thankfulnesse to god for christ . adde further , that besides this generall covenant of grace whereof the sacraments are seales , there are particular and personall , and family , and nationall covenants . thus job had his covenant , job 20. and david , psal. 119. 106. and when he came to be king , he joyned in a covenant with his people , to serve the lord . thus asa , jehoiada , and josiah , &c. thus the people of israel had not onely a covenant in circumcision , but renued a covenant in horeb , & in moab ; and did often again and again bind themselvs to god by vow and covenant . and thus the churches of the christians , besides the vow in baptisme , have many personall and nationall engagements unto god by covenant , which are nothing else but the renovations , and particular applications of that first vow in baptisme . of this nature is the covenant you are to renue this day , &c. now give me leave to shew you what a sword-procuring , and soul-undoing sinne , this sin of covenant-breaking is ; and ethen th reason of it . famous is that text , levit. 26. 25. and i will send my sword which shall avenge the quarrell of my covenant . the words in the hebrew run thus : i will avenge the avengement . in greek {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . the latin , ulciscar ultionem ; which importeth thus much . that god is at open war and at publique defiance with those that break his covenant ; he is not onely angry with them , but he will be revenged of them . the lord hath a controversie with all covenant-breakers , hos. 4. 1. or as it is , lev. 26. 23. the lord will walk contrary to them . in the 29. of deuter. first god takes his people into covenant , and then he tels them of the happy condition they should bee in if they did keep covenant . but if they did breake couenant , he tels them , verse 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25. that the lord will not spare him ; but the anger of the lord and his jealousies shall smoak against that man , and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him , and the lord shall blot out his name from under heaven . and the lord shall separate him , &c. and when the nations shall say , wherefore hath the lord done thus unto this land ? what meaneth the heat of this great anger ? then shall men say , because they have forsaken the covenant of the lord god of their fathers , &c. this was the sin that caused god to send his people of israel into captivity , and to remove the candlestick from the asian churches . it is for this sin that the sword is now devouring germany , ireland , and england , &c. god hath sent his sword to avenge the quarrell of his covenant . the reasons why this sin is a god-provoking sin are , because that to sinne against the covenant , is a greater sinne then to sin against a commandement of god , or to sin against a promise , or to sin against an ordinance of god . first , it is a greater sin then to break a commandement of god . for the more mercy there is in the thing we sin against , the greater is the sin . now there is more mercy in a covenant , then in a bare commandement . the commandement tels us our duty , but gives no power to doe it . but the covenant of grace gives power to doe what it requires to be done . and therefore if it be a hell-procuring sin to break the least of gods commandements , much more to be a covenant-breaker , heb. 10. 28 , 29. secondly , it is a greater sin then to sin against a promise of god , because a covenant is a promise joyn'd with an oath , it is a mutuall stipulation between god and us . and therefore if it be a great sin to break promise , much more to break covenant . thirdly , it is a greater sin then to sin against an ordinance , because the covenant is the root and ground of all the ordinances . it is by virtue of the covenant that we are made partakers of the ordinances . the word is the book of the covenant , and the sacraments are the scales of the covenant . and if it be a sin of an high nature to sin against the book of the covenant and the seales of the covenant , much more against the covenant it selfe . to break covenant is a fundamentall sinne , it raseth the very foundation of christianity , because the covenant is the foundation of all the priviledges , and prerogatives , and hopes of the saints of god . and therefore we reade , ephes. 2. 12. that a stranger from the covenant is one without hope . all hope of heaven is cut off where the covenant is willingly broken . to break covenant is an universall sin , it includes all other sins . by virtue of the covenant , we tye our selves to the obedience of gods commandements , we give up our selves to the guidance of jesus christ , we take him for our lord and king . all the promises of this life and that that is to come , are contained within the covenant . the ordinances are fruits of the covenant . and therefore they that forsake the covenant , commit many sins in one , and bring not only many , but all curses upon their heads . the summe of the first argument is : if the lord will avenge the quarrell of his commandement , if god was avenged upon the stick-gatherer for breaking the sabbath , much more will he be avenged upon a covenant-breaker . if god will avenge the quarrell of a promise , if the quarrell of an ordinance : if they that reject the ordinances shall be punished ; of how much severer punishment shall they be thought worthy , that trample under their feet the blood of the covenant ? if god was avenged of those that abused the ark of the covenant , much more will he punish those that abuse the angell of the covenant . the second reason why covenant-breaking is such a land-destroying sin is , because it is a most solemne and serious thing to enter into covenant with god ; a matter of such great weight and importance , that it is impossible but god should be exceedingly provoked with those that slight it and dis-respect it . the vow in baptisme is the first , the most generall and the solemnest vow that ever any christian took , saith chrysostome ; wherein he doth not only promise , but engage himselfe by covenant in the sight of god and his holy angels to be the servant of jesus christ , and therefore god will not hold him guiltless that breaks this vow . the solemnity & weightinesse of covenant-taking consisteth in three things . 1. because it is made with the glorious majesty of heaven and earth , who will not be trifled and baffled withall . and therefore what jehosaphat said to his judges , 2 chron. 19. 6. take heed what you doe , for ye judge not for men , but for the lord , who is with you in judgements ; wherefore now let the fear of the lord be upon you , &c. the like i may say to every one that enters into covenant this day . take heed what you doe , for it is the lords covenant , and there is no iniquity with the lord , wherefore now let the fear of the lord be upon you . for our god is a holy god , he is a jealous god , he will not forgive your transgressions , nor your sins , as joshua saith , josh. 24. 19. 2. because the articles of the covenant are weighty and of great importance . in the covenant of grace god ingageth himself to give christ , and with him , all temporall , spirituall , and eternall blessings , and we engage our selves to be his faithfull servants all our dayes . in this covenant we oblige our selves to do great matters that neerly concerne the glory of god , the good of our own soules , and the happinesse of three kingdomes . and in such holy and heavenly things which so neerly concerne our everlasting estate , to dally and trifle must needs incense the anger of the great jehovah . 3. the manner used both by jewes , heathen , and christians , in entring into covenant , doth clearly set out the weightinesse of it , and what a horrible sin it is to break it . the custome amongst the jewes will appear by divers texts of scripture : jer. 34. 18. it is said , and i will give the men that have transgressed my covenant , which have not performed the worde of the covenant which they had made before me , when they cut the calfe in twain , and passed between the parts thereof . the words they used when they passed between the parts were , so god divide me , if i keep not covenant . neh. 5. 12. nehemiah took an oath of the priests , and shook his lap and said , so god shake out every man from his house , and from his labour , that performeth not this promise , even thus be he shaken out and emptied . and all the congregation said , amen . in the 15 of genesis abraham divided the heifer , and shee-goat , and a ram , &c. and when the sun was down ; a smoaking furnace and burning lampe passed between these pieces . this did represent gods presence , saith clemens alexandrinus , and it was as if god should say : behold , this day i enter into covenant with thee , and if thou keepest covenant , i will be as a burning lampe to illighten and to comfort thee : but if thou breakest covenant , i will be like a smoaking furnace to consume thee . thus also exod. 24. 6. moses makes a covenant with israel , and offers sacrifices , and takes the blood of the sacrifice and divides it , and half of it he sprinkles upon the altar , ( which represented gods part ) and the other half he sprinkled upon the people , as if he should say , as this blood is divided , so will god divide you if you break covenant . this was the custome amongst the jewes . amongst the romans , caesa firmabant foedera porca . and when it was divided , the feciales gave one half to one party , and the other half to the other , and said , so god divide you asunder if you break this covenant , and let god doe this so much the more by how much he is the more able . hinc foedus à foedo animali ( scilicet porco ) diviso . sometimes they did make covenants by taking a stone in their hands and saying , if i make this covenant seriously and faithfully , then let the great jupiter blesse me . if not , so let me be cast away from the face of the gods as i cast away this stone . this was called jurare per jovem lapidem . all these things are not empty notions , and metaphoricall shadowes , but reall and substantiall practises , signifying unto us , that god will , and must ( for it stands with his honor to do it ) divide and break them in pieces that break covenant with him . this day you are to take a covenant by the lifting up of your hands unto the most high god , which is a most emphaticall ceremony , whereby we do as it were call god to be a witnesse and a judge of what we do , and a rewarder or a revenger , according as we keep or break the covenant . if we keep it , the lifting up of our hands will be as an evening sacrifice ; if we break it , the lifting up of our hands will be as the lifting up of the hands of a malefactor at the bar , and procure woe and misery and wringing of hands at the great day of appearing . the third reason why god will be avenged of those that are covenant-breakers , is , because that a covenant is the greatest obligation , and the most forcible chain that can be invented to tye us to obedience and service . god may justly challenge obedience without covenanting by virtue of creation , preservation , and redemption ; he hath made us , and when lost , he hath purchased us with his blood . but being willing more abundantly to manifest his love , and that we might be the more fastned to him , he hath tyed himself to us , and us to him by the strong bond of a covenant ; as if god should say , oh ye sons of men , i see you are rebellious , and sons of belial , and therefore if it be possible , i will make you sure . i will engage you unto me , not only by creation , preservation and redemption , but also by the right of covenant and association . i will make you mine by promise and oath . and surely he that will break these bonds , is as bad as the man possessed with the devill in the gospel , whom no chaines could keep fast . when we enter into covenant with god , we take the oath of supremacy , and swear unto him that he shall be our chief lord and governour , and that we will admit of no forein power or jurisdiction , but that god shall be all in all . we likewise take the oath of allegiance to be his servants and vassals , and that he shall be our supreame in spirituals and temporals . now for a christian that believes there is a god , to break both these oathes of allegiance and supremacy , it is cursed treason against the god of heaven , which surely god will be avenged of . amongst the romans , when any souldier was pressed , he took an oath to serve his captaine faithfully , and not to forsake him , and he was called miles per sacramentum . sometimes one took an oath for all the rest , and the others only said , the same oath that a. b. took , the same do i. and these were called milites per conjurationem , or milites evocati . and when any souldier forsook his captain , he had martiall law executed upon him . thus it is with every christian : he is a professed souldier of christ , he hath taken presse-money , he hath sworn and taken the sacrament upon it to become the lords , he is miles per sacramentū , & miles per conjurationem . and if he forsake his captaine and break covenant , the great lord of hosts will be avenged of him , as it is written , jer. 11. 3. cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant . to break covenant is a sin of perjury , which is a sin of a high nature ; and if for oathes the land mourneth , much more for breach of oathes . to break covenant is a sin of spirituall adultery ; for by covenanting with god we do as it were joyne our selves in mariage to god , as the hebrew word signifieth , jer. 50. 5. now to break the mariage knot is a sin for which god may justly give a bill of divorce to a nation . to break covenant is a sin of injustice ; for by our covenant we do enter as it were into bond to god , and engage our selves as a creditor to his debtor , now the sin of injustice is a land-destroying sin . the fourth reason why god must needs be avenged of those that are covenant-breakers , is , because it is an act of the highest sacriledge that can be committed . for by virtue of the covenant the lord layes claime to us as his peculiar inheritance , ezek. 16. 8. i sware unto thee , and entred into covenant with thee , and thou becamest mine . ier. 31. 33. i will be their god and they shall be my people . it is worthy observation , that in the covenant there is a double surrender , one on gods part , another on our part . god almighty makes a surrender of himself , and of his sonne , and of the holy ghost . behold , saith god , i am wholly thy god ; all my power , and wisdome , and mercy , and goodnesse , &c. is all thine , my son is thine , and all his rich purchases . my spirit is thine and all his graces . this is gods surrender . on our parts , when we take hold of the covenant , we make a delivery of our bodies and soules into the hands of god , we choose him to be our lord and governour , we resigne up our selves into his hands . lord we are thine at thy disposing ; we alienate our selves from our selves , and make a deed of gift of our selves , and give thee the lock and key of head , heart , and affections , &c. this is the nature of every religious covenant , but especially of the covenant of grace . but now for a christian to call in as it were his surrender , to disclaime his resignation , to steale away himself from god and to lay claim to himself after his alienation ; to fulfill his owne lusts , to walk after his owne wayes , to do what he lists , and not what he hath covenanted to do , and so to rob god of what is his , this is the highest degree of sacriledge , which god will never suffer to go unpunished . and surely if the stick-gatherer , that did but alienate a little of gods time ; and ananias and sapphira , that withheld but some part of their estate : and if belshazzar for abusing the consecrated vessels of the temple were so grievously punished ; how much more will god punish those that alienate themselves from the service of that god to whom they have sworn to be obedient ? it is observed by a learned author , of three famous commanders of the romans , that they never prospered after they had defiled and robbed the temple of jerusalem . first , pompey the great , he went into the sanctum sanctorum , a place never before entred by any but the high priest , and the lord blasted him in all his proceedings after that time . vt ille qui terram non habuit ante ad victoriam , deesset illi terra ad sepulturam : that he that before that time wanted earth to overcome , had not at last earth enough to bury him withall . the next was crassus , who took away 10000 talents of gold from the temple , and afterwards dyed , by having gold poured down his throat . the third was cassius , who afterwards killed himself . if then god did thus avenge himself of those that polluted his consecrated temple ; much more will he not leave them unpunished that are the living temples of the holy ghost , consecrated to god by a covenant , and afterwards prove sacrilegious , robbing god of that worship and service which they have sworn to give him . the fifth reason why this sin makes the times perilous is , because covenant-breakers are reckoned amongst the number of those that have the mark of reprobation upon them . i do not say that they are all reprobates ; yet i say that the apostle makes it to be one of those sins which are committed by those that are given up to a reprobate minde , rom. 1. 28. 31. the words are spoken of the heathen , and are to be understood of breaking of covenants made between man and man . but then the argument will hold à fortiori . if it be the brand of a reprobate to break covenant with man , much more to break a covenant made with the great jehovah by the lifting up of our hands to heaven . the last reason is , because it is a sin against such infinite mercy , such bowels of gods unexpressible mercy . it is said , jer. 31. 32. which covenant they brake , although i was a husband to them . that is ; although i had chosen them for my spouse , and married my self unto them with an everlasting covenant of mercy , and intailed heaven upon them , yet they have broken my covenant . this was a great provocation . thus ezek. 16. 4 , 5. when thou wast in thy blood and no eye pitied thee to have compassion upon thee , i said unto thee when thou wert in thy blood , live ; yea , i said unto thee , live . it is twice repeated . as if god should say , mark it o israel , when no eye regarded thee , then i said unto thee , live . behold , saith god , verse 8. thy time was the time of love . behold and wonder at it , and i spread my skirt over thee , and covered thy nakednesse : yea , i sware unto thee , and entred into covenant with thee , saith the lord , and thou becamest mine . and yet for all this thou hast sinned grievously against me . woe , woe unto thee , saith the lord god , ezek. 16. 23. there is a , five fold mercy in the covenant , ( especially in the covenant of grace ) that makes the sinne of covenant-breaking to be so odious . 1. it is a mercy that the great god will vouchsafe to enter into covenant with dust and ashes . as david saith in another case , is it a sleight matter to be the son in law of a king ▪ so may i say , is it a sleight matter for the lord of heaven and earth to condescend so far as to covenant with his poor creatures , and thereby to become their debtors , and to make them as it were his equals ? when jonathan and david entred into a covenant of friendship , though one was a kings son , the other a poor shepherd , yet there was then a kinde of equality between them . but this must be understood warily , according to that text 2 cor. 1. 9. blessed be god who hath called us into the fellowship of his son jesus christ our lord . he is still our lord , though in fellowship with us . it is a covenant of infinite condescension on gods part , whereby he enters into a league of friendship with his people . 2. the mercy is the greater , because this covenant was made after the fall of adam ; after we had broken the first covenant . that the lord should try us the second time , is not only an act of infinite goodnesse in god , but of infinite mercy . there is a difference between the goodnesse and the mercy of god . goodnesse may be shewed to those that are not in misery : but mercy supposeth misery . and this was our condition after the breach of the first covenant . 3. that god should make this covenant with man , and not with devils . 4. this sets out the mercy of the covenant , because it containes such rare and glorious benefits , and therefore it is called a covenant of life and peace , mal. 2. 5. an everlasting covenant , even the sure mercies of david , esay 55. 3. it is compared to the waters of noah , esay 54. 9. famous are those two texts , exod. 19. 5 , 6. ier. 32. 40 , 41. texts that hold forth strong consolation . by virtue of the covenant , heaven is not only made possible , but certain to all believers , and certain by way of oath . it is by virtue of the covenant that we call god father ; and may lay claim to all the power , wisdome , goodnesse , and mercy , &c. that is in god . as iehoshaphat told the king of israel , to whom he was joyned in covenant , i am as thou art , my people as thy people , my horses as thy horses : so doth god say to all that are in covenant with him ; my power is thine , my goodnesse is thine , &c. by virtue of this covenant , whatsoever thou wantest , god cannot deny it thee , if it be good for thee . say unto god , lord , thou hast sworne to take away my heart of stone , and to give me a heart of flesh . thou hast sworn to write thy law in my heart , thou hast sworn to circumcise my heart , thou hast sworn to give me christ to be my king , priest , and prophet , &c. and god cannot but be a covenant-keeper . by virtue of this covenant , god cannot but accept of a poor penitent sinner laying hold upon christ for pardon , 2 chron. 7. 14. jer. 3. 14. promissa haec tuasunt , domine ; & quis falli timet cum promittit ipsa veritas ? in a word , we may challenge pardon , and heaven by our covenant ; 1 john 1. 9. god is not only mercifull , but just to forgive us . we may challenge heaven through christ out of justice . 5. adde lastly , that the conditions of the covenant on our parts should be upon such easie termes , therefore it is called a covenant of free-grace . all that god requires of us , is to take hold of this covenant ; is . 56. to receive this gift of righteousnesse , rom. 5. to take all christ as he is tendred in the covenant . and that which is the greatest consolation of all , god hath promised in his covenant to do our part for us . jer. 31. 33 , 34. therefore it is called a testament rather then a covenant . ( in the new testament the word {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} is alwayes used by the apostle , and not {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ) heaven is conveyed unto the elect by way of legacie ; it is part of gods testament to write his law in our hearts , and to cause us to walk in his wayes , &c. put these things together . seeing there is such infinite mercy in the covenant . a mercy for god to enter into covenant with us , to doe it with us and not the angels , with us fallen , with us upon such easie termes ; and to make such a covenant , that contains so many , and not only so , but all blessings here and hereafter in the wombe of it ; it must needs be a land-destroying and soul-destroying sin to be a covenant-breaker . the use and application of this doctrine is foure-fold . if it be such a land-devouring sin to be a covenant-breaker , let us from hence learn the true cause of all the miseries that have hapned unto england in these late yeers . the wombe , out of which all our calamities are come . england hath broken covenant with god , and now god is breaking england in pieces , even as a potter breakes a vessell in pieces . god hath sent his sword to avenge the quarrell of his covenant . as christ whipt the buyers and sellers out of the temple , with whips made of the cords which they brought to tye their oxen and sheep withall . a covenant is a cord to ty us to god , and now god hath made an iron whip of these cords which we have broken asunder to whip us withall . we are a nation in covenant with god , we have the books of the covenant , the old and new testament ; we have the seales of the covenant , baptisme , and the lords supper . we have the messengers of the covenant , the ministers of the gospell . we have the angell of the covenant , the lord jesus christ fully and clearly set out before us in the ministery of the word . but alas , are not these blessings amongst us , as the ark was amongst the philistines , rather as prisoners , then as priviledges ; rather in testimonium & ruinam , quam in salutem , rather for our ruine , then for our happinesse ? may it not be said of us , as reverend moulin said of the french protestants ; while they burned us ( saith he ) for reading the scriptures , we burnt with zeale to be reading of them : now with our liberty is bred also negligence and disesteem of gods word ? so it is with us . while we were under the tyranny of the bishops , oh how sweet was a fasting-day ! how beautifull were the feet of them that brought the gospell of peace unto you ? how dear and precious were gods people one to another , &c. but now how are our fasting-dayes sleighted and vilified ? how are the people of god divided one from another , railing upon ( in stead of loving ) one another ? and is not the godly mininistery as much persecuted by the tongues of some that would be accounted godly , as heretofore by the bishops hands ? is not the holy bible by some rather wrested then read ? wrested i say by ignorant and unstable soules , to their own destruction . and as for the seales of the covenant . first , for the lords supper ; how often have we spilt the bloud of christ by our unworthy approaches to his table ? and hence it is , that he is now spilling our blood . how hard a matter is it to obtain power to keep the blood of christ from being profaned by ignorant and scandalous communicants ? and can we think that god will be easily intreated to sheath up his bloody sword , and to cease shedding our blood ? secondly , for the sacrament of baptisme ; how cruell are men grown to their little infants , by keeping of them from the seale of entrance into the kingdome of heaven , and making their children ( their own children ) to be just in the same condition with the children of turks and infidels ? i remember at the beginning of these warres , there was a great fear fell upon godly people about their little children , and all their care was for their preservation , and their safety ; and for the continuance of the gospell to them , &c. but now our little children are likely to be in a worser condition then ever . the oxford army labour to steale away the gospell from them , and the anabaptist labours to steale away the seale of the covenant of grace from them ; and that which is worser then all , there are some godly people love to have it so . and all this is come upon us as a just punishment of our baptismall covenant-breaking . and as for jesus christ who is the angell of the covenant : are there not some amongst us that un-god jesus christ ? and is it not fit and equall that god should un-church us , and un-people us ? are there not thousands that have sworne to be christs servants , and yet are in their lives the vassals of sin and satan ? and shall not god be avenged of such a nation as this ? these things considered , it is no wonder our miseries are so great , but the wonder is , that they are no greater . the second use , is an use of examination . dayes of humiliation ought to be dayes of selfe-examination . let us therefore upon such a day as this is , examine whether we be not amongst the number of those that make the times perilous , whether we be not covenant-breakers ? here i will speak of three covenants : first , of the covenant we made with god in our baptisme . secondly , of the covenants which we have made with god in our distresses . thirdly , and especially of this covenant which you are to renue this day . first , of the covenant which we made in baptisme , and renue every time we come to the lords supper , and upon our solemn dayes of fasting . there are none here , but i may say of them , the vowes of god are upon you . you are servi nati , empti , jurati ; you are the born , bought , and sworn servants of god , you have made a surrender of your selves unto god and christ . the question i put to you is this : how often have you broke covenant with god ? it is said , isaiah 33. 14. the sinners of sion are afraid : who shall dwell with everlasting burnings ? who shall dwell with devouring sire , &c. when god comes to a church-sinner , to a sinner under the old testament , much more to a christian sinner ; a sinner under the new testament : and layeth to his charge his often covenant-breaking , fearfulnesse shall possesse him , and he will cry out ▪ oh! woe is me , who can dwell with everlasting burnings ? our god is a consuming fire , and we are as stubble before him . who can stand before his indignation ? ( nahum 1. 6. ) who can abide in the fiercenesse of his anger ? when his fury is poured forth like fire , and the rockes are throwne down before him . who can stand ? of all sorts of creatures , a sinfull christian shall never be able to stand before the lord , when he comes to visit the world for their sins . for when a christian sinnes against god , he sins not only against the commandement , but against the covenant . and in every sin he is a commandement-breaker , and a covenant-breaker . and therefore whereas the apostle saith , tribulation and anguish upon every soule that sinneth , but first upon the jew ; &c. i may adde ; first upon the christian , then upon the jew , and then upon the grecian ; because the covenant made with the christian is called a better covenant ; and therefore his sins have a higher aggravation in them . there is a notable passage in austin , in which he brings the devill thus pleading with god against a wicked christian at the day of judgement . aequissime judex , judica quod aequum est , judica meum esse qui tuus esse noluit post renunciationem ; vt quid invasit pannos meos ? quid apud eum lascivia , incontinentia , &c. quibus ipse renunciaverit ? quid intemperantia , quid gula , quid fastus , quid caetera mea ? haec omnia mea post renunciationem invasit . meus esse voluit , mea concupivit ; judica , aequissime judex , quoniam quem tu non dedignatus es tanto pretio liberare , ipse mihi postmodum voluit obligare . that is , oh thou righteous judge , give right judgement ! judge him to be mine , who refused to be thine even after he had renounced me in his baptisme ; what had he to doe to wear my livery ? what had he to doe with gluttony , drunkennesse , pride , wantonnesse , incontinencie ; and the rest of my ware ? all these things he hath practised since he renounced the devill and all his works . mine he is , judge righteous judgement ; for he whom thou hast not disdained to dye for , hath obliged himselfe to me by his sins , &c. now what can god say to this charge of the devils , but , take him devill , seeing he would be thine ; take him , torment him with everlasting torments ? cyprian brings in the devill thus speaking to christ at the great day of judgement , ego pro istis quos mecum vides nec alapas accepi , nec flagella sustinui , nec crucem pertuli , nec sanguinem fudi , sed nec regnum coeleste illis promitto , nec ad paradisum evoco , & tamen se mihi suaque omnia consecrarunt . i have not ( saith the devill ) been whipt and scourged , and crucified , neither have i shed my blood for these whom thou seest with me . i do not promise them a kingdome of heaven , &c. and yet these men have wholly consecrated themselves to me and my service . indeed if the devill could make such gainfull covenants with us , and bestow such glorious mercies upon us as are contained within the covenant , our serving of satan and sinne might have some excuse . but when as his covenant is a covenant of bondage , death , hell , and damnation : and gods covenant is a covenant of liberty , grace , and eternall happinesse , it must needs be a sin inexcusable , to be willingly and wilfully such a covenant-breaker . secondly , let us examine concerning the vowes which we have made to god in our distresses : in our personall distresses , and our nationall distresses . are we not like the children of israel of whom it is said , psal. 78. 34. when he slew them , then they sought him , and they returned and enquired early after god , &c. neverthelesse they did but flatter him with their mouth , &c. for their heart was not right with him , neither were they stedfast in his covenant ? are we not like unto little children , that while they are whipping will promise any thing , but when the whipping is over will perform nothing ? or like unto iron that is very soft and malleable while it is in the fire , but when it is taken out of the fire , returns presently to his former hardnesse ? this was jacobs fault : he made a vow when he was in distresse , gen. 28. 22. but he forgat his covenant , and god was angry with him , and chastised him in his daughter dinah , gen. 34. 5. and in his two sons simeon and levi . and at last god himself was fain to call to him from heaven to keep covenant . and after that time god blessed iacob exceedingly , gen. 35. 9 , 10 , 11 , 12. we reade of david , psal. 66. 13 , 14 , 15. that he professeth of himself , that he would go into gods house , and pay the vowes which his lips had uttered , and his mouth had spoken when he was in trouble . but how few are there that imitate david in this thing ? thirdly , let us examine our selves concerning the solemne league and covenant which we are to renue this day . and here i demand an answer to these questions . 1. are there not many amongst us that scorn it and speak reproachfully of it ? that deal with it as the children of israel did with manna , which at first they did so highly value , as that they could not be kept within doors from gathering of it , no not upon the sabbath day ; but afterwards they came to loathe it as much as ever before they loved it . and do not we deal so with the covenant ? 2. are there not some that write against it , and that say in effect , that the perjury that is committed about it , is rather in taking of it then in breaking of it , and that it was not a right , but a rash oath ? which i speak not only to the shame of those that write thus , but also to the shame of those that suffer such things to be written and to go unquestioned . 3. are there not some that put corrupt glosses upon it , and deale falsely in the covenant ? that say , that by virtue of the covenant all ministers are bound to renounce their ministery , ( even that ministery which god hath blessed and put his seale unto by the conversion of thousands ) and either to take it up again by ordination from the people ; or if we finde no warrant in the word for that way , then to turn seekers , and to wait till god send apostles to ordain ministers ? and yet these men cannot but know that the parliament in their ordinance for ordination of ministers , have declared , that this is not the meaning of the covenant . others there are that say ; that by virtue of the covanant no man ought to pay tythes to his minister unlesse he will incurre the sin of perjury . these men may as well say , that by the covenant no tenant ought to pay rent to his landlord , and that no man ought to keep the laws of the realm . for we challenge our tythes by virtue of the laws established , &c. we challenge a sufficient maintenance by gods law . but as for the tenth part ( though there are some that say much out of the scripture for it ) yet we require it as due only by the laws of the kingdome . 4. are there not some that deal hypocritically in the covenant ? that take it meerly to serve their own turns , to save their credits , or to save their estates , or to hide their malignancy ? that are like unto the samaritans , of whom it is reported , that when the jewes were in adversity , they would renounce the jewish religion and all alliance with them : but when the jewes were in prosperity , then they would pretend kindred , and professe themselves to be of the iewish religion . just so do many oxford-malignants deal with the parliament . while we are in prosperity , they are covenanters , and for the parliament . but if ever god should bring us again into a low condition , they would quickly appear to be anti-covenanters and anti-parliamenters . i have heard a story of a gaoler , that being required either to take the covenant , or to leave his place ; he consulted with his fellow drunkard about it ; and he answered , that he could not deny but that the taking of the covenant was a very bitter pill : but seeing there was no remedy , his advice was , to swallow it down and not to think on it . and shall not god be avenged of such a nation as this ? but the great question , and that which doth most nearly concerne us that are here , is ; 5. are we not covenant-breakers ? do we not make the times perilous by our falsifying of our oath and covenant with god ? in our covenant we swear to six things . 1. that we will endeavour to be humbled for our own sins and for the sins of the kingdome . but where shall we finde a mourner in england for his own abominations , and for the abominations that are committed in the midst of us ? it is easie to finde a censurer of the sins of the land , but hard to finde a true mourner for the sins of the land . secondly , we swear that we will endeavour to goe before one another in the example of a reall reformation . but who makes conscience of this part of the oath ? what sin hast thou left , or in what one thing hast thou bin reformed since thou tookest this covenant ? we read , ezra 10. 3. that they entred into covenant , to put away their wives & their children by them : which was a very difficult and hard duty , and yet they did it . but what bosome sin , what beloved sin , as dear to thee as thy dear wife and children , hast thou left for gods sake since thou tookest this oath ? i read nehem. 5. 13. that the people took an oath to make restitution , which was a costly duty , and yet they performed it , saith the text . but alas ! where is the man that hath made restitution of his ill gotten goods since he took this covenant ? i reade , 2 chron. 15. 16. that king asa deposed his mother maachah , her , even her , from being queen , after he had entred into covenant : and that the people , 2 kings 11. 18. after they had sworn a covenant , brake in pieces all the altars of baal thoroughly . but where is this thorough reformation , this thorough amendment of life ? indeed here is much talk of a reformation , but little practice of a reformation . we say we fight for a reformation ; but i fear lest in a little time we should fight away all our reformation : or if not fight it away , yet we should dispute it away . for now all our religion is turned into vtrum's , into questions , insomuch as that there are some that call all religion into question , and in a little while will lose all religion in the crowd of questions . inter disputandum veritas , & religio amittitur . there was a time not many years agoe , when god did blesse our ministery in the city , to the conversion of many people unto god ; but now there are many that study more to gain parties to themselves , then to gain souls to god . the great work of conversion is little thought on . and never so few ( if any at all ) converted as in these days wherein we talk so much of reformation . and is this to keep covenant with god ? 3. we sweare to endeavour to amend the lives , and reforme not only our selves , but all those that are under our charge . but where is this family-reformation ? indeed i reade of jacob , that when he went to perform his vow and covenant , he first reformed his family , gen. 35. 3. and that joshua resolved ( and performed it ) for himself and his family to serve the lord . and so did josiah , 2 chron. 34. and oh that i could adde , and so do we ! but the wickednesses committed in our families , proclaim the contrary to all the world . what noblemans , what aldermans , what merchants family is more reformed since the covenant , then before ? we speak and contend much for a church-reformation ; but how can there be a church-reformation , unlesse there be first a family-reformation ? what though the church-worship be pure , yet if the worshippers be impure , god will not accept of the worship ? and if families be not reformed , how will your worshippers be pure ? 4. we swear to endeavour to bring the churches of god in the three kingdomes , to the nearest conjunction and uniformity in religion , confession of faith , form of church-government , directory for worship and catechizing , &c. but are there not some that write against an vniformity in religion , and call it an idoll ? are there not many that walk professedly contrary to this clause of the covenant ? there are three texts of scripture that people keep the quite contrary way . the first is , mat. 6. 34. 31. 25. take no thought what you shall eat , &c. take no thought for to morrw . and most people take thought for nothing else . the second text is , matth. 6. 33. seek ye first the kingdome of god and his righteousnesse , &c. and most people seek this last of all . the third text is , john 6. 27. labour not for the meat that perisheth , but for the meat that endureth for ever ▪ &c. and most people labour not for the meat that endureth for ever , but for the meat that perisheth . as these three texts are kept , so do many people keep this part of the oath ; for there were never more divisions and differences in the church , never more difformity , and pleading against vniformity , then now there is . 5. we swear to endeavour the extirpation of popery , prelacy , superstition , heresie , schisme , &c. and yet not withstanding there are some that have taken this oath , that contend earnestly for a toleration of all religions : which ( as i conceive ) is as contrary to this clause of the covenant as heaven is to hell . 6. we swear against a detestable indifferency and neutrality in this cause which so much concerneth the glory of god , &c. and yet how many are there amongst us that are like unto gallio , that care not what becomes of the cause of god , so they may have peace and quiet ? that will not be the backwardest of all , and yet will be sure not to be too forward , for fear lest if the times turn , they should be noted amongst the chief of the faction ? that are very indifferent which side prevaile , so they may have their trading again ? that say as the polititian , that they will be carefull not to come too near the heels of religion , lest it should dash out his braines : and as the king of arragon told beza , that he would wade no farther into the sea of religion , then he could safely return back to shoar ? in all these six particulars let us seriously search and try our hearts , whether we be not amongst the number of those that make the times perilous . the third use is for humiliation . let the consideration of our covenant-breaking , be a heart-breaking consideration to every one of us this day . let this be a mighty and powerfull argument to humble us upon this day of humiliation . there are five considerations that are exceedingly soul-humbling , if god blesse them unto us . 1. the consideration of the many commandements of god that we have often and often broken . 2. the consideration of the breaking of jesus christ for our sins , how he was rent and torn for our iniquities . 3. the consideration of the breaking of the bread , and the pouring out of the wine in the sacrament , which is a heart-breaking motive and help . 4. the broken condition that the kingdome of england , scotland , and ireland , and that germany is in at this time . 5. the many vowes and covenants that we have broken ; our sacrament-covenants , our fasting-covenants , our sick-bed-covenants . and especially the consideration of our often breaking of our nationall-covenant which you come this day to renue . this is a sin in folio , a sin of a high nature : and if ever god awaken conscience in this life , a sin that will lye like a heavie incuba upon it . a greater sin then a sin against a commandement , or against an ordinance . a sin not only of disobedience , but of perjury . a sin of injustice , of spirituall adultery . a sin of sacriledge . a sin of great unkindnesse . a sin that makes us not only disobedient , but dishonest . for we account him a dishonest man that keeps not his word . a sin that not only every good christian , but every good heathen doth abhorre . a sin , that not only brings damnation upon us , but casteth such into horrible disgrace and reproach upon god , that it cannot stand with gods honour not to be avenged of a covenant-breaker . tertullian saith , that when a christian forsakes his covenant , and the colours of christ , and turnes to serve as the devils souldier , he puts an unspeakable discredit upon god and christ . for it is as much as if he should say ; i like the service of the devill better then the service of god . and it is just as if a souldier that hath waged war under a captaine , and afterwards forsaking him turnes to another , and after that , leaves this other captaine and returns to his former captain . this is to preferre the first captain before the second . this makes god complaine , jer. 2. 4. what iniquity have your fathers found in me that they are gone far from me , &c. and in the 11 verse , hath any nation changed their gods , which are yet no gods ? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit . basil brings in the devil insulting over christ , and saying , i never created nor redeemed these men , and yet they have obeyed me , and contemned thee , ô christ , even after they have covenanted to be thine . and then he addes , equidem ego istam futuram adversus christum gloriationem hostis insolentem gravius longè esse statuo quam gehennae supplicia . that is , i esteem this insulting of the devill over jesus christ at the great day , to be more grievous to a true saint , then all the torments in hell . a saying worthy to be written in letters of gold . seeing then that covenant-breaking is so great an abomination , the lord give us hearts to be humbled for this great abomination this day . and this will be a notable preparation to fit you to the renuing of your covenant . for we reade that nehemiah first called his people to fast , before he drew them into a covenant . according to which pattern you are here met to pray , and fast , and humble your soules for your former covenant-breaking ; and then to binde your selves anew unto the lord our god . as wax when it is melted will receive the impression of a seal , which it will not do before : so will your hearts when melted into godly sorrow for your sins , receive the seal of god abidingly upon them , which they will not do when hardned in sin . is every man that sins against the covenant to be accounted a covenant-breaker , and a perjured , sacrilegious person ? by no means . for as every failing of a wife doth not break the covenant between her and her husband ; but she is to be accounted a wife till she by committing adultery break the covenant . so every miscariage against the covenant of grace , or against this nationall covenant , doth not denominate us in a gospell-account covenant-breakers . but then god accounts us according to his gospel to break covenant , when we do not only sin , but commit sin against the covenant , when we do not only sin out of weaknesse , but out of wickednesse ; when we do not only faile , but fall into sin : when we forsake & renounce the covenant , when we deale treacherously in the covenant , and enter into league and covenant with those sins which we have sworn against . when we walk into anti-covenant paths , and willingly do contrary to what we swear ; then are we perjured , & unjust , and sacrilegious , and guilty of all these sins formerly mentioned . the fourth use presents unto you a divine , and therefore a sure project to make the times happy . and that is , let all covenant-takers labour to be covenant-keepers . it hath pleased god to put it in your hearts to renue your covenant . the same god inable you to keep covenant . it is said , 2 chron. 34. 31 , 32. the king made a covenant before the lord , &c. and he caused all that were present in jerusalem and benjamin to stand to it . and 2 kings 23. 3. the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the lord , &c. and all the people stood to the covenant . this is your duty , not only to take the covenant , but to stand to the covenant ; and to stand to it , maugre all opposition to the contrary . according to seek the lord god of their fathers , &c. that whosoever would not seek the lord god of israel , should be put to death , whether small or great , whether man or woman . for it is not the taking , but the keeping of the covenant that will make you happy . god is stiled , a god keeping covenant , deut : 9. 4. neh. 1. 5. o that this might be the honour of this city ! that we may say of it , london is a city keeping covenant with god . great and many are the blessings entailed upon covenant-keepers . exod. 19. 5 , 6. now therefore if you will obey my voice indeed , and keep my covenant , then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people : for all the earth is mine : and ye shall be unto me a kingdome of priests , and an holy nation , &c. psal. 25. 10. all the paths of the lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant , &c. psal. 15. 4. there are three covenants i shall perswade you in an especiall manner to stand to . 1. the covenant you made with god in baptisme . a christian ( saith chrysostome ) should never step out of doors , or lye down in his bed , or go into his closet , but he should remember that word abrenuncio ; that is , he should remember the time when he did renounce the devill and all his works . oh let us not forget that which we ought alwayes to remember ! let us remember to keep that covenant , as ever we desire god should remember us in mercy at the great day . 2. the covenants which we have made unto god in our afflictions . famous is that passage of pliny in one of his epistles to one that desired rules from him how to order his life aright . i will ( saith he ) give you one rule which shall be instead of a thousand ; vt tales esse perseveremus sani , quales nos futuros esse profitemur infirmi . that we should persevere to be such when we are well , as we promise to be when we are sick . a sentence never to be forgotten . the lord help us to live accordingly . 3. the covenant which you are to take this day . the happinesse or misery of england doth much depend upon the keeping or breaking of this covenant . if england keep it , england by keeping covenant shall stand sure , according to that text , ezek. 7. 14. if england break it , god will break england in pieces . if england sleight it , god wil sleight england . if england forsake it , god will forsake england . and this shall be written upon the tombe of perishing england : here lieth a nation that hath broken the that it is the brand of a reprobate to be a covenant-breaker , &c. it is the part of a foole to vow , and not to pay his vowes . and god hath no delight in the sacrifice of fools . better not vow , then to vow and not to pay , eccl. 5. 4 , 5. it is such an high prophanation of gods name , as that god cannot hold a covenant-breaker guiltlesse . it is perjury , injustice , spirituall adultery , sacriledge , &c. and the very lifting up of your hands this day ( if you do not set heart and hand on work to keep covenant ) will be sufficient witnesse against you at the great day . we reade , gen. 31. 44 , 45 , 46 , 48 , 49 , 52 , 53. that jacob and laban entred into a covenant , and took a heap of stones , and made them a witnesse , & said , this heap is a witnesse , &c. and they called the name of the place mizpah : the lord watch between me and thee , &c. the god of abraham judge betwixt us , &c. such is your condition this day . you enter into covenant to become the lords , and to be valiant for his truth , and against his enemies . and the very stones of this church shall be witnesse against you , if you break covenant . the name of this place may be called mizpah . the lord will watch over you for good , if you keep it , and for evill , if you break it . and all the curses contained in the book of the covenant shall light upon a willing covenant-breaker . the lord fasten these meditations and soul-awaking considerations upon your hearts . the lord give you grace to keep close to the covenant ; & in keeping of it to keep god and a good conscience , wth are both lost by covenant-breaking . there are six things which i shall perswade you unto in pursuance of your covenant . 1. to be humbled for your own sins , and for the sins of the kingdome ; & more especially , because we have not as we ought valued the inestimable benefit of the gospel , that we have not laboured to receive christ in our hearts , nor to walk worthy of him in our lives , which are the causes of other sins and transgressions so much abounding amongst us . gospel-sins are greater then legall-sins , and will bring gospel-curses , which are greater then legall-curses . and therefore let us be humbled according to our covenant for all our gospel-abominations . 2. you must be ambitious to go before one another in an example of reall reformation . you must swear vainly no more , be drunk no more , break the sabbath no more , &c. you must remember what david saith , psal. 50. 16. but unto the wicked god saith , what instruction , and castest my words behinde thee . to sin willingly after we have sworn not to sin , is not only to sin against a commandement , ( as i have said ) but to sin against an oath ; which is à double iniquity , and will procure a double damnation . and he that takes a covenant to reform , and yet continueth unreformed , his covenant will be unto him as the bitter water of jealousie was to the woman guilty of adultery , which made her belly to swell and thigh to rot , &c. numb. 5. 22. 3 , you must be careful to reform your families according to your covenant , and the example of joshua , and jacob , and the godly kings forementioned . 4. you must endeavour according to your places and callings to bring the churches of god in the three kingdoms to the nearest conjunction & uniformity in religion , &c. o blessed vnity ! how comes it to passe that thou art so much sleighted and contemned ? was not unity one of the chief parts of christs prayer unto his father when he was here upon earth ? john 17. 11. is not unity amongst christians one of the strongest arguments to perswade the world to believe in christ , john 17. 21. is it not the chiefe desire of the holy apostles , that we should all speak the same things , and that there should be no divisions amongst us , but that we be perfectly joyned together in the same mind & in the same judgement ? 1 cor. 1. 10. phil. 2. 1 , 2 , 3 , &c. is not unity the happinesse of heaven ? is it not the happinesse of a city to be at unity within it self ? is it not a good & pleasant thing for brethren to dwell together in unity ? how comes it then to passe that this part of the covenant is so much forgotten ? the lord mind you of it this day ! and the lord make this great & famous city a city of holinesse , and a city at unity within it self ! for if unity be destroyed , purity will quickly also be destroyed . the church of god is una as well as sancta . it is but one church as wel as is it a holy church . and jesus christ gave some to be apostles , some evangelists , some prophets , some pastors and teachers , &c. till we all come to the unity of the faith . not only to the purity , but to the unity of the faith . the government of christ is appointed for the keeping of his church in unity as well as purity . those things which god hath joyned together , let no man put asunder . that government which doth not promote unity as well as purity , is not the government of christ . oh the misery of that kingdom where church-divisions are nourished and fomented would it not be a sad thing to see twelve in a family , and one of them a presbyterian , another an independent , another a brownist , another an antinomian , another an anabaptist , another a familist , another for the prelatical government , another a seeker , another a papist , and the tenth it may be an atheist , the eleventh a jew , & the twelfth a turk ? the lord in his due time heal our divisions , & make you his choice instruments according to your places , that the lord may be one , & his name one in the three kingdoms ! 5. you must endeavour in pursuance of your covenant to extirpate popery , prelacy , heresie , schisme , prophanenesse , & whatsoever shall be found contrary to sound doctrine and the power of godlinesse , &c. that so this city may be a city of holinesse , unity , and a city of truth , as is prophecied of jerusalem , zach. 8. 3. oh blessed truth , how is it that thou art so lightly esteemed on ! is not truth more precious then gold , and more to be prized then rubies ? are we not to buy the truth and sell it not ? did not christ come into the world to bear witnesse to the truth ? did not grace and truth come by iesus christ ? is not christ the way , the truth , and the life ? how is it then that truth is fallen in the streets , and equity cannot enter ? how is it that truth faileth , and he that departeth from evill maketh himself a prey ? esay 59. 14 , 15. how is it that men bend their tongues like bowes for lies , but they are not valiant for the truth upon earth ? the lord make you lovers of truth and peace . 6. you must take heed of that cursed monster of indifferency & neutrality . study these six texts of scripture , judg. 5. 23. judg. 8. 6 , 7. 16. deut. 23 3 , 4. jer. 48. 10. mat. 12. 30. mar. 8. 38. o that these scriptures were written in your hearts with a pen of iron ! a neuter in gods cause is a lukewarm christian , whom god will spue out of his mouth ; he is a dead member of christs body , fit to be cut off . oh that the lord would raise up your hearts this day ( right honourable , right worshipfull , and well beloved ) to a high pitch of zeal for him and his cause ! god hath made you instruments to do wonderfull things for this kingdom : you have been the saviours of the kingdom ; you have vindicated the liberties of the parliament , and your own liberties ; and the kings army by your means in a great measure is brought very low . but yet as christ said to the young man , so do i to you : there is one thing wanting : and that one thing is the one thing necessary ; the church is unsetled , discipline unerected , religion is tottering . for zions stir up your zeal and your strength . use your interest and your power in an orderly , and regular , and peaceable way according to your places . and what can you not do ? you have ventured one arrow already , shoot another , and if that miscarry , shoot another , you will speed at last . he that cuts down a tree though he cuts it not down at the first and second blow , yet the first and second and third blow prepare to the speeding blow , to that blow that cuts it down . you have delivered one petition already , deliver another , and if that speed not , deliver another . the speeding petition will come at last . in a word , doe your duties according to your oath , and according to your capacities , ( and all in a regular way ) and leave the issue to god . but some will say , how shall i doe to get up my heart to this high pitch that i may be a covenant-keeper ? i will propound these four helps . 1. labour to be always mindefull of your covenant , according to that text , 1 chron. 16. 15. god is always mindfull of his covenant . it was the great sin of the people of israel , that they were unmindfull of the covenant , neh. 9. 17. they first forgat the covenant , and afterwards did quickly forsake it . he that forgets the covenant , must needs be a covenant-breaker . let us therefore remember it , and carry it about us as quotidianum argumentum , and quotidianum munimentum . first , let us make the covenant a daily argument against all sin & iniquity , and when we are tempted to any sin , let us say , i have sworn to forsake my old iniquities : and if i commit this sin , i am not onely a commandement-breaker , but an oath-breaker ; i am perjur'd . i have sworn to reform my family , and therefore i will not suffer a wicked person to tarry in my family . i have sworn against neutrality , and indifferency , and therefore i will be zealous in gods cause , &c. secondly , let us make this covenant a daily muniment , and armour of defence , to beat back all the fiery darts of the devill . when any one tempts thee by promise of preferment to doe contrary to thy covenant , or by threatning to ruine thee for the hearty pursuing of thy covenant , here is a ready answer ; i am sworn to doe what i doe , and if i doe otherwise , i am a perjured wretch . this is as a wall of brasse to resist any dart that shall be shot against thee for well-doing according to thy covenant . famous he required aid of him against the romanes . when i was 9 years old ( said he ) my father carried me to the altar , and made me take an oath to be an irreconciliable foe to the romanes . in pursuance of this oath , i have waged war against them those . 36 years . to keep this oath i have left my country , and am come to seek aid at your hands , which if you deny , i will travell over all the world to finde out some enemies to the romane state . odi , odioque sum romanis . if an oath did so mightily operate in hannibal , let the oath you are to take this day , work as powerfully upon you ; and make your oath an argument to oppose personall sins , and family sins , and to oppose heresie , schisme , and all profanenesse , and to endeavour to bring the churches of god in the three kingdomes to the neerest conjunction , and uniformity , &c. and let this oath be armour of proof against all temptations to the contrary . and know this one thing , that if the covenant be not a daily argument and muniment against sin , it will become upon your breaking of it , quotidianum testimonium , & aeternum opprobrium . a daily witnesse against you , as the book of the law was , deut. 31. 26. and an everlasting shame and reproach unto you and yours . 2. let us have high thoughts of the covenant . actions , and affections follow our apprehensions . if thy judgement be beleapred with a corrupt opinion about the covenant , thy affections and actions will quickly be beleapred also . and therefore you ought to endeavour according to your places , that nothing be spoken , or written , that may tend to the prejudice of the covenant . 3. you must not take it in your owne strengths , but in gods strength . as it is taken in gods presence , so it must be taken with gods assistance , with selfe-abasing , selfe-denying , selfe-humbling hearts ; you must take it joyfully and tremblingly ; rejoycing in god and in his strength , and yet trembling for fear of your own unworthinesse and unstedfastnesse in the covenant . 4. you must take heed of the cursed sin of selfe-love , which is placed in the fore-front as the cause of all the catalogue of sins here named ; because-men are lovers of themselves , therefore they are covetous , &c. and therefore they are covenant-breakers . a selfe-seeker cannot be a covenant-keeper ; this is a sinne that you must hate as the very gates of hell . of my sermon to speak on : but the time and your other occasions will not permit . there is a naturall selfe-love , and a divine selfe-love , and a sinfull selfe-love . this sinfull self-love is when we make our selves the last end of all our actions , when we so love our selves , as to love no man but our selves , according to the proverb , every man for himself , &c. when we pretend god and his glory , and the common good : but intend our selves , and our own private gain and interest ; when we serve god upon politique designes ; of this sinfull self-love the apostle speaks , phil. 2. 21. for all seek their own , and not the things of jesus christ . and if we had a window to look into the hearts of most people , we should finde their hearts made up all of this idolatrous selfe-love . men deal with god as it is reported of cnidius a great architectist , who building a sumptuous watch-tower for the king of egypt ( a tower to discover the rocks to mariners ) such was his craft , that he caused his own name to be engraven'd upon a stone in the wall , in great letters , and over that stone he caused it to be plaistered with lime and mortar , and upon the outside wrote the name of the king of egypt , as pretending that he should have all the honour . but here was his cunning : he knew that in time the water would consume ( as it did ) the plaistering , and afterwards his own name and memory should appear and abide . just so doe most people deal with god and with his religion , and with the publique . if we looke without doors , we shall see nothing written but pro bono publico , &c. all their discourse is for the better promoting of godlilinesse : but if we could look within , we should see written , pro bono privato , &c. all their designes are for to promote themselves . they monopolize and ingrosse all to themselves , as if made for themselves . where this sinfull self-love dwels , there dwels no love to god , no love to thy brother , no love to church nor state . this sinfull self-love is the caterpillar that destroyeth church and common-wealth . it is from this sinfull self-love that the publique affairs drive on so heavily , and that church-government is not setled , and that our covenant is so much neglected . of this sin i cannot now speak : but when god shall offer opportunity , i shall endeavour to uncase it before you . in the mean time , the lord give you grace to hate it as hell it self . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a78965e-2250 compare ezra 7. 7. with neh. 1. 1. * gen. 12. 3. 7. 13. 15. 15. 18. 17. 7 , 8. gen. 22. 18. six reasons to justifie the renuing of the covenant . 2 chro. 15. 1. isay 42. 24. 25. iudg. 6. 13. 1 sam. 28. 15 , 16. rev. 2. 5. job 5. 23. rom , 1. 24. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} doct. the first . reason . 1. reason 2. ezek. 16. 8. reason 3. vse . 1. vse 2. doctrine 2. reason 1. reason 2. gen. 15. 10. 17 , 18 , reason 3. reason 4. reason 5. reason 6. vse 1. of information . vse 2. of examination , whether we be covenant-breakers or no . first for the covenant we make in baptisme . concerning our vowes to god in our distresse . concerning the solemne league and covenant . questions about the covenant . quest . 1. quest . 2. quest . 3. quest . 4. quest . 5. six things sworn unto in the covenant . vse 3. of humiliation . five soul-humbling considerations . object . answ . vse 4. an exhortation unto covenant keeping . epecially to keep , 1. the covenant we made to god in baptisme . 2. the covenants we have made in our affliction . 3. the solemne league & covenant . 6. things to be done in pursuance of our covenant . jer. 9 3. quest . ans. four helps to keep the solemn league & covenant . the covenant must be a daily argument against sin , & a daily weapon to beat back all temptations . foure speeches delivered in guild-hall on friday the sixth of october, 1643. at a common-hall, vpon occasion of desiring the assistance of our brethren of scotland in this warre. / viz. the [brace] 1. by mr. solicitor. 2. by mr. edmund calamy. 3. by mr. jeremiah burroughes. 4. by mr. obadiah sedgewick. published according to order. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a84751 of text r200837 in the english short title catalog (thomason e338_1). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 110 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 24 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a84751 wing f1671 thomason e338_1 estc r200837 99861470 99861470 113607 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a84751) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 113607) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 55:e338[1]) foure speeches delivered in guild-hall on friday the sixth of october, 1643. at a common-hall, vpon occasion of desiring the assistance of our brethren of scotland in this warre. / viz. the [brace] 1. by mr. solicitor. 2. by mr. edmund calamy. 3. by mr. jeremiah burroughes. 4. by mr. obadiah sedgewick. published according to order. gardiner, thomas, sir, 1591-1652. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. burroughs, jeremiah, 1599-1646. sedgwick, obadiah, 1600?-1658. [2], 44 p. printed by r. cotes, for jo. bellamie, and are to bee sold at his shop at the sign of the three golden lions in cornhill, neer the royall exchange., london, : 1646. mr. solicitor = sir thomas gardiner. the words "1. by mr. solicitor. .. sedgewick." are bracketed together on the title page. annotation on thomason copy: may 23th. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng great britain -history -civil war, 1642-1649 -participation, scottish -early works to 1800. scotland -history -charles i, 1625-1649 -early works to 1800. a84751 r200837 (thomason e338_1). civilwar no foure speeches delivered in guild-hall on friday the sixth of october, 1643.: at a common-hall, vpon occasion of desiring the assistance of gardiner, thomas, sir 1646 22042 187 0 0 0 0 0 85 d the rate of 85 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-06 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2007-06 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion fovre speeches delivered in gvild-hall on friday the sixth of october , 1643. at a common-hall , vpon occasion of desiring the assistance of our brethren of scotland in this warre . viz. the 1. by mr. solicitor . 2. by mr. edmund calamy . 3. by mr. jeremiah burroughes . 4. by mr. obadiah sedgewick . published according to order . london , printed by r. cotes , for jo. bellamie , and are to bee sold at his shop at the sign of the three golden lions in cornhill , neer the royall exchange . 1646. foure speeches delivered in guild-hall , on friday the sixth of october , 1643. at a common-hall . mr. solicitor his speech at guild-hall , on friday , october 6. 1643. worthy aldermen , and gentlemen , and citizens of this famous city of london , the cause of the calling of this assembly of this common-hall , it was the businesse of scotland , i thinke it is not unknowne to many of you , that about two months since both the houses of parliament did send a committee into scotland to desire the assistance of our brethren of scotland in this warre : the committee hath from thence sent propositions to both the houses , whereby wee see their willingnesse to come to our assistance : but one part of it is , that without some supplyes of money , they are not able at all to come into this assistance , the houses considering the necessity of their comming in , and of speedy supplyes of money to that purpose , they did send a committee , and did desire that a common-councell might be called , which was done upon munday last , and they did thither send a committee , with desire that the common-councell would take that into consideration , that is , the necessity of their comming , and speedy supplies to bee raised . and for the effecting of this , not having any other means so neare at hand as that , they did desire that the common-councell would appoint a committee out of themselves to consider of this businesse with the committee of the house of commons : these they met , and have been together these two dayes considering of it , that is , wednesday and thursday , and they did intend , and doe still , to send to divers of those that are able and rich of this city , to the intent that they might see , what they would lend to this businesse ; and to tender to them such security , as they conceive to be very convenient and fitting for those that are willing to lend money : but when they had entred upon the businesse , and ▪ considering the speed , and the necessity that the supply should be expedited , they thought that would be too long a way , yet resolved to prosecute it still , but withall they did desire , that my lord major would be pleased to call a court of aldermen this morning , ( which hee did ) and likewise a common-hall , to the intent that the necessity of the raising of this money speedily might be declared to you , because the other would be a longer way ; which though it be intended still to be prosecuted ; yet when you are all here together , we may the better know your affections to this businesse , and that the money may be speedily raised , though not the whole , yet it will be somewhat to the businesse , if some considerable summe might speedily be sent away . i conceive there is no need to acquaint you with the benefits that will redound to this kingdome , and the advantages wee shall have by a nearer association with them , and by their comming in , to this purpose for our assistance ; the benefits certainly when wee consider of them , are many . as first , this great cause which is now in agitation , that by this means will be much secur'd ; it will bee assur'd to us , that the event , and the successe of it ( by gods blessing ) will bee made a great deale the certainer : if they do not come in , then we are to consider how we stand . certainly , the parties they are very equall in this businesse , and where the parties are equall , the successe must needs bee dangerous , and very uncertain . now we all of us see , that all ranks and degrees of men , even from the highest lords , to the meanest commoners , they are engaged on both sides ; and if the advantage be of either side , it is in the other , because that the greater part of the nobility and gentry we know they are the other way . likewise if we consider the citi●● and townes of this kingdom , that there is newcastle , that there is york-shire , that there is shrewsbury , that there is bristoll , that there is chester , and that there is exeter , and divers others cities and great townes in their custody . if we goe through all the counties of the kingdome , wee see there the greatest parts of the northerne parts possess'd wholly by the earle of newcastle , northumberland , cumberland , westmerland , york-shire , and some other parts . so in the west , goe to other counties , there is a mixture in all of them , that we cannot say there is any part of the kingdome free ; so that the mixture seemes to be of the people likewise , if not the greater party the other way . if we consider likewise the events and successes ; as we on the one side have taken portsmouth , chichester , and some other places , so they on the other side have taken exeter , and bristoll , and other places . if we consider the events of the skirmishes , fights , and battailes that have been ; we cannot say , that on any side hath been any compleat victory ; that at edgehill , it pleased god to give us a deliverance , we finde it was no compleat victory , by those things that followed ; so this at newbury lately no compleat victory , for had it been so , the warre had been at an end , so that which way soever we looke , unlesse wee call them in to our assistance , certainly the parties on both sides , are very equally engaged ; and certainly when two men of equall strength doe wrestle , it is an even lay which of them will give the fall ; as long as the ballances stand so even , it is very uncertain which way they will weigh down . we are to consider , ( that in respect that the danger is such , and the event of the warre so uncertaine , without their comming in ) what the cause is that is lost , in case the day should be theirs ; certainly considering that the papists in ireland are wholly engaged , that the papists in england are wholly engaged , that the prelates and their party are wholly engaged , that there are divers that are neuters , and ill-disposed men , that they likewise encline that way : considering that that party is acted by jesuiticall counsells , for certainly they are behinde the curtaine , though they are not so visible to us : i say , when this is considered , who are the parties that shall get this day , it is very easie to prognosticate what the losse will be , no lesse then of religion , and of our lawes , and of our liberties : in a word , if that that party doe prevaile , i am affraid we have lost all ; and therefore those other things , they will not be so considerable which i shall tell you of . wee know the great loanes and contributions that have been made by the worthy citizens of this city , and by divers other well-affected persons throughout the kingdome ; the money , the plate , the horses , and other things for this warre too , they will bee lost : but not onely so , but certainly , that these have been lent to the parliament for the maintaining of the warre , against that party , this will b●e good reason why they should take all away . the publike faith likewise of both houses of parliament , and so the whole kingdome , certainly that must be violated , and if that should bee so , if that we should be ove●born in this cause , it will easily be foreseene , whether any future parliament will be enabled to stand up for the defence of religion , and the liberties of the people . wee may adde to this the charters and the franchises of this great city , it will be easily foreseen , what will be the event of that , whether they wil be continued to you , yea or no , considering what affection you have born to this cause . certainly in former time● , the charters and the priviledges of this city , they have been confirmed by parliaments , as doth appear in king johns time , in henry the third , richard second , & always after the ending of those great wars , whe●in no doubt , the city ( as hath been seen in that ) did engage themselves , as now , in the parliaments cause ; therefore for their security , their charters were alwayes confirmed ; which wee need not doubt will be done in this cause ; but in case the event should bee otherwise , what the losse will be in that way , you may easily see ; so that all is at stake , and if we bring not them in to our assistance , for ought i know , we are at fairs to lose the game , as win●● it , and if any mana estate here , stood upon the like c●su●lty , i believe hee would give some considerable summe to ensure it , in the office of policies ▪ thus we stand in case they are no● called in the losse so great , that is the losse of all , the event so uncertaine . in case they be called in , we are to consider then what alteration this is like to make ▪ we are therefore to consider how it comes about that the party comes to be so equall , that so many should engage themselves on the other party , as we see they doe ; certainly a great many of them doe it , being uncertaine in their judgements to which side to cleave . another party they doe it , because that they out of feare desire to keep their estates , and stand neuters . for the first of those , certainly both at home and abroad , those that are averse , they looke upon us as a protestant kingdom , but divided among our selves ; they heare protestations on both sides , that both parties doe protest to maintaine the protestant religion , the laws of the kingdome , and the liberty of the subject ; and they see and read the declarations that goe out on both sides , and the matter of fact being that that makes the cause , they know not what to believe of that ; for when they read the severall declarations , they see that affirmed by one party , that is denyed of the other , so that indeed they know not which way to bend themselves to beleeve , ( of the matter of fact , i meane : ) but now a great many after the case hath been stated , as it hath been on both sides b● these declarations , when they shall see that this kingdome of scotland , to which declarations have been sent by both parties , ( for so they have , the king hath sent on his side , and the parliament hath sent on their side also ) when they shall see the kingdome of ●cotland hath sent a committee into this kingdom , to informe themselves of the businesse how it stood , to the intent they might know how to carry themselves between both parties ; i say , when after all this , they shall see a whole protestant kingdom , as one man , a protestant kingdome that hath had differences heretofore , and those differences have beene setled , when they have beene in the same distractions as wee have , and so setled , as that it hath beene with a cleare declaration of their innocencies , that they had just cause to doe , what they had dont , and went away as they did , with that full satisfaction they have given to the world : i say , when they shall see such men , as have for so long a time stood by as a third party , and spectators onely , and lookens on ; when they shall see a kingdome , that is altogether unbyass'd , that hath the same king ▪ lives in the same island , that hath the same religion : i say , when they shall behold a whole kingdome to declare for the one party , that is , for our party ; when they shall see them not onely doe so , but enter into a league and covenant , and that by oath with us , for the maintaining of this religion : when they shall see them engaging their whole kingdome as one man , in a war for the maintaining of this cause : i say , certainly that must bee a convincing , silencing argument to all these men , that this is the party that doth maintain really , and in truth , the true protestant religion , the laws of the realme , and the liberties of the subject : that is for the first . the second is , there is another party , that are well enough satisfied in their judgements , but out of feare of their estates , and other sinister , by and base ends , ( for so they may be called , for as this covenant calls it a detestable neutrality ▪ so may wee ) i say , when these parties shall see such an addition of strength to the one side , their owne principles of feare will reach them to goe to that that is the stronger side . but admitting that men stood in their judgments , and in neutrality , as they now doe , and that their comming in did not alter one man ; yet we are to consider what the strength is that they doe bring in wi●h them , and what that is like to doe , admitting the parties to bee as equally engaged , as now they be ; and that is by their owne propositions , that when they come in , they intend to come in with 18000 foot , with 1000 ▪ dragoneers , and 2000 horse , with 21000 horse and foot , with a traine of artillery proportionable and suitable to such an army : certainly , by the blessing of god , such a force to bee added to the one party , that is now even , it cannot but in all likelihood cary down the scales , and alter the whole ●ame , and the state of the businesse . why ? certainly two against one in all ●usinesses , that makes oddes . if we have the addition of that whole kingdome to this party that is even with the other , or neare so , now wee may easily judge of the event . this is the first benefit i shall propound to you , wee are like to reap by their comming in , that is , the assuring of this great cause , that so much conc●●nes us . the second is this , which i shall propound to you , that is ▪ that it will bee for our profit , that it will ease the warre , that it will make the charge ▪ and the burthen of it to 〈◊〉 this doth arise partly out of what hath been said , that their comming in , it will shorten the warre , for as long as the parties ar● equall , it must needes lengthen and protract the warre ; when two scales are almost equally ballanced , wee know for a great while it falls on the right hand , and on the left hand , and it is a great while before they stand still ; so that if the war bee protracted and lengthened , that will bee spent in time , and a great deal more , then a good round summe will be in making a sudden conclusion of it ; i think every lessee , hee had rather pay a good round fine , than for many ●●ers together , to sit upon a great rent ▪ this may bee our condition , if wee doe not bring them in , besides the losse of all at last ; but the benefit will appear , by the shortning of the warre , in this further : by those miseries , and that poverty ▪ and that calamity , which a long warre must of necessity bring with it ; the wealth of this kingdome ( i suppose ▪ ) it arises out of the soyle , and the ground of the kingdom , and it arises out of the m●nufactures , and out of the trade of the kingdom ; these again do consist principally in rents and in debts ; certainly debtors by having their estates plundered , and wholly taken away from them , and the lives from many ▪ debts will cease ▪ there will bee no debts to bee paid ; the same will bee likewise of rents , when the cattle shall bee killed up , and the tenants plundered of all they have , there will bee no rents paid : how will it bee like , if the warres continue , that the trade will bee continued ? for the materialls of trade by a long warre , will bee wholly destroyed , and taken from us ; the sheep of the kingdom that bring our woall , and the horses , and the cattle , that bring our leather and our tallow ; these three , the wooll , leather , and tallow , and divers other things , wee know how many hundred trades , even from the greatest merchant , to the lowest handicrafts-man , how many they imploy ▪ these , they will bee destroyed , not onely by the consumption , which the souldier makes , that is wastefull , but even the policy of warre will require of the enemy , ( as wee see of late about gloucester , in the vale of esum , the policy of war will cause , i say , one party ) ●o kill and destroy all cattle , when the necessity of warre r●qui●●●●t , to s●arve out the enemy ; besides the daily losse of towns and cities , what a losse will that bee to trading , and in particular to this city ? i beleeve it is a sensible thing to many of you ▪ the ●aking o●●●●ter , the taking of bris●o● , and the trade of newcastle stopped , and some other cities , what a great losse , even in point of debt , it hath been to many worthy citizens , of this city ; besides , a long warre it will consume , the very materialls of life , of food and rayment , wee shall neither have meat , drink , nor cloathing , if the war con●inue , considering the burnings and devastations that goe along with it ▪ so that for my own part , i think it is a very clear case , that wee had better buy out with a round summe , a short war , then to have a long war continued , though it bee without any charge at all ; if all our horse and foot , and trayn of artillery , and garrisons , were all paid to our hand , wee had better buy a short peace , by bringing them in , than to have a long war without charge , because of that inevitable poverty , that a long war must needs bring to a kingdom ; this first thing that i have offered , is in point of time , the shortening of warre , the benefit and profit that it will bee to the kingdome . secondly , wee all know this warre hath contracted a great debt upon the kingdom , and it will contract farre more ; in case this shall bee hereafter to bee paid in sheere money and coyn , i am afraid the kingdom is not able to pay it at once , ( i beleeve that all men know ) suppose this then shall bee appointed to bee paid at certain yeers and times , what will bee the event of that ? i am afraid the destruction of the kingdom , for then the case will bee thus , the greatest part of the lords and gentry are ingaged in the other way , and here lies a great debt annually to bee paid by the kingdom , and certainly this will disaffect people to all other parliaments , when they shall yeerly bee under the payments of such mo●eys , that the parliament hath contracted upon them ; and then considering who it is will operate upon the other party ▪ for there is another party that will not bee easily reconciled to the party that hath been on the other side , and so this other party striking in the other way , what this is like to produce , is very dangerous to mee ; whereas on the other side , as long as the parties are equally engaged , as wee are , without their comming , i am afraid there will not bee that force on the one side , as to make the other side , ( that is , the papists , and the prelates , and the other malignants ) out of their estates to pay these debts , which their comming in , in all likelihood will make us doe ▪ which if these debts bee paid out of their estates and lands ▪ i know no inconvenience will come to the kingdom by it ; for here is the case , they that have it now in their hands , to imploy i● for the destruction of the kingdom , it will bee onely putting it in their hands , that shew their good affections to the kingdom ; so that way i conceive the debt of the kingdom , will bee no losse at all to the kingdom . the third benefit is , that even the present war it will bee made lesse chargeable to us ▪ and that in this ▪ they not being come in , wee have not newcastle , there is nottingh●mshire , york●●●ir● , that great country , a great part of l●●●olnshire , the bishopri●● of d●rham , northumberland , co●●m●erland , w●●●merland , the great●●● part of the west , the richest part , i know , in this kingdom , except this city ▪ i say , in case they come not in , they are all under contribution ▪ to the other side ; their comming in gaines new●●●●le , it gaines ▪ as much , as the money to bring them in will cost 〈◊〉 the very gaining of that town ; and likewise when they come in , it brings all those countries under contribution ; so that the very contribution ▪ that those northern countries will yeeld , it will not only pay the scotch army , but is likely ( as it is beleeved ) it will make an addition for our other for●●s , that wee shall have to spare for other forces , by that which their comming in will gain of the con●ributions of those 〈◊〉 so that i have now done with those 〈◊〉 that will come ●o you in point of profit , and likewise the assuring of this great cause . the third is this , that 〈◊〉 w●● doe come to a peace , when gods time is come that wee shall have one ▪ yet their co●ming in ▪ in all 〈◊〉 i● will cause●●s to have a better a surer ▪ and b●tter g●dunded 〈◊〉 then if they doe not ●om● in ▪ and likewise , what peace 〈…〉 that it will bee p●r●et and bee the sco●●● for us , 〈◊〉 our posterity to reap the benefit of it : first , that their comming in will make our peace , in all probability the better ; i beseech you , without their comming in , what is it like to bee ? the p●●ties are equall , the partie that is against us , they consist of p●pi●●s , and p●elates , &c. if wee come to compound this businesse , what is it like to bee ? but that our composition will bee indeed the destruction of the protestant religion , and of our liberties ; i am afraid it is very like to bee the ending of that controversie between the two women for the childe , who should bee the mother of it , that is , that the childe should bee divided ; wee know that our division must have caused death , i am afraid wee shall then come to bee half protestants , and half papists , and this neutrality of both , i am afraid it will bee the destruction of the one ; if it prove not destructive , yet certainly it will prove very dangerous to us ; in diseases , if nature bee not able wholly to expell the malignity of the disease , it afterwards breakes out in botches , and one malady o● another : a sore not cured at bottome , it afterwards festers , and breaks out , and afterwards endangers the person , as much as before ; if they come not in , considering the engagements on both sides , and considering the parties , who wee must compound with , i say , the cure is like to bee very imperfect , their comming in i hope will make it perfect ; besides , what ever the peace is , if it bee good without their comming in , it is likely wee and our posterity shall reap the fruit of it , certainly , wee have had great experiences in the times of our ancestors , that when divisions of this nature have been , as when the statute of magna cha●●a , was first obtained , which was with all the care the w●t of man could devise , there was the oath of the king , and all the nobility of the kingdom , yet it was broken within twelve moneths after ; in his sons time twelve of the nobility were appointed to see it kept , that would not doe the work , afterwards they appointed gentlemen in every countrey , that they should see to it ▪ this did not the work , it broke out from time to time ; but what should wee goe further ? those lawes that have been made against papists in our memories , are not the laws full , that no papist is to 〈…〉 how see wee that put in execution , and that two pa●t● of their ●●●ates to bee seized ▪ when wee see nothing at all hath been done ●hat way . for the petition of right , in our memory , how was that kept ? again , our neighbours the netherlanders , when they made that peace with the king of spain , they called in this kingdom and france , to bee witnesses to it ; wee see how that calling us in , to bee witnesses , how that hath engaged both parties to that state at this time , and how wee have been assistant to them , and expresse● our desires to have them thrive ; but how is it like to bee , when there shall not onely bee our own kingdom , but a brother kingdom , an entire kingdom , one of the same religion , with us , one that loves their liberties , as well as wee , when they shall bee engaged in point of interest with us , when the same law , the same acts of parliament that shall compose the differences , when if it hee broken on our parts , in any thing that concerns us , they cannot conceive but it may be their case the next day , because it all depends upon one law , one and the same title , and their interest is the same ; so that it there were nothing else in it , but that wee were like to have the better peace , and on the better termes , and what ever it bee ; it is likely to bee kept the better , to us and our posterity , if nothing else were in it , that were much to our advantage surely , if by some considerable summe of money , wee might have them brought in , and have them at the end of this peace , and interested in it as well as our selves ; so that i have now done with those benefits , i have offered to you , that wee shall have by their assistance and comming in ; i make no doubt but that most of these things were known to you all before , and that this part hath been to very little purpose , that i have spoken ▪ for when that both the houses of parliament , have seen the necessity and benefit of it , when it was propounded to the common councell , that they likewise saw the necessity of it , i know it will ●ee bootlesse to use any further arguments to you , that you may see the benefits that will redownd by their comming to us ▪ but it will bee asked , notwithstanding wee may receive benefit by it , how may wee bee assured that they are willing ? truely , for that , by what hath been done ▪ it will bee sufficiently clear ; both houses sent a committee to them , that in a little time did produce the covenant there , approved of by their assembly of divines , and by the convention of estates , it is co●● hither , it hath been agreed here , it hath been taken here by the house of commons already , and by a great many of this city ; a worthy lord , my lord wharton ( i may name him here ) at a common-councell , he did declare to my lord major and aldermen , that their house would in few dayes likewise take it ; this covenant shews their willingnesse ( in the first place ) for wee by that are bound to the mutuall defence of our religion , and preservation of our civill liberties , for by that we are bound to the preservation of the liberties of parliaments ; and that delinquents and malignants may be brought to their just triall ; so this is already done . it was likewise declared by the commissioners of scotland , that they did not doubt , but by this time they were taking it in that kingdome ; and their commissioners here they have taken it already ; so that they have joyned themselves to us by oath , for the mutuall preservation of religion and lawes . in the second place , they have shewed their consent by the propositions they have sent to us , which are the termes upon which they are to come in ; they have not stayed here but they have proceeded to action ; they have named the generall of their army , which is my lord generall lesley , which was their generall when they came into this kingdome . and likewise they have granted commissions into all the shires of scotland for the raising of horse and foot , and named their colonells , captaines , and other officers , and listed them . there is a further progresse likewise , that is , that we have taken berwicke already , for the facilitating of their comming in , which may bee a place of retreat for them , and a magazine for their ammunition and victualls . and since this hath been taken by the parliament , they have sent some troops of horse , and certain foot for the securing of that town : and if they had before knowne the consent of the parliament for their having the use of berwicke , they had put in their ammunition and victuall before this time into berwicke , which before this time surely they d●● know ; and therefore we doubt not , but they have done the other . likewise further , when they come in , they intend to goe on in their march , though it be farre in the yeare , and not to sit downe in their quarters . wee know my lord of newca●●le did it ●ast yeare , we know they are as farre northern borne , they are both in a colder cly●●te ▪ and therefore wee doubt not of it , and so 〈◊〉 long , we hope to heare of the taking of newcastle , which what reliefe it will be to this city in the point of coales , and other trade , you may easily see : most of this to the common-councell was declared by two worthy commissioners that were sent out of scotland , my lord mackland , and mr. henderson . but it may be said , if they be so willing , and so ready to come , and have all things ready , what is the reason wee heare not of their comming into the kingdome ? they have answered us by their propositions , that it is impossible for them to doe it , without some sum of money : and that this is no pretence , but that it is really so , we have it from our owne committee there , wee have it from all hands there : and if we consider how they have been exhausted heretofore , i thinke we may easily believe it our selves : and that their army that is in ireland have been 14 moneths without any pay at all , they are saine to supply them with necessities , which hath been foure score thousand pound , else that army must have starved . we know they had two years warre , we promised them a brotherly assistance , and there is an act for it , but it is knowne by reason of the troubles we have here at home , we have not paid them that ; so that considering the poverty of that kingdome ( without offence i thinke we may say so ) i say , considering the poverty of that kingdome , it is certaine , it is not a pretence of theirs , but it is really so . neither indeed can we presume it , when as the covenant and oath they take , binde them as well as us , that they should come to our assistance ; it binds them as much to our assistance , as that oath binde our selves to our owne assistance , and therefore wee cannot presume , that they would ( being dis-ingaged of an oath , afterward ) be willing to take that oath , unlesse they did likewise know their owne necessity , that they could not come in without some summe of money ; and truly i suppose that they cannot come in without money , ( as hath been declared to you ) and that we must ground upon and build upon , for wee are assured it on all hands . it will be then said , what is that summe ? why truly the summe that they have sent in their propositions , is 100000 l. i confesse a great summ● , and that that i know not how to mention in this assembly , considering how this city hath been exhausted formerly by those great contribution● , and by those aides that they have given in this case . but on the other side , though i cannot indeed tell how , when i consider the sumto presse it : yet when i doe consider the inevitable danger that follows , and the great advantages that we lose by every dayes delay in it . i say , when i consider them , i cannot on the other side but presse it . let us therefore consider , in case this bee not within some convenient time raised , what an infinite disadvantage comes by it to us . first of all , all those preparations they will bee in a manner lost , if that it be not presently raised , there will be no comming in this winter , if there be no comming in this winter , no gaining of newcastle , if no gaining of newcastle , no coales , nor materials for fewell . nay , that is not all , but if they doe not come in now , and if wee doe not provide this money , i shall despaire of their comming in at all , and that upon this ground , that if wee bee not able now to raise the summe of money , the continuance of this warre , it will more and more every day , and that sensible ▪ dis-enable us to doe it at another time . if we cannot doe it now , wee shall be lesse able to doe it , a weeke , a moneth , a quarter of a yeare hence ; for the warre you see destroyes all trade , ( that hath been opened to you before ) wee shall grow poorer , our enemies stronger ; if we be not able to bring them in now , we shall never bee able to bring them in at all . it will be desired , if it bee possible to raise this great summe of money , what is the security shall be given ? for truly it was never desired of this city , that so much mony should be given to them , but it is desired it should be onely lent , for if they come not in in time , the businesse is as good as lost : they have therefore ( considering this ) already engaged the publike faith of that kingdome , with the publike faith of this kingdome , for the raising of 200000 l. either by borrowing of it here , or in forain parts . therefore this is the first security that is ●endered to you now , that money is a borrowing in parts beyond the sea ; that mony that is so borrowed , shall goe on towards the repayment of this , what ever it is that shall be lent . but besides this publike faith , there are divers wayes visible how this publike faith will bee dis-engaged , that is , by the sequestrations , for there is an ordinance of both houses for 30000 l. to be raised for them out of the sequestrations . now this shall not need to discourage any that so little hath bin raised out of the sequestrations hitherto , for the houses have been preparing the businesses a great while , and now michaelmas is come , all the rents are ready , within few weeks to bring it in ; that is for so much . their comming in , it gaines newcastle , the gaining of newcastle gaines a great masse of coales that are there ready already , when they come in ; and out of that there will bee likewise an annuall or a monethly payment of the coales , for the dis-engaging of those that shall lend this summe . besides , when they come in , if they cleare those countrys , wee know how full of papists , & how full of prelates , those northern countreys are , as york-shire , but especially the whole bishoprick of durham , a whole county , northumberland , cumberland , &c. full of papists , full of those of the prelaticall party , full of malignants , when they come in , those parts are cleared , they will be free for three whole moneths , and ten dayes , for the dis-engaging of this , ( which i forgot to tell you before what the scots are to doe for this 100000 l. ) for they are to bring in their traine of artillery , their 21000 horse and foot , they are to continue three moneths and ten dayes in your service , after they come into your kingdome , after the payment of this 100000 l. so that there is full three moneths and ten dayes for these counties to lie open to the repayment of this mony ; for those three moneths they are to be without pay . these are the principall things , that wee have yet thought upon for the dis-ingaging of us , that wee tender to you ; there are divers others , which the committee hath taken into consideration , which they see as much or more certainty in , than in any of these that hath been propounded ; if it were no more than the publique faith of both kingdoms , as long as the kingdoms subsist , or the cause thrives in the hands of one or other , this must bee dis-ingaged , so that at best it is but a loan , and must bee paid if the cause survive , truely , if it doe not survive , it being our religion , i know not what reason wee have 〈◊〉 desire to survive it , and if wee lose it , i am sure wee lose all . truly gentlemen , thus , i have but one word more to say ; the cause it is gods , if it bee not so , let us repent that ever wee medled with it ; it is the cause of our countrey , if it bee not so , let us now say , wee repent , and leave it ; it is the cause of these three kingdomes , england , ireland , and scotland , it is the cause of christendom , for if this cause be carryed against us , certainly the protestant cause throughout all europe , will fare the worse for it : this is the cause , & this we all know to be the cause . it hath pleased almighty god out of his providence to call even us poor creatures , to be the managers of this great cause of his , we have undertaken it , we have formerly by our protestations engaged our selves to the maintaining of it , wee have all of us , both parliament , city , and all well-affected subjects , of this kingdom , wee have put our shoulders to it , wee have of late manifested to god and all the world , that wee doe not repent of what wee have done , wee have entred into a solemn league and covenant ; i think the solemnest that ever was seen in this kingdom , gentlemen thus , let our cheerfulnesse in this service shew , that wee have taken that covenant , and doe affect this businesse , with our whole hearts ; i have done , pray god give his blessing . mr. edmond calamy his speech in guild-hall on friday the sixt of october , 1643. gentlemen , you have heard a worthy gentleman of the house of commons , it is desired by this grave and reverend assembly of ministers , that three of the ministers of this assembly , should likewise speak unto you concerning this great businesse , and notwithstanding my indisposition of body , being required by them , though that gentleman of the house of commons hath spoken so abundantly to the purpose , yet notwithstanding i am here come to speak something , the rather to declare my willingnesse to appear in this cause , that is every way so just , and every way so honest , and so good , that i may truly say , as the martyr did , that if i had as many lives , as i have haires on my head , i would bee willing to sacrifice all these lives in this cause ; you know the story of craesus , that though hee never spake in his life , yet when hee saw his father ready to bee killed , it untyed the strings of his tongue , and then hee cryed out , that they would not kill his father ; you are not ignorant that england and ireland lye a dying , and though i never appeared in this place , yet i blesse god that hath given mee that health , this day , to speak something in this cause , for the reviving of the dying condition of england , and ireland ; it is such a cause as is able to make a very infant eloquent , and a dumb man to speak that never spake in all his life ; the matter i am desired to speak to , is , concerning the contribution , to perswade you to bee liberall towards the bringing in of the scots , to help us in this our great necessity ; the truth is , it is a great shame that england should stand in need of another nation , to help it to preserve its religion and liberties : that england , that hath been enriched with the gospel of peace , and the peace of the gospel for so many yeers , that england , that hath been blessed with so many rare ministers of god , so many precious , and powerfull servants , that have preached the word of god in season and out of season ; that england , that hath professed the gospel with so much power and purity ; that england should stand in need , of the help of their brethren of scotland , for to preserve that gospel that they have professed so many yeers ; i confesse to mee it seems a very strange prodigie , and a strange wonder ; but it hath pleased almighty god for the sins of england , for our great unthankfulnesse , and for our unthankfulnesse under these means , and for the great blood-guiltinesse , and idolatry , and superstition of this nation , it hath pleased god to suffer a great part of the kingdom , to bee blinded , especially those parts , where the word of god hath not been preached in a powerfull manner ; and there are many in the kingdom , that will not bee perswaded , that there is an intention to bring in popery , and to bring in slavery ; many of them ( i say ) think that though the popish army should prevaile , and the plundering army should prevaile , yet they think all would goe well with religion , and with their liberties ; i say , it hath pleased god to suffer abundance in the kingdom , to bee blinded with this opinion , out of a just judgement to punish us for our unthankfulnesse , and for our ingratitude ; and this is the reason that so many men stand neuters , and that so many are malignants , and disaffected to this great cause , in so much that i am concluded under this , that there is little probability to finish this cause , without the comming in of the scots ( as you heard so worthily by that member of the house of commons ; ) the sons of zerviah are grown so strong , what through our fearfulnesse , what through our covetousnesse , what through our malignity , that there is little hope ( i say ) to finish this great cause , or to bring it to a desired peace , without the help of another nation , and by the assistance of god , by the help of another nation it may be done ; these are two mighty , two omnipotent arguments , to prevaile with you to contribute your utmost aide and assistance to that cause ; since it cannot speedily bee done without their help , & by gods blessing , it may speedily be don by their help . what would the kings party doe , if they could engage another nation to their help ? 21000. if they could engage them to our ruine ; what would they not doe ? how much more should wee be willing to contribute our greatest help to engage a nation , that indeed is part of our own nation , within the same island , and our brethren , so faithfull , and so well affected to this cause , what should wee not bee willing to doe to ingage so great a party ? i would intreat you to remember , that it is not many yeers agoe , since our brethren of scotland came hither into england , in a warlike manner , and yet with peaceable affections , and that you would reminde your selves , what good they did to you , when they were then in england , they were the chiefe causes of this parliament , that now wee doe enjoy , and of all the good that hath been reaped by this parliament ; ( as you may well remember ) by their comming in you know this parliament was procured , and their second comming in ( through gods mercy ) may bee a means to confirm this parliament , and to establish it , and to uphold it in its dignity , and in the priviledges of it , and to keep it from being ruined ; and if the parliament bee ruined , you all well know that our religion , and our liberties are ruined , for the parliament is the great conservatour of religion and liberties ; and i may truly say , as you know caligula did once wish , that all rome were one neck that hee might cut it off at one blow ; they that intend to ruine the parliament , they ruine your religion and liberties , & all england at one blow ; now ( i say ) as their first comming was a meanes to produce this parliament , so their second comming in ( through gods blessing ) may bee a means to establish it , and to confirme it ▪ and when they were here , you know how faithfully they carryed themselves , and when they had done their work , how willingly they went away without doing any hurt , and i doubt not of the same faithfullnesse , nay , you ought all to beleeve , that they will likewise , when they have done the worke they are called too in england , they will likewise with the same faithfullnesse depart , for it is religion that brings them here , and the same religion will make them willingly leave us , and goe home to their owne countrey , when they have done that worke for which they came . i am assured that the great hope at oxford is , that they will never prevaile for the petting of money for to bring them in ; and if they once see the matter of money effected , and if they once heare of the scots comming in , it will worke such a terrour there , as i am assured , that it will ( through gods mercy ) produce a notable complyance of that party with the parliament for an effectuall peace , such as all the godly of the land shall blesse god for . i foresee there are many objections that may be brought to hinder this worke , many mountaines of opposition that will lye in the way : and likewise that the malignants will bu● many things in your eares , if it be possible to put some great rub in the way , to hinder the effecting of this work , but i hope , the love you have to god , and to your religion , and to the gospel , and to yours wives and children , will swallow down all these objections , and conquer them all ; i le name some few objections , and give you some short answer . some it may bee , will put you in minde , to call in question the lawfulnesse of contributing towards the bringing in of the scots to this nation ; but for this , i le give you an easie answer , certainly gentlemen , it is as lawfull for the parliament to call in our brethren of scotland to their help , as it is lawfull for mee , when my house is on fire , and not able to quench it my self , to call in my neighbour to quench my house , that is ready to burn down ; the kingdom is all on fire , wee are not able with that speed to quench it , as wee wish , wee call in our brethren in scotland to help us to quench the flames that are kindled among us ; it is as lawfull as it is for the master and marriners of a ship , when it is ready to sink through a mighty tempest , to call in other marriners to help to keep the ship from sinking ; it is the condition of our kingdom now , it is ready to sink , and it is our desire that our brethren of scotland would come in to our aide , to keep it from sinking . others it may be will object and say to you , it is rebellion , especially to call in another nation to your helpe . but i beseech you give me leave to put you in minde , that when the scots came last into england , there was a proclamation out against them , wherein they were called rebels , and there were prayers to bee said in our churches ( as you well remember ) in which we were to pray against them as rebells , and there was money likewise contributed then , for to hinder their comming in , and to raise an army to drive them out of the kingdome , and i doubt not but you may remember , all the ill-affected did contribute mony to keep them out of this kingdom , and from tarrying in ; but it pleased almighty god through his great mercy , so to change and alter the state of things , that within a little while , the nation of scotland , even by act of parliament , they were proclaimed and made the true and loyall subjects of the king , and in those churches in which they were prayed against as rebells , even in those very churches , they were pronounced the good subjects of the king ; this i doubt not but you remember , & i doubt not , but through the mercy of god , the lord raising up our hearts , i doubt not but the same effect , will come of their second comming into this kingdom ; and they that now tell you they are rebels , and you do an act of rebellion , in the contribution to the bringing of them in . i doubt not but you shall see an act of parliament to call them his loyall subjects , ( wherein i hope our king will concurre with his parliament ) and likewise prayers made ; nay , a day of thanksgiving , as was after their first comming , a day of thanksgiving for the mercy of god , in stirring up their hearts to be willing to come unto our help . but it may be some others will object and say , why should we that are ministers , engage our selves so much in this businesse ? to see a reverend assembly of grave ministers to appeare here in so great an assembly . this it may be , will bee a mighty objection to some , but i beseech you give me leave to give you a short answer did i not think that that that shal be said this day , would mightily conduce to peace , for my part , i would not have been the month of the assembly ; did i thinke any other way to produce a solid and a setled peace , a religious peace . i that am a minister of peace , an ambassador of peace ; i would not have been a trumpeter to this businesse this day : the truth is , if you would have peace with popery , a peace with slavery ; if you would have a judas peace , or a joab his peace , you know the story , he kiss'd amasa , and then killed him ; if you would have a peace that may bring a massacre with it , a french peace , if you would have such a peace , it may be had easily ; but if you would have a peace that may continue the gospel among you , and may bring in a reformation , such as all the godly in the kingdome doe desire , i am concluded under this , and am confident that such a peace cannot bee had without contribution towards the bringing in of the scots , and that is the reason for the promoting of this peace , this blessed peace , that we have appeared here this day : and me thinks ( gentlemen ) the very sight of these worthy divines , me thinkes so many divines , so many orators , so many silent orators to plead with you , to bee willing to engage your selves to the utmost to help forward the nation of scotland to come to our help . and likewise i would put you in mind of the 10 ▪ of numbers , there you shal read that there were two silver trumpets ; and as there were priests appointed for the convocation of their assemblies , so there were priests to sound the silver trumpets to proclaime the warre . and likewise in the 20. of deuteronomy , you shall finde there , that when the children of israel would goe out to warre , the sonnes of levi , one of the priests , was to make a speech to encourage them . and certainly , if this were the way of god in the old testament , certainly much more in such a cause as this , in which cause religion is so intwin'd , and indeed so interlac'd , that religion and this cause , they are like hippocrates his twins , they must live and die together . and ( gentlemen ) if religion were not concerned in this cause , and mightily concerned ; and if religion did not live and die with it , we had not appeared this day ; and i hope this will be a sufficient answer unto this objection . but there is another objection which i will answer , and then briefly give leave to my other reverend brethren , that likewise are prepared to speake here . the great objection of all is this , that the city is already exhausted , and so much money hath been lent already , that there is no hope of lending any more ; this is the grand objection , but truly ( gentlemen ) for my part , this is one of the chiefe arguments i have to perswade you to lend a little more , because you have lent so much : give me leave to put you in minde of that story , in the 2 kings 13. the story of king joash , that came to visit the prophet elisha , when he was ready to breath out his last , the prophet elisha gives him a bow and arrows , and bids him shoot , hee shootes , and bids him smite , hee smites the ground thrice , and then he ceased , the prophet was exceeding angry with him , and tells him , you should have smote the ground 5 or 6 times , and then you should have utterly consumed the assyrians , whereas now you shall smite them but three times . give me leave to apply this , gentlemen , you have smote the ground thrice , you have lent once , twice , and thrice , indeed you have been the fame of england , and the repairers of england , and the ornaments of england , you have lent much , but let mee tell you , you must smite the ground 5 or 6 times , if ever you look to consume the assyrians , if ever you look to bring this warre to a happy peace , that your posterities may rejoyce in this peace , you must shoot one arrow more , and then through gods blessing , you may utterly consume these enemies , that you and your posterity may rejoyce in a happy peace ; it is a famous story of johannes eleemozinarius , that when hee had given even almost all hee had to the poore , his friends were exceeding angry with him , and told him hee had undone himself , what was his answer ? o ( saith hee ) i have not yet shed my blood for jesus christ ; jesus christ hee emptied himself of his divinity , to make us rich , hee became poore , and shed his blood for you ; you have not yet made your selves so poore as jesus christ was , that had no house to lodge in , and he did all this for your sakes ; you have not yet shed your blood for the cause of christ ; wee read that moses was willing to bee blotted out of the book of life , for the cause of god ; and wee read of paul , that hee was willing to bee accursed , for the people of israels sake ; and will you not bee willing to venture your earthly provisions for so good a cause as this is , which ( i say ) england was never engaged in the like . religion hath produced all the wealth you have , all your wealth is but the childe of religion , wee have a saying , religio peperit divitias , & divitiae devoravunt matrem ; religion hath begot wealth , and the daughter hath devoured the mother ; & ●●lia devoravit matrem ; but give mee leave , and i hope ( through gods blessing ) you will invert this saying , religion hath got you all the wealth you have , you gentlemen , and i hope the daughter now will preserve the mother ; i hope riches will preserve religion , and not destroy religion . a famous example of polan●● noli●●● , that when hee had given all that hee had away , and being asked , why hee would give so much to the poor , hee gave this answer , v● levi●● ascenderem s●alam ja●c●i , that i might the easier get up jacobs ladder ; and let mee assure you , in the word of a minister , the contributing to this cause for gods sake , and for the glory of god , and for the peace of the gospel , ( i say ) will bee a means to make you the sooner ascend up jacobs ladder ; not for the giving of the money , but for the evidence of your faith , through the merits of the lord jesus christ , by your giving of the money ; and certainly that man will never get up jacobs ladder , that hath the ●ust of his money to ●●ar witnesse against him , at the day of judgement , especially at such a time as this . give mee leave to put you in minde of one other story , and that is of one bernardinu● 〈◊〉 that was so liberall to the poore , that every penny that hee gave to the poore , hee would call it a holy penny , and a happy penny ▪ and hee would blesse god ▪ that hee had that penny to 〈◊〉 indeed hee was a papist , and his ordinary speech was , o happy penny , that hath purchased immortality to mee ; indeed this speech was not good , for it is not our money that doth purchase heaven , that is an evidence of the truth of our faith , that layes hold upon christ for salvation ; but let mee tell you , if ever ( gentlemen ) you might use this speech , o happy penny ; you may use it now , happy money that will purchase my gospel , happy money that will purchase religion , and purchase a reformation , to my posterity , o happy money , and blessed bee god that i have it to lend . and i count it the greatest opportunity that ever god did offer to the godly of this kingdom , to give them some money to lend to this cause ; and i remember in this ordinance of parliament , you call it advance money ; it is called an ordinance to advance money towards the maintaining of the parliaments forces ▪ and truly it is the highest advance of money , to make money an instrument to advance my religion ; the lord give you hearts to beleeve this . you shall have the faiths of both kingdoms ingaged in this cause , the kingdom of scotland , and the kingdom of england , and surely the publique faith of scotland will secure the publique faith of england ; i speak now of secondary causes ▪ through gods blessing . i am informed by the commissioners of scotland , that the nation of scotland are now taking the covenant , ( that wee took the last lord● day in this city ▪ ) and you know that a scotch covenanter is a terrible thing ; you know what mighty things they did , by their last covenant ; you know that the name of a covenanter , the very name of it , did doe wonders ; and i am assured by them , that there is not one person in the kingdom of scotland , that is not a covenanter , and there shall not one abide among them , that will not take this covenant , and there shall not one of those 21000 that are to come over in this cause , not one of them shall come , that will not take this covenant , but they must take this covenant before they come ; o that the consideration of these things , might work up your hearts to a high degree of charity , to a superlative degree , and that the lord would make you more active and more liberall in this great cause ; for my part , i speak it in the name of my self , and in the name of these 〈◊〉 ministers , wee will not only speak to perswade you to contribute , but every one of us , that god hath given any estate to , wee will all to our utmost power , wee will not only say it● , but v●●ite , wee will not only speak to you to lend , but every one of us , as wee have already lent , so wee will lend to our utmost power , and blesse god that wee have it to lend ; for indeed it is now a time of action , and not of speaking only , because it is an extraordinary businesse , therefore here is an extraordinary appearance of so many ministers , to encourage you in this cause , that you may see how reall the godly ministery in england , is unto this cause . the gospel it is called a pearl of price , by our saviour christ , and i hope all you merchants , will part with your goodly pearls to buy this pearl of price ; you tradesmen , the gospel is called a treasure hid in the field , so our saviour christ calls it , i hope you will bee willing to part with your earthly treasures , to preserve this blessed treasure , that is hid in the field ; you have parted with some goodly pearls already , i hope you will part with your other goodly pearls : there is an excellent story of one nonlu● a roman senator , that had a pearl that hee did prize above his life , and when anthony the triumvir , one that was then in great power , when hee sent to n●nius to have the pearl , hee would not send it him , and hee told him , that if hee would banish him , hee would bee willingly banished , so hee might save his pearl , if hee would take away his life , hee would dye with his pearl ; hee did not regard his countrey , so hee might have his pearl ▪ hee regarded nothing , so hee might have his pearl ; but hee would not part with his pearl , what ever hee parted withall ; this pearl it is the gospel of jesus christ , that you have professed in this city , and i hope you have professed it with power ; and certainly , you have the name of those that have professed the gospel in the greatest purity of any under heaven ; this pearl is this gospel , i hope you will part with all willingly and cheerfully , rather than part with the gospel , though you goe to prison , carry the gospel with you , nay , though you lose your lives , ●t shall bee with the gospel , and for the gospel ; i hope so . there is one argument more , and then i have done , and that is from the inveterate hatred they have at oxford , against the city of london , and against you for your good , because you have been so well-affected to this cause . gentlemen , i beseech you give mee leave ( that am no statesman , not acquainted with the affaires of policy , yet give mee leave ) to put you in minde of this , that surely the plundering army at oxford conceive that they shall finde a great treasure here in the city , though many pretend they have no money ; though certainly you have done well , and lent much , yet the plundering army give out , that if they get possession of the city , they shall finde a treasury to bee able to pay all they have been at : and if ever you should bee driven ( which god forbid ) to make your peace , it would cost you twenty times as much then to procure your peace , and such a peace it may bee , that would bee rather a warre than a peace , and a death better than that peace , which now you may have for a very little , a most happy peace . there is a famous story of zelimus emperour of constantinople , that after hee had taken aegypt , hee found a great deal of treasure there , and the souldiers came to him , and asked him , what shall wee doe with the citizens of aegypt , for wee have found a great treasure among them , and wee have taken their riches ? o ▪ ( saith hee ) hang them all up , for they are too rich to bee made slaves ; and this was all the thanks they had for the riches they were spoyled of ; and it may be● , though some of you that stand neute●● , or some of you that are dis-affected to the cause of the parliament , may think that if the lord for our sins , should give up this city unto the army that is with the king , you may think that you shall escape , yet bee assured that youngoods will bee roundheads , though you bee not , your goods will bee gybalins , though you bee gwel●s , as 〈…〉 is ; certainly , there will bee no distinction , in the plundering of your goods , between you and others ; and therefore let mee beseech you , that as the lord hath made you instruments to doe a great deal of good already , for indeed you are the preservers of our religion , and you are the preservers of our parliament , by your liberality , and by your former contributions , and by your assistance , and the lord hath made you mighty instruments of our good , let mee beseech you , that you would persevere , and now wee are come to the sheat anchor , wee are now come to the last cast , i beseech you , you would persevere , and hold out ; and o that my words might adde somewhat to help forward this contribution ! it hath pleased god to make mee a setled ministery in this city , and i have now been here almost five yeers in this city , and though i had never done any good in my place , i should now think it a great fr●ite of my comming to this city , if after five yeers unprofitablenesse , i might speak somewhat this afternoon , that might enlarge your hearts to a greater measure of liberality ; all i will say is this : wee divines say , that perseverance is the only grace that crowns a christian ; methushelah lived 999 yeers , if hee had fallen away from grace , at the 999 yeers end , all the good that hee had done before , had been quite forgotten ; i know that god will so uphold his children , that they shall never fall away , but i bring it as a supposition , that suppose that methushelah had forsaken his righteousnesse , all hee had done before , had been quite forgotten ; but god hath made a promise , never to forsake his children , and that grace hee hath begun in them , hee will finish , and i doubt not but that god , that hath put it into your hearts to be● so liberall already , and to doe so much in this cause , and to bee so cordiall , and so reall , and to exceed all other parts of the kingdom , i hope that same god now will finish that good work hee hath begun , and will crown all his graces in you , with the grace of perseverance ; and that god that hath been the author of all the good you have done , i doubt not ; but that god will bee the finisher ; and i beseech god to give a blessing to that hath been spoken . mr. jeremiah burroughes his speech in guild-hall on friday the sixt of october , 1643. gentlemen , providence hath cast this assembly , met for such a weighty occasion ( as indeed it is the weightiest , that hath concerned england in our age ) to bee late , and so perhaps wearisome to many of you , but you may well bee content to stay a while , although you should bee deprived of a great part of your sleep this night , if this evenings businesse may have the hoped successe of it , it may make you sleep quietly and securely many nights after . things of present and absolute necessity , call for action , not deliberation ; this work that you have been called unto , is such , as you must leave objecting against it , and rather fall a blessing god , that you may bee used in it ; in the 1 of chronicles 22. 14. when david and the people had come and offered of their estates freely , and bountifully ; david hee humbles himself then , who am i ? and who are wee ? it were happy if you come all with such an humble frame of spirit , to admire that god preserves your lives , and calls you at this time to such a work , so concerning his glory , and the good of three kingdoms , yea of the christian world ; if ever you that have estates had cause to rejoyce in them , then now when god presents such a large opportunity for his service as hee loth ; and wherein consills mans happinesse , but in being serviceable in his generation ? in these dayes to bee acted by that poore , ●ow principle , qui bene lotuit , bene vixit ; that is , let us keep our selves safe , and quiet , keep our estates , take heed of appearing too farre , wee know not which side may prevaile ; this is an argument of a vile and a sordid spirit ; let such a mans name bee writen in the earth ; unworthy is such a man to live in such a generation as this , in which god is doing such great things , as might enliven the deadest heart , quicken the dullest spirit , raise the heaviest , and inlarge the straitest spirit living upon the earth ; in former times indeed there was lesse charge called for , there was lesse trouble , but there was lesse service too , and what doe you think to bee the measure of a mans happinesse , either little trouble , or much service ? a gratious heart thinks it as great a mercy to lay out for god , as to receive from god ; god in these our dayes is risen on high in his administrations , and our hearts should rise together with him ; psalm 105. 4 , 5. thy mercy o lord is above the heavens , and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds ▪ what followes ? bee thou then exalted , o lord , above the heavens , and let thy glory bee above all the earth ; this day gods name , gods great works they are above the heavens , they are very high , wee behold them , let our hearts rise in a suitable way , as god rises in his workings , and all say , and doe as wee say , that god may bee exalted now above the heavens indeed . god can doe his work without you , and doe it certainly hee will , howsoever , but seeing hee is now laying a foundation of the most glorious building , that it is like ever hath been in this world , if hee shall bee pleased to call you to bee helpfull in it , it will bee gods mercy , and your glory ; were it that this one principle were raised in the hearts of people , that to doe publique service , it is not onely a duty , but a dignity , how ready , how abundant then would men bee in the work of the lord ? there hath lately been the most blessed union of two nations , as ever was in the world , lifting up their hands to the high god , swearing that they will amend their wayes , and seek to reform themselves according unto the word , let us now reach forth our hands and hearts , unto our brethren in scotland , let us come up fully unto this our engagement , and rejoyce in it , for certainly that nation is a nation that god doth love , a nation that god doth honour , and by those many expressions of his love , shewed that hee doth intend to make them speciall instruments of the great things he hath to doe in this latter age of the world ; it is a nation that is united the most firmely of any people under heaven , wee may truly call it a philadelphia , and brightman ( that famous light in former times , 30 or 40 yeers since ) did parallell the church of philadelphia with the church of scotland ; philadelphia signifies brotherly love ; when was there ever a nation , such a church , that joyned together in such firm covenants as they have done ? had wee had the like union amongst us , o what great things had wee done long before this time ? a nation it is that hath engaged it self to god in a higher way , in a more extraordinary way , than any nation this day upon the face of the earth hath done ; in the most solemn way covenanting with the eternall god , powring forth their prayers , and their tears for joy , together with their covenanting ; a nation that hath reformed their lives for so small a time more than ever any people that wee know of in the world have done , and a people that have risen up against antichrist more in another way , than ever people have done , and that is the great work of god in these times , and therefore god certainly hath a love unto them , because they breake the ice , and begin the work , and arise in such a way as they doe for the pulling down of that man of sin . a nation that god hath honoured by giving as glorious successe unto , as ever he did unto any ; whose low and meane beginnings hee hath raised to as great a height , as ever low beginnings in any countrey were : how hath god dissipated and biasted the counsells of their adversaries ? how hath he discovered all their treacheries ? although they be in themselves ( comparatively at least ) a poor people , and of little strength , ( as the church of philadelphia was ) yet they have kept the word of gods patience , and god hath kept them in the houre of temptation ; god therefore is with them : ( how happy should we bee , if we may have them in a neare union with us ? ) and a people that have carryed themselves with as great honour and faithfulnesse , with as great wisdome and order in the most difficult worke that ever a people did undertake , in those by and intricate paths that were before uncrodden . certainly that they undertooke at the beginning of their wor●e , but a few years since , it could not but be looked upon with the eye of reason , as the most unlikely worke ever to have proceeded , as any work● hath ever done , and yet how hath the lord been with them , and with what wisdome and graciousnesse have they carryed it ? was there ever such an example since the world began , of a people comming out of a poorer countrey , into a fat and richer countrey , and having those opportunities that they had to enrich themselves to goe away so as they did ? ( their greatest enemies they now admire at them . ) a people they are that began to rise for their liberties , when the generality of this people here , were ready basely to bow down their backs , and put their necks under the yoke : and had it not been that they had been willing to have endured the brunt , we had all been slaves ( it is like ) at this day . a people that are exceeding sensible of our condition , witnesse that when our letters from the reverend assembly came unto them , they received them with teares , and much meltings of spirit , in their generall kirke assembly ; witnesse their readinesse and willingnesse to come now , though in winter season , in times that wee dare not venture our selves abroad ; witnesse the temptations that they have had unto the contrary , and yet carryed through all . they now desire 100000 l. what is this to 300000 l. in pay ? what is this to five counties ? what is this to the plunder of a whole city ? what reasonable termes doe they proffer to come among you ? doe but give them 100000 l. advance , and they engage themselves for three moneths and ten dayes , and in the winter time to be in the kingdome , not to have a foot of land granted unto them , or assured them , but willing to depart againe without any more , when they have done their worke ; this certainly cannot but satisfie any spirit that is never so malignant , at least it may stop his mouth . a nation it is that wee are engaged unto likewise , that that now is desired of you , is no more indeed then is their due , it is due already to them , but they desire it not in that way . wherefore shall such an opportunity as this is be lost for want of money ? god forbid ; shall a people to whom god hath given such testimony of his acceptance , be rejected by us , when they would come in and help us ? their liberties are setled , why they , though on the other side of jordan , they are not therein satisfied , to sit still , but are willing to come themselves , and come into the brunt , and hazard themselves , for the setling of their brethren in the inheritance of the lord likewise . and it is not only the number of those that shal come in ●1000 that is our advantage , but the great busines is , the ingagement of a kingdom , the incouragement of such a kingdom , that god hath given such testimony to , that that kingdom shall be by this everlastingly engaged in what is deare unto us , in our peace and our security , that is the advantage of all . and as the lord hath a delight in this place , in this nation , he hath no lesse surely in this renowned city ; this city whom indeed our adversaries have found out nick-names for , and call it the rebellious city , ( as formerly rehum the chancelor , and shimsbai the scribe , ezra 4. called the city of jerusalem ) but god hath other names for you , it is the city of the lord of hosts , it is the faithfull city , and god hath much mercy certainly for this place . there is no city in the world , that hath such a cloud of incense of prayers goe daily up to heaven ( i verily believe ) as doth from this city . yea , put all the cities of the earth together , i scarce thinke that god is so much honoured in family duties in them all together , as he is in this place . a city that hath had the powerfull preaching of the gospel , beyond all cities upon the face of the earth ; and the ministers of it receiving more encouragement here , then they have done in any other parts of the world . a city that hath more of the power and life of godlinesse , then any place yet upon the face of the earth ; surely god intendeth good to this city , and doth likewise delight in it , and he hath great things for this city to do , and great mercy to bestow upon them . you have been the bulwark of that honourable assembly in both houses of parliament , you have been their safety , you have been their assistance , their lives have been preserved by you , and god will remember it another day , and hee hath mercy in store for that labour of your love , and that hazard that you endured in that thing : you have been the refuge of the banished ministers , and saints of , god in most parts of this kingdome , and in ireland , and the blessing of those that are ready to perish , it is much upon this city night & day . never did the lord stir up so many young ones , as he hath done in this city at this time , that promises great mercy , that speaks aloud to us , that god intendeth to do great things by them . never was there so many godly ones , or more , ( to speak with modesty ) together in place of power in this city , then there is at this day . you have the blessing of all the prayers of all the servants of god throughout this kingdome , parents shall teach their children to blesse god for london , as long as they live , yea for many generations , when they have any fruit by the gospel , they shall teach their children to acknowledge it to the glory of god ; children thanke god for london , thanke god that ever you heard of christ , had it not been for the forwardnesse , the zeale , the activenesse of the spirits of those in london , you had never come to enjoy these liberties of the gospel , as now you doe . and now shall this city withdraw themselves from such a noble and great work of god , as they are called unto at this time , and let it fall because of them ? for it is in your power , either to raise it , or to let it fall , ( that is the english of it ) it is in your power now , either to save us , or to undoe us , and shall this be let fall now out of love of mony ? shall i say , let the mony of those men perish with them ? no , i came not hither to threaten , but to perswade ; consider that the mercies that you have from christ , cost christ more then money ▪ they cost christ his deare heart bloud : who is it that raised your estates more then others ? have not many of you come hither low , as jacob , with your staffe to this city , and now behold these bands , this estate ? who knows but that you are raised for such a time as this ? have not you engaged your selves many times in prayer to god , when first you entred into covenant to god , did not you give up all your estate then to god , to bee employed in his service , god cals for his due at this time from you ? oftentimes upon your sick beds , and death beds ( in your apprehension of death , that they would have been death beds ) you have then given up all again to god , and vowed that if god did raise you up , you would live to his service , you would employ your strength in his service . god calls for all those vows , you have now an opportunity to fulfill all those vowes : and seeing providence hath cast it so , that a reverend assembly of divines , hath appointed us to speake thus unto you , give us leave to speak in the name of god unto you , and to call upon you in the name of god ; for the fulfilling of all the vows that you have made upon your sick beds , to give up your selves and your estates for the service of the lord : and know that if you shall keep your estates otherwise then god would have you , it will be to you as the manna was to the israelites , they kept it longer than they should , and there was wormes in it ; 〈◊〉 that was preserved no longer than gods time , was sweet , but that that was kept afterwards , it had wormes breeding in it ; your estates you have now , you must not think will alwayes bee so sweet as they have been unto you , if you preserve them longer than god would have you , there will wormes breed in them , yea the curse of god will bee in them . have not you s●nt up many prayers to god , for this great cause , that god would blesse it ? ( i appeal to you ) then you have engaged your selves to heaven by all your prayers ; therfore i beseech and intreat you now , by all the prayers you have made , ( as before by your vowes , by all the prayers you have made ) upon your fasting dayes , that god would preserve his cause , that you would now doe as much as in you lies , to maintain his cause , otherwise how doe you trifle with the great god , and mock him in your prayers , that you seek to him to maintain it , and when there is an opportunity in your hands , you will not doe wh●t lies in you . it may bee you will say , w●e have done much already ; wee acknowledge it , and blessed bee god for it , but know the cause is a great cause , and it is a great god that you doe for ; philo judaeus tells us , it was enough among some heathenish people , but to say to them , libertas agitur , the businesse is your liberty , that is afoot , enough to venture their estates and lives ; it is not liberty alone , but religion ( as you have heard : ) but because some may perhaps cast such a scruple into your mindes , a● we have heard of it ; that what warrant have wee to take up armes to maintain religion ? that is not at present to bee discussed , but only this , to satisfie and stop all their mouths with one word : thus farre none can deny it , but it is lawfull to take up armes , to maintain that civill right wee have to our religion , and this wee doe ; for wee have not onely a right to our religion , by the law of god , but wee have a civill right to this our religion , that other christians have not had , and therefore there can bee no scruple in this , to retard you in such a work as this , you have done much , but a gratious heart will ever think what hee hath done for god , it is but poore and low ; that example is famous of david , that had done so much for preparing the temple of god , in the 1 of chronicles 22. 14. it was 1000000 talents of silver , and 1000 talents of gold ; which some compute a matter of 33 cart loads of silver , allowing 20000 livre. to every cart load , and 70 millions of french crowns of gold , this david had done preparing but for the house of the lord , and yet hee saith that out of his poverty hee had done all this ; all this was but a poor and low thing for him to doe in comparison of the great god ; why , have you done more then this ? therefore seeing it is for the high god , you have done it , look upon what you have done , but as low , and still goe on in the work of the lord ; you have done much , and so have the adversaries too ; wee would have you to weigh this , that the adversary hath been at as much charge , as you have been , as bountifull and free as you have been ; in the 46 of isaiah 6. wee read that the idolaters did lavish out their gold upon their idols , yea , they lavished their gold out of their bagges : certainly , our adversary hath felt the burthen of this , and hath been at the charge of it , as much as you ; you have done much , but yet you have not gone in a good work so farre as a herod hath done ; josephus in his 15 book of antiquities , and about the 12 chapter , tells us of herod the king , that in the time of scarcity , hee sold away all his moveables , all the plate that was served to his table , and fetched corn from aegypt , and bought it for the poor , and cloathed them , yea , and gave seed corn to the assyrians his neighbours ; why now , in this our kingdom , wee may see much plate still at many noble mens tables ; yea , at many gentlemens tables , a great deal of plate reserved , they have not sold all their moveables , and plate to give away ; it is but a proportion of their estates , and but to lend upon so good security . and take this one consideration further , your having done much , is a mighty preparation , to make your doing now to bee formidable to your adversaries ; for what is the hope of your adversary ? but that you are drawn dry ; they triumph in this , and they tell the world , that there must bee such petty wayes , to seek to the city , to get petty summes of money , and all is even gone , and therefore wee shall have them to bee a prey ere long ; but when they shall see , that after so much hath been expended here , that you have such free spirits , and to come out still abundantly with further treasure , this will more daunt their hearts ; this 100000 livre. will daunt their hearts more than 2000000 li. before hath done ; if you say , why doe wee doe all ? what if god will give the city , the speciall honour , yet the countrey will bee required for a great part besides ; but the lords work now to bee done , it must bee done especially by his servants ; and wee know in ezra , when as the adversaries of judah would have come and helped in the work , they would not suffer them to come and help in the work ; i say not , wee should doe so ; but onely to satisfie ●s in this , that wee should not think it much , that god should especially honour us in such a work as this is ; but yet besides know , that your interest in this businesse , it is more than the interest of other men ; for other men care not what becomes of religion , what care they for reformation ? they are willing to bee slaves to some , that they might have others slaves under them ; but you desire reformation , you therefore shall have the greatest share in the blessing of the issue of this work ; and therefore if others doe not so much , yet you should bee willing to bee forward in the work you are now called to ; and if you bee willing , it is like in a little while , you may get such power , that you may bring others to doe whatsoever may appear to bee just ; if it shall bee said , i , but a great deal is done , but to little purpose all this while ; o ( my brethren ) say not so , it is an unthankfull voyce , this , for much hath been done , there hath been a check given to the adversary , the stream of tyranny and slavery , it hath been stopped , your lives have all this while been preserved by what hath been done ; if you think , but it is too late , and all will bee lost that wee doe ; say not so neither , this is below a roman spirit , the romans when hannibal was at their gates , yet would sell their fields at as great a rate , and as great a consideration , as at any other time ▪ even the field where the enemy was , found buyers , when it was put to sale , there were enow to buy that field ; your spirits would scarce rise so high to give a valuable consideration , for the field of your enemy , to bee fee simple to your selves ; hee not discouraged , you have not only the faith of both kingdomes , ( that hath been offered ) but wee as divines may offer you this day the faith of heaven , the faith of the promises of heaven , they are offered to you , and there is nothing will blast that work more than a discouraged heart ; you know that the very thing that caused god to deprive the children of israel of canaan , when they were at the borders , it was , because they were discouraged , and said , there are children of anak here , and let us not go ; the lord is bringing of us to a blessed 〈◊〉 it is true , wee are in a wildernesse , but wee know god hath brought us into the wildernesse , and hee will speak comfortably to us in it ; and let us not bee afraid of difficulties , lest wee bee deprived of that good land that god is bringing us into ; and little cause have wee to bee discouraged , for those wee have to deal with , their spirits are base and vile ; why should wee fear those uncircumcised philistines ? and wee see god hath been with us , in every thing that wee have undertaken ; wee have never shown our selves like men , but god hath shown himself to be like a god for us . if you say , well , but were it not better wee bent all our forces to some accommodation ? to that wee answer you thus : you have to deal not only with his majesty , but with a popish party that are about him , and what security you can ever have of your peace , ( as was worthily said before ) except the scottish nation comes in for to fasten it , it is easie for any one to judge . i will tell you but one story about that , and because it is suitable unto you , i will therefore relate it here : it is a story that i finde in the chronicles , that in the dayes of king edward the fixt , king edward sends to this city for assistance against the lords , and the lords send to the city for their assistance likewise , against the protectour , the earl of somerset ; and the common councell was called , ( i suppose in this place , ) and there stands up , as the story saith , a wise discreet citizen , in the common councell ▪ and makes this speech unto them ; first , hee acknowledges that the cause was right for the lords , for the kingdom , though it were against the will of the king , because the king would not then put in execution those laws that should bee , but hindered them , but yet ( saith hee ) let mee reminde you of that that i have read in fabians chronicle , ( it was one george stadley that stood up , let mee reminde you of that ) when there was a fight between the lords and the king , the lords send for assistance to the city , the city granted their assistance , the lords prevailed , the king was taken , and his son a prisoner ; afterwards they were both released upon composition , and amongst other things , this was one , that howsoever the city should bee preserved , that the city should suffer nothing for what they had done ; and this composition was confirmed by act of parliament , but ( saith this citizen ) what came of it ? did the king forgive ? no ▪ nor forget , for afterwards all our liberties were taken away , strangers were set over us , for our heads and governours ; the bodies and the estates of the citizens were given away , and one misery followed after another ; and so wee were most miserably persecuted ; and here was their accommodation . wherefore then ( to close all ) you have heard before , that wee come not onely to perswade you , but to ingage our selves as well as to perswade you , and to doe that , that wee would have you doe : for our parts , as wee have in some proportionable manner done it already , so wee are ready to doe it further , and it beseemes us well to doe it ; wee read in the 3 of nebemiah , that the first that did help to repair the city , it was the priests of the city , and about the middle of the city , the priests of the plain ; i suppose it is meant , the city ministers , and the countrey ministers , and you shall finde in that chapter , severall sorts of people were there , there were the rulers these specially mentioned ; i suppose their chief rulers , as their aldermen , &c. they were very forward in that work of the lord ; yea , there were the tradesmen , there you read much of the goldsmiths , two severall times in that chapter , you read of the goldsmiths , more then others , and you read of the apothecaries , that they were ready in their work ; yea , and you read of the daughters of men , how they forwarded their parents ; i would i had to speak to many young ones this day , i hope i should prevail much with them , to bee great forwarders of you that are more ancient , that you may doe this freely , which you are here exhorted to . have not many of you spent your blood in this cause , yea , how many young ones in this city have lost their blood ? mee thinks a spirit of indignation should rise in you , to vindicate the losse of the blood of your servants and children ▪ many precious ones , that might have lived many yeers , to have done good service for the lord ; even the children of the city , they rise and cry , hosanna , hosanna , o blessed is ●ee that commeth in the name of the lord ! o then l●t old citizens bee forward , mee thinks elders should ●ee forward in this cause ▪ for ●●e thinks they should not think themselves men of this world , in the 17 of john , christ speaks of himself , when hee was going out of the world , i am not in the world ; and so should you going out of the world , even say , you are not in the world ; and therefore let your close in going out of the world , be a happy close in such a blessed work as this is . and know there shall come a day , wherein you shall bee calling and crying to god for mercy ; the successe of this evenings work will bee recorded against that day , when you shall cry for mercy . i conclude all with applying the words of jotham to the men of sechem , in the 9 of judges 7. hearken to me , that god may hearken to you : so ( i say ) hearken to that worthy member of the house of commons , unto that reverend divine before , and to him that shall come after : hearken unto ●s this day , that god may hearken unto you . mr. obadiah sedgewick his speech in guild-hall on friday the sixt of october , 1643. gentlemen , i am commanded by the assembly of divines , and they by a command from the house of commons , to bee present at this solemne and publike meeting , and from them to move for that , which i confidently presume is granted already , a helping heart , and a helping hand , to preserve ( o that we must be forced to say so , and yet blessed be god that we are alive to say so , to preserve ! ) our religion , our lives , and the lives of ours . it is i confesse my happinesse , that i am not to speak unto such who have made our troubles , and that laugh at them , but unto them that see our distresses , & know how to compassionate them : the perswasion is the more hopeful , when the compassion is beforehand afoot : if that honorable gentleman that spake first , had bin sent with fire to destroy your city , or others with swords from that grave senate , to have destroyed your lives , or with armed power to have compelled and plundered your estates ; there i confesse a refusall , nay a contempt had been the most proper answer . but sirs , their addresse unto you is paternall , it is humble and full of efficacy , it is but to request you to preserve your own lives , it is but to request you that you would not suffer your selves , your wives , your children , your city , your religion to be destroyed . i confesse that i had prepared divers things to have worked on you ; but they that have spoken before me , have scarce left me any new matter to say , but all ( which i wish with all my heart were wrought in you , as well as in my selfe , nothing lest but ) to doe . the religion that we have all our lives professed , if it bee not worth thy money , trample it under thy feet : religion ( brethren ) is an invaluable thing , it is farre above our estates , farre above our lives , nay it is far above our soules . for our estates , the heathen say so much , that our estates were not to be insisted on , when religion was in danger , and therefore some of them have according to their imaginary religion , ( the strength of it ) they have neglected their goods to preserve their gods ; nay they hare ( as alvinus did ) neglect his owne wife and children , to take care of that vaine deity that they sacrificed unto . it is ( i confesse to mee ) a most remarkable thing that pliny reports , ( and good gentlemen , let not heathens exceed christians , in love either to their country or religion : ) you know that hanniball was a sore enemy to the romans , and the romans , when they to maintaine themselves against them had exhausted all their publique treasury ▪ a consull in the senate bespake the people that they would all ●ring out their personall estates , ( something like what is this day moved unto you ) it was so instantly , it was so universally relished , that all ●orts of people brought in abundantly , and ( might i give but a suggest unto the grave senators , that ) the citizens , and 〈…〉 senator in rome , left not himselfe , ( so prodigall was 〈◊〉 for th●●●fety of the publike , he left not unto himselfe ) for to keep himselfe and houshold , above the value of 16 crowns . o shal heathens be so prodigall to preserve themselves against a hanniball ▪ & shal not christians be as carefull to preserve their religion against antichrist . well sirs , as that which you are desired to expend something of your estates for is religion , that is farre beyond all your estates , so it is that , that is farre beyond all your lives : for i beseech you what are all your lives for value unto religion , what will your lives bee to you for comfort , when the sunne is taken out of the firmament , and the gospel is removed out of this english horizon ? if ▪ you should outlive the gospel , why ( the lord bee mercifull to you ) what would your lives availe you ? were it not better to make religion and the gospel your executors , then to make idolaters your executors ? were it not better to make religion your executors , then to make your selves , or your posterities heires of idolatry ? when troy was taken , anchises disdained to take his sonnes counsell , to save his life : away ! live when troy is taken ? and truly ( friends ) if there bee in any of you , ( a● i perswade my selfe there is in all of you that heare me this da● ) a sense of god , a sense of your soules , a sense of the gospel of christ , why you must acknowledge now , that all your comforts are lost , that all your hopes on earth are lost , and all your hopes in heaven are gone , if the gospel , if that religion bee gone . nay , ( as i said at the beginning ) it is that , that no not your soules can stand in competition with ; i confesse the soule of man is a precious thing , it is as the ring of gold , yet if i doe not mistake my selfe ) religion is the most precious diamond in that ring . the busines of religion , why , it is the salvation of your souls , no lesse then your souls , and higher i cannot speak . and if this will not move you , at this time to lend out your strength , to preserve your lives , your estates , your religion , that which preserves your soules to eternity , i can say nothing more . but then sirs observe one thing , there is not onely this dignity in religion that may challenge all that you are and have ; but there is likewise an efficacy in religion : it is one of the best masters , and one of the best fathers , true religion is . what you lay out to preserve it , that one day will returne to preserve you . i have ever thought our religion to be our shield ; and as he said of his shield , so religion will say to you , defend me , and i will defend you . it is our shield , why , preserve your shield , you preserve your selfe : o that this large auditory would but remember two or three things , that i will speake unto you . it is better ( friends ) to keep your religion with the expence of all you have , then to keep all you have with the losse of one dram of religion ; and if you should quit the preservation of religion , you shall lose in the event , both religion and your selves too . there will be a double losse ; you may perhaps for the present be at a double cost to keep up religion , but you shall be at a treble losse if you lose religion ; you shall lose your lives , you shall lose the estates that you keep , and you shall lose your soules too ; and if any thing keeps you , it is religion . for if any thing keeps god , that keeps all , it is the keeping of religion . now sirs , a● this argument ( besides al that 〈…〉 for in truth , they have left me almost naked , that i have nothing to say ; as this argument ) ▪ may revive those affections that have been stirred up already , so methinkes , if you looke but upon the very condition of the church this day , i professe unto you , it will break your hearts ; and therefore may certainly open your purses this day : why , ( friends ) if i am able , i may not deny , no , not one day , nor the second day , nor the third day , nor any time , i must not deny to help a poor lazarus ; i must not see lazarus to starve and die at my doores , if that i am able to helpe a poore christian : why , if my bowells must extend themselves , i● 〈◊〉 helpe must extend it selfe to one christian , how shall i , how can i see , the churches of jesus christ , for to ▪ gaspe and give up the ghost at the feet of bloud ? there are two sorts of bloud which will lye heavie upon my soule , if that i should suffer the guilt of them to be upon my soul ▪ there is the bloud of christ , and the bloud of the churches of christ : if abel● bloud , the bloud of a single person , was so heavie upon ●ain , what will the bloud of 〈◊〉 church , of all the churches of christ , let downe upon our fonts ▪ if we should now falle to help the churches of christ ▪ but if there were no other 〈…〉 with you ▪ but onely something that might concerns your selves , i professe , as i am satisfied in my owns spirit , so i am p●rswaded it were enough to perswade you . why , ( friends ) you have done already , ( i speak not to flatter you , you 〈…〉 already ) more then all the land hath done , even to the preservation of all the land , nay more then all the christian world hath done to preserve the cause of christ . and let me tell you , that god hath not been behinde hand with you , god hath looked upon you , as much ( i meane this city ▪ god hath looked upon this city , 〈…〉 if not more , then upon all the land besides . and ●ruly , if you will cast east up all accounts betwixt god and your selves , though you have done very much , yet you are in arre●s ages still unto god ; god is still before-hand with mercies ▪ though in mercy he hath stirred up your hearts to doe thus . these are three things methinks , wherein the lord hath shewed himselfe to you , that may for ever engage your hearts , with all alacrity to spend , and to be spent for his cause : why , the one is , he never would to this day suffer the destroyer , notwithstanding all their intentions , ( he would never suffer the destroyer ) to enter into this city ; he hath still diverted them , as you have observed by some admirable acts of providence , when their resolutions have been to come to this place , ( the lord knowes in what condition you had been by this day , if providence had not ( at one time especially ) diverted them from it ; but notwithstanding all this , god hath not suffered them to this day , to shoot one arrow into your city . but then there is another thing ; as the lord hath not to this day suffered them to come in a publike hostile way , so he hath from time to time discovered all the treacheries , plots , and designes against you . when the enemy could not destroy you above board , but thought to undermine your lives and states , and all ( i need not say much to revive your memories , ) of late dayes , did god unknowne to you , deliver you from destruction , and should you now be backward to doe for this god , that hath preserved all that you have , and all that you are ? nay , consider one thing more ; he hath in all the publike services ; wherein indeed , if any people in the land deserve our acknowledgements and honour , this city hath got it from the whole land . but this is that i was saying , god hath in all the publike services and battails which have of late been fought in the land , god hath hanged the shield of salvation upon your shoulders , he hath been pleased to cast all the glory , not onely of preservation , but of the great successe , and honour , and victory , god hath cast it upon the people of london . and will you , that god hath defended all this while ; will you that god hath preserved from secret treachery ; will you , that god hath given hearts all this while to stand for god above all the people of the earth : will you that god hath done so much for in the times of battaile , more then for all the rest , wil you fail now to do for god ? god forbid , i beseech you rather that your hearts may be doubled and trebled for that god that is so good to you . and not to trouble you long , because the truth is , i am confident there needs no more to be said , you long rather who should most shew his affection at this time to preserve all : why , there is one thing more that might bee spoken too , that is , touching our brethren of scotland : why , so many things have been said already , that i can say nothing . our condition ( worthy sirs , our condition ) of england , mee thinks it is so like the condition of that poore man , that went between jericho and jerusalem , there the priest hee passes by on the one side , never so much as lookes upon him ; our priests and popish party ; and another sordid party that cleaves to them , they doe not so much as consider the lamentable losse of this poore kingdom of england ; the levite he came , and looked on indeed , but hee passes by : i pray god it ●ee not laid to the charge of some churches abroad , to whom wee have been helpfull , that they can have eares , to heare of our distresses , and wounds , but have not hands at all to help us , whether they have tongues to pity us , wee know not ; onely there is the samaritan ( sirs , the samaritan ) that saw this wounded man , and that had compassion , and that went to him , and that bound up his wounds , and that powred in oyle and wine ; truly ( sirs ) the samaritans that wee finde on earth , ( for our great physitian in heaven , wee blesse him still for looking upon us ; but the samaritans , the onely samaritans that wee have on earth ) they are our brethren in scotland ; o the tears that they have shed for poore england ! o the prayers that they have in solemn manner , from time to time , sent up to heaven for poor england ! o the petitions that they unknown for a long time to us , did direct unto his majesty , if it had been possible to take up all differences ! and now yet again , as if their inward compassions , as if their prayings to heaven , as if their petitionings to man were nothing , so sensible , so affectionate are they , to live with us , to dye with us , that they are ready to come in , to adventure their dearest lives , to save our lives ; why ( friends , why ) what will move your hearts , if this doth not move your hearts ? i doe professe it is the greatest equity under heaven , to lend our estates , some of our moneys to them , that are not unwilling to venture their lives for us . i know many objections might bee made ; you have done much already , and the summe is great ; i say no more , there is nothing great , to a minde that is great , and the cause is great , and though the summe of money bee great , yet their love is greater , then all you can lay out to answer their love ; and say not ( grumbling ) wee have done often and often ; i say to you , as christ said to him that asked him , how often must i forgive my brother ▪ why , 70 times 7 times ; so will i say for this publique cause , you must doe , and you must doe , and yet you must doe , and yet you must doe , as long as there is a penny in thy purse , as long as there is strength in thy hand , as long as there is breath in thy body , you must bee all servants to christ , and servants to the churches of jesus christ . and so i beseech the god of heaven , that what hath been delivered unto you this day , ( and much hath been spoken , i think as much as possibly can unto men ) that it may bee effectuall , to move your hearts , that what is done , may bee speedily done , and fully done , lest wee bee for ever undone ; nay , that wee may bee preserved , and not only wee , but all the churches of god preserved . and the lord of heaven make impression upon your hearts . finis . an indictment against england because of her selfe-murdering divisions: together vvith an exhortation to an england-preserving vnity and concord. presented in a sermon preached before the right honourable house of lords in the abby church at westminster; at the late solemne fast, december 25. 1644. by edmund calamy, b.d. and pastour of aldermanbury in london. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a78979 of text r21745 in the english short title catalog (thomason e23_5). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 128 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 26 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a78979 wing c256 thomason e23_5 estc r21745 99871492 99871492 123903 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a78979) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 123903) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 4:e23[5]) an indictment against england because of her selfe-murdering divisions: together vvith an exhortation to an england-preserving vnity and concord. presented in a sermon preached before the right honourable house of lords in the abby church at westminster; at the late solemne fast, december 25. 1644. by edmund calamy, b.d. and pastour of aldermanbury in london. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [8], 41, [3] p. printed by i. l. for christopher meredith, at the sign of the crane in pauls church-yard, london : 1645. the first leaf bears an order to print. most running titles read: a sermon to the right honorable house of lords, at the monethly fast, decemb. 25. 1644. reproduction of the original in the british library. eng bible. -n.t. -matthew xii, 25 -sermons. fast-day sermons -17th century. sects -england -sermons -early works to 1800. great britain -politics and government -1642-1649 -sermons -early works to 1800. a78979 r21745 (thomason e23_5). civilwar no an indictment against england because of her selfe-murdering divisions:: together vvith an exhortation to an england-preserving vnity and c calamy, edmund 1645 22045 24 60 0 0 0 0 38 d the rate of 38 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-06 john latta sampled and proofread 2008-06 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion die jovis 26. decemb. 1644. it is this day ordered by the lords in parliament assembled , that the house doth hereby give thanks to master calamy for his great pains taken in the sermon he preached on wednesday the 25. of this instant december , in the abby church westminster , it being the day of the monethly fast . and this house doth desire him to print and publish the same . and lastly , it is ordered , that none shall print or publish his said sermon without being authorised so to doe under the hand of the said master calamy . io. browne cler. parlamentorum . i doe appoint christopher meredith , to print this sermon , and no man else . edmund calamy . an indictment against england becavse of her selfemvrdering divisions : together vvith an exhortation to an england-preserving vnity and concord . presented in a sermon preached before the right honourable house of lords in the abby church at westminster ; at the late solemne fast , december 25. 1644. by edmund calamy , b. d. and pastour of aldermanbury in london . cyprian . pacem ecclesiae martyrio praeferimus . peius est scindere ecclesiam quam sacrificare idolo . london , printed by i. l. for christopher meredith , at the sign of the crane in pauls church-yard . 1645. to the right honovrable hovse of lords assembled in parliament . the differences and divisions of england at this day are so many , so great , and so destructive to church and state , as that it cannot but be accounted a transcendent act of piety and charitie for any man to endevour according to his place to compose the one , and remove the other . but though this worke be very excellent , yet it is also very dangerous to him that shall undertake it . for it is often found , that he that will step into reconcile two parties that are a fighting , doth prove the party against which both of them will fight . or if not both , yet alwaies the party that doth the wrong will be a bitter enemie to him that would make up the breach . and therefore it is expressely said , act. 7. 26 , 27. that when moses saw two of his brethren striving one aagainst the other , and stept in to set them at one , saying , sirs , ye are brethren , why wrong ye one another ? he that did his neighbour the wrong thrust him away , saying , who made thee a ruler and a judge over us ? but yet notwithstanding , happy is that man whom god shall make any wayes instrumentall to the bringing in of a holy and blessed peace into this distressed iland , though with the losse of his owne life . famous is the example of gregory nazianzen , who was bishop of constantinople , eminent for learning and piety : and yet when he saw a prevailing faction endevouring to choose another into his place , and that it would much disturbe the peace of the citie if he did not yeeld it up ; he brake out into this speech : absit , inquit , ut mei causâ aliqua simultas oriatur in dei sacerdotibus . si propter me est ista tempestas , tollite , & mittite me in mare , & desinet à vobis quassatio . god forbid that for my cause any difference should arise amongst the ministers of god : if this tempest be raised for my cause , take me , & throw me into the sea that so the tempest may cease . a sentence worthy to be written in letters of gold , and to be put in practise by every true hearted englishman . the like we read of codrus a heathen king , who for the love of his people exposed himselfe to death . and of curtius , and of three decii that devoted themselves to ruine for the safetie of their countrey . the booke of god tels us of moses that was willing to have his name blotted out of the booke of life : and of paul that was willing to be an anathema , that so god might be reconciled to the people of israel with whom he was displeased . but the greatest example of all is of our lord and blessed saviour , who emptied himselfe of his divinitie , and became a servant , and a curse , that he might become our peace-maker . much to this purpose is said in the insuing sermon , which is now made publique by your commands . something also is said to keep up your spirits from being over-dismaied at the consideration of these land-destroying divisions . great are the searchings and tremblings of heart , because of these divisions . but be not over-discouraged : it is gods prerogative to bring light out of darknesse , good out of evill , unitie out of division . he worketh by contrarie meanes as well as by unlikely meanes . he delivered jonah by a whale , and kept him ( as basil saith ) vivus in sepulchro . he raised joseph by casting him into prison ; he cured the blind man by clay and spittle . and i doubt not but he will bring a great deale of good at last out of our divisions . it is observable that simeon and levi , that at first were brethren in iniquitie , joyning together to destroy the shechemites , and for this cruel act , as a sutable punishment , were divided in jacob , and scattered in israel , gen. 49. 7. yet notwithstanding because afterwards levi was zealous for god against the worshippers of the golden calfe , and did appeare valiantly on gods side , exod. 32. 26. god did turne this curse into a blessing , deut. 33. 10. for levi was consecrated to teach jacob gods judgement , and israel his law , &c. and the simeonites , as ainsworth observes , were also teachers of the law in the synagogues of jacob ; and the levites in the schooles of the sonnes of israel . this story is written for our consolation . the time was when we dwelt in peace and unity , but then we combined against god and his children ; and for this cause as a just curse , god hath divided us one from another , to the utter ruine one of another . but yet notwithstanding , if you ( right honorable ) will goe on to shew your selves zealous for god and his cause , and to appeare vigorously and faithfully on his side ; god will turne our great curse into a great blessing . and as the dividing of the red sea was made by god a way and meanes to lead the people of israel over into canaan , and to destroy the egyptians : so god will make our divisions in this red sea of bloud , into which we are plunged , a way and meanes to a happy canaan of unitie and peace ; and to the utter ruine of our implacable adversaries . thus he did with the divisions of paul and barnabas , as this sermon relates unto you . onely be couragious for god , and in nothing be terrified at our differences , but make your peace with him , and he at lastwill make us at peace one with another : which is the earnest prayer of your honours spirituall servant , edmund calamy . a sermon preached to the right honourable house of lords on the monethly fast , december 25. 1644. matth. 12. 25. latter end . every kingdome divided against it selfe , is brought to desolation : and every citie or house divided against it selfe , shall not stand . these words are a iust apology of iesus christ , against the uniust accusations and blasphemies of the scribes and pharisees . there was a man brought unto christ that was possessed with a devil that made him dumbe and blind ; and christ healed him , insomuch that the blind and dumbe , both spake and saw ; vers . 22. this great miracle had three different effects . the common people were astonished and said ; is this the sonne of david ? vers . 23. his own kindred thought him mad , and sought to lay hold on him , mark . 3. 21. but the pharisees when they heard of it , they blasphemously said ; this fellow doth not cast out devils , but by beelzebub the prince of devils . now christ to cleare himselfe from this cursed aspersion brings foure arguments , whereof this in my text is the first . interpreters take much paines to make out the strength of the argument . the summe of what they say is this . it is an argument drawn from the policy and subtiltie of the devill . for if satan cast out satan ( saith christ ) then satan should be divided against himselfe . and if satan should be divided against himselfe , then satan should seek his own ruine . for every kingdome divided against it selfe , is brought to desolation , and every citie or house divided against it selfe shall not stand . but it is incredible to thinke that satan should seeke the ruine of his own kingdome , which he indeavoureth by all means to promote and propagate . and therefore it is certaine , that i do not cast out devils by the power of beelzebub the prince of devils . this is christs first argument . but my purpose is to handle these words , only as they are an intire proposition in themselves ; as they are a generall maxime , written in great characters , not only in the booke of god , but in the booke of nature : and as they are a cleare looking-glasse , in which with sad countenances we may behold the woefull condition that england is in at this present . for these words are the words of iesus christ , who is truth it selfe . every kingdome divided against it selfe is brought to desolation , and every house or citie divided against it selfe cannot stand . and if every kingdome , then the kingdome of england , divided against it selfe is brought to desolation , and if every citie , then the citie of london divided against it selfe shall not stand . in the words themselves , we have two parts . first , christ doth here set down one great cause of the ruine of kingdomes , cities , and families : and that is division against it self . every kingdome divided against it selfe : the word in the greeke is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , which doth not signifie every little , small division , but such a division , that doth {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , that doth cut a citie in pieces , such a division , when it is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , when it is intrinsecall to a kingdome , when it is got within the bowels of a kingdome , it is like unto the winde , which when it gets into the bowels of the earth , makes an earth-quake , and blows up towns , and houses , and kingdoms . so doe these divisions , whether ecclesiasticall , or politicall , whether about matters of religion , or of civill government , when they get within a kingdome , they blow up a kingdome , a citie , and a family . secondly , our saviour christ here sets out the greatnesse of the ruine that is caused by these divisions ; and that both intensively , and extensively . first , intensively , and that by two expressions . first , christ here sayes , such a divided kingdome is brought to desolation : the word in the greeke is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , it is made a wildernesse : though a kingdome in time of peace be as happy as a paradise , division will turne a paradise into a desolate wildernesse : and the words are in the present tense , to show the certaintie of it : it is brought , not it will be brought ; every kingdome divided against it selfe is brought , and it is brought to desolation . divisions doe not onely distemper a kingdome , and make a kingdome diseased , but they are deadly , and fatall to a kingdome , they are like unto a great and wide breach made in the banks to let in the sea , to swallow up a whole kingdome : they are like a breach made in the walles of a citie besieged , that lets in the enemy to take the citie . and then , secondly , christ sayes , such a divided citie shall not stand . christ doth not onely say , it shall reele , and totter ; but he saith expressely , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , it shall not stand : or as it is in the 3. mark . 24. it cannot stand ; it must tumble and fall . divisions in a house , are not only like unto the breaking of the windows , or the pulling down of the tyles , which may be done , and yet the house may be safe : but they are like unto a house all on fire , which must necessarily be burnt down if it be not quenched . or like unto a house , when the pillars of it are pull'd down , and the house it selfe falles with it . so is a kingdome , citie , or family , divided against it selfe , it cannot stand , sayes christ , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , mark . 3. 24. secondly , our saviour sets out the greatnesse of this ruine by the extension of it ; it is here said , every kingdome divided against it selfe . divisions in a kingdome , are like a sweeping plague , that devoures whole kingdoms , without any distinction . though a kingdome be never so well provided with men , armes , and ammunition , ships , walles , and bulwarks : yet notwithstanding , if divisions get into that citie , and kingdom , they are as a spreading gangrene , that will quickly infect the whole kingdome , and destroy it utterly , be it never so well fortified by sea or land . nay , though there should be a kingdome of saints ; yet notwithstanding , if differences and distractions get within that kingdome , they will prove like the worme that did eate up ionah's gourd in one night ; divisions in a very little space will swallow up , and devoure all the outward happinesse , even of a kingdome of saints . and not only so , but every citie , ( sayes christ ) and every house , though it be never so religious , so honourable , so rich a family ; yet notwithstanding if divisions get into that family , it cannot stand . these divisions , they are like unto the mors in olla , like unto the coloquintida , that spoiled all the pottage ; they are as a poysonfull herbe , that spoiles all the riches and goodnesse of a family : like unto eagles feathers , which ( as some say ) when they are mingled with other feathers , spoile all the feathers they are mingled withall . so doe divisions , contentions , and factions , when they get into a citie , or family , they spoile all the wealth , riches , and honours of that family : for so sayes our saviour christ ; every kingdome divided against it selfe is brought to desolation , and every citie , or house divided against it selfe shall not stand . the words thus explained , will afford us this doctrin . doct. that divisions , whether they be ecclesiasticall , or politicall , in kingdomes , cities , and families , are infallible causes of ruine to kingdomes , cities , and families . this doctrin is proved , not only by the history of the bible ; but by the history of all ages . the kingdome of england is sufficient alone to prove the truth of this doctrin . historians observe , that there was never any great mischiefe fell upon england , but the cause of it was , the divisions that were among them . when caesar first made inrode into britaino , he was called in by the faction of * mandubratius . and tacitus sayes , that all the victories that the romanes got , it was by the factions and divisions that were among the britaines . and afterwards , when the saxons made a conquest of britaine ; vortigern that had got the kingdome by a faction , to maintaine his party , sent for the saxons in , as some say , or at lest imployed them , when , in , to take his part , as others write . but all write , that by this meanes he destroyed himselfe , and the whole kingdome . and so likewise , when the normans made a conquest upon england ; they were invited hither by the factions that were in england . especially , by the faction that the earle goodwin made , and his sonne toustaine , as our historians doe relate . and since the norman conquest , i need not put you in minde of the great effusion of blood that was here in england , all the time of the barons warres : and of the miserable condition of england , when the house of yorke and the house of lancaster rose up one against another . and what shal we say to the desolate and bleeding condition of england , and ireland , at this present ? doth not our forlorne , and miserable estate sufficiently make good this doctrin : that divisions in church and state , are destructive to church and state ? but besides the kingdome of england , i might shew you , how the empire of grecia as long as alexander kept it in unitie flourished in great prosperitie , but after the death of alexander , it was divided into foure parts , and these foure governours destroyed one another by divisions . i might also instance in the empire of rome , assoone as ever it was divided by constantine into two parts , from that very time ( as sigonius relates ) the romane empire , which before that was very strong and potent , began first secretly to grow weake , and afterwards to decay , till at last it came to utter destruction . i might instance also in the people of the iewes , as long as they were as a citie united within it selfe in davids and solomons time , so long they did exceedingly flourish ; but as soone as ever they were divided into ten tribes , and two tribes , they presently began to warre one against another , and to open the doore to foraine invasions ; till at last they were all of them utterly ruinated . famous is the story of the citie of ierusalem , when it was besieged by titus vespasian , iosephus tels us it had three mightie factions in the very bowels of it : the chiefe of which factions were iehochanan , eleazar , schimeon . and that these three factions did kill more then the enemie himselfe ; and were the cause of the taking of that famous citie . the like is reported of the famous citie of constantinople , when it was taken by the turks , &c. but let us a little consider the reasons why divisions are so fatall and destructive to kingdomes , cities , and families . the first reason is , because that these intestine divisions they destroy all those things that are as walls , and bulwarks to preserve a nation from ruine . as for example : first , divisions destroy the peace of a kingdome : now there is nothing that preserves a kingdome more then peace : and therefore the hebrewes comprehended all blessings under the name of peace . heaven it selfe , it is nothing but tranquillitas pacis ; what is god , but the god of peace ? and what is christ , but the prince of peace ? and therefore , as * that cardinall made his embleme , a beach tree , with this motto : take off the top and it is the ruine of all the rest : for such is the nature of the beach tree , that if you cut the top off , the tree presently withers : such may be the motto of every kingdome : take off the top , and it is the ruine of all the rest : take away peace , and you destroy a kingdome . the truth is , there is no outward blessing , is a reall blessing where peace is wanting : your estates , your honors , are no blessings , if you have not peace to enjoy them . and therefore , as the artificer carved his owne name into the buckler of minerva so exactly , that whosoever should undertake to pick out his name , must necessarily spoile the buckler : so it is with peace , peace is so woven into the prosperitie of a kingdome , that whatsoever destroyes peace , must needs destroy a kingdome . now division takes away peace , and therefore division ruines a kingdome . and then secondly , division takes away the vnitie of a kingdome ; now vnitie is the great preserver of church and state : it is the great preserver of all bodies , both naturall , politicall , artificiall , and theologicall . what is that , that keeps the fabrick of heaven from dissolving into pieces , but the vnitie and the agreement of the discordant elements ? what keeps this great fabrick here from falling , but the vnion and conjunction of the parts of it ? stones ioyned together make a building , but stones uncemented , destroy and overthrow a building : boards ioyned together make a ship , disioytned make a ship-wrack . what keeps the body of a man in health , but the just proportion and harmonie of every part ? the members of the body divided from the head are presently destroyed : the branches divided from the vine receive no joyce , no sap , no vertue : every thing is preserved by unitie and concord . lords and commons united save a kingdome : divided make shipwrack of a kingdome . the church of christ at first , when the bloud of christ was yet warme , was at unitie within it selfe , and all with one accord praysing and serving god , and then it flourished exceedingly . the church was then like a pure virgin attended with all the graces of gods spirit as with so many hand-maides . but afterwards when it fell into divisions it lost her virginity , and all her hand-maids forsook her . for this is true both in philosophy and in divinitie , omne divisible est corruptibile : whatsoever is divisible , is corruptible . and the like i say of concord , love and friendship , which are nothing else but unitie in affection : these are the glew that soders ; these are the nerves and sinewes that joyne a kingdome together . and therefore the apostle saith , above all things put on love which is the bond of perfection : it is a bond to joyne kingdomes , and cities , and families together . and therefore , whatsoever breakes this bond of kingdomes in pieces , must needs devoure and destroy kingdomes . but divisions doe this . for they are like a caterpiller to devoure all peace , unitie , love , friendship , and concord , which are the great supporters of kingdomes . they are like unto the great plague of the locusts that devoured all the greene things in the land of egypt : there is nothing that is good in a nation , nothing that is greene and flourishing in a nation , but division and contention will destroy it . and therefore divisions must needs be destructive to kingdomes . this is the first reason : and then secondly : as divisions take away all those things that are the buttresses to uphold a nation : so on the other side , they open a doore to all kinds of misery ; they bring in myriads of evils into a kingdome : they are like unto pandora's box , which when it was once opened , out flied all kind of sicknesses and diseases : as for example : first , where intestine divisions dwell , there dwels strife and envie ; and where envie and strife is , there is confusion and every evill worke , i am . 3. 16. secondly , divisions open a doore to let in a foraine enemie : and it is a free and miraculous mercy that god hath kept out the french , and the spaniard , and the danes from invading england in these times of our divisions . and then thirdly , divisions weaken a kingdome , and make it unable to resist a foraine enemie , if he should come in : for divide a citie , and so many divisions you make , so much you take away from the strength of that citie . let five men joyne together to beare a burden , and they will beare it with ease : but if three of those five shall divide from the other two , the burden will sinke the other two . vis vnita fortior , strength conjoyned is a great deale stronger ; strength divided is weakened ; counsels divided are weakened ; men divided are weakened : but then fourthly , and especially , divisions set a kingdome against it selfe , so sayes my text , every kingdome divided against it selfe : divisions make the father to fight against the child ▪ and the child to fight against the father : divisions set the husband against the wife , and the wife against the husband : divisions make us to be our own hangmen , our owne executioners . divisions make us viper like to eat out the bowels one of another . divisions make us to sheath our swords in our owne bowels . as god caused the midianites to destroy one another : so these divisions set a kingdome against it selfe ; they set a man against himselfe ; a citie against it selfe , to destroy it selfe , : in a word , that i may expresse all misery in one phrase : divisions bring in civill warres , which of all warres are most uncivill . there are three iron whips with which god doth whip man-kind , when it grows monstrous in iniquitie ; the plague , sword and famine , which tertullian cals tonsur as insolentis humani generis , the loppings and prunings of man-kind when they grow ranke in iniquitie . of those three plagues warre is the greatest . and therefore when the prophet put david to his trilemma , he chose the plague , rather then the sword , or famine , and beseecheth with great earnestnesse : let me not fall into the hands of man . of all judgements warre is the greatest , which for the most part is attended with famine and plague . but of all warres no warre so mischievous as civill warre , for these reasons . first , because there is no warre so unnatur all as civill warre : for in civill warre , the father fights against the child , and the friend against the friend , and the brother against the brother . secondly , there is no warre so cruell as civill warre : and therefore you shall observe , that the hagarens , and the ammonites , and the moabites , and the edomites , were the greatest enemies that the people of israel had : now these were of the kindred of the people of israel ; the hatred of brethren is most bitter when they fall out : you have an example of this in the 20. of iudg. 48. the people of israel , they went to fight against their brethren , and when they had conquered them they did not onely kill every man they met withall , but they kild every beast that they met withall , and they kild every thing that came to hand : it is a strange expression , to shew the crueltie of civill warre : and you know how the bloud-thirstie cavalieres , at oxford , doe hunger and thirst to drinke cups full of the bloud of the round-heads ( as they call us ) . thirdly , these warres , they are most treacherous ; no warre so treacherous as civill warre , for there will alwaies be false brethren , that will labour to betray their brethren into the hands of the enemie , for it is a warre amongst brethren ; and these are the times wherein we may take up the complaint of ieremy , ier. 9. 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. and wherein we had need follow the example of mica . 7. 5 , 6. fourthly , and lastly , these wars of all wars are most uncomfortable . and therefore you shall read that when the people of israel had overcome the beniamites , in stead of rejoycing for the victory , they all fell a weeping because of their brethren that were slaine , iudg. 21. 2. these are the reasons why civill warres are the worst of wars . but of all civill wars that ever were , none so wicked , none so mischievous as the civill warres of england . of all the arrowes that are in the quiver of gods iudgements , there is no arrow so sharpe , so keene , as this arrow that god now shoots out against england . for there is a generation of men risen up amongst us that fight against the parliament whom they themselves did choose , and intrust with their lawes , liberties , and religion . men that fight against a reformation : that fight themselves into popery , slavery , and beggery . that joyne with the papists of england , and popish rebels of ireland to fight ( as they say ) for the protestant religion . that fight for their liberties against the parliament , the great and onely conservator of their liberties . that call god to record that they intend nothing but the preservation of the protestant religion , and of the liberties of the people , and yet endeavour by all treachery and bloudy ways to subvert religion and liberties . that god should suffer such multitudes of men to be so farre drunke with error , and to be so farre blinded with prejudice , this is a judgement of all judgements most superlative . now all these are the fruits of our divisions , and therefore certainely , iesus christ might well say , or if christ had not said it , our owne experience would have taught us the truth of this text : every kingdome divided against it selfe is brought to desolation , and every house , and every citie divided against it selfe shall not stand . this is all that i shall say for the explication of the doctrine . but now ( through the blessing of god ) i shall come to the application . if intrinsecall divisions he so destructive to the kingdome , let us weepe and mourne before the lord this day , at the consideration of the sad condition that england is in at this present . this day is a day of weeping and mourning : and i shall present a subject before you that will move you to teares if there be any bowels of compassion in you , and to say as ieremie 14. 17. let mine eyes runne downe with teares night and day , and let them not cease , for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach , with a very grievous blow . and if a tender and dutifull child cannot without great mourning and lamentation behold his mother rent and torne in pieces by wild beasts ; surely it will be most unnaturall in us who are the sonnes and daughters of england , to heare of the divisions and distractions of england with dry eyes , and hard hearts . it is reported of cato , that from the time that the civill warres began in rome betweene caesar and pompey , he was never seene to laugh , or to wash his face , or to shave his beard , or cut his haire . this example will rise up in judgement against many of us who are so unaffected and insensible of the great and unexpressible calamities of poore england , once a pleasant paradise , but now a howling wildernesse . if divisions destroy a nation , it is a miracle of mercy that england is yet a nation : for our divisions are multiplied exceedingly . our times run all upon divisions , and subdivisions . we may say of england , as austin of africa , that it is divided in minutula frustula , it is crumbled into very little little pieces . i will bring them all into two heads . 1. our divisions from god . 2. our divisions one from another . first , our divisions from god , by our most grievous sinnes and iniquities . for as smoake driveth bees out of their hives , so doth sinne drive god away from a kingdome . and there is nothing that makes god forsake a kingdome but sinne . isaiah 59. 2. your iniquities have separated between you and your god , and your sins have hid his face from you , that he will not heare . now there is no nation under heaven , that hath divided it selfe more from god by sinne then england hath . there was a time when the parliament of england made a whip with six strings to whip many godly people to death . this was in h. the eighths dayes . there was a time when the parliament of england did solemnly upon their knees abiure the gospell , and desire reconciliation with antichrist . this was done in q. maries dayes ; after which followed the bloody persecution by the lawes then established . and though these lawes were afterwards repealed ▪ yet how often have we apostatized from god since that time ? and even at this very day , though there be much talke of reformation ; yet ( alas ) there was never lesse practise of reformation . our churches indeed are reformed , but our hearts and lives are no whit reformed . our high altars are taken down , but our high mindes are not taken down . the worship of god is purer , but the worshippers are as impure as ever . we have no bowing to the name of jesus , no bowing to altars , images , and crucifixes . there is lesse knee-idolatry ; but i feare me , we have as much heart-idolatry as ever , as much covetousnesse , as much trusting to an arme of flesh as ever . and though our idolatry be lesse , yet adulteries , and fornications , were never more , i cannot say punished , but i must rather say , never more committed , and never lesse punished . doe not men boast of their adulteries , and yet escape unpunished ? it is a mercy of god , that scandalous ministers are thrust out of their livings . but i beseech you tell me , is there a law to punish a scandalous minister ; and is there no law to punish a scandalous gentleman , and a lord also if he grow scandalous ? shall the cheap-side crosse be taken down ( wherein you have done well ; ) and shall your cheapside iniquities , your cheapside adulteries yet remaine ? it is a mercy , that we are freed from the tyranny and crueltie of the high commission , and star-chamber . but i am sure , there is as much complaint ; i doe not say , as iust complaint ; but as much complaint , of oppression and iniustice in the parliament-committees in the counties ; as ever there was of the star-chamber , or high commission . we live in times wherein there was never more iudging of others , and never lesse iudging of our selves . we live in the sadest dayes that ever england saw , and yet what aboundance of pride is there in apparell ? what lustfull fashions , even in these bloody dayes ? what securitie in sinne , even whilest the ship of the kingdome is sinking ? what deadnesse of heart ? what coldnesse and formality in gods worship ? what unthankfulnesse ? what unfruitfulnesse , &c. indeed here is much fasting , but little weeping . never more murmuring , more censuring , & never lesse reforming , then in these dayes , even in these dayes of reformation . and shall we not weep bitterly before the lord this day for these sinnes ? these are the sinnes that divide a nation from god . and if god once forsake a nation , it is left in a desperate condition . for as the trojans when they lost their palladium , were presently vanquished : so when a nation hath lost gods favour , it sinks into ruine irrecoverably and presently . but secondly , let us mourne this day also for our divisions one from another ; and first for our state-divisions , and then for our church-divisions . first , let us mourne for the divisions of the commonwealth . is it not a sad thing to see the head rent from the members ; and that that head that should be a preserver of the body , is now , by ill counsell , a destroyer of his body ? that , that head , that should be like a head of gold , is now , through ill counsell , made a head of iron , to crush its own body in pieces ? oh! let us mourne for this , this day . and then let us mourne for the rent that is amongst the members . is if not a sad thing to see the members rent and torne one from the other ? nobleman against nobleman , gentleman against gentleman , citizen against citizen ; father against sonne , and sonne against father , &c. and that which england never saw till this day , a pretended oxford parliament , against a true westminster parliament ? and especially , let us bemoane , and bewaile the divisions that are amongst our selves here at home : that we that are all ingaged in the same cause , and in the same covenant , and that are under the same condemnation , under the unjust charge of rebellion , that there should be such differences , and such divisions amongst us , even amongst us , whose heart doth not bleed to thinke of it ? that though hannibal ad portas , yet the senators of rome should be at difference amongst themselves ; the lords should divide from the commons , and the commons from the lords , whilest the enemy is seeking to destroy both lords and commons ? but above all , let us bemoane the divisions that are in the church about matters of religion . for * constantine saith well , that the dissentions of the church are more terrible and more pernicious then any civill warre . and these are exceedingly increased amongst us especially in the famous citie of london . one saith , i am of paul ; another saith , i am of apollos ; a third saith , i am of cephas . some are antinomians , that is , patrons of free vice , under the maske of free grace . some are anabaptists , that say , that the condition of an infant of a beleeving parent , is as sad and miserable as the condition of an infant of a turke or infidell : and one of them was not ashamed to say , that it is as lawfull to baptize a cat or a dog , as an infant of a christian parent . some are brownists , that say , that all our ministery is antichristian , and our worship , and churches antichristian . some are of no church at all , beleeving all churches to be falsely constituted , and therefore refuse to joyne with any church in the worship of god , and waite till god raise up apostles to plant new churches . some beleeve that the soule dyeth with the body , and that both shall rise againe at the last day . others begin to say , they beleeve that the soule is mortall , as well as the body , and that there is no resurrection , neither of soule or body . some plead for an illimited toleration of all religions . it would see me a wonder , if i should reckon how many separated congregations , or rather segregations there are in the citie : what churches against churches , &c. but i forbeare . the lord knows , that i mention these things with a sad heart , and that i doe not hereby intend to exasperate your lordships against the persons that hold these opinions , above what the word of god doth clearely require at your hands ; or to uncover any nakednesse of our deare mother that was unknown before , but onely to present before you our sad and miserable condition ; that thereby you may be quickned unto prayer , stirred up to humiliation in a day of fasting and weeping , and also provoked to use all scripture helps for the suppression of these distractions . for great and wonderfull are the mischiefes that proceed from these church-divisions ▪ give me leave to mention a few of them . first , hereby gods name is exceedingly dishonoured , and the true religion ill spoken of . iulian that cursed apostate , railes against the christians in his dayes , and saith of them , that they lived together as so many dogs and beares , rending and tearing one another : and addes , who then would be so simple as to become a christian ? the very heathen in their interludes scoffed at the divisions that were amongst the christians ( as the histories of the primitive times informe us ) to the great disgrace of christian religion . and i wish this might not also be verified of our dayes . secondly , hereby the happy reformation that all good people expect and long for , is much hindered . for as the building of babel was hindered by the confusion of tongues , so is the building of sion also . for every man drives his owne private way of reformation , and strives to hinder all other wayes that are opposite to his way . it is with us in england , as it was with the suiters in plutarch , who because they could not all of them obtaine the virgin they sued for , agreed to cut her in pieces , and every one to take a bit of her . we are all suiters for a reformation , and because we cannot get such a one as may please every man , hence come our divisions ; by which what doe we else but agree together to cut the kingdome in pieces and every man to take his morsell ? epiphanius tels a sad story of meletius , and peter bishop of alexandria , both confessors of the christian faith , both of them condemned ad metalla , for their profession , who upon a small difference fell into so great a schisme , that they drew a partition betweene each other in the prison , and would not held communion in the same worship of christ , for which notwithstanding they joyntly suffered ; which dissention of theirs did cause such a rent and sect in the members of the church , that it did more hurt then any persecution of the enemie . iust so is our condition : for we are here in london , and in the associated counties , shut up as in a prison , ( for we dare not travell beyond our line ) and whilest we are in prison we draw partitions one from another , and separate from one another , whilest we are all suffering for the same cause . and this hinders reformation more then all that the enemie can doe to obstruct it . thirdly , hereby the good cause we fight for is exceedingly disparaged . for doe we not heare the enemie boasting and saying , these are the men that cry downe prelacy : you see they can agree in nothing but in anarchie and confusion ! are there not many that beginne to grow weary of these warres , and cold in the prosecution of the parliaments most just cause , even for this very reason , because they know not amongst so many religions ( as they call them ) for what religion they fight ? fourthly , hereby the enemie is much encouraged . his hope of conquering is built upon our divisions . and therefore he doth as medea did , who when she fled a way with iason , and was pursued by her father , tooke her brother absyrtus , and cut him in pieces , and scattered him in the way that she fled in , that so her father might be busied in taking up the scattered pieces of his sonne , and she in the meane time flie securely a way . even so doe our enemies labour to cut us in pieces by our divisions , ( for the enemie hath a chiefe stroke in our divisions ) that they in the meane time may securely study our ruine , while we are gathering up our divided parties . fifthly , hereby the hearts of people are mightily distracted , many are hindered from conversion , and even the godly themselves have lost much of the power of godlinesse in their lives . i say , the hearts of people mightily disturbed , while one minister preacheth one thing as a truth of the gospel , and another minister preacheth the quite contrary with as much confidence as the former . and thus , as optatus saith , inter licet tuum & non licet meum nutant & remigant animae christianorum . while one minister saith i , and another saith no , the common peoples minds are mightily distracted . and many also are hindred from conversion . for who will venture into a ship that is tossed with contrary waves , and ready to sinke ? and even the godly themselves are much decayed in the studie and practise of faith and repentance , and of the power of godlinesse . for all their time is so much taken up with unnecessary disputations , as that they have little leasure to repent , and to study to increase in holinesse . inter disputandum religio amittitur . the truth is , here is so much dispute about the government of christ in our churches , as that there is little of christs government in our hearts or houses . so much dispute about the gathering of churches , as that there were never fewer gathered really to the church then in these our dayes . sixthly , by these divisions godly ministers are mightily discouraged : in so much as there are many that grow weary of their standings in gods church , and beginne to thinke of leaving their places , and of going to live in private , and to shut themselves up in their studies , ( as luther was once counselled ) and to cry , domine miserere nostri . seventhly , hereby a doore is opened to all kind of atheisme : for doe not our profane men begin to say , we know not of what religion to be , and therefore we will be of no religion . if we hold of such , others will condemne us , and if we hold of them , others also will condemne us ; and therefore we will rather stand neuters , and professe no religion at all ? eighthly , hereby god is necessitated to prolong our warres : for all the bloud-thirstie cavaliers are but as so many shepherds dogs sent out by god to gather his sheep together . gods people are now as sheepe scattered one from the other to the reproach of religion , and dishonour of god ; and god hath sent the enemy as his dog to call them all together , and till this be fully accomplished these dogs will not be taken off . ninthly , these divisions open a wide doore to the utter ruine and destruction of the kingdome . for they bring in deadly hatred above the hatred that is caused by civill dissentions ; even such a hatred that bursteth asunder the very bonds of nature it selfe , as christ foretels , ioh. 16. 2. they shall kill you , and thinke they doe therein god good service . what abominable hatred was there between the iew and the samaritane ; in so much as that the woman of samaria wondered that christ would aske a little water of her that was a samaritane ? from this hatred followeth , excommunications , anathematizations , &c. and from thence to fire and fagot , and to as exquisite torments as the wit or malice of men could invent . witnesse the tenne persecutions . witnesse the spanish inquisition . witnesse the parisian massacre of the protestants upon bartholomew eve . witnesse queene maries bloudy dayes . witnesse the divisions of the greeke churches betweene the {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , and divers others of that kind ( pezelius reckons tenne ) which divisions first brought in the saracens , and afterwards the turks , who are the great scourge of christendome to this day . these and many more are the mischiefes that arise from our divisions about matters of religion . and therefore if there be any bowels of compassion in us towards a poore bleeding , dying kingdome , let us weepe before the lord this day ; and wish that our heads were fountaines , that we might mourne continually for the virgin daughter of england . let there be great thoughts of heart for the divisions of our reuben . it is reported of certaine young debauched gentlemen that were swaggering in a taverne in the market-place , while the citie wherein they dwelt was in great calamitie ; and one of them putting his head crowned with a garland out of the window , was espied by the magistrates of that citie , whom when they saw , they caused him to be beheaded because he was so insensible of the publique danger . a famous story for our times . the lord make us more apprehensive of englands miseries in a spirituall way . and let us also this day admire the mercy of god that we are not yet consumed notwithstanding our manifold divisions . and let us expect certaine ruine and destruction , if these divisions continue . the word of christ must be true . a kingdome divided against it selfe cannot stand . england is tottering , and it will fall if these divisions last ; and the fall thereof will be great . and therefore let us prepare for desolation , and provide an arke of safety for our selves by faith in iesus christ : a kingdome that cannot be shaken ; an house made without hands , eternall in the heavens . if divisions be so destructive to kingdomes , cities , and families ? this reproveth those that are the authours and fomenters of these divisions that are now amongst us . these are the incendiaries of england . if he that sets one house on fire deserveth hanging , much more they that set a whole kingdome on fire . if he that murders one man must be put to death , much more he that murders three kingdomes . marke them ( saith the apostle , rom. 16. 17. ) that cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned , and avoid them . avoid them as the greatest enemies of england . these are like the salamander that cannot live but in the fire of contention . these are of a iesuiticall spirit . and no doubt the heads , and hands of the iesuits are in all our divisions . there are seven things , saith solomon , prov. 6. 16. which are an abomination to the lord : and the seventh and last , and not the least , is he that soweth discord among brethren ; but much more he that soweth discord amongst three kingdomes . and if it was a signe of the false mother to desire to have the child divided ; much more is it a signe of an unnaturall and cruell child to endevour to divide his mother in pieces . more particularly here are two sorts to be reproved . first , such as sow divisions betweene the king and his people . that labour to keepe up and to increase the wals of partition betweene them . these are the sanballats and tobiah's that tell the king that the parliament are rebels , that they seeke his life , and would uncrowne him and his posteritie , and bring in anarchy and confusion . these are they that tell the king , ( as rhehum the chancellour , and shimshai the scribe wrote to artaxerxes , concerning ierusalem , ezra 4. 12. ) that the citie of london is a rebellious and bad citie ; hurtfull to kings , and hath alwaies moved sedition , &c. these give the king this motto , divide et impera . but these are without my reach , and therefore i shall speake no more of them . secondly , and especially such incendiaries and fire-brands that kindle the fire of contention amongst our selves at home : and these are of two sorts . first , such as are absolutely false-hearted , and have made their peace at oxford ; and are here at westminster onely to cast in bones of contention , to divide our counsels , and to worke factions amongst us . these are men hardened in sinne , and there is little hope of reclaiming them . these build their houses upon the bloud of three kingdomes . these are the iudasses of england ; and it were just with god to give them the portion of iudas . secondly , such as are discontented , though not false-hearted ; and through discontent and dislike of the proceedings of parliament do much hurt , and create many factions amongst us . these discontented persons are like pieces of soft wax , ready to carry any impression that the adverse party shall stampe upon them . these are of three sorts . first , such as are discontented out of pride and covetousnesse , because they cannot get those places of profit and honour which they expect ; and because they have not that credit and repute amongst the people that others have : hereupon they come to dislike the publique proceedings and to make parties and factions . there were many such in the primitive church that turned heretiques , because they could not obtaine the preferment they stood for . these men seeke themselves and not the publique . these are not common-wealths men , but private-wealths men : these seeke their owne belly , and because they cannot have a cabbin so richly furnished as they desire , therefore they endevour to drown the ship wherein their cabbin is . these are like those that will set an house on fire to rost an ●gge . marke what the apostle saith of these , rom. 16. 18. they that are such serve not our lord iesus christ , but their owne belly ; and by good words and faire speeches deceive the hearts of the simple . a second sort are such as are discontented out of a blind zeale ; such as differ from us in opinion , and because they begin to perceive , that if matters of religion were once settled , their wayes of worshipping god would be discountenanced , therefore they labour to put all things into confusion , and to hinder a settlement as much as they can ; that so in the meane time , their numbers may increase . for as toads and serpents grow in darke and dirtie sellars , so doe sects , errors , and heresies grow in times of distraction and confusion . these are the men that desire to fish in troubled waters , because they can catch most fish in troubled waters . these are like unto sanballat and tobiah , &c. who foresaw that if the temple were once rebuilt , that then their way of worship upon mount gerizin would be contemned , and therefore they laboured to cast bitter aspersions upon the workmen , they laid heavy things to their charge , and used all kinds of policy to obstruct the temple-worke they had in hand . iust so doe these men cast bitter aspersions upon the assembly of ministers , and upon every parliament man that opposeth their way , and labour by all meanes to hinder their proceedings ; because they foresee that if by their advise , matters of religion were once established , their wayes and opinions would be presently disgusted . it is very observable , that all the severall sects amongst us , though they differ one from another , yet they all agree together in their opposition against the assembly of ministers as their greatest enemies . iust as we read in the 83 psalme , of ten nations , differing one from another in religion , place and customes , and yet all of them confederating against the people of god . nicephorus telles us , that the meletiani and ariani , did at first much disagree , not onely in opinions , but in affections ; but afterwards when they saw the orthodoxe party increase so mightily , as that it was likely to swallow both of them up , they joyned together in a firme league to oppose the orthodox party ( though still differing one from the other ) insomuch that in processe of time , the meletiani were called ariani , and the ariani , meletiani . so also in africa . the rogatianist , maximinianists , and donatists joyned together as sampsons foxes not in one opinion , but in a league of friendship for a while , that they might make up the greater number against the orthodox party . and is not this the practise of our times ? doe not anabaptists , brownists , antinomians , agree together in opposing the assembly of ministers , and in independency from all superiour ecclesiasticall government , without the bounds of a particular congregation . a third sort are such as are discontented , and thereupon disturbe our peace by way of revenge ; that lye under iealousies and suspitions ( whether just or unjust i dispute not ) and cannot regaine their credit , and therefore labour to cast a blame upon all others , and bring as many as they can into the same condemnation with themselves . iust like the foxe in the fable , that had his taile cut off , and therefore perswaded all other foxes to cut off their tailes , telling them it was an uncomely thing for a foxe to have a taile . even so doe these men . because they lye under suspicion themselves , therefore they would perswade others also , that they are under the like suspition , that thereby they might make them discontented , as they themselves are . and thereby the building of the temple is much hindred , publique affaires disturbed , and the poore ship of england ready to sinke under the burden . now all these sorts of men are sharply to be reproved , every man according to his degree of guiltinesse . these are the devils agents . for it is the proper worke of the devill to divide god from men , men from god , and one man from another . and as it is a worke of the devill , so it will bring us to the devill , if we repent not of it . if divisions be so fatall and destructure to kingdomes , cities , and families . oh let us all be intreated according to our severall places , to contribute what help we can possible to the healing of our divisions , and to the bringing in peace , love , vnitie and concord amongst us . oh that god would make me his instrument this day , to raise up your hearts to the obedience of this duty . first , let us labour to be at peace with the kings maiesty , as farre as is possible , and may be obtained , salvâ conscientiâ . let us not onely pray for peace , but follow after peace , and if it flies from us , let us pursue it . i remember what i have read of calvin , that he should say ; that he would willingly travell over many seas , to see one vniforme draught of religion , wherein all protestants might agree . and who would not willingly sacrifice up his life to the fire to see king and parliament throughly agreed ? to see a holy , safe , and well-grounded peace made ? i say , a holy well ▪ grounded peace . for there are some amongst us , that are like the gadarens , that preferre their hogs before christ and his cause ; that wish more for the settlement of their trading , then of their religion . these are swines not christians . there are others as bad that desire a peace upon any termes , though with the losse of libertie and religion . iust like the israelites , that would needs have quailes . but while the meat was yet in their mouthes , the wrath of god came upon them . he that desires peace without respect to religion , the plague of god will goe along with that peace . there is a double peace . first , a treacherous peace . such as shall betray us into popery , tyranny , and slavery ; such as was made with the protestants in france , a london ▪ massacring peace . such as the israelites made with the cananites , which was a perpetuall thorne and snare unto them . such as ahab made with benhadad . this is a land-devouring , and a religion-destroying peace . this is to betray christ as iudas did with a kisse of peace . secondly , a holy , safe , well-grounded peace . and cursed is the man that is an enemy to such a peace . my prayer is ; that god would make our king a melchisedeck , who was king of righteousnesse , and king of peace . that righteousnesse and peace may kisse each other in his dayes . that this may be added upon the kings coine . henricus rosas , regna jacobus , populum carolus . and here let me crave leave humbly to beseech your lordships , that in this treatie that is shortly to begin , you would make religion your iewell , and peace as your golden ring , on which it may be put . to make peace your boxe of alablaster . and reformation the precious oyntment within it . to make peace as the gold , and religion as the temple that sanctifieth the gold . happy is the people that is in such a case . happy england if once it comes to sing the angels song . glory be to god on high , in earth peace . and yet let me forewarne you also , not to trust too much to treaties , and overtures of peace , david had a sonne whose name he called absolom , which in hebrew signifieth a father of peace ▪ david promised to himselfe great felicitie in that childe . but he proved a father of warre and misery to his father . say not . this treatie will be an absolom , for feare it prove an absolom in a contrary sense as absolom himselfe did . it is very fatall , that in the midst of our treaties , there have alwayes been great plots to destroy us , as we see verified at this day . secondly , but that which i especially ayme at this day , is to perswade you that are here present , to be at peace and unitie amongst your selves , and to ioyne together against the common enemy . but most of all you that are earles , lords , and gentlemen of ranke and qualitie . for the greater the persons are that disagree , the more is the hurt that is done by their disagreement . as in a house , if the master and mistresse agree the house will stand and subsist , though the inferiour servants fall out one with the other . so if the lords and commons unite together the citie and kingdome will stand , though there should be many divisions amongst the common people . and therefore it is your dutie above others ( right honourable ) to follow after those things that make for * peace , vnitie and concord , to be ambitious of peace as you are exhorted , 1 thess. 4. 11. to speake the truth in love . * eph. 4. 15. and to love in the truth . * 2 epist. of iohn vers 2. now that your hearts and affections may be fully wrought up , to make it your chiefe designe to practise this dutie . i shall use these ensuing motives and arguments . first , consider how pathetically and emphatically , the holy apostle perswades all gods people to the practise of this dutie . i will name but two texts . 1 cor. 1. 10. now i beseech you brethren , by the name of our lord iesus christ , that ye all speake the same thing , and that there be no divisions among you , but that ye be perfectly ioyned together in the same minde , and in the same iudgement , phil. 2. 1 , 2. if there be therefore any consolation in christ , if any comfort of love , if any fellowship of the spirit , if any bowels and mercies ; fulfill ye my ioy , that ye be like minded having the same love , being of one accord , of one minde , &c. secondly , consider what excellent arguments the apostle useth , ephes. 4. 3 , 4 , 5 , 6. endevouring to keepe the unitie of the spirit in the bond of peace . there is one body , and one spirit , even as you are called in one hope of your calling . one lord , one faith , one baptisme , one god , &c. these are omnipotent arguments . if one god , and one lord , and one body , &c. shall not his children be one ? and afterwards , vers. 11 , 12 , 13. the apostle tels us . that when christ ascended up to heaven , he gave some to be apostles , some prophets , some evangelists , some pastors , and teachers for the perfecting of the saints , &c. till we all come to the unitie of the faith , &c. christs intendment in appointing a ministery in his church was not onely to bring his people to veritie , but also to the unitie of the faith . this is the great worke of a minister , to bring his people to unitie as well as veritie . thirdly , consider what a horrible sinne it is to divide one from another , and to be at hatred and variance one with another . this is a worke of the flesh , gal. 5. 19 , 20 , 21. where it is observable that the apostle reckons up seven synonymicall expressions to set out the greatnesse of this sin . the works of the flesh are hatred , variance , emulation , wrath , strife , sedition , envyings ; of the which i told you before , as i have also told you in time past , that they which doe such things shall not inherit the kingdome of god . this sin alone unrepented on will shut a man out of heaven . therefore it is said , revel. 22. 15. without are dogs . this sinne alone makes thee unsit to come to the sacrament , mat. 5. 23. this sinne alone makes god abhorre our fasting-dayes , isa. 58. 4. behold , ye fast for strife and debate , &c. this sinne alone turnes our prayers into curses : for when thou prayest unto god , forgive us our trespasses , as we forgive them that trespas against us , if thou beest in malice and hatred with thy brother , thou prayest unto god not to forgive thee thy trespasses . notable is the speech of cyprian , peius est seindere ecclesiam quam sacrificare idolo , schisme in the church is a greater sinne then idolatry . austin saith , it is a greater sinne then heresie . and this ( saith he ) god himselfe declared when he punished corah and his company that were schismatiques with a greater punishment then ever he punished idolaters or heretiques : quis iam dubitaverit hoc esse scelaratius commissum , quod est gravius vindicatum . fourthly , consider the wofull mischiefes that are brought into church and state by these our divisions . if all the iesuites in the christian world ; if all the devils in hell should joyne together , to devise a way to undoe the parliament , and the good cause they manage , they could not invent a readier way then by dividing you one from another at this time . this makes you to fight against your selves , to murder your selves ; your cause , your religion , and to murder all that adhere unto you . hereby god is dishonoured , reformation hindered , religion discredited , the good cause disliked , the enemie strengthened ; you are weakened , your counsels disturbed , the warre prolonged , the power of godlinesse abated , &c. as hath beene formerly mentioned . hereby we are all tantum non , destroyed , and destroyed we must be if our breaches be not made up . for if we bite and devoure one another , we shall be consumed one of another , gal. 5. 15. famous is the story of menenius agrippa , who , when the people of rome had divided themselver from the senate of rome , came to the people and told them an apologue of the members of the body , how they did once conspire together against the belly , because that the belly did live idlely , & devoure all the meat that the hands did work forand feet walke for , &c. and therefore they agreed together to starve the belly . the hands refused to work for to feed it ; the mouth refused to take in meat ; the feet refused to goe to fetch it , &c. but within a very little while the members of the body saw their errour : for the feet began to grow feeble and unable to walke ; the hands grew weake ; the whole man sick : and then they understood that the belly was not idle ; but that it conveyed the nourishment it received to every part of the body : and hereupon they all agreed to joyne together to provide for the belly as well as for themselves . this fable reconciled the people , and senators of rome . this fable teacheth us , that divisions in the body naturall , and so also in the body politique , are ruinating and destructive to the body . and the truth is , all the hope the enemy hath , is in our divisions ; herein he boasteth , and glorieth : there is nothing that strengthens their designes at oxford so much : nothing that puts so much courage and resolution into the hearts of our adversaries , as the divisions that are amongst us . this is the argument melancton used to perswade the divided protestants of his time to peace and unity ; and he illustrateth his argument by a notable parable of the wolves and the dogs , who were marching on-ward to fight one against another . the wolves that they might know the strength of their adversary , sent forth a master-wolfe as their scout : the scout returnes and tels the wolves , that indeed the dogs were more in number , but yet they should not be discouraged : for he observed , that the dogs were not one like another ; a few mastives there were ; but the most were little curres , which could onely barke but not bite , and would be afraid of their owne shadow . another thing also he observed which should much encourage them , and that was , that the dogs did march as if they were more offended with themselves then with us ; not keeping their ranks , but grinning , and snarling , and biting ; and sometimes tearing each other , as if they would save us a labour . and therefore let us march on resolutely , for our enemies , are their owne enemies ; enemies to themselves , and their owne peace ; they bite and devoure each other , and therefore we shall certainly devoure them . i need not make any application of this parable . there is nothing that more heartens our enemies , and disheartens our friends , then our divisions . fourthly , consider the great happinesse that would accrue to church and state , if we were united together against the common enemy . if all the saints upon earth , and angels in heaven should study to find out a way to save england from ruine , they could not find out a readier way , then by uniting us together at this time . england is an iland divided from all the world ; and if it were not divided within it selfe , it need not feare all the world . if london were as a city at unity within it selfe , what could destroy it ? did we all doe as the israelites did , iudg. 20. 8. they all arose as one man , &c. and as ioshua 23. 12. how quickly would these wars ( through gods blessing ) be at end ? what an honour would it be to the cause we fight for ; to the reformation we pray for ; the religion we professe ; to the god we worship , if we did with united strength pursue these things ? how should we support and helpe one another , et portantem portare , as the cranes do one another in the manner of their flying . i must not here forget to mind you of that known story of scillurus that had eighty sonnes , and when he was dying he called them all before him , and presented them with a bundle of speares , and bad them try whether they could breake that bundle ; and they tryed , but were not able . afterwards he puls out one javelin out of the bundle , and bade them break that , which they easily did ; and so a second , and a third , till they had broken them all . intimating thereby , that unity in families , and compacted strength is the bond that preserves the whole family ; and wheresoever this bond is broken , that family is quickly destroyed . the like story doth salust tell of one micypsa , who when he was dying called his sonnes and caused them to write this sentence in golden letters : concordiâ parvae res crescunt , discordiâ magnae dilabuntur . oh that god would give us hearts to spiritualize these stories ! fifthly , consider the late nationall covenant you have taken , wherein you have lifted up your hands to the most high god , and have sworne to study unitie and conformitie in religion , &c. and to endeavour according to your places , to extirpate heresie , schisme , &c. i know not how it is come to passe , but sure i am , our divisions are greater since we took this covenant then before . and sure i am that god will call us to a strict account for this grievous sinne of periurie . and if ever england perish by these wars , this shall be englands motto : here lyeth a nation that hath broken covenant with god , and therefore is this great evill come upon her . and therefore i beseech you , be mindfull of your covenant ; and remember it is not the taking , but the keeping of covenant that prevailes with god . and if he shall be shut out of heaven that keepes not his promise , though it be to his hurt , psal. 15. 4. much more he that keeps not his oath , when it is for his good . sixthly , consider further , that our enemies that fight against us agree together : herod and pilate are made friends , and joyne together to put christ to death . the herodians and the pharisees , though dissenting one from another , yet both agree against christ , mar. 1● . 13. the herodians were courtiers , and sought to bring in tyranny ; the pharisees were popular , and sought to maintaine the peoples liberties ; and yet they both joyned together against christ . thus did the sadduces and pharisees also . thus act. 17. 18. the epicures and stoiques combine against paul . shall iudas conspire with the pharisees and sadduces to betray christ ? and shall the disciples of christ fall out amongst themselves ? shall paul and barnabas divide one from another ? god forbid ! shall the irish rebels , the oxford lords and gentlemen , the english papists , and the english bishops : the protestants at large , and the seduced people all agree together like sampsons foxes with firebrands at their tayles to burne three kingdomes ? and shall not we agree together to save three kingdomes ? shall the lions , bearee , tygers , wolves , lambes and sheepe , &c. that were shut up in the arke , agree together while they were in the arke ? ( for we doe not read that they did hurt one another all that while ) and shall not we that are shut up here , in london , and in a few associated counties as in an arke , agree together to preserve one another from a deluge of waters that is drowning us all ▪ though we should differ in some few things one from another ? seventhly , consider the very heathen how carefull they have beene to maintaine unitie and peace in times of publique danger , and how carefull to lay aside all private quarrels . i will instance onely in the speech of aristides to themistocles . plutarch tels us , that from their very childhoods they did differ one from the other , and never could agree . but when a common enemy came against them , then aristides comes by night to themistocles , and saith unto him , si sapimus , omissâ tandem iuvenili et inani concertatione , contentionem de servanda graecia salubrem honestamque suscipiamus , &c. let us leave all youthly contentions , and tend unanimously to the publique good . oh that this counsell might take impression in the hearts of us christians at this time . eightly , consider further , how that the very devils in hell agree to promote their owne kingdome . if satan be divided against satan ( saith christ ) how can his kngdome stand ? and my text is brought ( as i have said ) as an argument to prove that christ did not cast out devils by the power of belzebub , because then satan should be divided against himselfe , and seeke his own ruine which he will never doe . there is peace amongst the devils in hell . and certainly there cannot be better musicke to the divels in hell , then to see the parliament divided against it selfe ; and the city divided against it selfe ; and the godly ministers divided against themselves at such a time as this is . ninthly , and especially , 〈◊〉 lord iesus christ who is the great peacemaker , who came into the world when all the world was at peace ; at whose birth the angels sang , glory to god on high , and in earth peace : who when he was dying left a legasie of peace to his people , and gave his disciples a new commandement , to love one another : ( which was therefore called a new commandement , because it was inforced with a new example ; even the example of christs love to us ) who when he made that admirable prayer , iohn 17. the chiefe part of it was , that god would make his children one , as he and the father were one . and he gives the reason of it , vers. 21. that the world may beleeve that then hast sent me . the world will not beleeve in christ when they see christians disagree . nothing hinders men from beleeving in christ more then the differences and divisions of those that doe beleeve in christ . it is an excellent observation of athanasius : that the very manner of christs death doth preach the doctrine of vnitie and love to christians . for christ was not sawen asunder as the prophet isaiah was . he was not beheaded as iohn baptist was . there was not a bone of his broken , nor any whit of his garment rent or torne . and all this to teach christians ( saith he ) to be at unitie within themselves . was not a bone of christ broken upon the crosse , and shall all his members breake in pieces now he is in heaven ? was his garment kept whole , and shall his body be rent and torne in pieces ? this is pauls argument to perswade the divided corinthians to peace and vnitie , 1 cor. 1. 13. is christ divided ? and why are christians divided if christ were not divided ? why doth one say , i am of paul ; another , i am of apollo ; another , i am of cephas , &c. and therefore if you be christians live in love and unitie , as the disciples of iesus christ , that so the world may beleeve in christ . oh that these motives might take deepe rooting in your affections : and that every one in his place would labour after peace and vnitie . that you that are magistrates and iustices , would bind your selves to the peace ! it is no discredit in this sense to be bound to the peace . you are called iustices of the peace , not because you should hold your peace when god would have you to speake ; but because it is your dutie to make peace , and to keep peace . let all godly ministers preach up the duty of brotherly love , which is quite forgotten amongst most christians . it is a dutie quite dead and buried ; let us labour that it may have a speedy resurrection . the apostle saith , 1 thes. 4. 9. as touching brotherly love ye need not that i write unto you &c. but we ministers , now a dayes , need to write and preach of no duty more then this . and then let all ministers and people , pray for the peace of ierusalem , and give the lord no rest untill he make england and ireland , a praise in the earth . let us pray for peace , and fight for peace , and contribute our money willingly for a peace . for indeed , all our fighting , and all our vast expences , are but as wayes and meanes to a safe and well grounded peace . let us fight for peace , with peace one towards another . and let us not complaine and murmur at the greatnesse of our contributions ; but remember the story of the old covetous miser that hung himselfe to save charges ; and his man comming in unawares and seeing his master a hanging , cut the rope in pieces and thereby saved his masters life . the master being recovered , instead of thanking his man , fell a chiding of him because he cut the rope in pieces , and so did put him to the charges of a new rope : whereas he should rather have untied it , then cut it . this man , you will say , did little deserve to have his life saved . iust such is our condition . our cruell enemies are ready to devoure and destroy us . all that the parliament doth , is to cut the rope in pieces with which they would hang us . and if we be put to more then ordinary charge , let us not grumble at those expences which are the preservation of our lives . that man is unworthy to live , that murmurs to lay out a little money to save his life . but here i must put in three caveats , & beseech you in the first place , to remember that when i speake so much for unity , i would also have you to remember that vnum & verum convertuntur . that unity without veriy , is not a true peace , but a conspiracy . omnis concordia in veritate . vnity ioyned with falshood is execrable adulterie , saith cyprian . when unitie and falshood are married together , it is no lawfull marriage , but execrable adultery . if i cannot have peace with men , but i must lose my peace with god ; farewell peace with men that i may keep my peace with god . one great reason why we have so little peace upon earth , is because we seek after it more then after the glory of god in heaven . you will must remember in the second place , that this vnity that we must labour after , must be in a scripture way . the primitive church for vnity sake , and to prevent schismes , set up one presbyter as a bishop to rule over the rest with maiority of power in iurisdiction and ordination . but this at best was but a humane invention , and it proved an increaser of schisme and division . the papists set up the pope to preserve unitie : but he is the greatest apple of strife the christian world hath . it will be our care to studie to promote a unitie in such a way which the scriptures hold forth , and this will prosper . you must also remember in the third place , that our unitie , peace , and love , as it must be in the truth , so it must be in truth . it must be cordiall and reall . oh , that i could once see all gods people of one lip , as it was before the confusion of tongues , gen. 11. 1. that this might be the motto of gods people in england : cor unum , via una , one heart , and one way . that they that shall sing one and the same song in heaven , may agree in the same way of worship here upon earth . excellent was that speech of grynaeus , when he was dying : i am now going ( said he ) to a place ( meaning heaven ) ubi lutherus calvino bene convenit : where luther and calvin agree well together . shall we agree well in heaven , and shall we not agree together upon earth ? god forbid . let us alwaies remember that speech of ioseph his brethren when they were going home to their father , gen 45. 29. see that you fall not out by the way . we are all pilgrims , travelling towards our heavenly canaan , to one and the same god and father . oh let us not fall out by the way . and let the two arguments that abraham used to lot , gen. 13. 7 , 8. mightily prevaile with us , to make us more ambitious of unitie , peace , and concord , then ever yet we have beene . let there be no strife betweene me and thee , &c. for we are brethren , and the canaanite is in the land . these are two golden allurements : the lord make them effectuall ! i had almost forgotten davids arguments in the 133. psalme . behold , how good and how pleasant it is , for brethren to live together in unitie . the word behold , is prefixt that so the commendation might take the deeper impression . many things are good which are not pleasant , and many things pleasant , which are not good ; but it is both good and pleasant for brethren to dwell together in unitie . it is like aarons precious oyntment that went downe to the skirts of his garments , &c. it is a communicative mercy that perfumeth whole kingdomes with blessings . it is like the dew of hermon , &c. it makes barren lands fruitfull . it is like the dew upon the mountaines of sion , where the lord commanded the blessing , even life for evermore . but you will say , here are motives and arguments sufficient to perswade any man to the practise of this blessed grace . let us heare some helps and meanes to procure this great mercy , that so our divisions may be healed ; and peace , unitie , and concord may dwell in our land . this is a worke worthy of a god , and none but a god can doe it . it is with us in england , as it was with the women that went early in the morning to the sepulchre , and there they found a great stone , and they said , who shall roll away this stone ? for it is very great . mar. 16. 3 , 4. and behold , there was a great earthquake , for the angel of the lord descended from heaven , and came and rolled backe the stone from the doore , and sate upon it . this is our condition . there is a great mountaine of division that obstructs the happinesse of england , and that hinders the lord christ and his kingdome from rising out of the grave of superstition . but who now shall roll away this great stone from the doore of the sepulchre ? i feare it will cost an earth-quake before it be removed . oh that we had faith to remove mountaines ! oh that god would send his angel to roll away this stone ! that god would make the assembly of ministers his angels to take away this great mountaine , that so there may be a resurrection of jesus christ , and his pure worship in all its glory and beautie even in our dayes ! the story of iehosaphat , 2 chron. 10. 12. will very well suit with our times : we are in a very great straight as he was ; and what he did , and said , will very well be fit us . let us goe to god by prayer , and say . oh our god , we have no might against this great company that cometh against us . we have no strength to heale our divisions in the church , and in the state , they are so great and so many . we know not what to doe , but our eyes are upon thee . thou that didst find out a way hid from ages and generations , col. 1. 26. a way hid from angels and archangels , hid within thy selfe , ephes. 3. 9. to save poore undone , fallen , lost man , even by iesus christ . oh find out a way to reconcile king and parliament , to unite thy divided people in the truth ! oh blessed iesu that camest into the world to breake downe the middle wall of partition betweene iew and gentile ; that art the great peace-maker , make up our wide and great breaches , and take away the many wals of partition that divide us one from another . after this manner we must wrastle with god in prayer , and watch thereunto with all perseverance . but besides this generall helpe by prayer ; give me leave to name a few other which are more particular . first , let us labour to make our peace with god , and god will make us at peace one with another . tranquillus deus tranquillut omnia . if god be at peace with thee , he will make the very stones in the street to be at peace with thee ; he will make peace flow downe like a river , and like a mighty streame . when a mans wayes please god , he will even make his enemies to be at peace with him , prov. 16. 7. you shall finde in scripture , that when a church , state , or person divided it selfe from god by sinne , god suffered it as a punishment to be divided from it selfe by faction . assoone as ever solomon had forsaken god by idolatry , god presently divided his kingdome from him . and god threateneth ierem. 13. 13. that because his people had forsaken him , that therefore he would fill the inhabitants of ierusalem with drunkennesse , and he would dash them one against another , even the fathers and the sonnes together , he would not pity , &c. you shall find also that when a king and kingdome returned to god , then they had peace , and flourished in all outward happinesse , 2 chron ▪ 15 ▪ 3 ▪ 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 12 , 13 , 19. 2 chron. 17. 3 , 5 , 6. 10 ▪ and therefore if ever you would cure englands distractions to purpose ; strike at the root and cause of our divisions . let us labour to find out all those sinnes that separate between us and god ; and when you have found them out , you must not deale with them as the parliament doth with their prisoners which they take , using them more kindly and courteously then they were used before they were prisoners : nor as david would have his sonne absolom , concerning whom he gave a strict charge , that they should use him kindly for his sake : but you must doe as the oxford men doe with our prisoners , use them cruelly . doe as ioshua did with the five kings whom first he kept up close prisoners in a cave , and afterwards sent for them , and trod upon their necks , and hung them up before the lord . thus must we deale with our sinnes , and then we shall have peace . for as the lines in a circumference that are drawne to the center , the neerer they are to the center , the neerer they are one to another : so the neerer any men come to god in similitude and likenesse , the neerer they will be ioyned one to another in unitie and love . for if any may say he loveth god and hateth his brother , he is a lier . for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seene , how can he love god whom he hath not seene ? and this commandement have we from him , that he that loveth god , love his brother also , 1 ioh. 4. 20 , 21. secondly , take heed of the land-destroying opinion of those that plead for an illimited toleration of all religions , even of turkisme , iudaisme , &c. the lord keepe us from being poisoned with such an error ! this text riseth up against it . for it will divide a kingdome against it selfe . it will rend it into a thousand pieces . it it a doctrine directly contrary to your late oath and covenant . a doctrine that overthroweth all church-government , bringeth in confusion , and openeth a wide doore unto all irreligion and atheisms . for at the same doore tha all false religious come in , the true religion will quickly get out . and if it be as good for a man to live where nothing is lawfull , as where all things are lawfull : surely it is every way as uncomfortable to live where there are all religions , as where there is no religion at all . thirdly , to heale our divisions , we must labour to be cloathed with the garment of humility : for onely by pride ( saith the wiseman ) cometh contention , prov. 13. 10. now there is a double humilitie we must be cloathed withall ; humilitie of iudgement , and humilitie of heart . first , humilitie of iudgement , to thinke that others may know the truth as well as our selves ; to have a low esteeme of our owne understanding : for he that thinketh he knoweth any thing , he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know , 1 cor. 8. 2. and if any man teach otherwise , &c. saith the apostle , 1 tim. 6. 3. 9. he is proud knowing nothing , &c. and therefore let us not be wise in our owne eyes , nor leane to our owne understandings , prov. 3. 5. 4. secondly , humilitie of heart . an humble heart is a peaceable quiet heart . an humble heart will be sensible of the least sinne , much more of this great sinne to distract and destroy the peace of three kingdomes by unnecessary disputations . fourthly , labour for grace to contemne the world and all worldly things . for many times divisions arise out of base covetousnesse . it was the love of the world that divided demas from paul . and therefore it is said , 1 tim. 3. 3. that a minister must not be greedie of filthy lucre ; and as if that were not sufficient ; he addes nor covetous . and therefore if you would live in unitie and peace ; take heed and beware of covetousnesse . fifthly , pray for the spirit of meeknesse , patience , long-sufferance ; and for mortified affections . it is one of the ingredients required in a minister , that he should be one that is not soone angry , titus 1. 7. and one that is patient , no striker , no brawler , 1 tim. 3. 3 meeknesse , and patience , and mortification , are necessary ingredients into that medicine that must cure our divided kingdome . for an angry man stirreth up strife , and a furious man aboundeth in transgressions . prov. 29. 22. vnmortified affections are the cause of much disturbance in families and cities . and therefore christ saith , mar. 9. 50. have salt in your selves , and have peace one with another . this salt is the salt of mortification . we must labour to have our anger mortified ; our love of the world mortified ; our pride mortified ; and this will be a notable meanes to make us at peace one with another . as in the old law , every sacrifice was to be seasoned with salt : so let every man pray for this salt within himselfe to season his unmortified affections , and this will keepe him from putrifying in malice , envie , hatred , &c. sixthly , let all thy private aimes be swallowed up in the publique good . let the cause of iesus christ and his church be dearer to thee then thine owne life ; and this frame of spirit will exceedingly incline thee to all lawfull waies of peace and unitie . remember old ely , and how his heart trembled for the arke of god , 1 sam. 4. 13. 18. he trembled not for the thought of his children , but for the arke ; and assoone as ever mention was made of the taking of the arke , he fell downe and brake his necke : he was not troubled at the mention of the death of his two sonnes , &c. the like we read of his daughter in law , 1 sam. 4. 19 , 10 , 21 , 22. the like of nehemiah who was in great prosperitie himselfe , and yet how was he distressed in spirit for the miseries of ierusalem , nehem. 1. 4. the like we read of daniel , &c. seventhly , we must nip divisions in the bud , and quench the fire of contention at the beginning . that fire is easily quenched at first , which when it hath once taken possession is not to be quenched . the lord grant it be not laid to our charge , that we have suffered englands distractions to grow to such a height , and have not laboured in our severall places to compose and quiet them . eightly , let us yeeld one to another for peace sake . famous is the example of abraham , and worthy of all imitation , who yeelded his right up to lot , who was his younger and inferiour , for peace sake , gen. 13. 9. if thou wilt take the left hand , then i will goe to the right ; or if thou departest to the right hand , then i will goe to the left . ninthly , take heed of groundlesse iealousies and suspicious one of another . this is englands great sinne , and the chiefe cause of many distempers amongst us . we are like unto the children of israel , who when they came first out of egypt did almost deifie moses and aaron , but afterward , assoone as ever they began to meete with straights and difficulties , they began presently to murmur against them , and to call their fidelitie into question ; and to accuse them , as if they had a designe to bring them into the wildernesse to destroy them , exod. 16. 2 , 3. iust so doe we . when our armies for our sinnes are justly punished with ill successe , instead of reflecting upon our sinnes , to be troubled for them ; we fall a murmuring against our chiefe commanders , and question their fidelitie ; as if they had a designe to betray us into the enemies hand . i doe not speake this as if i would countenance any commander that is guilty ; or hinder just complaints of , and inquiries after those that are guilty ; or the use of just meanes to be rid of such . but all that i say is : that to fasten uniust suspitions , and groundlesse iealousies , upon those that venture their lives and estates in the common cause , is to be guilty of robbery and murder : it is to steale away and murder their good names , which is as precious as life it selfe : and it is a sinne that god will not pardon unlesse the party that is guilty endeavour to make restitution of his good name , which is a worke not easie to be done . for a mans good name is like a white piece of paper , which if once blotted it will be hard to wipe out that blot so as to leave no print of it behind . a mans good name is like a merchants estate which is long in getting , but is lost in a minute : and when it is lost in the bottome of the sea , how shall it ever be recovered againe ? so is a mans good name . but yet god will accept of our endevours to make restitution if faithfull and industrious . tenthly , to heale our divisions , we must make conscience to silence all our private opinions , and differences . hast thou faith ? ( saith the apostle , rom. 14. 22. ) have it to thy selfe before god . doe not disturbe the church of god at this time with thy private faith . indeed if it be a matter absolutely necessary to salvation , it is charitie to acquaint the church of god with it : but if we can be saved without it , this is not a fit time to broach any new opinion . for as elisha said to gehezi , 2 king. 5. 26. is this a time to receive money ? &c. so say i : is this a time to trouble england with new opinions ? aulus gellius tels us of certaine men that were in a ship ready to perish by reason of a great tempest , & one of them being a philosopher , fell a asking of many trifling questions : to whom they answered : {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; we are perishing , and dost thou trifle ? so say i ; is england a perishing , and is this a time to trouble it with unnecessary disputations ? i doubt not but there will a time come wherein every mans owne opinion shall be heard : but this is a time wherein we should all unite against the common enemy that seekes to devoure us all . for my part , i doe here openly professe , that if i had an opinion disagreeing from that way of reformation which is likely to be set up , and did see that the publishing of it would disturbe the peace of the kingdome , i would doe with it as the mariners did with ionah , i would cast it into the sea rather then increase the tempest by my opinion ; especially at such a time as this is . and i doubt not but every honest man will do the like . lastly , it is your dutie ( right honourable ) whom god hath betrusted with great power , to suppresse these divisions and differences in religion by your civill authoritie , as farre as you are able , lest you be accessary unto them . for god hath made you custodes utriusque tabulae , keepers not of the second table onely , ( as some fondly imagine ) but of the first table also , and not onely keepers , but vindices utriusque tabulae , punishers also of those that transgresse against either of them . for you are the ministers of god for good , and revengers to execute wrath upon him that doth evill . rom. 13. 4. and god hath deputed you for the punishment of evill doers , and for the praise of them that doe well . 1 pet. 2. 19. there are some that would blot out halfe your commission , and restraine this good and evill to civill good and to evils onely against men . but this is against that generall rule , non est distinguendum ubi lex non distinguit . where the law doth not distinguish , there must not we distinguish . tell me i beseech you , shall it be lawfull for magistrates to punish those that destroy mens bodies , but not those that destroy mens soules ? shall they be blamed for suffering men to draw people away from obedience to the laws of the land and to themselves , and not also for suffering men to draw away people from the truth of the gospel , and from the wayes of god , such as hymenaeus and philetus , who overthrow the faith of some , and their words eate as a canker ? shall christian magistrates take up the maxime of tiberius , deorum iniurias diis curae esse ? let god himselfe take care to vindicate himselfe from injuries committed against god ? as for me , i will ( just like gallio ) take care of none of these things . can christian eares endure such language ? doth not god prophecy , isaiah 49. 23. that in the new testament kings shall be our nursing fathers , and queenes our nursing mothers ? and how can a christian magistrate discharge that dutie aright if he hath not power from god to punish those that would poyson the soules of his weake children with heresies , and soul-destroying opinions ? i do not deny , but that there is great wisdome to be observed by magistrates in distinguishing between persons and persons , betweene errors and errors . some persons are pious and peaceable , others turbulent and furious . some errors are such , as subvert the faith , and destroy the power of godlinesse : others are of a lesser nature , which may consist with the power of godlinesse , and with an unitie in the faith . but that which i now speake against , is that unbounded libertie that is pleaded for in divers books lately written , which hold forth this prodigious tenent . that every man is to be suffered to have the libertie of his conscience , be it never so hereticall or idolatricall . this overthroweth all the power of the magistrate in punishing heresie , blasphemy , idolatry , and is contrary to many plaine texts of the * old testament , and to those of the new testament above mentioned . object . will you allow the magistrate to tyrannize over mens consciences . answ. by no meanes . but i beleeve it is the dutie of magistrates to keepe men from infecting their subjects with soule-destroying errors . if thou hast an hereticall opinion , have it to thy selfe , and the magistrate will not ; nay , cannot meddle with thy private conscience . but if thou labourest to infect others with thy grace-destroying opinions . i doubt not but the magistrate is bound to keepe thee from spreading thy infection to the undoing of the souls of his subjects . if he may lawfully shut up a man that hath the plague upon his body , that he may not infect others , why not a man that hath the plague of heresie upon his soule , that so he may not destroy the soules of thousands ? shall a master in a family have power to put away a servant that is tainted with a grosse opinion , and yet not be called a tyrant over that servants conscience ? and shall not the chiefe magistrate of a kingdome have power to put out of his kingdome ( at least to shut up from doing hurt ) one that is his subiect and polluted with blasphemous hereticall idololatricall opinions ? is not the kingdome the magistrates house and family ? but enough of this . these are the meanes that are to be used to cure the miserable distractions of england . the lord give us grace to put them in practise . there is one vse more yet behind , and that is an vse of consolation to the people of god . notwithstanding , all the divisions and distractions that are in the kingdome . this is an alablaster boxe full of precious oyntment , and it consists of foure particulars . 1. remember for your comfort that there was never any great reformation brought in by godinto a kingdome , but it hath alwaies been attended with divisions and differences in religion . in luthers reformation , how great were the differences between him and calvin ; insomuch , as the reformation was more hindred by their divisions , then by the power and policy of the enemy , and yet notwithstanding , god carryed on the worke of reformation maugre these divisions . in the primitive times , many and great were the divisions of the church and of the ministers thereof ; insomuch , as nazianzen saith , that in his time there were sixe hundred errors in the church ; and in constantines time , the differences between the bishops were so many , that they brought bundles of petitions one against another , which the emperour out of his wonderfull desire of peace would not so much as read , but burnt them all before their faces . how sad was the division between paul and barnabas , and yet god turned it to a good effect . for by that meanes the gospel was the more spread throughout the world ! and therefore let us not be over-discouraged . for these divisions are no new things , and therefore no strange things . 2. consider for your comfort , magna veritas et praevalebit . truth is a beame of god , the purchase of iesus christ , and it shall prevaile at last . though our divisions and distractions do much weaken us and prorogue our settlement , yet notwithstanding the cause we manage is gods cause , and it shall prevaile at last . as christ iesus rose from the grave in spight of the iewes that rolled a great stone before the doore of the sepulchre to hinder him . so the cause of christ , and the worship and government of christ shall rise and flourish : and there will come a time wherein the church of god shall be glorious here upon earth ; and the motto of it shall be cor unum , via una . one heart , one way . this will come to passe in spight of our divisions . for god hath promised it , ier. 32. 39. zeph 3. 9. the third comfort is : that antichrist shall downe though he be never so firmely united . the kingdome of the devil shall be destroyed though satan joyne with satan . and though satan will not cast out satan , but is strongly compacted , and as a citie at unitie within it selfe , yet god will cast out satan at last , and his kingdome shall perish . though turke and pope ; though french and spaniard ; though the irish rebels , and english papists and protestants at large should joyn hand in hand & conspire together to overthrow the little flock of iesus christ , yet notwithstanding they doe but kick against pricks . antichrist is fallen , and the poore flock of christ shall be as a burdensome stone unto all people ; all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces , though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it , zach. 12. 3. bellarmine makes unitie a signe of a true church . but then there should be a true church amongst the devils ; for where he dwels there is peace . and yet the papists cannot boast much of their unitie . for they have their different sects opposite one to another , and the iesuite to them all . vnitie without verity is a signe of the malignant church , but not of the church of christ . and unitie without veritie , shall not uphold a state . for though hand ioyne in hand the wicked shall not be unpunished , prov. 11. 21. lastly , remember in what state and condition the people of the iewes were in when christ came into the world . it was when the government was departed from iudah , and the kingdome given to a stranger ; when the sanedrim ( which was their parliament ) was destroyed ; and they themselves brought into perfect slavery . their condition was never so bad as at that time . and also they never had more sects and divisions then when christ was borne : there were in ierusalem the herodians , the scribes and pharisees . there were also the esseni , ( though the gospel makes no mention of them . ) in this sad juncture of time iesus christ was borne . oh what abundance of consolation may be suckt out of the breasts of this truth ! christ came into the world when his church was in the greatest extremitie . and are not we at this time in great extremity ? are we not brought very low by our sinnes , and by our divisions the fruit of our sinnes ? we have divided our selves from god by our sinnes , and god hath divided us one from another . let us beseech the lord iesus christ to come once more into the world by his spirit of power ! let us not despaire of his coming . for he is deus in monte . he is our peace now the assyrian is in the land , mic. 5. 5. and when he comes he will come as a conquerour to subdue his enemies under his feet . this day is the day which is commonly called the feast of christs nativitie , or christmas day : a day that hath been heretofore much abused to superstition and prophanenesse . it is not easie to reckon whether the superstition hath beene greater , or the prophanenesse . i have knowne some that have preferred christmas day before the lords day , and have cryed downe the lords day , and cried up christmas day . i have knowne those that would be sure to receive the sacrament upon christmas day , though they did not receive it all the yeare after . this and much more was the superstition of the day . and the prophanenesse was as great . old father latimer saith in one of his sermons , that the devil had more service in the twelve christmas holy dayes ( as they were called ) then god had all the yeare after . seneca saith of his time , olim december mensis erat , nunc annus est . there are some that though they did not play at cards all the yeare long , yet they must play at christmas ; thereby , it seemes , to keepe in memory the birth of christ . this and much more hath beene the profanation of this feast . and truely i thinke that the superstition and profanation of this day is so rooted into it , as that there is no way to reforme it but by dealing with it as hezekiah did with the brazen serpent . this yeare god by a providence hath buried this feast in a fast , and i hope it will never rise againe . you have set out ( right honourable ) a strict order for the keeping of it , and you are here this day to observe your owne order , and i hope you will doe it strictly . the necessitie of the times are great . never more need of prayer and fasting . the lord give us grace to be humbled in this day of humiliation for all our owne , and englands sinnes ; and especially for the old superstition , and profanation of this feast : alwaies remembring upon such dayes as these , isa. 22. 12 , 13 , 14. finis . a catalogue of the sermons preached and printed by order of both or either houses of parliament ▪ from ianuary 1643. to ianuary 1644. ianuary 31. 1643. master cawdrey . prov. 29. 8. master rutherford . dan. 6. 26. february 28 1643. mr. baylie . zach. 3. 1 , 2. mr. young . psal ▪ 31. 24 ▪ march 27. 1644. mr. gelespie . ezek. 43. 11. mr. bond . isaiah 45. 15. at the thanksgiving for the victory given to our forces under sir william waller , and sir william belfore , over sir ralph hoptons armie . aprill 9. 1644. mr. obediah sedgwick . psal. 3. 8. mr. case . daniel 11. 32. at the thanksgiving for the victory given to the forces under the command of the lord fairfax at selby in yorkeshire . aprill 23. 1644. mr. perne . exod 34. 6. not printed . mr. caryl . revel. 11. 16 , 17. aprill 24. 1644. doctor staunton . deut. 32. 31. mr. greene . nehemiah 1. 3 , 4. may 29. 1644. doctor smith . psal. 107. 6. mr. hall . matth. 11. 12. iune 26. 1644. mr. hardwick . psal. 126. 5 , 6. mr. hicks . isaiah 28. 5 , 6. at the thanksgiving for the victory over prince rupert , and the surrender of yorke . iuly 28. 1644. mr. vines . isaiah 63. 8. mr. hinderson . matth. 14. 21. mr. herle . not printed . iuly 31. 1644. mr. rathband not printed . mr. gower . dan. 12. 10. at a fast extraordinary . august 13. 1644. mr. hill . hag. 1. 7 , 8. mr. palmer . psal. 99. 8. august 28. 1644. mr. rayner . hag. 2. 6 , 7. mr. tysdale . psal. 122. 6. at a fast extraordinary for the dysaster in the west . septemb. 12. 1644. mr. newcomen . ioshua 7. 10 , 11. mr. coleman . psal. 65. 5. septemb. 25. 1644. mr. proffet . isaiah 9. 13. mr. seaman . 1 kings 3. 9. at a fast upon the uniting of the armies together . octob. 22. 1644. before the lords ▪ mr. temple . not yet printed . mr. chambers . mr. palmer . before the commons ▪ mr. calamy . acts 17. 30. mr. sedgwick . hebrews 11. 7. mr. vines . 2 sam. 15. 25 , 26 ▪ octob. 30. 1644. before the lords , doctor smith . doctor staunton . psal. 106. 30. before the commons ▪ mr. scudder . micah 6. 9. mr. woodcock . revel. 16. 15. novemb. 5. 1644. before the lords , mr. strickland . psal. 46. 1. mr. spurstow . ezra 9. 13 , 14. before the commons , mr. herle . 2 sam. 21. 16 , 17. mr. anthony burges . revel. 19. 2. novemb. 27. 1644. before the lords , mr. hill . 2 corinth . 17. 18. mr. wilkinson . 1 chron. 21. 24. before the commons , mr. pickering . zach. 3. 2. mr. gipps . psal. 46. 1. decemb. 25. 1644. before the lords , mr. calamy . mr. sedgwick . before the commons . mr. thorowgood . phil. 4. 5. mr. langley . psal. 74. 19 , 20. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a78979e-380 ruffini histor. . ecclesiast . lib. 2. cap. 9. ainsw. xi gen. 4● . 7. notes for div a78979e-1150 * lib. 5. de bello gallico . quod factionibus & studiis trahebantur . camden britann . jam inde interior britannia magis civilibus bellis , & partium studiis , quam romanorum viribus attrita , post varias clades ultro citroque illatas in romanorum potestatem paulatim concessit . dum enim singuli pugnabant universi sunt victi , sic in mutuam perniciem ruentes ut non nisi oppressi senserint omnibus perire , quod singuli amiserunt . claudius his discordiis fretus , &c. reason 1. why divisions are so fatall to kingdomes , because they take away all the preservatives of a kingdome . 1. they take away peace from a kingdome . * dr. stoughton sermons . 2. they take away unitie , love , and concord . calente adhuc sanguine christi . hieron. hegesip. . ex euseb. col. 3. 16. exod. 9. reason 2. why divisions are so destructive to kingdomes , because they open a doore to all misery . 1. they let in confusion . 2. they let in a foraine enemie . 3. they disenable us to resist a foraine enemy . 4. they set a kingdome against it selfe . they bring in civill warres . civill warres are the worst of warres , for foure reasons . odia proximorum sunt cerrima . vse 1. a catalogue of the divisions of england , and what cause to mourne for them . 1. our divisions from god . 2. for our divisions one from another . 1. for the divisions of the common-wealth . 2. divisions in the church . * eus . de vita constantini . dissensiones in ecclesia sunt horribiliores & perniciosiore ▪ quovis bello civill . the mischiefes that church divisions 〈◊〉 . epiphan. here 's . ●8 . pezel . mollisi● hystor . dr. stoughtons sermons . vse 2. vse of reprofe of the causers of our divisions . 1. such as cause divisions betweene king and people . 2. such as cause divisions at home . 1. such as are false-hearted . 2. such as are discontented . three sorts of discontented persons . 1. such as are discontented out of pride and covetousnesse . 2. such as are discontented out of a blind zeale . nice . lib. 8. cap. 46. lib. 12. cap. 8. such as are discontented by way of revenge . vse 3. exhortations to unitie and peace . and first with the kings majestie . a double peace . 1. a treacherous peace . 2. a holy and safe peace . 2. one with another . * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . motives and arguments to perswade us to study unitie and peace . liv. decad. 1. obiect . 1. means and helps for the procurement of unity and peace . answ . 1. helpe . bloody tenent . the good samaritan . john baptist . * 2 chron. 15. 13. 2 chro. 34. 32. ezra 10. 8. deut. 13. 5 , 6. 2 king. 23. 1. vse 4. englands antidote against the plague of civill warre presented in a sermon before the honourable house of commons on their late extraordinary solemn fast, october 22, 1644 / by edmund calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a31927 of text r5769 in the english short title catalog (wing c234). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a31927) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 101391) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 840:30) englands antidote against the plague of civill warre presented in a sermon before the honourable house of commons on their late extraordinary solemn fast, october 22, 1644 / by edmund calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [8], 44, [2] p. printed by a. miller for christopher meredith ..., london : 1652. reproduction of original in huntington library. eng fast-day sermons. great britain -history -civil war, 1642-1649 -sermons. a31927 r5769 (wing c234). civilwar no englands antidote, against the plague of civill vvarre. presented in a sermon before the honourable house of commons, on their late extraord calamy, edmund 1652 23885 29 35 0 0 0 0 27 c the rate of 27 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-01 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-02 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2004-02 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion die mercurii 22 octob. 1644. it is this day ordered by the commons assembled in parliament : that m. ashurst and m. gowrdon do from this house give thanks to m. calamy , for the great pains he took in the sermon he preached this day at the entreaty of the commons at s. margarets westminster : it being a day especially set apart for a publike humiliation , and to desire him to print his sermon ▪ and it is ordered that none shall presume to print his sermon without being authorised under the hand-writing of the said m. calamy . h. elsyng cler. parl. d. com. i authorize christopher meredith , or his assigns to print my sermon above-named , and no man else . edmund calamy . englands antidote , against the plague of civill warre . presented in a sermon before the honourable house of commons , on their late extraordinary solemn fast , october 22. 1644. by edmund calamy , b. d. and preacher at aldermanbury , london . luke 13. 4 , 5. — or those eighteen upon whom the tower of siloe fell , and slew them , think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in ierusalem ? i tell you nay : but except ye repent , ye shall all likewise perish . london , printed by a. miller for christopher meredith , at the sign of the crane in pauls church-yard , mdclii . to the honourable the house of commons , now assembled in parliament . the subject matter presented unto you in this sermon , is repentance : a theam that concerns you not only as you are parliament men , betrusted by the people with the happinesse of the kingdom , but as you are gentlemen betrusted by god with immortall souls . it is a question with some ( though with me it is no question ) whether a wicked man can be a good parliament man ? but i suppose it is a question with none , that if the man go to hell for want of repentance , what shall then become of the parliament man ? for this grace is absolutely necessary for your own salvations ; so necessary as that there is not the least crevise for an impenitent sinner to get into heaven at . and it is necessary also for the preservation of the kingdom . for it is the only way , and an infallible way to deliver us from this man-devouring , and land-devouring iudgement that is now upon us , as is proved at large in the ensuing discourse . and therefore i could heartily wish that one of the sermons preached before you every fasting day , might be a sermon of repentance , and that all our pulpits might sound forth nothing but the the doctrine of repentance ; and that this might be the language of every godly minister , repent o england , repent , repent . it was once said , and that very truly , inter altercandum veritas amittitur . i am sure it may be more truly said of our times , inter disputandum paenitentia amittitur , the people of the city of london have almost disputed away their repentance . i have read of one that by long studying of school-divinity was so besotted that he quite forgot the lords prayer . and i fear that in our dayes through the heat of disputation about matters of discipline , faith , and repentance is much forgotten both by minister and people . and therefore as it was the excellency of our first reformers ( for which they are eternally to be praised ) to bring the divinitie of former times ( which was much perplexed , and almost lost amongst the multitude of unnecessary school-utrum's ) unto a plain positive scripture-divinitie : so it will be the excellency of all the godly ministers in england ( for which posterity will blesse them ) to bring all the multitude of the unnecessary questions that are amongst us , to this unum necessarium of repentance . but then our care must be , that this repentance be a right repentance . for most people deceive themselves into hell by a false repentance . the nature of man is wonderfull prone , first , to think it an easie thing to repent , secondly , to think that repentance is an ordinary common theam , and that it is an easie matter to make a sermon of repentance . thirdly , to think that it is in his power to repent when he will . fourthly , to think that god will be contented with any slight repentance . fifthly , to think that little sinnes need no great repentance . sixthly , to think that he repenteth when he doth not . seventhly , to deferre his repentance till he come to be old or sick , eighthly , to trust to his repentance , and to think to make god amends by his repentance . all these are common and dangerous errours . the lord deliver you from them . remedies against most of them are discovered in the following sermon , which though i suppose your multitude of businesses will not suffer you to reade over ; yet your multitude of businesses must not hinder you from the present practice of it . for he that excuseth himself from present repentance by the multitude of his imployments , what doth he else , but excuse himself out of heaven , as they did , luke 14. 18 , 19. that brought apostles why they could not goe to heaven ? your affairs are many and weighty , yet i beseech you alwaies remember christs speech , luke 10. 41 , 42. martha , martha , thou art carefull about many things , but one thing is needfull . the lord make you students of such things , which , when well studied , will study you into christ and into heaven . most men study things that study them into envy , and into contentions , and into things to be repented of . the lord make you to study that repentance which is a repentance never to be repented of . so prayeth , your much obliged spirituall servant , edmund calamy . a sermon preached before the honourable house of commons , at their extraordinary day of humiliation , october 22 , 1644. acts 17. vers 30. latter part . — but now commandeth all men every where to repent . the former part runs thus . and the times of this ignorance god winked at , but , &c. among all the texts that are in the bible , there is no one text more suteable to these times , then this that i have read unto you ; but now god commands all men every where to repent : god hath been preaching repentance to england by the ministry of his word almost these hundred years ; but england hath turned a deaf ear to gods preaching , and god is now preaching repentance , not only by his word , but by the sword ; ( for the sword hath a voice as well as the word , mic. 6. 9. and the sword speaks louder then the word ) god is riding throughout all england , upon his red and bloudy horse , thundring out repentance to every city , countrey , town and family ; and that which was the last speech of master bradford , when he was burning at the stake , is now become the voice not only of the word of god , but of the sword of god . repent oh england , repent , repent ; the text is very sutable , the lord make it as profitable as it is sutable . if any shall object and say ; that the doctrine of repentance is a doctrine that we all know already . i answer , if you know this doctrine so well , the more shame you practise it so little . you know the story of chrysostom , that preached many sermons to the people of antioch against swearing , and the people began to be weary of that subject ; and asked him , when he would leave preaching against swearing : he answered , when you leave swearing , i 'le leave preaching against swearing . would you have the plaister taken away before the wound be cured ? i could heartily wish , that all the godly ministers of england would combine together , never to leave preaching the sword-removing , and landpreserving doctrine of repentance , till they had perswaded all the people of england to repent , and till god should be pleased upon our repentance , for christs sake , to turn away the judgements that are now upon us . the words themselves are part of that famous sermon that saint paul did preach to the athenians , to drive them from their old idolatries and superstitions , to which they and their forefathers had been so much addicted . in the whole verse we have three parts : first , a description of the times in which their forefathers lived , they were times of ignorance ; but the times of this ignorance : no wonder they were idolaters , for they were ignorant : they sate in darknesse and saw no light , and no wonder for a man in the dark to erre and go astray . a description of gods carriage and behaviour towards those times ; and the times of this ignorance god winked at . by which words you must not understand , as if god did allow of their idolatries , but there is a twofold meaning of those words . 1 god winked , that is , god did not so severely punish your forefathers that lived in time of ignorance for their idolatries , as he will do you that live in time of knowledge if you continue in these courses . for ignorance doth excusare à tanto ▪ though not à toto ; your forefathers knew no better , and therefore were no better . but now god will wink no longer . for we live in times of knowledge . and he that knoweth his masters will and doth it not , shall be beaten with many stripes . 2. god winked at your fore-fathers , that is , god did not care so much for them , as he doth for you , god despised them ; the word in the greek is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} the same word that is used act. 6. 1. and it signifies to neglect and despise . god did neglect your forefathers and suffered them to go to hell in their idolatries , but now god takes more care of you , for god hath sent me to preach jesus christ for your salvation ; and therefore it is no excuse for you to pleade the example of your forefathers , for the times of ignorance god winked at , but now god commands you to repent of the sins your forefathers lived in . here we have a description of the duty that god required of them , and that god requires of us , and that god requires of all men every where . but now god commands all men every where to repent : but now , not now exclusively , but now eminently , now rather then at another time , now more then at another time ; but now . god doth not only entreat , but he doth command ; and he doth not only command some men , but he commands all men ; and not only in some places , but every where : but now god commands all men every where to repent . in the words thus explained , there are five observations ; i shall wave the first four , and pitch only upon the last ; the first is , that to live impenitently in times of knowledge , is a sin that god will not wink at ; to be a drunkard , or an adulterer , or an idolater , &c. under the times of the gospel , is a sinne that god will never bear ; and the times of ignorance god winked at , but now , &c. that it is a great blessing to a nation , for god to send the gospel to a nation . and the times of ignorance god neglected and despised , but now god hath sent the gospel to you , god takes more care of your salvation . that long prescription of time for idolatry and superstition , is no good argument to maintain idolatry and superstition . this was the argument that the athenians brought against pauls doctrine , ver. 18. this man seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods , he preacheth new doctrine that our forefathers never heard of , and therefore we will not hearken to his doctrine . this was the argument the jews brought against steven and his doctrine , acts 6. 14. we have heard him say , that this iesus shall alter the customs which moses delivered us . this is the great argument the papists use to maintain their masse-book , their adoration of images , and the rest of their superstitions . in king edward the sixths dayes , when the great rebellion was in the west , the only argument that was brought by the rebels to uphold their rebellion was , because that king edward did endeavour to bring in a new way of worshipping of god , which they and their forefathers did not know . and this is the great and only reason , that makes many poor and ignorant people to cry down the parliament ; and for this cause many thousands have taken up arms to fight themselves into popery and slavery : and all because they fear the parliament will take away their old episcopal government , their old cathedrall service , their organs , altars , crossings of their children in baptism , and other such like customes . for my part , i am not ignorant of what dangerous consequence it is , to alter and change the customs of a kingdom , and i know the parliament is so wise , as that they will not alter , and the assembly of ministers so judicious , as that they will not advise them to alter any custome in the worship of god , but upon very grave and weighty considerations . but howsoever , this is no good argument : because i have been accustomed to come to westminster to hear the organs play , and to hear cathedrall service ; and because i my self was signed with the sign of the crosse when i was baptized ; and because i have lived all this while under episcopall government , therefore i will take up arms rather then the parliament shall make me to worship god in any other way then i have been accustomed . the text confutes this argument , and the times of this ignorance god winked at , but now commands all men every where to repent . former times were times of ignorance , and times wherein mens consciences were oppressed , and mouths stopped from speaking . but now the times are times of reformation ; now god hath given greater liberty , and hath sent a greater light into the kingdom . and now god commands all men every where to repent . that the commandements of gods ministers , they are gods commandements ; god commands all men , saith the text ; that is , god by me commands ; my commandement is gods commandement . these four doctrines i shall not any further meddle withall , but the doctrine that through the help of almighty god i shall desire to insist upon , is this : that repentance is the great commandement of god for these times : or thus ; that repentance is the duty of these daies ; repentance is the unum necessarium for england : repentance is the primum & maximum mandatum for england : but now god commands all men every where to repent . and there are two reasons , why that god commands england to repent now , rather then ever before . the first reason is common to england with the athenians . the second reason is proper to england : the first reason is pauls reason : the second reason is englands reason . the first reason why england should now repent , and why this duty is now so necessary , is because that now are the times of the gospel ; and not only so , but times wherein the gospel is preached with more purity and power then ever ; and therefore god commands us all to repent now more then ever . and there are divers reasons why that they that liue under the gospel should repent more then other people ▪ and rather then other people : 1. because repentance is one of the first lessons that the gospel teacheth , and therefore iohn baptist that was a harbinger to the gospel , came preaching the doctrine of repentance , and saying , repent , for the kingdom of god is at hand , mat. 3. 2. and the first sermon that christ preached was a sermon of repentance , mat. 4. 17. from that time iesus began to preach , and to say , repent , for the kingdom of heaven is at hand . and the first lesson that peter taught the iews , act. 2. 28. was to repent , and therefore it is called , heb. 6. 1. one of the principles of the doctrine of christ : and he must needs be an arrant dunce in the school of the gospel , that hath been twenty , thirty , or fourty years in the school of the gospel , and hath not yet learned the first lesson of the gospel . 2. because repentance is not only one of the first , but one of the chiefest lessons of the gospel . for , for this very end and purpose christ came down from heaven , and was made man , that he might preach repentance , as you may reade , luk. 5. 31. i came not to call the righteous , but sinners to repentance . 3. because repentance , as it is one of the first and chiefest lessons of the gospel , so it is one of the chiefest purchases and priviledges of the gospel . as christ came from heaven to preach repentance , so he shed his bloud to purchase repentance . and therefore he bids his disciples to go and preach repentance in his name , that is , as his purchase , luk. 24. 47. repentance is a back-door to escape gods wrath by , made up of christs bloud . a door that the angels had not , nor adam , till christ had purchased it for him . the covenant of works admits not of it . repentance is the proper priviledge of the covenant of grace . 4. because repentance is one of the chiefest gifts of the gospel . for as christ became man to preach repentance , and shed his bloud to purchase repentance ; so he is also risen from the dead , and exalted at gods right hand , to be a prince and saviour to give repentance to israel , and forgivenesse of sins , act. 5. 31. hence i gather , that to be under the gospel , and to live impenitently , is to sinne against the incarnation of christ , it is to sin against the bloud-shed of christ , it is to sin against the resurrection and exaltation of christ , it is to sin against the purchase and donation of christ , and against the chief priviledges of a christian . but then again , god requires that you that live under the gospel , that you especially should repent , more then other nations ; because the gospel doth hold forth two powerfull arguments and motives to perswade you to repent ; such as no other religion can hold forth : the first motive is , the consideration of gods infinite love to mankinde , in sending jesus christ to die a cursed death , to save all that beleeve and repent from hell and damnation : this is in a kinde an omnipotent argument to perswade a sinner to repentance : was iesus christ crucified for me , and shall i crucifie him by my bloudy oaths and blasphemies ? &c. was the lord iesus christ broken for me , and shall not my heart be broken for my sins against him ? this is instar mille argumentorum . there is a story , that when caesar was killed in the senate by brutus and cassius , anthony the senator took his bloudy robe , and carried it to the market-stead , and shewed it to the people ; behold ( saith he ) the bloudy robe of your quondam emperour : and thereby he did provoke them to the revenge of his death . and certainly the contemplation of the bloud-shed of jesus christ , is an unanswerable argument , to constrain us to repent of our sins against christ : he that would repent aright of sinne , let him go to mount calvary , and there he shall learn two lessons , that no other religion can teach him ; first : mount calvary will teach him , that god is so displeased with sin , that nothing but the death of a god could satisfie the wrath of god for sin . mount calvary will teach him that all that christ did there suffer must be suffered by him to all eternity , if he doth not repent . this is an omnipotent argument , if god makes it effectual . but besides this motive , the gospel holds forth as in a clear glasse a second motive ; which is , the consideration of the eternall iudgement , this is an argument that paul brings in the verse after my text , but now god commands all men to repent , because he hath appointed a day , wherein he will judge the world in righteousnesse , by that man whom he hath ordained , &c. there will come a terrible day of judgement : and in that day , if there be any one sin unrepented of , the devils shall assoon be saved as you , this is a mighty argument to perswade you to repentance ; the least sinne will damn you in that day without repentance ; the greatest sin cannot hurt you in that day if you repent . but besides these motives , the gospel doth also afford two great helps to work repentance , which no other religion can afford : and therefore we that live under the gospel , we must repent rather then other : the gospel affords the help of knowledge , and the help of grace : first , 1. the gospel affords the help of knowledge ; for god hath promised that in the times of the gospel all men shall know him from the least to the greatest ; we that live under the gospel know that drunkennesse , and adultery , and swearing , are the works of hell , and will bring to hell ; we know this , and therefore though god winked at the times of ignorance , god will not wink at us if we be guilty of these sins ; we that live under the gospel , know that the worship of god , the more spirituall it is , the more beautifull it is in the eyes of god who is a spirit : and that the outward pomp of gods service is an attire more fit for the whore of babylon then for the modest spouse of christ : and that musick in gods service , though it may please the ears of men , yet it is unpleasing in the ears of god : and that the best musick that will please god , is the sighs and groans of a bleeding heart for sinne . this we all know : and therefore god will not wink at our superstition : the times of ignorance god winked at , but now under the gospel he cals you all to repent : for we know that repentance is as necessary as heaven : and that it is one of the first principles of the doctrines of christ , heb. 6. 1 , 2. and that it is one of the vitall parts of a christian , without which a christian is but a carkasse of a christian : as the soul is necessary to the life of the body , so repentance is necessary to the life of a christian ; it is as the very soul of a christian ; a christian is no true christian without it , we know this : and therefore god will not wink at an impenitent sinner in these daies : we know that there are but two waies to heaven ; either by innoceney , or by penitency ; and he that will look to go to heaven by innocency , must finde a ladder by himself to climbe to heaven by : there is no way to heaven since the fall of adam but by repentance : and therefore tertullian saith , he was nulli rei natus nisi paenitentiae , born for nothing else but to repent : this we all know ; and therefore not to repent now , is a sinne that god will never suffer . besides this , 2. we have the help of gods spirit , for the ministery of the gospel , is the ministery of the spirit ; and god hath promised to pour out his spirit upon all flesh in the times of the gospel : and therefore god looks we should be more spirituall in his worship then the iews were : and not to repent under the gospel ; is not only to sinne against the minister , but it is to sinne against the spirit of god . now the summe of all the first argument is this : that he that lives under the gospel , and lives impenitently , sins against the birth , death , resurrection , and exaltation of iesus christ : sins against the greatest arguments , that god can use , to perswade him to repent ; sins against the greatest helps that god can afford him to repent ; he is a sinner left without all excuse , he is a monster in christianity ; and the hottest place in hell is too cold for him , all this is pauls reason , and it is common to us with the athenians . but now give me leave to set before you englands reason , why god would have us now especially to repent ; a reason proper to england , in regard of the sad condition that england is now in . and the reason is this : because these are times of warre and bloudshed , this is the day of iacobs trouble : and therefore god doth especially call for repentance in these daies : this appears , ioel 2. 12. therefore also now ( saith the lord ) turn unto me , speaking of times of famine , ( as some think ) or times of war , ( as others think ) therefore now turn unto me with all your hearts , with fasting , weeping , and with mourning . and there are four reasons that england doth present before you why that these miserable times should perswade you to repentance , more then ever before : the first is , because god doth now use such an argument to perswade us to repentance , the like to which he never yet did use , since england was england : gods argument is this ; repont , o ye lords and commons , or else i 'le give you over to beggery : repent , or else i will give you over to popery ; i 'le give you over to slavery ; repent , or else i 'le plunder your houses ; i 'le give up your wives and daughters to be defloured ; repent , or else i 'le burn your cities ; repent , or else i 'le remove the gospel from you . and not to repent when god uses such arguments , is a sin that god will hardly pardon ; as you shall reade in the 22. of isaiah , 12 , 13 , 14. in that day the lord called for weeping and mourning , ( speaking of a time of warre ) and baldnesse , and sackcloth , &c. but behold , joy and slaying of oxen , &c. and it was revealed in mine ears , &c. surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you , till ye die ; that is , it shall hardly ever be pardoned . and then secondly , because god hath now taken away all those hinderances and impediments that did heretofore lie in your way to hinder you from repentance ; and therefore now god especially cals you to repentance . there are five obstructions that hinder many from repentance ; the hope of long life ; inconsideration ; the patience and long suffering of god ; the abundance of flattering preachers ; and the abundance of wealth , prosperity , jollity and feasting , &c. now god hath taken away all these impediments ▪ the first impediment is the hope of long life . this is a mighty giant to hinder most people from speedy repentance ; every man thinks he may live one day longer , and therefore every man deferres his repentance one day longer . but now god hath removed this stumbling-block . there is no man can hope for long life now . these are killing dayes . these are dying dayes . these are dayes wherein every man should carry his life in his hand , and the grace of repentance in his heart : it is a sign of an atheist not to repent now . a second impediment is inconsideration . and therefore it is said expresly , ier. 8. 6. i hearkened and heard , but they spake not aright : no man repented him of his wickednesse , saying , what have i done ? for did a sinner seriously consider the unexpressible woe and misery he brings upon himself by not repenting ; what a sad condition it is to be eternal fuel to everlasting fire , and to be deprived of the beatificall vision . did he further consider the goodnesse and kindenesse of god towards him every day , notwithstanding his daily provocations , and what an unkindenesse it is to sin against such a god . did he consider the affronts and indignities that are offered to god by sinners . and also the ineffable love of jesus christ towards him , in dying a cursed death to free him from hell and damnation . and did he seriously and conscientiously dwell upon these thoughts , this would ( through gods assistance ) quickly winde up his soul to a right repentance . but these truths lye like a sealed letter , like a treasure lockt up , like fire under the embers ; without any use or benefit for want of consideration . and therefore david saith , psa. 119. so i considered my waies , and turned my feet unto thy testimonies . and peter , when he remembred christs speech , and had weighed it , as the word signifieth , he went out and wept bitterly , mark 11. 72. but our god hath taken away this impediment in a great measure . now people have time and leasure to search and try their waies . and this is the proper businesse of such times , ecclis . 7. 14. in the day of adversity consider : when the prodigall childe was in great distresse , then he came to himself and repented , luk. 15. 17. and solomon prayeth , that if the people of israel in their captivity should be think themselves and repent , &c. 1 king. 8. 47. these are times wherein god doth in an especiall manner call upon us to consider seriously of the anger of god against england , and what those sinnes are which have provoked him to anger , and to repent of those sinnes . and we have time and leasure thus to doe . the third impediment , is the patience and long-sufferance of god ▪ as the sunne hardens the clay , so doth the goodnesse of god harden a wicked man in his sins , eccl. 8. 11. but now god hath taken away this impediment . for now the patience of god is at an end . now the heavy wrath of god lies upon england : now the axe is laid at the very root of the tree ; god hath been holding up his axe many years against england ; but now god is hewing down the tree of england at the very roots : it is high time now we should begin to repent . a fourth impediment is the abundance of flattering preachers , ( to which you have been accustomed i fear in this place too much heretofore ) that have preached peace , peace , and have strengthned the hands of wicked men in their sinne , by promising them life , ezek. 13 12. but now ( by the help of you right honourable ; for which we blesse god ) god hath ( in a great part ) removed all these flattering teachers : and now the doctrine of repentance is preached with power , and in the demonstration of gods spirit : and therefore now especially god cals you to repent . a fifth impediment is the abundance of wealth , case , joviality , and prosperity . these are mighty goliahs to hinder men from repentance . prosperity is apt to make a man secure , proud , forgetfull of god , impatient of reproof , ier. 22. 21. i spake unto thee in thy prosperity , but thou saidst , i will not hear , &c. when iesurun waxed fat , he kicked , &c. deut. 32. 13. the oxen that go in the fattest pasture soonest come to the slaughter-house . but now god hath taken away your prosperity , your wealth , and your joviality . these are times of affliction ; these are fit times for humiliation , and repentance , and weeping , and mourning : and therefore now you have no excuse , if you do not repent . the third reason why england should repent now , more then at other times , is : because that repentance is the only way to remove the man-devouring and land-devouring judgement that is now upon us : i say , it is the only way , for so saith christ luk. 13. 5. except ye repent , ye shall all perish . and so saith christ also , revel. 2. 5 16 , 21 ▪ 22 ▪ so also saith moses , lev. 26. 14 , 17. deut. 28. 15 , 25. which texts have a morall equity , and doe set out the unchangeable will of god to the end of the world . so also saith david , psal. 7. 12. doth not , god many times remove the judgement of the sword , or of the plague , &c. from a nation when that nation doth not repent ? hath not god many times removed the plague from the city of london , when london hath not repented of her iniquities ? to this objection i answer three waies . first , it is one thing far god to remove his anger from a nation , another thing for god to remove his judgements from a nation . god never removes his anger till a nation repenteth ; but god doth sometimes remove a judgement , when the sins that caused it are not removed . but when god doth so , this very removing his judgements is a great judgement . for as it is a great punishment for god not to punish a sinner in this life , but to reserve him for hell ; as you may reade , hos. 4. 14. so it is also a great punishment for god sometimes to remove a punishment : as is plain , isa. 1. 5. why should ye be stricken any more ? ye will revolt more and more &c , that is , why should i be so mercifull unto you , as to punish you ? as it is a great mercy for god to punish a sinner in this life , according to that saying , misericordiae est aliquando subtrahere misericordiam ; so it is a great affliction for god to take away the sword , famine , or the plague , and reserve men for hell and damnation . as god sometimes gives mercies in anger ; ( as he did quails to the israelites ) nam multa concedit deus iratus , quae negat placatus : so he sometimes takes away judgements in anger . secondly , i answer , that god may upon the prayers of his people , and upon the outward humiliation of the wicked , remove a judgement : but then this is but a temporary removall . it is rather a proroguing then a removing of the judgement . for if the sins that brought the judgement be not truly repented on , ruine and destruction will come at last . ahab was at last destroyed , and so were the sodomites ; and so was the old world , though reprieved for a while . for except ye repent , ye shall all like wise perish , saith christ : they shall perish sooner or later . and so the iews did fourty years after , to whom christ then spake , a sinner of a hundred years old , shall be accursed , isa. 65. 20. and so also eccl. 8. 12 , 23. isa. 3. 11 ▪ thirdly , i answer , when a judgement is removed , and the sins that procured it not removed , it is rather changed then removed . if god love thee , he will change it into another corporall affliction . but if he intends to destroy thee , he will take it off thy body , and inflict it upon thy soul . he will give thee up to hardnesse of heart , as he did pharaoh . he will take the plague off thy body , and suffer the plague of sinne to encrease in thy soul : which is not to cure , but to change the judgement for thy everlasting ruine . this god doth as a just judge , but that which this third reason holds forth is this , that there is no way to obtain a totall and blessed removall of this land-devouring judgement but by repentance . the fourth reason why england should repent now more then at another time , and rather then at another time is , fourthly , because repentance is a most certain and an infallible way to remove the great plague of civill war that is now upon the kingdom . mistake me not , i do not say , god will remove the bloudy sword for our repentance , but this i say , god will not remove it without repentance : and upon our repentance he will remove it . though repentance be not causa propter quod , yet it is causa sine qua non . it is not the cause for which , but the cause without which god will not do it . and not only so , but repentance is also causa removens prohibens , repentance removes those sins that do hinder a nation from deliverance ; and in this sense is a cause of our deliverance . repentance is the qualification of that nation which god intends to preserve . will you secure us , that god will heal the nation if it repents ? if the repentance of england be nationall and sincere , there is no doubt of it . for we have three texts that speak thus much in plain terms , ier. 18. 7 , 8. 2 chron 7. 14. lev. 26. 40 , 41 , 42. &c. these texts are the charter of heaven , to prove that repentance , if it be sincere and nationall , is an infallible way to save a nation from ruine . what answer you to that text , 2 king ▪ 23. 26. where it is said , that notwithstanding the reformation in josiah's dayes , the lord turned not from the fiercenesse of his great wrath ▪ &c. because of all the provocations that manasseh had provoked him withall ▪ i briefly answer three things . first , that the repentance that was in iosiah's time , was the repentance of iosiah and some few other , but it was not nationall . and therefore you may observe , that it is punctually said , almost in every verse of the 2 kin. 23. that iosiah put down the idolatrous priests , and iosiah defiled tophet ▪ and read the law &c. there is no mention made of the voluntary concurrence of his princes and people , as is expresly mentioned in the reformation of hezekiah , 2 chron. 30. 14 , 15 , 16 , 23 , 27. &c. 2 chron. 31. 1. and it is worth the noting , that whereas iosiah began to reign when he was eight years old , 2 chron. 34. 1. it is said , that in the eight year of his reign , he began to seek after the god of david his father , 2 chron. 34. 3. but yet it was four years after , before he began to set upon the work of reformation , 2 chron 34. 3. and it was ten years after , before the book of the law was found , as appears , 2 chron. 34. 8. which was a sign that in his first eighteen years there was but little reformation , and therefore no doubt he met with great opposition from his people , which is an argument that the repentance was not nationall . secondly , but suppose it was nationall , yet it is certain it was not sincere , as appears plainly , ier. 3. 10. ( for ieremy prophecied in iosiah's daies ) and also 2 chron. 34. 32. where it is said ; that iosias caused the people to stand to the covenant they had made , which implyeth a kinde of forcing them to it . but thirdly , i answer ; that this repentance of what nature soever it was , it did turn away the judgements of god , for the present , from iudah , and it did keep them from ruine . as long as iosiah lived , and as long as the people continued in his reformation , so long they were preserved . but after iosiah's death wicked kings arose , and the people forsook the lord , and therefore god was forced to destroy them . for this see 2 chron. 34. 33. 2 chron. 36. 14 , 17. &c. so that it is plain notwithstanding this objection , that repentance is an infallible way to remove englands misery if it be nationall . &c. but suppose the nation should not repent , what good will my personall repentance do to the nation or to my self ? much good every manner of way ; for first , personall repentance , if right , will alwaies save thy soul from hell , ezek. 18. 30 , 31 , 32. secondly , it will for the most part save thy body also from ruine , even then when god is destroying the nation wherein thou art , ezek. 14. 14. especially if there be four qualifications found in thee : first , if thou beest one of those that mourn for the abominations that are committed in the land , ezek. 9. 4. secondly , if thou beest one of those that are vexed with the unrighteous conversation of those with whom thou livest , 2 pet. 2. 7 , 8 , thirdly , if thou beest one of those that keepest thy self pure from those sinnes for which god destroyeth the nation in which thou livest , gen. 6. 9. fourthly , if thou beest one of those that appear for god in sinfull times , then god will appear for thy deliverance in destroying times . jer. 39. 17 , 18. and for this very reason did god deliver ieremy himself , and gave him his life for a prey . but because gods people many times are ashamed of gods cause in evil dayes , and because they do not keep themselves unspotted from the sinnes of the times , and because they are not vexed and do not mourn for the abominations of the land wherein they live , hence it is that they are many times involved in the outward calamity that fals upon the nation . thirdly , personall repentance will sometime save a whole nation , as we may reade in the example of moses , who often stood in the gap to turn away the wrath of god from the people of israel . psal. 106. 23. and the prophet ieremy bids us run ye to and fro , &c. and if ye can finde a man , if there be any that executeth justice , that seeketh the truth ▪ and i will pardon it , jer. 5. 1. this also we reade , eze. 22. 30. ec 9. 14 , 15. if there had been ten wheatears in sodom , god would have spared all the chaff for their sakes , gen. 18. 32. fourthly , personall repentance , though it doth not alwaies preserve thee from a temporall judgement , yet it alwaies sanctifieth a temporall judgement , and turneth it into a blessing . it takes away the curse and the poison of a judgement . and though the affliction be not bonum in it self , yet it shall turn to thee in bonum . as the same flail falls upon the corn and chaff , but for different ends , the one to be burnt , the other to be laid up in the barn : so the same judgement that is an utter ruine to an impenitent sinner , shall be for the benefit and happines of a repenting sinner , as is excellently set out by the parable of the good and bad figs . ier. 24 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. in a word , there are four kinde of arks that god provides for his children in times of publike calamities ; and one of these four arks god will provide for thee if thou repentest . first , either he will provide an ark of prevention by death before the calamity comes , isa. 57. 1. thou shalt rest in the grave as in thy ark ; and shalt not see the evill that is coming upon the nation . and thy very dust will be precious in gods sight . for christ cannot be perfect without it , eph. 1. 23. or secondly , he will provide an ark of deliverance and preservation from the judgement when it comes , as he did to noah , lot , ieremy , and will do to thee also if thou hast the four qualifications forementioned . or thirdly , an ark of supportation under the judgement , and sanctification of the judgement . or fourthly , an ark of salvation by the judgement , it is but winking ( as the martyr said ) and thou shalt be in heaven presently . this is all i shall say for the explication . only i shall make bold to put you in minde of an ordinance of parliament made by you , feb. 15. 1642. in which pious and religious ordinance you call upon the whole kingdom to practise that which i preach before you this day . and you therein say , that repentance is the only remedy to turn away gods judgements . and that it is an excellent remedy , a successefull remedy , and an unfailing remedy . these are your own expressions . i shall therefore take the point for granted , and having spent so much time in the explication , i shall now proceed to the application . if repentance be the unum necessarium for england ; if it be the great commandement ; here is a black bill of indictment against all those that live impenitently even in these daies . that swear and will swear even in these daies . that are drunkards and adulterers , and will be so even in these daies . that love their old superstitious practices as much as ever . that willingly neglect holy duties , or perform them negligent , even in these bloudy daies . in a word , that live in any one known sin without repentance . i beseech all such ( as a minister of god ) to hearken to the evill of their condition . not to repent at any time is a damnable sinne . and indeed there is no sinne properly damns any man but the want of faith and repentance . the sinne against the holy ghost is therefore only unpardonable , because god hath threatned never to give repentance to the man that commits it , heb. 6. 4. it is not the falling into the water drowns any man , but the lying in the water : so it is not the falling into sin that damns any man , but the lying in sin without repentance . not to repent at any time , is so damnable a sin , that austin thinks that the sin against the holy ghost is nothing else but finalis impoenitentia . which though i conceive to be an errour , yet i know this to be a truth ; that no sin damns any man , to which finalis impoenitentia is not an adjunct . but not to repent in such times as these are , is a sin that hath a double aggravation upon it to make it exceeding sinfull . for first , these times are times of the gospel , times of knowledge , times of the spirit . and though god winks at the times of ignorance , yet he will not wink now . to sinne against the gospel is a greater sinne then to sinne against the law , heb. 10. 28 , 29. for he that sins against the gospel , sins against more mercy then he that sins against the law . and gospel sins will bring gospel curses , which are greater then legall curses . if any man sin against the law , he hath the gospel to fly unto ; but if he sin against the gospel , what shall he then fly unto ? the curse of the gospel is anathema maranatha . not to repent now , is to sin against the priviledge of the covrnant of grace ; against the purchase and donation of christ ; against the incarnation , death , resurrection , and exaltation of jesus christ ; as i shewed before . and secondly , these times are times of affliction ; and not only so , but times wherein god afflicteth us with the sorest of his judgements . and therefore not to repent in these daies , is not only a soul-destroying but a land-destroying sin . it is a sign thou lovest neither wife , non childe ; nor houses , nor lands ; nor soul nor body . for there is no way to preserve all these from ruine , but by repentance . not to repent in such times as these are , is to harden our hearts above the hardnesse of a iew . we have a proverb , as hard-hearted as a iew . a sinner impenitent under affliction , is more hard-hearted . for the jews sought god diligently , and early ; and with great weeping and mourning in their affliction , hos. 5. 15. psal. 78. 34. 1 sam. 7. 6. not to repent in such daies as these , is to be worser then the very heathen ; for not only the heathen ninevites but the heathen mariners in a storm , every man cried to their god . now mariners ordinarily are the worst of men . not to repent in these sad daies is to harden our hearts above the hardnesse of rocks ; as you shall see in ▪ the fifth of ieremy , and the third verse , i have corrected them , and they have not amended , &c. they have hardned their faces above the hardnesse of rocks ; as if he should have said , if their hearts were not harder then rocks , in times of affliction they would have repented . not to repent in these daies is the brand of a reprobate : 2 chron. 28. 22. it is most emphatically expressed . and in the time of this distresse he did trespasse yet more against the lord ▪ this is that king ahaez . it is a brand for ever upon him . and yet notwithstanding all this , where shall we finde a penitent sinner ? it is an easie matter to finde a sinner , but where shall we finde a penitent sinner even in these daies ? i beseech you tell me , what sin have you left since these wars began ? are you not as proud as ever ? are you not as covetous ? are you not as vain in your fashions ? as vild in your courses as ever ? what sinne have you left since you took your covenant , and swore to reform your lives ? this is a day wherein you must search your hearts ; i beseech you now in the presence of god return me an answer . may not god say as it is in the eighth of ieremiah and the sixth : i have hearkned and heard , &c. and no man repented him of his wickednesse , saying , what have i done ? no man repents . do you noble-men , you gentlemen , you common people , do you repent ? can the lord hear you repent ? he hearkens , he stands at your doors , to listen whether you repent . may not iesus christ upbraid the parliament of england ▪ and the people of england , as he doth the people of the iews , in the 11. of matthew and the 20. then iesus began to upbraid the cities , wherein he had wrought many miracles , because they repented not . i do not come here to upbraid any man , but my lord and master jesus christ doth upbraid you , whosoever you are , for whom god hath wrought such mighty wonders , as he saith done for this parliament , if you do not repent . the truth is , ( and oh that i could speak it and you hear it with grief of heart ! ) we are now come to that passe , that many men begin to scorn to hear a sermon of repentance . it is a sign , say some , the minister hath been idle that week , or that his stock is spent when he comes to preach of such a common theam as repentance : men begin now to have itching ears , to hearken after new and unknown truths : which for the most part doe prove to be old errours . and that which is yet more sad , many godly people in city and countrey that were wont in their private meetings to discourse about repentance , and how they should do to get a broken heart for sinne , and how they should do to get power over their evill lives : now all their discourse is of this opinion or that opinion , insomuch that unlesse god be mercifull to us , we are come to that passe , that we shall quickly dispute away all our repentance , and all our faith ; and we shall quickly dispute our selves out of our godlinesse , and out of our religion . and that which is yet more sad , are there not some that preach against humiliation ? and that tell us , that humiliation is but a back-door to heaven , and a back-door to christ ? are there not some that tell us , that repentance is a legall grace ? ( whereas i proved unto you even now , that it is the very proper grace of the gospel ; and the proper purchase of christs bloud , ) are there not some that teach , that god sees no sin in his elect children ; and that the very being of their sins is abolished out of gods sight ? and that god is never displeased with his people though they fall into adultery , or any other sin : no , not with a fatherly displeasure ? and that god never chastiseth his people for any sinne : no , not with a fatherly chastisement ? and that an unbeleeving and an impenitent sinner is as actually pardoned in gods sight of all his sinnes , as he is if he beleeves and repents ? and do not some of these now begin to grieve , that they have grieved so much for their sinnes ? and that which is saddest of all : are there not multitudes of people , even in the city of london ( a city so well instructed ) carried away with these grace-destroying and land-destroying opinions ? truly these are black signs , that god intendeth to bring the cloud of bloud london-ward . and that god intends that london should drink of the cup of bloud , because london is so ready to he infected with the cup of errors : and the cup of grace-destroying opinions . and for my part , i am more afraid of this cup , then of the other ; more afraid of these divisions , then of the power and strength of the enemy ; for he grows strong by these divisions . the lord give us hearts to lay these things to heart ! and the lord give us hearts to repent of these sins ! if this be the great commandement of god to england , that england should now repent , now rather then ever ; now more then ever : i beseech you let us all subscribe to the obedience of this text : and let this commandement be written this day in every one of our hearts ▪ oh that the word of god , and the sword of god , might preach this doctrine again and again ; and oh that the lord would make it to take deep impression in every one of our souls ! remember the motives : these are the times of the gospel , wherein god holds forth such arguments to move us to repentance , which no other religion can hold forth : arguments drawn from the incarnation of christ , from the resurrection of the dead , and the day of judgement . these are times of knowledge , these are times of the spirit ; these are times of bloud , now god thunders from heaven : now god presents you with a terrible argument to move you to repentance : now god hath taken away all your hindrances that did hinder you from repentance . and there is no way to remove the man-devouring sword , but by repentance ; and repentance is an infallible way . these are the motives ; and motives sufficient to make the very stones in the church to repent , if they had a capacity to do it : sufficient to make the devils in hell to repent , if they had had the happinesse to have been put into a possibility of salvation upon their repentance : but the devils are not so happy . for the truth is , repentance is not only a duty , but a happinesse . it is a happiness that there is such a gate as repentance to get into heaven by . christ jesus shed his bloud ( as i told you ) to make this door . the devils have no such door . and it is a happinesse also , that god will for christs sake accept of a sinner upon his repentance . it is vain in mans court for a murderer or a thief to pleade his repentance : but it is not so in gods court . blessed be god that after our shipwrack by adam , there is such a plank as repentance for a poor sinner to swim to heaven upon : and this is another mighty argument to perswade you to repent . he that refuseth to repent , refuseth to be happy . but now give me leave to draw down this doctrine to all sorts of people , according to the words of my text : but now god commandeth all men every where to repent . first , all men ; and then every where , all men . 1. repentance it is not only a garment for poor men to put on , but god cals the rich men of the world to repent ; god cals the great men of the world to repentance . say unto the king and queen , humble your selves : and oh that god would speak that word to the king and queen this day ; that the lord would command them to repent ; great manasseh he was a great sinner , and did greatly humble himself , 2 chron. 33. 12. and the great king of nineveh put on sackcloth , and humbled himself , he and his nobles : david king of israel made his very bed to swim with tears for his sins . great men sin against a god that is greater then they : and great men must appear before the great god , at the great day of judgement . there is a great day of judgement , a terrible day of judgement , wherein the great men of the world , and the kings of the earth , and the rich men , and the mighty men shall desire for the mountains to cover them , and to hide them from the wrath of the lamb , rev. 6. 15 , 16 , 17. great men doe more hurt by their sins then others , and therefore god will punish them more then others ; and therefore they are to repent more then others : ' potentes potentèr torquebuntur . the truth is , hell is provided on purpose for great men ; i mean , such as are greater in sinne then in greatnesse ; otherwise , greatnesse is an ornament when it is joyned with goodnesse ; but for those that are wickedly great , and greatly wicked great men , tophet is ordained of old ; yea for the king it is provided , isa. 30. 33. and therefore god cals great men , princes , noblemen , and gentlemen to repent . 2. repentance is not only an antidote for drunkards , whoremongers , and oppressors , &c. but god cals them that live civilly , and that are morally good , to repent . you must repent because you pretend to make conscience of doing that which is just to man ; but you make no conscience to doe that which is just to god , to give him his due in the duties of the first table . you must repent , because either you constantly neglect holy duties , or you are constantly negligent in holy duties , which both are great iniquities . you must repent , because at the best you are but negatively good . there is no positive goodnesse in you . though you abstain from evill , yet you do not do good ; though you do not swear great oaths , yet you do not speak holily . and every tree that brings not forth good fruit , shall be hewn down and cast into the fire . you must repent because you do all good duties , either from naturall principles , or which is worse , from sinfull principles , and for naturall ends ; or which is worse , for wicked ends . you must repent , because of your immoderate love of the world ; and because you would fain serve god and mammon ; and because you are afraid to be too good ; as you are afraid to be very bad so you are afraid to be very good ; you are afraid to venture too much for god , afraid to be too forward in his cause ; which are all horrible iniquities . you must repent of your inward iniquities , your inward adulteries , and your inward murders ; and you must repent of your little oaths , and your little sins ( as the world cals them , though properly there is no sin little , because no little god to sin against . ) and you must repent of your secret iniquities . for he that is but civilly and morally good , makes no conscience of inward sins , he is never troubled for his originall sin , and for the body of sin that is within him . he makes no conscience of little sins , and for the most part , he hath some back-door or other , to some secret iniquity which the world knoweth not of . you see then there is great reason that they that live civilly should repent also . 3. repentance is not only necessary for those that live civilly , but god cals his own children that live religiously , and he cals upon them in a more especiall manner to repent . and therefore christ sent iohn baptist a holy just man to go before him to preach repentance , to shew that holy and just men need repentance . when the people of god sinne , they sinne against more light then others , and against more means of grace then others ; against more mercies then others ; they sin against better principles then others : god takes it more unkindely at their hands ; and they dishonour god more by their sins then others : and therefore the people of god ought especially to repent . they have an ability within them to repent ; they have the grace of repentance , and therefore god especially commands them to repent : when they sinne , god will chastise them sooner then others , surer then others , more then others in this life ; and therefore they ought to repent sooner then others , and more then others , and surer then others : god will chastise them sooner then others , 1 pet. 4. 17. the time is come that judgement must begin at the house of god . and in the second of the romans and the ninth ; tribulation and anguish upon every soul that doth evill , but first on the iew , and then on the gentile ; god will punish the iew before the gentile , and the christian before the iew . god punisheth them sooner , and therefore they must repent sooner ; and god chastiseth them surer then others . amos 3. 2. you only have i known of all the families of the world , therefore i 'le be sure to punish you . and god chastiseth them more then others in this life , lam. 4 6. the punishment of the daughter of zion is above the punishments of sodom . dan. 9. 12. under the whole heaven hath not been done as upon ierusalem . and therefore god cals on his own people to be sure to repent more then others . and i doubt not but you that fear the lord , will hearken to my counsell this day . when gods people fall into any grosse sin , such as adultery and murder , though they do not loose jus haereditarium ad coelum , their right and title to heaven , ( for david was a childe of god , though a childe under wrath , in the midst of his sins ; he was not a childe of wrath , but a childe only under wrath ) yet they lose jus aptitudinale ad coeium , they lose their fitnesse to enter into that holy place of heaven . and this fitnesse is not recovered till they actually repent . and therefore repentance is very necessary for the children of god . and thus you see that god cals upon the worst of men , and upon the best of men ; upon the least of men , and the greatest of men to repent . god cals upon all men , saith the text . but most especially upon you that are parliament men , you are to repent as you stand in a double capacity . first , as gentlemen . secondly , as parliament men . first , as you are men . for as the prophet oded said to the princes of iudah , so do i say to you this day : are there not with you , even with you sins against the lord your god ? and therefore god cals upon you , even upon you to repent . there is an ordinance of parliament ( which i named even now ) that cals on all the kingdom of england to repent ; and in that ordinance you set down fourteen sword ▪ procuring sins ; you command that that ordinance be read in our private families , and in our churches : you reckon there fourteen sinnes , which are like unto fourteen iron whips , with which god is now whipping england to the very bloud : now it is not enough for you to command england to repent of these sins : but god requires , that you your selves should repent of them also . as it is not enough for a minister to call upon his people to repent , but the minister himself must repent also : so it is not enough for you to desire the subjects of england to repent , but you must repent even this day of these sins ; i will name the sins over : for they be your own ; i mean , such which you have commended to the kingdom that they should repent of ; god requires that if upon examination you finde your selves guilty , you should repent of your contempt of the holy worship of god ; and your contempt of the holy ordinances of god ; and your contempt of holiness , and of gods holy ministers ; god requires and commands that you should repent of grosse and affected ignorance under the light of the gospel ; of unfruitfulness under the means of grace ; of unthankfulness for the many mercies you have received from him ; of incorrigiblenesse under the judgements that are upon the land : god requires you should repent of your oaths and blasphemies ; of your fornications and adulteries ; of drunkenness and gluttony ; of your contentions and unnaturall divisions ; of your pride . vanity , and prodigality in apparell ; of your oppression , fraud and bribery : one sin i had like to have forgotten , and that is the sin of the profanation of gods sabbaths : but i would desire you likewise to remember that there is an ordinance of parliament lately printed , wherein you require the kingdom of england to apply their hearts to the sanctification of the lords day , both in publike and private . this you command us ; now i beseech you tell me , do you do so your selves ? that which you command the kingdom , as a minister of jesus christ i command you to put in practice ; and to repent of those sinnes which you command us to repent of , so farre as you are concerned in them . and to remember further that your ordinance tels us , that we ought not to repent slightly , but we ought to be deeply humbled ; we ought to mourn with a godly mourning , and with a hearty-abhorrency and detestation of these sins . now the lord cals upon you this day to do thus : and to do thus more then others , you that are gentlemen , because these sins in you are more scandalous , and do more hurt , both by imitation , and by imputation : they doe more hurt by imitation , because great men are like unto looking-glasses , according to which all the countrey dress themselves ; whatever they do other men follow : and your sinnes do more hurt by imputation , for god doth many times impute the sins of the rulers upon the people , as he did impute the sin of david upon the people of israel . and therefore god requires you this day to repent in dust and ashes : and to be humbled before the lord , as you are gentlemen ; that is the first . but then secondly , god commands you to repent as you are parliament men ; as you are men , with a personall repentance ; as you are parliament men , with a parliament repentance . and here give me leave to speak to you first divisim , and then conjunctim . first , to speak to you singly and severally : i beseech you search and try your wayes . and if there should be found any amongst you that drive the designs of oxford , and that are present at westminster , only to betray their countrey , the lord unmask such , and the lord give them repenting hearts : this is to build your houses upon the bloud of three kingdoms ; this is to sell your souls for preferment ; and it is just with god that such men should not only lose their souls , but lose their very preferment also ; as judas that sold his master , and hung himself . and then again , if there be any amongst you that drive your own designs , and seek your own ends , and not the publike good ; and seek your own ends more then the publike good ; and seek your own ends to the detriment of the publike good : these are crying abominations , and the lord cals for a parliament repentance this day : it was the complaint of the apostle of his time , omnes quae sua sunt quaerunt , &c. phil. 2 ▪ 21. all men seek their own , and no man seeks the things of iesus christ . if the apostle paul had been alive in our daies , i wonder what he would have said of our times . for truly , if god should unrip us here before the congregation , i am afraid he should finde many of our hearts to be made up of nothing but of self-love and creature-love ; and yet notwithstanding this is a sin , and not only against the light of the word , but against the very light of nature ; for the light of nature teaches us , that all private good should be swallowed up in the publike ▪ and the very decii and curtii , and aristides , and many other heathens will rise up in judgement against many christians in this particular . there is a famous text in ier. 45. 3 , 4. behold ( saith the lord ) i do now begin to pull down what i have built , and to destroy what i have planted , and seekest thou great things for thy self ? seek them not . is this a time to seek your own ends ? this is just as if a man should have his house on fire , and in stead of seeking to quench his house , should go and trim up his chamber : what will become of his chamber when the house is burnt ? it is just as if a man when the ship he is in is sinking , should go and enrich his own cabine ; the lord give you hearts to repent of this . or if there be any amongst you that favour malignants , because they are your friends , though enemies to god and his cause ; this is a great sin to be repented on greatly . and i say to such , as the prophet to iehosaphat , 2 chro. 19. 2. because you help the ungodly , and love those whom the lord hateth ; therefore wrath is gone out from the lord against you . now let me consider you conjunctim , as you are united into one body . and here give me leave to put you in minde of a praier of austins , very necessary to be made by you this day : lord deliver me from other mens sins : for this is a certain rule ; that all the sins of the kingdom which are committed by your connivance or allowance , are the parliament sins , and they call for a parliament repentance . and therefore i beseech you search and try your hearts , and consider how far you are accessary to the sins of the kingdom , that so you may be wrought up not only to a personall but to a parliament humiliation . and if it doth appear that you have taken more care in setling your own liberties , then in setling of religion : if you have taken more care to build your own houses then gods house , this is a crying sin ; and this makes you accessary to a thousand sins that are committed in the kingdom . again . if you do not labour according to your duty , and according to your power , to suppresse the errors and heresies that are spread in the kingdom ; all these errours are you errours , and these heresies are your heresies , and they are your sins , and god cals for a parliamentary repentance from you for chem this day ; you are the anabaptists , and you are the antinomians , and it is you that hold , that all religions are to be tolerated , even iudaism and turkism ; that the soul is mortall and dies with the body ; &c. these are your errors if they spread by your connivance . for the sinnes of the sons of old ely , are imputed to old ely himself . and when the people of israel had profaned the sabbath , nehemiah contended with the nobles of iudah for suffering them , and tels them , that it was they that did prophane it ; because they suffered the people to prophane it , neh. 13. 17. thus also all the guilty bloud that god requires you in justice to shed , and you spare ; god will require the bloud at your hands . and all the bribery , all the cousenage , and all the robberies which are committed in the kingdom , which you can punish and do not , these are all your sins , oh that the lord would work up your hearts to the meditation of these things , and that the lord would make your hearts like wax , and this word like the sun to melt them . thus god cals you to repentance as you are men , and to a parliament repentance as you are parliament men : and god cals you to do all this now , god now commands you now to repent : the commandement is now , and the practice must be now : there must be two nows , the nunc of the commandement , and of that you have heard abundantly : but now there must be also the nunc of obedience : god now commands you , now to practise this text , for otherwise for ought you know , you may be in hell the next hour ▪ peradventure you may , and peradventure you may not . but howsoever you put your everlasting estate upon two peradventures : peradventure god will deny thee space to repent next hour ; or if he give thee space , peradventure god will deny thee grace to repent . and if any of these two peradventures should happen ? thou art undone to all eternity . who can tell but they may happen ▪ for god hath threatned , luk. 12. 46. that if that servant say in his heart , my lord delayeth his coming , and shall begin to beat the men-servantt , &c , the lord of that servant will come in a day that he looketh not for him , and at an hour when he is not aware , and will cut him asunder . &c. and therefore as the apostle saith , iam. 4. 13 , 19. say not , to morrow i will go to such a city , &c. for what is your life , is it not even a vapour ? so say i , say not , i 'le repent to morrow , for it may be god will deny thee space to morrow , and deny thee grace to repent to morrow : put not your eternall souls on a peradventure ; god cals upon you to repent now , even now . give me leave to adde three motives more , and to call them englands motives to the parliament of england , to perswade them to present repentance . first , the only reason why god doth not repent of the evil of punishment , is , because you do not repent of the evill of sinne ; the only reason why god delays to turn away his wrath , is , because you delay to turn unto him . we cry out , how long , lord ? how long ? when wilt thou have mercy upon england ? when wilt thou sheath up the sword ? and god he cals , how long o england ? oh parliament of england ? when will you turn unto me with all your heart ? when will you repent of all those sinnes you command the kingdom to repent of ? how long will it be before you be washed from your uncleannesses ? when will you turn to me ? when will it once be ? jer. 13. 27. i appeal to your consciences : is it fit that god should cease fighting against us by the sword , before we cease fighting against him by our sins ? but if you would turn unto god , let me assure you , the very same day that you turn , god will turn : you have a text for it in the second of haggai , and the eighteen verse . mark , the very day wherein you begin to build my house , from that very day , i 'le prosper you : nay , let me tell you , the very minute that you begin to repent , god will repent ; you have a text for it , ier. 18. 7 , 8. at what instant i shall say , concerning a nation to destroy it , &c. if that nation turn , i 'le repent of the evil i thought to do unto them . as a personall repentance is a means to obtain a personall salvation , so a nationall repentance is a means to obtain a nationall salvation : at that very instant that thou turnest from thy sins , god will save thy soul : so on that very day that a nation turns from sinne , god will turn from his anger . a parliament is the representative nation , and therefore i call a parliament repentance , a nationall repentance . this is one of englands motives , and it is a powerful one : god will keep touch to a very day , to a very minute . secondly , the reason ( saith england ) why god begins to repent of the good that he hath begun to do for you , is because you do not repent of the evill you have done against him . if you look into the word , you shall finde that god is said as well to repent of his good works and of his mercies , as of his judgements : in ier. 18. 10. if you do evill in my sight , &c. i 'le repent of the good i intended to do unto you : and in iosh. 24. 20. if you do evill i 'le consume you , after i have done you good . and we see by sad experience , that god hath begun to leade us of late back into the wildernesse again , and hath given us a great defeat in the west : god begins to repent of the good which he hath done for us : and why doth god do this ? because we repent not of our evils against him . god begins to carry us back , because we turn our backs to god ; but if we did repent of our evils against him , god would do us good , and never repent . but england hath a third motive , and oh that god would give you ears to hearken unto it ! thirdly , the reason why all our fasting doth prevail no more with god , is because we do not joyn repentance with our fasting ; because our fasting daies are not repenting dayes : we have now almost been three years a fasting ; and we have had many extraordinary fasts , and yet we are not delivered . we are as farre from the end , as we were in the beginning : and what is the reason ? not because the way of fasting is not gods way to heal a nation ; but the reason is , because we do not fast aright . suppose , not i , but england speaking unto you in her own behalf , and bewailing the manner how fasting daies are kept in this place . for first , you bring not your fasting apparell with you ; here are many of you appear in this place rather in a triumphing way , then in a penitent way ; whereas the great king of nineveh , he laid aside his robes , and so did his nobles . and though god regards not the out-side so much , nay god scorns the out-side without the in-side , yet god looks to have the out-side , as well as the in-side : and then again , secondly , here is a great deal of fasting , but where is your weeping ? where is your mourning ? look into the word of god , and you shall alwaies see fasting and weeping goe together ; god scorns your fasting , if there be not weeping joyned ; turn unto me with all your hearts , with fasting , ( what next ? ) with weeping , and with mourning : nay fasting and mourning are all one in christs sense ; in matth. 9. 15. can the children of the bridegroom mourn when the bridegroom is with them ? but when the bridegroom shall be taken from them , then shall they fast . here fasting and mourning are put for one and the same thing : now because there is a great deal of fasting , and so little weeping , that is the reason why our fastings do no more good ; we keep dayes of humiliation without any humiliation , and therefore god scorns our dayes of humiliation . it is a very sad thing to see that in stead of weeping on a fasting day there are many that turn a great part of it into sleeping ; we turn our weeping into sleeping , we weary god , and weary our selves ; and in stead of soul-afflicting , we afflict god by our negligent addresses to god on that day . were it not strange to see a condemned malefactor , while he is pleading for his life at the bar , to fall asleep , would you not say , this man cares not much for his life ? you come hither like so many condemned malefactors , and you come to pleade for your own lives , and for the lives of three kingdoms ; and for you to fall asleep while you are pleading for your lives , god scorns such fastings ; and that is the reason saith england , why i am not healed by your fastings . and then again , thirdly , there is a great deal of fasting , but there is no reformation : a great deal of talk of reformation , but there is no practice of reformation ; we have a great many covenants of reformation , but there is no performance of our covenants : we swear to reform , but we do not reform ; we fast one day , and feast the devil all the moneth after many times ; do we do as the king of nineveh did , and as his nobles and people did ? they cried unto the lord , and turned every man from his evill way ; but because there is no such turning from sin amongst us , because there is no reformation ; that is the reason why our fasting doth no more good . beloved in the lord , suffer me to speak my minde plainly ; could i see the parliament of england do as the king of nineveh did , and all the nobles of nineveh did ; could i see them all appear here , and lying down in dust and ashes , weeping , and mourning , and lamenting before the lord , and humbling their souls in good earnest , and every man turning from his iniquity , and from the violence in his hand ; such a fasting day would save the lives of three kingdoms ; such tears would prevent the effusion of the bloud of thousands ; such a day would be loud musick in the ears of god ; the lord make this day to be such a day . thus much i thought good to say in reference to the generall expression in the text , but now god commands all men . secondly , but then it is added in the text , god commands all men every where ( that is another expression ) to repent ; if we must repent anywhere , we must repent every where ; for , first , because god fils every where ; if thou canst commit a sin where god is not , there i 'le give thee leave not to repent ; but if god be every where , we must repent every where , because god is every where . and then again , secondly , because some devil or other is every where : i do not say , that the devil is every where , but some devil or other is every where ; and therefore we must repent every where , because our accuser is every where , and our judge is every where . and then again , thirdly , because death will meet us every where : if there be any place wherein thou art exempted from death , i 'le give thee leave not to repent there ; but death will meet with thee every where , and therefore god commands all men every where to repent . and then again , fourthly , because we must give an account for all the actions that we do every where : god at the day of judgement will ask thee an account of that that thou hast done anywhere ; and therefore we must repent every where . and then , fifthly , because we sin every where , we sin in our churches , and therefore god cals for a church-repentance : we sin in our parliament , therefore god cals for a parliament-repentance : we sin in our sacraments , therefore god cals for a sacrament-repentance : we sin in our beds , in our shops ; and therefore god cals for repentance in our shops and in our beds . god cals to the assembly of ministers to repent of their sinnes ; god cals not only to the people at oxford to repent , but to the people at westminster to repent ; god not only cals to the pretended parliament at oxford , but the true parliament at westminster to repent : god cals all men every where to repent . and then again , sixthly , because gods judgements are every where ; gods judgements fill every town , every city , every countrey ; the sword devours every where , and therefore god commands us to repent every where . thus much for the second exhortation , there is one question yet behinde which must have an answer before i can conclude . some will say , what is that repentance which is the unum necessarium for england , and which is the great commandment of god for england ? is there any man that doth not repent ? there is much talk indeed in the world , and much dispute about repentance , and much profession of repentance . and every man saith he repenteth . but i fear that most people mistake the nature of true repentance , and so are cheated of their salvation by a rotten and false repentance . there is a threefold mistake of repentance . first , some think it an ominous thing to repent , and judge of repentance , as some ridiculously judge of making their wils , who refuse to make their wils in their health , as thinking it an omen and presage of their death . so many refuse to repent in health , because they think it a work of sicknesse , and if they should do it in health , it would hasten their death . this opinion is not worth confuting . secondly , some think it an easie thing to repent , and therefore deal with repentance ( as one saith ) as countrey-people do with physicians , who never send for them , till they be breathing out their last breath ; so many never think of repentance till they be upon their death-bed , and then they conceive that these five words , lord have mercy upon me , are as efficacious to send them to heaven , as the papists conceit that their five words of consecration are able to transubstantiate the bread in the sacrament into the body of christ . most people think it very easie to repent . it is but repenting , saith the sinner . but this but is a hard but , it requires the omnipotent power of god to work repentance , 2 tim. 2. 25. therefore it is called a rending of the heart , joel 2. 13. which is a hard work . and it is likewise called a ploughing up of the fallow ground of our hearts . it is a transmutation , a change of the whole man from sin to god , which is no easie work . thirdly and especially , most people think they repent , when they do not . and i beleeve that the reason why so many goe to hell , is not so much for want of repentance as for want of a right repentance . we reade , act. 11. 18. of a repentance unto life , and 2 cor. 7. 10. of a repentance never to be repented on : where note there is a repentance which is not unto life , and a repentance to be repented on . repentance is a rare jewell . but as there is no jewel but it may be counterfeit , so there is no grace but it may be counterfeited : as there is a counterfeit faith , a dead carcasse of faith , so there is a bastardly repentance , poenitentia spuria & non genuina ; or as austin cals it , poenitentia infructuosa . and as a counterfeit jewell is nothing worth , no more is a counterfeit repentance . and as many are undone by the buying of a counterfeit jewel : so there are many in hell through the mistake of this jewel , that yet thought it may be , they had repented aright , and so might all their friends possibly think likewise . now therefore the great question will be , what is that repentance unto life , that repentance never to be repented on , which if i have , i may assure my self that i am in the state of salvation ? for the answer to this , i will briefly shew , 1. what is not that repentance which is unto life . 2. what repentance is that repentance which is unto life . what repentance is not that repentance which is unto life . there are six sorts of repentance which are not the right repentance . the first is , pharaohs repentance . after he had obeyed god in letting the people of israel go , he repents of this his good action , as exod. 14. 5. this was a repentance unto damnation , not unto salvation . some such i have known , that in their young daies have been zealous and forward for private fasts , and for all other religious exercises , and afterward have apostatized from these ways and persecuted them in others , and repented that ever they had been so strict and zealous . this is a wicked repentance . thus , many in our daies ( through the errour of their judgement ) repent that ever they have been troubled so much for their sins , and that they have fasted so much , and wept so much . this is a repentance to be repented on . the second is sauls repentance , 1 sam. 15. 24. this repentance was as fair , and as full in outward repentance , as davids to nathan , 2 sam. 12. 13. but yet sauls repentance was not unto life . it failed in four things . first , his confession was without sorrow , he acknowledged his sin ; but we reade not that his heart smote him for his sin , or that his heart was broken for his sin , as davids was . secondly , sauls confession was not free , but forced from him by samuel with dint of argument . but davids heart smote him for numbring the people , and he confessed the sin before god smote his people with the plague , 2 sam. 24. 10. thirdly , sauls confession was by way of diminution , he labours to lessen his sin , and to put the fault upon the people , 1 sam. 15. 21 , 24. but true confession of sin is with aggravation of the sins we confesse . thus did david , 2 sam. 24 10 , 17. thus doth daniel and ezra , dan ▪ 9. ezra 9. fourthly , sauls confession was mingled with pride ; 1 sam. 15. 30. he desired honour with the people , though he had no respect from god nor from samuel . true confession is an humble confession , ezra ▪ 9. 6. the third is ahabs repentance . his repentance was so great and so remarkable , that god bids elijah take notice of it , 1 kin. 21. 27 , 29. his repentance is expressed in four particulars ; he rent his clothes , he put on sackcloth , he fasted , he lay in sackcloth , and went softly . but yet it was not a repentance unto life . it failed in three particulars . it was but an outward repentance . all the forenamed expressions were outward , he rent his garments , but his heart was not rent . and therefore god rewarded him only with an outward reward , 1 ki. 21. 29. ahah was like a ripe plum that is soft without , but hath a hard stone within ▪ 2. it was a worldly and carnall repentance , for fear of the losse of his kingdom , and for fear of the dogs that elijah threatned should lick up his bloud . 3. it was a repentance for sin , but not from sin . you shall reade in scripture , not only of a repentance for sin , 2 cor. 12. 21. rev. 9. 20. but also of a repentance from sinne , act. 8. 22. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , so it is in the greek . so also , heb. 6. 1. repentance from dead works . now ahab did not repent from his sin . for in the next chapter he is as bad as ever he was . the fourth is , the israelites repentance , you shall reade often of their repentance , 1 sam. 7. 6. iud. 2. 1 , 2 , 3. iud. 10. 10. but their repentance was not unto life . it failed especially in two particulars . 1. it was only and meerly for fear of the lord , it was only when they were in distress , as appears often and often in the book of the iudges , and also psa. 78. 34. 2. it lasted only as long as the rod lasted , when the affliction was past they returned to their sins again , psal. 78. 36 , 37. iud. 4. 1. iud. 6. 1. &c. they were just like iron , which while it is in the fire , is soft and malleable to any thing , but when it is taken out of the fire , groweth presently hard again : or like unto water , that while it is upon the fire is very hot , but when taken off , presently groweth cold . and this , i fear , is all the repentance that many have in these daies . some so bad as not to repent at all , even in these killing daies ; but they that do repent , i fear it is only for fear of the rod , and it will last no longer then the rod lasteth . the lord give us hearts to search our hearts whether it be not so . the fifth is the repentance of iudas . the text saith , he repented , and confessed his sinne , and made satisfaction . mat. 27. 3 , 4. and he justified also christs innocency , and he took shame to himself in going to the high priests to confesse his sinnes . but yet his repentance was not unto life ; though there be many in the world that pretend to a right repentance , that cannot pleade so much to justifie their repentance as iudas can . but it failed in divers particulars . first , his repentance was {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , not {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . the greek word is not the same with the greek word in my text for repentance . paenituit , sed non resipuit ; he sorrowed for what he had done , but he was not reformed from what he had done , for he that murdered christ before , murdered himself presently after . it was no life-reforming sorrow . secondly , iudas repented , not out of hatred of the sin that he had committed , but only to quiet his conscience , he felt a hell in his conscience , and to quiet that he repented . thirdly , this repentance was wholly legall , only for fear of hell , and it was wholly without hope of mercy . it was a desperate repentance , and it drew him not to christ , but to the gallows . true repentance is out of love to god ; and it is alwaies mixt with hope , ezra 10. 2. the sixth is , the heathen mans repentance . there is in a heathen man a natural conscience , and when he sins against the light of nature , this natural conscience will accuse and condemn him , and this oftentimes worketh a naturall and morall repentance . thus when alexander in his drunken sit had killed his dear friend clitus , when he was sober , he was troubled in conscience for it , and sent to all the severall kindes of philosophers ( as it were to so many ministers ) to know what he might do to appease his conscience , and to satisfie for that sinne . thus polemo , when in his drunken fit he came to the school of xenocrates , and heard him reading of sobriety , repented of his drunkennesse , and became sober ever after . this i relate to the shame of thousands of christians . but yet this was not a repentance unto life . for here nature reforms nature . refined nature reforms nature abominably profaned . sober alexander reforms drunken alexander . here is no turning to god , no eye to gods glory , no sorrow for displeasing of god . it is a repentance upon naturall and morall grounds , which is not a repentance unto heaven . thus , many repent of their gaming , and of their drinking and whoring ; because it destroyeth their estate , or their bodies , or their good names . this is a naturall repentance , upon naturall grounds , but not a repentance unto life . thus you see what that repentance is which is not unto life . it is our duty to examine whether we exceed these six sorts . there are many that are cried up for great professors that come short of them . and it must needs be a miserable thing to come short of those that come short of heaven . it is not enough to repent as pharoah , saul , ahab , the israelites , iudas and the heathen repented ▪ but we must labour to exceed them , and amend in all those things wherein they failed . we must not repent of our good actions , as pharaoh did ; but of our bad actions . our confession of sins must be with shame and confusion of face , with heart-breaking sorrow , it must be free and voluntary , not forced , it must be an humble and self-abasing confession . our repentance must not only be outward as ahabs was , but inward also ; it must be a rending of the heart , a pricking at the heart . sin must not only be oculi dolium but it must be cordolium . our repentance must not only be for sinne , but from sinne . we must not repent for fear of the rod only , as the israelites did ; for this is to repent out of self-love , and not out of love to god . this repentance may be in a man that hath no grace . this is to fear hell , not sinne . neither must our repentance vanish as the morning dew . we must not return to our vomit after the affliction is over . this is to act as a dog , not as a christian ; this will bring utter desolation , ezr 9. 13. this is to mock god who will not be mocked , or rather it is to mock our selves into hell . our repentance must not be only to quiet conscience , to escape hell , as iudas's was , but it must be a filiall evangelicall repentance , arising out of love to god whom we have offended , and out of hatred of sin , and it must alwaies be mingled with hope of mercy . our repentance must arise not only from naturall and morall , but from supernaturall and theologicall grounds and principles . now i come to shew more particularly what is that repentance which is a repentance unto life ; a repentance never to be repented of : what is that repentance which whosoever hath is certainly in the state of salvation . for the brief answer to this you must know , that true repentance is a medicine made of christs bloud that must have five ingredients in it . and if any one of these ingredients be wanting , the medicine will not avail us unto salvation , it is a golden chain that must have five links , and if one link be wanting , the chain is of little use . the five links of this golden chain are : first , godly sorrow for sinne . secondly , a hearty confession of sinne . thirdly , a sincere endeavour to forsake all sin . fourthly , satisfaction for sin . fifthly , a turning to god by new obedience . whereever there is true repentance : first , there is godly sorrow for sin ; god hath tied sinne and sorrow together with adamantine chains : and a woman may as soon look to be delivered of a childe in a dream , as for a man to repent without sorrow : sorrow indeed is the daughter of sinne , but god hath made the daughter to be a means to destroy the mother ; you must not look to fly to heaven with pleasant wings ; you must not look to dance with the devil all day , and sup with christ at night ; to live all your lives long in dalilahs lap , and then to go to abrahams bosome when you die : wheresoever there is true repentance there will be sorrow for sin . but this sorrow it must be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} 2 cor. 7. 10. a sorrow caused for gods sake ; a sorrow more for the offence done against god , then for the punishment due unto us . it must be a repentance towards god , as it is called , act. 20. 21. because it eyes god and his offence , more then the punishment . it is called a lamenting after the lord , 1 sam. 7. 2. it is a mourning for christ whom we have pierced by our sins , zech. 12. 10. not so much a mourning for the misery we have brought upon our selves by our sins , as for the dishonour we have brought to christ . it is a mourning for sin as sin , as it is offensivum dei , aversivum a deo , as it is an act of disobedience , an act of unkindenesse , as it is an act polluting and defiling the soul , making the soul unlike god , and like the devil ; an act that will bring the soul to the devil , &c. true sorrow must not be only attrition but contrition , which is the grinding of sin to powder . a rock may be broken in pieces , and yet be hard still . true sorrow is when our rocky hearts are ground to powder , and made soft and pliable to do and suffer whatsoever god shall require at our hands . it is ( as one saith ) annihilatio voluntatis , a swallowing up of our own wils in gods will . and wheresoever there is this godly sorrow , if the heart be deeply wounded and pierced with it , secondly , there will be also true confession of sinne . even as a stomack when it is surcharged with too great fulnesse , it is never quiet till eased by vomit : so if the conscience be overladen and brim-full of sorrow for sinne , it will never be at ease till sinne be vomited up by confession . sinne in the conscience is as a thorn in a mans foot , as needles in the flesh , or as poysonfull matter in a sore , which lyeth burning and aking with pain . in such cases there is no rest unlesse the sores be lanced and the poison expelled . confessio peccati est medicina peccati ; ( saith naz. ) it is vomitus sordium animae , david did but purpose to confesse his sin , and god forgave him . psal. 32. 5. he that hideth his sinnes shall not prosper , but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy , pro. 28. 13. iudah ( which signifieth confession ) got the kingdom from reuben . true confession of sinne is the way to the kingdom of heaven . in confession we accuse our selves , and we judge our selves . by accusing our selves we put the devil out of office . and by judging our selves worthy of damnation we put god out of office : for if we judge our selves , we shall not be judged of the lord . this is the second link of the chain . but here you must remember that this confession must not be like unto sauls confession , but like the confession of ezra , daniel , david , as was said but even now . the third link of the golden chain of repentance , is an inward sincere endeavour to forsake all sin everlastingly . all poenitentia is in vain without resipiscentia , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} in vain without {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . it is to no purpose to repent for your sins , unlesse you repent from your sins ; for a man to say he repents of sin , and yet doth not forsake it , he speaks a contradiction . as for a man to say that he is changed from a fool to a wise man , and yet remains a fool , he saith that which is a contradiction ; so for a man to say he repents of his swearing , and yet to swear ; to say he is turn'd from his adultery , and yet remains an adulterer , he saith a contradiction : as tertullian saith excellently , he that repents with a contradiction , god will pardon him with a contradiction : thou repentest , and yet continuest in thy sins ; god will pardon thee , and yet send thee to hell ; there is a pardon with a contradiction . true repentance must be joyned with an endeavour to forsake sinne . but then we must remember that this forsaking of sinne must have four properties . it must first be inward . we must put away evil from before gods eyes , as it is isa. 1. 16. we must doe that which is good in gods eyes , as the good kings of israel are said to do . a man may go to hell for the inward desire to sin , though he should never commit any outward act of sin . it is not enough to restrain sinne , but we must endeavour to mortifie it . a lion chained is a lion still . secondly , it must also be sincere . two things make a good christian , good actions , and good aims . though a good aim doth not make a bad action good ( as we see in the case of uzzah ) yet a bad aim makes a good action bad , as we see in the case of iehu . we must forsake sinne not for worldly respects , or self-ends , but we must say with ioseph , how can i commit this thing and sinne against my god ? thirdly , it must be universall . we must make conscience to abstain from every sinne , as well as from any sinne . we reade iud. 8. 30 , 31. that gideon had seventy sons and one bastard ; and that bastard was afterward the means to kill all his seventy sons , give me leave to apply this in a spirituall sense . though thou hast seventy good duties , and yet if thou hast one bastardly sin which thou delightest in , this sinne will take away the benefit and comfort of all thy good duties . fourthly , it must be everlasting . it is not enough to fall out with sin , and afterwards to be friends again : but we must so hate it as never to be reconciled . the prodigall childe never returned to his prodigality ; nor david to his adultery . the fourth link of the golden chain of repentance , is satisfaction for sinne . this is a part of repentance much abused by the papists , and seldome spoken of by our divines ; but of great use if rightly understood . the papists teach , that christ by his death satisfied for the guilt of sin , and for the eternall punishment ; but as for the temporall punishment of sinne , christ left that to us to satisfie for by deeds of penance here , and by purgatory hereafter . but this doctrine is false and hereticall . first , it is a derogation to the full satisfaction of iesus christ . he is a perfect saviour . secondly , this makes every man in part his own saviour . thirdly , this takes away the freenesse of forgivenesse of sinnes . fourthly , this takes away all the comfort of afflictions . for if afflictions be satisfactions to gods vengeance , and part of the temporal curse due to sin , where is the comfort of affliction ? fifthly , what can a poor creature contribute to satisfie an infinite god ? all satisfaction must be de propriis , of some thing that is our own . and what can we give to god to satisfie him , but that which he hath first given to us ? besides satisfaction is a just proportionable recompence for an injury : and what proportion between the action of a finite creature , and the wrath of an infinite god ? and therefore satisfaction in a popish sense is abominable ; but in a catholike orthodox sense it is a point of great consequence . a true penitent sinner will make satisfaction to god , to the church , to his brother , and to himself . first , he will make satisfaction to god . not in a popish sense , not by tendring up his repentance as a recompensation to the injury offered to the great god by his sinne ; but by presenting the lord christ and his satisfaction for an atonement . and therefore the iews in the old law when they had committed a sin , they were to bring a sacrifice , and first to confesse their sins over the sacrifice , and then to offer up the sacrifice for a propitiation . this sacrifice was a type of christ . he that will procure pardon from god of sinne , must not only mourn for it , confesse it , and turn from it ; this is not sufficient to procure pardon ; because our repentance at the best is imperfect , and we must repent for the defects that cleave to our repentance . but if we would procure pardon , we must tender up iesus christ by faith to make up the breach that sin hath made . we must repent , but not trust to our repentance . he that trusteth to his repentance makes an idol of it , and makes a christ of it , we must not bottom our selves upon repentance , but upon christ only . secondly , he will make satisfaction to gods church . if he hath offended it by any scandalous sinne he will take shame to himself in a publike way of reparation . for this purpose did david write his penitentiall psalms , which are psalms of davids satisfaction to gods church for the offence he had given to it . thus solomon wrote his book of ecclesiastes to make recompensation to the church of god , which he had wronged by his apostacy . and i trust ( through gods mercy ) to see this discipline put in execution in england . thirdly , he will make satisfaction to his brother , to his body , and to his soul . first , to his body . if thou hast wronged thy brother in his good name , which is more precious to him then his life , god will not accept of thy repentance , unlesse thou endeavourest to make up the injury thou hast done to his good name . many go to hell for want of practising this . this is no easie duty . for a mans good name is like a white piece of paper , which when once blotted , can hardly be made clean again without some remainder of defilement . so again , if thou hast wronged thy brother in his goods , god will not accept of thy repentance , unlesse thou endeavourest with zaccheus ( according to thy ability ) to make restitution . this is a lesson for all men , but especially for souldiers to lay to heart . secondly , he will make satisfaction to his soul . if thou hast been a morall cause to make thy brother sin , it is not enough for thee alone to repent , but thou must endeavour not ony out of charity , but out of justice , to bring thy brother to repentance also . if thou hast perswaded a woman to lewdnesse , a man to drunkennesse , it is thy duty to make them soul-restitution : a doctrine little preached , and lesse practised ; but of absolute necessity , in regard of thy endeavour at least to do it . for want of this soul-satisfaction many souls miscarry . fourthly , he will make satisfaction to himself . if he hath injured his body by intemperate eating and drinking , and his soul by taking too much liberty in things indifferent , he will take a holy revenge upon himself ; of which you shall reade , 2 cor. 7. 11. holy revenge is a necessary companion of true repentance . this holy revenge consisteth in fasting , and in abstaining from lawful delights when they prove soul-snares . if thou hast sinned by frequenting such and such company , thou must be revenged of thy self by wholly abstaining from their company . if thou hast sinned by the abuse of lawfull games , &c. thou must wholly renounce them . if by immoderate love of the world , thou must be revenged of thy self by a greater measure of charity to the poor . thus saint paul did beat down his body , and brought it into subjection , &c. 1 cor. 9. 27. when hilarion felt his lusts boyling , and his body prone to filthinesse , he said , ego faciam , aselle , ut non calcitres , i will keep this asse from kicking , by abstinence . this part of repentance is little regarded now adaies ▪ though there cannot be true repentance without it . a true penitent will be revenged of his sins , as cranmer was of his right hand , which he first burnt in the fire ( when he was at the stake ) because with that he had subscribed to popery . thus the ephesian converts , act. 19. 19. burnt their books before all men : and the women that had prided themselves in their looking-glasses , brought them to the building of the tabernacle , exo. 38. 8. thus ought every true penitent to do . thus much for the fourth link of the golden chain of repentance . the fifth and last link of the golden of repentance , is , turning unto god by newnesse of life . man by sinne turneth his back upon god , and wandreth from god as the prodigall childe from his father . now repentance is a returning back unto god . and therefore in the old testament it is expressed under this name : it is called a turning unto god . it is not enough to cease from evil , but we must also do good : as a man cannot go with one leg , nor a bird fly with one wing ; no more can any man mount up to heaven by forsaking of sin , if he doth not also labour to turn to god . and this is the consummation of repentance , and the happinesse of it . whereas disobedience estrangeth us from god , who is our light and life , in whose presence is fulnesse of joy , &c. repentance brings us back again into the love , favour , and friendship of god . and therefore luther saith well , that optima & optissima poenitentia est nova vita : which saying , though condemned by pope leo the tenth , yet certainly it is a most excellent saying : repentance without reformation is a deformation ; it is a foundation without a building . all sorrow , confession , and forsaking of sinne without this turning unto god by holinesse of life , is fruitlesse and unprofitable . and thus you have the golden chain with all the five links . now what remains : but first , that all you that pretend to a right repentance , be perswaded to examine your selves whether you have this medicine with the five ingredients , this golden chain with the five links . there are some that will confesse their sinnes , but it is with dry eyes and hard hearts . others that will mourn for their sinnes , but not forsake them . others will forsake some sinnes , but not all . some forsake sinne outwardly but not inwardly : some forsake sinne , but do not turn to god : some forsake sinne , but do not make restitution . if a childe be born without his legges , or arms , or eyes ; we say it is a monster , a deformed childe : such a monstrous kinde of repentance most people have . some have a leg of repentance , some have an arm of repentance , but few have the whole childe of repentance . herod had a leg of repentance , he reformed in many things ; but his repentance was but a lame repentance . balaam had a kinde of repentance , and so had iehu ; but it was but a monster , not the perfect childe of repentance . examine seriously and let conscience speak : hast thou the childe of repentance formed in thee with every limb in truth ; though not in perfection ? say not thou repentest aright unlesse thou hast all the links of this golden chain . secondly , labour to put on this golden chain this day . it will be an excellent ornament to lords , ladies , and gentlemen . the lord give you hearts to do it . repentance is christs gift , he is at gods right hand to give it . sue to him for it , and he will bestow it upon you . and be sure to remember this truth of god : if any one link of this chain be wanting thou canst not be saved . for i am not now preaching of points in difference between us and the papists ; or between protestant and protestant ; but of those things which all will confesse to be true , if any one of these ingredients be out of the medicine , this medicine of repentance will do thee no good . and therefore labour to thy utmost endeavour by prayer and all other means to obtain all five this day . i say , this day , for this day god cals , and you call ; god cals for repentance , and for present repentance , and for a compleat repentance ; and you call for mercy for your armies ; for present mercy , and for a compleat mercy : would you have god hear you , and will not you hear god ? consider whether this be equal : would you have god give you a good return of your prayers , and will not you give god a good return of his word ? the occasion of our meeting this day , is to pray to god , that god would be pleased to own our forces , for we know not how soon they may be engaged ; and that god would be pleased to fight our battels , and not to suffer us to miscarry as we have done lately . now do you think god will regard your prayers this day , if you do not repent this day ? it is not praying , but it is the penitent prayer that prevails with god : it is in vain to recruit your armies , if you recruit your sins : god looks for penitent prayers , humble prayers : let the parliament of england never forget the 7. of ioshua ▪ 10 , 11 , 12. &c. get thee up , saith god to ioshua , why lyest thou on the ground ? there is a sin committed , and i will not hear thy prayers till the sin be removed : let the parliament of england remember the battels of the children of israel against the benjamites ; though their cause were never so good , yet notwithstanding because they were idolaters , and because they did not manage their cause well , therefore god suffered them twice to miscarry : let the parliament of england never forget the story of the people of israel , 1 sam. 4. that went out and carried the ark of god with them , and went out to fight against the philistims who were the enemies of god , and yet they miscarried because of their iniquities ; and let the parliament of england never forget the 23. of deuteronomy 9. when your hosts go forth to fight against your enemies , then keep your selves from every evill way ; then , then especially . a repenting parliament ; a repenting army ; and a repenting people ; what miracles might not they do ? the lord make the army , the parliament , and all the people such . amen , amen . finis . the names of the other works m. calamy hath printed , and severall other books , all printed and sold by christopher meredith at the crane in pauls-church-yard , viz. 2. englands looking-glasse , on ier. 18. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. 3. gods free mercy to england , on ezek. 36. 32. 4. noble mans pattern , on iosh. 24. 15. 5. an indictment against england , on mat 12. 25. 6. the door of truth opened , in answer to m. henry burton . 7. a just and necessary apology . in answer to m. henry burton . 8. the great danget of covenant-refusing and breaking , on 2 tim. 3. 3. all by m. edmund calamy . d. arrowsmiths covenant-avenging sword , on levit. 26 , 25. d. barlow's guide to glory , on psa. 73. 34. m. bridges ioabs counsell , on 2 sam. 19. 5 6 , 7 , 8. m. bodius alarm to warre against babylon , rev. 18. 6. d. burges , on ier. 50. 5. on psa. 76. 10. two sermons on ier. 4. 14. examination of 9. reasons against bishops . m. caryls davids prayer for solomon , psa. 72. 1 , 2 , 3. m. carters israels peace , on iudg. 20. 26 , 27 , 28. m. couants woe and weal , on ier. 30. 7. m. colemans christians course and complaint , ier. 8. 20. the hearts engagement , on ier. 30. 11. gods unusuall answer , on psal. 65. 5. hopes deferred and dashed , iob 11. 2. m. ellis sole-path , on micah 5. 5. m. edes , three sermons , ephes. 2. 19 , 20 , 21 , 22. ephes. 5. 15 , 16. psalm 37. 35 , 36 , 37. m. gattakers thanks-giving for 88. psalm 48. 7 , 8. m. goods publike spirit , on act. 13. 36. m. gipps , on psal. 46 1. m. hardwicks difficulty of sions deliverance , psalm 126. 5 , 6. m. hicks glory and beauty , on isa. 28. 5 , 6. the life and death of david , on act. 13. 3 , 6. advantage of afflictions , hos. 5. 15. m. hookers faithfull covenanter , deuter. 25. 24 , 25. m. ienkins self-seeking discovered , on phil. 20 , 21. reformations remora , on hag. 1. 1 , 2. sleeping sicknesse , on isa. 29. 10. busie bishop . in answer to iohn goodwin . the blinde guide . in answer to iohn goodwin . m. iessop's angel no bishop of ephesus , rev. 21. m. ley's fury of warre , on ier. 4. 21 , 23. monitor of mortality , first part on iames 4. 14. second part , on gen. 44. 3. answer to m. saltmarsh's query about the presbyteriall government . light for smoak , a reply to m. saltmarsh . an after-reckoning with m. saltmarsh . m. mockets churches troubles , several sermons , on gen. 22. 14. covenanters looking-glasse , on deut. 29. 9. gospel duty and dignity , on matth. 13. 46. m. mewes spoiling of iacob and israel , on isa. 42. 24 , 25. m. newcomens craft and cruelty of the churches adversaries , neh. 4. 11. ierusalems watchmen , isa. 62. 6 , 7. use of disasters , iosh , 7. 10 , 11. against toleration , phil. 1. 27. all-seeing eye of god , on heb. 4. 13. popes deadly wound by d. burges . m. profits englands impenitency , on isaiah 9. 14. m. reyners babylons earthquake , on haggai 2. 6 , 7. m. salways halting stigmatized , 1 kings 18. 21. d. stantons rupes israelis , deut. 32 , 31. phinchas zeal , psalm 106. 30. d. smith , psa. 107. 6. m. thorowgood moderation justified , phi. 4. 5. m. udall's good of peace , and ill of warre . psa. 29. 11. m. wards god judging among the gods , psa. 82. 1. good will of him that dwelt in the bush . m. woodcocks christs warning , rev. 16. 15. lex talionis , 1 sam. 2. 30. ioseph paralleled , gen. 49 , 23 , 24. m. whittaker christ the settlement , on haggai 2. 7 , d. wilkinsons babylons ruine , on zech. 1. 18 , 19. 20 , 21. gainfull cost , 1 chron. 21 , 24. miranda stupenda , num. 23. 23. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a31927e-800 1. 2. 1. 2. 3. doct. 1. doct. 2. doct. 3. doct. 4. doct. 5. 1. 2. the first head of reasons . reason 5. motive 1. 1. 2. motive 2. reason 2. the first help . the second help . the second head of reasons . four reasons why we should repent in these times of warre and bloudshed , more then at other times . reason 1. reason 2. five impediment ▪ which did formerly hinder many from repentance which are now removed . 2. 3. 4. 5. englands third reason , why she should repent now more then at other times . object . answ. 1. answ. 2. answ. 3. reason 4. englands fourth reason why she should repent now , more then at another time . object . answ. object . answ. 1. answ. 2. answ. 3. object . awsw. use . 1. 2. use 2. all sorts of men are to repent . 1. great men . 2. men that live civilly are to repent . thirdly , men that live religiously are to repent . 1. 2. englands three other motives to perswade the parliament of england to repentance . motive 1. englands second motive . englands third motive . joel 1. 12. all men must repent every where . quest . answ. a three-fold mistake of repentance . six sorts of repentance , which are not the right repentance . pharaoh's repentance , and wherein it failed . sauls repentance , and wherein it failed . ahabs repentance , and wherein it failed . the israelites repentance , and wherein it failed . iudas's repentance , and wherein it failed . the heathen mans repentance , and wherein it failed . a description of true repentance . it is a golden chain with five links . first , godly sorrow . the second link of the chain of repentance , confession of sin . the third link of the chain of repentance , an inward forsaking of sin . the fourth link , satisfaction for sin . satisfaction to god . satisfaction to the church of god . satisfaction to our brother . 1. to his body in his good name . in his goods . 2. to his soul . satisfaction to himself . the fifth link , turning to god by newnesse of life . use 1. use 2. the noble-mans patterne of true and reall thankfulnesse presented in a sermon preached before the right honourable house of lords, at their late solemne day of thanksgiving, june 15, 1643 : for the discovery of a dangerous, desperate and bloody designe tending to the utter subversion of the parliament and of the famous city of london / by edmund calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a32047 of text r20268 in the english short title catalog (wing c260). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 131 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 33 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a32047 wing c260 estc r20268 12116501 ocm 12116501 54330 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32047) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 54330) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 760:15) the noble-mans patterne of true and reall thankfulnesse presented in a sermon preached before the right honourable house of lords, at their late solemne day of thanksgiving, june 15, 1643 : for the discovery of a dangerous, desperate and bloody designe tending to the utter subversion of the parliament and of the famous city of london / by edmund calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [6], 59 p. printed by g.m. for christopher meredith ..., london : 1643. reproduction of original in bodleian library. eng bible. -o.t. -joshua xxiv, 15 -sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a32047 r20268 (wing c260). civilwar no the noble-mans patterne of true and reall thankfulnesse. presented in a sermon preached before the right honourable house of lords; at their calamy, edmund 1643 24544 4 45 0 0 0 0 20 c the rate of 20 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the c category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 ben griffin sampled and proofread 2005-01 ben griffin text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the noble-mans patterne of true and reall thankfulnesse . presented in a sermon preached before the right honourable house of lords ; at their late solemne day of thanksgiving , iune 15. 1643. for the discovery of a dangerous , desperate and bloody designe , tending to the utter subversion of the parliament and of the famous city of london . by edmund calamy , b.d. pastor of aldermanbury in london . published by order of that house . luk. 1. 74 , 75. that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies , might serve him without feare , in holinesse and righteousnesse before him all the dayes of our life . london , printed by g. m. for christopher meredith at the signe of the crane in pauls church-yard , m.dc.xliii . to the right honovrable house of lords assembled in parliament . if all noble-men were as good and religious as they are presented to the world in the epistles prefixed to the books that are dedicated to them , we should not have so much cause to complaine of great mens iniquities , or of poore mens flatteries . s. augustine in his booke of retractations , retracts it as a great fault , that when he dedicated a booke to mallius theodorus , he praised him more then he deserved , though he confesseth that he was doctus vir & christianus , a learned and christian man : it is none of the least miseries of great men , that they want faithfull friends to tell them their vices as well as their vertues . king ahab had 400. flattering prophets who were the cause of his ruine . hence is that old proverbe , that there are onely two things that never flatter great men , death and horses . for death seizeth upon great as well as small . and a horse will cast downe a great man as well as any other , if he rides not well . this sermon speakes plaine language , and this is the only reason ( for ought i know ) that it received such kind acceptance , for otherwise it wants that neatnesse of phrase , and eloquence of speech which such noble auditors are accustomed unto , i have often heard of great men , that complained upon their death beds , that none would tell them of their faults , but never of any that complained hee was told too much . theodosius the great emperour confesseth of s. ambrose , notwithstanding his severe carriage towards him , solum novi ambrosium dignum episcopi nomine ; that he knew none worthy of a bishoprick but ambrose . it is a custome to send sermons out unto publike view under the patronage of some noble-man or other . this sermon hath this preheminence , that it comes forth under the patronage , and by the commands not only of one lord , but of a house of lords . the lord make it to obtaine that end for which it was preached ! that you ( my lords ) may make joshua's choise your choise . the subject matter of the sermon is very common and ordinary . but herein i follow the example of chrysostome , who when he was made patriarch of constantinople , the first sermon that he preached before the emperour arcadius and the great courtiers , was a sermon of repentance . this is the message that i have received ( saith chrysostome ) from my master christ to deliver unto you . repent for the kingdome of god is at hand . haec autem non dubitabo vobis assiduè revocare in memoriam . haec neminem reverentes neque potentes aut divites timentes ad vos loquemur . the lord bestow this great grace of repentance upon you , and inable you to serve god with all the ingredients mentioned in the following sermon ! two things i would desire your lordships alwayes to remember . 1. that the best way of thankfulnesse for mercies received , is to serve the god of those mercies , and to serve him with the mercies we receive from him . 2. that the best way for the house of lords to prosper , is to indeavour earnestly and faithfully to reforme the lords house , your own houses , and first your selves . some things i have added which were not preached , which relate to all men in generall as well as great men , which i then omitted for brevity sake , but have here interserted i hope without offence , that so this sermon which is printed for a generall good , might have somethings in it tending to the good of all men as well as great men . the great god make the house of lords as the house of the lord wherein service may be done to god , and for gods cause . so prayeth your honours much obliged spirituall servant edmund calamy . a thanks-giving sermon preached before the right honourable the house of lords . iosh. 24. 15. but as for me and my house we will serve the lord . we are here met this day to keepe a day of thanks-giving , to keepe a heaven upon earth , to doe that for a day , which is the worke of angels and arch-angels to all eternity . we have had many dayes of hosannah's and now we are to keepe one day of hallelujah's . it hath pleased god of his great goodnesse to discover a dangerous and desperate plot , tending to the utter subversion of the parliament , of the famous city of london , of the army , of the whole kingdome , and which is above all to the utter ruine of the true reformed protestant religion . we are here assembled to give god the praise of this deliverance . now that this duty may be performed after a pious and christian manner to the praise of that god whom we come to praise , i have chosen this text . for i am clearely of this opinion , that as there is no duty more excellent then this of thanks-giving . for it is the duty of heaven , and not only so , but the preferment of heaven . it is a duty that honoureth god , and it is the highest honour that god can put upon us , to give us leave to performe this duty . it is a duty that adam should have performed , though he had never fallen . it is a duty that shall last for ever and ever . it is a comely duty . it is a pleasant duty . it is the highest expression of our love to god : it is the surest evidence of our election ( for that man that loves the worke of heaven upon earth , shall certainely goe to heaven when he leaves the earth . now the worke of heaven is to praise god . ) it is the only rent penny which god requires for all the blessings hee bestowes upon us . and yet notwithstanding all this , i conceive there is no one duty wherein god is more dishonoured , or his name more prophaned then in this duty . the world is full of thanking of god , blessed be god , praised be god . but i beseech yetell me . are we not formall in this duty ? doe we not content our selves with the bare carkasse , and outside of praises ? doe we not take gods name in vaine , while we are blessing his name ? doe we not content our selves with a drop of praises for a sea of mercies ? do we not praise him with our lips , while we dispraise him with our lives ? are we not like unto actors upon a stage that now play one part , and by and by act a quite contrary part ? while we are at church we seeme to cry hallelujah , and with the jewes to sing hosannah . but assoone as ever we come out of the church , are there not many that will with the jews cry crucifige , acting the quite contrary part , and curse , and sweare prophanely by that god whom they blessed at church ? the devill was the first that ever named gods name in scripture , and one of the first that ever confessed christ to be the sonne of god , and yet he was a devill for all that . it is a devillish thing to praise god with our lips , and serve the devill with our lives . now therfore for the avoiding of this great sin , and for the raising up of your hearts to praise god , not only with your lips , but with your lives , i have pitched upon these words , which i may very well call , a rare plat-forme , and excellent pattern of true and reall thankfullnes . for this is to thanke god as we ought to do for his goodnes , to become good our selves . then wee praise god aright , when wee dedicate our lives to his praise , and become a people of his praise . iosiah did not only offer a thank-offering , but he commanded judah to serve the lord god of israel . it is not enough to thanke god for a mercy , unlesse we serve him with that mercy . it is not the singing of a thousand psalmes will praise god so much for this deliverance as the mortifying of one lust . let the drunkard praise god this day by sacrificing up his drunkennesse as a thank-offering . let the swearer and the adulterer forsake his swearing and his adultery , as a testimony of his thankfullnesse . god hath bin reall in his mercies to us , let us be reall in our thankes to him . let us with this famous and noble prince in my text enter into a solemne covenant , and resolution for the time to come , in sence of gods goodnesse towards us for the time past , to become the true and faithfull servants of god , and though all the world should serve sinne and the devill , but as for you and your house , you will serve the lord . in the words themselves we have two parts . first , the substance of joshuah's choice ; and that is , to serve iehovah . ioshuah doth not only choose to be saved by jehovah , but to serve jehovah . there is no man so wicked , but he would be glad to be saved by god , but you must know that that man shall never have christ for his saviour , that will not have christ for his lord and master . he that will not follow the example of christs life , shall never be saved by the merit of his death . if christ be not thy jacobs staffe to guide thee to heaven , he will never become as a iacobs ladder to carry thee up to heaven . 2. we have six rare circumstances in ioshuahs choice . first , the person that made this choice , and that is ioshua the chief ruler of israel . 2. the latitude and circumference of this choice , i and my house , not himselfe without his family , nor his family without himselfe . but himselfe and his family . and first himselfe , and then his family . 3. the firmnesse and stability of ioshuah's choice , wee will serve the lord . not only we desire to doe it . but we are fully resolved to do it . 4. the publicknesse of ioshuah's resolution . ioshuah doth not only choose in his heart to serve the lord , but makes open protestation and profession of it , before all the lords and commons of israel . for these words were spoken in a parliamentary assembly , when all the tribes and heads of the tribes of israel and judges and officers were present , as you may reade v. 1. 5. the speedinesse of ioshuah's choice . ioshua puts the israelites to choose . choose you this day whom ye will serve . but as for himselfe he was already resolved . ioshuah had not his religion to choose as many have , he did not demurre upon it , his choice was already made : choose you ; but as for me and my house we will serve the lord . 6. the singularity of ioshuah's choice . this [ but ] is put downe by way of opposition , choose you whither ye will serve the true god , or the gods of the amorites . but as for me i am resolved for my selfe and my family to serve the lord , though all the lords and commons of israel should renounce his service . the time will not suffer me to speake distinctly of every one of these parts . i will therefore summe them up for brevity sake into this one doctrinall conclusion . that it is the duty of all men , but especially of such as are joshuah's , such as are rulers and nobles , to ingage themselves and their families to serve god resolutely , speedily and publikely , maugre all opposition to the coutrary . this is a doctrine that needs application rather then explication . a doctrine that i have chosen , not to feed your heads with curious notions , but to feast your hearts with solid nourishment . for the explicatory part , i will only propound 3 things . first , i will shew what it is to serve god . secondly , i will shew the necessity that lies upon all men as well as great men to serve god , and to serve him with the golden circumstances of the text . thirdly , i will shew the necessity that lyes upon great men , as well as others , and rather then others to obey this text . first , what it is to serve god . for this you must know that the service of god is not a naturall action , wherein the doing of the worke is all that is required . as nothing is required of the fire , but to burn , because it is a naturall action . but it is an action of religion , wherein the manner of doing is the chiefe halfe of the duty , and that which makes our serving of god to be a sweet perfume is not the serving , but the right serving of god . now the right serving of god is to serve him according to his owne direction , both for the matter and the manner of his service . it is a maxime in nature , every master is to be served according as himselfe commands , and if the servant prescribe to his master , how he will serve him , he becomes his masters master . in the civill law a servant is said to be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , such a one that sustaines no person , but is a dependant and adjunct to his master , to accommodate his will to the will of his master . it is a saying of socrates , if there be a god he must be worshipped , and if he be worshipped , he must be worshipped according to his owne will , or else we doe not worship him at all . moses built the tabernacle according to the patterne in the mount . and david when he built the temple , received a patterne of it from the spirit of god in writing . the nature of man is prone to worship god by crucifixes and images , and by wayes of our owne devising . but this is not to serve god , but to goe a whoring after our owne inventions , as the phrase is , psalm . 106. 37. for indeed it is spirituall whoredome , and it is an exalting of our wisedome above gods . it is vaine-service , and therefore cannot please god . it is will-worship and of no account with god . it is a service that is so farre from bringing us to heaven , that it will beguile us of heaven . this then is to serve god , to serve him according to his own way , both for matter and manner . now if you aske me ; what is that way wherein god would have us to serve him . i answer briefly . he that would serve god so as to please him must mingle 10. ingredients in his service . and indeed this very act of ioshuah in choosing such a master as iehovah , and in choosing to stand under such a relation as a servant unto iehovah doth necessarily imply . first , that ioshuah did not onely choose to serve god , but to serve him undividedly , to serve god and none but god . for in all elections those whom we do not choose we refuse . and therefore ioshua's choosing to serve the lord doth imply , that he did refuse all other lords and masters . this is plaine in the beginning of this verse . and if it seeme evill to you to serve the lord , choose ye this day whom ye will serve , whether the gods , &c. as if he should have said . ye cannot serve the god of the israelites , and the god of the amorites together . ye cannot serve god and idols . no man saith christ can serve two masters , &c. 2. ioshua did not only choose to serve god undividedly , but also everlustingly . this appeares because he chose an everlasting master . and for this purpose he tells the israelites , verses 19. 20. you cannot serve the lord for he is a holy god and a jealous god , &c. if ye forsake him he will consume you , &c. as if he should have said , if you intend to serve god , you must never reuolt , but keep your selves constant for ever to his service , for else he will turne and doe you hurt and consume you after he hath done you good . 3. ioshua did not only choose to serve god undividedly and everlastingly , but also faithfully and sincerely . and this appeares , because he chose such a master , that is the heart maker and the heart searcher . this is the difference betweene the serving of god , and the serving of man ; man can but see the outside , and punish the outside , and judgeth of the inside by the outside . but god is a spirit , and will be worshipped in spirit and in truth , and judgeth of the outside by the inside . and therefore ioshua tells the children of israel , vers. 14. now therefore feare the lord , and serve him in sincerity and in truth . as if he should have said , if you intend to serve him , you must serve him in uprightnesse , or else ye doe not serve him at all . for god requires good aimes as well as good actions , and he abhorres that service though never so good , if the aime of him that serves him be not good . if a wife should dresse her selfe in fine apparell to please an adulterer , this aime of hers makes her action most abominable ; even so all those that serve god , though never so exactly in outward shew if their aime be to please men , or to get their own ends , the lord abhorres them and their services . god abhorres an hypocrite more then a sodomite , and therefore hell is provided on purpose for hypocrites . 4. ioshua chose to serve god zealously ; and this appeares , because he chose to serve the living god , he did not choose to serve idols , but to turne from dead idols to serve the living god . now the living god expects not only living but lively service , 1 pet. 2. 5. a man may be a living man and yet not lively , but god expects lively service , and such as are active and lively in his service , such as are fervent in spirit as serving the lord , rom. 12. 11. as if he should say ; you are not fit to serve the lord , unlesse you be fervent in spirit , boiling hot in spirit , as the word signifies . 5. ioshua chose to serve god reverently and respectfully . and this appeares , because he calls himselfe a servant of god , not a sonne , not a friend . now you know it is a necessary ingredient in a servant to keep his distance , and to carry himselfe respectfull of his master , to serve him with reverence and godly feare , heb. 12. 28. 6. ioshua chose to serve god chearfully and freely ; for this is another property of a good servant , psalm . 100. 1. serve the lord with gladnesse , deut. 28. 47 , 48. we must make it our meate and drinke , our heaven upon earth to serve god . seventhly , to serve him diligently and laboriously : this is another property of a good servant ; it is said of the 12. tribes , that they served god instantly day and night . the word in the greeke is , they served god with an outstretched neck . eighthly , to serve god vniversally in all things , at all times , and in all places , and with all our faculties . first , in all things , though never so irrationall to flesh and blood , though never so dangerous , though never so costly . such a servant was david that fulfilled all the wills of god . 2. as in all things , so at all times ; in time of prosperity as well as adversitie , and in time of adversitie as well as prosperity . for the god whom we serve is the same in all times , he alters not , no more must his servants . 3. in all places , in private as well as publike ; for god is a master that filles all places . if thou canst find out a place where god doth not see thee , there it shall be lawfull for thee to serve the devill . 4. with all the faculties of thy soule and body . this note of universality though it be a plaine one , yet is of marvellous consequence , and it is both {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . it is the best divisive difference to divide a sheepe from a goate , and constitutive , to constitute a faithfull servant of god , who is one that in all things , at all times , and in all places , with all his faculties gives up himselfe to gods service . that can say as that dutch minister baldazzar did to oecolampadius , veniat verbum domini & submittemus ei sexcenta si nobis essent colla . let god speake , and though we had six hundred necks , yet we will make them all stoope to the obedience of him . ioshua chose to serve god absolutely and inconditionally . for god is a master that cannot erre in his commands , and therefore he must be obeyed without examining of what he commands , with blind obedience . sufficit pro universis rationibus deus vult . this is reason sufficient , the unerring god will have it so . this is the best sighted obedience . man may erre in his commands , and therefore is to be served with limitations and examinations . they doe befoole themselves ( saith lactantius ) that follow the judgement of their leaders without judgement , which is the propertie of sheepe rather then of reasonable men . it is a good saying of sir thomas more , i will not pin my salvation upon any mans sleeve , because i know not whither he will carry it . but god must be obeyed without an if : with absolute , in conditionall , unexamined subjection , this is to serve god as god . 10. ioshua chose to serve god transcendently and angelically . to doe his will on earth as it is done in heaven . for he is iehovah that gives being to all , the great god of the whol earth , and therefore is to be served with super superlative super transcendent service , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . these are the 10. ingredients of ioshuas choice , these are as a ten stringed instrument to make our services melodious harmony in gods eares . let us strive to remember them , because they are the foundation to the building that followes . we live in an age wherein every man will professe that he serves god . but i beseech you remember that unlesse you adde these 10. ingredients , ye doe not serve him , but grieve him . ye dee not serve him , but doe him disservice , unlesse ye serve him undividedly , everlastingly , sincerely , zealously , &c. before i leave this point i must adde one thing , that there are 2. properties of a servant that must not be in gods servant . first , a servant serves his master with a slavish feare , but we must serve god with a godly feare , heb. 12. 28. secondly , a servant loves his master with a mercenary love , he serves his master as a hireling for his wages . but gods servant must serve god with a filiall love . he that serves god only for heaven , fells his service to god , as parisiensis saith , et est inter illum & deum negotiatio quaedam . not but that a true servant of god may have an eye to the recompence of reward , as moses had ; but he must have but one eye upon the reward , not both , and the left eye too ; for our chiefe and last aime must be at gods glory . and the reason is , because gods servants are also his sonnes and heires , and therefore as we must serve him with the subjection of servants , so we must serve him with the affection of sonnes . let us remember that we are his servants , that we may serve him with reverence , diligence and exact subjection , but remember also that we are his sonnes to serve him with filial feare , love , hope and faith . and this is the right serving of god , to serve him with a servant-like subjection , and with a sonne-like affection . the second thing propounded in the explication , is to shew the necessity that lies upon all men as well as great men to serve god , and to serve him with all these ingredients . for though ioshua did freely choose to serve the lord , yet it was not free for ioshua to choose whether he would serve god or no . for we are all bound to doe god homage and service . this is primum and totum officium hominis , this is the chiefe and the whole of man , eccles. 12. last . we are all bound to this service by a 6. fold bond . first , by the bond of creation . it is a fundamentall errour to think that we are borne chiefely and ultimately to seeke our own happinesse . god made man to serve him , and to seeke his owne happinesse in gods happinesse , and his owne glory in gods glory . it is god that hath made us , and not we our selves , we are his workemanship , and therefore it is our duty to improve all our parts and gifts to the service of that god from whom we have received all . as all rivers returne to the ocean from which they first came . and as aulius fulvius said to his sonne when he found him in the conspiracie of catiline , now ego te catilinae genui sed patria . so doth god say to every man , i did not give thee a soule and body to serve sinne withall , but to serve me withall . quot membra tot ora , so many members of our bodies , so many faculties of our soules ; so many mouthes to call upon us to serve god withall . secondly , it is our duty to serve god , not only for our own creation , but for the creation of the whole world . for god made all the world to serve man , and man to serve him with all the world , and for all the world . he made the sunne , the moone , the fire and the water , &c. to be serviceable to man , and therefore man must serve god , because he hath given all these to his use , and he must serve god with all these , improving them all to his service . quot creaturae , tot ora , so many creatures as there are in the world , so many mouthes to call upon us to serve god , and to serve him with all the ingredients before named . thirdly , we are bound by the bond of redemption . for we are therefore delivered out of the hands of our enemies by iesus christ , that we should serve him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life . quot inimici , tot ora . so many enemies as we are freed from by the death of christ , so many mouthes to call upon us to serve jesus christ . and in this sence the very devill himselfe , and hell it selfe ( as we are redeemed from them ) doe call upon us to serve god , and to serve him faithfully , &c. fourthly , we are bound by the bond of sanctification . for this is the end of our sanctification , that we might have grace to serve him so as to please him , heb. 12. 28. quot gratiae , tot ora , so many graces as god hath planted in thee , so many mouthes to call upon thee to serve god . for who goes to warfare at his owne charge ? saith the apostle , who planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof ? who feedeth a flock and eateth not of the milk of the flock ? if god hath planted the graces of his spirit in thy soule , he lookes to reape the fruit of his own plantation and husbandry by thy holy serving of god . fifthly , we are bound by the bond of gratitude . quot beneficia , tot ora , so many mercies as we have received from god , so many mouthes to call upon us to serve god . for every mercy is as a needle , saith s. austin , to sow god and man together . man and god are seperated by disobedience , but mercy is as a needle to sow god and man together againe by obedience . and therefore god makes the deliverance out of egypt to be a forcible motive to the keeping of the ten commandements . i am the god that brought thee out of the land of egypt , therefore thou shalt have none other gods but me , therefore thou shalt keepe holy the sabbath day , &c. so must the deliverance wee celebrate this day . it must be as a golden cord to tye us to serve god more devoutly , more resolvedly then ever . every deliverance binds the delivered according to the quantity and quality of the deliverance . god hath given us deliverances of all sorts , and of all sizes for to oblige us to his service . wee have had temporall and spirituall deliverances , old and new deliverances . these two last yeares have been made up all of deliverances . and to sinne willingly against god after such deliverances as these , is a sinne that takes away all excuse , ezra . 9. 10. what shall we say after this , for we have sinned against thee , q. d. we have nothing to say . and it is a sinne that will bring universall and utter destruction , according to that text , ezra . 9. 13 , 14. seeing thou o god hast given us such a deliverance as this , should we againe breake thy commandements , wouldest thou not be angry with us , till thou haddest consumed us , so that there should be no remnant nor escaping . he that doth not serve god the better for this deliverance , it is pitty he was delivered . 6. we are bound by the bond of covenant . quot promissiones , tot ora . so many vowes and covenants we have made with god , so many mouthes to call upon us to serve him . when we were baptized we entered into a solemne covenant to renounce the devill and all his workes , and to be christs faithfull souldiers unto our lives end . and every time we receive the sacrament of the body and bloud of christ , we renew our vowes and covenants . and it is not a weeke since ye entred into into a sacred and solemne promise to amend your lives . the vow of god is upon you . and therefore i may say as christ doth , give unto god the things which are gods . if service be not due doe not give it him , but if it be due it is injustice to deny it him . we are all servinati , servi empti , jurati , faederati , consecrati , conducti . we are all the borne servants of god , and better we had never been borne , if we doe not serve him . we are all the bought servants of god , christ hath bought us with a dear price , even with his owne precious bloud , he became not only a man , but a servant , to buy us to be his servants . we are the purchace of jesus christ , and it is a high act of robberie to deprive him of his purchase . we are the sworne servants of god , and we are forsworne if we doe not serve him , and serve him aright as we ought to doe . we have taken a covenant to serve him better , and we are covenant-breakers , if we doe not serve him , which is one of the black-marks of a reprobate . we are consecrated to the service of god , and dedicated to him by our baptisme , and therefore it is a sin of sacriledge not to serve him . we are all the hired servants of god . all the blessings and mercies we receive daily from god are nothing else , but gods presse-mony to hire us to serve him , and it is a shame to receive such great wages and to doe no service for it . and thus you see what a great necessity lies upon all men , as well as great men to serve god . the third thing propounded for explication is , to shew the necessitie that lies upon great men in particular to serve god , and to serve him with all those ingredients , and with all the circumstances of ioshuah's choice . great men are bound to serve god as well as others , and to serve god rather then others . first as well as others . first , because they are gods creatures as well as others . bound by the six-fold bond before named , as well as others , they are servinati , serviempti , &c. and therfore unjust , perjured and sacrilegious , if they withdraw themselves from his service . secondly , they must die as well as others , and death makes all equall . diogenes could find no difference in the grave , betweene the bones of king philip and other men , as he told alexander the great . thirdly , they must appeare and stand before god at the day of iudgement , to give an account as well as others , revel. 20. 12. i saw the dead great and small standing before god . fourthly , there is no man great in comparison of god . though a man may be said to be great in comparison of his neighbour ; yet in comparison of god all the world is but as the drop of a bucket . and if all asia , africa , europe and america be but as the drop of a bucket in comparison of god , what a little drop of this drop is one great man . there is a greater nearenesse betweene a king and a toade then between a king and god . for toades are gods creatures , and so are kings , and both finite ; but there is an infinite distance between the great god , and the greatest king . as great men are to serve god , as well as others . so also rather then others . and that because , first , they have more reason then others . god hath advanced them above others in dignity , honour and wealth , and therefore he expects they should bring more honour to him then others . a king looks to be acknowledged by all , but especially by those who are his creatures . and therefore caesar cried out to brutus , & tufili ? what thou my sonne ? so those whom god hath exalted and made as it were gods upon earth , he looks that these gods should not serve the devill , which would be a paradox beyond expression . the higher the elements are the purer they are . aire is purer then water , and fire then aire . the higher you are in office and wealth , the holier and purer you ought to be . we doe not expect as much light from a candle as from the sunne . if god have made thee one of the great lights of the world ; he lookes thou shouldest shine and out-shine others in holinesse and righteousnesse . it is a wicked opinion that is spread abroad in the world , that the greater any man is , the lesse service he need doe unto god . hence it is that if we observe any little sparke of piety in great persons , we are ready to behold it as a blazing commet , and to cry it up in the superlative degree . but the truth is , the golden rule of christ teacheth us otherwise , to whom much is given , ( faith christ , luk. 12. 47. ) much is required . and you your selves require most service of those servants to whom you give most wages . god did not require tentallents of him to whom he gave but five , but he required ten of him to whom he gave ten . all creatures the nearer to god the more perfect they are , the angels more excellent then men , and the essence of men more excellent then beasts , and beasts then plants , &c. so the nearer any man is to god in power and greatnesse , the better , purer and holier he ought to be . insomuch that it is reckoned as a great aggravation , that the hands of the princes and rulers were the chiefe in a trespasse , ezra 9. 2. their being rulers did not excuse , but increase their fault . and ieremy tels us , jer. 5. 5. that he would goe to the greatmen , to see if the way of the lord , as expecting more goodnesse from them then others . of which when he failed , he threatens greater judgements against them then others . secondly , as great men have greater reason then others . so they have greater abilities and opportunities to serve god then others . now every ability and opportunity is a talent with which we are betrusted , and for which we must be accountable . the wise-man tells us , ecclesiast . 7. 11. that wisdome is good with an inheritance . wisdome is good without an inheritance . but it cannot doe so much good when it is seated in a poore man , as when it is joyned with an inheritance . when divine wisdome and honours meet together , they are like apples of gold in pictures of silver . riches and greatnesse have made many good men bad , but never any bad man good , and yet they put a price in a good mans hand to doe much good . as a good musicall instrument doth not make a skillfull musitian , but a skilfull musitian can play better upon a good instrument then upon a bad one . if the man be gracious and religious that is great and rich , he will make sweeter harmony and melody in gods eares , then if he were poore and in a low estate . it is not to be expressed what attractive power there is in the good examples of great men to make others good . great men are like unto looking-glasses , according to which all the country dresse themselves , and if they be good looking-glasses they doe a world of good . when crispus the chiefe ruler of the synagogue beleeved , many of the corinthians hearing of it , beleeved also , act. 18. 8. when shechem and hamor were circumcised , they quickly perswaded their people to be circumcised also . ioshuah's example in my text made all israel enter into covenant to serve god . and if the great-men and the rich-men of the kingdome would appeare in more number , and more couragiously and resolutely in the great cause of the warre now undertaken by the parliament , how quickly would the whole land arise as one man to take part with them . what mighty loadstones were nehemiah , ezra and zerubbabell to draw thousands of people to goe with them from babylon to ierusalem to rebuild the temple . so much for the explicatory part . now for the use and the application . and here i will apply my selfe . first , to all men in generall , not excluding great-men . and secondly , to great-men in particular , and yet not excluding other men . first , to all in generall . this text speakes a word of reproofe to all those that make a quite contrary choise to ioshuah's choice , that choose to serve other masters and not the lord . and of these there are 4 sorts . 1. such as choose to serve men and not the lord . the apostle faith , 1 cor. 7. 23. ye are bought with a price , bee not ye the servants of men ; which words doe not forbid the civill relation and subjection of a servant to his master , but they reproove two sorts of men . 1. such as subject their consciences to the superstitious inventions of men in gods worship , that build their religion upon mans bare authority . such servants are all the papists that build their religion upon the popes infallibility : these are servants of men . 2. such as are servants to the lusts of wicked men , that serve men when they runne in a crosse line to gods will . such were the subjects of nebuchadnezzar , that at the command of the king worshipped the golden image , and served the king and not the lord . such was pilate that for feare of displeasing caesar , delivered up christ to be crucified , though he knew him to be innocent . and would to god we had not many amongst us that sell their consciences , their religion , and their salvation to be panders to the lustfull , covetous and ambitious desires of great men ! such were the nobles of cambyses . cambyses had a lust to marry his owne sister , he sends for all his councell and asketh , if they had any law in persia to allow him to marry his sister ? they answered , that there was no such law . but yet there was another law , that the kings of persia might doe what they list . these nobles were slaves to the lust of cambyses . and if we had not such nobles and gentlemen amongst us , these unhappy warrs would quickly be at an end . alexander had two friends * hephaestion and craterus . one loved him as a man , the other as a king . he that loved him as a man , laboured to satisfie the kings lusts , and to please him as a man in all his desires , whether lawfull or unlawfull . he that loved him as a king , desired to please him in such things which were just , and which tended to the kings honour and the peoples safety . now i demand which of these two were alexanders best friend ? our soveraigne king hath two such kind of friends . two such kind of friends had rehoboam , and by hearkning to his young-men and refusing the councell of his old and grave councellours , he ruinated himself and his posterity , which god forbid our king should do . secondly , i am to reprove such as chose to serve the times and not the lord , that change their religion with the times ; that will be superstitious , if the times be superstitious , and devout or atheisticall , according to the times , whose religion is like a peece of waxe to be moulded into any frame , according as the timesalter and change . such were the samaritans , that when the jewes were in prosperity would professe themselves to be of the jewish religion , but when the jewes were in adversity , they would disclaime them and their religion . many such samaritans amongst us , that in king edward the sixt's dayes turned protestants , in queene maries turned papists , and in queen elizabeths dayes turned protestants againe . there are thousands in this age that are time-servers and not god-servers . many such ministers , and many such magistrates , many such people ; i have much thought of two wicked speeches , too too much practised in these our dayes . the one is of a deepe polititian . that it was good to follow the truth , but not too neare at the heeles , least it dash out our braines . there are many such that would be glad to seeme to be religious , and to owne the cause of religion , which is now asserted by the parliament , but they are afraid to owne it too publikely or too zealously , for feare it should hinder their preferment , and dash out the braines of their promotions . another speech is that of the king of navarre to beza , that he would launch no farther into the sea of religion , then he might be sure to returne safe into the haven . this is the true picture of a time-server , to dive no farther into the deepes of religion , to appeare no farther in this great cause of religion , then he can be sure to save his estate , and to save his carcasse . i read of the men of issacar , that they were wise to understand the times , to know what israel ought to doe . it is wisedome to observe times , so as to know our duty . but it is damnable wickednesse to serve the times and not the lord , to ring changes as the times change . 3. to reprove such that choose to serve themselves and not the lord . that set up themselves as god , and doe whatsoever is good in their own eyes , and make their wills their scripture . this is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} and {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . this is selfe worship , and selfe idolatry , which is the greatest idolatry of all . it is the greatest curse under heaven for god to give a man over to himselfe to live as he list , psalm . 81. 11 , 12. rom. 1. 26. i have read of one given over to the devill for his good , but never of any given over to himselfe but for his damnation . and therefore austin prayeth , lord deliver me from my selfe ! let it be our prayer , lord give me not over to my selfe ! fourthly , i am to reprove such that choose to serve sinne and not the lord . it is one thing to be a sinner , another thing to be a servant of sinne . a servant of sinne , is one that gives himselfe over to the service of sinne , that is bound apprentise to sinne . observe the difference betweene paul and ahab . paul was sold under sinne , but it was against his will . but ahab sold himselfe willingly to worke wickednesse . many such ahabs that serve sinne as the centurion servants served him , if sinne bid goe they goe . such a slave was herod to his herodias , felix to his drusilla . such servants are swearers and drunkards , that are at the service of their oathes and cups . there are many men that are slaves to the mammon of iniquity . that doe not only possesse money , but are possessed of money , that are had of money , that with iudas will sell jesus christ himselfe for 30. peeces of silver . there are many that are slaves to their preferments , that say with agrippina concerning nero , peream ego modo ille imperet . that sell their part in heaven to get a little honour here upon earth . and to speake my mind plainely , there are two sinnes which are as two mighty loadstones to draw hundreds from the parliaments side . covetousnesse and ambition . could the parliament feed these sinnes as well as they are fed at oxford , our miserable distractions would quickly be at an end . what made baalam goe to balak ? at first he said , if balak would give me his house full of gold and silver i cannot goe beyond the word of the lord ; but yet afterwards being mad after the wages of iniquity , he went and did much hurt to gods people , but it was to his own ruine at last , and this will be the end of all those that are the servants of sinne . the apostle speakes excellently , for when ye were servants of sinne , ye were free from righteousnesse . what fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? for the end of those things is death . in which words the apostle teacheth us , that the service of sinne is both shamefull and damnable . first , it is shamefull . for to serve sinne , is to serve the devill , ioh. 8. 44. oh that the world would beleeve this , that when they serve pride , and covetousnesse , and ambition , &c. they serve the devill , and therefore cyprian brings in the devill upbraiding christ , ostende mihi tot servos qui tibi , &c. shew me if thou canst so many servants that have served them so diligently and so willingly as i can shew that have served me . if the devill should appeare in humane shape , you would think it horrible idolatry to adore him , and yet when you obey sinne , you doe this and worser then this , for sinne is worser then the devill ; the devill is gods creature , but sinne hath nothing of god in it . sinne is the devils excrement , as barnard saith ; and it must needs be a loathsome service to be servant to so vile a thing . secondly , it is a cursed and damnable service , for the wages of sinne is death . how comes it then to passe that sinne hath so many servants ? because sinne deales with sinners , as the philistims did with sampson . first , it puts out our eyes , that we should not see the vilenesse and cursednesse of sinne , and then it puts us in the mill to grind as sinnes slave . and therefore christ sent paul to the gentiles , to open their eyes , &c. acts 26. 18. this was his first worke . the lord open our eyes to see the shamefulnesse and damnablenesse of sinnes service . 2. to reproove those that make ioshuas choise but not with ioshuas ingredients , that choose to serve god , but doe not serve him undividedly , everlastingly , sincerely , zealously , reverently , &c. we live in an age wherin god had never more servants , and yet never lesse service ; as one saith ; there are many divines , but few that live like divines . so god hath many servants , but few that doe him service . there are some that divide betweene the service of god and the service of sinne , like the false mother that would have the child divided . as cambden reports of redwald king of the east-saxons , the first prince of this nation that was baptized , yet in the same church he had one altar for christian religion , another altar for heathenish religion : so there are many such false-worshippers of god , that divide the rooms of their soules betweene god and the devill , that sweare by god , and by malcham , zeph. 1. 5. that sometimes pray , and sometimes curse , that sometimes goe to gods house , sometimes to a play-house ; that are of a mungrill-religion , halting betweene god and baal , heteroclites in religion , but god cannot endure this division . this is to set thy threshold by gods threshold , ezek. 43. 8. this is to set the arke and dagon together , which god will never endure , god cares not for one halfe of thy heart , if sinne and the devill hath the other halfe . there are others that serve god , but their service is but as a morning cloud , and as an early dew it quickly vanisheth , of whom i may say justly that which nabal did unjustly of david , there are many servants now a dayes that breake away every man from his master . many now a dayes , and more in our dayes then in former dayes . we live in an apostatizing age , wherein there are many falling starres , but few fixed starres ; many that were once whiter then milke , as rubies , and polished saphires in regard of their glorious profession , but now they are blacker then acoale , they are withered and become like a stick ; that were yesterday gods people , but to day are turned enemies . to these i say as s. peter doth , better they had never known the way of righteousnesse , &c. 2 pet. 2. 20. this relapse makes thy condition the worse , as relapses in all kinds are most dangerous . and it is also a signe thou esteemest the service of sinne better then the service of god . for he that first served sinne , and then turned to the service of god , and afterwards falls againe to the service of sinne , proclaimes to all the world that he esteemes the service of sinne , better then the service of god , which is an affront to god of an high nature . there are others serve god , but it is all in hypocr●sie . we live in a complement all age , our mouthes are full of service . it is an ordinary phrase , your humble servant , my humble service , and yet it may be we intend no service at all , but hate them in our hearts . even so we deale with god . many like the souldiers that bowed to christ and mocked him ; that give their outsides to god , and their insides to all uncleannesse ; that as luther saith of cain , give opus personae deo , but not personam , their cap and knee to god , but themselves to sinne and iniquity . and indeed this is the capitall and crying sinne of this age ; religion is that which is pretended on all hands : the defence of the protestant religion , this newes we heare daily from oxford . and for this purpose there is an army of papists raised to defend the protestant religion . and in this horrid conspiracy ( for the discovery of which we are here met to blesse god , ) there was a declaration framed , to assure the people , that the chiefe cause of their insurrection was to maintaine the protestant religion . just as the gun-pouder traitors , that would have blowne up the parliament for the good of the catholick religion , tantum religio poterat suadere malorum ; the lord lay not this great sinne of hypocrisie to the charge of this nation . for my part i am confident that the popish army , and the plundering army , will fight no otherwise for the protestant religion , then a theefe doth for a true mans purse , which is not to preserve it , but to take it away . there are a fourth sort that serve god , but it is so coldly , as if god were a dead idoll : where shall we find a man fervent in spirit as serving the lord ? where is our ancient zeale ? oh the cold prayers , frozen sacraments , &c. it is possible to find a living christian , but where shall we find a christian lively and active in gods service ? remember god will spue out of his mouth a lukewarme laodicean , which is a remarkeable place : for that which we spue out , we doe it with delight ; we choose some dirty corner to ease our stomacks in , and we never reassume what we once spue out : and all this to signifie ; that god will for ever cast off with delight , and with shame and confusion , a cold , dead , lukewarme christian , especially in these active times . others serve god , but it is with such horrible irreverence and negligence , such sleepinesse , such lazinesse , as that we would account it a great indignity to be so served by any of our own servants . i read that caesar spake to one that was afraid to give him too much respect , hic homo timet timere caesarem , this man is afraid to be afraid of caesar . so there are many that are afraid to be too reverent in gods service : and indeed a man may be too reverent with superstitious reverence , which is irreverence in gods esteeme . but to be reverend with scripture reverence , both inward and outward , this is so necessary , as that god will not accept of our service without it . augustus spake to one that entertained him with homely entertainement , who made you and i so familiar ? we must so serve god as to remember our distance ; cursed is he that doth the worke of the lord negligently . there are others that serve god , and enter into covenant to serve him , as you have lately done ; but it is with so many limitations , qualifications , reservations and distinctions , that god connot but abhorre it . some will serve god with an if : if they can keepe their promotions . some will serve god in some things and not in others ; such was herod that did many things , but still reserved his herodias ; such was ananias and saphira , that kept back halfe . hundreds say with naaman , in this the lord pardon me . some will serve god at some times and not at others , in some places and not in others ; but the lord abhominates all thy services if it be not universall in all things , at all times , in all places , with all thy faculties . others serve god , but it is according to their own fancies , that are more zealous for one superstitious invention , then for all gods commandements : you shall know such by this marke , they that are so much for superstitious formes of godlinesse , doe most hate those that have the true power of godlinesse . the pharisees were the deadliest enemies christ had , and the iewes stirred up the devout women to persecute paul , acts 13. 50. by all this that hath bin said , you may perceive the reason ; 1. why god hath so many servants , and yet so few servants that he delights in ; because there are so few that serve him undividedly , everlastingly , inconditionally , zealously . or , 2. why god abhorreth all our fastings , and prayers , and sacraments ; or why god saith to our services as he did to the iewes ; to what purpose is the multitude of your services ? i am weary of them , &c. because we serve god with lip-service onely , and knee service , we serve him negligently , and partially , and coldly . or , 3. why so few goe to heaven ? because so few make ioshuas choice with ioshuas ingredients ; for unlesse we indeavour to serve him here with those fore-named ingredients , we shall never be saved hereafter . but now i shall apply my selfe in particular to great men , and yet not excluding others . this text reproves those that are advanced by god into great places of honour and wealth , and that thinke themselves priviledged by their greatnesse , to be greater in iniquity then in greatnesse , that make no other use of their greatnesse , but to sinne without controule ; that are great men , and great swearers , great adulterers , great atheists , great scoffers and mockers at godlinesse . let these men know ( if any such here , ) that the great god is greater then the greatest . gods lawes are not like unto cobwebs ( as it is said of mans lawes ) to catch little flies , and let the great flies escape ; but god will especially punish great men if they be great transgressours . and therefore elijah tells ahab , the dogs shall lick thy blood , thine even thine ; and obed tells the princes of iudah , are there not with you , even with you , sinnes against the lord your god ? god made great nebuchadnezzar to graze like an oxe . great agag was hewed in peeces . god hath his hand-writing upon the wall , to make the great belshazzars of the earth to tremble , whilest they are carousing in their sacrilegious cupps : great herod to whom the people cryed , it is the voice of god not of man , was eaten up of wormes , repeating these words in the midst of his torments , as iosephus reports , behold ye me that seemed to you as a god , how miserably i am inforced to depart from you all . in the old world there were giants and mighty anakims , men great in power , and greater in sinne ; their sinnes were giant-like , and god sent a mighty flood to destroy them . the sinnes of superiours , as they are more visible then the sinnes of inferiours ( as the ecclipse of the sunne is sooner seene then the ecclipse of a starre ; and a wart upon the face is sooner seene then upon another part , ) so also they doe a great deale more hurt , and therefore their condemnation shall be the greater . they doe more hurt two wayes , by imitation , and by imputation . 1. by imitation ; therefore ieroboam is said to make all israel to sinne , because his idolatrous example made all israel to sinne . when saul fell upon his sword , his armourbearer seeing the king to doe so , fell also upon his sword and killed himselfe . when great men fall into sinne , they fall as men that fall in a croud , drawing many others downe with them . the persians thought a crooked nose to be a great ornament , because their emperour cyrus had a crooked nose . and because alexander the great had a wry neck , his courtiers did all strive to goe awry with their necks . the bodies of men are not so subject to be infected by the illnesse of the aire , as the soules of men by the vices of their rulers . secondly , by imputation ; for though it be a certaine truth , that god never punisheth an innocent nation , the soule that sinneth shall dye : yet it is as certaine ; that god doth oftentimes take an occasion to punish a sinnefull nation , by imputing the punishment of the rulers sinne upon the people , or rather by punishing the people for their sinnes , and the ruler in the people . quicquid delirant reges plectuntur achivi . david had sinned in numbring the people , and for this sinne 70000. of his people must perish by the plague . no doubt the israelites were grievous sinners , and so it is expresly said , 2 sam. 24. 1. but the most just god at the same time , punished the people and david also in the losse of his subjects . as it is no wrong in a judge to make the back of a theefe pay for the sinne which his hand hath committed , no more is it injustice in god to punish the members of a politick body when the head is in fault ; so neere is the union betweene prince and people , and so prone are the people to follow the sinnes of their princes , and so to partake of their punishments . and therefore if the sinnes of great men bring poore people into miseries , it is just and equall that great men should be brought into misery for those sinnes for which they bring others into misery . but besides this ; there are two other reasons why god will be sure to punish great men when they are great offenders . 1. because the punishing of great men doth a great deale more good then the punishing of others . for hereby it appeares , that god is no respecter of persons : tribulation and anguish upon every soule that doth evill , and first upon the rulers and nobles , and then upon others . and hereby also inferiours and poore people are kept under subjection to gods law , when they perceive that their superiours cannot escape without gods severe chastisement . as in a schoole , when the master picks out one of the greatest youths in the schoole and whips him for a fault , all the little boyes sit and tremble , and learne to avoid those faults for which they see their betters punished . thus when goliah the great was slaine , all the philistimes fled away presently . the beholding of gods severe punishments upon great ones , will be a notable sermon to make inferiours godly and religious . 2. because unles god did punish great men they would escape altogether unpunished . great men by mony , by might and authority , by friends , and through feare for the most part are free from civill and ecclesiasticall censures . and therefore it behoves the high iehovah to take them into his own hand , and to bring great men into great pressures , if they sin greatly against him . i have read a notable speech in a popish writer , that few confessours of rich men are saved , that is in our english language , few noble-mens chaplaines are saved . and the reason he gives , is , because they are subject to flatter their lords and masters for hope of preferment , and so to bring the guilt of the bloud of the soules of their lords upon their owne soules . now that i may not be guilty of this fault , let me speake my mind freely to you that are gentlemen and noble-men here assembled this day . first , let me tell you that great places , as they are great abilities and opportunities to doe god service and great blessings if improved accordingly . so if they be not improoved for that end they are great curses , they are soule-traps , silken-halters , golden damnations . and there cannot be a greater signe of a man that hath his heaven in this life , then to be great and wicked , rich and wicked . and therefore abraham tels dives , luc. 16. 25. remember sonne that thou in thy life time hast had thy good things , but now thou art tormented . gregory the great never read this text , but it made him tremble , and it may justly cause all such as are cloathed in purple and fare deliciously every day to tremble . consider further that text , 1 cor. 1. 26. you see your calling brethren , how that not many wise men after the flesh , not many mighty , not many noble are called . there are some noble men called , but not many . there are but few that are great and rich here , and great and rich hereafter . a text to be trembled at by great men . the ostrich is not able to fly high as the larke , because her wings are so big . the moone is never in the ecclipse , but when it is in the full , and then it is most distant from the sunne . fullnesse of outward prosperity and happinesse should indeed be maximum vinculum obedientiae , the greatest bond of obedience ; but yet it proves for the most part , maximus laqueus diaboli , the greatest snare the devill hath to entrap our soules . this is the reason why so few of the noble-men and gentlemen of the kingdome appeare on the parliaments side in this great time of necessity . not many mighty , not many noble are called . thus it was in christs time . the great men and the great schollars crucified christ , and the poore received the gospell . the followers of christ were a company of poore people and silly women : this made the chiefe priests say , joh. 7. 48 , 49. have any of the rulers or of the pharisees believed on him ? but this people who knoweth not the law are accursed . thus it was in christs time , and thus it is in ours . poore lazarus goeth to heaven , when rich dives is carried to hell , surgunt indocti & rapiunt coelum , & nos cum nostrâ doctrinâ mergimur in profundum . it was the saying of a schoole-master to a king that sent to see how he did when he was dying . the schoole-master returned this answer . tell the king i am going to a place where few kings come , meaning to heaven . consider lastly those two places of scripture , re. 6. 15 , 16 , 17. the kings and the great men and rich men wish for the mountains to hide them , &c. and isa. 30. 33. tophet is prepared of old even for the king it is prepared . by king is meant in all probability the great king of assyria , as may appeare by the context . the lord give you hearts to consider these things . now i proceed to an use of exhortation . and here i will apply my selfe ; first to all men , as well as great men : secondly , to great men especially , and yet not excluding others . first , to all men in generall . to perswade all men to make ioshuah's choise their choise , to choose to serve the lord , and not only so , but also to serve him with all the ingredients before mentioned ; to serve him transcendently , inconditionally , universally , undividedly , reverently , everlastingly , &c. for it is the manner of serving of god , that is the distinguishing character of a true servant . cain offered sacrifice as well as abell . the wicked worship god , pray and receive sacraments as well as the godly . but abell offered in faith , so did not cain . the godly serve god in sincerity , with reverence , diligence and chearfullnes , indeavouring in all things to keep a good conscience , so do not the wicked . that text which i have so often named , he. 12. 28. makes the acceptation of our service to depend not upon our serving of god , but upon our serving of god with reverence and godly fear . it is the right manner of serving of god , that makes thy service a sweet perfume . and it is the right manner of worshipping also , that makes thee a true worshipper , and that causeth god to delight in thy worship , and to desire to be worshipped by them , according to that excellent place , joh. 4. 23. but the houre commeth and now is , when the true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth : for the father seeketh such to worship him . and therefore let me ingage you all this day for god and his services . let us give up our names to god , and enter into a holy covenant to serve him with all the ingredients . for marke what moses saith , exod. 19. 5. if ye will obey me indeed , then yee shall be a peculiar treasure , &c. he doth not say simply , if you will obey me , but if ye will obey me indeed . and so also , deut. 28. 1. if you will hearken diligently to doe all his commandements then the lord will blesse thee , &c. he doth not say simply , if you will hearken , but if you will hearken diligently , and observe to doe all my commandements . let us serve god as god and for god . as a god transcendently , inconditionally ; for gods sake sincerely , faithfully . to perswade you to the practise of these things , consider what hath bin already said concerning the necessity of this duty . i adde further the consideration of the excellency , profitablenesse , comfortablenesse and easinesse of this duty . the excellency and honourablenesse of joshuah's choice . for indeed it is not only a duty , but a high prerogative to be the servant of the high god , deo servire regnare est . and therefore whereas mat. 13. 17. it is said , many prophets and iust men , &c. in luk. 10. 24. it is said , many prophets and kings , to note unto us , that iust men are kings , rev. 1. 6. this was moses his honour , and it is often repeated , moses my servant , &c. this was ioshuah's honour often repeated : my servant joshuah , &c. this was davids honour , i am thy servant o lord , i am thy servant . and it is prefixed as a title to the 36. psalme . a psalme of david the servant of the lord . it is a great honour that god will thinke us worthy to be his servants . and therfore paul stiles himself , paul a servant of iesus christ . it is the certainest signe of a reprobate to have much wages here , and to want a heart to do service with it . it is a great happines to be in place to do service . it is the honour of our honours to be inabled by them to do god service . non est laboriosa sed amabilis & optanda haec servitus , saith austin . it is no painfull and laborious service , but a service to be loved and longed for . as it is honourable to be a servant of god , so also the services themselves are honourable , pretiosa haec servitus virtutum constat expensis . this precious and honourable service stands in the practise of all vertues , in praying unto god and praising of god , &c. o let this perswade us to begin this day to serve god more strictly then ever . adde secondly , the profitablenesse of this service . there is no service any man doth for god but god takes exact notice of it ; thus god tooke notice of abrahams willingnesse to offer isaac , gen. 22. 16. god takes notice of every circumstance of that that we doe for him . thus christ took notice of mary magdalen and of every circumstance of her washing his feet , &c. luk. 7. 44 , 45 , 46. and mark . 4. 2 , 3. christ observes how farre some came to heare him , and how long they tarried , &c. and as god takes notice of these things in his servants , so he commends them upon all occasions and highly esteemes of them and their services . thus god boasted to satan concerning his servant iob , job 1. 8. hast thou considered my servant job , that there is none like him , &c. and as none observes , commends and prizeth his servants so much as god , so none rewards his servants as god doth . none more able and none more willing . the service of god is perfect freedome , and it will free us from all other services . as a man that buyeth free-hold land , though he pay deare for it , yet it is accounted cheaper then coppy-hold , because it freeth him from many services , vices , which the coppy-hold is obliged unto . if thou beest a servant of gods indeed and in truth , this will free thee from the service of sinne and satan . whereas on the contrary ; if we be not true servants to christ , we shall be slaves to every thing beside him . o quam multos habet dominos , qui unum non habet . o how many lords hath that man that hath not christ for his lord . either thy belly will be thy god , or thy mony , &c. the service of sinne , as it is shamefull , so it is unfruitfull . and it is called , the unfruitfull worke of darknesse . but the service of god , as it is honourable , so it ends in everlasting life . no man ever kindled a fire upon gods altar for nought , mal. 1. 9. in keeping of gods commandements there is great reward , psal. 10. and indeed god himselfe is the exceeding great reward of his servants , gen. 17. 1. this is a service wherein the servant hath all the profit and the master none . object . if there be so much profit in gods service , why are gods servants so much persecuted and afflicted in this life ? answ. 1. this is part of their service to be persecuted , for we serve god by suffering as well as by doing . 2. it is a great honour that god will account us worthy to suffer for him . and therefore the apostles rejoyced that they were accounted worthy to be whipped for christ sake . they did not rejoyce in whipping as whipping , but ( flagella propter christum ) to be whipped for christs sake was matter of great joy unto them . the apostle tels us , that to us it is given , not only to believe , but also to suffer . it is a great gift of god to give us opportunity to suffer for him . this is that to which we are predestinated , 1 thes. 3. 3. our saviour christ reckoneth it as part of our reward in this life , mar. 10. 30. and he professeth that it will mightily increase our reward in heaven , luk. 6. 22 , 23. mat. 5. 12. ob. but why are gods servants so poore if his service be so profitable ? answ. 1. god doth as other masters that keepe their wages till the worke be done . this life is the time of working , hereafter we shall have wages enough , psal. 31. 19. o how great are the good things which thou hast laid up , &c. 2. cor. 4. 17. 2. i answer that for the present even in this life , no servant of god is poore , but so long and so much as god seeth to be good for him , for if it were good to be rich , he should be rich , psa. 84. 10. no good thing would he with-hold from him that liveth a godly life . he that hath given thee christ , will with him give thee all things . he that will give thee a crowne hereafter , will not deny thee a crum here , if good for thee . there are many deare servants of god , to whom god giveth very little wages in this life , because he fore-seeth that if they had a great part of their wages afore-hand , they would doe but little worke . as many work-men that are paid before their worke be done , when they have their pay , begin to slacke their worke . and indeed we see it too too true in many great rich personages that have so much of their pay before hand , that they doe many of them but very little service , and some of them thinke that they are priviledged from doing much service , because they have so much wages , whereas indeed it ought to be an obligation to greater service , as i have already shewed . o that the profitablenesse of this service might ingage us to serve him more faithfully and more diligently then every yet we have done . 3. consider the comfortablenesse of this service . it is a service full of soule-satisfying and soule-ravishing joy , psal. 63. 2. psal. 84. 4 , 10. one day in thy courts is better then a thousand , &c. how did hannah rejoyce after she had bin praying ? how did the eunuch rejoyce after he had bin baptized ? o the pure and undefiled comfort that is to be found in the word ! this made david say , that he had perished in his affliction had not the word beene his comfort . what ineffable comfort in a sacrament rightly received , and after a few teares shed for sin , after a prayer made with the 10. ingredients formerly named . and the reason why the service of god is so brim-full of comfort , is , 1. because gods service is a type of heaven , wherin is fulnesse of joy . 2. because in the service of god we have communion with god , who is the god of all consolation , and with the spirit of god , who is called the comforter . and as a man that walkes amongst perfumes must needs smell of the perfume . so they that converse with the god of all joy must needs be filled with all joy . and therefore david cals god his exceeding joy , ps. 43. 4. if there be so much comfort in gods service , what is the reason that wicked men account it a wearisomnes and a burden , and snuffe at it , as it is , mal. 1. 13. you may as well aske , why a swine finds no delight in a greene meadow ? even because it is a swine . or why a horse takes no delight in reading ? even because it is above his capacity . a wicked man is like a fish out of his element , when he is in gods service , he is all fleshly , worldly and naturall , and the service is spirituall , heavenly and supernaturall . no wonder therefore he delights not in it . but this is the wicked mans curse . but what is the reason that many of gods people doe not find comfort in gods service ? there are none of gods people but they do sometime or other find comfort , either in the ordinances , or from the ordinances . 2. if at any time they misse of comfort it is because they doe not meet with god , whom they came to converse withall . as when a man goeth to meet with a friend , and meets him not , he comes away sadded in his spirit . so when a child of god comes to an ordinance , hoping to enjoy sweet communion with god in it , and then failes of his expectation , this must needs fill him full of sadnesse . and therfore bernard hath an excellent speech . nunquam abs te recedo domine sine te . that he never went from god without god . give me leave to adde a clause to bernards speech . and happy is that christian that when he goeth to converse with god in his ordinances can say . nunquam ad te accedo sine te , nunqum abs te recedo sine te . oh lord i never come to thee , but i meet thee , and i never goe from thee , but i carry thee with me . but what is the reason that gods people doe sometimes misse of gods comfortable presence , when they come to serve god ? because they doe not bring the ingredients formerly named . they doe not serve god with reverence , diligence , zeale , chearfullnesse , &c. either they bring no vessels at all to hold the consolations of god , ( i meane no hunger after gods presence in an ordinance . ) or else they bring vessels so little and so narrow mouth'd that will hold but very little water . ( i meane they bring so little hunger after god , that god will not vouchsafe to satisfie it . ) or else it is because they bring their ordinary hearts , their carnall and worldly hearts to heavenly , spirituall and extraordinary duties . hearts unsutable to the duties , and hearts unsensible of the duties . or els there is some achan unstoned , some sin unrepented on , that ecclipseth the light of gods countenance , some spirituall obstruction . these and such like are the causes why gods people misse sometimes of comfort in gods service . but the fault is never in the service , which is so brim-full of such rare and ravishing comforts , that bernard relates this story of himselfe , that av when he went to his prayers he found himselfe dull and heavy , but after he had strugled a little with his dullnesse , all on a suddaine , he was visited with the visitation of the almighty , beatum me praedicarem , &c. i should account my selfe happy ( saith he ) if these visitations would alwayes last , sed rara hora , brevis mora , oh si duraret ! but , ô but it continueth but for a while ! and st. austin relates this story of himselfe , that upon a time when he and his mother monica were discoursing together about the joyes of heaven , and the comforts of gods spirit , they were so filled with joy that austin useth these words , lord thou knowest in that day , quam mundus eviluit cum omnibus suis delectationibus , &c. how vildly we did esteeme of the world with all his delights . the comforts of the world are not worthy to be named that day that we speake of these comforts . oh let the comfortablenesse of this service oblige you from hence-forth to serve god better then ever yet you have done . adde fourthly and lastly , the easinesse of this service , matth. 11. 29 , 30. my yoake is easie and my burden is light . how can the service of god be said to be easie ? to a fleshly carnall heart it is a burden intolerable . but it may be said to be easie . 1. in regard of the service god required under the covenant of works . for there god required perfect obedience in our owne persons , not admitting of repentance . but in the service required under the covenant of grace , we have a mediatour to fly unto , and admittance unto favour upon repentance . 2. it may be said to be easie , in regard of the service of sinne and of the devill . there are many that take more paines to serve sinne and money , then those that goe to heaven doe to serve god . many take more pains to goe to hell , then others doe to goe to heaven . 3. it may be said to be easie , in regard of the many services it frees us from , as you heard even now . as diogenes told alexander , when he boasted that he was lord of the whole world . tu servus servorum meorum es . illis enim cupiditatibus quibus ego impero tu mancipiumes . thou art a servant to my servants , a slave to those lusts over which i am lord . 4. easie to the new nature , rom. 7. 22. as the light of the sunne is delightsome to those that have good eyes , so the service of god to those that are new creatures . it is as naturall to the new creature to pray , as it is to the old-creature to be drunke . 5. easie to those that have the aid of gods spirit . as it is easie for a child to goe up stairs when his father leads him up . so when led by the spirit . 6. easie to those that are in christ . and therefore christ saith , take up my yoake . christ cals it his yoake . because he drawes it with us , and he drawes all . as it is easie for a little child to life up a great weight , when a giant holds his hand , and lifts with him and for him . 7. easie to those that love god , 1 john 5. 3. iacob for the love of rachell accounted lightly of his service . love adds wings to make our service easie . 8. easie to those that have the right art of serving of god . as in all trades almost there is an art , which when we have once got the trade is easie . so there is an art of praying and preaching , and hearing and receiving the sacrament , &c. an art taught us by the god of heaven , which whosoever hath , accounts it not a burden , but a heaven , to be serving of god . 9. easie to those that have the consolations of gods spirit in the service of god . as merchants doe ordinarily give a tast of their wines to those to whom they sell them , that so they may be invited to buy them . so god doth give a taste of heaven to his servants in his service , a praelibamen of heaven to invite them to serve him more cheerfully . a hound is never weary as long as he hath the sent of the hare . no more is a servant of god , as long as he enjoyeth god in his service . 10. easie in regard of what it might have been . thou mightest have bin in hell at this instant , past worshipping god , suffering everlasting torments . 11. easie to doe what god for christ sake in the covenant of grace well accept , though not to doe what god requires . 12. easie in regard of the great reward , the exceeding great reward that god will give to his servant . finis dat amabilitatem , & facilitatem medijs . the end proposed to a worke makes the worke amiable and easie . where the reward is fullnesse and perpetuity of happinesse , no service can be said to be hard , to purchase such a reward . all this is spoken that none might be deterred from the service of god upon a false supposall of the difficulty and impossibility of it . and it is my earnest prayer that these motives might perswade us , not only to serve god , but to serve him with all the ingredients . tertullian observes , god was never called lord , till man was made . he is the peculiar lord of man . o let man be his chiefe servant . all creatures in their course serve god . none but man and devils deny it . and how just is it for god to joyne him with the devils in punishment , that joynes with the devill in dishonouring of god . remember when we come to judgement this will be the great question christ will put to us , not to aske us , what money we have got , what honours we have purchased ? but what service have you done to me and for me ? this is the end for which thou wert created . christ will aske whether this be done ? and if not done , thou art undone . when christ came to die he said , iohn 17. 3 , 4. father glorifie me for i have glorified thee . happy is that man that when he comes to die can make this argument . father i have fought a good fight , i have made it my worke to doe thee service , &c. there are many that can plead , father i have dishonoured thy name , and therefore glorifie me ! but this is a false argument . let us labour to make christs prayer in sincerity and faithfulnes . but now i come to apply my self to great men , and noble men in particular . let me speak unto you in davids words , psal. 29. 1 , 2. give unto the lord o ye mighty , give unto the lord glory and strength , give unto the lord the glory due to his name . and let me use davids reason , psa. 29. 5. the voice of the lord breaketh the cedars , yea the lord breaketh the codars of lebanon . as the higher the tree is , the more it is exposed to the thunder of heaven . so the greater any man is , the sooner god will punish him if he be a giant in iniquity . for he bindeth kings in chaines , and nobles in linkes of iron . he toucheth the mountaines and they smoake . if thou beest as a mountaine in greatnesse , and thy sinnes as mountaines in greatnesse , god will make thee smoake , &c. great men must labour to be like the great god , who is as great in goodnesse , as in greatnesse . deus optimus maximus , like unto iob , who was the greatest man in the east , and the best man in the east . o that i could engage great men this day in sense of gods goodnesse , expressed in this wonderfull deliverance ( for which weare come to blesse god ) to serve god with all the ingredients for the time to come , better then ever they have done for the time past . oh that you would enter into a solemne covenant to sweare no more , to commit adultery no more , to be irreverent , negligent , cold , hypocriticall in gods service no more , to mock and scoffe at gods servants no more . greatnes without goodnesse is like the greatnesse of a dropsie man , it is thy disease , not thy ornament . riches without righteousnesse is like a golden ring in a swines snout , like a sword in a mad mans hand , like an vnicorns horne , which while it is upon the head of the unicorne is hurtfull and deadly , but when it is taken off , it is very usefull and medicinall . honours and riches when in a wicked mans custody , they do much hurt , but when bestowed upon good men , they doe much good . it is a most blessed conjunction , when religion and righteousnesse meet together . it is like a precious diamond in a gold-ring . indeed religion is good wheresoever it is . as a pearle is good though it be in the dirt , it is a pearle , but it is obscured by the dirt in which it is . when goodnesse is seated in a poore man , it is like a jewell in a leaden ring , like a candle under a bushell . but when goodnesse meets with greatnesse , it is like a candle upon a hill that gives light , heat and influence to all the country round about . let no great man thinke it a disparagement to serve god , to weare his livery , and to appeare on his side . for it is gods service onely that can make you truly honourable . since thou wast precious in my sight , thou hast bin honourable , saith the prophet isaiah 43. 4. the men of beraea were more noble then the men of thessalonica , because they received the word with all readinesse of mind , and searched into the scriptures daily , whether those things were so , act. 17. 11. this is the greatest nobility to be a true servant of the great god . a king may give great titles to a great man , but he cannot make a great man . a king may cause a man to be called noble , but he cannot make a man truly noble . a king may command us to call a lion a lambe ; but a king cannot make a lion a lambe . it is the noble mind that makes a man truly noble . this god onely can give . to contemne the world and all worldly things , to mind the things of eternity , to conquer our lusts , to have communion with the great god , to stand for god when all the world opposeth him , this is true nobility . this will make thee noble in this world , and in the world that is to come . i say againe , let no great man account it a disparagement to be gods servant . let him not only consider the example of ioshua a prince and ruler , and of david , and paul before named , but also of constantine the great , who was so attentive to the word when it was preached and so reverent , as that he would sometimes stand up ( as eusebius saith ) all the while . and when his courtiers rebuked him , saying , it would tend to his disparagement ; he answered : that it was in the service of the great god , who is no respecter of persons . take the example of theodosius , who is reported to have written out the new-testament with his owne hand , accounting it as a speciall jewell , and out of it , he read every day praying with his empresse , and with his sister singing of psalmes , &c. suffer me to adde the third time , let not great men thinke it a disparagement to become gods servants , and to serve him strictly and precisely . if these examples will not move you , consider the angels of heaven , who are our fellow-servants , and are said by a kind of excellency , to doe his commandements , hearkning to the voice of his word . the angels serve god with a great deale of alacrity and chearefullnesse , and therefore they are said to have harpes , as a signe of their chearefull mind . the angels serve god with a great deale of diligence and sedulity . and therefore they are said to have wings and to fly . they serve god with a great deale of zeale and ardency , and therefore they are said to be a flaming fire . and therefore also the title of a seraphim is given unto them . the angels serve god universally . they follow the lambe wheresoever he goeth ; they serve him constantly , sincerely . the angels alwaies behold his face , mat. 18. 10. they serve him day and night , revel. 7. 15. oh that the lord would make you more and more angelicall in his service , to doe his will upon earth , as it is done in heaven ! let me adde an example beyond all examples , even the example of iesus christ himselfe , who is called gods servant , esa. 42. 1. and he was a worshipper of god , joh. 4. 22. a diligent keeper of gods sabbath , luk. 4. 16. he used praier in his familie , luk. 9. 18. he was wont to pray secretly by himselfe luk. 5. 16. and he used this custome of prayer morning and evening . in the morning , mark . 1. 35. rising up a great while before daie . and for evening , mat. 14. 23. and this was his custome to doe , luk. 22. 39. he went as he was wont to the mount of olives . and sometimes he would pray all night long , luk. 6. 12. and this worship christ did with as much submission and devotion as ever any servant did , luk. 22. 41. mat. 26. 39. if christ did all this , surely it is no dishonour for the greatest emperour to doe that which christ hath done . as you are called christians , so you must imitate that lord and master , by whose name you are called . let no man wonder that i spend so much time to perswade great men to be exemplary in gods service , and to be diligent and zealous . for if i could convert but one great man this day , i should doe a great deale of service by way of eminency . for as he said , in uno caesare multi insunt marij , in one great man there are many inferiours contained . as it is in printing , the great difficulty is in printing the first sheetes , and when one is printed , it is easie to print hundreds by that . so the great worke of our ministery is to convert great-men , if they were once converted , hundreds would follow their example ; when the great wheele of a clocke is set a moving all the inferiour wheeles will move of their own accord . this was the reason why st. paul was so zealous about the conversion of sergius paulus , who was deputy of the country , and a prudent man , that when elymas the sorcerer offered to withstand him , he burst out into such speeches with such eagernesse , as he never did at any time before , for ought we can reade , oh thou child of the devill , thou enemy of all righteousnesse , &c. and some are of opinion that paul had his name changed from saul to paul , because he converted sergius paulus . for indeed it is a matter of great consequence to convert one sergius paulus , one eunuch . to take one such great fish is more then to take many little ones , though the least of all is not to be despised . there is one argument yet behind , the last , but not the least , and that is from the holy and solemn covenant you lately have taken to amend your lives . the excellency of a christian is not so much in taking a covenant as in keeping of it when taken . and therefore we reade of iosiah , 2 chro. 34. 31 , 32. that he did not onely make a covenant to walke after the lord , and to keepe his commandements with all his heart , &c. but he caused all that were present in jerusalem and benjamin to stand to it . for if that man shall never goe to heaven that will not keepe his promises though made to his hurt , how much more shall they be barr'd from heaven that break those promises that they have made tending to their eternall good . to breake covenant is not only a brand of a reprobate , ( as you have heard ) but it is also a sinne that god hath a quarrell against , and a sinne for which he will be avenged , according to that text , levit. 26. 25. and i will bring a sword upon you , that shall avenge the quarrell of my covenant . and this is one great reason why the sword is now drawne in england , and hath sucked so much bloud , even to avenge the great breach of oaths and covenants , which this nation is deepely guilty of . let me make bold further to remind you , that in this covenant you have also vowed , in order to the preservation of them , to assist the forces raised by the parliament , according to your power and vocation , and not to assist the forces raised by the king , neither directly nor indirectly . and i doubt not but you will make conscience to satisfie these two clauses , and herein you shall expresse the reality of your thanks for this great deliverance this day celebrated . now because the speedy , faithfull and couragious appearance in this great cause of defensive armes , is one of the highest expressions that you can yeeld to the world of your love to god and his gospell , and to his service ; give me leave to speake something about it , not only by way of exhortation , but first by way of commendation , then exhortation , then by way of incouragement , and then i shall conclude . first , by way of commendation . suffer me to speake that which is due to you , and not in mine own words , but to speake the sense of all the well-affected in the kingdome ; we blesse god , that though there are many fallen starres , many lords that have deserted the parliament , that yet you ( right honourable ) stand firme like fixed starres in your orbes , and have taken unwearied paines for the good of the church and state , and have ventured all for your religion and liberties , and many of you lost a great part of your revenewes for the present , and have passed many ordinances very advantageous to the kingdome . the lord be blessed for all the good you have done ! the lord recompence it to you and yours ! the lord grant you may find mercy from the lord at that great day ! it is not the designe of the well-affected party to take away temporall lordships , or the distinction between lords and commons , and to bring all to a popular equality . this is an anabaptisticall fury . i protest against it in the name of all the well-affected ministers . indeed we would be glad to be rid of spirituall lords over our consciences . but as for temporall lords , we pray with david , the lord give you good successe , ride on and prosper . thus much for commendation . now for exhortation , let me exhort you not only to choose to serve god , and to serve his church and his cause in this most just defensive warre , but to doe it with those rare and remarkeable circumstances formerly mentioned in ioshuas choise . first , let me perswade you to appeare more and more publikely in this cause . there are many that thinke it fit onely for poore men that have nothing to loose , to appeare openly in a good cause , but as for those that have great estates , it becomes them to be wary and circumspect , and to seeke rather to save their estates then to hazard all . such a one was nicodemus that came to christ by night , though afterwards he repented and amended , as you may reade , iohn 7. 50 , such were those chiefe rulers , ioh. 12. 42 , that beleeved in christ , but durst not confesse him so feare of the pharisees , least they should be put out of the synagogue . and many such there are in our dayes . but a true christian is so far from being hindred by his riches and greatnesse from appearing for god , that he is glad that he hath riches and honours to loose for god , he receives joyfully the spoiling of his goods . he willingly parts with all for christs cause . and if you aske him why he doth so , he will answer with paulinus nolanus , vt levius ascenderet scalam iacobi , that he might goe the lighter to heaven . he saith as that famous noble-man hormisdas did , who when he was deposed from all his honours because he would not forsake his religion , and afterwards restored to his honours again , and then commanded by the king of persia to renounce his profession . answered , si propter ista me denegaturum christum put as , i st a denuo acoipe . if you thinke i will deny christ for to keepe my honours , take them all back againe . s. austin in his confessions relates an excellent story of one victorinus a great man at rome that had many great friends that were heathen , but it pleased god to convert him to the christian religion , and he comes to one simplicianus , and tells him secretly that he was a christian . simplicianus answers , non credam , nec deputabo te inter christianos , nisi in ecclesiâ christi te videro . i will not beleeve thee to be a christian , till i see you openly professe it in the church . at first victorinus derided his answer , and said , ergone parietes faciunt christianum ? doe the walls make a christian ? but afterwards remembring and often pondering that text of our saviour , he that is ashamed of me before men , i will be ashamed of him before my father , &c. he returnes to simplicianus , and professeth himselfe openly in the church to be a christian . let this text of christ alwayes sound in our eares , he that is ashamed of me , &c. and that text , revel. 21. 8. where the fearefull are put in the fore-front of those that shall goe to hell , before murderers , whoremongers and idolaters , &c. and remember also the publikenesse of ioshuas choice . secondly , let me exhort you to goe on more and more resolutely in this great cause . therefore my beloved bretheren be ye stedfast , unmoveable , alwayes abounding in the worke of the lord , forasmuch as you know that your labour is not in vaine in the lord . it is not enough to doe the worke of the lord , and to abound in it , but we must doe it stedfastly and unmoveably , stedfastly as a tree fastned in the ground , that is not removed though the winds blow never so much ; unmoveable as a rock in the sea , that stands fast though the sea rageth and roareth round about it . for there are so many , and so mighty anakims and zanzummims that are your enemies , so many temptations both of the right hand and of the left , both flattering and frowning , fiery tryalls , and golden apples . so many mountaines of opposition lying in your way , that unlesse you be indued with this excellent grace of spirituall resolution , you will never be able to doe god any service in thesetimes . but this admirable grace of divine fortitude and christian resolution , will make you like a wall of brasse , to beate backe all the arrowes of strong perswasion , that are shot against you . this is armour of proofe , against all kind of temptations . this is as the ballast of a ship , to keepe you steddy in this great cause , without which you will be {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , men of double-minds unsetled and unstable in all your wayes . this is like the angel that rouled away the stone from before the doore of the sepulcher , this will inable you either to remove the great mountaines that lye in your way , or to stride over them . excellent is the story of s. basill . the emperour sent to him to subscribe to the arrian heresie . the messenger at first gave him good language , and promised him great preferment if he would turne arrian . to which basill answered . alas , these speeches are fit to catch little children withall that looke after such things ; but we that are nourished and taught by the holy scriptures , are readier to suffer a 1000. deaths , then to suffer one syllable or title of the scripture to be altered . the messenger offended with his boldnesse , told him he was mad . he answered . opto me in aeternum sic delirare , i wish i were for ever thus mad ! here was a stout cedar . such another was luther , vnus homo solus totius orbis impetum sustinuit , luther alone opposed all the world . such another was nehemiah , who met with so much opposition , that had he not bin steeled by a strong and obstinate resolution , he could never have rebuilded the temple , but would have sunke in the midst of it . such a one was david , that would not be hindered from fighting with goliah though he met with many discouragements . the lord make you such . it is resolution that will make you valiant for the truth , that will make martyrdome as pleasing as a bed of roses , that will make you like men of fire , and all that oppose you as stubble , that will make you say with that good martyr , though we had as many lives as haires on our head , we would loose them all rather then loose our religion . the lord fill your hearts with this grace ! thirdly , i am to beseech you that you would indeavour to approve your selves more and more faithfull to this cause . it is with us as it was with nehemiah when he undertooke the great worke of rebuilding the temple , he was opposed by great men especially . the nobles of tekoah refused to put their necks to the yoake of the lord . this is an eternall brand upon them , nehem. 3. 5. many of the nobles of iudah , did seeme to helpe nehemiah , but they kept secret correspondency with tobiah , and tarried with nehemiah only to give private intelligence to the enemy , and to weaken his hands from going on in the worke , neh. 6. 17. thus it was in nehemiah's dayes . and this is one of the miseries of civill warre above all other kinds of warre : for there are alwayes some false brethren , some iudasses in civill warre . but i beleeve better things of you . the lord make you more and more faithfull to his cause ! remember what became of iudas for his treachery . fourthly , suffer me to put you in mind of the speedinesse of joshuas choice . ioshua had not his religion to choose , and therefore he did not demurre upon his choice . me thinks i heare the whole kingdome beseeching you greatly and saying as the ruler did to christ in another case , the kingdome lieth at the point of death , make haste , oh make haste to heale us . the whole kingdome is on fire , make haste to quench the flames that our sinnes have kindled . nothing will destroy england more then delay . fifthly , let me perswade you to doe some extraordinary service for the kingdome that is now in extraordinary danger . ioshuas choice was extraordinary . though all israel forsooke god , ioshua was resolved to serve god alone . god hath done extraordinary things for you , he hath advanced you above thousands in outward mercies , hee hath done extraordinary things for this cause which you stand up for , he hath given us an extraordinary deliverance this day , and therefore he expects extraordinary service from you . he lookes you should say and doe as esther ; if i perish i perish . and let that text i beseech you lye neare your hearts , and reade it againe and againe . thinke not with your selves that you shall escape in the kings house , more then all the jewes , for if you altogether hold your peace , enlargement and deliverance shall arise to the jewes from another place , but you and your fathers houses shall be destroyed , and who knoweth whether you are come to the kingdome for such a time as this ? he lookes you should venture your selves as ioseph of arimathea did , of whom it is related , that he was a rich man and yet was not afraid to owne the cause of christ , when christ was dead upon the crosse , he went to pilate and begged the body of iesus . he expects you should be like ebedmelech that hazarded his life to helpe ieremiah out of prison , like to noah who walked with god when all the world walked with iniquity , and was like a sparke of fire in a sea of water , and yet continued his heate . like to david , who when michal mocked him for dancing before the arke , answered , it is before the lord , and i will yet be more vile then thus , &c. when you are derided for hazarding lives and estates in this cause , you must reply . it is for god and his religion , i will yet be more vile then thus . oh that the lord would give you a heart to study to doe some singular thing for him ! sixthly , you must doe all this , not onely in your own persons , but you and your houses , you and your tenants , you and all that depend upon you . for every master of a family stands accountable to god for his family as well as for himselfe ; for these publike relations , and subordinations of master and servant , father and child , &c. are from gods appointment , and are parts of our stewardship , for which we must give a severe account . and it is a certaine rule , that man is not a good man , that is not good in all his relations . for there are duties required of us by god in every relation ( as masters , as fathers , as magistrates , as parliament-men , &c. ) the same god that requires us to serve him as private persons , requires us to serve him in our relations , and though thou beest never so carefull of thy duty as a private person , yet thou mayest goe to hell for neglecting thy duty as a master , as a magistrate , as a parliament-man . and although thou shouldest be good in one relation , yet if thou doest not indeavour to be good in every relation , thou shalt never goe to heaven . for the same god that commands thee to serve him as a master , commands thee to serve him as a parliament-man , &c. and he that keepes the whole law , and offends in one point is guilty of all . here is a sea of matter offers it selfe , and matter of great concernement for the regulating of noble-mens families , which are in many places rather beth-avens then bethels ; houses of iniquity rather then houses of god . but i must not launch into this ocean ; onely remember that in the new testament , when the master of the family was converted , all the family was baptized , and what god saith of abraham , gen. 18. 19. and what david saith , psal. 181. 2 , 3 , 6 , 7. and what is said , exod. 20. 11. thou and thy servant . thus much for the exhortations . now for incouragement ; and there is great need to incourage noble-men that set their faces to looke after christ , and to serve him after a strict and holy manner , and that venture all in this cause , to goe on maugre all opposition . for we live in times wherein we may take up that complaint of salvian , si quis ex nobilitate converti ceperit ad deum , statim honorem nobilitatis amittit : oh quantus est in populo christiano honor christi , ubi religio ignobilem facit ! & mali coguntur esse nobiles ne viles habeantur . if any of the nobility begin to be converted to god , presently they begin to loose ( in the eye of the wicked ) all the honour of their nobility . how little is the name of christ esteemed amongst those christians where religion makes a man ignoble , and men are compelled to be wicked , that they may be accounted noble . a true picture of our wicked times . suffer me therefore to offer unto you these following incouragements , as helpes against all the discouragements you meet withall in the zealous and resolute prosecution of this great cause now in hand . 1. the cause you manage is an incouraging cause . it is the cause of god . and let me say to you as luther to melancthon . if the cause be not gods , why doe ye not wholly desert it , but if it be gods cause , why doe you not goe through with it . this is a dilemma that cannot be evaded . the glory of god is imbarked in the same ship in which this cause is in . and you may lawfully plead with god , as ioshua doth , iosh. 7. 9. and as moses doth , numb. 14. 15 , 16. 2. you have an incouraging god , me thinkes i heare god say to you as he doth to ioshuah 1. 6. be strong and of a good courage , &c. and verse 7. onely be thou strong and very couragious , &c. and verse 9. have not i commanded thee , be strong and of a good courage , be not afraid , neither be thou dismaied , for the lord thy god is with thee , whithersoever thou goest . and as ioshuah said to the people of israel , numb. 14. 7. so doth god to you . feare not the people of the land , for they are bread for us , their defence is departed from them and the lord is with us , feare them not . and as moses said , exo. 14. 13 , 14. so saith god , though your enemies be as tall as the anakims : though the red sea be before you , and the egyptians behind you , feare them not , for the lord fights for you . the god whose cause you manage is infinite in power , wisdom and goodnesse , he hath brought us into deeps , not to drowne us , but to wash away our spirituall filthinesse ; not to destroy us , but to manifest his power in our deliverance ; he will deliver us by weake meanes , and by contrary meanes , and he will make use of the treachery of your enemies to be a meanes to deliver you , as he hath done this day . he will kill goliah with his owne sword , and hang haman upon his owne gallows . he will strike strait stroakes with crooked sticks ; as he made the treachery of iosephs brethren to be a meanes to advance ioseph , and the falsenesse of judas to be a way to save all his elect children . 3. you have incouraging promises , exod. 23. 22 , 23. levit. 26. 6 , 7 , 8. deut. 28. 7. 1 sam. 25. 28. isa. 41. 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17. isa. 54. 17. a text common to all gods people , because it is said to be the heritage of the servants of the lord . here are six texts like six pillars to undershore our spirits from falling into discouragements . cast your selves into the bosome of these promises . 4. you have incouraging examples . for we cannot be in a lower condition then ionah was , when he was in the whales belly , tanquam vivus in sepulchro , and yet god commanded the whale to deliver him safe upon the shoare . we cannot be in a worser estate then ieremy was when he was in the dungeon , and sanke in the mire so deepe , as that 30. men could hardly lift him up ; or then peter was when he was ready to sinke : or then moses when put in an arke of bull-rushes , &c. or then the children of israel were in babylon , who were like dry bones in the grave , insomuch as ezekiell himselfe could not tell whether they could live , or as peter when put in prison by herod . and yet notwithstanding god sent a blackmore to deliver ieremy . iesus christ reached out his hand to keepe peter from sinking . god sent pharaohs daughter to preserve moses : and cyrus to deliver israel out of babylon . and he sent his angell to deliver peter out of prison . indeed peter himselfe did not believe it , no more did the church that was praying for him . god sent them a returne of prayers , while they were praying , but they beleeved it not . and thus god hath often done for us . comfort one another with these examples , and carry this home for your everlasting consolation . god never suffers his children to meet with a huge unremoveable difficulty , like the stone before the doore of the sepulcher , but he sends some angell or other to remove it away . 5. you have an incouraging captaine , even the lord jesus , who is the great peace-maker , who is our peace when the assyrian is in the land , micah 7. 9. he hath taken downe the partition wall , he hath made our peace with god . let the deepes of our civill warre call upon the deepes of peace that are in christ . let us beseech the great peace-maker to take downe the great partition wall betweene king and parliament , to make father and sonne of one mind . if christ makes the peace , it must needs be good . jesus christ came into the world , when the jewes were in the saddest condition , in the depth of slavery ( for the scepter was departed from iudah ) and in the depth of divisions , for they had so many severall sects , as they could hardly tell what religion they were off . in this sad condition shiloh came . let us beseech jesus christ to come into england in this low estate , and to bring peace with him , even that christ who descended into the lowest parts of the earth for our sakes , and whose love is a depth that cannot be fathomed , ephes. 3. 17 , 18. the deepes of our misery call upon the depth of his love and mercy , that god for christ sake would pardon our abysse of sinnes both personall and nationall , and bring us out of our abysse of miseries , both personall and nationall . 6. you have incouraging company , you have the lord of hosts to accompany you , and i may say without the least degree of uncharitablenes , you have the major part of gods people on your side . 7. you have incouraging weapons , prayers and teares , fasting and humiliation . as ambrose spake to austins mother by way of incouragement . that a sonne of so many teares could not miscarry . so may i say and i hope proove a true prophet , that a nation of so many prayers and teares shall not be destroyed , god never yet destroyed a nation , wherein there were so many of his children praying , fasting , humbling themselves , and especially at such a time , when they are entring into a solemne covenant of reforming their lives ( as now we are ) if they indeavour to doe these things with all their heart and soule . 8. you have incouraging threatnings against the enemies of gods church . god hath threatned , zach. 12. 2 , 3 , 6. to make jerusalem a cup of poyson , and all that offer to swallow ierusalem shall be poysoned with it , to make jerusalem a burdensome stone , and all that thinke to crush ierusalem shall be crushed by jerusalem ; to make him like a fire , and all his enemies like wood to be devoured by him . god hath threatned concerning the plots of your enemies , psalm . 64. 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. this scripture is this day fulfilled in your eares . the lord give us grace to declare his works , and wisely to consider of his doings . god hath likewise accomplished those two rare scriptures , psal. 7. 14 , 15 , 16 , 17. psal. 9. 15 , 16. let us adde our part , let us praise the lord according to his righteousnesse , let us sing praise to the name of the lord most high , higgaion , selah . 9. you have the incouraging providence of god . the great and wise god , who is our father , hath from all eternity decreed what shall be the issue of these warrs . there is nothing done in the lower house of parliament upon earth , but what is decreed in the higher house of parliament in heaven . all the lesser wheeles are ordered and over-ruled by the upper wheeles . an excellent story of a young-man that was at sea in a mighty tempest , and when all the passengers were at their wits end for feare , he onely was merry , and when he was ask'd the reason of his mirth ; he answered , that the pilot of the ship was his father , and he knew his father would have a care of him . our heavenly father is our pilot , he sits at the sterne , and though the ship of the kingdome be ready to finke , yet be of good comfort , our pilot will have a care of us . are not five sparrowes ( saith christ ) sold for two farthings , and not one of them is forgotten before god . one sparrow is not worth halfe a farthing : you shall not have halfe a farthings worth of harme , more then god hath from all eternity decreed . god hath all ourenemies in a chaine . and if a child saw a lion or a beare in his deare fathers hand chained , so as he might be secure his father could keepe the chaine from being burst , he would not be afraid . and this we are sure god can doe . a 1000000. cyphars stand for nothing , unlesse a figure be joyned to them . all men and devils are but cyphars without god . an hoast of men is nothing without the lord of hoast . the devill cannot goe beyond his tedder . ob. but god permits the enemy to exercise great cruelty upon his own people , and to take away the lives of his choisest servants , witnes the noble lord brooke , and now lately that worthy gentleman m. hampden . answ. 1. let us not be troubled that god permits our enemies to doe us so much hurt , but rather be comforted that they can doe nothing , but what our wise and most loving god permits , and fore-decrees for the good of his children . 2. i answer with our blessed saviour . feare not them that can but kill the body , and after that can do no more . it is no great matter ( in christs opinion ) to have the body killed . the body is but the cabinet , the iewell is the soule . and if the iewell be safe in heaven , no great matter to have the cabinet broken . it is said of king iosiah , that he should goe to his grave in peace , and yet he died in a battell . he that dyeth with the peace of a good conscience , dieth in peace , though he be killed in a battell . blessed is the man that breaths out his last breath in doing god service . he that dies fighting the lords battels dies a martyr . an excellent thing for a minister to die preaching , and a souldier die fighting . it is but winking with our eyes ( as the martyr said ) and we are presently in heaven . blessed and twice blessed are those that die in the lord , and for the lord . 3. god many times takes away his choisest servants , because we idolize them too much , as he did the king of sweden . and also because he would teach us to trust only to his helpe , who will deliver us by weake instruments , when he takes away strong and able instruments , that he may have all the glory . lastly , you have incouraging experiments . and surely if any nation under heaven may reason from experience , and rely upon experiences this nation may . god hath delivered us from the beare and the lion , from the spanish navy in eighty eight , and since from the gun-pouder treason , from civill warres betweene scotland and england . and when there was a designe to bring the army up against london , god did then deliver us . and when we were in the valley of the red horse ( as it is called ) neare edge-hill , where the enemy thought to have cast us downe the hill , as the iewes would have served christ , then god did also deliverus . and for this cause we are here this day , to praise god for a wonderfull and miraculous deliverance . and therefore wee may confidently say with the apostle , 2 corinth . 1. 10. who delivered us this day from so great a death and doth deliver , in whom wee trust that he will yet deliver us . it is observable that when moses went up to the mount to pray , hee tooke the rod of god in his hand . the reason is given , because , by that rod god had formerly done wonderfull things for his people ; and the very sight of that rod did incourage moses to trust in god from the experience of his former goodnesse . let us never goe to our prayers , but let us carry the rod of god in our hand and heart . i meane the solemne and serious contemplation of this dayes deliverance , and of gods former wonderfull goodnesse , and let us say with the apostle , 2 tim. 4. 17 , 18. notwithstanding the lord stood with me and strengthned me , &c. and i was delivered out of the mouth of the lion . and the lord shall deliver me from every evill worke , and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdome ; to whom be glory for ever and ever . amen . amen . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a32047e-170 theod. notes for div a32047e-680 ps. 50. 23. ps. 33. 1. ps. 147. 1. 2 chron. 33. 16. doctr. the first part of the explication . 1 chro. 28 12 , 19. mat. 15 9. col. 2 23. col. 2. 18. quest . answ. 1. ier. 17. 10. mat. 14. 51. act 16 7. deut. 29. 1 act. 13. 22. {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . the second part of the explication . luk. 1. 74 , 75. 1 cor. 9. 7. phll. 2. 7. rom. 1. 31 the third part of the explicatiō why great men are bound to serve god as well as others . isa 40. 15. chrys. reasons why great men are to serve god rather the others . eccl. 7. 11. use of reprehensiō . first to all men not excluding great men . 1 cor. 7. 23. thus ambrose . thus chrysostone . ioh. 18. 19 * {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} 1 chron. 12. 31. 1 cor. 5. 5 libera me domine a me metipse . rom. 7. 21. numb. 22. 18. 2 pet. 2. 15. rom. 6. 10 , 11. object . answ. vse 2. of reprehension , directed to all sorts . hos. 6. 4. 1 sam. 25. 10. lam. 4. 8. mica . 2. 8. rev. 3. heb. 1● . 28. mark . 6. 20. isa. 1. 12. use of reprehension to great persons in particular . 1 kin. 2● . 19. 2 chro. 28 10. act. 12. 1 sam. 31. 5. use of exhortation . first to all men not excluding great men . motives to perswade us to serve god with all the ingredients . motive 2. act. 5. 41. phil. 1. 2● . motive 3. quest . answ. quest . 2. answ. 1. quest . answ. motive ob. answ. use of exhortation to noblemen in particular . ps. 149 8. ps. 104. 32 revel. 19. 20. psal. 103. 20. rev. 15. 2. rev. 14. 4. florus . act. 13. 10 commendation . kingdom . a sixe-fold exhortation to noblemen in particular . heb. 10. 37. lib. 8. consess . mark . 8. 38. iam. 1. 8. theod. ier. 9. 2. mark . 5. 23. esth. 4. 13 , 14. mat. 27. 57. 58. ier 38. 7. gen. 6. 2 sam. 6. 22. iam. 2. 10. luk. 12. 6. this objection & answer was added to the sermon , to comfort us in regard of the death of m. hāpden , the newes of whose death came just to me , as i was transcribing the incouragements from gods providēce . gods free mercy to england presented as a pretious and powerfull motive to humiliation : in a sermon preached before the honourable house of commons at their late solemne fast, feb. 23, 1641 / by edmvnd calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32016) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 62122) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 249:e133, no 18) gods free mercy to england presented as a pretious and powerfull motive to humiliation : in a sermon preached before the honourable house of commons at their late solemne fast, feb. 23, 1641 / by edmvnd calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [6], 50 p. printed for christopher meredith ..., london : 1642. reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. eng bible. -o.t. -ezekiel xxxvi, 32 -sermons. fast-day sermons. sermons, english -17th century. a32016 r19544 (wing c253a). civilwar no gods free mercy to england. presented as a pretious, and powerfull motive to humiliation: in a sermon preached before the honourable house o calamy, edmund 1642 26861 169 5 0 0 1 0 69 d the rate of 69 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the d category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-01 ben griffin sampled and proofread 2005-01 ben griffin text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion gods free mercy to england . presented as a pretious , and powerfull motive to humiliation : in a sermon preached before the honourable house of commons , at their late solemne fast , feb. 23. 1641. by edmvnd calamy , b.d. and preacher at aldermanbury london . joel 2. 12 , 13 , 14. therefore also now saith the lord , turne ye even to me with all your heart , and with fasting , and with weeping , and with mourning : and rent your heart , and not your garments , and turne unto the lord your god : for he is gracious and mercifull , slow to anger , and of great kindnesse , and repenteth him of the evill : who knoweth if he will returne and repent , and leave a blessing behind him , even a meate-offering , and a drink-offering unto the lord your god ? published by order of the house of commons . london , printed for christopher meredith , at the crane in s. pavls church-yard , 1642. to the honorable hovse of commons assembled in parliament . among all the mercies which god hath vouchsafed to bestow upō this kingdome by your helpe , the procuring of a monethly fast , from his royall majesty ( during the warres of ireland , and the unsetled condition of england ) is not the least . for by this meanes the churches of england are set in a monethly posture of warre to fight with prayers and teares ( which are the churches weapons ) against all the enemies of our peace and prosperity : and may very fitly resemble the tree of life , mentioned revel. 22. 2. which yeelded her fruite every moneth , and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations . i doubt not but through gods blessing , this monethly fast will prove an england-and-ireland-healing fast , if it be celebrated as it ought to be , with weeping , mourning , and brokennesse of heart for sin , and from sin . great is the efficacy , and omnipotency of prayer and fasting : so great , as that it would require rather a large volume than a short epistle to expresse it . and therefore i purposely wave it , as a theame in which a child cannot want eloquence , & in which i should sooner know where to begin , than where to make an end . as the jewes had their monethly feast , which they called their new moones , in which the word was preached , their shops shut up , & special sacrifices offered up to god : and as they had their feast of trumpets , in which they blowed their trumpets all day long ( especially in their first new moone ) from sun-rising , till night : so , blessed be god , we now enjoy our christian new moones , and evangelical feast of trumpets . we have not o●…ely our monethly sacrament feast to refresh our soules withall , in most of our congregations , ( which would be as the hidden manna , revel. 2. 17. an unspeakeable consolation to the religious party , if you would be pleased ( most , noble senators ) to appoint by your authority some spirituall railes ( as you have taken away other kind of railes ) to keepe away all dogs and swine from polluting that holy ordinance ) but we have also our new moone f●…st , in which the word is preached , trading ceaseth , and sacrifices of prayer , praises , and almes , are tendred up to god , in the name of jesus christ . we have our feast of trumpets , in which our godly ministers throughout the whole kingdome lift up their voices as a trumpet , and all the whole day ▪ are either the mouth of the people to god , or gods mouth to the people , shewing unto england their sinnes , and to the people of this land their transgressions , and calling them to humiliation , and reformation . from hence it comes to passe , that ( if englands just feares , and irelands miseries should so long continue by reason of our sinnes ) we are likely to be blessed by the providence of god , bringing good out of evill , with twelve nationall , solemne , publike fasts every yeare , which ( if rightly kept ) will be as the twelve gates of the new jerusalem , spoken of , revel. 21. every fast will be as a gate to let us in , into a part of the new jerusalem of mercy , and happinesse promised to the people of god , here upon earth . and there is one thing more , which addes much to this new monethly mercy , and that is , that notwithstanding your most weighty and important affaires , you are pleased to keepe this fast , your selves in your own persons , after a most solemne and religious manner every moneth . which pious example no doubt will be a notable incouragement to all the kingdome to follow so good a president , and a mighty provocation to the religious and solemne observance of it . it is said expresly of the king of niniveh ( though a heathen ) that he came from his throne , laid his robes from him , and that his nobles and people from the greatest of them to the least put on sackcloth . and , as chrysostome well observeth , their sackcloth prevailed more with god , then all their purple robes : quod non poterat diadema , id saccus obtinuit . such a famous example doe you hold forth , who are the chiefest of our tribes ; to which i doubt not but the lowest of our people ( unlesse they will bee worse than heathens ) will cheerefully conforme . this insuing sermon was preached at your last monthly fast , and it is now by your command exposed to publique view . there is nothing in it , that makes it worthy the printing , but onely your kinde acceptance of it ; which is as a royall stampe upon some inferiour metall to make it currant . it is the property as of god in heaven , so also of all earthly gods who are truly noble , not onely to give great gifts worthy of the givers , but also to accept of poore and small gifts , though unworthy to be given , when given with a thankfull heart , as of a * handfull of water , a cup of cold water , a poore widowes mite , a little goates haire , and semblably of this following discourse , which now becomes publike under your patronage . the lord grant it may accomplish that for which it was preached ! that englands mercies may be a motive , and a meanes of englands humiliation and reformation . and that by confessing our sinnes with a happy confusion of face ( as the text requires ) wee may prevent that unhappy confusion , which is otherwise likely to come upon us . the same almighty god multiply all his gifts and graces upon you , be a sunne and a shield unto you , appearing alwaies in the mount of straits , causing all mountaines to become a plaine before you , & inabling you to consummate all those good things which you have begun to doe for this church and state . so prayeth your much obliged spirituall servant , edmvnd calamy . die veneris 25. febr. 1641. it is this day ordered by the house of commons , that no man shall print the sermons preached at the last fast day before the house of commons by mr. calamy and mr. marshall , besides themselves , for the space of these two moneths , without the particular licence and approbation of the said house of commons . h. elsying cler. parl. d. com. these are to give notice , that i appoint c. meridith to print my sermon . edm. calamy . a sermon preached at a fast before the honorable house of commons . ezek. 36. 32. not for your sakes doe i this , saith the lord god , be it known unto you : be ashamed and confounded for your owne waies , o house of israel . we are here met this day to keep a day of humiliation , to out-cry the cry of our sinnes by the cry of our prayers , and teares , to wrastle with god , with our hearts , and with the devill : with god for a blessing upon england & ireland ; with our hearts , to get and keep them in a frame sutable to the worke ; with the devill , least he steale away the benefit of this day . now as the wiseman saith , who knowes what a day may bring forth ? who knows what a mercy such a day as this may bring forth ? who knows what a rare successe this day may have throughout all england ? the lord give a blessing unto it . to help you in the work of this day , i have chosen this text . it is the skill of a workeman , not only to make good work , but fit worke . a garment is not well made , though never so good , if not fit made : this hath been my care to choose a fit text . it cannot be denyed but that god hath done much for england , and that england hath done much against god . now my purpose is to lay the sins of england against god in one scale , and the mercies of god to england in the other scale , and to call upon you this day to be humbled , and ashamed , and broken in heart before the lord , that ever you should sinne against such a god . there are but two wayes to breake a stony heart : as there are two wayes to cure a stone in the bladder : either by cutting out the stone , or by dissolving it with soft medicines ; so there are but two wayes to cure a stony heart : either by the heart-cutting threatnings of the law , or by the heart-melting mercies of the gospell ; i have this day chosen the latter way . i will not carry you up to mount eball , or mount sinai : but to the mount of blessings . and i shall labour by the heart-dissolving mercies of the gospell to breake your stony hearts : it is the duty of a minister to follow god in his providence . when god sends judgements upon a nation , then must we preach judgements to that nation ; but when he sends mercies , then must we preach mercy : now god hath brought england into the schoole of mercy , and hath placed it in the highest forme , and hath made it captaine of the schoole . and it is my duty to teach you what lessons you are to learne in this schoole . this text holds forth one lesson , which is the proper lesson for this day , and that is , to be confounded and ashamed , that ever we should sinne against such a god . i read in the second of judges , that there came an angell of the lord from gilgall , to the people of israel in bochim , and preached a sermon of mercy , in which he commemorates , first gods kindnesse in bringing them out of egypt , and into canaan ; and secondly , their unkindnesse in disobeying of god : and all the people when they had heard this sermon , lifted up their voyces and wept , in so much as the very place was called bochim , that is , weepers . this angell was not an angell properly so called , but a minister , as most thinke : and therefore he is said to come from gilgall , not from heaven : the rabbines say it was pbine has the sonne of eleazar : god hath sent me hither this day as his angell upon the same embassage , i am to reminde you of gods merci●…s to us : and of our ingratitude against him : o that it might have the same effect : that we may all of us lift up our voyces and weep , and that the church may be called a bochim , a place of weepers ! in the words themselves we have foure parts , 1. a mercy supposed : in these words , i will do this : which intimates , that god had promised to do something for the house of israel . 2. the author of the mercy proposed : in these words , i will do this saith , the lord god . 3. the false reason of this mercy deposed , by way of proclamation in these words , not for your sakes do i this , be it knowne unto you o house of israel . 4. the true use of the mercy imposed : in these words , be ashamed and confounded for your owne wayes , o house of israel . 1. the mercy supposed : i will do this : if you looke backe into the chapter you shall find , that god promises many rare and great mercies to the house of israel , mercies in folio , mercies unspeakable : god promises to gather them out of all countries : and to bring them backe to their owne land ; to cleanse them from idols : and from all filthinesse : to sprinkle cleane water upon them : to give them a new heart , and a new spirit : and to take away their hearts of stone , and to give them a heart of flesh : and to multiply all outward blessings upon them , &c. observe from hence ; that god doth sometimes shew mercy to a nation when it least deserves it , and least expects it . this is apparent out of the text : when ezekiel wrote these words , the house of israel was in the house of bondage , captive in babylon . their condition was so desperate in regard of their misery , that ezekiel compares them to dry bones in the grave , chap. 37. and god demands of ezekiel : can these drie bones live ? he answers : o lord god thou knowest : for my part i know not . their estate was hopelesse , and helplesse : and it was as desperate in regard of sinfulnesse , as appears in the 17 , 18 , 19 , 20. verses of this chapter : when they were in their owne land , they were as abominable before the lord as the uncleannesse of a menstruous woman : and when they came into babylon , they were so wicked , as that the holy name of god was prophaned by them while the babylonians out of scorn & contempt said , these a●…e the people of the lord , and are gone forth out of his land : and yet behold god doth here promise to performe rich and unexpected mercies to such an undeserving nation . my desire is that this doctrine may be a looking-glasse for this nation , in which we may behold the severall miracles of mercy that god hath bestowed upon us : a nation not worthy to be beloved , and yet beloved above all nations of the world ; god hath made us like saul , taller by the head in mercies than all other nations : there was indeed a time when this island was called albion , ab albis rupibus ; but at that time it was black , and defiled , worshipping of stockes and stones , even the devill in stead of god : we had our druides , our flamines and archiflamines ; we offered our sonnes and daughters alive in sacrifice , non ad honorem , sed ad injuriam religionis : our religion was tristissimum superstitionum chaos , as cambden saith : but it pleased god , presently after the death of christ to send the christian religion among us : christ made haste to convert england ; some say that james the brother of john , some s●…mon ze●…tes , some that peter and paul , but all agree that joseph of a●…imathea preached the gospell here , and here he died : and that which makes much for the mercy of god to this happy island ; the first christian king that ever was in the world , was king lucius a britaine ; and the first christian emperour was borne in england , even constantine the great : and when wee came afterwards to be wofully drowned with popish heresies and idolatry ; the first king that ever shooke off subjection to antichrist , after he was discovered by luther , was king henry the eighth ; and the first king that ever wrote in print that the pope was antichrist , was king james of famous memory ; god hath made us not only protestants , but reformed protestants ; we have enjoyed the gospell of peace , and the peace of the gospell for almost an hundred yeares : in this century god hath multiplied deliverances upon deliverances ; we have had our 88. and our gunpowder deliverances , but as benjamins messe did exceed all his brethrens , and as josephs shease was lifted up above the sheaves of his brethren ; so the mercies of these two last yeares do farre exceed all the mercies that ever this nation did receive since the first reformation , mercies that deserve to be ingraven in every one of our hearts : and if achilles was happy in alexanders judgement , because he had a homer to record his fame : it would no doubt be a great honour to this kingdome , if it had a better homer to chronicle the passages of these late yeares : give mee leave to name , and but to name some few of them . first , the bappy pacification between●… scotland and england ; god hath freed us from civill warres , which of all warres are most uncivill ; from intestine warres , warres that would have eaten out our owne bowels ; from warres of protestant with protestant , which of all warres are most cruell : odia proximorum sunt acerrima . secondly , the mighty turne that god hath made in this kingdome for the better ; for wee were all upon the tropicks turning to popery , as some that are most moderate do now confesse : the ill affected party had got a mighty faction , men in authority & power ; pits were digged for the righteous ; gallowses provided for mordecai , because hee would not bow to haman ; dens of lions for daniel , because he would not leave praying ; fiery furnaces for the three children , because they would not worship the golden image ; dungeons for jeremy , because he would preach the truth with boldnesse ; we were like firebrands in the fire ; like birds in the snare ; but god almighty hath made a blessed turne of things for the better : the enemies are throwne into the dens & dungeons they prepared for the godly , the pits they digged for others they themselves are fallen into ; the enemies of the church hang downe their heads , and the godly begin to lift them up ; our isaacs are delivered , and the rammes are caught in the bush , and as the wiseman saith , the righteous is delivered out of trouble , and the wicked commeth in his stead ; the wicked shall be a ransome for the righteous , and the transgressours for the upright . thirdly , the protestation against all popery and popish innovations ; next to that protestation from which we beare the name of protestants the greatest mercy ; god hath brought a great deale of good to this kingdome by it . fourthly , the great hope we have of a reformation of the church and state . we may now say in some good measure , as it is canticles 2. 11. the winter is past , the raine is over and gone , the flowers appeare on the earth , the time of the singing of birds is come : you know the birds sing early in the morning at the break of day , and the flowers appeare at the beginning of the spring ; blessed be god , here is a faire spring towards , the day begins to dawne , reformation begins to blossome , and we hope that the winter of adversitie is past and gone , unlesse our new sinnes do provoke god to repent of the good he intends to do unto us , as hee dealt with saul for his new transgression , after hee had thought to have established him king , 1 sam. 13. 13 , 14. fifthly , the many grievous yoakes that god hath freed us from , so many , as that the day would hardly suffice to repeat them : god hath delivered us from civill yoakes , and from spirituall ; from monopolies ; from the late canons mounted up against all good men , but now turned against themselves ; from the star-chamber , and from the terrible high commission , that wrack and torture of conscience , and conscientious men ; which was appointed like the dogs in the capito●…l , to scare away theeves , but hath for the most part barked onely at honest men ; from those two terrible oathes , the oath ex officio , and the oath of the late canons , whereby the prelaticall party thought for ever to rivet themselves into the kingdone , and to be above the hurt of the king and parliament ; this oath is now made the great canon to shoot them downe . sixthly , the discovery of the secret underminers that have for these many yeares laboured to blow up our religion , and under the name of puritan to scare all men from being protestants : god hath done to us as he did to ezekiel , he hath opened a doore in the wall to behold all the trecheries that are plotted in secret , & there is nothing devised against church or state , but god raises up one e●…isha or other to discover it ; in so much as we may say of england , as balaam of the israelites , surely there is no ●…nchantment against england , neither is there any divination against the houses of parliament . here are six mercies : now there are also divers circumstances with which these mercies are apparelled , that are as remarkeable as the mercies themselves ; as we say of some things , that the curious workmanship of them is more worth than the things themselves , ( as in a watch or clocke ) so these circumstances are as glorious and as observable ( if not more ) than the mercies themselves ; and these are likewise six . first , for god to doe all this for england , and to doe it in a legall way , in a parliamentary way . this is the first circumstance . it was that which our enemies did much threaten that wee should never see parliament more , but blessed be god , we doe see it to our great joy and comfort . it was the happines of england that in her first reformation she was acted by authority : our reformation began from the head , and not from the feet : and it is now no little blessing , that this second reformation beginnes from the heads of our tribes in the old and good way of a parliament , and not by a popular tumult . secondly , to doe it in a peaceable way : it is with us as it was in the building of solomons temple ; here is no noise of hammers , or axes , but all in a quiet way : whereas other nations have travailed through blood to a reformation , all things are managed among us without blood-shed , blessed be god . thirdly , to doe it in a praying way ; not by the weapons of war , but by the weapons of the church , prayers and teares ; in stead of fighting , we have fasting , and in stead of the enemies drummes , we have aarons bels sounding in our eares : our people have prayed up a reformation . fourthly , to doe all this for us , when we were in a most desperate condition ; when all our faithfull ministers with one lippe preached desolation and destruction , when thousands had left us as rats & mice doe a house when it is ready to fall , when we lay among the pots fullyed with superstition ; for god then to begin to make us , as the wings of a dove covered with silver , and her feathers with yellow gold ; to make us a glorious church , to purge out our drosse , and whatsoever gives just offence , and to make us white as the snow in salmon ; ( it is reported of salmon , that it is an high hill shadowed with trees , darke , and full of pits , but when the snow is upon it , it is white . our condition was like the hill of salmon , we were in darke and dismall condition , full of pits and snares , but god is making us white as the snow in salmon , and all on the suddaine contrary to all expectation is opening a doore of hope for us , when we were in the valley of achor . ) this is an admirable circumstance . fiftly , to doe all this , for such a sinfull nation as england : a nation which hath ingrossed all those sins for which god hath destroyed other nations , as namely , contempt of the gospell , countenancing of idolatry , loathing of manna , crying downe preaching 〈◊〉 the idoll of england , preaching against preaching : teaching for good doctrine , that bishops and tithes are jure divino , and yet the lords day is but jure human●… : crying up the holines of churches , and at the same time crying downe the frequency of preaching in these churches : exalting the holines of places , and at the same time depressing the holinesse of persons , and the holines of the christian sabbath : a nation guilty of apostasie , opposition to reformation , bitternesse against the people of god , loaded with blood-guiltinesse , blasphemies , adulteries , oppression , drunkennes , covetousnes , and such like sinnes . sixthly , and to doe all this for such a nation , and not for other nations ; not for germany , not for ireland . although we drinke as deepe of the cup of sinne as they , yet that god should give us no cup , but a cup full of mercy to drinke off ; to make us like goshen , when all other protestant nations are plagued as egypt , o what a rare circumstance is this ! these mercies , and these circumstances are so great and so wonderfull , as that , if i had as many tongues as haires on my head , they would not all suffice to set out the praises of god for them : and indeed i can hardly forbeare from turning this day of humiliation , into a day of thanksgiving . surely god requires a thousand thousand hallelujahs ; and that we should blesse him upon a thousand stringed instrument : here is fewell enough . the lord kindle a great fire in every one of our hearts , to burne out all our lusts : to infiame our cold hearts with the love of such a god : and to make us ashamed and confounded that ever wee should sinne against him . the second part of the text is the author of these mercies , in these words : i will doe this saith the lord god . here i observe , that the deliverances that come to a nation , come from jehovah adonai . nationall mercies come from the god of nations ; and that all the world may take notice that mercies come from god , he ordinarily doth two things . first , he delivers nations at su●…h times , and when they are in such straites , as that none but a god can deliver them . thus he delivered his people out of egypt , when they were in their worst estate , cum duplicant●…r lateres , tunc venit deus : thus he delivered his people out of babylon , when they were as dry bones in the grave past hope ; this is a time fit for a god to worke , as it is deut. 32. 36. the lord shall judge his people , and repent himselfe for his servants , when he seeth that their power is gone , and that there is none shut up , or left . hee delivers nations by such wayes and such meanes that none but a god can doe . first , by little meanes : thus he tels gideon , the people that are with thee are too many for me to give the midianites into their hands , lest israel vaunt themselves against me , saying , mine owne hand hath saved me ; and therefore he brings the army from 32 thousand , to ten thousand , and from ten thousand , to three hundred ; and afterwards delivers them without the helpe of these three hundred , by trumpets , pitchers , and lamps : thus he delivered israel from a huge hoast of philistims , by the help of jonathan and his armor-bearer : and in 2 kings 3. 22 , 23. he makes a fancy to be the foundation of a great victory , the sun shines upon the water , and the moabi●…es conceive it to be the blood of the israelites , and by this fancy were vanquished . secondly , by unlikely meanes : thus god preserved noah by an a●…ke , wherein he was buryed , as in a darke sepulcher ; dwelling among wilde beasts , floating on the waters without a pilot to guide him ; onely the text saith , god shut him in , and by his power kept him from sinking : thus god made the jaylor ( an unlikely instrument ) to wash the stripes of paul and silas , and revel. 12. 16. he makes the earth to helpe the woman , that is , the basest and the most unlikeliest of the people . thirdly , by contrary meanes : thus jonah was preserved from drowning by a whale , and was kept vivus in sepulchro ; thus joseph was made lord of egypt by being cast into prison , and the blinde man cured with clay and spittle , a way more likely to put out his eyes than to cure him . fourthly , without any meanes at all : and thus god delivered his people out of babylon ; for when god turned againe the captivity of sion ( saith david ) they were like unto them that dreame ; now men know not what they shal dreame of when they go to bed ; we dreame of strange things , wee doe not study our dreames ; such was their deliverance out of babylon , a strange , uns●…ught , 〈◊〉 for deliverance , just as a dreame : now god doth all this , that it might appeare , that deliverances come not from secondary causes , but from his owne arme and power . let this doctrine be an other looking-glasse for this nation ; englands mercies come from the god of england , we may truely say with david , if the lord had not beene on our side , if the lord had not beene on our side when men rose up against us , they had swallowed u●… up quicke , and the streames had gone over our soules : there is not onely the finger of god , but the hand , even the right hand ; the a●…me , even the strong arme of jehovah , the onely wonder-working god in englands mercies ; and this will appeare , if either you consider the mercies themselves ; or the time when we received them ; or the manner how we received them . first , if we consider the mercies themselves , they are so super-superlative , as that we may say of them , as protog●…es did of a curious line which he saw drawne in a painters shop ; none but 〈◊〉 could draw this line ; so none but a god could doe such great things : these mercies declare the glory of god , and these deliverances s●…ew forth his handy workes ; workes worthy of a god . secondly , if we consider the time when we received them , for god suffered us to be at the very pits brinke , and betweene the very teeth of the lions , as daniel was , and like isaac ready to be slaine even tantum n●…n , and then he came from heaven to help us , o beatos articulos temporis ! o happy articles of time ! when my enemies came up against me , saith david , then ( and not before ) god fought for me . thirdly , the manner how god hath brought about these mercies is so rare , as that we may not onely say ( as david to the woman ) is not the hand of joab in all this ? but we may certainely conclude , the hand of god is most conspicuous in all englands mercies ; never since the first day of the creation of the world , when god brought light out of darknesse , hath god more appeared in the workes of his providence in bringing good out of evill , than in these last yeares , wherein he hath suffered the enemies of the church and state to dig pits , and then he hath caught them in the pits that they themselves have digged ; in the net which they bid is their owne foot taken ; the wicked is snared in the workes of his owne hand . higgaion . selah . as christ whipped out the buyers and sellers by a whip made of their owne cords , which they brought to tye their beasts withall ; so god hath whipped out the enemies of this church and state , by whips of their owne making ; he hath taken them by their owne iniquities , and hath held them with the cords of their owne sinne : goliah is killed with his owne sword ; h●…man hanged upon his owne g●…llowes : all that our enemies have done these many yeares hath beene but as the weaving of a spiders web , and the hatching of co●…atrice egges , for they have consumed their bowels by what they have weaved , and they are destroyed by the egges which they have hatched ; god hath delivered us not onely by little meanes , by unlikely meanes , but by contrary meanes ; he hath brought unity out of division : the indeavours to divide the nations of england and scotland , have beene the meanes of their farther union : ( we have indeed a saying , omne malum ab aquilone ; but we may well turne it , and say , omne bonum ab aquilone , for scotland hath beene the cause of a great deale of good to england ) god hath brought liberty out of oppression : if things had not beene so bad , they would not now have beene so good ; if mans wickednesse had not beene so evident , gods goodnesse had not been so transparent ; god hath made our enemies preservatives , to be their destructives , and hath ruinated them by what they thought to be established ; their very rising hath beene their ruine ; and by indeavouring to bring themselves too high , they have overgrasped themselves , and almost lost all ; in all those things wherein they dealt proudly , god was above them : god hath made all our destructives to be our preservatives ; and by those wayes by which they thought to destroy us , they have preferred us ; and all this hath beene done not so much by the wisdome of the parliment , nor by the graces of his children , as by the very lusts and pride of the adversaries : this is the lords doing , and it is marvellous in our eyes : and we may safely say with david , surely the wrath of man shall praise thee , and the remainder of wrath shalt thou restraine . give mee now leave ( right honourable ) to make two uses of these two doctrines : if these mercies come from god , let god have the glory of all his mercies . and glory with all his mercies . let god have the glory of all his mercies ; let us say with david , not unto us o lord , not unto us , but unto thy name wee give the praise : not unto us , because not by us ; let us give the praise , and the whole praise to god : the nature of man is wonderfull prone to sacrifice to his owne net , and to ascribe the glory of deliverances to himselfe ; nebuchadnez z●…r spake and said , is not this great babell that i have built , by the might of my power , and for the honour of my majes●…y ? and moses himselfe spake unadvisedly with his lips , when he said , shall we bring water out of this rocke , & c ? as if he had done it by his owne power : and therefore let us take heed of this sin . there are two things in every mercy . first , the comfort and benefit of the mercy . secondly , the praise and glory of the mercy . now god giveth us the comfort and benefit , but the praise and glory he reserveth to himselfe : this is like potiphars wife , that joseph must not meddle withall : z●…latur deus propter gloriam . this i speak the rather , because i preach to them whom god hath made one of the instruments of all our mercies ; you are the golden pipes through which these mercies come to us , and you must be as golden pipes , in suffering the praise to passe through you , not reserving any to your selves : you must sing the angels song , glory be to god on high , in earth peace ; and say with bernard , mihi plaeet distributio angelica , gratanter accipio quod re●…inquis , relinquo quod retines , abjuro gloriam , ne amitterem pa em . it was that which the king of sweden did often complain of , and much bemoan , saying , that god would surely take him out of the wor●…d before his worke was done , because people did idolize him and ascribe too much unto him . may we not give praise and thankes to the parliament that hath taken such indefatigable paines for our good ? yes certainly , but not as to the first authors and fountaines , but onely as to the messengers of the good things we e●…joy ; as when a great lord sends a gift by his servant , we may thanke the servant for his paines in bringing the gift , and give him a reward for his paines , but the whole praise for the gift is to the lord that sent it ; so it is here , the great god hath made you ( right honorable ) his servants , and embassadors to bring great blessings to us ; and we thanke you for your cost , and care , and paines , and the lord reward you a thousand fold ; but the mercies are not yours , but gods ; and therefore , not unto you , not unto you , but unto god be all the praise . you must be as carefull to appropriate all the glory to god as joab was to preserve the glory of david , when he sent for him , to come to rabbah and take it least if joab had taken the city , it should have beene called by his name . let not the wise man glory in his wisdome , neither let the mighty man glory in his might , nor let the rich man glory in his riches , but let him that gloryeth , glory in the lord . it was the last speech of dying chrysostome ; glory be to god from all creatures . let the jesuites at the end of their bookes subscribe ; laus deo , & beatae virgini ; praise be to god , and the blessed virgin ; let this be the badge of the beast : but let every true protestant subscribe ; soli deo gloria , to god onely be praise ; for so christ hath taught us , thine is the kingdome , the power and the glory ; and therefore to him onely be glory . and as we must give god the glory of his mercies , so we must give glory to god with all his mercies . we must improve englands mercies to the glory of the god of england ; england is an island incompassed about with foure oceans : an ocean of water : and of late yeares an ocean of dangers : and now i am sure with an ocean of sinnes ; and an ocean of mercies . o let us adde one ocean more , an ocean of service , and obedience ; as god hath done singular and extraordinary things for us , so let us do some singular and extraordinary service for god . he hath made england a miracle of mercy ; let england be a miracle of obedience : a christian in england must not onely servire deo , sed & adulari , as tertullian saith : he must be rich in good works as god hath beene rich in mercy . we must eight wayes improve englands mercies . first , let us make these mercies , motives to obedience and service . as god made the deliverance out of egypt a motive to the keeping of the ten commandements , i am the lord which brought thee out of the land of egypt , out of the house of bondage , therefore thou shalt have none other gods but me : thou shalt not make to thy selfe any graven image , &c. so let us make englands mercies a motive to the keeping of gods commandements . i beseech you by the mercies of god offer up your bodies a living ●…rifice , holy and acceptable unto god , which is your reasonab●…●…vice ; ●…et the great turne of times move us to turne to god : let us not take gods name in vaine , after so many mercies ; let us not prophane gods day , commit whoredome , make our lusts our lawes , our money our god , after so many mercies . secondly , let us make these mercies , as so many cords and bonds to tye us fast to god and his will . gods mercies , saith austine , are like to a needle , that sowes two peeces together that are rent and torne asunder . man and god by nature are separated , but his benefits and mercies must be used as needles to sow them together , and to knit them to god in obedience . it is gods promise , i will draw thee unto me with the cords of love . now god hath reached out many cords of love to this kingdome , o let these golden cords draw us unto him : let us not be like sampson that burst all his cords in sunder . i read of a man in the gospell whom no cords could binde , but i read also he was possessed with a devill : it is a signe that the spirit of the devill is in you , and not the spirit of god , if these cable robes of mercy will not draw you to the obedience of gods will . thirdly , let us make these mercies as so many memorandums to put us in minde of our duty : as ahashuerus on a certaine night when he could not sleep , called for the chronicles , and there was read to him a good deed that mordecai had done , and presently he asked what honour and dignity had beene done to mordecai for this ? so must we make a catalogue of gods mercies , and keepe them by us , and be ever and anon reading of them , and saying what honour hath god had for all my honour and riches and other mercies received from him ? and when we begin to forget a duty , then run to our catalogue . as god commanded moses to keepe the pot of manna , for a memento to put the israelites in minde of his great mercy in giving them manna : so must our hearts be as the arke to keepe gods mercies , to put us in mind of god , and our service to him when we are ready to forget him . fourthly , let us make these mercies looking-glasses to see god in , and not wals to separate betweene us and god : god never appeared more in his wisdome , power , goodnesse , and mercy then in these dayes : and not to see god in good workes of his providence , is a curse , and will bring a curse : that it is a curse appeares jeremy , 17. 5 , 6. cursed be the man that trusteth in man , and maketh flesh his arme , and whose heart departeth from the lord ; for he shall be like a heath in the desart , and shall not see when good ●…mes : and that it brings a curse appeares psal. 28. 5. because they regard not the workes of the lord , nor the operation of his hands ; he shall destroy them and not build them up . fiftly , let us make these mercies as so many footstools to raise us up to higher mercies ; let us use these mercies reflexively : not terminatively : and say as good fulgentius did , when he saw the glory of rome , sitalis est roma terrestris , qualis est roma caelestis ? if gods mercies be so rare here in the valley of teares , what are they in the mountaine of joy ? sixtly , let us make these mercies as so many bridges to lead us over to better mercies : to such mercies , which are at gods right hand , and in his right hand ; and which are the mercies of his right hand . all temporall mercies are the mercies of gods left hand , which he gives to many whom he will put at his left hand at the day of judgement . spirituall mercies are the mercies of his right hand , and mercies in his right hand , for his right hand is full of righteousnesse : let us be earnest petitioners for those mercies , which whosoever hath , shall be placed at the right hand of christ , at the day of judgement ; and shall be made partakers of those everlasting pleasures , which are at gods right hand . let us not be like that woman , that when ●…er husband sent her a jewell as a token of his love , to put her in minde of him , fell in love with the jewell and forgot her husband . let us not make these mercies our god , but bridges to lead us over unto god . seventhly , let us make these mercies as so many cordials to comfort us in all distresses : and if god at any time should bring this nation into new straites and dangers ; let us say as manoahs wife did unto manoah , if the lord did intend to destroy england , surely he would never have bestowed so many mercies upon england . eightly , let us make these mercies as so many meanes , and instruments of service ; let us serve god with our health , wealth , and parts ; let us serve him , cheerefully , liberally , thankefully , fruitfully , lest god send upon us that curse threatned , deut. 28. 47 , 48. because thou servedst not the lord thy god with joyfulnesse , and with gladnesse of heart , for the abundance of all things : therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the lord shall send against thee , in hunger , in thirst , in nakednesse , in want of all things : and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy necke untill he hath destroyed thee : let us rend our hearts and not our garments , and turne to the lord , for he is gracious : o give thankes unto the lord , for his mercy endureth for ever : there is mercy with thee o lord , and therefore thou art to be feared : let us feare to sinne against a god of such mercy ; let us admire these mercies , and admire him for his mercies : and say with david , who am i o lord , and what is mine house that thou shouldest bring me hitherto ? and is this the manner of man o lord god ? and let us pray that excellent prayer , domine da gratitudinem cum misericordia , nolo misericordiam sine gratitudine ; lord give us thankefull hearts with thy mercies , lord give us obedient hearts with thy mercies , rather let us be without mercy , than not to have grace to glorifie thee with thy mercies . the third part of the text is , the false reason of the mercy deposed , and that by way of proclamation ; be it knowne unto you o house of israel , that it is not for your sakes that i doe this ; nec per vos , nec propter vos ; neither by you , nor for you ; it is i , that doe it , saith the lord ; and for my owne names sake i doe it ; not for your sakes . this proclamation is very often inculcated for feare lest men should ascribe mercies to their owne merits , which all are very apt to doe . it is said in the 22. verse of this chapter ; say unto the house of israel ; thus saith the lord , i doe not this for your sakes o house of israel , but for my holy names sake , which you have prophaned among the heathen whither you went ; thus ezekiel 20. 44. and you shall know that i am the lord , when i have wrought with you for my names sake , not according to your wicked wayes , nor according to your corrupt doing●… , o ye house of israel , saith the lord ; thus also , deuteronomy 9. 4. speake not thou in thine heart ( for many will thinke so in their hearts , though ashamed to speake it with their tongues ) after that the lord thy god hath cast them out from before thee , saying , for my righteousnesse the lord hath brought me to possesse this land ; but for the wickednes of these nations the lord doth drive them out from before thee ; this is repeated againe at the 5 verse , that it may not be forgotten ; not for thy righteousnes , or for the uprightnes of thy heart dost thou goe to possesse the land , &c. this is also againe repeated verse 6. understand therefore , that the lord thy god giveth thee not this good land to possesse it for thy righteousnes , for thou art a stiffenecked people ; and in the 7. verse he cals upon us to remember it , and not forget it . hence observe , that nationall mercies come from free grace , not from free will ; not from mans goodnes , but gods goodnes . my desire is , that this doctrine may be a third looking-glasse for england . if any shall aske , how it comes to passe , that england hath beene like no●…s a●…ke , safe and secure , when all other nations have beene drowned with a sea of blood : why england is like gideons dry fleece , when all other nations are like his wet fleece bedewed with miseries and lamentations : no other answer can be returned ; but gods free grace and mercy : i will have mercy upon whom i will have mercy : may i not doe what i will with mine owne ? may not a man that hath two debtors equally indebted to him , spare the one and not the other , as he pleaseth ? be it known unto you , o house of england , it is not for your sakes , for you are a stiffe-necked people , but for my holy names sake . but doth not god indent and covenant with a nation , upon its repentance , to shew mercy , how then is gods mercy free ? repentance it selfe is of gods free grace , 2 tim. 2. 25. in meeknesse instructing them that oppose themselves , if god peradventure will give them repentance . repentance is gods free gift , and therefore christ is said to be exalted by god , to be a prince and a saviour , for to give repentance to israel and forgivenesse of sins . repentance is not the cause for which god spares a nation , but onely a qualification of that nation which god will spare : repentance denotes the persons whom god hath freely promised to pardon , but not the c●…se for which he promises to pardon ; as the gnomon in the diall is not the cause why the clocke goes right or wrong , but onely an indication whether it goe right or wrong . if englands mercies come from gods goodnesse and not our righteousnesse , let us not thinke our selves more righteous than ireland , because wee are not wallowing in blood as ireland ; thinke you , saith christ , that those eighteene upon whom the tower in silce fell , are sinners above all men that dwell in jerusalem ? i tell you nay : i that am the judge of the world , i tell you nay . the nature of man is prone to censure germany and ireland as horrible sinners above others , but i tell you nay , saith christ . when the barbarians saw the viper skip upon the hand of paul , they concluded presently , sure●…y this man is a murtherer ; but they were barbarians , and in this they acted the part of barbarians . it is a barbarous action to censure them that are punished by god , to be the greatest of sinners . judicia deinm sunt t●…mere discutienda , sed formidoloso silentio vener and a saith gregory . be it knowne unto you , o england , it is not for your righteousnesse you are spared , not because you are better , but because i love you better ; not for your sakes doe i this , saith the lord , for if ireland be sinfull , england hath a great share in this sinfulnesse , because it hath taken no more care to bring those popish rebels to the knowledge of the gospe●… of jesus christ . let england say as lysima●…hus did , ( who was on a suddaine called forth out of a house , where he was at supper , ( by his good genius , as the heathen say , ) and as soon as ever he was out of doores , the house fell down and killed them all which were within ) good god , saith he , to what evill am i reserved ! so let eng●…and say , good lord to what super-transcendent judgement am i reserved , if i repent not . and this makes way for the second use . if englands mercies come from free grace , let not england presume upon gods mercies , as i●… intailed upon them and their posterity : for it is as free for god to take away his mercies , as it was free to give them ; and thus christ tels the jewes in the forementioned place , i tell you n●…y , but except ye repent ye shall likewise perish ; and so they did within forty yeares after , with a severe destruction . and so doe i say to england , except england repent , england also shall perish ; let not england be high minded but feare . god hath a devouring sword for england , as well as ireland : and therefore let england this day humble it selfe in dust and ashes , for though god deferre englands judgement , longer than irelands , or germanies , yet as sure as there is a god in heaven , unlesse wee repent , we also shall perish : gods forbearance is no acquittance : it is one thing to forbeare a debtor , and another thing to acquit a debtor : the longer god is fetching about his hand , the heavier will the blow be when he strikes . what so calme as the sea ? but yet when a storme comes , what so tempestuous ? what so blunt as iron ? but when it is sh●…rpned , what more sharpe ? none so patient and mercifull as god , but yet when he begins to strike , and his anger is kindled , how unexpressible is his fury ? consider this you that forget god , lest he teare you in pieces , and there be none to deliver you . if free grace hath preserved england , let england blesse god for free grace , and say , as it is lament . 3. 22. it is the lords mercy that we are not consumed , because his compassions faile not ; not because our sinnes faile not , for our sins are as many as our mercies , but because his compassions faile not : it is the lords mercie that we sinfull men and women are not consumed ; o give god the glory of free grace , as it is expressed , malachi 3. 6. i am the lord , i change not , therefore you sons of jacob are not consumed : not because you have not changed your god , not because you are good and righteous , but because i am unchangeable , therefore you sons of jacob are not consumed . let us say as david , we have not got our peace and plenty by our owne sword , neither hath our owne arme saved us , but thy right hand , and thy arme , and the light of thy countenan●…e , because thou haddest a favour unto us . if thou art converted , blesse god for free grace : for who made thee to differ from another ? and what hast thou which thou hast n●…t received ? and if thou didst receive it ; why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it ? let us ascribe all our deliverances and all our mercies , the mercie of the pacification , the mercy of reformation , the mercy of the union of both houses of parliament , the discovery of all plots and treasons against this church and state , our freedome from all our yoaks , and all the good things that god hath done for us unto free grace , and say as god to zerubbabel , not by might no●… by power , but by my spirit , saith the lord of hosts . who art thou , o great mountaine , before zerubbabel ? thou shalt become a plaine , and he shall bring forth the head stone thereof with shouting , and crying , grace , grace unto it : let grace , grace be our constant acclamation . if free grace hath preserved england , not free will , let england maintaine free grace above free will . i find in history , that pelagius the greatest enemie to free grace that ever the world had , was borne in england ; and i am sure that england of late yeares hath been too great a friend to pelagianisme , under the name of arminianisme . bradwardine an englishman complains of his time , ( as hierome before had done of arianisme ) that almost all the world was gone after the errour of pelagius , and he cries out , exurge deus , & judica causam tuam : i am confident , that this complaint , and this prayer might justly have been taken up in reference to england these few yeares past : for there was a mighty faction risen up in the church ( so i dare now call it , blessed be god ) who advanced free will above free grace , and subjected the power of grace to the power of free will : which faction prevailed so farre , as that whosoever was not an arminian , was e●…mine , a doctrinall puritan ( as hee was then termed . ) the universities were poysoned with this doctrine , and all , preferment stre●…med this way . we were come to that height , that the doctrine of arminianisme was accounted the doctrine of the church of england . and therefore , i beseech you ( right honourable ) to take this into your most serious consideration : place free grace in its throne ; advance free grace , that hath so much advanced you : roote out arminianisme ; settle our doctrine ( not only our discipline ) that there may be no shadow of plea in it for an arminian . king james of famous memory , in a declaration written to the states of holland , cals arminius , the enemy of god : and a booke of bertius , of the apostasie of the saints , a blasphemous booke , whose very title makes it worthy the fire : and he perswades the low countries betimes to roote out those heresies and schismes , which if they suffered to have the reines , would bring the curse of god upon them , infamy through all the reformed churches , and a perpetuall rent and distraction in the whole body of their state . i speake to wise men , consider what i say . and certain it is , if temporall deliverances be the fruits of gods free grace , much more are spirituall and eternall . therefore we are said to be justified freely by his grace , and to be elected according to the good pleasure of his will ; and whereas the apostle saith , that the wages of sinne is death , he doth not adde , the wages of grace is eternall life , but the gift of god is eternall life , through jesus christ our lord . it is not free will , but free grace that puts the difference between jacob and esau ; it is not of him that willeth , nor of him that runneth , but of god that sheweth mercy . it is an excellent saying of augustine , timeo ego animae meae salutem aliqua ex parte libero arbitrio committere , iam afraid to commit the least iota of my salvation to free will : and the same father doth much and often commend a saying of cyprian , in nullo gloriandum , quoniaem nostrum nihill est , we must glory in nothing , because nothing is ours . bernard most sweetly , horreo quicquid de meo est , ut sim meus , i abhorre whatsoever is mine , that i may be mine . bucer likewise hath these words , si v●…l tantillum boni a deo non est , deus non est , if the least beame of holinesse be in us without the efficacious worke of gods grace , he is no longer a god . now surely the act of assenting to the offer of grace , is the chiefe worke of conversion ; and the arminians deny this to be effectually , inseparably , and inevitably from god , which is to ungod god , in the opinion of bucer . if englands mercies come from free grace , let england serve god freely . god loves a free people , a free-will offering : let the service of god come freely from us ; god gives us freely , let us give freely to ireland , the papists upbraid us protestants ( i know not how truly ) that there was never any law made for rates for the reliefe of the poore , till the reformation of religion ; in times of popery they gave freely without compulsion . it is for the hardnesse of our hearts that there needs such a law : let us be ashamed to ●…e out-striped by papists in our free serving of god . i deny not , but that it is lawfull for a man with moses to have an eye to the recompence of reward ; but there is a great deale of difference betweene amor mercenarius , and amor mercedis , betweene mercinary love , and the love of the reward : mercinary love is to serve god onely for reward , this is meretricious love , this is to serve our selves , not god ; this is to make use of god , to enjoy our selves ; but the love of the reward , is to make heaven a motive of our service , but not the last , nor the greatest . a right christian loves heaven for god , not god onely for heaven . he that loves god onely for heaven , loves god for that which is inferiour to god . chrysost●…me hath an excellent saying , if god should command me to obey him , & afterwards throw me into hell , yet i would obey him . this is my heaven to be obedient , this is my meat and drinke to do the will of god . merces amoris amor , he that loves god , that loved us freely , will love him freely . the fourth and last part of the text , is the true use we are to make of gods mercies , contained in these words , be ashamed and confounded for your owne wayes o house of israel . the words in the hebrew are both of the same signification ; be ashamed and ashamed . erubescite & rubore afficiamini , so junius : blush for shame , and be confounded with shame , for your owne wayes , that is , for your owne evill wayes , and for your doings that are not good ( as it is expounded in the former verse ) o house of israel . give me leave to alter the persons , and in stead of the house of israel to put in the house of england , and so it will suit most excellently to this assembly here gathered together this day . for the house of commons is the house of england representatively . let us then read the words thus : be ashamed and ashamed , for your owne evill wayes , o you house of england . that the contemplation of gods free mercy to nations and persons ought to be a mighty incentive , and a most effectuall argument to make them ashamed , and ashamed , ashamed for sinne for the time past , and ashamed to sinne for the time to come . this is a motive that the prophet ezekiel doth often use , neverthelesse , i will remember my covenant with thee , and i will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant , then shalt thou remember thy wayes , and be ashamed , &c. that thou mayest remember , and be confounded , and never open thy mouth any more , because of thy shame , when i am pacified toward thee , for all that thou hast done , saith the lord of hosts . that is , when i shall be graciously reconciled unto thee in jesus christ , then thou shalt be confounded and ashamed for thy evill doings . as also ezek. 20. 41 , 42 , 43. i will bring you out from among the people , &c. and ye shall know that i am the lord , when i shall bring yee into the land of israel , &c. and there shall ye remember your wayes , and all your doings , wherein yee have beene defiled , and yee shall loath your selves in your owne sight , for all your evils that ye have committed . so also in the verse before my text . then shall yee remember your evill wayes , and your doings that were not good , and shall loath your selves in your owne sight for your iniquities , and for your abominations . then : that is , when i shall bestow my mercies upon you , tken shall ye loath your selves for your iniquities . and this is the argument ( right honourable ) which i spread before you this day to help forward the worke of humiliation . it is a day of deep mourning and lamentation , a day wherein it is no hypocrisie to appeare to men to weep . it is no signe of an effeminate man , but of a penitent man to weep this day . it is not vain glory , but gods glory to be heard sighing and groaning . this is sweet musicke in gods eares . woe be to that man that is not humbled in a day of humiliation : woe be to us if the day breake up before our bearts be broken ! now the motive which i will bring to perswade you to loath your selves for your abominations , and to be ashamed and confounded for your owne evill doings , is from the many rare and great mercies that god hath bestowed upon the nation in generall , and upon our persons in particular . and there is great reason why the mercies of god should make us ashamed for sin , and ashamed to sin . because to sin against god after mercy is a sin of such a crimson die , as that it must needs make us blush , if any grace be in our hearts . the greater the sin is we commit , the greater is our shame to commit it . now it is a sinne of a very high nature to sinne after mercie , for these reasons . because every new mercy we receive from god , is a new kindnesse ; and the more kindnesse we sinne against , the more unkind it is to sinne , and the more shame to be so unkind to that god that is so kind to us . caesar tooke it very unkindly at the hands of brutus , upon whom he had bestowed so many favours , when hee came to stab him : what thou my son brutus ! god takes it very unkindly when a nation upon whom hee hath bestowed great mercies , commits great sinnes . and therefore he expostulates with the jewes ; what iniquitie have your fathers found in mee , that they have gone farre from mee , &c. why are your fathers so unkind ? neither say they , where is the lord that brought us up out of the land of aegypt ? thus also he complaines , jerem. 31. 32. they have broken my covenant although i was a husband unto them . it is a self-confounding sinne , to be unkind to a kind god . because every new mercy is a new obligation to obedience ; and the more obligations we sin against , the more shame it is to commit the sin . as to sinne against a mans father and mother , is a greater sinne than to sinne against a mans brother and sister , because wee are more obliged to our parents than to our brethren and sisters . hee that kills his father ( saith cicero ) commits many sins in one , he kils him that begat him , and brought him up , &c. so to sin against god after mercy , is to commit many sins in one : it is to break as many bonds , and to sin against as many obligati●…ns , as we have receiv●…d mer●…ies . because every new mercy we receive from god is a new talent , ( for mercies are talents , betrusted with us by god as stewards , for which we must give a severe and strict account at the day of judgement ) and the more talents we sin against , the greater is our sin , and the more shame to commit it . to whom much is given , of him much shall be required . if the man that had but one talent , when he came to give up his account , was confounded & made speechlesse , and bound hand and foot , and cast into hell fire for not improving it ; what shame and confusion of face , and how many hels do they deserve that have received not onely one , five , or ten , but many hundred talents of mercies , and do not onely not improve them , but mis-improve them to the service of sin and satan ? because to sin after mercy , is a sin of formall unthankefulnesse ; there is mat●…riall unthankefulnesse in all sin , because every sin is committed against god that is our creator , preserver , and rede●…mer ; but to sin against mercy , is to be formally unthankefull . now unthankfulnesse is a sin that will make any ingenuous man ashamed to be guilty of it . indeed it is the epito●… of all sin . ingratum si dixeris , omnia dixeris . the whole duty of man saith augustine , consists in this , vt anim●… non sit ingrata deo , to take care that our soules be not unthankfull to god ▪ and therefore an unthankfull man neglects the whole duty of man . unthankfulnes is a sin that mak●… th●… times perilous . it is a sinne for which god gave over the heathen to a reprobate mind : because when they knew god , they did not glorifie him as god , but became unthankefull , &c. theref●…e god gave t●…em up to their owne hearts lusts , &c. and if god dealt thus with the gentiles for sinning against the mercies onely of creation , how severely will he punish us that sin against creating mercies , redeeming mercies , and against mercies of all kinds ? for it is a certaine rule , the more mer●…y we receive from god , the greater is the unthankefulnesse to sinne against such a god . the romans made a law , that if a master did free a servant from bondage , & afterwards that servant proved unthankefull , the master had power to re-inslave ●…im . the great god hath freed this nation from egypt , and babylon , from the gun-powder treason , and from many slaveries . now if we prove unthankfull after all these mercies , wee may justly expect to be re-inslaved . it is a sinne of formall injustice ; for every deliverance doth bind over the delivered , to the service of the deliverer ; so saith the apostle , you are not your owne , for ye are bought with a price , therefore glorifie god with your bodies , and with your spirits , which are gods ; and so also , luk. 1. 74. that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without feare , in holinesse and ●…ighteousnesse , &c. among the romans the parties delivered , were the servants of the deliverers . and therefore to breake gods commandements after deliverance , is to be guilty of the horrible sin of injustice . thou art not onely unthankefu●…l , but unjust , which is a brand that will confound any man . it is a sin so great , that god himselfe stands amazed at it , that any man should be so impudent as to commit it . esay 1. 2. heare o heavens , and give ●…are o earth , for the lord hath spoken , i have nourished and brought up children , and they have rebelled against mee ; the oxe knowes his owner , and the asse his masters crib , but israel doth not know , my people do not consider ; ah sinfull nation , a people laden with iniquity , &c. this is a sinne that makes us worse than the oxe or the asse : a sin that makes a nation that is guiliy of it , not onely sinfull , but laden with iniquity , as an asse with a burden . thus also god calls to the heavens , jeremy 2. 12. be astonished o ye heavens at this , and be horribly afraid , be ye ve●…y desolate , saith the lord ; why ? what is the matter ? for my people have committed two evils , they have forsaken m●… the fountaine of living waters , and hewed them out cisternes , broken cisternes , that will hold no water . this is a sin that breakes the very heart of god : and it had need breake our hearts to commit it . i am broken , saith god ( of his people israel ) for their whorish heart . if god be broken with it , it is time for us to be broken with it . it is a sin so great , as that it puts a great aggravation upon every sin ; it makes the least sinne of us in england , greater than the greatest sin of the heathens ; of the christians in germany , and ireland ; yea than the sin of the devils themselves . 1. greater than the sins of the heathen , because we sinne against greater mercie ; tribulation and anguish upon every soule that doth evill , first upon the jew , then upon the gentile : why first upon the jew ? because the jewes received more mercies than the gentiles . i may justly adde , first upon the christian , then upon the jew , then upon the gentile , because the christian hath received more mercy from god , than either jew or gentile . you only have i knowne of all the nations of the earth , therefore i will punish you for all your iniquities ; because you sin against more light , more grace , and therefore your sin is more ungracious . 2. this makes the least sinne of us in england greater than the greatest sin of germanie , or of ireland , because god hath dealt more mercifully with us , than with them : therfore christ saith , woe be to thee chorazin , woe be to thee bethsaida ; for if the mightie works which have been done in thee , had beene done in tyre and sidon , they would have repented long agoe in dust and ashes . but i say unto you , it shall be more tolerable for tyre and sidon at the day of of judgement , than for you . if bohemia , and the palatinate had had the mercies and deliverances , that we have had , they would have repented in dust and ashes , therefore it shall be easier for them at the day of judgement , than for us . and thou capernaum which h●…st beene exalted to heaven , shalt be brought downe to hell , &c. god hath listed us up in mercies to heaven ; therefore we must looke for the lowest hell , if we abuse them . 3. this makes the sins of england greater than the sin of the devils , though not simply , yet in three respects . 1. the devils never sinned against the blood of jesus christ ; christ never dyed for them , but he dyed for us . for verily hee tooke not on him the nature of angels , but he tooke on him the seed of abraham . 2. the devils never sinned against gods patience . god was not patient towards them , but as soone as ever they sinned , hee cast them into hell . deus non expectabat angelos , as bernard saith : but we sinne against the blood of christ , and the patience and long-suffering of god , which is very great towards mankind . 3. the devils never sinned against any example . for they were the first that sinned , and were made the first example ; but wee have had divers examples of gods wrath against sinne , the example of the devils , and of the punishment of the old world , of sodom and gomorrah , & many hundred such like , and yet we sin notwithstanding al these examples . in these three respects to sin against the mercies of god , is more than diabolicall . it is a sinne that takes away all excuse , and will so confound a man at the day of judgement , that it will make him speechlesse . this is excellently set out in the 9 chapter of ezra , the 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , & 10. verses , o my god , saith ezra , i am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee , o my god : for our iniquities are in●…reased over our heads , &c. for we were bondmen , yet our god hath not forsaken us in our bondage , but hath extended mercy to us , &c. and now o our god , what shall we say after this ? for we have forsaken thy commandements . what excuse shall we bring ? what shift shall we plead ? what shall we say ? that is , we have nothing to say . this interrogation is an emphaticall negation . had i not come unto you , saith christ , ye had had no sinne , but now ye have no excuse . had not god shewne such mercies to england , it might have had some apology to plead for its contempt of the gospel , for its pride , for its adultery , and drunkennesse , but now it hath no excuse . to sinne after mercy shuts up all defence . what shall we say after this , o our god ? for we have forsaken thy commandements . this doctrine is a blacke bill of indictment against all those that are not ashamed to sinne against god , notwithstanding the mercies they have received from god . god hath done mighty things for this nation , he hath heaped deliverance upon deliverance ; we have had more deliverances than there are commandements . and yet notwithstanding are there not many of us that sinne in the midst of mercies ? that are like the horse and mule that have no understanding ? psalme 32. as a horse , the more it is pampered , the more it kickes against the rider ; so there are many , the more they are fed to the full with mercy , the more they rebell against the god that feeds them ; like unto the thicke vapours , which are first exhaled by the sunne , and afterwards when they come into the aire , stop the light of the sunne from shining upon us . there are many such vapours whom god hath exalted , and lifted up in ●…nour above others , that make no other use of their honour , but to darken the glory of god , and to hinder the light of god from shining upon us . let conscience speake ; are we not as proud , as covetous , as blasphemous , as adulterous , as ungodly as ever , notwithstanding all that god hath done for us ? may i not say to you as moses to the israelites ; doe ye thus requite the lord , o ye foolish people and unwise ? is not he thy father that bought thee ? hath he not made thee , and established thee ? is not he the god that hath multiplyed mercies upon us ? the lord humble us this day for this sinne . there are divers sorts of men come under this reproofe . 1. such as sinne notwithstanding mercies . 2. such as sinne under mercies , at the same time when god is shewing mercy unto them . of these david speakes , our fathers understood not thy wonders in egypt , they remembred not the multitude of thy mercies , but provoked him at the sea , yea even at the red sea . this was a great aggravation . they sinned at the very place where they were delivered , and at the very time when they were delivered , at the sea , even the red sea : and as it is at the 13. verse , they soone forgat his workes ; the word in the hebrew is , they made haste to forget his workes . this is our condition : god hath brought us into the schoole of mercy , but are there not many among us that turne this schoole of mercy into the schoole of iniquity ? that remaine irreformable in a yeare of reformation , that not onely hate to be reformed , but hate the very reformation it selfe ? that sinne under mercies , even under mercies ? 3. such as sinne with the mercies of god , that like the spider , sucke poyson out of those flowers out of which a bee suckes honey ; that sucke their damnation out of those mercies , out of which the godly sucke their salvation ; that make a golden calfe of the jewels of mercy , and sacrifice their sonnes and daughters unto devils ; that turne the grace of god into wantonnesse ; that improve their honours , learning , wealth , parts , to make themselves more active to sinne against god , to be ingeniose nequam , facundi , sed malo publico . as basil saith of eve , that god gave her to be a helper to adam , and made her of the rib of adam , but the devill tooke this rib , and made a dart of it , and with this dart shot at adams heart , and wounded him to death , per costam petit cor , so god hath bestowed mercies upon us to helpe us to serve him more chearefully , more liberally , but there are many that play the devils part , and that take these mercies , and make darts of them to shoot against god , and his cause : non ho●… quae situm mun●…s in us●… . there are thousands in the world that are worser for the mercies they receive from god , that are like unto a dunghill , the more the sunne of mercy shines upon them , the more they stinke and putrifie in all sin . and as the clay is hardned by the sunnes shining upon it , so there are many , the more health , the more wealth , the more honour , the more mercy they receive from god , the more they harden their hearts against god ; like elies two sonnes , the kindlier their father dealt with them , the worser they were ; like absalom , that as soone as ever his father received him into jerusalem , then he began to conspire against him . of these david speakes , because there are no changes in their lives , therefore they feare not god , because they meet with no crosses ; and psalm . 73. 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9. because they are not plagued like other men , therefore pride compasseth them about as a chaine , they have more then ●…eart can wish , therefore they speake wickedly and loftily , and set their mouthes against the heavens , &c. like dionysius , that because he prospered in his voyage by sea , after he had robbed a temple , boasted and said , behold , how the gods love sacri●…edge ! i beseech you ( right honorable ) let us examine whether we be not guilty of these sinnes , ●…or they are such sinnes which we are all very prone to commit . hezeki●… though a good king , yet he sinned after mercy ; when he was recovered of his sicknesse , his hea●…t was lifted up with pride . lots wife also , as soone as ever she was delivered out of sodome , began to apo●…tize . n●…y l●…t himselfe after he had received so great a mer●…y , and had seene so fearefull a judgement , yet when he came to z●…r he was drunke , and committed incest , which he never did while he was in sodome . and noah also when he came out of the a●…ke was made drunke , which he never was when he lived among the wicked in the old world . and david also , when delivered from all his enemies , then he said in his prosperity he should never be moved , and then he lay with bathsheba , and murdered uriah . and therefore if we be guilty of this sinne , let us be deepely humbled for it before the lord this day . there is no sinne that doth more provoke god to anger , or sooner cause him to destroy a nation , and to destroy it utterly , than this sinne : to sinne after mercy ▪ under mercy , and with mercies . so it is said ezra 9. 13 , 14. seeing thou o god hast given us su●…h a deliverance as this , should we againe breake thy commandements , and joyne in affinity with the people of these abominations ? wouldst thou not be angry with us , till thou hadst consumed us , so that there should be no remnant nor escaping ? to sinne after mercy , and with mercy , procures universall and utter destruction . because i called , and ye refused , i have stretched out my hand , and no man regarded , i also will laugh at your calamity , i will mocke when your feare commeth , &c. god is never more angry than when he laughs . quod deus loquitur cum risu , id tu legas f●…etu . we have never more cause to weepe , than when god laughs . zach. 7. 13 , 14. therefore it is come to passe , that as he cryed and they would not heare , so they cryed and i would not heare , saith the lord of hoasts , but i scattered them with a whirlewind among all the nations , whom they knew not ; thus the laud was desolate after them . there are divers reasons ( besides the reasons before named ) why this sin ( to sin with the mercies of god ) should be such a god-provoking , such a land-destroying sin ; which i the rather mention , that they may be forcible helps to humiliation , which is the proper worke of this day . because mercy in it selfe is so rare and excellent a jewell , bestowed upon england purposely to serve god withall , that to abuse it to the dis-service of god , must needs be a god-provoking sin : for these rules in divinity are very cleare . 1. the greater the person is we sin against , the greater the sin ; as to offer an affront to a king , is a greater offence than to injure a common gentleman . 2. the better the person is against whom we sin , and the more good we expect from him , or have received from him , or the more need we have of him , the greater is the offence to offer wrong unto him . now mercy is the greatest and chiefest of gods attributes . in themselves gods attributes are all equall , but in regard of our necessities , as oyle swims above all other liquors , as the eagle is the chiefe of birds , the lion of beasts , gold of metals , so mercy is the chiefe of all gods attributes , and therefore to sin with mercy must needs be a horrible sin . mercy is an attribute that we al stand in need of ; the best of men need mercy as well as the worst of men . mercy it is the best friend we have , & indeed the only friend in gods bosome to plead for us , it is the only orator , and embassador to intercede for us , it is the only fiery chariot to carry us up to heaven . when justice pleads against us at gods barre , we have no refuge but to his mercy-seat . and therefore to abuse so deare a friend as mercy , and so great a friend as mercy , and such a pretious friend , and such a necessary friend , must needs make us ashamed , if not past shame , and must needs provoke god to anger , though he be full of mercy ; especially if we consider the superlative mercies that god hath bestowed upon england ; for this is another rule in diuinity : the more elevated , and the mo●…e distinguishing any mercy is , the greater the sin , to abuse it to sin . corruptio optimi pessima , the best things abused , prove the worst sins . because he that sins with the mercies of god , fights against god with his owne weapons , which must needes provoke god . suppose a man should come into a smiths shop , and take up the smiths owne hammer , and knocke him on the head , this were to commit a double sin , not onely to kill the smith , but to kill him with his owne hammer . such a double sin are they guilty of , who the more wit they have , the more they plot against god , and the more health , and honour , and wealth , the more they despise god and his commandements , with their wealth and honour . if a chirurgeon should freely bestow paines and charge to cure a man of a lame hand , and he should as soone as ever he is cured kill this chirurgeon with his cured hand , this were a horrible ingratitude , and a provoking sin . thus do they , that when they are delivered from sicknesse and made whole , fall presently to sinning against god with their health . this sin is so great , that the apostle cries out , shall i take the members of christ , and make them the members of an harlot ? god forbid ; the word in the syriake is , god forgive : god forbid , god forgive , i should be so vile and wicked . because he that sinneth with the mercies of god , turnes the greatest good into the greatest evill , and brings darknesse out of light , which is a worke proper to the devill . it is gods worke to bring light out of darknesse , good out of evill , but it is the devils worke to bring evill out of good . now to sin with gods mercies , is to bring the greatest evill out of the greatest good ; to bring the darknesse of sinne out of the light of mercy . it is to act a devill , which god must needes abhorre , and which will certainely bring u●… to the devill . to sin with mercy is to make mercy to be our adversary . and if mercy plead against a nation , then looke for speedy destruction . mercy is our best friend ( as you have ●…eard ) but when we sinne against it , we turne our chiefest friend into our bitterest enemy , and mercy it selfe cryes to god against us , and the cry of mercy cryes louder against us than the cry of justice . as poyson when it is mingled with sweete wine , the wine puts strength into the poyson , and makes it more powerfull : so the sweet mercies of god , when they are mingled with our sins , put strength into our sins , and make them more powerfull to destroy us . in the tenth of judges 11. god brings in his deliverances to plead against the people of israel . did not i deliver you from the egyptians , and from the amorites , and from the c●…ildren of ammon , and from the philistines , the zidonians also and the amalekites ? &c. yet you have forsaken me , therefore i will deliver you no more . when justice pleads against a nation , there is mercy to flye unto : but if mercy ( because it is abused to sinne ) become our enemy , there is no way but everlasting ruine . to sinne with the rare and choyce mercies of god ( such as the mercies of england are ) is a sin of such transcendent unkindnesse , as that god cannot but destroy su●…h a person , 〈◊〉 such a nation that is guilty of it . when david was used unkindly by nabal , upon whom he had bestowed many courtesies , how did this unkindnesse provoke david to anger ? in somuch as he said , surely in vaine have i kept all that this fellow hath in the wi●…dernesse , so that nothing was missing of al that appertained unto him , and he hath requited me evill for good : so , and more also doe god unto the enemies of da●…id , if i leav●… of all that pertaine to him by the morning light , any that pisseth against the wall . thus is the great jehovah enraged when we sinne with his favours . god will say , in vaine have i adorned thee with all the jewels of my mercy , which thou as a swine hast trampled under thy feete . in vaine have i given thee learning , and riches , and my gospell , &c. for thou hast requited me evill for good , therefore in destroying i will certainely destroy thee . thus also we reade in the 2 sam. 10. when david sent a kind embassage to king hanun , to comfort him after his fathers death , and he despised and abused the messengers , shaving off the one h●…lfe of their beards , and cutting off their garments in the middle , &c. this did so far incense david , as it made him destroy them al after a rigid manner . gods mercies are like davids messengers messages of love . god lookes we should improve these messages to his glory . but if we despise them , and abuse him with them , he will utterly destroy us . o consider this , you that forget god , you that undervalue his mercies , you that contemne his mercies , you that sin with his mercies . how angry was christ with peter , because he would not suffer him to wash his feete ? he seemes to be more angry with him than when he denyed him , because he refused an act of christs love . christ tooke it unkindly , at peters hands . when god comes in love to us , and offers to wash us , and to reforme us , if we refuse to be washed , and choose rather to wallow in the mire of sin and superstition , this will provoke god more than if we did flatly deny him . we would have healed babylon , but she is not healed , forsake her , and let us goe every one into his owne countrey , for her judgement reacheth unto heaven , and is lifted up even to the skies . which words tell us , that those that sin with mercies , shall be lifted up as high in judgement as they are in mercy . thus it is likewise said ezekiel 24. ver. 13. because i have purged thee and thou wast not purged , thou shalt not bee purged from thy filthinesse any more , till i have caused my fury to rest upon thee . oh that the lord would give us hearts to lay these things to heart ! oh let us be ashamed and confounded , ashamed , and ashamed , that ever we have sinned , after mercies , under mercies , and with mercies . and indeed when i consider seriously how the mercies of england are abused by england , i am possessed with exceeding great feare , lest all our mercies should be but forerunners of some greater miseries , and all our preservations , reservations to some greater destruction . for though the times are changed , yet our people are not changed ; though the times be better , yet the men that live in these times are not better . the sodomites were delivered by abraham , but because they sinned after their deliverance , their preservation was but a reservation for a greater destruction by fire and brimstone . lots wife was delivered out of sodom , but because she looked backe towards sodom , her preservation was but a reservation to be turned to a pillar of salt . pharaoh was often delivered by the prayer of moses , but because he hardned his heart after deliverance , his preservation was but a reservation , till he was drowned in the red sea . the people of israel had deliverance upon deliverance , but because they continued to sin after deliverance , god at last destroyed them with a wofull destruction . the lord open our eyes to consider these things , and to be confounded and ashamed for our evill doings , and to loath our selves for our former abominations , and to be humbled exceedingly for our sins against mercy , that god may continue his deliverances to us , and our posterity after us , as long as the sun and moone endureth . seeing god hath done such rare things freely for this nation , let us be exhorted to subscribe to the obedience of this text , and not onely be hu●…bled for what is past , but ashamed and confounded for the time to come , to sin willingly against so mercifull a god . let an argument from mercy prevaile with you . it is a great objection against some kinde of preachers , that they preach nothing but hell and damnation . this objection cannot be brought against me this day . behold i come with an olive branch of peace in my mouth . i come as a barnabas , not as a boanerges , as a minister of the gospell , all apparelled with rich mercy . it is a great mercy that we have mercies to breake our hearts withall . what would germany give , if they had these mercies ? what would ireland doe for god , if they had these mercies ? o let mercy melt us . this was nathans argument to david , thus saith the lord god of israel , i annointed thee king over israel , and delivered thee out of the hand of saul , and i gave thee thy masters house , and the house of israel , and of judah , and if that had beene too little , i would moreover have given unto thee such and such things . wherefore hast thou despised the commandement of the lord to doe evill in his sight ? thou , for whom i have done so much : wherefore hast thou despised the commandement of the lord ? this made david cry out , i have sinned against the lord . me thinkes i heare god saying unto us here present , i have delivered you from many dangers , i have recovered you from many sicknesses , i have heaped many favours upon you , and if this had not beene enough , i would have done such and such things , wherefore have you rebelled against me ? o that this might affect our hearts . observe how davids mercy wrought upon saul , 1 sam. 24. 16 , 17 , 18. david had gotten saul at an advantage , and spared him when he might have destroyed him , this did so work upon saul , that he lift up his voyce and wept &c. nothing ever moved saul so much , as the kindnes of david towards him . so when we consider how neare we have beene to destruction , and how often god hath spared us , when he might have destroyed us ; let us lift up our voyces and weepe for our sins against such a god . observe how mephibosheth was affected with davids mercy , in 2 sam 9. david had cause to be revenged upon the house of saul , but he freely shewed kindnesse to mephibosheth , restoring him all his fathers lands , and causing him to eate bread at his table continually . and this mercy did so melt his heart , that he cryes out , what is thy servant , that thou shouldest looke upon such a dead dog as i am ? o let the contemplation of gods love towards us , make us to loath our selves for our abominations , and say , what am i , a dead dog , an impure swine , an uncleane leper , that the lord my god should doe so much for me ! beloved in the lord , it is my comfort that i preach this day to those that are noble and ingenuous . my humble suite is , that you would appeare to be such indeed and in truth . an ingenuous spirit is more wrought upon by love , than feare . this fast might have beene in blood , the land might have beene in confusion this day . let the goodnesse of god drive you to repentance . let the love of jesus christ constraine you to obedi●…nce . there is a constraining power in love . though a stubborne and slavish spirit is more wrought upon by judgements than mercies ; yet a gracious and godly heart is more wrought upon by mercies than judgements . and indeed in its owne nature , mer●…y workes more powerfully , more kindly , more inwardly and deepely than judgements . 1. mercy workes more powerfully than judgements . and therefore the apostle paul , beseecheth us by the mercies of god ; he doth not say , i beseech you by the judgements of god : and in 2 cor. 7. 1. having these promises , let us cleanse our selves from all the defilements both of flesh and spirit . he doth not say , having these threatnings , let us cleanse our selves , &c. let a cart loaded goe over a river frozen with ice , the cart breakes the ice , but it remaines ice still ; but let the sun shine upon the river , and it will melt the ice , and dissolve it into water , so as nothing of the ice shal remaine . the judgements of god may break a hard heart , but it will remain hard still , as a rocke broken in peeces remaines a rocke ; but the sun-shine of gods mercy , and the consideration of gods love to us in christ will breake the heart to powder , and make it not onely a broken heart , but a soft and contrite heart . have you not seene a malefactor at his condemnation and place of execution , when without hope of mercy , carrying himselfe desperately , and obdurately in sinne , and afterwards , when informed that there was a pardon provided for him , hath beene exceedingly melted and broken in heart , at the consideration of the graciousnesse of the king towards him ? 2. mercy workes more kindly and sweetly than judgements . as a thicke cl●…ud that is melted by the suns shining upon it , distills downe sweetly into a fruitfull showre , but the cloud that is broken with a thunderbolt makes a mighty cracke , and teares the cloud in peeces : so the mercies of the gospel doe kindly worke upon the heart , opening it , as it did the heart of lydia , and sweetly melting it into teares after a blessed and comfortable manner : but the thunder-bolt of gods judgements makes an earth-quake , and a heart-quake , as it did upon the gaoler , act. 16. as the blustering winds teare up the trees by the rootes : so doe the judgements of god rend and teare the heart quite in peeces , but mercies will kindly dissolve it . 3. mercies will worke inwardly . take a piece of gold , beate it with a hammer never so much , and yet you shall never separate the drosse from the gold by beating of it ; but put the gold into the furnace , and the fire will separate the drosse from it . the hammer of the law will batter and bruise the soule , but the drosse still remaines in it ; but the fire of the gospell , the furnace of gods love will separate a man and his lusts , and purge out the filth that is inwardly got into the soule . the sun by its hot beames made the traveller , ( as it is in the fable ) put off his cloke , when the blustering winde made him gird his cloke faster about him . thus you see how mercy workes more powerfully , more kindly , more inwardly . oh that it might appeare in our hearts this day , that this doctrine that i preach , is true . i read that caesar upon a certaine time with a booke in his hand was hearing of cicero pleading , and was so taken with his eloquence and listened so attentively , that he let fall his booke . oh that the lord would so affect you with the consideration of englands mercies , that your sins may fall away from you , as caesars book did from him . that you that write , may blot your bookes with your teares , and you that look upon me may look with teares in your eyes . let us shed penitent teares this day , for the sins of many yeares . let us study the duty of this text , let us be ashamed and ashamed for our sins . there be many men , saith chrysostome , that are ashamed of what they should not be ashamed , and not ashamed of what they should be ashamed : are ashamed to confesse their sins , but not to act their sins , not ashamed to be seene at a play-house , but ashamed to be seene at gods house upon a weeke day , ashamed of christ and his cause , ashamed to be accounted precise , but not ashamed to be wicked and ungodly . and as the same author saith , many men are not ashamed to sin , but ashamed to be known to sin , not ashamed to commit adultery , but to be knowne to commit it , not ashamed to be sinners , but to be called sinners , not ashamed to be covetous , but ashamed to be called covetous . this shame comes from the devill , and will bring us to the devill . let us pitch the act upon the right object . let us be ashamed of our evill ( and not of our good ) doings . shame is the daughter of sin . if there had not beene sin , there never had beene any shame . but god hath appointed the daughter to devoure the mother . as the worme eates up the tree that bred it , so let shame devoure sinne . there is no creature capable of sh●…me but man . bruit beasts are capable of feare and sorrow , but not of shame : god forbid any here present should be so bruitish as to be past shame . to sinne and not to be ashamed of it , is limen inferni , the next doore to damnation . the heathen hath a saying , erubuit , salva res est . as long as there is shame , there is hope . o let us be confound●…d and ashamed , and let mercy be the midwife to bring forth this shame and sorrow . the apostle commands us , that if our enemies hunger , we should feed them , if they thirst , we should give them drinke , and in so doing we shall heape coales of fire upon their heads . the meaning is , that this mercy will be like a heape of hot coales , either to melt their hearts and make them our friends , or if they persist in their enmity , to adde fewell to thei●… torments in hell . god hath heaped many hot coales of fire upon our heads , o let this fire burne up our drosse , and melt our hard hearts lest if we continue obstinate , these coales of fire serve to adde to our burning in bel . i read in the ninth of daniel : when daniel saw that the time was come wherein god had promised to deliver israel out of babylon , this mercy made him fast , and mourne , and confesse his sins with shame and confusion of face , &c. we hope the time is come , yea the set time , wherein god intends to shew mercy to england ; o let us pray , and mourne , and weepe , and take shame for our scarlet abominations . if we were sure that god would perfect what he hath begun and consummate our hopes , this would mightily disswade us from ever sinning against god . it is an argument sufficient that there is a possibility , though not a certainty . this was enough to worke upon the ninivites : let us cry mightily to god , and every man turne from his evill way . who can tell if god will turne , and repent , & c. ? who knowes but that god may reare us up a glorious church ? e●…ra blesses god , that be had given them a little reviving in their bondage . we must doe as the servants of benhadad : bebold ( say they ) we have heard that the kings of israel are mercifull kings , let us put sack-cloth upon our loynes , and ropes upon our heads , per adventure he will save thy life , &c. and when they came to the king , they did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him , and did hastily catch at it , &c. so must we diligently observe and catch at the very first appearance of mercy , and lay hold upon the very first opportunity ; i read , zach. 4. 10. who hath despised the day of small things ? the prophet speakes of the rebuilding of jerusalem , which at the first was so small , that sanballat , tobiah , and the rest of the enemies of gods church laughed them to scorne and said , what doe these feeble jewes ? will they fortifie themselves ? will they make an end in a day ? will they revive the stones , out of the heapes of the rubbish which are bu●…nt ? even that which they build , if a fex come up , he shall even breake downe their stone wall , &c. yet notwithstanding they did go on , and build , and finish the worke , and all the mountaines of opposition , became a plaine before them ; and therefore let us not despise the day of smal things . it is with the friends of the church as with the enemies of the church , when the churches enemies begin to fall before gods people , they shall certainely fall . as hamans wise men told him , if mordecai be of the seed of the jewes , before whom thou hast begun to fall , thou shalt not prevaile against him , but shalt surely fall before him . ( marke those words ; if he be of the seed of the jewes , that is , of the people of god . ) and when they fall , they fall by degrees , as it is , exod. 14. first , god troubled the egyptians , then he tooke off their wheeles from their chariots , then he drowned them in the red sea . so it is with the friends of the church . if they begin to rise before the enemies of the church , they shall certainely rise , and be advanced higher and higher . and therefore when a little crevice of light appeares , when god doth but begin to looke towards us , as he did upon peter , let us weepe bitterly , that ever we should sin against such a god . when a cart is in a quagmire , if the horses find it comming , they will pull the harder . god is now drawing neere to us in mercy , we have been in a deepe-quagmire , like jeremy in his dungeon , and god is beginning to pull us out . o let the free mercy of god , and his unparalleld love , breake our hearts for , and from sinne . if this be true , then all our ministers will be found lyars , for they have prophesied the certaine ruine and desolation of england . jonah was no lyar when he preached , yet forty dayes and niniveh shall be destroyed , because he was to be understood conditionally . so are all our threatnings to be understood with an , if , &c. we ministers preach what god in his ordinary way is wont to do , & what god in his word hath threatned to a nation guilty of such sins as ours are . but god hath dealt with england , not according to his ordinary rule , but according to his prerogative . england ( if i may so speake with reverence ) is a paradox to the bible . the bible tels us what sinnes will make a nation ripe for destruction , and we finde these sinnes in our nation . but if god will leave his ordinary road , and except us from the generall rule , and miraculously save us by prerogative , and free grace , who can hinder a free agent ? this is a rare act of his prerogative , & the more mercy there is in it , the more ought we to be confounded for our apostasies , whoredomes , abominations , and rebellions against this god . men , brethren and fathers , if all that i have said this day , wil not worke upon your hearts , give me leave to name some other kind of mercies unto you . for i am all for mercy this day . 1. consider , what a mercy it is for god to make you men , when he might have made you toads . i doubt not but you have heard the story of the two bishops , that being riding to the councell of constance , and espying by the way a poore country man weeping , turned towards him , and asked him , why he wept , he answered , i weepe to see t●…is toad ( that lay upon the ground before him ) because i never blessed god sufficiently , for that he made me a man and not a toad . this answer made them goe away astonished and ashamed for their owne unthankfulnesse . and it may justly worke the like effect in us . 2. consider , what a mercy it is to be not onely a man , but a rich man , a gentleman , knight , or lord , &c. there is none here , but such whom god hath lifted up above thousands in outward mercies . what a shame is it for a poore cobler to doe more service for god , than it may be some of you doe , that have received so much from god . may not christ say to you as he did to the jewes ? i have done many great workes among you , for which of these doe you stone me ? i have done many great things for you , i have given you health , wealth , credite , wit , and honour , and for which of these is it that thou blasphemest my name , and despisest my sabbaths , and refusest to obey my commandements ? it is said of heliogabalus , that he provided silken halters to hang himselfe withall , and ponds of sweet water to drowne himselfe withall , gilded poysons to poyson himselfe withall . o let not your honors and riches , &c. be silken halters to strangle your soules ! let not your pleasures be ponds of sweet water to drown your soules ! let not your preferments be gilded poysons , to poyson your soules ! say as nabal did ( but in a better sense ) shal i take my health which god hath given me , to sin against my god with it ? god forbid . shall i take the wit that god hath given me , to plot against god and his cause with it ? god forbid . 3. consider , the patience of god towards us . this is an argument that should drive us to repentance , rom. 2. there is no sin , but it is committed in the very bosome of god . for god fils heaven & earth , and sees all your curtaine abominations . and he is able to destroy you , he is just , and must wound the bairy scalpe of those that goe on in their wickednesse , and he is a holy and a pure god , that hates your iniquities from his very heart . and yet behold how patient this god is towards you ! at such a time , when thou wert in the act of adultery , he might have sent thee to hell in the very act , he might have made thy tongue to rot , the last oath thou sworest . nothing with-held him but pure mercy . o let this melt our hearts . what a mercy is it to be out of hell ? many in hell have not sinned the sinnes that we have done . it is his free grace that we are delivered . we might have been weeping in hell at this instant : and then our teares should have beene our hell , but now they will prove our heaven , if god worke them in us . 4. consider , the lord jesus christ , and his love in dying for thee . if thy heart be as hard as an adamant , the blood of this scape goate will soften it . there were five men met together , that asked one another what meanes they used to abstaine from sinne . the first answered , that he continually thought upon the certainty of death , and the uncertainty of the time of death , and that made him live every day , as if it were his last day . the second meditated of the severe account , he was to give at the day of judgement , and of the everlasting torments of hell , and this kept him from sin . the third , of the vilenesse and loathsomenesse of sin , and of the excellency and beauty of grace , and this made him abhorre sinne . the fourth , of the everlasting rewards and pleasures provided for those that abstaine from sinne , and this prevailed with him . the fifth and the last , continually meditated of the lord jesus christ , and of his love , and this made him ashamed to sin against god . this last is the greatest motive of all . if the pacification betweene the two nations of england & scotland will not affect us , let the great pacification that christ hath made for thee between god and thy soule move thy heart to be ashamed to offend god . it is the greatest argument i can use , to say , for jesus christ his sake be ashamed and confounded for your evill waies . 5. consider , the long enjoyment of the gospel , the powerfull and plentifull preaching of it , joyned with peace and plenty . and let us mourne for our gospel sins for our unprofitablenes , and unfruitfulnesse under such fruitfull meanes , that we have beene like a barren ground which no plowing will make good . let us mourne for our unbeliefe , and impenitency . let gospel sins produce gospel sorrow . teares are made onely for sin . if we mourne our eyes out for worldly losses ; we cannot profit our selves . but if we weep for sin , this will quench the fire of hell . there are 2 sorts of sins , and 2 sorts of curses : legall sins & gospel sins , legall curses and gospel curses : legall sins will bring legall curses ; but gospel sins ( unlesse there be gospel sorrow ) will bring a gospel curse , which is above al legal curses . of this curse the apostle speaks 1 cor. 16. 22. if any man love not the lord jesus christ , let him be anathema maranatha : that is , accursed for the present , & reserved for the vengeance which christ will render to all unbelievers , when he comes to judgement . this is curse upon curse . and this is the curse due to them that abuse mercies . the lord deliver us from this curse . 6. let every man consider the personal mercies that god hath bestowed upon him in particular , & take all these mercies , & lay them to his heart , & they wil dissolve the stone in his heart ; let our hearts be as wax , & these mercies as the sun to melt them into godly sorrow . make a double catalogue : one of thy sins ; the other of gods mercies to thee , & binde them about thy heart to bring it into a religious frame . thus i have named six other mercies . my humble suit is , that you would p●…nder & consider seriously what hath been said unto you . consider what i say , saith the apostle , and the lord give you understanding . the thessalonians had never understood what paul had said , if they had not considred it . no more shall we profit by this sermon , if we do not consider what hath bin said . and this consideration must have foure ingredients . 1. we must consider these mercies distinctly , and deliberately . if a man hath a sweet cordiall in his mouth and swallow it downe whole , he wil not taste the sweetnes of it , but if he chew it by degrees , it wil be very pleasant to his taste . so these mercies will doe us no good , if we swallow them down without serious meditation . but if we chew them and consider them distinctly and deliberately , one mercy after another , they will exceedingly affect us . 2. we must consider them with reflexion upon our selves , and application to our selves . as it is reported of plato that when he did walk in the streets , if he saw any man disordred in his speech , or any other way he would say to himselfe : num ego talis ? am i such a one as this is ? so must we say , num ego talis ? have i abused these mercies ? have i sinned with these mercies ? and as the apostles severally asked christ , master , is it i ? so m●…t we aske our hearts , am not i the man that ought to be ashamed , and ●…nfoundid for my sins against mercies ? 3. we must consider these mercies in as neere a propinquity as we can possible . it is a true saying of the philosoper , things that are seen far off , are as if they were not : a great man a far off seems little or nothing : an enemie a farre off , or a serpent a farre off , doth litt●…e trouble us . so it is with mercies . if we looke upon them at a distance they will seeme little , and little affect us , but if we take them neere to us , they will seeme ( as they are ) very great , and will mightily worke upon us . 4. consider these mercies devoutly with prayer unto god to make them heart-melting mercies . pray to christ to looke upon thee , as he did on peter ; the cock crew once and peter wept not , the cock crew twice , and peter wept not , because ( saith ambrose ) christ did not looke upon him . but as soone as ever christ looked upon him , then he wept , aspexit christus & flevit . we ministers are as the crowing of peters cocke , we cannot make you ashamed and confounded for your evill doings , unlesse christ looke upon you . the lord jesus in his mercy cast his eye upon us this day , that we may all of us goe out and weep bitterly , as peter did . the very brute beasts have bin wrought upon by mercie . some write ( though others contradict it ) of the elephant , that because it wants joynts it cannot kneele , & if it once fall it cannot rise , and therefore when it sleeps it sleepes leaning upon a tree . now the hunts-man observing upon what tree it sleeps , desirous to take it , comes in the day time , and sawes that tree almost asunder , and when the elephant comes to leane upon it , the tree falls , and the elephant with it ; then comes the hunts-man , and lifts up the elephant , which he takes so kindly , that ever after he followes the hunts-man where ever be pleaseth . this story may be applyed divers wayes . when we were all fallen in adam by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree , unable to rise againe , jesus hath lifted us up from hell : o let this mercie melt us into obedience . when we were all falne of late yeares in this kingdome into a desperate condition : god by the king and parliamant hath raised us up to a hope of better dayes . o let us be ashamed to be disobedient to this god . there is another famous story of one androdus dwelling at rome , that fled from his master into the wildernesse , and tooke shelter in a lions den ; the lion came home with a thorne in his foot , and seeing the man in the den reached out his foot , and the man pulled out the thorne ; which the lion tooke so kindly , that for three yeares he sed the man in his den . after three yeares the man stole out of the den , and returned backe to rome , was apprehended by his master and condemned to be devoured by a lion . it hapned that this very lion was designed to devour him ; the lion knowes his old friend , and would not hurt him . the people wondred at it , the man was saved , and the lion given to him , which he carried about with him in the streets of rome . from whence came that motto , hic est homo medicus leonis : hic est leo hospes hominis . beloved in the lord , the great god by the help of you , and the house of the lords hath plucked many thorns out of our feet . o let us not now bring forth thornes and briers . let not our hearts be drie and barren as the thorny ground . let us not kicke against god with our feete while be is plucking out the thornes that trouble us . let us not be worse than the brute beasts . but if all this will not prevaile , suffer me i beseech you to remind you under new expressions of what hath beene before said , and to offer some new motives unto you . 1. if the beginnings of hope that now appeare , and these inclinings of better dayes will not work upon us to bumble us for , and from sin : god will take away all our hopes , & all his mercies from us , and give them to a nation that will make better use of them . and as i said in my last sermon which i preached before this honourable assembly ) he will repent of the good things which he intended to bestow upon us . remember what i hinted before of saul , that if hee had tarried for samuel , god would have established the kingdome unto him , but now , saith samuel , thy kingdome shall not continue . how do we know but that if we humble our selves , and enter into covenant to be g●… people , and seeke the lord with all our heart , but that god may establish us to be his choice people for ever ? but if we harden our hearts against god and his wayes , god will say unto us t●…is day , i thought to have made you a happy kingdome , but now your happinesse shall not continue . 2. when god hath done much for a nation , and that nation sinnes with his ●…ercies , god will not onely take away his mercies , but will send curses instead of blessings . for so it is said , josh. 24. 20. if yee seeke the lord , and serve strange gods , then will he turne and do you hurt and consume you , after he hath done you good . god may out of his free mercy prorogue , and demurre our ruine , but be will never remove it , till our nationall sinnes be removed . 3. if god should heale us , help us , and lengthen out our tranquillity , and make a reformation among us , yet it would be but a lame cure , if we be not confounded and ashamed for our evill wayes . it will be but a skinning over of our disease , and a daubing of us up with untempered morter , a smothering of the fire , which will breake out the more afterwards . but a perfect cure can never be expected from god , till th●…re be a nationall humiliation , and refo●…mation . 4. adde lastly , if god should shew us mercy , this mercy will be accursed unto us , if we be not humbled and reformed . a mercy abused is no mercy . mercy turned to sinne , takes away the comfort of the mercy , and turneth the mercy into a curse ; as the raine , that falls upon the sea , is made salt by the salt water . and that which falls upon moorish grounds , breeds toads and serpents : so all the goodnesse and mercies of god falling upon wicked , impenitent , and irreformed hearts , breed nothing but the ver●…●…f sinne and iniquity . mercy is like the water of jealousie , of which ●…e read numbers the fifth : if the woman was innocent , it made her fruitfull , but if guilty it made her rot . so the mercies of god if we be good , make us more fruitfull . it is maximum & aptissimum motivum & medium obedientiae . but when they fall upon a wicked spirit , they make him the more rotten , and the more wicked . the lord blesse these considerations unto you . for the conclusion of all , i will do two things . 1. i will name some particular sinnes , which are most opposite to the mercies god hath done for england , and beseech the representative house of england , to be confounded and ashamed to commit such sinnes any more . 2. i will name some speciall and heroicall uses which you are to make of gods mercies , besides this in the text . 1. i will name some particular sins , &c. 1. be ashamed , o house of egland , to forget the mercies you have received from god . it is a great mercie that we have mercies to remember , and if wee refuse to remember gods mercies , god will take order that we shall have no mercies to remember . let not the brand of the chiefe butler be justly fastned upon us , yet did not the chiefe butler remember joseph , but forgot him . 2. be ashamed , to contenme and despise the mercies you have received from god . there are many like the israelites in babylon ; that liked their habitations in babylon so well , that when cyrus gave them leave to goe to jerusalem , they would not leave babylon to goe to jerusalem . so there are many that like their former condition under the innovation so well , that they had rather continue in babylon still , than accept of the reformation offered . that begin to say of mannah , we have nothing but this mannah ; and to wish for the garlicke and onions of egypt againe . this is a grievous abomination . god was very angry with the israelites for this sin , he sent plagues upon plagues among them for it . and when at last they brought an evill report upon the land of canaan , and ( as david saith , psal. 106 ) despised the holy land , refusing to go into it , god was so provoked with this sin , that he would not pardon it , but set them back again 40. yeares , and destroyed their carkasses in the wildernesse . would to god i could not say , that there are some among us , that raise up an ill report upon the reformation intended , as if the parliament had a purpose to bring in an anarchie , to reduce every thing into its first chaos , to leave every man to do what is good in his owne eyes , as when there was no king in israel : and upon this false rumour they despise the blessed canaan that we are going into . oh let us be ashamed and confounded to commit this sinne . this will make god carry us backe againe to the wildernesse . 3. be ashamed to distrust god and his power in time of great difficulty , having received so many and so great deliverances . we are for the most part like the children of israel , who although they were by a mighty hand brought out of egypt , and through the red sea , &c. yet upon every strait they began presently to murmure , and to thinke of making a captaine to returne to egypt , never considering the iron bondage they endured in egypt . god hath brought us out of the egyptian bondage , and carried us through a red sea of dangers , and yet when wee meete , though but with the news , of any giants or anakins , we begin presently to distrust , and to say : can god prepare a table in the wildernesse ? can god make a way through the hoasts of the phi●…istines ? and some of us begin to wish that things had remained as at first . this is a horrible sinne after so many mercies . as austin saith of jesus christ , he that will not beleeve in christ after so many miracles , without a new miracle , he himselfe is a great miracle . so he that will distrust god , after so many miraculous mercies , is himselfe a miracle of unbeliefe . how often hath god appeared in the mount these two last yeares , as if he had resolved to take up his dwelling there ? how many mountaines of opposition have melted before you , as mountaines of snow before the sun ? be ashamed , be ashamed o house of england , to distrust god after so many mercies . 4. be ashamed to be cowardly and faint hearted in the cause of god , that hath so mightily appeared for us . i remember the storie of nehemiah , chap. 6. it is there said , that when the enemies heard that the worke of the building of the temple prospered beyond their expectations , th●…y accused nehemiah of treason against the king , and when that plot did not succeed , they bore him in hand as if some assassinat had conspired his death . and all this was done to make him afraid . but he was above all feare ( shall such a man as i fly ? ( saith he ) shall such a man as i feare ? ) and finished the worke , insomuch as that when the enemies heard thereof they were much cast downe , for they perceived that this worke was wrought of god . remember that the fearfull are put , not onely among unbeleevers , murderers , whoremongers , sorcerers , idolaters , &c. but in the forefront of them all . be not afraid to incounter difficulties . when peter came up to the iron gate , it opened to him of its owne accord . 5. be ashamed to abate and coole in the worke of the lord . god will spue out a lukewarme christian . when moses let downe his hands amaleck prevailed ; if you coole but a little , the adversaries will waxe hot . there are many that labour to cast water upon your zeale , but remember the cause is gods , and say with david , it is before the lord , i will be more vile still . the people of god will honour you , though michol scoffe at you . it is a great mercie that god hath kept us from blood . god hath left our blood in our veines , let it boyle up in the cause of god . 6. be ashamed to injure the instruments by which god conveyes these mercies unto us . when corah and his company rebelled against moses and aaron , then came the plague . as we must not idolize , so we must not injure the golden pipes , through which these mercies flow unto us . 7. take heed of being ashamed of the cause of christ . god hath not beene ashamed to appeare for us , let us not be ashamed to appeare for him . remember that thundring speech , mark . 8. 38. whosoever shall be ashamed of mee and my words , in this adulterous and sinfull generation , of him also shall the sonne of man be ashamed , when he comes in the glory of his father , with the holy angels . it is not enough not to be ashamed of christ in a good generation , but we must not be ashamed of him in an adulterous and sinfull generation . 8. let us neither pride our selves in our mercies , nor waxe wanton in our mercies . it is recorded in the french history , that when the protestants of france began to grow wanton of their peace and prosperity , and began to affect a vaine and frothy way of preaching , the●… came the cruell massacre upon them . 2. i will briefly name some speciall and heroicall uses , which we are to make of gods mercies , besides this use in the text . 1. do something , o house of england , for the honour of the lords day , which hath beene much prophaned , not onely in our practises , but in our doctrines . christ jesus hath two dayes , the day of the lord , which is the day of judgement , and the lords day . if you looke to appeare with comfort at the day of the lord , honour the lords day ; there is a day of the lord , for those that abuse the lords day . do something to make this day more honourable by way of spirituall satisfaction . 2. do something to purge the land more and more of the innocent blood of the martyrs in queene maries dayes , by the lawes that were then established . oh that in our publike fasts a clause might be interlaced , to command the land to be humbled for that bloody sinne , that so the nation might be freed from the guilt of that blood . this will be an heroicall worke , worthy of a people endeared to god by such mercies . 3. do something for the reformation of gods house . mistake mee not , i do not forget to remember with thankfulnesse , what you have already done , but goe on , i beseech you , to perfect what you have begun to do . and consider what some say of solomon , that it was his great fault , that he bestowed more time in building of ●…is owne house , than he did in building the house of god . he was but seven yeares in building the house of god , and thirteen years in building his owne house . and it is observed he never prospered after . the scripture seems to give a little hint of this . for it is said in the 1 king. 6. 38. so was he seven yeares in building the house of the lord . and in the next verse it is added , but solomon was building his owne house thirteene yeares . this ( but ) may seeme to be a secret kind of reproofe . o let not the like blame be cast upon you ! make haste to repaire the ruines of gods house . and be sure to repaire it according to the word of god , not according to humane policie . let mee desire you never to forget the story of david , who when he went to bring home the arke ▪ with great joy , because he brought it not home in due order , but suffered it to be carried in a cart , when god had commanded it should be carried upon the priests shoulders , there was a great breach made , and a great stop of the worke . as it is expresly said , 1 chr. 15. 13. because he did it not at the first , therefore the lord our god made a breach upon us , for that wee sought him not after the due order . a reformation made according to the rule will abide , when all others will molder away , and the blessing of god will be upon it , and upon the maker of it . 4. do something for the setting up of a preaching ministrie throughout the kingdome ; that the light of the gospell of jesus christ may shine in the dark corners of the land . and provide a competent maintenance for the ministrie , for feare lest scandalōus livings , make scandalous ministers . 5. do something to purge out all the defilements that are in the pure worship of god , that the pure and holy god may be worshipped with pure worship , purely , by pure worshippers . 6. do something for bleeding ireland , pitty ireland that 〈◊〉 the mercies we enjoy . pray for ireland . underwrite for ireland . this designe now on foot is a worke of great piety , a meanes to roote out popery for ever out of ireland , and it may prove as profitable as pious . send speedy aid , and the lord blesse it when it is sent . and thus i have finished my sermon . it is reported of ignatius , that when he heard a clocke strike , he would say , here is one houre more now past , that i have to answer for . give me leave to tell you , you have heard a sermon of two houres , and therefore you have two houres more to answer for . the lord enable us to give up a good account of this dayes meeting . let us pray down●… a blessing fro●… heaven upon what we have heard . for though the mercies of god be most free , as i shewed you in my third doctrine , yet god must be enquired of by the bouse of england , to do●… these mercies for them , as it is expressely set downe in the 3●… . verse of this chapter . prayer doth not merit mercie , but fits us fo●… mercie . if we will have mercie , we must bring vessels to hold it , and no vessels will hold mercy but broken hearts . this is a paradoxe in nature , but not in grace . deus non infundit oleum misericordi●… , nisi in v●… contritun●… . and where should we goe for a broken heart , but to the heart-maker ? let us pray unto god to fit ou●… nation for more mercies , and then to bestow them upon us . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a32016e-140 vincit invincibilem ligat omnipotentem . 2 king. 4. 23. amos 8. 9 numb. 29 〈◊〉 h●…b antiqu●…ty . esay 58. 1. * 〈◊〉 art●…xes . notes for div a32016e-1210 prov. 27. 1 part. 1. vers. 24. 25. 26. 30. doctr. 1. ezek. 37. vers. 17. prov. 11. 8 prov. 21. 18 psal. 63. 13. psal 63. 14. 2 part. doctr. 2. 2. judg. 7. 2. 1 sam 14. gen. 7. 16. act 16 psal. 12●… ▪ psal. 126. psa●… . 9. 16 prov. 5. 22. esay . 59. exod. 1●… . 11. ps. 67. 10. vse . 1. vse 2. vse 1. p●…al . ●…15 . dan. 4. 30. quest . answ. 2. sam. 12. 28. vse 〈◊〉 englands mercies must bee made , moti●…a obedientia . rom. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 memorandums of duti●… . ester . 5. specula 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 footstooles of obedience . bridges to obedience . psal. 48. 10. psal. 16. 11. cordialls of comfort judge . 13. 23. media & instrumenta obedientiae . joel 2. 13. psal. 137. 〈◊〉 sam. 7. 18. part 3. ezek. 36. 22. doct. 3. quest . answ. 1. acts 5. 31. 2. vse . 1. luk. 13. ac●… . 2●… . vse . 2. use 3. psal. 44. 3. 1 cor. 4. 7. zach. 4. 6 , 7. use 〈◊〉 . eph. 2. eph●… . 1. rom 6 23. rom 9. use 5. 4 part. d●…ct . 4. ezek. 16. 61 , 62 , 63. ezek. 20. 41 , 42 , 43. ezek. 36. 31. reas. 1. jer. 2. 5. jer. 31. 3●… . 〈◊〉 2. 〈◊〉 . 3. . 〈◊〉 t●…m 3 1 r●… . 〈◊〉 . 21. 27. 〈◊〉 . 5. 1 cor 6. 19. r●…s . 6. ez●…k . 6 ▪ 9. r●…as 7. rom. 2●… . 〈◊〉 3. 2. math. 11. 21 , 22. heb. 2. 16. reas. 8. vse 1. deu●… . 32. 6 ps 10●… . 7. ps. 109. 13 {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . psal. 55. 19 2 chro. 36 22. psal. 30. 6. prov. 1. 24 reas. 1. reas. 2. reas. 3. reas. 4. reas. 5. 1 sam 25. 21 , 22. ier. 51. 9. gen. 14. ●…se 2. 2 sam. 12 〈◊〉 , 8 , 9. rom. 12. 1 rom. 1●… . 20. daniel 9. object . answ. ionah 3. 7 8 , 9. ezra 9. ●…0 〈◊〉 kings 20 31 , 32 , 33. neh. 4. 2 , 3 ester . 6. 13 object . 2. answ. 1. answ. 2 2 thes. 4. jet. 18. 10 1 sam. 13. 14. josh. 24. 20. num. 5. 〈◊〉 ●…0 23 num. 14. psal. 106. neh. 6 , rev. 21. 8. act. 12. mat. 8 38. 1 king. 6. 38 1 king. 7. 1. 1 chr. 15. 13. ezek. 36. 37. evangelium armatum, a specimen, or short collection of several doctrines and positions destructive to our government, both civil and ecclesiastical preached and vented by the known leaders and abetters of the pretended reformation such as mr. calamy, mr. jenkins, mr. case, mr. baxter, mr. caryll, mr. marshall, and others, &c. assheton, william, 1641-1711. 1663 approx. 149 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 36 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a26065 wing a4033 estc r4907 12499749 ocm 12499749 62657 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a26065) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 62657) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 303:15) evangelium armatum, a specimen, or short collection of several doctrines and positions destructive to our government, both civil and ecclesiastical preached and vented by the known leaders and abetters of the pretended reformation such as mr. calamy, mr. jenkins, mr. case, mr. baxter, mr. caryll, mr. marshall, and others, &c. assheton, william, 1641-1711. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. baxter, richard, 1615-1691. [12], 59 p. : ports. printed for william garret, london : 1663. written by w. assheton. cf. halkett & laing (2nd ed.). reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng great britain -history -puritan revolution, 1642-1660. 2003-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-01 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-02 john latta sampled and proofread 2003-02 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion evangelium armatum . a specimen ; or short collection of several doctrines and positions destructive to our government both civil and ecclesiastical ; preached and vented by the known leaders and abetters of the pretended reformation such as , mr. calamy . mr. jenkins . mr. case . mr. baxter . mr. caryll . mr. marshall . and others , &c. london , printed for william garret , 1663. the preface to the reader . at this notable season and great crisis both of church and state , in which parties are so high , factions so restless , and discontents so general , i know none so likely a means to resettle and confirm our shaking fabrick , as to disabuse the people , and to redeem their understandings from a captivity to those guides , who have preached and lectured them into these miseries and confusions . i have observed , though it be true piety alone that must save men , yet it is the shew and pretence of piety that governs them . a maxim so verified by the late transactions among us , that the great basis and ground-work of all the villany that has been acted upon the stage of these miserable kingdoms , has been to beget and fix in the people this belief , that the great design drove on by the actors of it , was the advancement of the purity of religion , and the power of godliness . so that the people were brought at length to digest civil war , the cutting of throats , wresting away estates , and the murder and banishment of princes , so long as all this was called reformation but since it is not imaginable , how men could quit the first infusions of honest education , and debauch the known principles of nature and religion , so as not at first to tremble and start at these villanies , it follows that they must needs have been insensibly wrought up to them by some predominant perswasion , that by degrees lessened , and at length totally subdued those preconceived dictates of nature and religion to a compliance with such practices : and this was no other than a blind and furious opinion of the extraordinary piety of those teachers , who pretending more intimate acquaintance with god , and immediate possession by his spirit , as plenipotentiary commissioners , and embassadors from almighty god , animated the people to the late rebellion . and still they endeavour to captivate their pity , by a bold and impudent insinuation of these two things , that they are the people of god , and that they are persecuted . for experience shews that the opinion of persecution naturally moves men to pity , and pity presently turns into love , and whom men love , they are easily brought to defend . but i doubt not to any unprejudiced reader so to divest them of these pretences , and stripping them of their sheeps cloathing to represent them as naked as truth , & as deformed as error & seduction . for the first of these , their being the people of god. i demand whether true piety is consistent with the known abetment of principles and practices directly contrary to the law of nature , and the word of god : and then whether the preaching taking up arms , and raising a war against our lawfull prince , be not a sin deeply dyed with both these qualifications . that the latter of these is undeniable , and the former justly chargeable upon them , let the ensuing system of principles speak , which they vented from the pulpit , and their auditors commented upon by all the hideous massacres since acted by them in the strength of those doctrines and assertions . i say , let men impartially read them over and see , whether that religion can be called pure , that is so far from peaceable . and for a further test of their piety ; i demand whether an oath be not the most sacred and dreadfull obligation that can be fastned upon the conscience of man : and whether their oath of allegiance were not such an one ? upon which concessions , i demand further , what strain of piety could warrant these ministers to send their congregations ( as the chief of them did ) with full discharge from the bonds of that oath , to wage war against their king ? what prerogative in religion could authorise them to obtrude an oath and covenant contradictory to their former oaths , upon those consciences , that groaned with horror and reluctancy under the sense of their former obligations ? till they can here either deny the matter of fact , which has been writ in characters of bloud legible to all the world ; or can reconcile these matters of fact to christianity , i demand of them in the presence of god and man , what account they will give before the great tribunal of god for having with so much solemnity of prayer , shew of piety ; and profession of zeal , deceived the people into these execrable practices , enough to stink the protestant name out of the world ; and what excuse the clear light of reason , and of the word , can leave to those who resigned themselves up to be deceived by them ? but as the conscience being once broken up , easily lyes open to any after breach : so they having deflowred it with the first perjury of the covenant , stuck not much at the engagement , a promise as contradictory to the covenant , as the covenant it self had been to their oaths of allegiance and canonical obedience : and lastly their recognising and doing homage to cromwell , who had setled himself with the power , though not the title of king , and with an house of lords , seemed no less to throw off , and contradict their engagement . we see here the compass of their religious swallow . all oaths could down with them , but none hold them : out of all which they could with the greatest facility find a way to creep forth , and interpret away the obligation of an oath , as easily , as if it were an act of parliament . but the only thing these thorough-paced swearers at length stick at , is the subscription lately required by law , made and enacted by parliament , and confirmed by the royal assent , that is , by all the legislative power this nation owns . this they cannot subscribe to : why ? because they cannot renounce an oath imposed by part of a rebell parliament , without , and against the royal assent , and by which they swore off all former lawfull oaths , binding themselves to prosecute that rebellious war. this they will not , they cannot renounce ; and therefore desire only for a while to be dispenced with , and indulged , till they come to be in a capacity once more to put it in execution . how far persons owning such an obliga●…ion , and venting such maxims and doctrines as are here faithfully and truely represented out of their printed sermons , are like to advance , or perhaps at all to comport with , the peace of the kingdom , is left to the serious consideration of those , with whom the preservation of that peace is entrusted , & whose prudence being alarm d with such spiritual fire-balls , will ( we hope ) begin to look about , & to distinguish between conscience & contempt . if any should now plead their being instrumental to the reduction of his majesty , for their vindication from the charge of these assertions , too notorious to be denyed , and too impious to be defended ; though i could answer , that i am not at all beholding to a chirurgeon for setting that leg , which he himself first put out of joynt : yet i desire them to remember that they never attempted the restauration of his majesty , till they were visibly in the very jaws of the fanaticks , who were then seizing upon their tythes and churches , the last morsell of the spiritual revenue ; so that it is shrewdly to be suspected , that had not the tythe-pig cryed lowder in their ears , than either their conscience , or the word of god , they had never been awakened to attempt that , which since it has been effected , so many of them have not obscurely repented of . and so much may suffice to answer their pretences to piety , and the power of godliness . to their next plea , that they are now persecuted , i shall only make this reply ; that i desire the world to take notice , that those persons , who turned almost all out of their livings , that adhered to their lawfull soveraign ; who sent suc●… , with their wives and families a begging , as durst not deflower their consciences with down-right perjury ; and having sworn canonical obedience to the most reformed church in the world , durst not by a contrary oath , swear and endeavour its extirpation . those also who procured that murdering order from a bloudy tyrant and usurper , that every episcopal divine should not only be uncapable of a benefice , but also disabled to exercise any act of his ministerial function , as preaching , baptizing , or the like , nor yet suffered to get some little subsistence by teaching school : no , nor lastly to live in any gentlemans house , who out of pity might take him in to keep him from starving . all which are such unheard-of instances of barbarous tyranny , that the spight of the heathen neros , dioclesians , julians , ( all circumstances considered ) was much inferiour to them . now , i say , i desire the world to take notice , that those who were partly the authors , partly the procurers of these hideous , remorseless actions , are those poor , gentle , suffering lambs of christ that now bleat out persecution . having thus answered their pleas , or rather their noise , i shall in a word or two give an account of the following book . it presents us first with a short collection of the sayings and doctrines of the great leaders and abetters of the presbyterian reformation , of their pious and peaceable maxims , which like razors set with oyl , cut the throat of majesty with so keen a smoothness : and then to bring up the rear of this spiritual brigade , and withall , to shew further , that the cause of our church is so united to that of the crown , that the same who malign one , strike as boldly at the other , i have thought fit to bring the papists and the hobbians upon the same stage , as venting doctrines no less pernicious to the civil , than to the ecclesiastical state. for a testimony of which , i have here given a taste of each of them : of the first , out of mr. white : of the second , out of the author of the leviathan , and great propagator of the kingdom of darkness . i selected the writings of mr. white , as being the most compendious and effectual way of probation . for if he who writes , and pretends enmity against the jesuites , for being disturbers of the peace of states and kingdoms , and underminers of the prerogative of kings , and so by this , catches at the reputation of being moderate ; i say , if this person shall yet be found a pestilent assertor of such maxims as eat out the rights and titles of all lawfull princes , then let men take an estimate of their known treasons and king-killing doctrines , from the poyson and virulence of their very moderation . and therefore i earnestly entreat the reader diligently to peruse that paragraph that exhibits to him the collection of mr. whites principles . i have this now in the last place to add , that the reader must not here expect a full rehersal of thes●… mens doctrines , but only a taste , or specimen . he that can endure the raking of dunghils longer than i can , let him have recourse to their writings , let him lanch out into the ocean of the presbyterian pamphlets and sermons , an ocean in which the papists may see the face of their disloyal doctrines , as in a glass , and in which the leviathan himself may sport , and take his pastime . there seems to be a more than ordinary significance in that saying of the prophet , that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft , and that , i conceive , not only for its equal malignity , but also for its peculiar analogy and cognation : for if we reflect upon the late instances of it amongst our selves , we shall find that the people could never be brought to rebell , till their preachers had first bewitched them . but i hope the world will be so far unbewitched , as to read this collection , with their farewell-sermons lately printed together , and exposed to sale with so much ostenta●…ion : of which i shall say this , that they may very properly be called fare-well-sermons , since experience is like to manifest , that their con-gregations never fared so well , as when such seducers preached their last . mr edmund calamies theses . pag. 22. the lords and commons are as the master of the house . 2. the parliament whom the people chuse are the great and only conservators of the peoples liberties . p. 38. they are the chief magistrate , custodes & vindices utriusque tabulae , p. 37. for they are the ministers of god for good , and revengers to execute wrath upon him that does evill , rom. 13. 4. ( which being by saint paul expressly spoken of the highest powers , he applies to that part of the two houses that sat at westminster , without , nay , against the kings command . ) p. 9. that all those that fought under the kings banner , against this parliament , fought themselves into slavery , and did endeavour by all bloudy and treacherous waies to subvert religion and liberties . p. 12. that the king , that should have been a head of gold , was an iron head to crush its own body in pieces . p. 18. those that made their peace with him at oxford ( by returning to their loyaltie , ) were judasses of england , and it were just with god to give them their portion with judas . p. 13. those that ingaged in this cause , and in the covenant ( which was an oath for their goods , ) were unjustly charged with rebellion . p. 38. that it was gods cause , and it shall prevail at last . p. 29. that it is commendable to fight for peace and reformation , against the kings command . these are mr. calamies doctrines in his sermon preached before the lords , dec. 25. 1644. printed by ●…hristopher meredith by his own appointment ; directly contrary to st. peter , who tells us , that the king is the supreme , and not any one , or two houses of parl●…ament without him ; contrary to st. paul , who ●…ells us , that whosoever ( severally , or conjunctly ) shall resist , much more that shall fight against this highest power , resist the ordinance of god , and shall receive damnation ; and contrary to our oath of allegiance , wherein we acknowledge the king , to be the only supreme governour of this nation . mr. jenkins theses out of his humble petition , when he was prisoner ; printed octob. 15. 1651. 1. that the parliament of the common wealth of england without the king , 1651. were the supreme authority of this nation . 2 that gods providences , ( that is , his permission of events and success ) are antecedent declarations of his good will and approbation . 3 that the providences of god as evidently appeared in removing the king , and then investing their honours with the government of this nation , as ever they appeared in the taking away , or bestowing of any government in any history of any age of the world. 4 that a refusal to be subject to this authority , under the pretence of upholding the title of any one upon earth , is a refusal to acquiesce in the wise and righteous pleasure of god , such an opposing of the government set up by the soverein lord of heaven and earth , as none can have peace , either in acting in , or suffering for . 5 that it is our duty to yield to this authority all active and chearfull obedience in the lord , even for conscience sake . mr. marshal serm. on ps. 102. v. 16 , 17. march 26. 1645. p. 39. 1. those in authority , in things of this life , have command , and may act ad modum imperii ; in matters of religion , all their power is ad modum ministerii , they must not dispose of the affairs of the church , but at the direction of the word only . 2 they are limited to the word , and men under their authority , must , before they obey their orders , examine them by the word , and find them both lawfull and expedient in their use for edification . p. 41. 3. as josia put to death those that followed baal , so may the parliament those , that will not return to the lord , and leave antichristianism . p. 45. that antichristianism that was sworn in the covenant to be ●…ooted out ( was the established government in the church . ) mr. edmund calamies speech at guild-hall , october the sixth , 1643. gentlemen , you have heard a worthy gentleman of the house of commons , it is desired by this grave and reverend assembly of ministers , that three of the ministers of this assembly should likewise speak unto you concerning this great business , and notwithstanding my indisposition of body , being required by them , though that gentleman of the house of commons hath spoken so abundantly to the purpose , yet notwithstanding i am here come to speak something , the rather to declare my willingness to appear in this cause , that is every way so just , and every way so honest , and so good , that i may truly say , as the martyr did , that if i had as many lives , as i have hairs on my head , i would be willing to sacrifize all these lives in this cause ; you know the story of craesus , that though he never spake in his life , yet when he saw his father ready to be killed , it untyed the strings of his tongue , and then he cryed out , that they would not kill his father ; you are not ignorant that england and ireland lye a dying , and though i never appeared in this place , yet i bless god that hath given me that health , this day , to speak something in this cause , for the reviving of the dying condition of england , and ireland ; it is such a cause as is able to make a very infant eloquenr , and a dumb man to speak that never spake in all his lise ; the matter i am desired to speak to , is , concerning the contribution , to perswade you to be liberal towards the bringing in of the scots , to help us in this our great necessity ; the truth is , it is a great shame that england should stand in need of another nation , to help it to preserve its religion and liberties : that england , that hath been enriched with the gospel of peace , and the peace of the gospel for so many years ; that england , that hath been blessed with so many rare ministers of god , so many precious , and powerful servants , that have preached the word of god in season and out of season ; that england , that hath professed the gospel with so much power and purity ; that england should stand in need of the help of their brethren of scotland , for to preserve that gospel that they have professed so many years ; i confess to me it seems a very strange prodigie , and a strange wonder ; but it hath pleased almighty god for the sins of england , for our great unthankfulness , and for our unthankfulness under these means , and for the great blood-guiltiness , and idolatry , and superstition of this nation , it hath pleased god to suffer a gre●…t ●…art of th●… kingdom to be blinded , especially those parts , where the word os god hath not been preached in a powerful manner ; and there are many in th●… king●…om , that will not be perswaded , that there is an intention to bring in pop●…ry , and to bring in slavery ; many of them ( i say ) think that though the popish army should prevail , and the plundering army shoul●… 〈◊〉 , yet they think all would go well with religion , and with their liber●…es ; i say it hath pleas●…d god to ●…uffer abundance in the kingdom , to be blinded with this opinion , out of a just judgement to punish us for our unthankfuln●…ss , and for our ingr●…titude ; and this is the reason that so many men stand neuters , and that ●…o many are malignants , and disaffected to this great cause , in so much that i am concluded under this , that there i●…ittle probability to finish this cause , without the coming in of the scots , ( as you heard so worthily by that member of the house of commons ; ) the sons of zerviah are grown so strong , what through our fearfulness , what through our covetousness , what through our malignity , that there is little hope ( i say ) to finish this great cause , or to bring it to a desired peace , without the help of another nation , and by the assistance of god , by the help of another nation it may be done ; these are two mighty , two omnipotent arguments , to prevail with you to contribute your utmost aid and assistance to that cause ; since it cannot speedily be done without their help , and by gods blessing , it may speedily be done by their help . what would the kings party do , if they could engage another nation to their help ? 21000. if they could engage them to our ruine , what would they not do ? how much more should we be willing to contribute our greatest help to engage a nation , that indeed is part of our own nation , within the same island , and our brethren so 〈◊〉 , and so well affected to this cause , what should we not be willing to do to ingage so great a party ? i would intreat you to rememb●…r , that it is not many years ago , since our brethren of scotland came hither into england , in a war-like manner , and yet with peaceable affections , and that you would remind your selves ▪ what good they did to you when they were then in england , they were the chief causes of this parlament , that now we do enjoy and of all the good that hath been reaped by this parlament ; ( as you may well remember ) by their coming in you know this parlament was procured , and their se●…ond coming in ( through gods mercy ) may be a means to confi●…m this parlament , and to establish it , and to uphold it in its dignity , and in the privileges of it , and to keep it from being ruined ; and if the parlament be ruined , you all well know that our religion , and our liberties are ruined , for the parlament is the great conservatour of religion and liberties ; and i may truly say ( s you know caligula did once wish , that all rome were one n●…ck that he might cut it of●… at one blow ) they that intend to ruine the parl●…ment , th●…y ruine your religion and liberties , and all england at on●… blow ; now ( i say ) as their first coming was a means to produce this parlament so th●…ir second coming in ( through gods blessing ) may be a means to 〈◊〉 it , and to confirm it ; and when they were here , you know how faithfully th●…y carried themselves , and when they had done their work , how willingly they went away without doing any hurt , and i doubt not of the same faithfulness , nay , you ought all to believe , that they will likewise , when they have done the work they are calle●… to in england , they will likewise with the same faithfulness depart , for it is religion that brings them here , and the same religion will make them willingly leave us , and go home to their own countrey , when they have done that work for which they came . i am assured that the great hope at oxford is , that they will never prevail for the getting of money for to bring them in ; and if they once see the matter of money effected , and if they once hear of the scot●… coming in , it will work such a terror there , as i am assured , that it will ( through gods mercy ) produce a notable complyance of that party with the parlament for an effectual peace , such as all the godly of the land shall bless god for . i foresee there are many objections that may be brought to hinder this work , many mountains of opposition that will lie in the way : and likewise that the malignants will buz many things in your ears , if it be possible to put some great rub in the way , to hinder the effecting of this work but i hope , the love you have to god , and to your religion , and to the gospel , and to your wives and children , will sw●…llow down all these objections , and conquer them all ; i le name some few objections , and give you some short answer . some it may be , will put you in mind , to call in question the lawfulness of contributing towards the bringing in of the scots to this nation ; but for this , i le give you an easie answer , certainly gentlemen , it is as lawful for the parlament to call in our brethren of scotland to their help , as it is lawful for me , when my house is on fire , and not able to quench it my self , to call in my neighbour to quench my house , that is ready to burn down ; the kingdom is all on fire , we are not able with that speed to quench it , as we wish , we call in our brethren in scotland to help us to quench the flames that are kindled among us ; it is as lawful as it is for the master and mariners of a ship , when it is ready to sink through a mighty tempest , to call in other mariners to help to keep the ship from sinking ; it is the condition of our kingdom now , it is ready to sink , and it is our desire that our brethren of scotland would come in to our aid , to keep it from sinking . others it may be will object and say to you , it is rebellion , especially to call in another nation to your help . but i beseech you give me leave to put you in mind , that when the scots came last into england , there was a proclamation out against them , wherein they were called rebels , and there were prayers to be said in our churches ( as you well remember ) in which we were to pray against them as rebels , and there was money likewise contributed then , for to hinder their coming in , and to raise an army to drive them out of the kingdom , and i doubt not but you may remember , all the ill-affected did contribute money to keep them out of this kingdom , and from tarrying in ; but it pleased almighty god through his great mercy , so to change and alter the state of things , that within a little while , the nation of scotland , even by act of parlament , they were proclamed and made the true and loyal subjects of the king , and in those churches in which they were prayed against as rebels , even in those very churches , they were pronounced the good subjects of the king ; this i doubt not but you remember , and i doubt not , but through the mercy of god , the lord raising up our hearts , i doubt not but the same effect will come of their second coming into this kingdom ; and they that now tell you they are rebels , and you do an act of rebellion , in the contribution to the bringing of them in , i doubt not but you shall see an act of parlament to call them his loyal subjects , ( wherein i hope our king will concur with his parlament ) and likewise prayers made , nay , a day of thanksgiving , as was after their first coming , a day of thanksgiving for the mercy of god , in stirring up their hearts to be willing to come unto our help . but it may be some others will object and say , why should we that are ministers , engage our s●…lves so much in this business ? to see a reverend assembly of grave ministers to appear here in so great an assembly . this it may be , will be a mighty objection to some , but i beseech you give me leave to give you a short answer ; did i not think that that shall be said this day , would mightily conduce to peace , for my part , i would not have been the mouth of the assembly ; did i think any other way to produce a solid and a setled peace , a religious peace , i that am a minister of peace , an ambassador of peace , i would not have been a trumpeter to this business this day : the truth is , if you would have peace with popery , a peace with slavery ; if you would have a judas peace , or a joab his peace , you know the story , he kiss'd amasa , and then killed him ; if you would have a peace that may bring a massacre with it , a french peace , if you would have such a peace , it may be had easily ; but if you would have a peace that may continue the gospel among you , and may bring in a reformation , such as all the godly in the kingdom do desire , i am concluded under this , and am confident that such a peace cannot be had without contribution towards the bringing in of the scots , and that is the reason , for the promoting of this peace , this blessed peace , that we have appeared here this day : and me-thinks ( gentlemen ) the very sight of these worthy divines , methinks so many divines , so many orators , so many silent orators to plead with you , to be willing to engage your selves to the utmost to help forward the nation of scotland to come to our help . and likewise i would put you in mind of the 10 th . of numbers , there you shall read that there were two silver trumpets ; and as there were priests appointed for the convocation of their assemblies , so there were priests to sound the silver trumpets to proclame the war. and likewise in the 20 th . of deuteronomy , you shall finde there , that when the children of israel would . go out to war , the sons of levi , one of the priests , was to make a speech to encourage them . and certainly , if this were the way of god in the old testament , certainly much more in such a cause as this , in which cause religion is so intwin'd , and indeed so interlac'd , that religion and this cause , they are like hippocrates his twins , they must live and dye together . and ( gentlemen ) if religion were not concerned in this cause , and mightily concerned ; and if religion did not live and dye with it , we had not appeared this day ; and i hope this will be a sufficient answer unto this objection . but there is another objection which i will answer , and then briefly give leave to my other reverend brethren , that likewise are prepared to speak here . the great objection of all is this , that the city is already exhausted , and so much money hath been lent already , that there is no hope of lending any more ; this is the grand objection . but truly ( gentlemen ) for my part , this is one of the chief arguments i have to perswade you to lend a little more , because you have lent so much : give me leave to put you in mind of that story , in the 2 kings 13. the story of king j●…ash , that came to visit the prophet elisha , when he was ready to breath out his last , the prophet elisha gives him a bow and arrows , and bids him shoot , he shoots , and bids him smite , he smites the ground thrice , and then he ceased , the prophet was exceeding angry with him , and tells him , you should have smote the ground 5 or 6 times , and then you should have utterly consumed the assyrians , whereas now you shall smite them but three times . give me leave to apply this , gentlemen , you have smote the ground thrice , you have lent once , twice , and thrice , indeed you have been the fame of england , and the repairers of england , and the ornaments of england , you have lent much , but let me tell you , you must smite the ground 5 or 6 times , if ever you look to consume the assyrians , if ever you look to bring this war to a happy peace , that your posterities may rejoyce in this peace , you must shoot one arrow more , and then through gods blessing , you may utterly consume these enemies , that you and your posterity may rejoyce in a happy peace ; it is a famous story of johannes eleemozinarius , that when he had given even almost all he had to the poor , his friends were exceeding angry with him , and told him he had undone himself , what was his answer ? o ( saith he ) i have not yet shed my blood for jesus christ ; jesus christ he emptied himself of his divinity , to make us rich , he became poor , and shed his blood for you ; you have not yet made your selves so poor as jesus christ was , that had no house to lodge in , and he did all this for your sakes ; you have not yet shed your blood for the cause of christ ; we read that moses was willing to be blotted out of the book of life , for the cause of god ; and we read of paul , that he was w●…lling to be accursed , for the people of israels sake ; and will you not be willing to venture your earthly provisions for so good a cause as this is , which ( i say ) england was never engaged in the like ? religion hath produced all the wealth you have , all your wealth is but the child of religion ; we have a saying , religio peperit divitias , & divitiae devorarunt matrem ; religion hath begot wealth , and the daughter hath devoured the mother ; & filia devoravit matrem ; but give me leave , and i hope ( through gods blessing ) you will invert this saying , religion hath got you all the wealth you have , you gentlemen , and i hope the daughter now will preserve the mother ; i hope riches will preserve religion , and not destroy religion . a famous example of polanus nolinus , that when he had given all that he had away , and being asked , why he would give so much to the poor ? he gave this answer , ut levius ascenderem scalam jacobi , that i might the easier get up jacobs ladder ; and let me assure you , in the word of a minister , the contributing to this cause for gods sake , and for the glory of god , and for the peace of the gospel , ( i say ) will be a means to make you the sooner ascend up jacobs ladder ; not for the giving of the money , but for the evidence of your faith , through the merits of the lord jesus christ , by your giving of the money ; and certainly that man will never get up jacobs ladder , that hath the rust of his money to bear witness against him , at the day of judgement , especially at such a time as this . give me leav●… to put you in mind of one other story , and that is of one bernardinus ocanus , that was so liberal to the poor , that every peny that he gave to the poor , he would call it a holy peny , and a happy peny , and he would bless god , that he had that peny to give ; indeed he was a papist , and his ordinary spe●…ch was , o happy peny , that hath purchased immortality to me ; inde●…d this speech was not good , for it is not our money that doth purchase heaven , that is an evidence of the truth of our faith , that lays hold upon chris●… for salvation ; but let me tell you , if ever ( gentlemen ) you might use this speech , o happy peny , you may use it now ; happy money that will purchase my gospel , happy money that will purchase religion , and purchase a reformation , to my posterity , o happy money , and blessed be god that i have it to lend ! and i count it the greatest opportunity that ever god did offer to the godly of this kingdom , to give them some money to lend to this cause ; and i remember in this ordinance of parliament , you call it advance money ; it is called an ordinance to advance money towards the maintaining of the parlaments forces ; and truly it is the highest advance of money , to make money an instrument to advance my religion ; the lord give you hearts to believe this . you shall have the faiths of both kingdoms ingaged in this cause , the kingdom of scotland , and the kingdom of england , and surely the publick faith of scotland will secure the publick faith of england ; i speak now of secondary causes through gods blessing . i am informed by the commissioners of scotland , that the nation of scotland are now tak●…ng the covenant , ( that we took the last lords day in this city : ) and you know that a scotch covenanter is a terrible thing ; you know what mighty things they did , by their last covenant ; you know that the name of a covenanter , the very name of it , did do wonders ; and i am assured by them , that there is not one person in the kingdom of scotland , that is not a covenanter , and there shall not one abide among them , that wi●…l not take this covenant , and there shall not one of those 21000 that are to come over in this cause , not one of them shall come , that will not take this covenant , but they must take th●…s covenant before they come ; o that the consideration of these things , might work up your hearts to a high degree of charity , to a superlative degree , and that the lord would make you more active and more liberal in this great cause ; for my part , i speak it in the name of my self , and in the name of these reverend ministers , we will not only speak to perswade you to contribute , but every one of us , that god hath given any estate to , we will all to our utmost power , we will not only say ite , but venite , we will not only speak to you to lend , but every one of us , as we have already lent , so we will lend to our utmost power , and bless god that we have it to lend ; for indeed it is now a time of action , and not of speaking only , because it is an extraordinary business , therefore here is an extraordinary appearance of so many ministers , to encourage you in this cause , that you may see how real the godly ministery in england is unto this ca●…se . the gospel it is called a pearl of price , by our saviour christ , and i hope all you merchants will part with your goodly pearls to buy this pearl of pr●…ce ; you tradesmen , the gospel is called a treasure hid in the field , so our saviour christ calls it , i hope you will be willing to part with your earthly treasures , to preserve this blessed treasure that is hid in the field ; you have parted with some goodly pearls already , i hope you will part with your other goodly pearls . there is an excellent story of one nonius a roman senator , that had a pearl that 〈◊〉 did prize above his life , and when anthony the triumvir , one that was then in great power , when he sent to nonius to have the pearl , he would not send it him , and he told him , that if he would banish him , he would be willingly banished , so he might save his pearl , if he would take away his life , he would die with his pearl ; he did not regard his countrey , so he might have his pearl ; he regarded nothing , so he might have his pearl ; but he would not part with his pearl , what-ever he parted withall ; this pearl it is the gospel of jesus christ , that you have professed in this city , and i hope you have professed it with power ; and certainly , you have the name of those that have professed the gospel in the greatest purity of any under heaven ; this pearl is this gospel , i hope you will part with all willingly and cheerfully , rather than part with the gospel , though you go to prison , carry the gospel with you , nay , though you lose your lives , it shall be with the gospel , and for the gospel ; i hope so . there is one argument more , and then i have done , and that is from the inveterate hatred they have at oxford , against the city of london , and against you for your good , because you have been so well-affected to this cause . gentlemen , i beseech you give me leave ( that am no statesman , nor acquainted with the affairs of policy , yet give me leave ) to put you in mind of this , that surely the plundering army at oxford conceive that they shall find a great treasure here in the city , though many pretend they have no money ; though certainly you have done well , and lent much , yet the plnndering army give out , that if they get possession of the city , they shall find a treasury to be able to pay all they have been at : and if ever you should be driven ( which god forbid ) to make your peace , it would cost you twenty times as much then to procure your peace , and such a pe●…ce it may be , that would be rather a war than a peace , and a death better than that peace , which now you may have for a very little , a most happy peace . there is a famous story of zelimus emperour of constantinople , that after he had taken aegypt , he found a great deal of tre●…sure there , and the souldiers came to him , and asked him , what shall we do with the citizens of aegypt , for we have found a great treasure among them , and we have taken their riches ? o ( saith he ) hang them all up , for they are too rich to be made slaves ; and this was all the thanks they had for the riches they were spoiled os ; and it may be , though some of you that stand neuters , or some of you that are disaffected to the cause of the parlament , may think that if the lord for our sins , should give up this city unto the army that is with the king , you may think that you shall escape , yet be assured that your goods will be roundheads , though you be not , your goods will be gybellins , though you be guelfs , as the story is ; certainly , there will be no distinction , in the plundering of your goods , between you and others ; and therefore let me beseech you , that as the lord hath made you instruments to do a great deal of good already , for indeed you are the preservers of our religion , and you are the preservers of our parlament , by your liberality , and by your former contributions , and by your assistance , and the lord hath made you mighty instruments of our good , let me beseech you , that you would persevere , and now we are come to the sheat anchor , we are now come to the last cast , i beseech you , you would persevere , and hold out ; and o that my words might add somewhat to help forward this contribution ! it hath pleased god to make me a setled minister in this city , and i have now been here almost five years in this city , and though i had never ●…one any good in my place , i should now think it a great fruit of my coming to this city , if after five years unprofitableness , i might speak somewhat this afternoon , that might enlarge your hearts to a greater measure of liberality ; all i will say is this : we divines say , that perseverance is the onely grace that crowns a christian ; methushelah lived nine hundred ninety and nine years , if he had fallen away from grace , at the nine hundred ninety and nine years end , all the good that he had done before , had been quite forgotten ; i know that god will so uphold his children , that they shall never fall away , but i bring it as a supposition , that suppose that methushelah had forsaken his righteousness , all he had done before , had been quite forgotten ; but god hath made a promise , never to forsake his children , and that grace he hath begun in them , he will finish , and i doubt not but that god , that hath put it into your hearts to be so liberal already , and do so much in this cause , and to be so cordial , and so real , and to exceed àll other parts of the kingdom , i hope that same god will now finish that good work he hath begun , and will crown all his graces in you , with the grace of perseverance ; and that god that hath been the author of all the good you have done , i doubt not but that god will be the finisher : and i beseech god to give a blessing to that hath been spoken . mr. baxter's theses of government and governours in general , collected out of his book called the holy common-wealth . i. governours are some limited , some de facto unlimited : the unlimited are tyrants and have no right to that unlimited government . p. 106. thes. 101. ii. the 3. qualifications of necessity to the being of soveraign power are , 1. so much understanding , 2. so much will or goodness in himself , 3. so much strength or executive power by his interest in the people or others , as are necessary to the said ends of government . p. 130. thes. 133. iii. from whence he deduceth 3. corollaries , ( viz. ) 1. when providence depriveth a man of his understanding and intellectual capacity , and that statedly or to his ordinary temper , it maketh him materiam indispositam and uncapable of government , though ●…ot of the name . thes. 135. 2. if god permit princes to turn sowicked as to be uncapable of governing so as is consistent with the ends of government , he permits them to depose themselves . thes. 136. 3. if providence statedly disable him that was the soveraign from the executing of the law , protecting the just , and other ends of government , it makes him an uncapable subject of the power , and so desposeth him . thes. 137. iv. vvhereunto he subjoyns , that though it is possible and likely that the guilt is or may be theirs , who have disabled their ruler by delerting him , yet he is dismissed and disobliged from the charge of government ; and particular innocent members are disobliged from being governed by him . v. if the person ( viz. the soveraign ) be justly dispossest , as by a lawful war , in which he loseth his right , especially if he violate the constitution and enter into a military state against the people themselves , and by them be conquered , they are not obliged to restore him , unless there be some special obligation upon them besides their allegiance . thes. 145. vi. if the person dispossess'd , though it were unjustly , do afterwards become uncapable of government , it is not the duty of his subjects to seek his restitution . thes. 146. no not although ( saith he ) the incapacity be but accidental , as if he cannot be restored but by the arms of the enemies or god or of the common-wealth . vii . if an army ( of neighbours , inhabitants , or whoever ) do ( though injuriously ) expel the soveraign , and resolve to ruine the common-wealth , rather than he shall be restored ; and if the common-wealth may prosper without his restauration , it is the duty of such an injured prince for the common good to resign his government , and if he will not , the people ought to judge him as made uncapable by providence , and not to seek his restitution to the apparent ruine of the common-wealth . thes. 147. vvhere by the way we are to note , he makes the people judge of this and all other incapacities of the prince , and consequently when or for what he is to be depos'd , or not restored by them . viii . if therefore the rightful governour be so long dispossess'd , that the common-wealth can be no longer without , but to the apparent hazard of its ruine , we ( that is , we the people , or we the rebels that dispossess'd him ) are to judge that providence hath dispossess'd the former , and presently to consent to another . thes. 149. ix . when the people are without a governour , it may be the duty of such as have most strength , ex charitate , to protect the rest from injury . thes. 150. and consequently they are to submit themselves to the parlament , or to that army which deposed or dispossess'd or murdered the rightful governour . x. providence by conquest or other means doth use so to qualifie some persons above others for the government when the place is void , that no other persons shall be capable competitors , and the persons ( doth not he mean the cromwels ? ) shall be as good as named by providence , whom the people are bound by god to choose , or consent to , so that they are usually brought under a divine obligation to submit to such or such , and take them for their governous , before those persons have an actual right to govern. thes. 151. xi . any thing that is a sufficient sign of the will of god , that this is the person , by whom we must be governed , is enough ( as joyned to gods laws ) to oblige us to consent and obey him as our governour . thes. 153. xii . when god doth not notably declare any person or persons qualified above others , there the people must judge as well as they are able according to gods general rules . thes. 157. xiii . and yet all the people have not this right of choosing their governours , but commonly a part of every nation must be compelled to consent , &c. xiv . those that are known enemies of the common good in the chiefest parts of it , are unmeet to govern or choose governours , but such are multitudes of ungodly vicious men . pag. 174. so that if those that are strongest ( though fewest ) call themselves the godly party , all others besides themselves are to be excluded from governing or choosing of governours . and amongst the ungodly that are to be thus excluded , he reckons all those that will not hearken to their pastors ( he means the presbyterian classis ) or that are despisers of the lords-day , that is , all such as are not sabbatarians , or will not keep the lords-day after the jewish manner , which they prescribe , and which is condemned for judaism by all even of the presbyterian perswasion in the world , but those of england and scotland ouely . xv. if a people that by oath and duty are obliged to a soveraign , shall sinfully disposse's him , and contrary to their covenants , choose and covenant with another , they may be obliged by their latter covenant notwithstanding their former ; and particular subjects that consented not in the breaking of their former covenants , may yet be obliged by occasion of their latter choice to the person whom they choose . thes. 181. xvi . if a nation injuriously deprive themselves of a worthy prince , the hurt will be their own , and they punish themselves ; but if it be necessarily to their well-fare , it is no injury to him . but a king that by war will seek reparations from the body of the people , doth put himself into an hostile state , and tells them actually that he looks to his own good more than theirs , and bids them take him for their enemy , and so defend themselves if they can . pag. 424. xvii . though a nation wrong their king , and so quoad meritum causa , they are on the worser side , yet may he not lawfully war against the publick good on that account , nor any help him in such a war , because propter finem he hath the worser cause . thes. 352. and yet as he tells us ( pag. 476. ) we were to believe the parlaments declarations and professions which they made , that the war which they raised was not against the king , either in respect of his authority , or of his person ; but onely against the delinquent subjects , and yet they actually fought against the king in person , and we are to believe ( saith mr. baxter pag. 422. ) that men would kill them whom they fight against . mr. baxter's doctrine concerning the government of england in particular . he denies the government of england to be monarchical in these words . i. the real soveraignty here amongst was us in king , lords , and commons . pag. 72. ii. as to them that argue from the oath of supremacy and the title given the king , i refer them ( saith mr. baxter ) to mr. lawson's answer to hobb's politicks , where he sheweth that the title is often given to the single person for the honour of the common-wealth , and his encouragement , because he hath an eminent interest : but will not prove the whole soveraignty to be in him : and the oath excludeth all others from without , not those whose interest is implied as conjunct with his — the eminent dignity and interest of the king above others allowed the name of a monarchy or kingdom to the common-wealth , though indeed the soveraignty was mix'd in the hands of the lords and commons . pag. 88. iii. he calls it a false supposition , 1. that the soveraign power was onely in the king , and so that it was an absolute monarchy . 2. that the parlament had but onely the proposing of laws , and that they were enacted onely by the kings authority upon their request . 3. that the power of arms and of war and peace was in the king alone . and therefore ( saith he ) those that argue from these false suppositions , conclude that the parlament being subjects , may not take up arms without him , and that it is rebellion to resist him ; and most of this they gather from the oath of supremacy , and from the parlaments calling of themselves his subjects ; but their grounds ( saith he ) are sandy , and their superstructure false . pag. 459 , & 460. and therefore mr. baxter tells u●… , that though the parlament are subjects in one capacity , yet have they their part in the soveraignty also in their higher capacity , ibid. and upon this fa●…se and trayterous supposition he endeavours to justisie the late rebellion , and his own more than ordinary activeness in it . for , iv. where the soveraignty ( saith he ) is distributed into several hands ( as the kings and parlaments ) and the king invades the others part , they may lawfully defend their own by war , and the subject lawfully assist them , yea though the power of the militia be expresly given to the king , unless it be also exprest that it shall not be in the other . thes. 363. the conclusion ( saith he ) needs no proof , because soveraignty , as such , hath the power of arms and of the laws themselves . the law that saith the king shall have the militia , supposeth it to be against enemies , and not against the common-wealth , nor them that have part of the soveraignty with him . to resist him here is not to resist power , but usurpation and private will ; in such a case the parlament is no more to be resisted than he . ibid. v. if the king raise war against such a parlament , upon their declaration of the dangers of the common-wealth , the people are to take it as raised against the common-wealth . thes. 358. and in that case ( saith he ) the king may not only be resisted , but ceaseth to be a king , and entreth into a state of war with the people . thes. 368. vi. again , if a prince that hath not the whole soveraignty be conquered by a senate that hath the other part , and that in a just defensive war , that senate cannot assume the whole soveraignty , but supposeth that government in specie to remain , and therefore another king must be chosen , if the former be incapable , ( thes. 374. ) as he tells us , he is , by ceasing to be king , in the immediately precedent thes. vii . and yet in the preface to this book he tells us that the king withdrawing ( so he call the murdering of one king and the casting off of another ) the lords and commons ruled alone ; was not this to change the species of the government ? which in the immediate words before he had affirmed to be in king , lords and commons ; which constitution ( saith he ) we were sworn , and sworn , and sworn again to be faithful to and to defend . and yet speaking of that parlament which contrary to their oaths changed this government by ruling alone , and taking upon them the supremacy , he tells us that they were the best governours in all the world , and such as it is forbidden to subjects to depose upon pain of damnation . vvhat then was he that deposed them ? one would think mr. baxter should have called him a traytor , but he calls h●…m in the same preface , the lord prorector , adding , that he did prudently , piously , faithfully , and to his immortal honour exercise the government , which he left to his son , to whom ( as mr. baxter saith pag. 481. ) he is bound to submit as set over us by god , and to obey for conscience sake , and to behave himself as a loyal subject towards him , because ( as he saith in the same place ) a sull and free parlament had owned him : thereby implying , that a maimed and manacled house of commons , without king and lords , and notwithstanding the violent expulsion of the secluded members , were a full and free parlament ; and consequently , that if such a parlament should have taken arms against the king , he must have sided with them . yea , though they had been never so much in fault , and though they had been the beginners of the vvar , for he tells us in plain and express terms , viii . that if he had known the parlament had been the beginners of the war and in most fault , yet the ruine of the trustees and representatives , and so of all the security of the nation being a punishment greater than any faults of theirs against the king could deserve from him , their faults could not disoblige him ( meaning himself ) from defending the common-wealth . pag. 480. and that he might do this lawfully , and with a good conscience , he seems to be so confident , that in his preface , he makes as it were a challenge , saying , that if any man can prove that the king was the highest power in the time of those divisions , and that he had power to make that war which he made , he will offer his head to justice as a rebel . as if in those times of division th●… king had lost or sorfeited his soveraignty , and the parlament had not onely a part , but the whole soveraignty in themselves . ix . finally mr. baxter tells us , pag. 486. that having often searched into his heart , whether he did lawfully engage into the war or not , and whether he did lawfully encourage so many thousands to it ; he tells us , i say , that the issue of all his search was but this , — that he cannot yet see that he was mistaken in the main cause , nor dares he repent of it , nor forbear doing the same , if it were to do again in the same state of things . he tells us indeed in the same place , that if he could be convinced he had sinned in this matter , he would as gladly make a publick recantation , as he would eat or drink : which seeing he hath not yet done , it is ●…vident he is still of the same mind , and consequently would upon the same occasion do the same things , viz. sight , and encourage as many thousands as he could to fight against the king , for any thing that calls it self , or which he is pleased to call a full and free parlament : as likewise that he would own and submit to any usurper of the soveraignty as set up by god , although he came to it by the murder of his master , and by trampling upon the parlament . lastly , that he would hinder as much as possibly he could the restoring of the rightful heir unto the crown . and now whether a man of this judgement , and of these affections , ought to be permitted to preach or no , let any , but himself , judge . mr. stephen marshal in his thanksgiving sermon on psal. 124. vers . 6 , 7 , 8. before the house of commons , sept. 7. 1641. upon the peace concluded between england and scotland . page 40 , 41. many are grieved at the great things god has done for us , as in the eighth of ezekiel v. 14. a company of women sate weeping for tammuz , cause they had lost their idol . pag. 45. this year have we seen broken the yokes which lay upon our estates , liberties , religion , and conscience . pag. 49. look to your families , do as jacob did at bethel , when he payed his vow of thanksgiving unto god , he made all his family bury their idols under an oak . mr. stephen marshal in his sermon preach'd to the house of commons at their day of thanksgiving , june 15. 1643. for the discovery of a dangerous , desperate , and bloody design , tending to the utter subersion of the parlament , and of the famous city of london . the viol now pouring out is the lords work , and he will see it done , doubt ye not . pag. 9. the first engineers that battered the walls of this great babylon , who were they but the poorer and meaner sort of people that at the first joyn'd with the ministers to raise the building of reformation ? pag. 15. in scotland what great things hath the lord lately done , by very weak means , hardly the fift part of the nobility appearing for them , scarce one fourth part of the kingdom owning the cause ? pag. 18. were not the book of service , and the book of canons obtruded on them , the occasion of their late mercies ? and the tyranny of a few of their prelates , a means to unburthen them of their whole prelacy ? pag. 18. to what a dead low ebb were we brought , our liberty almost swallowed up , and turned into slavery , our religion into popery ? pag. 18. the prelates late canons and oath , purposely contrived for the perpetuating of their hierarchy , and their other treacherous endeavours against the state , joyning with the papists , and with them labouring to bring all into confusion , hath helped thus far toward the taking them away both root and branch . pag. 19. the roman emperors wasted the saints in ten several persecutions , but all these were nothing in comparison of this destroyer , all their loins not so heavy as the little fiuger of anti-christ . pag. 25. you are in part ( honorable and well-beloved ) one of the angels who are to pour out the vial of the wrath of god. pag. 37. had this bloody contrivance took effect , this honorable assembly had been made as a parlament of paris , the greatest instruments of the kingdoms slavery and vassallage for time to come . pag. 39. think now how deeply you are engaged , and brought under the curse of god , if you perform not this solemn covenant , think how horrid a thing it will prove sor any of you to stand perjured men before god in matters of such consequence . pag. 41. all protestant writers do agree , that we are under the pouring out of some one or more of these seven vials , some think the fourth vial is now pouring out on the anti-christian world , others the fift on the throne of the beast . pag. 44. i dare speak it as confidently as i believe the revelation to be divine scripture , that what viol so ever is now pouring out , the issue will be , anti-christ shall lose , and christ shall gain . pag. 45. mr. stephen marshal in his sacred panegyrick , preached to the two houses of parlament , his excellency the earl of essex , lord maior , court of aldermen , &c. upon occasion of their feasting , to testifie their thankfulness to god , for their union and concord , janu. 18. 1643. on 1. chron. 12. 38 , 39 , 40. all these came with a perfect heart to hebron to make david king over israel , &c. david persecuted by saul did not onely take up arms for his own defence , but many of the choisest men of the tribes did joyn with him , and all this while king saul was alive , and david but a private man , and one that had sworn allegiance to him . pag. 7. now beloved give me leave to speak my thoughts freely , i will set aside my text , and the matter i have in hand , and yet i will confidently affirm , that our days now are better than they were seven years ago , because it is better to see the lord executing judgement , then to see men working wickedness , and to behold a people lie wallowing in their blood , rather than apostating from god , and embracing idolatry and superstition , and banishing the lord jesus from amongst them . pag. 18. if there be any in this assembly that thinks not this a sufficient retribution and satisfaction for all his twentieth part , for all his contributions , for all his payments and hazards , i s●…y he is blind , i s●…y his heart is not right with god , he hath no share in this business . pag. 20. carry on the work still , leave not a rag that belongs to popery , lay not a bit of the lords building with any thing that belongs to anti-christ , but away with it , root and branch , head and tail , till you can say , now is christ set upon his throne . pag. 21. * noble and resolute commanders , go on to fight the battels of the lord jesus christ , for so i will not now fear to call them . pag. 21. — * all christendom , except the malignants in england , do now see that the question in england , is , whether christ or anti-christ shall be lord and king. pag. 21. ten thousand times cursed are they who have provoked our soveraign to raise arms to destroy his nobles , and commons , and divines , and this most honoured city , and even all who have been faithful . pag. 28. mr. stephen marshal after naseby fight , in a thanksgiving sermon , on psal. 102. 18. all the countries where the gospel had prevail'd , have faithsully stood to god in his cause , the rest nurst up under popery and superstition , both lords commons and gentlemen , and whole commons , did endeavour to fight themselves into slavery , and labour to des●…roy the parlament , that is themselves , and all that is theirs . mr. marshal in his sermon on micah . 7. 1 , 2. 1644. believe this cause must prosper , though we were all dead , our armies overthrown , and even our palaments dissolved , this cause must prevail . mr. edmund calamy in his sermon before the house of peers , june 15. 1643. on joshua 24. 15. religion is that which is pretended on all hands , the defence of the protestant religion , this news we hear daily from oxford , and for this purpose there is an army of papists to defend protestant religion , just as the gun-powder treason , that would have blown up the parlament for the good of the catholike religion . pag. 24. few noblemen and gentlemen appear on the parlament side , not many mighty , not many noble , thus it was in christs time , the great men and great scholars crucified christ. pag. 30. the cause you mannage , is the cause of god , the glory of god is embark'd in the same ship in which this cause is , and you may lawfully say as joshua does , josh. 7. 9. what wilt thou do unto thy great name ? and numb . 14. 15 , 16. and as joshua said to israel , numb . 14. 7. so doth god to you , fear not , fear not , the people of the land , for they are bread for us , their defence is departed from them , and the lord is with us , fear them not . pag. 53. i may say without uncharitableness , you have the major part of gods people on your side . pag. 55. he that dies fighting the lords battel , dies a martyr . pag. 57. mr. thomas case in his epistle dedicatory to the commons house in parlament , before his sermon on ezek. 20. 25. god in you hath graciously begun to make good that evangelical promise , zech. 12. 8. in defending this his english hierusalem he hath made him that was weak among you , as david , you have conquer'd the lyon a●…d the bear , and shall not that uncircumcised philistine ( that numerous beast ) who hath not ceast to blaspheme the armies os the living god , become like one of these ? behold ●… he lies groveling at your feet , there wants nothing but cutting off his head . they cryed down the s●…bbath as a ridiculous , or at least , a superfluous ceremony . pag. xi . * thus they make the king glad with their wickedness , and he that could bring jeroboam an argument to justifie his idolatry he was a well-come man at court. pag. 12. mr. case on ezra 10. 2 , 3. preach'd before the house of commons . some have sinn'd seducingly : and jesuites could never have been more desperate , i am sure they might have been less guilty , they have sinn'd against their light , murthered their principles they have suck'd in with their mothers milk* spare them not i beseech you , though they crouch and cringe , and worship you as much as they have done their high altars . pag. 15. ah brethren ! i would not have you redeem their lives with your own heads . pag. 16. how the presence and preaching of christ did scorch and blast those cathedral priests , that unhallowed generation of * scribes and pharisees , and perfected their rebellion , into that unpardonable sin against the holy ghost . pag. 33. mr. case on dan. xi . 32. 1644. before the house of commons on a day of thanksgiving , for the victory given to sir william waller against the army of sir ralph hopton . had not the spirit of the lord wrought to a wonder of wisdom and power , we might have sate down long before this , made our wills , an●… bequeath'd our poor children , every one of them popery and slavery for their sorrowful patrimony . pag. 9. cursed be he that withholdeth his sword from blood , that spares , when god saith strike ; that suffers those to escape whom god has appointed to destruction . pag. 24. mr. case on isa. 43. 4. in a thanksgiving for taking bridgwater and sherbourn . * what a sad thing is it my brethren , to see our king in the head of an army of bahylonians , refusing as it were to be call'd the king of england , scotland , ireland , and chusing rather to be call'd the king of babylon ? pag. 18. prelacy and prelatical clergy , priests and jesuites , ceremonies and service-book , star-chamber and high commission court , were mighty impediments in the way of reformation , god hath mightily brought them down . pag. 19. * the father having given to him ( vid. christ ) all power both in heaven and in earth , and the rule and regiment of this kingdom he hath committed to monarchies , aristocracies , or democracies , as the several combinations and associations of the people shall between themselves think good to elect and erect . god leaves people to their own liberty in this case . pag. 26. mr. thomas case , psal. 107. 30 , 31. in his thanksgiving sermon for surrender of chester . * alas , alas , they have put out the eyes of his majesty , and carried him away captive ; our king is in babylon among idolaters and murtherers ; we have no king. mr. joseph caryl in his sermon on nehe. chap. 9. vers . 38. preach'd at the taking of the covenant , octob. 6. 1643. there is much sin in making a covenant on sinful grounds , and there is more sin in keeping it ; but when the preservation of true religion , and the vindication of just liberties , meet in the ground-work , yea may swear , and not repent , yea if you swear , yea must not repent . pag. 18. take the covenant , and ye take babylon , the towers of babylon shall quake , and her seven hills shall move . pag. 21. it is shiboleth to distinguish ephramites from gileadites . pag. 22. when we provoke god to bring evil upon us , he stays his hand by considering the covenant . gen. 9. 15. now as the remembrance of the covenant on gods part stays his hand , so the remembrance of the covenant will be very effectual , on our part , to stay our hands , tongues , hearts from sin . pag. 27. not onely is that covenant which god hath made with us , founded in the blood of christ , but that also which we make with god. pag. 33. mr. caryl on revel . xi . vers . 16 , 17. before the house of commons , april 23. 1644. our war has been proved over and over ( to unbiast consciences ) to be just . pag. 15. we may answer all queries about the reign of christ thus , the blind begin to have their eyes unscal'd , the lame do walk at liberty , proud ones are ab●…s'd , the mighty ones are put from their seats , errors discountenanc'd , ●…ruths inquir'd after , ceremonies and superstitions are cast out , monuments of popery and paganism cast down . pag. 35. mr. caryl on luke 10. 20. rejoyce not that the spirits are made subject unt●… you , &c. * there is very little difference between devils and wicked men . i may say without breach of charity , devils incarnate are made subject this day , and their subjection is the subject of this days rejoycing . pag. 22. mr. charles herle before the house of lords , jan. 15. 1643. on psal. 95. 1. o come let us sing unto the lord , &c. * in vain shall you in your fasts , with joshua , lie on your faces , unless you lay your achans on their backs , in vain are the high praises of god in your mouthes , without a two edged sword in your hand . pag. 31. the same again he has in sermon on gen. 22. vors . 2. before the lord maior and aldermen , pag. 23. adding * the blood that ahab spared in benhad ad stuck as deep and heavily on him , as that which he spilt in naboth . mr. herle in his preface before his sermon on 2 sam. 21. 16 , 17. preach'd before the commons , novemb. 5. 1644. he is neither true protestant nor true english-man , that doth not with all thankfulness and admiration , look upon the greatness of the contribution , which the concurrent streams of our sister nation of scotland brings to both those interests of church and state. pag. 14. * do justice to the greatest . sauls sons are not spared , no nor may agag or benhadad , though themselves kings . zimri and cosbi , though princes of the people , must be pursu'd into their tents . this is the way to consecrate your selves to god. pag. 16. mr. herle on 1 kings 22. 22. i will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all the prophets ; before the commons , 1644. * if the devil can but once get a prophet to leave gods service for the kings , he hath taken a blew already , and is ready for as deep a black as hell can give him . pag. 28. * there can be nothing plainer than that the houses of parlament without the kings personal concurrence are still a court of judgement . pag. 38. * the houses are not onely requisite to the acting of this power of making laws , but co-ordinate with his majesty in the very power of acting . pag. 42. mr. jerem. burroughs on isa. 66. vers . 10. in a thansgiving . there was corruption both in church and common-wealth , idols were set up in dan and bethel , i. e. in the places of judgement , and in the house of god. pag. 37. * the greatest blow that ever was given to anti-christian government , is that which now it hath had , babylon is fallen , is sallen , so fallen as it shall never rise again . pag. 44. this is the curse of god on that party , notwithstanding god sets himself against them , yet they will not come in and repent , for god takes no pleasure in them , to give them repentance . pag. 58 , 59. mr. obed. sedgewick on esther 9. vers . 1. in a thanksgiving sermon , jan. 15. 1643. * never were there grosser idols in rome than those things as they were used by some , and what is abus'd by superstition ought not to be retain'd . pag. 33. mr. alexander henderson before the lords and commons , thursday 18. of july 1644. on mat. 14. 21. in his preface to that sermon . the principal theam and matter of the solemnity of the day , we take for an answer of the prayers of the faithful in the three kingdoms . mr. john strickland of new sarum in his thanksgiving , novemb. 5. 1644. on psal. 46. 7. * the execution of judgement is the lords work , and they shall be cursed that do it negligently , and cursed shall they be that keep back their sword from blood in this cause , you know the story of gods message unto ahab for letting benhadad go upon composition . pag. 26. * such a generation of men there were amongst us , that by compliances with idols and idolatry went about to drive god away , and what consistence can there be between the ark and dagon , between god and idols ? pag. 32. mr. matthew newcomen on neh. 4. xi . novemb. 5. 1642. a dam ●…ontzen a jesuite has drawn a plot , for cheating of a people of the true religion by art of legerdemain , the method this , be pleased to observe how exactly the late times have moved according to these rules . when abbies were demolish'd they found in their vaults and ponds heaps of sculs and bones , monuments of their smother'd cruelty , i doubt not but the abolishers of high commission have found as manifest evidence of their cruel practices , heaps of the blood of innocents . pag. 30. those traytors ( of the fift of november ) laid their fire-works in the bowels of the earth , these have laid theirs in the bosom of our soveraign , whereby they have captivated not onely the multitude , but the throne it self . pag. 35. mr. joh. ward before the house , of lords on deut. 33. 16. 't is n●…w more than manifest that rome and hell had long since taken counsel , by working to extirpate all protestant religion ; as for dissolving our laws , the introducing arbitrary government , it was but a design on the by to cajole and hire the court to their party . pag. 16. * the scots were necessitated to take up arms for their just defence , and against anti-christ and the popish priests . pag. 18. a lamp hath been seen to walk between the divided pieces , many testimonies of the goodness of our god in the remembrance of his covenant . pag. 21. mr. john bond master of the savoy , before the house of commons , on isaiah 25. 9. 1645. octob. 8. * come hither you malignant atheists , come hither , g●…ash your teeth , and let your eyes rot in their holes . pag. 5. my sute is ( concerning the covenant ) that it may not be obtrude●… without due preparation , as the spaniards baptized the americans b●… droves . pag. 36. give them time first to disgorge themselves of their direful anti-covenant perjurious combinations . pag. 36. let them ●…irst shave their heads , and pair their nails , as the strang●… virgin of old was commanded to do , and so let them enter into that sacred and dreadful covenant . pag. 37. if hereafter the tide of victory shall turn again , and you shall b●… brought low , yet i beseech you remember this day in which you are to give thanks for five victories , that there was a day when god serv'd you in with five pheasants in a dish , with a feast of fat things . pag. 38. mr. francis woodcock before the house of commons , feb. 19. 1645. on gen. 49. 23. in his preface to the county and city of chester aster the surrender of chester . the church in the foremost times was harrased by rome heathen , in these last days by rome anti-christian . pag. 8. have not we of this kingdom been bought and sold hath it not been attempted , yea effected in great measure to bring us , as joseph , into egyptian slavery , were they not english prelates that conspired to sel●… their brethren into romish slavery ? pag. 12. some of your brethren have come in and submitted to you , stars of the first magnitude , and may it not be expected the sun and moon nill do so too ? if they do not , they may do worse , if they do not , it will never be worse for you . pag. 20. mr. samuel faircloth , on josh. 7. 25. before divers of the house of commons . moses fell on his f●…ce , as joshua here , and makes god cry out let me alone ; will this cure it ? no , moses sees for all his prayers , israel will not be cured without a full and total extirpation of all the accursed things and persons also . pag. 25. * the lord rent the kingdom from saul for sparing one agag , and for w●…nt of thorow extirpation of all the accursed things , he lost both than●…s for what he had done and kingdom also . pag. 27. 't is not partial reformation , and execution of justice upon some offenders will afford us help , except those in authority extirpate all achans with baby lomsh garments , orders , ceremonies , gestures , be rooted out from among us . pag. 28. * to you of the honourable house , up , for the matter belongs to you , we , even all the godly ministers of the country , will be with you . pag. 29. think of it , in your committees , to save them and theirs from trouble by troubl●…ng them , as joshua , to wit , by a thorow abolishment , and extirpation of them . pag. 29. the east wind did not sooner cure egypt of the frogs of nilus , than this course would england of all the achans and frogs of tiber — there being no vertue wherein men resemble the lord more lively , as in executing of justice , and in extirpation of those achans you will cut off the wicked , and procure the felicity of the chosen . pag. 34. trouble they will bring upon us for time to come , if they be not now cut off , all may see that an universal destruction , extirpation of us , our religion , peace , and laws , was intended by them , and shall not joshua justly extirpate achans eye for eye , tooth for tooth ? that justice may measure them , the measure they would have measrr'd to us , is not onely 〈◊〉 but necessary , if ninety and nine were taken away , and but on●… a●…han left , he would trouble us . pag. 36. consecrate your selves to day unto the lord , and if all achans could be hang'd up coram isto sole , let none remain until too morrow however . pag. 47. the lord is persuing you , if you execute not vengeance on them betimes . pag. 48. why should life be further granted to them whose very life brings death to all about them . pag. 50. mr. will. bridges on revel . 4. 8. babylon is fallen , as rome in her latitude with all her merchants , and those that symbolize with her is here to be understood .. pag. 6. worthies of israel , it lies on you to enquire out this babylonish company , and to repay them an eye for an eye , tooth for tooth , burning for burning , ear for ear , liberty for liberty , and blood for blood . pag. 10. though as little ones , they call for pitty , yet as babylonish they call for justice even to blood . pag. xi . if a thing be indifferent in it's own nature , and the doing thereof offensive to a weak brother , authority can not write jus divinum upon it , for to offend a weak brother is to destroy him . pag. 15. whensoever you shall behold the hand of god in the fall of babylon , say , true , here is a babylonish priest crying out alas , alas , my living , i have wife and children to maintain , i but all this is to perform the judgement of the lord. pag. 30. there shall be , who when the vial shall be poured out on the beast , shall gnaw their tongues , and blaspheme the god of heaven . pag. 33. nath. homes doctor in divinity , on 2 pet. 3. vers . 13. 1641. an ill scholar is not said to be gone from the university , till he be gone eum pannis with his clothes , no more is enormity gone from the universality of ecclesiasticks , till it be gone cum pannis , not a rag of superstition left behind . pag. 31. this position that humane honest intention may devise forms of devotion , hath brought all the judaism , turcism , and papism into the church . pag. 33. these ecclesiastical offices , ceremonies , and discipline , are set up by the pope , and are an appendix , or tail of anti-christ . pag. 33. now is the promised time of the churches reformation in christendom . p. 34. mr. h. burton in his sermon on psal. 53. 7 , 8. jun : 20. 1641. after the first-born of egypt were slain , the children of israel were deliver'd , and for the chiefest of these incendiaries , certainly the primogenit being taken away we may well hope for a glorious deliverance . pag. xi . * god 's people lie under bondage of conscience in point of liturgy . secondly , in bondage of conscience under ceremonies . thirdly , of conscience under discipline . fourthly , of conscience under government . pag. 21. mr. s. sympson on prov. 8 , 15 , 16. by me kings reign . * let no law hinder you , si jus violandum , and if law be to be broken , it is for a crown , and therefore for religion . pag. 23. * you are set over kingdoms , to root out , pull down , destroy and throw down , do it quickly , do it thorowly . pag. 24. * that which is best , though evil , will be counted good after reformation , as he is counted innocent , who scapes at trial . pag. 25. * among the jews all were in the church that were fit to live , now none must be but saints . pag. 29. one thing that has hindred the church , hath been too much respect to antiquity . pag. 30. an other thing that hinders the church , hath been a desire of uniformity by this , judaism and gentilism got into the church , that they might accord together . pag. 31. mr. case in his sermon on 2 chron. 19. 6 , 7. concerning jehosaphats caveat to his judges ; preaching to a court martial . you know , said he , how the midianites ( the king and his party ) with whom you have to do , have vext you with their wiles , and laboured to obstruct you , yet to cut us all off in our passage into the land of promise , that blessed reformation , which the parlament consult for , assembly dispute for , armies fight for , and all good christians pray for ; oh! therefore do you honour god in avenging your brethren upon these midianites in doing execution on the enemies of christ and the kingdom . out of the book called scripture and reason pleaded for defensive arms , or the whole controversie about subjects taking up of arms ; published by divers of their learnedst divines , and ordered to be printed by the committee of the house of commons , april 14. 1643. which order is subscribed by john white . to doctor fern : 's objection , that though it be said , they intend not to hurt the kings person , yet might i not as well have hurt his person in the day of battel , a●… any of them that were swept away from ab●…ut him by the fury of the ordnance , which put no difference twixt king and common souldiers . pag. 19. they answer by faying , that though this is the hardest case that can be put against defensive armes , yet , ( first ) by what rule of conscience or god is a state bound to sacrifize religion , laws , and liberties , rather than endure that the prince his life should come into any possibilities of hazard , by defending them against those that in his name are bent to subdue them ? pag. 18. secondly , if he wi●…l needs thrust himself upon the hazard , when he needs not , whose fault is that ? — and ( a little after in the same answer , ) as if a king disguized should offer any private violence , a watchman that would not ( or even might not ) hurt him being known , were without blame , if he knock'd him down or killed him , as he might in like case a disorderly private person . now in battel , to many or most , ( and especially to the gunners that give fire to the ordnance ) he is altogether disguised , and so they are blameless in reference to his personal hurt ; that fault is wholly his own , and those wicked counsellors that have thrust him upon the fury of the battel . pag. 20. to doctor ferne's saying , it is a marvellous thing , that among so many prophets reprehending the kings of israel and judah for their idolatry , cruelty , and oppression , none should call upon the elders of the people , for this duty of resistance . they answer , that even in the reign of the best kings , not onely the peoples hearts were usually unprepared , and in their greatest seemings , hypocritical and treacherous , — but also the princes elders and nobles were exceedingly corrupt , — now if they were so bad in good times , who can marvel if they were stark naught , where the king was naught , and helpers , forwarders of his idolatries , cruelties , and oppressions ? and why should it then be expected that the prophets should call upon them to resist the king , being on their side , and they on his . pag. 20. 21. it is not absolutely true , that men are bound universally , as by an ordinance of god , to set up , live under government , in the doctors sense , that is absolutely , and without power to resist . pag. 31. either all mankind are not bound to be under government ( and all the doctors te●…ts and reasons are alleged in vain ) or else kings and monarchs are also under some government , at least of the representative body of their people , according to what was before alleged from our lawyers , rex non habet superiorem praeter legem , & * curiam comitum & baronum , &c. pag. 32. we argue not that the people have power to recall that regal authority wholly , upon any case of mal-administration ; all that we plead for is , power to administer a part of it upon necessity , which he will not administer for good , but rather for evil . and there are not many things that were altogether ours , and in our disposing before we part with them , but are still so far ours , to use them again in our necessity , for that turn at least . ( pag. 35. ) a prince onely inherits what was given the first of the nation , or others since by consent of the people ; and by written law or custome he must claim any power he will exercise , or else he cannot plead any right title to it , and his qualification of power admits of increase or decrease , as he and the people agree and consent . his power is altogether derived by election and consent , first and last , whence i will infer no more but as before , that therefore in case of necessity the people may use so much of it as may suffice to save themselves from ruine . ( pag. 39. ) the late usurpers own'd as a holy state set up by almighty god. master sam. slater in a sermon preached at s. edmunds bury in suffolk upon the 13. of octob. 1658. being a day set apart for solemn fasting and humiliation , and seeking a blessing upon his highness the lord protector . this sermon he intitles the protectors protection , or the pious prince guarded by a praying people . in this sermon , pag. 57 , & 58. he hath these words , oh! pray for your governours , and in a more special manner , for him whom god hath made chief over you , and by his providence called to the supreme place of magistracy in the nation . god hath been pleased of late to make a sad breach among us , taking away from us our former pilot , the late renowned protector , who when he had fought the nations battels , carried us thorow the wilderness , preserved us from the rage and fury of our enemies , and brought us within s●…ght of the promised land , gave up the ghost , laid down his leading staff , and his life together , with whose fall the nation was shaken : his death covered all the faces of sober and considerate persons with paleness , and their hearts with sadness , as if peace , prosperity , resormation , the gospel , all lay drawing on , and would be buried in the same grave with him . but b●…essed be god , divine grace vouchsafed to cast an eye towards us , and to visit us in our low estate : there is another pilot placed in his room ; vvhile he directs the course , let us fill the sails with our praying breath . moses , it is true , is dead , but we have a joshua succeeding him ; let us pray that what the other happily begun , this may more happily finish , and bring the accomplishment of all your right-bred hopes : and what they said to joshua , let us say unto his highness , according as we hearkned unto moses in all things , so will we hearken unto thee , onely the lord they god be with thee , as he was with moses . jos. 1. 17. and pag. 60. our prince riseth gloriously , pray that he might n●…t set in a cloud : our hopes concerning him are great , pray that they may not be blasted . thus he. mr. baxter in his five disputations of church-government and worship , in the epistle dedicatory to richard cromwel , he delivers the sense of his party in these words . many are perswaded you have been strangely kept from participating in any of our late bloody contentions , that god might make you a healer of our breaches , and imploy you in that temple-work , which david himself might not be honour'd with . and he adds — this would be the way to lift you highest in the esteem and love of all your people , and make them see that you are appointed by god to be an healer and restorer , and to glory in you , and to bless god for you as the instrument of our chiefest good . — my earnest prayers for your higness shall be , that you may rule us as one that is ruled by god , &c. the same mr. baxter in his holy common-wealth , in the epistle dedicatory or preface to the army , ( pag. 6. ) he call'd those usurping powers , that were then laid by , the best governours in all the world , that have the supremacy , whom to resist or depose is forbidden to subjects on pain of damnation , and pag. 8. he crys out , shall the best of governours , the greatest of mercies seem intolerable ? o how happy would the best of ohe nations under heaven be , if they had the rulers that our ingratitude hath cast off . and pag. 484. speaking of the usurpers ( whomsoever he meant ) he saith , he is bound to submit to the present government , as set over us by god , and to obey for conscience , and to behave himself as a loyal subject towards them . in the book intitled , the marrow of modern divivinity , * publickly commended by mr. caryl , mr. burroughs , mr. strong , mr. sprigg , and mr. samuel prittie . evangelista ( in the dialogue ) being a minister of the gospel , doth instruct neophytus or the young christian in these following words . pag. 201. in case you be at any time by reason of the weakness of your faith , and strength of your temptations , drawn aside , and prevailed with to transgress any of christs commandments , beware you do not thereupon take occasion to call christs love to you into question , but believe as firmly that he loves you as dearly as he did before you thus transgressed : for this is a certain truth , as no good in you , or done by you , did or can move christ to love you the more , so no evil in you or done by you , can move him to love you the less , &c. there are other things in that book , as that * the law of christ neither justifies nor condemns . and that in the covenant betwixt christ and his , there is no more for man to do , but onely to know and believe that christ hath done all for him . out of mr. baxters five disput. of right to sacraments , dispute 3. pag. 329. he that hath oftentimes been drunk may have true grace , and be in number of the godly , and pag. 330. how many professors will rashly rail , and lie in their passions ; how few will take well a reproof , but rather defend their sin ? how many in these times that we doubt not to be godly have been guilty of disobedience to their guides , and of schism , and doing much to the hurt of the church ? a very great sin . peter , lot , and 't is like david did oft commit greater sins . and pag. 326 , 327. a man must be guilty of more sin than peter was in denying , and forsivearing christ , that is notoriously ungodly , ye●… , then lot was , who was drunk two nights together , and committed incest twice with his own daughters , and that after the miraculous destruction of sodom , of his own wife , and his own miraculous deliverance ; nay , a man that is notoriously ungodly ( in the sense in hand ) or unsanctified , must be a greater sinner th●…n solomon was , with his seven hundred wives , and his three hundred concubines , and gross idolatries , when his heart was turned away from the lord god of israel , which appeared to him twice , and commanded not to go after other gods , but he kept not that which the lord commanded . mr. baxters five disputations of church government and worship , are thus dedicated , to his highness richard lord protector of the common-wealth of england , scotland , and ireland ; the epistle begins , sir , these papers are ambitlous of accompaning those against popery into your highness presence for the tender of their service . this would be the way to lift you highest in the esteem and love of all your people , and make them see , that you are * appointed by god to be an hea'er and restorer , and to glory in you , and to bless god for you as the instrument of our chiefest good . your zeal for god will kindle in your subjects a zeal for you . parlaments will love and honour you , ministers will heartily pray for you , and teach all the people to love , and honour , and obey you . i crave your highness favourable aceptance of the tendered service of a ●… faithful subject to your highness , rich. baxter in mr. baxters key for catholikes , and epistle dedicatory to the same richard. it is onely the necessary defence of your life , and * dignity , and the lives of all the protestants that a●…e under your protection and government , and the souls of men that * i desire : — you have your goverment , and we our lives , because the * papists are not strong enough — give not leave * to every seducer to do his worst to damn mens souls , when ●…ou will not tolerate every traytor to draw * your armies or people into * rebellion — if you ask who it is that presumeth thus to be your monitor , it is one that * rejoyceth in the present happiness of england , and * earnestly * wisheth that it were but as well with the rest of the world , and that † honoureth * all the providences of god , by which we have been brought to what we are ; and he is one that * concurring in the common hopes of greater blessings yet to these nations under * your government , was encouraged to do what you daily allow your preachers to do , and to concur with the rest in the tenders ( and some performance ) of his service — that god will make you a ruler and preserver of his churches here at home , and a successful helper to his churches abroad is the earnest prayer of your highness * faithful subject , richard baxter . out of the quarrel of the covenant delivered in three sermons , sept. 27. & 30. oct. 1. 1643. by thomas case , one of the assembly of divines . to murmur at the covenant mr. case calls the voice of rebellion . pag. 19. the covenant it self he calls a pure and heaven'y ordi●…ance . pag. 21. out of mr. case his book of the covenant , delivered in three sermons . a. d. 1643. is prelacy indeed the way of gospel-government , & c ? what is it then that hath destroy'd all gospel orde●… , and government , and vvorship in these kingdoms , as in other places of the christian world , even down to the ground , hath it not been prelacy ? pag. 45. object . but there be that will tell us these have been the faults of the persons and not of the calling . pag. 46. answ. 5. was not that calling as bad as the men ? you may as well say so of the papacy in rome , for surely the prelacy of england which we swore to extir ate , was the very same fabrick , and model of ●…cclesiastical regiment , that is in the antichristian world ; yea , such an evil it is , that some divines , venerable for their g●…eat learning , as well as for their eminent holmess , did conceive sole episcopal jurisdiction to be the very seat of the beast , upon which the fifth angel is now pouring out his vial , which is the reason that the men of that kingdom gnaw their ●…ongues for pain , and blaspheme the god of heaven . pag. 47. his majesty is bound by his coronation oath to confirm these laws , quas vulgus elegerit , which the commons shall agree upon , and present unto his majesty . pag. 49. so hath prelacy flatter'd it self , finding such a party to stand up on it's side among the * rotten lords and commons , the debauched gentry , and abused people of the kingdom . — as thy sword prelacy hath made many women childless , many a faithful minister peop'eless , ( &c. ) so thy mother papacy shall be made childless among harlots , ●… your diocess bishop'ess , and your sees lordless , and your places shall know you no more . come my brethren , i say ▪ and fear not to take this * agag ( prelacy i mean , not the prelates ) and * hew it in pieces before the lord. pag. 51. none can withdraw from , much less oppose this service , but such as bear evil will to sion , and would be unwilling to see th●… ruine and downfall of anti-christ , which this blessed covenant doth so evidently threaten . pag. 63. a fift motive to quicken us to this duty , may be even the practice of the anti-christian state and kingdom ; popery hath been dextrous to propagate and spred it self by this means — and prelacy ( that * whelp ) hath learned this policy of it's mother papacy that lioness , to corrobate and raise it self to that height we have seen and suffered , by these artifice●… — it being an inconfiderable number either of ministers , or people , ( the lord be merciful to us in this thing ) that have had eyes to discover the mystery of iniquity which these men have driven . pag. 64. * he that hath been a malignant or neutral let him be so no more , for i protest against every man that after his striking of this so solemn and sacred a covenant with the most high god , shall dare knowingly , to persist in any of these mentioned abominations ( that is , adheering to the king , &c. ) he is an enemy to jesus christ , a traytor to the kingdoms , a state murderer , and a destroyer of himself and his posterity , and at his hands if they miscarry god will require the blood of all these . pag. 101. * it brings letters of testimonial with it , &c. the waters of this covenant hath been a notable purgation to the rebels there , ( in scotland ) it hath been a shibboleth to discover them , and a sword in the hand of the angel of the covenant to chase or slay them . the walls of jericho have fallen flat before it . the dagon of the bishops service-book brake it's neck before this ark of the covenant . prelacy and * prerogative have bowed down , and given up the ghost at it's feet ; and what changes hath it wrought in the church and state ! what a reformation hath follow'd at the heels of this glorious ordinance ? pag. 65 , 66. epist. dedicat. thousands of your nation are preparing their brotherly addresses to pay the same debt to the whole kingdom , now almost in as great an exigence as ever the gibeonites were when their five kings with all their united fo●…ces were within few days march , to take a bloody and unnatural revenge for their entring into covenant with joshua onely ; we beseech you account it not our distrust or jealousie , if sometimes you hear us complaining with the mother of sisera , why are their chariots so long in com●…ng , why stay the wheels of their chariots ? that is , why come not in the scotish a●…my against the king ? out of the trial of mr. love , before the high-court of justice in westminster-hall . printed aug. 1652. major huntington in his examination as witness against love , says thus , pag. 32. i was told by major alford , that bain●… ( another witness ) told them , he was very sorry he should meddle in that business , and that they would never prosper that had any thing to do with him ( meaning the king ) for that the sins of him and his father were so great . mr. love told adams a witness against him , thus , that if the presbyterians were in arms again , by the blessing of god , the cava●…eering party might be prevented from getting the day . pag. 38. mr. love in his defence says thus , god is my witness , i never drove a malignant design , i never carried on a malignant interest , i detest both ; i still retain my old covenanting principles , from which through the grace of god i will never depart , for any terror or perswasion whatsoever , &c. i do retain as great a keeness , and shall whilest i live , and as strong an opposition against a malignant interest , whether in scotland or in england or in any part of the world , against the nation where i live , and have to ●…his day , as ever i did in former times . i have all along engaged my estate and life in the parlaments quarrel against the forces raised by the king. i gave my all : and i did not onely deem it my duty to preach for the lawfulness of a defensive war , but unless my books and wearing apparel , i contributed all that i had in the world . — i have at this day a great sum due to me from the state , which is still kept from me , and now my life endeavoured to be taken from me . and yet for all this i repent not of what i have done ; though i could from my soul wish , that the ends of that just war , had been better accomplished , &c. pag. 67. when i was scholar in oxon and master of arts ( i do not speak it out of vain ostentation , but meerly to represent unto you , that what i ●…as i am , and what i am i was ) i was the first scholar that i know o●… , or ever heard of in oxon , who did publikely refuse in the congregation-house to subscribe unto those impositions , or canons , imposed by the arch-bishop touching the prelates & common prayers ; and for which though they would not deny me my degree , yet i was expelled the congregation-house , never to sit as a member among them , &c. about the beginning of the wars between the late king and the parl●…ment , i was the first minister that i knew of in england , who w●…s accused of preaching of treason and rebellion , meerly for maintaining in a sermon in kent , at tenerden , the lawfulness of a defensive war , * at the first breaking out and irruption of our troubles . i , &c. t●…at have in my measure ventur'd my all , in the same quarrel that you were e●…gaged in , and lifted up my hands in the same covenant , that took sweet counsel together , and walked in fellowship one with another , &c. attourney general ( prideaux ) in pag. 102. thus , the treason is in this , the scots come in with intent to subvert the government ( meaning cromwels ) charles s●…ewart to be made king , to subvert the government , &c. i have prayed unto god many a day , and kept many a fast , wherein i have sought god that there might be an agreement between the king and the scots upon the interest of religion , and terms of the covenant . pag. 125. thus , i die cleaving to all those oaths , vows , covenants and protestations that were imposed by the two houses of parlament , as owning them , and dying with my judgement for them ; to the protestation the vow and covenant , the solemn league and covenant . and this i tell you all , i had rather die a covenant-keeper , th●…n live a covenant-breaker . pag. 162. thus , i die with this perswasion , that the presbyterial government makes most for purity , and unity , throughout the churches of the saints . mr. marshal in a sermon before the house of peers , octob. 28. 1646. on that text psal. 8. 2. out of the mouth of babes — hast thou ordained strength — that thou mightest still the enemy , &c. he propounds this quaere , wherein lyes the power which proceedeth out of the mouth of these babes ? his answer is , there are sive things , which all are the fruit of the mouth , & by them the●…e babes have overcome the enemy and the avenger , 1. preaching , 2. confessing or professing , the name , truth and cause of god , and his christ. 3. praising , singing out praise , &c. 4. praying , and 5. covenanting . then he brings in an objection , if these be all the weapons and strength whereby the saints do overcome , why do you use any other means to overcome your enemies ? why rest you not contented with this ? either these are not all , or you are not christians , nor true to your principles ; — time was when preces and lachrymae , prayers and tears , were all the weapons which the church did use ; but now when you have spoke all these things of the power of preaching , and praying , and consessing , and covenanting , you are glad to betake your selves to arms , to see what they will do , to help those out , whence it 's apparent , you dare not rest in these as sufficient helps . to this mr. marshal * answers thus , we acknowledge , that as we are christians ( in that capacity ; for as they distinguish'd the king into a double capacity , so they did themselves too , into a natural and a christian capacity , and in that capacity , saith he ) we use no other weapons than these we have told you of , these onely are proper and peculiar to us ●…s we are christians ; but the weapons which we enjoy as we are christians , do not deprive us of those we enjoy in the capacity as men. — and we challenge in this no more than we may lawfully use , if we were papists or turks , if we were pagans , jews or indians : we challenge not this to belong to christianity , as peculiar to it , we have learn'd , that by the law of nature and nations , men may defend themselves against unjust violence ; if the turks should invade a countrey of christians , they will tell him , that as they are christians , their praying and professing and singing & covenanting , these spiritual weapons out of their mouth will quell them ; but as they are men , they have a liberty to defend themselves against him , & vim vi repellere ; or if a christian man were travelling upon the high way , and a thief should demand of him , how as a christian , he could defend himself from his enemies ; he would tell him , by faith , by prayer , by the word of god , by weapons out of his mouth ; but if the thief assault him and take his life or his purse , ●…s he is a man he will use his sword , and christianity will sanc●…ifie this use of his sword to him , &c. thus mr. marshal ubi supra . pag. 27 , 28. and to secure his party from fear of future vengeance , or damnanation , threatned to the resisters of soveraign authority , rom. 13. 2. he interprets that text , not of the damnation of hell , but of the sentence * of the soveraign power ; and that they might not b●… frighted with the fear of that temporal judg●…ment neither , he promiseth them success and victory , in the name of almighty god , as abovesaid . out of mr. calamyes apology against mr. burton . 1646. for my own particular i crave leav●… to declare to all that shall read these lines , what i have done to manifest my repentance , and let master burton then judge whether it be a repentance to be repented of , or no. first , i went to bury , and there made in a sermon , a recantation , and retraction of what i had done , in the hearing of thousands . and this i did before the times turned against episcopacy , not out of discontent , nor because i was disappointed of my expected preferment at court. secondly , after my coming to london at the beginning of this parlament i was one of those that did joyn in making smectymnuus , which was the first deadly blow to episcopacy in england of late years . thirdly , my house was a receptacle for godly ministers in the worst of times : here was the remo●…strance framed against the prelates : here were all meetings . i was the first that openly before a committee of parlament did defend that our bishops were not onely not an order distinct from presbyters , but that in scripture a bishop and presbyter were all one . i blush to speak of these things , but the judicious reader will consider how i am provoked to it , and will pardon me . as for the service-book , let m. burton know , that at a meeting at my house , it was resolved by above a hundred ministers , after a long debate upon divers weighty considerations , that all that could in their judgements submit to the reading of some part of it , should be intreated for a while to continue so to do . to this our dissenting brethren , then present did agree , and one of them made a speech to manifest his concordance . this is enough to give any man satisfaction for the late laying of it down . out of mr. jeremiah burroughes his speech in guild-hall on friday the sixt of october , 1643. a people they are ( speaking of the scots ) that began to rise for their liberties , when the generality of this people here , were ready basely to bow down th●…ir backs , and put their necks under the yoke : and had it not been that they had been willing to have endured the brunt , we had all been slaves ( it is like ) at this day . their liberties are setled , why they , though on the other side of jordan , they are not therein satisfied , to sit still , but are willing to come themselves , and come into the brunt , and hazard themselves , for the se●…ling of their brethren in the inheritance of the lord likew●…se . what warrant have we to take up arms to maintain religion ? that is not at present to be discussed , but onely this , to satisfie and stop all their mouths with one word : thus far none can deny it , but it is lawful to take up arms , to maintain that civil right we have to our religion , and this we do ; for we have not onely a right to our religion , by the law of god , but we have a civil right to this our religion , that other christians have not had . if it shall be said , i , but a great deal is done , but to little purpose all this while ; o ( my brethren ) say not so , it is an unthankful voyce , this , for much hath been done , there hath been a check given to the adversary , the stream of tyranny and slavery it hath been stopped , your lives have all this while been preserved by what hath been done . little cause have we to be discouraged , for those we have to deal with , their spirits are base and vile ; why should we fear those uncircumcised philistines ? if you say , well , but were it not better we bent all our forces to some accommodation ? to that we answer you thus : you have to deal not onely with his majesty , but with a popish party that are about him , and what security you can ever have of your peace , ( as was worthily said before ) except the scotish nation comes in for to fasten it , it is easie for any one to judge . i will tell you but one story about that , and because it is suitable unto you , i will therefore relate it here : it is a story that i find in the chronicles , that in the days of king edward the sixt , king edward sends to this city for assistance against the lords ; and the lords send to the city for their assistance likewise ; and the common-councel was called , ( i suppose in this place , ) and there stands up , as the story saith , a wise discreet citizen , in the common-councel , and makes this speech unto them ; first , he acknowledges that the cause was right for the lords , for the kingdom , though it were against the will of the king , because the king would not then put in execution those laws that should be , but hindered them , but yet ( saith he ) let me remind you of that that i have read in fabians chronicle , ( it was one george stadley that stood up , let me remind you of that ) when there was a fight between the lords and the king , the lords send for assistance to the city , the city granted their assistance , the lords prevailed , the king was taken , and his son a prisoner ; afterwards they were both released upon composition , and amongst other things , this was one , that howsoever the city should be preserved , that the city should suffer nothing for what they had done ; and this composition was confirmed by act of parlament , but ( saith this citizen ) what came of it ? did the king forgive ? no , nor forget , for afterwards all our liberties were taken away , strangers were set over us , for our heads and governours ; the bodies and the estates of the citizens were given away , and one misery followed after another ; and so we were most miserably persecuted ; and here was their accommodation . have not many of you spent your blood in this cause , yea , how many young ones in this city have lost their blood ? me-thinks a spirit of indignation should rise in you , to vindicate the loss of the blood of your servants and children , many precious ones , that might have lived many years , to have done good service for the lord. know there shall come a day , wherein you shall be calling and crying to god for mercy ; the success of this evenings work will be recorded against that day , when you shall cry for mercy . out of mr. obadiah sedgewick his speech in guild-hall on friday the sixt of october , 1643. i know many objections might be made ; you have done much already , and the sum is great ; i say no more , there is nothing great , to a mind that is great , and the cause is great , and though the sum of money be great , yet their love is greater , than all you can lay out to answer their love ; and say not ( grumbling ) we have done often and often ; i say to you , as christ said to him that asked him , how often must i forgive my brother ? why , seventy times seven times ; so will i say for this publique cause , you must do , and you must do , and yet you must do , and yet you must do , as long as there is a penny in thy purse , as long as there is strength in thy hand , as long as there is breath in thy body , you must be all servants to christ , and servants to the churches of jesus christ. the independents conclusions from the presbyterian principles . mr. john dury's considerations concerning the present engagement ; with mr. caryl's imprimatur , an. dom. 1649. the oath of allegiance , as you know , did bind all men as subjects in law , to be true and faithful to the kings person , to his heirs and successors , as they were invested with the authority which the law did give them : nor was it ever meant by the parlament which enacted the oath of allegiance , that any should be absolutely bound to the king and his heirs , as they were men , to be true and faithful to their personal wills ; but onely to them and their wills , as they had a legal standing : that is , to the authority conferred upon them by the consent of the people , which was testified in and under a law ; whereunto the king and his heirs were bound for the kingdoms good by oath . so that the obligations of king and subjects are mutual , and must needs stand and fall together , according as the condition by which they are begotten is kept or broken ; which is nothing else but the law , according to which he and his subjects agree , that he shall be their king , and they shall be his subjects . for as you were sworn to the king , so he was sworn to you ; as you were bound to be faithful to him , so he was bound to be faithful to his trust ; nor is he your liege further than he is faithful thereunto . if then he be found unfaithful to his trust , you are ipso facto absolved from your allegiance unto him ; and if , according to law , he receives not his authority , you are not in law his subjects at all . now the just and natural foundation of all laws , is the reason of the body of every nation in their parlament , which hath the sole right to propose and chuse the laws by which they will be ruled . where it hath been ( as i suppose ) a perpetual custom in this nation , for the commons at all times , to ask and propose the making of laws ; and for the lords and king to give their consent thereunto : the lords as the judges in cases of transgression , and the king as the executor and publick trustee for the administration of the common good and wealth thereby ; for in a kingdom there is a common-wealth , as the intrinsical substance of the being thereof ; for which all things are to be done by king and lords , as the publick servants thereof ; and ministers not masters of state therein . if the king then should set himself wilfully to be above this reason of the nation , which is the onely original of the law , and refuse obstinately the laws which they shall chuse to be setled , he puts himself ipso facto , out of the capacity of being a king any more unto them ; and if this can be made out , to have been the way wherein the late king set himself , and that it was the design of the house of lords , to uphold and enable him to follow that way , it is evident , that so far as he did by that means actually un-king himself , as to this nation , so far also they that assisted him in that design , did un-lord themselves in the state thereof ; and if this was the guilt of the house of lords , by other practices and proceedings more than by an indifferencie and compliance with the hamiltonian invasion , to help the king to such a power , i know not what to answer for them ▪ it is then undeniable that the third article of that national covenant , was ●…ever meant by those that made it , or that took ir , to be opposite to the sense of the oath of allegiance , but altogether agreeable thereunto . what then the meaning of that article is , must needs also be the true sense of the oath of allegiance . that article then doth oblige you , to preserve the right and privileges of the parlament , and the liberties of the kingdom in your calling , absolutely and without any limitation ; but as for the kings person and authority , it doth oblige you onely thereunto , conditionally , and with a limitation ; namely , in the preservation and defence of the true religion and liberties of this kingdom . if then the king did not give to the representatives of the nation that assurance which was satisfactory and necessary that their religion and liberties should be preserved , none of his subjects were bound either by their allegiance or covenant , to defend his person and the authority which was conferred upon him . the oath of allegiance therefore was bottomed upon the laws , which the representatives of the nation in parlament had chosen to be observed concerning their religion , and the liberties of the kingdom ; which he refractorily either casting off , or seeming to yield unto , in such a way that no trust could be given him , that he would keep what he yielded unto ; the parlament did actually lay him aside , and voted , that no more addresses should be made unto him , from which time forward he was no more an object of your oath of allegiance , but to be look'd upon as a private man : and your oath by which you were engaged to be true and faithful to the law , by which the religion and liberty of the kingdom was to be preserved , did still remain in force : which if it may be the true substantial sense of the present engagement , which you think is contradictory to this oath and to the national covenant , then you are to look well to it , that you be not mistaken ; for to an indifferent eye , it may be thought so far from being opposite to the true sense of either , that it may be rather a confirmation of the ground , for which both the oath of allegiance , and the third article of the national covenant was then binding . and then also this i am confident of , to be able to let you see further , that although you may think that the effect of this engagement is materially contrary to some intention which you had in the third article of the covenant ; yet that by the act of the engagement , you are so far from breaking your covenant , that except you take it , and observe it faithfully , you will not onely materially , but formally break that very article of the covenant , for which you scruple the taking of the engagement . for the words must be taken in the sense which they can directly bear , ●…nd which do impart the main end for which the covenant was taken ; for the main end of this very article whereof you make a scruple , was evidently to preserve the parlament and common-wealth for it self , and ( i●… need so required ) also without the king. now this is that which the engagement doth directly also require ; for which cause i say , that by vertue of this very promise , you are bound to take the present engagement ; and if you take it not , that you make your self a transgressor of that very article which you pretend to keep ; for if you refuse to be true and faithful to the common-wealth as it is now established , you do what in you lyeth to make the remaining knights of parlament , and the beginnings of our settlement void ; which though at first it was not intended to be without a king , yet it was cleerly presupposed in the article it self , as possible to be without him , and consequently , that although he should not be , yet that the common-wealth by the rights of parlament and the liberties of the nation should be preserved , which is all that now is sought for by the engagement . where you may take notice , that although you and i as private men , ought not to make our selves judges of the rights which superiors pretend to have , in and to their places ; yet that they are not without a judicature over them in those places , for the subordinate officers belonging to a state , are bound to judge of the rights of those that are over them ; both by which they stand in their places of supremacy , and by which they proceed in their actings toward subjects , lest they be made the instruments of arbitrary power and tyranny , and then also the law-making power , which in all nations resides by the law of nature in the convention of the representatives of the whole body of the people ( whether it be made up of the heads of families , or of chosen deputies , who are intrusted with a delegated power from all the rest ) doth make or unmake rights , in all places and persons within it self , as it from time to time doth see cause . having thus surveyed the dangerous positions and principles of the presbyterians & their brethren , that it may be evident to the world that the enemies of our church , are equally enemies to our monarchy , it will not be amiss to lay down some of the principles of the papists and the hobbians . in which not to multiply citations , we will , for one of the first of these take father white , who is counted the most moderate of them , in his book intitled the grounds of obedience and government ; and for the next mr. hobbs himself , in his books , one called leviathan , and the other de cive , which he so magnifies , that he affirms that part of philosophy to which the handling of the elements of government and civil societies belongs , is no older than that book . of the dispossession of a supreme former governour , and of his right , by mr. white a romanist , pag. 132. &c. in his grounds of obedience , &c. now , our question supposeth the governour not to have come to that extremity : but , either to have been good or innocent : or that it is doubtful whether his excesses deserved expulsion : or , at least , if they did deserve it of themselves , yet the circumstances were not fitting for it ; but the expulsion hapned either by the invasion of a stranger , or the ambition of a subject , or some popular headless tumult ; for , these three ways a magistrate comes , forcibly and unjustly , to be outed of his power . and first , if the magistrate have truly deserved to be dispossessed ; or it be rationally doubted that he hath deserved it , and he be actually out of possession : in the former case it is certain , the subject hath no obligation to hazard for his restitution , but rather to hinder it : for , since it is the common good that both the magistrate and the subject are to aim at ; and clearly , out of what is expressed , it is the common harm , to admit again of such a magistrate ; every one , to his power , is bound to resist him . the next case is , if he be innocent and wrongfully depos'd , nay let us add , one who had governed well and deserved much of the common-wealth : yet he is totally dispossess'd ; and so , that , it is plain , in these circumstances , it were better for the common good to stay as they are , than to venture the restoring him , because of the publick hazard . it is clear , in this case , there is comparison between the general good of the common-wealth , on the one side , and the particular of this man or family on the other . let us , then , put the case on his part ; and see , if he be generous , if he hath setled in his heart that every single man ought to prefer the common interest before his particular safety , profit , or honour ; if he be fit for a governour , that is , one that is to espouse the common good as his own individual ; what he will , in honour and conscience , resolve : whether he be not obliged absolutely to renounce all right and claim to government ; and , if he does not , he be not worse than an infidel : for , if he that hath no care of his domesticks , be reputed so ; with how much more reason , he that is ready to plunge a whole nation in blood , for his own interest ? let us cast the accounts on the other side ; and see , that the subjects aim ought to be the publique peace , and quiet enjoyment of their lives and interests : it will appear that , if he be bound to renounce his claim , they cannot be oblig'd to maintain it : and besides , that they are wilfully blind , if , where the whole concernments of themselves , their wives and children , lie at the stake , they will venture all for an aereal fancy , without regard to the end of government , publick peace ; meerly for the means , this mans government , without whom the end may be obtain'd . it cannot , therefore , be rational on either side , for a dispossess'd governour to be restor'd with hazard . but , the capital in this matter is , that truly there is no justice on either the magistrates or peoples side , to bind to the restoring him : both these depending on the promise made , and the force of the promise being none , since the ground of it is changed . for , the substance of the promise made to a magistrate , is , to obey him as a magistrate , that is , as far as is fitting for the common-wealth and peace ; he being nothing but the instrument of the common good : now , take away that fitness for the common-wealth , and that which gave strength to the promise is gone , and the promise it self is no more a promise , nor can any obligation arise from it . who knows not , that the promise of any man depends on his intention , his intention on his knowledge , his knowledge reacheth no farther than his consideration and present memory when he maketh the promise ? so that , in nature , a promise reacheth onely to presupposed and thought on circumstances : and who , when he sweareth to a magistrate , expecteth to see him dispossessed and turned off ? so that , this is manifest , a magistrate actually dispossessed hath no right to be restored , nor the subject any obligation to seek to restore , but oppose him . for , what is man , or rather mankind ( for , so we have styled a nation ) better than a herd of sheep or oxen , if it be to be owned , like them , by masters ? what difference is there between their masters selling them to the butcher , and obliging them to venture their lives and livelyhoods for his private interest ? we know it is natural , that the part should venture for the whole ; but that the whole should venture the loss of it self to save the part , i cannot understand . the governour is the highest and noblest part , yet but a part ; the people is the whole , the end , ( though not by office , yet by worth and dignity ) the master and lord , for whom those who are lords by office are to be vested and devested in lordship , when it is necessary for the common good . who thinks otherwise , deserves not the name of a man. of a supreme governour dispossessed , pag. 147. &c. mr. whites grounds of obedience , &c. when the structure of the common-wealth is dissolved , that is , disjoynted from him , then any who hath suffered wrong in the fore-declared manner may be party against him and proceed as if there were no common-wealth ; by the law , which , in a wilderness , warranteth us to kill a tyger or robber that seeketh to kill us , not pretending law for our action , but that it is manlike and rational . neither ought it be called punishment that is done against a d●…spossessed magistrate , but rather revenge , or some other name that includeth no order to law. we must proceed upon other principles , that is , the forelaid and main basis of our discourse , that the common good ought to be the rule of the magistrates title , and the subjects obedience . out of which this followeth , that when ever ( considering all things ) the common good is cleerly on the possessors side , then the dispossessed hath no claim . neither ought we expect till we have assurance , that it will not be better for the subject if the late owner ( after great dangers , ) gaineth his former power : for , first , this it self is uncertain ; secondly , the success of endeavours to restore him must be hazardous ; thirdly , many and great mischiefs , during the time of the attempt , are altogether unavoidable ; and all this to be ballanced against those uncertain hopes . nor , again , must we expect that the wills of all the subjects concur , actually , to the acceptance of the new governour : for that is either impossible , or of so long expectation , as to ruine all by dissensions and jealousies in the mean time : nay , the vulgar sort are so easily led by fancy , that they understand not the common good , nor what they should wish . but you may demand , how shall it be known when the common good holdeth it self on the possessour's hand ? i answer , we must first see who are the common , whose welfare is to be preferred before private interests . and presently it appeareth that , dividing the whole people into governours and governed ; the governed part is the publick to whose good the governours are to direct their paines : and that these are they that spend their lives in seeking their own profits , either by improving the land , or in arts and handicrafts : whence , it followes , when their good stands on the possessours side , then cleerly he begins to gain right and power ; and this is plain to be , when the merchant , the husbandman , and tradesman , with their appendices , are in an undisturbed practice of their functions , and begin to be afraid of change upon the noise of an invasion . this resolution could not be doubted , were it not that one might object , that what is said seems true , abstracting from circumstances ; but it ought to be considered , that such men see nothing but the outward appearances of what passes in humane negotiations , and so there may many circumstances lye hidden from them , which would make them think or with otherwise if they knew them : as , for example , home-discontents and forein conspiracies ; which if understood , would make these honest men preferr a war , after which there is to follow a peace far exceeding the present quiet , and such a one as deserves the intervening disturbance and damages . and indeed , i allow these men understand not such mysteries of state , nor penetrate the value of the hazard : but , if they do not , why are they not also exempted from engaging on those motives ? and then the rest of the common-wealth will be but so many private men , who must follow the common . again , if they think themselves well , they manifestly consent to the present government , and therefore cut off the title of the dispossessed governour . besides , who can answer they shall be better by the retu●…n of the dispossessed party ? surely , by common presumption , the gainer is like to defend them better than he who lost it . but what if an open enemy should come , could or ought the subjects joyn against him with their new magistrate ? if not , the whole publick must perish : if they may , then the case is the same against their old magistrate ; since his right stood upon the common peace , and that is transferr'd from him to his rivall by the title of quiet possession . the authority of lawyers insufficient in this question . no laws made by the power or agreement of men , can judge betwixt subject and soveraign , in dispute of the common good and government ; but only the tribunals of god and nature , or divinity and the science of politicks : and therefore , the maximes of law have no force in these questions ; now , if princes lose their pretences by the force of nature , it is ridiculous for private men to build hopes , upon rotten titles of ages long passed , upon weak maximes of law , after nature , by her revolutions , hath cast all law and moral acts and agreements . now as the malignity & poyson of these anti-monarchical assertions render this author a very unfit prescriber of political principles & rules of government & subjection to the rest of mankind ; so circumstance of their writing & publication ( they being published when cromwell was in possession of the government , and the king dispossessed , and in banishment ) makes them look so like a publick disswasion of the people to endeavour the restauration of his majesty ( who by his principles ought to have renounced his title to the government , ) that we leave it to the world to judge whether such a man , unless he repent , and renounce these wicked assertions , be worthy of his majesties protection , being restored to that government to which , he affirms , that the subjects ought not to endeavour to restore their prince , being once ( though never so unjustly ) dispossessed . out of bishop bramhall's book against mr. hobs , call'd , the catching of the leviathan . the obligation of a subject to the soveraign , lasteth no longer , than the power by which he is able to protect him , bramhall , p. 517. when in a war forein or intestine the enemies get a final victory , so as ( the forces of the common-wealth keeping the field no longer , ) there is no protection of subjects in their loyaltie , then is the common-wealth dissolved , and every man at liberty to protect himself by such courses as his own discretion shall suggest to him , p. 517. he that hath no obligation to his former soveraign , but that of an ordinary subject , hath liberty to submit to a conquerour , when the means of his life is within the guards and garrisons of his enemy , for it is then that he hath no longer protection from him . and concludeth , — that their total submission is as lawfull as a contribution , p. 518. that they who live under the protection of a conquerour , openly are understood to submit to his government : and that in the act of receiving protection openly , and not renouncing it openly , they do oblige themselves to obey the laws of their protector , to which in receiving protection , they have assented , p. 518. if the common-wealth come into the power of its enemies , so that they cannot be resisted , he who had the soveraignty before , is understood to have lost it , p. 517. security is the end for which men make themselves subjects to others ; which if he in joy not , his subjection ceaseth , and he loseth not right to defend himself at his own discretion ; neither is any man understood to have bound himself to any thing , or to have relinquished his right over all things , before his own security be provided for , p. 513. it is manifest , that they do against conscience , and wish the eternal damnation of their subjects , who do not cause such doctrine , and such worship to be exhibited to them , as they themselves do believe to conduce to their salvation , or tolerate the contrary to be taught and exhibited , p. 514. no man is bound by his pacts , whatsoever they be , not to resist him , who bringeth upon him death or wounds , or any bodily damage , p. 514. seeing no man is bound to impossibilities , they who are to suffer corporal damage , and are not constant enough to endure it , are not obliged to suffer it . and more fully , — in case a great many men together have rebelled , or committed some other capital crime , for which every one of them expecteth death , whether have not they the liberty to joyn together and assist and defend one another ? certainly they have , for they do but defend their lives with the guilty , as well as the innocent may do . there was indeed injustice in their first breach of duty , their bearing arms subsequent to it , though to maintain what they have done , is no unjust act , p. 514. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a26065-e4340 he might have referr'd them to himsel●… ; p. 460. where he g●…ves the same answer to the same objection . vid. presace to the holycommonwealth . p. 6. notes for div a26065-e10240 ☞ * the law saith●… 〈◊〉 h●…bet rex superior●…m praeter deum . ☜ ☜ ☜ ☜ notes for div a26065-e11130 he ressembleth richa●…d to solomen and oliver to david . notes for div a26065-e11430 * by eulogies and approbations printed before the book which commend it to all readers . * pag. 161. pag. 119. notes for div a26065-e11590 ☞ notes for div a26065-e11760 ☞ ☞ ☞ notes for div a26065-e12030 ☜ * the king and his pa●…ty clea●…ly meant to be th●… papists ▪ ☜ ☜ † ●… clea●…ly abetting the murdering of the king. ☜ ☜ notes for div a26065-e12390 ☞ ☞ ☞ ☞ ☜ notes for div a26065-e13110 ☞ ☞ notes for div a26065-e13670 * he makes it law●…ul to do that a●… men , which we are 〈◊〉 to do by 〈◊〉 l●…ws of ch●…istianity . ●…e 〈◊〉 the 5 commandment . swe●…t incourage●…ent . excellent comp●…risons ●… between ones natural prince ( to whom he hath 〈◊〉 ) and a turk , or a thief . * see dr. ham. of resisting the magistra●…e under 〈◊〉 of relig●…on . notes for div a26065-e15280 hobs his lev. p. 114. lev. le. p. 190. le. p. 137. hobs de civ . c. 7. sect. 18. ci. c. 13. sect. 3. ci. c. 13. sect. 5. ci. c. 2. sect. 18. le. p. 112. smectymnuus redivivus being an answer to a book, entituled, an humble remonstrance. in which, the original of liturgy episcopacy is discussed, and quæries propounded concerning both. the parity of bishops and presbyters in scripture demonstrated. the occasion of the imparity in antiquity discovered. the disparity of the ancient and our moderne bishops manifested. the antiquity of ruling elders in the church vindicated. the prelaticall church bounded. smectymnuus. 1654 approx. 248 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 44 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a52055 wing m784 estc r223740 99834025 99834025 38504 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a52055) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 38504) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1836:12) smectymnuus redivivus being an answer to a book, entituled, an humble remonstrance. in which, the original of liturgy episcopacy is discussed, and quæries propounded concerning both. the parity of bishops and presbyters in scripture demonstrated. the occasion of the imparity in antiquity discovered. the disparity of the ancient and our moderne bishops manifested. the antiquity of ruling elders in the church vindicated. the prelaticall church bounded. smectymnuus. marshall, stephen, 1594?-1655. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. young, thomas, 1587-1655. newcomen, matthew, 1610?-1669. spurstowe, william, 1605?-1666. [8], 78 p. , printed by t. c. for john rothwell, a the fountaine and beare in goldsmiths-row in cheapside, london : 1654. errors in paging: pages misnumbered and bound out of order. wing attributes authorship to stephen marshall, who, with edmund calamy, thomas young, matthew newcomen and william spurstowe, written under the acronym, smectymnuus. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng hall, joseph, 1574-1656. -humble remonstrance to the high court of parliament. church of england -controversial literature. episcopacy -controversial literature. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-01 john latta sampled and proofread 2004-01 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion smectymnuus redivivus . being an answer to a book , entituled , an humble remonstrance . in which , the originall of liturgy episcopacy is discussed . and quaeres propounded concerning both . the parity of bishops and presbyters in scripture demonstrated . the occasion of their imparity in antiquity discovered . the disparity of the ancient and our moderne bishops manifested . the antiquity of ruling elders in the church vindicated . the prelaticall church bounded . jeremy 6.16 . thus saith the lord , stand in the wayes , and behold , and aske for the old way , which is the way , and walk therein . tertul. de praescr . adv . haeres . id dominicum & verum , quod prius traditum : id autem extraneum & falsum quod sit posterius . london , printed by t. c. for iohn rothwell , at the fountaine and beare in goldsmiths-row in cheapside . 1654. to the reader . good reader , solomon told us long since , that there is no end of many books , eccles. 12.12 . scripturiency ( it seemeth ) is no novell humour , but abounded then , even when the means of transmitting knowledge was more difficult ; if there were cause for the complaint then , there is much more now ; since the presse hath helped the penne , every one will be scribling , and so better bookes are neglected , and lie like a few grains of corn under an heap of chaffe and dust : usually books are received as fashions ; the newest , not the best and most profitable , are most in esteem ; in so much that really learned and sober men have been afraid to publish their labours , lest they should divert the world from reading the usefull works of others that wrote before them . * i remember dr. altingius a terse and neat spirit , stood out the battery of twenty years importunity , and would not yield to divulge any thing upon this fear . certainly ( reader ) 't is for thy profit sometimes to look back and consult with them that first laboured in the mines of knowledge , and not alwaies to take up with what commeth next to hand . in this controversie of discipline many have written , but not all with a like judgement and strength , which i believe hath been no small rock of offence , and stone of stumbling to the adversaries , who are hardned with nothing so much as a weak defence of the truth , as * austin complaineth , that when he was a manichee he had had too too often the victory put into his hands by the defences of weak and unskilfull christians . this work which the stationer hath now revived ( that it may not be forgotten , and like a jewel after once shewing shut up in the cabinet of private studies only ) was penned by * severall worthy divines of great note and fame in the churches of christ , under the borrowed and covert name of smectymnuus , which was some matter of scorn and exception to the adversaries , as the papists objected to calvin his printing his institutions under the name of alcuinus , and to bucer his naming himself aretius felinus , though all this without ground and reason , the affixion of the name to any work being a thing indifferent ; for there we should not consider so much the author , as the matter , and not who said it , but what ; and the assumption of another name not being infamous but where : it is done out of deceit , and to anothers prejudice , or out of shame because of guilt , or feare to own the truths which they should establish : i suppose the reverend authours were willing to lie hid under this onomastick , partly that their work might not be received with prejudice , the faction against which they dealt , arrogating to themselves a monopoly of learning , and condemning all others as ignorants and novices not worthy to be heard ; and partly that they might not burden their frontispiece with a voluminous nomenclature , it not being usuall to affix so many names at length to one treatise . for the work it self , it speaketh its own praise , and is now once more subjected to thy censure and judgement : this second publication of it was occasioned by another book for vindication of the ministery by the provinciall assembly of london , wherein there are frequent appeals to smectymnuus ; though otherwise i should have judged the reprinting seasonable ; for the lord hath now returned us to such a juncture of time , wherein there is greater freedom of debate without noyse and vulgar prejudice ; and certainly if the quarrell of episcopacy were once cleared , and brought to an issue , we should not be so much in the dark in other parts of discipline , the conviction of an errour by solid grounds being the best way to finde out the truth ; reformations carried on with popular tumult , rather then rationall conviction , seldom end well ; though the judgement of god be to be observed in powring contempt upon those which are partiall in his law , yet the improvident leapes which a people are wont to make upon such occasions , lay the foundation of a lasting mischiefe . i hope that by the review of these matters we shall come to know more of the lords counsell for the ordering of his house , or at least that by weighing what may be said on all sides , we shall learn more to * truth it in love , which is the unfeined desire of him who is thine in the lord , tho. manton . newington , june 23. 1653. most honourable lords , and ye the knights , citizens , and burgesses of the honourable house of commons . although we doubt not , but that book which was lately directed to your honours , bearing the name of an humble remonstrance , hath had accesse unto your presence : and is in the first approaches of it , discovered by your discerning spirits , to be neither humble , nor a remonstrance ; but a heap of confident and ungrounded assertions ; so that to your honours a reply may seem superfluous : yet left the authour should glory in our silence , as a granting of the cause ; we humbly crave your honours leave to present , not so much to your selves , as to the world by your hands , a view of this remonstrance ; in which the authour after too large a preface , undertakes the support of two things , which seem to him to be threatned with danger of a present precipice , the liturgie , and the hierarchy . it was a constitution of those admired sons of justice the areopagi ; that such as pleaded before them should plead without prefacing and without passion : had your honours made such a constitution , this remonstrance must have been banished from the face of your assembly ; for the preface fils almost a fourth part of the book , and the rest swels with so many passionate rhetorications , as it is harder for us in the multitude of his words to finde what his argument is that we have to answer , then to answer it when it is found . we would not trace him in his words , but close immediately with his arguments , did we not finde in him a sad exemplification of that divine axiome , in multitudine verb●rum non deest peccatum , in the multitude of words , there wants not sin : for though the author is bold to call upon your honours to heare the words of truth and confidence , yet how little truth there is in his great confidence , the ensuing discourse shall discover . his very words are confident enough , and yet as false as confident ; wherein he impropriates all honesty unto these his papers , and brands all others with the name of libellers , and yet himselfe sinnes deeply against the rule of honesty , and lies naked to the scourge of his own censure . first , in setting a brand upon all writings that have lately issued from the presse , as if they had forgotten to speak any other language then libellous : it seems himselfe had forgotten that some things had issued by authority of the king and parliament . secondly , in taxing ( implicitely ) all such as wil not own this remonstrance for theirs , as none of the peaceable and wel-affected sons of the church of england . thirdly , in censuring the way of petitioning your honours , the ancient and ordinary free way of seeking redresse of our evils , for a tumultuary under-hand way . fourthly , in condemning all such as are not fautors of this episcopal cause , as none of his majesties good subjects , engrossing that praise onely to his own party , saying , the eyes of us the good subjects of this whole realme are fixed upon your successe , &c. fifthly , in impropriating to the same party the praise of orthodox , pag. 6. as if to speak a word , or think a thought against episcopacy , were no lesse heresie , then it was in former time to speak against the popes supremacy , or the monkes fat belly ; whereas whether the episcopall part be the orthodox , peaceable , wel-affected part , and his majesties only good subjects , we leave to your honours to judge , upon the numerous informations that flow in unto you from the several parts of this kingdome . nor can they decline your judgement , seeing now you are ( through gods blessing ) happily met in a much longed for parliament : but whither so much longed for by him and his accomplices , as by those against whom he whets his style , the prayers that have obtained this happy meeting , and the praises that doe attend it , will decide in that great day . the helena , whose champion this remonstrant chiefely is , is that government which he calls sacred , viz. that government by arch-bishops , bishops , deanes , archdeacons , &c. which , saith he , through the sides of some misliked persons some have endeavoured to wound . misliked persons ? and why not offending persons ? why not guilty persons ? when this honourable house hath found just cause to charge some of them with crimes of the highest nature , our zeale for your honours makes us feare , lest your assembly should suffer in this word ; as if your proceedings against such persons should be grounded upon compliance with such as doe mislike them , rather then upon their own demerits or the justice of this court. but whatever those persons be , the government it self is sacred ; which by the joynt confession of all reformed divines , derives it self from the times of the blessed apostles , without any interruption , without contradiction of any one congregation in the world unto this present age . this is but an episcopall bravado ; therefore we let it passe , till we come to close and contend with him in the point ; where we shall demonstrate , that in the compasse of three lines he hath packt up as many untruths , as could be smoothly couched in so few words , as any man of common understanding , that lookes upon the face of the government of almost all reformed churches in the christian world may at first view discover . but before we come to this , there are yet two things in this preface which we count not unworthy observation . the first is , the comparison which he makes between the two governments , the civil which with us is monarchy : and the sacred which with him is episcopaey . of the first he saith , if antiquity may be the rule ( as he pleades it for episcopacy ) or if scripture ( as he interprets scripture ) it is variable , and arbitrary : but the other divine and vnalterable : so that had men petitioned for the altering of monarchicall government , they had ( in his judgement ) been lesse culpable , both by scripture and antiquity , then in petitioning the alteration of the hierarchicall : had he found but any such passage in any of his lewd libellers ( as his modesty is alwayes pleased to terme them ) certainly if we may borrow his own phrase , the eares of the three interessed kingdomes , yea all the neigbbour churches , and if we may say , the whole christian world , and no small part beyond it , had run with the loud cryes of no lesse then treason , treason . truth is , in his antiquity we finde that this his uninterrupted sacred government hath so farre invaded the civil , and so yoked monarchy , even in this kingdome , as malmesbury reports : that william rufus oppressed by bishops , perswaded the jewes to confute them ; promising thereupon to turne england to their religion , that he might be free of bishops . and this is so natural an effect of unalterable episcopacy , that pius the fourth to the spanish embassador , importuning him to permit bishops to be declared by the councel of trent to be iure divino , gave this answer : that his king knew not what he did desire ; for if bishops should be so declared , they would be all exempted from his power , and as independent as the pope himself . the second thing observable is the comparison he makes between the late alterations attempted in our neighbour church by his episcopal faction , and that alteration that is now justly desired by the humble petitioners to this honourable house . the one being attempted by strangers , endeavoring violently to obtrude innovations upon a setled church and state , the other humbly petitioned to the heads and princes of our state by multitudes therein almost ruined by an innovating faction : yet doth not this remonstrant blush to say ; if these be branded , ( so he calls the just censures of this honourable house ) for incendiaries , how shall these boutefeux escape , &c. thus cunningly indeavouring either to justifie the former by the practise of the latter , or to render the latter more odious then the former . the attempts of these men whom he would thus render odious , he craves leave to present to your honours in two things , which are the subjects of this quarrel : the liturgy and episcopacy ; and we humbly crave your honours leave in both to answer . sect . ii. first , the liturgy of the church of england ( saith he ) hath been hitherto esteemed sacred , reverently used by holy martyrs , daily frequented by devout protestants , as that which more then once hath been confirmed by the edicts of religious princes , and your own parliamentary acts , &c. and hath it so ? whence then proceed these many additions and alterations ? that have so changed the face and fabrick of the liturgy , that as dr. hall spake once of the pride of england : if our fore-fathers should revive and see their daughters walking in cheapside with their fannes and farthingales , &c. they would wonder what kinde of creatures they were ; and say nature had forgot her self and brought forth a monster : so if these holy martyrs that once so reverently used the liturgy should revive and look for their letany stampt by authority of parliament , they would be amazed , and wondering say ; england had forgotten her self and brought forth , &c. martyrs ? what doe we speak of martyrs , when we know sir , that one of your own a bishops said it in the hearing of many not so long since , but you may well remember it , that the service of the church of england was now so drest , that if the pope should come and see it , he would claime it as his own , but that it is in english ? it is little then to the advantage of your cause , that you tell us , it is translated into other languages ; and as little service have they done to the church of england , who have taught our prayers to speak latine again : for if it be their language chiefly that overthrows the popes claime , take away that , and what hinders then , but the pope may say , these are mine ? as for other translations and the great applause it hath obtained from forraigne divines , which are the fumes this remonstrant venditates ; what late dayes have produced we know not ; but the great lights of former ages have been farre from this applauding : we are sure judicious calvin saith , that in the liturgy there are sundry tolerabiles ineptiae , which we think is no very great applause . to vindicate this liturgy from scorne ( as he calls it ) at home or by your honours aide to reinforce it upon the nation , is the work of his remonstrance , for the effecting whereof he falls into an unparallell'd discourse about the antiquity of liturgies ; we call it unparalleld , because no man that we have seen ever drew the line of liturgy so high as he hath done . concerning which , if by liturgy this remonstrant understand an order observed in church assemblies of praying , reading , and expounding the scriptures , administring sacraments , &c : such a liturgy we know and doe acknowledge both iews and christians have used . but if by liturgy he understand prescribed and stinted formes of administration composed by some particular men in the church , and imposed upon all the rest ( as this he must understand , or else all he saith is nothing ) we desire and expect that those formes , which he saith are yet extant , and ready to be produced , might once appeare . liturgy of this former sort we finde in iustine martyr and tertullian . but that there were not such stinted liturgies as this remonstrant disputes for , appeares by tertullian , in his apol. cap. 30. where he saith the christians of those times did in their publike assemblies pray sin● monitore quia de pectore , without any prompter but their own hearts . and that so it should be , the same father proves in his treatise de oratione : sunt quae petantar , &c. there are some things to be asked according to the occasions of every man : the lawfull and ordinary prayer ( that is the lords prayer ) being laid as a foundation ; it is lawfull to build upon that foundation other prayers according to every ones occasions . and to the same purpose st. austin in his 121. ep. liberum est ; &c. it is free to aske the same things that are desired in the lords prayer , aliis atque aliis verbis , sometimes one way and sometimes another : and before this , in that famous place of iust. mar. apo. 2. he , who instructed the peeple , prayed according to his ability . nor was this liberty in prayer taken away , and set and imposed formes introduced , untill the time that the arian and pelagian heresies did invade the church , and then because those hereticks did convey and spread their poyson in their formes of prayer and hymnes , the church thought it convenient to restraine the liberty of making and using publique forms : and first it ordained that none should pray pro arbitrio , sed semper eaedem preces , that none should use liberty to vary in prayer , but use alwaies the same forme , conc. laod. can. 18. yet this was a forme of his own composing , as appears by another canon , wherein it was ordered thus : none should use any forme , unlesse he had first conferred cum fratribus instructioribus : with the more learned of his brethren . conc. carth. 3● can. 23. and lastly that none should use set prayers , but such as were approved of in a synode , which was not determined till the yeare 416. conc. milev . 2. can. 12. and had there been any liturgies of times of the first and most venerable antiquity producible , the great admirers of them , and enquirers after them would have presented them to the world ere this . we know that bishop andrewes in his zeale for liturgies pursued the enquiry after the iewish liturgy so far , that he thought he had found it ; and one there was which he sent to cambridge to be translated : but there it was soon discovered to have been made long after the jewes ceased to be the church of god ; and so himself supprest it , that it never saw the light under a translation . we wonder therefore what this remonstrant meant to affirm so confidently , that part of the forme of prayer which was composed by our blessed saviour , was borrowed from the formes of prayer formerly used by gods people . an opinion we never met before ; indeed , we have read that the rabbines since the dayes of our saviour have borrowed some expressions from that prayer , and from other evangelical passages : but we never read till now , that the lord christ the wisdome of the father borrowed from the wisdome of the rabines expressions to use in prayer . and as much we wonder by what revelation or tradition ( scripture being silent in the thing ) he knew , that peter and iohn , when they went up to the temple to pray , their prayer was not of a sudden and extemporary conception , but of a regular prescription . sure we are , some as well read in iewish antiquity , as this remonstrant shewes himself to be , have told us that the houre of prayer was the time when the priest burnt incense ; and the people were at their private prayers without , as appeares luke 1.9 . where we read , that while zachary the priest went in to offer incense , all the people stood with out praying in the time of the oblation . which prayers were so far from being prescript formes or liturgies that they were not vocal but mental prayers , as master meade tells us in his exposition upon the eighth of the revelations . and whatever peter and iohn did , this we know , that when the publican and the pharisee went up to the temple to pray ( as the apostle did at the houre of prayer ) their prayer was not of regular prescription , but of a present conception . but if this remonstrant be in the right , concerning the jewish liturgies , then the evangelical church might better have improved her peace and happinesse , then in composing models of invocation and thanksgiving , when there is one extant and ready to be produced , that was constantly used by gods people ever since moses dayes , and put over to the times of the gospel , and confirmed by apostolical practise : or else great is our losse , who are so unhappily deprived of the best improvement , the church made of her peace and happinesse in the first 300. years : for rejecting those liturgies that are confessed by the learned to bee spurious : we challenge this remonstrant to produce any one liturgie that was the issue of those times . and blessed constantine was herein as unhappy as wee , who needed not have composed forms of prayer for his guard to use upon the lords day , but might and would have taken them out of former liturgies , if there had been any ; and can ye with patience think that any ingenuous christian should be so transported , as upon such weak and unproved premises to build such a confident conclusi●n , as this remonstrant doth ? and in that conclusion forget the state of the controversie , sliding from the question of a prescribed and imposed liturgy to an arbitrary book of prayer . in his rhetorical encomium of conceived prayer we shall more willingly bear a part with him , then they whose cause he pleads ; for had that been in their hearts , which is in this book : to hate , to be guilty of powring water upon the spirit , and gladly to adde oyle rather : so many learned , able , conscientious preachers had not been molested and suspended , for letting the constant flames of their fixed conceptions mount up from the altar of their zealous heart unto the throne of grace : nor had there been so many advantages watched from some stops and seeming soloecismes in some mens prayers , to blaspheme the spirit of prayer , which though now confest to be so far from being offensive , that they are as pleasing musick in the eares of the almighty : yet time hath been , when they have sounded as meer battologies ; nay no better then meer blasphemies in the eares of some bishops . and if this conceived prayer be not to be opposed in another , by any man that hath found the true operation of this grace in himself : with that spirit then are those possest , that have not onely thus raged with their tongues against this way of prayer , but by sealing up the mouthes of ministers for praying thus in publike , and imposing penances upon private christians for praying thus in their families : and compelling them to abjure this practise , have endeavoured with raging violence to banish this divine ordinance from our churches and dwellings , and profest in open court , it was fitter for amsterdam then for our churches . but howsoever this applause of conceived prayer may seem to be cordial , yet he makes it but a vantage ground to lift up publike formes of sacred church liturgy ( as he calls it ) the higher , that they may have the greater honour , that by the power of your authority they be reinforced , which work there would have been no need to call your honours to , had not episcopal zeal broke forth into such flames of indignation against conceived prayers , that we have more just cause to implore the propitious aide of the same authority to re-establish the liberty of this , then they to re-inforce the necessity of that . yet there are two specious arguments which this remonstrant brings to perswade this desired re-inforcement , the original and confirmation of our liturgy . for the first , he tels your honours , it was selected out of ancient . models not roman but christian , contrived by the holy martyrs and confessors of the blessed reformation of religion ; where we beseech your honours to consider how we may trust these men , who sometimes speaking and writing of the roman church , proclaime it a true church of christ , and yet here roman and christian stand in opposition : sometimes they tell men , their liturgy is wholly taken out of the romane missal , onely with some little alteration : and here they would perswade your honours there is nothing romane in it . but it is wholly selected out of pure ancient models , as the quintessence of them all . whereas alas the original of it , is published to the world , in that proclamation of edward the sixt . and though here they please to stile the composers of it , holy martyrs and contrivers of the blessed reformation : yet there are of the tribe for whom he pleads , not a few that have called them traitors rather then martyrs , and deformers rather then reformers of our religion . his other argument for the liturgy is taken from that supply of strength it hath received from the recommendation of foure most religious princes , and your own parliamentary establishments : and more especially from the proclamation of king james of famous memory : the validity of which plea , your honours are best able to judge , and therefore we leave it at your bar ; yet these two things we know : first , that this forme was never established to be so punctually observed , so rigorously pressed , to the casting out of all that scruple it , or any thing in it ( as many of his majesties subjects now doe ) to the ( almost ) justling out of the preaching of the word and conceived prayer altogether . and secondly , as sure we are , that your honours think neither your own lawes , nor the proclamation of that most famous and ever admired prince , to be as unalterable as the lawes of the medes and persians . and now having briefly shewed , that liturgies are not of that antiquity that this remonstrant pretends , but that conceived prayer was in use in the church of god before liturgies , and is justified from their own mouthes , and not to be found fault with by any but a gracelesse man : and having likewise shewed that our liturgy was taken out of models , not onely christian but romane , and had since the first compiling of it suffered alteration to the worse ; and though established by law , and confirmed by proclamation , was never intended to the justling out , either of preaching or conceived prayer ; these things declared , we humbly crave your honours leave to propound these two queries . quere . i. whether it be not fit to consider of the alteration of the present liturgy . first , because it symbolizeth so much with the popish masse , as that the pope himself was willing to have it used , if he might but confirme it . it was made and composed into this frame , on purpose to bring the papists to our churches , which we finde to be with so little successe , as that it hath rather brought many of us to them , then any of them to us , and hath lost many of ours from us . because many things therein contained are stumbling blocks before the feet of many : such as these , the clogging it with ceremonies , and the often and impertinent reiterating of the lords prayer , the ill translation of the psalmes , and other scriptures , the many phrases in the very prayers , which are liable to just exception . and whereas the minister by the scripture is the peoples mouth to god , this book prescribes responsories to be said by the people , some of which are unsutable to what the minister pronounceth , some of them seem to savour of tautology , some are made to be so essential to the prayer , as that all which the minister saith , is no prayer without them ; as in the letany . because it is so much idolized , as that it is accounted the only worship of god in england , and is now made the upholder of a non-preaching ministry , and is cryed up to that height , as that some are not ashamed to say ; that the wit of men and angels cannot mend it : and that it is a sufficient discharge of the ministers duty to read this book . there are such multitudes of people , that distaste this book , that unlesse it be altered , there is no hope of any mutual agreement between gods ministers and their people . there is such a vast difference between it , and the liturgies of all other reformed churches , as that it keepes them at a distance from us , and us from full communion with them . quere ii. whether the first reformers of religion did ever intend the use of a liturgy further , then to be an help , in the want , or to the weaknesse of a minister . all other reformed churches , though they use liturgies , yet doe no binde their ministers to the use of them . a rubrick in king edwards book left it unto the discretion of the minister , what and how much to read , when there was a sermon . the homilies which are appointed to be read , are left free either to be read or not , by preaching ministers ; and why not then theliturgy ? especially considering that the ability to offer up the peoples wants to god in prayer is part of the ministerial office , as well as preaching . and if it can be thought no lesse then sacriledge to rob the people of the ministers gift in preaching , and to tye them to homilies , it can be no lesse , to deprive them of their gift in prayer . the ground of the first binding of it upon all to use , was not to tye godly men from exercising their gift in prayer ; but the old popish priests , that by a seeming returne to our religion did through indulgence retaine their places , from returning to the old masse . that which makes many refuse to be present at our church service , is not onely the liturgy it self , but the imposing of it upon ministers . and we finde no way to recover our people to a stinted prayer , but by leaving it free to use or not to use . if it be objected , that this will breed divisions and disturbances in churches , unlesse there be a uniformity , and that there are many unable . it hath not bred any disturbance in other reformed churches . why should the free liberty of using or not using a liturgy , breed more confusion then the free liberty of reading or not reading homilies ? especially when ministers shall teach people , not to condemne one another in things indifferent . if there be a care taken in those that have the power to make ministers , to choose men gifted as well for prayer as preaching , there cannot be conceived how any inconvenience should follow . or if afterwards it should appeare , that any minister should prove insufficient to discharge the duty of prayer in a conceived way , it may be imposed on him as a punishment , to use set forms and no other . but why any minister that hath the gift of prayer , in an abundant measure , as well as of preaching , should be hindered from exercising his gift well , because another useth it ill , is a new divinity never heard of in gods church , till bishop wrens dayes , who forbad all use of conceived prayer in the church . sect . iii. we come now with your honours favour , to the second point disputed in this remonstrance , episcopacy it selfe , against which , whatsoever hath been either spoken or written by any , either learned divines , or well-reformed churches ( as his conscience knows , there are of both that have writ against it ) is taxed by him as no other then the unjust clamors either of weak or factious persons . sure the man thinkes he hath obtained a monopoly of learning , and all knowledge is lockt up in his bosome ; and not onely knowledge but piety and peaceablenesse too ; for all that are not of his opinion , must suffer either as weak or factious , if he may be their judge . we know not what this arrogancy might attempt to fasten upon your honours , should the bowels of your compassion be enlarged , to weigh in the ballance of your wisedomes , the multitude of humble petitions , presented to you from several parts of this kingdome , that hath long groaned under the iron and insupportable yoake of this episcopal government , which yet we doubt not , but your honours will please to take into your prudent and pious consideration : especially knowing it is their continual practise to loade with the odious names of faction all that justly complaine of their unjust oppression . in his addresse to his defence of episcopacy , he makes an unhappy confession that he is confounded in himselfe . your honours may in this believe him ; for he that reades this remonstrance , may easily observe so many falsities and contradictions , ( though presented to publike view , with a face of confident boldnesse , ) as could not fall from the pen of any , but self-confounded man ▪ which though we doubt not but your honours have descryed ; yet because they are hid from an errant and unobserving eye , under the embroyderies of a silken language , we humbly crave your honours leave to put them one by one upon the file , that the world may see what credit is to be given to the bold assertions of this confident remonstrant . first , in his second page , he dubs his book * the faithful messenger of all a the peaceable and right affected sons of the church of england : which words ( besides that unchristian theta , which as we already observed , they set upon all that are not of his party , ) carry in the bowels of them a notorious falsity and contradiction to the phrase of the book ; for how could this book be the m●ss●nger of all his own party in england , when it is not to be imagined , that all could know of the coming forth of this book before it was published ? and how can that book crave admittance in all their names , that speakes in the singular number , and as in the person of one man almost tht whole book thorow . but it may be some will say , this is but a small slip ; well be it so : but in the seventh page he layes it on in four lines , asserting these four things : first , that episcopall government , ( that very same episcopal government , which some he saith seeke to wound , that is government by diocesan bishops ) derives it self from the apostles times ; which though we shall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more fully confute anon , yet we cannot here but rank it among his notorious — : for how could there be such government of a diocesse by a bishop derived from the apostles times , when in the apostles times there were no bishops distinct from presbyters , as we shall shew ? and if there had been bishops , yet they were no diocesans ; for it was a hundred yeares after christ , or as most agree 260. before parishes were distinguished , and there must be a distinction of parishes before there could be an union of them into diocesses . secondly , it is by the joynt confession of all reformed divines granted , that this sacred government is derived from the apostles : what all reformed divines ? was calvin , beza , iunius , &c. of that minde ? are the reformed churches of france , scotland , netherlands , of that judgement ? we shall shew anon that there is no more truth in this assertion then if he had said with anaxagoras , snow is black , or with copernicus , tho earth moves , and the heavens stand stil. thirdly , he saith this government hath continued without any interruption : what doth he meane , at rome ? for we reade in some places of the world this government was never known for many yeares together : as in scotland , we read that in ancient times the scots were instructed in the christian faith by priests and monkes , and were without bishops 290. yeares : yea to come to england , we would desire to know of this remonstrant whether god had a church in england in q. maries dayes or no ? and if so , who were then the bishops of this church , for some there must be , if it be true that this man saith , this government hath continued without any interruption unto this day , and bishops then we know not where to finde but in the line of popish succession . fourthly , he saith it hath thus continued without the contradiction of any one congregation in the christian world . it seemes he hath forgotten , what their own darling heylin hath written of the people of biscay in spaine , that they admit of no bishops to come among them ; for when ferdinand the catholike came in progresse accompanied among others with the bishop of pampelone , the people rose up in armes , drove back the bishop , and gathering up all the dust which they thought he had trode on , flung it into the sea. which story had it been recorded onely by him , would have been of lighter credit . but we reade the same in the spanish chronicle , who saith more then the doctor : for he tels us that the people threw that dust that the bishop or his mule had trode on , into the sea with curses and imprecations : which certainly saith he was not done without some mystery , those people not being voide of religion , but superstitiously devout as the rest of the spaniards are : so that there is one congregation in the christian world in which this government hath met with contradiction . and are not the french , scottish , and belgick churches worthy to be counted christian congregations ? and who knowes not that amongst these this government hath met not onely with verbal but reall contradiction ? yet he cannot leave his — : but within two pages is at it againe ; and tels us of an unquestionable clearenesse wherein it hath been from the apostles derived to us : how unquestionable ? when the many volumes written about it , witnesse to the world , and to his conscience , it hath been as much questioned as any point ( almost ) in our religion . and that assertion of his that tels us that the people of god had a forme of prayer as ancient as moses , which was constantly practised to the apostles dayes , and by the apostles , &c. though we have shewed how bold and false this assertion is , yet we mention it here as deserving to be put into the catalogue . and that he may not seem contra mentem ire , but to be of the same minde still , p. 18. he saith , episcopal government hath continued in this island ever since the first plantation of the gospel without contradiction . had he taken a lesse space of time , and said but since the resuscitation of the gospel : we can prove it to him and shall , that since the reformation , episcopacy hath been more contradicted , then ever the papacy was before the extirpation of it . yet still the man runs on , thinking to get credit to his untruths by their multiplications ; for pag. 21. he saith ; certainly , except all histories , all authors faile us , nothing can be more certaine then this truth : os durum ! nothing more certaine ! what is it not more certain that there is a god ? is it not more certain that christ is god and man ? is it not more certain that christ is the only saviour of the world ? nothing more certain ! must this th●n be an article of our creed , the corner stone of our religion ? must this be of necessity to salvation ? nothing more certain ! o that men should not onely forget themselves , but god also : and in their zeale for their own honour utter words bordering upon blasphemy . indignation will not suffer us to prosecute these falsities of his any further ; we will leave this displeasing service , onely retorting the words of this remonstrant upon himself , surely could he look with our eyes ( or any eyes that were not partial ) he would see cause to be throughly ashamed of these his grosse injurious miscarriages , and should be forced to confesse , that never good cause ( if cause be good ) had more reason to complaine of a sinful prosecution . sect . iv. we will now come with your honours patience , to weigh whether there be any more strength in his arguments , then there is truth in his assertions . his plea for episcopacy consists of two parts . in the first he brings arguments for the supporting of it . in the second he undertakes to answer the objections that may be made against it . his first argument for it , is couched in these words ; were this ordinance meerly humane or ecclesiastical , if there c●uld no more be said for it , but that it is exceeding ancient , of more then 15. hundred years , &c. the strength of which argument lies in this , that they have been in peaceable possession of this government fifteen hundered years and upwards ; and in this island ever since the gospel , without contradiction . in which words he speaks two things which deserve just c●nsure . first , that the hierarchical government hath continued for fifteen hundred years ; therefore should not now be altered ; which may well be called , as hierom in another case , argumentum galeatum , an argument calculated for the meridian of episcopacy , and may indifferently serve for all religions in the world : for thus the jews might have pleaded against christ the antiquity of more then so many hundred years ; and thus the heathens did plead against the christian religion , which iustin martyr in his apology answers . and by this argument the pope sits as fast rivetted in his chayre at rome , as ours in theirs : whose plea for antiquity runs parallel with theirs . it is a good observation of cyprian , that christ said , ego sum via , veritas & vita ; not ego sum consuetudo ; and * that consuetudo sine veritate est vetustas erroris , christ is truth , and not custome ; and custome withou truth , is a mouldy error : and as sir francis bacon saith , antiquity without truth , is a cypher without a figure . yet had this b remonstrant been as well versed in antiquity , as he would bear the world in hand he hath , he might have found learned ancients affirming , there was a time when the church was not governed by bishops , but by presbyters . and when by bishops , he might further have seen more affinity between our bishops and the pope of rome , then between the primitive bishops and them . and that as king iames of famous memory , said of the religion of england , that it differed no more from rome , then rome did from what it was at first ; may as truly be said of bishops , that we differ no more from them then they do from what bishops were , when first they were raised unto this eminency : which difference we shall shew in our ensuing discourse , to be so great , that as he said of rome , he did roman in roma quaerere , he sought rome in rome ; so wee episcopatum in episcopatu , may go seek for a bishop among all our bishops . and whereas in his application of this argument to the bishops of this nation , he saith , it hath continued in this island ever since the first plantation of the gospel , without contradiction ; which is his second in this argument : how false this is , we have declared already ; and we all know , and himselfe cannot but know , that there is no one thing since the r●formation , that hath met with so much contradiction as episcopacy hath done ; witness the several books written in the reigns of our several princes , and the many petitions exhibited to our several parliaments , and the many speeches made therein againg episcopal government : many of which are yet extant . as for that supply of accessory strength , which he begs to this argument , from the light of nature , and the rules of just policy , which ( saith he ) teacheth us not easily to give way to the change of those things which long use and many * laws have firmly established , as necessary and beneficial ; it is evident , that those things which to former ages have seemed necessary and beneficial , may to succeeding generations , prove not necessary but noxious , not beneficial , but burthensome ; and then the same light of nature , and the same just policy , that did at the first command the establishment of them , may and will perswade their abolishment ; if not , either our parliaments must never repeale any of their former acts ( which yet they have justly and wisely done ) or else in so doing must run counter to the light of nature , and the rules of just policy ; which to think were an impiety to be punished by the judge . sect . v. the second argument for the defence of episcopal government , is from the pedigree of this holy calling , which he derives from no less then an apostolical , and in that right divine institution ; and assayes to prove it from the practice of the apostles and as he saith , the clear practice of their successors , continued i' christs church to this very day : and to this argument he so much confides , that he concludes it with this triumphant epiphonema , what scruple can remain in any ingenuous heart ? and determins , if any continue yet unsatisfied , it is in despight of reason , and all evidence of history , and because he wilfully shuts his eyes with a purpose not to see the light . bona verba . by your favour sir , we will tell you notwithstanding the supposed strength of your argumentation , there is one scruple yet remaining ; and if you would know upon what ground , it is this ; because we find in scripture ( which by your own confession is o●iginal authority ) that bishops and presbyters were originally the same , though afterwards they came to be distinguished : and in process of time , episcopacy did swallow up all the honor and power of the presbytery , as pharaoh's lean kine did the fat . their identity is discernable : first , from the same names given unto both : secondly , from the same office designed unto both in scripture . as for the names , are not the same names given unto both in sacred writ ? let the fifth , sixth , and seventh verses of the first chapter to titus testifie : in the fifth verse , the apostle shews that he left titus in creet to ordain elders in every city ; in the sixth verse , he gives a delineation of the persons that are capable of such ordination : and in the seventh , the reason , why the person to be ordained , must be so qualified : for a bishop , &c. now if the bishop and elder be not here the same , but names of distinct office and order , the apostles reason rendred in the seventh verse of his direction in the fifth and sixth verses , is ( with reverence be it spoken ) inconsequential , and his demand unjust . if a chancellor in one of the universities should give order to his vice-chancellor to admit none to the degree of batchelour in arts , but such as were able to preach , or keep a divinity act : for batchelours in divinity must be so : what reason or equity were in this ? so if paul leaving titus as his lecum tenens , as it were in creet for a season , should give order to him not to admit any to be an elder but one thus and thus qualified , because a bishop must be so : had a bishop been an order or calling distinct from , or superior to a presbyte● , and not the same , this had been no more rational or equal then the former : therefore under the name of bishop in the seventh verse the apostle intends the elder mentioned in the fifth verse . consonant to this is the language of the same apostle , acts. 20. v. 17.18 . where such as in 17. verse he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , elders , in the 18. he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in ordinary english , bishops , though our translation there , ( we know not for what reason ) reads it overseers : not so rendring the word in any other text. and though this remonstrant undertakes to shew a clear and received distinction of bishops , presbyters , & deacons , as three distinct subordinate callings in gods church , with an evident specification of the duty & charge belonging to each of them , or else let this claimed hierarchy be for ever hooted out of the church : yet let us tell him , that we never find in scripture these three orders , bishops , presbyters , and deacons , mentioned together : but onely bishops and deacons , as phil. 1. and 1. tim. nor do we find in scripture any ordination to the office of a bishop , differing from the ordination of an elder : nor do we find in scripture , the specification of any duty charged upon a bishop , that elders are secluded from : nor any qualification required in a bishop , that is not requisite in every presbyter ; some of wh●ch , if not all , would be found , were they not the same . but if this remonstrant think to help himselfe by taking sanctuary in antiquity ( though we would gladly rest in scripture , the sanctuary of the lord ) yet we will follow him thither , and there shew him that hierome from the scriptures proves more then once , presbyters and bishops to be the same . and chrysostome in philip. 1. homil. 2. with his admirer theophilact in philip. 1. affirms that while the apostles lived , the names of bishops and presbyters were not distinguished : and not onely while the apostles lived , but in after ages . doth not irenaeus use the name of bishops and presbyters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in a promiscuous sense ? are not anicetus , pius , hyginus , telesphorus , sixtus , whom the papists call bishops , and the popes predecessors , termed by eusebius presbyters ? nor was it strange in the primitive times to hear bishops called presbyters , when presbyters writing to their bishop have called him frater . so cyprian ( epist. 26. in the beginning ) is stiled by his presbyters , deacons and confessors ; nor was that holy martyr offended with that title , nor they condemned of insolency that used it . but what should we burthen your patience with more testimonies , when the evidence of this truth hath shined with so strong a beam that even our adversaries have stooped to it , and confessed that their names were the same in the apostles time ? but yet say they , the offices were distinct . now here we would gladly know , what these men make the distinct office of a bishop . is it to edifie the church by word and sacrament ? is it to ordain others to that work ? is it to rule , to govern , by admonition and other censures ? if any of these , if all these make up the proper worke of a bishop ; we can prove from scripture that all these belong unto the presbytery , a which is no more then was granted by a councel . for the first , edifying of the church by word and sacraments , though we feare they will some of them at least scarce own this as their proper worke ( for some have been cited into the high commissision for saying , it belongs to them ) yet sir we are sure , scripture makes it a part , a chiefe of the episcopal office ; for so in the 1 pet. 5.2 . they are said to doe the work of a bishop , when they do feed the flock of god. and this is such a work as we hope their lordships will give the poor presbyters leave to share with them in : or if not , we will tell them that the apostle peter in that forecited place , and the apostle paul , acts. 20. binds this work upon our hands , and woe unto us if we preach not the gospel . but this branch of episcopal and presbyterial office we passe with brevity , because in this there lies not so much controversie as in the next , which they doe more wholly impropriate to themselves : the power of ordination . which power , that it was in former times in the hands of presbyters , appeares 1 tim. 4.14 . neglect not the gift which was given thee by prophesie , and by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery . the gift here spoken of is the ministerial gift , the exercise whereof , the apostle exhorts timothy not to neglect , which saith he , he had received , not by the laying on of the hands of one single man , whether apostle , or bishop , or presbyter , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the presbytery , that is , the whole company of presbyters , for in that sense onely we finde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taken in scripture , as in luke 22. vers . 66. act. 22. vers . 5. which the christian church called the ecclesiastical senate as ierom in isay 3. nos habemus in ecclesia senatum nostrum , coetum presbyterorum , & an apostolical senate : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ignatius epis . ad magnes . and some times 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concil . ancyr . can. 18. and though the apostle in his second epistle to tim. 1.6 . makes mention of the laying on of his hands : yet to maintaine the harmony of scripture , it must not be denied but there was imposition of hands by the presbytery as wel as by himself , and so it was a joynt act ; so that in this there is no more difference then in the former . and if there be no difference between presbyters in feeding or ordaining , let us see if there be any in the third part of their office of ruling , which though our bishops assume wholly to themselves , yet we shall discover , that it hath been committed to and exercised by presbyteriall hands . for who are they of whom the scripture speakes , heb. 13.17 . obey them that have the rule over you ? for they watch for your soules , as they that must give an account , &c. here all such as watch over the souls of gods people , are intituled to rule over them . so that unlesse bishops will say , that they on●ly watch over the souls of gods people , and are only to give an account for them , they cannot challenge to themselves the sole rule over them . and if the bishop● can give us good security , that they will acquit us from giving up our account to god for the souls of his people , we will quit our plea , and resigne to them the sole rule over th●m . so againe in the 1 thessa. 5.12 . know them which labour amongst you , and are over you in the lord , and admonish you . in which words are contained these truthes ; first that in one church ( for the thessalonions were but one church , 1 , ca. ) there was not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; not one chiefe bishop or president , but the presidency was in many . secondly , that this presidency was of such as laboured in the word and doctrine . thirdly , that the censures of the church were managed not by one , but by them all in communi . them that admonish you . fourthly , that there was among them a parity : for the apostle bids know them in an indifferency , not discriminating one from another : yea such was the rule that elders had , that s. peter thought it needful to make an exhortation to them to use their power with moderation , not lording it over gods heritage , 1 pet. 5.3 . by this time we have sufficiently proved from scripture , that bishops and presbyters are the same in name , in office , in edifying the church , in power of ordination and jurisdiction : we sum up all that hath been spoken in one argument : they which have the same name , the same ordination to their office , the same qualification for their office , the same worke to feed the flock of god , to ordaine pastors and elders , to rule and governe ; they are one and the same office : but such are bishops and presbyters : ergo. sect . vi. but the dint of all this scripture , the remonstrant would elude , by obtruding upon his reader a commentary ( as he calls it ) of the apostles own practise ( which he would force to contradict their own rules ) to which he superadds the unquestionable glosse of the cleare practise of their immediate successors in this administration . for the apostles practice , we have already discovered it , from the apostles own writings ; and for his glosse he superadds , if it corrupts not the text , we shall admit it ; but if it doe , we must answer with tertullian ; id verum quodcunque primum : id adulterum quod posterius , whatsoever is first is true ; but that which is latter is adulterous . in the examination of this glosse , to avoyd needlesse controversie , first , we take for granted by both sides , that the first and best antiquity , used the names of bishops and presbyters promiscuously . secondly , that in processe of time , some one was honoured with the name of bishop , and the rest were called presbyters or cleri . thirdly , that this was not nomen inane , but there was some kinde of imparity between him and the rest of the presbyters . yet in this we differ ; that they say , this impropriation of name , and imparity of place , is of divine right and apostolical institution : we affirme both to be occasional , and of humane invention ; and undertake to shew out of antiquity , both the occasion upon which , and ●he persons by whom this imparity was brought into the church . on our parts stands ierome and ambrose , and others , whom we doubt not but our remonstrant will grant a place among his glossators : saint ierome tells us in 1 tit. idem est ergo presbyt●r qui episcopus : & antequam diaboli instinctu , studia in religione fierent , & diceretur in populis , eco sum pauli , ego apollo , ego cephae , communi presbyterorū consilio ecclesiae gubernabantur . postquam vero unusquisque eos quos bap●izaverat suos putabat esse , non christi ; in toto orbe decretum est , ut unus de presbyteris electus superponeretur caeteris , ad quem omnis ecclesiae cura pertineret , & schismatum semina tollerentur . putat aliquis non scripturarum , sed nostram esse sententiam , episcopum & presbyterum unum esse , & aliud aetatis , aliud esse nomen of●ic●i , relegat apostoli ad philippenses verba , dicentis , paulus & timothaeus servi iesu christi qui sunt philippis , cum episcopis & diaconis , &c. philippi una est urbs macedoniae , & certè in una civitate non poterant plures esse ( ut nuncupantur ) episcopi , &c. sicut ergo presbyteri sciant se ex ecclesiae consuetudine ei qui sibi praepositus fuerit esse subjectos ; ita episcopi noverint se magis consuetudine , quam dispositionis dominicae veritate presbyteris esse majores , & in communi debere ecclesiam regere . a presbyter and a bishop is the same : and before there were through the devils instinct , divisions in religion , and the people began to say , i am of paul , and i of apollo , and i o● cephas , the churches were governed by the common-councell of the presbyters . but after that each man began to account those whom he had baptized his own , and not christs ; it was decreed thorow the whole world , that one of the presbyters should be set over the rest ; to whom the care of all the church should belong , that the seeds of schisme might be taken away . thinks any , that this is my opinion , and not the opinion of the scripture , that a bishop and an elder is the same ? let him read the words of the apostle to the philippians , saying , paul and timothy , the servants of jesus christ , to them that are at philippi , with the bishops and deacons , philippi is one city of macedonia , and certainly in one city there could not be many bishops ( as they are now called &c. ) and after the allegations of many other scriptures , he concludes thus ; as the elders therefore may know , that they are to be subject to him that is set over them by the custome of the church ; so let the bishops know , that it is more from custome , then from any true dispensation from the lord , that they are above the presbyters , & that they ought to rule the church in common . in which words of ierome , these five things present themselves to the readers view ; first , that bishops and presbyters are originally the same ; idem . ergo est presbyter qui episcopus . secondly , that that imparity that was in his time between bishops and elders , was grounded upon ecclesiastical custome , and not upon devine institution ; episcopi noverint , &c. thirdly , that this was not his private judgement , but the judgement of scripture ; putat aliquis , &c. fourthly , that before this priority was upon this occasion started , the church was governed communi presbyterorum consilio , by the counsel of the presbyters in common , and that even after this imparity , it ought to be so governed ; sciant episcopi se ecclesiam debere in communi regere . fifthly , that the occasion of this imparity and superiority of bishops above elders , was the divisions which through the devils instinct fell among the churches ; postquam verò diaboli instinctu . saravia would take advantage of this place , to deduce this imparity as high as from the apostles times , because even then they began to say , i am of paul , and i of apollos : but sure s. ierome was not so weake as this man would make him , to speak inconsistencies ; and when he propounds it to himself , to prove that bishops and presbyters are in scripture the same , to let fall words that should confute his own proposition : whereas therefore s. ierome saith , that after men began to say , i am of paul , and i of apollos , &c. it was decreed that one of the presbyters should be set over the rest , &c. this is spoken indeed in the apostles phrase , but not of the apostles times , else to what purpose , is that coacervation of texts that followes ? but suppose it should be granted to be of apostolical antiquity ( which yet we grant not , having proved the contrary ) yet it appeares , it was not of apostolical intention , but of diabolical occasion : and though the devil by kindling divisions in the church , did minister occasion to the invention of the primacy or prelacy or one for the suppressing of schisme ; yet there is just cause to think , that the spirit of god in his apostles was never the author of this invention . first , because we read in the apostles dayes there were divisions , rom. 16.7 . and schismes , 1 cor. 3.3 . and 11.18 . yet the apostle was not directed by the holy ghost to ordaine bishops for the taking away of those divisions . neither in the rules he prescribes for the healing of those breaches , doth he mention bishops for that end : nor in the directions given to timothy and titus for the ordination of bishops or elders , doth he mention this as one end of their ordination , or one peculiar duty of their office . and though the apostle saith , oportet haereses inter vos esse , ut qui probati sunt manifesti fiant inter vos ; yet the apostle no where saith , oportet episcopos esse , ut tollantur haereses , quae manifestae fiunt . secondly , because as doctor whitaker saith , the remedy devised hath proved worse then the disease , which doth never happen to that remedy whereof the holy ghost is the author . thirdly , because the holy ghost , who could foresee what would ensue thereupon , would never ordaine that for a remedy , which would not onely be ineffectual to the cutting off of evil , but become a stirrup for antichrist to get into his saddle . for if there be a necessity of setting up one bishop over many presbyters for preventing schismes , there is as great a necessity of setting up one archbishop over many bishops , and one patriarch over many archbishops , and one pope over all , unlesse men will imagine , that there is a danger of schisme onely among presbyters , and not among bishops and archbishops , which is contrary to reason , truth , history , and our own experience . and lest our adversaries should appeale from hierome as an incompetent judge in this case , because a presbyter , and so a party , we will therefore subjoyne the judgments of other ancient fathers who were themselves bishops . the commentaries that go under the name of saint ambrose upon ephes. 4. mention another occasion of this discrimination or priority ; and that was * the increase and dilatation of the church upon occasion whereof they did ordaine rectors or governours , and other officers in the church ; yet this he grants , that this did differ from the former orders of the church , and from apostolical writ . and this rectorship or priority was devolved at first from one elder to another by succession , when he who was in the place was removed , the next in order among the elders succeeded . but this was afterwards changed , and that unworthy men might not be preferred , it was made a matter of election , and not a matter of succession . thus much we finde concerning the occasion of this imparity , enough to shew , it is not of divine authority . for the second thing , the persons who brought in this imparity : the same authors tells us , the presbyters themselves brought it in ; witnesse hierome ad evag. alexandriae presbyteri unum ex se electum in excelsiori gradu collacatum , episcopum nominabant , quomodo si exercitus imperatorem faceret , aut diaconi de se archidiaconum . the presbyters of alexandria did call him their bishop , whom they had chosen from among themselves , & placed in a higher degree ; as if an army should make an emperour , or the deacons an archdeacon . ambrose upon the fourth of the ephesians tells us , it was done by a councell , and although he neither name the time nor place of the councel , yet ascribing it to a councell he grants it not to be apostolical : this gave occasion to others to sixe it upon custome as hieronym , in tit. and august . epist. 19. secundùm honorum vocabula quae ecclesiae usus obtinuit episcopatus presbyterio major est , and had that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or prelacy had the seal and confirmation of divine or apostolical authority , gregory nazianzene would never in such a pathetick manner have wished the abolition of it , as he doth in his 28. oration . and now where is that acknowledgement , and conveyance of imparity and iurisdiction which saith this remonstrant was derived from the apostles hands , and deduced in an uninterupted l●ne , unto this day : where is it ? we finde no such imparity delivered from apostolical hands , nor acknowledged in apostolical writings ; yet had there been such an acknowledgement and conveyance of imparity : how this should have been deduced to us in an uninterrupted line , we know not , unlesse our bishops will draw the line of their pedigree through the ●oynes of antichrist , and joyne issue , and mingle blood with rome : which it seemes they will rather doe then lose this plea for their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their tyrannical prerogative , as nazianzen calls it , suffer us therefore humbly to appeale to your honours , whether this remonstrant hath not given sentence against himself , who is so confident of the evidence of his cause , that he doth not feare to say , if there can be better evidence under heaven for any matter of fact then there is for his episcopacy : let episcopacy be for ever abandoned out of the church of god. sect . vii . yet it seems himselfe in the height of his confidence was not without jelousies , of some thing might be spoken against his cause , therefore he seems to heare , what is spoken against it . that the apostles bishops and ours are two : there was no other then a parochial pastor , a preaching presbyter without inequallity , without any rule over his brethren . ours claime an eminent superiority , and a power of ordination and iurisdiction unknowne to the primitive times . that this which he supposeth he heares us say is scripture truth we have shewed already , &c. that there was a parity between presbyters and bishops : and that eminent superiority and power of ordination and iurisdiction which our bishops claime , was unknown to scripture : and are now prepared by gods assistance to prove , it was unknown to primitive times . but how doth this remonstrant meete with this reply : alas , alas , how good people may be abused by misinformation ! it seemes the man judged this reply so poor as in his thoughts it was more worthy of his pitty , then of his paines to answer , or rather knew there was more in this reply , then he knew how to answer , and therefore waves it with his rhetoricke . and this we rather think , because he knowes but little in antiquity , that knowes not , that there is so vast a difference between our bishops , and those that were not onely in the apostles dayes ( whom we have proved to be undistinguished from presbyters ) but those bishops that were in the church 400. yeares after , when there began to be some discrimination , that episcopacy may well be likened to the ship argo , that was so often repaired , as there was nothing left of the first materials ; yet still it challenged the first name . which difference we spread before your honours in three particulars : first in point of election to their office ; secondly , in point of execution of their office ; thirdly , in point of state-imployment . first ( having discovered already upon what occasion this priority began to have existence in the church , and from whom it first received its being , not from god but from consent and custome of the churches , according to ambrose , ierome , augustine , &c. ) we come now to declare what was the manner of election unto this priority in these times , and to shew first , how therein these bishops did differ from ours : for all their elections were ordered by the privity , consent , and approbation of the people , where the bishops was to serve . were there no other authors to make this good , cyprian alone would doe it , among other places let his 68. epistle witn●sse , where he saith * plebs maxime habet potestatem , &c. the people specially have power either of chusing worthy priests , or rejecting the unworthy : for this is derived from divine authority , that the priests should be chosen in the presence of the people , before all their eyes and approved as fit and worthy by their publike vote and testimony . this he proves by the testimony of sacred writ both old and new. where we observe first , that the special power of judging of the worthinesse or unworthinesse of a man for the prelacy was in the breast of the peogle . secondly , the special power of choosing or rejecting eo his place according as they judged him worthy or unworthy resided in the people , plebs maximè habet potestatem , &c. thirdly , that this power did descend upon the people de divina authoritate . nor was this the judgement of one sole man , but of an affrican synod consulted by the spanish churches in point of election , as the inscription of the epistle shewes . a the obtrusion of a bishop upon the church of alexandria without the presence , desire and vote of the clergy or people is condemned by athanasius not onely as a breach of canon , but as a transgression of apostolical prescript , and that it did compel or necessitate the heathen to blaspheme . nor did onely christian bishops , but christian princes acknowledge the right and power of election of bishops to be in the people , so that admired constantine the great promover and patron of the peace of the christian church writing to the church of nicomedia against eusebius , and theognius , tells them the ready way to lay asleep the tumults that did then disturbe the church about the election of a bishop was , si modo episcopum fidelem & integrum nacti fuerint , quod quidem in praesentia in vestrâ situm est potestate , quodque etiam dudùm penes vestrum iudicium fuerat , nisi eusebius de quo dixi pravo corum , qui cum juverunt consilio hac praeceps ruisset & rectum eligendi ordinem impudenter conturbasset . gelas in act , concil . nicen. part . 3. if they would get a faithful and upright bishop which saith he , is in your power presently to doe ; and was long agoe , if eusebius with the aide of his faction , had not rushed in upon you , and impudently disturbed the right order of election . that which this sacred emperour calls the right order of election , what is it but the election by the people ? in whose power , he saith it then was and long had been to choose a bishop ; and by whose power the next bishop was chosen . so the same author tells us , that after eusebius and theognius were cast out of their several seats for arianisme , by the councel of nice , others were appointed in their roomes by the clergy and people of each diocesse . to this election in nicomedia , we could ( if it were needful in so cleare a truth ) adde many the like presidents of popular elections ; which for brevities sake , we passe over . not questioning , but that which hath been spoken , is sufficient to informe the intelligent reader , that our bishops and the bishops of former times , are two in point of election . sect . viii . a second thing wherein we have undertaken to shew , that our bishops and the bishops of former times are two , is in the execution of their office : and here there are three things , wherein he that will not wilfully shut his eyes against all light , may see a latitude of difference between ours and former bishops . first , in that sole iurisdiction which our bishops assume to themselves . secondly , in the delagation they make of the power of exercising this jurisdiction unto others . thirdly , in the way of the exercise of that power . for the first of these , their sole iurisdiction ; that our bishops assume this to themselves , it is known and felt , and that this sole iurisdiction was a stranger , a monster to former times , we shall now prove , and make cleare ; that the power of ordination , admonition , excommunication , absolution , was not in the hands of any sole man. first , for ordination , cyprian in his exile writing to his charge , certifies them , that aurelius was ordained by him and his colleagues , who were present with him ; ( who were these colleagues , but his presbyters ; as he himself expounds it , writing to lucius in his own name , and the name of his clergy and people , ego & collegae & fraternitas omnis , &c. i and my colleagues and my whole people send these letters to you , &c. so that it is cleare in cyprians time , presbyters had a hand in ordination , and bishops did not ordaine alone . firmilianus saith of them that rule in the church , quod baptizandi , manvm imponendi et ordinandi , poffident potestatem . and who those he , he expresseth a little before , seniores & prapositi : by whom the presbyters as well as the bishops are understood . and as these places prove , that bishops in the primitive time , could not ordain alone without the presbyters ; so there are that give us light to understand , that the presbyters might ordain without the bishop . the author of the comment upon the ephesians , that goes under the name of of ambrose , saith , apud egyptum presbyteri consignant , si praesens non sit episcopus , in egypt the presbyters ordain , if the bishop be not present ; so saith augustine in the same words ; and the corepiscopus , who was but a presbyter , had power to impose hands , and to ordaine within his precincts , with the bishops licence . now licences confer not a power to him that hath it not , but onely a faculty to exercise that power he hath . the iniquity of our times hath been such , that a minister may not preach to his own flock , without a licence : doth this licence make a man a minister , and give him power to preach , or only a faculty and liberty to exercise that power ? should a bishop give a laike a licence to preach , or to ordain , doth that licence make him a minister , or a bishop ? sure all will say , no : why ? because in the laike there is not actus primus , the root and principle of that power , which licence onely opens a way to the exercise of ; and therefore that must be concluded to be in those chorepiscopi ; or presbyters , by vertue of their place and calling , and not by vertue of a licence . so that the power of ordination was so farre from residing in the bishop alone , as that the presbyters and corepiscopi had power to ordain as well as he . neither was this onely a matter of ecclesiastical custome , but of ecclesiastical constitution , which bids the bishop ; first , in all his ordinations to consult with his clergy ; vt episcopus sine concilio clericorum suorum clericos non ordinet : that the bishop shall not ordain a clergy man without the counsel of the clergy : this was cyprians practice , epist. 33. secondly , in his ordinations to take the ●oncurrent assistance of his presbyters ; cum ordinatur presbyter , episcopo eum benedicente , & manum super caput ejus tenente , etiam omnes presbyteri qui praesentes sunt , manus suas juxta manum episcopi sut er caput illius teneant . when a presbyter is ordained , the bishop blessing him , and holding his hand upon his head , all the presbyters that are present , shall likewise lay their hands upon his head , with the hands of the bishop . in which canon , we have the unanimous vote of two hundred and fourteen bishops , declaring that the power of ordination is in the hands of presbyters as well as bishops . and whereas it may be objected , that hierome and chrysostome , affirming bishops to differ from presbyters in the power of ordination , seem to imply , that that power is soly theirs : here wee desire it may be observed . first , that these fathers put all the difference that lies betweene bishops and presbyters , to be in point of ordination . quid facit episcopus , quod non facit presbyter exceptá ordinatione . and therefore chrysostome himselfe confesseth , that in his days there was litle or no difference between a bishop and a presbyter . inter episcopum & presbyterum interest fermè nihil , &c. secondly , that this difference is not so to he understood , as if these fathers did hold it to be by divine right ( as bellarmin and our episcopal men would make us beleeve ) but by a humane constitution . and therefore they do not speak de jure but de facto , quid facit , &c. not quid debet facere . and this hierom confesseth . so leo prim . ep . 88. upon complaints of unlawful ordinations , writing to the germane and french bishops , reckons up what things are reserved to the bishops , among which he set down presbyterorum & diaconorum consecratio , and then addes , quae omnia solis deberi summis pontificibus authoritate canonam praecipitur : so that for this power of ordination , they are more beholden to the canon of the church , then to the canon of gods word . thirdly , we answer that this very humane difference was not in the primitive antiquity . it was not so in cyprians time , as we even now shewed . and when it did prevaile , it was but a particular custome ( and sometimes usurpation ) of some churches . for it was otherwise appointed in the councel of carthage , and in egypt , and other places , as is declared in the former part of this section ; and even in chrysostomes time , it was so little approved of , that it was one great accusation against chrysostome himselfe , that he made ordinations without the presbytery , and without the consent of his clergy , this is quoted by bishop downam , lib. 1. cap. 8. pag. 176. sect . ix . no● had the bishops of former times more right to the power of sole iurisdiction , then of sole ordination : and here we have confitentem reum , our very adversaries confess the votes of antiquity are with us . cyprian professeth , that he would do nothing without the clergy ; nay , he could do nothing without them ; nay , he durst not take upon him alone to determine that which of right did belong to all ; and had he or any other done so , the fourth councel of carthage condemns the sentence of the bishop , as irritanisi clericorum sententiâ confirmetur . would ye know the particulars , wherein the bishops had no power of judicature without their presbyters . first , in judging and censuring presbyters themselves , and their doctrine ; for this the canon law in gratian is full and cleare : episcopus non potest iudicare presbyterum vel diaconum sine synodo & senioribus : thus basill counselled and practised , epist. 75. so ambr. lib. 10. epist. 80. cyril in epist. ad iohannem antiochen . thus gregory ad iohan. panor mitan . lib. 11. epist. 49. secondly , in judging of the conversation or crimes of any of the members of the church : penes presbyteros est disciplina quae facit homines meliores ; that discipline that workes emendation in men , is in the power of the elders . and therefore when any was questioned in point of conversation , he was brought , saith tertullian , into the congregation where were exhortations , castigations , and divine censures : and who had the chiefe stroke in these censures , he tells us after : president probati quique seniores : all the approved elders sit as presidents . and those censures that passed by the whole presbytery were more approved by the church in ancient times , then such as were passed by one man ; for we finde that when syagrius and ambrose passed sentence in the same case , the church was unsatisfied in the sentence of syagrius , because he past it sine alicujus fratris consilio , without the counsel or consent of any of his brethren . but were pacified with the sentence of saint ambrose : because , saith he , hoc iudicium nostrum cum fratribus & consacerdotibus participatum processerit . nor was there any kinde of censures that the bishops did administer alone : admonitions were given by the elders ; augustine tells us the elders did admonish such as were offenders ▪ to the same purpose speakes . origen . contra celsum . lib. 3. * so excommunication , though that being the dreadfullest thunder of the church , and as tertullian calls it , sumntum praejudicium futuri iudicij , the great fore-runner of the judgement of god , was never vibrated but by the hand of those that laboured in the word and doctrine : yet was no one man in the church invested with this power more then another . therefore saith b hierom ; presbytero si peccavero licet me tradere satanae in interitum carnis . if i sinne , a presbyter ( not a bishop only ) may deliver me to satan , to the destruction , &c. where the reader may please to take notice that saint hierom speakes not of one particular presbyter , but of the order of presbyters . the same s. hierom saith againe , sunt quos ecclesia reprehendit , quos interdum abijcit , in quos non nunquam episcoporum & clericorum censura desaevit . there be some whom the church reproves , and some which she casts out ; against whom the censures of bishops and presbyters sharply proceed ; where we see , the censures whereby wicked men were cast out of the church , were not in the sole hands of the bishops , but likewise in the hands of presbyters . syricius bishop of rome signifies to the church of millaine , that iovinianus , auxentius , &c. were cast out of the church for ever , and he sets down how they did it , omnium nostrum tam presbyterorum quam diacon●rum , quam totius etiam cleri sciscitata fuit sententia . there was a concurrence of all presbyters , deacons , and the whole clergy in that sentence of excommunication . the truth herein may be further evidenced by this , because the whole clergy as well as the bishops imposed hands upon such , as repenting were absolved : nec ad communicationem ( saith cyprian ) venire quis possit , nisi prius ab episcopo & clero manus illi fuerit imposita : no man that hath been excommunicated might returne to church-communion , before hands had been laid upon him by the bishop and clergy . also writing to his clergy concerning lapsed christians , he tells them , exomologesi facta & manu eis à vobis in poenitentiam impositâ , &c. that after confession and the laying on their hands , they might be commended unto god : so when certaine returning from their heresie were to be received into the church at rome in the time of cornelius , they came before the presbytery , and therefore confessed their sinnes , and so were admitted . but though the sentence of excommunication was managed onely by the hand of those that laboured in the word and doctrine , yet we will not conceale from you , that neither excommunication not absolution did passe without the knowledge and approbation of the body of the church , to which the delinquent did belong . so we have learned out of tertullian , that their censures were ordered in their publike assemblies ; and good reason , because the people were to forbeare communion with such . 2 thes. 3.6 , 14 , 15. and publike censures of the church were inflict●d not onely for the emendation of delinquents , but for the admonition of others , and therefore ought to be admistr●d in publike that others might feare , 1 tim. 5.20 . origen speaking of the duty and power of the church in cutting off a scandalous person though a presbyter , making the case his own , he saith thus : in uno consensu ecclesia universa conspirans excidat me d●xtram suam & projiciat a se , he would have the consent of the whole church in that act. and when the lapsed christians were received againe into the church , the peoples consent was required therein ; else why should cyprian say , vix plebi per suadeo imò extorqueo ut tales patiantur admitti : i can scarce perswade the people to suffer such to be admitted : and in another epistle written to his people in his banishment , he promiseth to examine all things , they being present and judging . examinabuntur singula praesentibus & judicantibus vobis . but of this power of the people we shall have a further occasion to speak afterwards , when we come to discourse of governing elders . onely may it please your honours from hence to take notice , how unjustly our bishops have invaded this right and power of presbyters and people in church censures , and devesting both of it , have girt it wholly upon themselves , and how herein they and the bishops of former times are two . sect . x. and as our bishops , and the bishops of former times are two in point of sole iurisdiction , so also in the delegation of this power of iurisdiction unto others : to their chancellours , commissaries , officers , &c. was ever such a thing as this heard of in the best primitive times ? that men that never received imposition of hands , should not only be received into assistance , but be wholly intrusted with the power of spiritual iurisdiction : even then when it is to be exercised over such persons as have had hands laid upon them . we may observe in cyprian , whilst persecution separated him from his church , when questions did arise among his people , he doth not send them to his chancellour or commissary ; no , he was so far from substituting any man ( much lesse a lay man ) to determene or give judgement in such cases , that he would not assume that power wholly to himself , but suspends his judgement , till the hand of god should restore him to his church againe , that with the advice and counsel of the presbyters , he might give sentence : as may appeare to any that shall peruse his epistles . sure if god had ever led his church to such a way of deputation , it would have been in such a case of necessity as this was : or had any footsteps of such a course as this been visible by this holy martyr in the goings of former ages , he needed not have deferred the determination of the question about the receiving of some penitent lapsed ones into the bosome of the church again , till his returne and the returne of his clergy , as he doth . we will instance in his 28 epistle , wherein giving direction for the excommunicating of such as would rashly communicate with lapsed christians , he gives this charge not to his chancellor or commissary , or any other man upon whom he had devolved his power , and set him as his deputy or viccar generall in his absence , but ad clerum , to the whole presbytery . this truth is so cleare , that bishop downam the great advocate of episcopacy confesseth , that in ambrose his time , and a good while after ( which was about 400 years ) till the presbyters were in a manner 〈…〉 sect . xi . a third branch wherein the difference between our bishops , and the bishops of former times , in point of exercising their jurisdiction , is visible , is the way or manner of exercising that power . for brevities sake we will onely instance in their proceedings in causes criminal ; where let them tell us , whether any good antiquity can yeild them one president for their oath ex officio , which hath been to their courts , as purgatory fire to the popes kitchin : they have forgotten that old maxime in the civil law , nemo tenetur prodere seipsum , which as it is grounded upon natural equity , so it is confirmed by a law enacted by dioclesian and maximilian , nimis grave est quod petitis , &c. it is too grievous that the adverse part should be required to the exhibition of such things as should create trouble to themselves . vnderstand therefore that you ought to bring proofes of your intentions , and not to extort them from your adversaries against themselves . shall the lamp of nature in the night of ethnicisme enable heathen princes , ( yea persecutors ) to see and enact thus much , and shall not the glorious sunne of the gospel convince these of their iniquities in transgressing this law , that call themselves the fathers of the church ? if neither the light of nature , nor gospel light can , yet the custome of the church , to which they so oft appeal , may both convince them of this iniquity , and discov●r to all the world the contrariety of their proceedings , to the proceedings of former times , in this particular . for of old , both the plantiffe and defendant were brought face to face , before the parties , in whose power it was to judge : which way of proceeding , athanasius affirmes to be according to scripture , the law of god. and because those that condemned macarius , did not thus proceed , he condemnes their sentence as malicious and unjust . of old , no sentence passed against any man , but upon the testimony of other witnesses besides the accusers : after complaint exhibited , the first thing they applyed themselves to , was to consider the person and quality of the accuser , concil . prim . constant. can. 6 then they heard the witnesses , who were two at least , can. apost . can. 75. and these witnesses must be such , as might not be imagined to be partiall , nor to beare enmity nor malice against the party accused . ambros. epist. 64. so gratian , caus. 3. quae . 5. cap. quod suspecti . of old , none might be party , witnesse , and iudge , which gratian proves at large . caus. 4. qu. 4. cap. nullus unquam praesumat accusator simul esse , & iudex & testis , we grant indeed the canon law permits in some cases tryal without witnesses ; si crimen ita publicum est , ut meritò debeat appellari notorium ; if the crime be so publike , that it may deservedly be called notorious . which law further determines what is notorious , saying , offensam illam nos intelligimus manifestam , quae vel per confessionem vel probationem legitime nota fuerit , aut evidentiâ rei , quae nulla possit tergiversatione celari ; we count that offence manifest , which eith●r by confession , or by lawful proofe comes to be known , or by evidence of fact , so as it can be hid by no tergiversations . so that all was done in former times with mature deliberation , upon examination and evidence produced , and proved by such witnesses , as against whom the defendant could lay in no just exception . and not as now an accusation whispered against a man , he knowes not by whom , to which he must take his oath to answer , before he knows what his accusation is . which oath , if he takes , without further witnesse , he is censured upon the witnesse of his own oath . if he takes it not , he is sent presently to prison , there to lye without bayle or mainprize , till the insupportable miseries of his long durance , compel him to take on oath against nature , scripture , conscience , and the just defence of his own innocency . that our bishops therefore and former bishops are two , in the point of executing their judicatory power , we need spend no more time to prove . but come to the third thing , in which the difference betweene ours and former bishops is to be evidenced . sect . xii . and that is state imployment , or attendance upon civil and secular affaires , &c. which both christ and saint paul prohibits , which prohibition reacheth every bishop ( to speake in chrysostomes words ) as well as timothy , to whom it is directed ; nullus ergo episcopatu praeditus haec audire detrectet , sed agere ea omnia detrectet , let no man that is a bishop , refuse to hear what the apostle saith , but to doe what the apostle forbids . we deny not but that bishops were in the primitive times often incumbred with secular business : but these were put upon them , sometimes by emperors , who sought the ruine of the church , as iulian , of whom niceph. lib. 10. cap. 13. doth report , that in clerum coaptatos senatorum munere & ministerio perverse fungi jussit . sometimes the gracious disposition of princes toward christian religion , made them thus to honour bishops , thinking thereby to advance religion : as constantine the great enacted , that such as were to be tryed before civil magistrates , might have leave to appeale ad iudicium episcoporum , atque eorum sententiam ratam esse tanquam ab ipso imperatore prolatum , and this the historian reckoneth as one argument of his reverend respect to religion . sometimes the excellency of their singular parts cast civil dignities upon them . tiberius granted a questors dignity unto a bishop for his eloquence : chrysostome for his notable stoutness and freedome of speech , was sent as the fittest man to gainas , with the emperors command . sometimes the people observing the bishops to be much honoured by the emperour , would sollicit them to present their greivances to the emperour . and sometimes the aspiring humour of the bishops raised them to such places , as appears by cyrill , who was the first bishop in alexandria , who had civil dignities conferred upon him , as socrates relates it , from whom civil authority did descend upon succeeding bishops . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : of whom nicephorus therefore recorded , episcopatum majoricum fastu , prophanorum magistratuum more , quam praedecessores ejus episcopi , ingressus est , unde adeo initium sumptum est in ecclesia alexandrina ut episcopi etiam , profana negotia curarent : he entred upon his episcopacy with more pomp then his predecessors , with a pomp conformable to the heathen magistrates . both these historians relate the sad consequence that followed upon this , that orestes the roman governour seeing his power much weakened by the bishops interposing in secular affairs , hated the bishop : and this ( as the historian calls it ) his usurped power . this president of the alexandrian bishop , the bishop of rome did soon follow ; et romanus episcopatus non aliter quam alexandrinus , quasi extra sacerdotii fines egressus ad secularem principatum erat jam delapsus ; the bishop of rome as well as the bishop of alexandria breaking the limits of the priestly function , did degenerate into a secular principality : which purchased no lesse envie to him then that to the other . and though these two bishops went at first abreast in this point , yet in a short time the roman had out stripped the alexandrian in that power , till the church degenerating more and more , that roman priest advanced his power not onely above all the bishops , but all the monarchs in the christian orbe . yet notwithstanding , he that shall look into the ancients , shall finde ; first , that the best of them held , that they were not to be molested with the handling of worldly affaires , cyprian epist. 66.1 . singuli divino sacerdotio honorati non nisi altari & sacrificiis deservire & precibus atque orationibus vacare debent , molestiis secularibus non sunt obligandi , qui divinis rebus & spiritualibus occupantur . secondly , that they complained of them as of heavy burthens , aug. calls it angaria , yea austin himselfe in his 81. epistle complaines , that worldly business hindered his praying and so pressed him , that vix respirare potuit : and gregory the great , non sine dolore in secularibus versabatur , praefat . in dial. thirdly , cyprian construed it as one great cause of persecutions raised against the church , de lapsis , sect. 4. fourthly , it was much cryed down as unlawful by the holy fathers , many canons forbidding it , and that under pain of being removed from their places . can. apost . can. 6. can. 81. hee that did presume to administer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a roman command or administration of military affaires or civil place ( as zonaras there ) he should be desposed , can. apo. can. 83. hiring of ground , medling with worldly affaires is to be laid aside by them . otherwise they are threatned to be liable to ecclesiastical censures , conc. cal. can. 3. conc. carth. can. 16. we will adde this for a conclusion in this point , it is observed by athanasius , sulpitius , severus , and other ecclesiastical historians , that the arians were very expedite in worldly affaires , which experience they gained by their constant following and attendance upon the emperours court ; and what troubles they occasioned to the church thereby , is notoriously known to any that have seen the histories of their times . and in this our bishops have approved themselves more like to the arian bishops then the purer bishops of purer times : but how ever cleare it is , that our bishops and the bishops of former times are two ▪ two in election to their office ; two in the discharge of their office ; two in their ordination , iurisdiction , processes , censures , administrations ; and the difference between our bishops and those of former times , is greater then between the great bishop of rome and them . sect . xiii . but it seemes our remonstrant soared above these times even as high as the apostles dayes , for so he saith , if our bishops challenge any other spiritual power , then was by apostolike authority delegated to , and required of timothy and titus , and the angels of the seven asian churches , let them be disclaimed as vsvrpers . and the truth is , so they deserve to be , if they doe but challenge the same power that the apostle did delegate to timothy and titus ; for timothy and titus were evangelists , and so moved in a sphere above bishops or presbyters . for timothy , it is cleare from the letter of the text , 2 tim. 4.5 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : doe the work of an evangelist : if timothy had been but a presbyter or bishop , paul had here put him upon imployment , vltra sphaeram activitatis . and to any man , that will but understand and consider what the office of an a evangelist was ; and wherein it differed from the office of a presbyter or bishop , it will be manifest that timothy and titus were evangelists , and no bishops : for the title of evangelist is taken but two wayes ; either for such as wrote the gospel , and so we doe not affirme timothy and titus , to be evangelists : or else for such as taught the gospel ; and those were of two sorts , either such as had ordinary places and ordinary gifts , or such whose places and gifts were extraordinary ; and such evangelists were timothy and titus , and not bishops , as will appeare if we consider , what was the difference between the evangelists and bishops . bishops or presbyters were tyed to the particular care and tuition of that flock over which god had made them overseers , acts 20.28 . but evangelists were not tyed to reside in one particular place , but did attend upon the apostles by whose appointment they are sent from place to place , as the necessity of the churches did require . as appeares first in timothy whom saint paul besought to abide at ephesus , 1. tim. 1.3 . which had beene needlesse importunity , if timothy had the episcopall ( that is the pastorall ) charge of ephesus committed to him by the apostles , for then he might have laid as dreadful a charge upon him to abide at ephesus , as he doth to . preach the gospel . but so far was paul from setling timothy in cathedrâ in ephesus , that he rather continually sends him up and down upon all church-services , for we finde acts. 17.14 . that when paul fled from the tumults of berea to athens , he left silas and timothy behinde him , who afterwards comming to paul to athens , paul sends timothy from athens to thessalonica , to confirm the thessalonians in the faith , as appears 1 thes. 3.1.2 . from whence returning to paul to athens again , the apostle paul before he left athens and went to corinth , sent him and silas into macedonia , who returned to him again to corinth , act. 18.5 . afterwards they travelled to ephesus , from whence we read paul sent timothy and erastus into macedonia , act. 19.22 . wither paul went after them , and from whence they and divers other breathren journied into asia , acts 20.4 . all which breathren paul calls , as it is probable , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the messengers of the churches , 2. cor. 8.23 . and being thus accompanied with timothy , and the rest of the bretheren he comes to miletum , and calls the elders of the church of ephesus thither to him , of which church had timothy been bishop , the apostle in stead of giving the elders a charge to feed the flock of christ , would have given that charge to timothy , and not to them . and secondly , the apostle would not so have forgotten himself , as to call the elders 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , before their bishops face . thirdly , it is to be conceived , the apostles would have given them some directions , how to carry themselves towards their bishop ; but not a word of this though timothy were then in pauls presence , and in the presence of the elders . the cleare evidence of which text demonstrates , that paul did not leave timothy at this time as bishop of ephesus . but it is rather evident that he took him along with him in his journey to hierusalem , and so to rome ; for we find that those epistles paul wrote while he a prisoner , bear either in their inscription or some other passage of them , the name of timothy as pauls companion , viz. the epistle to the philippians , c●lossians , hebrewes , philemon , which epistles he wrote in bonds as the contexture , which those two learned professors ; the one at heydelburg , the other at saulmur , make of saint pauls epistles , doth declare . so that it appears that timothy was no bishop , but a minister , an evangelist , a fellow labourer of the apostles , 1 thes. 3.1 . an apostle , a messenger of the church , 2 cor. 8.3 . a minister of god , 1 thes. 3.2 . these titles the holy ghost gives him , but never the title of a bishop . the like we finde in scripture concerning titus , whom paul as it is conceived by learned men , did first assume into the fellowship of his labors in the place of iohn , and made him his companion in his journy through antioch a to hierusalem , b so we find gal. 2.1 . from thence returning to antioch againe ; from thence he passed through syria and cilicia , confirming the churches ; and from cilicia , he passed to creet , where having preached the gospel , and plainted churches , he left titus * there for a while , to set in order things that remaine , yet it was but for a while he left him there , for in his epistle which he wrote to him not many yeares after , he injoynes him to come to him to nicopolis * where he did intend to winter , but changing that purpose sends for him to ephesus , where it seemes his hyemal station was , and from thence sends him before him to corinth , to enquire the state of the corinthians * . his returne from thence paul expects at troas * , and because comming thither he found not his expectation there , he was so grieved in his spirit , 2 cor. 2.12 . that he passed presently from thence into macedonia , where titus met him ; and in the midst of his afflictions joyed his spirits with the glad tydings of the powerful and gracious effects , his first epistle had among the corinthians , 2 cor. 7 , 5 , 6 , 7. paul having there collected the liberalities of the saints , sends titus againe to the * corinthians , to prepare them for the same service of ministring to the necessities of the saints , 2 cor. 8.6 . and makes him with some others the conveyers of that second epistle to the corinthians . all these journey es to and fro did titus make at the designment of the apostle , even after he was left in creet . nor doe we finde , that after his first removal from creet * ; he did ever returne thither . we read indeed , 2 tim. 4.10 . he was with paul at rome , and from thence returned not to creet , but into dalmatia . all which doth more then probably shew , it never was the intendment of the apostle to fix titus in creet as a bishop , but onely to leave him there for a season for the good of that church , and to call him from thence , and send him abroad to other churches for their good , as their necessities might require . now who that will acknowledge a distinction between the offices of bishops and evangelists , and knows wherein that distinction lyes , will not upon these premisses conclude that timothy and titus were evangelists and not bishops . i but some of the fathers have called timothy and titus bishops . we grant it true ; and it is as true , that some of the fathers have called them archbishops and patriarks ; yet it doth not follow , they were so . we adde , secondly , that when the fathers did call them so , it was not in a proper but in an improper sense ; which we expresse in the words of our learned orthodox raynolds ; you may learne by the fathers themselves , saith he , that when they termed any apostle a bishop of this or that city ( as namely s. peter of antioch or rome ) they meant it in a general sort and signification , because they did attend that church for a time , and supply that roome in preaching the gospel , which bishops did after ; but as the name of bishop is commonly taken for the overseer of a particular church , and pastor of a several flock ; so peter was not bishop of any one place ; therefore not of rome . and this is true by analogy of all extraordinary bishops , and the same may be said of timothy and titus , that he saith of peter . but were it true that timothy and titus were bishops : will this remonstrant undertake , that all his party shall stand to his conditions ▪ if our bishops challenge any other power then was by apostolick authority delegated to , and required of timothy and titus , and the angels of the seaven asian churches , let them be disclaimed as usurpers . will our bishops indeed stand to this ? then actum est . did ever apostolick authority delegate power to timothy or titus , to ordain alone ? to governe alone ? and do not our bishops challenge that power ? did ever apostolique authority delegate power to timothy and titus , to rebuke an elder ? no ; but to entreat him as a father : and do not our bishops challenge themselves and permit to their chancellors , commissaries , and officials power not only to rebuke an elder ▪ but to rayle upon an elder ? to reproach him with the most opprobrious termes of foole , knave , jack-sauce , &c. which our paper blushes to present to your honors view ? did ever apostolick authority delegate to timothy and titus power to receive an accusation against an elder , but before two or three witnesses ? and do not our bishops challenge power to proceed ex officio , and make elders their own accusers ? did ever apostolick authority delegate power to timothy or titus , to reject any after twice admonition , but an heretick ? and do not our bishops challenge power to reject and eject the most sound and orthodox of our ministers , for refusing the use of a ceremony ? as if non-conformity were heresie . so that either our bishops must disclaime this remonstrance , or else themselves must be disclaimed as usurpers . but if timothy and titus were no bishops , or had not this power , it may be the angels of the seven asian churches had ; and our remonstrant is so subtile as to twist these two together , that if one faile , the other may hold . to which we answer ; first , that angel in those epistles is put collectively , not individually ; as appears by the epistle to thyatira , cap. 2. vers . 25. where we read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. but i say unto you ( in the plural number , not unto thee in the singular ) and unto the rest in thyatira , &c. here is a plain distinction between the members of that church . by you , is signified those to whom he spake under the name of the angel. by the rest , the residue of the people . the people governed , and the governours in the plural number . what can be more evident to prove , that by angel is meant not one singular person , but the whole company of presbyters that were in thyatira . this also further appears , because it is usual with the holy ghost , not only in other books of the scripture , but also in this very book of the revelation , to express a company under one singular person . thus the civil state of rome , as opposite to christ , is called a beast with ten horns : and the ecclesiastical state antichristian is called the whore of babylon , and , the false prophet ; and the devil and all his family is called an old red dragon . thus also the seven angels that blew the seven trumpets , revel . 8.2 . and the seven angels that poured out the seven vials , are not literally to be taken , but synecdochically , as all know . and why not then the seven angels in those epistles ? mr. mede in his commentaries upon the revelation , pag. 265 , hath these words ; denique ( ut jam femel iterumquemonuimus ) quoniam deus adhibet angelos providentiae suae in rerū humanarū motibus & conversionibus ciendis , gubernandisque administris : idcirco , quae multorum manibus peraguntur , angelo tamen tanquam rei gerendae praesidi & duci pro communi loquendi modo tribuuntur . adde , thirdly , that the very name angel is sufficient to prove , that it is not meant of one person alone , because the word angel doth not import any peculiar jurisdiction or preheminence , but is a common name to all ministers , and is so used in scripture . for all ministers are gods messengers and embassadours , sent for the good of the elect. and therefore the name being common to all ministers , why should wee think that there should be any thing spoken to one minister , that doth not belong to all ? the like argument we draw from the word stars used revel , 1.20 . the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches . now it is evident , that all faithful ministers are called stars in scripture , whose duty is to shine as lights unto the churches , in all purity of doctrine and holiness of conversation . and in this sense , the word is used , when it is said , that the third part of the stars were darkned , revel . 8.12 . and that the dragons taile drew the third part of the stars of heaven , and cast them to the earth , revel . 12.4 . which is meant not only of bishops , but of other ministers , unlesse the bishops will appropriate all corruption and apostacy unto themselves . adde , fourthly , out of the text it selfe , it is very observable , that our saviour in opening the mystery of the vision , revel . 1.20 . saith ; the seven candlesticks which thou sawest , are the seven churches , but he doth not say , the seven stars are the seven angels of the same churches , but the angels of the seven churches ; wherein not without some mystery the number of the angels is omitted , least we should understand by angel , one minister alone , and not a company . and yet the septenary number of churches is twice set down . lastly , though but one angel be mentioned in the fore-front , yet it is evident , that the epistles themselves are dedicated to all the angels and ministers in every church , and to the churches themselves : and if to the whole church , much more to the presbyters of that church . this is proved revel . 1.11 . what thou seest , write in a book , and send it to the seven churches which are in asia . and also by the epiphonema of every epistle ; he that hath an care to hear , let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches . upon which words , ambrosius ausbertus in his second book upon the revelation , saith thus ; vnâ eademque locutione & angelos & ecclesias unum esse designat . nam cum in principio locutionum quae ad septem fiunt angelos dicat , & angelo illius ecclesiae scribe ; in fine tamen earundem non dicit , qui habet aurem audiat quod spiritus dicat angelo , sed quid ecclesiae dicat . by one and the same phrase of speech he sheweth , the angels and the churches to be one and the same . for whereas in the beginning of his speech , which he makes to the seven churches , he saith , and write to the angel of the churches ; yet in the close of the same , he doth not say , he that hath an eare , let him heare what the spirit saith to the angel , but what he saith to the church . and this is further proved by the whole argument of those epistles , wherein the admonitions , threatnings , commendations , and reproofes , are directed to all the ministers of all the churches . revel . 2.10 . the devil shall cast some of you into prison , &c. revel . 2.16 . i will fight against them with the sword of my mouth , revel . 2.24 . i will put upon you no other burthen , &c. i say unto you and the rest of thyatira , as many as have not this doctrine , and which have not known the depths of satan , &c. and when it is said in the singular number ( as it is often ) i know thy works and labour , &c. vers . 2. and vers . 4. repent and do thy first works ; and vers . 13. thou hast not denyed my faith , &c. and cap. 3.26 . because thou art neither hot nor cold , &c. all these and the like places , are not to be understood as meant of one individual person , but of the whole company of ministers , and also of the whole church , because that the punishment threatned , is to the whole church ; revel . 2.5 . repent and do thy first works , or else i will come unto thee quickly and remove thy candlestick out of his place ; rev. 2.16 . repent , or else i will come unto thee quickly , and will fight against thee with the sword of my mouth ; revel . 2.24 . i will not put upon you any other burthen . now we have no warrant in the word to think that christ would remove his gospel from a church for the sin of one bishop , when all the other ministers , and the churches themselves are free from those sins . and if god should take this course , in what woeful & miserable condition should the church of england be , which groaneth under so many corrupt prelates ? by all this it appears , that the word angel , is not to be taken , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; not properly , but figuratively . and this is the judgment of master perkins upon the second chapter of the revelation : and of master brightman : and of doctor fulke , who in answer to the rhemists in apoc. 1.20 . hath these words : s. iohn by the angels of the churches meaneth not all that should wear on their heads myters , and hold crosier staves in their hands , like dead idols , but them that are the faithful messengers of gods word , and utter and declare the same . again , they are called the angels of the churches , because they be gods messengers . master fox likewise in his meditation upon the revelation ( pag. 7.9.17 . ) is of this opinion , and hath gathered to our hands the opinions of all interpreters he could meet , and saith that they all consent in this that under the person of an angel , the pastors & ministers of the churches were understood . s. austin in his 132. epistle , saith thus , sic enim in apocalypsi legitur angelus , &c. quod si de angelo superiorum colorum , & non de praepositis ecclesiarum vellet intelligi , non consequenter diceret , habeo adversum te , &c. and so in his second homily upon the revelation ( if that book be his ) quod autem dicit angelo thyatirae . habeo adversum te panca , dicit praepositis ecclesiarum , &c , this also gregory the great , lib. 34. moral . in iob. cap. 4. saepe sacram scripturam praedicatores ecclesiae pro eo quod patris gloriam annunciant , angelorum nomine solere designare : & hinc esse , quod iohannes in apocalypsi septem ecclesiis scribens , angelis ecclesiarum loquitur , id est , praedicatoribus populorum . master box citeth primasius , haymo , beda , richard , thomas , and others , to whom we refer you . if it be here demanded ( as it is much by the hierarchical side ) that if by angel be meant the whole company of presbyters , why christ did not say , to the angels in the plural number , but to the angel in the singular ? we answer , that though this question may savor of a litle too much curiosity , yet we will make bold to subjoyn three conjectural reasons of this phrase of speech . first , it is so used in this place , because it is the common language of other scriptures in types and visions to set down a certain number for an uncertain , & the singular number for the plural . thus the ram , dan. 8.3 . is interpred vers . 20. to be the kings of media , and persia. and the enemies of gods church are set out by four horns . and the deliverers by four carpenters , zach. 1.18.20 . and the wise and foolish virgins are said to be five wise and five foolish . and many such like . and therefore as we answer the papists , when they demand why christ if he meant figuratively when he saith , this is my body , did not speak in plain language , this is the sign of my body ? we say , that this phrase of speech is proper to all sacraments : so we also answer here , this phrase of speech , angel for angels , is common to all types and visions . secondly angel is put , though more be meant , that so it may hold proportion with the vision which iohn saw , chap. 1.12.20 . he saw seven golden candlesticks , and seven stars . and therefore to hold proportion , the epistles are directed to seven angels , and to seven churches . and this is called a mystery , revel . 1.20 . the mystery of the seven stars . &c. now a mystery is a secret which comprehends more th●n is expressed ; and therefore though but one angel be expressed , yet the mystery implyes all the angels of that church . thirdly , to signifie their unity in the ministerial function , and joynt commission to attend upon the feeding and governing of one church , with one common care , as it were with one hand and heart . and this i● more fitly declared by the name of one angel , then of many . we often finde the name of ( one ) prophet or priest to be put for the general body of the ministery , or whole multitude or prophets or priests , in the church of israel or iudah , when the spirit of god intendeth to reprove , threaten , or admonish them . thus it is iere. 6.13.18.19 . isa. 3.2 . hos. 9.8 . ezek. 7.26 . hos. 4 , 6. mal. 2.7 . neither should it seem strange , that a multitude or company of ministers should be understood under the name of one angel , seeing a multitude of heavenly angels ( imployed in one service for the good of gods saints ) is sometimes in the scripture shut up under one angel in the singular number , as may be gathered from gen. 14.7 . 2 kings 19.35 . psal 34.7 . compared with psal. 91.11 . gen. 32.1 . 2. kings 6.16 , 17. and also a multitude of devils or evil angels , jointly labouring in any one work , is set forth under the name of one evil or unclean spirit , 1 kings 22.21 , 22. mark 1.23 , 24. mark 5.2.9 . luke 4.33.34 . luk. 8.27.30 . 1 pet. 5.8 . heb. 2.14 . ephes. 6.11.12 . but now let us suppose ( which yet notwithstanding we will not grant ) that the word angel is taken individually for one particular person , as doctor reynolds seems to interpret it , together with master beza , yet nevertheless● , there will nothing follow out of this acception ▪ that will any ways make for the upholding of a diocesan bishop , with sole power of ordination and jurisdiction , as a distinct superior to presbyters . and this appears , first , because it never was yet proved nor ever will ( as we conceive ) that these angels were diocesan bishops , considering that parishes were not divided into diocesses in s. iohns days . and the seven stars are said to be fixed in their seven candlesticks or churches , not one star over divers candlesticks . neither can those churches be thought to be diocesan , when not onely tindal and the old translation , calls them seven congregations , but we read also acts 20. that at ephesus which was one of those candlesticks , there was but one flock . and secondly , we further finde that in ephesus one of those seven churches , there were many presbyters , which are all called bishops , acts 20.28 . and we finde no colour of any superintendency or superiority of one bishop over another . to them in general the church is committed to be fed by them without any respect had to timothy , who stood at his elbow , and had been with him in macedonia , and was now waiting upon him to jerusalem . this is also confirmed by epiphanius who writing of the heresies of the miletians , saith , that in ancient times this was peculiar to alexandria , that it had but one bishop , whereas other cities had two . and he being bishop of cypres , might well be acquainted with the condition of the churches of asia , which were so nigh unto him . thirdly , there is nothing said in the seven epistles that implyeth any superiority or majority of rule or power that these angels had over the other angels that were joyned with them in their churches . it is written indeed , in commendation of the angel of the church of ephesus , that he could not beare them that were evil , and that he had tryed them which say they were apostles and are not , and had found them lyers . and it is spoken in dispraise of the angel of pergamus , that he suffered them which h●ld the doctrine of balaam , &c. but these things are common duties requirable at the hands of all ministers , who have the charge of souls . but suppose that there were some superiority and prehemenency insinuated by this individual angel , yet who knoweth not that there are diverse kinds of superiority ? to wit , of order , of dignity , of gifts and parts , or in degree of ministery , or in charge of power and jurisdiction . and how will it be proved that this angel if he had a superiority , had any more then a superiority of order , or of gifts and parts ? where it is said , that this angel was a superior degree or order of ministery above presbyters ? in which epistle is it said that this angel had sole power of ordination and jurisdiction ? and therefore as our learned protestants prove against the papists , that where christ directed his speech to peter in particular and said , i will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; &c. that this particularization of peter did not import any singular preheminence or majority of power to peter more then to the other apostles ; but that though the promise was made to peter , yet it was made to him in the name of all the rest , and given to all as well as one . and that therefore it was spoken to one person , and not to all ; that so christ might fore-signifie the unity of his church , as cyprian , austin , hierome , optatus , and others say . so when christ directs an epistle to one angel , it doth not imply a superior power over his fellow-angels , but at most only a presidency for order sake . and that which is written to him , is written to the rest as well as to him . and therefore written to one , not to exclude the rest , but to denote the unity that ought to be between the ministers of the same church in their common care and diligence to their flock . and this is all that doctor reynolds saith , as you may read in his conference with hart , cap. 4. divis . 3. ad finem . for it is evident that doctor reynolds was an utter enemy to the ius divinum of the episcopal preheminency over presbyters , by his letter to sir francis knolls . and learned master beza also saith something to the same purpose in his annotations upon revel . 2.1 . angelo . i. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quem nimirum oporuit imprimis de his rebus admoneri , ac per eum caeteros collegas totamque adeo ecclesiam . sed hinc statui episcopalis ille gradus postea humanitus in ecclesiam dei invectus certe nec potest nec debet , imo ne perpetuum quidem istud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 munus esse necessario oportuisse , sicut exorta inde tyrannis oligarchica ( cujus apex est antichristiana bestia ) certissima cum totius non ecclesiae modo , sed etiam orbis pernicie , nunc tandem declarat . if therefore our remonstrant can produce no better evidence for his hierarchy then timothy and titus , and the angels of the asian churches , let not this remonstrant and his party , cry out of wrong , if this claimed hierarchy be for ever booted out of the church , seeing it is his owne option . and yet we cannot conceale one refuge more out of scripture , to which the hierarchy betake themselves for shelter . and that is the two postscripts in the end of pauls second epistle to timothy , and of that to titus ; where in the one , timothy is said to be the first bishop of ephesus , and in the other , titus is said to be the first bishop of the church of the cretians : to both which places wee answer . that these two postscrips ( and so all the rest ) are no part of canonical scripture . and therefore our former and ancienter english translations , though they have these postscripts , yet they are put in a small character different from that of the text. although our episcopal men of late in newer impressions have inlarged their phylacteries , in putting those postscripts in the same full character with that of the text , that the simple might beleeve they are canonical scripture . the papists themselves ( baronius , serrarius , and the rhemists ) confesse that there is much falsity in them . the first epistle to timothy , is thus subscribed : the first to timothy was written from laodicea , whoch is the chiefest city of phrygia pacatiana . here wee demand , whether paul when hee writ the first epistle to timothy , was assured he should live to write a second , which was written long after ? and if not ; how comes it to bee subscribed , the first to timothy , which hath relation to a second ? besides , the epistle is said to bee writ from laodicea , whereas beza in his annotations proves apparently , that it was written from macedonia ; to which opinion baronius and serrarius subscribe . it is added , which is the chiefest city of phrygia pacatiana . but this epithet is nowhere read in the writers of those ages , saith beza , sed apud recentiores illo● , qui romani imperii jam inclinantis provincias descripserunt . so that by this place it is evident , that the subscription was added a long while after the writing of the epistles by some men , for the most part vel indoctis , saith beza , vel certe non satis attentis , either by a learned , or negligent man. the second epistle is thus subscribed ; the second epistle unto timothy , ordained the first bishop of the church of the ephesians , was written from rome , when paul was brought before nero the second time . now these words ordained the first bishop , is wanting , saith beza , in quibusdam vetustis codicibus , in veteri vulgatâ editione , & apud syrum interpre●●m . if saint paul had written this postscript , he would not have said , to timothy the first bishop , &c. whereas it was not yet certain whether ever there should bee a second . neither would it bee said when paul was brought , &c. but when i was the second time brought before nero. the syriack interpreter reads it , here ends the second epistle to timothy written from rome . the epistle to titus is thus subscribed : written to titus , ordained first bishop of the church of the cretians , from nicopolis of macedonia . here it is said that this epistle was written from nicopolis , whereas it is cleare that paul was not at nicopolis when he wrote it . tit. 3.12 . be diligent to come to me at nicopolis , for i have determined there to winter . hee doth not say , here to winter , but there ; where note , for the present he was not there . and besides it is said , that titus was ordained the first bishop , &c. and who was the second ? or was there ever a second ? and also he is said to be bishop , not onely of a diocess , but of all creet . was there ever such a second bishop ? adde , lastly , that it is said , bishop of the church of the cretians ; whereas it would bee said of the churches of the cretians . for the christian churches of any nation are called churches by luke and paul , not church . therefore codex claremontanus subscribes ; here ends the epistle to titus , and no more . so the syriack ; finitur epistola ad titum quae scripta fuit è nicopoli . the old vulgar edition hath nothing of the episcopacy of titus . by all this it appears , that if the bishops had no more authority to urge us to subscribe to their ceremonies , then they have authority for their episcopal dignity by these subscriptions , there would be no more subscription to ceremonies in the churches of england . but some will say , that there is one objection out of scripture yet unanswered , and that is from the inequality that was betweene the twelve apostles , and the seventy disciples . to which we answer ; first , that it cannot be proved that the twelve apostles had any superiority over the seventy , either of ordination , or jurisdiction , or that there was any subordination of the seventy unto the twelve : but suppose it was , yet we answer secondly , that a superiority and inferiority betweene officers of different kindes , will not prove that there should be a superiority and inferiority between officers of the same kinde . no man will deny but that in christs time , there were apostles , evangelists , prophets , pastors , and teachers , and that the apostles were superior to evangelists and pastors but it cannot be proved , that one apostle had any superiority over another apostle , or one evangelist over an other . and why then should one presbyter be over another ? hence it followeth , that though we should grant a superiority between the twelve and the seventy , yet this will not prove the question in hand . because the question is concerning officers of the same kind , and the instance is of officers of different kinds , amongst whom no man will deny but there may be a superiority and inferiority , as there is amongst us between presbyters and deacons . and now let your honours judge ( considering the premisses ) how far this episcopal government is from any divine right , or apostolical institution : and how true that speech of hierome is , that a bishop as it is a superiour order to a presbyter , is an humane presumption , not a divine ordinance . but though scripture fails them , yet the indulgence and munificence of religious princes may support them , and to this the remonstrant makes his next recourse , yet so as he acknowledgeth here , ingagements to princes onely for their accessory dignities , titles , and maintenance ; not at all for their stations and functions , ( wherein yet the author plainly acknowledgeth a difference between our bishops and the bishops of old by such accessions . ) for our parts , we are so farre from envying the gracious munificence of pious princes , in collating honourable maintenance upon the ministers of christ , that we beleeve , that even by gods own ordinance , double honour is due unto them . and that by how much the ministery of the gospell is more honourable then that of the law , by so much the more ought all that embrace the gospell , to be carefull to provide , that the ministers of the gospell might not onely live , but maintain hospitalitie , according to the rule of the gospell . and that worthy gentleman spake as an oracle , that said , that scandalous maintenance is a great caues of a scandelous ministery . yet we are not ignorant , that when the ministery came to have agros , d●mos , lecationes , vehicula ●ques , la●if●ndia , as chrysost . hom. 86 in matth. that then religio peperit divitias , & filia devoravit matrem , religion brought forth riches , and the daughter devoured the mother ; and then there was a voice of angels heard from heaven ; hodie venenum in ecclesiam christi cecidit . this day is poison shed into the church of christ. and then it was that ierom complained , christi ecclesia post quam ad christianos principes venit , potentiâ quidem & divitiis major , sed virtutibus minor facta est . then also was that conjunction found true ; that when they had wooden chalices , they had golden priests ; but when their chalices were golden , their priests were wooden . and though we do not think , there is any such incompossibility , but that large revenues may be happily managed with an humble sociablnesse , yet is very rare to finde history tells us , that the superfluous revenues of the bishops not onely made them neglect their ministery , but further ushered in their stately and pompous attendance ; which did so elevate their spirits , that they insulted over their brethren , both clergy and people , and gave occasion to others to hate and abhorre the christian faith , which eusebius sets forth fully in the pride of paulus samosatenus , vvho notwithstanding the meannesse and obscurity of his birth , aftervvards grew to that height of insolency and pride in all his carriage , especially in that numerous traine that attended him in the streets , and in his stately throne raised after the manner of kings and princes , that fides nostra invidiae , & odio , propter fastam & superbiam cordis illius , facta fuerit obnoxia ; the christian faith vvas exposed to envy and hatred through his pride . and as their ambition ( fed vvith the largenesse of their revenues ) discovered it self in great attendance , stately dvvellings , and all lordly pomp , so hierom complaines of their pride in their stately seates , qui velut in aliqua sublimi specula constituti , vix dignantur videre mortales & alloqui conservos su●s : who fitting aloft as it were in a vvatch-tovver , vvill scarce deigne to looke upon poore mortalls , or speake to their fellovv-servants . here vve might be large in multipying several testimonies against the pride of ecclesiasticall persons , that the largenesse of their revenues raysed them to : but we will conclude with that grave complaint of sulpitius severus . ille qui antè p●dibus aut as●lloire consueverat , spumante equ● superbus inv●hitur ; parvâ priùs ac vili cellula contentus habitare , erigit celsa laquearia , construit multa conclavia , sculpit p●stes , pingit a●maria , vestem respuit g●ossiorem , indumentum molle desiderat , &c. which because the practice of our times hath already turned into english , we spare the labour to translate . onely suffer us ( being now to give a vale to our remonstrants arguments ) to recollect some few things . first , whereas this remonstrant saith ; if we do not shew out of the true & genuine writings of those holy men , that lived in the apostles dayes a clear & received distinction of bishops , presbyters , and deacons , as three distinct subordinate callings , with an evident specification of the duty belonging to each of them : let this claimed hierarchy be for ever routed out of the church : we beseech you , let it be remembred how we have proved out of the genuine and undeniable writings of the apostles themselves , that these are not three distinct callings : bishops are presbyters , being with them all one , name and office , and that the distinction of bishops and presbyters was not of divine institution , but humane : and that these bishops , in their first institution did not differ so much from presbyters , as our present bishops differ from them . secondly , whereas this remonstant saith , if our bishops challenge any other power then was by apostolike authority delegated to , and required of timothy and titus , and the ang●ls of the asian churches : l●t them be disclaimed as usurpers . wee desire it may be remembred , how we have proved first ; that timothy and titus and the angels who are diocesan bishops ; and secondly , that our bishops challenge ( if not in their polemickes , yet in their practicks ) a power that timothy and titus , and those angels never did . thirdly , whereas this remonstrant saith , if there can be better evidence under heaven for any matter of fact , let episcopacy be for ever abandoned out of gods church : we beseech you remember how weake we have discovered his evidence to be ; and then the inference upon all these we humbly leave to your honours wisdom and iustice. sect . xiv . having thus considered the validity of those arguments , whereby this remonstrant would suffult episc●pacy , we descend now to inquire , what satisfaction he gives to those objections , which himself frames as the main , if not the ●ole arguments , that episcopacy is assaultable by , and they are two ▪ first , that pleading the divine right of episcopacy is to the prejudi●e of sovereignty . secondly , that it casts a dangerous imputation upon all those reformed churches that want this government . to the first , the prejudice of sovereignty ; he answers there is a compatibleness in this case of gods act , and the kings : it is god that makes the bishop , the king that gives the bishoprick . but we have proved already , that god never made a bishop , as he stands in his superiority over al other presbyters , he never had gods fiat : and if they disclaim the influence of sovereignty unto their creation to a priority , and assert that the king doth not make them bishops , they must have no being at all . sure we are , the laws of the land proclaim , that not only bishopricks , but bish●ps and all the iurisdiction they have , is from the king : whereas the remonstrant acknowledgeth no more , but the bare * place and excercise to be from regall donation , which cannot be affirmed without apparent prejudice of that sovereigntie which the lawes of the land have invested our princes with . and for his unworthy comparison of kings in order to bishops , and patrons in order to their clerkes , when he shall prove that the patron gives ministerial power to his clerke , as the king according to our laws gives episcopall power to the bishop , it may be of some conducement to his cause ; but till then , we leave the unfitnesse of this comparison , and the unthankfulnesse of those men to the indulgence of their sovereigne , to their deserved recompence . his learned answer to such men as borrowing saint ieroms phrase , speake saint pauls truth , is in summe this : that he knowes not how to prescribe to mens thoughts , but for all his rhetoricke , they will think what they list ; but if they will grant him the question , they shall soon be at an end of the quarrell : which one answer if satisfactory , would silence all controversies to as good purpose as he did bellarmine , who said , bellarmine saith it is thus , and i say it is not , and where is bellarmine now ? to the second objection , that episcopacie thus asserted casts an imputation upon all the reformed churches , that want that government , he saith , that the objection is intended to raise envie against them , who ( if they may be beleeved ) love and honour those sister-churches , and 〈◊〉 god for them . but do they out pluck all this envie upon themselves , who in their conferences , writings pulpits , vniversities , disputes , high commissi●n , declamations , have disclaimed them as no churches , that 〈◊〉 disclaimed the prelates and have honoured the most glorious lights of those reformed churches , calvin , beza , and others with no better titles then of rascals , blasphemers ? &c. but the pith of his answer after a few good words is this , that no such consequent can be drawn from their opinion ; for their ius divinum pleads only for a iustifiablenesse of this holy calling : not for an absolute necessity of it , warranting it where it is , and requiring it where it may be had ; but not fixing upon the church that wants it , the defect of any thing of the essence of a church , but only of the glory and perfection of it ; neither is it their sin , but their misery . and is it so , doth not this ius divinum argue a necessitie , but only a iustifiablenesse of this calling ? nor is the want of it a want of any thing of essence , but onely of perfection ? we had thought , that page the 20th , where this remonstrant strives to fetch the pedegree of episcopacie from no lesse than apostolicall , and in that right divine institution he had reckoned it among those things , which the apostles ordained for the succeeding administration of the church in essentiall matters : but here it seemes he is willing to retract what there fell from him : there it was to his advantage to say , this government was a thing essentiall to the church , and here it is no lesse advantage to say , it is not essentiall . but if it be not essentiall , then what is the reason that when a priest who hath received orders at rome , turnes to us , they urge not him to receive ordination among us again : but when some of our brethren , who flying in queene maries dayes , had received imposition of hands in the reformed churches beyond the seas , returned again in the dayes of queene elizabeth , they were urged to receive imposition of hands againe from our bishops , and some did receiv● it . if those churches that want bishops , want nothing essentiall to a church ; then what essentiall want was there in the ordination of those ministers that received imposition of hands in those churches , that might deserve a re-ordination , more than if they had first received their ordination at rome ? and what is the reason that bishop mountague so confidently affirmes , that ordination by episcopall hands is so necessary , as that the church is no true church without it , and the ministery no true ministery , and ordinarily no salvation to be obtain●d without it ? and if this remonstrant should leave bishop mountague to answer for himself , yet notwithstanding he stands bound to give us satisfaction to these two questions , which arise from his own book . first , whether that office , which by divine right hath the sole power of ordaining , and ruling all other officers in the church , ( as he saith episcopacie hath ) belong not to the being , but onely to the glory and perfection of a church ? secondly , there being ( in this mans thoughts ) the same ius divinum for bishops , that there is for pastors and elders , whether if those reformed churches wanted pastors and elders too , they should want nothing of the essence of a church , but of the perfection and glory of it ? but this remonstrant seemes to know so much of the minde of those churches , that if they might have their option , they would most gladly embrace episcopall government , as little differing from their own moderatorship , save onely in the perpetuitie of it , and the new invention ( as he odiously calls it ) of lay-elders . but no question those learned worthies that were intrusted by the churches to compile their confessions , did comprise their iudgements better than the composer of this remonstrance . and to his presumtion , we oppose their confession . we will begin with the french church , who in their confession speake thus : credimus veram ecclesiam gubernari debere eâ politiâ , quam dominus noster iesus christus sancivit , ità videlicet , ut fint in ea pastores , presbyteri , sive seniores , & diaconi , ut doctrinae puritas retineatur , &c. art. 29. credimus omnes pastores ubicunque collocati sunt , eâdem & aequali potestate inter se esse praeditos sub uno illo capite summóque & solo universali episcopo iesu christo. art. 30. gallicae confessionis credimus veram hanc ecclesiam aebere regi , ac gubernari , spirituali illâ politiâ , quàm nos deus ipse in verbo suo edocuit ; ità ut sint in ea pastores ac ministri , qui purè & concionentur , & sacramenta administrent ; sint quoque seniores & diaconi , qui ecclesiae senatum constituant , ut his veluti mediis vera religio conservari , hominésque vitiis dediti spiritualiter corripi & emendari possint . tunc enim ritè & ordinatè omniae fiunt in ecclesiâ , cùm viri fideles , & pii ad ejus gubernationem deliguntur juxta divi pauli praescriptum , 1 tim. 3. confes. belgic . art. 30. caeterùm ubicuuque locorum sunt verbi dei ministri , candem atque aequalem omnes habent tum potestatem tum authoritatem , ut qui sunt aequè omnes christi unici illius universalis episcopi & capit is ecclesiae ministri . we believe that the true church ought to be governed by that policy which christ jesus our lord established , viz. that there be pastors , presbyters , or elders , and deacons . and again , we believe that all true pastors whereever they be , are endued with equal and the same power , under one chief head and bishop christ jesus . consonant to this the dutch churches : we believe ( say they ) the true church ought to be ruled with that spiritual policy which god hath taught us in his word , to wit , that there be in it pastors to preach the word purely , elders and deacons to constitute the ecclesiastical senate , that by these means religion may be preserved , and manners corrected . and so again , we believe where-ever the ministers of god are placed , they all have the same equal power and authority , as being all equally the ministers of christ. in which harmony of these confessions , see how both churches agree in these five points : first , that there is in the word of god , an exact form of government set down ; deus in verbo suo edocuit . secondly , that this form of government christ established in his church ; iesus christus in ecclesiâ sancivit . thirdly , that this form of government is by pastors , elders , and deacons . fourthly , that the true church of christ ought to be thus governed ; veram ecclesiam debere regi . fifthly , that all true ministers of the gospel are of equal power and authority . for the reason he assigns , why those churches should make this option , we cannot enough admire that such a passage should fall from his pen , as to say , there is little difference between their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and our episcopacy , save onely in perpetuity and lay-elders ; for who knows not that between these two there is a vast a difference as between the duke of venice and an absolute monarch . for , 1 , the moderator in geneva is not of a superiour order to his brethren ; nor 2 , hath an ordination differing from them ; nor 3 , assumes power of sole ordination or jurisdiction ; nor hath he 4 , maintenance for that office above his brethren ; nor 5 , a negative voice in what is agreed by the rest ; nor 6 , any further power then any of his brethren . so that the difference between our bishops and their moderators is more then little : but if it be so little as this remonstrant here pretends ; then the alteration and abrogation of episcopacy will be with the lesse difficulty , and occasion the less disturbance . sect . xv. but there is another thing , wherein our episcopacy differs from the geneva moderatorship , besides the perpetuity ; and that is the exclusion of the lay-presbytery , which ( if we may believe this remonstrant ) never till this age had footing in the christian church . in which assertion , this remonstrant concludes so fully , with bishop halls irrefragable propositions , and his other book of episcopacie by divine right , as if he had conspired to swear to what the bishop had said . now , though we will not enter the lists with a man of that learning and fame , that bishop hall is , yet we dare tell this remonstrant , that this his assertion hath no more truth in it , then the rest that we have already noted . we will ( to avoid prolixity ) not urge those * three known texts of scripture , produced by some for the establishing of governing elders in the church , not yet vindicated by the adversaries , nor will we urge that famous text of * ambrose in 1 tim. 5. but if there were no lay-elders in the church till this present age , we would be glad to learn , who they were of whom origen speaks , when he tells us , it was the custome of christian teachers , first to examine such as desired to heare them , of whom there were two orders ; the first were catechumeni , or beginners ; the other was of such as were more perfect : among whom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. nonnulli praepositi sunt qui in vitam & mores eorum qui admittuntur inquirant , ut qui turpia committant eos communi caetu interdicant qui verò ab istis abhorrent , ex anima complexi , meliores quotidie reddant : there are some ordained to inquire into the life and manners of such as are admitted into the church , that they may banish such from the publique assembly , that perpetrate scandalous acts ; which place tells us plainly : first , that there were some in the higher forme of hearers ( not teachers ) who were censores morum over the rest . secondly , that they were designed or constituted to this work , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . thirdly , that they had such authority intrusted into their hands , as that they might interdict such as were scandalous from the publique assemblies . we would gladly know , whether these were not , as it were , lay-eelders ? that there were such in the church ( distinguished from others that were called to teach ) appeares . augustine writing to his charge , directs his epistle , dilectissimis fratribus , clero , senioribus , & universae plebi ecclesiae hipponensis : where first there is the general compellation , fratribus , brethren ; then there is a distribution of these brethren into the clergie , the elders , and the whole people ; so that there were in that church elders distinguished both from the clergie , and the rest of the people . so again , contra cresconium grammaticum : omnes vos episcopi , presbyteri , diaconi , and seniores scitis ; all you bishops , elders , deacons , and elders do know . what were those two sorts of elders there mentioned in one comma , and ibidem cap. 56. peregrinus presbyter & seniores ecclesiae musticanae regionis tale desiderium prosequuntur ; where again we read of elder and elders , presbyter , and seniors in one church . both those passages are upon record in the publick acts , which are more fully set down by baronius , anno 303. num. 15 , 16 , 17. as also by albaspineus , in his edition of optatus : in which acts the seniors are often mentioned . in that famous relation of the purging of caecilianus and felix , there is a copie of a letter ; fratribus & filiis : clero & senioribus , fratribus in domino aeternam salutem : another letter is mentioned a little before , clericis & senioribus cirthensium in domino aeternam salutem . these seniors were interessed in affaires concerning the church as being the men , by whose advice they were managed . the letter of purpurius to silvanus saith , adhibete conclericos , & seniores plebis , ecclesiasticos viros , & inquirant quae sint iste dissensiones : ut ea quae sunt secundum fid●i praecepta fiant , where we see the joynt power of these seniors , with the clergie in ordering ecclesiasticall affairs ; that by their wisdom and care peace might be setled in the church ; for which cause , these seniors are called ecclesiastical men ; and yet they are distinguished from clergie men . they are mentioned again afterwards by maximus , saying , loquor nomine seniorum populi christiani . greg. mag. distinguisheth them also from the clergie : tabellarium cum consensu seniorum & cleri memineris ordinandum . these seniors had power to reprove offenders , otherwise why should augustine say , cùm ob errorem aliquem à senioribus arguuntur , & imputatur alicui cur aebrius fuerit , cur res alienas pervaserit , &c. when they were by the elders reproved for their errours , and drunkenness is laid to a mans charge , &c. so that it was proper to the seniors to have the cognizance of delinqents , and to reprove them . the same augustine in psal. 36. necesse nos fuerat primiani causam , quem , &c. seniorum literis ejusdem ecclesiae po●tulantibus audire . being requested by letters from the seniors of that church , it was needful for me to hear the cause of primian , &c. so again , optatus , who mentioning a persecution that did for a while scatter the church , saith , erant ecclesiae ex auro & argento quàm plurima ornamenta , quae nec defodere terrae , nec secum portare poterat , quare fidelibus senioribus commendavit albaspineus , that learned antiquary , on that place acknowledges , that besides the clergie there were certain of the elders of the people , men of approved life , that did tend the affairs of the church , of whom this place is to be understood . by all these testimonies it is apparent ; first , that in the ancient church there were some called seniors , secondly , that these seniors were not clergie men . thirdly , that they had a stroke in governing the church , and managing the affairs thereof fourthly , that seniors were distinguished from the rest of the people . neither would we desire to chuse any other iudges in this whole controversie ; then whom himself constituted ; forreign divines , taking the general suffrage and practice of the churches , and not of particular men . as for the learned spanhemius whom he produceth , though we give him the deserved honour of a worthy man : yet we think it too much to speak of him , as if the judgment of the whole church ●f geneva were incorporated into him , as this remonstrant doth . and for spanhemius himselfe , we may truly say , in the place cited , he dilivered a complement , rather then his judgement , which in dedicatorie epistles is not unusuall . we know that reverend calvins and learned beza have said as much upon occasion in their epistles , and yet the christian world knowes their judgement was to the contrary little reason therefore hath this remonstrant , to declaime against all such as speake against this government as unlawfull , with the termes of ignorance and spitefull sectaries , because they call the government unlawfull : had they proceeded further to call it antichristian , ( which he charges upon them ) they had said no more , then what our eares have heard some of their principall agents , their l●gat● à latere speake publikely in their visitations : that howeve● th● chu●ch of ●ngland be as sound , and orthodox in her doctrine as any church in the world yet in our discipline and government we are the same with the church of rome , which amounts to as much as to say the government is antichristian , unless they will say , the government of rome is not so , nor the pope antichrist . sect . xvi . now our remonstrant begins to leave his dispute for the office , and flowes into the large praises of the persons , and what is wanting in his arguments for the place , thinks to make up in his encomiasticks of the persons , that have possest that place in the church of god : and tells us , that the religious bishops of all times are and have been they that have strongly upheld the truth of god against satan and his antichrist . it is well he sets this crown only upon the heads of religious bishops , as knowing that there are and have been some irreligious ones , that have as strongly uph●ld satan and his antichrist against the truth of god. but the religious bishops are they that have all times upheld the truth . what ? they ? and onely they ? did never any uphold the truth , but a religious bishop ? did never any religious minister or professour preach , or write , or die , to uphold the truth , but a religious bishop ? if so , then there is some perswasive strength in that he saith ; and a credulous man might be induced to think , if bishops go down , truth will go down to● : but if we can produce for one bishop many others that have been valiant for the truth , this rhethoricall insinuation will contribute no great help to their establishment . nor indeed any at all ; unlesse he were able to make this good of our times , as well as of all others , which he assaies ; for saith he , even amongst our own how many of the reverend & learned fathers of the church now living , have spent their spirits , & worne out their lives in the powerfull opposition of that man of sin ? how many ? i sir , we would fain know how many : that there are some that have stood up to beare witnesse against that man of sin , we acknowledge with all due respect , to the learning and worth of their persons . but that their episcopall dignity hath added either any flame to their zeal , or any nerves to their ability , we cannot believe , nor can we think they would have done lesse in that cause , though they had beene no bishops . but what if this be true of some bishops in the kingdome , is it true of all ? are there not some that have spent their spirits in the opposition of christ , as others have in the opposition of antichrist ? and are there none bu zealous , religious prelates in the kingdom ? are there none upon whom the guilt of that may meritoriously be charged , which others have convincingly and meritoriously opposed ? and are there not some bishops in the kingdome , that are so far from opposing the man of sin , that even this remonstrant is in danger of suffering under the name of puritan for daring to call him by that name ? we doubt not but this remonstrant knowes there are . but if he will against the light of his own conscience , beare up a known errour out of private respects , ( we will not say these papers ) but his own conscience , shall one day be an evidence against him before the dreadfull tribunall of the almighty . but there is yet a second thing that should endeare episcopacie , and that is the careful , peaceable , painfull , conscionable mannaging of their charges ; to the great glory of god , and the comfort of his faithfull people . which ( in not seeming to urge ) he urgeth to the full and beyond . this care , conscience , paines of our bishops , is exercised and evidenced , either in their preaching , or in their ruling ; for their preaching , it is true , some few there are that labour in the word and doctrine ; whose persons in that respect we honour : but the most are so far from preaching , that they rather discountenance , discourage , oppose , blaspheme preaching . it was a non-preaching bishop , that said of a preaching bishop , he was a preaching coxcomb . as for the discharge of their office of ruling , their entrusting their chancellors , and other officers with their visitations , and courts ( as ordinarily they do , whiles themselves attend the court ) doth abundantly witnesse their care in it . the many and loud cries of the intolerable oppressions and tyrannies of their court-proceedings ; witnesse their peaceablenesse , their unjust fees , exactions , commutations ; witnesse their conscionablenesse in managing their charges , to the great glory of god , and the comfort of his faithfull people . and hence it is that so many at this day hear ill ; ( how deservedly , saith this remonstrant , god knows ; ) and do not your honours know , and doth not this remonstrant know ? and doth not all the nation ( that will know any thing ) know how deservedly some , nay , most , nay , all the bishops of this nation hear ill , were it but onely for the late canons and oath ? but why should the faults of some , diffuse the blame to all ? why ? by your owne argument , that would extend the deserts of some , to the patronage of all ; and if it be a fault in the impetuous and undistinguishing vulgar , so to involve all , as to make innocency it self a sin ; what is it in a man able to distinguish , by the same implication , to shrowd sinne under innocencie , the sin of many under the innocency of a few ? but have our bishops indeed beene so carefull , painfull , conscionable , in managing their charges ? how is it then that there are such manifold scandalls of the inferiour clergy presented to your honours view , which he cannot mention without a bleeding heart ; and yet could finde in his heart ( if he knew how ) to excuse them ? and though he confesse them to be the shame and misery of our church , yet is he not ashamed to plead their cause at your honours barre , onuphrius-like , that was the advocate of every bad cause ; and to excite you by constantines example ( in a differ●nt cause alledged ) if not to suffer those crimes , which himselfe calls hatefull , to passe unpunished , yet not to bring them to tha● open and publique punishment they have deserved . but what , if pious constantine ( in his tender care to prevent the divisions that the emulation of the bishops of that age , enraged with a spirit of envie and faction , were kindling in the church , le●t by that meanes the christian faith should be derided among the heathens ) did suppresse their mutuall accusations , many of whi●h might be but upon surmises ; and that ●ot in a court of iustice , b●t in an ecclesiasticall synode ; shall this be urged before the highest court of iustice upon earth , to the patronizing of n●toriou● scandall● , and hatefull en●rmities , that are already proved by evidence of cle●●e witnesse ? but ●o forbid it to tell it in ga●h , &c. what the sin ▪ ●as , that is done already ; do we not know , the drukennesse , profanenesse superstition , popishnesse of the english clergie rings at rome already ? yes undoubtedly ; and there is no way to vindicate the honour of our nation , ministery , parliaments , sovereigne , religion , god ; but by causing the punishment to ring as farre as the sin hath done ; that our adversaries that have triumphed in their sin , may be confounded at their punishments . do not your honours know , that the plaistring or palliating of these rotten members , will be a greater dishonour to the nation and church , then their cutting off ; and that the personall acts of these sonnes of belial , being connived at , become nationall sins ? but for this one fact of constantine , we humbly crave your honours leave to present to your wisdome three texts of scripture , ezek 44.12.13 . because they ministred unto them before their ●dol● , and caused the house of israel to fall into iniquity , therefore have i lift up my hand unto them , saith the lord , and they shall beare their iniquity . and they shall not come neere unto me , to do the office of a priest unto me , nor to come neere unto any of mine holy things in the most holy place , &c. the second is ier●m . 48.10 . cursed be he that doth the work of the lord negligently : and the third is , iudges 6.31 . he that will plead for baal , let him be put to death while it is yet morning . we have no more to say in this ; whether it be best to walk after the president of man , or the prescript of god , your hunours can easily judge . sect . xvii . but stay , saith this remonstrant ; and indeed he might well have stayed and spared the labour of his ensuing discourse , about the church of england , the prelaticall and the antiprelaticall church : but these episcopall men deale as the papists that dazle the eyes , and astonish the senses of poor people , with the glorious name of the church , the church ; the holy mother the church . this is the gorgons head , as doctor * white saith , that hath inchanted them , & held them in bondage to the●r errors : all their speech is of the church , the church ; no mention of the scriptures , of god the father ; but all of the mother the church . much like as they write of certain aethiopians , that by reason they use no marriage , but promiscuously company together , the children only follow the mother ; the father and his name is in no request , but the mother hath all the reputation . so is it with the author of this remonstrance , he stiles himself , a dutifull son of the church . and it hath beene a custome of late times to cry up the holy mother the church of england , to call for absolute obedience to holy church ; full conformity to the orders of holy church ; neglecting in the meane time god the father , and the holy scripture . but if we should now demand of them , what they meane by the church of england ? this author seemes to be thunder-stricken at this question ; and calls the very question , a new divinity ; where he deales like such as holding great revenues by unjust titles , will not suffer their titles to be called in question . for it is apparent , ac si solaribus radiis descriptum esset ( to use tertullians phrase ) that the word church is an equivocall word , and hath as many severall acceptions as letters ; and that dolus latet in universalibus . and that by the church of england ; first by some of these men is meant onely the bishops ; or rather the two archbishops ; or more properly the archbishop of canterbury : just as the iesuited papists resolve the church and all the glorious titles of it into the pope ; so do these into the archbishop , or at fullest , they understand it of the bishops and their party met in convocation ; as the more ingenuous of the papists make the pope and his cardinals to be their church : thus excluding all the christian people and presbyters of the kingdome ; as not worthy to be reckoned in the number of the church . and which is more strange , this author in his simplicity ( as he truly saith ) never heard , nor thought of any more churches of england then one ; and what then shall become of his diocesan churches , and diocesan bishops ? and what shall we think of england , when it was an heptarchy ? had it not then seven churches , when seven kings ? or if the bounds of a kingdome must constitute the limits and bounds of a church , why are not ●ngland , scotland , and ireland , all one church ? when they are happily united under one gracious monarch , into one kingdom ? we read in scripture , of the churches of iudea , and the churches of galatia : and why not the churches of england ? not that we denie the cons●ciati●n or combination of churches into a provinciall or nationall synod for the right ordering of them . but that there should be no church in england , but a nationall church : this is that which th●s ●mb●r ●o his simplicity affirmes , of which the very rehearsall is a 〈◊〉 sect . xviii . there are yet two things with which this remonstrance shuts up it self , which must not be past without our obelisks . first , he scoffs at the antiprelatical church , and the antiprelatical divisions ; for our parts , we acknowledge no antiprelatical church . but there are a company of men in the kingdom , of no mean rank or quality , for piety , nobility , learning , that stand up to bear witness against the hierarchie ( as it now stands : ) their usurpations over gods church and ministers , their cruel using of gods people by their tyrannical government : this we acknowledge ; and if he call these the antiprelatical church , we doubt not but your honours will consider , that there are many thousands in this kingdom , and those pious and worthy persons , that thus do , and upon most just cause . it was a speech of erasmus of luther , vt quisque vir est optimus , it is illius scriptis minimè offendi ; the better any man was , the less offence he took at luthers writings : but we may say the contrary of the prelates , ut quisque vir est optimus , it à illorum factis magis offendi ; the better any man is , the more he is offended at their dealings . and all that can be objected against this party , will be like that in tertullian . bonus vir cajus sejus , sed malus tantùm , quia antiprelaticus . but he upbraids us with our divisions & subdivisions , so do the papists upbraid the protestants with their lutheranisme , calvinisme , and zuinglianisme . and this is that the heathens objected to the christians , their fractures were so many , they knew not which religion to chuse if they should turn christians : and can it be expected that the church in any age should be free from divisions , when the times of the apostles were not free ? and the apostle tells us , it must needs be that there be divisions : in greg. naz. dayes there were 600 errours in the church ; do these any wayes derogate from the truth and worth of christian religion ? but as for the divisions of the antiprelatical party , so odiously exaggerated by this remonstrant : let us assure your honours , they have been much fomented by the prelates , whose practice hath been according to that rule of machiavil : divide & impera , and they have made these divisions , & afterwards complain'd of that which their tyranny and policy hath made . it is no wonder , considering the paths our prelates have trod , that there are divisions in the nation . the wonder is our divisions are no more , no greater ; and we doubt not but if they were of that gracious ▪ spirit , and so intirely affected to the peace of the church as greg , naz. was , they would say as he did in the tumults of the people , mitte nos in mare , & non erit tempest as ; rather then they would hinder that sweet concordance , and conspiration of minde unto a government that shall be every way agreeable to the rule of gods word , and profitable for the edification and flourishing of the church , a second thing we cannot but take notice of , is the pains this author takes to advance his prelaticall church : and forgetting what he had said in the beginning : that this party was so numerous , it could not be summed ; tells us now , these severall thousands are punctually calculated . but we doubt not but your honours will consider that there may be multi homines , & pauci viri ; and that there are more against them then for them . and whereas they pretend , that they differ from us onely in a ceremony or an organ-pipe , ( which however is no contemptible difference ) yet it will appeare that our differences are in point of a superiour alloy . though this remonstrant braves it in his multiplied queries what are the bounds of this church ? what the distinction of the prefessours and religion ? what grounds of faith ? what new creed do they hold differenc from their neighbours ? what scriptures ? what baptisme ? what meanes of salvation other then the rest ? yet if he pleased he might have silenced his owne queries : but if he will needs put us to the answer , we will resolve them one by one . first , if he ask what are the bounds of this church ? we answer him out of the sixt of their late founded canons : where we finde the limits of this prelatical church extend as farre as from the high & lofty promontory of archbishops , to the ●erra incognita of an , &c. if what distinction of professors and religion ; we answer , their worshipping towards the east , and bowing towards the altar prostrating themselves in their approches into churches , placing all religion in outward formalities , are visible differences of these professours and their religion if what new creed they have , or what grounds of faith differing from their neighbours ? we answer , episcopacy by divine right is the first article of their creed , absolute and blinde obedience to all the commandements of the church ( that is , the bishop and his emissaries ) election upon faith foreseen , the influence of works into iustification , ●alling from grace , &c. if what scripture ? we answer , the apocrypha and unwritten traditions . if what baptism ? a baptism of absolute necessity unto salvation ; and yet unsufficient unto salvation : as not sealing grace to the taking away of sinne after baptisme . if what ●u●harist ? an eucharist that must be administred upon an altar or a table set altar-wise , railed in an eucharist , in which there is such a presence of ●hrist , ( though modum nesciunt ) as makes the place of its administration the throne of god , the place of the residence ●f the almighty ; and impresseth such a holinesse upon it as makes it not only capable , but worthy of adoration . if what christ ? a christ who hath given the same power of absolution to a priest that himselfe hath . if what heaven ? a heaven that hath a broad way leading thither , and is receptive of drunkards , swearers , adulterers , &c. such a heaven as we may say of it , as the indians said of the heaven of the spaniards : unto that heaven which some of the prelaticall church living and dying in their scandalous sinnes , and hatefull enormities go to , let our soules never enter . if what meanes of salvation ? we answer , confession of sinnes to a priest , as the most absolute , undoubted , necessary , infallible meanes of salvation . farre be it from us to say with this remonstrant , we do fully agree in all these and all other doctrinall , and practicall points of religion , and preach one and the same saving truths . nay , we must rather say as that holy martyr did , we thank god we are none of you . nor do we because of this dissension feare the censure of uncharitableness from any but uncharitable men . but it is no unusuall thing with the prelates and their party , to charge such as protest against their corrupt opinions and wayes , with uncharitablenesse and schisme , as the papists do the protestants : and as the protestants do justly recriminate , and charge that schisme upon the papists , which they object to us ; so may we upon the prelates : and if austin may be judge , the prelates are more schismaticks then we . quicunque ( saith he ) invident bonis , ut quaerant occasiones excludendi eos , aut degradandi , vel crimina sua sic defendere parati sunt ( si objecta vel prodita fuerint ) ut etiam conventiculorum congregationes vel ecclesiae perturbationes cogitent excitare , jam schismatici sunt . whosoever envie those that are good , and seeke occasions to exclude and degrade them , and are so ready to defend their faults , that rather then they will leave them , they will devise how to raise up troubles in the church , and drive men into conventicles and corners , they are the schismaticks . and that all the world may take notice what just cause we have to complain of episcopacie , as it now stands , we humbly crave leave to propound these queries . queries about episcopacie , whether it be tolerable in a christian church , that lord bishops should be held to be iure divino ; and yet the lords day by the some men to be but iure humano ? and that the same persons should cry up altars in stead of communion-tables , and priests in stead of ministers , and yet not iudaize , when they will not suffer the lords day to be called the sabbath-day , for feare of iudaizing ? whereas the word sabbath is a generall word , signifying a day of rest , which is common as well to the christian sabbath , as to the jewish sabbath , and was also used by the ancients , ruffinus in psal. 47. orig●n . hom. 23. in num. gregory nazian . whether that assertion , no bishop , no king ; and no ceremonie , no bishop ; be not very prejudiciall to kingly authority ? for it seemes to imply , that the civill power depends upon the spiritual , and is supported by ceremonies and bishops . whether seeing it hath been proved , that bishops ( as they are novv asserted ) are a meere humane ordinance , it may not by the same authority be abrogated , by vvhich it vvas first established ; especially , considering the long experience of the hurt they have done to church and state ? whether the advancing of episcopacie into ius divinum , doth not make it a thing simply unlavvfull to submit to that government ? because that many consciencious men that have hitherto conformed to ceremonies and episcopacy , have done it upon this ground , as supposing that authority did not make them matters of vvorship , but of order and decencie , &c. and thus they satisfied their consciences in ansvvering those texts , colos. 2.20 , 21 , 22. matth. 15.9 . but novv since episcopacy comes to be challenged as a divine ordinance , hovv shall vve be responsible to those texts ? and is it not , as it is novv asserted , become an idoll , and like the brazen serpent to be ground to povvder ? whether there be any difference in the point of episcopacy betweene ius divinum and ius apostolicum ? because we finde some claiming their standing by ius divinum ; others by ius apostolicum . but we conceive that ius apostolicum properly taken , is all one with ius divinum . for ius apostolicum is such a ius , which is founded upon the acts and epistles of the apostles , written by them so as to be a perpetuall rule for the succeeding administration of the church , as this author saith , pag. 20. and this ius is ius divinum , as well as apostolicum . but if by ius apostolicum they mean improperly ( as some do ) such things which are not recorded in the writings of the apostles , but introduced , the apostles being living , 〈…〉 be rightly said to be iure apostolico , nor such things which the apostles did intend the churches should be bound unto . neither is episcopacie as it imports a superioritie of power over a pre●byter , no not in this sense iure apostolico , as hath beene already proved , and might further be manifested by divers testimonies , if need did require . we will only instance in cassander a man famous for his immoderate moderation in controverted points of religion , who in his consultat . articul . 14. hath this saying , an epis●opatus inter ordines ecclesiastic●s ponendus sit , inter theologos & canonistas non convenit ? convenit autem inter omnes , apostolorum aetate inter presbyterum & episcopum nullum discrimen fuisse , &c. wether the distinction of beza , between episcopus divinus hum●nu● , & diabolicus , be not worthy your honours consideration ? by the divine bishop , he meanes the bishop as he is taken in scripture , which is one and the same with a presbyter . by the humane bishop he meanes the bishop chosen by the presbyters to be president over them , and to rule with them by fixed lawes and canons . by the diabolical bishop , he means a bishop with sole power of ordination and jurisdiction , lording it over gods heritage , and governing by his owne will and authority . which puts us in minde of the painter that limned two pictures to the same proportion and figure ; the one he reserved in secret , the other he exposed to common view . and as the phansie of beholders led them to censure any line or proportion , as not done to the life , he mends it after direction : if any fault be found with the eye , hand , foot , &c. he corrects it , till at last the addition of every mans fancy had defaced the first figure , and made that which was the picture of a man , swell into a monster : then bringing forth this and his other picture which hee had reserved , he presented both to the people . and they abhorring the former , and applauding the latter , he cried , hunc populus fecit : this deformed one the people made : this lovely one i made . as the painter of his painting , so ( in beza's sense ) it may be said of bishops , god at first instituted bishops , such as are all one with presbyters ; and such are amiable , honourable in all the churches of god. but when men would be adding to gods institution , what power , preheminence , jurisdiction , lordliness their phansie suggested unto them , this divine bishop lost his original beauty , and became to be humanus . and in conclusion ( by these and other aditions swelling into a pope ) diabolicus . whether the ancient fathers , when they call peter marke , iames , timothy , and titus bishops , did not speak according to the language of the times wherein they lived , rather then according to the true acception of the word bishop ? and whether it be not true which is here said i● this book , that they are called bishops of alexand●iae , ephes●s , hierus●lem , &c in a very improper sense , because they abode at those p●ac●s a longer time then at other places ? for su●e it is , if 〈…〉 and and i●mes apostles ( which are bishops ; over the whol● 〈◊〉 ) and the apostles made mark● , ●imothy and titus 〈…〉 , &c. it seemes to us that it would have been a great sin in them to limit themselves to one particular diocesse , and to ●eave that calling in which christ had placed them . whether presbyters in scripture are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and that it is an office , required at their hands , to rule and to govern , as hath bin proved in this book ; the bishops can without sin arrogate the exercise of this power to themselves alone , and why they may not with the same lawfulness , impropriate to themselves alone the key of doctrine ( which yet notwithstanding al would condemn ) as well as the key of discipline , seeing that the whole power of the keys is given to presbyters in scripture as well as to bishops ; as appears , mat. 16.19 . where the power of the keys is promised to peter , in the name of the rest of the apostles , and their successors ; & given to all the apostles , and their successors , mat. 18.19 . iohn . 20.23 . and that presbyters succeed the apostles , appears not onely , mat. 28.20 . but also , acts. 20.28 . where the apostle ready to leave the church of ephesus commends the care of ruling and feeding it to the elders of that church ▪ to this irenaeus witnesseth , lib 4 cap. 43.44 . this bishop iewell against harding , artic. 4. sect. 5 , 6. saith , that all pastors have equall power of binding and loosing with ●eter . whether since that bishops assume to themselves power temporall ( to be barons , and to sit in parliament , as judges , and in court of star-chamber , high commission , and other courts of justice ) and also power spirituall over ministers and people , to ordain , silence , suspend , deprive , excommunicate , &c. their spiritual power be not as dangerous ( though both be dangerous ) and as much to be opposed as their temporal ? 1 because the spiritual is over our consciences , the temporal , but over our purses . 2 because the spiritual have more influence into gods ordinances to defile them , then the temporal . 3 because spiritual judgements and evils are greater than other . 4 because the pope was antichrist , before he did assume any temporal power . 5 because the spiritual is more inward and lesse discerned : and therefore it concerns all those that have spiritual eyes , and desire to worsh●y god in spirit and truth , to consider , and endeavour to 〈…〉 spiritual usurpations as well as their temporal . whether a●rius be justly branded by epiphanius and austin for a here●●cke ( as some report ) sor affirming bishops , and presbyters to be of an equal power ? wee say , as some report , for the truth is , he is charged with heresie meerly and onely because he was an arrian . as for his opinian of the parity of a presbyter with a bishop ; this indeed is called by austin , proprium dogma aerii , the proper opinion of aerius . and by epiphanius it is called dogma suriosum & stolidum , a mad and foolish opinion , but not an heresie neither by the one nor the other . but let us suppose ( as is commonly thought ) that he was accounted an heretick for this opinion : yet notwithstanding , that this was but the private opinion of epiphanius , and borrowed out of him by austin and an opinion not to be allowed , appeares : first , because the same authors condemne aerius , as much for reprehending and censuring the mentioning of the dead in the publ●que prayers , and the performing of good works for the benefit of the dead . and also for the reprehending stata jejunia , and the keeping of the week before easter as a solemne fast , which if worthy of condemnation , would bring in most of the reformed churches into the censure of heresie . secondly , because not onely saint hierome , but austin himself , sedulius , primasius , chrysostome , theodoret , o●cumenius , theophilact ▪ were of the same opinion with aerius ( as michael medina observes in the council of trent , and hath writen , lib. 1. de sacr . hom . origine . ) and yet none of these deserving the name of fools , much lesse to be branded for hereticks . thirdly , because no councell did ever condemne this for heresie ; but on the contrary , concilium aquisgranens . sub ludovico ●io imp. 1. anno 816. hath approved it for true divinity out of the scriture , that bishops and presbyters are equal , bringing the same texts that aerius doth , and which epiphanius indeed undertakes to answer ; but how slightly let any indifferent reader judge . whether the great apostasie of the church of rome hath not been , in swerving from the discipline of christ , as well as from the doctrine ? for so it seems by that text , 2. thess. 2.4 . and also , revel . 18.7 and divers others . and if so , then it much concernes all those that desire the purity of the church , to consider , how neere the discipline of the church of england borders upon antichrist ; lest , while they endeavour to keep out antichrist from entring by the door of doctrine , they should suffer him secretly to creep in by the door of discipline , especially considering , what is here said in this booke , that by their own confession the discipline of the church of england is the same with the church of rome . whether episcopacie be not made a place of dignity , rather then duty , and desired onely for the great revenues of the place ? and whether , if the largenesse of their revenues were taken away , bishops would not decline the great burthen and charge of soules necessarily annexed to their places , as much as the ancient bishops did , who hid themselves , that they might not be made bishops and cut off their cares , rather then they would be made bishops : whereas now bishops cut off the eares of those that speak against their bishopricks ? how it comes to pass , that in england there is such increase of popery , superstition , arminianism , and prophaneness , more then in other reformed churches ? doth not the root of these disorders proceed from the bishops and their adherents , being forced to hold correspondencie with rome , to uphold their greatness , and their courts and canons , wherein they symbolize with rome ? and whether it be not to be feared , that they will rather consent to the bringing in of popery , for the upholding of their dignities , then part with their dignities for the upholding of religion ? why should england that is one of the chiefest kingdomes in europe , that separates from antichrist , maintain and defend a discipline different from all other reformed churches , which stand in the like separation ? and whether the continuance in this discipline will not at last bring us to communion with rome , from which we are separated , and to separation from the other reformed churches , unto which we are united ? whether it be fit that the name bishop , which in scripture is common to the presbyters with the bishops ( and not only in scripture , but also in antiquity for some hundreds of yeers ) should still be appropriated to bishops , and ingrossed by them , and not rather to be made common to all presbyters ; and the rather because ? first , we finde by woful experience , that the great equivocatithat lieth in the name bishop , hath been , and is at this day a great prop and pillar to uphold lordly prelacy ; for this is the great goliah , the master-piece , and indeed the onely argument with which they think to silence all opposers ; to wit , the antiquity of episcopacie , that it hath continued in the church of christ for 1500 yeers , &c. which argument is cited by this remonstrant ad nauseam usque & usque . now it is evident tha● this ●r●ument is a paralogism , depending upon the equivocation of the 〈◊〉 ●●shop . for bishops in the apostles time were the s●me with pre●byters in name and office , and so for a good wh●le after . an● when afterwards they came to be disting●●shed , the ●i●hops of th●●rimitive times differed as much from o●●s now , as rome anci●nt ●rom rome at this day , as hath been su●fi●ie●●ly decl●●ed in this book . and the best way to confute this ●rgumen● i●●y h●nging in a community of the name bishop to a presby●er a● w●ll 〈…〉 a ●●shop . secondly , becau●● we ●in●e 〈…〉 late innovators which have so much disturbed 〈…〉 p●r●ty of our church , did first begin w●●h the al●●ratio● 〈…〉 ; and by changing the word table into the word altar , and the word minister into the word priest , and the wo●d sacr●ment into the word ●acrifice , have endeavoured to bring in the popish mass. and the apost●e exhorts us , 2 tim. 1.13 . t● hold fast the form of sound words : and 1 tim. 6.20 . to avoid the prophane novelties of words . upon which text we will only mention what the rhemists have commented , which we conceive to be worthy consideration . ( nam instruunt nos non solùm docentes , s●d eti●m errantes . ) the church of god hath alwayes been as diligent to resist novelties of words , as her adversaries are busie to invent them , for which cause she will not have us communicate with them ▪ no● follow their fashions and phrase newl● invented , though in the nature of the words ●ometimes there be no harm . le● us keep our forefathers words , and we shall easily keep our old and true saith , that we had of the first christians ; let them say , amendment , a●sti●ence , the lords supper , the communion-table , elders , ministers , ●uper-inten●●nt , congregation , so be it , praise ye the lord , morning prayer , evening prayer , and the rest as they will ; let us avoid those novelties of words , according to the apostles prescript , and keep the old terms , ●enance , ●ast , priests , church , ●ishop , mas● , ma●●in , ●ven-song , the b. sacrament , altar , oblation , host , sacifice . hal●elujah , amen ; lent , palm-●unday , christmass , and the words will br●ng us to the faith of our first ●postles , and condemn th●●● new apostates , new faith and phrase . whether having proved that god never set such a government in hi● church as our episcopal government is , we may law●ul●● any l●●ger be subject unto it , be present at their courts , obe● th●ir inju●ctio●s , and especia●ly be instruments in publishing , and ex●c●ting their excommunications and abs●ustions ? ●nd ●hus we have given ( as we hope ) a sufficient answ●r , an● brief as the matter world permit , to t●e remon●●rant . with 〈◊〉 though we agree not in opinion touching episcopacie and liturgie ; yet we fully consent with him , to pray unto almighty god , who is great in power , and infinite in wisdom , to poure down upon the whole honourable assembly , the spirit of wisdom , and understanding , the spirit of counsel & might , the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the lord : that you may be able to discern betwixt things that differ , seperate between the precious and the vile , purely purge away our dross , and take away all our tin , root out every plant that is not of our heavenly fathers planting : that so you may raise up the foundations of many generations , and be called the repairers of breaches , and restorers of paths to dwell in . even so , amen . a poscript . though we might have added much light and beauty to our discourse , by inserting variety of histories upon several occasions given us in the remonstrance , the answer whereof we have undertaken ; especially where it speaks of the bounty and gracious munificence of religious princes toward the bishops , yet unwilling to break the threed of our discourse , and its connexion with the remonstrance by so large a digression , as the whole series of historie producible to our purpose , would extend unto : we have chosen rather to subjoyn by way of appendix , an historical narration of those bitter fruits , pride , rebellion , treason , unthankfulness , &c. which have issued from episcopacy , while it hath stood under the continued influences of sovereigne goodness . which narration would fill a volume , but we will bound our selves unto the stories of this kingdom , and that revolution of time which hath passed over us since the erection of the see of canterbury . and because in most things the beginning is observed to be a presage of that which follows , let their founder austin the monk come first to be considered . whom we may justly account to have been such to the english , as the arrian bishops were of old to the goths , and the jesuits now among the indians , who of pagans have made but arrians and papists . his ignorance in the gospel which he preached is seen in his idle & judaical consultations with the pope , about things clean and unclean ; his proud demeanour toward the british clergy , appears in his council called about no solid point of faith , but celebration of easter , where having troubled and threatened the churches of wales , and afterwards of scotland , about romish ceremonies , he is said in fine to have been the stirrer up of ethelbers , by means of the northumbrian king , to the slaughter of twelve hundred of those poor laborious monks of bangor . his successors busied in nothing but urging and instituting ceremonies , and maintaining precedency we pass over . till dunst●n , the sa●nted prelate , who of a frantick necromaacer , and suspected fornicatour , was shorn a monk , and afterwards made a bishop . his worthy deeds are noted by speed , to have been the cheating king eldred of the treasure committed to his keeping ; the prohibiting of marriage , to the increasing of all filthiness in the clergy o● those times ; as the long oration of king edgar in stow well testifies . in edward the confessors dayes , robert the norman no sooner archbishop of canterbury , but setting the king and earl godwine at variance for private revenge , broach't a civil war , till the archbishop was banisht . now william the conquerour had set up lankefrank bishop of canterbury , who to requite him , spent his faithful service to the pope gregory , in perswading the king to subject himself and his state to the papacy , as himself writes to the pope , suasi , sed non persuasi . the treason of anselm to rufus was notorious , who not content to withstand the king , obstinately in money-matters , made suit to fetch his pall or investiture of archiepiscopacy from rome , which the king denying as flat against his regal sovereignty , he went without his leave , and for his romish good service received great honour from the pope , by being seated at his right foot in a synod , with these words , includamus hunc in orbe nostro tanquam alterius orbis papam . whence perhaps it is that the see of canterbury hath affected a patriarchy in our dayes . this anselm also condemned the married clergy . henry the first reigning , the same anselm deprived those prelates that had been invested by the king , and all the kingdom is vext with one prelate , who the second time betakes himself to his old fortress at rome , till the king was fain to yield . which done , and the archbishop returned , spends the rest of his dayes in a long contention and unchristian jangling with york about primacie . which ended not so , but grew hot between york and london , as dean to canterbury , striving for the upper seat at dinner , till the king seeing their odious pride , put them both out of doors . to speak of ralph and thurstan , the next archbishops , pursuing the same quarrel , were tedious , as it was no small molestation to the king and kingdom , thurstan refusing to stand to the kings doom , and wins the day , or else the king must be accurs'd by the pope ; which further animates him to try the mastery with william next archbishop of canterbury , and no man can end it but their father the pope , for which they travel to rome . in the mean vvhile , marriage is sharply decreed against , speed 448. and the legate cremonensis , the declamour against matrimony taken with a strumpet the same night . in king stephens reign , the haughty bishops of canterbury and winchester bandy about precedency ; and to rome to end the duel . theobald goes to rome against the kings will ; interdicts the realm , and the king forc't to suffer it ; till refusing to crown eustace , the kings son , because the pope had so commanded , he flies again . becket's pride and out-ragious treasons are too manifest ; resigning the kings gift of his archbishoprick to receive it of the pope ; requiring the custody of rochester-castle , and the tower of london , as belonging to his seignorie . protects murthering priests from temporal sword ; standing stifly for the liberties and dignities of clerks , but little to chastise their vices , vvhich besides other erying sins , vvere above a hundred murthers since henry the seconds crowning , till that time : to maintain vvhich , most of the bishops conspire , till the terrour of the king made them shrink ; but becket obdures , denies that the king of englands courts have authority to judge him ▪ and thus was this noble king disquieted by an insolent traitour , in habit of a bishop , a great part of his reigne ; the land in uproar ; many excommunicate , and accursed ; france and england set to war , and the king himself curbed , and controlled ; and lastly , disciplin'd by the bishops and monks : first , vvith a bare-foot penance , that drevv blood from his feet , and lastly , with fourscore lashes on his anointed body vvith rods. in the same kings time it vvas that the archbishop of york striving to sit above canterbury , squats him down on his lap , vvhence vvith many a cuff he vvas throvvn dovvn . next the pride of w. longchamp , bishop of elie , was notorious , vvho vvould ride vvith a thousand horse ; and of a governour in the kings absence , became a tyrant ; for vvhich flying in womans apparel he vvas taken . to this succeeds contention betvveen canterbury and york , about carriage of their crosses , and rome appeal'd to : the bishop of durham buyes an earldom . no sooner another king , but hubert another archbishop to vex him , and lest that were not enough , made chancellour of england . and besides him , ieffery of york , who refusing to pay a subsidy within his precincts , and therefore all his temporalities seaz'd ; excommunicates the sheriff , beats the kings officers , and interdicts his whole province . hubert outbraves the king in christmass hous-keeping : hinders king iohn by his legantine power from recovering normandy after him stephen langton , set up by the pope in spite of the king , who opposing such an affront , falls under an interdict , with his whole land ; and at the suit of his archbishop to the pope , is depos'd by papal sentence ; his kingdom given to philip the french king , langtons friend ; and lastly , resignes and enfeuds his crown to the pope . after this tragical stephen , the fray which boniface the next archbishop but one had with the canons of saint bartholmews , is as pleasant ; the tearing of hoods and cowles , the miring of copes , the flying about of wax candles , and censors in the scuffle , cannot be imagined without mirth ; as his oathswere loud in this bickering , so his curses were as vehement in the contention with the bishop of winchester for a slight occasion . but now the bishops had turned their contesting into base and servile flatteries , to advance themselves on the ruine of the subjects . for peter de rupibus bishop of winchester persvvading the king to displace english officers , and substitute poictivines , and telling the lords to their faces , that there vvere no peeres in england , as in france , but that the king might do what he would , and by whom he would , became a firebrand to the civill wars that followed . in this time peckam archbishop of can. in a synod was tampering vvith the kings liberties , but being threatened desisted . but his successor winchelsey on occasion of subsidies demanded of the clergie , made ansvver , that having tvvo lords , one spirituall , the other temporall , he ought rather to obey the spirituall governour the pope , but that he vvould send to the pope to knovv his pleasure , and so persisted even to beggerie . the bishop of durham also cited by the king flies to rome . in the deposing of this king vvho more forvvard , then the bishop of hereford ? vvitnesse his sermon at oxford , my head , my head aketh , concluding that an aking and sick head of a king vvas to be taken off vvithout further physick . iohn the archbishop of canterbury , suspected to hinder the kings glorious victories in flanders , and france , by stopping the conveyance of monies committed to his charge , conspiring therein vvith vvish ●he pope . but not long after vvas constituted that fatall praemunire , vvhich vvas the first nipping of their courage , to seek aide at rome . and next to that , the wide wounds that wickleffe made in their sides . from which time they have been falling , and thenceforth all the smoak that they could vomit , was turned against the rising light of pure doctrine . yet could not their pride misse occasion to set other mischief on foot . for the citizens of london rising to apprehend a riotous fervant of the bishop of salisbury then lord treasurer , who with his fellowes stood on his guard in the bishops house , were by the bishop who maintained the riot of his servant , so complained of , that the king therewith seized on their liberties , and set a governour over the citie . and who knowes not , that thomas arundell archbishop of canterbury was a chief instrument and agent in deposing king richard , as his actions and sermon well declares . the like intended the abbot of westminster to henry the fourth , who for no other reason , but because he suspected that the king did not favour the wealth of the church , drew into a most horrible conspiracie the earles of kent , rutland , and salisbury , to kill the king in a turnament at oxford , who yet notwithstanding was a man that professed to leave the church in better state then he found it . for all this , soone after is richard scroop archbishop of york in the field against him , the chiefe attractor of the rebellious party . in these times thomas arundell a great persecutor of the gospel preached ▪ by wikclefs followers , dies a fearfull death , his tongue so swelling vvithin his mouth , that he must of necessity starve . his successor chickeley nothing milder diverts the king , that vvas looking too neerly into the superfluous revenues of the church , to a bloody warre . all the famous conquests vvhich henry the fifth had made in france , vvere lost by a civil dissension in england , vvhich sprung first from the haughty pride of beaufort bishop and cardinall of winchester , and the archbishop of york against the protector , speed 674. in the civill warres the archbishop sides with the earle of warwick , and march in kent , speed 682. edward the fourth , mountacute archbishop of york , one of the chiefe conspirators with warwick against edward the fourth , and afterwards his jaylor , being by warwicks treason committed to this bishop . in edward the fifths time , the archbishop of york was , though perhaps unwittingly ( yet by a certain fate of prelacie ) the unhappy instrument of pulling the young duke of york out of sanctuary , into his cruel uncles hands . things being setled in such a peace , as after the bloody brawls was to the afflicted realm howsoever acceptable , though not such as might be wished : morton bishop of ely , enticing the duke of buckingham to take the crown , which ruin'd him , opened the veins of the poor subjects to bleed afresh . the intolerable pride , extortion , bribery , luxury of wolsey archbishop of york who can be ignorant of ? selling dispensatitions by his power legantine for all offences , insulting over the dukes and peers , of whom some he brought to destruction by bloody policie , playing with state-affairs according to his humour , or benefit : causing tournay , got with the blood of many a good souldier , to be rendred at the french kings secret request to him , not without bribes ; with whom one while siding , another while with the emperour , he sold the honour and peace of england , at what rates he pleased ; and other crimes to be seen in the articles against him , holinshed . 912. and against all the bishops in general , 911 , which when the parliament sought to remedie , being most exc●ssive extortion in the ecclesiastical courts , the bishops cry out ; sacriledge , the church goes to ruine , as it did in bohemia , with the schisme of the hussites , ibid. after this , though the bishops ceased to be papists ; for they preached against the popes supremacie , to please the king , yet they ceased not to oppugne the gospel , causing tindals translation to be burnt , yea , they agreed to the suppressing of monasteries , leaving their revenues to the king , to make vvay for the six bloudy articles , which proceedings with all cruelty of inquisition are set down , holinsh. pag. 946. till they were repealed the second of edward the sixth , stopping in the mean while the cause of reformation well begun by the lord cromwel . and this mischief was wrought by steven gardiner , bishop of winchester . the six articles are set down in speed , pag. 792. the archbishop of saint andrews , his hindring of england , and scotlands union , for fear of reformation , speed 794. as for the dayes of king edward the sixth , we cannot but acknowledge to the glory of the rich mercy of god , that there was a great reformation of religion made even to admiration . and yet notwithstanding we do much dislike the humour of those , that cry up those dayes as a compleat pattern of reformation , and that endevour to reduce our religion to the first times of king edward , which we conceive were comparatively very imperfect , there being foure impediments which did much hinder that blessed work . the three rebellions . one in henry the eighths time , by the priests of lincoln and yorkeshire , for that reformation which cromwel had made . the other two in king edwards dayes . one in cornwal , the other in york●shire . the strife that arose suddenly amongst the peers , emulating one anothers honour , speed , pag. 837. the violent opposition of the popish bishops , which made martin bucer write to king edward in his book de regno christi , lib. 2 cap. 1. and say , your majesty doth see , that this restoring again the kingdom of christ , which we require , yea , which the salvation of us all requireth , may in no wise be expected to come from the bishops , seeing there be so few among them which do understand the power and proper offices of this kingdom ; and very many of them by all means ( which possibly they can and dare ) either oppose themselves against it , or defer and hinder . the deficiency of zeal and courage even in those bishops who afterwards proved martyrs , witness the sharp contention of ridley against hooper for the ceremonies . and the importunate suit of cranmer and ridley for toleration of the mass for the kings sister , which was rejected by the kings not only reasons , but tears ; whereby the young king shewed more zeal then his best bishops , 839. the inhumane butcheries , blood-sheddings , and cruelties of gardiner , bonner , and the rest of the bishops in queen maries dayes , are so fresh in every mans memory , as that we conceive it a thing altogether unnecessary to make mention of them . on●ly we fear lest the guilt of the blood then shed , should yet remain to be required at the hands of this nation , because it hath not publickly endeavoured to appease the wrath of god by a general and solemn humiliation for it . what the pract●ces of the prelates have been ever since , from the begininning of queene elizabeth to this present day , would fill a volume ( like ezekiels roll ) with lamentation , mourning , and wo to record . for it hath been their great designe to hinder all further reformation ; to bring in doctrines of popery , arminianisme , and libertinisme , to maintain , propagate and much encrease the burden of h●mane ceremonies : to keep out , and beat down the preaching of the word , to silence the faithfull preachers of it , to oppose and persecute the most zealous professours , and to turn all relig●on into a pompous out-side ; and to tread down the power of godliness . insomuch as it is come to an ordinary proverb , tha● when any thing is spoiled , we use to say , the bishop's foot hath been in it . and in this ( and much more which might be said ) fulfilling bishop 〈◊〉 prophecie , who when he saw that in king edwards reformation , there was a reservation of ceremonies and hierarchy , is credibly reported to have used these words : since they have begun to taste of our broath , it will not be long ere they will eat of our beef . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a52055-e240 * videbat enin● passim laborari mole & copiâ variorum in hoc genere commen●●tiorum ; novis editionibus ancipitem reddi corum delectū ; sed meliores etiam , id est veteres illos et probatos authores è studiosorum manibus excuti &c ▪ praefat. scriptorum theolog. henric . alting . * quaedam noxia victoria paenè mihi semper in disputationibus proveniebat cum christianis imperitis : august . contra manich. cap. 19. * mr. stephen marshall . mr. edm. calamy . dr. th. young. mr. matthew newcomen . dr. william spurstowe . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . eph. 4.15 . notes for div a52055-e1000 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . pag. 23. pag. ● pag. 2. pag. 3. pag. 6. pag. 2. pag. 7. untruths . remon . pag. 8. malmsbury lib. 4. hist. concil . trid. pag. 9. liturgie . pag. 10. a ad hoc ma●orum devoluta est ecclesia dei & sponsa christi , ut haereticorum exempla sectentur , & ad celebranda sacramenta coelestia , disciplinam , lux mutuetur de tenebris , & id faciant christiani quod antichristi faciunt . cypr. ep. 74. pag. 13. just. mar. apost . 2. tert. ap. ad . gen. c. 39. just. mar. apost . 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . concil . laod. can. 18. conc. carth. 3. can. 23. anno 397. conc. milev . 2. can. 12. an. 416. pag. 10. pag. 11. pag. 18. pag. 11. euseb. de vit . con. li. 4. cap. 18. pag. 11. pag. 12. pag. 12. pag. 13. d. corbet . m. nevel . pag. 13. pag. 13. abbot against church-forsakers . ob● ans. pag. 17. pag. 17. pag. 17. * pag. 2. a one of these sonnes of the church of england whose messenger this remonstrant is , was he who swore by the eternal god , he would be the death of those that did appeare to move against the grievances of episcopacy ; and if the rest of these millions mentioned pag , 2. whose thousands are so punctually calculated p. 41. be of his spirit , they are an army of very peaceable & right-affected men . pag. 7. evaristus . 100. dionysius . 260. some say 267. as p●l . virg. pag. 13 , 14. iohn maior l. 2. hist. de gest : scot. cap. 2. heylins geog. p. 55. gener. hist. of spain l. 22 pag. 9. pag. 18. pag. 18. * frustra co●saetudinem nobis opponunt , quasi consuetudo major sit veritate , aut nonid sit in spiritualibus sequendum , quod in melius fuerit à spiritu sancto revelation : cy●r ▪ ep. 73. b it is wel observed by gerhard , that a bishop phrasi apostolicâ , that is , the bishop that is the same with a presbyter , is of fifteen hundred years standing ; but a bishop phrasi pontificiâ , that is , a distinct order superiour to a presbyter , invested with sole power of ordination and iurisdiction , is but a novell invention . pag. 19. pag. 19. * what the establishment of episcopacy by the lawes is , and upon what grounded , the learned sir edward 〈◊〉 informes us , who reports , that in an act of parliament holden at c●●●ile in the 25. year of edw. 1. it is declared that the holy church of england was founded in the state of prelacy within the realm of england , by the king and his pregenitors , &c. for them to inform the people in the law of god , and to keep hospitality , and give almes , and do other works of charity . and the said kings in times past were wo●t to have their advice and counsel for the safe-guard of the realme , when they had need of such prelates and clerks so advanced . cook de jure regis ecclesiastico . but whether bishops have observed the orders of their first foundation , &c. pag. 19.20 . pag. 21. pag. 8. hierony . ep. ad evag. & ad ocea . iren. a●ver . ●aer . l. 4. c●p . 43.44 . hist. lib. 5. cap. 23. bellarm. de cleric . lib. 1. cap. 15. a presbyterie sicut episcopis , dispensatio mysteriorum dei commissa est : praesunt enim ecclesiae christi : in consecratione dominici corporis & sanguinis ▪ consortes sunt cum episcopis : & similiter in doctrina populorum & in officio praedicandi : ac solum propter auteritatem , summo sacerdoti clericorum ordinatio reservata est : concil . aquisgran . primum , can. 8. euangelium tribuit his qui praesunt ecclesiae mandatum docendi evangeli , remittendi peccata , administrandi sacramenta : praeterea jurisdictionem ; videlicet mandatum excommunicandi eos quorum notae sunt crimina , & resipiscentes rursum absolvendi : ac omnium consessione , etiam adversariorum liquet , hanc potestatem jure divino communem esse omnibus qui praesunt ecclesiae , sive pastores vocentur , sive presbyteri , sive episcopi . scriptum philip. melanch . in conventu smalcald . anno. 1540. a praecipuis illarum ecclesiarum doctoribus communi consensu comprobatū de potestate & jurisdictione episcoporum , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ierom. isa. 3. igna. epis. ad magnes . conc. ancyr . can. 18. pag. 20. tertul. * at ubi omnia loca circumplexa est ecclesia , conventicula constituta sunt : & caeperunt rectores : & caetera officia in ecclesiis sunt ordinata . caepit ali●t ordine & providentia gubernari ecclesia . ideo non per omnia conveniunt scripta apostoli ordinationi quae nune in ecclesia est , quia haec inter ipsa primordia scripta sunt . nam & timotheum à se presbytorium creatum episcopum vocat , &c. sed quia experuli● sequentes presbyteri indigni inveniri ad primatus tenendos , immutata est ratis , &c. hierom ad evag. ambros , ubi prius . grego , naz. orat. 28. pag. 21 , 22. greg. nazi . ubi priu● . pag. 22. pag. 23. pag. 23. * plebs ipsa maximè babet potesiatem vel eligend● . dignos sacerdotes , vel indignos vecusandi , qu●d & ipsum videmus de divina authoritate de scendere : ut sacerdos plebe praesente sub omnium oculis deligatu● , & dignus atque idoneus publico iudicio ac testimonio comprobetur . by priests the authour here understands bishops , as the whole series of the epistle shews . a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . athanas. epist. ad orthodoxos . idem ubi supra . cyprian , cornelius , athanasius and others . cypr. epist. 33. epist. 58. apud cypr. epist. 75. cum jure divino non sint diversi gradus episcopi & pastores : manifestum est ordinationem in suâ ecclesiâ factam ivre divino ratam esse . itaque cum episcopi ordinarii fiant hostes ecclesiae aut nolunt ordinationem impertire , ecclesia retinet jus suum . melanch . ubi supra , pag. concil . antios . can. 10. & aneyr. can. 13. concil . 4. cathag . can. 22. ibid. can. 3. hieronym . in epist. ad evag. chrysost. hom. ii. in i. ad tim. chrysost. upon the 1. tim , libro de septem ordinibus . concil . aquisgra . 1. can. 8. solum propter authoritatem clericorum ordinatio & consecratio reservata est summo sacerdoti ▪ bilson . spalat . franc. à sancta clara. cyp. epist. 6. & 28. concil . 4. carth●g . can. 23. vid ruff. hist. lib. 10. cap. 9. sozo . l. 2. c. 23. possiden . de vita . aug. c. 4. orig. ham. 11. in exo. pag. 97. decret . part . 2. can. 15. quae . 7. per totum & partes dist. 93. cap. 5 , 6. clem. alex. stromat . lib. 7. tertul. apol. advers . gent. ambros. epist. ad syagrium . aug. de verb. apost . ser. 19. * constat . iurisdictionem illam excommunicandi reos manifestorum criminum pertinere ad onnes pastores , hanc ad se solos tyrannicè transtulerunt , & ad questum contulerunt episcopi , melanc . ubi sup . b hieron . epist. ad heliodor . ep. ad demet. ambros. lib. 10. epist. 80. cypr. epist. 12. and this was the custome , saith cyprian in minoribus delictis . cypr. epist. 46. vide etiam cypr epist. 6. tertul. apol . adver . gent. cap. 59. origen . ham. 7. in iosh. cypr. epist. 55. cypr. epist 11. ad plebem . indecorū est laicum vicarium esse episcopi , & seculares in ecclesiâ judicare : in uno enim eodemque opere non decetdispar professio quod etiam in lege divina probibetur dicente mose , non arabis in bove & asino simul , concil . hispal . 2. cypr. epist 28. downham in the defence of his son cod. li. 4. tit. 20. l. 7. athan. apol. 2. apud ●naram . greg. deceet . lib. 3. tit. 2. cap. 8. quâ vos . decret . greg. lib. 5 tit. 4. cap. 24. chrysost : hom. 40. in . 8 ▪ tim recording ▪ this among those things that he did dolo modo ducere , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , sozo . 1.9 . nicep . 18. ●1 socra . 7.7 . lib. 14. c. 14 , soc. l. 7. c. 19. niceph. l. possidou● in vini august . a let the reader please to consult euseb. hist lib. 3 : cap. 33. according to some , after others cap. 37. and view the description , he there makes of an evangelist , and then judg of what we speak ▪ anno , aerae . christi receptae , 47. anno 48 anno 51 anno 53 anno 53 paraeus . capellus . heb. 13.23 . we finde not onely that timothy was with paul at rome , but a prisoner with him there . a anno 43 b anno 45 * anno 46 * anno 51 * anno 51 * anno 52 * anno 53 * anno 64 raynolds contra ha●t ●a : 6 : hoc erant tique & eteri astoli quod erat peus , pari usortio editi & noris & estatis , exordiab unie profi●itur , ut clesia umontur . euseb. lib. 7. cap. 29. pag. 22. pag. 23. pag. 2● . 37. h●n . s. cap. 1● . * the remonstrant here acknowledges the same of the k●ng , that frier simon a floren●ine did of the pope , who affirmed the degree of a bishop was de jure divino , but every particular bishop de jure pontificio . hist. con trid. pag. 28 , 29. pag. 29. ●spara● * 1 tim. 5.17 . 1 cor. 12.28 . rom. 12.8 . * vnde & synagoga , & pastea ecclesia seniores habuit , quorum sine consilio nihit agebatur in ecclesiâ . quod quâ negligentiâ obso●verit nescio , nisi forte doctorum desidi● , aut magis superbia , dum soli ●olunt aliquid videri . origen . lib. 3. contra celsum . epist. 137. lib. 3. cap. 1. aug. serm. 19. de verb. dom. august . in psal 38. conc. 2. pag. 32. pag. 33 pag. 33 doct. duck. pag. 34 pag. 35. we may rather think that they would have done more . remembring what martinus was wont to say to his friend sulpitius , nequaquam sibi in episcopatu eam virtutum gratiam suppetisse , quàm priùs se habuisse mominisset . sulpitius severus dial. 2. pag. 35. pag. 35. pag. 35. pag. 36. pag. 36. pag. ●7 . pag. ●● pag. 39. * in his preface to his book called , the way to the true church . s●linus . pag. 39. tertull. advers . gent. pag. 2. pag. 4● . pag. 41 pag. 41. pag. 42. h●nc populus ●ecit . e●i●han●●s saith he did , 〈…〉 sa●th in 〈…〉 accus●d 〈◊〉 , ●ecause he s●id tha● 〈…〉 d●d n●● 〈…〉 . and aust●n accused arrius , because he said , non licet orare , vel offc●re pro mortu●s oblationem . whitaker . respons . ad campian . rat . 10. hath these words : aerium epiphanius & augu●tinus in haereticis numerant , & praeter cos antiqui panci . e● si presbyterum e●iscapo aequare sit haereticum , nihil catholicum esse pot●st . cun. aerio hicronymus de pres●y●● is 〈◊〉 sensit illos enim jure divino episcopis aequales esse statuit . sozomen . hist. lib. 6. cap. 10. qu●st● 6. notes for div a52055-e29010 beda . holins● . speed. helinsh . out of capgrave-osborn , hig●en . edw cons. holsh . 191. will. conq. speed p. 442. will. ruf. hen. 1. holshim . 37. holinsh. 38. holinsh. 42 , 43. k. stephen . holinsh. 57 , 58 , 59. henry 3. speed 462. out of nubrigens . yet this mans life is lately printed in english , as a thing to be imitated . holinsh. 70. speed 469. holinsh 98. richard 1. page 129 , 130 , 132. 144. king iohn . speed 503. speed 509. hen. 3. stow 188. hol. 247. speed 529.530 . edward 1. holsh 280. holsh . 301 , holsh . 315 , edward 2. speed 574. edward 3. speed 586. holsh . 409 richardpunc ; holsh , 478. page 506. henry 4. page 514. speed 631. holsh . 529. henry 5. speed 638. henry 6. holsh . 596. page 620. edward 4. speed ●99 . edward 5. richard 3. henry 8. hol. 845.462 . speed 784. hol. 992 , speed 792. speed. statut. hen. 8. anno 35. cap. 5. edward 6. saints memorials, or, words fitly spoken, like apples of gold in pictures of silver being a collection of divine sentences / written and delivered by those late reverend and eminent ministers of the gospel, mr. edmund calamy, mr. joseph caryl, mr. ralph venning, mr. james janeway. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 1674 approx. 283 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 146 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a32052 wing c263 estc r13259 12097487 ocm 12097487 53997 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32052) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 53997) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 57:17) saints memorials, or, words fitly spoken, like apples of gold in pictures of silver being a collection of divine sentences / written and delivered by those late reverend and eminent ministers of the gospel, mr. edmund calamy, mr. joseph caryl, mr. ralph venning, mr. james janeway. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. caryl, joseph, 1602-1673. venning, ralph, 1621?-1674. janeway, james, 1636?-1674. [10], 261, [20] p. : ports. [s.n.], london : 1674. advertisements on p. [3-19] at end. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-01 john latta sampled and proofread 2004-01 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion saints memorials : or , words fitly spoken , like apples of gold in pictures of silver . being , a collection of divine sentences written and delivered by those late reverend and eminent ministers of the gospel , mr. edmund calamy , mr. joseph caryl , mr. ralph venning , mr. james janeway . heb. 11.4 . who being dead , yet speak . rev. 14.13 . blessed are the dead which die in the lord : they rest from their labours , and their works do follow them . london : printed in the year 1674. to all the saints beloved of god , and sanctified through our lord jesus christ , grace and peace be multiplied . the dispensations of god , though never so seemingly strange towards his people , have always been propitious and favourable : according to that of the apostle , he maketh all things work together for good to those that love him , and are called according to his purpose . how great love should we then have for them who love god , and are so beloved of him ! to the reader . my friends , many there are whose beginning is better than their latter end : but blessed are they who dye in the lord , who have an interest in the everlasting covenant , and in the sure mercies of david : though god may visit their iniquities with a rod , and their transgressions with stripes , yet he will never suffer his loving kindness to depart . who would then , depart from that god , who sticks so close to his ? if we leave him whither shall we go ? surely to broken cisterns that hold no water . oh then , as you love your pretious and immortal souls , endeavour close vnion and strict communion with him . as you are chosen by him , so let him be your choyce : since he first loved you , let it not be lost . he cast his eye upon us when we were in our blood , and no eye pittied us ; and he spread his skirt over us , and then was the time of love . ah then , if he loved us so unlovely , what estimation should we have of him , who is love it self ? consider what he hath done for you , in giving life , health , and above all , his beloved son to dye for you a most ignominious death , that you through him migh have everlasting life . that you may know how to value this transcendent love of god , weigh well the condition you were at that time in ; lamentably helpless , dead in trespasses and sins , without god , and without christ in the world , strangers to the commonwealth of israel and to the promises . this we were in the general : but what were we as to our best , our righteousness ? so bad , that nothing could be worse ; no better than menstruous cloaths and filthy rags . what humiliation , what lamentation doth our condition call for ! little reason to walk so haughtily as we do , and with the pharisee to say , stand farther off , i am holier than thou . for shame then , come with humble job in his prostrate state , abhor your selves , and repent in dust and ashes : or with the prophet cry out , wo is me , i am undone , a man of unclean lips ; mine eyes have seen the king , the lord of hosts : a dreadful sight undoubtedly , that should be so astonishing to one whom god honoured in making use of his blood for a testimony of his truth : how much more must it needs be to us , whose lives are so unclean , that there is no soundness in us ? what necessity is there then of finding out a way to look god in the face ? there is but one ; and blessed , and for ever blessed be his gratious name , for the revelation of it , and that is jesus christ , the onely mediator betwixt god and man. what had become of us , had he not interposed betwixt the wrath of an incensed majesty and sinful creatures ? vengeance had been speedily executed , and all that long-suffering and patience which is now exercised to us-ward had been prevented ; we should not have had line upon line , precept upon precept , here a little and there a little ; his faithful ministers instructing , exhorting , and dehorting , if hereby the torrent of his ire had not been stopt . how highly then ought we to prize this talent , and to let no day nor time of it pass without doing him some service , who hath been so benigne and merciful to us ! if men do kindnesses to ingenuous minds , what thoughtfulness is there of recompence , in so much that they declare it to all their friends , and enquire and advise what returns will best suit the nature of their received friendships : how much more should we with david declare what god hath done for us , and always walk in thankfulness towards him ? for this the grace of god teacheth us , to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts , and to live righteously and soberly in this present evil world : not to turn wanton libertines , saying , god is good and merciful , and hath sent his son to dye in our stead , nothing remaining for us to do , but like the children of the old world , to eat and to drink , and to rise up to play : this bespeaks men to be of that number of whom jude in his general epistle makes mention , ordained of old to this condemnation , denying the onely lord god and our lord jesus christ. how indeed can we more disown him , than by casting his laws behinde our backs , and saying as those wicked wretches did , we will not have this man to reign over us ; although he was lord of all , and told them his yoak was easie and his burthen light , and that his ways were ways of pleasantness , and his paths were peace . think not that these things were written for their instruction onely , but ours also , on whom the ends of the world are come . but lest i should burden you with too tedious an epistle , i will rather invite you to feed on those wholesome remains which you will finde collected from the writings of those eminent and renowned men prefixt in the title of this miscelany ; whose worth should i undertake to display , it would prove an eclipse , coming short of your estimations , and those choice and elaborate works which will eternize their memories to all gratious hearts . the best use we can make of their loss is , to study diligently what they once designed for our benefit , and to be provoked by their good conversation to emulation . i beseech you therefore let not their , nor my poor labours , in gathering these crums from their tables , be lost ; but that we may have cause to rejoyce in this , the testimony of our conscience , that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversations in the world ; as wisheth your fellow-servant in the kingdom of grace . mr. edmvnd calamy his exhortations to the service of the lord. such are the minds of most men , whom either the cares of this world hath distracted , or the false pleasures thereof deluded , that the meditations of heaven are far from them ; and they rarely think of those dangers that attend them , or what damage they are like to suffer by despising , or slighting those pretious opportunities that might lead to their salvation ; to whom our saviours saying , when speaking to martha , may be well applied : ye are troubled with many things , but one thing is necessary . oh that men would consider this vnum necessarium , that they might shun and forsake the immoderate trifles of a transitory world ; and that they would e're the time be far spent , find out those paths that will lead them to their souls rest : which lesson is taught them in the holy scriptures ; and not onely there , but by a heathen , who said , tempus est de illa perpetua iam , non de hac exigua vita cogitare . it is now high time , not to think of this life , but of life eternal . in this present world we can study how to provide for our temporal estates , contriving a settlement for our maintenance and preservation ; and shall we be so stupid as to neglect the eternal happiness of our souls in that other world , where there are pleasures for evermore ? to do which , we should begin betimes ; we should like wise builders lay a good foundation , and seek the lord while he may be found . we should day and night meditate upon the lord. we should love , honour , obey him , and devote our selves wholly to his service . and this our duty bindes us to , for these respects . for the excellence of his divine perfection . being defective not in any thing . he is perfect in knowledge . he is past finding out . be perfect , as your father which is in heaven is perfect . and although no heart can comprehend , or tongue fully can express this perfection , yet we may esteem it by his attributes , of some whereof take this following account . it appears how admirable it is , since no tongue can express it , nor any heart conceive it . the transcendencie of the god-head exceeds not onely the usual strength of eloquence , but of understanding likewise . he is absolute . he is all eye , and seeth all things . he is all ear , and heareth all things . he is all hand , and worketh all things . he is infinite . whither ( saith the psalmist ) shall i go from thy presence ? do not i fill heaven and earth , saith the lord ? he is immortal . i live for ever . he only hath immortality . solus deus est immortalis , quia non est per gratiam , sed per naturam . god alone is immortal , being so by nature , not by grace . he is eternal . without beginning . thou art god from everlasting . without end . thou art the same , and thy years shall not fail . he is called the ancient of days . he is immutable . god is not to be changed . 1. in his nature . thou shalt endure . i am the lord , i change not . every good and perfect gift cometh from the father of lights , with whom is no variableness , neither shadow of changing . 2. in his promises and decrees . the counsel of the lord shall stand . my counsel shall stand . god hath promised , who cannot lie . he is wise. nothing is hid from him . the lord knoweth the thoughts of man. his wisdom is infinite . loe thou knowest all things . o the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of god! he is holy. in him is no iniquity . who is like unto thee , o lord , glorious in holiness ? none holy as the lord. he is true. 1. in himself . whatsoever is in him is truth . it is life eternal to know thee the true god. let god be true , and every man a lyar. 2. in his works . righteous in all his works . 3. in his words . the words of the lord are pure . the truth of the lord endureth for ever . good. absolutely . without the help of any . 1. in himself . there is none good but god. 2. he is the author of all good to others . every good and perfect gift cometh from the father of lights . the earth is full of his goodness . he is glorious . ye shall see the glory of the lord. the sight of his glory was like consuming fire . the whole earth is full of his glory . his glory is above the heavens . he is powerful . i am the almighty god , saith the lord. in the creation of the world. in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth . the heavens are beautified with stars . the earth is spacious and splendid , plentifully stored with its fruits , beasts of the field , and fowls of the air. the sea abounds with variety of fish , for the use of man. and all were made of nothing , but by his word . 1. wherefore rejoyce in the lord , o ye righteous , for praise is comely for the upright . 2. praise the lord with harp : sing unto him with the psaltery , and an instrument of ten strings . 3. sing unto him a new song , play skilfully with a loud voice . 4. for the word of the lord is right : and all his works are done in truth . 5. he loveth righteousness and judgement : the earth is full of the goodness of the lord. 6. by the word of the lord were the heavens made : and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth . he gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap : he layeth up the depth in store-houses . 8. let all the earth fear the lord : let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him . divine sentences , collected from the vvorks of mr. edmvnd calamy , lately deceased . god requires we should mortifie our lufts : for prayer without that , is the service of a hypocrite . let not any one despair , and cry out i am undone ; but let him trust in god , and use his just endeavours : for any man may be happy if he please . sin is a christians greatest sore , and repentance his surest salve : who then would want the rare jewel of repentance , since if ye seek , ye shall find ? sin bringeth shame and sorrow ; and piety a portion of everlasting joys . miserable is that man , whose heart is too hard to pray . he that truly repents of his sin , shall never repent of his repentance ; for repentance is as the hammer of the heart , knocking at the gate of heaven ; and to him that knocketh , it shall be opened . let us cloath our selves with righteousness ; it is the safest armour against the darts of satan . if troubles or afflictions shall befall thee , say as a late reverend divine said , i will go , and bless god ; for i believe this will be for my good . there are two gospel-graces which require your special heed , ( viz. ) faith , and repentance : for though many go to hell by despair , more go thither by presumption . it was the saying of the learned sir thomas moore , i will never pin my faith upon the sleeve of another man , for he may carry it where i would be unwilling to follow . you must serve god for his sake , as well as heaven 's . a faithful servant of god may have an eye to the recompence of reward , as moses had ; but he must have but one eye , and that the left : for our chief and last aim must be at the glory of god. the true way of serving god , is to obey him as a servant , and honour him as a son. strive to be good in all concerns ; to be good subjects , good governours , good dealers , good husbands , good masters , and good neighbours : so will god love you and bless you , and the rest respect you . account sin the evil of evils , and rather embarce the greatest sorrow , than the least sin . if god hath bestowed graces on thee , communicate them to others in your convenient conversations : for true grace is of a spreading nature ; affectual grace will labour to convert others . there are but two roads that lead to heaven ; the one is called innocence , the other is repentance . if god hath conferr'd more gifts , either of grace or nature , upon thee , than upon another , thou must study to improve them : for as thou expectest more light from the sun than from a candle , so will god expect more duty in service than from a lesser light . for the better the wages is , the better should the service be . holy wisdom , mixt with honour , are like apples of gold in pictures of silver . to disobey god in a little , is no small disobedience : for no sin can be said to be little , since the least sin without repentance , and the mercie of god , is big enough to damn a man. a sword can but kill a mouse , and a bodkin may kill a man. humiliation , without reformation , will not shew a man the way to heaven . despise not the ministers of christ : for it is christ that is the word , and they are his ambassadors . to make you the more capable of serving god , be frequent in spirit . consider , the great god whom ye serve , alters not , neither must his servants . thou mayst safely serve the devil , if thou canst find out a corner that is secret from the all-seeing eye of god. to flatter thy self , is to cheat thy soul. labour first for the kingdom of heaven , and all other things shall be given . we say ( in temporal affairs ) delays are dangerous ; how much more dangerous in spiritual , when thy everlasting peace is concerned ? defer not your repentance till you are old : shall the devil have the flower of your age , and god the bran ? the spirit of prayer is more pretious than treasures of gold and silver . if thou art marryed , beware of cares and strifes ; let your cares be , which shall be most zealous in the service of god ; and your strifes be , which shall love the other best ; so will your cares and strifes be turned into a comfortable pleasure . if there be want of mutual affection between man and wife , and the one suffer vaxations and affronts for a time , yet do thy obedience to the lord , and thou shalt find comfort in the end . beware of immoderate cares , lest you dishonour or deny god : for such cares are , 1. needless . 2. bruitish . 3. bootless . 4. heathenish . 1. needless . what need we care , when , our heavenly father knoweth we have need of these things , and saith , be careful for nothing , but cast our cares on him , for he careth for us . 2. bruitish . consider the fowls of the air , and ravens that he feeds , they toyl not . 3. bootless , and in vain . which of you , by taking thought , can add one cubit to his stature , or penny to his estate ? take no thought for the morrow , for that will take thought for it self . 4. heathenish . for after all these things the gentiles seek . as the waves of the sea are troublesome and unfixt , so are the thoughts and actions of a wicked man. if thou risest from a low estate to a great one , it is but like stepping from a boat or barge , into a ship ; thy dangers continue , for thou art still upon the sea. the way to be either lov'd , or envy'd , is to serve god betimes ; so shall god and good men love thee , and wicked men envy thy glories . if thou art afflicted , remember afflictions are gods potions , which thou mayst sweeten by faith and prayer : but take heed of impatience and unbelief , for those two ingredients will make them bitter as gall. to be a servant to sin , is to be a shameful and an unfruitful slave . but in the service of god , is perfect freedom . blessed are those that receive the word of god into their hearts , as well as into their ears . for formal service is but an outward shew of devotion , and only an act of dissembling with him that will not be mocked . the name of christianity , without a real practice , is but an empty title , and a dead faith. it can be but a small satisfaction to a christian , to seem to go to heaven . but to go neer heaven , and at last miscarry , is as fatal as a double hell. be merciful and charitable , as well as pious : as you freely receive , freely give . if thou art rich , be pious too ; if both , be rich in good works . god doth not delight in the niggardly christian. beware of apostacie , the craft of which sin , is to deprave your judgments from the truths of christ , your affections from your love to christ , and your conversations from a zealous walking with christ. meditate frequently on the four last things ; heaven , hell , death , judgment . the meditation of heaven will be so inviting to you , that your mind will more and more affect it . the meditation of hell , will teach you to abhor the place and the torments of the damned . the meditation of death , will direct you in your preparations for death . the meditation of judgment , will draw you neerer to god and teach you to avoid sin . nothing separates god and man , but sin ; and the only way to remove that wall of separation is , by a true and hearty repentance and reformation . sin not only makes a difference betwixt god and man , but betwixt nation and nation , and sets the whole world at variance . repentance carrieth with it a divine rhetorick , and perswades christ to forgive multitudes of sins committed against himself . it is the only glorious star , that leads us to the everlasting son. it is impossible to dive into the secrets of almighty god ; no man hath a key to his closet , nor knows the length of his patience : the old world had one hundred and twenty years ; ierusalem's destruction forty years ; nineveh had but forty days ; and lot had but one nights warning for the destruction of sodom . some there are , and not a few , that abuse the mercies bestowed upon them , that may justly be compared to dung-hills , that the oftener they receive the sun-shine of blessings , the more apt they are to be corrupted . many there are that enjoy health , wealth , and honour ; yet attribute all to their good fortunes , and forget to thank that bountiful hand that bestows them . like swine , they drink of the waters of canaan , and look not up to the fountain from whence they flow . but he that regardeth not those mercies he receives , mindeth not his own interest , and despiseth his best friends . a meadow affords no pleasure to a swine , but the mire doth : even so , an ungodly man , that only pretends to christianity , is as a fish upon the shore , that lives a while , but with no delight , because out of its own element . afflictions and miseries happen by gods permitment , and whom he loveth he chastiseth : those griefs are for the good of them that love god ; therefore beware of sin , that makes your sorrows bitter , and minde not the rod so much , as him from whom the rod comes , lest that teach you both to fret and faint . as sheep make every place the better where they come , and goats make every place the worse ; so is it with a saint , and with a sinner ; the first bringeth sweetness along with him , and the other leaves a stink behind him . win what thou canst by prayer , with comfort thou shalt enjoy the purchase . instructions for the keeping of the sabbath . make the lords day the market-day for thy soul ; let the whole day be spent in prayer , repetitions , or meditations ; lay aside the affairs of the other part of the week ; let the sermon thou hast heard , be converted into prayer : shall god allow thee six days , and wilt not thou afford him one ? observations for the week-days . 1. when thou risest in the morning , consider , thou must dye . 2. thou mayst dye that minute . 3. what will become of thy soul ? pray often . at night , consider what sins thou hast committed . 2. how often thou hast prayed . 3. what hath thy mind been bent upon ? 4. what hath been thy dealing ? 5. thy conversation ? 6. if thou callest to mind thy errours of the day , sleep not without a confession to god , and a hope of pardon . thus every morning and evening make up thy accounts with almighty god , and thy reckoning will be the less at last . say not with thy self , to morrow i will repent : for it is thy duty to to do it dayly . and if thou dost delay repentance , satan hath an opportunity to incroach , and will bring thee to make it a custom , which is hard to break . repent , and seek the lord betime , lest thou too suddenly art accosted with shame and death . the sinner is always grinding at the devils mill ; and the devil is no less busie in supplying the hopper , lest his mill should stand still . a piece of dry bread , with water ; a good conscience and devout thoughts , is a noble feast . as the potter fashioneth the clay , so doth the lord dispose of man , as liketh him best ; wherefore fear thou the lord. wo unto him that striveth with his maker : shall the clay say to him who fashioneth it , what makest thou ? be diligent to observe the commandments of god , for he is a master cannot erre , and what he willeth must be done . if thou art great , be likewise good ; for as if you were a looking-glass , others dress themselves by looking upon you . god is the fountain of felicity ; converse with him , and you shall be filled with joy. the first that named gods name in scripture , was the devil , and he likewise confess'd our saviour to be the son of god ; however , he was the devil notwithstanding that . if you will not follow the example of your saviours life , you will merit nothing by his death . god will not be perswaded to save us , if we will not be perswaded to serve him . be careful to frequent the church ; for publike worship is the pillar of religion , and a devout service of almighty god. in the church be careful to serve god , for you are before the eyes of god and man. it is not only a scandal to man , but a defiance to the deity , to be careless of our duties in the congregation of those that come to seek his face . a congregation zealous at the worship of god on earth , is an exact picture of the saints with god in heaven . laugh not in the church , lest it be suspected thou art tickled by the devil . well may he be punished that misbehaves himself in the church , when the devils misbehaviour cast him out of heaven . if thou art poor , neither wonder , nor despair : god will pay them that serve him ; and the less wages thou receivest now , the more thou shalt have hereafter . you have a crown set before you , which crown he that wins , may wear it , and that is mercie . it is dangerous to be rich ; for riches tempt men to be covetous , and to delight in gold besides : riches have wings , and flie away , by loss at sea or land ; by fire , or some other accidents , which lead men to discontentments , and finally to despair . if a wicked man be never so rich , his whole estate cannot ransome him for eternal torments : for god is no esteemer of riches . a poor mans morsel with content and grace , is better than the dainties of a dives . many there are , that to improve their own estates , care not how many families they undo ; so true is that of the holy writ , they that will be rich fall into temptations . and how much to be admired is the vanity of those that delight in riches ? for when the covetous man dyes , he can carry nothing with him ; but while living , hazards his soul to heap up riches , and knoweth not who shall enjoy them . what are the honours and riches of this world , when compared to the glories of a crown of life ? what can be a more certain token of a reprobate , than to receive large wages in this world , and yet do little or no service for it ? there are a sort of men , that may be truly called time-servers , whose religion is like wax , to be moulded to any fashion . discretion teacheth us to observe those times that are lawful and necessary , especially in reference to the performance of our duties to almighty god ; but it is an horrid piece of impiety , to serve the times , and neglect god. think not thy self good , because thou seest another worse ; but endeavour to mend him , and make thy self better . imagine not thy life to be good , because thy heart is honest ; but strive to run , that thou mayst win the race . to avoyd hypocrisie is good , and likewise to shun the sin of profanation ; but to be active in the service of god is better . an outward shew of goodness is good , for example-sake to others ; but an inward holy zeal is better . do not conclude thy self good , because thou art so sometimes : 't is a habit of holiness , a garment of righteousness , that makes a saint . god doth take notice of our steps , but will judge us by our wayes . thou art not good because thou dost believe ; the devils do believe , and tremble : but a good belief , a good conversation , acts of piety and charity , are the ingredients of a good man. to what end should a man fancy himself a saint , when his heart lies open to the eyes of the lord ? he may be gods reprobate , though his own elect. if thou hast sinned , and dost repent , do not conclude that thou art well , and mayst return to thy former vomit : for justice when offended , will be severe against those that abuse a mercie . thou mayst hear sermons often , and do well in practising what thou hearest ; but thou must not expect to be told thee in a pulpit all that thou oughtest to do , but be studious in searching the scriptures , and reading good books ; what thou hearest may be forgotten , but what thou readest may better be retained . take heed of giving thy self the liberty of committing one sin ; for that will lead thee to another , till by an ill custom it becometh natural . that disease is desperate , which to keep is death , and to part with is impossible . to begin an evil is of ill consequence , it teacheth one to shake hands with shame ; but to continue in it , hardens the heart , and leads it till it be past grace . to begin a sin , is to lay a foundation for a continuance ; this continuance is the mother of custom , and impudence at last the issue . fly evil society as an infectious plague : for ill company is the corruption of good manners . take heed of those doctrines that oppose the magistracie or ministry , and endeavour to promote prophane liberty , and cast down good works , by crying up of free grace . in nature 't is an observable maxime , the masters commands must be obeyed according to his own will ; shall we not then be as obedient to our spiritual master , as our temporal one ? god forbid . if we intend to serve god , he expects we should serve no other god. our god is a living god , and loves not dull and drowsie saints : we must not only serve him in this life , but we must have life in our service . hast thou sinned ? repent : behold , the lord holds a bottle for thy tears . call no sin little , it will require a great stock of penitence : take heed of purchasing a sin , till thou knowest the price . prayers and tears are the sinners best embassadors to the throne of grace . to sin is the frailty of the nature of man ; but to glory in sin , is bruitish , like the swine that understands not that clean pasture is better than a ditch . make not religion a cloak ; 't is diabolical to honour god with our lips , and dishonour him in our lives . such are the paths of those that forget god , and the hypocrites hope shall perish . it is in vain to dissemble with god : for the hearts of all men are in his hands , and the hypocrite shall not come before him . and what comfort is there in hypocrisie , when we consider , that , the triumphing of the wicked is short ; and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment . and where is the hope of the hypocrite , though he hath gained , when god taketh away his soul ? in humane affairs , reservedness is wisdome ; but dissimulation is in all things hateful . to be lip-holy and heart-hollow , is a brief character of a hypocrite . a false friend is to be abhorr'd above a mortal enemy . this is the fate of an hypocrite , when once known , he will not be believed when he speaketh truth . if hell hath one place hotter than another , it is called locus hypocritarum , the place of hypocrites . the malitious man dissembleth with his lips , and harbours deceit within him . when thou givest alms , sound not a trumpet as the hypocrites do ; their folly is their reward . and beware of the leaven of the pharisees , which is hypocrisie . no serpent hath more poyson than sin ; it is a thief in the house , and a sword in the heart of a nation . god and mercie will not stay where sin is the obstinate governour . to fast till we are anatomies , to pray till our knees are fixed to the ground , is nothing , if we do not fast from sin . erroneous times may unsettle truth , but the conscience of a good man is firm . the cap and the knee are but outward ceremonies , but he that avoids iniquity is the best christian . the wages of sin is death , but to mortifie sin is eternal life . gods care is concerned in sparrows ; how much more in the least concerns of his children ? forsake not the publike worship of god , lest god forsake thee , not onely in publike , but in private . in your repentance , remember church-sins , sermon-sins , sacrament-sins , lest the church give you up to satan for your sins . let not whoremongers and adulterers boast ; for those sinners god will judge . the usurer is stuft with earth in this world : he hath the grave for his landlord , but no god for his father . the fashions of other nations have made us slaves to them , but our pride may expect a greater doom . love not the world , for it 's a moth in a christians life . nothing is more prejudicial to a christian , then a carnal love . when you rise , or when you go to bed , let your meditation be , what shall become of your soul this minute . is your heart devoted unto christ , live to him , and you shall live with him . for know , god is a guest that requires the upper rooms , that is , the head and the heart . and it is the pleasure of a devout man to promote the interest of almighty god. he that will be false to god , can never be true to man. it is good to be of a true religion , but it is ill not to be true in that religion . if god be against you , who then can take your part ? will god that made you , save you , if you will not serve him ? consider , it was christ that dyed for you , it is he that either saves or condemns you ; flatter not your self with a vain conceit : can man be more merciful than god ? the epicure that delighteth in the variety of dainties of this world , little thinketh that those very creatures will one day witness against him . the gallant that glories in the pride of his habit , will likewise be tried by his garments . the heaps of treasure which the worldling hoardeth up , will be an evidence against him . time will be , when time shall call the drunkard to account for his waste of time . fornicators and adulterers will at last with sorrow remember the date of their former sins . the consequences of a sinners life will appear against him , charging him with the ruine of wife and children , disquieting of neighbours , and impoverishing of other families . it is better to be a lazarus in poverty , and to want the relief of this world , than to be richly habited , to fare deliciously , and hereafter to want a drop of water to quench the flames of an incensed mercie . the way to live in heaven , is to live heavenly upon earth . do not pretend to believe more than you do believe , and live according to that belief . if you would be wholly god's give him your heart , and live wholly to him . better it is to serve god than man : purity is better than impurity : feasting is noysome , because it makes you sick . why do ye wallow in the mire ? because ye have the natures of swine . the lord hath made the world and us , that we in it may serve him ; and that is the duty of man. the sinner will be accused not onely by his own conscience , but his familiar companions . grieve not the spirit now , lest it grieve you hereafter . your intentions to repentance , and the neglect of that soul-saving duty , will rise up in judgment against you . the righteous and the wicked will be tried by their consciences , and that will discover the whole truth . study that lesson which the apostle paul hath set before you , to have always a conscience void of offence towards god and towards man. the powers that are , are of god , therefore be subject for conscience sake . let your rejoycing be in the testimony of a good conscience . put on charity out of a pure heart , a good conscience , and of faith unfeigned . justice hath leaden feet , but iron hands ; and it is but just , that they that encourage one another to sin , should at last condemn each other . it will be but cold comfort at the great tribunal , for sinners to remember their past follies . satan that now spreads abroad his temptations , will then witness to their neglect of wholesom exhortations . the holy quire of angels will point to the sinners conscience , and that will answer , i am acquainted with all your sins . the spirit of christ will testifie how often that hath moved the ungodly to repent . the abused creatures that have been forced to promote sin , will continue in the hearts of sinners ; the beast of the field will rise up against the glutton , and the wine against the drunkard . pray often : for prayer is a sheild to the soul , a sacrifice to god , and a scourge to satan . shun all appearances of evil ; resist the devil , and he will flie . seek not after riches ; they have wings and flie away : but study for wisdome , it 's price is above rubies . to seek after the riches of this world is vanity : but the fear of the lord is wisdome , and to depart from evil is understanding . the fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge , but fools despise wisdome and instruction . what can be more pretious than wisdome ? for it is the gift of god. out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding . what can be stronger than wisdome ? that buildeth houses , and heweth out its pillars . who can be more pious than the wise man ? he that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul. what can be more clear than wisdome ? for that excelleth folly , as far as light excelleth darkness . the wicked mans fate , is to be wise too late . the veil of hypocrisie cannot hide our sins from god ; he will make us know that it is his christ that we resist . what is gotten by resisting our saviour ? or what shall a man gain if he get the whole world , and lose his own soul ? what are the riches of this life to the joys of heaven ? and who is a better guide to that happy place , than the lamb of god that taketh away the sins of the world ? and why should not we love god ? since he so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten son , that whosoever believeth in him should not perish , but have everlasting life . was one guest found out that had not a wedding-garment , and will not god then find out every unholy soul ? the righteous themselves are pardoned sinners , but the wicked are impenitent . each soul that labours in the lords vineyard , shall receive his reward according to his merit . let your acquaintance be few and good : cousins , country-men , and school-fellows , are spenders of money and time . let your study be furnished not with many , but with choice books . let wisdom direct your actions ; the wise man takes care for necessaries , not for superfluities . wisdom is riches indeed , it teacheth a man the art of contentment in all conditions . it makes a man not onely master over others , but conquerour of his own passions . premeditation is commonly accompanied with wisdom . the wise man sees his own faults by the follies of others . he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty , and he that ruleth his spirit , than he that taketh a citie . wisdome is more useful in a city , than the strength of mighty men . so true is that of solomon : this wisdom have i seen under the sun , and it seemed great unto me : 14. there was a little city , and few men within it ; and there came a great king against it , and besieged it , and built bulwarks against it . 15. now there was in it a poor wise man , and he by his wisdome delivered the city : yet no man remembered that same poor man. 16. wisdom is better than strength : nevertheless the poor mans wisdom is despised , and his words are not heard . however , he that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul , and he that keepeth understanding shall find good . 18. for , wisdom is better than weapons of war : but one sinner destroyeth much good . ingratitude is the epitomy of impiety . to render a good deed for a good deed , becomes a man ; to give evil for good , is diabolical : to repay evil for evil , becomes a sinner ; but to return good for evil , is the quality of a saint . injuries should be wrote in dust , but kindnesses in marble . nothing more spurs a man on to be ungrateful , than the sin of covetousness . set not your heart upon wealth , for the love of money is the root of all evil . the wicked borroweth , and payeth not again ; but the righteous sheweth mercie , and giveth . to be always begging or borrowing , and never paying , is the disposition of a covetous and ingrateful man , and doth oftentimes set the dearest friends at variance . nature excuseth the follies of a fool , but the ungrateful man hath no apology . to be courteous to one that is ungrateful , is like ones hiding his treasure in the sea. neer relations that are strongly bound by the bonds of affinity and consanguinity , are oftentimes divided by this black sin of ingratitude . he that will forget a kindness , is ungrateful ; but he that renders a discourtesie for a courtesie , is impious . and blessed is he that considereth the poor ; the lord will deliver him in time of trouble . wo be unto the covetous rich man , that hath his heart fixt upon his heaps ; the poor man is happier than he ; for the lord heareth the poor . the needy shall not alway be forgotten : the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever . there is an evil under the sun ( saith solomon ) and it is common among men . a man to whom god hath given riches , wealth and honour , so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth , yet god giveth him not power eat thereof , but a stranger eateth it : this is vanity , and an evil disease . he that loveth silver , shall not be satisfied with silver ; nor he that loveth abundance , with increase . 12. when goods increase , they are increased that eat them : and what good is there to the owners thereof , saving the beholding of them with their eyes ? the poor mans labour rocketh him to sleep , but the cares of the rich man keepeth him awake . 13. there is a sore evil under the sun , namely , riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt . 14. those riches perish by evil travel , and he begetteth a son , and there is nothing in his hand . 15. as he came forth of his mothers womb , naked shall he return to go as he came , and shall carry nothing of his labour with him . 16. in all points as he came , so shall he go : and what profit hath he that laboureth for the winde ? agur's prayer was divine : two things have i desired of thee , deny me them not before i dye . 8. remove from me vanity and lies : give me neither poverty nor riches , feed me with food convenient for me . 9. lest i be full , and deny thee , and say , who is the lord ? or lest i be poor , and steal , and take the name of my god in vain . poverty is no disgrace : for when we came into the world we brought nothing with us , and nothing can we carry out . if we want things necessary , we ought not to grumble or despair ; perhaps the lord might see it necessary we should so want ; however , we ought to use our endeavours for a lawful remedy : if god bless not our endeavours , we ought to bless him , that knoweth what is best for us : we are his patients , and therefore ought not to instruct our physitian . if thou art scandalized , consult with thy own conscience : if thou findest thy self guilty , thy correction is then just ; if thou art innocent , it is a good instruction : thus shalt thou suck honey out of gall , and make an open enemy thy secret friend . if thou hast an enemy that is hungry , give him food ; if thirsty , give him drink : the lord will reward thee , and punish him . the poor are the lord's receivers , and he is the best pay-master . if thou hast an estate , and wouldest improve it , be charitable to the poor : scattered seeds increase , but those that are hoarded dye . if i speak with the tongue of men and of angels , ( saith paul ) and have not charity , i am become as sounding brass , or a tinkling cymbal . 3. and though i bestow all my goods to feed the poor , and though i give my body to be burned , and have not charity , it profiteth me nothing . 4. charity suffereth long , and is kinde : charity envyeth not : charity vaunteth not it self , is not puffed up . in all conditions , piety and vertue must be the guides that must lead the way to bliss . god's servants are denoted by their two vertues , humility and charity ; and the devil 's are distinguished by their opposite vices , pride and cruelty . the only way to remember good acts , is to be continually acting them . above all things , have fervent charity : for charity shall cover the multitude of sins . keep faith , hope and charity : for when the world shall have an end , the angels shall sever the wicked from the just . an elegie on the death of that reverend and pious divine , mr. edmvnd calamy , late minister at aldermanbury . and must our deaths be silenc'd too ? i guess 't is some dumb devil hath possest the press . calamy dead without a publication ! 't is great injustice to our english nation : for had this prophet's funeral been known , it must have had an vniversal groan ; afflicted london would then have been found in the same year to be both burnt & drown'd ; and those that found no tears their flames to quench , would yet have wept a shower his hearse to drench . a publike loss , a greater loss by far , one man of god , than twenty men of war. it was a king , who when a prophet dy'd , wept over him , and father , father , cry'd , o if thy life and ministry be done , my chariots & horse-men's strength is gone . i must speak sober words ; for well i know , if saints in heav'n do hear us here below , a lie , though in his praise would make him frown , and chide me , when with iesus he comes down to judge the world — this little little he ; this silly , sickly , silenc'd calamy ; aldermanbury's curate and no more , though he a mighty miter might have wore , could have vi'd interest in god or man , with the most pompous metropolitan : how have we known him captivate a throng , and make a sermon twenty thousand strong ? and though black mouths his loyalty did charge , how strong his tug was at the royal barge , to hale it home , great george can well attest ; but by himself his worth is best exprest . nor did ambition of a miter make him serve the crown , 't was for his conscience sake , vnbridled loyalty ; his highest reach was to be master calamy , and preach . he bless'd the king who bishop him did name , and i bless him , you did refuse the same . o had our reverend clergie been as free to serve the prince without reward as he , they might have had less wealth with greater love ; envy like winds endangers things above . worth , not advancement , doth beget esteem ; the highest weathercock the least doth seem . if you would know of what disease he dy'd ; his grief was chronical , it is repli'd ; for had he open'd been by surgeons art , they had found london burning in his heart . how many messengers of death did he receive with christian magnanimity ! the stone , gout , dropsie , ills which did arise from griefs and studies , not from luxuries : the meagrim too , which still strikes at the head ; these he stood under , and scarce staggered . might he but work , though loaded with these chains , he pray'd and preach'd , and sung away his pains . then by a fatal bill , he was struck dead ; and though that blow he ne're recovered , ( for he remained speechless to his close ) yet did he breath & sigh out prayers for those from whom he had that wound ; he liv'd to hear , an hundred thousand buried in one year in this dear city , over which he wept , and many fasts to keep off iudgments kept . yet , yet he liv'd , stout heart , he liv'd to be depriv'd , driv'n out , kept out , and liv'd to see wars , blazing-stars , torches , which heav'n ne're burns , but to light kings , or kingdoms to their vrns. he liv'd to see the glory of our isle , london , consumed in its funeral-pile . he liv'd to see that lesser day of doom , london , the priests burnt-sacrifice to rome ; that blow he could not stand , but with that fire , as with a burning feaver did expire . thus dy'd this saint , of whom it must be said , he dy'd a martyr , though he dy'd in 's bed. so father eli in the sacred page , sate quivering with fear as much as age ; longing to know , yet loath to ask the news , how it far'd with the army of the jews . israel flies , that struck his palsie-head ; the next blow stunned him , your sons are dead . but when the third stroak came , the ark is lost , his heart was wounded , and his life it cost . thus fell this father ; and we well do know , he fear'd our ark was going long ago . his epitaph . here a poor minister of christ doth lie , who did indeed a bishoprick deny . when his lord comes , then , then the world shall see , such humble ones the rising men shall be . how many saints whom he had sent before , shouted to see him enter heaven's door ? there his blest soul beholds the face of god , while we below groan at our ichabod . vnder his burned church his body lies , but shall it self a glorious temple rise . may his kinde flock , when a new church they make , call it st. edmundsbury for his sake . mr. caryls palm-tree christian . the wicked and the righteous , those two divide the world . the wicked flourish as the grass ; they spring , but they shall spring but like grass , which quickly withers . the righteous shall flourish , but how ? not like the grass , but like the palm-tree : he shall grow like a cedar in lebanon . the palm-tree is an excellent tree , and often the praises of god are resembled by it . this tree grows in the purest soil : it will not grow in filthy places , in dungy places , but it loves a very pure soil . the righteous are planted in christ : they grow in christ , and they grow in the church ; they are planted in the house of god , not in the world , the unclean polluted world , which lies in wickedness , and smells like a dung-hill . the palm-trees branches grow all upward ; there 's none grow out of the side , as other trees . the righteous , their affections are set upon things above ; they grow up heaven-ward . they do not shoot out their branches this way , or that way , to the world. the palm-tree is always green ; green in winter as well as summer : it doth not cast its leaf nor fade . the righteous hold-up their profession in summers prosperity , and in the very winter of adversity . the palm-tree , it is a tree that is full of fruit ; good fruit , pleasant fruit , sweet fruit , a kind of cordial fruit. the righteous have the green of profession , and the fruitfulness of their conversation ; and 't is pleasant fruit , fruits of righteousness , fruits of faith , fruits of love , and the fruits of the spirit . the palm-tree grows most when it is most press'd down by weights . when the world would crush the righteous , and press them down to the earth , yea press them down to hell ; yet they grow up more and more . pharaoh puts weights of very heavy oppression upon israel , but they multiplied and grew , not onely in company , but also in their lives . the good seed falling upon good ground , brought forth in some an hundred-fold . they fall into trouble , god helps them up , they are purged and made white ; the fire shall not burn , but refine them . afflictions strengthen : tribulation works patience , and then patience experience , and experience hope . affliction will make us the fitter for heaven . grace improved , is very near to glory . the weights upon the righteous do wean them from the world. now when the soul is delivered from this world , this evil world , it must needs flourish up to the other world . the school of the cross , is the school of light ; which discovers the worlds vanity , baseness and wickedness , and lets us see more of gods mind . out of the dark of affliction , there comes a spiritual light . we see the worth of grace , and of an interest in christ. and the excellencie of jesus christ himself , as of an interest in , so of the person of christ ; how glorious , how choice ! this knowledge is not notional , a brain-knowledge , but experimental . these weights draw them to converse more at home , to be acquainted more with their own bosomes . how it is with grace , what faith , what love , what patience ! when the world is kind to us , fair with us , and flatters us , and hugs us , and embraces us , we begin to forget and to slight communion with jesus christ. but when the worlds weights are upon us , we have promises of more of the presence of god , and of the presence of his spirit . the purpose of the world when they hang their weights upon the palm-trees , is to keep them down , that their graces multiply not . to discourage , to turn them quite aside , to renounce , to forsake and apostatize . but they have fail'd in it , and the truth flourished more : this hath been rather a furtherance to it . the lord hath a flail of tribulation , to separate the chaff from the wheat . the wicked mans plentiful table shall be a snare to him . but the righteous mans table shall be a table to his inward man , where his graces shall come and feed , and grow fat , and flourish , and increase . this we are to bless the lord for , that our afflictions do not snare us , but are a table to our graces . it is a very great question whether they that were not bettered by affliction were ever good . mr. caryl's practical and experimental considerations , and characters of the real christian. white garments are matter of honour ; this honour all the saints shall have . they shall walk in white ; christ will honour them , because they have kept their garments undefiled . they that are good indeed , shall have a good name ; they shall walk in white . to keep the conscience clean , is to keep the credit clean ; and they who are careful not to blot their conversations , christ will take care of their reputations , that they be not blotted . the old worthies kept their garments undefiled , and it was by the power of faith ; keeping themselves from the pollutions of the world , they kept themselves a good report . this honour and good report which we get by keeping our garments undefiled , is sure . sometimes god's people are not onely honourable in gods eyes , but they sometimes walk in white in the eyes of the men of the world : he can give his people room in the opinions of men ; he moves their hearts to think well of them , and he opens their mouths to speak well of them . it is not much to us what the wicked world judge of us , yet god doth sometimes raise a testimony of honour for his people amongst carnal men of the world. ioseph would not defile his garments , he walked in white amongst men . true , he was cast into prison , what of that ? he was respected by the keeper of the prison , and afterward he walked in white in the whole egyptian court. daniel was one that walked in white with common men of the world. with the prince of eunuchs he had tender favour : he told him he would not disobey god to please man ; yet he did not rail against him , and call him a stubborn fellow , because he would not bow to baal . and afterwards daniel , as great a man as any in that province , he walked in white . god hath created testimonies of honour for his people from some men of the world , yea they many times put white garments upon them . god doth sometime keep up their honour in the world , who will not defile their garments . this may teach us the readiest way to the white robe , to the robe of honour : it is to keep our selves from sinful practises . certainly they who please god , he can make the world to honour them . if god approve of us , he can make the world to approve of us too . if god see our garments in the dirt , and spotted with the filth of the world , it will spoil the honour we should have in the world. they who defile their garments lose their honour with men , and they lose the joy they should have hereafter . nay , the saints also shall walk in the white of peace and joy , and inward comfort , that keep their garments white : what ever becomes of the other white of honour in the world , they shall walk in the inward white of joy and peace with jesus christ. they who have a good testimony from their own consciences , walk in white ; they that have that greater testimony than our conscience , the spirit , they walk in white ; this witness doth cause wonderful joy . this joy doth arise from that well-grounded hope which that soul hath that keeps himself clean . thus david walked , and appeals from man to god to judge him , he had so much of a well-grounded confidence . so iob walkt in white : though his friends blacken him exceedingly , yet he walkt in white in his conscience ; he walkt in white , notwithstanding all his afflictions from god and his friends . hence we may see the happiness of all those who are true to christ and his ways : oh , how much better is it than the peace and joy of this world , and the comforts of this life ! a good conscience , and indeed a merry heart , do but one explain the other . here is no surfeting in this feast , but a continual musick . oh , the rivers of consolation that flow to them that keep themselves out of the puddles of this world ! though the world give thee nothing but the water of affliction , yet let thy garments be always white . this gives us an account why the servants of christ stand so strictly upon their terms with the world , because they understand in some measure what it is to walk with christ in white ; and it hath left such a tincture and relish upon their souls , that they would not lose it for all the dainty morsels of the world : they had rather indeed walk with christ in white , than walk with the world in scarlet . they will run any hazard , and undergo any affliction , rather than do any thing that will not please god , or be hurtful to their own consciences . the conscience is a busie faculty , and hath many offices ; it records what we do , and comes as a witness . the conscience is judge of what we do , and accordingly approves of what we do , and reproves us when we do amiss : i am more afraid of the report of conscience , than of any man whatsoever ; therefore i will not do any thing that may reproach me as long as i live . christ hath threatnings for those that defile their garments , in the place of rewards for those who keep them clean . they who defile their garments shall walk in garments of black , in the black of dishonour . oh , take heed of the after-claps of conscience ! i may say , of the thunder-claps of conscience ; for they will come upon you one time or other , if you defile your garments . they who venture to do things displeasing to god , shall not long be pleasing to themselves . the hypocrite shall lose his own hope , that is , he shall lose it despairingly ; 't is a dreadful judgment : this is the suburbs of hell. for this will be the portion of the damned for ever ; 't is next to the regions of hell , for their worm dieth not ; and that is the worm of conscience . seeing there is such a reward promised , as this white , wherein we shall walk with christ ; it is an angelical happiness , 't is heaven before heaven . this white is such , as conquers all the black of the world . 't is not possible for the world to alter the colour of this white : how much dirt soever they put upon it , this white will be white still . they cannot take away this peace , this joy from us ; they cannot strip off this habit : it is a conquering joy , turns all sorrow into joy . they who keep their garments undefiled here , shall be sure of that , to walk with christ in glory hereafter . here are three whites : the white of honour is good , the white of peace and joy is very good , the white of glory is best of all . mr. caryl on gospel-charity . the pure heart , is a gratious heart . the end doth denominate the action . it must have a good end , else though the matter be never so good , the work is not good . the principle or spring of the work must be good : 't is possible for one to do a work that 's good for the matter of it , and to have some good ends in it , and yet not to do it out of a right principle . unless the principle be good , the work 's not good . as the fountain is , such are the streams that come from it . as the tree is , such is the fruit that grows upon it . the thorn hath not a principle in nature to put forth a grape : the thistle hath not a principle in nature to put forth a figg : an ill-scented vessel , whatsoever passes from it must be ill scented . bad men will often tip their tongues with good words , and appear golden-mouth'd speakers , when their hearts are nothing but brass and dross . evil men they spoil good speaking with their ill manner of speaking , or their ill meaning in speaking . good words do as it were lisp in the mouth of a bad man , and his heart never keeps pace with his tongue . good things done by those who have not good principles , though their box of ointment may have a fragrant smell among many men , yet there are many dead flies in it , especially one great one , call'd unbelief , which makes their whole box of ointment very unsavory in the nostrils of god. gospel-charity is of a nobler extract , than to be found in the whole compass of nature ; and godliness moves in a higher sphere , than the best dress that the gayest moralist ever reacht unto . this is to be lamented , that christian acts should be done , and not from a principle spiritual . it is very possible , and very ordinary to follow christ , yea to call upon christ with carnal affections . 't is very sad to see good men do according to the works of the wicked . david did so in the matter of vriah ; and thus did solomon , when his heart went after strange gods , and he built high places to their abominations . good king asa imprisoned the prophet , and in his disease sought to the physitians , and not to god. that holy apostle peter he denied and forswore his master . this is to act the old creatures part , in the new creatures state . there 's another sight as bad , to see bad men plod on and do good things , but never mind to become good themselves . thus did saul when he was amongst the prophets ; and thus did ahab when he humbled himself ; and thus did iehu when he destroyed idolatry ; thus did iudas when he preacht the gospel ; and thus did demas when he professed the gospel ; a very good work , but he himself an hypocrite , and a lover of the world . and thus indeed do all hypocrites , and meer formalists , in their performing of gospel-worship . i confess it is a sad sight to see a bad man do that which is bad , or a wicked man do that which is wicked ; yet i say , it is a sadder sight to see a bad man continuing in his state , having no spiritual principles to go on doing good . god often declares himself very highly against such as do good , themselves continuing evil . the good that you do will not profit you , 't will not advantage you , 't will be no plea at the great day . you may have iehu's penny , a deliverance from an outward judgment : but there is no deliverance from wrath and eternal judgment . thus those that are not far from heaven shall never come there : yet i would exhort the worst of men to do good ; though they please not god in doing it , yet they displease him in not doing it . and thus faln man , if he neglect to do good , sins : if he doth good , he spoils it in the doing of it . hence we see the necessity of regeneration : we are not born with a pure heart . a pure heart , a good conscience , faith unfeigned , are the issues of the new birth . education cannot make the heart pure ; it must be revelation which makes the heart pure . education may change a mans course , but it cannot change his nature ; that 's only done by regeneration . he must be good , before he can do good spiritually . god works us , before we can work for him ; he makes us good , before we can do good . we by union to jesus christ , come to have a spiritual principle to carry us out in the doing of all good works . here 's your way , you must be gods workmanship before you can do gods works . as we are grafted into christ , he changes the branch . then all your fruits are sweet fruits and pleasant fruits , they are well-tasted . why ? it is done , first , from a principle of life in christ. and secondly , it is done from a principle of love unto christ. the heart of man is the greatest cheat in the world . the heart of man received such a crack in the fall , that there is no mending of it : it must be new made . the heart is made wholly new by the power of god. meritoriously by the blood of christ , that cleansing blood : it is made pure by the spirit of christ ; the spirit is a purifier . the word of god is a purifier instrumentally . applicatorily the heart is made pure by faith. when the command of every sin , when the custom and practice of every sin , and when the love of every sin is gone , such a heart is free from these powers ; that soul is evangelically pure . he that indeed hath this pure heart , is really sensible that once his heart was very impure . and also is as sensible that to this day there remains much impurity in his heart . he also that hath a pure heart , loves every thing that is pure ; and the more pure it is , the more he loves it . a pure heart will be full of pure thoughts ; a pure heart converses with god in purity of thoughts . whereas the wicked they have not the pure god , nor the holy god in all their thoughts . a pure heart is full of pure desires ; he desires to be more good , to be better ; he desires to know more of god , and to honour god more ; he desires to enjoy god more ; he hungers and thirsts after god. a pure heart hath pure purposes and pure resolves ; and by resolves the heart is more settled and fixt . resolution is the establishment of the soul. he resolves , let the winds blow high or low , to cleave to christ. there is a purpose in a pure heart against all that 's evil . he will neither defile his heart , nor his life ; and these purposes he carries quite thorough all , unto the end . a pure heart hath pure ends in all it doth ; a holy aim , a single eye ; not self-profit , not self-applause , not pleasure ; but he purposes the profit of many , that they may be saved . weigh it well whether you have this pure heart . the hardest thing that we have to do , and the greatest kindness which god can do to us , is to cleanse our hearts . our hearts are the filthiest part of us : if there be impurity in the hand , there 's much more in the heart . till the heart be made pure , nothing can be pure . god is a friend indeed to those who have a pure heart . keep pure hearts with all diligence , for the devil comes a heart-stealing continually : unless you wash it , weed it , sweep it , cobwebs will grow , spiders will creep in , they will be weaving their webs . to the impure heart , there is nothing pure . holy ordinances , honest callings , great possessions ; all these to an impure heart are not pure . the pure in heart , are onely fit for communion with god : they onely are fit to call upon god , who have a pure heart . onely the pure in heart shall see and enjoy god. impure eyes cannot behold god , they cannot bear the glory , the excellence of his presence . the heart anatomized . the wicked search out iniquities , they accomplish a diligent search ; the inward thoughts of their hearts are deep . the heart is commonly hard . harden not your hearts , as in the provocation , in the day of temptation in the wilderness . the heart of a godly man may be said to be perfect , for david saith of himself , i will behave my self wisely in a perfect way ; oh when wilt thou come unto me ? i will walk within my house with a perfect heart . the heart is said to be sound : a sound heart is the life of the flesh : but envy the rottenness of the bones . the heart is sometimes merry , sometimes melancholy . a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance : but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken . the heart hath many devices , nevertheless the counsel of the lord that shall stand . the heart of an holy man may be said to be pure . he that loveth pureness of heart , or hath grace in his lips , the king shall be his friend . the heart is deceitful above all things , and desperately wicked , who can know it ? the heart is said to be stony . i will give them one heart , saith the lord , and i will put a new spirit within you , and i will take the stony heart out of their flesh , and i will give them an heart of flesh . the heart is the chiefest jewel which the lord requires of a christian . my son , give me thine heart , and let thine eyes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my laws . he that keepeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the lord shall be 〈…〉 law of his god is in his 〈…〉 none of his steps shall side . blessed are the undefiled in the way , who walk in the law of the lord. blessed are they that keep his testimonies , and that seek him with the whole heart . mr. caryl's divine sentences : or , a guide to an holy life . he prepareth a fit habitation for the lord , whose reason is neither deceived , nor will perverted , nor memory defiled . happy is that soul that cleanseth his heart from the filth of sin , and so stores it with pious works , as that it may delight the almighty god to dwell therein . lay aside the cares of this world , and take into your minds the joys of heaven . empty your heads of all other things , and prepare that upper room to entertain your lord. consider , ye are framed according to the image of the lord , adorned with his similitude , espoused unto him by faith , endowed with the holy ghost , redeemed with the pretious blood of a dear saviour , assigned to be fellow-citizens with the holy angels ; capable of eternal happiness , heirs of goodness , stock't with sence and reason . what have ye to do with the flesh ? then slight not those opportunities and advantages that are set before ye , but , seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness , and all other things shall be added to ye . keep your souls in a flying posture towards your inheritance above ; for where can ye finde more riches to invite ye ? the lord is called , the faithful god , and will take an account of each ones faith . without faith it is impossible to please god : for he that cometh to him , must believe that he is , and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him . adam was a sinner , and begot sinners , and they must work out their salvation with fear and trembling . what am i ? a man that had my beginning from a thing unseemly , in the moment of my conception ; i was conceived of humane seed , afterwards that froth changed into curds , and by encreasing became flesh . with weeping i was exposed to the miseries of a wretched world ; and behold i am full of sin , and shall suddenly be presented before the strict judge , to render an account of all my works . wo be to me wretch , when that day shall come , and those books shall be opened , wherein are registred all my thoughts , words , and works , and shall be read before the lord ! then with a trembling conscience i stand before the tribunal-seat of christ , full of fear and anguish , calling to remembrance my manifold offences . and when it shall be said , behold the man and his works ; then , oh then shall i see all my sins and abominations presented before mine eyes ! to prevent which misery , observe these directions . since your whole life is a race and a battel , a merchandise and a journey ; prepare against night a rosary of good works , to present unto the lord. let your sleep be no more than nature and necessity requires : and remember , as he that starts first is most like to win the race ; so he that first offers his petition to almighty god , hath the more early title to a blessing . change not day into night , and night into day ; be not addicted to idelness and sleep , for that is the way to turn your blessing to a dream . let not that imagination seize you , that you may lie in bed , having no business immediately to do : for he that hath a soul , and would save that soul , hath enough to do to make his calling and election sure . meditate , pray and read ; repent , and do acts of charity to others : if you have little to do , you have the more time to provide for a crown of glory . when you open your eyes , think upon some act of piety . thank god for your last good rest and preservation . give thanks to the lord for your creation , and the many mercies you have received from his hands . when you arise , pay your devotion to the holy trinity . be silent when you dress your self , and fix your thoughts upon some act of piety . if you speak , let it be in the praise of god , of his goodness , his mercies , or his greatness . always let the first-fruits of thy reason be presented to the lord , that so the whole harvest of thy conversation may be sanctified . let your habit be neither careless nor curious : though men may respect you for your outward habit , god doth expect that your inward garment should be righteousness . let your ejaculations suit with your actions in the morning ; as when you clean your hands , pray to god to cleanse your soul from sin ; or when you cloath your body , pray to him to cloath you with the armour of faith , and a good conscience . this done , betake your self to your closet-devotions , or to family-duties , as your condition is capacitated . having finished your prayers , consult with your self about your occasions that day , and resolve against any thing that may seem opposite to the service of god , or the rules of good manners . if you have children or servants , it is your duty to pray with them , and for them ; or especially to be careful that they shall pray for themselves . after this , betake your self to your affairs : avoid idleness , and take heed of being too earnest after wordly goods ; be prudent , temperate , diligent , humble and charitable . harbour no idle persons in your family ; let your servants have moderate work and meat : if they deserve reproof , let it be without passion ; advice , with some natures , may do more than correction . be not busie to inquire after the concerns of your neighbour , but carry your self with this caution , that in all your actions you mix the ingredients of justice and charity : be in charity with all men . avoid backbiting and slandering : he that delights in either of them , shall never be beloved , or innocent . when you dine , lift up your heart in an holy ejaculation to the lord ; thank him for your temporal food , and crave for spiritual . after dinner , return thanks for mercies received : he doth not deserve to eat , that doth not desire to thank . in your recreations , be moderate ; and be sure to secure your heart for god , left your affections settle upon a false basis : let not your recreations be tedious , lest if you dwell with them long , you may be inticed to sin . when you enter into discourse , be pithy , and as often as you can devout ; but if your occasions shall be so urgent that you cannot conveniently discourse of god , however be sure to think of him . when you read , let it not be much at once ; let your reading be little , and your meditation large : for little reading , and much thinking ; little speaking , and much hearing ; brief prayer , and firm devotion , is the surest way to be wise , and to be devout . in the evening , let your meditations be on the hours of the day past , how they have been spent : if your conscience be clear , it is the sooner examined ; but if any thing extraordinary hath happned , then take time to recollect your self with diligence . thank the lord for his benefits of the day , and crave a pardon for your errours ; and if any duty hath been omitted , endeavour to redeem that fault the next day . let your last prayers be applied to the concerns of your conscience , and forget not to thank the lord for all his mercies to you and your relations that day . when you enter into your bed , fix your meditations upon death and the grave . in the whole course of your life , let religion be your business : for he is most capable of rejoycing in the evening , that watcheth his words , thoughts and deeds in the day . to despise the world , is the way to enjoy heaven ; and blessed are they who delight to converse with god by prayer . what folly can be greater , than to labour for the meat that perisheth , and to neglect the food of eternal life ? god , or the world , must be neglected at the parting-time ; for then is the time of tryal , then shall the righteous continue righteous , and be blessed . to seek your self in this world , is to be lost ; and to be humble , is to be exalted . first study to believe there is a life of blessedness hereafter , then will you be the better strengthned to hunger and thirst after righteousness . if you would have the lord receive you into heaven , you must give your self unto prayer . prayer is defined by gregory nyssen to be a discourse between the soul and god : it is of two sorts , vocal and mental ; that is , outward expressions of the voice , and an inward lifting up of the mind to the throne of grace . before you enter into prayer , ask your conscience these questions , with a resolution to return an answer . 1. to what end , o my soul , art thou retired into this place ? 2. art thou not come to discourse with the lord in prayer ? 3. is he present , will he hear thee ? 4. is he merciful , will he help thee ? 5. is thy business slight , is it not concerning the welfare of thy soul ? 6. what words and reverence wilt thou use to move him to compassion ? let these interrogatories be considered . discoursing with thy self , will prepare thee the better to discourse with god. to make thy preparation compleat , consider thy condition ; thou art but dust and ashes , and he the great god , father of our lord jesus christ , that cloatheth himself with light as with a garment . remember these or such like devout expressions . o let my prayer enter into thy presence . let my prayer be set before thee as incense , and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice . as the clay is in the potters hand to fashion it at his pleasure , so man is in the hand of him that made him , to render to them as liketh him best . i will praise thee o lord , with my whole heart ; i will shew forth thy marvellous works . the sacrifices of god are a broken spirit : a broken and a contrite heart , o god , thou wilt not despise . let us search and try our ways , and turn again unto the lord. if your hearts condemn us , god is greater than our hearts , and knoweth all things . such expressions as these from a devout soul , open the windows of heaven , and prevail with god to hear its prayers . in your prayers or meditations , beware of satan's devices , of which these are some . he endeavours to intice sinners to presumption , by lessening a sin , and making it seem to be slight . on the other side , he studies to betray some to the sin of despair ; insinuating , such a crime is haynous , and beyond pardon . but thus saith the lord , though your sins be as scarlet , they shall be white as snow : though they be red as crimson , they shall be as wooll . he shewed to our parents a golden cup , but discovered not the poyson hid therein , when he said , god doth know , in the day that ye eat thereof , then your eyes shall be opened , and ye shall be as gods , knowing good and evil . thus he attempted to betray christ , when he tempted him with the glories of the world , saying , all these things will i give thee , if thou wilt fall down and worship me . he hath likewise the art to put false glosses on particular sins ; as pride , that he pretends is neatness ; covetousness is good husbandry ; drunkenness he calls good fellowship ; and extravagancies the effects of a liberal spirit . he extenuates sins , by whispering to the credulous wretch , to be drunk , to swear , &c. are but little sins ; and repentance is no hard task , it is but to ask pardon , and cry , lord have mercie upon me . he insinuates these delusions into the sinner : you may walk by the harlots , yet not enter ; you may drink with the drunkard , yet not be drunk ; you may handle a bag of gold , yet not steal it . he assures the soul that the wicked man is happier than the devout soul ; for the former enjoys all the delights of the world , whilst the others are persecuted , imprisoned , and oftentimes undone . one chief designe of satan to delude the soul , is to conduct him into evil company . beware of false teachers , that lead your judgment astray . they reproach the embassadors of christ ; so did korah , dathan , and abiram to moses and aaron . good michaiah was likewise aspersed by ahabs false prophets . they are devisers of false prophesies . the lord said , the prophets prophesie lies in my name : i sent them not , neither have i commanded them , neither spake i unto them ; they prophesie unto you a false vision and divination , a thing of nought , and the deceit of the heart . they are stiled blind guides , that strain at a gnat , and swallow a camel. they are counterfeit and unclean . wo unto you scribes and pharisees , hypocrites , that make clean the outside of the cup and platter , but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness . they endeavour to delude men to their opinions , rather to carry on their own interests , than to better their conversations . wo unto you scribes and pharisees , hypocrites , for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte ; and when he is made , ye make him twofold more the child of hell than your selves . wo unto you blind guides , which say , whosoever shall swear by the temple , it is nothing : but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple , he is a debtor . ye fools and blind , whether is better , the gold , or the temple that sanctifieth the gold ? he that sweareth by the temple , sweareth by it , and by him that dwelleth therein . false prophets privily bring in damnable heresies , even denying the lord that bought them , and bring upon themselves swift destruction . since then satan is so busie , what remains , but that we arm our selves with spiritual weapons ? wherefore take unto you the whole armour of god , that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day . for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal , but mighty through god , to the pulling down of strong holds . david said to the philistin , thou comest to me with a sword , and with a spear , and with a sheild : but i come unto thee in the name of the lord of hosts , the god of the armies of israel , whom thou hast defied . let a christian keep his faith firm ; for that will carry his heart through many difficulties . eye hath not seen , nor ear heard , neither have entred into the heart of man , the things which god prepareth for them that love him . the blessings of the righteous in the the world to come . 1. with everlasting salvation . 2. with everlasting life . 3. with everlasting glory . 4. with everlasting honour . 5. with everlasting liberty . 6. with everlasting dominion . 7. with everlasting riches . 8. with everlasting kindness . 9. with everlasting peace . 10. with everlasting light. 11. with everlasting joy. 12. with everlasting security . the curses of the wicked . 1. everlasting damnation . 2. with everlasting death . 3. with everlasting shame . 4. with everlasting contempt . 5. with everlasting bondage . 6. with everlasting slavery . 7. with everlasting poverty . 8. with everlasting tribulation . 9. with everlasting darkness . 10. with everlasting sorrows ▪ to avoid the curses , we must endeavour to be reconciled to god through christ. we must endeavour to be really justified and sanctified . we must endeavour to love god's word in sincerity . we must endeavour to walk according to the rule of it . we must endeavour to have our minds fixed on god. we must endeavour to trust in him effectually . we must endeavour to be upright before him . we must endeavour to please him in all our ways . we must endeavour to do that which is good in his sight . the bare title of a christian is not sufficient for salvation : if we are not obedient to the will of christ , we are no more christians , than a picture is the body of a man. at the last day , the great question will be , did you serve christ , or only pretend to do so ? behold , the great assize is drawing nigh , and our judge is coming to the court. a crown of glory , and a consuming fire , attend for the appearance of the trembling sinner . then the poor soul appears to answer for what was done in the flesh . at the resurrection , that power of the almighty god that made man of nothing , will new make him again . repentance and a good faith , are sure guides to eternity . obstinate impenitence leadeth to destruction . though it be above our powers to bring men acquainted with their hearts , to assure them their faiths are infirm , and their repentance lame ; the great judge that searcheth all mens hearts , will at last convince them . though we hold the candle of the gospel in our hands , yet the men we plead with are in the dark : for they shut their eyes , and will not see ; but the eyes of the lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth , to shew himself strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him . he is not onely an all-seeing god , but he is eyes to the blind , and feet to the lame . god is our refuge and strength : a very present help in trouble . this god we should endeavour to know ; but many men know many things , yet do not know themselves . wherefore we should return from things external , to things internal ; and from things internal , ascend to things supernal . so may a man know from whence he came , or whither he shall go : the way to know god , is for a man to study the art of knowing himself . by how much the more i profit in the knowledge of my self , by so much the more i approach to the knowledge of god. i finde three things in my mind , by which i remember , consider and desire god ; and these are my memory , understanding , and will. by my memory i remember , by my understanding i consider , and by my will i desire and love . when i remember god , i finde him in my memory ; and that gives me an occasion to rejoyce . by my understanding i consider what god is in himself , what he is in his angels , what he is in his saints , what he is in men , and what he is in his creatures . in himself he is incomprehensible , because the beginning and end ; the beginning without beginning , the end without end . i understand from my self , how incomprehensible god is , because i cannot understand my self whom he hath made . in his angels he is desireable . which things the angels desire to look into . in his saints he is delightful ; for they being happy continually rejoyce in him . do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world ? in his creatures he is admirable , because he powerfully createth , prudently governeth , and sweetly disposeth of all things . every creature of god is good . in men he is amiable , as he is their god , and they are his people . he dwelleth in them , as in his temple . ye are the temple of the living god , as god hath said , i will dwell in them , and walk in them , and i will be their god , and they shall be my people . since god is so ready to inhabit in man , how happy is that man that can entertain so great and so good a guest ! how great is the humility of such an omnipotent creator , to dwell in so poor a cottage ! why then should we despise others ? he doth not visit the rich for their riches , but he saveth the poor from the sword . despise no man , though never so wretched : but be moved toward him with a brotherly affection . think another mans miseries to be thine ; and take the like care to relieve them . reverence the poor , for they are those that receive others into the eternal tabernacles . if thou seest an apparent sin in another , be as sorrowful for his iniquity , as if thou sawst an imminent danger of death to thine own body . for one soul wounded with sin , is of more value than all the bodies in the whole world . as i would be careful to defend my body from death , much more i ought with all diligence to endeavour to withdraw my neighbour from sin , by my prayers , example , and exhortations . let no man envy his neighbours success , but rather affect his good as his own , and rejoyce at his welfare , especially in spiritual affairs , tending to the good of his soul. give no credit to reports , but believe more good of your neighbour , than you can see with your corporal eyes . love your neighbour as your self , but not with so strong an affection , but that you still keep the chief room in your heart for your god. love that man best that is most vertuous ; he may requite benefit for benefit , and for courtesies received offer prayers to god. as we have opportunity , let us do good unto all men , especially those who are of the houshold of faith. when you discourse with another , let god be in your minde ; and consider he sees you , and you see him , as effectually as you see the person you discourse with . whatsoever you attain to , acknowledge it to be the benefit of god. every good and perfect gift is from above , and cometh down from the father of lights , with whom is no variableness , nor shadow of turning . think every man better than your self , neither be proud in your own conceit : for god resisteth the proud , and giveth grace to the humble . give no cause of discontent to any , neither be apt to commend your self , though to your familiar friend . charity suffereth long , and is kind : charity envyeth not , vaunteth not it self , is not puffed up . keep your vertues secret , rather than your vices ; and be ever ready to hear another man praised , rather than discommended . let your discourse be of few words , and those compounded of truth and piety . if any person discoursing with you , proposeth impertinent questions , cut off his discourse as soon as you can , and divert your speech to other matters . shun prophane and vain bablings , for they will increase unto more ungodliness . whatsoever doth happen to your friend or to your self , be neither grieved nor over-joyed , but praise god , and be content , for godliness with contentment is great gain . when you see any thing in another which misliketh you , mark whether the same be in your self , and amend it . but if you observe any thing which pleaseth you , mark whether that be in you ; if so , retain it ; if not , assume it : by this means you shall make all things as a mirrour , or a looking-glass to your self . prove all things : hold fast that which is good . never affirm or deny any thing , with over-much eagerness , but let your assertions and denials be always seasoned with the salt of doubtfulness . abstain from immoderate laughter . sorrow is better than laughter : for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better . when sloath , or idleness , doth surprize you , stir up your spirits with reading some part of scripture , or some other book of devotions . when you are in tribulation , consider , that they that are in heaven , feel no such things , for there are pleasures for evermore . choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of god , than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season . when you are merry and joyful , remember , those which are in hell feel no comfort at all . consider the words of solomon : i said in my heart , go to now , i will prove thee with mirth , therefore enjoy pleasure : and behold , this also is vanity . i said of laughter , it is mad : and of mirth , what doth it ? rejoyce o young man in thy youth , and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth , and walk in the ways of thine heart , and in the sight of thine eyes : but know thou , that for all these things , god will bring thee to iudgment . death doth daily threaten us , the devil waits to seize our souls , as soon as they depart our bodies ; but the lord is above them both . he is faithful to those that hope in him ; neither doth he forsake them , unless they forsake him . o love the lord , all his ye saints , for the lord preserveth the faithful , and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer . be faithful unto death , saith the lord , and i will give you a crown of life . have god often in your mouth , but more often in your heart and manners . lest the lord should say of you , as of the jews : for as much as this people draw neer me with their mouth , and with their lips do honour me ; but have removed their hearts far from me , and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men : therefore behold , i will do a marvellous thing among this people : for the wisdome of their wise men shall perish , and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid . if with your tongue you speak , and with your heart you meditate on the law of god all the day long , and your works do contrary to the same , your zeal is counterfeit and blind . the days of man are as a shadow upon the earth , and there is no abiding ; and when he seemeth to be most firm , then he is properly nothing . why then doth man heap up treasures upon earth , since that which is gathered , and he that gathereth , passeth away and perisheth ? therefore labour not for the meat which perisheth , but for that meat which endureth to everlasting life . what profit hath man in his labour , whose fruit is ruine , and whose end is death ? o that men were wise , and that they understood this , and would prudently provide for their latter end . know ye not that to day you are at the brink of danger ? then let not your repentance be deferred , that you may be preserved by the hand of your mediator . to day you are in the way to hell ; repent , that you may finde the way to heaven . repentance and conversion , are the fabricks of salvation . bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance . but what do these admonitions avail , unless you blot out of your conscience the spots of sin and iniquity ? apply your heart therefore to an inward reading of your conscience , that so you may come to understand your self . study the practice of that great apostle of the gentiles , paul : to exercise your self , to have a conscience voyd of offence , towards god , and towards man. study to say as simon peter said to jesus ; behold , we have left all things and followed thee . so shall you eat and drink at the table of the lord iesus , and sit on a throne of glory , judging the twelve tribes of israel . obedience certainly is a most faithful and familiar help to salvation . to obey is better than sacrifice , and to hearken than the fat of rams . it is a vertue which our saviour himself preferred before his life , choosing rather to yield that , than not to fulfil his obedience . the great opposer of obedience , is pride , and that is not onely the original of all vices , but the ruine of all vertues . it is the worst of sins , for it captivateth the minde of man. other vices assault those vertues only by which they are destroyed ; as lasciviousness , chastity , anger , patience , &c. but pride like a contagious plague corrupts every vertue of the mind . pride goeth before destruction , and an haughty spirit before a fall. he that feareth the lord must hate pride and arrogancy . and those that walk in pride , he is able to abase . pride is never found in a noble nature , nor humility in an unworthy mind . it is a sin that our saviour abhor'd : for in his birth , life & death , he was all humility , nothing of pride . the fear of the lord is the instruction of wisdome , and before honour is humility . wherefore o lord , teach us so to number our days , that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom . londons loss : or , an elegy on the death of that reverend servant of god , and minister of christ's gospel , mr. ioseph caryl , late minister at magnes london-bridge . room for our tears ; for here are thousands come to vent our founts at his commanding tomb. but oh what mortals genius can devise a decent flood for such a sacrifice ? his pious worth must in our hearts be writ , for 't is above the reach of head , or wit. happy 's that earthly closet keeps in trust the reliques of a saint now turn'd to dust . 't is one whom flatt'ry knows not how to paint londons divine , and londons magnes saint . see , see , the day by sable clouds orespread , and bids us weep , for caryl now is dead ; but by and by , do's seem to say , this globe could not detain him from his patient job . calamy went before , but there 's no odds , since each design'd to be a child of god's . observe the hours , how striving to retire , caryl , and comfort , seeming to expire , bids night and nature hang the vniverse with black , due obsequies for such an herse . he ne'er was cruel to exhaust a tear ; all weeping was reserv'd to spend it here : those flattering arts which poets use , to save decaying reputations in the grave are here but vain , for no hyperbole can tell the world how great his merits be . and chronicles themselves can say no more than what his learning told the world before : his pious sermons did declare his worth , his expositions set his learning forth ; and whilst we here lament his being gone , angels with anthems welcome him at home , and i my self a catholick could be at least to pray to such a saint as he . caryl , whose conversation , free from ill , can be express'd but by an angel's quill : as in some mirrour you might clearly see in him , a perfect map of piety ; the beauty of whose vertues may incite the world to imitation and delight . let us lament our loss , and blame his fate for not allowing life a longer date . reverend caryl , may his vertues shew as bright hereafter , as they 're glorious now : who when he through this earthly globe had past , he dy'd , left he should idle grow at last ; for when grown ancient , he would even then both study piety , and use his pen : he like an artist did true patience paint to us on earth , now to some glorious saint he shews the same , who can no longer cease , that , to extol , as caryl's masterpiece . his epitaph . here lies the earthly carkass of a man , whose life too justly may be call'd a span ; he liv'd converting those that went astray , but death now snatcht this heav'nly guide away : then careful earth , unto his corps be just ; a divine soul was once within his trust . but being call'd away , it now is flown from hence , to take possession of a throne . a spiritual garden of sweet-smelling flowers , or , mr. venning's divine sentences . that soul that is settled in the love of god , is blessed in the peace of christ. when such a soul suffereth an outward war , she looseth not her inward peace . no troubles whatsoever which do outwardly make a noise , do violently enter into the silence of her inward repose . she coveteth nothing abroad , and therefore resteth wholly within by love . such a soul the angels do visit and honour ; she being the temple of the lord , and the habitation of the holy ghost . happy is that conscience in which mercie and truth are met together , for there justice and peace have kissed each other . god is a god of mercie , and will take pity on him that is truly sorrowful for his sins . by mercie and truth iniquity is purged , and by the fear of the lord men depart from evil . the kiss of justice , is to love our enemies , to forsake parents and possessions for the love of god ; to endure with patience injuries inflicted , and in all places to flie from honours that are offered . the kiss of peace , is to invite foes to friendship , peaceably to sustain adversaries , lovingly to instruct such as do amiss , meekly to comfort those that mourn , and to be at amity with all men . it is our saviour's command : love your enemies , bless them that curse you , do good to them that hate you , and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you . for all that will live godly in christ iesus , shall suffer persecution . the almighty hath three degrees of wrath ; his threatning wrath , his punishing wrath , and his condemning wrath. adam sinned , and was cast out of paradice ; the angels sinned , and were cast into hell. we have many sins to repent for , viz. our church-sins , our sermon-sins , our sacrament-sins , and the sins of our very prayers . is any man rich ? let him not put his trust in them : for riches make themselves wings , and flie away lazarus was poor , but was received into heaven : dives was rich , but however was carried into hell. moses went up unto the mount to pray , and took the rod of god in his hand , because with that rod god had formerly done wonderful things for his people . if any mistake through a vain hope of heaven , let him be earnest in the examination of himself : to be deceived in this , necessitates damnation . to hear sermons , to commend them , or admire them , and not to practice what we hear and understand , is to make sodom and gomorrha's case at the day of judgment better than our's . then will the world discern the blessed from the wretched , when the wrath of god is throughly kindled . those that are now so idly busie in heaping up their treasures of an ant-hillock , and building up the tottering fabricks of a child , remember not that the foot of death is coming to spurn it all abroad , and to trample down both you and it . let us study how to answer the great and last question : hast thou performed the condition of the gospel ? let us search our hearts , that god may finde them in a condition to receive him . for thus faith the lord , i the lord search the heart , i try the reins : even to give every man according to his ways , and according to the fruits of his doings . make not sale of heaven for the false pleasure of a few sins , for a little delight and ease that vanisheth in a moment . repent before thou becomest old , left thy repentance should come too late ; for thou leftst not thy sin , but thy sin left thee . take heed of dissembling with thy god , lest he so discover thy craft , that thou shalt not be trusted by man. accommodate nature withthings convenient , but beware of nourishing a lust ; for that is to hug a devil in thy bosom . to acknowledge god to be just is good , and it is just we likewise acknowledge him to be good . when thou prayest , rather let thy heart be without words , than thy words without an heart . prayer will make a man to cease from sin , or sin will intice a man to cease from prayer . it is good to have a good name , but it is better to have a good conscience . it is good to be great , but it is better to be good . teach thy heart to walk wholly with thy god , as well as holily . only a profession of christianity is not the only profession of a christian . your words and works may satisfie the judgments of men ; but god is the great judge of our hearts . pray for mercie before you receive , and forget not to praise when you have received . it is common to have the name of christ in common : the swearer swears by it , the begger begs by it , the jester joyns it to his jest ; but wo be to them that shall tremble at it . vain sinner , thy saviour is willing to save thee ; but it is thy sin , and satan , that studieth to destroy thee . when satan's malice had produced mischief in our first parents , mischief brought forth misery , and misery cried to heaven for mercie . the god of mercie promised mercie unto mankind . the seed of the woman shall break the serpent's head . when the fulness of grace was come , he that was covered in the law , became discovered in the gospel . when the fulness of time was come , god sent his son made of a woman , made under the law , that we might receive the adoption of sons . the son of man had sinned against god , and the son of god satisfies for the sin of man. let admiration produce amazement , that god should send his son to suffer death for sinners that rebelled against him . but man must dye unto eternity , unless the son of eternity would dye for him . therefore christ the messiah was slain , but not for himself ; he was delivered to death for our offences . he was delivered by his father in mercie , by himself in compassion , by iudas for covetousness , and by the jews in malice . and all this to the end that god might effect what the jews could not conjecture , the redemption of his people israel . he that was typified by the brazen serpent , is exalted on the cross between two thieves , with this title superscribed : iesus of nazareth , king of the iews . thus christ the immaculate lamb refused no shame , that he might purchase glory to his faithful ones . he that was the god of glory , becomes the son of shame . he that is the righteous redeemer , was counted an unjust usurper . he that is the lord of life , was condemned to death . he that is honoured with the acclamations of angels , was dishonoured with the exclamations of jews . pilate disgracefully shewed him to the people with an ecce homo , behold the man. stand , o my soul , and with admiration bless the author of all blessedness , christ , who to prevent thy shame , suffered himself to be numbred among the wicked . he was accounted sinful , to purchase thy salvation . adam by eating of the forbidden tree , made thee accursed , had not christ by dying on the cursed tree restored thee to blessedness . christ's cross is thy comfort , his dishonour is thy honour . christ's cross is to the iews a stumbling-block , to the gentiles foolishness : but to thee , o my soul , it is the power and the wisdome of god. then if christ hath done this for thee , follow thy redeemer with a cross at thy back , and say with paul , god forbid that i should glory in any thing but in the cross of christ. but wo unto us sinners , we run on in a course of pride , though he humbled himself unto death , even the death of the cross. pilate could not add to our saviour's honour , or dishonour , in calling him iesus ; for it was a name given him from heaven ; for the angel said unto ioseph , thou shalt call his name iesus , for he shall save his people from their sins . it was a sweet saying of an antient † father ; the name of jesus is mel in ore , melos in aure , iubilus in corde : honey in the mouth , melody in the ear , and a jubily , or joy in the heart . neither is there salvation in any other , for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved . this name is light unto the soul. ye were darkness ( saith the apostle ) but now ye are light in the lord. this name is health to the body . in the name of iesus of nazareth , rise up and walk . all spiritual food is dry , ( saith the aforesaid | father ) if this oyl be not poured into it , if it be not seasoned with this salt. there are several titles that proclaim christ's glory ; but the name of iesus imports our redemption . by others we know him to be god , by this we know him to be our mediator . it is great misery to see man so proud , and greater mercie to see god so humble . god was the creditor , man was the debtor ; but he that was both god and man , the pay-master . wherefore , let israel hope in the lord , for with him there is plenteous redemption . there is no sinner so great , but after conversion he makes as great a saint . though his sins be red as scarlet , grace makes them white as snow . come let us reason together , saith the lord : though your sins be as scarlet , they shall be white as snow ; though they be red like crimson , they shall be as wooll . there is more pleasure in suffering , than in sinning ; for a saint of god may suffer and not sin , but he cannot sin and not suffer . if any man suffer as a christian , let him not be ashamed , but let him glorifie god on this behalf . to walk as a heathen walks , only by the light of the rush-candle of nature , is no better than to walk in darkness . if a man walk in the day , he stumbleth not ; but if he walk in the night he stumbleth , because there is no light in him . god never made a good promise , but he made good that promise . for all the promises of god in him are yea , and in him amen . we should prize mercie , if we knew its price . thy mercie , o lord , is great unto the heavens , and thy truth unto the clouds . 't is true that christ is every where , then hell 's no hell if christ be there . in his presence is fulness of joy , at his right hand are pleasures for evermore . a righteous man hates sin , because it is opposite to god and goodness . fools make a mock at sin , but among the righteous there is favour . that saint that grows in grace , grows more a man , and more than a man. for with him , where sin aboundeth , grace doth much more abound . a rich man is poor without god , but with him a poor man is rich . go to now , ye rich men , weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you . ye have condemned and killed the just , and he doth not resist you . the pride of self-love , is a folly in ones self . for whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased : but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted . if a man would be ever good , he should believe he was never good . there is none good but one , that is god. god takes care of his saints , and they take care to be be cared for by him . cast your care upon him , for he careth for you . he that hath god hath all things , for god is all in all . a grain of grace is of more value , than many pounds of gold. god created us , and left us to our selves ; afterwards he redeemed us , and left himself to us . take heed of being self-conceited , for the way of a fool is right in his own eyes . true christians are all for christ , and christ is all-sufficient for them and their salvation . it is the saying of holy paul , for me to live is christ , but to dye is gain . the children of this world may be cast out , but the heirs of the kingdom of heaven shall be as olive-plants about the table of the lord. to commit sin , is the part of an humane nature ; to lament for sins committed , is christian-like ; but to continue in sin , bidding defiance to the divine powers , is diabolical . there are three sorts of faith : the faith of sence , which is seeing ; the faith of reason , which is knowing ; and the faith of revelation , which is believing . and this last , is properly called the gospel-faith . believe in the lord your god , so shall you be established : believe his prophets , so shall ye prosper . we ought seriously to consider two things ; the sin of our nature , and the nature of our sin . the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of god , for they are foolishness unto him : neican he know them , because they are spiritually discerned . but he that is spiritual , judgeth all things , yet he himself is judged of no man. let us follow after christ , he is our guide , and will not shake us off ; but if we do not follow him , we despise him and our own salvation . be ye therefore followers of god as dear children . if the heart of man be hard and stony , it makes the softer cushion for the devil to sit on . to day if ye will hear the voice of the lord , harden not your hearts , as in the provocation . since the days of mans life are as a shadow , our suffering will be sudden , and our sinning short . we are but of yesterday , and know nothing , because our days upon earth are a shadow . if man be for us , god may be against us ; but if god be for us , who can be against us ? if we are among our friends without god , we are in continual danger ; but with god a man is safe though in the midst of enemies . fear not them which kill the body , but are not able to kill the soul : but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. the saints ought to do more for god than others , because as they are expected to be the best servants , they are like to have the better wages . the wages of sin is death ; but the gift of god is eternal life , through iesus christ our lord. a modest behaviour , and a portion of morality , without holiness , is but a golden incredulity . but sanctifie the lord god in your hearts , and be ready always to give an answer to every one that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you , with meekness and fear . let young women put on piety instead of paints , sanctity instead of sattin , modesty for their morning and dayly dress ; so shall god and every good man love them more and more . let women adorn themselves in modest apparel , with shame fac'dness and sobriety ; not with broidred hair , or gold , or pearls , or costly array , but which becometh women professing godliness , with good works . as god made man without the help of man ; so will he likewise save them that come unto him , by his own almighty power . hear how familiarly he invites them . come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden , and i will give you rest : and ye shall finde rest unto your souls . if we endeavour for salvation , it is god must give it ; but if we do not endeavour , he will shorten his own hand , though we cannot do it . for ( thus saith the psalmist ) with thee is the fountain of life : in thy light we shall see light . how lovely is god in all his creatures ! how much more lovely in his ordinances ! but most lovely in christ , who is the god of love . brethren , be perfect , be of good comfort , be of one mind , live in peace , and the god of love and peace shall be with you . the christian hopeth for the world to come , but the sinner feareth it . for every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour . not to be chastened is an ill signe , but not to bear a chastening is a worse . blessed is the man whom thou chastenest , o lord , and teachest him out of thy law. he that hath a tender conscience will not be prodigal of his credit , for a good conscience is a continual feast to a chearful heart . so likewise he that hath a good name , hath the savour of a pretious oyntment , which gives a chearfulness to his countenance . he that detaineth a penny from the poor , puts a plague into his own purse . he that oppresseth the poor , reproacheth his maker ; but he that honoureth him , hath mercie on the poor . let the precepts of god be neer to our hearts , lest he stop his ears to our prayers . who so stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor , he also shall cry himself and shall not be heard . in prosperity we forget the threatnings of god , and in adversity we are apt to forget his promises . the prosperity of fools shall destroy them . if we intend to suffer evil for god's sake in the day of adversity , let us do good for god's sake in the day of prosperity . here lies the true point of gentility , to fear god , scorn the world , and conquer sin. nay , in all these things we are more than conquerours through him that loved us . doth any man fear to dye ? it's an easie thing to live : slaves and beasts do so ; but it ought to be every mans study to live and dye well . man's life is more full of grief than glory ; and it is a seasonable time to dye in , when to live is rather a burthen than a blessing . be obedient , and do good ; they are the works and the wages of a christian ; and he will delight in doing good , though he doth it only for his delight . gathering of riches is a pleasant torment : the trouble of getting , the charging of the conscience , the care of keeping , and the watching over them when gotten , takes away a great part of the expected enjoyment . wherefore if riches increase , set not your heart upon them . a gratious person is usually as apt to desire to understand what he is to do , as what he is to enjoy . the work of a christian while he lives in the body , is to crucifie the body of death . man is god's creature ; god formed man of the dust of the ground . sin is man's creature ; man is like to vanity : his days are as a shadow which passeth away . misery is sins creature : the wages of sin is death ; but the gift of god is eternal life , through iesus christ our lord. god made man in his own likeness ; man hath made sin in his likeness , and sin hath made misery in his own likeness . adam , who was the father of mankind was of earth , and therefore earthy . our saviour , who was the redeemer of mankind , and the second adam , was from heaven , and therefore heavenly . as is the earthy , such are they that are earthy ; and as is the heavenly , such are they that are heavenly . what god gives us for our good , we ought to employ for his glory . he that glorieth , let him glory in the lord. when our saviour was buried , it was the body of the lord , not the lord of the body , was laid in the sepulchre . if we set our affections on what we have , when we have it not , it adds the more to our affliction . but the peace of heaven surpasses the troubles of this world . a saint may be sad that he is no better , but will inwardly rejoyce that he is no worse . that man that deserves nothing , ought to be content with any thing . god is pleased with the free offerings of his saints , and they are pleased with the free gifts of god. to be sorrowful for sin is good , but that sorrow must continue , or else the sorrow will be sin it self . what is all this world , but a world of nothing at all ? whosoever can withstand the corruptions of gain , gains by the corruptions . is it pleasure to the almighty that thou art righteous ? or is it gain to him , that thou makest thy ways perfect ? the men of this world pray to one another , but the children of god pray to none but to the god of men . the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light . but the sorrow of this world worketh death . man is no sooner born , but he begins to dye ; so uncertain is the life of man , that none knows whether he that is born to day , shall live till to morrow . if in this life only we have hope in christ , we are of all men most miserable . trust not in endeavours , lest you neglect god ; but use endeavours , lest you despise god. but work out your salvation with fear and trembling . christ is the physitian of our souls , his comforts are cordial ; but miserable comforts are the physitians of the body . so said iob to his friends ; ye are all physitians of no value . let us beware of the evil of sin , for it leads us to the evil of suffering . wherefore , follow not that which is evil , but that which is good . he that doth good , is of god : but he that doth evil hath not seen god. we may do those things which please god , and yet displease him in the doing . but , blessed are the poor in heart , for they shall see god. we perform our duties in a right measure , when in seeking for mercies we study to please god rather than our selves . god so loves his own , that he will not depart from them ; and they that truly fear and love him , have not the power to depart from him . it was holy ioshua's resolution : as for me and my house , we will serve the lord. it is at present heaven with us to enjoy god and christ ; what will it then be , when we worship him with his innumerable company of angels ? when we pay our devotions to god , we should lay aside all worldly affairs , lest they distract us in our duty : it is a great offence against the almighty , to be interrupted when we walk with him . see then that ye walk circumspectly , not as fools , but as wise ; redeeming the time , because the days are evil . a christian hath but two things to fear , god and sin. as it is writ of ioseph , how can i do this great wickedness , and sin against god! the three divine vertues are , faith , hope , and charity ; but the greatest of these is charity . the three humane vertues are , friendship , credit , and conscience ; but the greatest of these is conscience . conscience was paul's glory , when he said , herein do i exercise my self , to have always a conscience voyd of offence , toward god , and toward men. when thou sinnest , repent betimes , lest thou plunge into a custom of sinning ; and always remember god hath a certain custom to punish sinners . thus saith the lord of hosts , turn ye unto me ; and i will turn unto you . but except ye repent , ye shall all perish . god is the way , and the life : if we walk after his way , we shall finde life ; if not , we erre from the way of life . jesus saith , i am the way , the truth , and the life : no man cometh to the father , but by me . serve god in secret , as well as in publike worship ; and he that seeth in secret , shall reward thee openly . what deceitful pleasures are those that require either repentance or damnation ! as the jews did by our saviour , so should we do by the world , the flesh and sin , that is , crucifie them . they that are christs , have crucified the flesh , with the affections and lusts . the disingenuity of others towards us , is a scourge to us for our disingenuity towards god. if god denies the desires of thy heart , learn to want with patience , it will teach thee when god is pleased to bestow his blessings , to receive them with chearfulness . we ask the lord for our dayly bread , but he knoweth our wants before we ask : we desire health , wealth , &c. but the measure of those blessings is in god's hand , and he knows how to carve for us , better than we could for our selves . your father knoweth what things ye have need of , before ye ask him . it is the duty of a christian to wait god's leasure : there is no mercie worth the praying for , but it is certainly worth the waiting for . we are all born to dye ; let us so dye , that we may be born again . whosoever is born of god , doth not commit sin . if thou canst hear , and bear the rod of affliction which god shall lay upon thee , remember this lesson : thou art beaten , that thou mayst be better . there is no better defence against our own infirmities and the scandalous reproaches of others , than the sincerity of our own hearts . grace be with all them that love our lord iesus christ in sincerity . god is love , and we ought to serve him in fear and love . no service can be better done , than that which is done in love : god dwelleth in that servant , and that servant in him . why doth a wicked man envy the welfare of a man more righteous than himself ? because it is a terrour to his conscience to see the image of vertue in another man , he having defaced it in himself . where envying and strife is , there is confusion , and every evil work . all the pomps and gayeties of this world , are not to be compared to a grain of distressed vertue . wherefore , adde to your faith vertue , and to vertue knowledge . though i give my body to be burnt , and have not charity , it profitteth me nothing ; but to mortifie my sins , and to deny my self , submitting to the will of god , is more than martyrdom . let not the world overcome you , but fight under the banner of that great captain the lord jesus christ , so shall you with him overcome the world . who is he that overcometh the world , but he that believeth that iesus is the son of god ? why is it that sinners so rarely confess their sins ? it is because they are in them : we use not to declare our dreams till we wake . therefore let us not sleep as do others , but let us watch , and be sober . to represent a christian , is only to act a part on the stage of this world ; but to be a real christian , is to depart this stage , and enter into a world of bliss . he that hath children , ought to correct them with discretion ; but he that spareth his rod , hateth his son ; and he that loveth him , chasteneth him betimes . to be truly sensible of sin , is to sorrow for displeasing god , more than for the displeasure of god ; to be afflicted that he is displeased by us , more than that he is displeased with us . mirth and mourning are opposites to each other ; mirth is burthensome in the time of mourning , and mourning is likewise burthensome in the time of mirth . love the saints for christ's sake , and christ will love you for his saints sake . beloved , let us love one another : for love is of god : and every one that loveth , is born of god , and knoweth god : but he that loveth not , knoweth not god , for god is love . the old testament veils the new , the new testament reveals the old. beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him which bringeth good tidings ; but how much more beautiful are the good tidings which are brought by those feet ? the works of our life is the best demonstration that we are acquainted with the words of our life . the saint hath the motion of grace , whilst the hypocrite hath but the notion : the saint sees , tasts , and feels it , whilst the hypocrite only reads , hears , and speaks of it . the saint hath the experience of grace , and the hypocrite the expression . be modest in your desires , so shall your cup over-flow ; but the covetous man never hath enough . take heed , and beware of covetousness . there is a time for all things ; but no time when all things may be spoken . to every thing there is a season , and a time to every purpose under the heaven . when you give thanks , let the strings of your heart , and the strings of your tongue , be tun'd to unisons ; it is the musick that god himself delighteth in . what a vain thing is man , when the best of men are but vanity at best ! verily every man in his best estate is altogether vanity . the wife of a man's bosom , is better than the portions of the purse . house and riches are the inheritance of fathers , but a prudent wife is from the lord. marry not where you love not , lest you are tempted to love where you marry not . marriage is honorable in all , and the bed undefiled ; but whoremongers and adulterers god will judge . if nature be defective , it is not the act of the creature , but of god : and since it is his will it should be so , we ought to submit to his pleasure , and not to blame the handy-work of god. hath not the potter power over the clay , of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour , and another unto dishonour ? to please all , is hard ; to displease any , may be inconvenient : the christians surest way is to please him who is all in all . when a man's ways please the lord , he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him . the righteous man will venture his credit to secure his conscience , but will not venture his conscience for the sake of his credit . the saints are visited by christ here , by way of invitation , that they should visit him hereafter . blessed be the lord god of israel , for he hath visited and redeemed his people . a christian should like all god's commands , because they are all alike , holy , iust , and good. the statutes of the lord are right , rejoycing the heart : the commandment of the lord is pure , enlightning the eyes . it is our master's pleasure to let his joy enter into us here , that it may teach us how to enter into our master's joy hereafter . in whose presence is fulness of joy , at his right hand are pleasures for evermore . no sin against god can be said to be little , because it is against the great god of heaven and earth ; but if the sinner can finde out a little god , it may be easie then to finde out little sins . our mediator jesus christ the righteous , is the sinners righteousness unto god , and the righteousness of god to sinners . but we are all as an unclean thing , and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags , and we all do fade as a leaf , and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away . if any man findes the want of comforts , content will make them comfortable wants . it was a rare experience which paul had got , who saith , i have learned in whatsoever state i am , therewith to be content . destruction giveth way to pride , for pride goeth before destruction . be sober in advice , and moderate in reproofs ; some hearts are sooner humbled with stroaks than with stripes . as an ear-ring of gold , and an ornament of fine-gold : so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear . pride soars aloft , but patience walketh humbly with his god. god resisteth the proud , and giveth grace to the humble . the mercie of the lord is from everlasting to everlasting . let not that incourage sinners to the commission of sin , but from thence let them sue for a remission of sin . it is the will of every saint , that the will of the lord should be done ; and he is content that all things should be so done , so as to content god. the holy prophet confirms it , saying , i delight to do thy will , o my god , yea , thy law is within my heart . though our good works will not carry us to heaven , yet they shall finde a reward in heaven . behold , i come quickly , and my reward is with me , to give every man according a● his work shall be . the life of the wicked is abominable ; they sin with content , and are content with sin : miserable wretches ! well spake the holy ghost by esaias the prophet unto our fathers , saying , go to this people , and say , hearing ye shall hear , and shall not understand , and seeing ye shall see , and not perceive . for the heart of this people is waxed gross , and their ears are dull of hearing , and their eyes have they closed , lest they should see with their eyes , and hear with their ears , and understand with their heart , and be converted , and i should heal them . till we get christ within us , we are without christ. the lord's bottle and basket are never empty ; he bountifully invites us with this free offer of grace . ho , every one that thirsteth , come ye to the waters , and he that hath no money : come ye , buy , and eat ; yea , come , buy wine and milk without money , and without price . he hath filled the hungry with good things , and the rich he hath sent empty away . when god sends mercie , we should not onely thank the donor , but welcome the messenger ; for they both come from god. how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace , and bring glad tidings of good things ! the proud man exalts himself against all that is good , therefore the lord thinks good to take down his pride . every one that is proud in heart , is an abomination to the lord. the world cannot exalt a proud man so high , but god will bring him low ; neither can all the world so debase an humble man , but god will exalt him . the world may strive to pull him down , but god will raise him to a crown . in the seed-time of your life , let your holiness be sown , that so you may reap blessedness in the harvest of eternity . he that will put piety in practice , must set his heart to practice piety . the lord seeth not as man seeth : for man looketh on the outward appearance , but the lord looketh on the heart . my son , give me thine heart , and let thine eyes observe my ways . ungodly men grow rich ; yet godliness with contentment is great gain . there is a kind of divine husbandry ; saving grace is a heavenly thirft , and doth so improve , that it makes us burgesses of the holy city . wherefore , grow in grace , and in the knowledge of our lord iesus christ. a friend may commit an errour in love ; but he is an enemy that loves his errour . the covetous man cannot enjoy what he hath got , through the greediness of his desire to get more . he coveteth greedily all the day long ; but the righteous giveth , and spareth not . to have faith in christ , is well-pleasing to the faithful god , for he is the father of the faithful . the lord is god , the faithful god , which keepeth covenant and mercie with them that love him and keep his commandments , to a thousand generations . the righteous man hath grace beyond expression ; the hypocrite hath expression beyond grace . the tongue of the just is as choice silver : the heart of the wicked is of little worth . god doth sometimes deliver men up to satan , that they may be delivered from satan . deliver such a one unto satan for the destruction of the flesh , that the spirit may be saved in the day of the lord iesus . can a man be an empty vine , and yet bring forth fruit ? israel is an empty vine , bringing forth fruit unto himself . christ is the son of god , and yet he is called the son of man. the word was made flesh , and dwelt among us , ( and we beheld his glory , the glory as of the only begotten of the father ) full of grace and truth . the almighty's permission of sin , is no warrant for the sinners commission of sin . whosoever committeth sin , is the servant of sin . our saviour had a father and a mother , and yet he was from the beginning . in the beginning was the word , and the word was with god , and the word was god. this is solomon's advice , be not righteous overmuch : however , it is the duty of a christian to cloath him with righteousness as with a garment . the saints have no greater joy than to enjoy god , and to rejoyce in him . he that glorieth , let him glory in the lord. as it is hard to bend a well-grown stick , so is it difficult to work upon the heart of a desperate season'd sinner ; for he runs on in his wickedness , and is deaf to all good instructions . they have ears to hear , and hear not : for they are a rebellious house . onwards they run , a ready pace ; plainer's the way , than that to grace . a saint will not sin , though he knows that sin may work for his advantage . all things work together for the good of them that love god. we are commanded to love peace , and follow after righteousness ; and yet the saints themselves are in continual war , fighting the good fight of faith. above all things take the sheild of faith , wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked . the salvation of a saint may be sure , yet may not he be sure of his salvation . wherefore the rather , brethren , give diligence to make your calling and election sure ; for if ye do these things , ye shall never fall . blessings if abused , may be turned into curses , and curses are oftentimes turned into blessings . saith the lord of hosts , i will even send a curse upon you , i will curse your blessings . if any man would be rich , he must be diligent ; but notwithstanding that , let him remember , paul may plant , and apollo may water ; but it is god that giveth the blessing . he becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand : but the hand of the diligent maketh rich . the blessing of the lord , that maketh rich , and he addeth no sorrow with it . the righteous man makes godliness his gain ; the wicked man makes gain his godliness . he that is greedy of gain , troubleth his own house : but he that hateth gifts shall live . the soul is above the reach of any weapon but sin , and that pierces like a sting . sin is a raging torment in the conscience : a wounded spirit who can bear ? let not the best of men think they were ever good , lest their conscience shall tell them they were never good . be not wise in thine own eyes : fear the lord , and depart from evil . some men will pretend to abhor such a sin , yet hug it in their bosom ; such sinners sting their consciences to magnifie their credits . if by suffering for christ we loose all that we have in this world , we are sufficient gainers when we save our own souls . paul that pious apostle saith , doubtless , i count all things but loss , for the excellencie of the knowledge of iesus christ my lord : for which i have suffered the loss of all things , and do count them but dung , that i may win christ. a repenting penitent , though formerly as bad as the worst of men , may by grace become as good as the best . god who is rich in mercie , for his great love wherewith he loved us , even when we were dead in sins , hath quickned us together with christ , ( by grace ye are saved . ) the devil is indifferent whether we go to hell in the frequented road of profaness , or in the smooth way of hypocrisie . it is the power of godliness , not the form , that directs the way to heaven , as the power of ungodliness leads to hell. lovers of pleasures , more than lovers of god , having a form of godliness , but denying the power thereof : from such turn away . beware of impenitence , and of late repentance : true repentance cannot be too late , but a late repentance is rarely true . wherefore the real christian should say betimes with holy iob , i abhor my self , and repent in dust and ashes . it is one thing to hold the truth , and another thing to hold it in sincerity : we must be just , as well as orthodox . now therefore fear the lord , and serve him in sincerity and truth . let not the sun go down upon your wrath ; go not to bed in anger , lest you have a tempter to your bedfellow . wrath is cruel , and anger is outragious : but who is able to stand before envy ? one of the blessings of the old testament was prosperity , and one of the blessings of the new testament is affliction . let not sin intice you to forsake god , lest it urge god to forsake you . it is solomon's advice ; my son , if sinners intice thee , consent thou not . conversion is a fit application for the wounds of a wicked man , and strengthening likewise is very apt for the converted . saith david , in the day when i cryed , thou answeredst me , and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. a devout soul should not think himself secure , when he is safe , nor should he fear when in the greatest danger ; but distrust himself , and always trust in god. say with iob , though he slay me , yet will i trust in him . act not against the light of conscience , lest your light be darkned , and your conscience shipwrack't . men loved darkness rather than light , because their deeds were evil . vertue and vice , that is , charity and lust , divide the whole life of man ; they are the two trees of the gospel that produceth fruits good and evil . study not to live long , but to live well ; for an hour mis-spent , is not liv'd , but lost . no man is perfect , for there is none so good but he may mend . iesus said unto the young man , if thou wilt be perfect , go and sell that thou hast , and give to the poor , and thou shalt receive treasure in heaven : and come and follow me . the sins of a mans life are innumerable : who can understand his errours ? ( saith david ) cleanse thou me from secret faults . the changes of a saints condition , are but so many exchanges of mercie ; if he thrives , god is bountiful to him ; if he hath troubles in this world , god is careful of him , and provides him a portion in a better world . when david was in the cave , all his comfort was in prayer unto god. i cryed unto thee , o lord , i said , thou art my refuge and portion in the land of the living . troubles , or sickness , when sanctified , is much better than unsanctified prosperity . it is not talking of god , but walking with god , that makes a christian compleat . see that ye walk circumspectly , not as fools , but as wise , redeeming the time , because the days are evil . beware of superstition , for that will not teach a man to fear god , but to be afraid of him . study to have christ rather in your heart , than your house ; for with such habitations he is best pleased . rent your heart , and not your garments , and turn unto the lord your god : for he is gracious , and merciful , slow to anger , and of great kindness . the being of the soul is rather where it loves , than where it lives . let us study to love god , though we do not see him ; rather than to see him , and not love him . all the pleasure of our days is grief , when there is not an inward peace in the conscience , and with that all the griefs imaginable are turn'd into delight ; for a good conscience is a continual feast . it is good to be learned , but it is better to be religious ; for learning is but an ornament to religion , but religion is a blessing to learning . one may be ever learning , yet never able to come to the knowledge of the truth . a man may have knowledge , and no grace ; but he cannot have grace , and no knowledge . jesus answered the sadduces , saying , ye erre , not knowing the scriptures , nor the power of god. he that is truly religious , delights in the service of god , and had rather be shortned in the comforts of his life , than neglect the performance of his duty towards him . delight thy self in the lord , and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart . to profess religion is good , but to practice religion is better ; to profess , and not to practice , is to dissemble with god and man ; and a cunning course it is for man to destroy his own soul. the godly man may apply the promises to himself , but the wicked man may apply himself to the promises . having these promises , let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit , perfecting holiness in the fear of god. if we would have god hear our prayers , we must have the sence of feeling them our selves . sin brought death into the world , and death carried sin out of the world . he that would not have time pass swiftly away , should not use much pastime . the way to understand the sweetness of god's mercie , is to get a sence of the bitterness of our own misery . in all concerns let god be concerned ; the work will be the better done , and the blessing will be the larger . no man can do an evil action well , but a good action may be spoiled in the management . the tongue is an evil member : for he that hath no reputation himself , is master of another man's . keep thy tongue from evil , and thy lips from speaking guile . the delight which a gracious soul hath in mercies , is not in the hearing of them , or talking of them , but in the possessing and enjoying of them . god is a god that pardoneth iniquity , and retaineth not his anger for ever , because he delighteth in mercie . the delight of a gracious soul is , to long to be dissolved , and to go to his long'd-for home , that he may be with christ. a day in thy courts , o god , is better than a thousand : i had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my god , than to dwell in the tent of wickedness . it is god's appearing gracious to our souls , that makes him appea● so glorious to our eyes . to the praise of the glory of hi● grace , wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved . it is not in our power to imagine the power of god ; it converteth souls , and raiseth dead bodies . the law of the lord is perfect , converting the soul : the testimony of the lord is sure , making wise the simple . iesus cryed with a loud voice , lazarus come forth . and he that was dead , came forth , bound hand and foot with grave-cloaths , and his face was bound about with a napkin . iesus saith unto them , loose him , and let him go . the soul cannot be converted by the word that man speaks , nor by the man that speaks the word . for by grace are ye saved , through faith , and that not of your selves : it is the gift of god. by the scriptures we learn what god hath done for us , and what we are to do for god. all scripture is given by inspiration of god , and is profitable for doctrine , for reproof , for correction , for instruction in righteousness . when a gracious soul desireth a mercie of god , let him consider the value of that mercie before it comes ; and when it is present , let him seriously value its worth before it be past . when david's condition was low and mean in the world , we finde to come from him many sweet breathings of his soul , and strong actings of his faith and love . i will be glad and rejoyce in thy mercie , for thou hast considered my trouble , thou hast known my soul in adversitie . let me not be ashamed , o lord , for i have called upon thee ; let the wicked be ashamed , and let them be silent in the grave . it is the key of knowledge that openeth the door of heaven ; it is the knowledge of the truth that leadeth to salvation . behold thou desirest the inward parts ; and in the inward part thou shalt make me to know wisdom . the ill which proceeds from man , must not be attributed unto god , neither must the good which proceeds from god be attributed unto man. there is none good but one , that is god. the lord knoweth the thoughts of men , that they are vain . sin hath dominion over us , before conversion ; but being converted , we have dominion over sin : and whereas before we were captives unto sin , we now lead sin into captivity . he that is born of god , overcometh the world . when we have done for god all that we can , our all is so little , and our good deeds so ill , that we are at best but unprofitable servants . when ye have done all those things which are commanded you , say , we are unprofitable servants ; we have done that which was our duty to do . what greater act of impiety or ignorance can there be , than for a man to do ill , and yet pretend or think he doeth well ? who can understand his errours ? cleanse thou me from secret sins . he that will not deny himself and his own ends for christ , will deny christ for his own ends , and will to his sorrow be denied by christ in the end . whosoever shall deny me before men , him will i also deny before my father which is in heaven . in god there is no darkness at all , for god is light ; in man there is no light at all , for he is darkness : our very light is darkness . god is light , and in him there is no darkness at all . if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness , how great is that darkness ? we may profess christ ; but when we possess christ , then is our hope of glory . christ is made known to us two ways , by relation , and by revelation ; which latter knowledge is the best . if we can be of the number of christ's little ones , the mercie will be great . it was our saviour's saying , verily i say unto you , except ye be converted , and become as little children , ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven . a saint's heart is in the law of god , and the law of god is likewise in his heart . the law of god is in the heart of the righteous : none of his steps shall slide . o how i love thy law ! it is my meditation all the day . if any man would have his child be a man of god , he must teach him betimes , first to become a child of god. train up a child in the way he should go , and when he is old he will not depart from it . he is natures fair picture drawn in oyl , which time ( and handling oft ) doth spoil . let the wicked laugh at the godly for being godly , rather than god should laugh at them for being wicked . ye have set at nought all my counsel , and would none of my reproof : i also will laugh at your calamity , i will mock when your fear cometh . what a choice mercie had solomon , who had the choice of mercies ! the reputation of a good man , is to be rich in goodness , not in goods . let not the wise man glory in his wisdom , neither let the mighty man glory in his might , nor the rich man glory in his riches ; but let him that glorieth glory in the lord. he is the only wise and rich man , that can learn to be content . godliness with contentment , is great gain . the expectation of a saint is eternity , and the whole world is not able to answer his single expectation . we may be instructed by a prophet ; but it is the spirit of god by which we profit . walk in the spirit , and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh . the death of christ giveth life to them that repent , and giveth them a repentance unto life not to be repented of ; it giveth salvation to them that believe , and enables them to believe unto salvation . salvation belongeth unto the lord. whether god give or take , it is our duty to be thankful . shall we rejoyce at sweets , and shall we lowre when god is pleas'd by his almighty power to season them with some few grains of sour ? your heavenly father knoweth that ye have need of all these things . our god is free to give , and free to forgive ; his hand and his heart are both open to them that serve him . when we draw neer to christ , he is ready to receive us ; nay , when we fly from him , he is ready to invite us . come unto me all ye that labour , and are heavy laden , and i will give ye rest . many men in their doings , purchase their undoings . there are many devices in a mans heart : nevertheless the counsel of the lord that shall stand . he that receiveth a mercie , and doth not use it , doth abuse it . christ dyed that we might live . but now is christ risen from the dead , and become the first fruits of them that slept . live iesus , live , and let it be my life to dye for love of thee . if we finde not some time to serve god , he will not finde any time to save us . if any man serve me , saith christ , let him follow me , and where i am there shall also my servant be : if any man serve me , him will my father honour . he that hath christ hath all things , and he that hath not christ hath nothing at all . wherefore , seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness , and all other things shall be added unto you . there 's nothing in this vast terrestrial ball compar'd to christ , for he is all in all . study to be altogether a christian : for if a man be but almost a christian , he is like to be but almost saved ; though he may think he is not far from the kingdom of heaven , yet he will finde the kingdom of heaven is far from him . agrippa said unto paul , almost thou perswadest me to be a christian . there is nothing among us more rife than the name christian , or the christian name ; and nothing among us more rare , than the christian man. they that are christs have crucified the flesh , with the affections and lusts . though christ was crucified to deliver us from death , yet we must either crucifie our sins , or we shall dye in them . our hope of glory is not only christ without , but christ within us . what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles , which is christ in you the hope of glory . many men are at one and the same time both alive and dead ; for they that wallow in the deceitful pleasures of sin , are dead though they live . you hath he quickned , who were dead in trespasses and sins . when man is most idle , then is the devil most busie . it was latimer's saying , that one holy day produced more service to satan than many working days . this was the iniquity of sodom : pride , fulness of bread , and abundance of idleness was in her , and in her daughters ; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy . the righteous man saith , what is lawful that will i ; but the unrighteous man saith , what i will is lawful , or to me all things are lawful . all the wayes of man are clean in his own eyes ; but the lord weigheth the spirit . it is the pleasure of almighty god to bless us without any cause given him ; how much then are we to bless him who hath given us the cause so to do ? praise waiteth for thee , o god , in zion . sing forth the honour of his name : make his praise glorious . the devout soul should so live , as that the gospel should not be ashamed of him , nor he of that . as he which hath called you is holy , so be ye holy in all manner of conversation . where no assurance is , there may be grace ; but no assurance can be where there is no grace . let us draw neer with a true heart in full assurance of faith , having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience , and our bodies washed with pure water . the godly man sets a greater value by far upon the motions , than the notions of grace . all the blessings that a saint receives , are the more dear & welcom because they savour of a saviour . christ is our treasure , as david saith , with thee is the fountain of life , and in thy light we shall see light . he that denies himself , shall be saved ; but he that denies his saviour , shall be damned . it is christ himself that saith , he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me , is not worthy of me . he that findeth his life , shall loose it : and he that looseth his life for my sake , shall finde it . when god sends us an evil visitation , even then god is good to us , for he sends that evil for our good . the lord is good to all , and his tender mercies are over all his works . when a sinner repenteth of his sin , his sorrow speaks it self to be great , when he cannot speak for sorrow . a saint will keep to the doctrine of his life , that he may keep life in his doctrine . god loves us not for what we have , but for what we are ; and we are bound to love god , were it for no other reason but because he loveth us . the wicked man mindeth not the god that made him , but sets his affections upon the god of his own making . but your gold and silver is cankered , and the rust of them shall be a witness against you , and shall eat your flesh as it were fire : ye have heaped treasure together for the last days . it is more honourable to purchase fame from a low degree , than to become contemptible and infamous though sprang from an honourable family . the fear of the lord is the instruction of wisdom ; and before honour is humility . most men are naturally lovers of gold , yet that came but from the earth ; from the gold comes dross , yet few men mind that : so is it with good and bad men , the vertuous though they come from a mean stock are honoured , and the vicious though of splendid families are despised . wherefore , adde to your faith , vertue ; and to vertue , knowledge . why should we rejoyce in the pleasures of this world ? for we no sooner set our affections on them , but of a sudden they are blasted , or we are taken from them , or by sickness disabled to enjoy them . wherefore seek ye the lord jesus christ , in whom is hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge ; and the lord give thee understanding in all things . the sinner's character , arraignment and punishment : by mr. ralph venning , in divers sentential and experimental divine sayings . sin is contrary to god. sinners are called enemies to god. and sin is called enmity it self , as being contrary to god. it makes men walk contrary to god , revelling , rising up against , and contending with god. hence men hate god , resist god , sight and blasphame god , and atheistically say there is no god. sin would ungod god. sin is by some of the antients called , god-murther , or god-killing . all these are in the nature of every sin more or less , but are all of them in the heart of all sinners ( in their seed and root . ) &c. hence sin is not onely high-treason against the majesty of god , but it scorns to confess its crime . god is glorious in holiness● sin on the contrary is all sinful , only sinful , altogether sinful . as in god there is no evil , so in sin there is no good . god is the chiefest of goods , and sin is the chiefest of evils . as no good can be compared with god for goodness , so no evil can be compared with sin for evil . sin opposes all gods names and attributes . it deposeth god's soveraignty ; it will not that the king of kings should be in the throne . pharaoh spake the language of sin : i know no lord above me . sin denies god's all-sufficiencie as if there were more in sinful pleasures than in him . sin dares god's justice , and challenges god to do his worst : it provokes the lord to jealousie , and tempts him to wrath . sin disowns god's omniscience : tush , say sinners , god sees not . sin despises the riches of god's goodness . sin turns all god's grace into wantonness : sin is the dare of god's justice , the rape of his mercie , the jear of his patience , the slight of his power , and the contempt of his love. sin is the upbraid of his providence , the scoff of his promise , and the reproach of his wisdom . sin is contrary to god's works , and is called the devil's work . god's works were good , and exceedingly beautiful : but the works of sin are deformed and monstrous ugly . sin may be impleaded for all the mischiefs and villanies that have been done in the world . 't is the master of mis-rule , the author of sedition , the builder of babel , the troubler of israel and all mankind . sin is contrary to god's law and will , to all the rules and orders of his appointment . sin is not only a transgression of , but a contradiction also of the will of god. sin is an anti-will to god's will. david in fulfilling of god's will , was said to be a man after god's own heart ; and they that obey the will of sin , are said to wall● after the heart of sin . sin is contrary to god's image wherein man was made ; sin is as unlike god's image , as darkness is to light , as hell to heaven , yea , and more too ; sin is the devil's image . such as the devil and his angels are , who once knew good , but now know evil , both by doing it , and suffering the sad effects of it . thus he that runs may read the picture , image and likeness of the devil in sin : sinners are as like the devil as any thing . sin is contrary to the children of god : they are near and dear to god ; god's heart is set upon them for good , and sin sets its heart against them for evil . sin is always warring against the seed of god in them . by sins ill will , god's people should neither enjoy nor do any good in the world . sin , like the devil , hath not such an evil eye , or aking tooth at all the sinners of the world , as it hath at the saints in the world . the devil is a man-hater , but more a saint-hater . sin is contrary to , and set against the glory of god. faith would give glory to god : now that men may not believe , sin imploys the devil to blinde their eyes . good men would do all they do ( sin will let them do nothing at all ) to the glory of god. sin is contrary to , and opposite against the being and existence of god. it makes the sinner wish and endeavour that there might be no god : for sinners are haters of god. and as he that hates his brother is a murtherer , so ( as much as in him lies ) he that hates god is a murtherer of god. what 's said of sin , ( is to be considered by the sinner , and ) is meant of thine and my sin . poor soul ! canst thou finde in thine heart to hug and imbrace such a monster as this is ? wilt thou love that which hates god , and which god hates ? wilt thou joyn thy self to that which is nothing but contrariety to god and all that 's good ? oh , say to this idol , yea to this devil , get hence , what have i to do with thee , thou childe , yea father of the devil ? thou that art the founder of hell , an enemy to all righteousness , that ceasest not to pervert the right ways of the lord. sin is contrary to the good of man ; it is a separation betwixt god and man. the commandment of which sin is a transgression was given not onely for god's sake , that he might have glory from man's obedience ; but for man's sake , that man might enjoy the good and benefit of his obedience . these two were twisted together , and no sooner is the law transgrest , but god and man are joynt-sufferers ; god in his glory , and man in his good. man's suffering follows at the heels of sin ; yea , as he suffers by , so in sinning : suffering and sinning involve each other . no sooner did sin enter into the world , but death ( which is a privation of good ) did enter by it , with it , and in it . for 't is the sting of death : so that sin saith , here is death ; and death faith , here is sin. no sooner did angels sin , but they fell from their first state and habitation which they had with god in glory ; not a moment between their sin and misery . and as soon as man had sinned , his conscience told him that he was naked , and destitute of righteousness and protection . sin crosseth glory , and is cross to man's happiness . sin is against the good of man's body ; it hath corrupted his blood , and made his body mortal , and thereby rendered it a vile body . our bodies , though made of dust , were yet more pretious than fine gold ; but when we sinned , they became vile bodies . before sin , our bodies were immortal . ( for death and mortality came in by sin . ) but now alas they must return to dust , and it 's appointed to all men once to dye ; ( and 't is well but once , and the second death have no power over them : ) they must see corruption or a change . sin is against the good of man's soul : 't is not very ill with a man , if it be well with his soul ; but it can never be well with a man , if it be ill with his soul. so that we can more easily and cheaply dye than be damned ; and may better venture our bodies to suffering , than our souls to sinning . nothing but sin doth wrong a man's soul , and there is no sin but doth it . sin is against man's well-being in this life . well-being is the life of life ; and sin bears us so much ill will , that it deprives us of our livelyhood . man came into the world as into an house ready furnished ; he had all things ready and prepared to his hands . all the creatures came to wait on him , and payd him homage ; but when man sinned , god turn'd him out of house and home , like a pilgrim , a begger . ever since it hath been every man's lot to come into and go out of this world naked . when christ came into the world for the recovery of man , and stood as in the sinner's stead , he had not where to lay his head . though christ were lord of all , yet if he will come in the likeness of sinful flesh , he must speed not like the son of god , but son of man. sin is against that good which god left us , and fills it with vanity and vexation , with bitterness and a curse . god left adam many acres of land to till and husband , but he hath it with a curse ; sweat and sorrow , many a grieving bryer and pricking thorn stick fast to him . god left him ground enough , but 't is curst ground : sin is so envious , it would leave man nothing . and if god be so good as to leave man any thing , sins eye is evil because god is good , and puts a sting in it . sin is against man's rest ; 't is a sore travel which the sons of men have under the sun. man's ground is overgrown with thorns , that he hath many an aking head and heart , many a sore hand and foot ( before the year come about ) to get a little livelyhood out of this sincursed ground . sin , curse , and toil , keep company . sin is against man's comfort and joy : in sorrow shalt thou eat all the days of they life : not one whole merry day . the woman hath a peculiar sort and share of sorrow : for the time of conception , breeding , bearing and birth , are tedious . sin is against man's health : hence come all diseases and sicknesses : till sin there were no such things . let a man take the best air he can , and eat the best food he can ; let him eat and drink by rule , let him take never so many antidotes , preservatives and cordials , yet man is but a crazie sickly thing for all this . sin is against the quiet of a man's natural conscience : for it wounds the spirit , and makes it intolerable . a merry heart doth good like a medicine ; ( no cordial like it : ) but a broken spirit drieth the bones , and sucks away the marrow . a good conscience is a continual feast , but sin mars all the mirth . sin is against the beauty of man , it takes away the loveliness of mens very complexions . sin is against the loving cohabitation of soul and body ; it hath sowed discord betwixt them . many a falling out is there between soul & body , between sense & reason ; they draw several ways . sin is against man's relative good in this world . that which was made for a help , proves but too often an hindrance . sin hath spoil'd society . one man is a wolf , yea a devil to another . sin will not let husband and wife , parents and children to live quietly . sin breeds divisions , factions in church and state ; that there is little of union or order . sin is against the very being of man : how many doth it strangle in the womb ? how many doth it send from the cradle to the grave ? and after a few days , which are but as a span , sin lays all in the dust . sin hath reduc'd man's age from almost a thousand to seventy . he that 's born to day , is not sure to live a day . sin is against all the good of man in this life . sin hath degraded man by defiling him , and almost unman'd him . man was a very noble thing , made a little lower than the angels ; but alas , by sin he 's made almost as low as devils . sin hath rob'd man of his primitive excellence ; of a lord , he is become a servant , yea a slave to creatures , to devils , and lusts of all sorts . sin defiles his body : the flesh is filthy , the body is a body of sin , the members are servants to uncleanness . take man from head to foot , from the crown of that to the sole of this , there 's no whole ( because not holy ) part in him . their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness ; with their tongues they use deceit ; the poyson of asps is under their lips ; their throat is an open sepulchre ; eyes full of adultery ; eye-lids haughty ; ears dull of hearing , yea deaf as the adder ; the forehead impudent as a brow of brass ; both hands are employ'd to work iniquity ; belly an idol-god , the feet swift to shed blood . look within , their inward part is wickedness ; the gall is a gall of bitterness ; the spleen is affected , yea infected with envy and malice . sin defiles the soul : god's image was more in and o● the soul than body of man , and sin 's ambition and envy is to deprive the soul of this image . righteousness and holiness were stamped upon man's soul , but sin hath blotted this image and superscription , which once told from whence it came . it must be new created or renewed before god own it for his , because till then his image is not legible . the flood which washt away so many sinners , could not wash away sin ; the same heart remains after the flood as before . sin hath deceived the heart : hardned obstinacie , vain folly and madness , vain thoughts and villanous , bubble and break forth from this corrupt fountain that sets the tongue on fire from hell. the conscience is become evil , and in many feared . sin hath almost put out man's eye , and even extinguished the candle of the lord. sin hath dimmed and benighted man's leading faculty , the understanding , which should shew a man the difference between good and evil . sin blinds the sinner , and makes him grope as the blinded sodomites to finde the door of hope . man hath lost his way , since he lost his eyes ; poor man catcheth at every straw , grasps every trifle . sinners are ever and most stumbling at christ jesus ; they are offended at him , but cannot tell for what . would a man be led by a dog if he were not blinde ? blinde guides , dumb dogs , false prophets , lead sinners into theditch of sin , and the dungeon of hell. till a man fear god , he doth but play the fool ; he is as the prodigal , beside himself : the representative of sinners and converts . man's folly , to think like a fool , unsteadily and rowling , independantly and broken , at random and rovers . sin hath made man like a beast , yea not like to , but a beast ; the man of sin , the great antichrist , is called a beast ; and the great ones that daniel saw in his vision , are called beasts . sinners in scripture are call'd ten or eleven times brutish . sinful man is like the beast in ignorance , man , though he sit at the upper end of the world , as the antichristian beast doth , is but a bruit that hath no understanding . sinful man is like the beast in sensuality ; as if he were onely belly-wise , and had no soul to minde . sinful man is like the beast in his unsociableness , and unsuitableness for society and communion with god and men . good men are as shie of conversing with such , as with beasts . sinners are likened to the worst of hurtful beasts , such as in scripture are call'd hurtful beasts ; to lyons , tygers , boars , and bears , the ill-qualited and ill-condition'd creatures . wicked men are likened to goats for lustfulness and wantonness , so are sinners : the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eye , are the things they are taken with . wicked men are likened to goats for stinking : a goatish smell is a stinking smell . wicked men are likened to goats for their bold and adventurousness ; they climb rocks and precipices , to brouse and feed on what they can get with hazard : and in this , sinners are like them too in running hazards . sinners are likened to dogs , and 't is a common name to sinners ▪ without are dogs . sin separates the sinner from god , they are without god ; sinners are said to be afar off , for they depart from god , and go into a far country . sin separates the sinner from the sight of god. our happiness lies so much in the sight of god , that it hath the name of the beatifical vision . sin hath separated the sinner from the life of god , such a life as god lives . sin hath separated the sinner from the love of god , and made him the object of his wrath . sin hath separated the sinner from communion with god : god and man kept company , while man and holiness kept company . sin hath separated the sinner from covenant-relation with god. they are without god , promise and covenant . sin in robbing man of god , it hath robbed him of all things . god hides his face from sinners whose loving kindness is better than life . the sinner turns the back to god , and god turns the back to him . god hears not the sinner's prayers . god is a god hearing prayers but sin shuts out their shouting and howling . the sinner is without strength ; man's great strength is in union with god , separation weakens him . to be a sinner , is to be without strength . man was once a sampson for strength ; but having parted with his locks , his strength is departed from him . man by reason of sin is in death often in this life : but in the life to come , he 's in death for ever . god damns no man but for sin ; death is but sin's wages . heaven and salvation is not more surely promis'd to the one , than hell and damnation is threatned to , and shall be executed on the other . oh , who knows the power of god's wrath ? none but damned ones . damnation is a denial of good to , and inflicting of evil upon sinners . woe unto you , says god , when i depart from you ; but woe , woe , woe will it be when sinners depart from god! sinner's company are the devil and his angels , tormented in everlasting fire with a curse . neither shall the sinner nor the fire know an end . when once a man is damned , he may bid adieu to all good . stately houses , spread tables , full cups , soft beds , pleasant walks , delightful gardens fill'd with fragrant and odoriferous fruits and flowers , none of these will descend with them . when devils fetch away their souls , whose shall all these things be ? to have a portion of this world may be a mercie , but to have the world for a portion is a misery . to have all good things in this life , and but for this life , is a misery indeed . the impenitent sinner goes from all his good to all evil ; but the saint goes from all his evil ( and but from a little good ) to all good . who would not part with counters for gold ; with a world for heaven ? this the saint doth , and 't is a good exchange i trow . the wicked spend their days in mirth , and have a brave time on 't , as they think ; they sing care away all the day long . heaven will not hold any of the wicked , nor shall hell have any of the righteous to hold . the wicked must be not onely without their hopes of heaven , but without heaven which they hoped for . they gloried in their shame in this world ; and they shall have shame enough , but no glory in the world to come . they must suffer the loss of god himself , who is the heaven of heaven . all good things are but as a drop to the ocean , in comparison of him . the sinner's estate is unalterable when once damned ; the door is shut , 't is in vain to knock ; the day , offers and means of grace is at an end . god's long-suffering will suffer no longer ; though thou should'st weep out thine eyes in hell , 't will , stand thee in no stead . what think you sinner now , is not sin exceeding sinful , that separates from all good , past , present , and to come ? who that hath not been in hell , can tell what hell is ? who would go thither to try what ' t is ? take the dregs of all the miseries of this life , and it will fall infinitely short of this misery , damnation . a burning feavour is nothing to burning in hell. hell would be a kinde of paradise , if 't were no worse than the worst of this world . the life that saints obtain , sinners go without ; and the misery that saints are delivered from , sinners are deliver'd to . as different as grief is from joy , as torment is from rest , as terrour from peace ; so different is the state of sinners from that of saints in the world to come . 't will be punishment without pity , misery without mercie , sorrow without succour , crying without comfort , and torment without ease . conscience accuses , devils torment , hope is departed , and time is for ever . hell is a place and state of sorrow ; a place and state of pains and pangs . to be in hell , is to be destroy'd . 't is a place and state of fire . damnation is in it . 't is the place of torment . hell is all these , and much more . hell is call'd a prison , and the worst . hell is call'd the bottomless pit , into which sinners will be ever falling , for there 's no bottom . hell is call'd a furnace of fire ; they that are sin-makers by trade shall be cast into it . it 's call'd a lake with fire and brimstone . hell is a place of darkness ; those flames will administer heat of wrath , but no light of comfort . hell is a state of damnation . hell is a place of destruction . hell is an accursed state. damnation is call'd the second death , a living death , a death that never dyes . hell-torments will be exceeding great . none but damned souls know the power of god's wrath. hell is the centre of all punishments ; sorrow and pain , wrath and vengeance , fire and darkness , all are there . the damned will be universally tormented , not one or two parts , but all , and all over , both soul and body ; the eye with sight of devils , the ear with hideous cries , the smell with the sent of unsavoury brimstone , the tast with the dregs of the cup of god's wrath , the feeling with burning flames . the soul and all its faculties will speed no better ; the understanding will be tormented with truth , the conscience with a gnawing worm , the will that men think here a princely thing , there they 'll finde it a devilish thing . hell-torments will be without intermission , there 's no sleeping there . needs there any more , sinner , to fright thee from sinning , which is the way to damnation ? for thy soul's sake , hear , and fear , and do no more wickedly . oh , if thou should'st go from reading of hell , into hell , thou would'st say , there was a prophet ; i would not believe it , but now i feel it . praise the almighty . psal. 65.1 . praise waiteth for thee , o god , in zion . praise the most high , oh clap your hands ! praise him , for he the world commands ; praise him mount zion , praises sing , praise him that is your cities king. praise him with loud and silent air , praise ye the lord that heareth pray'r , praise him makes morning hear his voice , praise him makes ev'ning to rejoyce . praise him that doth prepare our corn , praise him all ye that are forlorn . praise him that duly sends us rain , praise him for fruits , herbs , flowr's and grain . praise him for his refreshing showrs , praise him for recreating bowrs . praise him that doth our pastures fill , praise and rejoyce each little hill. praise him ye birds , and ev'ry tree , praise him that did divide the sea. praise him for waters from the fount , praise him for grass grows on the mount. praise him that gives , and nothing owes , praise him with sacrifice and vows . praise him that form'd us in our womb. praise him that guides us to our tomb. praise him that makes us blest in heaven , praise him from whom all food is given . praise him , his holy name adore , praise him , o praise him , more and more . praise god the father of the iust , praise him that raiseth poor from dust. praise him that makes the barren bear , praise him with duty , love and fear . praise ye the lord for dayly food , praise ye the lord , for it is good. praise him who gives success in wars , praise him who numbereth the stars . praise him that builds jerusalem , praise him whose word is more than iem . praise him that lifteth up the meek , praise him that doth support the weak . praise him who doth the ravens feed , praise him , our meetly help at need . praise him causeth his winds to blow , praise him that makes the waters flow . praise him in his angelick coasts , praise him all ye his mighty hosts . praise ye his name both sun and moon , praise him , ye lights that shine at noon . praise him ye heavens never fade , praise him , for ye by him were made . praise ye the lord ye dragons fell , praise him ye deeps , his wonders tell . praise him , fire , hail , vapour , and snow , praise him ye stormy winds that blow . praise him ye cedars , beasts o' th' field , praise him all things can praises yield . praise him ye kings of highest birth , praise him ye iudges of the earth . praise him ye rulers whom he rais'd , praise , for he 's greatly to be prais'd . praise ye the lord , both great and small , praise him that did create us all . praise him within his holy tower , praise him for his almighty power . praise him for what he to us gave , praise iesus christ that did us save . praise ye the holy spirit too , praise each with all devotions due . praise all , strive who shall praise the most , praise father , son , and holy ghost . praise each with pious harmony , praise ye the blessed trinity . praise ye the lord with trumpets sound , praise him that heal'd us with his wound . praise him with harp's loud melody , praise him with song and psaltery . praise him with timbrel , let the flute praise him , with organ , pipe , and lute . praise him with instrumental string , praise him with cymbals , loudly sing . praise him with ioy , and skilful voice , praise with new songs the chief and choyce . praise him that is our guide , our light , praise him because his word is right . praise him whose works are done in truth , praise him that no injustice doth . praise him all people , great and less , praise him that loveth righteousness . praise him whose goodness fills the earth , praise him with zeal and pious mirth . praise him the antient is of days , praise him that gives us pow'r to praise , praise him ( whose word ) the heavens made , praise him whose breath requir'd no ayd . praise him that doth the wind command , praise him that makes the waters stand . praise him whom sun and moon obey , praise him doth heavens scepter sway . praise him that doth the heathen awe ▪ praise him whose ev'ry word 's a law . praise him who doth from heav'n behold , praise him ye rich , poor , young and old. praise him that fashions all our hearts , praise him alone can heal our smarts . praise him that is the king of kings , praise him in grief that comfort brings . praise him that governs sea and coasts , praise him that is the lord of hosts . praise him who can the lyon tame , praise him that mighty is by name . praise him that guards us day and night , praise him the god of peace and fight . praise him that makes the stoutest yield , praise him that is our help and shield . praise him both with the heart and mouth , praise him in age , in strength and youth . praise him , who are with sorrows sad , praise , that the humble may be glad . oh let the nations all accord to praise and magnifie the lord. blessings of the righteous , as they are denoted in the holy scriptures . hearken unto the lord thy god , his covenants observe , so will he kindly spare his rod , and not afflict a nerve . blest shalt thou in the city be , thy god will blessings yield at home , abroad , at bed , at board , and likewise in the field . blessed shall be thy bodies fruit , and that upon the ground : the wicked , be they lowd or mute , shall neither of them wound . thy cattle shall enrich thy store , the increase of thy kine and sheep shall still wax more and more , thy grapes shall yield thee wine . blest shall thy store and basket be , blessings shall thence accrew ; comings and goings shall agree to make thee blessed too . the lord shall smite thine enemies , and put them to disgrace ; the chiefest he will make to flie , and that before thy face . thy foes one way shall thee attempt , but flee before thee seven : from iudgment none shall be exempt , but as the wind be driven . thy store-houses the lord will bless , and all thou tak'st in hand , and give to thee a large increase of plenty in the land . the lord , as he himself hath sworn , he shall establish thee ; and farther to exalt thy horn , his people ye shall be . keep thou the lord's commandements , and all the earth shall see that thou art great in innocence , and stand in fear of thee . the lord he shall his treasures ope , the heav'ns shall give thee rain ; if head or hand with business cope , it shall be for thy gain . no discontent shall thee attend , as free from grief or sorrow : to many nations thou shalt lend , but have no need to borrow . blessed are they that in him trust , he will them bless with speed ; for do they hunger , do they thirst , he is their help at need . blessed is he whose sin is hid , he may with gladness smile , whose errours all are covered , whose spirit hath no guile . blessed are they that now lament , as being poor in spirit : for they are promis'd by the lord , his kingdom to inherit . blessed are they that now do mourn , thinking their joys are fled : for though as yet they seem forlorn , they shall be comforted . the meek are blessed too , for they that love not strifes increase shall on the earth bear happy sway , delighting much in peace . the hungry too , and they that thirst for righteousness as meat , they shall be fill'd , when those accurst shall nothing have to eat . blest be the merciful to those whom they observe in pain , for he that mercily bestows , shall mercie reap again . thrice-blessed are the pure in heart , whose souls and hands are free from vanity and wicked oaths , for they their god shall see . blest the peace-makers are , for they his children shall be call'd : and he that loves and doth obey , shall never be enthrall'd . blessed are they for righteousness do persecution bear : their great reward none can express but heav'n , it lieth there . blessed are they that are revil'd because they seek the lord ; let them not fear , although exil'd , his grace will strength afford . rejoyce and be exceeding glad , for great is your reward ; the prophets by such usage bad did get into regard . curses of the vvicked . he that doth hear a poor man's cry shall never fare the worse ; but whoso turneth back his eye shall never want a curse . he that himself hath others curst , his servant curseth him : the blessings of his flowing purse shall him to ruine swim . he that blasphemeth god his lord , ought to be ston'd to death , and cursed be that man abhorr'd , serves other god beneath . cursed be he that setteth light by father , or by mother ; the people shall him daily slight , and none his curses smother . cursed be he that doth remove his neighbours land-mark ; then the people shall him curse , none love , but each one cry amen . cursed be he that leads the blinde in an erroneous way ; the lord for him will torments finde , and be the blind man's stay . cursed be he that doth pervert the widow , fatherless , or stranger from an upright heart ; curses shall him oppress . cursed , thrice cursed shall he be , covets his father's breast ; and that man curst shall be , as he , that lieth with a beast . curst let him be , with sister lies , or mother , ( though ) in law ; such sins do make those horrid cries , that dreadful curses draw . cursed be he that secretly his silent neighbour smites ; murtherers too , that cause to dye when a reward invites . the wicked shall be curst at home , and likewise in the field ; his basket , and his store at last shall blessings fail to yield . cursed be all his sinful fruit of body and of land , his kine and flock though they are mute , and all he takes in hand . cursed be he when going out , and curst when coming in ; that happy 't were for him no doubt , if he had never been . an elegie on the death of that much lamented and no less wanted , industrious labourer in god's vineyard , the reverend mr. ralph venning , who quitted this vale of tears , and put on immortality the 10th day of this instant march , 1673 / 4. — fretum vitae gaudeate carina tranavit — tutum tenet anchorà portum ; nunc hilaris , ventos ridet , tumidasque procellas . hark ! how our sion with heart-piercing groans , her chariots & her horsmen's loss bemoans ; see! how each pious blubber'd cheek doth wear the sad ennamel of a briny tear ; each soul turns a close mourner in its cell ; and ev'ry tongue becomes a passing-bell : must good men still dye first , and is there gone another cedar in our lebanon ? are holy pow'rful preachers snatch'd so fast ? they 're pretious , death , oh! do not make such wast . well may the scarlet whore begin her tricks , such lights pust out , threatens our candlesticks ; and we may fear that god intendeth wars , when he thus fast calls home's embassadors . sweet pious venning could no longer stay , caryl in glory beckon'd him away , whilst heav'n to lend more moysture to our eyes , at his remove in tears did sympathize , but love and zeal appear'd so i hill below , they soon congeal'd each falling drop to snow . yet that white robe the earth put on , did prove but a black foil to what he wears above . go , happy saint ! i knew 't was not a shrine of flesh could lodge so pure a soul as thine ; i saw it labour ( in a holy scorn of living dust and ashes ) to be sworn a heavenly quirister ; it sigh'd and groan'd to be dissolv'd from mortal , and enthron'd ▪ amongst his fellow-angels , there to sing perpetual anthems to his heavenly king : he was a stranger to his house of clay , scarce own'd it , but that necessary stay mis-call'd it his , and only zeal did make him love the building for the builders sake . amongst the throng that croud to sacrifice to 's memory the torrents of their eyes , let me ( although a stranger unto those that weep in rhyme , though oft i mourn in prose ) water his herse , since my big-bellied eyes long for deliv'ry at his obsequies , wherein what art and nature both deny , grief and the subjects merits may supply : for who e're writes but truth of him will be slander'd by ignorance with poetry ; and those that speak not half his worth in verse , the sensual crew may think idolaters . but flattery can never reach his state. we only praise , to make men imitate , and so must speak in sober terms : for know , if saints in heav'n can hear things here below , a lye , though in his praise , would make him frown and chide us , when in glory he comes down with his dear lord to iudge the world , and pay each soul rewards according to its way . he was no iingling drolster of the times , that as on stage , up to a pulpit climes to trifle out an hour , tickle the ear ; and lullaby their heads to sleep that hear , whose preachments are but a romantick clatter , a sea of words , but scarce a drop of matter ; some pye-bald scraps of new philosophy , or dough-bak'd dictates of morality ; nor was he of that rash unpolisht race , whose sluttish hands do sacred things disgrace . knowledge and zeal in him so sweetly met , his pulpit seem'd a second olivet , where from his lips he would deliver things , as though some seraphim had clap'd his wings ; his painful sermons were so neatly drest , as if an antheme were in prose exprest ; yet quick and pow'rful , that without controul , they reach'd the heart , and pierc'd the very soul. oh! what an excellent surgeon has he been , to set a conscience ( out of joynt by sin . ) he at one blow could wound and heal , whilst all wondred to finde a purge , a cordial : his manna-breathing-sermons often have given our good thoughts new life , our bad a grave . his life was th' use of 's doctrine still annext , and all his actions comments on his text. he made a christian frame of heart appear so imitable , that preach'd ev'ry where ; nor owe we less to his ingenious quill , whereby ( although now dead ) he preaches still ; the way to happiness he plainly show'd , and how canaan with milk & hony flow'd ; to things worth thinking on , he did apply , and still sought to promote true piety : sins dreadful plague-sore , which none should endure , he soon discovers , and prescribes a cure ; and when 's quaint wit brought forth a paradox , his christian spirit made it orthodox . in life , he taught to dye , and now did give in death , a great example how to live . fond earth then cease , and let thy childish eyes ne'r weep for him thou ne'r knew'st how to prize ; but if you needs must weep , oh come , come in ye multitudes his pains have heal'd of sin ; if you 'll be grateful debtors , pay him now some of those tears which he laid out for you . sentential truths , written and delivered by mr. iames ianeway not long before his death . the world in its best estate is made up of vanities & troubles . the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life , is not of the father , but is of the world. faith , hope and patience desire help to lead the soul out of egypt , and conduct it through the red-sea and wilderness . the spies are sent into canaan , and bring good news out of that land. faith sees sihon , og , and amaleck discomfited , and their powers broken . faith goes to the borders of the promised land , to the very top of pisga , and upon mount nebo ; it sends love into heaven to dwell there with the lord for ever . what shall i more say ? for the time would fail me to tell of gideon , of barak , of samson , of iephthah , of david , samuel , and of the prophets : who through faith subdued kingdoms , wrought righteousness , obtained promises , stopped the mouths of lyons , quenched the violence of fire , escaped the edge of the sword , out of weakness were made strong , waxed valiant in fight , turned to flight the armies of the aliens . christians , let us be zealous in our private and publike prayers ; in our closet , and family-devotions ; so shall we not only enter into rest our selves , but shall teach the way to our children , our servants , and our friends . be strictly careful that the gain of the world prove not the loss of your souls . let your hearts be early and late with god. time is pretious , and of greater value than gold. wherefore , let it be thy business and the delight of thy soul , to seek and to serve god. to seek and to serve here , is the way to be glorified in rejoycing and enjoying hereafter . wherefore begin betimes , and be not weary of well doing ; for great is your reward . take hold of this present opportunity , lest the sloath of your heart , or the cares of this world , cause you to neglect and forget the prize that is set before you . unhappy are those poor souls whose portion is only in this world . if in this life only we have hope in christ , we are of all men most miserable . the cross of christ is the christians crown ; the reproach of christ is the christian's riches ; and the shame of christ is his glory . god forbid that i should glory , save in the cross of our lord iesus christ , by whom the world is crucified unto me , and i unto the world . in all your actions , let it be your practice to have a respect to your ends . talk not proudly , let not arrogancie come out of your mouth : for the lord is a god of knowledge , and by him actions are weighed . strive to live above this lower region , that no accidents may put you out of frame , nor disquiet your soul. set your affections on things above , and not on the earth . if i had the wings of a dove , i would flie from the winds , the storms , and tempests of this wicked world , and rest my self in the bosom of my father . there the wicked cease from troubling , and there the weary be at rest . to disparage sin , and to incourage holiness , is none of the least works of a minister of christ. the wicked may drink , roar , and swagger , and sell their pretious souls for a moments joy , and make light of damnation ; but let them know , for all these things god will bring them to iudgment : an eternity of intolerable sorrows must pay for their short pleasures . hence it is that the serious christian makes it his business to avoid this dreadful misery ; let the wicked please themselves in their sorrows , he knows 't is but a little while , and all will be mended , and their minds changed . he is willing to stay for his happiness and joys till he come to another world ; and he doth not envy the wicked what they do enjoy , let them make the best of it . the unseen world , which most forget , is always in the christians eye ; and if he may but live happily there , he passeth not if he run through reproaches , injuries , and a thousand deaths , to that glorious and endless life . this is the grand reason of the christians patience ; this makes him judge it no folly , but the greatest wisdom to keep the commandments of god , and the faith of jesus . those which live like devils , are not like to dye like saints , that count all their time lost , they do him no service in ; which make a jest of damning , and are as merry within a step of hell , as if it and a tavern were alike . and yet how well are wicked men pleased and contented with their own condition , and laugh at the godly , as if it were a dangerous and mad thing to go to heaven , and the truest happiness to be miserable for ever ? the devil himself may as well expect to shake off his chains , and be restored to his lost glory , as they : o be not deceived ; as you sow , so you must reap . god gives this world oftentimes to his greatest enemies ; he gives glory in another world to none but his friends and children . nay , let me speak it freely ; they which gain this world with their negligence of heaven , shall at their death lose both . many that would be counted wise , drive a great trade for that which is next to nothing ; and that lay in no better provisions than gravel , clay , or dung , when they are bound for eternity . they think they make a very wise bargain , when they sell their conscience , god , and heaven , for a little of that which some call riches . o that i could but bring down the price of sublunary things , and raise the things of that other world to their true worth . think not meanly of holiness ; it 's the most excellent thing , it is the greatest riches , and man's highest dignity . he that knows the worth of christ , and the nature of his own soul , let him not envy those that swell like bladders upon water for a moment , and god puffs them off , and where are they ? how can they look for heaven when they dye , that thought it not worth their minding whilst they lived ? whatsoever men pursue below christ , will yield them but little happiness and comfort in another world . not every one that wears christ's livery , shall have his wages . how many seeming saints shall gain nothing at death , but a thorow knowledge of their own folly ? o please not your self with fancies ! sickness and death is coming , and then you will know better , the reason of my earnest pleading with you in this matter . he that hath not got more than ever any hypocrite could attain , or shall , will miss of heaven . the best of god's children are most suspicious of themselves , and afraid of their own deceitful hearts ; and their great request is , that god would deliver them from mistakes in matters of everlasting consequence . it 's a common thing for wicked men to carry their false peace along with them to the grave . how many thousands are there that dye like lambs , that are but swine , and have the devils brand upon their foreheads ? many are carried very quickly to hell , and fear nothing till they feel ; and are not brought to their sences , till unspeakable horrour and anguish doth it . it hath not a little puzled some , as well as david , to see the wicked dye quietly , and the godly to have a strange death ; but god will shortly resolve this riddle . that soul which hath seen the death of sin , is a person fit for death . that man is like to be a gainer by death , who contemns earth , and makes heaven his choice . he that counts nothing worth the having , except christ , and for christ , cannot be miserable , when he is lodged safe in his imbraces . god is oftentimes better , but never worse than his word ; the running christian shall at last obtain the prize , and the crown he fights for he shall wear . what though the vessel be tost and broke ? it shall come safe with its rich lading , to the desired harbour . o you foolish world , condemn not these spiritual wise merchants , till you know what their returns are , when their burden is delivered . he that is willing to dye for christ , shall live as long as christ lives , in happiness and rest . those souls are out of gun-shot , that are instrumental for the shaking the kingdom of satan , and weakning the interest of hell in the world . who would not be a christian in good earnest ? sure none but a mad-man or a fool . the highest worldlings are below the meanest and lowest child of god. christianity is a clear demonstration of invisibles , witness the many earnests of their profession . what warm refreshing rays of divine love break in upon their souls what joy , what experiments , and blessed intercourses have past betwixt god and such souls ! the fire hath burnt , and of a sudden the soul hath , e're it was aware , been carried above the world . the spirit of truth will not witness to a lye , neither will goodness it self put a cheat upon poor creatures . balaam's wish may throughly convince sinners , that holiness is no madness , piety no fancie , and religion no delusion . i am perswaded that all the reprobates in hell will one day justifie the children of god for their seriousness , and wish a thousand times , that they had had their scorns , losses and torments . well then , our enemies themselves being judges , an israelite indeed is a person of true worth ; and without controversie , his estate is , and shall be comfortable , blessed , and glorious . o christian , as long as god is true , you shall not be deceived ; as long as he is happy , you shall not be miserable : you are well enough , go on resolutely ; 't is but a little while , and you shall see all this , and more than this a thousand times . death will shortly tear off ioshua's rags , and present him before the lord without spot or wrinkle . sin indeed accompanies the wicked to another world ; he rests from his pleasures , and his wicked works follow him . but it is far otherwise with the godly ; sin was his burden ▪ and death shall unload him . sin shall be confin'd to hell ; heaven entertains no such deformity . this tyrant shall no more inslave any of christ's subjects . the house of saul and the house of david shall no longer contend ; that sad conflict between the flesh and the spirit , shall then be determined by a full victory . death sets the soul out of the devils reach . this angel hath nothing to do in heaven ; this serpent shall not come into the higher paradise , nor satan creep into this eden . o happy day , when will it come when the devil shall be as unlike to tempt , as our hearts to close ? when we are got once safe to rest , the devil shall as easily shake god's throne , as our happiness . death turns the key , and bolts and bars this enemy out ; then , o then thou shalt see this pharaoh cast dead on the shore . christian , expect not as long as any of that cainish generation breath , that thou shouldest be long secure . what though the world speak great words ? thou shalt e're long ride in state to glory ; and then let them do their worst . when thou art in heaven , they may curse , and encrease their own misery , but they shall not in the least diminish thy tranquillity . the beauty of this inferiour world will be darkned by the brightness of that light , which death leads thee into . death blows the dust out of our eyes ; it plucks off the vail , and shews us quickly the glory of both worlds . what pen can describe the honour and dignities of the sons of god! a lazarus , in stead of beggers , cripples , and dogs , had a guard of angels waiting upon him . these chariots and horse-men of israel shall carry up ioseph to his fathers house . the souls of believers are made perfect in holiness at death . o then how glorious shall the kings daughter be , when her beauty is made perfect ! o my soul ! when will the shadows flee away ? when will days and nights be all at an end ? when will time be spent , and the curtain drawn ? how should we think our selves , if our hearts were always as god would have them ! well , be of good chear , in mount zion there shall be deliverance and holiness . who that understands this , would not bid death welcom ! that good old saint , simeon , thought it a heaven upon earth to see christ when his majesty was vail'd . this was but a small thing , compared to the sight which they shall see when their graces shall be compleat . how will the heavens eccho of joy , when the bride , the lambs wife , shall come to dwell with her husband for ever ! christ is the desire of nations , the joy of angels , the delight of the father . what solace then must that soul be filled with , that hath the possession of him to all eternity ! is not his love better than wine , and a look of his countenance to be preferred above corn and oyl ? is not all the glory of heaven wrapt up in him ? i see now , it is not for nothing that the virgins did love him . what mean the world ? sure they are dead , blinde , or mad . saints blessedness lies in this , that they shall meet with all the children of god , and have communion with just men made perfect . death will bring you acquainted with all those famous worthies , of whom the world was not worthy . this porter opens the door , and lets the saints soul into that palace , where all the favorites of that great prince reside . what would i give to see enoch , that walked with god ? how glad should i be to be acquainted with elias ! how joyful , if i might have some discourse with paul ! would it not make one couragious in the cause of god , if one could hear daniel , or the three children , tell the story of their deliverance ? how should one be pleased to have it from the mouth of moses , ioshuah , and caleb , what god did for israel in the fields of ham , the red-sea , and the wilderness ? and how he brought them into the land of canaan . why ? as formidable as death looks , it 's he that brings us to the speech of all these . how loth are we now to part , when a knot of us have got together , to talk about the things of another world ! heaven hath in it none but saints and angels , and the blessed god. o what acclamations of joy will there be , when all the children of god shall meet together , without fear of being disturbed by the antichristian and cainish brood ! is there not a time coming , when the godly may ask the wicked , what profit they have in their pleasures ? what comfort in their greatness ? and what fruit of all their labour ? they shall shortly know that nothing was lost , which was spent for their souls and heaven . if you would be better satisfied what the beatifical vision means , my request is , that you would live holily , and go and see . a further addition is , that there is no fear of loosing of it ; his enemies can't rob him . if the grave were but lookt on as a chamber to rest in ; and if faith could but take death to be but an undressing , to put on better raiment ; how contentedly then should we be uncloath'd , that we might be cloathed with immortality ! and if the case be so , what a good condition is the dead saint in ! lazarus his resurrection was no cheat ; many of the saints arose , and christ is risen . o what kinde of greeting will these two old companions have , when they see one another in another world ! never let any grutch to serve god chearfully : they which have received their wages , will say that the service of god is not unprofitable . but heaven is not got with a wet finger : few run so as to obtain , few fight so as to conquer . lazie wishes and a hazard will not do for heaven . they that dye in sin , must be buried in hell. who would be afraid of everlasting rest ? it is our trifling with god that makes the thoughts of our appearing before him to be so dreadful . how can you live within a few inches of death , and look the king of terrour in the face every day , without some well-grounded evidence of your interest in god's love ? what will become of the careless ones of the world , that think little of death , and less of eternity ! mr. ryther's sayings concerning mr. ianeway . my dear and reverend brother deceast was delightful to me , and to all that knew him when living , and so desirable when dying . o how often have we taken sweet counsel together ! his thoughts , his time , his study was , how he should get sinners bands broken off , and themselves brought into the liberty of the sons of god. under a bodily consumption , he laboured to build up saints , that they might be kept from soul-consumption . it 's high time for the world to awake out of sleep , and to minde the state of their souls . god is now gathering in his labourers ; then who shall gather in his harvest ? he is putting out the lights , and who shall guide them to emanuel's land ? two famous lights in one week , not put under a bushel , but under a grave-stone . this present life we enjoy here , is but a voyage ; all christians are homeward bound . believers when their voyage is finisht and compleated , they are with christ. believers are venturers ; their immortal pretious souls are their ventures . onely poor sinners , so living and dying , make lost voyages . alas for that gain , where estates are got , and souls lost ! you will weep and mourn over these gains to all eternity . in this present voyage , poor souls meet with seas of troubles . satan's storms of temptation , as well as storms of affliction . do not we sail through many a red-sea , before we arrive at our port ? in this voyage you must steer by your compass ; the rule of the word is your compass to sail by , to live by , and must be your compass to dye by , and to put into your port by . in this voyage you are accountable at your returns ; wicked persons must account for every idle word , and for every evil action . you carry necessary provision for a voyage . o how many of us are but poorly laid in for our voyage ! who knows what the latter part of our voyage may be fill'd up withal ? do we know what storms and tempests may attend our very putting in to port ? was it not so with him that is now safely arrived ? had not he his storms before he harboured ? o poor souls ! you see how fast you sail down the river of time , to put into the ocean of eternity . paul desired to ankor , and finish his voyage . where christ is , there is no sin : saints are hous'd , when they are once got to heaven . to be with christ , is to be in safe harbour . when god hath in this life filled the water-pots of his people with affliction , he takes that time to take them to heaven , and turn it into the wine of consolations . consider , god hath taken away a shepherd from his flock that gently led the burthened , that faithfully fed the hungry , heal'd the diseased , and diligently lookt to the state of his flock . he was a faithful watchman . god's gardens take a great deal of dressing . when dressers are taken away , what danger are vineyards in of becoming like the field of the sluggard ? how did this labourer spend himself in his masters harvest ? he was a guide in the way to heaven . and is this a small loss ? is not house breaking up , when a father goes ? o what a stroak is this , for many poor souls to lose a spiritual father ! you have lost a minister , we who knew him have lost a fellow-labourer in the gospel . you have lost a faithful shepherd , that are his flock ; we a faithful brother , that are in the ministry ; the nation a faithful wrestler with god. god pulls out stakes in zions hedge , but few are put in . god did renew the bow in his hand , day by day , and it abode in strength . he was no dauber with untempered morter , nor sower of pillows under christians or sinners elbows . he preached to you as one in an heavenly extasie of love , to win souls to christ. he lived and shone out of the pulpit as well as in it . he was not only a burning zealous light in his doctrine , but also a shining light in his conversation . sin , the plague of plagues , and the worst of evils . but sin , that it might appear sin , worketh death . the doctrine of repentance supposeth that man hath done amiss . the doctrine of faith is another for righteousness and hope , concludes man to be without righteousness and hope in himself . 't is not the law , but sin , that works man's death and ruine . sin is contrary to god : carnal men are enemies to god , rebels and despisers of god ; resisters , fighters , blasphemers and atheists against god. sinners are actors of high-treason against the majesty of god , and will not that he shall reign over them . more particularly , sin is contrary to god's nature : he is holy ; he is so , and cannot but be so : he is all holy , and always holy , altogether holy. and sin is sinful , all sinful , onely sinful , altogether sinful . sin is contrary to god's attributes ; it will not that the king of kings should be in the throne , and govern this world which he hath made : sin attempts to dethrone god. sin denies god's all-sufficiencie : every prodigal that leaves the fathers house , doth practically say so . sin dares the justice of god , and challengeth god to do his worst ; it provokes the lord to jealousie , and tempts his wrath . sin disowns god's omniscience : tush , cry sinners , god sees not . sin despises the riches of god's goodness . sin turns god's grace into wantonness . sin is the dare of god's justice , the rape of his mercie , the jeer of his patience , the slight of his power , and the contempt of his love . and further , 't is the upbraid of his providence , the scoff of his promise , the reproach of his wisdom , and opposeth and exalts it self above all that is called god. sin is contrary to the works of god : sin may be impleaded for all the mischiefs and villanies that have been done in the world ; 't is the master of mis-rule , the author of sedition , the builder of babel , the troubler of israel and all mankinde . sin is contrary to god's law , to all his orders and rules , to his appointment . 't is not onely a transgression of , but a contradiction also to the will of god. 't is an anti-will to god's will : david in fulfilling the will of god , was said to be a man after god's own heart . and they that obey the will of sin , are said to walk after the heart of sin . sin is contrary to god's image wherein man was made ; viz. in righteousness and true holiness ; but sin is as deformity and ugliness ; sin is the devil's image : never was a childe more like the father , than a sinner is like the devil . sin is contrary to the people and children of god. though sin cannot hate them so much as god loves them ; yet the more god loves them , the more sin sets its hatred against them . the serpentine race will not suffer the little flock and remnant of the holy seed to have one quiet day . the devil is a man-hater , but more a saint-hater . sin is contrary to god's glory : good men would do all they do to the glory of god , but sin will let them do nothing at all to god's glory . might sins desires take place , there should not be a person or thing by whom and whereby god should be pleased or glorified . sin is contrary to god's being ; sinners are god-haters , and , as much as in them lies , they are god-murtherers . and if its power were as great as its will is wicked , it would not suffer god to be . god is a troublesome thing to sinners , and therefore they say , depart from us . sinners they would break christ's bonds , and make war with the spirit of peace . whoever thou art , pause a little , and consider what is said of sin : it is to be considered by the sinner , and is meant of thine and my sin . canst thou finde in thine heart to plead for such a monster ? wilt thou love that which god hates ? god forbid . oh , say to this idol , yea to this devil , get thee hence , thou childe , yea father of the devil ; thou that art the founder of hell , an enemy to all righteousness . oh think on 't : what ! hast thou no value , no regard for thy soul ? wilt thou neglect and despise it , as if 't were good for nothing but to be damned , and go to hell ? sin is contrary to the good of man , and nothing is properly and absolutely so but sin : and this results evidently from sins contrariety to god , as there is nothing contrary to god but sin . ( for devils are not so , but sin . ) sin being a separation between god and man , an interruption of his communion and conformity , it must needs be prejudicial and hurtful to him . man's sufferings follow at the heels of sin ; suffering and sin involve each other : no sooner did sin enter into the world , but death ( which is a privation of good ) did enter by it , with it , and in it : for 't is the sting of death ; so that sin saith , here is death , and death saith , here is sin . sin is against man's good ; here in time , and hereafter in eternity ; in this world which now is , and in that to come . particularly , against man's body , it hath corrupted man's blood , and made his body mortal , and thereby rendered it a vile body : our bodies , though made of dust , were yet more pretious than fine gold ; but when we sinned , they became vile bodies . before sin , our bodies were immortal , ( for death and mortality came in by sin ) but now alas they must return to dust ! and it 's appointed to all men once to dye , and 't is well if they dye but once . sin is against the good of man's soul too ; and this is much more to man's hurt : 't is well with his soul ; so that we can more easily and cheaply dye than be damn'd . nothing but sin doth wrong a man's soul , and there is no sin but doth that . sin is against man's well-being in this life ; man was born to a great estate , but by sin ( which was and is treason against god ) he forfeited all . man came into the world as into an house ready furnish'd ; but when man sinned , god turn'd him out of all . thus by sin man that was the emperour of eden , is banisht from his native country , and must never see it more , but in a new and living way , for the old is stop'd up : all we have ( our food and raiment ) is but lent us , we are only tenants at will. the sin of man had left the son of man nothing when he came into the world for the recovery of man. if he will come in the likeness of sinful flesh , he must speed not like the son of god , but son of man. nay , the venimous nature of sin is such , that it fills that good which god left us with vanity and vexation , with bitterness and a curse , sweat and sorrow : many a grieving bryer and pricking thorn stick fast to him . more particularly , sin is against man's rest , 't is a sore travail which the sons of men have under the sun ; yea he hath not rest in the night , but is haunted if not frighted with extravagant and frightful dreams : man's ground is over-grown with thorns ; he hath many an aking head and heart , many a sore hand and foot ( before the year come about ) to get a little livelihood out of this sin-curst ground . the old world was very sensible of this ; sin , curse , and toyl keep company . sin is against man's comfort and joy ; if man laugh , sin turns it to madness ; all our sweet meats have sower sawce . in sorrow shalt thou eat : his bread is the bread of affliction . the woman hath her share of sorrow : for the time of conception , breeding , bearing , and birth are tedious . sin is against man's health ; till sin , there were no diseases and sicknesses : let a man take the best air he can , and eat the best food he can , let him eat and drink by rule , let him take never so many antidotes , preservatives , and cordials , yet man is but a crazie sickly thing for all this . sin is against the quiet of a man's natural conscience : for it wounds the spirit , and makes it intolerable ; a wounded spirit who can bear ? this broken spirit drieth the bones , it sucks away the marrow and radical moisture . a good conscience is a continual feast , but sin mars all the mirth . when cain had killed his brother , and his conscience felt the stroak of his curse , he was like a distracted man , and mad : when iudas had betrayed his master , he was weary of his life . sin is against the beauty of man , it takes away the loveliness of their complexions , and alters the very air of their countenance ; it makes man vanity , and his beauty vain . sin is against the loving and conjugal cohabitation of soul and body : sin sowed discord between them , and made them jar : many a falling out there is now betwixt body and soul , between sense and reason ; they draw several ways : there 's a self-civil war. the soul is become a prisoner to the body . ( rather than a free man. ) too too often the beast is too hard for the man , and the horse rides the rider . sense lords it , and domineers over reason . sin is against man's relative good in the world ; man's weal or woe lies much in relations : by sin , that which was made for an help , proves an hindrance : sin hath spoil'd society : one man is a woolf , nay a devil to another . sin will not suffer husband and wife , parents and children to live quietly , but sets them at variance : they of a mans own house and bosom , that eat the bread at his table , are the worst enemies . sin is against the very being of man : sins aim is , not onely that man should not be well , but that man should not be : how many doth it strangle in the womb ? how many doth it send from the cradle to the grave , that they have run their race before they can go ? others dye in their full strength , besides the havock that is made by war. man no sooner lives , but begins to dye ; sin lays all in the dust , the prince and the begger ; sin hath reduc't man's age to a very little pittance , not only to seventy , but to seven ; for among men no mans life is valued more . in a moral sense , sin hath degraded man by defiling him . sin hath rob'd man of his primitive excellencie ; of a lord , he is become a servant , yea a slave to devils , and lusts of all sorts . his body is defiled : their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness , with their tongues they use deceit , the poyson of asps is under their lips , their throat is an open sepulchre , eyes full of adultery , the eye-lids haughty , ears dull of hearing , yea deaf as the adder ; the forehead as impudent as a brow of brass , both hands are imployed to work iniquity , the belly an idol-god , the feet are swift to shed blood. within the gall is a gall of bitterness , the spleen is infected with envy and malice . sin hath defil'd the soul , so that man is faln short of the glory of god , and the glory of being gods. it must be new created or renewed till god will own it for his , because till then his image is not legible . yea , the flood which washt away so many sinners , could not wash away sin ; the same heart remain'd after the flood as before . sin hath made the heart of man deceitful , obstinate : out of the heart come vain and villanous words . sin hath defiled and spoiled mans memory and conscience , and almost put out that leading faculty the understanding . sin hath darkened the understanding ; poor man is wise to do evil , but to do good hath no knowledge . poor man is covered with egyptian thick darkness . man , now like the blinde sodomites , gropes to finde the door . man hath lost his way since he lost his eyes . poor man catches at every straw , and grasps every trifle . man cannot comprehend the light , though it shine . in the innocent golden age , man could have comprehended the least light that came from god , and have seen day at a little hole ; he could have looked on the sun , and his eye not twinkle . but now the wisdom of god , the gospel , continues an hidden thing to this blinded world . man's darkness appears by his walking in all manner of wickedness ; who but blinde men would walk in dirt up to the ears , yea over head and ears ? it appears that sin hath blinded man , for he knows not whither he goes . men are busie in this world ( like a company of ants ) creeping up and down from one mole-hill to another , but are not so wise ; for the ants know , but poor blinde men know not whither they go , whether forward or backward , from home or to home . deaths triumph dash'd : or , an elegie on that faithful servant of god mr. iames ianeway , minister of the gospel , vvho resting from his most zealous and profitable labours , fell asleep in the lord the 12th of this instant march , 1673 / 4. how ! janeway dead ! spare , lord ! oh spare thy rod , 't will else too soon compleat our icabod ; if thus thou snatch the pastors , who shall keep from romish wolves thy pretious trembling sheep ? if night be coming , whither may they stray , when such sure watchmen are remov'd away ? we lost , alas ! one janeway before , oh! when shall we have two such janeways more ? men , whom heav'n fram'd , and sent on purpose hither , to win , and bring whole crouds of converts thither ! death's now grown rigid , and intends 't should seem , to make our teachers all conform to him . e're we can dry our big-swell'd eyes for one , tidings surprize us , that another's gone . hush then elegiacks ! 't is in vain you come , slight sorrows roar , but mighty griefs are dumb. behold ! our troubled hemispere has lost another star , whose brightness might almost vie lustre with the sun , whose heav'n-bred rays shot forth such flames at darkness , that our days vnsoil'd with shades , might hope to overthrow hells gates , and make another heav'n below . but now our skie is darkned , this bright star being ravisht hence , our fainting israels car hath lost its nimblest wheels ; we change our light for gloomy clouds , and loose our day in night . that star's remov'd whose clear enlightned head gilt every eye with flame , and often led the wandring wise men of the world , to see the sacred object of a bended knee . for by his zealous conduct we addrest to view a christ new born in every breast . this was both his imployment and delight , oh! how ( like son of thunder ) would he fright a stubborn sinner ! and an earth-quake raise in guilty minds , reflecting on their ways . but then ( not for to break the bruised reed ) like son of consolation , he 'd proceed with soveraign remedies of gospel-balm to heal the wounds , and such soul-tempests calm . — thus , would he wooe , and plead for god , and then prove no less orator to him for men . as in the early morn a sprightly lark springs from some turf , making the heav'ns her mark , shoots up her self through clouds , higher and higher , as if she 'd bear a part i th' angels quire : so would he rise in pray'r , till in a trice his soul became a bird of paradise . if our dull faint devotions , prayers be , we must acknowledge his an extasie . knowledge ( the depth of whose unbounded main , hath been the wrack of many a curious brain , and from her yet unreconciled schools , hath fill'd us with so many learned fools ) had tutor'd him with rules that could not erre , and taught him how to know himself & her . furnishing his large soul in height of measure , like a rich store-house of divinest treasure , from whence , as from a sacred spring did flow fresh oracles , to let his hearers know a way to glory , and to let them see that way to glory , was to walk as he . — thus lab'ring as heav'ns agent here below for others good , his wasted spirits flow : his mortal life be freely spent , that we might gain a life of immortality . still preaching , writing , every way he tryes to court the world from endless miseries . admonishes the old , instructs the young , and teaches children to speak sions tongue . but now his painful labours all are o're , methinks i see him welcom'd at heaven's door , by crouds of saints , sent there by him before . — hush then you sighs ! forbear you flowing tears , you storms and showrs of nature , stop your ears . let us no more with broken grov'ling numbers disturb his rest , now rock'd in sacred slumbers . complaints are vain , subscribe to heaven's will , when god speaks , 't is mans duty to be still . he 's dead ! let 's imitate his life , that we dying like him , may live eternally ; and glorifie that god , whose dying breath made man , whom death had conquer'd , conquer death . the grave 's our common , and our truest home ; a house of clay best fits a guest of loam . death 's but the good mans sleep : for as our eyes we close each night at bed , in hope to rise ; so should we dye , for when the trump doth blow , we shall as easily awake we know . and as we after sleep , our bodies finde more fresh in strength , and chearfully inclin'd ; so after death , our flesh scatter'd and dry'd , shall rise immortal , and more purify'd . this is our port , this is sins perfect cure : till lodg'd within a grave , there 's none secure . an epitaph . ask you why so many a tear bursts forth ? i 'll tell you in your ear : compel me not to speak aloud , death would then grow too too proud . eyes that cannot vent a tear , forbear to ask , you may not hear . gentle hearts that overflow have only priviledge to know . in these sacred ashes then know , reader ! that a man of men lies cover'd , and eternal glory makes dear mention of his story . nature when she gave him birth , open'd her treasures to the earth ; put forth the quintessence of merit , quickned with a higher spirit . rare was his life , his ●atest breath saw , and scorn'd , and conquer'd death . thankless reader ! never more vrge a why thus tears runs o're . when you saw so high a tyde , you might have known janeway dy'd . finis . books sold by dorman newman , at the king's arms in the poultrey . folio . the history of king iohn , king henry the second , and the most illustrious k. edward the first ; wherein the ancient soveraign dominion of the kings of great brittain over all persons in all causes , is asserted and vindicated : with an exact history of the popes intollerable usurpation upon the liberties of the kings and subjects of england and ireland . collected out of the ancient records in the tower of london , by w. prin , esq of lincoln-inn , and keeper of his majesties records in the tower of london . a description of the four parts of the world , taken from the works of monsieur sanson , geographer to the french king ; and other eminent travellers and authors ; to which is added the commodities , coyns , weights and measures of the chief places of traffick in the world ; illustrated with variety of useful and delightful maps and figures . by richard blome , gent. memoires of the lives , actions , sufferings and deaths of those excellent personages that suffered for allegiance to their soveraign in our late intestine wars , from the year 1637 , to 1666 ; with the life and martyrdom of king charles the first . by david lloyd . the exact politician , or compleat statesan , &c. by leonard willan , esquire . a relation in form of a journal of the voyage and residence of king charles the second in holland . mores hominum , the manners of men described in sixteen satyrs , by iuvenal ; together with a large comment , clearing the author in every place wherein he seemed obscure , out of the laws and customs of the romans , and the latine and greek histories . by sir robert stapleton , knight . a treatise of justification . by george downham , dr. of d. fifty-one sermons , preached by the reverend dr. mark frank , master of pembroke-hill in cambridg , arch-deacon of st. albons , &c. to which is added a sermon preached at pauls cross , anno 1641. and then commanded to be printed by king charls the first . bentivolio and urania , in six books . by nathaniel ingelo , d. d. the third edition , wherein all the obscure words throughout the book are interpreted in the margent , which makes this much more delightful to read than the former . de iure uniformitatis ecclesiasticae , or three books of the rights belonging to an uniformity in churches , in which the chief things of the laws of nature and nations , and of the divine law concerning the consistency of the ecclesiastical estate with the civil , are unfolded folded , by hugh davis , ll. b. late fellow of new colledg in oxon. an english , french , italian , spanish dictionary , by iames howel . observations on millitary and political affairs , by the honourable , george , duke of albemarle . the manner of exercising the infantry , as it 's now practised in the armies of his most christian majesty . quarto . a letter from dr. robert wild to his friend , mr. i. i. upon occasion of his majesties declaration for liberty of conscience . together with his poetica licentia , & a friendly debate between a conformist and a nonconformist . the dutch remonstrance concerning the proceedings and practices of iohn de wit , pensionary , and ruwaert van putten his brother , with others of that faction ; translated out of dutch. index biblicus : or , an exact concordance to the holy bible , according to the last translation , by iohn iackson , minister of the gospel at moulsea in surrey . the christian-mans-calling : or a treatise of making religion ones business : wherein the christian is directed to perform in all religious duties , natural actions , particular vocations , family directions ; and in his own recreations , in all relations , in all conditions , in his dealings with all men , in the choice of his company , both of evil and good , in solitude , on a week-day , from morning to night ; in visiting the sick , and on a dying-bed , by geo. swinnock . mr. caryl's exposition on the book of iob. gospel-remission ; or a treatise shewing that true blessedness consists in the pardon of sin . by ieremiah burroughs . an exposition of the song of solomon . by iames durham , late minister in glasgow . the real christian : or a treatise of effectual calling ; wherein the work of god in drawing the soul to christ , being opened according to the holy scriptures ; some things required by our late divines , as necessary to a right preparation for christ , and a true closing with christ , which have caused , and do still cause much trouble to some serious christians , and are with due respects to those worthy men brought to the ballance of the sanctuary , there weighed , and accordingly judged : to which is added a few words concerning socinianism . by giles firmin , sometimes minister at shalford in essex . mount pisgah : or a prospect of heaven ; being an exposition on the fourth chapter of the first epistle of st. paul to the thessalonians . by tho. case , sometimes student in christ-church , oxon , and minister of the gospel . the vertue and value of baptism . by za. crofton . the quakers spiritual court proclaimed ; being an exact narrative of a new high court of justice ; also sundry errors and corruptions amongst the quakers , which were never till now made known to the world . by nath. smith , who was conversant among them fourteen years . a discourse of prodigious abstinence . occasion'd by the twelve months fasting of martha tayler , the faim'd darby-shire damsel ; proving , that without any miracle the texture of humane bodies may be so altered , that life may be long continued without the supplies of meat and drink . by iohn reynolds . a grave for controversies , between the romanist and the protestant , lately presented to the french king. iacksons recantation , or the life and death of a notorious highway-man , wherein is truely discovered the whole mistery of that wicked and fatal profession of padding on the road. a sermon delivered at the funeral of right honourable charles earl of warwick , sept. the 9th . 1673. by anthony walker , rector of fyfield . the retired mans meditations , or the mistery and power of godliness , presenting to view the riches and fullness of christs person as mediator , or the natural and spiritual man in their proper distinctions , &c. by henry vane , knight . large octavo . a sober enquiry into the nature , measure , and principle of moral vertue , its distinction from gospel holiness , with reflections upon what occurs disserviceable to truth and religion in this matter ; in three late books , viz. ecclesiastical policy , defence and continuation , and reproof to the rehersal transprosed : by r. ferguson . a collection of sermons preach'd at the morning lecture in southwark , and else-where : by n. blakie . gramatica quadrilinguis ; or brief instructions for the french , italian , spanish , and english tongues , with proverbs of each language , fitted for those who desire to perfect themselves therein : by i. smith . m. a. the works of mr. iames ianeway ; containing these 6 following treatises ; heaven upon earth , or the best of friends in the worst of time. death unstung ; a sermon preach'd at the funeral of thomas mosely , an apothecary , with a narrative of his life and death ; also the manner of gods dealing with him before and after his conversion . a sermon preach'd at the funeral of thomas savage . invisibles , realities demonstrated in the holy life , and triumphant death of mr. iohn ianeway . the saints encouragement to diligence in christs service , with motives and means to christian activity . mr. ianeway's last legacy to his friends , containing twenty-seaven famous instances of gods providences in and about sea-dangers and deliverances , with the names of several that were eye-witnesses to many of them ; whereunto is added a sermon on the same subject . a brief exposition of the epistles of st. paul to the gallathians and ephesians , by iames ferguson . the life and death of that excellent minister of christ , mr. ioseph allin . also his christian letters , full of spiritual instructions . published by several ministers . memorials of gods judgments , spiritual and temporal : or , sermons to call to remembrance . by nich lockier , minister of the gospel . a plat for marriners , or the seamans preacher ; delivered in several sermons unto ionah's voyage . by r. ryther , preacher of gods word at wappin . the gentlewomans companion ; or , a guide to the female sex : containing directions of behaviour , in all places , companies , relations , and conditions , from their childhood down to old age : with letters and discourses upon all occasions . whereunto is added a guide for cook-maids , dairy-maids , chamber-maids , and all others that go to service : the whole being an exact rule for the female sex in general . the present state of russia , in a letter to a friend at london ; written by an eminent person , residing at the great tzars court at mosco , for the space of nine years : illustrated with many copper plates . the fulfilling of the scriptures : or , an essay shewing the exact accomplishment of the word of god in his works of providence , performed , and to be performed ; for confirming the believers , and convincing the atheists of these present times : containing in the end a few rare histories of the works and servants of god , in the church of scotland . the morning seeker ; shewing the benefit of being good betimes ; with directions to make sure work about early religion . by iohn rither . a discourse concerning evangelical love , church-peace and unity ; with the occasions and reasons of present differences and divisions about things sacred and religious . by iohn owen , d. d. small octavo , and twelves . the life and death of mr. thom. wilson , minister of maidstone , in the country of kent . drawn up by mr. george swinnock . hieragonisticon , or corahs doom ; being an answer to two letters of inquiry into the grounds and occasions of the contempt of the clergy and religion . the comparison of plato and aristottle , with the opinions of the fathers on their doctrine , and some christian reflections ; together with judgment on alexander and caesar , as also on seneca , plutarch and petronius , out of the french. observations on the poems of homer and virgil : a discourse representing the excellency of those works , and the perfection in general of all heroick actions , out of the french. mysterium pietatis ; or the mystery of godliness , wherein the mysteries contained in the incarnation , circumcision , wise men , passion , resurrection , assension of the son of god , and coming of the holy ghost , are unfolded and applyed . by w. annand . fellowship with god , or 28 sermons on the first epistle of iohn , chap. first and second . by hugh binning , late minister in scotland . a token for children , being an exact account of the conversation , holy and exemplary lives and joyfull deaths of several young children . by iames ianeway . the mercury-gallant , containing many true and pleasant . relations of what passed at paris , from the first of ianuary , 72. till the kings departure thence . an explanation , of the assemblies shorter catechism , wherein all the answers are taken abroad in , under questions and answers , the truths explained , and proved by reason and scripture ; several cases of conscience resolved ; some chief controversies in religion stated , &c. by tho. vincent . the experiences of god's gracious declining ; with mrs. elizabeth white , as they were written with her own hand , and found in her closet after her decease . a serious caution against impenitency , under gods correcting-providences . by iames sharp . the christians great interest : or the tryal of a saving interest in christ , with the way how to attain it . by w. guthry , late minister in scotland . the history of moderation ; or the life , death , and resurrection of moderation , together with her nativity , country , pedigree , kindred , and character , friends , and also her enemies . a guide to the true religion : or , a discourse directing to make a wise choice of that religion men venture their salvation upon . by iohn clappam . a most comfortable & christian dialogue between the lord and the soul. by w. cooper bishop of galloway . justification only upon a satisfaction , or the necessity and verity of the satisfaction of christ , as the alone grounds of remission of sin , asserted and opened against the socinians . by r. ferguson . the canons and institutions of the quakers , agreed upon at their general assembly , at their new theatre in grace-church-street . ) a synopsis of quakerism : or , a collection of the fundamental errors of the quakers , by tho. danson . bloud for bloud ; being a true narrative of that late horrid murther committed by mary cook upon her child . by nath. partridge , with a sermon on the same occasion . six several treatises . by nich. lockier , minister of the gospel . a discourse written by sir g. downing the king of brittain's envoy extraordinary , to the states of the united provinces : vindicating his royal master from the insolencies of a scandalous libel , printed under the title of [ an extract out of the register of the states general of the united provinces , upon the memorial of sir geo. downing , envoy , &c. [ and delivered by the agent de heyde for such , to several publick ministers . whereas no such resolution was ever communicated to the said envoy , nor any answer returned at all by their lordships to the said memorial whereunto is added a relation of some former and latter proceedings of the hollanders : by a meaner hand . the assemblies works in 12 , with the large and smaller catechisms . scotch psalms alone , or with the bible . these are to give notice , that the psalms of david in meeter are newly translated , and diligently compared , with the original text and former translations , more smooth and agreeable to the text than that of tho. sternhold , iohn hopkins , or any other extant in english ; and do run with such a fluent sweetness , that the ministers whose names are here under subscribed , have thought fit to recommend it to all with whom they are concerned ; some of them having used it already with great comfort and satisfaction : these psalms are to be sold by dorman newman , at the king's armes in the poultry , at one shilling four pence price . iohn owen , d. d. tho. manton , d. d. william ienkyn , iames innes . thomas watson . thomas lye. matthew poole . io. milward . iohn chester . george cockayn . matthew meade . robert franklin . richard mayo . hen. langley , d. d. thomas doolittle . thomas vincent . nathaniel vincent . iohn ryther . william thompson . nicholas blaky . charles morton . edmund callamy . william carslake . iames ianeway . iohn hicks . iohn baker . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a32052-e550 cicero esa. 55.6 . job 37.16.11.17 . mat. 5.48 . augustine . tetful . psal. 139.6 . jer. 23.24 . deut. 31.4 . 1 tim. 6.8 . hier. psal. 90.2 . 102.27 . dan 7.13 . psal. 102.26 . mal. 3.6 . jam. 1.17 . prov. 19.21 . esa. 46.10 . tit. 1.2 . psal 94.11 . 147.5 . job 21.17 . rom. 11.33 . exod. 15 ▪ 11. 1 sam. 2.2 . joh. 17.3 . rom. 3.4 . dan 9.14 . psal. 12.7.117.2 . mat. 19.17 . psal. 33.5 . exod. 16.7 . exod. 24.17 . esa. 6.3 . psal. 113.4 . gen. 17.1 . gen. 1.1 . psal. 33.6 . psal. 33. notes for div a32052-e2630 mat. 6. ver . 30.31 , 32. ver . 26. ver . 27. ver . 34. ver . 32. joh. 6.18 . joh. 8.36 . jer. 18.6 . isa 45.9 . prov. 23.5 job 36.19 . psal. 37.16 . 1 tim. 6.9 . psal. 39.6 . job . 8.13 . job 13.16 . 20.5 . 27.8 . mat. 6.2 . 16.6 . act. 24.16 . rom. 13.5 . job 28.18 job 28.28 . prov. 1.7 . 2.6 . 9.1 . 19.8 . eccle. 2.13 . mat. 16.26 . joh. 1.29 . joh. 3.16 . prov. 16.32 . eccl. 9.13 . 1 tim. 6.10 . psal. 37.21 psal. 41.1 ▪ psal. 69.23 psal. 9.18 . eccl. 6.1 . 2 eccl. 5.10 . prov. 30.7 . 1 cor. 13.1 . 1 pet. 4. ● . notes for div a32052-e7960 psal. 37.2 . psal. 92.12 . psal. 1.3 . psal. 34.17 . rom. 8.23 . psal. 37.17 . psal. 73.1 . zach 2.5 . exod. 3.7 psal. 96.22 . notes for div a32052-e8520 psal. 119.1 . rev. 3.4 1 tim 5.17 . rev. 4.4 . job 8.13 . mark 9.44 notes for div a32052-e9050 mat. 12.33 prov. 29.20 . luk. 22.60 mat. 12.33 mat. 7.17 . gen. 6.5 notes for div a32052-e9920 psal. 64.6 . heb. 3.8 . psal. 101.2 prov. 14.30 . prov. 15.13 . prov. 19.21 . prov. 22.11 . jer. 17.9 . ezek. 11.19 . prov. 23.26 . psal. 39.31 . psal. 119.1 , 2. notes for div a32052-e10420 mat. 6.33 . deut. 7.9 . heb. 11.6 . luk. 14.11 psal. 103.14 . 1 joh. 1.5 . psal. 88.1 . 141.2 . jer. 18.6 . psal. 9.1 . 51.17 . lam 3.40 . 1 joh. 3.20 . isa. 1.18 . gen 3.5 . mat. 4.9 . numb . 16.3.9 . 1 king. 22.8 . jer. 14.14 . 23.16 . mat. 33.24 25. luk. 11.39 mat. 23.15 16 17 2 pet. 2.1 , 2 , 3. ephes. 6.13 . 2 cor. 10.4 . 1 sam. 17.45 . 1 cor. 2.9 . rom. 11. joh. 3.16 . 2 cor. 4.17 rom. 2. 2 cor. 3.17 psal. 49.14 1 pet. 1. isa. 54.8 . 9.7 . psal. 97.11 isa. 61.7 . 1 pet. 1.25 mat. 19.46 dan. 12.2 . idem . job 12.21 . isa. 3.11 . job 15.20 pro. 22.16 2 thes. 1.9 mat. 8.12 . mal. 2.2 . 2 chron. 16.9 . job 27.15 psal. 46.1 . 1 pet. 1.12 1 cor. 6 ● . 1 tim. 4.4 exod. 6.7 . levit. 16.12 2 cor. 6.16 . job 5.15 . gal. 6.10 . jam. 1.17 . jam. 4.6 . 1 cor. 13.4 . 2 tim. 2.16 . 1 tim. 6.6 1 thes 5.21 . eccl. 7.3 . psal. 16.11 heb. 11.25 eccl. 2.1 . 2. eccl. 11.9 . psal. 31.23 rev. 2.10 . i● 29.13 . 14. joh. 6.27 . deut. 32.29 . mat. 3.8 . act. 24.16 mat. 19.27 luk. 22.30 1 sam 15.22 . prov. 16.18 . prov. 8.13 dan. 4.37 . prov. 15.33 . pfal . 90.12 notes for div a32052-e15630 〈…〉 prov. 16.6 mat. 5.44 . 2 tim. 3.12 . prov. 23.5 luke chap ●0 . jer. 17.10 . gen. 3.15 . gal. 4.4 , 5 rom. 4 25 luk 23 38 joh. 19 5. rom. 5.11 , 12. 1 cor. 1.23 , 24. gal. 6.14 . phil. 2.8 . mat. 1.29 . † bernard . act. 4.12 . eph. 5.8 . act. 3.6 . | bernard . psal. 130.7 isa. 1.18 . 1 pet. 4.16 joh. 11.9 , 10. 2 cor. 1.20 . psal. 57.13 psal. 16.11 prov. 14.9 . rom. 5.20 jam. 5.1 . 6. luk. 14.11 mat. 19.17 1 pet. 5.7 . col. 3.11 . prov. 12.15 . phil. 1.21 . psal. 128.3 2 chron. 20.20 . 1 cor. 2.14 . 15. eph. 5.1 . heb. 3 15. job 8.9 . mat. 10.28 rom. 6.23 2 pet. 3.15 1 tim. 8.9 10. mat. 11 2● 29. psal. 36.9 . 2 cor. 13.11 . 1 cor. 3.8 . psal. 94.12 prov. 14.31 . prov. 21.13 . prov. 1.32 . rom. 8.37 psal. 62.10 gen. 2 7. psal. 144.4 rom. 6.23 1 cor. 15.47 . 48. 1 cor. 1.31 . job 22.3 . luk. 16.8 . 2 cor. 7.10 . 1 cor. 15.19 . phil. 2.12 . job 13.4 . 3 joh. 11. mat. 5.8 . jos. 24.15 . ephes. 5.15 , 16. gen. 39.9 . 1 cor. 13.13 . act. 24.16 zech. 1.3 . luk. 13.3 . joh. 14.6 . mat. 6.4 . gal. 5.24 . mat. 6.8 . 1 joh. 3.9 . eph. 6.24 . 1 joh. 4.16 . jam. 3.16 . 2 pet. 1.5 . 1 cor. 13.3 . 1 joh. 5.5 . 1 thes. 5.6 . pro. 13.24 1 joh. 4.7 , 8. isa. 52.7 . luk. 12.15 . eccl. 3.1 . psal. 39.5 . pro. 19.14 heb. 13.4 . rom. 9.12 . prov. 16.7 . luk. 1.68 . psal. 19.8 . psal. 16.11 isa. 64.6 . phil. 4.11 . pro. 16.8 . prov. 25.12 . ●am . 4.6 . psal. 103.17 . psal. 40.8 . rev. 22.12 acts 28 , 25 , 26. 27. isa. 55.1 . luk. 1.53 . rom. 10.15 . prov. 16.5 1 sam. 16.7 . prov. 23.26 . 2 tim. 6.6 2 pet. 3.18 pro. 21.26 deut. 7.9 . pro. 10.20 1 cor. 5.5 . hos. 10.1 . joh. 1.14 . joh. 8.34 . joh. 1.1 . eccl. 7.16 . 1 cor. 1.31 . ezek. 12.2 . rom. 8.28 eph. 6.16 . 2 pet. 1.10 mal. 2.2 . prov. 10.4 . 22 prov. 15.27 . prov. 18.14 . prov. 3.7 . phil. 3.8 . eph. 2.4 . 5. 2 tim. 3.4 . 5. job 42.6 . jos. 24.14 . eph. 4.26 . prov. 27.4 prov. 1.10 psal. 138.3 job 13.15 joh 3.19 . mat. 19.21 psal. 19.12 psal. 142.5 eph. 5.15 . 16. joel 2.13 . 2 tim. 3.7 mat. 22.29 psal 37.4 . 2 cor. 7.1 . psal. 34.13 mic. 7.18 . psal. 84.10 eph. 1.6 . psal. 19.7 . joh. 11.43 . 44 ▪ eph. 2.8 . 2 tim. 3.16 . psal. 31.7 . 17. psal. 51.6 . mat. 19.17 1 cor. 3.20 . 1 joh. 5.4 . luk. 17.10 . psal. 19.12 . mat. 10.33 1 joh. 1.5 . mat. 6.23 . col. 1 27. gal. 1.15 , 16. mat. 18. psal. 37.31 119.97 . prov. 22.6 prov. 1.25 26. jer. 9.23 . 1 tim. 6.6 gal. 5.16 . psal. 3.8 . mat. 6.32 . mat. 11.28 prov. 19.21 . 1 cor. 15.20 . joh. 12.26 mat. 6.33 . act. 26.28 gal. 5.24 . col. 1.27 . eph. 2.1 . ezek. 16.49 . prov. 16.2 . psal. 65.1 . 66.2 . 1 pet. 1.15 heb. 10 . 2● psal. 36.9 . mat. 10.38 39. psal. 145.9 jam. 5.3 . prov. 15.33 . 2 pet. 1.5 . 2 tim. 2.7 notes for div a32052-e33250 1 joh. 2.16 heb. 11.32 33. 34. 1 cor. 15.19 . gal. 6.14 . 1 sam. 2.3 col. 3.2 . job 3.17 . notes for div a32052-e35140 mr. venning and he . notes for div a32052-e35640 rom. 7.13 . the godly mans ark, or, city of refuge, in the day of his distresse discovered in divers sermons, the first of which was preached at the funerall of mistresse elizabeth moore : the other four were afterwards preached, and are all of them now made publick, for the supportation and consolation of the saints of god in the hour of tribulation : hereunto are annexed mris. [sic] moores evidences for heaven, composed and collected by her in the time of her health, for her comfort in the time of sickness / by ed. calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 1658 approx. 323 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 153 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a31997 wing c248 estc r22111 12263464 ocm 12263464 57918 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a31997) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 57918) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 622:13) the godly mans ark, or, city of refuge, in the day of his distresse discovered in divers sermons, the first of which was preached at the funerall of mistresse elizabeth moore : the other four were afterwards preached, and are all of them now made publick, for the supportation and consolation of the saints of god in the hour of tribulation : hereunto are annexed mris. [sic] moores evidences for heaven, composed and collected by her in the time of her health, for her comfort in the time of sickness / by ed. calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. the second edition, corrected and amended. 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characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng moore, elizabeth, d. 1656? sermons, english -17th century. funeral sermons. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-11 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-12 rina kor sampled and proofread 2003-12 rina kor text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the godly mans ark or , city of refuge , in the day of his distresse . discovered in divers sermons , the first of which was preached at the funerall of mistresse elizabeth moore . the other four were afterwards preached , and are all of them now made publick , for the supportation and consolation of the saints of god in the hour of tribulation . hereunto are annexed mris. moores evidences for heaven , composed and collected by her in the time of her health , for her comfort in the time of sickness . by ed. calamy , b. d. and pastor of the church at aldermanbury . the second edition , corrected and amended . london , printed for iohn hancock ( brother to the late deceased eliz. moore ) to be sold at the first shop in popes-head alley , next to cornhill . and for tho. parkhurst at the three crowns over against the great conduit at the lower end of cheapside . 1658. to those of aldermanbury-parish , together , with all others who attend constantly upon the word of god there preached , and more especially to such of them , who are admitted to partake of the lords supper there administred . beloved in the lord ; i need not spend much time in giving you an account how these ensuing sermons come to bee made publick . it is not because they are more worthy than those which you hear weekly ; nay , i may truly say ( without boasting ) they are less worthy ( though i think none of them much worth ) than many others . it is not because i desire to bee in print ; but it is 1 to present you with the pattern of a woman whom god did pick out to make an example of great affliction , and great patience , that when you come into great troubles , you may bee comforted with those comforts , with which shee was comforted . 2 to acquaint you with the pains shee took , and with her diligence in time of health to make her salvation sure ; that so you may bee provoked to lay up suitable , seasonable , and sufficient provision against an evil day , and not have your evidences for heaven to get in the hour of adversity . it is the grand sin of most people to delay and prorogue their solemn preparation for affliction and sickness , till they come to bee sick , and in affliction . there are many in hell , who purposed to repent , but were prevented by death ; therefore bernard saith , good purposes go to hell , and only good performances lead into heaven . to prevent your delaying and deferring to provide for affliction , these sermons are printed , and to perswade you , that whatsoever you do for heaven , you would do it speedily , and with all your strength . the subjects handled are so plain and easy , and the stile so rude and unpolished , that i was resolved to have buried them in perpetual oblivion , had i not been conquered by this following ( together with the forementioned ) consideration , that they are calculated only for people under great troubles , at which times learned debates about discipline , and controverted points of divinity , painted eloquence , and curious language , are of very little esteem , and account . afflicted consciences are oftentimes puzled , but never comforted with doubtful disputations . neat and elegant expressions may skin over , but cannot cure spiritual diseases . nothing can heal a wounded conscience , and keep a man from sinking into despondency in the day of great tribulation , but a real , right , and particular application of the promises , to help a doubting christian to performe this great work , there are thirteen plaine rules and directions laid down in the following treatise . my prayer is , that they may prove useful and successeful . seneca indeed comforts his friend polybius , and perswades him to bear his afflictions patiently , because hee was the emperours favourite , and tells him , that it was not lawful for him to complaine , while caesar was his friend : but this was but a poor cordial : for caesar himself a little while after , was so miserable , that hee had not a friend to help him , much less was hee able to help his friend . the word of god affords a better cordial . it bids a true child of god not to bee overmuch dejected under the greatest affliction , because hee is gods favourite ; it tells him , that it is not lawful for him to complain while god is his friend , and the promises of god his rich portion , and inheritance . though job lost all hee had , yet hee lost nothing , because hee lost not his god , who is all in all , and they who have him , have all. my purpose at first was onely to have printed the sermon preached at mris. moors funeral , together with her evidences for heaven , collected by her in the time of her health . but the importunity of friends hath overswayed mee , and caused mee to adde four more , preached immediately afterwards on the same text. and now ( dearly beloved ) having this fair opportunity to speak to you in writing , give mee leave to propound and lay before you some cautions and admonitions ; some rules and directions for the right ordering of your lives and conversations in these dangerous and divided times , that so you may bee able after my decease , to have them in perpetual remembrance . 1 take heed of mistaking in the great work of beleeving and repenting . faith and repentance are the two great gospel-graces : and the reason why so many miscarry to all eternity , is not for want of them ( such as they are ) but upon a pure mistake , in thinking they have them , when they have but a shadow of them . where one goeth to hell by desperation , hundreds go thither by presumption . o! quam multi cum hâc vanâ fide , & vana spe ad aeternos labores descendunt ; how many thousands go to hell with a vain faith , and hope of heaven ! and therefore bee much in examination , whether your faith be right or no. examine your selves , whether yee bee in the faith , prove your own selves . to bee mistaken in the great work of beleeving , is to bee necessitated to damnation . for hee that beleeves not , shall bee damned . ask your souls often , whether your repentance bee of a right stamp or no ; whether it bee a repentance unto life , a repentance never to bee repented on . to bee mistaken in purchasing of lands , can but hurt your outward estates ; but to bee mistaken in the graces of faith and repentance , will undo your souls to all eternity . what the characters of a true faith , and true repentance are , you have frequently heard , i will not now repeat them . only remember that self-flattery , is self-mockery ; that soul-delusion , is soul-damnation . pray unto god to deliver you from that great murderer of souls , the sin of presumption . 2 take heed ( as i have said ) of delaying , and putting off the great work of providing for heaven , till sickness or old age . the lord christ commands you to seek first the kingdome of god , and his righteousness , &c. first , before other things , first , more than other things . you must seek after heaven in the first and chief place , and if you seek it in the least and last place , you will never obtain it . in matters of weight delay is dangerous , abigail made haste to prevent davids fury . rahab made haste to hang out her scarlet threed . the salvation of your souls is a matter of the greatest concernment , and to delay providing for it , is not onely a sin against the command of christ , but a sleighting of the heaven of christ. how justly may god deny to you ( who refuse when hee calls ) either space , or grace , to turn to him , and say to you , as it is reported , hee said to a man , who desired to repent in his old age , ubi consumpsisti farinam , ibi con-sume furfurem ; where you have spent your flower , there go spend your branne ; therefore let my counsel bee acceptable to you . make christ your unum necessarium , your one thing necessary , and heaven your primum quaerite ; seek yee first the kingdome of god , and his righteousness . say with david , i made haste , and delayed not to keep thy commandements . 3 take heed of resting in the ministry of man , you must not despise the teachings of orthodox ministers lawfully called ( for hee that despiseth them , despiseth christ ; hee that is above their teachings , is above the teachings of christ , for christ teacheth by them . they are his embassadors , and they preach not only in his name , but in his stead ) yet you must not rest satisfied with the teachings of men , but pray , that while the minister speaks to your ears , god would speak to your hearts . that god would fulfil that blessed promise , isa. 54. 13. and all thy children shall bee taught of god. that hee would give you an unction from the holy one to teach you all things . that you may see the goings of god in his sanctuary , you may behold the beauty of the lord , and see his power and glory in his holy temple . in a word , that god would give you , not onely the presence of ordinances , but his presence in them . that you may experimentally know , what it is to injoy communion with god in gospel-administrations . 4 take heed of formality , customariness , and carelesness in the performance of holy duties . hee that serves god carelesly , brings a curse upon himself , instead of a blessing . for cursed is hee that doth the work of the lord negligently . hee that serves god formally and customarily doth not serve him , but mock him . if the israelites had brought the skin of a beast for sacrifice , instead of a beast , it would have been counted a mocking of god , rather than a worshiping of him . so do they who serve god negligently and formally . 5 bee not contented to have a name to bee godly and religious , but labour to bee really such as you are supposed by others to bee . remember what christ saith of the church of sardis . that shee had a name to live , but was dead . what will it profit you to bee thought by men to bee godly , if god knows that you are ungodly ? what will it advantage you to seem to go to heaven , and yet at last to miss of it ? o labour to bee christians , not only in word , but in deed , and in truth , not onely by outward profession , but by a holy conversation . rest not satisfied with a less degree of grace , than that which will bring you to heaven . it will bee a double hell , to go within an inch of heaven , and yet at last to miscarry . 6 remember what christ saith of capernaum . the capernaites were not so bad as the gadarens , who desired christ to depart from them : much less as the nazarites , who thrust christ out of their coasts . for they heard him preach every sabbath-day , and were astonished at his doctrine . and yet because they did not sincerely practise what was taught them , christ pronounceth a heavy doom against them , matth. 11. 23 , 24. and thou capernaum which art exalted unto heaven , shalt bee brought down to hell ; for if the mighty works which have been done in thee , had been done in sodome , it would have remained unto this day . but i say unto you , that it shall bee more tolerable for the land of sodome in the day of judgement , than for thee . it is not enough to praise the sermons you hear , to admire , and stand astonished at the doctrine delivered . if you do not practise what is preached . if you do not live sermons , as well as hear them , it shall bee easier for sodome and gomorrha at the day of judgement than for you . 7 take heed that the love of the world , doth not eat out the heart of religion , and at last , religion it self out of your hearts . remember what the apostle paul saith , that the love of money is the root of all evill , which while some have coveted after , they have erred from the faith , and pierced thēselves through with many sorrows . and what the apostle john saith , love not the world , neither the things that are in the world . if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . there is no sin so contrary to true saint-ship , as worldly-mindedness : a saint is one who hath much of heaven in him , and is much in heaven . a saint is one whose original is from heaven , hee is born from above , his name is written in heaven , his meditations , affections , and conversation is in heaven . hee is one who is elected to things above , and called to partake of heaven , and eternal happiness . and for such a man to minde things earthly , is a sin of the first magnitude . therefore the apostle would not have covetousness so much as named amongst christians . there is no sin more defiles the soul. it will besmear you , and make you spiritual blackamores , and chimny-sweepers in gods sight . there is no sin doth more dead and dull the heart in the doing of good duties . it hinders a man both from , and in ordinances . the farmer ; and merchant made light of the call of christ , and one went to his farm , the other to his merchandize . there is no sin will more eclipse the light of gods countenance from shining upon you . the moon is never in the eclipse , but when the earth comes between us and the sun. a child of god is seldome without the light of gods countenance , unless it bee through the over-much love of the world . no sin will more hinder your flight up to heaven . the ostrich cannot flye high , because of the shortness of her wings . jacob was forced in his travelling towards canaan to go slowly and softly , because of his multitude of children , of flocks and herds . and therefore let mee again beseech you to take heed of worldly-mindedness ; this will quickly betray you into apostacy from christ , and from the truths of christ. a man who loves the world , will ( judas-like ) betray christ for thirty peeces . hee will part with his religion , rather than with his estate . this sin is the root of all evil , it exposeth a man to all temptations , to hurtful lusts , to all errors , and all kinde of sorrows . it will drown your souls in perdition . hee that seeks things below , shall have his heaven below . the apostle saith expresly , that they who minde earthly things , their end is damnation . therefore let mee once again repeat it ; take heed lest you bee like the thorny ground . let not the cares , riches , and pleasures of the world choak the good seed that is weekly sown in your hearts . 8 let it bee your morning and evening thought what shall become of you to all eternity , and labour so to use things temporal , as not to lose the things that are eternal . remember that this life is a moment upon which eternity depends , and according as you spend this moment , so you shall bee for ever happy , or for ever miserable . remember that the pleasures of sin are but for a moment , but the punishments of sin are everlasting . 9 look upon sin as the greatest 〈◊〉 evils , greater than poverty , imprisonment , banishment , or death it selfe chuse the greatest affliction , rathe● than commit the least sin . if hel● were on the one side , and sin on the other chuse rather to go into hell , than to sin against god. for sin is a greater evill than hell , because it is the cause o● hell , and more opposite to god ( who is the chiefest good ) than hell is . for god is the author of hell ( which hee hath provided for all unbeleevers , and impenitent persons . ) but it is blasphemy in the highest degree , to say , that he is the author of sin. look upon christ as the greatest good , greater than health , wealth , liberty , or life . love christ more than you love your estates , or lives ; hee that loves christ more than the world , will not forsake christ to imbrace the world . hee that fears sin more than affliction , will not sin to avoid affliction . 10 rest not contented with that measure of grace you have attained unto ; but labour to grow in grace , and in the knowledge of the lord jesus christ. remember that the scripture doth not only perswade you to get into christ , but to grow up into christ ; not only to bee righteous , but to bee filled with the fruits of righteousness , &c. remember that saying of christ , to whom much is given , of them much is required . god hath given you much , you have plentiful means of salvation , and you have had them for many yeares , hee expects from you , not onely good fruit , but much good fruit ; not only thirty-fold , and sixty fold , but an hundred-fold . where the husbandman bestows most cost , hee expects most fruit . the more a merchant adventures by sea , the greater return hee looks for . god hath done more for you , than for many others ; and therefore hee expect that you should do some singular thing for him . hee looks you should be more humble , more heavenly , more knowing than others . if the sun should give no more light than a little candle , to what purpose hath god given it so much light : if you that have sun-like abilities do no more good , than those who have but half your abilities , to what purpose have you them ? it is a true saying , as our gifts increase , so must our account increase . you shall answer at the great day , not only for your gifts , but for the measure of them . remember that god doth not only require service from you , but service proportionable to the means , and mercies you injoy . hee that hath but one talent , shall answer but for one ; but you that have five , or ten talents , must bee answerable , according to the quantity , as well as the quality of them . 11 labour to diffuse those graces which god hath given you , and to communicate them to those with whom you converse . true grace is of a spreading nature , and therefore compared to leaven , which diffuseth it self into the whole lump , and to salt , that seasoneth all those things with which it is mingled . assoon as the woman of samaria had found out the messias , shee leaves her water-pet , and goeth into the city , to tell others what god had done for her . assoon as cornelius had received the message from the angel , to send for peter ; hee calls together his kinsmen and neer friends , that they , together with him , might bee made partakers of gospel-grace . a true christian is like a needle touched with the loadstone . a needle ( truly touched ) draweth another , and that will draw another , and that , another : whosoever hath his heart truly touched by effectual grace , will labour to convert others , and they , others . philip will draw nathaniel , andrew will draw peter . and peter being converted , will labour to strengthen his brethren : there is a natural instinct in all creatures to make others like themselves ( as fire will turn all things that come neer it , into fire ) and there is a spiritual instinct in all converted christians , to convert others . it is as natural to a true christian to make others true christians , , as it is for a man to beget a man. true grace is not only of a communicative , but of an assimilating nature . see then that you labour by seasonable and religious admonitions , and exhortations ; by communicating of experiences , and especially by the shining pattern of a holy life and conversation , to bring all those with whom you converse unto iesus christ. that man hath not grace in truth , who puts it in a dark lanthorne . 12 labour to bee good in your relations , good husbands , and good wives , good parents , and good children , good masters , and good servants . remember that that man cannot bee a good man , who is not good in his relation . hee cannot bee a good christian , who is not a good husband , or a good child , or a good father , &c. shee cannot bee a good christian , who is not a good wife ; and so of the rest ; and the reason is : because the same god who commands the husband to love god , commands him to love his wife ; the same god who commands the woman to obey god , commands her to obey her husband . there is the same stamp of authority upon our duties towards our relations , as upon our duties towards god ; therefore bee sure to make conscience of relative duties . 13 ioyn works of mercy and charity together with your profession of piety and holiness . for god hates a penurious , niggardly , and covetous professor of religion . let that saying of david abide upon your hearts , god forbid i should serve the lord with that which cost mee nothing . god hates your obedience to the first table , if it bee not joyned with obedience to 〈◊〉 second . works of mercy and charity ar● made in seripture the touchstones 〈◊〉 the truth of our piety and holiness . this is pure religion ( saith the apostle ) and undefiled before god , and the father , to visit the fatherless , and widows in their affliction , and to keep himself unspotted from the world . if any man say ( saith st. john ) i love god , and hateth his brother , hee is a liar , for hee that loveth not his brother whom hee hath seen , how can hee love god whom hee hath not seen ? an unmerciful , and an uncharitable man , is a wicked and an ungodly man. let it bee the care of all those amongst you , who are rich in estate , to be rich in good works . let every man lay up for the poor , according as god hath prospered him , remembering that saying of christ. come yee blessed of my father , inherit the kingdome prepared for you , from the foundation of the world ; for i was an hungred , and yee gave mee meat , i was thirsty , and yee gave mee drink , i was a stranger , and yee took mee in , naked , and yee cloathed mee , i was sick , and yee visited mee , i was in prison , and yee came unto mee . 14 take heed of separating from the publick assemblies of the saints . i have found by experience , that all our church-calamities have sprung from this root . hee that separates from the publick worship , is like a man tumbling down a hill , and never leaving till hee comes to the bottome of it . i could relate many sad stories of persons professing godliness , who out of dislike to our church-meetings , began at first to separate from them , and after many changes and alterations , are turned some of them anabaptists , some quakers , some ranters , some direct atheists . but i forbear ; you must hold communion with all those churches , with which christ holds communion ; you must separate from the sins of christians , but not from the ordinances of christ. take heed of unchurching the churches of christ , lest you prove schismaticks instead of being true christians . 15 though you never live to see the times setled , yet labour to get your consciences setled : pray for the spirit of truth , to guide you into all truth in these erring dayes . remember that saying of christ , if thine eye bee evil , thy whole body shall bee full of darknesse ; if therefore the light that is in you bee darkness , how great is that darkness . god hath given you your understandings , to be the guide of the whole man. as the eye is the guide of the body , and the sun of the world , so is the understanding of the man ; therefore you must in praying , pray that god would give you a right understanding in all things . pray not onely for the grace of sanctification , but of● illumination . avoid as soul-poyson all doctrines , 1 which tend to liberty , open a door to prophaneness , and are contrary to godliness . 2 which hold forth a superstitious strictness above what is required in the wo●d . 3 which are antimagistratical , and antiministerial . 4 which lift up corrupt nature , and exalt unsanctified reason . 5 which preach free-grace , to the utter ruine of good works . 6 which lessen the priviledges of infants , and makes their condition worse under the new testament , than under the old. 7 which are contrary to the analogy of faith , the ten commandements , and the lords prayer . 16 take heed lest being led away with the errour of the wicked , you fall from your own sted fastness . take heed of a threefold apostacy , of which this nation is deeply guilty . of apostacy 1 in your judgements , from the truths of christ , and from the faith once delivered to the saints 2 in your affections , from that ancient love , desire , and delight , which the saints of god have had heretofore , and you your selves once had , in , and towards the ordinances of christ , and the godly and learned ministers of christ. 3 in your conversations , from that humble and exact walking with god in all good duties , both towards god , and man , which was the credit , and honour of the good old puritan in former daies . let mee speak to you in the words of the apostles paul and peter . wherefore my beloved brethren , bee yee stedfast and unmoveable , &c. the god of grace , who hath called you into his eternal glory by jesus christ , make you perfect , stablish , strengthen , and settle you . 17 remember that it is the will of jesus christ , that you who partake of the same word of life , and of the same sacramental bread and wine , should admonish one another , exhort one another , watch over one another , bear the burdens of one another , provoke one another to love and good works ; seek the good of one another , and not your own good only . that you should warn the unruly , comfort the feeble-minded , and support the weak . that this is your duty appears , from col. 3. 16. phil. 2. 4. heb. 1. 24. gal. 6. 1. rom. 15. 2. rom. 14. 7. 2. cor. 5. 15. 1 thes. 5. 11 , 13 , 14. the 12th . vers . speaks of ministerial and authoritative admonition , but the 13 , and 14. verses of fraternal and charitative . these texts will rise up in iudgement against thousands of christians at the last day . i do not say that you are to admonish none but those of your own society . admonition is an act of mercy ; it is spiritualis eleemosyna , spiritual almes , and you are bound by the royal law of charity , by the communion of saints , the communion of churches , and communion of natures , to distribute these spiritual almes to all that need them , as god shall give occasion . but this i say , you ought especially to admonish them , and watch over them . this is novum , though not solum vinculum . some divines think that one chief reason why the israelites were punished for achans sin , was because they did not admonish him , and watch-over him : for the israelites were commanded in the plural number , josh. 6. 18. keep your selves from the accursed thing , &c. hee was one of the body , and because they did not watch over him , they communicated in his sin , and in his punishment . there is an excellent law in this nation , that every parish shall provide for its own poor . and by parity of reason , it is as just and equal , that every congregation should chiefly and especially look to the souls of their own members , to warn them , admonish them , exhort them , and watch over them . that you may the better discharge this duty , you must labour to bee acquainted one with another , as far as your callings and relations will give you leave . it is a great and common sin , and much to bee lamented , that there is so little knowledge and acquaintance , between those that are of the same congregation . they sit in the same pew together , partake of the same sacrament , and yet converse no more together , than if one lived at york , and the other at london . and when they do converse together , it is a meer civill and outward converse , as amongst sober heathens : but there is very little religious society between them , for the spiritual edification one of another . now this must needs bee a great sin ; for how can you watch over one another , edifie and admonish one another ? how can you support the weak , comfort the feeble-minded , if not spiritually acquainted one with another . and yet it is not my opinion , that every member of a congregation is bound to know every fellow-member . i beleeve it was not so in the church of jerusalem , or of samaria . it is incredible , to think that they all knew one another . i should bee loath to lay such a clog upon you consciences , as to say , that every maid-servant , and man-servant is bound to know , and to bee acquainted with all those with whom they communicate in the lords supper . indeed the church-officers are the eyes of the people , and are to know all , and to bee acquainted with all : but yet notwithstanding this , i say , it is the duty of every member , to endeavour according to his place and calling , to grow up in spiritual acquaintance one with another , as god shall offer occasion , and not to be so strange and unacquainted , but to walk in love one towards another , to bear one anothers burden , and so fulfill the law of christ , gal. 6. 2. and this you ought the rather to do , that so you may contribute to the keeping of the sacrament of the lords supper pure in the congregation to which you belong . there is much complaint amongst many ( and not without just cause ) of mixt communions , and of 〈◊〉 universal liberty which some take in giving the sacrament promiscuously to all that come , though grosly ignorant , and notoriously scandalous , and in making ( if i may so speak ) the chancel-door , as wide as the church-door . this in my judgement is a great iniquity . 1 it is to give holy things to dogs , and to cast pearls to swine . it is a prophanation of the ordinance , in giving it to those who are visibly unworthy to receive it , and to whom wee know christ would not have us to give it . 2 it is an act of great uncharitableness , to those who are grosly ignorant , and scandalous . for it is to give them that which wee know will further their damnation . 3 it makes the church-officers ( who have power to hinder them , and do not use it ) partakers of other mens sins . 4 it is an act of cruelty to the nation : for because wee have been prodigal of christs blood , therefore hee hath been prodigal of ours . 5 it is a great scandal to the truly godly , and a stumbling-block to weak christians , causing them ( though unadvisedly ) to separate from our congregations . 6 it is to walk contrary to the practise of most ( if not all ) of the churches of christ in the christian world . to prevent this sacrament-prophanation ; there are some ministers , wh● wholly surcease from administring it . this i allow not , unless in case of absolute necessity . for this is ( as it were ) to suspend the whole congregation , and to deny children their bread , for fear of giving it to dogs . the best way is to follow the advice which our lord jesus christ gives , matth. 18. 15 , 16 , 17. where hee propounds rules and directions for the removing of scandals out of the church . if thy brother shall trespass against thee ( saith christ ) go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone . hee doth not say , go , and separate presently ( for this is to rend the church , not to heal it ; this is to hinder thy brother from christ , rather than to gain him to christ. hee doth not say , go and tell others ( for this is to backbite thy brother . this is to reproach him , rather than to reprove him ) but hee saith , go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone ; if hee shall hear thee , thou hast gained thy brother : but if hee will not heare thee , then take with thee one or two more , &c. and if hee shall neglect to hear them , tell it to the church ( that is , to such who are impowred by christ to redress offences ) but if hee neglect to hear the church , let him , &c. hence learn , that all church-reformation , and sacrament-purity must begin from church-members , and proceed from them in christs way unto church-officers ; that if any man who is called a brother , bee a fornicator , or a railer ; or a drunkard , or guilty of any other scandalous sin , it is your duty , who are members of the same body with him , and know his guiltiness , to labour by private admonition to gain him to god , not to shame him by telling others , but to gain him , by telling him alone . but if hee will not hear you , then you are in an orderly way , to bring it to the church , which if you neglect to do , the sin of church-pollution is your sin , and not the sin of your church-officers . if there bee three doors to get into an house , hee that keeps mee out of the first , keeps mee out of the other two . all sacrament-reformation begins with you , you are the first door at which it enters : if you faile of your duty , the sin lyeth at your door , not at ours . it is the custome of all people ( though otherwise godly ) if a scandalous sinner bee admitted to the lords supper , to charge the sin of it upon the minister , and in the mean time to forget that the sin is theirs , not his , because they have not done what christ would have them , for the gaining of him , and for the inabling of the church , to proceed against him by censures , if hee prove obstinate . the lord give you hearts to thinke of this , and give you grace ( instead of murmuring against , and complaining of mixt communions , and of separating from us because of them ) to contribute your utmost towards the purging of our congregations , and to practise all those duties which christ requires of you in order thereunto . i have much more to say of this particular , but i perceive that the epistle swells to too great a bigness , and therefore i shall defer what i have further to say , till god shall offer mee another such opportunity . 18 labour to maintain peace and unity amongst your selves . it is a good and pleasant thing for brethren to dwell together in unity . have salt in your selves , and peace one with another . labour to get your souls seasoned with the grace of humility . self-denial , and mortification ; and this will keep you in peace . remember the saying of christ , blessed are the peace-makers . now i beseech you brethren , by the name of our lord jesus christ , that yee all speak the same thing , and that there bee no divisions among you ; but that yee bee perfectly joyned together in the same minde , and in the same judgement . 19 study often and often the quatuor novissima , the four last things , death , judgement , hell , and heaven . the meditation of death , will prepare you for death : the meditation of heaven , will make you heavenly-minded : the meditation of hell , will keep you from hell : therefore bernard perswades us to go often down to hell by meditation while wee live , and wee shall not go down to it when wee dye . the meditation of the day of judgement , will bee both fraenum , & calcar , a bridle to curb you from sin , and a spur to incite you to all godliness , that so you may give up your account with joy at that terrible day . 20 study the exceeding great and precious promises of the gospel , make a catalogue of them , meditate on them , and labour to apply them to your own souls , for your everlasting comfort . and for this purpose , read over these sermons , and study them in time of health , that you may injoy the benefit of them in the time of sickness . lastly , let mee intreat you to praise god in my behalfe ; that hee hath been pleased out of his free love to uphold mee amongst you in my ministerial imployment for these eighteen years ; and to continue your earnest prayers unto him , that hee would make my labours more usefull , and successful , that hee would guide mee , that i may guide you , that hee would not onely make , but keep mee faithful in these back sliding times , and teach mee so to preach , and so to live , that i may save my self , and those that hear mee . your servant in the work of the ministry . ed. calamy . books lately printed for thomas parkhurst , at the sign of the three crowns , ●ver against the great conduit , at the lower end of cheapside . four profitable treatises very useful for christian practice , viz. the killing power of the law. the spiritual watch. the new birth . of the sabbath . by the reverend william fenner , late minister of rochford in essex . the journal or diary of a thankful christian , wherein is contained directions , for the right method of keeping and using , according to the rules of practise ; a day-book of national and publick , personal and private passages of gods providence , to help christians to thankfulness , and experience . by iohn bendle , minister of the gospel at barstone in essex , large octavo . here followeth the sermon preached at the funeral of mris. elizabeth moore , the 27th . of february last , at aldermaenbury . the godly mans ark ; or , city of refuge in the day of his distresses . sermon i. psal. 119. 92. unless thy law had been my delights , i should then have perished in mine affliction . this psalm ( out of which my text is taken ) exceeds all the other psalms , not only in length , but in excellency , so far ( in the judgement of ambrose ) as the light of the sun excels the light of the moon . as the book of psalms is stiled by luther , an epitome of the bible , or a little bible ▪ so may this psalm fitly bee called , an epitome of the book of psalms . it was written ( as is thought ) by david in the dayes of his banishment under saul , but so penned , that the words thereof suit the condition of all saints . it is penu doctrinae publicum unicuique apta & convenientia distribuens , a publick store-house of heavenly doctrines , distributing fit , and convenient instructions to all the people of god , and therefore should bee in no less account with those who are spiritually alive , than is the use of the sun , air , and fire , with those who are naturally alive : it is divided into two and twenty sections , according to the hebrew alphabet , and therefore fitly called a holy alphabet for sions schollars . the a , b , c , of godliness : sixt●● senensis calls it , an alphabetical poem ▪ the iews are said to teach it their little children the first thing they learn , and therein they take a very right course , both in regard of the heavenly matter , and plain stile fitted for all capacities . the chief scope of it , is to set out the glorious excellencies and perfections of the law of god. there is not a verse ( except one onely , say some learned men in print , but are therein deceived ; but i may truly say , except the 122. and the 90. verses ) in this long psalm , wherein there is not mention made of the law of god , under the name of law , or statutes , or precepts , or testimonies , or commandements , or ordinances , or word , or promises , or wayes , or judgements , or name , or righteousness , or truth , &c. this text that i have chosen , sets out the great benefit and comfort , which david found in the law of god in the time of his affliction — it kept him from perishing . had not thy law been my delights , i had perished in my affliction . the word law is taken diversly in scripture , sometimes for the moral law , jam. 2. 10. sometimes for the whole oeconomy , polity , and regiment of moses , for the whole mosaical dispensation by laws , partly moral , partly judicial , partly ceremonial , gal. 3. 23. sometimes for the five books of moses , luke 24. 44. sometimes for the whole doctrine of god , contained in the scriptures of the old testament , joh. 7. 49. by law in this place is meant , all those books of the scripture which were written when this psalm was penned . but i shall handle it in a larger sense , as it comprehends all the books both of the old and new testament . for the word law is sometimes also taken for the gospel , as it is micah 4. 2. isa. 2. 3. the meaning then is , unless thy law , that is , thy word , had been my delights , i should have perished in mine affliction . david speaks this ( saith musculus ) of the distressed condition hee was in , when persecuted by saul , forced to flye to the philistins , and sometimes to hide himself in the rocks and caves of the earth . hi● vero simile est , fuisse illi ad manum codicem divinae legis , &c. it is very likely ( saith hee ) that hee had the book of gods law with him , by the reading of which , hee mitigated and allayed his sorrows , and kept himself pure from communicating with the heathen in their superstitions . the greek scholiasts say , that david uttered these words , a saule pulsus , & apud philistaeos & impios homines agere coactus , when driven from saul , and compelled to live amongst the wicked philistins , &c. for he would have been allured to have communicated with them in their impieties , had he not carried about him the meditation of the word of god. unless thy law had been my delights , &c. in the words themselves , wee have two truths supposed , and one truth clearly proposed . 1 two truths supposed . 1 that the dearest of gods saints , are subject to many great and tedious afflictions . 2 that the word of god is the saints darling , and delights . one truth clearly proposed . that the law of god delighted in , is the afflicted saints antidote against ruine , and destruction . 1 two truths supposed . the first is this : doct. 1. that the best of gods saints are in this life subject to many great and tedious afflictions . david was a man after gods own heart , and yet hee was a man made up of troubles of all sorts and sizes , insomuch as hee professeth of himself , psal. 69. 1 , 2 , 3. save mee , o god , for the waters are come in unto my soul , i sink in deep mire where there is no standing , i am come into deep waters , where the flouds over-flow mee ; i am weary of my crying , my throat is dryed , mine eyes fail while i wait for my god. and in this text he professeth that his afflictions were so great , that he must necessarily have perished under them , had hee not been sustained by the powerfull comforts he fetched out of the word . there is an emphasis in the word then , i should then have perished : that is , long before this time ; then , when i was afflicted , then i should have perished . iunius and tremelius translate it , iam diu periissem , &c. i should long ago have perished . iob was a man eminent for godliness , and yet as eminent for afflictions . nay jesus christ himself was a man of sorrows , isa. 53. 3. insomuch as that it is truly said , god had one son without sin , but no son without sorrow . this our dear sister , at whose funeral wee are met , was a woman full of many and great afflictions , which ( no doubt ) would have quite drowned and swallowed her up , had not the word of god supported her , therefore it was that shee desired that this text might bee the subject of her funeral sermon . quest. but why doth god afflict his own children with such variety of long and great afflictions ? ans. 1. god doth not do this , because hee hates them , but because hee loves them , for whom the lord loveth hee chastiseth , &c. heb. 12. 6. did the lord hate them , hee would suffer them to go merrily to hell. there is no surer sign of gods reprobating anger , than to suffer a man to prosper in wicked courses . god threatneth this as the greatest punishment , not to punish them , hos. 4. 14. and therefore because god loveth his children , hee chastiseth them in this world , that they may not bee condemned in the world to come , 1 cor. 11. 33. 2 god doth not do this , because hee would hurt them , but for their good , jer. 24. 5. the good figs were sent into captivity for their good . heb. 12. 10. hee for our profit , &c. god hath very gracious and merciful ends and aims in afflicting his people . give mee leave here to inlarge my discourse , and to give you an account of some of these divine aims . 1 gods design is to teach us to know him , and to trust in him , and to know our selves . it is a true saying of luther , schola crucis , est schola lucis , the school of affliction , is a school of instruction , gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , his rods ( when sanctified ) are powerful sermons to teach us , 1 to know god , and this is life eternal to know him , joh. 17. 3. it is said of manasseh , a chron. 33. 13. then manasseh knew that the lord hee was god. then , when hee was caught among the thorns , bound with setters , and carried to babylon ; before that time hee knew not the lord : afflictions teach us to know god , not only in his power and greatness , in his anger , and hatred against sin , but also in his goodness and mercy ; for god doth so sweeten the bitter cup of affliction , that a childe of god doth many times taste more of gods love in one months affliction , than in many years of prosperity , 2 cor. 1. 4 , 5. 2 cor. 7. 4. adde to this . afflictions teach us to know god experimentally and affectionatively , not cerebraliter ( as calvin saith ) but cordialiter , so to know him , as to love and fear him , and to flye unto him as our rock and hiding-place in the day of our distress . it is said , cant. 3. 1. by night i sought him whom my soul loveth , &c. some by the word night , understand the night of divine desertion , and from the words gilbertus hath this saying , qui quaerit in nocte , non quaerit ut videat , sed ut amplectatur ; hee that seeks after god in the night of adversity , doth not seek to see him , and know him formally and superficially , but to imbrace him , and to love him really and cordially : and therefore the church never left till shee had found christ , and when shee had found him , shee held him and would not let him go , cant. 3. 2 , 3 , 4. 2 not onely to know god , but also to trust in him , 2 cor. 1. 9. wee had the sentence of death in our selves , that wee should not trust in our selves , but in god ▪ which raiseth the dead . note here , 1 that an apostle is apt in time of prosperity , to trust in himself . 2 that god brings his children to the gates of death , that they might learn not to trust in themselves , but in god , which raiseth the dead , that is , from a dead and desperate condition . 3 not onely to know god , but to know our selves , which two are the chief parts of christian religion : it is said of the prodigal , that when hee was in adversity , then hee came to himself , luke 15. 17. and when hee came to himself . he was spiritually distracted , when hee was in prosperity : afflictions teach us to know that wee are but men , according to that of david , psal. 9. 20. put them in fear , o lord , that they may know themselves to bee but men . caligula and domitian , emperors of rome , who in prosperity would bee called gods , when it thundred from heaven , were so terrified , that then they knew they were but men . in prosperity wee forget our mortality . adversity causeth us to know , not only that wee are men , but frail men , that god hath us between his hands ( as it is ezek. 21. 17. ) and can as easily crush us , as wee do moths : that wee are in gods hands , as the clay in the hands of the potter : that hee hath an absolute soveraignty over us , and that wee depend upon him for our being , well-being , and eternal-being . these things wee know feelingly and practically in the day of affliction . and it much concerns us to know these things , and to know them powerfully . for this will make us stand in awe of god , and study to serve and please him . hee that depends upon a man for his livelihood , knowing that hee hath him at an advantage , and can easily undo him , will certainly endeavor to comply with him , and to obtain his favour . the ground of all service and obedience is dependence . and did wee really and experimentally know our dependence upon god , and the advantages hee hath us at , wee could not , wee would not but comply with him , and labour above all things to gain his love and favour . 2 gods aim in afflicting his children , is either to keep them from sin , or when they have sinned ; to bring them to repentance for it , and from it . 1 to keep them from sin ; this made him send an angel of satan to buffet paul , lest hee should bee lifted up in pride , and exalted above measure , 2 cor. 12. 7. 2 when they have sinned to bring them to repentance for it , and from it . god brings his children low , not to trample upon them , but to make them low in their own eyes , and to humble them for sin , deut. 8. 2. god brings them into the deep waters , not to drown them , but to wash and cleanse them , isa. 27. 9. by this shall the iniquity of iacob bee purged , and this is all the fruit , to take away sin , &c. afflictions ( when sanctified ) are divine hammers , to break , and as moses his rod , to cleave our rocky hearts in peeces . 1 they open the eyes to see sin oculos quos culpa claudit , paena aperit . when the brethren of ioseph were in adversity then they saw ( and not before ) the greatness of their sin in selling their brother , gen , 42. 21. they open the ear to discipline . in prosperity wee turn a deaf ear to the voyce of the charmer , though he charm never so wisely . but adversity openeth the ear , and causeth us to attend : when god spake upon mount sinah in a terrible manner , then the people said unto moses , speak thou unto us , all that the lord our god shall speak unto thee , and wee will hear it , and do it , deut. 5. 27. memorable is that text , jer. 2. 24. a wilde ass used to the wilderness , that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure , in her occasion who can turn her away ? all they that seek her , will not weary themselves , in her month they shall finde her ; in her month , that is , when she is great with young , and near her time . a wicked man in the day of his prosperity , is like a wilde ass used to the wilderness , hee snuffeth at any that shall reprove him , hee is of an uncircumcised ear , and a rebellious heart , but in his month , that is , when hee is bigge with afflictions , then hee will be easily found ; this will open his ear to discipline . 3 they will open the mouth to confess sin , judg. 10. 15. 4 they will command us to depart from iniquity , job . 36. ● , 9 , 10. afflictions are gods furnaces , to purge out the dross of our sins , gods files to pare off our spiritual rust , gods fannes to winnow out our chaffe . in prosperity wee gather much soil , but adversity purgeth and purifieth us . this is its proper work , to work out unrighteousness , dan. 11. 35. dan. 12. 10. 3 gods end is not only to keep us from sin , but to make us holy and righteous , therefore it is said , isa. 26. 9. when they judgements are in the earth , the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness . and heb. 12. 10. — hee for our profit , that wee may bee partakers of his holiness . as the waters that drowned the old world , did not hurt the ark of noah , but bare it up above the earth , and as they increased , so the ark was lifted up nearer and nearer to heaven : so afflictions ( when sanctified ) do not prejudice the saints of god , but lift them up nearer unto god in holiness , and heavenly-mindedness . 4 gods design in afflicting his children , is to make the world bitter unto them , and christ sweet . 1 to imbitter the world : there are two lame leggs upon which all worldly things stand , uncertainty , and insufficiency . all earthly things are like the earth , founded upon nothing . they are like heaps made of wax , that quickly melt away . riches , and honours , wise , and children , have wings , and flye away ; they are like unto absoloms mule , they will fail us , when wee have most need of them ; they may puffe up the soul , but they cannot satisfie it , inflare possunt , satiare animam non possunt : they are all vanity and vexation of spirit , so saith the preacher ; but most people in time of health , will not beleeve these things ; but when some great sickness betides them , this is as a real sermon , to make out the truth of them ; then they see , that a velvet slipper cannot cure the gout , nor a golden cap the head ache , prov. 〈◊〉 . 4. that riches avail not in the day of wrath , and this imbitters the world . 2 to make christ sweet and precious . when christ and his disciples were in a ship together , mat. 8. 25. it is said , that christ was asleep , and as long as the sea was calm , his disciples suffered him to sleep , but when they were ready to bee drowned , then they awoke christ , and said , master , save us , wee perish . even the best of saints when fatted with outward plenty and abundance , are prone to suffer christ 〈◊〉 lye asleep within them , and so neglect the lively actings of faith upon christ ; but when the storms of affliction , and outward calamity begin to arise , and they are ready to bee overwhelmed with distresses , then none but christ , none but christ. 5 gods design in afflicting his children , is to prove , and improve their graces . 1 to prove their graces , rev. 2. 10. deut. 8. 2. to prove the truth , and the strength of them . 1 the truth and sincerity of their graces ; for this cause he loaded iob with afflictions , to try whether hee served god for his camels and oxen , or for love to god. as solomons sword tried the true mother from the false ; so the sword of affliction discovers the sincere christian from the hypocrite . distresses are divine touchstones , to try whether we be true or counterfeit saints ; that grace is true , which upon tryal is found true . 2 to try the strength of our graces . for it requires a strong faith to indure great afflictions . that faith which will suffice for a little affliction , will not suffice for a great one . peter had faith enough to come to christ upon the sea , but assoon as the storm began to arise , his faith began to fail , and christ said , why art thou afraid , o thou of little faith ? mat. 14. 30 , 31. it must bee a strong faith that must keep us from sinking in the day of great distress . 2 to improve our graces . it is reported of the lionesse , that she leaves her young ones , till they have almost killed themselves with roaring , and howling , and then at last gasp , shee relieves relieves them , and by this means they become more couragious . so god brings his children into the deeps , and suffers ionah to bee three daies and three nights in the belly of the whale , and david to cry till his throat was dry , psal. 69. 3. and suffers his apostles to bee all the night in a great storm till the fourth watch , and then hee comes and rebukes the winds , and by this means hee mightily increaseth their patience and dependence upon god , and their faith in christ. as the palm-tree , the more it is depressed , the higher , stronger , and fruitfuller it grows ; so doth the graces of gods people . lastly , gods aim in afflicting his people , is to put an edge upon their prayers , and all their other holy services . 1 upon prayer : what a famous prayer did manasseh make , when hee was under his iron fetters . it is thrice mentioned , 2 chron. 33. 13 , 18 , 19. when paul was struck off his horse , and struck with blindness , then hee prayed to purpose . therefore it is said , act. 9. 11. behold hee prayeth ! in prosperity wee pray heavily and drowsily , but adversity adds wings to our prayers , isa. 26. 16. the very heathen marriners cryed aloud to god in a storm . it is an ordinary saying , qui nescit orare discat navigare . there are no saylors so wicked , but they will pray when in a great storm . 2 upon preaching . prosperity glutteth the spiritual appetite , adversity whetreth it . 3 upon a sacrament . how sweet is a sacrament to a true saint after a long and great sickness ? 1 it makes god , and the word of god precious . if god sets our corn-fields on fire ( as absalom did ioabs ) then hee shall bee sure to cause us to come running to him : and how sweet is a text of scripture to a childe of god in the hour of his distress ? by all this it appears that god afflicts his children not to hurt them , but to help them , and that god hath many glorious and gracious ends and aimes in afflicting of them . therefore it is that david saith of himself in the 71. verse of this psalm , it is good for mee that i have been afflicted , that i might learn thy statutes , hee never said , it is good for mee that i have been in prosperity , but hee rather saith the contrary in the 67. verse , before i were afflicted , i went astray , but now i have kept thy word . gods people will bless god as much ( if not more ) in heaven , for their adversity , than for their prosperity . use 1. let us not pass rash censures upon persons under great afflictions . say not , such a woman is a greater sinner than others , because more afflicted . this was the fault of iobs friends , and god expresseth his anger against them for it , iob 42. 7. my wrath is kindled against thee , and thy two friends , for you have not spoken the thing that is right , &c. this was the fault of the barbarians , act. 28. 4. when they saw the venemous beast hang upon the hand of paul , they said among themselves , no doubt this man is a murderer , &c. but remember they were barbarians . it is a sign of a barbarian , not of a christian to pass a rash censure upon persons in affliction . think you ( saith christ ) that those eighteen upon whom the tower in siloam fell and slew them , that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in jerusalem . i tell you , nay , but except you repent , ye shall all likewise perish , luke 13. 4 , 5. think you that they which have the stone and gout in extremity , that have cancers in their faces and breasts , are greater sinners than others . i tell you nay , &c. for my part , if i would censure any , it should bee such as live wickedly , and meet with no affliction : these have the black brand of reprobation upon them . these are men designed to damnation . ambrose would not tarry a night in the house of a gentleman that had never in all his life been afflicted , for fear ( as hee said ) lest some great and sudden judgement should betide it . but when i see a godly woman afflicted , then i say , this is not so much for her sin , as for her trial ; this is not to hurt her , but to teach her to know god , and to know her selfe , to break her heart for sin , and from sin , to make the world bitter , and christ sweet . god hath put her into the fire of affliction , to refine her , and make her a vessel fit for his use . god is striking her with the hammer of affliction , that shee may bee squared , and made ready to bee laid in the heavenly ierusalem . use 2. here is rich comfort to the children of god , under the greatest afflictions . for the best of saints are subject to the worst afflictions : this is the lot of all gods children , christ himself not excepted . afflictions ( indeed ) considered in their own nature , are evil things , and so are called , amos 5. 1● . they are part of the curse due to sin , the fruit of gods revenging wrath ; they are as a biting and stinging serpent . and to a wicked man , remaining wicked , they are the beginning of hell : unsanctified afflictions parboil a wicked man for hell and damnation . but now to a childe of god , they have lost both their name and nature , they are not punishments properly , but chastisements , not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . they are not satisfactory , but castigatory . jesus christ hath taken away the sting of these serpents ; they are not fiery , but brazen serpents , they have a healing , not a hurting power . christ hath removed the curse , and bitterness of them ; as the wood sweetned the waters of marah , exod. 15. 25. so christs cross hath sweetned the bitterness of afflictions . there are eight comfortable considerations to chear the heart of a childe of god in the day of his distress . 1 god never afflicts his people , but ut of pure necessity , 1 pet. 1. 6. though ow for a season , if need bee , yee are ●●●aviness . as a most loving father , never corrects his childe , but when he● is forced to it . hee willingly provides for his childe , but punisheth him unwillingly . so god freely loadeth with his blessings , but hee never chastiseth his children , but when forced to it , therefore hee saith expresly , lam. 3. 33. hee doth not afflict willingly , isa. 27. 1. fury is not in mee . it is wee that put thunderbolts in gods hand . if the s●n did not first draw up the vapours from the earth , there would never bee any thundering , or lightening . god would never thunder from heaven with his judgements , if our sins did not first cry to heaven for punishment . as christ whipt the sellers of oxen and sheep out of the temple with a whip made ( in all probability ) of their own cords ; so god never scourgeth us , but it is with a whip made of our own sins , prov. 5. 22. rom. 2. 5. — thou treasurest up to thy self , &c. god hath a double treasure , a treasure of mercy , and a treasure of wrath ; his treasure of mercy is alwayes full , but his treasure of wrath is empty , till wee fill it by our sins . and therefore when god punisheth his children , hee calls it a strange work , and a strange act , isa. 28. 21. it is observed of the bee , that it never stings , but when provoked : sure i am , that god never afflicts his children , but out of pure necessity . 2 not only out of pure necessity , but out of true and real love ; as i have shewed , heb. 12. 6 , 7 , 8. object . do not divine afflictions proceed out of anger ? was not god angry with moses for speaking unadvisedly with his his lips ? and angry with david for his adultery , and thereupon afflicted both of them ? answ. this anger was a fatherly anger , rooted in love ; it was not ira quae reprobat , but ira quae purgat : it was not ira hostilis & exterminativa , but ira paterna & medicinalis . as it is a great punishment , for god sometimes not to punish , isaiah 1. 5. hos. 4. 14. so it is a great mercy , sometimes for god to withdraw his mercy . 3 afflictions are a part of divine predestination . that god which hath elected us to salvation , hath also elected us unto afflictions , 1 thes. 1. 3. that no man should bee moved by these afflictions ; for you your selves know that wee are appointed thereunto . the same love with which god elects us , and bestoweth christ , and his spirit upon us , with the very same love hee afflicts us . 4 they are part of the gracious covenant which god hath made with his people , psal. 89. 31 , 32 , 33. in which words we have three things considerable . 1 a supposition of sin ; if his children forsake my law , &c. for sin is alwayes causa sine qua non , the cause without which god would never chastise us , and for the most part it is the cause for which . 2 wee have a gracious promise , then i will visit their transgression with the rod , and their iniquity with stripes . 3 wee have a merciful qualification : nevertheless my loving kindnesse will i not utterly take from him , nor suffer my faithfulness to fail , my covenant will i not break , &c. afflictions are not only mercies , but covenant-mercies ; therefore david saith , psal. 119. 75. — and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted mee . god would bee unfaithful , if hee did not afflict his children . 5 consider that afflictions are part of the saints blessedness , job . 5. 17. behold ! happy is the man whom god correcteth , &c. behold ( saith eliphaz ) and wee had need behold , and consider it , for there are few that beleeve it , and yet it is most true ; that afflictions ( when sanctified ) when they are not only corrections , but instructions , then they are evidences that wee are in a blessed condition . eliphaz his saying must bee interpreted by what david saith , psal. 94. 12. blessed is the man whom thou chastenest , o lord , and teachest out of thy law ; it is not correction simply , but correction joyned with instruction , which intitles us to happiness . iob even while hee was upon the dung-hill , wonders that god should set his heart so much upon him , as to visit him every morning , and try him every moment , job 7. 17 , 18. iob upon the dung-hill , was happier than adam in paradise . adam in paradise was conquered by the devil ; but iob upon the dung-hill overcame the devil . lazarus in his rags was happier than dives in his robes ; philpot in his cole-house , than bonner in his palace ; and godly mr whitaker upon his bed of pain , than a wicked man upon his bed of down ▪ there were many in christs time who would never have known him , or come to him , had it not been for their bodily diseases . 6 consider the gracious and merciful ends , aims , and designes , that god hath in afflicting his people , what these are , ye have heard already . 7 the sweet and precious promises , which hee hath made to his children in the day of their adversity , to comfort them , and support them ; what these are , you shall hear afterwards . 8 consider that all afflictions shall work at last for the good of gods children . rom. 8. 28. though they are not bonae , yet they shall bee in bonum ; though they are not good in themselves , yet they shall turn to their good . god beats his children , as wee do our cloaths in the sun , onely to beat ●ut the moths ; god puts them into the fiery furnace , not to hurt them , but onely to untie the bonds of their sins , as hee deal● with the three children , dan. 3. 25. god will either deliver them out of their afflictions , or send them to heaven by them ; wherefore comfort one another with these words . use 3. if the best of saints are subject in this life unto many , great , and tedious afflictions , then let us , afflictions . 1 expect 2 prepare for 3 improve 1 let us expect afflictions ; for christ hath said expresly , ioh. 16. 33. in the world yee shall have tribulation . there is in every childe of god , 1 sufficiens fundamentum , a sufficient foundation for god to build a house of correction upon : there is sin enough to deserve affliction . 2 there is sufficiens motivum , motives sufficient to prevail with god , to chastize them when they sin against him ; some of these you have heard already , let mee adde one more : because hee is more dishonoured by the sins of his own children , than by the sins of wicked men : as it is a greater discredit to an earthly father , when his own children , than when other mens children , live wickedly ; so it is a greater disparagement to our heavenly father when his own sons and daughters , than when the devils children transgress his law : and therefore god will chastize them sooner , surer , and more than others . 1 sooner , rom. 2. 9. tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil , of the iew first , and also of the gentile . first , the jew , and then the gentile . 2 surer than others , amo● 3. 2. you onely have i known of all the families of the earth , therefore i will punish you for all your iniquities . 3 more than others , ●am . 4. 6 : the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people , is greater than the punishment of the sin of sodome . &c. dan. 9. 12. under the whole heaven hath not been done , as hath been done upon ierusalem . 3 there is sufficiens necessitas , sufficient necessity to provoke god to afflict them . it is needful that the wheat bee winnowed , that so the chaffe may bee separated from it . it is needful that the wind blow upon the wheat , to cleanse it , and that gold bee put into the furnace , to purge and purifie it . when the sheep of christ are divided one from the other in judgement , and affections , when separated in doctrine , worship , and discipline . it is very needful that god should send afflictions and distresses , which may bee ( as the shepherds dog ) very serviceable and instrumental , to unite them together , and to gather them into one sheepfold . and therefore let the saints of god expect afflictions . 2 let us prepare and provide against the day of tribulation . let us provide , 1 a stock of graces . for sickness is a time to spend grace , but not to get grace ▪ a christian in sickness without grace , is like a souldier in war without armour like a house in stormy weather without a foundation , and like the men of the old world , when ready to bee drowned ▪ without an ark. woe bee to that person that hath his graces to get whe●● hee should use them ! and therefore if wee would bee comforted in the day of tribulation , wee must provide aforehand a furniture of graces . 1 a true faith ( for a painted faith will avail no more than a painted helmet or a painted ship ) and not only a true , but also a strong faith. a little faith will faint under great afflictions ; when the winds began to blow fiercely , peters little faith began to fail , mat. 14. 30. 2 a great measure of patience to inable us to wait quietly and contentedly , till god come in with help , for many times hee tarrieth till the fourth watch of the night , as hee did , matth. 14. 25. and therefore wee have need of patience to keep us from murmuring or repining . 3 a great stock of self-denial , humility , repentance , contempt of the world , and heavenly-mindedness . hee that is furnished with grace in an evill hour , will bee as safe and secure , as noah was in the ark , in the time of the deluge , or as those were who had sufficiency of corn in the time of the seven years dearth in aegypt . 2 a stock of assurance of salvation : for though a man hath never so much grace , yet if hee wants the assurance of it , hee cannot receive any comfort by it in the day of his distress . iacob was not at all quieted in his spirit , for iosephs being alive , till hee came to know of it . and therefore wee must not onely provide grace , but the assurance of grace , that wee may bee able to say with confidence , as iob did upon the dung-hill , iob 19. 25. i know that my redeemer liveth , and with the holy apostle , rom. 8. 38. i am perswaded , that neither death , nor life , nor angels , nor principalities , nor powers , nor things present , nor things to come , nor height , nor depth , nor any other creature shall bee able to separate us from the love of god , which is in christ iesus our lord. that man who hath got a scripture assurance of his salvation , will bee more than a conqueror in the day of his distress . 3 a stock of divine experiences . happy is that man that lodgeth up in his heart all the former experiences he hath had of gods love and mercy towards him , and knoweth how to argue from them in the day of calamity : thus did moses in his prayer to god , numb . 14. 19. pardon , i beseech thee , the iniquity of this people , according unto the greatness of thy mercy , and as thou hast forgiven this people from egypt , even untill now . because god had forgiven them , therefore moses intreats him to forgive them ; this argument is drawn from former experience . and thus david incourageth himself , 1 sam. 17 , 37. the lord hath delivered mee out of the paw of the lion , and out of the paw of the bear , and hee will deliver mee out of the hand of this philistine . thus also paul reasoneth , 2 cor. 1. 10. who delivered us from so great a death , and doth deliver , and in whom wee trust that hee will yet deliver us ! divine experiences are the saints great incouragements in the day of affliction . blessed is the man that hath his quiver full of these arrows . 4 a stock of sermons . wee must do with sermons , as the trades-men do with the mony they get ; some of it they lay out for their present use , and some of it they lay up against the time of sickness . that man is an ill husband , and an unthrifty trades-man that makes no provision for old age ; or for an evill day ; and that man is an unprofitable hearer of the word , who doth not stock and store himself with sermons , whereby hee may be comforted in the hour of affliction . and therefore the prophet isaiah adviseth us , isa 42. 23. to hear for the time to come , or ( as it is in the hebrew ) for the after-time . sermons are not onely to bee heard for our present use , but to bee laid up for after-times , that when wee lye upon our sick-beds , and cannot hear sermons wee may then live upon the sermons wee have heard . 5 and lastly , wee must prepare and provide a stock of scripture-promises , which will bee as so many reviving cordials , to chear us , and as so many spiritual anchors , to uphold us from perishing in the day of our tribulation . what these promises are , you shall hear afterwards : these upheld david in the hour of his distress , and therefore hee saith in the text , unless thy law had been my delight , i had perished in mine affliction . if this our dear sister had not had this stock , shee had been quite overwhelmed under the grievousness of her tormenting pains . bee wise therefore , o yee saints of god , and prepare these five provisions in the time of health , that so you may live joyfully in the time of sickness . 3 as wee must expect and provide for afflictions , so also wee must labour ( when afflicted ) to improve them for our spiritual benefit and advantage . wee must pray more for the sanctification of them , than for their removal : it was not the staffe of elisha that revived the dead childe , but elisha himself . it was not the troubling of the waters of the pool of bethesda , that made them healing , but the coming down of the angel. it was not the clay and spittle that cured the blinde eyes , but christs anointing them with it . it was not the cloak of elijah that divided the waters , but the god of elijah : troubles , stroaks , blows , afflictions , and distresses will do us no good , unless the lord bee pleased to make them effectuall ; and therefore let us pray unto god that hee would give us grace together with our affliction . that hee would adde instruction to his correction , that hee would make us good schollars in the school of afflictions , and inable us to take out all those excellent lessons , which hee would have us to learn in it , that thereby wee may come to know god more powerfully , and experimentally , and tok now our selves , and our own frailty , and our absolute de pendene upon god more effectually , that thereby wee may bee more purified and refined , that the wind of temptation may cleanse us from the chaffe of our corruption , that wee may learn righteousness by gods judgements , and bee made partakers of his holiness . such a good scholar was manasseh , hee got more good by his iron chain , than by his golden chain : such another was the prodigal childe , who was happìer amongst the swine , than when in his fathers house ; such was paul , his being strucken down to the ground , raised him up to heaven ; by the blindness of his body , his soul received sight ; and hee was turned from a persecuting saul , to a persecuted paul. such another was david , who professeth of himself , that it was good for him that hee was afflicted ; and such scholars ought wee to bee . there are some that are arrant dunces in this school , that are like unto the bush which moses saw , which burned with fire , but was not consumed ; the fire did not consume the thorny bush . many such thorny sinners are burnt up with the fire of divine afflictions , but their sins are not consumed . of these the prophets complain , amos 4. 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12. — yet they have not returned , &c. jer. 5. 3. thou hast stricken them , but they have not grieved ; thou hast consumed them , but they have refused to receive correction ; they have made their faces harder than a rock , they have refused to return . rocks and stones by hewing and polishing may bee made fit for a building : but there are some men who by no afflictions will bee amended . the mountains melt at the presence of the lord , and the rocks rend asunder , when hee is angry : but there are some that have made their faces harder than the rocks , and the mountains , and are not at all affected with gods anger . of such as these bernard complains , multi humiliati , pauci humiles , corripimur , sed non corrigimur , plectimur , sed non flectimur ; multo facilius fregeris quam flexeris . non cessant vitia civium usque ad excidia civitatum ; prius est interire quam corrigi . prius ipsos , quam in ipsis vitia non esse . there are others that are the worse for their afflictions , like the smiths anvil , the more they are stricken , the harder they are : such a one was king ahaz , 2 chron. 28. 22. in the time of his distress hee did trespass yet more against the lord : there is a brand put upon him — this is that king ahaz , that wicked king ahaz , that reprobate king ahaz . as pearls put in vinegar lose their colour and beauty , so many , when under gods hand , lose all their glory and excellency , and begin to distrust gods providence , to call his justice into question , to murmure and repine against gods dealings , and to use unlawful means for their deliverance . of these the prophet isaiah complains , isa. 1. 5. why should you bee stricken any more ? yee will revolt more and more ; such was ahaziah , 2 king. 1 , 2. that sought for help from baalzebub the god of ekron ; and such was saul , who sought to the witch of endor for health in the day of his distress . both of these sorts are in a sad and miserable condition ; for god hath two furnaces , the furnace of affliction , and the furnace of hell-fire . if the first furnace will not purge us , the second will everlastingly consume us . as the roman consuls had a man appointed to go before them , carrying a rod , and an axe ; a rod for the punishing of corrigible offenders , an axe for the destruction of incorrigible ; so god hath his rod , and his axe , his pruning knife , and his chopping-knife , his warning-peeces , and his murdering-peeces . afflictions are his rods to correct us for our sin , his pruning-knife to pare off our luxuriant branches ; his warning-peeces to call upon us to repent . but if his warning-peeces will do us no good , wee must expect his murdering-peeces . if his pruning-knife will not amend us , his chopping-knife will confound us . if his rods will not reclaim us , then his axe will hew us down , and cast us into everlasting fire . god hath three houses , the house of instruction , of correction , and of destruction , the place where gods people meet to hear his word , is his house of instruction . and if wee profit in this house , hee will never carry us unto the house of correction . but if wee bee stubborn and rebellious in the house of instruction , then hee will send us to the house of correction . and if wee profit in this house , hee will never send us into the house of destruction . but if wee continue incorrigible in the house of correction , hee will inevitably send us to the house of destruction , that is , unto hell fire . and therefore whensoever god brings us into the school of affliction , let us labour to bee good schollars in it ; and to answer all those ends , aimes , and designes which god hath in afflicting of us . let us pray to god that our afflictions may bee divine hammers to break our hearts for sin , and from sin , may make the world bitter , and christ more precious , may prove and improve our graces , and may put an edge upon all holy duties . there are two things i would have you in an especial manner to labour after . 1 labour when afflicted , to know the meaning of gods rod. 2 that the good you get by afflictions , may abide upon you after your recovery from them . 1 you must labour to know the meaning of gods rod , and what the particular arrant is , which hee hath to you in the day of your distresses , you must do as david did , 2 sam. 21. 1. hee inquired of the lord to know the reason why hee sent a famine amongst them . so must you , you must pray as iob doth , iob 10. 2. shew mee , o lord , wherefore thou contendest with mee ? when the cause of a disease is found out , it is half cured . your great care therefore must bee to study to know the particular cause and reason , why god turns your prosperity into adversity . the prophet micah tells us , micah 6. 9. that the rod hath a voyce , and that the man of wisdome shall see gods name upon it . there is a great measure of spiritual art and wisdome required , to inable a man to hear this voyce , and to understand the language of it . a spiritual fool cannot do it . quest. what must wee do , that wee may understand the voyce of the rod ? ans. you must know , that the rod of god ordinarily speaks three languages , it is sent for correction for sin , for the trial and exercise of grace , and for instruction in holiness ; sometimes indeed it is sent only for trial and instruction , and not at all for sin . upon this account was iob afflicted , and the blinde man , ioh. 9. 3. but for the most part it hath a threefold voyce ; it is appointed for instruction , probation , and also for correction , lam. 3. 39. isa. 42. 24. luke 1. 20. 1 cor. 11. 30. quest. how shall a man know whether his afflictions bee only for trial and instruction , and not at all for sin ? answ. the safest and best way for a christian in this case , is to beleeve that all his afflictions are both for trial and instruction , and also for sin : indeed when hee seeth another man , who is very godly , grievously diseased , hee may charitably beleeve , that this is for his trial , and not for his sin ; but when it is his own case , then ( as d. ames saith most excellently ) aequissimum , tutissimum , & deo gratissimum est , ut in afflictionibus omnibus peccata nostra intueamur , quae illas vel directe procurarunt , vel saltem promeruerunt . quamvis enim omnes afflictiones non immittantur semper directè & precipuè propter peccatum , peccatum tamen est omnium afflictionum fons & fundamentum , rom. 5. 12. — it is most equal , most safe , and most acceptable to god , to have an eye upon our sins , which have either directly procured them , or at least deserved them . for though afflictions are not alwayes sent directly and especially for sin , yet sin is the original and foundation of all afflictions . quest. vvhat course must wee take to finde out what that sin is in particular , for which god corrects us ? answ. 1. sometimes wee may read our sin in our punishment . adonibezek , though a heathen king , did this , iudg. 1. 7. threescore and ten kings , having their thumbs ▪ and their great toes cut off , gathered their meat under my table ; as i have done , so god hath requited mee . i read of holy ephrem , that hee was converted by the suitableness of his affliction , unto the sin hee had committed , for hee saw clearly that his misery came not by chance , but from god immediately , and for sin . as a man may sometime gather the disease of the patient by observing the physitians bill , so hee may guess at his sin , by considering his punishment . 2 consider what that sin is for which they conscience doth most of all accuse thee . conscience is gods vicegerent , his bosome preacher . and when wee sleight the voyce of conscience , god seconds it with the voyce of his rod , which speaks the very same language that conscience doth . 3 consider what is the sin of thy complexion , and constitution , what is thy dilectum delictum , thy peccatum in deliciis , thy beloved sin , what is that sin to which thou art most of all inclined ; and if that sin prevaile over thee , and thou canst not say with david psal. 18. 23. i have kept my self from mine iniquity . it is very probable that for the subduing of that sin , thou art corrected of god. 4 if ever thou hast been at the gates of death , despairing of life , consider what that sin was , which did thee most of all trouble and perplexe thy conscience ; or if ever thou hast been in a dream , supposing thy self to bee dying , and breathing out thy last ; what was that sinne which did then most of all affright thee . it is very likely that god by afflicting thee , intends to get that sin more conquered and mortified . 5 consider what those sins are for which thy godly minister ( under whose care thou livest ) doth reprove thee , and of which thy true and real friends do accuse thee ; for , if thou hast sleighted the voyce of thy faithful minister , and friends ; surely god out of his love to thee , followeth their advice with the voyce of his rod , that thereby hee may open thine ear to discipline , and command thee to depart from those iniquities . but if thou canst not finde out that particular sin , for which god afflicts thee , labour to repent of every sin , and then thou wilt bee sure to repent of that sin . if thou canst not finde out the bee that stings thee , pull down the whole hive , or the thorn that pricks thee , pull down the whole hedge . do that out of wisdome , which herod did out of malice , who because hee could not finde out the babe iesus , killed all the children in bethlehem from two years old , and under , that so hee might bee sure to ' kill iesus . let us seek the utter ruine and death of all our sins , and then wee shall bee sure to destroy that sin for which god afflicts us , and when the cause is removed , the disease will forthwith bee cured , and the almighty pacified , and reconciled unto us . 2 let us labour that the good wee reap by our afflictions , may abide upon us after , our recovery from them . there are very many who while they are under the rod , seem to bee very penitent , and do purpose and promise to amend their lives , but as soon as the rod is removed , they returne like the dog to the vomit , &c. such was pharaoh , whilst he was plagued he confessed his sin , and prayed for pardon , but as soon as ever the judgement was gone , hee hardened his heart . such were the israelites . psal. 78. 34 , 35 , 36 , 37. they were not stedfast , they turned back . just like a truantly school-boy , who while his master is whipping him , will promise any thing , but when it is done , forgets presently to doe what hee promised : or like unto water , which while it is upon the fire is very hot , but as soon as ever it is taken off the fire , presently groweth cold . i knew a man who in the time of his sickness was so terrified in his conscience for his sins , that hee made the very bed to shake upon which hee lay , and cried out all night long , i am damned , i am damned , and made many and great protestations of amendment of life , if god would bee pleased to recover him . in a little while hee did recover , and being recovered , was as bad , and as wicked as ever before . and therefore let us labour that the good wee get by our afflictions , may not vanish away with our afflictions , but may abide on us after wee are recovered , that wee may bee able to say with david , it is good for mee that i was afflicted , not onely that i am , but that i was . david praiseth god in health , for the good hee had got in sickness , and which still abode with him . let us say with the same prophet , psal. 66. 13 , 14. i will go into thy house with burnt offerings , i will pay thee my vows which my lips have uttered , and my mouth hath spoken , when i was in trouble . let us pray unto god that his afflictions may not onely skin over our spiritual diseases , and coup up our sins , but mortifie them , and so change our natures , that wee may never return to folly . i will conclude this point with a famous saying of plinius secundus , worthy to bee written in letters of gold . a friend writes to him , and intreats him to give him advice how to frame his life , so as hee might live as becomes a good man. hee returns him this answer : i will not prescribe many rules , there is this one only which i commend to thee above all other . ut tales esse perseveremus sani , quales nos futuros profitemur infirmi . let us labour to continue and persevere to bee such , when wee are well , as wee purpose , and promise to our selves to bee , when wee are sick . there is hardly any man so wicked , but hee will in sickness make many and great promises of a new life , and of universal reformation if god would restore him . now then if we not onely bee such , but continue to bee such when restored , as wee promise to bee when sick , then wee shall bee excellent schollars , in the school of affliction , and god will either ( as i have already said ) deliver us out of affliction , or send us to heaven by affliction . so much for the first truth supposed . the end of the first sermon . the word of god is the saints delights . sermon ii. psal. 119. 92. unless thy law had been my delights , i should then have perished in mine affliction . now i come to speak of the second truth supposed in the text. that the word of god is the saints darling , and delights ; not onely their delight , but in the plural number , their delights , that is ( as our annotations say ) a saint doth greatly delight in gods law , or as iunius ; all the delight of a saint is in gods law , gods word is the center of his delights , nisi lex tun erat omuit oblectatio mea , many were the troubles and sorrows of davids life , but against them all hee found as many comforts and delectations in gods word , therefore hee saith , vers . 29. thy testimonies are my delights , &c. and 143. trouble and anguish have taken hold on mee , yet thy commandements are my delights : and in the text , unless thy law had been my delights , &c. whilst others delight in vanity and iniquity , whilst others take pleasure in hunting , hawking , carding , dicing , eating , and drinking , the saints of god , can say with austin , sacr a scripturae tuae sunt sanctae dellctae meae , thy holy scriptures are my holy delights . quest. why do the saints of god take such delight in the law of god ? answ. 1. because they are spiritually inlightned ; their eyes are opened to behold the glory and beauty , and to understand the deep mysteries of the law , therefore david prayeth , vers 18. open thou mine eyes , that i may behold wondrous things out of thy law , as the apostle saith of the jews , 2 cor. 3. 14 , 15 , 16. that to this day there is a vail over their hearts , when moses is read , and when they shall turn to the lord , this vail shall bee removed ▪ so it is with christians , when a wicked man reads the word , there is a vail over his eyes , and over his heart , and over the scriptures , the god of this world hath so blinded his eyes , that hee cannot behold the beauty and glory of them ; but the true saint hath this vail removed , christ hath anointed his eyes with his spiritual eye-salve ; hee seeth a surpassing excellency in the word of god , and therefore cannot but delight in it . 2 because they are not onely illightned , but regenerated ; and as children new born by the instinct of nature , have a natural appetite to milk for conservation of their life ; so the new born saint , by the instinct of grace , hath a spiritual appetite to the word of god , according to that of saint peter , 1 pet. 2. 2. as new borne babes desire the sincere milk of the vvord , that you may gr●w thereby : the word of god is the saints food , and as it is impossible for a childe unborn to desire food , so for a man unregenerated to hunger after , and take true pleasure in the word ; and as it is impossible for a new born child , not to delight in milk , so it is as impossible for a regenerate christian , not to delight in the law of god. 3 because a true saint hath the law of god written in his heart , according to that precious promise of the covenant of grace , ier. 31. 33. i will put my law in their inward parts , and write it in their hearts . a saints heart is the counterpane to gods law. the law is within his heart , psal. 40. 8. and as it is in the hebrew , in the midst of his bowels , in medio viscerum . god hath infused a principle of grace into his inward parts , whereby hee is not onely inclined , but inabled to walk in all the commandements of the law blameless . a true saint hides the law in his heart , as a choice iewel in a most precious cabinet , as david saith , vers . 9. i have hid thy law in my heart . hid it as a rare treasure . so doth every saint , and therefore cannot but delight in it . 4 because the same holy spirit that wrote the word , dwelleth in every true saint . it is certain that all scripture is of divine inspiration , and that the holy men of god spake as they were guided by the holy ghost . and it is as certain , that the same holy ghost dwelleth in every saint , rom. 8. 11. and by vertue of the in-dwelling of the spirit , they are sweetly and powerfully drawn to make the law of god their chiefest delight . 5 because it is gods inditement , and invention . this reason is brought in the text , unless thy law , &c. it is the law of that god in whom they delight . it transcribes the minde and heart of god. a true saint seeth the name , authority , power , wisdome , and goodness of god in every lett● of it , and therefore cannot but take pleasure in it . it is an epistle sent down to him from the god of heaven . it is one of the greatest love-token● that ever god gave to his church . there are two great gifts that god hath given to his people . the word christ , and the word of christ. both are unspeakably great . but the first will do us no good without the second . 6 a true saint cannot but delight in the word of god , because it is his inheritance , vers . 111. thy testimonies have i taken as an heritage for ●ver for they are the rejoycing of my heart . therefore they were the rejoycing of his heart , because they were his everlasting inheritance . 7 because hee findes a sweetness in i● . delight is nothing else but a passi●n of the soul , arising from th● sweetness of the object that wee enjoy . things that are good , present , suitable , and sweet , are the object of our delights , such is the word of god to every true saint . it is sweeter than the h●ny , and the hony-comb , psal. 19. 10. so also psal. 119. 103. how sweet are thy words unto my taste , yea sweeter than ●ony to my mouth . a saint must needs delight in it , it is so suitable , and so sweet . 8 because he loves the law. now that which wee love , wee cannot but delight in , when wee come to enjoy it . a true saint doth not onely love the law , but hee loves it exceedingly , psal. 119. 167. my soul hath kept thy testimonies , and i love them exceedingly . a true saint can say with david , psal. 119. 97. oh how do i love thy law ! and vers . 127. i love thy commandements above gold , yea above fine gold : and vers . 72. the law of thy mouth is better to mee than thousands of gold and silver . now because the saints of god are so inamoured with the law of god , therefore it is , that they cannot but delight in it , as david saith , psal. 119. 47. i will delight my self in thy commandements , which i have loved ▪ hee that loves the commandements ( as all saints do ) cannot but delight in them . use. this shews that there are but few true saints amongst us . there are many bastard saints , and nomin●l saints , but few true and real saints . wee live in an age , wherein there were never more saints , and never fewer , never more by outward profession , and never fewer by a holy conversation . it is the property of a true saint to make the word of god his darling and delights . but where shall wee finde such saints ? it is easie to finde out men that can say , eating and drinking is my delight , carding and dicing is my delight , reading of vain and trifling books is my delight , to satisfie the lusts of the flesh is my delight . but where is the man that can truly say as david doth ? the law of god is my delights , and the joy and rejoycing of my heart for ever . austin professeth of himselfe , that before his conversion , hee took no pleasure in the word of god. his proud heart ( as hee saith ) would not stoop to the humble expressions of it . after his conversion , hee was ravished with the beauty and excellency of the scriptures , but before his conversion , hee saw no excellency in them . politian ( though a great schollar , yet a notorious atheist ) professeth most blasphemously , that hee never lost more time than in reading the scripture . and it is reported of plato , that when hee had read the first chapter of genesis , hee said , hic vir multa dicit , sed nihil probat : this man saith many things , but proveth nothing ▪ where shall wee finde the man that puts a due estimation upon the word of god ? that prizeth it above gold , yea above much fine gold ? that rejoyceth in thy word , as much as in all riches , verse 14. that can appeal to god , and say as david , vers . 159. consider , oh lord , how i love thy precepts ? and vers . 97. oh how do i love thy law ? there are some men that can delight in any thing but in god , and his word , and his ordinances : they can delight in the creatures of god , but cannot delight in the ordinances of god. they can delight in the gifts of god , in riches , and health , and honours : but they cannot delight in the god of these gifts . they can delight in books of philosophy , and humanity , but they cannot delight in the word of god. mark the sad condition that these are in . it is a certain sign that there is a vail over their eyes and hearts , that they are not yet anointed with christs eye-salve , that the god of the world hath blinded their eyes , that they cannot see the glorious excellencies of the law of god. it is certain , that they are not born anew , for if they were new born babes , they would desire the sincere milk of the word . it is certain , that the law of god is not yet written in their hearts , and that the spirit of god doth not dwell in them . it is certain , that they have no part , nor portion in the word of god , that they never tasted the sweetness that is in it , and that they have no true love to god , nor to his word . it is a true saying , qui regem amat , legem amat , hee that loves a king , will love his law. and i may say , qui deum amat , legem dei amat : hee that loves god , will love the law of god , which is nothing else but his image , and his picture , his last will and testament , his blessed love-token . and therefore if you delight not in the law of god , it is evident you do not delight in the god of this law. and if you delight not in god , hee will not delight in you ; unless it bee to laugh at your destruction , as it is prov. 1. 26. q. but how shall i know whether i do delight in the word of god , or no ? answ. you shall know it by these notes . 1 hee that delights in gods law , will bee very frequent in meditating and reading of it , and very often in speaking of it . thus saith david , psal. 1. 2. his delight is in the law of the lord , and therein hee will meditate day and night . and psalm . 119. 97. oh how do i love thy law , it is my meditation all the day . so also vers . 15 , 16. 23. hee that takes pleasure in the law , hee will bee often thinking of it , as christ saith , matth. 6. 21. where the treasure is , there the heart will bee also : if the word of god bee thy treasure , thou wilt meditate on it , cogitatione crebrâ , longâ , & profundâ . thou wilt frequently think of it , and when thou beginnest to think of it , thou wilt dwell upon the thought of it , as a bee dwells ( as it were ) upon the flower to suck out the sweetness that is in it , and thou wilt think of it with deep and serious meditations and contemplations , thou wilt dive into the unsearchable riches and treasures that are in the word . and as thou wilt meditate on it , so thou wilt bee often , and unwearisome in reading and perusing of it , and discoursing about it . a man that delights in hunting , is never weary of talking of hunting , and hee that delights in the world , of speaking about the world ; and if you did delight in gods word , you would bee very frequent , and indefatigable in discoursing of it . 2 if you delight in the word of god , you would delight in the ministers and ambassadors of the word , lawfully commissionated by christ : for the great work of the ministry is to expound and apply the word ; and therefore if you dis-respect the godly , learned , lawful ministry of the word , you take no delight in the word . 3 they that delight in the word , will bee at any cost to bring the word to their congregations , they will part with thousands of gold and silver , rather than with the word ; he that esteems the word above thousands , will bee willing to part with hundreds for the words sake . hee will account a famine of the word more bitter than a famine of bread ; by how much the soul is better than the body , by so much will hee bee more troubled for a soul-famine , than a bodily . 4 hee that delights truely in the law , will sincerely labour to obey it , and bee m●ch grieved when it is disobeyed . 1 hee will sincerely labour to obey it , hee will make the word of god the man of his counsel , vers . ●4 . thy testimonies are my delight , but how doth hee prove that ? in the following words , and my counsellors : hee will make the word a lamp to his feet , and a light to his paths , vers . 105. in all his undertakings , hee will inquire what god would have him to do , and hee will make gods word his compass to sail by , and pray with david , vers . 35. make mee to go in the path of thy commandements , for therein do i delight . 2 hee will bee much grieved when others transgress the law of god. thus david , vers . 53. horror hath taken hold upon mee , because of the wicked that forsake thy law , and vers . 136. rivers of waters run down mine eyes because they keep not thy law. and therefore you that delight in sin , you cannot bee said to delight in the word ; and you that are not pained and grieved when others sin , you are not amongst the number of those that take pleasure in gods law , or in whom god takes pleasure . use 2. let us make it appear that wee are saints in deed , and in truth , not only saints in mans , but in gods calender , by following the example of holy david , set down in the text. let us make the law of god our joyes , and our delights . let mee speak to you in the words of the apostle , col. 3. 16. let the word of god dwell richly in you , &c. not onely with you , but in you . and in the words of christ , ioh. 5. 39. search the scriptures , for therein you hope to finde eternal life . the greek word signifieth to search , as men do under ground for treasures , or to search as men who dive under water for something that is at the bottome . let us with iob 23. 12. esteem the ward of god above our necessary food . let us love it above gold , yea above fine gold ; let it bee dearer to us than thousands of gold and silver , sweeter than the hony and the honey-comb . you that are gentlemen , remember what hierom reports of nepotianus , a young gentleman of rome , qui longa & assidua meditatione scripturarum , pectus suum fecerat bibliothecam christi , who by often and assiduous meditation of the scriptures , made his breast the library of christ. remember what is said of king alphonsus , that he read over the bible fourteen times , together with such commentaries as those times afforded . you that are schollars , remember cranmer and ridley , the former learnt the new testament by heart in his journey to rome , the latter in pembrook-hall walks in cambridge . remember what is said of thomas a kempis , that hee found rest no where , nisi in angulo , cum libello ; but in a corner with this book in his hand . and what is said of beza , that when hee was above fourscore years old , hee could say perfectly by heart any greek chapter in pauls epistles . you that are women , consider what hierom saith of paula , eustochiam , and other ladies , who were singularly versed in the holy scriptures . let all men consider that hyperbolical speech of luther , that hee would not live in paradise without the vvord , and with it hee could live well enough in hell. this speech of luthers must bee understood , cum gran● salis . quest. may not a wicked man delight in the vvord of god ? is it not said of herod , mark. 6. 20. that hee heard john baptist gladly , and of the stony ground , luke 8. 13. that it received the word with joy ? is it not said of the israelites remaining wicked , that they delighted to know gods wayes , and took delight in approaching to god , isa. 58. 2. and of the iews , joh. 5. 35. that they were willing for a season to rejoyce in the light ▪ held forth by the preaching of john baptist . answ. there is a wide and vast difference between the joy and delight which a true saint takes in gods word , and that which may bee found in an hypocrite . 1 the delight of a godly man , is orderly and seasonable . it is the consequent of conviction and humiliation ; for though ioy bee the great work of the spirit , yet it is not the first work . first , the spirit by the word convinceth and humbleth , and then comforteth ; therefore christ saith , mat. 5. 4. blessed are those that mourn , for they shall bee comforted ; and david saith , psal. 126. 5. they that ●ow in tears , shall reap in joy . but the joy of an hypocrite is unseasonable and disorderly . it is his first work . it is said of the stony ground , that when they heard the word , they received it immediately with gladness , mark. 4. 16. it is not said , they received it first with sorrow , and then with gladness . here is mention of joy without any antecedent humiliation . nay , the text saith expresly ▪ luke 8. 6. it lacked moisture , and therefore it withered away . there are many professors in our dayes that skip from sin , to joy at first , that all in an instant are in the highest form of sin , and in the highest form of comfort , that skip out of the lap of the devil , into the lap of joy : these are as the stony ground . these are wanton christians ; they sow before they plough ; they know not the bitterness of sin , and therefore in time of temptation fall away . 2 the delight that a godly ma● takes in the word , is a well-rooted delight . it is rooted in an humble , good , and honest heart , as is said of the good ground , luke 8. 15. but the delight of an hypocrite is shallow and superficial ; as his graces are sleight and formal , so are his delights . therefore it is said of the seed that fell upon the stony ground , that it had no root , luke 8. 13. and matth. 13. 5. it wanted depth of earth , and therefore when the sun arose , it was scorched . the apostle hints this , heb. 6. 4. — and have tasted the good word of god. the delight of a wicked man in the word , is but a tasting , and sipping , no soaking , a floating a loft in the river of christs blood , no diving down to the bottome . a man may taste a thing , and not like it , taste , and like it , and yet not come up to the price of it , as the young man , matth. 19. 22. hee was very desirous to injoy eternal life , but hee would not part with his possessions for the obtaining of it . a cook tasteth of the meat hee dresseth , but they onely that are invited eat of it . tasting doth not imply habitual grace . a man may taste that which hee never digesteth , nor concocteth . the israelites tasted of the first fruits of the land of canaan , and yet did not enter into canaan . such is the joy of the hypocrite . it is outward and superficial ; but the delight of a true saint is inward , solid , and substantial . ieremy saith , that the word of god was the joy and rejoycing of his heart , and that hee did eat it , ier. 15. 16. hee did not onely taste it , but eat it . and paul saith , rom. 7. 22. i delight in the law of god after the inner man ; his delights had depth of earth , they were well digested and concocted . 3 it is superlative and over-topping . a godly man delighteth more in god and his word , than in any worldly thing whatsoever . lord lift thou up ( saith david , psal. 4. 6 , 7. ) the light of thy countenance upon us , thou hast put gladness in my heart , more than in the time that their corn ▪ and their wine increased . so also psal. 43. 4. — unto god my exceeding joy , psal. 137. 6. if i prefer not ierusalem above my chief joy . and psal. 119. 72. 127. the delight of a saint in gods word over-toppeth all his creature-delights , and injoyments , and for the joy hee findes in it , hee will sell all hee hath to purchase it , mat. 13. 44. but the joy of a wicked man is of an inferiour nature , hee rejoyceth more in corn , wine , and oyl , &c. and when it comes into competition , hee will leave his spiritual and heavenly , rather than lose his creature and carnal pleasures . thus herod rejoyced in the word that iohn baptist preached , but hee rejoyced more in his herodias , and when it came to the trial , hee chose to behead iohn baptist , rather than to part with herodias . the stony ground , when persecution arose , parted with all its joy , and faith , rather than it would lose its estate , or life . as a godly man rejoyceth in worldly things , as though hee rejoyced not , 1 cor. 7. 30. so a wicked man rejoyceth in spiritual things , as though hee rejoyced not . in the old law those fowls that did both flye and swimme , were unclean : a wicked man would many times flye aloft in spiritual delights , but hee would also bathe himself , and swimme in carnal pleasures , and his heart is more affected with worldly advancement , and bodily recreations , than with heavenly , and this is a sign that hee is an unclean christian , and that his delights in god , and his word are not right , because they are not overtopping and superlative . 4 it is powerful and soul-strengthening , full of life , vigour , and activity ; it will inable the soul to do and suffer any thing for god , it turns a prison into a paradise , it makes martyrdome to bee as a bed of roses , it is armour of proof to steel us , and make us fit to indure afflictions , both for god , and from god ; therefore david saith in the text , unless thy law had been my delights , i should then have perished in mine affliction . his delight in the law supported him from sinking . it is like oyl to the wheels , like sails to the ship , and wings to the bird ; but the delight that a wicked man hath in the word is a powerless , dead , fruitless , and strengthless delight . it is as a paper helmet , and a painted fire , it will not support him in the hour of adversity : the persons represented by the stony ground , fell away , notwithstanding their joy , as soon as ever persecution arose for the gospel . but the joy of a true saint is soul-supporting , and soul-upholding . the joy in the lord is their strength , neh. 8. 10. 5 the delight that a godly man hath in the word , is sin-excluding . it cannot consist with a delight in any sin ; therefore david saith , psal. 119. 11. thy word have i hid in my heart , that i might not sinne against thee . sinne is as a wooden window , to shut out the true joyes of the spirit . but now a wicked man , though hee may delight in the word , yet hee also delights in sinning against the word . although herod heard iohn baptist gladly , yet hee kept his herodias ; and though the israelites delighted to know gods wayes , yet they did not delight to walk in his wayes . they were as a nation that did righteousness , hee doth not say , they were such , but quasi gens , &c. as a nation that did righteousness . and though they delighted to approach to god , yet they did not delight to obey that god before whom they approached ; they took pleasure in sinning against god , as well as in serving of god , isa. 58. it was not a sin-excluding joy , and therefore it was false and counterfeit . 6 it is grace-increasing . the more a saint delights in the word of god , the more careful hee will bee to obey the will of god , and to grow and increase in the grace of god ; therefore david saith , psal. 119. 167. my soul hath kept thy testimonies , for i love them exceedingly . and psal. 40. 8. i delight to doe thy will , o my god , yea thy law is within my heart ; because the law was written in his heart , therefore hee delighted to doe it . hee that delights to keep gods law , god will give him more grace to keep it according to that remarkable text , psal. 119. 55 , 56. i have remembred thy name , o lord , and have kept thy law , this i had , because i have kept thy precepts . what had david for keeping gods precepts ? hee had power to keep his law ; that is , to grow and increase in keeping of it . as the prophet , hos. 6. 3. speaks of the knowledge of god. then shall wee know , if wee follow on to know the lord , that is , if wee industriously labour to know god , wee shall have this reward , to bee made able to know him more . so may i say of the grace of god. hee that delights to keep gods law , shall have this reward , to bee inabled to keep it more perfectly . a true delight in gods word is grace increasing . grace is the mother of all true joy , isa. 32. 17. and joy is as the daughter , and the mother and daughter live and dye together . true , spiritual delight , ebbs and flows as grace ebbs and flows . as the wood is to the fire , oyl to the flame , the shadow to the body , so is joy to grace . quantum cres●is in gratiâ , tantum dilatâr is in fiduciâ . but now a wicked man , though hee may have a kinde of delight in gods word , yet it is not a delight of the right kinde . it doth not argue that hee hath true grace in him . an hypocrite is all joy , and no grace ; a giant in joy , and not so much as a dwarf in grace , like a green bough tyed to a dead tree . hee is in the highest form of joy , and not so much as in the lowest form of grace . 7 the delight that a godly man hath in the word , is not onely a delight in spiritual things , but a spiritual delight , grounded upon spiritual aimes and reasons . but the delight of a wicked man , though it bee in spiritual things , yet it is but a natural delight . as a godly man spiritualizeth carnal things ; so an ungodly man carnalizeth spiritual things . austin before his conversion , rejoyced much to hear ambrose preach , but it was because of his eloquence ( as hee saith ) not upon a spiritual account . a wicked man may follow a preacher , and delight in his preaching , because of his elegant words , and rhetorical expressions , because hee is unto him as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voyce , &c. as it is ezek. 33. 32. or , out of novelty , because newly come ( as the israelites delighted in manna at first , but afterwards loathed it ) or because hee loves his person ; or out of a desire to obtain a form of knowledge in heavenly things . the pharis●es delighted to do many spiritual things out of vain-glory . iehu delighted to do the will of god , but it was for his owne ends . pauci quaerunt iesum , propter iesum . stella is of opinion , that the devil perswaded herod , to hear iohn baptist gladly , and to reverence him , and to do many things , that so hee might hold him the faster in his possession . the devil had him sure by one sin , and therefore hee provoked him to do some good things , that so hee might rock him asleep in presumption , and by his good things hee might quiet his conscience , and put a fair gloss upon his incestuous practices : a man may rejoyce in spiritual things upon sinful grounds and reasons . but now a true saint delights in the word upon a spiritual account , because it is gods word , and god would have him delight in it , because it is his guide to glory , the way by which he is sanctified . it is both concha & canalis , a cistern to contain the glorious mysteries of salvation , and a conduit to convey god and grace into his soul. in a word , hee delights in it , because it is holy and pure , hee can say with david , psal. 119. 140. thy word is very pure , therefore thy servant loveth it . this no wicked man can truly say . 8 the delight that a godly man takes in the word , is without any reservation or distinction . hee delights in the whole word of god , in the commanding , and threatning word , as well as in the promising word ; he beholds god , and his wisdome , and goodness in every verse , and therefore hee can say with hezekiah , isa. 39. 8. good is the word of the lord. hee hath the whole law written in his heart , and rejoyceth in every tittle of it . but a wicked man hath his reservations and distinctions , hee may delight in the promising word , but hee undervalues the commanding word , and turneth a deaf ear to the threatning word . it is said of the iews , that they rejoyced in the light of john baptist ; but it is not said , they rejoyced in his heat : hee was a burning , and a shining light , they rejoyced in his shining , but not in his burning . it is hardly possible for a wicked man , remaining wicked , to rejoyce in the burning zeal , holiness , and strictness of a iohn baptist. but a godly man delighteth both in the light , and heat of the word . 9 it is an abiding delight , 2 thess. 2. 18. everlasting consolation , joh. 16. 22. your joy no man taketh from you . it is as a fixed star. but the delight of a wicked man in the word , is as the crackling of thorns upon the fire , and as the corn that grew on the stony ground , which quickly sprung up , and as quickly withered , iob 27. 8. therefore it is said of the jews , ioh. 5. 3. they rejoyced in his light for a season . in the greek it is , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for an hour . a wicked mans delight in the word , is but as a blazing star , which is quickly extinguished . hee may rejoyce in the word while hee is hearing of it , but it quickly vanisheth away . hee is like to a man that comes into a pleasant garden , and is delighted with the smell of it while hee is there . but a childe of god makes a posie of these flowers , to refresh him when hee is out . hee delights to read , and to keep the law of god continually , for ever and ever , psal. 119. 45. let us ( i beseech you ) labour , with all labour , for this superlative , well-rooted , powerful , spiritual , sin-excluding , grace-increasing , and abiding delight , in the whole word of god. quest. vvhat must wee do that wee may bee inabled thus to make the law of god our delights ? answ. 1. you must seriously study the excellency of gods word , this made david prize it so much , and love it so much , psal. 19. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11. the word of god hath god for its author , and therefore must needs bee full of infinite wisdome and eloquence , even the wisdome , and eloquence of god. there is not a word in it , but breathes out god , and is breathed out by god. it is ( as ireneus saith ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , an invariable rule of faith , an unerring and infallible guide to heaven . it contains glorious revelations and discoveries , no where else to bee found . it hath a manifesting , convincing , soul-humbling , soul-directing , soul-converting , and soul-comforting power , and efficacy in it , as appears by these scriptures , heb. 4. 12. 1 cor. 14. 24 , 25. 1 king. 21. 29. psalm 119. 105. 2 cor. 3. 6. psalm 119. 50. and therefore to delight in the word , and the god that made it , is not only our duty , psa. 37. 4. but it is recorded in scripture as our priviledge , and as the great reward that god would bestow upon those that keep holy the sabbath-day , isa. 58. 13 , 14. then thou shalt delight thy self in the lord. this shall bee thy great reward . 2 you must fixedly ponder the necessity of practising this duty : for if you delight in gods law , god will delight in you . if the law bee your beloved , you are gods beloved ; if you take no pleasure in his word , his soul will take no pleasure in you . 3 you must pray for the grace of illumination . whensoever you take the bible in your hand to read in it , pray davids prayer , psal. 119. 18. open thou mine eyes , that i may behold wondrous things out of thy law. philosophers observe , that lumen est vehiculum influentiae , light is the chariot of influence , as it begets the flower in the field , the gold in the mineral ; so the foundation of all regeneration , is illumination . pray that god would open your eyes that you may understand the scriptures , as hee did to his apostles , luke 24. 45. that hee would take away the vail that is upon your hearts . 4 pray that he that made you creatures , would make you new creatures , that as new-born babes you may desire the sincere milk of the word . 5 pray that god would fulfill that excellent promise , ier. 31. 33. that hee would put his law in your inward parts , and write it in your hearts , and then you cannot but heartily delight in it . 6 pray to god to give you the same spirit that wrote the word , to inable you to delight in it . 7 pray for a spiritual palate , that you may not only delight in spiritual things , but have a spiritual delight in spiritual things . it is said of the lioness , that when shee hath once tasted of the sweetness of mans flesh , shee is never satisfied till shee hath more of it . hee that hath tasted of the good word of god , and not onely tasted , but eaten it , and digested it into good nourishment , hee will not onely delight in it , but hee will delight in it above gold , yea above fine gold , and hee will never bee satisfied , till hee bee filled with the fulness of that god that made it . the end of the second sermon . the excellency and usefulness of the word . sermon iii. psal. 119. 92. unless thy law had been my delights , i should then have perished in mine afflictions . now i come to speak of the proposition that is clearly held forth in the text. doct. 3. that the vvord of god delighted in , is the afflicted saints antidote against ruine and destruction . unless thy law had been my delights , i should , &c. the word of god is the sick saints salve , the dying saints cordial ; a most precious medicine to keep gods people from perishing in time of affliction : this upheld iacob from sinking when his brother esau came furiously marching to destroy him , gen. 32. 12. and thou saidst i will surely do thee good , &c. the promise of god supported him . this also upheld ioshua , and inabled him couragiously to fight the lords battels , because god had said , hee would never leave him , nor for sake him , josh. 1. 5. melancthon saith , that the lantgrave of hessen told him at dresda , that it had been impossible for him to have born up under the manifold miseries of so long an imprisonment , nisi habuisset consolationem ex verbo divino in sua corde , but for the comforts of the scriptures in his heart . there are eight things may bee said ( amongst many other ) in commendation of the word of god. 1 it is the magazin and store-house of all comfort and consolation . there is no condition ( but one ) that a man can be in , but hee may finde soul-supporting comfort for it out of the word . indeed if thou resolvest to go on in sin , the word cannot comfort thee ; it threatneth hell and damnation to all such . if the god of heaven can make such miserable , they shall be miserable ; but excepting this one , there is no condition so miserable , but a man may fetch a cordial out of the word , to support him under it . art thou as empty of riches , and as full of diseases , as iob under the old testament , and lazarus under the new testament ? are the ( sins-with which thou art willing to part ) many and great ? is thy conscience exceedingly wounded and disquieted ? doth the devil roar upon thee with hideous temptations ? let thy condition be never so sad , the word of god is able to afford thee comfort under it . for it is the word of that god , who is the god of all consolation . there is no kinde of true comfort , but here it is to bee had , here are cordials of all sorts . comforts under bodily troubles , and comforts under soul-troubles . there is no monarch can furnish his table with such variety of delicates , as god hath furnished his word with variety of comforts . 2 the word of god is not only the magazine of all true comfort , but the fountain from whence it is derived . all the comfort that you receive by reading of good books , is fetched out of this book . all the refreshings that the ambassadors of christ administer to you , are borrowed from this fountain . as the king of israel answered the woman ( that cried out , saying , help my lord , o king ) if the lord do not help thee , whence shall i help thee ? so will all the true ministers of christ say to any distressed soul that cries out for comfort : how can wee comfort you , if the word of god doth not comfort you ? all our comforts must bee fetcht from thence . 3 it will comfort us at such a time , when no outward thing can comfort us . and that is , when wee are under soul-agonies , and when our soul sits upon our lips ; ready to depart , when wee are sailing into the ocean of eternity ; then , even then , the promises of the word will comfort us : when gold and silver , father and mother , friends , and physitians are miserable comforters , then will one promise out of the word fill us full of joy unspeakable , and glorious . 4 the comforts of the word exceed all other comforts , for they are pure , and purifying , sure , and satisfying ; they are soul-supporting , soul-comforting , and soul-ravishing , they are durable and everlasting . the comforts of the world are not worthy to bee named that day , in which wee speak of the comforts of the word . they are not consolationes , but consolatiunculae . at best they are but bodily , unsatisfying , and transitory . many times they are sinful , and soul-damning . 5 the word of god is not onely a magazine , and a fountain of comfort , but also a touchstone , by which wee must try all our comforts whether they bee true and real , or no. all joyes , hopes , and assurances , must bee tryed by the word , and if not rightly grounded thereupon , are false , and soul-delusions . 6 it is as an apothecaries shop , or a physitians dispensatory , out of which wee may fetch all manner of medicines , to cure all the diseases of our souls . art thou spiritually lame , blinde , or dumb ? &c. the word will open blinde eyes , make the dumb to speak , and the lame to walk . if dead in sins and trespasses , the word , when it is the sword of the spirit , will quicken thee . it is as a corrasive to eat sin out of thy heart ; therefore david saith , i have hid thy word in mine heart , that i might not sin against thee . 7 it is a spiritual armory , out of which wee may fetch all manner of weapons , to conquer the devil , and his temptations , 2 corint . 10. 4. it is that little brook , out of which every david may fetch five smooth stones to destroy the devil . these five smooth stones , are five texts of scripture , three of these christ took out of the brook of the word , by which he subdued the devil , mat. 4. 4. 7 , 10. 8 it is the sun of the christian vvorld . as the sun is the light of the natural vvorld , and without it , the world is but a chaos , and a dungeon full of darkness . so is the vvord of god , the light of the spiritual world , without which a christian is under an eternal night . therefore david saith , thy vvord is a lamp unto my feet , and a light unto my path , psal. 119. 105. what would all the world avail , if no sun to illighten it , and what comfort would all the wealth of it afford us , if no word to instruct , and counsel us ? for this is the christians compass to sail to heaven by , his staffe to walk withall to heaven , his spiritual bladders to keep his soul from drowning . the cork , to keep up the net of his soul from sinking . afflictions are like the lead of the net , which weigheth it down , but the word is as the cork , which keeps it up , that it sinks not . so saith david in the text , unless thy law had been my delights , &c. vse . if the word of god bee of such invaluable excellency , absolute necessity , and of such admirable use . 1 let us bless god exceedingly for revealing his will unto us in the word . it was a great honour , and priviledge to the iews , that to them were committed the oracles of god , rom. 3. 2. and it is our great happiness that wee have not only the same oracles of god which they have , but an addition of the new testament , for the clearer discoverie of the mysteries of salvation unto us . if god be to bee praised for every crum of bread we eat , much more for giving us his vvord , which is the bread of life , and the only food of our souls . blessed bee god , who hath not only given us the book of the creatures , and the book of nature to know himself , and his will by , but also , and especially the book of the scriptures , whereby wee come to know those things of god , and of christ , which neither the book of nature , nor of the creatures can reveal unto us . let us bless god , not only for revealing his will in his vvord , but for revealing it by writing . before the time of moses , god discovered his will by immediate revelations from heaven . but wee have a surer word of prophecy , a pet. 1. 19. surer ( to us ) than a voyce from heaven ; for the devil ( saith the apostle ) transforms himself into an angel of light . hee hath his apparitions , and revelations , hee is gods ape , and in imitation of god , he appears to his disciples , and makes them beleeve it is god that appears , and not the devil . thus hee appeared to saul in the likenesse of samuel . and if god should now at this day discover his way of worship , and his divine will by revelations , how easily would men bee deceived , and mistake diabolical delusions , for divine revelations ; and therefore let us blesse god for the written word , which is surer and safer ( as to us ) than an immediate revelation . there are some that are apt to think , that if an angel should come from heaven , and reveal gods will to them , it would work more upon them than the written word ; but i would have these men study the conference between abraham and dives , luke 16. 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31. habent mosen & prophetas , &c. they have moses and the prophets , if they will not profit by them , neither would they profit by any that should come out of hell , or down from heaven to them . for it is the same god that speaks by his written word , and by a voyce from heaven . the difference is only in the outward cloathing ; and therefore if gods speaking by writing will not amend us . no more will gods speaking by a voyce . o bless god exceedingly for the written word ! let us cleave close to it , and not expect any revelations from heaven of new truths , but say with the apostle , gal. 1. 8 , 9. use 2. let us prize the word of god above gold , yea above fine gold : let us read it , diligently , reverently , praying to god to give us the same spirit , that wrote it , to inable us to understand it , and conscientiously to practise it . let us make it the joy and rejoycing of our heart , and as it is in the text ; let us make it our delights , but of this i spake in the former point . the onely motive i shall now use to perswade you to make the word your delights , shall bee this in the text. because it will keep you from perishing in the time of your greatest affliction . it will comfort you when you have most need of it ( that is , under heart-sinking-afflictions , and at the hour of death ) and it will comfort you when all outward comforts and creatures fail . it wil bee food to strengthen your weake faith ; physick to cure the remainders of corruptions , it will bee a cordial to revive your drooping spirits , and fainting souls . it will make you more than conquerors over all temptations and distresses . quest. but now the great question is , how a childe of god ought to manage and make use of the word of god , so as to make it a conduit of support and comfort , in the day of his greatest afflictions ? answ. to bee able to do this , there is a great deal of spiritual wisdom and understanding required . for the word to many people is like sauls armour to david , which was so cumbersome to him , that hee could not wear it . there are many know not how to use the word , so as to bee comforted by it . as the woman of samaria told christ , ioh. 4. 11. the well is deep , and thou hast nothing to draw with . so may ●i say , the word of god is a deep well , it is a well of salvation , but it is deep , and the deeper the sweeter , but most people want buckets to draw with , they want a spiritual art to fetch out of these wells of salvation , divine supportation and consolation ; and therefore to help you in this great work you must know , that the word of god may bee divided into three parts ; into commandements , threatnings , and promises : and though a christian must not neglect the commanding , and threatning word , yet if ever hee would make the word a channel of divine comfort , hee must study the promising-word , for the promises are a christians magna charta for heaven . all comfort must bee built upon a scripture promise , else it is presumption , not true comfort . the promises are pabulum fidei , & anima fidei , the food of faith , and the soul of faith . as faith is the life of a christian , so the promises are the life of faith : faith is a dead faith , if it hath no promise to quicken it ; as the promises are of no use without faith to apply them , so faith is of no use without a promise to lay hold on . and the great reason why the people of god walk uncomfortably in their afflictions , is , because they do not chew the promises ; they are rare cordials , but as a man cannot taste the sweetness of a cordial , unless hee chew it , no more can wee receive any spiritual refreshment from the promises , unless wee meditate on them . the promises are as a mine full of rich treasure , but as mines , unless wee digge deep into them , wee can never get the gold and silver hid in them : no more can wee injoy the soul-ravishing comfort of the promises , unlesse we digge into them by a serious consideration of them . they are as a garden full of rare flowers , able to sweeten any condition . but because wee doe not walk in this garden , and pick out these flowers ; hence it is that wee live so disconsolately and dejectedly under our afflictions . there are many rare stories declaring the comfort that some of gods saints have received from the promises in the day of their distresse . mr. bilney that blessed martyr was much wounded in conscience , by reason of the great ●n hee committed , in subscribing to the popish errors , but hee was much comforted by reading those words , 1 tim. 1. 15. this is a faithful saying , and worthy of all acceptation , that iesus christ came into the vvorld to save sinners , of which i am the chief . beza was supported under his troubles , by the words of christ , iohn 10. 27 , 28 , 29. mr. bolton tells us of one , that was upheld under great affliction , and comforted from isa. 26. 3. of another , from isa. 57. 15. i knew a young maid that went triumphantly to heaven , by the refreshing shee found in that well known text , matth. 11. 28. and many that have been wonderfully cheared by reading the eight chapter of the romans , and by that text , 1 ioh. 3. 14. vvee know that wee have passed from death unto life , because wee love the brethren . the truth is , there is no promise , but if god bee pleased to illighten it , and shew us our interest in it , will afford a harvest of joy . it is with promises , as it is with sermons : that sermon which once heard , did not at all work upon us , the same sermon heard at another time may exceedingly affect us . and the same text of scripture , which sometimes doth not at all comfort us , may at another time convey much comfort to us . two men troubled in conscience may both of them read the same chapter , and hear the same sermon , and one of them may have his troubled minde pacified , and the other continue troubled , and the reason is , because the spirit of god makes the word effectual to one , and not to the other . how often hath a distressed saint , read mat. 11. 28. 1 tim. 1. 15. ioh. 10. 27 , 28. isa. 26. 3. isa. 57 , 15. 1 ioh. 3. 14. and found no comfort in reading of them ; but if the spirit of god did come in , and open his eyes to behold the rich mercies wrapt up in these promises , and his interest in them , they would fill him with comfort above expression . and therefore if ever you would make the word of god , gods instrument to conveigh support and comfort to you in the time of soul-sinking afflictions , you must study the promises , and pray unto god that his spirit may irradiate them , and shew you the fulness of them , and your interest in them . quest. how must wee improve the promises , so as to make them spiritual bladders , to keep us from being drowned in the deep waters of affliction ? ans. you must doe three things . 1 you must make a catalogue of the promises . 2 you must seriously ponder and meditate on them . 3 you must apply them to your own souls , as belonging to you in particular . 1 you must make a catalogue of the promises , you must gather them up , as they lye scattered in the word , into a spiritual nose-gay , and binde them together : you must doe as they that gather up ends of gold and silver , you must lose none . every promise is as a ray of gold , as a star in the firmament . and though there are starrs of divers magnitudes , differing from one another in glory , yet every star hath its beauty and benefit : so though some promises are more glorious than others , ( like the sun , in comparison of the moon ) yet every promise hath its beauty , and lustre , and as star-light in a dark night is very comfortable ; so in the dark night of affliction , every little promise will afford unspeakable comfort to a troubled soul. to help you in making this catalogue , give mee leave to suggest three things . 1 bee sure to make it in time of health . woe bee to those that have their promises to gather , when they should make use of them ! you that sleight the promises in prosperity , shall receive no comfort from them in adversity . 2 forget not to treasure up all those promises which god hath made to his children , in the day of their adversity . as for example , god hath promised in all our afflictions to bee with us , isa. 43. 2. when thou passest through the waters , i will bee with thee , and through the rivers , they shall not overflow thee , &c. hee will bee with you to protect and direct you , to support and comfort you . if three saints bee put into the fiery furnace , the son of god will make the fourth , dan. 3. 25. 2 god will be afflicted in all our afflictions , isa. 63. 9. he suffers in all our sufferings , act. 9. 4. 3 hee will make our beds in our sicknesses , psal. 41. 3. hee will condescend to the lowest office for our ease and refreshment . 4 hee will know our souls in adversity , psal. 31. 7. hee will know us to pitty us , and to succour , and to help us . 5 hee will keep us from the evill of all afflictions , job 5. 19. god hath not promised to keep his people from afflictions , but to keep them from the hurt of them . though they are not good in themselves , yet hee will turne them to our good , heb. 12. 10. 1 cor. 11. 32. ier. 24. 5. the good figs were carried into captivity for their good . god hath promised that all things shall worke together for our good , rom. 8. 28. not only all ordinances , &c. but all afflictions , &c. 6 god hath promised to lay no more upon us , than wee are able to bear , but either to give us less pain , or greater patience , 1 cor. 10. 13. and though in a little wrath hee hide his face from us for a moment , yet with everlasting kindness will he have mercy on us , &c. isa. 54. 7 , 8. these , and many such like promises , will bee as so many spiritual cordials to revive our fainting spirits , and as so many pillars to uphold us under the greatest affliction . 3 for the compleating of this catalogue , you may make use of many excellent books written for this purpose , wherein you shall have promises of all kindes , both spiritual and temporal , gathered together : yet let mee advise you not to rest satisfied with the collections of others ; but when you read the bible , and meet with a suitable promise , with which god is pleased to affect your hearts , take the pains to write it down , and one such promise of your own writing , will work more powerfully upon your souls , than many others of anothers gathering . so much for the first , viz. make a catalogue of the promises . the end of the third sermon . an advertisement to the reader . reader , this and the following sermon contains a large discourse about the promises , which because it may bee thought by some to bee impertinent to the text , and rather a digression from it , than an explication of it ; i crave leave to informe thee of two things . 1 that the promises are the principal grounds of comfort to a childe of god , in the day of his adversity . they are his chiefe city of refuge , when all creature-comforts faile ; when hee suffers ship-wrack of all humane props , these are his planks upon which hee swims safe to the shoar of heaven . all comfort that is not founded upon a promise , is delusion , not true consolation . and therefore a discourse about them , cannot rationally bee interpreted eccentrical to the text. 2 that there are diverse particulars added to these sermons , concerning the nature , necessity , excellency , and vsefulness of the promises , which were not mentioned in the preaching of them . and if any of them shall appeare to bee heterogenial to the text , yet if they prove serviceable to heighten thy esteeme of the promises , and to quicken thee to a more serious and frequent meditation on them , and application of them . i hope thou art not at all injured ; and i may justly desire , that thou wouldest not bee offended . it is reported of saint austin ( in his life written by possidius ) that by a digression ( in one of his sermons ) from his text , hee converted an hereticke from his erroneous opinions . if any passage in these two sermons prove usefull to turne thee from thy sinfull negligence , and to awaken thee to a more diligent study of the precious promises , i shall account it a happy and blessed digression ; for herein especially consisteth the difference betweene a religious christian , and a moral man ▪ a mor●l man will abstaine from the outward acts of sinne ; but hee knowes not what it is to live upon promises ; hee never tasted any sweetnesse in a promise . hee lives upon creatures , not upon promises , and therefore when creatures faile , his heart sinkes like a stone , and hee is at his wits end , and faiths end . but a religious christian lives upon promises , and not upon creatures , and therefore when creatures faile , hee hath the promises to live on ; hee labours to taste the sweetnesse that is in them . hee lives upon promises , when providence seemes to run crosse to promises . they are his fiery chariot , to carry him up to heaven . if then these ensuing sermons , inflame thy affections with a greater love to the promises , and a greater care to meditate on them , and to get an interest in them , thou hast cause to bless god , and to pray for thy unworthy servant in christ , ed. calamy . meditate on the promises . sermon iv. psal. 119. 92. unless thy law had been my delights , i should then have perished in mine afflictions . hee that would improve the promises , so as to make them spiritual bladders , to keep him from being drowned in the deep waters of affliction , must not only make a catalogue of the promises , but hee must also , 2 fixedly , and seriously meditate on them ; first , hee must treasure up these iewels in his heart , and then unlock them by meditation ; first , hee must make his nose-gay , and then smell of it . the word of god ( as i have said ) is as a garden full of excellent promises , as so many choice flowers . and it is our duty to walk often in this garden , to gather up all the flowers , that lye scattered in it , into several nose-gayes , to binde them together ( if i may so speake ) with the threed of faith , and then every day to smell of them . the promises are the saints legacies left them by christ in his last will and testament . the saints are called the heires of the promises , heb. 6. 17. and if they would bee filled full of joy in the day of their distresse , they must bee frequent in reading these legacies : the promises are ( as it were ) the breasts of god , full of the milk of grace and comfort . and it is our duty to bee sucking out ( by meditation ) the milke of grace and comfort contained in them . that which the prophet saith of the church of christ , may as truly bee said of the promises of christ. rejoyce , o yee people of god , and bee glad all yee that have an interest in the promises ; rejoyce for joy , all yee that are mourners in sion , that yee may sacke and bee satisfied with the ●easts of their consolations , that yee may milke out , and bee delighted with the abundance of joy and comfort contained in them . the promises are the saints aqua-vitae ( as one calls them ) the saints cordials , the saints planke to swim to heaven upon , the saints fiery chariot , to carry them up to heaven . and the great reason why they walke so uncomfortably , so disconsolately , and so unbeleevingly , in the time of their tribulation , is because they do not smell of these 〈◊〉 , they do not chew these cordials , they do not read over these spiritual legacies , they doe not by serious meditation and consideration , sucke out the comfort comprehended in them . for as fire will not warme us unlesse wee tarry at it , and a bee cannot sucke out the ho●y that is in a flower , unless shee abide upon it ; no more can any childe of god receive supportation , and consolation from the promises in the houre of temptation , unless hee seriously and solemnly ponder and meditate on them . there is a double difference between a presumptuous sinner , and a poor , humble , distressed childe of god. 1 a presumptuous sinner studieth nothing but the promising word : hee sleights the commanding , and the threatning word . the word commands him to keep holy the sabbath day , not to love the world , not to lust , but hee turnes a deaf ear to it . the word threatneth to wound the hairy scalp of every one that goeth on in his wickednesse , but because god is patient and long-suffering , therefore hee regards it not . but as for the promising word , hee snatcheth at it , hee doth not truly lay hold on it , but snatcheth at it , before it belongs to him , and spider-like , sucks the poyson of sin out of it , and makes of it a cradle to rock himself asleep in sinful courses . because god hath promised , that whensoever a sinner turnes from his sins which hee hath committed , hee shall surely live , and not dye , therefore hee delayes , and prorogues his turning from sin . but now a poor , distressed , humble christian , fails on the contrary part ; hee pores upon the commanding and threatning word , but never ponders the promising word . god ( saith hee ) commands mee to love him with all my heart and soule , to wash my heart from iniquity , to love my enemies , to cut off my right hand , and to plucke out my right eye , &c. but i cannot performe these commands , therefore surely shall never bee saved . god ( saith hee ) hath threatned to curse every one that continueth not in every thing that is written in his law to do it , and therefore surely i am accursed . but hee never studies , nor ponders the promising word , for if hee did , hee would quickly know three things for his everlasting comfort . 1 that there is nothing required by god in his word as our duty , but god hath either promised to bestow it upon us as his gift , or the saints have prayed to god for it as his gift . god commands us to love him , but hee hath promised to circumcise our hearts to love him , &c. deut. 30. 6. god commands us to fear him , to turn our selves from our transgressions , and to make our selves a new heart , and a new spirit . but hee hath promised to give us a new heart , and a new spirit , to put his fear in our hearts , that wee shall never depart from him , and to turn us from our evill wayes . the saints of god also have prayed unto god for this , as the fruit of his free mercy , ier. 31. 18. lam ▪ 5. 21. there is nothing commanded in the covenant of works , but god hath promised in the covenant of grace , in some measure to work it in us , for hee hath promised to work all our works in us , and to write his law ( not one commandement of it only , but the whole law ) in our hearts , and to put it in our inward parts , and to cause us to walk in his wayes . 2 that god under the covenant of grace , will for christs sake accept of less than hee requires in the covenant of works . hee requires perfection of degrees , but hee will accept of perfection of parts , hee requires us to live without sin , but hee will accept of our sincere endeavours to doe it . if there bee a willing minde , it is accepted according to that a man hath , and not according to that hee hath not , 2 cor. 8. 12. 3 that though hee cannot in his owne person perform all that god commands , yet iesus christ as his surety , and in his stead , hath fulfilled the law for him , and that god will accept of christs perfect , as a cover for his imperfect righteousnesse . that christ hath redeemed him from the curse of the law , being made a curse for him . that the threatnings of the law are serpents without a sting , and that christ hath taken away the power and force of them . did a broken-hearted , and wounded sinner ponder and meditate on these things , they would fill him full of joy and comfort . hee would flye from the covenant of works , to the covenant of grace ; from his owne unrighteousnesse , unto the righteousnesse of christ ; and from the commanding and threatning word , unto the promising word ; hee would say , lord ! thou commandest mee to walke in thy statutes , and to keep thy lawes ; this i cannot do of my selfe , but thou hast promised to cause me to walke in thy ways , and to write thy law in my heart . lord give me power to doe what thou commandest , and then command what thou wilt . 2 a presumptuous sinner is alwayes studying the promising word , to bolster up himself in sin , but hee never studies his sins and iniquities , to repent for them , and from them . hee meditates on the promises to harden his heart in sin , but not at all on his sins to humble himself for them , and to turne from them . but now on the contrary , a poore distressed christian pores upon his iniquities and corruptions , but never mindes himself of the promises , and this makes him live so dejectedly , and disconsolately . a wicked man studieth his corruptions too little . a distressed christian too much . if hee did study the promises , as much as he doth his corruptions ; hee would not walk so uncomfortably . wherefore if ever you would make the vvord of god a conduit of comfort in the day of your distresse ; you must not only meditate on the commanding and th●eating word , but on the premising vvord . the commandements and threatnings must drive you to the promises ; you must not only study your corruptions to humble you , but also the promises to comfort you . i doe not say , you must not study your corruptions , but you must joyn the study of the promises together with them . if abraham had minded only the deadnesse of sarahs wombe , and of his own body , hee had never beleeved , &c. but hee was strong in faith , and staggered not because hee considered not his owne body now dead , when hee was about an hundred years old , nor the deadnesse of sarahs wombe , but was fully perswaded , that what god had promised , hee was able to performe . if sarah had considered only that shee was past age , shee would never have beleeved that shee should have a childe , but she eyed the promise , and judged him faithful , who had promised , and that made her beleeve . if a saint of god looks only downwards upon the deadnesse of his heart , and meditates only upon his sins and infirmities ; hee will never bee comforted in the day of his distresse . but hee must also look upwards unto the promises , seriously ponder , and fixedly study them , which will bee as strong pillars to support him , and keep him from falling into despair ; in the hour of tribulation . q. what are the meditations which we must have in reference and relation to the promises in the day of our distress ? ans. i will rank them into nine particulars . 1 you must meditate upon the three great truths already mentioned , 1 that god commands nothing as our duty , which he hath not promised , as his gift . 2 that god in the covenant of grace , will accept of less than hee requires in the covenant of works . 3 that if wee truly beleeve in christ , god will accept of his righteousnesse , as a satisfaction for our unrighteousnesse . 2 you must meditate upon the excellency and preciousnesse of the promises , they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , exceeding great and precious promises ; they are precious in five respects . 1 because they cost a great price , ( even the bloud of christ ) to purchase them . they are all made to us in christ , and for christ ; they are in him yea , and in him amen . the covenant ( which is the pandecta and cabinet of all the promises ) was sealed with his bloud . 2 because they assure us of great and precious things ; they assure us of our interest in god , of our justification , reconciliation , adoption , sanctification , and glorification . heaven it self is nothing else but the injoyment of the promises , heb. 6. 12. the promises are heaven folded up ; heaven is the promise unfolded . for the promises are nothing else but the eternal purposes of god towards his children made manifest . the purposes of god are his concealed promises ; and the promises are his revealed purposes . the promises are the kisses of iesus christ , they discover his dear love , and when hee discovers to us our interest in them , then hee kisses us with the kisses of his mouth , and fills us with joy unspeakable and glorious . they are made by god , and they make over god to us , as our portion , and christ as our saviour , and the spirit as our sanctifier , and all good things , both here and hereafter as our inheritance , and therefore may well bee called exceeding great and precious promises . 3 because they put a price upon the new testament ; for wherein doth the new testament exceed the old , unless it be in this , because it is founded upon better promises ? heb. 8. 6. and bringeth in a better hope , hebrews 7. 19. 4 because they put a price upon all the blessings of god. a little mercy reached out to us , as a fruit of a promise , is more worth than a world of blessings comming to us meerly by way of providence . a man may receive blessings from god upon a double account , either ex largitate , or ex promisso , either by way of providence , or by way of promise . 1 by way of providence , thus god gives the earth to the sons of men , psal. 115. 16. thus hee gave one hundred twenty and seven provinces to ahashuerus . thus he sets up the basest of men to rule over nations , dan. 4. 17. 2 by way of promise . thus hee gives health , wealth , and all outward comforts unto his children . for godlinesse hath the promise of this life , and that which is to come , 1 tim. 4. 8. now you must know that a little blessing coming to us , as a fruit of the promise , is more worth than a thousand blessings comming to us , only by way of providence . and therefore david saith , a little that the righteous man hath , is better than the riches of many wicked , psalm 37. 16. and the reason is , 1 because blessings given by vertue of a promise , are signes of gods special love , and come flowing to us from the same love with which god gives us christ , they are the fruit of covenant-love . 2 because wee have them as blessings . a man may have a blessing , and yet not have it as a blessing . the israelites had quails sent them immediately from god , which was a blessing in it self , but was not sent to them as a blessing . for while the meat was in their mouthes , the wrath of god came upon them . the wicked have blessings , but not as blessings , but as the cup in benjamins sack , which proved a snare to him , rather than a mercy . but the godly have blessings as blessings : they have grace with them to improve them for gods glory ; they have not only the blessings , but a thankful heart for them , and a fruitful heart under them , which is a certaine signe that they have them as blessings . 3 because they are pledges to them of better mercies , and beginnings of better . they are not merces , but arrha , not their wages , but an earnest of heaven . now a farthing given as an earnest of a thousand a year , is more worth than many pounds given as a reward . a wicked man hath outward blessings as his portion , his heaven , his all ; but a godly man that hath them by vertue of a promise , hath them as a pledge of heaven , and as a beginning of eternal mercies . 5 the promises are precious , because they produc● great and precious effects . they are not only excellent in themselves , but are also very powerful and operative upon all beleevers . the promises ( as one saith ) sealed by the bloud of christ , ratified by the oath of god , testified by the spirit of truth , delivered by the hand of mercy , and received by the hand of faith , are operative words , and produce rare effects in the soul. they have power . 1 a sanctifying 2 a comforting 1 a soul-sanctifying power . therefore they are said to make us partakers of the divine nature , 2 pet. 1. 4. i say , of the divine nature ; not by the communication of the divine essence , but by participation of divine graces . not in a familistical sense ( as if wee were godded into god , and christed into christ ) but in a spiritual sense ; wee are by the promises made partakers of the divine nature , that is , of the divine graces , by which wee are made like to god in holinesse . the apostle tells us , that they have a power to cleanse us from all filthinesse , both of flesh and spirit , and to inable us to perfect holiness in his fear , 2 cor. 7. 1. 2 a comforting power . they are able to comfort us in the worst of dayes , and dangers . o how precious is a promise to a distressed christian , in the hour of extreamity ! the sun is not more comfortable to a man in a dark dungeon , or food to a man ready to starve , or water to a man ready to dye for thirst . the promises of god are alwayes precious , but never more precious than in times of misery and calamity ; and therefore let us in such times especially meditate upon the preciousness of them . 3. you must meditate upon the freenesse of the promises . the promises are the outward discoveries of gods eternal love to his people . now nothing moved god to enter into covenant with them , and to ingage himself to them by promise ; and thereby to become their debtor , but his free love and mercy ; and therefore they are said to bee given us of god , 2 pet. 1. 4. whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises . god promiseth in his word , not only to love us , but to love us freely , hos. 14. 4. i will heal their back-sliding , and love them freely . the reason why god makes us his people , is not from any worth in us , but only because it pleaseth him so to do , 1 sam. 12. 22. the lord will not forsake his people for his great names sake , because it pleased the lord to make you his people . the lord jesus christ , who is the great and fundamental promise , the root of the other promises , is freely , tendred in the gospel , and freely given , ioh. 3. 16. god so loved the world , that hee gave his only begotten son , &c , revel . 22. 17. whosoever will , let him take the water of life freely . 4 you must meditate on the firmnesse , faithfulnesse , unchangeableness ▪ and immutability of the promises : they are the promises of that god , who cannot deny himself . promissae haec tua sunt domine ( saith austin ) & quis falli timet , cum promittit ipsa veritas ; heaven and earth shall passe away , but one jot or tittle of the vvord shall not passe . there is no promise which god hath made , though never so improbable , and impossible to flesh and bloud , but it shall come to passe in due time , whatsoever hee hath promised in his goodnesse , hee will perform by his power . god is not a man that hee should lye , neither the son of man , that hee should repent : hath hee said , and shall hee not doe it ? or hath hee spoken , and shall hee not make it good ? numb . 23. 19. god hath promised that the same bodies that dye , shall rise againe at the last day . this is incredible to natural reason . the stoicks and epicures derided it , when it was preached by paul , acts 17. 32. but hath god said it , and shall he not doe it ? is the lords hand shortned ? therefore christ tells the sadduces , matth. 22. 27. you erre , not knowing the scriptures , and the power of god. god is omnipotent , and therefore able to doe above what wee can ask or think : god hath promised at the resurrection , to make our vile bodies like unto the glorious body of christ. this is impossible to natural reason ; but mark what the apostle saith , phil. 3. 21. who shall change our vile bodies , and fashion them like unto his glorious body , according to the working whereby hee is able even to subdue all things unto himself . god hath promised , that before the end of the world , there shall be a national conversion of the iewes , that the kingdomes of the world shall become the kingdomes of our lord and saviour . and that babylon shall fall . these are the promises of god , who cannot lye ; faithful is hee , who hath said it , who also will doe it , 1 thes. 5. 24. though the things promised seeme impossible to men , yet with god all things are possible : therefore the apostle proves the future conversion of the jewes by an argument drawn from the power of god , rom. 11. 23. god is able to graft them in again . the like is brought to prove the ruine of antichrist , rev. 18. 8. her plagues shall come in one day , death , and mourning , and famine , and shee shall bee utterly burnt with fire , for strong is the lord god , who judgeth her . the promises are a firme foundation to build our salvation upon : an anchor , both sure and stedfast . when david was taken by the philistins , hee was so supported by the promise of god , that hee did not fear what man could doe against him ; therefore hee repeats it three times , psal. 56. 3. 10. in god i will praise his vvord , in god i will praise his vvord , in god i will praise his word ▪ ( that is , his word of promise ) i will not fear what flesh can doe unto mee : the scripture builds all the hope and comfort of a christian upon the faithfulness of god , 1 corinth . 1. 9. god is faithful , by whom , &c. 1 thes. 5. 23 , 24. 1 corinth . 10. 13. god is faithful , who will not suffer you to bee tempted above that you are able , &c. 2 thes. 3. 3. the lord is faithful , who shall stablish you , &c. heb. 10. 23. for hee is faithful that promised . memorable is that saying of david , psalm 138. 2. for thou hast magnified thy vvord above all thy name : which words are to bee understood ( as david kimhi , and our english annotations say ) hysteron proteron , that is , thou hast by thy word , ( that is , by performing thy word and promises ) magnified thy name above all things , or as ainsworth ; thy word of promise in christ , and thy faithfulness in performing of it , doth more exalt thy name , than any thing by which thou art made known . o then let all the saints of god , who are heirs of the promises , meditate frequently upon the preciousness , freeness , firmness , unchangeableness , and immutability of them . 5 you must meditate upon the fulnesse and richness of the promises . the promises are the saints magazine and spiritual treasure ; they are called the unsearchable riches of christ , ephes. 3. 6 , 7. it is one of the greatest titles belonging to a saint , to bee stiled an heir of the promises . that man who hath a right to all the promises in the bible , is the richest man in the world . for god is his ( and hee that hath him that hath all things , hath all things ) christ is his ( and christ is all in all ) the spirit is his ( and hee who hath the spirit , hath all good things , as appears by comparing mat. 7. 11. with luke 11. 13. in the first it is said — how much more shall your father in heaven , give good things , &c. in the second , how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit , &c. ) grace , and glory , and all outward good things are his . it is said of the great duke of guise , that ( though hee was poore , as to his present possessions ) yet hee was the richest man in france , in bills , bonds , and obligations , because hee had ingaged all the noble-men in france unto himselfe , by preferring of them . a true and real christian is the richest man in the world in promises and obligations , for hee hath the great god ingaged by promise to bee his god , and the god of his . as charles the first , commanded his herald in a challenge to francis the first , king of france , to proclaim him with all his titles , stiling him emperour of germany , king of castile , arragon , naples , sicily , &c. but francis commanded his herald to call him so often king of france , as the other had titles by all his countries ; implying , that france alone was more worth than all his countries . so when a wicked man brags of his lordships , and great possessions , when hee boasteth of his thousands a year , a childe of god may say , god is mine , god is mine , &c. i am richer than all the wicked men in the world . 6 you must meditate on the latitude and extension of the promises . the promises are the saints catholicon , and panacea . there is no condition a childe of god can bee in , but hee may finde , not onely a promise , but a suitable and seasonable promise to comfort him in it . and herein especially consisteth the spiritual excellency , and heavenly wisdome of a christian , not onely to study the promises in general , but to labour to finde out , and having found out , to meditate upon such kinde of promises , which are most suitable , and most seasonable to the condition hee is in . as for example . if thou art poor in estate , meditate on psalm 34. 10. matth. 6. 33. heb. 13. 5. if barren , and without children , meditate on isa. 56. 5. if persecuted for christs sake , meditate on matth. 5. 10. 1 pet. 4. 12 , 13 , 14. psal. ●4 . 12. if sick , and under tormenting pains , meditate on psal. 50. 15. isa. 63. 9. rom. 8. 28. if reproached , slandered , and falsely accused , meditate on mat. 10. 25. mat. 5. 11 , 12. luke 6. 22 , 23. if satan tempts thee , and thou art not able to resist him , meditate on rom. 16. 20. 1 cor. 10. 13. gen. 3. 15. 1 ioh. 3. 8. if thy corruptions bee too strong for thee , meditate on rom. 6. 14. micah 7. 19. if god hides his face from thee , and thou sittest in darkness , and seest no light , meditate on isa. 50. 10. isa. 54. 7 , 8. if ready to faint in waiting upon god , and in expecting the fulfilling of his promises , meditate on isa. 30. 18. isa. 63. 3. isa. 40. 28 , 29 , 30. mal. 3. 1. if ready to dye , and full of fears and doubts , meditate on 1 cor. 15. 55 , 56 57. hos. 13. 14. rev. 14. 13. 1 cor. 3. 22 , 23. 2 cor. 5. 1 , 8. 7 you must meditate on the variety of the promises , and their difference and distinction one from the other . the promises are like unto the stars in the firmament . 1 for their multitude , they are very many . the scripture is bespangled with promises , as the heavens are with stars . it were happy if the saints would prove spiritual astronomers , and make it their work to study the nature of these stars . 2 for their beauty , excellency , and influence . every star is beautifull in its kinde , and very usefull and advantagious , so are the promises . and as the stars are most comfortable in the darkness of the night , so are the promises in the night of trouble and adversity . 3 and especially for their distinction and difference ▪ for one star differeth from another in glory , 1 cor. 15. 41. there is one glory of the sun , another of the moon , another of the stars ; so do the promises differ exceedingly one from the other in beauty and excellency . some are temporal , some spiritual , some of things that are eternal . some are conditional , some absolute ; some are promises to those that have grace ; some are promises of grace ; some are general , others particular . some are original , fundamental , and fountain-promises ( as the promise of jesus christ , of god being our god , and of the holy ghost . ) others are derivative , depending , and rivolet-promises , ( as the promises of all outward comforts here , and of eternal life hereafter . ) now it is our duty to take notice of every ray of gold , to meditate upon all the promises , both spiritual , temporal , and eternal , both conditional , and absolute , both of grace , and to grace , both general , and particular ; but especially of the original and fundamental promises , the fountain promises , from whence all others as so many streams and rivolets , are deduced and derived . 8 you must meditate on the usefulfulness , and profitableness of the promises . i have already shewed you , that they are the conduits of grace , and comfort , that they have a soul-sanctifying , and a soul-comforting-power . give mee leave to adde , that the promises are , 1 the breathings of divine love and affection . 2 the life and soul of faith. 3 the anchor of hope . 4 the vvings of prayer . 5 the foundation of industry . 6 the rayes and beams of the son of righteousness , and upon all these accounts are very usefull and advantagious . 1 they are the breathings of divine love and affection . it is an argument of gods wonderful love to his children , that hee is pleased to enter into a promise and covenant to bee their god , and to give them christ , and in christ all blessings here , and hereafter . wee read gen. 17. 2 , 3. when god told abraham that hee would make a covenant with him , hee fell on his face as astonished at so great a mercy , and as thankfully acknowledging the goodness of god towards him . the like wee read of david . when god by nathan made a promise to him , hee goes into gods house , and prayes , who am i , o lord , and what is my house , that the lord my god should do this ! &c. the promises are the cabinets of the tender bowels of god , they contain the dear and tender love of god towards his elect children , god by promising makes himself a debtor to them . now that god who is bound to none ( no not to the angels of heaven ) should enter into bonds , and binde himselfe to give grace and glory to his elect children , this is love above expression . and there is nothing moved god to do this ( but as i have said ) his free grace and mercy . for though god bee now bound out of justice and faithfulness to fulfill his promises , yet nothing moved him to make these promises , but his love and mercy , as david saith of what god had promised to him , 2 sam. 7. 21. according to thine own heart ( ex mero motu voluntatis ) and according to thy word , not for any thing in mee , for what am i , o lord ! &c. thus you see how the promises are the breathings of divine love and affection , and upon this account are very usefull and profitable . for love is loves loadstone ; therefore the apostle saith , wee love him , because hee loved us first . the sense of gods love to us , will kindle a love in us to god. even as the beams of the sun reflecting upon a vvall , heats those that walk by the wall. so the beams of gods love shining into our souls , warms our hearts with the love of god. the lov● of god constrains us , as saith paul , 2 cor. 5. 14. there is a compulsive and constraining power in love . what did not iacob do for the love of rachel ? how was mephibosheth affected with the love of david ? 2 sam. 9. 8. it is our duty to love those that hate us , but not to love those that love us , is more than heathenish and brutish ▪ 2 they are the life and soule of faith. faith without a promise to act upon , is as a body without a soul , as a dead flower which hath no beauty or sweetness in it ; but faith grounded upon the promises , will inable a christian to advance in all manner of holiness . what made abraham forsake his country , and his fathers house , and go hee knew not whither ? nothing moved him to this , but because god had promised to make him a great nation , and hee beleeved it . of all graces , none so causal of holiness as the grace of faith : it is a world overcoming , heart-purifying , life-sanctifying , wonder-working grace ; and therefore the promises must needs bee very usefull , because they are the life and soul of faith. 3 they are the anchor of hope . hope is called an anchor of the soule , both sure , and stedfast . but the promises are the anchor of hope . all hope of heaven , which is not founded upon a promise , is presumption , and not hope . presumption is when a man hopes to go to heaven , upon no ground , or upon an insufficient ground . but true hope is a hope grounded upon a scripture-promise : and hope bottomed upon divine promises , will mightily availe unto purity and holiness . abraham , isaac , and iacob lived as pilgrims and strangers upon earth , because they looked and hoped for a city which hath foundations , whose builder and maker is god. the old testament saints would not accept deliverance upon sinfull termes , because they hoped for a better resurrection . the papists and arminians are much mistaken in teaching , that the assurance of salvation is an enemy to godliness . the scripture saith the quite contrary , 1 ioh. 3. 3. hee that hath this hope purifieth himselfe , even as hee is pure . the true hope of heaven , will make us live heavenly . 4 they are the wings of prayer : prayer is a divine cordial to convey grace from heaven into our soules . it is a key to unlock the bowels of mercy , which are in god. the best way to obtain holiness , is upon our knees ; the best posture to fight against the devil , is upon our knees ; and therefore prayer is not put as a part of our spiritual armour , but added as that which must bee an ingredient in every part , and which will make every part effectual . but now the promises are the wings of prayer . prayer without a promise , is as a bird without vvings : and therefore wee read both of iacob and iehoshaphat , how they urged god in their prayers with his promises . and certainly the prayers of the saints winged with divine promises , will quickly flye up to heaven , and draw down grace and comfort into the● souls . and upon this account it is that the promises are so useful to a christian , because they are so helpfull in prayer . when wee pray , we● must urge god with his promises , and say , lord , hast thou not said , th●● wilt circumcise our hearts to love the● thou wilt subdue our sinnes , thou wil● give the spirit to those that aske it ? lord ! thou art faithfull , fulfill thes● thine own promises : and wee must remember this great truth , that the promises god makes to us , to mortifie● our sins for us , are greater helps against sin , than our promises to god to mortifie sin . many men in the day of their distress vow and promise to leave sin , and fight against it in the strength of these promises , and in stead of conquering sin , are conquered by sin . but if wee fight against sin in the strength of christ , and of his promises ; if wee urge god in prayer with his owne word , wee shall at last get victory over it . for hee hath said , that sin shall not have dominion over us , rom. 6. 14. 5 they are the foundation of indu●try . the promises do not make men ●azy and idle , as some scandalously say , 〈◊〉 they are the ground of all true la●our and industry , therefore the apostles perswade us from the consideration of the promises , unto the study of soul-purification , to have our conversation without covetousness ; to flee from idolatry , and to separate our selves from sinfull communion . divine promises are ●reat incouragements unto spiritual di●●gence . object . though conditional promi●es bee the foundation of industry ( be●ause wee cannot have the thing promi●es , unless wee perform the conditions ) yet absolute promises ( say some ) are foundations of lasiness , and therefore they a firm there are no absolute promises in scripture . answ. absolute promises are made foundations of industry in scripture , as well as conditional : the apostle exhorts us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling , because it is god 〈◊〉 worketh in us both to will and to do , of hi● owne good pleasure . and the reason is , because god performeth nothing which hee promiseth , though never so absolutely , but in the diligent and conscientious use of the means on our part . god promiseth ezek. 36. 26. to give us a new heart , and a new spirit , &c. but the● hee adds , vers . 37. i will yet 〈◊〉 this , bee inquired of by the house of israel . 6 they are the rayes and beams ( as one saith ) of christ the son of righteousness , in whom they are founded and established . as all the li●es in a circumference , though never so distant , carry a man to one and the same center . so all the promises carry us to christ the center . for the promises are not made for any thing in us , nor have they any stability from us , but they are made in , and for christ unto us , unto christ in our behalf , and unto us , so far as we are members of christ. now jesus christ is the ground of all soul-purification , soul-consolation , and soul-salvation ; and therefore i may safely conclude , that the promises are most singularly usefull and advantagious . and that it is the duty of all those that desire to live holily and comfortably , to consider and ponder the profitableness and beneficialness of the promises . 9 and lastly , you must meditate on the great necessity that lyeth upon all men to get a scripture-interest in the promises . this i adde to awaken christians to attend diligently to this discourse about the promises , and to shew them the necessity of minding and of studying them . for hee that hath no right to them is in a faithless , hopeless , comfortlesse , desperate , and damnable condition . all the happiness of a christian both here and hereafter consisteth especially in his right and title to the promises . the scripture tells us in express words , that hee that is a stranger from the promise , is without christ , without god , without hope . sad is the condition of that man , who hath no interest in god , nor in christ , and who is without hope . and such is the condition of him who is a stranger to the promises ; for all hope of heaven , which is not bottomed upon a promise , is presumption , and soul-delusion . all comfort and joy which is not grounded upon a promise , is soul-cousenage ; and all faith not anchored upon a promise , is nothing else but flattery ▪ and soul-mockery . consider this you that are full of joy and comfort , and ( as you say ) relye upon christ for salvation ; tell mee , what promise have you to build this faith , this hope , this comfort upon ? for there are thousands that flatter themselves into hell by a false hope of heaven ; thousands which promise to themselves to goe to heaven , but have no promise for it from god. such were the five foolish virgins ; such was the church of laodicaea , such were they , matth. 7. 24. hos. 8. 2 , 3. micha 3. 10 , 11. remember this , and let it bee daily in your thoughts : you that have not true right to the promises , your faith is faction , your hope is presumption , and your joy is delusion . to bee a stranger from the promise , is to be without god , without christ , and without hope . so much for the second particular , viz. meditate on the promises . the end of the fourth sermon . rules for the right application of the promises sermon v. psal. 119. 92. unlesse thy law had been my delights , i should then have perished in mine afflictions . now i come to the third and last particular . he that would make the promises as spiritual bladders to keep him from drowning in the deep waters of affliction , must not only make a catalogue of them , and meditate upon them , but hee must make application of them to his own soul , as belonging to him in particular . hee must ( as it is said of the godly patriarchs , hebrews 11. 13. ) be perswaded of them , and imbrace them ; hee must hugge and kisse them as his rich portion , and glorious inheritance . and this is the chief of all : for no man can receive any comfort from a promise , who is not able to make out his interest in that promise : as the life of a sermon is in the application of it unto our selves , so the life of a promise is in the appropriation of it . quid est deus , si non est meus ? what am i the better ( saith origen ) that christ took upon him the flesh of a virgin , if he took not my flesh ? what was the great prince the better for the miraculous plenty in samaria , when the prophet told him that hee should see it with his eyes , but not eat of it ? as the man , who when he was ready to be drowned , saw a rain-bow ( which was a signe that the world should never bee again drowned ) said , quid mihi proderit haec iris , si ego peream ; what am i the better for this rain bow , if i perish ? so may i say , what is a man the better for the rich mine of treasure contained in the promises , if hee hath no share in it . there are three sorts of professors of religion . 1 some lay claime to the promises when they have no right to them ; such are your presumptuous sinners , who take it for granted , that the promises belong to them , who presume themselves into hell by a false hope in the promises , who make a feather-bed of the promises , upon which they sleep securely in sin : as thrasilaus ( a m●d athenian ) laid claime to every ship that came to athens , though hee had right to none : so a presumptuous sinner laies claime to every promise , though hee hath right to none ; he inlargeth them beyond their bounds , and maketh the conditional promises to bee absolute , and such as belong only to those that are in christ , to belong to him , though he be not in christ. he sucks the poison of sin , and security , out of the sweet flower of the promises . 2 some have an interest in the promises , and know their interest . these live in heaven while they are upon earth , these rejoyce in tribulation , and are more than , conquerours over the greatest afflictions . these are secure from perishing in the day of distresse . that man , who taking the bible into h●s hand , can say upon right grounds , all the promises in this book are my portion , and i have a right and title to them , this man is happy above expression . 3 some have an interest in the promises , but do● not know their interest , and therefore dare not ( in the hour of trouble ) apply them for their supportation and consolation . such are your broken-hearted , wounded , distressed , and deserted christians . such can receive no comfort from the promises in the day of affliction . when they begin to apply them for their support , the devil suggesteth to them , and their owne doubting hearts tell them , that they mis-apply them , and that they belong not to them . when a godly minister ( whose office is to speak a word in season to those that are weary , isa. 50. 4. ) indeavours by the application of the promises to comfort them , their souls refuse to bee comforted , they exclude themselves from having a right to christ , and his promises , though christ would not have them excluded . they groundlesly fear that their names are written in the black book of reprobation , and that all the curses of the law are their portion ; hence it is that they live so uncomfortably , and disconsolately in the time of affliction . now then for the help of such persons , who have a true title to the promises , but know it not , who walke in darknesse , and see no light , who beleeve they are hypocrites , when they are not , and that they are not in christ , when they are ( that i may be gods instrument to inable such to make application of the precious promises unto their own souls in particular , in the hour of trouble , for their everlasting supportation and consolation ) i shall lay down these ensuing rules , and directions . rule 1. 1 whosoever in a gospel-sense doth obey the commanding word of god , hath a real interest in the promising word of god : though thou canst not perfectly obey the will of god , yet if thou dost truly desire , and industriously indeavour to obey it in all things . if god hath written his law in thy heart , and given thee a gospel-frame , inclining thee to the obedience of all his commandements sincerely , though not perfectly ; this is an infallible evidence , that thou hast a right and portion in all the promises . this is that which god saith , exod. 19. 5. if you will obey my voyce indeed , then yee shall bee a peculiar treasure , &c. if yee will obey my voyce indeed , not only in word , and in shew , but in deed , and in truth . thus ierem. 7. 5 , 7. if yee thorowly amend your wayes , if yee thorowly execute judgement , &c. then will i cause you to dwell in this place , &c. if yee thorowly amend , &c. not only in some things , but in all things ; not only outwardly , but inwardly also . this rule is expresly delivered by the apostle , 1 tim. 4. 8. godlinesse hath the promise of the life that now is , and that which is to come . if thou beest a godly man in a gospel-sense , that is , one who truly and sincerely indeavoureth to bee godly . if thou makest gods will , thy rule to live by , and not thine own . gods glory thy end , and not thy own carnal interest . gods love thy principle . if thy rules , aimes , and principles bee godly , all the promises of this life , and of the life to come , belong to thee . it is worth observing : that all the promises of life and salvation are conditional . happiness is entailed upon holiness , glory upon grace . you shall read in scripture of the blessings of the covenant , and of the bond of the covenant , of the blessings of the promises , and of the condition of the promises . if ever you would assure your selves of your interest in the blessings of the covenant , you must try your selves by your sincere performance of the condition . thus christ is promised to none but such as beleeve ; pardon of sin , to none but such as repent ; and heaven , to none but such as persevere in well doing . tell mee then , canst thou say as in gods presence , that thou hast respect to all gods commandements ( though thou failest in all , yet thou hast respect to all ) that thou obeyest god in deed , and in truth , and that thou sincerely labourest to bee godly ? this is a certaine signe , that all the promises are thy portion ; but you that are ungodly , and doe not thorowly amend your wayes , you that sleight , undervalue , and despise the commanding word , you have no part , no portion in the promising word . but it may bee a distressed christian ( though without just cause ) will say that hee is afraid that hee doth not sincerely obey the commanding word , and therefore dares not apply to himself the promising word , wherefore i adde rule 2. 2 the more thou art afraid , lest thou shouldest have no right to the promises , the more right thou hast ( in all probability ) to them . this i speak only to the distressed christian ; not that i commend his fear : but this i say , this fear which thou art possessed withall ▪ is a probable signe that thou hast an interest in the promises . for a presumptuous sinner never doubts of his right to them , but takes it as a maxime not to bee denied , that they belong to him . it is a comfortable saying of mr. greenhams , when thou hearest the promises , and art in a cold sweat , and hast a fear and trembling seizing upon thee ; lest they should not belong to thee , doubt not , but that they doe belong to thee ; for christ hath said ; come unto mee all yee that are weary , and heavie laden , and i will give you rest . and the prophet isaiah calls upon those who are of a fearful heart , to bee strong , and fear not , and tells us for our comfort , that god will look with an eye of favour upon him that is poor , and of a contrite spirit , and trembleth at his word . rule 3. 3 the more sensible thou art of thine own unworthiness to lay hold upon the promises , the more thou art fitted and qualified to lay hold upon them . for the promises are ( as i have shewed ) the fruit of free-grace . nothing moved god to enter into a covenant with his people , and thereby to become their debtor , but his free love . free grace brought christ down from heaven , and it is free grace must carry us up to heaven . christ himself is called , the gift of god , john 4. 10. moses tells the israelites , deut. 7. 7 , 8. the lord did not set his love upon you , nor chuse you , because you were more in number than any people , &c. but because the lord loved you , and because hee would keep the oath which hee had sworn unto your fathers , hath the lord brought you out with a mighty hand , and redeemed you , &c. god doth not love us , because wee are worthy of his love , but because hee loves us , therefore hee makes us worthy . wee must not bring worthinesse to christ , but fetch worthinesse from christ. and therefore if thou beest sensible of thine owne nothingnesse , emptinesse , and unworthinesse ; lay hold upon that excellent promise , blessed are the poor in spirit , for theirs is the kingdome of heaven . blessed are those who are sensible of their spiritual wants , for to them belongs the kingdome of heaven , as certainly as if they were already in it . rule 4. 4 study thy interest in the main and fundamental promise , and that will help thee to make out thy interest in all the other ; the main and fundamental promise , is the promise of christ. for all promises , whither spiritual o● temporal , are made to us , in and thorough him . god hath promised , never to leave us , nor forsake us , and that all things shall work together for our good ; that is , if wee be in christ , god hath said , all things are ours , whether paul , or apollos , whether life or death , whether things present , or things to come ; but it is with this promise , if wee bee christs : whosoever takes any comfort from any temporal promise , and is not in christ , doth but delude and cheat himself . this then is thy work ; o christian ! study thy interest in christ , make out that , and make out all . if no interest in christ , no interest in the promises ; if an interest in christ , an interest in the promises ; let this then be thy daily business to make it out to thy soul , that christ is thine . quest. how shall i bee able to doe this ? answ. for this purpose you must diligently study three things . 1 the universality of the promise of christ. 2 the freenesse of it . 3 the condition upon which hee is tendred . 1 the universality of the promise of christ. christ jesus with all his benefits is promised to every one who is willing to lay hold on him , as hee is tendred in the gospel . the apostles are commanded to go into all the world , and to preach the gospel to every creature ; hee that beleeveth , and is baptized , shall bee saved , &c. if thou hast a heart to beleeve , bee thy sins never so great , it is for the honour of iesus christ to pardon them . as the sea covers great rocks , as well as small , so the mercy of god in christ will pardon great sins , as well as little . it will cost christ as little to wash away the guilt of great sins , as of small . christ is a great physitian . and david prayeth , pardon my iniquity . for it is great , psalm ●5 . 11. though thy sins bee never so bloodily circumstantiated , though never so often reiterated , though thou beest never so loathsome , yet if thou canst beleeve ; there is a fountaine opened to the house of david , and to the inhabitants of ierusalem , for sin , and for uncleanness ; and therefore let no man exclude himselfe from a right to christ , who is willing to take christ upon christs termes . hee that excludes himself , offers the greatest injury imaginable . first , unto iesus christ , for hee makes him a lyar ; christ hath said , if any man come to nice , i will in no wise cast him out ; and hee saith , christ will cast mee out , although i do come to him . secondly , unto his own soule . for hee necessitates himselfe unto damnation ; for christ hath said expresly , hee that beleeveth not shall bee damned . object . but i am afraid that i am a reprobate , and that god hath excluded mee from having any interest in christ. ans. who told thee so ? it is one great sign thou art not , because the devil would perswade thee that thou art . but howsoever , secret things belong to god , but those things which are revealed , to us , and our children . god hath kept the black book of reprobation secret . hee openeth the whole book of election to some of his children , but hee keeps his black book unrevealed . it is a sin for any man to think himself a reprobate ( unlesse hee can prove that hee hath sinned the sin against the holy ghost ) for this thought would hinder him from the use of means for his salvation , and cause him to despair , which is a sin of the first magnitude ; and therefore take heed of complementing thy self into hell by a sinfull modesty , in refusing to beleeve in christ : take heed of dallying or delaying in the great work of laying hold upon christ upon christs termes . remember , god excludes none from christ , but such as exclude themselves by unbeleef . and remember , whosoever beleeveth not the son , shall not see life , but the wrath of god abideth on him . 2 you must study the freeness of the promise of christ. god promiseth jesus christ freely , ho every one that thirsteth , come yee to the waters , and hee that hath no money ; come yee , buy , and eat , yea , come by vvine and milke without mony , and without price , &c. christ is offered in the gospel , sine pretio , sine merito , sine motivo , without price , without merit , and without any motive inducing on our parts . therefore the holy ghost saith , vvhosoever will , let him take the water of life freely . let not then thy undeservedness hinder thee from laying hold upon christ , as thy portion . say not , i am not worthy that christ should owne mee . christ will owne thee , not because thou art worthy , but because hee delights in mercy , micah 7. 18. say not , i am not humbled enough , and therefore i dare not lay hold upon christ. for humiliation is not required to make us precious to christ , but to make christ precious to us , and if thou beest so far humbled , as to bee willing to take christ upon christs termes , thou art humbled enough , unto divine acceptation , though not unto divine satisfaction . every stung israelite , who was inabled to look up to the brazen serpent , was healed , though hee was not stung to that proportion that another israelite was . 3 you must study ●he condition upon which christ is promised . it is certain christ is not tendered absolutely without any condition . christ is not offered to a proud sinner , resolving so to continue , or to a drunkard , resolving to persevere in his drunkennesse . those texts which declare the freeness of the offer of christ , doe also mention a condition to bee performed by those that will have him , isa. 55. 1. revelat. 22. 15. in both places the condition of thirsting is expressed . let him that is a thirst come . ho every one that thirsteth . quest. doth not the mentioning of a condition take away the freeness of the tender of christ ? answ. by no means . the reason is , because this very condition is the free gift of god. the apostle saith , rom. 4. 16. therefore it is of faith , that it might bee by grace . the condition of faith doth not make the offer of christ , not to bee of grace , but therefore it is of faith , that it might bee of grace , for as christ , so also faith is the gift of god. wee do not preach conditions unto justification in a popish sense ( as if they merited out of congruity the pardon of sin ) or in an arminian sense ( as if wee could do any thing by our free-will ( without grace ) to dispose our selves unto justification ) but in a scripture sense , wee say , that all those on whom god intends to bestow christ freely , hee freely openeth their eyes to see their undone condition out of christ , hee humbles them under the sense of their sad condition , and out of his free mercy inables them by faith to lay hold upon christ , and to accept of him upon his own termes ; faith is not the cause for which , but the cause without which , god will not give us christ. quest. but what is the condition upon which christ is promised ? answ. there is ( if i may so speak ) conditio praeparans , & disponens , and conditio applicans , the condition required to the preparing and disposing us for an interest in christ , and the condition applying christ to us , and bringing him into our possession . 1 the condition required to the disposing , preparing , and fitting us for an interest in christ. and this is the sight of our sins , the sense of them , and a real willingness to part with them . there is no man qualified according to the gospel , to rest upon christ for pardon of his sins , who is not really willing to part with them . and no man will bee willing to part with his sins ( which hee naturally loves as himselfe ) unlesse hee see the sinfulness and cursedness of them , and feels in some measure the smart of them . the woman who had the bloody issue , never thought of coming to christ , till all her mony was spent in vaine among other physitians . t●e prodigal childe would never have returned to his father , had hee not seen himselfe utterly undone by wandring from him . 2 the condition applying christ to us , and bringing him into our possession . this is faith , which therefore is the proper condition of the gospel , upon which christ is tendred . now this faith is not a bare receiving , and taking of christ. for there are many who take him , and mistake him . ( there is no man but is willing when hee is dying , to take christ , as the men of the old world were willing to go into the ark when the flood came ) but this taking and receiving of christ ( if it bee right ) hath six properties . 1 it is a receiving of christ with all his appurtenances , christ and disgrace , and reproach , and poverty . christ and his cross : there are many would bee glad of christ , but they will not take up his cross. they would take christ down from the cross ( as ioseph of arimathea did ) and leave the cross behinde them . but hee that takes christ aright , will bee as willing to wear a crown of thorns , for his sake , as a crown of gold . 2 it is a receiving of christ in all his offices , as our king , priest , and prophet . a true beleever is as willing to receive christ into his soul , as hee is that christ should receive him into heaven , hee is as willing to have christ reigne over him , as hee is to reign with christ in heaven . hee desires not only to bee saved , but to bee healed by christ. 3 it is a receiving of christ into every room of the soul ; for christ will come into every room , or into never a room . a true beleever opens every door unto christ , hee gives him the lock and key of the whole man , and desires that hee would come and reside in every room . 4 it is a receiving of christ , and him only . for christ must rule alone , or not at all . an hypocrite would compound with christ , and together with the false mother , divide the childe , but a true beleever saith with the prophet , o lord our god ▪ other lords besides thee have had dominion over us ; but now by thee onely will wee make mention of thy name . and with the true mother hee will give the whole to god. 5 it is a receiving of christ in health , as well as in sickness ; in prosperity as well as in adversity ; in youth , as well as in old age ; in life , as well as in death . most people make use of christ , meerly as a shelter against a storme for their own ends ( as the athenians did of themistocles ) and when the storm is over , forsake him . most people flye to christ in their distress , as ioab did to the horns of the altar , and when they can serve the devil no longer , then they begin to think of serving of god ; but a true beleever will give his best dayes to god , as well as his worst , hee desires not onely to dye in christ , but to live for christ , hee receives christ in health , &c. 6 it is a receiving of christ , not only for an hour , or a day , or a year , but for ever . true faith marries the soul to christ , never to part . once a member of christ , for ever a member . now there is no childe of god of what size soever ( though hee bee but as a toe in christs body ) who cannot truly say , that hee is willing to receive iesus christ with all these properties , to receive all christ , with all his appurtenances , and to receive him only in every room , in health , and for ever . and therefore let not the devil , or thy mis-giving heart , or thy melancolick-phancy , keep thee off from beleeving that christ iesus is thy portion , and that thou hast an interest in the main and fundamental promise , and by that , in all the other . do to christ , as the shunamitish woman did to the prophet , lay fast hold on him ; and suffer not the devil to cause thee to let go thy hold . oh that there might bee this day a blessed and happy marriage between jesus christ , and every distressed christian. object . but suppose i am willing to ●ake christ upon christs termes , can i 〈◊〉 assured that christ will receive 〈◊〉 ? ans. yes doubtless . for hee hath said , hee will ; and hee is truth it self , 〈◊〉 cannot lye . indeed a poor wounded ●nner will sometimes confess that hee is willing with all his heart to receive christ upon his own termes ; but hee ●s afraid lest christ should refuse to receive him . but this is a needless fear : for christ will in no wise refuse those that come to him . to as many as receive him , to all those hee will give power to become the sons of god , even to them that beleeve in his name . hee that beleeveth hath everlasting life , and shall never come into condemnation , but is passed from death to life . so much for the fourth rule . if these rules and directions already named , will not inable thee to apply the promises , so as to keep thee from perishing in the day of distress : let mee adde , rule 5. 5 if thou canst not lay hold upon the promises made to those , who are in the highest form in christs school , lay hold upon the promises made to those who are in the lower forms . in christs school there are divers sorts of scholars , some are in the high form , some in the middle , some in the lowest , some are babes in christs school , some are grown christians , some are as tall cedars , some are as low shrubs . now you must know that it is our duty to labour to bee of the highest form . hee that saith hee hath grace enough , hath grace little enough . hee that stints himselfe in his endeavours after grace , never had true grace . wee must labour to bee perfect , as god is perfect . but yet you must also ●now , that hee that is a real scholar in christs school , is in an happy condition , though hee bee not the best scholar . and that it is our duty so to 〈◊〉 the eminent graces , which are in others , as to bee thereby incited to a further progress in grace , but not so as to bee thereby disheartned and dis●●uraged . there are many distressed christians like to those who gaze so long upon the brightness of the sun , that when they come into their houses , they cannot see at all , they pore so much upon the transcendent excellencies which are in their brethren , that they are stark blinde in their own concernments , and cannot see any grace in themselves , and hereupon are apt to conclude , that they are out of gods favour . but this is a non sequitur . the foot must not say , that it is no part of the body , because it is not so eminent a part as the head or heart . wee must rather say with the martyr , blessed bee god that i am a member in christs body , though but the weakest and lowest . wee must not rest satisfied with being lo● christians ; but yet wee must not therefore say , wee are no christians . and when wee are under great tribulations and temptations , if wee cannot apply to our selves for our comfort those promises which are made to ●●minent saints of the highest form , let us apply those which are made unto true saints , though to such who are the lowest of the lowest form ; and hereby wee shall ( through gods blessing ) finde our soules marveilously supported and comforted . as for example , christ hath said , blessed are the poor in spirit , for theirs is the kingdome of heaven . and therefore though thou art not rich in grace , yet if poor in spirit , thou art blessed . christ saith , blessed are they that mourn , for they shall bee comforted . though thou canst not live without sin , yet if a mourner for thine own , and other mens sins , thou art blessed . christ saith , blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness , &c. though thou findest an exceeding great want of righteousness in thee , yet if thou hungrest and thirsteth after it , thou art blessed . christ saith , come unto mee all yee that labour , and are heavy laden , and i will give you rest . this text is as an alabaster box full of precious consolation . if thy sinnes bee a burden to thee , christ will give thee rest ; if thou carriest them about thee , not as a golden chain about thy neck , but as an iron chain about thy feet ; if thou beest heavy laden with them , christ will take them off thy shoulders , and put them upon his . christ saith , that hee will not breake the bruised reed , nor quench the smoaking flax , till hee send forth judgement unto victory . if thou hast grace but as a smoaking flax , christ will not quench it , but assist it , till it come to a great flame . christ saith , that the whole have no need of the physitian , but they that are sick . and that hee came not to call the righteous , but sinners to repentance . if thou art a sin-sick sinner , thy name is in christs commission , hee came to save thee . christ saith , the son of man is come to save that which was lost . if thou apprehendest thy self to bee in a lost condition , thou art amongst the number of those whom christ came to save . the apostle saith , there is no condemnation to those who are in christ , who walke not after the flesh , but after the spirit . though thou hast much flesh in thee , and art sometimes overtaken with sin , yet if thou dost not walk after the flesh , as a servant after his master , if thou walkest after the spirit , there is no condemnation to thee . the apostle saith , if wee confess our sins , god is faithful to forgive us our sins , and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness . if wee confess our sins , out of a detestation of sin , with bleeding hearts , and a sincere purpose of forsaking them , god is bound by vertue of his promise to forgive us , else hee were unfaithfull . the apostle saith , that hee that hath begun a good work in us , will perform it untill the day of iesus christ : and therefore if thou hast truth of grace , though but as a grain of mustard seed , do not doubt , but that god in the diligent use of means , will inable thee to persevere . i might adde , nehemiah 1. 11. where god promiseth to bee attentive to the prayers of those who desire to fear his name . and isaiah 26. 11. isa. 26. 3. isa. 65. 1. isa. 55. 1. rev. 22. 15. ioh. 6. 37. but i forbear . rule 6. if thou canst not apply to thy selfe for thy comfort in affliction , the conditional promises , lay hold upon the absolute promises . i have formerly told you that there are some promises conditional , others absolute , some to grace , others of grace , some to those that are godly , others , to make us godly : god hath not onely promised to pardon those that repent , but to give repentance ; not onely to justifie those who beleeve , but to give us to beleeve ; not only to give heaven to those that love him , but to give us grace to love him ; not only to save those that persevere , but to inable us to persevere : and therefore if thou canst not lay hold upon the promises to those that are godly , apply those which are made to make us godly . if not those which are made to those who repent , beleeve and persevere , apply those wherein god promiseth to give us to repent , beleeve , and persevere . if not the conditional , lay hold upon the absolute . there are these differences and agreements , between conditional and absolute promises . 1 for conditional promises . 1 all promises of life and salvation are conditional . 2 conditional promises , are the fruit of free-grace , as well as absolute . it is free-grace which inableth us to performe the conditional , and free-grace which moved god to promise such great mercies upon such conditions . 3 they are the fruit of rich-grace , and rare-mercy , as well as absolute promises . 4 they are of great use to quicken a lazy christian , and to incourage him to diligence ; for no man can obtain the blessing promised , but hee that performs the condition injoyned . 5 they are rare touchstones to try our interest in the promises ; for hee that neglects to perform the condition , cannot challenge an interest in the blessing promised upon the performing of it . 2 for absolute promises . 1 though promises to grace bee conditional , yet promises of grace are absolute , and are made by god unto christ in the behalf of his elect children , according to that of david ▪ ask of mee , and i shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance , and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession . 2 there are no promises so absolute , as to exclude all endeavours on our part . god will do the things promised for us , but by us . wee work , but it is god who worketh all our works in us ; and for us . 3. absolute promises are foundations of industry , as well as conditional . the truth of this i made out in the former sermon . 4 absolute promises are demonstrative arguments of special election , and of the perseverance of the saints . there are some peculiar ones to whom god hath promised ( in the use of means ) absolutely to write his law in their hearts , to cause them to walk in his wayes , to give them infallibly , and infrustrably repentance , faith , and perseverance . the promise of the first grace , and of the crowning grace is absolute . and therefore the doctrine of special election , and of perseverance must needs bee true . 5 absolute promises are mighty helps to wounded consciences , and rare cordials for fainting and despairing christians . when thou art in the dark , and seest no light , flye from the conditional promises , to the absolute , say , lord , thou hast not onely promised to give pardon to those who repent , but thou hast exalted christ for to give repentance . thou hast not onely promised to justifie those who beleeve , but to give grace to beleeve . lord fulfill thine own promise unto thy servant , &c. object . all my fear is that these absolute promises , do not belong to mee . answ. take heed of making desperate conclusions against thy selfe . say as the king of nineveh , who knoweth but god may turn , and have mercy ? exclude not thy self ; neither man , nor angel can say thou art excluded . no man ought to beleeve himself to bee a reprobate ( as i have shewed ) these promises belong to all that can lay hold on them as they are tendred . as the brazen serpent belonged to all those who were able to look upon it ; so do these promises to all that can by faith look up that they may bee healed . say as the four leapers in another case , if i go on in unbeleef , i am certainly damned . and therefore i will venture upon christ ; i will flye to this ark , and if i perish , i will perish beleeving . if these directions will not suffice to comfort thee in the day of adversity , let mee adde , rule 7. all promises made in scripture to the saints in general , are applicable to every saint in particular . god promiseth to solomon , 1 king. 8. 37. 40. and iehoshaphat applied this to his own particular condition , 2 chron. 20. 9. god promiseth to the saints in general , that hee will give them grace and glory , that hee will with-hold no good thing from them , that they shall want nothing that is good , and that all outward blessings shall bee added to them . now there is no saint , but hee may as justly lay hold upon those promises , as if his name were named in them . and the reason is , because all the promises do meet in christ , as all lines in a center . and every saint hath all christ. and therefore promises made to those that are in christ , belong to all that are in christ. rule 8. all promises made to particular saints are applicable to all saints in the same condition . god promiseth to ioshua , that hee would never leave him , nor forsake him . this is applied by the apostle for the comfort of every saint . christ tells peter , luke 22. 32. i have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not . this is applicable to every saint : christ prayeth for thee and mee , and therefore hee adds , when thou art converted , strengthen thy brethren . therefore the apostle paul saith , that god comforted him in his tribulation , that hee might bee able to comfort those who are in trouble by the comfort wherewith hee was comforted . and the apostle iames propounds the example of the prophets in general , and of iob in particular , to perswade unto patience in affliction . and therefore when thou art in any strait , consider what god hath promised unto others , in thy condition , and what god hath done to them , hee will do to thee , for hee is unchangeable . and say not , if i were a paul , a peter , or a iob , god would do to mee , as hee did to them ; but i am a poor , weak , unworthy creature , not worthy to bee named that day in which these are named . but consider , if thou beest a member of christs body ( though but as the toe ) christ will have a care of thee . if a childe of god ( though but weak and sickly ) thy heavenly father will provide for thee . a father is tender of every childe , and a man of every member of his body ; so will god bee of all those who belong to him , though but babes in christ. rule 9. the promises of the gospel are all concatenated . if thou hast a true right to any one promise to which heaven is annexed , thou hast a right to all the other . as the commandements of god are chained together ( hee that breaks one , breaks all , and hee that sincerely labours to keep one , will labour to keep all , according to that rule . whatsoever is done for god , is done equally . ) and as the graces of god are linked together ; ( and therefore heaven is sometimes promised to our grace , because he that hath one saving grace , hath all ) so also are the promises joyned together , hee that hath a right to one , hath a right to all : for they are all but one , and the same for substance . they are all the fruit of the same free love in god ; they are all the branches of the same covenant of grace . ( and therefore if thou hast a right to the covenant , thou hast a right to all the promises ) they all carry us to christ , and meet in christ , and are in him yea , and in him amen ; and therefore if thou hast a right to christ , thou hast a right to all . this is a point of singular comfort in the worst of dayes and dangers . for sometimes a childe of god under great afflictions , can lay hold upon one promise , and not upon another , and some can apply those which others cannot , and others those which they cannot . let all such know for their great comfort , that hee that hath right to one branch of the covenant , hath right to all ; hee that hath let fall a chain of gold , consisting of divers links into the water , if hee can catch hold upon any one of the links , hee will easily get out the whole chain . the promises are like to a golden chain with divers links , lay hold upon one aright , and this will assure thee of thy interest in all the rest . i have known many ( yea , very many ) who have dyed with a great deal of comfort from the application of that one text , 1 ioh. 3. 14. unto their own condition . wee know that wee have passed from death , unto life , because wee love the brethren . when all other evidences failed them , and all other texts of scripture afforded them no comfort ; here they anchored , here they found rest for their soules . they blessed god that they could say , that they loved the brethren , and loved them , not for any outward respects , but because of the image of god in them , and they loved them when poor , as well as when rich ; and the more they had of god , the more they loved them ; and they loved them even when they were reproved by them of their faults . and upon this one plank they swam safely , and comfortably unto the haven of eternal happiness . rule 10. if thy condition bee so sad , and thy melancholy so excessive , that thou canst not lay hold upon any promise , yet notwithstanding look towards it . say as ionah , when hee was in the whales belly , jonah 2. 4. then i said , i am cast out of thy sight , yet i will look again toward thy holy temple . the temple was a type of christ. though thou canst not apply christ to thy soul for thy comfort , yet look towards him ; and if thou canst not come to him , hee will come to thee ; if thou canst not apprehend him , hee will apprehend thee : as the loadstone will draw the iron , though the iron cannot draw the loadstone , so will christ ( thy heavenly loadstone ) draw thee to the promise , though thou canst not draw thy selfe to it . no man can come to mee ( saith christ ) except the father draw him : pray therefore with the church , cant. 1. 4. draw mee , and wee will run after thee . rule 11. pray unto god to give thee spiritual eyes , to behold thy interest in the promises : for as it is god who makes them , so it is he only who can irraditate them , and open thy eyes to see thy right in them . it is with promises ( as i have said ) as with chapters and sermons . a man may read a chapter , and hear a sermon , and taste no sweetness in them at one time , and at another time taste much sweetness in them , as god is pleased to co-operate with the reading of the one , and hearing of the other . so it is with the promises , and therefore pray unto god to lighten thine eyes , that thou sleep not the sleep of death . pray unto christ to anoint thine eyes with his spiritual eye-salve . and to cause thee to hope in his word of promise , according to that excellent prayer of david , remember the word unto thy servant , upon which thou hast caused mee to hope . it is god must cause us to hope and trust in his promises , or else wee shall never bee able . god hath given thee eyes to see thy misery ; o pray for eyes to see his mercy . the church of laodicea wanted eyes to see her misery . shee was miserable , and naked , and knew it not . thou hast eyes to see thy undone condition out of christ. pray for eyes to behold the riches of mercy that are in christ , and his willingness to receive all that come to him . rule 12. pray unto god , not onely to give thee spiritual eyes to see thy interest in the promises , but a spiritual hand , to inable thee to apply them to thine own soul in particular . by this spiritual hand , i mean , a christ-appropriating faith. justifying faith is ( as it were ) the hand of the soul , by which wee appropriate christ , and all the promises , as belonging to us in particular . now faith is the gift of god. pray for the spirit of faith. and for your incouragement , consider , that the spirit is called , the promise of the father , and that holy spirit of promise : and god hath promised to give the spirit to those who ask for it . if yee then being evill , know how to give good gifts unto your children , how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him ? the office of the holy spirit is first to seal grace , and then to seal to grace : first , the spirit sanctifieth us , then it witnesseth to our spirits , that wee are sanctified . pray therefore unto god that hee would not only work grace in you , but witness unto the grace which hee hath wrought . pray for the sanctifying and sealing work of the spirit . that hee would not onely fit you to have an interest in the promises , but assure you of your interest in them . rule 13. study thy interest in the promises in the time of health , and outward prosperity ; for i find by experience that a childe of god ( under outward affliction , or divine desertion , or extream melancholy ) is many times like a man in the dark . a man in the dark cannot ( though never so learned ) read in a book of the clearest print , or fairest character , hee cannot ( though never so active ) undertake any thing of weight . no more can a childe of god in the hour of distress , read his evidences for heaven , much less study to finde out evidences ; hee looks upon all the promises with a black pair of spectacles , and wants light to see his interest in them . when sion was in distress , shee said , god had forsaken her , and her lord had forgotten her . when david was persecuted by saul , hee said in his haste , all men were liars , even samuel himselfe , who had told him that god would bestow the kingdome on him , hee said in his haste hee was cut off from before gods eyes ; thus did heman . christ himselfe cryed out , when hee was upon the cross , with a loud voyce , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken mee ? as men in ag●es and feavers , are not fit judges of meats and drinks , ( whether they bee good or bad ) because their pallats are out of taste . so a distressed christian , ( when under extream melancholy , divine desertion , or some great affliction ) is no fit judge , at such a time of his interest in the promises . and therefore my advice is , make out thy interest in time of prosperity , and live upon it in time of adversity . make , and read over thy evidences for heaven in time of health , and learn then by heart , that when thou comest into a dark condition , thou mayest neither have them to make , or to read . do as tamar did , gen. 38. 18. 25. when iudah her father in law , lay with her , shee took as a pledge , his signet , bracelets , and staffe . and afterward when shee was in great distress , and ready to bee burnt as a harlot , shee then brought her staffe , and signet , and bracelets , and said , by the man whose these are , am i with childe , and thereby shee saved her life . so must you do . in time of health study thy interest in the promises , and in time of sickness live upon what thou hast studied , then bring forth thy staffe and bracelets , &c. then produce thy evidences , and make use of them as spiritual butteresses to keep thee from falling into despair . i knew a very godly woman ( not unknown to many here ) who in her life time had taken a great deal of pains to compose , and write down her evidences for heaven , and who also kept a diary of her life , and wrote down how shee spent every day ; when shee lay upon her death-bed , it pleased god to with-draw himself from her for a while , and to let the devil loose , who tempted her to despair , told her shee was an hypocrite , a formalist , and that shee had no true grace in her . shee sent for mee , made her bitter complaint to mee , and sadly bewayled her condition . then shee told mee ( which before i knew not ) how shee had spent her life , how carefull shee had been in searching her wayes , in observing how shee spent every day , and how exact in collecting evidences for heaven , the book was sent for , i read a great part of it to her , and tooke much delight and content in what i read . and it pleased god to come to her with comfort in the reading of it . shee shewed her staffe , and her bracelets , and thereby quenched the fiery darts of the devil . thus i have in three sermons taught you how to make use of scripture-promises , as conduits of soul-supportation , and soul-consolation in the day of distress . when you hereafter read the bible , remember the promising-word ( as well as the commanding and threatning word ) make a catalogue of the promises , meditate upon the pretiousness , freeness , usefulness , latitude , richness , and immutability of them . they are as certain as god himselfe , they have the strength of god , the comforts of god , and assistance of god in them . above all , labour to make application of them to your own soul. for this purpose , study these thirteen rules and directions . pray unto god to give thee spiritual eyes , to see thy interest in them , and spiritual hands to reach out after them . pray to god to give thee spiritual ability , to act faith upon the promises , to draw vertue from them , as the woman who had the bloody issue , did from christ ; to suck out all the sweetness that is in them , to hang upon them , as the woman did upon the prophet , and as a bee doth upon a flower , and by application of them to thy soul , to live in god , and on god here , till thou comest to enjoy the blessings promised with god for ever in heaven . there is one objection behinde , which when i have answered , i have done . for a distressed christian will object , and say , object . though the promises are rare cordials , and shall all of them bee certainly fulfilled , yet god is oftentimes long before hee fulfills them , and while god is fulfilling of his promises , i may in the mean time perish in my affliction . ans. it cannot be denied , but that god is oftentimes very long in fulfilling his promises . he promised that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpents head ; but it was four thousand years before that promise was actually accomplished . hee promiseth to avenge his elect of all their enemies , to do it speedily . and the souls under the altar cry , how long lord , when wilt thou avenge our blood ? &c. but this is not yet fulfilled . nay , i must adde , that god is not onely a long time performing his promises , but sometimes instead of performing them , hee seems to the eye of flesh and blood to walk contrary to them . sometimes the providences of god run cross to his promises . god promised to make david king ; instead of this , hee is persecuted by saul , as a partridge upon the mountains , hee is driven to that extremity that hee begins to doubt of gods promise , and to say , that one day hee should dye by the hand of saul . god promised to ioseph , that the sun , moon , and stars should worship him , and that his sheaf should bee lifted up above the sheaf of his brethren . but hee findes the quite contrary , his brethren seek to slay him , sell him into egypt , and there hee is put in prison as one quite forsaken of god. but yet notwithstanding all this , you must know , that though the way of god , in performing his promises , bee very mysterious and secret , yet hee will at last perform every 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and tittle of them . thus david was at last made king of israel , and ioseph lord of egypt , and his brethren came all to worship him . quest. how must wee carry and behave our selves at such times , when providences seem to run cross unto gods promises ? answ. at such times there are three things required of us . 1 it is our duty to wait patiently , and beleevingly , till providences and promises meet together . hee that beleeveth maketh not haste . the prophet there speaks of a glorious promise , and adds , that a true saint will wait gods time , which is the fittest and best time , hee will patiently expect , till god fulfil his promise . hee will do as the martyr did , who might have escaped privately out of prison , and was tempted to it by his friends ; but answered : hee would not go out of prison when his enemies would have him , for they would make him tarry longer than hee should , nor yet when his friends would have him , for they would make him tarry a lesser time than hee should ; but hee would come out when god would have him . gods time is the best ; and they are soon enough delivered , who are delivered in gods way , and at gods time . this then is thy great duty ( o christian ) to wait patiently , and beleevingly , and not to seek by unlawful waies to bee rid of they miseries , as david did by going to the philistims ; and as many in queen maries daies did , by yeelding to the popish superstitions . to help you to wait gods leisure , holding faith and a good conscience ; you have 1 many rare and precious promises made to those that wait upon him , which i have formerly named . 2 you have four attributes in god to support you , his faithfulness , almightiness , infinite goodness , and wisdome . hee is faithful , and not one tittle of his word shall fall to the ground ; hee is almighty , and able to do whatsoever hee hath promised ; hee is infinitely wise , to know the best time and season , and infinitely good and loving to his children , and doth not willingly afflict them , but will make haste to help them . 2 it is our duty to live upon promises , while providences seem to run cross to promises . this is the meaning of hab. 2. 4. the just shall live by faith. they shall live by faith , when they have nothing else to live on . when sense and reason tell them , they are undone , then shall they live by faith in the promises , and not only live patiently , but comfortably , and joyfully , as the same prophet , hab. 3. 17 , 18 , 19. saith , although the fig-tree shall not blossome , neither shall fruit bee in the vine , and the field shall yeeld no meat , &c. yet i will rejoyce in the lord , i will joy in the god of my salvation . this life did paul live , when the ship in which he was , was ready to bee drowned , when there was neither sun-light , nor star-light , yet hee was exceedingly chearful , because god had promised to preserve him , and those with him . by living this life , god is much honoured , and our souls much quieted and refreshed . 3 it is our duty to continue praying , till providences and promises meet together : for it is prayer , and prayer only , which will at last reconcile gods promises , and gods dispensations , and cause them to meet , and to kiss one another : for as the promises are the ground and rule of our prayers ; so our prayers are the divine waies and means for the obtaining of the promises . i say , as the promises are 1 the ground of our prayers . for wee cannot pray in faith , unless wee have some promise to bottome our prayers upon ; therefore david often chargeth god in his prayers with his promise . hee harps eight times upon the same string in one psalm , to teach us , that the greatest rethorick and oratory wee can use in our prayers , is to urge god with his promise . 2 they are not onely the ground , but the rule of our prayers ; as wee must pray for nothing but what god hath promised , so wee must regulate our prayers according to gods promises . those thing which hee hath absolutely promised , wee must pray for absolutely , and where god hath put conditions , and exceptions , there our prayers must be conditional . now as the promises are the ground and rule of our prayers , so our prayers are divine means and helps for the obtaining of the promises : though god hath made many glorious and precious promises to his children , yet hee will perform none of them , but to those who by prayer seek them at his hands . when nathan told david what great things god had promised to him , hee went into gods house to pray for them , 2 sam. 7. the prophet isaiah mentioneth a glorious promise , isa. 43. 25. but hee adds , put mee in remembrance , vers . 20. thus ezekiel 36. 37. i will yet for this bee inquired of by the house of israel , and therefore when you read the promises of the bible , remember whatsoever god makes a promise , you must make a prayer ; and that prayer will hasten the fulfilling of the promises : you must continue to pray , and faint not ; for the vision is but for an appointed time , though it tarry , wait for it , because it will surely come , it will not tarry . this did daniel when hee understood the time approached , &c. hee prayed , dan. 9. 2 , 3. thus did david , psal. 56. 9 , 10 , 57. 1 , 2. thus must you do . these are the three great duties which the lord requires of us at all times , but more especially in these our dayes , wherein the providences of god seem to run quite cross unto his promises . the lord give us grace to practise them . so much for this text. the end of the fifth sermon . a brief repetition of what was said of mrs. elizabeth moore at her burial . though i have finished my text , yet i have another text remaining , of which i must speak a few words ; and that is , the party deceased , at whose funeral wee are here met . shee was a woman ( i verily beleeve ) truly fearing god , and yet throughout her whole life loaded with many and great troubles . god picked her out to bee a pattern of afflictions , as hee had not long before that reverend and godly minister , mr. ieremiah whitakers . this pattern teacheth us three lessons . 1 that all things come alike to all in this world , and that no man knoweth love or hatred by any thing that is before him . the best of saints sometimes are upon the dunghil , when the vilest of men are upon the throne . the best of men are afflicted , when the worst of men are in prosperity . 2 that there is not so much evil in affliction , or so much good in prosperity , as the world imagineth . for if there were , god would not bestow so much prosperity upon the wicked , and exercise his dear children with so many afflictions . 3 that there will come a rewarding day , in which it shall certainly bee well with the righteous . when i see a wicked man prosper , i say , surely there will come a punishing day , in which the wicked shall be turned into hell. when i see a godly man in adversity , i say , verily there is a reward for the righteous , verily there is a god that judgeth in the earth . such examples prove that there is another life besides this . and that if the godly had hope onely in this life , they were of all people most miserable . i will not trouble you with a relation of her christian carriage in the time of her health , because it is sufficiently known to most here present . i shall onely take notice of her great care and diligence in making her calling and election sure . shee had not her ark to build when the flood came , nor her corn to get when the seven years of famine came : shee had laid up a stock of graces , and comforts against the evill hour ; shee had not her evidences for heaven to get , at the houre of death . but shee had collected and composed them in the time of her life , and when shee came to dye , shee ●ad neither her graces , nor her comforts , nor her evidences for heaven to seek , shee had nothing to do but to dye . her sickness was very long , and very painful , concerning which i shall briefly acquaint you with these few particulars . 1 god moved the hearts of very many godly people , to take compassion of her sad and afflicted condition , and to contribute liberally ( shee being poor ) towards her relief ; this merciful providence wonderfully comforted her ; she saw gods love in it , and was so much affected with it , that she was ( for a little while ) really and exceedingly afraid ( notwithstanding her great torments by reason of a cancer in her breast ) lest she should have her heaven in this life , and lest this mercy should bee all her portion . the lord recompence that labour of love and that christian charity a thousand fold into the bosomes of those who manifested so much kindnesse to her . 2 her patience was very great . as god increased her pains , hee increased her patience , even to the admiration of such of us as were frequent spectators of it . she was brought to such a sweet frame of spirit , as to bee willing to live under all her torments , as long as god pleased , and to dye whensoever he pleased . 3 shee was a woman of a very fearful nature , and in the time of her health had many doubts and scruples ( notwithstanding all her care forementioned ) about her salvation . but in her sickness , all her doubts vanished . god chained up satan . the devil had no power to tempt her , shee felt a great calmness in her soul , and had much inward peace , and injoyed more of god , and his consolations , in the time of her sickness ▪ than in the time of her health . 4 shee was very forward in spreading and diffusing those graces which god had bestowed upon her , and in giving good counsel to those who visited her . i have heard her often , and often perswading her friends to prize health , and to improve it for the good of their souls , to lay up against an evill day , and to stock themselves with grace before sickness come . shee would frequently say , o the benefit of health ! o prize health ! praise god for health , and improve health for your eternal good . 5 shee was very well vers't in the scriptures . the law of god was her delight ; and this kept her from perishing in her affliction . shee was continually fetching cordials out of the word , to comfort her under her great pains , and to preserve her from fainting . the twelfth chapter of the hebrews was a precious cordial to her , so was the eight of the romans , and the 2 of the corinthians the 4. chapter and the 17 , 18. verses . for our light affliction which is but for a moment , worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory ; while wee look not at the things which are seen , but at the things which are not seen ; for the things which are seen are temporal , but the things which are not seen , are eternal . 1 cor. 15 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57. for this corruptible must put on incorruption , and this mortal , must put on immortality . so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption , and this mortal shal have put on immortality ; then shal be brought to pass the saying that is written , death is swallowed up in victory . o death , where is thy sting ? o grave , where is thy victory ? the sting of death is sinne , and the strength of sin is the law. but thanks bee to god which giveth us the victory through our lord iesus christ. phil. 3. 21. who shall change our vile body , that it may bee fashioned like unto his glorious body , according to the working whereby hee is able even to subdue all things unto himself . a little before her death shee said , in the lord iehovah there is righteousness and strength ; righteousness for justification and strength for supportation . shee said , that the word of god was the best cordial in the world : and that one minutes being in heaven , would make amends for all her pain and misery . 6 and lastly , i cannot but take special notice of the happy close of her life , and of the blessed end shee made . it is said of iob , james 5. 11. yee have heard of the patience of iob , and have seen the end of the lord , &c. this our christian sister did in a great measure , partake both of iobs pains , and iobs patience , and made as happy an end , as hee did , though in another kinde . in the morning of that day in which shee dyed , shee fell into a slumber , in which shee heard ( as shee thought ) one saying to her , this day thou shalt bee with mee in paradise . immediately shee awaked full of joy , and though hardly able to speak , yet shee uttered it to those who stood by , and was much comforted with it . now though i am far from putting any confidence in dreams , and doubt not that a man may dream hee shall go to heaven , and yet bee cast into hell. though i do not think that comfortable dreams are sufficient evidences of salvation . ( nay , when they are brought as proofs of erronious opinions , i account them diabolical delusions ; and when wicked men have them , pleasant presumptions . ) yet notwithstanding when a woman who hath spent many years in the service of god , and is visited by god for above a year , with great and most grievous pains , shall at the close of her life , ( when shee is upon the very brink of eternity ) have such a sweet , refreshing , and heart-chearing impression upon her spirit ; when heart fails , and flesh fails : when shee can hardly speak to express the greatnesse of her joy , then to hear a voice ( as it were ) saying to her , this day thou shalt bee with mee in paradise . this ( in all probability ) was the voice of god , and not of man. this was the lords doing , and it is marveilous in our eyes . i forbear saying any more . shee is gone from a prison to a palace ; from a purgatory to a paradise . shee is at rest with god , where all tears are wiped away from her eyes : the lord fit us by his grace to follow her in due time into the kingdome of glory . amen . mrs. elizabeth moores evidences for heaven : collected by her self in the time of her health , in such manner and method , as they are here presented to publick view . 1 her design in this collection . in the examination of my self , i finde that my aims and ends , why i desire to gather together , and clear up my evidences for heaven ( if my deceitful heart doth not deceive mee ) are these following . 1 that hereby ( as a means ) i may bee inabled to glorifie god in the great work of beleeving , that hereby ( with gods blessing ) the dimme eye of my faith may more clearly see the lord jesus christ to bee a peace-maker , and reconciler , and surety , for mee , even for mee , who am by nature a fire-brand of hell. the time was , i am sure , when i was the devils picture , and had the black brand of reprobation upon mee , and therefore it doth neerly concern mee to search and trye what evidences i have to prove that god fetching arguments out of his own bowels , and the riches of his free grace , hath redeemed mee out of this lost estate . 2 my aime is to strengthen that longed for grace of assurance ▪ a grace , which though it bee not of absolute necessity for the being and salvation , yet it is of absolute necessity for the well being and consolation of a christian ; without this grace i can neither live nor dye comfortably ; and i have been often exhorted by gods faithful ambassadors , to gather together my scripture evidences , and to have the approbation of some godly and experienced minister or christian ; and this by gods blessing may bee a means to strengthen assurance : yea , i finde in scripture , that the lord saith , that the priests lips shall preserve knowledge , and thou shalt seek the law at his mouth , for hee is the messenger of the lord of hosts . 3 my aime is to obey god in his word , who hath commanded mee by his apostle , to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling ; and to give all diligence to make my calling and election sure : and i am exhorted to examine my self , and prove my self , whether i bee in the faith or no , know yee not ( saith the apostle ) that christ is in you , except you bee reprobates : and if any man bee in christ , hee is a new creature ; old things are passed away , and all things are become new . now then to prove whether i bee indeed and in truth born again , is my desire at this time , the lord help mee , and give mee a sincere and upright heart , and guide mee herein by his holy spirit , for the honour of his holy name . 2 a brief collection of her evidences for heaven . blessed bee god , who hath through his free mercy begotten mee to a hope , that i am regenerated and born from above , and converted unto god. reason , because the lord hath gone the same usual way with mee , as with those he● pleaseth to convert to himself ; and this i shall make to appear in five or six particulars . 1 the lord by his spirit accompanying the preaching of his word , caused the scales to fall from my eyes , and opened them , and set up a clear light in my understanding , and made mee to see sin , to bee exceeding sinful , out of measure sinful , and to look on it as the loathsomest thing in the world , and on my self as a loathsome creature in gods sight , and in my own sight , by reason of the leprosie of sin , wherewith i was over-run . 2 the lord brought mee to see the misery that i was in , by reason of my sins . i thought i was utterly forsaken of god , and i thought that god would never accept of such a wretch as i saw my self to bee . i could not think otherwise , but that hell was my portion , and that i , by reason of my sins must go thither , expecting every day when the lord would glorifie himself in my damnation . i saw my self in more misery , because of my sins than i could then , or now expresse to any body . i looked upon god as a consuming fire , and on my self as stubble , ready to bee consumed by him , &c. 3 the lord brought mee to a spiritual astonishment , that i cried out , what shall i do to bee saved ! and said with paul , lord ! what wouldest thou have mee to do ? do but make known to thy poor creature what thy will is , and i thought i could do any thing , or suffer any thing for the lord. but since i have had some more knowledge of the holy will of god , woe is mee ! what a barren and unfruitful heart have i ! a heart that can neither do , nor suffer any thing for the lord , as i ought to do : but this i can say , that the astonishment i was in by the sight of my sins , and the misery i was plunged into , put mee on the performance of holy duties , especially prayer . 4 the lord took mee off my own bottome , off my own righteousness , and made mee to see that that was but a sandy foundation , and would not hold out . i was not taken off from the performance of holy duties ; no , i thought with my self that i am commanded by god to perform holy duties , which is the way and means whereby wee may meet with god ( for hee is ordinarily to bee injoyed no where but in his own ordinances ) but the lord took mee off from resting and trusting in ordinances . and as hee made mee to see that without the practise of them hee would not accept of mee ; so also hee made mee to know that it was not for holy duties , for which i was accepted . the sins that cleave to my best performances , are enough for which the lord may justly condemn mee , if i had no other sins . 5 the lord brought mee to see a superlative beauty and excellency in the lord iesus christ , and my soul was deeply in love with him , even with whole christ in all his offices , and ( if i know any thing at all of my owne heart ) i desired christ as much to bee my king and prophet , to teach , and guide mee , and subdue mee to himself , and rule over mee , as to bee my high-priest , to make attonement by offering up of himself for mee , and washing mee in his blood , by which i must bee justified . 6 the lord brought mee to see a soul-satisfaction in the lord jesus christ alone ; and i think i should bee as fully satisfied with christ alone , as my heart can desire . if i know my heart , it panteth after christ , and christ alone : none but christ , none but christ. the whole world in comparison or competition with christ , is nothing to mee : but in him i see full contentment . to see and know my interest in him and to injoy communion with him , is that , which if the lord would bestow upon mee , i should with iacob say , it is enough ; and with old simeon ) now let thy servant depart in peace , for my eyes have seen thy salvation . now i desire to set down some other scripture evidences , that i finde upon search and examination of my heart , by laying it to the rule ; the word of god. my second scripture evidence is taken from mark. 2. 17. where christ saith , they that are whole have no need of the physitian , but they that are sick , and hee came not to call the righteous , but sinners to repentance . now through gods mercy i can say , that i am a sin-sick-sinner ( the lord make mee more sick ) i am not righteous in mine own eyes , but a sinner , and see my self undone for ever , without the righteousness of christ bee imputed to mee , and therefore i hope i am amongst the number of those whom christ was commissionated by his father to come to save . from matth. 11. 28 , 29. i am weary and heavy laden ; now christ hath promised to give ease to such . and i am willing to take his yoke upon mee , and would fain learn of him the lesson of meekness and lowliness , and therefore am invited to come unto him . i can say with david , that my sins are a heavy burden to mee , they are too heavy for mee , psal. 38. 4. and i can say that i mourn , because i cannot mourn no more for my sins ; now christ saith , blessed are they that mourn , for they shall bee comforted , mat. 5. 4. from matth. 5. 3. i think ( if my heart do not deceive mee ) i am pòor in spirit ; now theirs is the kingdome of heaven , saith christ. from matth. 12. 20. i am a bruised reed , and smoaking flax , and therefore christ hath promised , hee will not break such a reed , nor quench the smoak of grace , if it bee true grace , but hee will increase it more and more ( as hee saith ) untill judgement breake forth into victory : and hee came to set at liberty them that are bruised , luke 4. 18. therefore i hope i am such a one as hee came to binde up , and set at liberty ; yea , and that hee was anointed and sent by his father to mee , and such as i am , isa. 61. 1. from 1 tim. 1. 15. this is a faithfull saying , and worthy of all acceptation , ( saith paul ) that iesus christ came into the world to save sinners : and so say i too ; it is worthy all acceptation , that christ should come from the bosome of his father , who was infinitely glorious and happy , that hee should come into the world to save mee , mee a sinner , mee the chiefe of sinners ; mee , that if saved , i do verily beleeve , there is none in heaven , nor any that ever shall come thither , that hath or will have the cause to magnifie and adore free grace , as i shall have . and herein doth god commend his love towards mee — for if when wee were enemies , wee were reconciled to god by the death of his son , much more being reconciled , wee shall bee saved by his life , rom. 5. 10. i can say with paul , that i delight in the law of god , after the inward man , and i am grieved that i cannot keep it . i finde that spiritual war in mee , between flesh and spirit , which paul complaineth of , and i can say , that paul doth confess over my heart in his confessions , rom. 7. and i can go along with him there , from verse 9. to the end of the chapter ; and from hence i gather , that there is some spiritual life in my soul , and an indeavour to walk after the spirit , and therefore i hope and desire to conclude with him , that there shall bee no condemnation to mee , but that the law of the spirit of life in christ iesus shall make mee free from the law of sin , and death . i finde an earnest desire wrought in my soul , to bee made like unto jesus christ , and that it may bee my meat and drink to do and suffer his will , as hee would have mee . i can say , that the lord hath in some measure put his fear into my heart , that i fear to offend him out of love to him , and i love to fear him . i can say with the church to christ , cant. 1. 7. o thou whom my soul loveth ! ( and if i know any thing at all of mine own heart ) christ is altogether lovely , and most desirable to my soul. i think i can truly say with david , that i have none in heaven but thee , and there is nothing on earth that i desire besides thee , in comparison of thee , in competition with thee . though all that is dearest to mee in the world should forsake mee , yet if god whom i have chosen for my portion will not forsake mee , i have enough . it is my desire and endeavour more and more to account all things but loss and dung , that i may win christ. i can with peter make my appeal to him , and say , lord , thou who knowest all things , thou knowest that i love thee , and that it is the desire of my soul to love thee more , and to love thee for thy self , because thou art holy , and good , and gracious , and the chiefest amongst ten thousand ; yea god in christ alone , is worthy to be beloved , and it is my highest priviledge that hee will give mee leave to love him , who only can satisfie my soul , and rede●m it from death eternal , who hath justified mee by his blood , and sanctified mee by his spirit , whom therefore i love with all my heart , and all my soul , and all my might , and all my strength . finding therefore , that god hath drawn out my heart to love him , and make choice of him alone , i from hence gather and ground my hope , that god loveth mee , according to that scripture , 1 ioh. 4. 19. wee love him , because hee first loved us . i finde my heart much inflamed with love to all the children of god , because they are gods children , and the more i see , or finde , or hear of god in them , the more i finde my heart cleaving to them , and i thinke i can truly say with david , that my delight is in the saints , and those that excel in grace ; not because they are friends to mee , or i have relation to them in regard of outward obligations , but because they bear the image of god upon them , and manifest it in their holy conversation . i love them , whether rich , or poor . and though i did never know some of them , but onely hear of their holiness , and piety , yet i could not but exceedingly love such . therefore i hope that i am passed from death to life , because i love the brethren , 1 ioh. 3. 14. i do not only love god , and the children of god , but i labour to keep his commandements , and they are not grievous to mee . but i pray with david , o that my waies were directed to keep thy statutes ! lord inlarge my heart , and i will run the waies of thy commandements : give mee understanding , and i shall keep thy law , yea , i shall observe it with my whole heart ; for therein do i delight . i finde i am one that is very thirsty after jesus christ , and the grace of christ ; and i thirst to have his image more and more stamped upon mee ; and i would fain bee assured by gods spirit , that i am transplanted into christ , and therefore i long , and indeavour after a true and lively faith , because that grace is a soul-transplanting and uniting grace . now christ hath promised to satisfie the thirsty , matth. 5. 6. and such christ hath earnestly invited to come , though they have nothing to bring but what may make against themselves , yet to come empty , and hee hath promised to fill them , isa. 55. 1 , 2. i am willing to confess , and with all my heart to forsake all my sins . i am willing to give glory to god in taking shame unto my self . i acknowledge my self a guilty malefactor , and judge my self worthy of the just condemnation of the righteous judge of all the earth . and i do not only confess my sins , but with all my heart i desire to forsake them , and to turn to the lord : now hee hath said , hee will have mercy on such , and will abundantly pardon them . for his thoughts are not as our thoughts , nor his waies , as our waies , isa. 55. 7 , 8. it is my constant indeavour to dye to sin , to live to newness of life . and this is my comfort and hope , that hee who hath begun a good work in mee , will perfect it . for it is hee that worketh all our works in us , and for us , isa. 26. 12. and hee that hath wrought in mee to will , to do that which is pleasing in his sight , will work in mee to do also , and that of his good pleasure , phil , 2. 13. i hope i am one whom god hath taken into covenant with himself , because hee hath bestowed upon mee the fruits of the covenant , because hee hath circumcised my heart to love him , and hath put his fear into mee , and hath wrought an universal change in mee ; and hath given mee a new heart , and a new spirit ; yea his own spirit which hee hath put within mee , even the spirit of truth , which will guide mee into all truth . it is his own promise to give his holy spirit to them that aske it of him ( as i have done often ) luke 11. 13. and i hope that god will make it in his due time , a witnessing and a comforting spirit . i will wait upon him for the accomplishment of all his promises , both of grace , and to grace . hee hath said , hee will bee a sun and a shield , he will give grace and glory , and no good thing will hee with-hold from them that walke uprightly . and hee hath promised to subdue our sins for us ; and hath said , that sin shall not have dominion over us , rom. 6. 14. that hee will bee our god , and wee shall bee his children ; and hee will save us from all our uncleannesses . i hope i have a share in this blessed covenant of free grace . as for my affliction that lyeth upon mee ( though it bee in it self very heavy ) i much more desire the sanctification of it , than the removal . i earnestly labour to learn all those lessons which god teacheth mee by affliction . i know i should not bee scourged , nor bee in tribulation , but that i have need of it ; it is for my profit to make mee partaker of his holiness . afflictions are an evidence of sonship , heb. 12. 6 , 7 , 8. god hath promised that all things shall work together for good to them that love and fear him . and i have had much experience of his faithfulness , who hath not suffered mee to bee tempted above what hee hath inabled mee to bear ; therefore i will bear the indignation of the lord , because i have sinned against him . hee hath chastized mee less than mine iniquities deserve . hee chastizeth mee here , that hee may not condemn mee hereafter . faith is the condition of salvation . beleeve in the lord iesus christ , and thou shalt bee saved . and this is his commandement , that wee should beleeve in his son iesus christ : now i find nothing so hard to mee as to beleeve aright : to cast away all my own righteousness as dung , in point of justification , and to cast away all my unrighteousness , so as that bee no bar to mee , and to role , and cast , and venter my immortal soul upon jesus christ and his righteousness , for life and salvation by him alone , and to see my self compleat in him ; this is supernatural . yet i must and will give glory to god , and say , lord i beleeve , help thou my unbeleef . and by this i prove that this precious grace of faith is wrought in mee , because jesus christ is to mee very precious : and i finde in the word , that to them that beleeve hee is precious : and i am willing to take christ upon his own termes , as hee is tendred in the gospel ; and am willing to give up my self soul and body wholly to him ; and my love to god , and to the children of god , is a fruit of my faith , as also my desire to bee made like unto him : for hee that hath this hope in him , purifieth himself , even as hee is pure , 1 john 3. 3. and i trust that i am kept by the power of god through faith unto salvation , 1 pet. 1. 5. i know whom i have beleeved , and i am perswaded that hee is able and willing to keep that which i have committed unto him , which is my immortal soul. thus i have according to the apostles exhortation endeavoured to give a reason of the hope that is in mee . what have i but what i have received ? the desire of my soul is , that god may have all the glory . and if i bee deceived , the lord for christs sake undeceive mee , and grant that if i have not true grace , i may not think i have , and so bee in a fools paradise . and the lord that is my heart-maker , bee my heart-searcher , and my heart-discoverer , and my heart-reformer . amen . finis . books printed , and are to bee sold by iohn hancock , at the first shop in popes-head alley , next to cornhill . a book of short-writing , the most easy , exact , lineal , and speedy method , fitted to the meanest capacity ; composed by mr. theophilus metcalf , professor of the said art. also a school-master , explaining the rules of the said book . another book of new short-hand by thomas crosse. a coppy-book of the newest and most useful hands , with rules , whereby those that can read , may quickly learn to write : to which is added , brief directions for true spelling and cyphering , &c. four books lately published by mr. thomas brooks , preacher of the gospel at margarets new fish-street . 1 precious remedies against satans devices . or , salve for beleevers and unbeleevers sores , being a companion for those that are in christ , or out of christ , that sleight or neglect ordinances , under a pretence of living above them , that are growing in spirituals , or decaying , that are tempted , or deserted , afflicted , or opposed , that have assurance , or want it , on the 2 of the corinthians , the 2. and the 11. 2 heaven on earth : or , a serious discourse , touching a well-grounded assurance of mens eeverlasting happiness , and blessedness , discovering the nature of assurance , the possibility of attaining it , the causes , springs , and degrees of it , with the resolution of several weighty questions , on the eighth of the romans , 32 , 33 , 34. verses . 3 the vnsearchable riches of christ : or , meat for strong men , and milk for babes , held forth in two and twenty sermons , from ephesians 3. 8. preached on his lecture nights at fishstreet-hill . 4 his apples of gold , for young men , and women : and a crown of glory for old men , and women : or the happiness of being good betimes , and the honour of being an old disciple , clearly and fully discovered , and closely and faithfully applied . 5 his string of pearles ; or the best things reserved till last . preached at the funeral of mrs. blake , late wife of mr. nicholas blake merchant . the covenant of gods free grace unfolded , and comfortably applyed to a disquieted or dejected soul , on the 2 of samuel , 23. 5. by that late reverend divine , mr. iohn cotton of new-england . darkness discovered , or the devils secret stratagems laid open ; shewing the way to end controversies in religion , written by iacobus acconcius , and translated into english . a brief description of the presbyterian government , approved by divers godly divines , and humbly presented to the consideration of the assembly . a treatise of civil government , by robert spey . a glass for the times , briefly confuting divers errors in religion . the ruine of the authors and fomenters of civil war ; as it was dilivered in a sermon before the parliament , at their monthly fast , by mr. samuel gibson ; sometime minister at margarets westminster , and one of the assembly of divines . the new creature , with a description of the several marks and characters thereof , by richard bartlet . a learned speech , by sir francis bacon in parliament quinto iacobi ▪ concerning the scottish nation . a mirrour for christian states ; or , a table of politick vertues , considerable amongst christians , by e. moliner , doctor of divinity . a treatise of the external works of god ; 1 in general , on psal. 135. 6. 2 in particular , on gen. 1. 2. 3. of gods actual providence ; by george walker , b. d. late pastor of st. iohn evangelist church . the expert physitian . learnedly treating of all agues and feavers essential , whether simple , or compound , confused , erratick and malignant , shewing their different nature , cause , signe , and cure , written originally by that famous doctor in physick , bricius bauderon , and translated into english by doctor wells , licentiate in physick , by the university of oxford : to bee sold by by iohn hancok , at the first shop in popes-head alley , next to cornhill . 1658. books lately printed for thomas parkhurst , at the sign of the three crowns over against the great conduit , at the lower end of cheapside . a learned commentary , or exposition upon the first chapter of the second epistle to the corinthians , by dr. richard sibbs , published for publick good , by thomas manton , folio . there is newly come forth mr. william fenner his continuation of christs alarm to drowsie saints , with a treatise of effectual calling : the killing power of the law : the spiritual watch : new birth : a christians ingrafting into christ : a treatise on the sabbath , which were never before printed , bound in one volume , fol ▪ and may bee had alone of them that have his other works , as well as bound with all his former works , which are now newly printed in the same volume . truth brought to light , and discovered by time , or an historical narration of the first fourteen years of king iames , in 4 ● . mr. robinsons christians armor in large 8 ● . book of emblems , with latine and english verses made upon ( lights ) by robert farlie , small 8 ● . grace to the humble , as preparation to the sacrament in five sermons , by dr. iohn preston . picturae l●●ventes , or pictures drawn forth into characters , 12 ● . a most excellent treatise containing the way to seek heavens glory , to flye earths vanity , to fear hells horror , with godly prayers , and the bell-mans summons , 12 ● . iohnsons essaies expressed in sundry exquisite fancies . the one thing necessary ; by mr. thomas watson , minister of stephens walbrook , 8 ● . sion in the house of mourning , because of sin and suffering , being an exposition on the fifth chapter of the lamentations , by d. s. pastor of upingham , in the county of rutland . groans of the spirit , or the trial of the truth of prayer . a handkercher for parents wet-eyes , upon the death of their children or friends . the dead saint speaking to saints and sinners living , in several treatises , viz. on 2 sam. 24. 10. on cant. 4. 9. on iohn 3. 15. on iohn 1. 50. on isa. 58. 2. on exod. 15. 11. never published before . by samuel bolton , d. d. late mr. of christs colledge in cambridge . peoples need of a living pastor , at the funeral of mr. iohn frost , m. a. 〈◊〉 m● ▪ zach. crofton . a treatise against the toleration of all religions , by mr. tho. edwards . chatechizing gods ordinance ; in sundry sermons , by mr. zachary crofton , minister of buttolphs aldgate london , the second edition , corrected and augmented . a theatre of political flying-insects . wherein especially the nature , the worth , the work , the wonder , and the manner of the right-ordering of the bee , is discovered and described . by samuel purchas , m. a. and pastor at sutton in essex . there is going to the press , mr. william fenner , late of rochford in essex , his second part of mans wilfull impenitency , upon ezek. 18. 32. with some other peeces of his , preserved by a special providence . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a31997-e210 bona pro●osita ●ehennam intr●ue , bona opera coelum . ●as tibi non est de fortuna conqueri salvo caesare . ●as tibi non est de fortuna conqueri salvo deo. & salvis promissionibus dei. 2 cor. 13. 5 mark. 16. 16 psal , 119. 60 eph. 3. 17 2 cor. 5. 20 1 joh. 2. 20 psal. 68. 24 psal. 27. 4 psal. 63. 2 rev. 3. 2 luke 4. 29 luke 4. 32 1 tim. 6. 10 1 joh. 2. 15 john 3. 3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eph. 5. 3 mat. 22. 5 gen. 33. 13 , 14 1 tim. 6. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 phi. 3. 19. momentum undependet aeternitas . momentaneum quod delectat , aeternum quod 〈◊〉 . anselme eph ● . 15. 〈…〉 luke 12. 48. crescentious ●onis cres●unt rationes donorum . ioh. 4. 29. 30. act. 10. ●4 2 sam 〈…〉 james ● . 27. ● ioh. 4. 20 ● cor. 16. 2 mat. 6. 23. 2 pet. 3. 17 ● cor. 15. 〈◊〉 . psal. 133. mark 9. 50 1 cor. 1. 10. descendamus viventes , ut non descendamus mo●ientes . notes for div a31997-e7670 the second design of god in afflicting his children . the third design . the fourth design . gods people are to prepare for afflictions . 1 a stock of graces . 2 a stock of assurance . 3 a stock of divine experiences . 4 a stock of sermons . 5 a stock of scripture promises . 3 gods people are to improve afflictions . gods people are to labour to know the meaning of gods rod how wee may know the meaning of gods rod how to finde out the particular sin for which god afflicts us . the good we get by our afflictions must remain with us after our recovery . notes for div a31997-e15820 reasons why the saints take so much delight in gods law notes for div a31997-e21080 2 king. 6 26 , 27. 2 vse . 2 cor. 11. 14. isa. 4. the word of god divided into the commanding , threatning and promising word . three things to bee done by those that would improve the promises . mr. lee on the promises ▪ mr. b●ll , mr. bulkley . notes for div a31997-e24680 we must not only make a catalogue of the promises , but meditate on them . isa. 66. 10 , 11. the difference between a presumptuous sinner , and a true childe of god in relation to the promises . three observable things about the promises . ezek. 18. 31. ezek. 36. 26. jer. 32. 40 mic 7. 19. rom. 6. 14 isa. 26. 12. jer. 31. 33. ezek. 36. 27. domine da quod jubes , & jube quod vis aust. the second difference . rom 4. 19 , 20 , 21. heb. 11. 11 the first meditation about the promises . the second meditation , meditate on the preciousnesse of the promises . 2 pet. 1. 4 the promises are precious in five respects . 2 cor. 1. ●0 . psal. ●8 , 30 , 31 the third meditation , medi●ate on the freeness of the promises . the four●● meditation . meditate on the stability of the promises . mat. 5. 18 rom. 11 25 , 26. rev. 11. 15 rev. 18. 2 mat. 19. 26 the fifth meditation , meditate on the richness of the promises . heb. 6 : 17. qui habet habentem omnis , haber omnia . the sixth meditation , meditate on the latitude and extension of the promises . the seventh meditation , meditate on the ●ariety of ●he pro●ises . ●he eight meditati●n , medi●●te on the ●sefulness ●f the ●romises . ●he pro●●ses are 〈◊〉 ●●eathings d●vine 〈◊〉 . 2 sam 7. 11 , 18 , 19. magnes amo●is amor . 1 ioh. 4 , 19. the promises are the life and soul of faith. the proises are the anchor of hope . heb. 6 9. heb. 11. 9 , 10. heb. 11. the promises are the wings of prayer . eph. 6. 18 gen. 32. 12. 2 chron. 20. 8 , 9. the promises are the foundation of industry . 2 cor 7. 1 heb. 13. 5. 1 cor. 10. 13 , 4. 2 cor. 6. 17 , 18. phil 2. 12 , 13. the promises are the raies and beams of the son of righteousness . dr. reynolds on the sinfulness of sin the ninth meditation , meditate on the necessity of getting an interest in the promises . eph. 2. 12 notes for div a31997-e32190 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first rule for the right application of the promises . ezek. 2● . 37. the second rule for the right application of the promises . mat. 11. 28 isa. 35. 4 isa. 66. 2 the third rule for the right application of the promises . sola misericordia deducit deumad homines , & sola misericordia reducit homines ad deum . mat. 5. 3 the fourth rule for the right application of the promises . 2 cor. 1. 20 1 cor. 3. 2 three things to be studied in order to the makeing out of our interest in christ. first , the universality of the promise of christ mark 16. 15 , 16. magnus de caelo venit medici●s ; quia magnus in terra jacebat a●gro●us aug. ioh. 6. 37. joh. 3. 36 , study the freeness of the promise of christ. isa 55 , 1. rev. 22. 17. study the condition upon which christ is promised . eph. 2. 8. right receivi●g of christ hath six pr●perties isa. 26. 13. 2 king. 4. 27. ioh. 6. 37. isa. 55. 1. rev. 22. 15. ioh. 1. 12. ioh. 5. 24. the fifth rule for the right application of the promises . qui dixit sufficit , deficit . non progred● , est regred● . mat. 5. 3. mat. 5 4. mat. 5. 6. mat. 11. 28. mat. 12. 20. mat. 9. 12 , 13. mat. 18. 11. rom. 8. 1. 1 ioh 1. 9. phil. 1. 6. the sixth rule for the ●●ght application of the promises . act. 5 21. phil. 1. 20. d●ut . ●0 . 6 ier. 32. 40. psal. 2. 8. 2 king. 7. the seventh rule for the right application of the promises . psal. 48. 10 psal. 34. 10 mat. 6. 33. the eight rule for the right application of the promises . iosh 5. heb. 13. 5. 2 cor. 1. 4. iames 5. 10 , 11. the ninth rule for the right application of the promises . iam. 2. 10. q●● quid proper 〈◊〉 fit , 〈◊〉 fit . 〈◊〉 5 , 3 , 8 the tenth rule for the right application of the promises . phil. 3. 12. ioh. 6. 44. the eleventh rule for the right application of the promises . psal 13. 3. rev 3. 18. p 〈◊〉 49. rev. 3. 〈◊〉 . the twelfth rule for the right application also of the promises . eph. 2. 8. act. 1. 4. eph. 1. 13. luke 11. 23. eph. 1. 13 the 13. rule for the right application of the promises . isa , 49. 14. psal. 116. 11 psal. 31. 22. psa. 88. 13. 14● . 5 , 16 , 17 , 18. mrs. diggons dwelling with mrs. moor in aldermanbury . gen. 3. 15. lu. 18. 7 , 8 rev. 6. 10. 1 sam. 27. 1. three duties to bee practised when providences 〈◊〉 cross to promises . isa , 28. 1● . 1 sam. 27. 1. lam. 3. 35. act 27. 20 , 23 , 24. psal. 119. 28 , 38 , 41 , 65 , 76 , 107 , 141 , 149. hab. 2. 2. notes for div a31997-e43950 psal. 58. notes for div a31997-e45460 the first design . the second design . mal. 3. 7. the third design . phil. 2. 12. 2 pet. 1. 10. 2 cor. 13. 5. first evid second evidence . third evidence . fourth evidence . fifth evidence . sixth evidence . seventh evidence . eighth evidence . rom. 8. 1 , 2 ninth evidence . tenth evidence . eleventh evidence . twelfth evidence . 1 joh 5. 3 psal. 119. 5. v. 32 , 34 thirteenth evidence . fourteenth evidence . fifteenth evidence . sixteenth evidence . rom. 8. 28 seventeenth evidence . act. 16. 31. 1 joh. 3. 23 1 pet. 2. 7 2 tim. 1. 12. the art of divine meditation, or, a discourse of the nature, necessity, and excellency thereof with motives to, and rules for the better performance of that most important christian duty : in several sermons on gen. 24:63 / by edmund calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 1680 approx. 321 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 113 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a31893 wing c227 estc r952 12686573 ocm 12686573 65780 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a31893) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 65780) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 346:17) the art of divine meditation, or, a discourse of the nature, necessity, and excellency thereof with motives to, and rules for the better performance of that most important christian duty : in several sermons on gen. 24:63 / by edmund calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [16], 208 p. printed for tho. parkhurst, and are to be sold at his shop ... and by j. collier ..., london : 1680. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -o.t. -genesis xxiv, 63 -sermons. meditation -early works to 1800. sermons, english -17th century. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-01 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2004-01 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the art of divine meditation . or , a discourse of the nature , necessity , and excellency thereof . with motives to , and rules for the better performance of that most important christian duty . in several sermons on gen. 24. 63. and isaac went out to meditate in the fields at the even-tide . by edmvnd calamy , b. d. late minister of aldermanbury , london . london : printed for tho. parkhurst , and are to be sold at his shop at the bible and three crowns in cheapside near mercers chappel , and by i collier , at the bible on londonbridg under the gate , 1680. to the christian readers . if the heathen moralist plutarch could say , meditation is as it were the recovery of decaying knowledg ; because as forgetfulness seems to be the egress of knowledg , meditation doth restore a new memory instead of that which passeth away ; and so preserve knowledg , that it is in effect the same , in that , notwithstanding mutations , it leaves something new , and like it self , resembling that which is divine : how may a christian , endow'd with the true knowledg of god , say with the psalmist in the revival of it , psal. 104. 34. my meditation of him shall be sweet . when he is alone , and hath no other companions to refresh himself with , then he may ( as bishop hall , who penn'd a part of his meditations under the solitary hills of ardenna ) from a renewed mind , send forth his active thoughts , those immediate rays of that candle of the lord within him , to contemplate upon his maker , saviour , and sanctifier , and reflect upon himself , who is to survive the visible creation , and so raise himself into an heaven upon earth , relish such sweetness as the carnal mind and sensual heart , immersed in dreggy matter , and be-dull'd therewith , is never so happy as to attain . the author of this little treatise , whose great and pious soul was notably heavenliz'd by the frequent exercise of holy meditation , the very same who penn'd the godly mans ark , which hath been often printed for the support of drooping christians , amongst other excellent discourses upon various subjects in the exercise of his ministry with great success , did from his own experience recommend this of meditation , whether ejaculatory and occasional , or solemn and deliberate . i am not ignorant , that many other eminent divines , persons of great worth and honour , have already notably display'd the excellency and usefulness of this way of thinking ; yet perhaps this grave and famous preacher in his day , hath in a more easie method , and plain way , by his familiar expressions and resemblances , suited to vulgar capacities , here help'd the real christian , who would most delight in the duty , to put meditation in practise , than any who hath gone before him . no doubt , had this excellent person himself published this discourse here presented to your view , you would have had it every way more accurate , by the lopping off some superfluities , and amending of phrases , &c. more proper for a writer , than these of a preacher to a popular auditory ; yet such as it is , considering the author in the pulpit , you 'l find when you have read it through , it doth fully as much resemble mr. calamy in his preaching at aldermanbury , to your minds , as the engraver on the frontispiece hath represented his face to your eyes . i dare say any of you who were his auditors , will be abundantly satisfied , tho this piece be posthumous , yet it is genuine . and seeing there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth , more than over ninety nine just persons which need no repentance , luk. 15. 7. if these practical sermons , taken by the swift pen of a ready writer , have such an influence upon any , as to bring them to the frequent and beneficial practise of meditation , which the preacher of them held necessary : none who prefer things before words , and esteem real knowledg above elegancy of speech , as the general good of mankind , beyond that of any particular countrey , can justly think the author wrong'd ; but rather that with dr. preston , mr. fenner , mr. hooker , &c. ( some of whose works popularly deliver'd with plainness suited to the capacities of their hearers , and taken but rudely from their mouths , did more benefit readers of meaner abilities , than those which whiles alive , they themselves published with greater exactness ) he is renown'd , when he hath by this more diffusive good-work been any way instrumental to have god and the things of heaven ( where he now resides ) more delightfully thought upon . as judicious calvin in his epistle to the king of swetheland prefixed to his commentary on the minor prophets , said he would not be so morose a censor of manners , as to obstruct the publishing of that commentary delivered in an extemporal kind of speaking , when design'd only for his own private oratory , not otherwise to have come abroad ; only as 't was pen'd from his mouth by budaeus , crispin , and ionvil , because he said , he had long before learn'd not to serve the theater of the world : else , he doth afterwards tell the reader , that if in his other works which he had written deliberately and succinctly with much more pains , he had met with envious malignants , who did carp at and quarrel them , he might well endeavour to suppress that work , taken by the aforesaid writers after him , as it was freely utter'd to his own hearers for present use ; yet when others assured him , that it would be a loss ( yea , injurious ) to the church , if not printed as it was taken , rather than not at all ; he thereupon having not time nor strength to transcribe or amend it , readily permitted it to go to the press . and the reformed church hath since rejoyced in the benefit of having it as it was published ; yea , and to this day divines who have made great use of it since in their commentaries , as well as others , to find the true true meaning of the holy writ , have heartily blessed god for it . yet as bishop wilkins hath observ'd in his epistle to the real character , foreigners in short-writing come far behind us here in england ( though it hath been now seventy years invented ) where they admire the skill of our writers , and whither the divines of other nations frequently come and learn our language , chiefly to understand our practical sermons , many of which have been only preserv'd in this way , you have this ( 't is to be hoped very useful ) piece , taken well from the mouth of mr. edmund calamy . the analysis or method of the contents of the whole book . page . the introduction . 1 text divided . 2 1. the person spoken of , isaac . ibid. 2. what is related of him , he went out to meditate . ibid. 3. the place he chose , in the field . ibid. 4. the time , at the eventide . ibid. explicat : there is a twofold meditation 1. sinful , and wicked ; that was not isaacs . ibid. 2. holy and godly . this isaac practised . 3 observ. the meditation of holy and heavenly things , is a work that god requires at the hands of all people . 4 viz. of 1. young gentlemen ibid. 2. kings , nobles , and great persons ibid. 3. souldiers , generals , and captains . 5 4. learned men. ib. 5. women . ib. there be two sorts of meditation of heavenly things . 1. sudden , short , occasional . 6 2. solemn , set , deliberate . ibid. 1. of occasional meditation , three things , viz. the excellency , examples , and practise . ibid. 1. the excellency of occasional , extemporary , sudden , and ejaculatory meditation from scripture and humane testimony 7 , 8 2. the examples from scripture and humane testimony 9 3. motives to perswade to the practise of it , viz. 13 1. it may be performed at all times . ibid. 2. practic'd in all places and companies 14 3 it is easie to spiritualized ones . ibid. 4. 't is the excellency of a christian to spiritualize natural things herein exceeding a bruit . 15 all wicked men . ibid. 5. 't is the greatest affront we can give to god , not to make a spiritual use of his creatures . 17 6. 't is a soul-destroying sin not to observe the works of god , and make a good use of them . 18 ii. of solemn meditation , the nature and necessity . 22 1. the nature of solemn meditation in two particulars . 23 1. 't is a dwelling and abiding upon things that are holy , being typified two ways . by the beast that did chew the cud . 24 that had eyes within and without . 25 2. 't is an act of the heart , as well as the head . ib. it must enter into the door of the understanding , heart , and conversation . 28 2. the necessity of it evinc'd from the mischiefs of neglecting this duty . 29 advantage of practising this duty . 29 1. the mischiefs and inconveniencies of neglecting this duty . it is the cause of sin and punishment . 30 1. the want of practising this duty causeth sin ; as particularly , ibid. 1. 't is the reason of hard-heartedness . ibid. 2. unprofitableness of hearing sermons 31 3. not relishing of sweetest promises . 33 4. no impression from threatnings . 34 5. no bettering by mercies . ibid. 6. no amending by afflictions . 36 7. no heart softning by providences . ib. 8. reason of distrustfulness of gods providence . 37 9. censoriousness of others , not of our selves . ibid. 10. offering the sacrifices of fools in worship . 38 2. the want of practising this duty causeth punishment 40 2. the advantages and benefits by a conscientious practise of this duty , in begetting and increasing of grace , and arming against temptations . 42 1. 't is a mighty help to the begetting and working of grace in 9 particulars . ibid. 1. to work repentance and reformation of life . 43. to 55. 2. a love to god. 43. to 55. 3. a fear of god. 43. to 55. 4. a love to jesus christ. 43. to 55. 5. faith and trust in god. 43. to 55. 1. in his providence in all outward streights . 2. promises in all spiritual troubles . 6. a contempt of the world and worldly things . 43. to 55. 7. thankfulness for mercies and blessings . 43. to 55. 8. a preference of gods house to our own . 43. to 55. 9. a keeping of all gods commandments . 43. to 55. 2. 't is helpful to preserve and increase grace . 55 3. 't is helpful to arm and defend against all the temptations of the devil . 56 the application of this doctrine concerning this necessary duty of meditation may be for 1. the reproof of those christians that are utterly unaccustomed to , and unacquainted with this duty : and these are of four sorts , viz. 1. the ignorant christian that knows not how to set about the work . 58. 2. forgetful christian , that remembers not god 61 3. rash-headed christian , that acts without consideration , where are four evils , viz. 63 1. such is a spiritual fool in offering sacrifices to god. 64 2 often speaks that , he 'l wish he had not . 65 3. quickly runs into error and by-paths . 66 4 will never persevere and hold out to the end . 67 4. a slight-headed christian , that cannot dwell long upon any thing , which argues a slight christian. 68 q. are then all who have slight heads , hypocrites ? ibid. a. there is a double slightness of head , viz. 69 1. that which is a natural disease , when a child of god , of a weak head , cannot think long of any thing at all . ibid. 2. that which is sinful , when a man can be serious , and dwell long upon the things of the world , not on the things of heaven : this is reprov'd . ibid. 2. the reproof of those who meditate upon things that are evil and wicked . 70 1. such as design and do evil . 2. such as delight in the evil they have done . 71 3. an exhortation to all to accustom themselves to the duty of meditation , viz. to 1. ministers . 2. nobles . 3. souldiers . 4. young gentlemen . 5. merchants . 6. women . in speaking to this exhortation six particulars proposed , viz. 1. place . 2. time. 3. properties . 4. companions . 5. materials . 6. helps . 72 , 73 , 74 1. concerning the place , to chuse one convenient , which is freest from distractions . 76 2. time , which proves seasonable in due circumstances . here four rules are suggested . 81 1. it behoves all not hindred , to endeavour the setting apart of some time every day , morning , afternoon , or night . 82 2. to set a sufficient proportion of time a-part every day . 84 3. the sabbath-day especially all should busie themselves in this duty . 86 4. a sacrament-day more especially . 87 here 12 things suggested as instances of sacramental meditation , viz. 88 1. the great and wonderful love of god the father in the giving of christ. ibid. 2. love of christ in giving himself . 89 3. hainousness of sin . 90 4. excellency of the sacramental feast , ibid. 5. our own unworthiness . 91 6. our spiritual wants and necessities . ibid. 7. the cursed condition of an unworthy receiver . ib. 8. the happy condition of those that come worthily . 92 9. the sacramental elements of bread and wine . ib. 10. the sacramental actions . 93 11. sacramental promises . ib. 12. what retribution to make to christ. 94 3. properties , ingredients , and qualities of meditation , viz. 1. divine meditation must be often . because , 96 1. we shall know more of the best things . 97 2. have more near and intimate acquaintance with them . 99 3. heavenly duties will become more easie to us . 2. it must be solemn and serious , not only formal 101 102 3. not only notional and speculative , but practical and reflective . it must be in the understanding , heart , and affections , yea and the conversation . 105 4. it must be particular and applicative , 108 5. it must be calm and quiet , 110 6. it must be persevering , 112 there be four arguments to persevere : viz. from the 1. necessity 2. excellency of it . 113 3. mischiefs by not practising of it , ibid. 4. easiness attainable by persevering in it , 116 4. companions of meditation , which are two , 117 1. praying must be joined with meditation , ibid. 2. reading will do well to accompany in weak christians with two cautions , viz. 118 1. not to read much lest it hinder , 120 2. not to read at the sacrament , ibid. 5. materials of meditation , 121 the four last things , death , iudgment , heaven , hell. 1. death : 1. the certainty . 2. vncertainty . 3. the fitness for it . 4. how to be above the hurt of it . 5. to live in expectation of it . 6. to be free from the fear of it . 122 2. judgment : 1. the terribleness of it . 2. solemnity of the great assizes . 3. account to be given to god. 4. separation at that day . 5. happiness of the godly . 6. miserableness of the wicked . 123 3. heaven : 1. the joys of it . 2. beatifical vision . 3. perfection . 4. perpetuity . 5. fitness for . 6. what to do to get to heaven . 125 4. hell : where , of the punishment of , 1. loss . 2. sense , 126 2. god , christ , the holy ghost , and thy self , 127 1. of god , where of his , 1. attributes , 2. works . 3. what relation towards him , 128 2. christ , where of his , 1. divine , 2. humane nature , 3. offices ; and then of his , 1. life , 2. death ; where 1. what he suffered , 2. for whom , 3. who he was , 4. what love he suffered with , 5. what interest you have in it , 6. his resurrection , 7. ascension , 8. intercession at gods right hand . ibid. 3. holy ghost : 1. nature , 2. office , 3. motion , 4. graces . 131 4. our selves in the state of , 1. innocency , 2. apostacy , 3. regeneration , 4. glory . 132 further of our , 1. sins , 2. duties , 3. evidences , 4. comforts , 5. frailty of body , 6. immortality , ibid. 3. dependance upon god. 4. advantages god hath us at , he may throw into hell at pleasure , therefore we should study and think on , 1. our relations , 2. calling , 3. company , 4. our hearts . hereof , 1. thoughts , 2. affections , 3. words , 4. actions , ibid. 5. sinfulness of sin , 137 6. vanity of the creature 138 7. excellency of the gospel 8. commandments , threatnings , promises , ordinances of the gospel ; as , 1. prayers , 2. reading the word , 3. hearing the word , 4. the sacrament , 139 9. errors of the times , iudgments of god , great changes of the nation , several passages of providence , the mercies of god , 140 6 rules and directions , and those of three sorts : respecting person , subject , manner . 1. for the right qualifying of the person that is to meditate , viz. 143 1. convince thy soul of the necessity of it , 144 2. of the benefits and advantages of it ; as , 145 1. the begetting repentance . 2. the love of god. 3. fear of god. 4. love of christ. 3. the mischiefs of not-meditating 4. get a sufficient furniture of saving knowledg 148 5. labour to get a serious spirit , 149 to which purpose a fourfold frame of spirit is to be avoided ; as namely , 150 1. a slight frame of spirit . 2. a trifling frame of spirit . 3. a watry frame of spirit . 4. an inconsiderate frame of spirit . 6. labour for the love of heaven , and heavenly things , 153 7. labour to get an interest in heaven , and heavenly things , 154 8. an heart disengaged from the world , 155 9. be not discouraged though you have difficulty in the beginning , 157 10. do all these things by power deriv'd from iesus christ , 158 2. rules for the right ordering the subjects or materials , ibid. 1. at the beginning pick out easie subjects , as of heaven ; 1. the happiness of it in general ; 2. in particular , 161 2. vse variety , as heads of several materials were suggested , 162 3. pick out such subjects more especially as dispose to godly sorrow and holiness , 163 4. such as are most seasonable to thy condition , and suitable to thy relation . as suppose thou art , 164 1. troubled in mind , and exceedingly dejected , think of the willingness of christ to receive poor ones , 165 2. troubled in conscience , think of the promises not only to grace , but of grace , to give grace , 167 3. in outward want , consider the wonderful providences of god , ibid. 4. sick , like to thy own life , or some dear relative , think on a seasonable subject , as death , &c. 168 5. to receive the sacrament , consider the nature , thy need of it , &c. 169 3. rules for the manner of ordering meditations on the foremention'd , or like subjects . viz. 170 1. to begin and enter upon the practise of meditation ; and here be six directions , ibid. 1. be sure to pick a fit place to meditate in , ibid. 2. a fit and seasonable time , according to our circumstances , ibid. 3. be sure to have a fit subject prepar'd , not to seek at the time , 171 4. then set your self as in gods presence , under his eye , ibid. 5. begin with some short ejaculatory , not long prayer , 172 6. keep your hearts with all keeping , 173 2. to proceed better in this work , here we must know , there be two faculties of the soul , the understanding and will , or heart and affections , 175 1. rules to help the understanding more logically and plainly , 176 1. logically , as topicks , or common-place-heads , ibid. viz. 1. description , 2. distribution , 3. causes , 4. effects , 5. properties , 6. opposites , 7. comparisons , 8. titles , 9. testimonies , ibid. an instance in considering sin as the subject , ibid. 1. consider description as a transgression of gods law , 178 2. distribution , as sin by imputation , propagation , and action , ibid. 3. cause of sin , god not the cause , but satan and self , 179 4. effects and cursed fruits , temporal , carnal , and eternal , 5. properties and adjuncts in general and particular , 181 6. opposites , grace and holiness , 182 7. comparisons , as bruises , leprosie , &c. ibid. 8. titles given to sin in scripture , as robbing god , &c. 183 9. testimonies in scripture against sin , wrath of god , &c. ibid. 2. plainly , where particularly consider , 184 1. what the scripture saith of the subject you would meditate upon , ibid. 2. what sermons you have heard upon that subject , 185 3. take a book that treats on the subject you would metate upon . 186 4. be sure to join application with your contemplation , 187 5. consider the means how to obtain what you meditate upon , 188 2. rules to help the will , heart , and affections , and to raise them , 189 1 , labour to get a relish and savour of the things you meditate on , to have the heart affected . 2. complain before god for the want of this relish . 3. wish you had a supply of the tast you want , 190 4. confess your inability as of your self to do this . 5. petition to god for help . 6. confidently believe god will help you . 3. rules to conclude all , after entrance and progress , 197 1. lift up your heart to god with thankfulness , and bless his name , ibid. 2. resolve to live as one who hath been thinking on the things of god , 199 3. recommend your self , body , soul , relatives , &c. to god , 200 a perswasion to the practise of these things , concluding in four particulars , 201 1. mourn before god that you have liv'd so long in the school of christ , and have not practised this duty of solemn meditation , 202 2. that you have misplac'd your meditation , ibid. 3. study the necessity , excellency , usefulness , and profitableness of meditation , as the marrow of all other duties , 205 4. defer not to practise according to the directions given in expectation of gods blessing , ibid. gen. xxiv . 63. and isaac went out to meditate in the field at eventide . introdvction . it is not unknown unto you , i suppose , that there are two things required by god of all those that would receive the benefit of the sacrament : the one is preparation before they come ; and the other is meditation when they are come . i have made many and many a sermon of preparation , but i have made very few of meditation . now the sacrament is a meditating ordinance , as i may so express my self ; it is an ordinance for meditation : and the great work that we have to do at the sacrament , is to meditate upon christ crucified ; and therefore i shall crave leave to make you a few sermons concerning this rare and excellent doctrine of meditation ; and for this purpose i have chosen this text : wherein we have four particulars . 1. we have the person that is here spoken of , and that is isaac , the godly child of godly abraham . 2. what is here related of this person , he went out to meditate . 3. the place that he chose for his meditation , and that was in the field , he went out into the field to meditate . 4. the time that he chose to meditate in , and that was the evening , and isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide . the great question for the meaning of this text will be , what the subject of isaac's meditation was ? what did isaac go out to meditate upon ? now for this you must know there is a double meditation ; there is a meditation that is sinful and wicked ; and there is a meditation that is holy and godly . 1. there is a meditation that is sinful and wicked , and that is when we meditate upon things that are wicked ; of this you shall read , psal. 36. 4. he deviseth mischief upon his bed . and psal. 7. 14. behold he travelleth with iniquity , and hath conceived mischief . there are wicked meditations as well as wicked conversations ; and a man may go to hell for plotting wicked things , as well as for practising wicked things . and therefore it is said , prov. 12. 2. a man of wicked devices will god condemn . not only a man of wicked practises , but a man of wicked devices will he condemn . there is a contemplative wickedness as well as an actual wickedness ; and a man may go to hell for contemplative wickedness . as for example , there is a contemplative murder , when a man doth delight in the thoughts of murdering his brother ; when the thought of revenge is pleasing . and there is a contemplative adultery , when a man doth plot how to commit adultery , and delight in the thought of adultery . now isaac's meditation certainly was not of things that are wicked , he did not go out into the field to meditate upon vile and wicked things . 2. there is a meditation that is holy and godly , and that is when we meditate upon things that are holy and heavenly ; and of this nature was the meditation of isaac , he went out into the field to meditate on the works of god , and of the blessings and mercies of god ; to meditate upon the heavenly canaan , and upon his sins ; and this appears , because the hebrew word that is here used for meditation , that is here translated meditation , doth also signifie to pray ; and therefore it is in your margent , and isaac went out to pray at eventide . it was a religious work that isaac went out about ; and you must know that prayer and meditation are very well joined together ; meditation is a preparation to prayer , and prayer is a fit close for meditation ; and isaac went out to meditate , to pray and to meditate , and to meditate and pray . this meditation was a holy and heavenly act of isaac . so then the observation i shall gather is this : observ. that the meditation of holy and heavenly things is a work that god requires at the hands of all people . that god that requires you to pray , requires you to meditate as well as pray ; there are few christians believe this doctrine , that god that requires you to hear sermons , requires you to meditate on the sermons you hear . 1. god requires this of you that are young gentlemen , and therefore here you read of isaac , that he went out to meditate . now though it be true that isaac at this time was forty years old , yet in those days to be of forty years was to be but a young man , for isaac lived an hundred and fourscore years ; and therefore this is a notable pattern for young gentlemen , to imploy their time in godly and holy meditation . 2. this is a duty that god requires of kings , of nobles , and of great persons ; and therefore david , though he was a king , and had a great deal of work and business , yet he saith of himself , psal. 119. 15. i will meditate in thy precepts . v. 23. princes also did sit and speak against me , but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes . v. 48. i will meditate in thy statutes . 3. this is a duty that god requires at the hands of soldiers , and generals , and captains , iosh. 1. 8. there god speaks unto ioshua , this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth , but thou shalt meditate therein day and night , that thou maist observe to do according to all that is written therein , for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous , and then thou shalt have good success . 4. it is a duty that god requires of all learned men , and of all that are scholars , 1 tim. 4. 15. give attendance to reading and exhortations , and meditate upon these things : give thy self wholly unto them . 5. this is a duty that god requires of women ; and therefore it is said of mary , luk. 2. 19. she kept all these sayings , and pondered them in her heart . v. 51. but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart . that is , she meditated upon them . in a word , it is a duty that god requires of all that look for blessedness , psal. 1. 1. blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly , nor standeth in the way of sinners , nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful , but his delight is in the law of the lord , and in his law doth he meditate day and night . now you must know there are two sorts of divine meditation , there is a sudden , short , occasional meditation of heavenly things ; and there is a solemn , set , deliberate meditation . i shall crave leave to speak something concerning the first sort of meditation , which i call sudden and ejaculatory , extemporary and occasional meditation ; and i shall shew you three things concerning this . 1. i will shew you what this ejaculatory and extemporary meditation of divine things is , and the excellency of it . 2. i will give you some examples of it . 3. i will give you some motives to perswade you to the practise of it . 1. i will discover to you what i mean by that i call occasional and extemporary , sudden and ejaculatory meditation . occasional meditation is this , when a man takes an occasion by what he sees , or by what he hears , or by what he tasts of ; when he takes an occasion by any thing that is sensitive , to raise up his thoughts to heavenly meditation . or take it thus , occasional meditation is when a man makes use of the creature , as a footstool to raise him up to god , as a ladder to heaven ; when a man upon the sudden makes use of what he sees with his eyes , or hears with his ears , as a ladder to climb to heaven withal . you have a pattern of this , psal. 8. 3 , 4. when i considered thy heavens , the work of thy singers , the moon , and the stars , which thou hast ordained , ( mark what is his meditation of this ) what is man that thou art mindful of him ? and the son of man that thou visitest him ? lord , what is man that thou shouldest make the heaven , the sun , and the moon , and the stars for his sake ? you must know , that all the whole creation is a picture of god ; it is gods looking-glass , wherein you may behold the god of heaven and earth ; there is no creature but it hath the image of god upon it ; there is not the least spice of grace but you that are spiritual may read god in it . — it is the saying of a heathen , every herb that you have in your garden doth represent the divinity , or nature of god. there are two books that god hath given us christians to know him by , the book of the scripture , and the book of the creature ; now though the book of the scripture be the better book of the two , and the book of the scripture will teach us more of god than the book of the creature ; for the book of the creature cannot teach us god in christ , cannot teach us the mystery of redemption , nor the mystery of the trinity ; yet the book of the creature is a rare book , wherein a man may learn excellent things concerning heaven and heavenly things , excellent instructions . i remember a story of a godly man , antony , that was driven into the wilderness for religion sake , and having no book at all in the wilderness , he was asked , how he could spend his time ? saith he , i have one book , and that is the book of the creation ; and as long as i have this book i want no other book ; speaking how much he could behold god in that book . and it is a good saying of tertullian , the same god is the god of nature that is the god of grace . and it is the duty of a christian to receive instruction , and spiritual benefit from natural things as well as from gracious and spiritual things , because there is the same god of nature as of grace . the creatures of god are a divine book in which we may read the power of god , the goodness of god , the love of god , the mercy and wisdom of god , — rom. 1. 20. that that may be known of god may be read in the creature . now the creatures are but spectacles by which we are enabled to read these things concerning god. i have read a story of a painter , hermogenes , he was a rare man for that art , and coming into a painters shop , he sees a line drawn so curiously , that he crys out , surely apelles hath been here ; none but apelles could draw such a curious line . and as the story saith , he went out of theshop , and never left till he had founb out this apelles , that so he might come to the acquaintance of that man that had so much skill . the application of this is most excellent , when you look upon this creature of god , and that creature of god , you must needs confess that none but a god could make such a glorious world ; digitus dei est hic , here is the finger of god ; and the consideration of this , if you have any thing of god in you , will make you to seek out after this god , and to love this god , and honour this god. 2. i will give you some examples of this occasional , sudden , extemporary meditation of divine things : first , i will give you scripture examples , prov. 6. 6. there the wise man sends the sluggard to the pismire , go to the ant thou sluggard , consider her ways , and be wise , which having no guide , overseer , or ruler , provideth her meat in the summer . here you see what a rare meditation a man may have from the little pismire , and how the sluggard is sent to behold the pismire , to be ashamed of his sluggishness ; let the sight of that put thee in mind of thy laziness . ier. 8. 7. there god sends the unthankful israelite to the stork , and the turtle , and the crane , and the swallow : the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed time , and the turtle and the crane , and the swallow observe the time of their coming . here you have a sudden and occasional meditation from the creatures of god , the turtle , the crane , the swallow , observe the time of their coming ; the stork at such a time of the year goes out of the land , and at such a time of the year comes into the land ; but my people ( there is the meditation ) know not the judgments of the lord. and thus christ sends the distrustful christian to the fowls of the air , and to the lillies of the field , mat. 6. 26. behold the fowls of the air for they sow not , neither do they reap nor gather into barns , yet your heavenly father feedeth them , ( here is an occasional meditation ) are you not better than many sparrows ? and why take you thought for raiment ? consider the lillies of the field how they grow , they toil not , neither do they spin , and yet i say unto you that even solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these . you have another example , ioh. 4. where christ discoursing with the woman of samaria , and intreating some water from the woman , takes an occasion from the water of the well to discourse of the water of life . and ioh. 6. from the loaves christ fed the people withal , he takes an occasion to discourse of the bread of life , you follow me for the loaves , saith christ ; but labour not for the meat that perisheth , but labour for the meat that endureth for ever . i am the bread of life that came down from heaven . christ takes occasion from the natural bread to meditate on the bread of life , the bread of heaven . to give you some other examples , i read in st. austin , that he had a water-course near his lodging , a great flowing down of waters ; and observing how sometimes the water went down silently , sometimes made a great noise ; from the consideration of the different streaming of the water , he made a rare discourse of the order of providence , the manner how god governs the world in order . there was a minister , mr. deering in queen elizabeth's days , a man of famous memory , in whose life it is reported , that just when he was a dying , the sun shone upon him ; and he takes occasion from that most excellently to discourse of that sun of righteousness , of the glory of heaven , of the happiness he was going to . i have likewise read , that mr. eske , and dr. hall ( who in his book of meditation doth quote this example ) were hearing a consort of musick , and this holy minister mr. eske being a very godly man , all on a sudden was so strangely transported with the thoughts of the joys of heaven , that he said with a great deal of passion , what musick , sirs , shall there be in heaven ! o the spiritual joy and melody that there we shall have ! there is a story of two cardinals in the council of constance , that riding abroad for their recreation , they saw a poor country-man weeping , and when they came to him , they askt him , why he wept ? saith he , do you see this toad here that lies before me , god might have made me a toad ; i am weeping because i never was sufficiently thankeful that god did not make me a toad ; ( you see this poor country-man takes an occasion from the sight of the toad to raise up his heart in thankfulness to god ) and these two cardinals when they heard him say so , they made use of the speech of st. austin , the poor and labouring men get to heaven , and we scholars go down to hell with all our learning . they were ashamed to see what a good use the country-man made of the sight of the toad . there is another story of a godly old man , that beholding a harlot how curiously she trimmed her self to please her wicked lover , he falls weeping , and being askt , why he wept ? saith he , i weep to see this leud woman what care she takes to dress her self to please her lover , and that i should never take so much care to dress my soul to please my god. i have read of ignatius the martyr , that when he heard the clock strike , he would have this meditation , now there is one hour more that i must answer for . i have read of fulgentius that rare scholar , that when he came to heathenish rome , and saw the emperour ride in triumph , he brake out into this exclamation , if there be so much glory in rome here upon earth , o what will be the glory of heaven ! i might be infinite in these stories ; only i will give you one more , and that is of a heathen-man , galen , famous for his skill in physick ; when he was viewing the composure of mans body , and beholding the curious workmanship of it , the story saith he fell to sing a hymn to his creator , none but a god could make such a body ; there must needs be a god that hath wrought so curiously the members of mans body . 3. give me leave to give you some motives to perswade you to the practise of this . it is in vain to hear my discourses , unless you endeavour to put them in practise . now i will give you these motives . 1. this way of meditation may be done at all times , this will not hinder your calling ; you that are poor men , and have not time for solemn meditation on the week-day , that are labouring men , and cannot spare an hour for solemn and deliberate meditation , you may make use of this sudden , ejaculatory , occasional meditation , even when you are at your day-work ; you may make use of your day-work , of the things that you are working about , to stir up your hearts to heavenly things ; for there is nothing in the world but a good christian may make a heavenly use of ; and therefore there is no body can say that he hath no leisure for this way of meditation . 2. this is a way of meditation , that a man may practise in all places , and in all companies . a godly man once said unto me , i thank god i can be in heaven when i am in the midst of the croud in cheapside ; in the midst of the noise i can have a heavenly meditation . there is no place , no company , can hinder thee from this occasional , sudden , ejaculatory meditation . 3. there is nothing more easie than this ejaculatory meditation to you that are spiritual ; deliberate and solemn meditation is very hard and difficult ; but this way of meditation is very easie ; and the reason is this , because there is no creature of god but is a teacher of some good thing ; thou canst not behold a spider but thou maist make some good use of it ; the scripture doth make many rare uses of a spider ; a wicked man may be lookt upon in a spider , as in a glass ; and the hope of a wicked man is compared to a spiders web ; as a spider puts his trust in his web , and spends a great deal of pains in weaving his web , and when it is woven , it is easily pull'd down , there is no stability in it ; so a wicked man puts his trust in his hope of heaven , which is as vain as a spiders web . and the scripture tells you how by all the money a wicked man gets by unlawful means , he doth but weave a spiders web . that is a rare use the prophet isaiah makes of the spiders , which is one of the meanest of all the creatures of god ; a spider and a toad , and a viper , even the venomous creatures , a man may make rare use of , isa. 59. 5 , 6. they hatch cockatrice eggs , and weave the spiders web : he that eateth of their eggs dieth ; and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper . their webs shall not become garments , neither shall they cover themselves with their works . that man is a very bad scholar that can spell nothing out of ten hundred thousand books , for every creature is as it were a book to teach us some good thing ; now that man is but a very ill scholar that can make use of none of these books . 4. herein lies the excellency of a christian , that he is able to spiritualize natural things : herein lies the wickedness of a wicked man , a wicked man doth naturalize spiritual things . but herein lies the godliness of a godly man ; a godly man doth spiritualize natural things ; a wicked man carnalizeth even spiritual things ; when he is at the ordinances , at the very sacrament , if he be not truly godly he doth carnalize and naturalize even that spiritual ordinance of the sacrament ; but a godly christian is like a heavenly alchymist , that can draw heaven out of a spider as it were , draw something of god out of a toad , heavenly instructions out of a toad , out of a viper , out of any creature of god , much more out of the heavens , sun , moon and stars . you wonder at the chymist , when he can extract all the four elements out of a mixt body ; much more excellent is that christian which can extract heaven out of every creature of god , that can heavenlize and spiritualize the creatures of god. and let me tell you a little to amplifie this motive ; 1. herein a true christian exceeds the bruit beasts ; the bruit beasts can enjoy the creature , but he cannot reflect upon the creature ; he enjoys the good things of god , but he cannot behold god in these things , he cannot improve them for god ; but now a true christian makes all these things to be glasses to see god in , pictures to behold god in ; the goodness of god , and the wisdom of god ; and he endeavours to receive spiritual instruction by them . 2. herein a child of god exceeds all wicked men ; there is no wicked man can use the creatures spiritually , it is above his sphere ; a wicked man makes the creatures a wall of separation between god and him , not a glass to see god ; there is no wicked man useth the creatures of god as a looking-glass to behold god in , or as a footstool to raise him up to god , or a ladder to climb to god by , this is proper only to a godly man. 5. consider this , it is the greatest affront you can offer to god , not to take spiritual notice of his creatures ; not to make a spiritual use of his creatures . god hath put mankind upon the stage of this world , and god hath made all the creatures for mans use , and god hath made man to be the tongue to praise him for all his creatures ; and if man doth not praise him , god loseth the praise of all the whole creation . god made all the creatures for man , and man to praise him for all the creatures ; which if man neglect , god loseth the glory of the whole creation ; for how doth the sun , and the moon , and the stars praise god! the prophet david calls upon the ice , and the snow , and the rain , and all the creatures of god , to praise god : how do they praise god ? how doth the fire and the water praise god ? when we praise god for these things , then they praise god when we use them for god , and draw heavenly things , spiritual instruction out of them ; and when we do not do this , we offer the greatest affront that can be offered to god in that kind , and we deprive god of the glory of the whole creation . 6. it is a soul-destroying sin not to observe the works of god , and to make a good use of them . psal. 28. 5. because they regard not the works of the lord , nor the operation of his hand , he shall destroy them , and not build them up . these are the six motives . now in a word to put an end to this discourse , let me beseech and intreat you , that you would put this duty in practise ; let me tell you , sirs , that though occasional , ejaculatory meditation be but as a parenthesis ( as one very well saith ) in your worldly businesses ; yet this parenthesis is more worth than all your worldly business ; yea , it signifies more than all your worldly business . as for example , ( i will conclude my discourse by giving you a little help ) : when i rise in a morning ; what an excellent thing were it for a man to meditate of the great morning of the resurrection , and that it shall be as easie for men to rise out of the grave at the great resurrection , as it hath been for me this morning to arise out of my bed . and when the sun begins to arise , and we behold the sun shining , what a rare meditation is it to consider there will a day come wherein the sun of righteousness shall come in the clouds , and all his holy angels with him , and all the saints at that day shall shine as so many suns in the firmament . o what a glorious day will that be , when there shall be as many suns as there are saints ! there shall be as many suns as there are stars now in a bright shining night in the heaven . and when thou art going abroad , it would be very comely , spiritual and useful to remember , that thou hast two companions always going with thee , that is god and the devil , ( pardon me that i join them together ) thou hast thy judg and thy accuser to go with thee ; wheresoever thou walkest in the day time , one devil or other is always waiting upon thee , and god is always present with thee , who will call thee to an account for all that thou dost ; and the devil scores up all that thou dost , for to acaccuse thee afterward . and when thou walkest abroad and seest a debauched wicked man , it is an excellent thing to have a meditation , and to say , blessed be god that hath made me to differ from this man ; if it had not been for the grace of god , i had been as wicked as this man. and when thou meetest with a godly man , a man eminent for godliness , oh put up a prayer to god that he would make thee as godly ; and mourn that thou art not as godly as he . when thou meetest with a learned man , or a wise man , or a beautiful creature , it is a very excellent meditation to consider , if there be so much beauty , so much wisdom in the creature , o what is there in god , who is the ocean of beauty ! if there be so much comeliness , so much excellency here below , oh what is there above ! it is a rare thing to use the creatures reflexively ; it is idolatry to use the creature terminately ; but the admirable , the superlative excellency of a christian is to use the creature reflexively ; to reflect from the creature to the creator . so likewise when thou art in thy shop , and weighing thy commodities , would it not be an excellent meditation , to think there will a time come , when god will weigh thee in a ballance , and weigh thy actions , and weigh all that thou dost ! and meditate on that text , prov. 11. 1. a false ballance is an abomination to the lord. and so likewise when you walk in the fields , and behold the grass that grows , and behold the flowers of the field , doth it not become you to meditate , that all flesh is grass , and all the glory of the world is but the goodliness of the grass ; and all earthly things are but like the beauty of a flower ? my little child that i love so much , is but like this flower , it is beautiful , but it is but fading . and when thou seest a wicked man grow great by wicked ways , would it not be a very comfortable thing to remember that text , fret not thy self because of evil doers , neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity , for they shall be soon cut down as the grass , and wither as the green herb . and you that are merchants , when you are upon the exchange , a short sudden ejaculation would not be hurtful , but helpful to you . as for example , to remember that as you are merchant-adventurers for earthly things , so you are all merchant-adventurers for heaven , and your souls are in the midst of the sea of this world ; this world is like a sea , and your soul is here like a ship at sea , and is in danger to be split upon the rocks , in danger of pirates , and in danger of being lost . your ships have not half so many dangers as your souls have ; the temptations of the devil , the allurements of the world , the corruptions of your own hearts . now to consider , as in the exchange , what is become of such and such a ship , so to ask thy soul in what case is thy soul now , that is on the sea of this world ; and then to go to the ensuring-office , ( you know you have your ensuring-offices , wherein you ensure your ships at sea ) to get your souls ensured by reconciliation with god ; and by true faith , manifested by holiness and righteousness , to get your souls assured , that they may come safe to the haven of happiness . in a clear bright frosty winter-night , when thou goest out and beholdest the bespangled heaven , multitude of bright stars , what a rare thing were it to meditate , this glorious bespangled firmament is but the stable as it were , but the out-houses of that heaven where i am to go ; it is but the outward court , but the wash-house , as i may say ; and if the stable and out-houses be so glorious , oh what is the inward palace ! above the spangled heavens is my fathers house , where i hope to live for ever with god , and there my christ is now interceding for me , and by the power of his spirit shall i be brought one day to that house ; oh when will that time come ! when will my soul mount thorough these heavens into the heaven of heavens ! now is not this comely for a christian ? will not this heavenlize you , and spiritualize you ? and then when you go to bed at night , to remember , i have one day more to answer for ; to remember there will a last night come , after which there will be no day but the resurrection of all . remember thy last night , thy concluding night , the end of thy life . but i have been over-long in this , a great deal more than i thought ; but i do it because here i shall put an end to this discourse of occasional meditation . there is a second sort of meditation , and that is that that i call set , solemn and deliberate ; when a man sets apart an hour a day it may be , sets a part some time , and goes into a private closet , or a private walk , and there doth solemnly and deliberately meditate of the things of heaven . now concerning this meditation , i shall handle by gods assistance these two particulars : 1. i will shew you the nature of it . 2. i will shew you the necessity of it . 1. the nature of this duty , what this meditation is , that i would press you to : i will describe it in two particulars . 1. this holy meditation is a dwelling and abiding upon things that are holy ; it is not only a knowing of god , and a knowing of christ , but it is a dwelling upon the things we know ; as the bee that dwells and abides upon the flower , to suck out all the sweetness that is in the flower ; so to meditate upon god and christ , and the sacrament , it is to dwell upon god , and the sacrament , to suck out all the sweetness we can in the things we meditate upon . as we read of anna , luk. 2. 37. she continued in the temple praying and fasting day and night . to meditate , is to continue and fix our selves and our hearts upon the things we know ; this meditation in scripture is called a holy musing , psal. 39. 3. my heart was hot within me , while i was musing ; to meditate is to muse , or else it is to commune with our own hearts , psal. 4. stand in awe and sin not : commune with your own heart upon your bed , and be still . it is a communing , a consulting with our own hearts ; or if you will , it is a bethinking our selves : so it is expressed , 1 king. 8. 47. if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captive , and repent : the hebrew word is , if they shall bring back to their hearts , if they shall reflect upon themselves ; for meditation is a reflecting act of the soul , whereby the soul is carried back to it self , and considers all the things that it knows . meditation is an inward act of the soul , a spiritual act , whereby the soul doth recoil upon it self , and looks back upon it self , and considers all the things that concern its everlasting happiness ; and if i be not mistaken , it is rarely typified under the law two manner of ways . 1. by those beasts that did chew the cud ; you shall read lev. 11. of the clean beasts , and the unclean beasts ; now the clean beasts were such as did chew the cud , of those they were to eat : now the unclean beasts were those that did not chew the cud : a meditating christian is one that chews the cud , that chews on the truths of jesus christ , that doth not only hear good things , but when he hath heard them , chews them over , ruminates upon them , that so they may be fitter for digestion and concoction , and spiritual improvement ; an unclean christian is one that doth not chew the cud , that doth not ruminate , and ponder , and bethink himself of the things of heaven . 2. another type of this rare grace of meditation , is that of the beasts , ezek. 1. that ezekiel saw , that had eyes within and without , vers. 18. their wings were full of eyes round about them . and so likewise the beasts rev 4. 6. round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind : a notable and a rare type of meditation ; for meditation is nothing else but a looking thoroughly into the things of god ; a looking before and behind , as i may so speak ; a meditating christian is a man full of eyes , that doth not only know god , but sees much of god. there is another metaphor to express it , psal. 119 59. i thought on my ways , and turned my feet unto thy testimonies : the word in the hebrew is taken from chapmen , that when they buy a commodity , they turn it over , and over , and over again ; they look all about it into every part of it . meditation is a thorow contemplation , and a thorow consideration of the things of god ; a meditating christian is full of eyes , full of heavenly understanding . 2. it is an act of the heart as well as of the head ; it is not only a speculative knowledg of things divine , but a practical knowledg ; it is not only an act of the intellect and understanding , but of the will and affections ; it is an affective grace as well as an intellective grace ; and therefore it is said of the blessed virgin mary , she pondered all these sayings in her heart ; she did not only think of them with her head , but she pondered on them with her heart ; and you shall read , deut. 4. 39. know therefore this day , and consider it in thy heart . a true meditation is when a man doth so meditate of christ as to get his heart inflamed with the love of christ ; so meditate of the truths of god , as to be transformed into them ; and so meditate of sin as to get his heart to hate sin ; when it is such a musing of god , as kindles a fire in the whole soul , as david doth express it , psal. 39. 3. while i was musing , the fire burnt : when a man doth so contemplate on god , that his heart is all on fire with the love of god ; when a man doth so think on the sacrament , that his heart is all on a fire with a holy thirsting after the sacrament . when the heart is affected with the meditation of the head ; and therefore david saith , psal. 104. 34. my meditation of him shall be sweet ; this is the true meditation , when we do so meditate of god , as to taste a sweetness in god ; when meditation doth not rest in the intellectual part , but flows into the will and affection , that the heart is all inflamed with the things we meditate on . there are many great scholars that meditate much of god , and christ , and heaven , and yet they are never the holier for their meditation ; and the reason is , because they meditate on these things meerly to find out curious notions of god , and christ , and heaven , but they do not meditate on these things to get their hearts affected , to get heavenly and divine hearts ; and therefore you shall see many scholars as undevout , and as unholy as other people , though they know more , and meditate more . and i have found it by experience , that there are many poor lay-people , that get more good by meditation than great scholars ; for the great scholar his meditation many times vanisheth into empty speculations , and into notions and opinions ; but the honest godly man his meditation is all for practice ; he meditates of sin to hate it , of the sacrament to hunger after it , of god to love him , of christ to be inflamed with a desire after him . and therefore he gets the more good many times by meditation . the butterflie will dwell upon the flower as well as the bee , but the butterflie only sucks the flower that she may paint her wings with it ; she is not useful to make honey , she doth not suck honey from the flower ; so there are many scholars , many men that meditate much of the things of god to paint their wings , that is , to get more knowledg of god and heaven , and more curious expressions of heaven , but it is the honest christian , the plain-hearted christian , that meditates of god like the bee , to suck out the sweetness of god ; that meditates on christ so as to get his heart burning in love to christ ; this is the rare grace of meditation . meditation must enter into three doors , or else it will never do you any good . 1. it must get into the door of the understanding , and there it is seated , there is the proper place of meditation ; but if it rest there , thou art never the better for it . 2. it must get into the door of thy heart , and of thy affections ; and thou must never leave meditating till it get into that door likewise . 3. the door of thy conversation ; for thy meditation must not rest in the affections ; but it must likewise have influence into thy conversation , to make thy conversation more holy ; thou must so meditate of god as to walk as god walks ; and so to meditate of christ as to prize him , and live in obedience to him . a nurse that hath a nurse-child , will cut the meat , and will many times chew the meat for the child , but she will not eat the meat , but give it to the child ; for if she should chew the meat and eat it up her self , the child might starve for all her chewing of it , and preparing of it ; so it is with the grace of meditation . meditation , while it is in the understanding , chews upon the things of god , and of christ , and of heaven , but when the understanding hath chewed these things , it must not devour all these things it self , but it must convey the meat it hath chewed ( as the meat is conveyed from the stomack into the liver , and then into the heart , and then into all the other parts of the body ) into the heart , and into the will , and into the affections , and into the conversation . this is the first , the admirable nature of this grace . 2. i come to shew you the necessity of it ; and i do this the rather , that i might provoke you all to the practice of it ; for i am very confident there are few people that do practise this duty of meditation ; there are few that know how to practise it ; but there are very few that make conscience to practise it ; even you that make conscience to praying twice a day in your family , seldom make conscience once a day of meditation , nay once a week . and therefore that i might awaken my self and you , give me leave to shew you the great necessity of practising the duty of meditation ; and i will shew it two manner of ways . 1. by considering the mischief that flows from the want of practising this duty . 2. by shewing you the advantage and spiritual benefit that you will gain by practising this duty . 1. i shall shew you the woful inconveniences , and the intolerable mischiefs that come from the want of practising this duty of meditation . i will bring them to two heads . 1. i will shew you , that the want of practising this duty is the cause of all sin . 2. it is the cause of all punishment . 1. i will shew you , that the want of practising this duty is the cause of all sin : and i will instance in particulars . 1. the reason why people harden their hearts in sin , and do not repent of their sins , but go on obstinately , is for want of meditation . ier. 8. 6. i hearkened and heard , but they spake not aright , no man repented him of his wickedness , saying , what have i done ? they did not repent , because they did not reflect upon what they did ; they did not bethink themselves , so the phrase is , if any man bethink himself and repent , 1 king. 8. 47. they did not say , i am undone by what i have done ; i have lost god and heaven by what i have done ; and if i do not repent , i am an undone creature for ever . no man repented of his wickedness , because no man considered what he had done ; for did you consider the evil that is in sin , did you dwell and abide upon it , did you commune with your own hearts , and seriously consider what an evil and bitter thing it is to sin against god , you durst not willingly sin against god ; but the reason why men go on rashly , heedlesly , obstinately in sin , is for want of the meditation of the evil of sin . 2. the reason why all the sermons we hear do us no more good , is for want of divine meditation ; for it is with sermons as it is with meat , it is not the having of meat upon your table will feed you , but you must eat it ; and not only eat it , but concoct it , and digest it , or else your meat will do you no good : so it is with sermons , it is not the hearing sermons will do you good , but it is the concocting them , digesting them by meditation ; the pondering in your hearts what you hear , must do you good . and one sermon well digested , well meditated upon , is better than twenty sermons without meditation . as for example , a little meat well digested will nourish a man more than a great deal of meat if it breed raw humours , if it doth not digest ; it is the digesting of meat nourisheth a man : now meditation is that that will digest all the sermons you hear . there are some men sick of a disease , that whatsoever they eat comes up presently , the meat never doth them any good ; so it is the custom of many of you , you hear a sermon , you go away , and never think of it afterward ; this is just like meat that you vomit up . there is a disease that some men have , that all the meat they eat goes thorow them , it never abides with them ; now this meat never nourisheth : so it is with the sermons you hear , i am sure on the week-day , and i am afraid the sermons you hear on the sabbath-day go thorow you , you hear them , and hear them , and that is all you do ; but you never seek by meditation to root them in your hearts ; and that is the reason why you are so lean in grace , though you are so full fed with sermons ; it is with sermons as it is with a plaister , if a man hath a wound in his body , and lay a plaister to the wound , this plaister will never heal him , unless it abide upon the wound ; if a man takes it away as soon as ever it is laid on , it will never do him any good ; so it is with sermons : if when you have heard a sermon , you never ponder and meditate on it , it is just like a plaister put on , and then pulled off again ; and i am confident the great reason why we have so many lean hunger-starved christians , that are lean in knowledg , and lean in grace , though they hear sermon upon sermon , ( it may be on the sabbath-day they will hear four or five sermons ) is because they concoct and digest nothing ; they never ponder and meditate upon what they hear ; and this is that that our saviour christ speaks of : by the seed that was sown by the high-way-side , is meant a man , that hears the word , and never thinks of it after he hath heard it , but suffereth the devil to steal it out of his heart ; as the husbandman that sows the seed in the high-way , you know he never plows it , he never looks that that should come to any thing . there are many of you , the sermons you hear are like the seed sown in the high-way , you never cover it by meditation , you never think of it , when you have heard it ; and that is the reason you get no more good by what you hear . 3. the reason why the promises of god do no more affect your hearts , when the saints of god taste no more sweetness in the promises , is because you do not ponder and meditate upon them . it is with the promises of the gospel as it is with a cordial , if a man doth not chew his cordial but swallow it down whole , he will never taste any great sweetness , in it ; the way to taste the sweetness is to chew it ; so the promises of god are full of heavenly comfort , but you will never enjoy this comfort unless you chew them by meditation . as it is with spices , unless they be bruised , they never smell sweet ; and as it is with a pomander , unless you do rub it , you will never smell the sweetness of it ; no more will you ever taste the heavenly comfort that is in the promises of the gospel , unless you rub them , unless you bruise , unless you chew them by meditation . and the reason why the saints of god walk so uncomfortably all their lives long , is because they do not chew these promises . 4. the reason why the threatnings of god make no more impression upon our hearts , is for want of meditation . there are terrible threatnings against sin in the word , but alas there are few people affected with these threatnings . the threatnings of god in scripture are like the ratling of hail upon the tiles , they make a great noise , but they make no impression ; and what is the reason ? it is for want of meditation ; we do not lay them to heart , we do not consider that these threatnings belong to us , as long as we continue in our sins . oh did a wicked man meditate solemnly upon the threatnings of god , it would make his heart ake , especially when the spirit of bondage goes along with them . 5. the reason why the mercies of god do no more good upon us , is for want of meditation . there are many mercies that all of us have received from god , many personal mercies , and many family-mercies , and all these mercies are so many motives to service . now what is the reason the saints of god bury the mercies of god in forgetfulness , and are no more thankful for mercies ? the reason is for want of meditation , isa. 1. 2 , 3. hear , oh heavens , and give ear , oh earth , for the lord hath spoken : i have nourished and brought up children , and they have rebelled against me ; the ox knoweth his owner , and the ass his masters crib , but israel doth not know , my people doth not consider : that is the reason why they are so unthankful . it is with the mercies of god as it is with the fire , if a man walks by the fire and doth not sit at it , it will never heat him much ; if he be a cold , he must abide at the fire , or else he will never be hot ; so it is not a slight thought of the mercies of god that will affect your hearts , but it must be a dwelling upon them by meditation , that will warm your hearts . now because we do not meditate upon these mercies , we do not solemnly consider the mercies of god , therefore it is they do no more good upon our hearts , psal. 106. there is a psalm spent on purpose to set out the unthankfulness of the people of israel , vers. 3. we have sinned with our fathers , we have committed iniquity , we have done wickedly ; our fathers understood not thy wonders in egypt , they remembred not the multitude of thy mercies , but provoked him at the sea , even at the red-sea . what is the reason they were so unthankful ? it was because they did not meditate on the mercies of god. 6. the reason why afflictions do work no more upon us , and why we are never the better for the afflicting hand of god , is for want of meditation : it is a rare text , eccles. 7. 14. in the day of prosperity be joyful , but in the day of adversity consider . times of affliction are times of meditation ; and what must we consider of in the day of adversity ? we must consider who it is that afflicts us , and why we are afflicted , and how we shall do to have our afflictions sanctified ; we must consider the meaning of gods rod , and how we may be taught by these afflictions spiritual things . now because we do not meditate upon god , and upon his afflicting hand when we are afflicted , because we have slight heads under our afflictions , therefore it is we get no more good by our afflictions . i have observed many of us ( the lord pardon it unto us ) as soon as ever we are recovered from our afflictions , we forget god presently , we never consider the mercies of god in recovering us , and then we return to our old vomit again , for want of meditation . 7. the reason why the providences of god take no more impression upon our hearts , is for want of this grace of meditation : the providences of god are very mysterious , and god in the government of the world doth walk in the clouds . and truly i am very confident , that which god doth especially require of his children in these days , is to meditate upon his providences , as well as upon his ordinances ; there are many rare lessons to be learned from the consideration of the providences of god , the providence of god toward england , and toward scotland , and toward the ministry ; god is now depriving you of minister upon minister , many ministers the lord hath taken from you ; god is , as i may so speak , disburthening the nation of this great burden of the ministry , which is a burden to a great many ; god takes his ministers up to heaven . now what is the reason that the providences of god of late years do no more good , though they have been wonderful toward england , scotland , and ireland , towards all sorts of people ? the reason why we are never the better by them , is because we do not study the meaning of all these providences , isa. 57. 1. the righteous perisheth , and no man layeth it to heart , and merciful men are taken away , none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come . this is the reason why we get no more good by the death of the godly , and by the providences of god , because we do not lay them to heart ; we do not muse and study upon them . 8. what is the reason that the saints of god are so distrustful of gods providences ? when they are ready presently to sink , and to say they are undone ? it is for want of meditation ; and therefore christ , luk. 12. saith , take no thought what you shall eat , or what you shall put on ; consider the ravens , for they neither sow nor reap , which neither have store-house nor barn , and god feedeth them ; how much more are ye better than the fowls ? consider the lillies how they grow , they toil not , they spin not ; and yet i say unto you , that solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these . did you consider the lillies , and the ravens , did you study the love of god to you , you would not distrust him under any sad providences . the reason why the saints of god are so full of unbelief , when they are in a low condition , is for want of meditation ; they do not consider the ravens , and the lillies , they do not study the promises that god hath made to his children in their lowest condition . 9. the reason why the professors of religion are so censorious of other men , and so little censorious of themselves , why they judg every man , and examine every man but themselves , ( which is the condition of these days ) it is for want of meditation . mat. 7. iudg not that ye be not judged : for with what judgment ye judg , ye shall be judged : and with what measure you mete , it shall be measured to you again . and why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brothers eye , but considerest not the beam that is in thy own eye ? if men did reflect more upon themselves , they would censure themselves more , and others less . and the reason why people are so rash in censuring , is for want of self-reflection . 10. the reason why professors of religion do offer the sacrifices of fools to god , when they come to worship him ; why they pray headily and rashly , why they rush upon ordinances without preparation , is for want of meditation , eccles. 5. 1. keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of god , and be more ready to hear than to offer the sacrifices of fools , for they consider not that they do evil . be not rash with thy mouth , and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before god. why do people rush upon sacraments without preparation , rush upon sermons , rush upon prayer , rush upon holy duties ? why , they do not consider what they do . 11. what is the reason that people prepare no more for death ? because they do not consider the shortness of life . they do not meditate of the vanity of this life , of the certainty and uncertainty of death ; and therefore it is said , deut. 32. 29. oh that they were wise , that they understood this , that they would consider their latter end ! because men do not consider their latter end , therefore it is that they are so unprepared for their latter end . 12. and lastly , what is the reason that we come so unworthily to the sacrament ? and when we are there , we gaze up and down , and carry our selves so unseemly at that ordinance ? what is the reason that we lose all the fruit of that ordinance , but meerly for want of preparation before we come , and meditation when we are come ? now preparation cannot be without meditation ; preparation includes meditation in it . 2. the want of the practise of this duty is the cause of all punishment : isa. 12. 11. the whole land is laid desolate , because no man layeth it to heart . oh this is the cause of the sword that hath drunk so much blood in this nation , no man lays to heart the judgments of the lord , therefore the land is become desolate . psal. 28. 5. because they regard not the works of the lord , nor the operation of his hand , he shall destroy them , and not build them up ; because they do not meditate of gods works , therefore they lord will destroy them . nay , let me add that that is above all this , for god to give a man over to a slight spirit , an unmeditating spirit , to a rashness and slightness of spirit , is one of the greatest judgments in the world . a man of a slight head can never have a good heart ; a slight hearted christian can never be a good christian ; he that thinks slightly of god , will speak slightly of god ; and he that speaks slightly of god , will worship god slightly ; and he that slights god , god will slight him ; now there cannot be a more cursed frame of spirit , than to be given over to an unconsiderate frame of spirit ; an unconsiderate christian is an inconsiderable christian. isa. 42. 24 , 25. who gave iacob for a spoil , and israel to the robbers ? did not the lord , he , against whom we have sinned ? for they would not walk in his ways , neither were they obedient to his law . therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger , and the strength of battel , and it hath set him on fire round about , yet he knew not ; and it burned him , yet he laid it not to heart . here is the curse of curses , not so much to be burnt , as not to know it ; not so much to have the wrath of god upon us , as not to lay it to heart ; it is a sign of the greatest fury of god , for a man to be given over to slightness of spirit ; when he is under the judgments of god not to regard and lay them to heart . and thus i have been somewhat long in setting out unto you the mischiefs that flow from the want of the practise of the grace of meditation ; and i do this to provoke you all to be humbled before god for the not practising this duty , ( for i am confident your consciences will tell you that you do not practise it ) and to convince you of the necessity of the practising of this duty , which is quite dead and buried in the world . that i may be gods instrument to stir you up to a conscientious practise of this duty of heavenly meditation , 2. i shall shew you the necessity of it from the benefits and advantages that will come unto christians by the conscientious practise of this duty ; and this i will shew in three particulars . 1. it is a mighty help to the working and procuring of all grace . 2. it is a mighty help to preserve and increase grace . 3. it is a mighty help to arm us against the devil and all his temptations . 1. meditation when it is sanctified , is a mighty help to the begetting of all grace ; this i will shew in divers particulars . 1. it is a mighty help to work in us repentance and reformation of life ; and therefore david saith , psal. 119. 59. i thought on my ways , and turned my feet unto thy testimonies . i thought on my ways ; that is , i considered the evil of my ways , and what a bitter thing it is to sin against god , what a dishonour i have brought upon god by my evil ways , and what a scandal i have brought upon religion . ezek. 36. 31. then shall you remember your own evil ways , and your doings that were not good , and shall loath your selves in your own sight for your iniquities , and for your abominations . a conscientious meditation of the evil of sin , is a divine hammer to break your hearts for sin , and from sin ; for did you consider the majesty of god that is offended by the least sin ; did you consider the infinite wrath of god against sin ; did you consider the affronts that are offered to god by sin ; that every sin is a dethroning of god , a robbing of god , a striking through the name of god ; did you consider the pollution that is in sin , that sin makes you like the devil ; did you further consider the mischief that sin brings upon us ; sin deprives you of the beatifical vision ; sin shuts you out of heaven ; sin binds you over to everlasting burnings . again , did you consider the patience of god , and the goodness of god towards you yet , notwithstanding all your sins , and what an unkind thing it is to sin against so good a god ; and did you further consider what christ hath done to purchase pardon for your sins , and how christ hath shed his blood for such wicked wretches as you are ; did you sanctifiedly meditate upon these things , it would mightily provoke you to repent of your sins , and to turn unto god. and therefore you shall read concerning peter , after he had denied christ , mark 14. 72. the cock crew , and peter called to mind the word iesus said unto him , before the cock crow twice thou shalt deny me thrice ; and when he thought thereon he wept . the meaning of the greek word is , when he weighed the speech of christ , when he thought what an unkind thing it was to deny his dear lord and master , this made him weep ; if he had not meditated of the evil that he had committed , he had never wept . and what made the prodigal child return home to his father ? you shall see the reason , luk. 15. 17. and when he came to himself , he said , how many hired servants of my father have bread enough , and to spare , and i perish with hunger ! when he came to consider with himself , the misery that he had brought upon himself , and that there were many servants in his fathers house that had bread enough , i will arise ( saith he ) and go to my father , and i will say , father , i have sinned against heaven , ( all this was but his meditation , he did but thus think in his heart to do this ) and he arose and came to his father . 2. divine meditation is a mighty help to beget in us a love to god ; for as it is with a picture , that hath a curtain drawn over it , though the picture be never so beautiful , you cannot see the beauty of it till the curtain be drawn aside ; to an unconsiderating , an unmeditating christian , god is as a picture with a curtain drawn over it , he cannot see the beauty of god , but meditation draws the curtain , and lets us in to behold all the beauty that is in god ; and he that beholds the beauty of god , cannot but love god. as it is said of socrates , he was so good a man that all that knew him loved him ; and if any man did not love him , it was because they did not know him ; much more may i say of god , all that meditate in , and study god , cannot but love him . and the reason why you do not love him , is because you do not study and meditate on god : as it is said , 1 ioh. 4. 8. he that loveth not , knoweth not god , for god is love : he that knoweth god , loveth god. what is the reason the saints in heaven love god so perfectly ? because they always behold his face , they see him , they think on him . and did you meditate upon the excellency of god , that god is altogether lovely , that all excellencies are after an infinite manner concentered in god , that there is nothing lovely in the creature but it is to be found infinitely in the creator : did you further consider all the good things that god hath done for you ; all the blessings and mercies that you have received from god ; did you not only think , but did you dwell upon these thoughts , did you sit at this fire , it would kindle a mighty flame of divine love in your souls ; therefore david saith , psal. 39. 3. my heart was hot within me ; while i was musing the fire burned . psal. 104. 34. my meditation of him shall be sweet . did you meditate much of god , you would taste a sweetness in god , that would be as a loadstone to draw your hearts to the love of god. 3. divine meditation is a mighty help to work in us a fear of god , the fear of god is the beginning of wisdom ; now did you study the majesty of god , that god hath all men , all the devils in a chain , and that god only can do us hurt ; and that no man can do us hurt but god must give him leave . did you study the omnipotency of god , you would fear god , and fear him only : as it is isa. 51. 12 , 13. i , even i am he that comforteth you : who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die , and the son of man that shall be made as grass , and forgettest the lord thy maker , that hath stretched forth the heavens , and laid the foundations of the earth ! as if he should say , if thou didst remember and think on the lord thy god , who made the heavens and the earth , and hath all things in his hand , thou wouldest not fear a man that shall die , &c. jer. 10. 6 , 7. first the prophet breaks out into an admiration of god , forasmuch as there is none like unto thee , o lord : thou art great , and thy name is great in might : who would not fear thee , o king of nations ? for to thee doth it appertain : forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations , and in all their kingdoms , there is none like unto thee . the meditation of god stirs up the prophet to fear god , ier. 5. 22. fear ye not me , saith the lord ? will you not tremble at my presence , which hath placed the sand for the bound of the sea , by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass , though the waves thereof toss themselves , yet can they not prevail : though they roar , yet cannot they pass over it . did we meditate much upon the power of god , we would fear him , and stand in awe of him . 4. this divine meditation is a mighty help to beget in us a love to iesus christ ; for jesus christ is a fountain sealed , a spring shut up , a garden inclosed . now you know no man is the better for a book sealed up , or a treasure lockt up ; to a careless christian christ is a fountain sealed , a treasure lockt up ; but meditation is the key that unlocks the treasury of all the excellencies of christ , and opens the book to let us read all the excellencies that are in christ. meditation doth as it were open the fountain ; and did we study what christ is , that he is the choicest of ten thousand , altogether excellent , the brightness of his fathers glory , and the express image of his person ; and did we study the love of christ to poor sinners , the height , the depth , the length , the breadth of the love of god toward us ; did we study how christ became poor to make us rich , how he became a curse to free us from the curse ; how he was made sin that we might be made the righteousness of god thorough him ; did we bury our selves in this meditation ; did you take half an hour in a day to meditate on the excellency of christ , did you when you walk in the fields meditate on the love of christ , i am confident it would beget in you a love to christ. 5. divine meditation is a mighty help to inable us to believe and trust in god. to trust , 1. in his providence in all outward streights . 2. in his promises in all spiritual troubles . 1. it will help you to trust in his providence when you are in any streights : when all creature-helps fail , and you are ready to sink , then meditation will raise your faith , and help you to trust in gods providence for outward provision , mat. 6. 25 , &c. i say unto you ( saith christ ) take no thought for your life what you shall eat , or what ye shall drink , nor yet for your body what you shall put on ; be not solicitous for your outward provision . but how doth christ argue ? what way should we take , that we may not distrust god ? saith he , meditate upon the fowls of the air ; behold the fowls of the air for they sow not . v. 28. why take you thought for raiment , consider the lillies of the field how they grow , they toil not , neither do they spin , and yet i say unto you , that even solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these . the meditation of the lillies and the fowls of the air is a means to help us to trust in the lord in the day of our streights . 2. it will enable you to relye upon the promises for the good of your souls . did you when you read the promises of the bible , chew them , how sweet would they be ; the reason why the promises are not sweet to you , is because you read them , but you do not chew them by meditating upon them ; if you did meditate upon them , they would be sweeter than the honey , and the honey-comb , especially if you did join application with meditation . abraham was the father of the faithful , and he was strong in faith ; and what made him strong in faith ? because he considered not his own body now dead , neither the deadness of sarah's womb , but he considered the promise of god , rom. 4. 19. and the reason why the saints of god are so void of comfort , and hang down their heads , and walk so disconsolately , is because they consider the deadness of their own souls ; they consider their imperfections , but they do not meditate upon the promises , the freeness and the riches of them , mat. 16. 8. which when iesus perceived , he said to them , oh ye of little faith , why reason ye among your selves , because you have brought no bread ? here christ reproves them for want of faith ; but how came they to want faith ? do you not understand , neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand , and how many baskets ye took up ? and do ye not remember the seven loaves of the four thousand , and how many baskets you took up ? as if christ should have said , if you had meditated on my former miracles , you would never have doubted this miracle ; but because you do not remember what i have formerly done , therefore it is that you are so full of unbelief . now the way to fill your souls with comfort is to meditate upon the promises of god. 6. divine meditation is a mighty help to beget in us a contempt of the world , and all worldly things ; for the world is like unto gilded copper , it is an easie matter for a man to mistake gilded copper for true gold , unless he considers what he takes ; for if a man take gold without consideration , he may quickly be cozened ; there is a glittering excellency in the world , the wealth and riches of it are glorious things to a carnal eye , but meditation of the world will wash away all the paint that is upon the world ; the studying the vanity of the world , the nothingness of all earthly things , the unsatisfiableness of them , and the perishing nature of them , this will take away the glittering excellency that seems to be in the world ; and certainly you would never be so covetous , and so worldly , and dote so much upon the world , did you meditate upon the vanity of it , as you should do ; this is the course solomon takes : the book of eccles ▪ is called , the book of the preacher ; and the subject of it is to wean us from the love of the world . but what course doth solomon take ? eccles. 1. 3. i gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things done under heaven . his course was to consider all the creatures that were under the heaven ; i have seen , saith he , all the works that are done under the sun , and behold all is but vanity and vexation of spirit . after he had meditated upon the world , he goes over the riches and the pleasures of the world , and when he had reckoned them all , he concludes in chap. 2. 11. then i looked on all the works my hand had wrought , and on the labour that i had laboured to do , and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit . i gathered me silver and gold , and the peculiar treasure of kings , and of the provinces ; i got me men-singers , and women-singers , and the delights of the sons of men , as musical instruments , and that of all sorts ; so i was great , and increased more than all before me in ierusalem ; also my wisdom remained with me , and whatsoever mine eyes desired i kept not from them . and when he had looked upon all these glorious excellencies , what was his conclusion ? behold , saith he , all was vanity and vexation of spirit , and there was no profit under the sun. did we meditate much on the vanity of the world , we would not idolize it so much . 7. divine meditation is a mighty help to beget in us the grace of thankefulness for the mercies and blessings we receive from god. certainly it is a great duty that lyes upon us to be thankful for gods mercies ; now there is no way to stir you up to thankefulness so much as meditation upon the mercies of god ; for he that forgets the mercies of god , cannot be thankful for them ; and therefore mark the course that david takes , psal. 8. 3. when i consider the heavens , the work of thy fingers , the moon , the stars , which thou hast ordained ; then he crys out , what is man that thou art mindful of him ! or the son of man that thou visitest him ! for thou hast made him a little lower than the angels . when he considered what god had done for man , then he admires the love of god to man , and breaks out into thankfulness . certainly a christian forgetful of gods mercies can never be thankful for them ; and the way to beget thankefulness is to meditate on what god hath done for us . 8. divine meditation is a mighty help to beget in you a preferring of gods house before your own house . it is the great sin of this age wherein we live , that every man studies to build his own house , and no man cares for the house of the lord : we may truly say as ieremiah saith , this is sion whom no man regards ; every man seeks his own interest , and no man almost cares what becomes of religion . there is a strange kind of lukewarmness that is upon the spirits of all men in this age , that so men may grow great themselves , they care not what becomes of the house of god : now divine meditation would make you prefer the building of gods house before the building of your own house . and for this purpose let me beseech you to read hag. 1. 4. is it time for you , oh ye , to dwell in your cieled houses , and this house lye waste ? it was the sin of the people of israel , that they neglected the building of gods house , and every man strove to grow rich in his own particular : now therefore thus saith the lord of hosts , consider your ways , ( here the prophet calleth them to consideration ) ye have sown much , but bring in little ; ye eat , but you have not enough ; ye drink but ye are not filled with drink ; ye clothe you , but there is none warm . and he that earneth wages , earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes . what was the matter ? because they did not build gods house , therefore god did not build their house : v. 7. thus saith the lord of hosts , consider your ways : ye looked for much , but lo it came to little : and when you brought it home , i did blow upon it ; why saith the lord of hosts , because of my house that is waste , and ye run every man into his own house , therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew , and the earth is stayed from her fruit . god will never settle england , god will never settle your houses , till you make conscience to build gods house , and till you have more zeal for the house of god than for your own houses ; though you may dream of peace and plenty , yet certainly the lord will never build your houses , until you build gods house . and therefore he saith further , hag. 2. 17. i smote you with blasting and with mildew , and with hail in all the labours of your hands , yet ye turned not to me , saith the lord. consider now from this day and upward , from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month , even from the day that the foundation of the lords temple was laid ; consider it , from this day will i bless you . and certainly the world is much mistaken ; the way to build your own house , is to join together to settle religion ; god will never prosper you , till gods house be setled . and did you meditate on these two chapters , the first and second chapter of haggai , it would by gods grace beget in you a mighty zeal toward the setling of the house of god , and to prefer that before the setling of your own house . 9. divine meditation will beget in us a keeping of all the commandments of god. there is no commandment of god but divine meditation when it is sanctified , ( i do not say otherwise ) will work in us , and inable us to keep : deut. 4. 39 , 40. know therefore this day , and consider it in thy heart , that the lord is god in heaven above , and upon the earth beneath there is none else ; thou shalt keep therefore his statutes , and his commandments . and david saith , psal. 119. 55. i have remembred thy name , oh lord , in the night , and have kept thy law. 2. divine meditation is not only a means to beget grace , but it is a mighty help to preserve and increase grace . as the wood preserves the fire ; as the oil preserves the flame ; as the water preserves the fish , so doth meditation preserve your graces . it preserves every grace , and it increaseth every grace ; for meditation is a divine pair of bellows to blow up the sparks of grace ; when there is but a little fire , meditation will kindle this fire more , and increase it ; when you find your love of god grows cold , meditate upon the love of god , and this will kindle the love of god in your hearts ; and when you find the fear of god to diminish in you , meditate upon the power of god , that thy breath is in his hand , that he hath thee in his hand ; this will increase the fear of god ; and so when the love of the world increaseth upon you , meditate upon the vanity and nothingness of it , and this will decrease the love of the world . 3. divine meditation , as it is a means to beget grace , and to increase grace , so it is a mighty means to arm and defend us against all the temptations of the devil , and against all his fiery darts . it is armour of proof against the devil and all his temptations . what made moses refuse the pleasure , treasures and honours of egypt ? for moses when he was of age , a young man , and fit to enjoy the pleasures of egypt , he chose rather to suffer affliction than to enjoy the pleasures of sin ; he refused to be called the son of pharoah's daughter : what made him do all this ? because he had respect to the recompence of reward , and he beheld him that was invisible ; he meditated upon the reward he should have in heaven ; he knew the pleasures of heaven were better than the pleasures of pharoah's court ; and he knew the treasures he should have in heaven were better than the treasures he should have in egyyt ; and therefore he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of god , than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season : he knew he could not enjoy both , and he had an eye to the recompence of reward , he saw him that was invisible ; and this made him do all this ; he could never have done this without this divine grace of meditation . and what made ioseph refuse to lye with his mistris , when he might have been preferred by lying with her , and had secresie and security ? why he meditated , how can i do this and sin against god ? he thought of god , and he would not do it ; it was meditation that made him refuse it . what made the saints of old receive joyfully the spoiling of their goods ? heb. 10. 34. they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods , knowing in themselves that they had in heaven a better and an enduring substance . because they knew , that is , they considered that they had in heaven an enduring substance , an eternal reward , they should have better riches there ; they considered that , and that made them lose their outward estates ; they looked for a better estate in heaven . bishop hooper , when he was going to martyrdom , over night he discoursed and reasoned with himself ; saith he , when i think of the fire , i begin to be afraid , for i fear that fire will burn : but when i think of the fire of hell , the fear of eternal fire makes me willing to endure a temporary fire . saith he again , when i think of the loss of life , i begin to be afraid ; i know life is precious ; and when i meditate upon these outward enjoyments , outward preferments , i seem unwilling to be burnt ; but when i meditate of the joys of heaven , and the preferments that i shall have there , this makes me willing to go through fire , to go through martyrdom to heaven . it was meditation of heaven , and the joys of heaven that made the martyrs come so willingly to the stake , and imbrace it as a bride doth her bridegroom . and thus i have shewed you the great necessity of this grace of meditation : it remains now that i should come to the application of this doctrine . if this duty of divine meditation be so necessary a duty , as you have heard ; then it reproves those christians that are utterly unaccustomed , and unacquainted with this duty ; that receive mercies from god , but are never the better for the mercies they do receive , for want of meditation , that do not say in their hearts , let us fear that god that doth give us the former and the latter rain , as it is , ier. 5. 23. it reproves those that are guilty of many sins , but do not repent for want of consideration , because they do not say in their hearts what have i done ? it reproves those that meet with many losses and crosses in the world , but are never the better , for their afflictions , because they do not consider what is the meaning of gods rod , and how they may get their afflictions sanctified ; that read the blessed promises of the gospel , but taste not the sweetness of them for want of meditation , for want of chewing them ; in a word , that hear many sermons , but are never the better for the sermons they hear , and all for want of this divine meditation . the mercies of god , and the promises of god , and the afflictions of god , and the sermons we hear , are like unto a soveraign plaister , which though it be never so good , if it be taken off the wound as soon as ever it is laid on , it will never cure the wound , it is the abiding of the plaister upon the wound that cures it : so it is the dwelling upon the mercies we receive , the chewing upon the promises , the meditating upon the sermons we hear , will do us good . that man that hears a sermon and forgets it as soon as he hath heard it , will get no good by it ; it is with sermons and mercies as it is with meat , a man may eat his meat and be never the more nourished if he do not digest it , if he vomit it up as soon as he hath eaten it , or if his meat presently go through him , it will do him no good ; it is the digesting , the concocting of meat that nourisheth a man ; so there are thousands of people that hear sermon upon sermon , and yet are never the more holy by what they hear , for want of digesting the sermons they hear by divine meditation : now this want of meditation is a sin , that i perswade my self most christians are guilty of , i cannot exclude my self ; there are few christians that are convinced of the necessity of this duty of divine meditation , few that practise this duty ; the great god hath exercised this nation with variety of providences for these many years ; we have been these eleven or twelve years in the fire of affliction ; we have met with unexpected changes and alterations , but where is the man that lays to heart the providences of god ? where is the man that studies what god is doing with this nation ? and how to get the providences of god sanctified ? we may say of most of the nation , as it is in ier. 12. 11. the whole land is made desolate , because no man layeth it to heart . there is no man considers what is the meaning of gods providences , the variety and strangeness , and wonderfulness of them . we are like unto those , isa. 42. 24 , 25. who gave israel to the spoil , and israel to the robbers ? did not the lord , he against whom we have sinned ? for they would not walk in his ways , neither were they obedient to his law , therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger , and the strength of battel , and it hath set him on fire round about , yet he knew not ; and it burned him , but he laid it not to heart . we have been burning , and burning , and consuming , but no man lays it to heart ; this is the great sin of this nation , the lord humble us . there are four sorts of christians that are here to be reproved for the want of the grace of divine meditation . 1. the ignorant christian , that knows not how to set about the work of meditation for want of matter to meditate upon ; for meditation supposeth knowledg , meditation is a dwelling upon that we know ; and therefore the ignorant christian cannot be a meditating christian ; he that is ignorant of god , cannot meditate of god ; he that is ignorant of christ crucified , cannot meditate of christ crucified ; and this is one reason why so many saints of god are so barren in sacramental meditation , because they know so little of christ crucified ; the ignorance of god and christ is not only a sin , but it is the root of all sin . it is said , 1 sam. 2. 12. of the two sons of old eli , they were sons of belial , and they knew not the lord. all sin is wrapt up in ignorance , as a child in swadling clouts ; as toads and serpents grow in dirty and dark cellars , so doth all sin grow where ignorance dwells . and therefore chrysostome saith , that ignorance is a deep hell . and one saith very well , an ignorant christian is the devils shop , wherein he forges all manner of wickedness . 2. there is the forgetful christian : for meditation is a meditating of what we know concerning god and heaven , and the day of judgment ; it is a bringing of the things we know , unto our selves ; and therefore a forgetful christian cannot be a meditating christian ; he that forgets the mercies of god , can never meditate on the mercies of god : this sin of forgetfulness of god , is a sin that the children of israel were very guilty of , psal. 106. 7. the prophet complains of them ; our fathers understood not thy wonders in egypt , they remembred not the multitude of thy mercies , but provoked him at the sea , even at the red sea , v. 13. they soon forgot his works , v. 31. they forgot god their saviour , which had done great things in egypt ; therefore he said , that he would destroy them . the forgetfulness of god , and the mercies of god , is made the root of all sin , as well as the ignorance of god. iudg. 3. 7. the children of israel did evil in the sight of the lord , and forgot the lord their god , therefore they did evil in the sight of the lord. and therefore god lays a charge upon the children of israel , that when they came into the land of canaan , and should have the fulness of all outward blessings , deut. 8. 11. beware ( saith he ) that thou forget not the lord thy god , in not keeping his commandments , and his judgments , and his statutes , which i command thee this day : lest when thou hast eaten , and art full , and hast built goodly houses , and dwelt therein : v. 14. then thy heart be lifted up , and thou forget the lord thy god. you that forget the mercies of god , god will forget to be merciful unto you ; and you that do not remember what good things god hath done for you , god will take order that you shall have no good things to remember . the good thief on the cross when he was dying , his great request to christ was , lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom . it is the great desire of all saints that god would remember them in mercy ; but certainly you that forget the mercies of god , god will forget to be merciful unto you . 3. i am to reprove the rash-headed christian , that rushes upon duties , and upon ordinances , and publick offices , without consideration ; that comes rashly to the sacrament , and kneels down rashly to his private and publick devotion ; that doth not consider before-hand when he comes to worship the lord our god ; this i call the rash-headed christian , we have many such among us . and there are four things worthy your observing , that may be said of a rash-headed christian. he is a spiritual fool , and all the sacraments he receives , and the prayers he makes , they are the sacrifices of fools , as you have it excellently set down , eccles. 5. 1 , 2. keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of god , and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifices of fools , for they consider not that they do evil . be not rash with thy mouth , and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before god , for god is in heaven , and thou upon earth , therefore let thy words be few . out of which two verses i gather these two things . 1. that it is the duty of all christians in all their addresses to god to consider who this god is to whom they draw near ; to consider their own vileness , and gods excellency ; to consider that god is in heaven and they are upon earth . 2. that whosoever doth rush upon ordinances without consideration , he doth offer up the sacrifice of fools , because he doth not consider that he doth evil ; when you come rashly to publick duties here upon the sabbath-day , and you come rashly to the sacrament , and when you are hasty to utter words to god , you come as so many spiritual fools . 2. a rash-headed christian will many times speak that which he will wish he had not spoken ; and he will do that which he shall have cause to repent of . we have many examples of the saints of god , that have paid dearly for their rash-speaking , and their rash-practising ; for this rashness is a sin that the saints of god are very much subject to ; we read of peter , that he fell three times into this sin . mat. 16. 22. there christ told peter , that he must be crucified , and peter began to rebuke him , saying , be it far from thee , lord , this shall not be unto thee . peter spake very rashly ; now christ said unto him , get thee behind me , satan , thou art an offence unto me . and luk. 9. when christ was transfigured , then peter began to utter a rash speech ; saith peter to christ , master , it is good for us to be here ; and let us make three tabernacles , one for thee , and one for moses , and one for elias ; not knowing what he said : it was a rash speech ; and especially , luk. 22. when christ told him that one of you shall betray me ; saith he very rashly , master , though all betray thee , yet will not i betray thee . but he spake rashly , not knowing the deceitfulness of his own heart . we read of the two brethren , iames and iohn , that they spake very rashly unto christ , luk. 9. 54. when his two disciples iames and iohn saw this , they said , lord , wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them , even as elias did ? but he turned and rebuked them , and said , ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of . we read of moses , that he spake unadvisedly with his lips , and god was angry with him , numb . 20. shall we bring water for you out of he rock ? he spake unadvisedly , and the lord was angry with him . iephtha made a rash vow , whatsoever i see , i will offer in sacrifice . he had cause to repent of that vow . and that which i say of words , i may say of deeds , the saints of god have done many things in their haste , that they have cause to repent of ; david rashly gave away the land of innocent mephibosheth to his servant , 2 sam. 16. 4. ziba came with a false accusation against his master , and david rashly without examining the cause , said , thine are all that pertained unto mephibosheth : which was a very sinful and an unjust rash action of david ; he gave away all the estate of the master to a cunning servant . and when he came marching against nabal , he spake rashly , and was acting rashly ; as the lord lives , saith he , i will not leave one alive of the house of nabal : and he came with his army thinking to destroy all , if abigail had not prevented him . 3. a rash-headed christian will quickly run into error , and into by-paths . as a man that runs hastily is very prone to stumble , so those christians that rush upon the profession of religion , and rush upon publick offices and ordinances , they are like to miscarry in them , and they are apt to run into error : for a rash-headed christian is led more by passion than judgment ; he is led more by affection than by reason . he is like a horse without bridle , like a house without walls , a city without gates ; a city without walls and doors is easily robbed : so a rash-headed christian is easily cozened of the truths of christ. 4. a rash-headed christian will never persevere and hold out to the end ; he that takes a profession of religion upon him rashly , and doth not consider before-hand what it will cost him , when this man meeteth with more difficulty than he is aware of , he will apostatize and fall away . and therefore it is the speech of our saviour , luk. 14. 28. which of you intending to build a tower , sitteth not down first , and counteth the cost whether he hath sufficient to finish it ? what king going to make war against another king , sitteth not down first and counteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand . let it not be offensive to tell you , and let not your hearts rise against it , there are many of this city took up the presbyterian perswasion , but they never considered what they took , they took it as an opinion cried up , but as soon as ever they found opposition they fell from it , because they never considered what it was when they took it . few men consider seriously what religion is , and what it is to be a real saint , and a real professor of religion ; and therefore as soon as ever persecution and trouble arise , they fall away for want of meditation and consideration . 4. i am to reprove especially your slight-headed christians , that cannot dwell long upon any thing that is good , that rove and wander from one thing to another ; this frame of spirit , if i be not mistaken , is quite opposite to religion . do not think me censorious , for i must profess , i have been long of this opinion , that a slight-headed christian cannot be a good christian. religion is a serious and solemn matter , it is a business of eternity ; and i read of religious persons in scripture , that they are commended for their seriousness . it is said of the virgin mary , luk. 2. 19. all that heard it wondred at the things that were told them , but she kept all these things and pondered them in her heart . a religious christian is a thoughtful pondering christian , luk. 1. 66. all they that heard them , laid them up in their hearts , saying , what manner of child shall this be ! a true saint of god is a considering , thoughtful , serious christian ; therefore a slight-headed christian is but a slight christian ; for he that thinks slightly of god , will serve him slightly , and speak slightly of him ; a slight head produceth a slight heart , and a slight life ; if the thought of god and christ make but slight impression upon thy soul , thy expressions of god and christ will be more slight ; he that thinks slightly of god , god will slight him ; a slight-headed christian is but a vain christian , and all his religion is but vanity , but like a slight garment , or a slight house that any wind blows down . the lord give you to think of this . most christians in the world are slight-headed christians , that think slightly of sin , of god , of christ , of the day of judgment . i , but you will say unto me : are all men that have slight heads , hypocrites ? a. i will give you a distinction , that i may not be misunderstood . there is a double slightness of head , there is a slightness of head that is a natural disease , when a man through the weakness of his head cannot dwell long upon any thing , when he cannot think of worldly business long , his head will not bear it ; now thou maist be a true child of god and have a weak head , that is not able to think long of any thing at all . and there is a slightness of head that is a sinful slightness , and that is , when a man can be serious upon the things of the world , can dwell upon worldly businesses , but cannot dwell long upon the things of heaven , cannot be serious about the things of his soul , but as soon as ever he comes to prayer , he is slight ; as soon as ever he comes to the sacrament , or any holy duty , then he hath slight thoughts of god , and of heaven , such an one was gallio , act. 18. when he saw it was a matter of religion , he cared for none of these things ; saith he , if it were a matter of civil right , i would regard it ; but seeing it is matter of religion , look ye to it . and pilate was a slight-headed man , ioh. 18. 38. pilate saith unto him , what is truth ? that was a good question ; and when he had said this , he went out again unto the iews ; he never looked for an answer : he had a slight thought came into his mind that was good , but he went away , and never came and desired christ to give him answer . i beseech you to consider of it , a slight-headed christian can never be a good christian. if the things of god do not make impression upon your hearts , you will never be serious about the things of eternity . these are the four sorts of christians that are to be reproved for want of meditation . but i have another use of reproof . if those are to be reproved that neglect this divine duty of meditation , much more are those to be reproved that meditate upon things that are wicked , instead of meditating upon the things of heaven . here are two sorts i would speak a little to , either those that meditate to do evil , or those that meditate upon the evil they have done . 1. it reproves those that meditate to do evil : you shall read of them , psal. 36. 4. they devise mischief upon their bed . jer. 18. 18. then said they , come and let us devise devices against ieremiah . there are some men that plot how to do evil , which is a double sin ; it is one sin to do evil , it is a greater sin to plot to do evil ; a man may go to hell for his sinful plottings , and sinful contrivances , though they never come to light . isa. 29. 5. wo unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the lord , and their works are in the dark , and they say who seeth us , and who knoweth us ? the lord will send us to hell for all our sinful contrivances , and vain projects , though they prove abortive . 2. there are some that meditate upon the evil they have done ; as an old adulterer will with delight tell stories of his youthful wantonness , and an old wicked man will delight to tell tales of the sins that he hath formerly committed ; this is to act over your sins again in gods account ; this is to lick up the old vomit ; this is to sin anew . i would to god you would consider of it ; a man may go to hell for contemplative wickedness , for spiritual wickedness , for heart-adultery , and heart-murder , as well as for actual wickedness ; a man may go to hell for thinking evil , as well as for speaking evil , and doing evil ; for god is a spirit , and he looks into the frame of your spirits ; and he will send you to hell for the inward lust of sin , as well as for the act of sin ; and that man that repeats over the sins of his youth with delight , this man acts them over again in gods account . but i will not spend more time in the use of reprehension . but i come to that which i especially aim at , an vse of exhortation , to beseech you all that you would subscribe to the obedience of this text , that you would conform your selves to this text , that you would accustom your selves to his most necessary and excellent , and long neglected duty of divine meditation . let me with all earnestness commend unto you the consciencious practise of this duty of divine meditation , because it is an universal remedy against all sin ; it is a help to all goodness , it is a preservative of all godliness , it is armour of proof against all the devils temptations , and the want of it is the cause of all iniquity , as you have heard . let me commend this to all sorts of christians , if it be necessary for you to reform your lives , it is necessary for you to meditate ; for what saith david ? i considered my ways , and turned my feet unto thy testimonies . what made peter when he had denied christ , repent and weep bitterly for what he had done ? the text saith , when he meditated upon what he had done , he went out and wept bitterly ; it was the meditation of his sin made him do so . what is the reason that men repent no more of their sins ? because they do not meditate of the bitterness of them , ier. 8. 6. no man repenteth , because no man saith what have i done ? if it be necessary for you to love god , to trust in god , to contemn the world , it is necessary for you to practise this duty of meditation ; what is the reason all the sermons you hear do you no more good ? it is for want of meditation , we do not meditate upon what we hear . let me commend this duty of meditation , 1. unto all ministers . there are four things , saith luther , make a minister , reading , praying , temptation and meditation . it is not reading makes a scholar without prayer , nor reading and prayer without temptation ; how can he comfort others , that was never tempted himself ? and then meditation ; and therefore paul perswadeth timothy to be much in meditation , 1 tim. 4. 15. 2. let me commend this to great persons , to lords , and earls , and kings ; david professeth of himself , psal. 119. 148. mine eyes prevent the night-watchings , that i might meditate on thy word . v. 15. i will meditate on thy precepts . v. 23. princes also did sit and speak against me , but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes . 3. let me commend this to you that are captains and soldiers , and men that belong unto the c& ioshua the great captain-general of the people of israel , is commanded by god to meditate in the law of god day and night , iosh. 1. 8. 4. let me commend this to young gentlemen , from the example of isaac in the text , that went out as his custom was , to meditate of god , and the things of god. isaac was heir to abraham , who was a very rich man ; he was very rich in cattel , and very rich in silver and gold , and isaac was the heir of all he had ; and at even-tide he went out and walked in the fields , and meditated upon the things of god , meditated upon the works of god , the things of heaven . 5. let me commend this to you that are merchants , to you that are tradesmen , that you would spare some time for meditation . 6. let me commend this to all women , according to the example of hanna , and the virgin mary , she kept all these things and pondered them in her heart , luk. 2. 19 , 51. but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart . oh let me commend this to young maids when they are at their work , that they would have some heavenly ejaculations , and meditation of the works of god. i remember i have read of solon , who was a great law-giver ; saith he , there are many good laws made , but there wants one law to teach people how to practise all the other laws , such a law were worth making . so give me leave to tell you , there are many excellent sermons preached in this nation , in this city , never better preaching i dare say in london ; but there is one sermon yet to preach , and that is to teach you to practise all the other sermons . now if i be not mistaken , this sermon will help you to practise all the sermons you ever heard ; for meditation is nothing else but a concocting of the mercies of god , a digesting of the promises and the sermons we hear ; it is a sermon to teach you to digest all the sermons that ever you have heard . some men have a great appetite , but have no digestion ; i do not complain of you that are greedy to hear sermons ; but let me tell you , if you have not a good digestion , your sermons will do no good ; that which a man is eating half an hour , requires six or seven hours to digest . i have heard of many men that eat too much , but i never heard of any that digested too much ; you that eat much and do not digest it , that which you eat will turn to bad nourishment ; therefore let me commend this duty to you as one of the choicest duties of a christian. now because of the excellency of this subject , i shall desire to speak to six particulars about this doctrine of meditation . 1. the place where we are to meditate . 2. the time when we are to meditate . 3. the ingredients and properties of divine meditation . 4. the companions of it . 5. the materials of it . 6. some helps to help us to the better practise of this duty . 1. concerning the place where we are to exercise this duty of divine meditation ; it is said of isaac in my text , that he went out into the fields to meditate . i do not think that this example is obligatory , that a man is always bound to go into the fields to meditate : i read of david , psal. 63. that he meditated upon god when he was in his bed : v. 16. when i remembred thee upon my bed , and meditated on thee in the night-watches . but this example doth hold out thus much to us , that private and solitary places are the fittest places for meditation ; and as christ saith , mat. 6. 6. when thou prayest , enter into thy closet , ( speaking of private prayer ) and when thou hast shut thy door , pray unto thy father that is in secret , and thy father which seest in secret shall reward thee openly . so do i say , when you would meditate solemnly of christ , or of heaven , or of your sins , or of the promises , you must enter into your closets , or go into your gardens , or walk into the fields ; you must retire your selves into some private place . it is worth marking how the evangelist takes notice of this practise in iesus christ , mat. 14. 23. he sent the multitude away , and went up into a mountain apart to pray , and when the evening was come he was there alone . mark 1. 35. and in the morning rising up a great while before day , he went out and departed into a solitary place , and there prayed . mark 6. 46. he departed into a mountain to pray , luk. 6. 12. he went into a mountain to pray , and continued all night in prayer to god. the scripture makes mention of a garden to which christ did usually resort to pray , and this garden christ did often go unto , that when iudas purposed to betray him , he knew where to find him : ioh. 18. 1. when iesus had spoken those words , he went where there was a garden , and iudas which betrayed him knew the place , for iesus often times resorted thither with his disciples . and what did christ go to the garden for ? he went there to pray : luk. 22. there was the place where he shed drops of blood , mat. 26. there he went to pray , and there he went to meditate ; a garden famous for what christ did there . now all this doth signifie thus much unto us , that in the practise of this divine duty of meditation , we must retire our selves , whether into a private garden , or into our closets , or whether into private walks , into the fields . for if a scholar cannot study in a croud , he must retire to some private study , some private place ; much more when you would converse with god in the mount , when you would meditate of those glorious things of the other world , you must shut out the society of men , that you may the more enjoy the society of god. it is a rare saying of bernard , that the bridegroom will not come to the meditating bride ( speaking of christ who is our bridegroom ) but when she is alone . and therefore it is said , cant. 7. 11. come my beloved let us go forth into the fields , &c. v. 12. there will i give thee my love . god loves to visit his people when they are alone , meditating of the things of heaven . but now i must acquaint you with two sorts of company , there are outward company , and there are inward company ; now when you meditate you must not only retire your selves from outward company , but from inward company . it is an easie matter to shut the doors of your closets , and to be there alone , but it is a hard matter to shut out company from within , from your hearts as well as from your closets . there are many men when they are alone in a garden , or in the fields meditating , they are pestered with company within , with worldly thoughts , with voluptuous thoughts , with vain imaginations . st. ierome complains of himself , and he doth bewail it ; saith he , when i have been in the wilderness alone , with wild beasts , and have had no company but wild beasts , my thoughts have been at rome , among the ladies at rome , among the dances of rome . and i have heard many christians complain ( and it is one of the greatest complaints we have ) that when they retire themselves to meditate of the promises , or of christs passion , or of the joys of heaven , they are then pestered and exceedingly troubled with worldly business , with worldly thoughts ; sometimes we are in our counting-houses , sometimes we are at our pleasures , at our sports . it is an easie matter to thrust worldly company out of our closets , but a hard matter to thrust worldly thoughts out of our hearts ; and therefore when you meditate you must do as abraham did , gen. 22. 5. and abraham said to his young men , abide you here with the ass , and i and the lad will go yonder and worship . so you must say to your vain thoughts and worldly business , tarry here below , i will go up to the mount and meditate ; you must not only say to your worldly company , but to your vain thoughts and imaginations , tarry here below . the rabbins say , though there were thousands of sacrifices offered in the temple in a year , yet there was never any flie seen in the temple , which was certainly a miracle . happy is that christian that can do temple-work , without being pestered with these spiritual flies , with vain and roving thoughts . oh how happy were it if we could come to the house of god , and that there might be no flies there , no vain imaginations to disturb us in our worship . i read exod. 8. of a plague of flies , and that plague of flies was one of the greatest plagues that pharoah had ; for when he was to eat his meat , the flies got into his mouth ; when he was to drink his drink , the flies filled his cup , so that he could neither eat nor drink ; and these swarms of flies corrupted the land ; v. 24. it is called a grievous swarm of flies . now these swarms of flies may be compared to our roving wandering thoughts when we are about the service of god ; these flies corrupt the best box of ointment , they spoil our prayers and our meditation . but you shall read , in goshen there was no plague of flies ; oh happy you that are not plagued with these swarms of flies , when you are in the service of god. q. i but you will say unto me , how shall i keep my self from these plagues of flies ? how shall i keep my self that i may shut out inward company when i go to the mount to meditate ? answ. for that , you must do as abraham did , gen. 15. 11. and when the fowls came down upon the carcass , abraham drove them away ; so must you : when this company doth thrust upon you and croud in , when your vain thoughts croud in , you must stir up all your spiritual strength to drive them away ; you must do as the high priest did , 2 chron. 26. 20. when vzziah the king would have offered sacrifice , the lord smote him with a leprosie , and the high priest took him and thrust him out of the temple though he was a king ; so must you , when these roving thoughts come upon you when you are in the temple , or the mount of meditation , you must thrust them out ; that is , you must use all your spiritual strength to thrust them out , and you must pray unto god as moses prayed , exod. 8. that god would take away this plague of flies ; and do as pharoah did , he sent for moses , oh pray , pray unto god for me , that this swarm of flies may depart out of the land : speak to thy godly ministers , thy godly friends to pray for thee , and do thou pray for thy self , that the lord would deliver thee from these noisome imaginations , and fancies , and roving thoughts that do disturb you in the worship of god , and in the practise of this duty of divine meditation . so much for the place where we are to meditate . the 2d thing to speak to , is the time when we are to meditate ; it is said in the text , and isaac went out to meditate in the eventide ; it seems isaac found the evening to be the fittest time for meditation . dr. hall in his excellent tract of meditation , tells us out of his own experience , that he found the evening-time to be the fittest time for meditation . and there is a learned minister in that excellent book of the saints everlasting rest , doth likewise from his own experience commend the eventide for the best and suitablest time for meditation ; and he saith from the sun-setting to the twi-light , and sometimes in the night , when it is warm and clear . i will not lay clogs upon any mans conscience ; that which is seasonable for one , is unseasonable for another ; some mens tempers are fittest to meditate in the morning , and some mens tempers are fittest to meditate in the evening . now there are four propositions , four rules of direction concerning the time when i would have you to meditate . 1. it is the duty of all those that are not hindred by necessary business , if it be possible to set apart some time every day for meditation , whether it be morning , afternoon , or night : for meditation is the life and soul of all christianity ; it is that which makes you improve all the truths of christian religion , ( you are but the skeletons of christians without meditation ) it is as necessary as your daily bread ; and as you feed your bodies every day , so you ought to feed your souls every day with meditating on your sins , or your evidences for heaven , or the everlasting burnings of hell , or of the day of judgment , the great account you are to give at that day , or of the joys of heaven , or of the promises , &c. we are every day assaulted with the devil , therefore we should every day put on the armour of divine meditation , to consider how to resist the wiles of the devil ; we are every day subject to death , we are every day subject to sin , therefore we should every day consider how to prepare our selves for death , and every day consider how to resist sin . meditation is nothing else but a conversing with god , the souls colloquie with god ; and it is fit we should every day walk with god. divine meditation is nothing else but the souls transmigration into heaven ; the souls ascending up into heaven ; now it is fit every day that we should have our conversation in heaven . david when he describes the blessed man , psal. 1. 2. saith he , his delight is in the law of the lord , and in his law will he meditate day and night . and he saith of himself , though he was a king , and had many worldly businesses , the affairs of his kingdom to hinder him , yet he saith , psal. 119. 97. oh how do i love thy law ! it is my meditation all the day . v. 148. mine eyes prevent the night-watches , that i might meditate on thy word . there is the morning-time for meditation , i prevent the dawning of the morning that i might meditate in thy word . v. 15. i will delight my self in thy statutes , and i will meditate in thy precepts , and have respect unto all thy ways . and ioshua , that great general of the army , though he was a man surely of great imployments , yet god doth lay an injunction upon him , iosh. 1. 7 , 8. the book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth , but thou shalt meditate therein day & night . 2. i will go higher yet , it is our duty to set a sufficient proportion of time apart every day : oh it is a hard matter to get our hearts in tune for this duty ; as it is with a musician , he hath a great deal of time to string , and to tune his instrument before he can play ; the best christian is like an instrument unstrung , and untuned , he had need take a great deal of time to get his heart in tune for divine meditation ; the best christian is like wet wood , which will not burn , you know , without a great deal of blowing ; he had need to take a great deal of time to kindle a holy zeal in his heart to god , to blow up the sparks of grace that are in him . if a man would fill a chest that is full of dirt , full of gold , he must take time to empty the chest before he can fill it . by nature we are all full of the world , full of the dirt of the world , full of vanity , full of carnal creature-pleasure ; now it is our duty first to take pains to empty the chest before we can fill it full of heaven , full of god and christ. now i propound this to you that have a great deal of spare time , especially you that spend whole afternoons in idle visitings , and vain recreations , oh that i could perswade you to give god a visit every day , and to meditate of god and of christ , and your selves , and the recreations of the other world ; let me perswade you that count it your happiness to live vainly , that you have not so much work to do as other men have , to set some time apart ; to go up into the mount of god , to meditate of the things of the other world . and that i might provoke you , let me tell you thus much , it is the greatest curse under heaven for god to give a man over to live an idle life , to trifle away his days in vanity ; and so it is reckoned , psal. 78. 33. therefore their days did he consume in vanity . therefore it is spoken as a curse ; hearken to this you that idle away your time , there cannot be a greater curse of god upon you , than to suffer you to idle away your time ; herein you idle away your salvation : this direction belongs to you that are rich men , rich merchants , that have whole exchanges full of business in your heads , to beseech you that you would contract your worldly affairs into a narrower compass , that you may have time for the practise of this rare duty of meditation , which is the very life and soul of all duty . and the reason why you are so lean and poor in grace , is for want of the practise of this duty ; be not always like martha , troubled with this and that business , but remember maries choice , who chose the better part in attending upon christ's ministry . i would have all rich men every day think of that text , luk. 12. 20. thou fool , this night shall thy soul be taken from thee ; and what then will become of all thy possessions ? i confess god doth not require this at the hand of the daily labourer , or at the hands of servants that are not masters of their own time , and those that are very poor and are not able to set time apart for meditation . but you may remember i gave you a distinction between ejaculatory meditation , and solemn meditation ; a poor man when he is at his work , may have a short ejaculatory meditation , though he hath not time for this set and solemn meditation ; when he is at his work he may meditate upon the promises , and of heaven , and of hell , and of death , and iudgment , and the vanity of the world . i have heard of a godly man was wont to say , i thank god i can be in heaven in the midst of the croud of cheapside , i can meditate on the rest i shall have in the other world . 3. the third direction is this , the sabbath-day especially is a day wherein all sorts of people are to busie themselves in this excellent work of divine meditation ; this is a day wherein the labourer ceaseth from his work , the plowmans yoke is taken off , and the labouring-man , and the serving man have their rest ; therefore it concerns all of us to spend some time every sabbath-day in meditation , to meditate of the work of creation , or redemption ; for the lords-day is so called , because christ rose on that day , and christ set apart that day in memory of his resurrection , in memory of his redemption ; therefore this is thy work , oh christian , not only to come to the publick ordinances , not only to pray in thy family , but to set some time apart for divine meditation ; and the lord forgive us this sin that we have omitted this duty so long ; oh that i could be gods instrument , that there might be a resurrection of it , that you would make conscience of it every sabbath-day ; as you make conscience of attending upon publick and private duties , so you would put this as one of your sabbath-day duties , for it is the very quintessence , the life and soul of all duty ; the sabbath-day is a type of the eternal sabbath which we shall keep for ever in heaven ; and shall not i think of my eternal sabbath upon the sabbath ? shall not i be much in heaven when i am keeping a rest upon earth , that represents my eternal rest in heaven ? let us upon our day of rest meditate much upon our eternal rest . oh let us upon our sabbath-day meditate upon the everlasting sabbath which we shall keep with god almighty , the father , son and holy ghost , for ever in heaven . 4. and last direction is this , that sacrament-days are especially to be meditating-days , to be set apart for this great work of divine meditation ; it is the great end why christ hath appointed the sacrament , to shew forth the lords-death till he come ; and saith christ , do this in remembrance of me . there are two things make us worthy receivers of the sacrament , preparation before we come , and meditation when we are come ; and though thy preparation be never so serious , yet if thou dost not act aright in thy meditation , as well as thou hast done in thy preparation , thou maist lose the benefit of the sacrament . now if any should ask me , what are those things , you would have us to meditate of , when we are come unto the sacrament ? or when we are at the sacrament ? there are twelve meditations which ought to take up our sacramental-time , which i call twelve common-place-heads : i do not say we can meditate upon all of them at one sacrament ; but my design is to give you matter sufficient , that you may sometimes meditate of one , sometimes of another . i will but name them . 1. you must meditate of the great and wonderful love of god the father in giving christ , not only to die for us upon the cross , but in giving him to be our food at the sacrament ; there was nothing moved god to give christ but pure love , and great love : for god so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten son. so ! how ? so infinitely , so inexpressibly ; the love of god in bestowing christ is so great , that the angels desire to look into it . and you that are not affected with this love , i fear you have little share in it . that is enough to take up one sacrament . 2. you are to meditate at the sacrament not only of the love of the father in giving of his son , but of the love of christ in giving himself . ephes. 5. 2. who loved us , and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to god , for a sweet smelling savour . as god gave christ , so christ gave himself ; as god gave himself as man , the godhead infused this will into the manhood , that christ willingly laid down his life : ioh. 10. 17 , 18. therefore doth my father love me , because i lay down my life , that i may take it up again ; no man taketh it from me , but i lay it down of my self ; i have power to lay it down , and i have power to take it up ; this commandment have i received of my father . now the love of christ in giving himself to be a curse for us , is a love that passeth knowledg , yet it is a love that we must study to know . it is a riddle , but such a riddle as the apostle himself doth in so many express words declare unto us , ephes. 3. 19. that we may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length , and depth and heigth , and to know the love of christ which passeth knowledg . great is the love of christ which passeth knowledg ; great is the love of christ in dying for us , and being made sin for us , and being made a curse for us . 3. we must meditate of the heinousness of sin ; when we were all fallen in adam , we were ingulphed into such a bottomless abyss of misery , that none but the blood of a god could deliver us ; for there was an infinite breach by sin between god and us ; and this breach could never be made up but by the blood of god. that is a rare meditation at the sacrament , to meditate of the heinousness of sin ; when you see the bread broken , it was sin that caused christs body to be broken ; and when you see the wine poured out , it was sin caused christs blood to be poured out ; it was sin that caused christ to suffer so much . 4. you must meditate of the excellency of this sacramental feast ; for the sacrament is a commemorative sacrifice , it is a commemoration of that blessed sacrifice that was offered on the cross for our sins ; and it is an obsignation or sealing up all the benefits of our redemption ; and it is an exhibition of jesus christ , it is a deed of gift of christ ; god goes about giving of christ to thee and me , and all that labour to come worthily . oh! there cannot be a greater feast , wherein christ is the gift that is bestowed ; christ is the banquet , christ and all his benefits . 5. you must meditate of your own unworthiness ; o lord i am not worthy to pick up the crumbs that fall from thy table ; i am not worthy to eat my daily bread , much less worthy to eat the sacramental bread . oh the thought of this will make you say with mephibosheth , what am i , a dead dog , that my lord and king should invite me to his table ! what am i , dust and ashes , sinful wretch , that the lord jesus should invite me to such an heavenly banquet ! 6. you must meditate of your spiritual wants and necessities ; what grace dost thou want that thou maist get supplied ? what sin doth bear most sway in thee , that thou maist get it more mortified ? now the more sensible you are of your spiritual wants , the more will your appetite be quickned to this blessed feast . 7. you must meditate of the cursed condition of an unworthy receiver ; an unworthy receiver is a christ-murderer , a soul-murderer , a body-murderer ; he is guilty of the body and blood of jesus christ ; he eats and drinks down his own damnation , he is guilty of bringing diseases ; for this cause ( that is for unworthy coming to the sacrament ) many are sick , and many weak , and many die . 8. i would have you meditate of the happy condition of those that come worthily to the sacrament ; though you do not bring a legal worthiness , yet if you have a gospel-worthiness , god will accept of you ; and the bread that we break shall be the communion of the body of christ ; and the cup of blessing which we bless , shall be the communion of the blood of christ to you ; the communion of all the blessings of heaven to thy soul. it shall be the bread of the lord to you , and the bread of life , and the cup of salvation unto you . 9. i would have you meditate sometimes of the sacramental elements ; when you see the bread , i would have you meditate of the analogy and proportion between bread and the body of christ ; you know that bread is the staff of life , so is christ the staff of a christian ; bread is not for dead folks but for living folks ; bread doth not beget life , but increaseth and strengthneth life ; so the sacrament is not for those that are dead in sin ; the sacrament doth not beget grace , but nourish and increase grace . and then i would have you consider the analogy between wine and the blood of christ ; as wine refresheth the spirit , and cheereth the heart , so the blood of christ cheereth the soul of every worthy receiver . 10. i would have you meditate of the sacramental actions ; for all the actions of the minister at the sacrament are mystical , they all represent christ ; christ is to be read by a spiritual eye in every thing that is done by the minister ; the breaking of the bread represents christs body being broken upon the cross for our sins ; and the pouring out the wine , represents how christs blood was poured out for us ; and the giving of the wine represents how christ is offered and tendered unto us ; the taking of the bread and wine represents how thou by faith takes christ for thy everlasting comfort . every thing in the sacrament is the object of meditation ; and it is a rare thing for a christian to make the sacramental elements to be his bible ; when he is at the sacrament , and when he finds his heart dull , to look at the elements , the breaking of bread , and pouring out of wine , which are all spiritual helps to raise up thy heart unto christ. 11. you must meditate of the sacramental promises ; christ jesus hath promised , take , eat , this is my body , which is broken for you ; do this in remembrance of me ; that is the sacramental promise , this is my blood which is shed for you , do this in remembrance of me . christ hath promised that whensoever we do take this bread , and drink this cup worthily , he will convey himself to us . now we must feed upon this promise , and come to the sacrament in the strength of this promise ; and he hath promised that the cup of blessing , shall be the cup of the communion of the blood of christ , and the bread that is broken shall be the communion of the body of christ : now we must meditate upon these promises , and act faith upon them . 12. when all this is done , i mean when thou hast received the sacrament , then thou must meditate what retribution to make unto christ for this ; you must say as david doth , psal. 116. 7. what shall i render to the lord for all his benefits toward me ! thou must say to thy soul , oh how ought i to love that christ that hath loved me , and became a curse for me ! how ought i to be willing to die for that christ that hath shed his blood for me ! oh what singular thing shall i do for that christ that hath become man , that hath left the throne of heaven , and hath taken my nature , and hath given himself for me upon the cross , unto me at the sacrament ! what great thing shall i return unto this god! oh that i were made up all of thankfulness ! oh that i could do something worthy of this god! this must be your meditation , and you must study to find out some rare piece of service to do for this christ , that hath done and suffered so much for you ; and you must never leave meditating till you have found out some singular thing . as for example , such an enemy hath done me wrong , i will requite him in loving him the more ; i will do him the more offices of love ; that is to walk worthy of christ , who loved me when i was an enemy ; and then there is such a deed of charity , such a poor christian his family is undone ; i will do this service for christ , i will give him some proportionable gift , some worthy gift , that his soul may bless god for me . again , christ jesus this day hath given me himself ; he hath given me his body and blood ; i will go and be willing to die for him ; i will say with thomas , come let us die for him ; i will be willing to suffer reproach for him , if he shall call me . these are the meditations wherein you are to spend your time when you are at the sacrament . now let me say but thus much , what rare christians would we be if from month to month we did thus spend our sacramental hours ! surely great would be the benefit and the fruit of it . thus i have done with the time when we are to meditate . 3. i am to speak of the properties and qualities of divine meditation ; in all holy duties it is not so much the doing of the duty that god looks after , as the right manner of doing the duty : it is not the hearing the word will please god , unless we hear the word of god aright ; therefore christ saith , take heed how you hear ; it is not prayer that will prevail with god , unless we pray after a right manner , unless we pray in faith , with fervency and humility ; so it is not the meditation of god and christ , and the promises , will do us any good , unless we meditate after the right manner , that god would have us to meditate . now i shall acquiant you with six properties of divine meditation , for the right manner of performing it . 1. divine meditation must be often and frequent , deut. 6. 7. there god commands , thou shall teach the words of the law diligently unto thy children , thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house , and when thou walkest by the way , and when thou lyest down , and when thou risest up . josh. 1. 8. the book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth , but thou shalt meditate therein day and night . though he was a great commander , and had affairs of great concernment , yet god commands him to meditate day and night in the law of god. and david tells us of a godly man , psal. 1. 2. that he will delight himself in the law of god , and in his law will he meditate day and night . psal. 119. 97 , 98 , 99. david professeth of himself , though he was a king , and had many diversions , yet saith he , oh how do i love thy law ! it is my meditation day and night . thou through thy commandments hath made me wiser than my enemies ; for they are ever with me , or , it is ever with me , speaking of the commandments of god ; he had them always in his thoughts : i have more understanding than all my teachers ; for thy testimonies are my meditation . psal. 139. 8. when i awake , i am still with thee . what is the meaning of that ? that is by the meditation of god ; in the morning as soon as ever he awaked he begun the day with meditation , with some sweet pious thought of god. it is the duty of a christian , as you have heard , if it be possible , if his worldly occasions do not necessarily hinder him , ( there may , you know , be necessary avocations ) to spend some time every day in divine meditation . you that are ladies , men of great estates , and have time , are to set some solemn time , some solemn part of the day for meditation ; but all of us are to have ejaculatory meditation , though it be in our worldly business . there are three reasons to perswade you to frequent meditation . 1. because the oftner you meditate of god , and christ , and heaven , the more you will know of god , and christ , and heaven ; and the more you will love god , and christ ; and the more earnestly you will seek after the things of heaven ; for you must know , the things of heaven are like a beautiful picture , the more you view them , the more will you admire them , and seek after them to enjoy them . i have read a story of necrasophus , who was an excellent painter , that viewing wistly a picture , there came a country-man by , and seeing him view that picture so wistly , he asked him , why do you look upon that picture so much ? saith the painter to him , if you had my eyes , you would never ask me this question ; if you knew the excellency of this picture , you would never ask me why i look so much upon it . the things of heaven , the things of god , the promises of god , are most glorious and excellent things ; and the more you look into them , the more you will look into them ; and the oftenr you view these pictures , the more you will admire them , and the more you will view them . god , and christ , and heaven , are like unto a bottomless mine of treasure , the more you dig in this mine , the more riches you will find in it ; they are like unto a sweet cordial , the more you chew them , the more sweetness you will find in them . they are like an excellent garden in the spring-time , the oftner a man goes into the garden , still he finds a new flower , and another flower , and another flower ; so the things of god , and christ , and the promises , and heaven , the more you walk in this garden , the more flowers you will gather ; you will have still new flowers to pick. and the reason why the saints of god love god no more , and prize christ no more , and seek no more after heaven , is because they do not meditate more of god , and christ , and heaven ; the want of frequent meditation of them , is the reason why we love them , and esteem them so little , and seek so little after them . the second reason why we should frequently meditate upon things divine , is because the oftner we meditate of god and christ , the more near and intimate acquaintance we shall have with them ; as you know neighbours , the oftner they visit one another , the more acquainted they come one with another ; and the seldomer they visit one another , the more estranged they are one to another . visitation breeds acquaintance ; so the seldomer you think of god and christ , the more you are estranged from them , and the less acquaintance you have with them ; and the oftner you meditate of god , the more intimate society you will have with him ; as i have told you , divine meditation is nothing else but a dwelling upon the things of god , a conversing with god and christ , and the promises , and it will be matter of rare comfort to a child of god , when he lies upon his death-bed , and is going out of the world , to consider , i am now going to a god that i am acquainted withal , that i am not a stranger to : i am going to heaven , where i have been often in my meditation . it is reported of dr. preston , when he was dying , he used these words , blessed be god though i change my place , yet i shall not change my company ; for i have walked with god while i lived , and now i go to rest with god. a man that is often in meditation , is often in heaven , often walking with god and christ , and the promises ; and when he dies , he goes to enjoy the promises , and to be and to live for ever with this christ. it is a sad and a disconsolate thing for a man when he comes to die , to think of god as a stranger , to think of heaven as a place where he hath never been , he hath hardly had a thought of it all his life . i verily perswade my self , it is one reason that the saints of god are so unwilling to die , because they have no more acquaintance with god in this life , they think of him as a stranger ; the more you are acquainted with god while you live , the more willing you will be to die to go to him ; for death to a child of god is nothing else but a resting with god , with whom he walked while he lived ; to rest in the bosom of god , in whose bosom he hath often been by holy meditation when he was alive . 3. you must be often and frequent in the duty of divine meditation , by often using it to make it more easie ; there is great complaint of the difficulty of this duty ; it hath been often said to me , sir , there is no duty in the world so hard as divine meditation : and it is true , it is a hard matter to keep the heart close in meditation of divine things ; and therefore you must accustom your selves to this duty , and use will make perfectness , usus promptos facit ; by often doing it , at last through grace it will become easie . when a young youth is bound prentice to a manual trade , at first it seems very hard to learn his trade , but by long custom at last he is very expert in it . a man that is to go up a hill every morning , at first he pants and breathes , and cannot get up the hill , within a little while he can get up with ease ; so this duty of divine meditation , though it be exceeding difficult , because it is exceeding spiritual , yet by often and frequent practising of it , through the assistance of gods spirit , it will become at last very easie ; whereas the seldomness of the practice of this duty makes it difficult , and intermission of any thing makes it very hard . a man that learns the greek or hebrew tongues , or learn to speak french , if he intermit the speaking eleven or twelve years , he will quickly forget to speak it ; so long omission of this duty is the reason why it is so difficult ; would you but resolve to practise it for one twelve month , you would find it at the twelve months end an easie duty , through the help of god. the second property is this , divine meditation must be solemn and serious ; though we must accustom our selves to this duty , yet we must take heed of customariness and formality in the duty ; formality in good duty , is the dead fly that spoils the box of precious ointment ; god hates a formal christian , he hates a formal prayer , a formal hearer of the word ; formality in gods service is like the plague of locusts , of which you read , exod. 10. that did eat up all the green things in the land ; formality in good duties eats up all the beauty and all the comfort and benefit of a good duty ; there is nothing god hates more than formality in his service ; therefore you must take heed above all things of being formal in the practice of this duty of meditation ; it must be solemn and serious , and you must be very intent about it ; slight thoughts of god will make but a slight impression upon the affections ; and he that thinks slightly of god , will serve him slightly , and love him slightly ; he that thinks slightly of sin , will slight sin ; he that thinks slightly of god , god will slight him . and the reason why we serve god with so little affection , and so little devotion and reverence , is because we meditate slightly of god ; for slight thoughts of god work but a slight heart , and a slight conversation . i will give you an instance or two of this slight way of meditation , ioh. 6. you shall read of certain men , that when christ was preaching had a very good ejaculation , ver . 34. lord , ( say they ) evermore give us of this bread ; it was a sweet meditation , but it was but a short , a slight and formal one ; for at the end of the chapter these men forsook christ ; it was not a solemn and serious meditation , ioh. 18. 38. you read of pilate , pilate saith unto him , what is truth ? here is a good question that arose from some inward thought that he had ; and when he had said this , he went out again , he never thought of it more , he never tarried to hear an answer ; but now our care must be to be very solemn and serious in this work of divine meditation ; let me give you an example of alexander the great ; a heathen man was offering sacrifice to his god , the priest that held the censor , the chafing-dish , wherein the incense was , there was a spark of fire fell upon his hand , and he was so intent and unwilling to hinder the sacrifice , that he suffered his hand rather to be burnt , than he would intermit the sacrifice ; this shews how devout and intent this priest was , even in the service of the heathenish god ; and chrysostome tells a story of a lady that being to make a precious ointment , she calls in all her handmaids to help her ; so saith he , when we converse with god in any holy duty , we must call in all our handmaids , all our affections , when we are making any holy ointment ; the meaning is this , when you are conversing with god by meditation , or conversing with christ , or the promises , you must call in all your affections to assist you , you must be very solemn and serious , and intent upon this work . and yet i must give you one caution here , you must take heed you be not over-intent ; though you must be serious , you must not be over-serious . i have heard a story of a godly minister , mr. welsh , that was one day meditating of eternity , and he was so serious in the thoughts of eternity , that he fell into a trance , into a swound , that they could hardly ever recover life in him again , he was so swallowed up in that meditation , he was too serious ; we must be serious , but not over-serious ; we must do as good travellers do , that will be careful not to over-ride their horses , lest they tire ; they will ride moderately , that so they may hold out to their journeys end ; so must we be serious , but we must be moderate , not over-serious ; we must remember we have a body of flesh , that is not able to bear over-much seriousness , in these weighty meditations of eternity , and god , and christ , and heaven . 3. divine meditation must not only be notional and speculative , but practical and affectionate ; therefore consideration and meditation are not only acts of the head , but acts of the heart , deut. 4. 39. know therefore this day and consider it in thy heart . there are three doors , as i may so speak , that meditation must get into , or else it is of no use . 1. it must get into the understanding , that must ponder the things of heaven ; but it must not tarry there : but , 2. it must get into the door of the heart and affections to stir them up ; for the understanding must be as a divine pair of bellows to kindle a divine fire in the heart and affections , and to inflame and raise them up , as david saith , psal. 39. while i was musing the fire burned ; we must so muse upon god and christ , that our affections may as it were burn within us , as the disciples hearts burnt within them , while christ was speaking . 3. it must get into the door of the conversation ; that is , we must so meditate of christ as to live according to the life of christ ; and so to meditate of god as to obey the commands of god. and unless your meditation get into these three doors , it is of no use ; the understanding to the heart and affections is like the nurse to the child ; you know the office of the nurse is to prepare meat for the child , to chew and cut it , that the child may eat it ; so the work of the understanding is to prepare divine truths for the heart and affections , that the heart may close with them , and eat and digest them ; but if the nurse should eat the meat she chews , and give nothing to the child , the child may starve for all the nurse ; so though the understanding doth chew never such glorious truths , if it doth not convey them to the heart and affections , it is of no use ; there is many a man spends his time in meditation , as a butterflye feeds upon the flower , sucks the flower , not to be fruitful and useful , but meerly to paint her wings ; so he studies and ponders of divine things meerly to paint his wings , to get curious language of god and christ , and curious notions of sin , and the promises , but because he doth not convey them into his heart and affections , he is never the holier , never the better for his meditation ; but true meditation is this , when we so meditate of christ as to find vertue coming out of christ to cure the bloody issue of our sins ; to meditate of him so as to be transformed into him ; when we so meditate of god , as to love god , and desire after god , and rejoice in god , and live according to the commands of god ; when we so meditate of sin as to hate and abhor it , and turn from it ; so meditate of the promises as to close with them , when by frequent musing of god there is a holy fire of divine love kindled towards god ; as it is in psal. 104. 34. my meditation of him shall be sweet . when we so meditate on god , as it gets into our affections to sweeten the thoughts of god unto our souls , then the meditation of god is sweet ; this is the reason why many times an honest plain-hearted christian finds more benefit by the practise of this divine meditation than a great scholar ; for a great scholar will meditate to find out some glorious expressions , some curious notions . as a man that reads a book meerly for the fine language , and a man that hears a sermon meerly to feast his ears , because of the eloquence of the sermon , and goes home never the holier , never the better ; but now the honest plain-hearted christian meditates of the things of heaven , that he may be made the more heavenly ; he meditates of god that he may love and fear him more ; he meditates of christ , that he may prize him more ; he meditates of sin , that he may hate it more ; and of the promises that he may love them more ; though he cannot find out these curious notions that a scholar doth , yet his heart is more affected many times than the heart of a greater scholar , if he be not godly . divine meditation is of no use unless it be practical and affectionative . 4. property is this , divine meditation must be particular and applicative ; for generals will not work at all ; the philosopher saith , that fire in general doth not burn ; it is this fire that burns ; a sword in general doth not cut , it is this sword cuts ; so confused meditation of heaven , god and christ , will do you little good ; but if ever you would get good by the practise of meditation , you must come down to particulars ; and you must so meditate of christ , as to apply christ to thy soul ; and so meditate of heaven , as to apply heaven to thy soul ; this is mine , this is my portion , christ is my portion , he is iehovah my righteousness . nam quid est deus , si non est meus ? what am i the better for heaven , or for christ , if they be not mine ? what comfort can i have to meditate of christ , if i have no interest in him , if i cannot apply him ? what comfort can i have to meditate of heaven , if i have no right to heaven ; i meditate of a place that doth not belong to me . therefore the greatest part of meditation is application ; you must apply the things you meditate of , to your own particular , and that man that in his meditation of christ can say with thomas , my god and my lord , is of all men the happiest ; blessed is that man that can say , my god and my lord. there are four things that work mightily upon the heart , necessity and excellency , propriety and perpetuity ; the heart is much taken with things that are excellent , especially when they are necessary ; especially if i have a propriety in them , and this propriety be perpetual ; and thrice happy is that man that can say all these four concerning god and christ ; that when he meditates of the excellency of god , and christ , and heaven , and the necessity of enjoying them ; when he can add a propriety , all these are mine , god is my god , christ is my righteousness , and heaven is my inheritance , and my inheritance for ever . oh this man is in heaven already , that can make this application upon scripture-grounds . and therefore be sure in the practise of this duty , your meditation be applicative ; though a medicine be never so soveraign , it doth you no good unless you apply it ; the water in the fountain will never do you good , unless it be brought to you by a cistern , conveyed to you some way or other ; so the meditation of god , christ and heaven , will little avail , unless you make application ; and this is especially to be used at the sacrament ; the work you are to do at the sacrament is meditation , and in all sacramental meditation you must be sure to join application ; when you meditate of the breaking of the bread , of the body of christ that was broken for you , you must apply it , it was broken for me ; and when you see the wine poured out , you must meditate of the blood of christ , that was poured out upon the cross , you must make application by faith , that is the great act of faith , this blood was poured out for me , this body was broken for me , and now god offers christ , god gives christ to me , there is the sweetness in the sacrament . the fifth property , divine meditation must be calm and quiet ; there are many well affected christians that in the practise of this duty , will force themselves too much ; this is proper to young beginners , that when they meditate of their sins , will force themselves into tears ; and when they meditate of christ will force themselves into joy ; it is ordinary when young christians meditate , because they cannot find their affections wrought upon , they will use violence to their affections , and force out tears or joy , according to the nature of the thing they meditate upon ; just like the man , act. 3. 7 , 8. the lame man that was cured ; as soon as ever peter took him by the hand and lift him up , immediately his feet and ancle-bones received strength , and he leaping up , stood and walked , and entred with him into the temple ; the poor man never walked in all his life , he was lame from his mothers womb ; as soon as ever he found his legs , he fell a leaping presently ; he did not leap afterwards , but walked ordinarily as other men ; but he was so overjoyed , that he forced himself to a kind of leaping ; so there are many christians that when they first set upon this duty , because they find their hearts very dead and dull , therefore they will offer violence to their affections , and force themselves to tears or joy . but you must not do this , the best way is to wait in the practise of meditation for the coming down of god ; to wait for the consolation of israel , as it is said of simeon , luk. 2. 25. there was one simeon a man in ierusalem , who was just and devout , waiting for the consolation of israel . so must we in the use of this blessed duty wait upon god for divine comfort ; and while we are waiting , god will come in , isa. 30. 18. blessed are all they that wait upon the lord. ver . ult . they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength , they shall mount up with wings as eagles . you must continue waiting , and be assured the lord whom you seek will come in , and you shall find your hearts melted if you go on in a calm , quiet , waiting posture . as bernard , who was a man much accustomed to this duty of meditation , when he went to meditate and pray , he found his heart at first very dull ; at last the visitations of the almighty came upon him , and he felt his heart warm , he had the appearances of the lord to his soul , that he cried out rara hora , brevis mora , it comes but seldom ( but sometimes it comes , blessed be god ) , it tarries too short a while ; oh that it would continue ; wait upon god in the practise of divine meditation , and you shall find the elapses of the holy ghost , the visitations of god coming upon your souls , and filling you full of heavenly comfort . 6. and lastly , this divine meditation must be persevereing ; you must persevere in this duty , though you cannot at first find the benefit and comfort that you expect . there are many christians that have set upon this work of meditation , and finding it too hard and difficult , and meeting with so much opposition in their hearts , wandering thoughts , and abundance of spiritual distempers , they have been discouraged , and laid it aside , which certainly they ought not to have done . i have read of the leopard , when it looks after his prey , when it looks after his prey , when it hath a beast in view , that it would prey upon the manner of its hunting , is to take three or four great skips , and if it cannot take the beast in three or four skips , then it leaves it , it is so furious and hasty . so there is many a poor christian skips into the duty of meditation , as it were , by taking three or four leaps , and sees he cannot compass it , he cannot find the benefit and comfort he would , and therefore he lays it aside ; this is a great fault : you must wait upon god , as i said in the former , you must continue and persevere , and go on in this duty : and i have four arguments to perswade you to persevere in this duty . 1. from the necessity of this duty ; it is a duty absolutely necessary , as i have told you ; it is the life of all other duties ; prayer will do you no good unless it be joined with meditation , oratio sine , meditatione est arida , saith bernard , prayer without meditation is dry , and luke warm , and cold ; and the reason why our prayers are like so many dead carcases of prayers , is because we do not join meditation with prayer : sermons do us no good without meditation . meditation is the life of all religion , and that which puts life into all other duties . it is of great necessity , and therefore you must not be weary of well-doing , you must persevere , for there is no grace crowned without perseverance . 2. consider the excellency of this duty , it is the souls transmigration to heaven , the souls transfiguration , the souls going up to heaven to converse with god and christ , and the things of eternity ; it is a rare duty , as necessary as your daily bread ; and certainly god conveys much of himself in the practise of this duty . as iesus christ when he was in the mount , was transfigured , and his face shined like the sun. so certainly you that are much in the mount of meditation , you that often go up to meditate of god and christ , and heaven , and sin , your faces will shine , you will be taller than other christians in grace by the head . 3. study the mischiefs that come by the want of practising this duty ; it is not eating meat that nourisheth you , but the digesting of it ; meat may be set before a man , and he may eat a great deal , but if he doth not digest it , he will never be nourished . meditation is a digesting of all the things of god ; it is not the hearing a sermon doth you good , but the meditating on what you hear ; if a man hath a plaister and lays it to his sore , and take it off as soon as he hath laid it on , it will do no good at all ; so when you hear a sermon , if you forget it as soon as ever you have heard it , if you do not chew , meditate and ponder upon what you hear , you will never get any good . as the beast that chewed not the cud was an unclean beast , so the unmeditating christian is an unclean christian. the reason why we have so many lean kine , pardon my expression , that devour the fat , and are never the fatter ; i mean so many lean christians that devour hundreds of sermons , that will hear three or four a day , and are never the beetter , never the fatter ; what is the reason of this , because it comes in at one ear , and goes out at the other , one sermon justles out another ; but they never meditate , ponder and consider what they hear , that is the reason why you are so lean in grace . you know there are many hours required to digest a little meat eaten in a little while ; so a man should be many hours digesting a sermon that he hears in one hour . god and christ are like a picture that hath a curtain drawn over it ; now a man will never judg of the picture till the curtain be withdrawn ; meditation is nothing else but the taking aside the curtain , and viewing of god. to an unmeditating christian god is like the sun in a cloud ; to an unconsidering christian christ is like a jewel in a leathern purse ; now meditation opens the purse , and takes out the jewel , and looks upon it ; meditation draws aside the curtain , and views god , and beholds the glorious things of god. 4. consider , that by persevering in this duty it will at last grow easie ; it is i confess a very up-hill duty , a very spiritual heavenly duty ; but as a man that every day goes up a hill , though at first it be very difficult , he blows and pants as if his soul would go out of him , but by persevering in it he can go up the hill without pain or weariness ; so though it be an up-hill , a hard duty , yet if you that have time , as many of you have , would but set about this work and persevere in it , and labour that your meditation be applicative and affectionative ; let me assure you , you would quickly conquer the difficulty by the help of god ; let a man be to kindle a fire , if the wood be wet he must blow , and continue blowing , and at last he will conquer it ; if he fling away the bellows he will never make the fire burn : but he must continue blowing till he hath extracted the moisture , and conquered the wood ; so when you go to meditate of god , and christ , of the promises , of heaven , of your sins , though you find your hearts dead and dull , and full of vain roving thoughts , and you are mightily out of tune , and much discouraged , you must go on blowing still , you must blow , and blow , and blow , and at last the fire will kindle , the great god of heaven and earth will come in and help you . thus i have done with the third particular , the properties of divine meditation . 4. i must speak to the companions of meditation . there are two companions you must always join with it , or at least ordinarily . i am sure that one you must always join , one is reading , the other is praying . 1. you must join prayer with your meditation ; and therefore here in my text the same word that signifies to meditate in the hebrew , signifies to pray : and isaac went out to meditate ; the word in the hebrew is , he went out to pray or to meditate ; and therefore in the margent it is put ; and isaac went out to pray . and in the old translation it is , and isaac went out to pray ; and in the new translation it is , he went out to meditate . the same hebrew word that signifies to meditate , signifies to pray , to teach us , that we must always join meditation and prayer together . as for example , when you meditate of your sins , you must put up a prayer to god , that you may so meditate of your sins as to get your hearts humbled for them ; and when you meditate of heaven , you must join prayer with your meditation , and lift up a prayer that the lord would help you so to meditate of heaven , as to make you fit for heaven , when i say prayer , i do not mean a set formal prayer , but a short prayer ; when you go up the hill of meditation , you must not set your selves at prayer , but only join short prayer , beseeching god that he would bless it unto you : luk. 9. 29. when christ went up to prayer , while he was praying , his countenance was changed , he was transfigured ; and cornelius while he was a praying , the angel of the lord appeared unto him ; he had glorious appearances while he was praying , act. 10. when we go up to the hill to meditate and to pray , to pray and meditate , we shall be sure to meet with apparitions from god , with glorious transfigurations ; it is a rare saying of bernard , meditation without prayer is infertilis , barren and luke-warm ; prayer without meditation is arida , dry . and as one saith very well , writing of meditation , the reason why the prayers of many of the saints of god are but carcases of prayer , is because they do not join meditation and prayer . and the reason why their meditation is no more powerful , is because they do not join prayer with their meditation ; for meditation without prayer is altogether useless and unprofitable ; you must not meditate in your own strength . 2. you must join reading with your meditation ; understand me aright , i propound this to weak christians that want a stock of knowledg ; there are some christians that are a walking-library , they are books themselves , they need not a book to help them to meditate . but you that are weak christians , my advice is this , that you would join reading with your meditation . as for example , would you meditate of christ ? go and take the bible , and read the history of his passion ; and when thou readest any thing remarkable , lay thy book aside , and meditate seriously of that passage . as for example , when thou comest to read of christ sweating drops of blood ; that christ in a cold winter night upon the cold ground for thy sake should shed drops of blood : lay thy book aside , and meditate of these drops of blood ; oh the wrath of god that he then suffered ! and so when thou comest to read what christ suffered upon the cross , when he cried out , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ! lay aside thy book , and meditate of the love of christ , that was forsaken for thy sake , in regard of outward comfort , i mean not in regard of union ; he was forsaken that thou maist not be forsaken . so likewise , wouldest thou meditate on the promises ? if thou be a weak christian , take a book that treats of the promises , and when thou readest any promise that is suitable to thee , lay the book aside and meditate of that promise till thy heart be affected with it , and labour that it may take impression upon thy soul. saith bernard , long reading without meditation , never made a good scholar , it is always barren . and meditation without reading leads many a weak christian over to error . and therefore when you set a time apart for meditation , join prayer and reading with your meditation . now here i must give you two cautions . 1. you must not read much , lest it hinder you meditation ; as you must not be large in prayer , that it may not hinder your meditation , so you must not be large in reading when you go to meditate ; for prayer and reading are in order to meditation . 2. when you are at the sacrament , you must lay aside all reading ; you must meditate at the sacrament without reading ; the reason is , because christ at the sacrament preacheth to the eye . and our sacramental elements are our sacramental bible ; every action of the minister is mystical and spiritual ; the breaking of the bread , and the pouring out of the wine is spiritual ; christ jesus is represented in all that is done at the sacrament . and therefore when you begin to be drawn dry , as i may so speak , and you know not what to meditate on , you must instead of reading , look upon the elements , it is a sanctified way to quicken you to holiness ; and you must look upon them with a spiritual eye , with an understanding eye , as knowing what those elements signifie , and the sight of the elements will suggest matter of meditation . this i speak because i see many weak christians , and i believe they do it upon honest principles , not being able to hold out in meditation , to keep themselves from wandring thoughts , read in the bible ; this in it self is not sinful ; but this is not sutable nor proper ; for certainly the proper way of meditation at the sacrament is to be raised up in the sacramental elements , the sacramental actions , the sacramental promises ; and therefore thou must make the whole sacramental frame and carriage to be thy bible at the sacrament , and learn to be raised up by that to heavenly meditation . the fifth particular in order , is the materials of meditation ; and here i am to shew you what are those divine truths that we are to meditate upon ; this is a subject of large comprehension ; for the truth is , there is no divine object , but it doth deserve our serious meditation . give me leave to make you a common-place-book of divine meditation ; i will lay down some heads of divinity , that a christian ought to spend his life in , meditating upon , sometimes upon one of them , sometimes upon another of them : as for example , he that would avoid all sin , and thrive in all godliness , must meditate frequently and seriously of death , of iudgment , of heaven and hell ; these are called quatuor novissima , the four last things . 1. you must meditate of death ; now i will not shew you how you should go about to meditate of death , but i will give you some heads to help you . 1. you must meditate of the certainty of death ; there is nothing so certain as that thou must die . 2. you must meditate of the uncertainty of death ; there is nothing so uncertain as the time when we must die ; death comes certainly , and death comes uncertainly , death comes suddenly ; there is no almanack can tell you when your death shall come ; your almanacks will tell you when the next eclypse of the sun and moon will be , but they will not tell you when the eclypse of your lives shall be . and death comes irresistibly , it comes like pain upon a woman in travel , it comes like an armed giant , that will not be resisted when it comes . 3. you must meditate concerning your fitness for death ; whether thou hast got thy graces , thy evidences ready for death ; whether thou art a wise virgin , or a foolish virgin ? whether thou hast got oyl into thy lamp , or no ? 4. you must meditate concerning death , how you may so live as to be above the hurt of death , that death might be an out-let to all misery , and an in-let to all happiness . 5. you must meditate how to live in continual expectation of , and continual preparation for death . 6. you must especially meditate how to be free from the slavish fear of death ; there are many of gods children that live all their lives long under the bondage of the fear of death ; and it is the excellency of a christian to meditate how to be above the hurt and fear of death , and for that purpose you must look upon death with scripture-spectacles , you must look upon death as the going from the prison of this life , to the palace of heaven , as disarmed by christ , as perfumed by christ , as a serpent without a sting , as a passage to eternal life . thus you see how you must meditate of death . 2. you must meditate of the day of iudgment . 1. you must meditate of the terribleness of the day of judgment ; it is called the terror of the lord , 2 cor. 5. 11. it is called by the ancient fathers , the great and terrible day of iudgment ; in which iesus christ will come in flaming fire to render vengeonce upon all those that know him not . 2. you must meditate of the great assizes that will be kept at that day , in which all the men , and women , and children , that ever have lived since adam's time to the end of the world , shall all appear before the tribunal-seat of jesus christ. 3. you must meditate of the great account you are to give to god at that day , the strict , the exact , the particular account ; it is a day in which we must answer for all our idle words , for all our idle thoughts , in which all our secret sins shall be made manifest . 4. you must meditate of the great separation that shall be made at that day , when the goats shall be placed on the left hand , and the sheep on the right hand , there will be a perfect separation . in this life goats and sheep are mingled together , but at that day there will not be one sheep on the left , nor one goat on the right hand . 5. you must meditate of the happy condition of a child of god at that great and terrible day of iudgment ; it shall be a day of his coronation , in which he shall be crowned with glory and immortality ; it shall be a day of salvation to him . 6. you must meditate of the cursed condition of an ungodly man at the day of iudgment ; it shall be a day of perdition and everlasting destruction to him . 3. you must meditate of heaven . 1. you must meditate of the joys of heaven ; that are so great , that eye never saw , nor ear heard , nor ever can it enter into the heart of man to conceive the greatness of them . 2. you must meditate sometimes of the beatifical vision , of the blessed sight of god the father , son , and holy ghost , and of the happiness that that soul shall enjoy that is admitted to that blessed sight ; for because god is infinitely perfect , and all perfection is in god , whosoever is admitted to the sight of god , beholds and enjoys all things in god. 3. you must meditate of the perfection of the happiness of heaven . 4. you must meditate of the perpetuity of the happiness of heaven ; there you shall have fulness of joy , and pleasures at the right hand of god for evermore . 5. you must meditate of your fitness for heaven , whether you are made meet and fit to partake of that glorious inheritance : you must meditate whether god hath sent heaven down into thee ; for no man shall ever go up to heaven , but heaven must first come down to him ; you must meditate whether that christ that hath prepared heaven for thee , hath prepared thee for heaven . 6. you must meditate what you must do , that you may be meet to go to heaven , how you may lead your lives so that you may be sure at last to obtain heavens eternity . 4. you must meditate of hell ; as bernard saith , you must go often down into hell by your meditation while you live , and you shall be sure not to go down to hell when you die . descendamus vivenles , & non descendemus morientes , as chrysostome saith excellently ; if the not thinking of hell would free you from hell , i would never have you think of hell ; but whether you think of it or no , hell-fire burns , and your not thinking of it will bring you thither . and the reason why so many go to hell when they die , is because they do not think of hell while they live . 1. you must study the punishment of loss ; what a cursed thing it is to be excluded from the presence of god for ever and ever ; that is one great part of hell to be shut out of heaven , to be shut out from the beatifical vision , from the glorious presence of god and christ , and the saints of god. 2. you must study poenam census , the punishment of sense ; for the damned are not only shut out of heaven , but they endure endless , easless torments ; you must meditate of the hell-worm , and the hell-fire ; the scripture speaks of a hell-fire , and a hell-worm , and of the eternity of the hell-fire , and the eternity of the hell-worm , mat. 9. 44 , 46. where the worm never dieth , and the fire never goeth out . what is meant by this worm ? nothing else but the gnawing of an awakened conscience . oh think of this hell-worm , and this hell-fire , that you may never come to be so miserable as to be made partakers of it . these are the first four things . in the next place to give you some more ; he that would thrive in all godliness , and avoid all sin , must meditate often of god , of christ , of the holy ghost , and of himself . 1. he must meditate of god , and that is a rare subject of meditation . david saith , psal. 104. 34. my meditation of god shall be sweet . 1. sometimes you must meditate of the attributes of god , of his eternity , a god from everlasting to everlasting . you must meditate of his unchangeableness , a god in whom there is no shadow of turning . you must meditate of his omnipresence , a god that fills heaven and earth with his presence . of his essence ; you must meditate of his omnipotence ; a god that is able to do all things , nothing is impossible with god. you must meditate of his omniscience ; a god that knows all things , to whom all things are naked . you must meditate of his simplicity , and the perfection of his nature ; of his all-sufficiency , and his self-sufficiency ; here is a sea of matter . what rare christians should we be , if we did often , and often meditate on these things , instead of meditating on vanities and follies ? 2. you must meditate of the works of god ; of the work of creation , of the glorious fabrick of heaven and earth , and you must meditate of the work of redemption , that glorious work of god in sending jesus christ into the world ; this meditation is that which swallows up the angels and saints in heaven . you must meditate of the wonderful love of god in giving christ to become a curse for us . you must meditate of the incomparable goodness of god in giving the son of his love , his natural son , to die for his adopted sons . 3. you must meditate in what relation you stand towards god , whether you stand in a covenant-relation to god or no ? whether you stand reconciled to god or no ? whether god be your reconciled father in christ , or no ? 2. you must meditate upon christ. 1. you must meditate of the divine nature of christ , he is god from everlasting , he is coequal , coessential , coeternal with his father . 2. you must meditate of the humane nature of christ , of god manifested in the flesh , of god made man , the union of two natures into one person . 3. you must meditate of the offices of christ , of the kingly office , the priestly office , the prophetical office of christ ; but more especially you must meditate of the life , the death , the resurrection , the ascension , the intercession of christ. 1. you must meditate of the life of christ , and examine , whether thy life be answerable to his life ? if thou dost not live as christ lived , thou shalt have no benefit in christs death and passion : thou must meditate of christs life , to follow the example of his life . 2. you must meditate of his death , that is a rare meditation to prepare you for the sacrament . 1. you must meditate what christ suffered , what he suffered when he was in the garden , when he sweat drops of blood , and prayed , father , if it be possible , let this cup pass from me . oh the bloody agony that christ was then in ! and then you must meditate what christ suffered when he was upon the cross , when he cried out , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ? when there was darkness for three hours together upon the face of the earth ; when there was darkness without , and darkness within too ; when there was a withdrawing the light of gods countenance from christ. you must meditate what christ suffered in pilates hall , when he was whipt , scourged , buffeted . oh what love to christ would this kindle in your hearts , if you had serious meditation of these things . 2. you must meditate for whom christ suffered all these things ; for us when we were his enemies , us wretched damned creatures ; not the blessed angels , but us , us sinful men . 3. you must meditate who he was that suffered all this , even jesus christ the eternal son of god. 4. you must consider with what love he suffered all this , infinite love , the height , and depth , and length , and breadth , of the love of god in suffering all this for us . 5. you must consider what interest you have in christ crucified ? whether christ was crucified effectually for thee , or no ? 3. you must study the resurrection of christ. 4. you must study the ascension of christ. 5. you must study the intercession of christ ; the sitting of christ at the right hand of god the father , where he lives for ever to make intercession for you . 3. you must meditate of the holy ghost ; and there are rare things to fill up your thoughts . 1. you must meditate of the divine nature of the holy ghost , that the holy ghost is the third person in the trinity , that the holy ghost is god blessed for ever . 2. you must meditate of the office of the holy ghost ; it is the office of the third person in the trinity to bring us into the possession of all the father hath decreed , and the son hath purchased ; to make us partakers of the decree of the father , and the purchase of the son. 3. you must study the divine motions of the holy spirit ; and we must meditate how often we have quenched the spirit of christ , how often we have resisted these motions , how often we have imbraced these motions . 4. you must meditate of the grace of the spirit , ( this will open a door to a great deal of excellent matter ) you must meditate of the grace of faith , the grace of repentance , the grace of love to god , and christ , and thy neighbour ; the grace of fear of god , and the grace of humility ; that is , you must meditate whether your faith be a right faith , or no ; whether it be the faith of a simon magus , or the faith of a simon peter ; whether it be an historical faith only , or a justifying faith ; and whether your repentance be a true repentance or no ; and whether your love to christ be a true love , or a counterfeit love . 4. you must meditate of your selves . 1. you must meditate of the fourfold state of man ; man may be considered in a fourfold state : 1. either in the state of innocency , as he was before the fall , a spotless picture of god ; that is a rare meditation : study the happiness of man before he fell , when he was made after gods own image . 2. the state of man when fallen , when corrupted : study the cursed condition of man in his natural condition . 3. the estate of man when restored by christ , when regenerated , when renew'd , when made a picture of god. 4. the estate of man in heaven . 1. what thou wert in adam . 2. what thou art when fallen . 3. what thou art in christ. 4. what thou shalt be in heaven . you must meditate of your sins , of your good duties , of your evidences , and of your comforts . 1. you must meditate of your sins , that is a large field to walk in ; you must meditate of the sins you have committed against god , of your sins of omission , of your sins of commission ; your sins against the law , your sins against the gospel , your sermon-sins , your sacrament-sins , your spiritual sins , your fleshly sins . you must meditate of sin to be humbled for it , that is a rare meditation to fit you for the sacrament . and oh that we had hearts seriously to meditate of our sins . 2. you must meditate of your good duties , that is how many good duties we omit , how many good duties we sinfully perform ; whether we perform duties so as to please god in the performance of them . 3. you must meditate of your evidences for heaven , whether they are right or no ; whether you have gotten tribunal-proof assurance for heaven ; whether thy evidences for heaven are death-enduring ; whether they will hold out at the day of judgment . 4. you must meditate of your comforts ; whether those comforts that you have , be the consolations of the spirit , or the delusions of the devil . there are many men will tell you that they have comforts , but their comforts are diabolical delusions , not divine consolations . you must meditate of the frailty of your body , the immortality of your soul , the dependance you have upon god , and the advantage god hath you at . 1. the frailty of your body ; the body of man is made of dust , and will quickly crumble to dust ; it is an earthly tabernacle that is easily dissolved . what a rare thing will it be to take the scripture , and study all the comparisons to which the life of man is compared ? to set out the shortness of it , it is compared to grass , to hay , to stubble , to dry stubble , to a dry leaf , to a swift post , to a vapour , to a hands-breadth ; meditate of the frailty of thy vile body , that will quickly go down to the house of rottenness . 2. meditate of the immortality of thy soul , thy precious soul , which is a picture of god , made by god , and made for god. there is no man but hath a heavenly tapour within him , which can never be blown out ; there is no man but he hath that within him that he cannot kill himself ; there is no man but he hath that within him that must live for ever as blessed as an angel , or as cursed as a devil . meditate upon the dependance you have upon god. oh this will keep thee humble , and make thee comply with gods will ; thou dependest upon god for thy being , thy well-being , thy eternal being ; thou dependest upon god every minute , thou livest by gods upholding thee ; study the dependance thou hast upon god for thy soul , thy body , thy wise , thy children , thy all . 4. meditate of the advantage god hath thee at . god hath all the world between his hands , as the prophet saith ; and he can easily crush us , as we do a moth ; as we are creatures he can annihilate us if he please ; and as we are sinners he can throw us into hell if he please . study the relations in which god hath placed thee ; study thy calling , thy company , thy heart . 1. study thy relations in which god hath placed thee ; there is none of us all but we are under many relations ; art thou a minister , art thou a magistrate , art thou a father , art thou a master ? study the duties of every relation ; study how to honour god in every relation ; study to keep a good conscience in every relation . 2. study thy calling ; how to honour god in thy calling , how to keep a good conscience in thy calling ; how to keep thy self unspotted from the sins of thy calling , for there is no calling but hath some sin or other attending it . oh meditate , that thy shop do not destroy thy soul ; meditate to keep a good conscience in thy shop ; that thou dost not lose in thy own house what thou gainest in gods house . 3. study thy company , what company to keep , that is a great matter ; for i know a man by his company more than any thing whatsoever ; i mean by the company he useth to keep . study to keep a good conscience in all company , study to keep thy self from the sins of thy company . 4. study thy heart : meditate often of thine own heart , the deceitfulness of thy heart ; the heart is deceitful above all things , it is the greatest cheater in the world ; and there are thousands whose hearts do cozen them into hell ; thy heart will tell thee thou lovest god when thou dost not love him at all ; that thou art upright , when thou art an hypocrite . study thy thoughts , thy affections , thy words , and thy actions . 1. meditate of thy thoughts , the vanity of thy thoughts , the vileness of thy thoughts , the hell , shall i say , that is in thy thoughts ; if all the thoughts that we think were written upon our foreheads , how would we be ashamed that the world should see us . oh meditate of thy covetous thoughts , of thy lustful thoughts , thy vile and vain thoughts , to be humbled for them . 2. meditate of thy affections : god doth especially look to our affections ; he hates any service that is not mixed with affection . there are several affections ; meditate of thy love , whether thou lovest god or the world most . meditate where thy love is , whether thou servest god out of love ; whether the world doth not lye nearer thy heart than christ ; meditate of thy desire , whether thou hast larger desires after the creature than after god ; meditate of thy joy , whether thou dost not delight more in vanity than in christ jesus ; and meditate of thy sorrow , whether thou dost not mourn more for outward losses than for thy sins ? meditate of thy anger , whether thy anger be rightly placed ; and meditate of thy trust and hopes , whether thou dost , trust in god at all times . 3. you must meditate of your words ; oh what a world of sin is in our tongues ! and if we would meditate of the sins of our tongues , oh what a black catalogue would there be ! the tongue is a world of iniquity , set on fire of hell , saith the apostle iames. 4. meditate of thy actions , whether thy actions be agreeable to the will of god or no , how thou behavest thy self towards god , and towards thy neighbour . meditate of the sinfulness of sin , the vanity of the world , the length of eternity , and the excellency of the gospel . 1. meditate of the sinfulness of sin ; sin is the greatest evil in the world , it is a greater evil than banishment , than death , than hell it self ; meditate of the intrinsecal and extrinsecal evil of sin . 2. meditate of the vanity of the creature : all earthly things are vain , they are vanity of vanity , and vexation of spirit ; they are all unsatisfying and unprofitable ; what will all the world do you good when you are sick , when you are ready to die . 3. meditate of the length of eternity ; oh eternity ! eternity ! that we studied thee more ! that we thought more of thee ! study the difference between time and eternity ; for time is nothing else but an intersection between two eternities ; before there was time , there was eternity ; and when time shall be no more , there shall be eternity . time in comparison of eternity is no more than a thatcht-house in comparison of all the houses in the world ; than a drop of water in comparison of the ocean . 4. study the excellency of the gospel ; oh meditate of the glorious gospel of christ , and what a priviledg it is to enjoy the gospel ; and meditate whether thy life be answerable to the gospel ; whether thou that hast lived so long under the gospel , hast lived a life conformable to the gospel . study the commandments of god , the threatnings of god , the promises of god , and the ordinances of god. 1. study the commandments of god ; whether thou keepest them , or no ; to be humbled for not keeping them , to labour to keep them better . 2. study the threatnings of god , and stand in awe of them , and fear them . 3. study the promises of god , the glorious , the precious promises , the freeness of the promises , the fulness of the promises , the infallibleness of the promises ; there is no condition a child of god can be in , but there is some promise or other to comfort him ; the universality of the tender of the promises , thy interest in the promises , whether the promises of the gospel belong to thee , or no 4. study the ordinances of god , that is , study how to come prepared to ordinances , how to manage ordinances so , that gods name may be honoured by them . and there are four ordinances that you must meditate of . 1. you must meditate of the ordinance of prayer ; you must study the excellency of prayer , the efficacy of prayer ; you must study to get the gift of prayer , to get the grace of prayer . study how to pray in the holy ghost ; how to pray with faith , with fervency , with repentance . 2. you must meditate of the ordinance of reading the word ; that is an ordinance of god , and you must study to read the word with reverence and godly fear , to read the word as gods word , to read the word in a different way than you read any other book whatsoever . 3. you must meditate of the ordinance of hearing the word ; study the right art of hearing the word ; so to hear the word as to be transformed into what you hear ; to be trained up to heaven by what you hear ; so to hear the word as gods word , with an universal resignation of thy will to what thou hearest . 4. the ordinance of the sacrament of the lords-supper ; oh meditate much of this ordinance . i have told you several heads of meditation for the sacrament . study the errors of the times , the iudgments of god upon the nation , the changes god hath made in this nation , and the mercies of god. 1. study the errors of the times , labour to get preservatives against them ; it is a lamentation , and it shall be for a lamentation ; there is a great apostacy from the truths of christ among many professors of religion ; you shall hardly go into a family but you shall find some or other be-lepered with error . here is thy work , o christian , to study the errors of the times , what to do , to get antidotes and preservatives against anabaptism , against socinianism , against anti-sabbatarianism , against anti-scripturism , against those that deny the divinity of christ , and the divinity of the holy ghost ; to get spiritual armour , to be able to resist all the errors of these times . it is a great shame , and oh that you would be humbled for it , that one erroneous person can speak more for the defence of his error than twenty orthodox christians are able to speak for the truth , for want of studying antidotes and preservatives against the errors of the times . 2. study the iudgments of god that have been for these many years upon england , scotland , and ireland ; the hand of god is gone out against these three nations , and the lord hath laid us desolate , and the sword hath drunk a great deal of blood , and no man lays it to heart . now let us meditate of gods great iudgments upon this land , that we may know the meaning of gods rod , and we may know how to get all these judgments sanctified unto us . 3. meditate of the great changes that god hath made in this nation ; we have been tossed from one condition to another , from one way of government to another . study all the changes and alterations that god hath made by his permitting-providence : oh what a shame is it that we should meditate no more of gods ways and dealings , to know the meaning of god in all these alterations and changes , and what the language of god is ; and what use we should make of them , and how we should keep a good conscience , and keep close to our principles , and how we should honour god under all our changes . 4. you must meditate of the several passages of gods providence towards us ; there is no man or woman here but hath had rare experience of gods providence , either in the place of thy dwelling , that god should pitch thy dwelling under such a minister ; or in the manner of thy marriage , or the providence of god at such a time , under such a sickness ; it is our duty to take special notice of the providence of god , in raising thee up a friend , in helping thee at such a time . for want of meditation we lose all the benefit of the passages of gods providence , and god loseth all his glory . 5. you must meditate of the mercies of god , of national mercies , family mercies , personal mercies , mercies to thy soul , mercies to thy body , preventing mercies , following mercies ; what a catalogue would here be , if you would keep a daily account of the mercies of god! the sixth thing is to lay down rules and directions for the better practising of this most excellent and necessary duty of divine meditation ; and indeed this is the chief of all : there is no christian but he will confess it is a very difficult duty to dwell upon the thoughts of heaven , and heavenly things . divine meditation is an up-hill duty ; and the reason why it is so difficult ; is because it is so excellent . difficilia quae pulchra , the more excellent any duty is , the more difficult it is . and another reason why it is so difficult , is because it is so contrary to corrupt nature ; now the more contrary any duty is to corrupt nature , the more excellent it is . the difficulty of the duty should not so much discourage us , as the excellency of the duty should quicken us . now that i may help you against the difficulty of this duty , i shall lay down three sorts of rules . 1. rules for the right qualifying of the person that is to meditate . 2. rules for the right ordering the subjects upon which he is to meditate . 3. rules for the right meditation upon these subjects . i. i shall lay down rules and directions for the right qualifying and ordering the person that is to practise this divine duty of meditation ; and for that purpose i shall give you in these rules . 1. convince thy soul of the absolute necessity of divine meditation ; i have shewed it is a duty expresly commanded by god , a duty required of all sorts of persons , of kings , of generals of armies , of young gentlemen , of women , of ministers ; david , ioshua , young isaac in my text practised this duty ; and many women , and many holy men . let me add , that this very duty is the life and soul of all christianity ; you are but carcasses of christians if you be not acquainted with it ; it is as impossible to live without a soul , as it is to be a good christian without divine meditation . as it is impossible for a man to be nourished by meat if he want digestion and concoction ; so it is impossible for a man to be nourished in grace , if he neglect the duty of divine meditation ; for divine meditation is the spiritual concoction and digestion of all holy things , and all holy duties . as a man without concoction , i mean without a faculty of digestion and concoction , so is a christian without the practise of divine meditation . 2. convince your souls ( and the lord convince you ) of the great benefits and advantages that are obtained by a conscientious practise of divine meditation ; as i have shewed , divine meditation is a mighty help to the begetting grace , and increasing grace . 1. it is a mighty help to the begetting repentance ; as david saith , psal. 119. 59. i considered my ways , and turned my feet unto thy testimonies . it was the consideration of the evil of his ways , that made david turn his feet to gods testimonies . and it is said of peter , mark 14. 72. when he thought thereon , he wept ; what made peter repent ? the meditation of the unkindness of the sin he committed against christ. and what made the prodigal child come home to his father ? luk. 15. 17. when he came to himself he considered , and said , how many hired servants of my fathers , have bread enough , and to spare , and i perish with hunger ? it was consideration that made the prodigal child come home to his father ; he considered how much bread there was in his fathers house , and he ready to starve . 2. divine meditation is a mighty help to the love of god ; for to an inconsiderate christian god is as a picture with a curtain drawn over it , but consideration takes away the curtain , unveils god to a man , and shews him all the beauty and excellency that is in god ; and it is like a fiery furnace to kindle a divine fire of love in the soul of every christian. 3. it is a mighty help to beget in us the fear of god ; oh did you meditate much of the power of god , and the goodness of god , and the forgivenesses that are in god , oh you would fear god for his goodness , and for his greatness ; the reason why we love god no more , is because we think of god no more , study god no more . 4. it would be a mighty help to the love of christ ; for christ jesus to an unmeditating christian is like a book that is sealed , like a treasure that is lockt up ; but meditation opens this book , unlocks this treasure ; and that man that solemnly meditates of the excellency and love of christ , cannot but love christ. 5. it is a mighty help to the contempt of the world ; for the world is like gilded copper , there is a glittering excellency in it , but meditation of the vanity of the world will wash off all the gilt , the whorish paint , the glittering excellency that is in the world ; a man that looks upon the world a far off , sees nothing in it but excellency ; but when you come to meditate of the vanity of the world , and all worldly things , meditation will make you contemn the world , and all worldly things . 3. consider the unconceivable and unexpressible mischiefs that come upon a christian for want of divine meditation . what is the reason why men go on in their sins without repentance ? it is for want of meditation . ier. 8. 6. no man repenteth , because no man saith what have i done ? what is the reason the word of god takes no more impression upon your hearts , and there is no more good done by preaching ? it is because you do not meditate upon what you hear ; as a plaister that is put to a wound , if it be pluckt off as soon as it is put on , it will never do you good ; so if a sermon be forgotten as soon as it is heard , it will never profit you . and what is the reason that the mercies of god do no more good , that men are no more thankful for mercies , and no more fruitful under mercies ? because they do not consider their mercies ? come from god , hos. 2. 8. she did not know ( that is , she did not consider ) that i gave her corn , and wine , and oil , and multiplied her silver and gold which they prepared for baal . they would not have prepared their silver and gold for baal , had they considered that god gave it , but they would have served god with it ; that is the reason why you are so proud of your mercies , and sin against god with your mercies , because you do not meditate that the lord hath given you all the mercies you have ; and what is the reason men get no more good by afflictions ? because they do not consider why god afflicts them ; what is the meaning of gods rod , and how they might get their afflictions sanctified : the want of the practice of divine meditation is the cause of all punishment , as well as of all sin , ier. 12. 11. all the whole land is made desolute , because no man lays it to heart . 4. if you would be rightly qualified for divine meditation , labour to get a sufficient furniture of spiritual knowledg ; for the reason why this duty is so difficult , and why men cannot continue long at it , is for want of sufficient matter to meditate upon . for as i shewed you , meditation is a dwelling , a musing , an abiding upon the things we know of god , or christ , or the promises ; it is an unlocking of the treasure of knowledg concerning god , and christ , and heaven ; and he that hath not a good stock of knowledg of christ , or the promises , can never continue long to meditate upon christ , or the promises ; if ever you would be a good practitioner of this duty of divine meditation , you must labour to be instructed unto the kingdom of heaven , as the phrase is , mat. 13. 42. every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven , is like unto a man which is a housholder , that brings out of his treasure things old and new . you must be acquainted with things both new and old , and instructed in the things of the kingdom of god , and you must be men in understanding , 1 cor. 14. 20. brethren , be not children in understanding : howbeit , in malice be ye children , but in understanding be men . a babe in understanding cannot be long in meditation ; but you must be babes in malice , but in understanding men of ripe age . you had need have a great deal of knowledg that would be practitioners to purpose of this excellent duty of divine meditatiou , you must grow in grace , and in the knowledg of our lord iesus christ. 5. if ever you would be a good practitioner in the school of divine meditation , you must labour to get a serious spirit ; for a slight-headed christian , can never be a good meditating christian ; a slight-headed and a slight-hearted christian , that cannot dwell upon things , but rove from one thing to another , cannot be a good christian ; pardon my words , i speak them upon much deliberation : for religion is a serious matter , it is a business of eternity , and therefore it requires a serious christian ; and if ever you would practise this duty that i am preaching of , if ever you would go up to the mount of meditation to converse with god there , you must labour to be of a serious spirit , as those were , luk. 1. 66. and all they that heard him , laid it up in their hearts ; they did not slight what they heard , but laid it up in their hearts , luk. 2. 19. but mary kept all these sayings , and pondered them in her heart . luk. 2. 51. but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart . a good christian is a pondering , a serious christian. there is a fourfold frame of spirit that cannot stand with true christianity , nor with the practice of this duty that i am preaching of , and the lord help you against them . 1. a slight frame of spirit ; that man that thinks slightly of god , will love him but slightly , and serve him but slightly ; slight thoughts of god will make but slight impressions upon the heart , and slight impressions upon the life . slight thoughts of god will have but slight affections to god ; for if my apprehensions be slight , my affections and my actions will be slight ; for my affections and actions follow my apprehension . therefore a slight frame of spirit is a very sad frame of spirit . 2. as there is a slight , so there is a trifling frame of spirit ; when a man thinks of the things of heaven as trifles ; when a man trifles way a sacrament , trifles away a sermon , trifles away a prayer , as thousands of you do . oh it is a sad thing for a man to be serious in trifles , and to trifle in serious things ! i cannot tell which is the worst , though i think rather the second is the worst . that is a sad thing when a man looks upon sabbaths , and sacraments , and ministers , and ministry , and all the holy things of god as trifles ; such an one was gallio , when he saw it was a matter of religion , he cared for none of these things , he looked upon them as trifles . a trifling frame of spirit cannot consist with true christianity . 3. there is a watry frame of spirit ; there are some men , tell them of their sins , and they will yield to you , and confess their sins , and promise amendment ; and there are many , while they are at a sermon , the sermon takes impression upon them , but they are of a watry spirit , nothing will abide upon them . as a man that flings a stone into the water , it will make one circle , and another circle , and another circle , a great many circles , but there is no abiding of them , they are quickly gone ; so there are some men , their hearts will melt at a sermon , or a sacrament , but they are of a watry spirit , nothing will abide upon them . take a stone and fling it at a feather-bed , the stone will make a great dint in it , but this dint will not abide ; though the feather-bed yield to the stone , yet there is no remaining of the impression ; so , many a man is of a yielding spirit , that nothing will fix . 4. a rash inconsiderate frame of spirit cannot stand with true christianity ; when a man rusheth upon good duties , and upon offices , church-offices , and state-offices , without any deliberation , meditation , or preparation ; when a man prays rashly , comes to the sacrament rashly , headily , hand over head , as we say ; this man is a spiritual fool , and all his holy duties are the sacrifices of fools , eccles. 5. 1. keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of god , and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifices of fools , for they consider not that they do evil . be not rash with thy mouth , and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before god. a rash spirited man that prays headily , and comes to holy duties headily and inconsiderately , this man catcheth many a fall : as a man that runs hastily will quickly stumble ; so a man that is spiritually rash , will run into many spiritual evils . as a man that is rash in his calling will quickly out-run himself , so he that is rash in holy duties will quickly run into a thousand mischiefs ; as peter was so rash when he said to christ , though all men forsake thee , yet will not i. he was over rash , but it cost him dear . so it was a rash act of david , when he went to kill nabal , and if abigail had not hindred him , he had murdered him . and when he gave the land to mephibosheth's servant , it was a rash act . consider , i beseech you , these four particulars ; these frames of spirit will never make you good christians , never fit you for the practise of this rare duty of divine meditation ; but you must pray unto god that he would give you a solemn and serious spirit , if ever you would be rightly qualified to go up to the mount of divine meditation . the sixth rule is this , labour for the love of heaven , and heavenly things ; the reason why people find it so difficult to meditate upon heavenly things , is for want of love to them ; for if you did love christ , i need not perswade you to meditate of god ; i need not perswade a covetous man to meditate of his money ; a man that loves the world , you need not perswade him to meditate of the world ; or a man that is voluptuous , to meditate upon his pleasures , his love to his pleasures will force him to think of them ; a man that is ambitious , you need not perswade him to think of honour and preferment , but the love that he hath to preferment , will force him to think of it . so , did you love god , christ , heavenly things , you would be much in the meditation of them . and the reason why you meditate no more of them , is because you love them no more , psal. 119. 97. oh how do i love thy law ! what then ? it is my meditation all the day . what made david meditate all the day upon the law of god ? because he loved it , psal. 1. 7. but his delight is in the law of the lord , and in his law doth he meditate day and night . a man that is deep in love with a woman , you need not bid him think of that woman . where the love is , there the soul is . oh , did you delight in the things of heaven , i need not lay down rules to perswade you to the practise of it ; the very love would be a loadstone ; love is a loadstone of meditation ; and he that loves good things will think of them : cogitatione crebra , cogitatione longa , cogitatione profunda ; that is , very often , very long , and very deep ; a man that is deep in love , is deep in meditation of the party he loves . the seventh rule , labour to get an interest in heavenly things ; labour by scripture-evidences to make out thy interest in heavenly things ; what comfort can that man have of meditating of heaven , that doth not know he hath a right to heaven ? what comfort can that man have of meditating of christ , that doth not know that christ is his ? what comfort can that man have in meditation of god , that looks upon god as his enemy . it is interest that will facilitate divine meditation ; a man that hath an interest in an inheritance , will often think of it ; if he hath a thousand pound a year that is his own , he is often thinking how to improve it , and enjoy it ; but if he hath no title or right to it , alas he will not think of it , what doth he care for it : it is your interest in the things of heaven , that will raise your meditation of them ; and as long as you have no assurance of a title to heaven , you will never heartily meditate of it ; you may know it by rote and by form , but you will never heartily meditate of it , till you know it to be your inheritance ; and you will never heartily meditate of the promises , till you know you have a title to them , that they are promises made to you . the eighth rule is this , labour to get a heart disengaged and disintangled from the world ; a man that is dead and buried in the world , it is in vain to perswade him to go up the mount of meditation ; a bird that is in a lime-twig , it is in vain to bid that bird fly , alas poor bird she is intangled in the lime-twig ; a man that is intangled in the lime-twigs of the world , it is in vain to bid this man mount up in meditation . the love of the world is like the plague of flies that pharoah had in egypt , he could not eat a bit of meat , but the flies got into his meat , and got into his drink ; so a man that is up to the ears in the world , cannot pray , cannot hear a sermon , and cannot receive the sacrament , but this plague of flies comes there ; the thoughts of the world is at the sacrament with him , in prayer with him , on the sabbath-day with him . the love of the world ( pray pardon me in this expression ) is just like a familiar spirit ; for indeed i cannot speak too much against it ; a witch , that hath a familiar spirit , it will go along with her wheresoever she goes ; when she hath once entertained it , she can never be rid of it , but the devil will haunt her ; so the love of the world is an invisible devil , and will haunt you wheresoever you go ; if you go to the sacrament , there the devil will haunt you ; if you go to the mount of meditation , the devil and the world will be there ; if you go to pray , there the devil will be . and you that are in these lime-twigs , it is in vain to preach to you the doctrine of divine meditation ; and therefore let me speak to you as god did to moses , put the shooes off thy feet , for the place whereon thou stands is holy ground : so do i say , if ever you would be qualified for this duty of divine meditation , put the shooes off your feet . you must labour to be mortified to the world , and worldly things ; you must labour to get a heavenly frame of spirit ; it is in vain to perswade a worldly man to meditate of heavenly things , i do but beat the air ; for such as the heart is , such will the man be ; if the heart be lustful , the man will meditate of lustful things , and act lustful things ; if the heart be worldly , the man will be worldly ; such as thy heart is , such is thy thoughts , such are thy affections , such are thy actions ; and till thy heart be heavenly , thou canst never be a fit practitioner of this duty ; and therefore labour for a heavenly heart . the ninth rule is this , be not discouraged though you find a difficulty in the beginning , of practising this duty , but accustom thy self to it : custom will make perfectness ; usus promptus facit ; custom will make it an easie thing ; as an apprentice that is newly bound to his master , finds his trade very hard at first , but afterwards by custom , when he hath been a year or two at it , then it is very easie ; so at the first you will find it very hard to meditate of christ , to abide and dwell long at it ; but let me assure you , accustom your selves to it , and you will find it very easie through gods mercy . have you not known many a man and woman that hath been by the physician prescribed to walk up a hill every day , at the first he finds it very hard , he is not able to do it , but within a month or two it begins to be easie , and they that before could not go up the hill without resting almost twenty times , now they can go up without resting at all . oh the hill of meditation is hard for us to climb , that are so full of the world , so full of vanity and folly ; but if you did accustom your selves to climb up this hill , by often doing of it , you would find it very easie . the tenth and last rule is this , do all these things by power derived from iesus christ ; i do not think that it is in your power to do these things , but i know there is power in christ , and christ will give you power , as the apostle saith , phil. 4. 13. i am able to do all things through christ , that strengtheneth me . go to christ for a heavenly heart , for a serious spirit , to kindle in thee a love to heavenly things , to shew thee thy interest in heavenly things ; for if thou didst know thy interest in them , thou wouldest often think of them ; or if thou didst love them , thou wouldest often think of them ; or if thou hadst a heavenly heart , thou wouldest often think of them . oh therefore go to christ , and whatsoever you ask in the name of christ , it shall be given unto you . 2. i am to set down rules for the right ordering the materials , the subjects that we are to meditate upon . and here i shall give you in these four rules . i. be sure that in the beginning , till you come to be acquainted with this duty , you pick out easie subjects to meditate upon ; there are some subjects that are very abstruse , and sublime , and difficult ; it is a hard matter for a weak christian to spend an hour in the meditation of the ineffable and great mystery of the trinity , or in the meditation of the hypostatical vnion of the two natures of christ in one person , or in the meditation of the mystical union between christ and a christian. and therefore my advice is , that in the beginning of the practice of this rare duty , you would pick out easie subjects to meditate upon . as for example , i should think that it were an easie thing to spend an hour in meditating upon the attributes of god , to meditate of gods omnipotence , and gods omniscience , and gods omnipresence , and the all-sufficiency of god , the everlastingness of god , the eternity of god , the perfections that are in god , and so to meditate upon the works of god , the work of creation , to meditate what god made the first , second , third , fourth , fifth , sixth day ; to meditate on the goodness and mercy of god in creating the great fabrick of heaven and earth ; and to meditate of the work of redemption , to meditate of iesus christ , of the divine and humane nature of christ. i should conceive it were an easie thing , especially to you that love christ , to spend a great deal of time in meditation of the love of god in sending christ to become man , and of the love of christ , the mysery of love , the miracle of love in god becoming man , and to meditate of the life of christ , and the death of christ ; what christ suffered in the garden when he sweat drops of blood ; and what he suffered upon the cross , when he cried out , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me . of the love of christ that died for us , and of the persons for whom christ died ; for us when we were sinners : and of the patience and humility of christ whilst he was dying for us ; and to meditate of the resurrection of christ , the ascension of christ , and the offices of christ , the kingly , priestly , and prophetical office ; and to meditate of our interest in christ , and how we should do to walk worthy of christ. i conceive there are few that truly fear god , that are so little furnished with spiritual knowledg , but are able to spend an hour in meditating upon these things . i might add another meditation , and that is the meditation of heaven ; who is there that hath any thing of heaven in him , that cannot spend an hour in meditating ? 1. of the happiness of heaven in general . it is a place where we shall have such joys that eye never saw , nor ear heard , nor ever entred into the heart of man to conceive ; it is a place where we shall be crowned with three crowns , a crown of life , a crown of glory , a crown of righteousness . it is an inheritance that hath three properties , which any understanding christian may spend many years in thinking of , an inheritance immortal , undefiled , and that never fadeth away . 2. to meditate of the happiness of heaven in particular ; as for example , who is there of such a low form of grace , that cannot spend time to meditate of the beatifical vision ! what a happiness it will be in heaven to see god face to face ! for god is an universal good , all good is in god ; god is all happiness , and therefore he that is admitted to see god , sees all happiness in god. and then to meditate of the sight of christ ; what a rare thing will it be for a poor soul to live for ever in heaven with jesus christ , and to behold his face ! to be with the lord christ ! and then to meditate of the company that we shall have in heaven , to be present with angels and archangels , with all the patriarchs , and with all the holy men of god that ever have been . and then to meditate of the place it self ; heaven is the paradise of god , it is the throne of god , it is the first building , the highest building , the largest building , the best building , of the creation of god. and then to meditate of the perpetuity of those joys : who cannot spend a little time in meditating of the eternity of the joys of heaven , not only the perfection but the perpetuity of them ! and then to meditate of thy interest in these joys , whether thou be'st a person qualified to go to heaven ; and then to meditate how thou maist do to get to be qualified to go to that holy place , in which no unclean person shall ever enter . that is the first rule . 2. i would have you use variety in your meditation . i would not have you always dwell upon one subject ; the strongest stomack will loath to eat always of one dish ; and therefore i gave you in several particulars to meditate upon ; i gave you a large field to walk in ; and i did this the rather , that so you might have matter enough , you might not be drawn dry for want of subjects ; that you might sometimes pick one flower , and then another flower , and then another flower ; variety will much delight a christian. and truly i would fain have this duty not be a burden to any , but a delight to all . sometimes i would have you meditate of the vanity of the world , and sometimes of death , of the certainty and uncertainty of death ; and how to be fit for death . sometimes i would have you meditate of the day of judgment , sometimes of hell , sometimes of heaven , sometimes of the sinfulness of sin , sometimes of the love of christ. so i would have you walk in the garden of divine meditation , from flower to flower , that you may take the more delight and content in . it . the third rule is this , be sure to pick out such subjects to meditate upon especially , which do most of all work compunction in the heart , that do most of all stir up holiness , and provoke you to godliness and piety . of this kind is the meditation of the incarnation of christ , the meditation of the life and death , and resurrection and ascension of christ. it is a meditation , if the lord bless it , that will mightily provoke you to holiness , and to piety , and to thankfulness ; so the meditation of death is a sin-mortifying meditation ; and so the meditation of heaven , and the day of judgment , these are soul-sanctifying meditations . so likewise the meditation of the vanity of the world , and the sinfulness of sin ; i would have you pick out soul-awakening , and soul-sanctifying subjects to meditate upon ; there are some men , and not a few of those , that spend many hours in meditating when the iews shall be converted , and in finding out the time when the great slaughter and massacre of the two witnesses spoken of in rev. 11. shall happen ; and in studying out the meaning of the prophecy of daniel , and the revelations ; to know whether there shall be a personal reign of christ a thousand years upon earth , and when that shall happen . now you shall observe that these men are very barren in devotion , that ravel out all their thoughts and meditations in finding out the secrets of god , such things as god hath kept secret unto himself ; these men are very barren and dry in practical divinity . i have read a story of a man that studied the critical questions of school-divinity so long , that he forgat to say his prayers , he could not pray . and you shall find , that those that empty all their strength and ability in studying speculations and notions , are very barren in matters of practice ; and therefore my counsel is , that you would especially pick out subjects that will help you to be weaned from the world , to walk humbly with god , that will kindle a holy fire of love in your souls to christ , and will make you more like unto christ , and more conformable to his death and resurrection . it is true , a great understanding , and an acute wit , will make a learned man , but it is the holy life that makes a good man. 4. pick and chuse out such subjects especially to meditate upon , that are most seasonable to thy condition , most suitable to thy relation , and to that estate in which god hath set you ; for these will most affect the heart . as for example , to give you three or four instances . 1. suppose thou art a man troubled in mind , exceedingly dejected ; thou art ready to despair , because thou art a great sinner , and thou thinkest god will not be merciful unto thee ; and thou art afraid left christ hath forsaken thee : now i would have thee pick out such a subject to meditate upon , that will suit thy condition . i would have thee go and meditate of the willingness of christ to receive poor sinners ; not only the ability , but the willingness of christ to pardon all that come unto to him ; iesus christ is not only able , but he is willing to pardon a penitent sinner , one that comes to him for life ; he is more willing to pardon us , than we can be to ask pardon . if thou be'st willing to leave thy sins , christ is more willing to receive thee , than thou canst be to be received ; jesus christ would never have took such a journey from heaven to earth , if he had not been very willing to save poor sinners . he is so willing to save you if you come to him , as that he came unsent for ; the patient did not send for the physician , but the physician came of his own accord from heaven ; the son of man is come to seek and save that which is lost , mat. 18. 11. therefore he must needs be-willing . for a physician to take such a journey , and to come of his own accord ; and when he came here , and saw he could not cure his patient but by his own death , the physician dies to cure the patient ; the physician makes a bath , a medicine of his own blood to cure his patient ; this did christ : and therefore he was very willing to receive you ; if he had not been willing to save sinners , he could never have provided such gospel-ordinances . and then again , he must needs be willing , for he hath sworn if any man come unto him , he will receive him : if any man come to me , i will in no wise cast him out . he hath engaged himself with promise ; and christ must be a lyar , ( i speak it with a great deal of reverence ) if you should come to him and he refuse you ; and when he was here upon earth , he complains of nothing but that men would not come unto him : you will not come unto me that you might have life . he never complained of the greatness , or the naughtiness of their diseases ; he cured the diseases of all that came unto him ; but all his complaining was , that they would not come unto him . now did you go into your closets , and meditate upon these things , and pray unto god to bless the meditation of these things , would not this cure your troubled consciences ? 2. and again , you that are troubled in conscience , meditate of the promises of god ; and not only those promises that are made , to those that have grace , but meditate of the promises that god hath made , to give grace . study the promises god hath made not only to give pardon to them that repent , but the promises god hath made to give repentance to those that ask it . god hath not only promised to give pardon to those that believe and repent , but god hath promised to give repentance , act. 5. 31. and god hath promised to give faith , phil. 1. 29. god hath not only promised pardon to a broken heart , but he hath promised to give a broken heart , ezek. 36. 26. now do you go into your closets and meditate of these things ; they would be very refreshing to you . and then again , 3. suppose thou art in outward want , the lord hath blasted thy estate , thou hast lost all thy estate , and art like job upon the dunghill , thou art driven it may be to beg thy bread ; thou art now a poor man not worth an half-peny ; thou wert a rich man , the lord hath blown upon all thou hast ; this is a sad condition ! now i would have such an one spend a great deal of time in meditating of the wonderful providences of god towards his poor children ; consider how god feeds the fowls of the air , and the ravens , how god provides for the lillies . i would have him read mat. 6. from the 24th verse to the end of that chapter ; consider ( saith christ ) the lillies and the fowls of the air , how god provides for them ; and therefore be not distracted in thy heart , take no thought what thou shalt eat , and what thou shalt drink , &c. but study the providence of god. and then meditate of the promises that god hath made unto his children , to give them whatsoever shall be necessary for them . i would have such people as are low in estate , read the bible , and pick out all the promises that god hath made to those that want , that fear his name ; god hath promised the young lions shall lack and suffer hunger , but they that fear the lord shall want nothing that is good . the lord will give grace and glory , and no good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly . and i will never leave you nor forsake you . gather up all the promises god hath made to believers when they are poor , and have lost all . 4. art thou sick , like to lose thy husband , or thy own own life ? then pick out seasonable meditations , seasonable subjects ; go and meditate of death , meditate how christ hath taken away the sting of death . meditate how death is a gate to let us into everlasting life ; how death is an out-let to all misery , and an inlet to all happiness ; that death is the best friend that thou hast , next to jesus christ. 5. suppose thou art to receive the sacrament , what must thou do a little before thou receivest it ? i would have you every month before you come to the sacrament , spend one hour or two in meditating of the sacrament , of the nature of it , the necessity of coming ; meditate whether thou be'st a worthy receiver ; and what thou must do that thou maist be a worthy receiver ; meditate of thy sins , thy graces , thy spiritual wants . let me commend this to you every sacrament , and never forget it ; meditate to find out thy sins , to be humbled for them ; meditate to know whether thou hast any grace in truth , and to get it increased ; and meditate of thy spiritual wants what they are , to get them supplied . what a rare deal of matter is here contained in these three particulars , to find out thy sins by the glass of the law ? by taking the law of god , and examining thy life , and the law together , that would cost thee many an hour ; and then to get thy heart humbled for these sins , and to confess them , and to have grace to forsake them . and then to examine thy graces , whether thou hast truth of grace ; whether thy grace be meerly counterfeit , and a shadow of grace ; and if thou hast truth of grace , how to get it increased by the sacrament ; and then to meditate what thou wantest , and what thou wouldest have from christ , and to get that supplied . the third thing is , to set down rules and directions for the right ordering of our meditation upon these subjects . and here i will lay you down rules to direct you how to meditate , rules to help you how to begin , and then how to go on , and proceed to hold out an hour in meditation , for the better progress in it ; and then rules how you shall finish and conclude this excellent duty of meditation . 1. rules to teach you how to begin and enter upon this excellent work of meditation ; and here i will lay down six rules for your first entrance . 1. be sure that you pick out a fit place to meditate in ; you know isaac went out into the field to meditate ; and i have shewed you , that this example doth not oblige us always to go into the field , but it obligeth us to retire to some secret place , whether it be thy closer , or the fields . 2. when thou enterest upon this work , be sure to get a fit time , pick out a seasonable time ; isaac picks out the evening , and thou maist pick out the morning if thou pleasest , ( thou art not obliged punctually to this example ) or thou maist pick out the afternoon ; but thou must be sure to pick out that time that is the fittest time ; you that are great persons have time enough ; you to whom the lord hath given wealth ; i shewed the poor man how he should husband his time . we have all time enough on the lords-day to busie our selves with the work of meditation , it is a sabbath-days work , as you have heard . 3. you must be sure of a fit subject , you must not have your subject to seek , when you begin to meditate ; meditate of a soul-awakening , a soul-refreshing subject . 4. when you have your place and your time , and your subject , ( these three are proper to the beginning of this work ) then i would advise you to set your selves as in gods presence ; though no eye sees you , yet consider the great god sees you , and especially when you are meditating of divine things ; for you must know , that meditation of divine things is a conversing with god. when you meditate of heaven , you converse with heaven , and the glory of heaven , it is the souls transmigration to heaven , it is the souls transfiguration ; and therefore i would have you set your selves as in gods presence ; and this will overawe you , and make you serious ; the consideration of the presence of god , will prepare you for every holy duty ; & so consequently for this holy duty ; it is a rare preservative against all sin ; as ioseph said to his mistris , how can i do this evil and sin against my god ? though no body saw him , yet he knew god saw him , gen. 39. 10. and it is a rare encouragement to all godliness , psal. 119. 168. i have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies , ( why so ? ) for all my ways be before thee . therefore whensoever you go into your orchards , or gardens , or your closets , to set apart an hour in divine meditation , i would have you do as david did , psal. 16. 8. i have set the lord always before me . 5. i would have you always begin with prayer ; now i do not mean to begin with a solemn set long prayer , but i would have you begin with a short ejaculation ; i would have you pray unto god to enlighten your understandings , to quicken your devotion , to warm your affections , and so to bless that hour unto you , that by the meditation of holy things you may be made more holy , you may have your lusts more mortified , and your graces more increased , you may be the more mortified to the world , and the vanity of it , and lifted up to heaven , and the things of heaven . and therefore in the hebrew the same word that signifies to meditate , signifies to pray , and as it is said in my text , isaac went out to meditate , you shall find it in the margent , isaac went out to pray . meditation must always be joined with prayer . isaac went out to pray and meditate , to meditate and pray ; saith bernard , meditation without prayer , is barren and unfruitful . therefore i i would have you begin with a short prayer . 6. i would have you keep your hearts with all keeping , prov. 4. 23. have a care in the entrance of thy heart , pray unto god to keep out inward company . you know i told you of a twofold company , of an outward company , and inward company ; pray unto god not only to keep out outward company , but inward company ; that is , to keep out vain , and worldly , and distracting thoughts . a man may easily drive out outward company , he may easily be alone ; but it it a hard matter to drive away inward company , thy vain worldly and distracting thoughts . i would have you say to the world when you go up to meditate of heaven , or of grace , or of god , as christ said to his disciples , mat. 26. 36. sit you here while i go yonder and pray . so i would have you say to the world and all worldly thoughts , tarry you here while i go into my closet to meditate of the things of god , and heaven , to meet with god in heavenly things . and i would have you say as abraham did to his servants , gen. 22. 5. he said unto the young men , abide you here with the asse , and i and the lad will go yonder and worship . tarry you here below while i go up to the mount of god. now i know this is a hard matter , i am not ignorant of it , to drive away this plague of flies that pester our best duties ; and therefore we must do as the priest did to king vzziah , he would needs offer incense , and the priest hindred him , and the lord plagued vzziah , and the leprosie appeared in his forehead , and the priest came and thrust him out of the temple . so i would have you do when you go to your closets to meditate , your vain thoughts will croud into the temple of your hearts ; i would have you do as these priest did , thrust out these vain thoughts out of the temple of your hearts , or rather pray unto god to do it ; for alas , it is above our power to get free from distracting thoughts in this duty ; pray unto the lord , who is the heart-maker , that he would be the heart-preparer ; for when you go to meditate , god looks especially at your hearts , and if your hearts be full fraught with lustful , vain , worldly , carnal , covetous thoughts , he scorns all your service . now do not mistake me , i mean if you willingly yield to this ; if you strive against it , god will accept of it ; let it be thy work , ( that is my rule ) to keep thy heart with all keeping , when thou beginnest this work . and labour to get thy heart disengaged and disintangled from worldly things . so much for the beginning , and of the six rules to direct you in the entrance upon this work . 2. i will lay down rules for the better proceeding in this work ; for this you must know , there are two faculties of the soul that must always be set on work in the practice of divine meditation ; the one is the understanding , the other is the heart and affections ; for divine meditation is not only an act of the head , but of the heart ; and true meditation must not only be intellectual and notional , but practical and affectionative . the work of the understanding is to blow up and increase , to kindle and inflame the love of god and christ in the heart ; the understanding , to the heart and affections must be as the nurse to the child , as the nurse cuts the meat and , many times chews it , and prepares it for the child to eat , so doth the understanding by divine truths , it prepares them for the affections ; and the heart to close with them , to eat them , and digest them , and to turn them into a holy conversation . these are the two faculties we must set on work ; and you never meditate aright , unless the affection be raised as well as the understanding ; and therefore both heart and head are the parts that must be exercised in the practice of the duty of divine meditation . now the work of the head or understanding is serious consideration of the truths we come to meditate upon ; the work of the heart is increase of devotion and holiness by these meditations . now i will speak to both , i will give you rules to help the intellectual part , your contemplation of divine things , and rules to help the affectionative part . 1. i will give you rules for the helping the understanding , to chew and prepare the things you meditate upon , for the heart and affections . now here i must tell you i shall be somewhat difficult and hard to be understood , this is the knottiest and difficultest part of meditation ; and therefore learned men that write of this subject , that labour to teach the art of divine meditation , do give in nine common-place-heads , as so many several ways of the enlarging the understanding in the consideration of the truths that they meditate upon . 1. they would have you describe the thing you meditate upon . 2. they would have you divide and distribute the thing you meditate upon . 3. they would have you consider the causes of the thing you meditate upon . 4. the fruits and effects . 5. the adjuncts , qualities and properties . 6. the opposites and the contraries to it . 7. the comparisons to which it is compared . 8. the titles that are given to the thing of which you meditate . 9. all the scripture-testimonies that may be brought concerning the thing you are to meditate upon . now there are nine common-place-heads , and these i fear are very difficult ; but that i might help you a little , i will give you an example , i will go over these logical heads : only i will preface thus much , that it is not the intent of these learned men that we should be over-curious in prosecuting all these logical heads , for the end of meditation is not to practise logick , but to kindle devotion ; and there are many subjects that will not admit of all these nine . when i meditate of god , i cannot shew any cause of god , and i cannot make any comparison to compare god to ; but the meaning of those learned men is this , that we should not rack and torture our understandings to pursue all these heads of reasons , but we should pick out so many of them as are most suitable to the subjects we are meditating upon . as for example , suppose i would go into my closet , and meditate of the sinfulness of sin , then i would go over all these nine heads ; and by going over them , you will understand the use of them . i would meditate of the sinfulness of sin , that so i might get my heart to hate it more , that so i might study to be more mortified to it , to mourn for it . now for this purpose , that i might enlarge my intellectual part of consideration , 1. i will begin with the description of sin , and i will say thus to my soul , when i am alone : oh my soul ! why shouldest not thou hate and abhor sin ? is not sin the breach of the holy law of god ? and doth it not therefore deserve eternal damnation ? is not sin a walking contrary unto god ? and certainly that man that walks contrary to god , walks contrary to heaven , and contrary to his own happiness . is not sin most opposite to the greatest good , and therefore must needs be the greatest evil ? and why then should not sin have the greatest sorrow ? why should not i hate sin above all things , if it be the greatest evil ? 2. i would proceed to the distribution of sin ; and thus i would say to my soul : oh my soul ! how art thou be-leper'd with sin ! how art thou all over bespread with iniquity ! thou art guilty of the first sin that ever was committed in the world , of adam's eating the forbidden fruit ; that sin was jusdy thine by imputation : for in him ( saith the apostle ) we all sinned , rom. 5. 12. and thou wilt never be free from the guilt of the imputation of adam's sin , till thou be by faith made partaker of the imputation of christs righteousness . thou art guilty , oh my soul , not only of adam's sin by imputation , but of original sin by propagation ; thou wert conceived in sin , and thou art born in iniquity ; thou hast a nature which thou carriest about with thee , which makes thee prone to all sin , and indisposed to all good ; thou hast a nature that defiles all thy holy duties , and thou art guilty of many actual transgressions , of heart-sins , of lip-sins , of life-sins , of sins of omission ; how many good duties have i omitted ! of sins of commission , how many evil actions have i committed ! and thou art guilty of sins against the law , and sins against the gospel ; ( then would i reckon up soms sins ) and then thou art guilty of fleshly , and outward , and visible sins ; and thou art especially , oh my soul , guilty of inward , spiritual and invisible sins , of heart-adultery , though not outward adultery ; of heart-murder , of heart-idolatry , of pride , vain-glory , hypocrisie , self-seeking . there is the second head , the division of sin . 3. i would come to the third head , and consider the original and cause of sin ; and i would say thus : oh my soul ! surely god is not the author of all these sins that i am guilty of ; it is the greatest blasphemy in the world to charge god with our sins ; god cannot be the author of that of which he is the punisher . iudas did not betray christ , because it was determined he should do it , but it was out of covetousness ; and the brethren of iudah did not fell ioseph because it was decreed they should do it , but out of envy . oh! it is my wicked heart that is the root of all my sin ; it is not the devil that is the original of my sin , for the devil cannot force me to sin ; the devil perswades me to sin , tempts me to sin , but he cannot compel me to sin ; sin came into the world by adam's disobedience , rom. 5. 12. by one man sin came into the world . and my wicked heart is the root of all my sin : oh my soul ! why shouldest not thou abhor thy self because of thy sin . 4. i would have you consider the cursed fruits and effects of sin ; and i would say thus : oh my soul ! be thou humbled for thy sins ; oh lye in the dust because of thy sin ; for it is sin that is the cause of all evil , both temporal , spiritual and eternal ; sin brings spiritual , temporal , and eternal curses ; it was sin put devilishness into the angels , and made the angels in heaven to become devils in hell ; it was sin that brought the flood upon the old world ; it was sin that turned heaven into hell , and made god rain down fire and brimstone upon sodom and gomorah ; it is sin that kindles the fire in hell ; the fire of hell would go out were it not for sin ; sin is worse than hell , because it is the cause of hell ; and i would meditate thus : surely sin is more opposite to god than hell , for god is the author of hell , god made hell for sinners , but god is not the author of sin ; and therefore , oh my soul , do thou hate sin more than affliction , nay more than hell it self . 5. i would proceed to consider the adjuncts and properties of sin in general , and of my sin in particular ; and i would thus meditate upon this common-place head : oh that the lord would work in my heart a further abhorrency of all sin ! oh that sin might be more loathed ; for sin is of a defiling nature , of a destructive nature ; sin is of a defiling nature , it defiles my person , it defiles my sacraments , my prayers , the sermons i hear ; it makes me like a dog , like a swine , nay it makes me like a devil ; i have chosen twelve , and one of you is a devil . sin makes you nasty and loathsome in gods sight ; sin defiles your civil actions , the plowing of a wicked man is sin ; sin defiles the land in which you live , ezek. 14. the land is defiled by your idolatry ; sin defiles the whole creation . oh my soul ! wilt thou make a sport of that which defiles the whole creation ? and then i would say , sin is of a destructive nature , it destroys the body , it destroys the soul for evermore . and then i would consider the properties of my sin in particular ; i would say thus : oh my soul ! how great is thy guilt ! i have sinned not only against god , but against light ; my sins have bloody aggravations , i have sinned against the heart-blood-mercy of jesus christ. i have sinned against many sacrament-vows that i have made ; i have sinned against knowledg , against conscience . 6. i would consider the opposites to the thing i meditate on ; what is opposite to sin ? why grace ; then i would meditate of the excellency of grace ; and i would say , oh my soul ! how beautiful is that soul that is endued with grace ! sin makes me like a devil , sin stamps the devils image upon my soul , but grace makes me gods picture ; grace is the portraiture of the holy ghost ; grace ennobles the soul , it legitimates the soul , it elevates the soul. oh the beauty of a soul enriched with grace ! oh the heavenly excellency of a gracious soul ! now by how much grace is more excellent , by so much is sin more odious , for sin destroys grace . 7. i would consider the comparisons to which sin is compared ; and i would say thus , oh my soul ! wilt thou not abhor sin ? sin is compared to bruises , sores , putrefaction , a leprosie , a plague , the excrements of a man. and it is called in scripture an abominable thing ; it is compared to the filth under a mans nails , and to the putrefactions of sores ; and the dung , the excrements of man ; and wilt thou love that which is loathsom to god ? shall sin be so abominable in the sight of god , and shall it not be so in my sight ? 8. i would consider the titles that are given to sin ; and i would say thus , sin is called a robbing of god , mal. 3. shall i rob god of his glory by my sin ? oh! god forbid . sin is called an injury to god ; shall i injure my saviour by my sins ? it is called a striking thorough the name of god , so the hebrew word signifies , which we translate to swear ; it is a deicidium , the killing , the murdering of god ; and oh my soul ! wilt thou do as much as in thee lies to murder thy saviour , to crucifie christ afresh by thy sins ? 9. i would consider all that the scripture saith concerning sin ; i would consider the wrath of god against sin , i would consider all the threatnings of god against sin ; and especially i would study what christ suffered to free us from sin , and i would behold the odiousness of sin upon christ's cross ; sin made christ sweat drops of blood , and shall it not make me shed tears ? sin made christ cry , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me ? and shall it not make me cry out , oh miserable man that i am ! who shall deliver me from this body of sin ? and then i would consider what hope there is of pardon through christ , and what promises there are made of pardon . thus i have cut out a pattern , and gone over these nine heads ; and you will say here is work for many hours to that christian that is of a mean capacity , that is able in some measure to go over these ; here you see what a rich furniture you have by going over these logical helps ; and as i have done concerning sin , so may you do concerning the sacrament ; and when you meditate of heaven , you may go over these heads , and consider the description of heaven , and the distribution of it , and the causes , and the effects , and the opposites , and the comparisons , and this will furnish you with intellectual matter . now because these logical heads are somewhat difficult , i will give you some plainer rules , for helping ordinary christians , those that are babes in the school of grace , and are not able to enlarge their thoughts upon any subject ; i will give you briefly five easie rules to help you to enlarge your thoughts upon what subjects you chuse to meditate on . 1. you must consider what the scripture saith of the subject you would spend an hour in meditation about ; as for example , would you meditate of the promises ? do you want matter to furnish you ? take the bible , and consider what the scripture saith concerning the preciousness of the promises , the freeness , the riches , the infallibleness of the promises , the universality of the tender of the promises , the variety of the promises ; consider what the scripture saith of promises to grace , and promises of grace ; consider all the many rare and admirable promises that are in the word of god , and pick out some choice of them to meditate on . so likewise would you meditate of the sacrament ? take your bible and consider what you have read concerning the sacrament , the nature of it , and the excellency of it , the excellency of the feast , and the end why god hath appointed the sacrament , and the way and means by which you may come to be prepared , and made fit to be worthy , receivers ; and consider the danger of coming unworthily , and the happiness of coming worthily . but if this be too hard , i will give you an easie help . 2. consider what sermons you have heard of that subject you would meditate upon , and labour to recollect the heads of any sermon you have heard , and make use of them to help you to enlarge your thoughts in meditation . as for example , i have made many sermons of late upon the promises , any of those sermons would furnish you with matter enough for meditation upon the promises ; i have made many sermons upon the week-day to set out the happiness of heaven ; and many sermons i have preached lately of the divine attributes of god , which is a rare subject to meditate upon . if you would meditate of the attributes of god , you must labour to recollect what you have heard of this subject , and that would furnish you with matter . so would you meditate of heaven , or of any thing that you find too hard to enlarge your selves about ? take the help of sermons that you have heard ; or if that be too hard for you , let me propound a third . the third way that is easier than both these : take a book that treats of the subject you would meditate upon ; there is no divine subject but there is some book or other that doth treat of it ; there are many books that treat of the four last things , which are four rare materials of meditation , the quatuor novissima , death and hell , and the day of judgment and heaven ; and there are many books that treat of the preciousness of the promises , the sinfulness of sin , the excellency of christ , and the sacrament . now if thou findest thou art barren in meditation , and knowest not how to spend an hour in meditating upon any of these subjects , take one of these books before thee . now i do not mean you should read these books , but only pick out some choice things , and then muse and meditate what these books will suggest unto you . 4. let me add another rule , be sure always in your meditation , to join application ; be sure to join examination , and application , and contemplation , and consideration ; this is a rule of great concernment to the weakest of christians . as for example , would you meditate of sin , of the sinfulness of sin ? be sure to draw down your meditation to application , make application to thy own soul , and consider whether thy sins are pardoned ; not only consider the grievousness of sin in general , for general contemplation of things , though never so excellent , will not work upon the soul ; i hardly ever heard of a man that was converted by generals ; it is the particular application that works upon the heart and affections ; nathan , as long as he told david of his sin in a parabolical way , david was not wrought upon ; he was fain at last to tell him , thou art the man ; then david confesseth his sin ; you shall seldom hear a general sermon do good , it is the particular application that works upon peoples hearts . and therefore in all your exercise of divine meditation , be sure to draw down things to particulars : as for example , wouldst thou meditate of heaven ? apply it to thy soul , and ask thy soul , am i fit and meet to go to that place ? have i a heavenly disposition ? have i heavenly qualifications ? am i one of those whose names are written in heaven ? is that my inheritance ? is that my house ? this will exceedingly affect you , it will make your meditation to be very useful , and very powerful ; and so when you meditate of death , still draw down to examination , am i fit for death ? will death be an happy hour to me ? am i one of those that shall enjoy god after death ? the fifth rule is this , be sure always in your meditation to consider the means how to obtain what you meditate upon , if it be good ; and the means to shun it , if it be evil . the means to get what you meditate upon , if it be good : if you meditate of heaven , then consider the means how to enjoy that blessed inheritance ; and if you meditate of the promises , consider how you shall do that by which you may be heirs of all these promises ; and on the contrary , if you meditate of evil things , what means there are to be used to shun these evil things ; if you would meditate of sin , what must i do to avoid sin , that i may be unpoluted and undefiled , that i may get my sins pardoned , and my soul purged ; and when you meditate of hell , what shall i do to escape those everlasting burnings ? these are the five helps to weak christians . 6. you to whom the lord hath given understanding , i would have you fly to those nine common-place-heads : if you be able study the cause of the thing you meditate upon , the effects and the properties , and the distribution and description , &c. and this i am sure will furnish you with rare matter , with abundance of materials of meditation ; that man that is pleased to put these things in practice , will find his heart will never want matter to meditate upon . so much for the intellectual part of meditation , which is the knotty and difficult part . 2. now i come to that which is the easiest part of meditation , i mean easie to understand , but not easie to practice ; i come to that which is the best part of meditation , the very life and soul of meditation , and that is to help you to get your affections warmed and heated by the things you meditate upon ; for the work of the understanding is nothing else but to be as a divine pair of bellows , to kindle and inflame the heart and affections ; the work of the understanding is to chew and prepare matter , to help the affections . now then i am to give you some directions and helps for the affectionative part , to get your affections warmed and heated , so as to stir up piety and devotion in your souls : now for the working upon your affections , learned men that write upon this subject , propound six common-place-heads , as so many ways to raise the affections , and to get them so excited as to increase grace and holiness in the soul. 1. you must labour to get a relish and a savour of the things you meditate upon . 2. you must complain before god for the want of that relish . 3. you must wish you had a supply of what you want of this relish and taste of the things you meditate on . 4. you must confess your inability , as of your selves to do this . 5. you must petition to god for help . 6. you must confidently believe god will help you . here are six helps for the affectionative part of meditation ; now that you may know the use of these helps , i shall crave leave to go over them all by way of instance ; i have given you an instance concerning the sinfulness of sin , i went over nine common-place heads , and shewed you how you should enlarge in every particular about the sinfulness of sin ; now i will proceed further in this instance , and shew you how you should make use of these particulars , to get your affections raised and warmed , and stirred up to more holiness . after that i have traversed all the heads of reason , and have considered the description , the distribution , cause and effects of sin , now i come to the work of the affections . and here , 1. i will labour to get my heart affected with the bitterness of sin , i will labour to taste the bitterness of it , and to get my heart in a mourning frame ; and i will thus say to my self , oh my soul , is sin so odious to god , that no sacrifice but the sacrifice of the blood of god can appease gods wrath ? and shall it not be odious to me ? was sin so displeasing unto god , and so defiling to the soul , that no bath but a bath of christs blood can wash away the stain of it ? and shall i make a mock of that sin that cost the blood of christ ? was sin a burden to christ ? and shall it not be a burden to me ? thus i would reason with my self , did sin make christ shed drops of blood , and shall it not make me shed a few tears ? did christ cry out , my god , my god , why hast thou forsaken me , for our sins , i mean for our sins he took upon him ? and shall i make a sport of sin ? shall i make a mock of sin ? doth david complain , that his sins was a burden too heavy for him to bear . and doth paul cry out , oh wretched man that i am ! who shall deliver me from this body of sin ? and shall not sin be bitter to me ? shall not i mourn that i have sinned against so gracious a god , so merciful a redeemer , so holy a sanctifier ? 2. i would proceed to the second , and begin to complain of the hardness of my heart , and of my unaffectedness with the sins i am guilty of ; and i would thus say to my soul , oh my soul ! how is it that thou canst mourn for any outward loss , if thou losest but a child , though it may be thou hast half a score ? if thou losest but one of them , thou canst mourn immoderately ; if thou losest thy wife , thy husband , any part of thy estate , thou canst mourn too much ; but thou hast not one tear for thy sins ? how is it , oh my soul , that thou shouldest be thus hard-hearted , and unaffected with thy sins ? is not sin deicidium ? is not sin a murdering of god in as much as in us lies ; is not sin animaecidium , that which slays the soul ? is not sin a dethroning of god , a robbing of god , an injuring of god ? how is it then that i am no more affected with my sin ? how is it that after so many sermons , so many sacraments , so many years being in the school of christ , after so many mercies received from god , so many afflictions the lord hath inflicted upon me , yet my heart should be so hard , and so flinty , and so stony ? i can easily hate my enemy too too soon , which i should not do , but sin that is my greatest enemy i cannot hate that , which i should hate most of all ! i must love my outward enemy , but god bids me hate my sin ; god doth not bid me love the devil , or the works of the devil ; i can hate that which i should love , but i cannot hate that which i should hate , i cannot hate my sin. 3. i would proceed to stir up my affections to a passionate wish ; and i would say to my soul thus , oh that my heart were more soft ; oh that i could mourn with a godly mourning , not with a legal mourning , but with a mourning that is out of love to god. oh that i could mourn with repentance unto life , with a gospel-sorrow for all my sins of omission , commission , my sacrament-sins , my family-sins , my closet-sins , the sins of my youth , the sins of my riper age , for all my unkindness against my god : oh that my head were waters , and mine eyes a fountain of tears , that i could mourn day and night for my sins , and the sins of the times , and the sins of the place wherein i live : oh that rivers of tears would run down my eyes , because i have sinned against my god! thus would i wish , and passionately express my self , that so i might get my heart raised up : oh that the lord would pour down the spirit of mourning upon me . 4. i would make an humble confession of my own inability , to mourn ; and i would say thus , o lord ! thou knowest it is not in man to direct his own ways , it is not in man to guide his own steps ; i know , oh lord , that i am not able of my self to think a good thought ; it is easier for me to cleave a rock in pieces , than to cleave my rocky heart by my own strength ; there must be an almighty power to get my heart to be soft ; for my heart , oh lord , is harder than the nether milstone , and i cannot soften it ; i would mourn that i cannot mourn , that i have not power ; i can do nothing without power derived from jesus christ. 5. i would go to supplication after confession , and i would petition to god for strength ; and i would say , oh lord ! thou that hast promised to take away my heart of stone , and give me a heart of flesh ; hast thou not promised to work all my works in me , and for me ? hast thou not promised to subdue my iniquities ? micah 7. 19. hast thou not promised that sin shall not have dominion over me ? this is the promise , rom. 6. now lord , thou hast promised these things , i beseech thee perform these promises ; thou god of truth , make good thy word , take away my heart of stone , and give me to mourn for my great abominations ; and work this work in me and for me ; and subdue my iniquities , and let not sin have dominion over me ; rather give me over to the dominion of men : though i would not be a slave to men , yet i had rather be a slave to all the men in the world , yea a slave to the turk , than a slave to the devil ; rather be a galley-slave than a devils-slave ; of all slavery , lord , deliver me from soul-slavery . and thus i would supplicate and petition ; and when i have done all this , 6. i would encourage my self by faith in a confident hope and trust in god , that the lord will hear my prayer , and give me strength against my corruptions , and supply me with help in all my necessities ; and i would say thus , oh lord , thou hast promised that whatsoever i ask in the name of christ , shall be granted unto me ; blessed god! i ask this day in the name of christ pardon of sin , and power against sin , and a broken heart for sin , and from sin ; i ask repentance unto salvation ; thou hast promised to give it , i believe thou wilt give it ; i believe , lord , help my unbelief . and then i would say to my soul , why art thou disquieted , oh my soul ? why art thou cast down ? why art thou troubled ? still trust in god , depend upon god , he is my help , he is my joy , in him will i put my trust . thus i have gone over these six heads , i have given you one instance . now i would have you know , whatsoever i have said of sin , i can go over of any subject whatsoever ; suppose i would meditate of heaven , after i have meditated of the joys and excellencies of heaven , and all those particulars in the intellectual part ; then , to work upon my affections , i would labour to get my heart affected with the joys of heaven , and then i would complain that i am no more affected with those joys , and with the beatifical vision , and the rare company that i shall there enjoys ; and then i would passionately wish , oh that my heart were more heavenly ; oh that i could taste more of those everlasting joys , that the lord would come down and heavenlize me , and then i would confess my inability of my self , and i would supplicate for help , and i would confidently believe that the lord will send down heaven into my heart , and the joys of it , before i come thither . that which i say of the sinfulness of sin , you may make use of in all other subjects that you meditate upon . so much for the rules and directions , for the better helping you to proceed and go on in the duty of meditation . 3. now there remains only some rules for the conclusion of all . when thou hast begun and entred upon this duty , and made a progress in it , when thou comest to make a conclusion , shut up thy meditation of divine things with thankfulness , with resolution , and with recommendation of thy soul to god. 1. i say , conclude with thankefulness ; lift up thy heart to god , and bless his name that hath enlarged thy soul , and enabled thee to spend an hour in meditation of holy things ; especially if you find your hearts affected with what you meditate upon , if you have gotten from the intellectual part into the affectionative ; if you have gotten your souls raised up . as for example , if you have been meditating of heaven , and you find a heavenly frame wrought in you , you find a desire to be with the lord , and you find some assurance that your name is written there , and some manifestations of god to your souls , oh then close up all with an hallelujah , blessed be the lord for the assistance of this hour . so likewise , have you been meditating of sin , and find at the conclusion , that thy heart is somewhat soft , and doth begin to mourn for thy sin , and thou art troubled that thou hast offended thy god ; and the lord hath wrought in thee some confidence , some spiritual assurance that thy sins shall be mortified , and that the lord will keep thee that thy sin shall not have dominion over thee ? then conclude with a hallelujah , lift up thy heart , and bless the lord for his assistance . i might likewise add , when thou hast been meditating on the promises , or of death , whatsoever the subject thou art meditating upon is , if the lord hath wrought thee to have a heart above the fear of death , by meditating of death , and thou hast learned to be willing and ready to die ; oh bless the lord for his assistance . 2. i would have you close with a resolution of heart , to spend thy life as becomes one that hath been meditating of holy and heavenly things . as for example , i have been meditating of the promises , i will shut up my meditation with resolution , by the grace of god , to live more upon the promises than ever i have done ; i have lived too much upon the creature , but now i will live more upon god , and his promises ; i will close up with a resolution , by the power of my god , to study my interest in the promises more , and suck out the sweetness of them more ; and to be more acquainted with the freeness , and the fulness , and riches , and preciousness of them . and so would you meditate of heaven ? i would conclude with a resolution , that i would labour to live more heavenly , and walk as becometh one that looks to live with christ for ever in heaven . you must know these spiritual resolutions are spiritualia vincula obedientiae , they are spiritual bonds to tye the soul fast to god. as the beast was tyed to the horns of the altar in the old law , that was to be sacrificed ; so these blessed vows and resolutions are heavenly cords to tye the soul faster to god ; and that is the reason every why sacrament we renew our vows and resolutions ; as god renews his engagements to us , so do we renew our engagements to god every sacrament . now i would have you close up your meditation by binding your souls faster to god , in a holy resolution ; divine resolution is the spiritual hedg of the soul ( saith one ) to keep the soul from breaking out into ungodly courses . 3. shut up all with a short commendation of thy self , thy body , thy soul , thy wife , thy children , ( if thou hast any ) thy estate , all that thou hast , recommend them unto thy god ; shut up all with a sweet resignation of thy self , and all thy affairs , and all thy ways ; as david saith , commit your ways unto the lord ; commit your selves and your affairs , all that you are , all that you have , into the hands of the lord , as a faithful creator , and a merciful redeemer . i would have you close up all with a committing , and a submitting ; committing thy ways unto god , submitting unto god in all his ways ; purposing to live to his glory , and to walk worthy of that heavenly calling to which thou art called . and thus i have put an end to this subject of divine meditation . now what remains but to perswade you to the practise of these things ? that which a learned man who hath written a tract called , the art of divine meditation , closeth his book withal , let me close this with : saith he , oh that my words were as so many gourds to quicken up the dead , and dull , and drousie hearts of christians , to a conscientious practice of this excellent duty of divine meditation ! it is a strange speech that he useth ! saith he , i will give any man leave to curse me upon his death-bed , if he doth not then acknowledg , that those hours that he hath spent in divine meditation , have been the best hours that he hath spent in all his life ; if he doth not then confess he is sorrowful that he spent no more hours in so blessed a work . sure i am , when you lye upon your death-bed , this will be your comfort : lord , i have been often in heaven in meditation , and now i am going to that place that i am acquainted withal : oh my god! i have been often with thee in the mount , i have been often meditating of thee : oh my blessed saviour ! thou art no stranger to me ; i have been often meditating of christ. oh what comfort will this be to you when you lye upon your death-beds ! i will not say , curse me if you do not find this true ; but i will say , this is as sure as the word of god is true , you will find it so . there are four things i will conclude this discourse withal . 1. i would humbly beseech you , that you would mourn before god that you have lived so many years in the school of christ , and have been no more acquainted with this duty of divine meditation : i believe there are very many that have been long standers in christ's school , that never yet practised this duty of divine meditation , that never were half an hour together in the mount of god solemnly and seriously . now i beseech you , mourn before the lord , that we have been no more acquainted with this blessed and heavenly duty . 2. let us mourn before the lord that we have misplaced our meditation ; for the heart of man is restless , it is like the weight of a clock , that will never leave going down as long as it is wound up ; the heart of man will always be meditating of something or other ; like mill-stones , if they once grind , they will grind one another ; the heart of man will always be grinding , always musing , always meditating on something or other : now mourn before god heartily , and go into your closets and bemoan it , that you have ground chaff to your immortal souls all your lives long ; that you have spent your days in meditating what to eat , and what to drink , and what to be clothed withal , and how to grow rich , and how to manage your trading , and your calling , how to thrive in the world , how to get such preferments ; you have been meditating all your lives long upon vain things , and have not meditated upon the things of eternity , those things that do most concern you ; you have been meditating upon trifles , upon things that will not profit at the hour of death , and forgot to meditate of those things that are of eternal concernment ; our saviour christ complains of those men , mat. 6. take no thought for your lives , what you shall eat , and what you shall drink , nor for your body what you shall put on ; as if he should say , why do you spend all your time in taking thought of eating , and drinking , and clothing , and outward things ? which of you ( saith he ) can by taking thought add one cubit to your stature ? all your musing and meditating of them is vain . can a dwarf by thinking he is a dwarf , make himself taller ? it is not all your musing and your meditating of these outward things , i mean your inordinate meditating , will advantage you . i grant tradesmen must have time to meditate of worldly things ; i will not lay heavier burdens than the scripture doth lay ; but when you ravel away all your time in meditating upon earthly things , and never are serious in the meditation of heavenly things , this i would have you mourn for ; you that are old people , and have been many years professors of religion , oh mourn that you have wasted your intellectual faculty , that you have wasted that glorious faculty of soul , your understanding , in such vain and trifling things ; nay , are there not some that do not only meditate of vain things , but spend many hours in meditating on vile things ? that devise mischief upon their beds , and meditate how to cozen their neighbours , how to be revenged upon their neighbour , how to do mischief , how to compass about their wicked designs ? are there not some that meditate to do evil , and rejoice in the meditation of evil when they have done it ? many old men meditate with joy of their youthful vanities , and wickedness committed in their youth , they chew over their wicked ways with delight , which we call contemplative wickedness . oh let us bewail and bemoan it before god , that we have squandered away our immortal souls , by exercising the glorious faculty of the understanding in such poor trifling things , it may be lustful , revengeful , vile , wicked thoughts ; either in doing that which is evil , or in meditating on the evil we have done ; instead of mourning for it , rejoicing in it . 3. i would perswade you to study the necessity , the excellency , the usefulness , and profitableness of divine meditation ; let me tell you for the conclusion , this duty is not only a duty , but the quintessence and marrow of all other duties ; there is no duty will take impression upon your souls without the practise of this duty ; it is the very life and soul of christianity , without which a christian is but the carcass of a christian. i have shewed , that the want of divine meditation is the cause of all sin , and all punishment ; i have shewed you , that the practise of meditation will help to beget grace , and increase grace , and resist the devil and all his temptations . 4. let me perswade you all , that you would put this duty in practise ; especially you that are rich people , gentlemen , merchants , and others ; you that have estates , you that are gentlemen , may spare time from your sports ; and you that are rich merchants and others , may take time from your outward occasions : o let me intreat you that you would take some spare-time every day , to go up to the mount of god , to meditate of some of those subjects that i have propounded to you , whether it be death , or hell , or heaven , or iudgment , or sin , or christ , or god , or the vanity of the world , whatsoever the subject is , that is holy and heavenly . i will not lay burdens upon you , i know there may be such occasions that you cannot ; but ordinarily that you would as often as you can , make conscience to accustom your selves to this necessary and long-neglected duty of divine meditation . let me tell you , you would be tall christians in grace if you did accustom your selves to this duty ; the reason why you are such dwarfs in christianity , and so unacquainted with god , and the promises , and christ , and heaven , is for the want of the practice of this duty ; this is the reason why you creep upon the ground , and are so poor in grace , and so lean in religion . therefore let me intreat you , especially you whose happiness is that you need not work every day to provide for your families ; the lord hath given you an estate , and you may spare time ; oh let it not be said at the day of iudgment , that you lost heaven for the want of the practising this duty of divine meditation ! and then you that are poor people , and cannot find time ; you that are servants and apprentices , that have not time , remember what i said concerning occasional meditation , i shewed you how you might meditate when you were about your worldly business ; there is no lawful calling that a man can be in , but if he hath a heavenly heart he may heavenlize that calling , he may take occasion ( as christ takes occasion to heavenlize his discourse from outward things ) to raise heavenly discourse ; when thou art at work , thou maist be by divine meditation in heaven . but let me perswade you all on the sabbath-day , ( though you have not time on the week-day for set , solemn meditation ; yet then you have time for occasional meditation , for on the sabbath all your work ceaseth ) that is the day that god hath set a part for publick service , and private meditation ; meditation on the work of creation , and the work of redemption ; it is a great work we are to do upon the day of our rest , to meditate of our eternal rest in heaven ; therefore let me perswade you to spend some time on the sabbath-day upon meditation , but especially on the sacrament-days . there are twelve meditations i propounded to meditate on upon the sacrament , and i chose this subject to help you with sacramental meditation ; it hath pleased god to carry me out further in the handling of it than ever i thought . the lord give a blessing to it . finis . evidence for heaven containing infallible signs and reall demonstrations of our union with christ and assurance of salvation : with an appendix of laying down certain rules to be observed for preserving our assurance once obtained / published by ed. calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 1657 approx. 418 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 126 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a31952 wing c240 estc r3864 11791626 ocm 11791626 49225 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a31952) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 49225) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 18:13) evidence for heaven containing infallible signs and reall demonstrations of our union with christ and assurance of salvation : with an appendix of laying down certain rules to be observed for preserving our assurance once obtained / published by ed. calamy ... calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. [26], 209, [15] p. printed for simon miller ..., london : 1657. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng salvation. 2003-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-01 john latta sampled and proofread 2004-01 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion evidence for heaven : containing infallible signs and reall demonstrations of our union with christ and assurance of salvation . with an appendix of laying down certain rules to be observed for preserving our assurance once obtained . published by ed. calamy b. d. and pastor of the church at aldermanbury london . phil. 2.12 . work out your own salvation with fear and trembling . 2 pet. 1.10 . give diligence to make your calling and election sure . 2 cor. 13.5 . examine your selves , whether ye be in the faith , prove your own selves , know ye not your own selves , how that iesus christ is in you , except ye be reprobates . london , printed for simon miller at the sta● in pauls church-yard toward the west end 1657. an epistle , to the reader . there are two things which ought to be the chief aim of all those who desire to live holily , and dye happily . the one is , to get an interest in christ , the other , to get an assurance of their interest in him . the first of these is absolutely necessary to salvation . the second , is absolutely necessary , though not to our salvation , yet to our consolation . without the first , we cannot dye happily . without the second , we cannot dye comfortably . it must not be denied , but that a man may have true grace , and yet want the assurance of it , he may be a child of light in darknesse , he may have the direct act of faith , and yet want the reflect act , he may have the sanctifying work of the spirit , and yet want the witnessing work . ( though no man can have the witnessing work , who hath not the sanctifying , yet a man may have the sanctifying , and yet want the witnessing work of the spirit ) ioseph may be alive and yet his father iacob may think him dead , true grace may be in us , and yet we may not only not know it , but beleeve the contrary . this condition though it be sad , yet it is not damnable . for as a wicked man is never the nearer heaven , because he presumptuously conceits he is in the way to heaven , no more is a child of god the nearer hell , because he thinks he is in the way to hell. christ was not therefore a gardiner , because mary thought so , neither was ioseph therefore dead , because iacob imagined him to be dead . he that beleevs shall be saved , whether he knows it or knows it not ; he that walks in heavens way shall certainly at last come to heaven , though he thinks himself out of the way . notwithstanding all this , though the grace of assurance be not simply , and absolutely necessary , yet it is a most precious jewell , without which we can neither ●e comforted while we live , nor willing to part with life . it is a heaven upon earth , a heaven before we come to heaven . the prelibation and pregustation of heaven . it is the hidden manna , abraham's bosome , the joy of the lord , and the peace of god which passeth all understanding . it is to be laboured after with all labour . and therefore the apostle perswads us , to give diligence to make our calling and election sure . the subject of this ensuing treatise , is to direct and teach us how to get an infallible assurance of salvation : here are severall marks and characters propounded of a man in christ , the work is very weighty , and of great concernment , for whosoever undertakes to lay down marks of a child of god , must be carefull of two things . 1. that he doth not propound evidences of grace , which are proper only to eminent christians , as belonging to all true christians , least herein he makes sad the hearts of those whom god would not have made sad . 2. that he doth not mention such characters of a true child of god , which may be found in an hypocrite , least he makes glad the hearts of those whom god would not have made glad . the author of this book hath brought very many marks of a true justifying faith , of a distinguishing love of god , of of repentance unto life and of a new creature , &c. now though thou canst not apply all of them as thy portion ; yet if thou canst apply many of them , and sincerely labourest to be capable of applying the rest , thou art in a happy condition . there are two wayes by which a man may come to know his interest in christ. the one is by the witnesse of his own spirit . the other by the witnesse of gods spirit . there are some who say , there is but one witnesse , the witnesse of gods spirit ; this i grant is the chief witnesse ; but i conceive , that the scripture doth also hold forth , the witnesse of a mans own spirit as well as of gods spirit , rom. 8.16 . it is not said , the spirit witnesseth to our spirits , but with our spirits , that we are the sons of god. wherenote , that a mans own spirit is a co-witnesse . this witnesse of a mans own spirit is nothing else , but the testimony of an illightened andrenewed conscience reflecting upon its grace and assuring the soul that it is in christ , &c. of this way of assurance , the apostle speaks , 2 cor. 1.12 . 1 iohn 2.3 . 1 iohn 3.21 . heb. 13.18 . act. 24.16 . when a mans conscience bears him witnesse upon scripture grounds , that he doth beleeve and repent , and that he is a new creature , this is instead of a thousand witnesses , and it is a continuall feast , in the worst of times . but now because the voice of conscience is sometimes so low a voice , as that the spirit of a man cannot heare it , especially when it is disturbed , and distracted with the voice of sin accusing , and condemning him , and because the voice of conscience is sometimes uncertain , so as the soul knoweth not what the verdict of it is . and because also the eye of conscience is sometimes blind , ( through ignorance , ) and cannot see the garces it hath , and is ready to beare false witnesse against it self , and to say , it is not justified , when it is . or if not blind , yet it is many times dimme , and cannot see the happy condition it is in . and sometimes it is infested with melancholly , which makes it look upon its own condition with black spectacles . and because the graces of gods spirit in his children are sometimes so small and little , or at least so blotted and blurred , that conscience cannot read the graces god hath given it . hence it is , that god out of his great goodnesse hath afforded us another witnesse , besides the testimony of conscience , which is the witnesse of his own spirit , witnessing with our spirits that we are the sons of god. this indeed is the great , and the infallible witnesse , therefore it is compared to a seal , whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption , and to an earnest , and it is called the comforter , and the spirit of adoption , by which we are enabled to cry , abba father . of both these witnesses this treatise speaks to very good purpose . one thing more i must add , which will unto many seem very wonderfull and almost incredible . the author of this book is a gentlewoman , belonging to the congregation of alderman-bury ; and one who for these thirty years , by reason of an affliction lying upon her , hath been in a great measure , deprived of those publique spirituall helps which others enjoy , and also of those private helps , which good christians do , or might partake of by the communion of saints . this makes good that text of scripture . out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise . and that other , that the strength of god is made perfect in weaknesse . church history tels us of a captive woman , whom god made instrumentall to convert the whole nation of the iberians , to the christian faith. and the book of god tels us of priscilla , who was made able by grace to expound the way of god more perfectly unto apollo himself , an eloquent man , and mighty in the scriptures . and that she and her husband aquila were helpers in christ iesus unto saint paul , and that for his life , they laid down their necks . much is spoken by the same apostle , in commendation of divers women . i hope no man will contemn this book , because written by a woman , but rather admire the goodnesse , love , and power of god , who is able to do such great things , by such weak instruments . no man will refuse pearls , or precious stones , though handed to him by the female sex. it is her great desire that her name may be concealed . all that i will say of her is ; that she is a precious iewell , though in a contemptible box , and a very great ornament to the congregation of which she is a member . if any reap any spirituall advantage by reading of this book , she hath obtained the hight of her ambition ; onely she craves their prayers , that god would blesse her and hers , that the lesse help she hath from men , the more she may have from god , and the incomes of his holy spirit , that though she wants an outward eare , to hear the voice of gods ministers speaking to her outward man , yet she may have an inward ear to hear god speaking to her soul words of everlasting consolation . and this is also the prayer of thy servant in the work of the ministery , edmund calamy . the preface . christian reader . assurance , well-grounded assurance of the love of god , and a mans own salvation , is a thing much to be desired and laboured for , by all that have immortall souls ; but a thing industriously sought after by few , and attained by fewer . the most people in the world trouble their heads little about it , and their hearts lesse ; know not what it is , nor how to go to worke to attain it , some think it is impossible to attain it ; others seek not after it , some desire it , but cannot acquire it , others enjoy it , but do not impart it , hence it comes to passe , that few reap the comfort of it , i think it not amisse therefore , to speake somewhat of it , seeing it is a thing without which , we can neither live , nor di● with sound comfort in our souls , much l●sse tr●umph over d●ath , the king of terrours : i shall here in the first place premise three thing● , or lay dow● three conclusions and for brevity sake , i will only name them ; the first is this . the first . that there are some , that are chosen to salvation , predestinate , elect . o●dained to eternal life , beloved with an everlasting love , vessels of mercy prepared unto glory , before the world began , and kept by the mighty power of god unto salvation ; and all these , shall be certainly saved and glorified . the second . that it is possible for a child of god in this life , to attain some good assurance , and true evidence , that he is of this number . the third . that it is the duty of every christian to labour for assurance of the love of god , and his own salvation . but here the great question will be , how shall i do this ? how shall i go to work to attain this precious jewel of assurance which you speak of ? this question , the ensuing discourse tends to the resolution of , therefore i will here only , lay down some rules to be followed , by every one that desires to attain some good assurance , or evidence for heaven , while he is here . first . he that would obtain this precious jewel and invaluable treasure of good assurance , must ask it , he must ask it of him , who hath said , ask and ye shall receive , that your joy may be full . he that purchased heaven for us , purchased the evidences of heaven also , but he doth not alwayes commit them to the heirs custody : christ doth not alwayes deliver the evidence , and the ●nowledg of it , with the right and title to heaven : nay , he doth many times withhold the evidence of heaven from those , to whom he gives rig●t and title to heaven , for speciall reasons : therefore for this , christ must be sought unto , injuired of , as the scripture speaks . a plain jacob by much wrestling with god , may obtain some good evidence of his favour , as well as an eloquent orator , or a learned clark : therefore if thou wouldest obtain some good evidence for heaven , and a happy eternity , then go to god with the language of abraham , gen. 15.8 . when god had told abraham , he would give the land of canaan to his posterity , abraham beleeved god , he beleeved gods promise should be made good , yet desires to be further confirmed in this , and therefore saith , lord , god , whereby shall i know that i shall inherit it ? so say thou to the lord , respecting that land above , of which canaan was a type , lord , god , whereby shall i know that i shall inherit it ? say to god , as tamar said to judah , give me a pledg of thy promise , untill thou performest it , say to god , as rahab said to the spies , give me a true token ; give me the earnest of the spirit , give me some grace that may assurs me of glory , and open my eyes to see this grace bestowed on me , give me the blessing of joseph , who was able to say , i feare god ; give me the blessing of paul , who was able to say , i know whom i have beleeved . and put th●se promises in suit , isai. 32.17 . joh. 14.20 . secondly , he that would get this precious jewel of assurance , must seek it , he must seek it , where it is to be found , and as it is to be sough● after . 1. he must seek it , where it is to be found , seek it in iesus christ , and vnion with him , and seek iesus christ , and the demonstrations of vnion with him ▪ in the word of god , in all the ordinance of god , and duties of a christian , and in the work of god , in , and upon himself . he that will conclude according to truth about his spirituall and eternall estate , must diligently try himself , and his graces by the truth ( to wit ) the word of god , which is the only true touchstone we have to try our selves by , the heart is deceitfull above all things , and despeperately wicked , who can know it ? there is nothing in the world that sooner deceives us , or so much abuses us , as our own hearts , they are not to be consulted with nor trusted to , without the word , but tried by it ; therefore search the scriptures , and search thy self . if we go to the creatu●e for assurance , and go from creature to creature for it , as the bee goes from flower to flower , the creatures may all reply in the language of job ▪ and say , it is not in me , neither is it to be found in me , it cannot be gotten for gold , neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof . honour may say it is not in me , neither is it to be found in me ; and riches may say , it is not in me , neither is it to be found in me ; gifts may say , it is not in me ; and learning may say , it is not in me , neither is it to be found in me ; and thus may all the creatures reply . but where then is assurance to be found ? and where is the place thereof , seeing it is hid from the eyes ●f the most , and kept close from many of gods iewels ? the world sayes , we have heard of the fame thereof , but know not what it is ; gods people say , we thirst after it , but know not where to find it ; thou that thus complainest , go to the word , and it will tell thee in the word , and in the wildernesse , assurance is usually found , go thou to the word to seek it , follow the counsell of christ , thou that long●st after assurance , but knowest not where to find it . go thy wayes forth by the footsteps of the flock , and feed thy kids , beside th● sheepherds tents ; frequent the word preached , read the word printed ; seek for evidenc● in grace , and not in gifts , in renewing grace , not in morall grace , seek it in the nar●ow way ; these are the paths wherein the flock of christ have gone before us , and which they have trodden out unto us ; follow their foot steps , if thou wouldest attain assurance , go not in untroden paths to seek it , it is a pearl that is not to be found in every place , seek it therefore where it is to be found : this is the first branch of the second rule . 2. the second is this , he that would get assurance must seek it as it is to be sought after ; he must seek it according to the scripture directory , that is , diligently , orderly , humbly , perseveringly . first , he must seek it diligently , give diligence to make your calling and election sure , saith the text : he that would get assurance must seek it diligently and industriously , he must seek it , as solomon teaches us to seek wisdoms and understanding ; seek for it , as for silver , and search for it , as for hid treasure ; it is treasure , which lies hid , and lies deep in the bowels is the scripture , and he that will obtain it must dive deep for it , and dive with his eyes open , as the indians are said to do for pearl , he must labour for it industriously , as labourers do in silver-mines . secondly , he must seek it orderly , he must follow the vein ; he must not begin where god begins , but where god ends ; he must not begin at the root to fi●d the branch , but by the branch discry the roote , my meaning is , he must not begin with gods decree in predestination , which is the root of salvation ; but with regeneration and justification , which are branches issuing out of this root , other wayes he may destroy the tree ere he is aware , i mean himself , and all hope of heaven and salvation , as i have known some do , and fall into utter desperation ; the truth is , he that will not beleeve , untill he read god's decree in heaven , must never look for any assurance of heaven here , nor fruition of it hereafter ; if you will not beleeve , you shall not be established , saith the text ; he that will reach to heaven by jacobs ladder , must begin at the lowest step ; this is the scripture way to get assurance ; christs directory prescribes it , when iesus christ would instruct nicodemus about his spirituall and eternall estate , he did not send him to heaven , to read the records of the celestiall court , but sent him to read himself over , to search his own heart and life , to consider whether he were regenerate and born again , whether he were ingrafted into christ , and made a new creature , yea , or nay ; christ directs him to the effect to find out the cause , not to the cause to find out the effect , which teaches us , that he that would get some good evidence of the love of god and his own salvation , must begin at home with the workings of god , in and upon himself , he must consider what work the spirit of god hath done in him , what sight of sinne , what sense of sinne , what sorrow for sinne , what l●athing and forsaking of sinne , he hath wrought in him , what grace or desire of grace , or prizing of grace , the spirit of god hath wrought in him ; the father himself loveth you , saith christ. but how shall that appeare ? why the next words tell us , ye have loved me , and beleeved , &c. the father himself loved you , because ye have loved m● , and beleeved that i came out from god : it is as if christ had said , your faith to me , working by love to me , demonstrates it ; for christ doth not here make our faith , or our love the cause of gods love to us , but the discoverer of it : and the apostle tells us , that whom god did foreknow he also did predestinate , to be conformed to the image of his sonne , and ver . 30. saith , that whom he did predestinate , them he also called ( to wit ) inwardly and effectually , according to his purpose , by giving them saving grace ; and whom he thus calleth , them he also justifieth ▪ and whom he justifieth , them he also glorifieth ; and here the apostle followeth the example of his lord and master , leading us to the cause by the effects , and to the end by the meanes , hence it is evident , that he that would get assurance of his election , must seek it in the workings of god , in , and upon himself ; he must consider , how his justification i● evidenced by his sanctification , and his election by both . sanctification is gods work in us , justification is gods work upon us , both together are certain pledges of his good will towards us in the third place , he that would seek assurance , as it is to be sought after , must seek it humbly , with feare and trembling , the scripture calls upon us so to do , work out your own salvation with feare and trembling , a seeker of assurance , must seek humbly upon his knees , and he must seek tremblingly , with a holy feare and jealousie , least he should mistake and miscarry ; for though it be possible for a child of god to know his estate , yet it is very difficult . fourthly , he must seek perseveringly , he must never give over asking untill he receive , never give over seeking untill he find what he seeketh ; he must follow the example of the spouse seeking her beloved , inquire of the watchmen , the ministers of the gospel , where , and how to find , what he seeketh ; and followeth christ by earnest prayer , as the woman of canaan did , untill he obtaine his suit , and he must not rest satisfied with the beginnings thereof but still labour for increase . the scripture speaks of assurance and full assurance of hope a of assurance and sull assuranc● of faith b of the riches of full assurance ▪ of understanding c and of great boldnesse in the faith , d to be attained in this life ; and this the apostle prayed for ▪ for the ephesians , e and laboured to beget in the colossians , as appears by the forecited place , and this the scripture exhorts all christians to labour for , f and saith , that he that doth these things shall never fall , but an entrance shall be ministred unto him abundantly , into the everlasting kingdom of our lord jesus christ , which one would think were argument enough to perswade any immortall soul to seek after it . thus of the second rule propounded for the getting of assurance ▪ the third is this , he that would get assurance of the love of god , must work by the help of the spirit of god , who searcheth all things , yea , the deep things of god as the scripture saith , g and beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of god ; the word cannot without the spirit ; the spirit will not ▪ without the word assure us o● eternall happinesse ; therefore he that would get assurance must work by the help of the spirit , he must try himself and his graces by the word , through the help of the spirit . in the fourth place , he that would get assurance must carefully avoid all the hinderances thereof , in the generall he must shun and avoid all sinne , more especially these sinnes . ignorance , atheisme , prophannesse and hypocrisie , vnbelief and impenitency , erronious opinions , presumption and desperation , neglect of the meanes of grace , formall vse of them , and rebellion against them , strangnesse with god , and iesus christ. fifthly , he that would get assurance , must labour for all those qualifications and graces which may render him capable ●f it , and which god usually imparts this blessing to ; first , he must become a new bottle , i mean a new creature , for assurance is new wine , and christ will not put it into an old bottle , for it would burst the bottle , labour therefore for grace , trush of grace , every renewing grace ; but more especially these graces , knowledg , faith , sincerity , heart-humility , contritition accompanied with convertion and new obedience : assurance will not dwell in an ignorant , vnbelieving , hypocriticall heart , therefore he that would attain it must labour for those graces which are contrary to these vices ; god dwels as a reviver in the heart of the humble and contrite sinner , he revives the spirit of the humble , and the heart of the contrite ones ; iesus christ puts the strongest wine in broken bottles , i do not say into old , but into broken bottles , he binds up the broken hearted ; he therefore that would get assurance , must labour for an humble and broken heart a wise father will not assure a prodigall and disobedient child of his inheritance , while he continueth such , no more will our heavenly father ; he therefore that would get assurance of inheritance with the saints in light , must come home to his heavenly father with a submissive and obedient heart , with a heart obedient unto all his heavenly fathers will. it is not every one that hath truth of grace , that attains assurance , but he that hat● truth of grace and strength of grace , true faith and strong faith : therefore in the second place , labour for strength of grace , strength of faith and every other grace ; it is not every one that hath truth of grace and strength of grace , that attains to assurance , but he that hath grace and knows that he hath it : therefore if thou wouldest attain assurance , labour to know the grace of god in thee . in the third place ; labour to know that thou ha●● grace , that thou hast a true justifying faith , that thou hast sincerity , &c. grace in gods children , is many times hidden from themselves , and that is the reason why they reap so little comfort of it , so little evidence by i● ; they do not know that they have received an earnest penny of god ; they do not know gods ingagements of himself unto them ; therefore if thou wouldest get assurance , try and prove all thy graces , whether they be true and reall , evangelical and renewing , yea , or nay , especially these graces , faith , lov● ▪ repentance , obedience , poverty of spirit , sincerity , &c. that thou maist know thou hast truth of saving grace , such grace as is crowned with glory , and pray to god for sens● of grace , fourthly , get righteousnesse , evangelicall righteousnesse , righteousnesse of iustification , and righteousnesse of sanctification ; assurance is an effect of righteousnesse , though not an inseparable concomitant of it . the work of righteousnesse shall be peace , and the effect of rrighteousnesse quietnesse and assurance for ever ; labour therefore to get christs merit for thy iustification , and christs spirit for thy sanctification . fifthly , labour to beleeve , as if there were no law to condemn thee , and to live , as if there were no christ to save the● ; labour to beleeve stedfastly , and walk exactly with god and man ; when stephen beheld the glory of god ▪ the text saith , he looked up stedfastly into heaven , and it 's certain , that though a weak faith may bring a man to heaven and glory , yet it will not bring a man to behold the glory of god , whilst he is here below , it will not bring him to the riches of full assurance ; therefore if thou wouldest attain this , labour for a strong and stedfast faith , joyned with a holy life . these qualifications he must labour for that desires assurance . sixtly , he that would get assurance , must deny himself in point of finne , and in point of righteousnesse ; first , he must deny himself in point of sinne , he must not spare a right hand , nor a right eye , but if it offend , cut it off , pluck it out , as christ speaks ; he must deny himself in his darling finne , he must not allow himself in any one known finne , nor in the omission of any one known duty towards god or towards man ; want in this , is that which satan usually makes his great battering ingen to overthrow , ( if it were possible , ) the faith and hope of gods elect , and that whereby he hinders them from getting or keeping this rich jewell of evidence . allowance of sinne and assurance cannot stand together , they are as contrary as fire and water , the one will out the other : therefore he that would get assurance , must deny himself in point of sinne . secondly , he must deny himself in point of righteousnesse , he must renounce all his own righteousnesse , in point of justification before god , and count them all losse , and drosse , and dung , and build upon a sure foundation , viz. the rock christ. he that would attain to the assurance that paul had , must renounce himself , and rely on christ , as paul did , he must refer god wholly to christ for satisfaction , and himself wholly to christ for righteousnesse . again , he that would get assurance , must live for it ; he must apply himself to do the will of god in every thing , he must act and exercise all his graces , and labour to grow and increase in grace still ; he must add grace to grace , and one degree of grace to another , as the scripture exhorts and commands us to do ; single grace is not assuring grace , neither is not growing grace , assuring grace ; that grace which is assuring , is consociate and growing , and some wayes acting . therefore let thy knowledg run down in practise , this is the way to get assurance ; this is to lay a good foundation against the time of need ; this is to be a wise builder for eternity , as christ saith ; this is the way to get assurance for ever , to get assurance , which no rain of temptation , nor floods of affliction , nor winds of misapplyed scripture , shall ever be able to overthrow . in the next plac● , he that would get assurance of his safe and happy condition , must labour to grow into familiarity , and intimate acquaintance with iesus christ , who was in the bosome of his father , when his decree concerning el●ction was made , and was an agent in it , that so by him , as by a bosome friend , he may be made acquainted with the privy-counsells of heaven , and bosome-secrets of god : iesus christ who is wisdome it self , will not impart himself and the secrets of god and heaven to strangers , but reserves himself in such matters for intimate friends , therefore if thou wouldest know and be assured , that thy name is written in heaven , be much with christ , be intimate with christ , lodg him all night between thy breasts , as the spouse speaks , and he will be a bundle of mirthe unto thee , he will be unto thee , as jonathan was unto david , a discoveror of his fathers intentions ; if thou desirest assurance , delight thy self in christ , and he will give it thee in due time , and he will further say unto thee , as jonathan did to david . whatsoever thy soul desireth , i will even do it for thee : all things that i have heard of my father , i will make known unto thee , and ye shall know that i am in my father , and you in me , and i in you . finally , he that would get assurance of the love of god and his own salvation , must p●ay earnestly for the witnessing spirit , and pray for the witnesse of the spirit ; pray that th● spirit of god may beare witnesse with his spirit that he is beloved of god , and chosen to salvation through iesus christ : this , and nothing lesse then this , will satisfie conscience in point of assurance ; when no voice without thee can do it , this voice within thee will do it . thus 〈◊〉 for the rules to be followed , for th● getting of assurance , i would now add some motives to perswade the reader to seek after it , but i feare i should be too tedious , only let me tell thee , that assurance is a thing of incomparable worth , a thing which no man knoweth , but he that hath is , a thing that no man prizeth so much , as he that wants it ; in a word , it is a thing of such incomparabl● worth , that a man cannot buy it at too deare a rate : could a man but know its goodnesse , and taste its sweetnesse , he would think no labour too much to attain it , no sinne too sweet to part with for it , no sufferings too much to preserve it , no care and industry too much to increase it ; for it is ( indeed ) next grace , the most precious and delectable love token , that we can possible receive from iesus christ the bridegroom of our souls , in his bodily absen●e . and if this will not perswade thee , reader , to seek after it , i leave thee to him to perswade , who perswaded japhet to dwell in the tents of shem ; what god hath bin pleased to impart unto ●e on this subject , i have commited to writing , more than this , i dare not do , for going out of my sphere , and lesse then this , i could not do , least i should be blamed of my h●avenly father , for hiding my talent in a napkin , and burying divine love in a dunghill ; if ever this little draught of evidence , which i penned for my own use , and hope to leave to my children for theirs , should by any providence come abroad to publique view , my desire and hope is . that this little draught of evidence may ( through gods blessing ) be helpfull to some of christs lambs , to some poor souls , which thirst after assurance on scriptures-grounds , and in●ite others of profounder judgments , and greater abilities , to search th● scriptures , by them to make discovery of the way to get this precious and invaluable iewell of sound assurance . if thou findest any thing of god in the ensuing evidence , or gettest any good by 〈◊〉 bless god for it , give him the glory of it : this is the desire of thy friend that wishes the blessing of assurance to all that are in christ iesus our lord. evidence for heaven . union with christ , evidence for heaven . question . how may i come to be truly , and infallibly assured of my salvation ? by examining thy self touching thy union with christ , if thou hast union with christ , thou shalt certainly be saved , for the scripture saith , there is no condemnation to them that are in christ iesus , rom 8.1 . if ye be christs , then are ye abrahams seed , and heires according to promise , gal. 3.29 . he that hath the sonne , hath life , to wit , life eternall , 1 joh. 5.12 . by all which it is evident , that whosoever hath a true and real interest in christ , shall certainly e saved . the major part of this assumption , is cleer from these scriptures , to wit , that he that hath union , shall certainly be faved : but how shall the minor appear . viz , that i have union with christ , how shall i be ascertained of this ? to get assurance of this , thou must diligently examine thy self , whether thou hast the spirit of christ , or not ? he that hath not received the spirit of christ , hath no union with chrift , if any man hath not the spirit of christ , he is none of his , rom. 8.9 . he that hath received the spirit of christ , hath undoubtedly union with christ : for the apostle makes this a sure argument of our union with christ , hereby we know that he abideth in us , by the spirit which he hath given us , 1 joh. 3.24 . thereby know we that we dwell in him , and he in us , because he hath given us of his spirit , 1 joh. 4.13 . again , paul delivers this as a positive truth , viz that he that hath the spirit of god dwelling i● him , is not in an estate of condemnation , but in a state of salvation . rom. 8.9 . ye are not in the flesh , but in the spirit ; if so be that the spirit of god dwell in you ; but without christ , without vnion with christ , there is no salvation sor man : therefore it follows by necessary consequence , that he that hath the spirit of christ dwelling in him , according to the meaning of the apostle in this text , hath undoubtedly union with christ. here note , that the first and radicall union between christ and his members , is by conjunction ; this union by conjunction is a true and reall uniting of our persons , bodies and souls , to the person of christ , god and man : to the person of christ , as our mediator ; and it is then effected , when the lord is joyned to the soul , and the soul to the lord , so as they are made truly one . this union between christ and his members is made by the spirit of god , whose office it is to joyn christ and his members together , it is the spirit immediately on christs part , but the spirit mediately on our part , that makes this union . christ by an actuall habitation of his spirit in his elect , really joyns himself unto them and becoms truly one with them . christ by his spirit works unfeigned faith , in the hearts of his elect , by which they habitually abide in him , joyn themselves unto him , and become truly one with him : christ and his members thus joyned together , are one by conjunction . to get assurance of thy union with christ then , thou must of necessity begin here , viz. with a diligent search , whether thou art indued with the spirit of christ , yea , or nay ; and in searching after this take notice , that the spirit of god is said to be given , either essentially , or virtually . essentially unto christ onely ; virtually unto us : so as when the scripture speaks of giving the holy spirit of god to man , of the receiving of the spirit by man , and of the dwelling of the holy spirit in man. in these texts and the like , we are not to understand the essence of that person in trinity , but the vertue , efficacy , and operation of that person , secondly , note that the spirit of god is virtually given unto man , either as a qualifier only , or as a sanctifier : as a restrainer , or as a renewer , and that reception of the spirit , and dwelling of the spirit , which the scripture makes an argument of ou● union with christ , is not that common efficacy , and dwelling of the spirit , whereby he is a restrainer and qualifier onely ; but that speciall efficacy and virtue of the holy spirit of god , whereby he becometh a renewer , and sanctifier of us . to get assurance of the union with christ , then thou must diligently and seriously examine thy self , touching the spirituall virtue , efficacy and operation of the holy spirit of god in thy soul , manifested in and by those speciall graces , which the holy spirit of god works in the hearts of the elect , and of them onely , thence called by divines for distinction sake , sa●ct●fying , or renewing grace . the spirit of god as a sanctifier , the world cannot receive , as the language of christ intimates , ioh 14.17 . sanctifying or renewing grace , christ bestows upon his spouse onely , it is his love-token to her , in her military life , though christ be liberall in bestowing gifts upon all sorts of people , yet he keeps these jewels for his spouse , and bestows them on her onely , on whom he bestows himself : well may they therefore serve to demonstrate our union with christ , and the habitation of his ●pirit in us , after a speciall manner , wheresoever they are bestowed ; hence it is , that this g●ace , and glory are coupled together , psal. 84 11. amongst those speciall graces , which demonstr●●● the holy spirits saving habitation in ●s , the first which i will here speak of , is faith , to wi● , justifying faith. we having the ●ame spirit of faith , we also believe , saith the apostle , 2 cor. 4.13 . hence it is evident that whosoever is indued with the holy spirit of god , savingly beleives , he beleives with a justifying faith , for as much as the spirit works this true justifying faith in all those in whom he dwelleth savingly . therefore if thou wouldest get a true testimony of the holy spirits dwelling in thee after a speciall and saving manner , thou must diligently try and examine thy self , whether thou hast this grace of faith , true justifying faith wrought in thee or not . if thou hast this grace of justifying faith , thou hast that which is an infallible character , and a reall testimony of the holy spirits saving habitation and operation in thee , of thy union with christ , and eternal salvation by him , as the apostle intimates , 1 iohn 5.10 . where he saith , he that believeth in the son of god , hath the witnesse in himself : the truth of this assertion will more clearly and fully appear , by that which follows . this faith is a speciall work of the spirit of god in man , as appears by the language of the apostle , eph. 1.19 , 20. where the apostle speaks of it , as a work of gods almighty power ; no less then that which he wrought in christ , when he raised him from the dead , and set him at his own right hand in glory . and in that it accompanieth predestination , and is a grace proper and peculiar unto the elect , as appears by , 2 thes. 2.13 . compared with , tit. 1.1 . he that with this saith beleiveth in christ , eateth the flesh of christ and drinketh his blood ; and christ saith , he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood , dwelleth in me and i in him , john 6.56 . and hath he not then union with christ ? surely yes ; for he lives in christ , and christ in him , really , spiritually ; he is one with christ , and christ with him . of this faith christ affirmeth , that it is accompanied with salvation , iohn 3.36 . he that believeth on the son , hath everlasting life , and john 6.54 . he saith , wheso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternall life : he that believ●th on me , hath everlasting life , joh. 6.47 . this faith is called an evidence , heb. 11.1 . the evidence of things not seen . and true it is , that this faith alwayes is an evidence , though it do not alwayes give evidence to the subject in which it is , beleeve and be saved , are coupled together , luk. 8.12 . finally , unto this faith is annexed in scripture , many special and absolute promises of salvation , the scripture faith , that whosoever beleiveth in christ shall not be ashamed , rom. 10.11 . beleive in the lord i●sus christ , and thou shalt be saved , act. 1● . 31 . christ saith , he that believeth in me , though he were dead , yet shall he live , joh. 11.25 . he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die , ver . 26. ( he shall never dye eternally , ) he that eateth me shall live by me : he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever , joh. 6.57 , 58. verily , verily i say unto you , he that heareth my word , and beleiveth in him that sent me , shall not come into condemnation , but is passed from death unto life , joh. 5.24 . by all which it is evident , that justifying faith , for of that these texts speak , is a sure earnest of our inheritance with the saints in light , in joy unspeakable , and full of glory . whosoever hath the one here , shall certainly have the other hereafter . on this ground the apostle exhorts all christians that would make sure for heaven , and get a good evidence of their own salvation , to examine themselves , whether they be in , the faith , yea or nay , and prove themselves , 2 cor. 13.5 . it is , as if the apostle had said , make sure of this , that your faith is right , and make sure of all ; if you have this grace , you shall have glory also . faith is the grace , and the only grace , whereby we are justified before god , by it we eate of the tree of life , ( jesus christ ) and live for ever : it is therefore the fittest grace of all , to satisfie conscience in this weighty matter , and to make up conclusions from , about our eternall estate . this satan knows full well , and therefore when he would flatter a man to hell , he perswades him , that his faith is right good , when indeed there is no such matter ; and when he would overthrow all hope of heaven in a man , and drag him into despaire , he perswades him , that his faith , though never so good , is but a feigned and counterfeit thing , and the poore soul , is ready to say , amen . it mainly concerns all persons therefore , that would here get a good evidence for heaven , throughly to try their faith , whether it be a shield of gold , or but a shield of b●asle ; whether it be an unfeigned , or but a feigned faith ; whether it be a justifying , or but a temporary faith ; whether it be a faith that justifies before god , or but only before men ? in the searching of thy soul , for this grace of faith , or any other renewing grace , thou art to have respect to the truth of it , more than to the measure and strength of it : christ hath so , he absolutely requires truth of belief , but not strength of belief : nay he so esteems truth of belief , that wheresoever he findeth it , in the least measure , he will accept it and reward it , with eternal life ; he will not quench the smoking flax ; he will not suffer that soul that hath but the least grain of true faith to miscary . but you will say . what is this faith you speak of , and how may it be discerned from a temporary faith ? i will first describe it , and then descry it , as god shall inable me . justifying faith is a speciall work of the spirit of god upon the soul , causing a man to lay hold on the speciall promises of mercy , and salvation by christ , and all other promises , which are , in him , yea , and in him , amen , and rest upon him that hath promised , for the accomplishment of his word . i judg it not necessary , nor meet for me to take this description asunder , or speak of the several terms of it , and therefore pass it by . in a word or two only , i will briefly declare , why i call this faith a work of the spirit , and why a speciall work of the spirit . 1. i call this faith a work of the spirit of god , because it is not natural ; were it natural , it would be common , but all men have not faith , as the scripture saith , 2 thes. 3.2 . 2. few have this faith , as the parable of the seed shews , mar. 4.2 . to 9. it is a work supernatural and divine . 3. i call this faith , a speciall work of the spirit , to distinguish it from that common work of the spirit , which is in unregenerate persons . having thus briefly described this faith , i am in the next place to descry it , and distinguish it from all other ; this i shall do for brevity sake positively . this faith then , as i humbly conceive , may be discerned and differenced from all other kinds of faith , by these concurrent and essentiall properties of it , which here follow . this faith is bred , fed , and nourished , ordinarily , by the word preached , as appears by rom. 10.14 , 17. secondly , this faith as it is begotten by the word , so it is grounded upon the word , upon the written word of god ; not fancy , but the word is the ground of it . it gives firm , absolute , and unlimited assent to the whole word of god , promises , threatnings and commandements , so farre forth as it doth apprehend it to be of god ▪ simply because it is of god ; the whole word of god is the generall ground and object of it . i consent to the law , that it is good , holy , and just , and good , saith a true believer , rom. 7. ver . 16 , 12. believing all things that are written in the law and the prophets , act. 24.14 . but the more special object of it is the promises of the gospel . this faith is seated in the heart , the heart is the most proper subject of it , with the heart man believeth unto righteousness , saith the scripture , rom. 10.10 . justifying faith is not barely notionall , but reall ; it is not a bare head-assenting , but a heart-consenting , what the understanding saith is true , the will saith is good , and embraceth it . this faith is an unfeigned faith , as is evident , 1 tim. 1.5 . and 2 tim. 1.5 . an hypocrites faith is but feigned faith , but justifying faith , is unfeigned , how weak soever it be , it is true and real , it carrieth the whole heart to god in obedience , as well as the whole outward man. this faith is a christ-receiving faith , it receiveth and embraceth whole christ , christ as a saviour and christ as a lord in all his offices , prophet , priest , and king , and it causeth him that hath it , to give up himself wholly to christ , to be ruled by him in all things , according to his word : thus the gospel tenders christ , and thus a true beleever receiveth christ : my lord and my god , saith believing thomas , of christ , and it is the property of justifying faith , thus to embrace christ , they gave themselves unto the lord , ( saith the apostle ) of some true believers , 2 cor. 8.5 . and this is universally true of all that are true believers , they give themselves unto the lord ( as aforesaid , ) and that freely and voluntarily . this faith puts a price upon christ above all things , and cleaves to the mercy of god in christ , as better then life , both positively , and comparatively . to you which believe he is pretious , 1 pet. 2.7 . he is the chiefest of ten thousand , a fairer then all the childrenof men , b he is altogether lovely . c as the apple-tree amongst the trees of the forrest : so is my beloved among the sonnes , d his mouth is most sweet , e his love is better then wine , f thy loving kindness is better than life , saith the believing soul to christ , g whom have i in heaven , but thee ; and there is none that i desire upon earth , in comparison of thee , h what things were gain to me , those i counted loss for christ ; yea , doubtless , and i count all things but loss , for the excellency of the knowledg of christ iesus my lord , and do count them but dung , that i may win christ , and be found in him , saith a believing soul , i by all these places it is evident , that it is the property of a true faith , highly to prize jesus christ ; a true believer prizeth christ in all things , places , persons , and conditions , above all things , and beyond all time , in the eighth place ; this faith relyeth wholly on the merit of christ for salvation , for justification , disclaiming all confidence in the flesh , and excluding all boasting in our selves : as appears by the language of the apostle , act. 4.12 . and phil. 3.3 , 9. and have no confidence in the flesh . not having mine own righteousness , which is of the law , but that which is through the faith of christ. where is boasting then ? it is excluded . by what law ? of works ? nay ; but by the law of faith , rom. 3.27 . this faith opposeth the mercy of god in christ against all sinne , as greater then all . the blood of iesus christ his son , cleanseth us from all sinne , saith a believer , speaking of believers , 1 john 1.7 . because god hath said , he shall redeem israel from all his iniquities , psal. 130.8 . all manner of sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven unto the sons of men , but the blasphemy against the holy ghost , mat. 12.31 . this faith , as it lays hold on the promises of god , so it makes him that hath it , carefully observe the conditions of the promises on his part , lord , i have hoped in thy word , and done thy commandements , saith a true believer , ps. 119.166 . thereby intimating ; that it is the property of a true faith , thus to rest on gods promises ; a true believer applies christ unto himself , and himself unto christ , the promises to himself , and himself unto the promises , unto the conditions of them . it is the property of this faith to adhere to christ , even when it cannot see him , nor apprehend one jot of love from him , when he hideth his face from the soul , and speaks bitter things , and doth bitter things unto the soul , behold ( saith job ) i go forward , but he is not there ; and backward , but i cannot perceive him , on the left hand , where he doth work , but i cannot behold him . he hideth himself on the right hand , that i cannot see him . he writeth bitter things against me , and maketh me possess the iniquities of my youth ; he putteth my feet in the stocks , &c. but concludes . though he slay me , yet will i trust in him . when god hid his face from iob , and he could neither apprehend his love , in his providences , nor in his promises , yet he adhered to him still . this the scripture cals for , isa. 50.10 . therefore it follows , that this a true believer in some measure doth : it is the property of a true believer to adhere to christ as asahel adhered to abner , and elisha to elijah ; asahel would not turn aside from abner , though he dyed by his hand : elisha would not leave elijah what ever became of him , as the lord liveth , and as thy soul liveth , i will not leave thee , said elisha to elijah ; and so saith a true believer to christ ; take from me what thou wilt ; do with me what thou wilt , i will not leave thee , i will cleave unto thee still ; though i cannot see thee , i will trust in thee , i will dye in thine arms . in the twelfth place , this faith is a working faith , it is not idle but operative and working , as the apostle intimates , iam. 2. ver . 20.14 . faith without works is dead and cannot save ; living faith , is working faith , justifying faith , though it do not justifie ( by working ) yet is still working . it purifieth and clenseth , and that not the outward man only , but the heart also , act. 15.9 . it sanctifieth , act. 26.18 . ( to wit ) sincerely , universally , soul and body , and the spirit of our mind , as the scripture speaks ; it spurreth on to obedience , active and passive , sincere , universal , and constant , as appears at large , heb. 11. where all those worthies there spoken of , are said to have done and suffered all those admirable things there mentioned by faith. this faith makes a man patiently wait on god , for the accomplishment of all that good which he hath promised in his word , in a conscionable use of all those meanes , which he hath ordained , warranted , sanctified , and affordeth for the serving of his providence , and accomplishing of his promises . the former part of this assumption , is evident by the language of the prophet , isai. 28.16 . he that believeth maketh not haste ; and by that which is spoken of believers , heb. 6.12 . the latter is as evident by the practice of the saints . david believing the word of the lord concerning his sonne solomon , and his building of the temple , was very instant with the lord to make good his word , and what he had promised ; very carefull and conscionable in instructing his son , to walk with god in uprightness of heart , according unto all the commandements of the lord , and in providing materials for the work of the lords house and encouraging his son to the work , as appears by the 2 sam. 7. compared with 1 chron. 28. and 29. chapters . daniel believing the word of the lord concerning the return of the captivity of iudah , was very instant with the lord , by fasting and prayer to accomplish what he had promised , as appears , dan. 9.2 , 3. hezekiah believing the word of the lord concerning his recovery out of a dangerous sickness , diligently used the meanes that the prophet directed him unto , 2 kings 20.7 . and paul , to instance in no more , beleiving that grand promise , that the seed of the woman , should break the serpents head . and that the god of peace would bruise satan under his feet , and that sin should not have dominion over him . when buffeted by satan , prayed frequently , and prayed fervently , he besought the lord thrice : when the law of his members rebelled against the law of his mind , and led him captive to the law of sin . he groaned under this burden , bewailed his condition , sought the lord by prayer for help , exercised faith on christ ; and beat down his body and kept it under , as appears , rom. 7.23 , 24. compared with 1 cor. 9.27 . the same apostle believing the word of the lord , concerning the preservation of himself , and his companions , in a dangerous voyage at sea , diligently exhorted them to use all good meanes tending unto their preservation , sounded the depth , cast anchors , abode in the ship , &c. act. 27. all these meanes these worthies used to serve the divine providence ; and these examples plainly evidence , that it is the property of true faith thus to depend on god , for the accomplishment of his word . this faith makes a man open-hearted , and open-handed towards his brethren in misery and want mercifull according to the divine rule ; ready out of a fellow-feeling of others misery , bountifully , cheerefully , and constantly , to do good unto all in misery , according to ability , but specially to the godly ; not for his own glory , but gods , for the honour of christ and the gospel , as appears by the language of the apostle , iam. 2.15 , 16. compared with the 1 chap. 27. and that which is spoken of believers in the primitive church , act. 2.44 , 45.4.34 . this faith makes a man very industrious , in labouring to keep a good conscience in all things , and to walk inoffensively towards god , and towards man in all things , as appears in the apostle paul. paul having made a confession of faith , and hope towards god , act. 24.14 , 15. in the 16. ver . of the same chap. he declares , how his faith did operate . and herein do i exercise my self , to have alwayes a conscience void of offence towards god and towards man. and this language of his doth plainly evidence , that it is the property of a true faith thus to operate . all these are real testimonies , that true justifying faith , is no idle faith , but operative and working . it worketh by love . this the scripture a●firmeth , gal. 5.6 . neither circumcision , nor vncircumcision availeth any thing , but faith which worketh by love : thence it is evident , that true faith worketh by love . and this is indeed the great distinguishing character of it , it worketh by love to god , and the things of god , and by love to man for gods sake . a true believer works all his works in love to god and christ ; his whole labour in point of obedience , is a labour of love ▪ he sees an unfathomed depth of divine love , declared toward him by god in christ , and this constrains him to love god in christ again ; and out of love unto him that dyed for him , to give up himself unto him ▪ and lay out himself for him . the love of christ constraineth me , saith a true believer , 2 cor. 5.14 , 15. he is holy and blamelesse before him in love , ephes 1.4 . my soule hath kept thy commandements , and i love them exceedingly , saith a true believer , ps. 119.167 . this faith is alwayes accompanied with true repentance ; he that truely believes unfaignedly repents ; this is evident by the language of the prophet , zach. 12.10 . this faith is alwayes accompanied with new obedience . this faith is a holy faith , it 's so called , iud ▪ v. 20. and it makes the subject holy in which it is , inwardly , outwardly , universally holy , though not perfectly holy in this life . this faith is a world-contemning , and world over-coming faith ; it contemns the world , both in the good and evill of it , as appears in moses , heb. 11.24 . to 28. i● overcometh the world , as saith the scripture . this is the victory that overcometh the world , even your faith who is he that overcometh the world , but he that believeth , &c. 1 john. 5.4 , 5. i may add to this , and say , it is a flesh-over-coming , and a devill-overcoming faith : for howsoever a true beleever be many times put to the worse for a time , and foiled by one or other of these enemies , yet in the end he overcometh them all , and is more then a conqueror through christ that strengtheneth him , and overcometh for him . this faith is a heart humbling faith ; it is the property of this faith to make an humble heart , as the language of christ , iohn 5.44 . intimates how can ye believe ( saith he ) which seek honour one of a another ? a true beleever eyes god in all gifts , and in all blessings , spirituall and temporall , and ascribes all unto free grace ; he , and he only labours for and learnes of christ , heart-humility , and groans under the sense of the want of it , and hence it is evident that true justifying faith is heart-humbling faith. this faith is a god-glorifying faith , it makes a man preferre god above himself , and his glory above all things , respecting not himself , willing to deny himself unto the death , to advance the honour of god , and humbly to submit to the will of the lord in every thing ; as appears in abraham , iob , eli , david , paul , and many other true beleevers . abraham was by this faith transported so far above himself , that he willingly offered up his dear isaac , to advance the honour of god , when he tryed him . iob was by this faith brought humbly and patiently to submit to the will of the lord in every thing , as one desirous to advance his name . ely was by this faith brought sweetly and humbly to submit to the good pleasure of the lord : when samuel told him , what evill the lord would bring upon him , and his house , he meekly replies , as one d●sierous to advance god in all , it is the lord , let him do what seemeth him good . it is , as if he had said , let him do with me or to me what he will , so he may have glory by it , i am content . david did the like , 2 sam ▪ 15.26 . but above all , the apostle paul is a notable example of this , who was by this faith carried so farre above himself , that he cared not what betided ●im , sink or swim , so christ might be magnified thereby , bonds , and afflictions , and death were nothing to him to undergo , so christ might have honour thereby : nay he would rather lose his eternall crown , then eclyps the honour of christ , as his language , act. 20.23 , 24.21 , 13. does plainly evidence his resolution , that christ should be magnified in him , whatever he underw●nt , phil. 1.20 . rom. 9.3 . it is the property of a true faith to preferre god above all , but an evidence of a strong faith thus to preferre god above all . this faith is a growing faith. true faith how weak soever or how strong soever , is alwayes accompanied with cordial desires and real indeavours to grow and increase , and bring forth more fruit , as the language ▪ of beleevers shews , lord increase our faith , said the disciples to christ ; lord i beleeve , help thou my unbeliefe , saith another beleever : i count not my self to have apprehended , but this one thing i do , forgetting those things which are behind , and reaching forth to those things which are before , i press toward the mark , saith a third , phil. 3.13 , 14. by all w●ich it is evident , that true faith is growing faith : a true beleever never thinks he hath faith enough , but still prayes for and labours after increase . this faith is a supporting faith ; it is a faith which a christian may and must live by in all conditions , as appears , h●b . 2.4 . the just shall live by his faith. he that hath this faith we speak of , shall live by it , in prosperity and in adversity , in life and in death . finally , this faith is permanent and persevering , it holds out unto the death , it is never totally lost ; a true beleever , as he lives in the faith , so he dyes in the faith ; the apostle speaking of true beleevers , saith , these all died in the faith , heb. 11.13 . and true it is , that a true beleever alwayes dyes in the faith , in the faith of adherence , if not of evidence ; this is vigour fit and but fit to give the denomination of a true beleever , we are made partakers of the holy ghost , if we hold the beginning of our co●fidence stedfast unto the end , saith the text , heb. 3.14 . these words plainly evidence , that justifying faith is persevering faith , it holds out unto the death and ends in fruition , it can never be totally nor finally lost ; and this indeed is it's distinguishing property , and it is the property of every renewing grace ; every renewing grace holds out unto the end ; that grace which weares the the crown of glory is persevereing , revel . 2.10 . it is not alwayes so in appearance , but in truth ; a true beleever may at sometimes , and in some cases , seem both to himself and to others , to have loft his faith , and his other graces as many examples in scripture shew ; but yet as ieb speaks , the root of the matter is within him still ; truth of grace in the inward parts ▪ and it abideth there . however a true beleever may and sometimes doth , for a time lose the comfort of his grace , and the fight of his grace , and the power of acting of his grace , yet he hath this priviledg above all formalists , he never totally loseth the habit of any renewing grace : these gifts of god are without repentance . wouldest thou then know , whether thy faith be sound and saving , and such as consequently demonstrates the holy spirits saving habitation in thy soule ; try and examine thy saith , by these properties and scripture-characters of a true jus●ifying faith , and if it hold correspondency with them , know for thy comfort , that it is such as really demonstrates the holy spirits saving habitation , and special operat●on in t●y soul , thy union with christ , a●d e●ernal salvation by him , whatsoever satan or thine own conscience abused by satan , may at any time hereafter say to the contrary , and give the lord the praise . the end of thy faith shall be the salvation of thy soul , as the scripture speaks , 1 pet. 1.9 . love . another grace demonstrating the holy spirits saving habitation in us , is love , to wit , sincere love. god is love , and where god dwelleth by his spirit , he worketh love , to wit , sincere love to god , and sincere love to man for gods sake . and this love is a speciall work and fruit of the holy spirit of god in man , as appears by the language of the apostle , my little children , let us not love in word or in tongue , but in deed and in truth ; and hereby we know that we are of the truth , and shall assure our hearts before him : and gal ▪ 5. ●2 . it is said , the fruit of the spirit is love. more particularly , that sincere love to god is a special work of the spirit of god , and such as accompanies salvation , is evident by the great good that this grace is attended with , both here , and hereafter ; here all things , how bad soever in themselves , work together for good unto them that love god , rom. 8.28 . and many promises of temporall and eternall good , are made unto this grace , psal. 91.14 , 15 , 16. a crown of life is promised unto it , iam ▪ 1.12.25 . much good attendeth this grace here , but as it is written , eye hath not seen , nor eare heard , neither have entred into the heart of man , the things which god hath prepared for them that love him , 1 cor. 2.9 ▪ such is the happiness , joy , and glory which god hath prepared for them that love him , that it cannot enter into us , till we shall enter into it : it must therefore needs be a special work of the spirit of god in us , and a sure pledg of salvation . he that sincerely loves god , hath that in him , which is a sure argument that he is greatly beloved of god , a i love them that love me ▪ saith christ , b we love him because he first loved us , saith the apostle . and must not that needs be a special work of the spirit of g●d in man , which strongly argues the special love of god towards man ? surely , yes . but sincere love to god , strongly argu●s special love in god towards him that hath it , therefore sincere love to god must needs be a speciall work of the spirit of god in whomsoever it is . that sincere love to man , for gods sake , is a speciall work of the spirit of god in man , is evident by that which follows : sincere love to man , for gods sake , in whomsoever it is , is a real testimony of his union with christ , regeneration and new-birth , and that he is indeed a true disciple of jesus christ , as these scriptures following plainly evidence , c this is his commandement , that we beleeve in the name of his son iesus christ , and love one another , as he gave us commandement , and he that keepeth his commandement ( dwelleth in him , and he in him ) d he that dwelleth in love , dwellth in god , and god in him . if we love one another , god dwelleth in us , and his love is perfected in us , &c. these texts cleerly demonstrate , this love to be a real testimony of union with christ , love is of god , and every one that loveth , is born of god. e we know that we are passed from death unto life , because we love the brethren , saith the apostle . and these texts plainly evidence , this love to be a true testimony of our regeneration and new birth . love one another , saith christ , as i have loved you , meaning for the kind of love , by this shall all men know that you are my disciples , if you have love one towards another . these texts plainly demonstrate this love , we speak of , to be a true character of a true disciple of jesus christ : and must not that needs be a special work of the spirit of god in man , and a true testimony of his saving habitation in us , which is a real testimony of our union with christ , and renovation by him , and dependance on him ? surely yes . but sincere love to man , for gods sake , is eminently all this ; therefore this love must needs be a special work of the spirit of god , and a sure testimony of his saving habitation in whomsoever it is . sincere love is a grace , without which all profession of religion is but guilded hypocrisie ; where love is , god dwels , but where it is not , the devil dwels ; the more love , the more like to god ; the less of it , the more like the devil . wofull experience shews , that those men which have great parts and gifts , and little or no love , shew more of the devils nature , then of gods , and act more like the devil , then god , where they have power . love is the sweetest flower in all the garden of god , but it is a flower which the devil cannot indure the smell of , because he is not capable of it , and knows that where love dwels , he must vanish ; and therefore it is his main design to destroy love , if possible , in all sorts and sects , and to root it up and banish it from the hearts of all men ; the devil is well content , that men should pray , preach , read , hear sermons , and make a faire shew outwardly , provided this spring not from love , nor tendeth not to the increase of love , to god nor man ; but if he see love be the root and fruit of mens services , then he goes cunningly , and serpent-like to work , to make breaches in this wall , that he may get in and destroy this flower , he deviseth wayes to divide mens judgments , to the end he may destroy this affection of love out of their hearts ; if he prevaile not this way then he will raise up jealousies to destroy love and charity , yea sometimes render the best of graces , the worst of vices ; and as in tempting a carnal man , he sometimes stiles lust , love , so in tempting a spiritual man , he somtimes stiles sincere love , lust ; and by these wiles makes a breach on charity , to the end he may get into the garden of god , and root up this sweet grace of love. seeing then that this grace of sincere love to god and man , is a speciall work of the holy spirit of god , and a grace that he worketh in all those in whom he dwels savingly , to get a true testimony of the holy spirits saving habitation in thee , thou must diligently examine thy self , touching thy love to god , and touching thy love to man : 1. examine thy love to god , see whether that be sound and sincere , yea or nay , 2. examine thy love to man , and see whether that be such as the scripture makes a note of the holy spirits saving habitation in us , yea or nay . but how shall i know , whether my love to god be sound and sincere , yea or nay . by considering , 1. what sincere love to god is ; and , 2. what the properties and effects of it are . sincere love to god , is a spirituall affection , causing a man to prize god more , and obey him rather then any thing in the world besides . the properties and effects of sincere love to god are these ▪ 1. sincere love to god is seated in the heart , in the midst of the heart , and it carryeth the whole heart and soul to god in obedience , as well as the whole outward man. that sincere love to god is seated in the heart , in the midst of the heart , and carries the whole heart to god , will appear thus ; that which god in his word requires , and commands , that true grace doth in its measure , and in a gospel way give unto him : but god in his word requires that we should love him with the heart , with the whole heart , and soul ; and , therefore this command doth sufficiently intimate this truth , to wit , that sincere love to god is seated in the heart , and carries the whole heart to god , &c. here note , 1 ▪ by the whole heart is meant , every faculty of the soul , the whole inner man , the heart wholly , sincerely , so as it is not divided between god and the world , between god and sinne , between god and satan , as the hearts of all hypocrites are , but is downright and wholy for god. 2. my whole heart may then be said to be carried to god , when i cleave to him in affection , more then to any thing besides ; account him my chiefest happiness , from a due consideration of his perfection ; rejoyce in him above all things ; feare his displeasure more then all persons or things ; depend upon him for all things , and aime at his glory principally in all things . secondly sincere love to god , is fastened upon god principally , for that divine excellency and spirituall beauty which is in him , and which he doth communicate unto his people , because of the savour of thy good oyntments , thy name is as oyntment poured forth , therefore the virgins love thee , saith the text , cant. 1.3 . spirituals and not temporals , as this text shews , are the principall attractives of a sincere and virgin-love to christ. 3. sincere love to god , is not guided by sense , but by faith , as the language of the apostle f intimates ; therefore saith the apostle , whom having not seen , we love , whom having not seen with corporall eye nor invisible favours , you still cleave to in affection . this is further evidenced in holy iob , who continued to love god , and obey him , even when he could not see one glimpse of his countenance , neither within him , nor without him , as appears by iob 23.8 , 9 , 10 , 11. verses . and this plainly shews , that his love was guided by faith , and not by sense , as it is the property of sincere love to be . 4. sincere love to god , is a very strong love , love is strong as death , cant. 8.6 . sincere love to god will make a man to resolve , ●●augre all opposition , to obey unto the death ; it will constrain a man to do or suffer any thing , that god shall see good to impose upon him for tryall-sake , without repining in toung or in heart against god ; it will make a man serve god with all his might , therefore saith the apostle , the love of christ constraineth us : it beareth all things , it endureth all ●●ings . 5. sincere love to god , is an indearing affection , it indears christ unto a man above all things in the world besides , so as he will willingly part with all things else , rather then christ ; christ in his merit , christ in his spirit , christ in his ordinances , and in his ministers and people , is deare unto a sincere lover of christ above all things here below ; this is lively set forth unto us in the parable of the merchant man , mat. 13.44 , 45 , 46. he left all for the pearl , the pearl was dear unto him , and he was in love with it ; hence it was that he slighted all in comparison of it . that love is an indearing affection , is further evident by the language of the spouse in love with christ , cant. 5.10 . he is the chiefest of ten thousand , saith she , meaning of all ; and likewise by the practise of the saints , which have sincerely loved christ , they have willingly parted with their fine cloathing for his sake , and worn sheep-skins and goats-skins , they have parted with fine dwellings , and lyen in dens , and caves , they have parted with all , even to their precious lives , nay these also they have willingly laid down for his sake , in the cruellest way , that bloody persecutors could invent , refusing base deliverance , to advance the honour of christ , when he called them forth to suffer , as appears heb. 11. their love to christ did indeare christ to them above all things . here note , 1. that sincere love to christ is strong in all , but not in all according unto the same equal degrees ; it indears christ unto all that have it , above all things , but makes not all to declare it with the like forwardness and courage , nor to declare it at all times alike , as many instances in scripture shew ; according to the measure of our faith , so is our love ; if a man beleeve only as a bruised reed , as a weakling in christ , his love will only smoak as flax towards christ , but if he be strong in faith , his love will flame , it will declare it self with much zeale and fervour of spirit . 2. that , that love to christ , which preferrs any one thing whatsoever before christ , or subjoyns any one thing in the world coequal with christ , is no sound sincere love , neither is it worth any thing in christ 's account , as his own language shews ' , he that loveth father , or mother more then me , is not worthy of me : and he that loveth sonne or daughter more then me , is not worthy of me , matth. 10.37 . 3. that love to christ which fals off from christ , when tryals , tribulations and persecutions come , and will not beare the cross for christs sake , when he cals thereunto , is no sincere love , but an hypocritical , as christ shews , mat. 10.38 . he that taketh not up hi● cross , and followeth after me , is not worthy of me : and further illustrates in the parable of the ftony ground , mat. 13.20 , 21. that love to christ which makes not a man to account all things but loss , and dross , and dung for christ , and to set such a price on chrift , and his hopes by him , that he resolves through the help of christ , to part with any thing which may hinder him from doing christ faithful service , how neare or dear soever it be , or ought to be , yea with life it self , or whatsoever contentments may indeare it unto him , when christ cals him to it , is no sound nor available love , as christ shews when he saith , if any man come to me , and hate not his father , and mother , and wife , and children , and brethren , and sisters , yea , and his life also , he cannot be my disciple , luke 14.26 . hence it is evident , in the next place , that sincere love to god , is a very tender love , yea , a love more tender towards god then towards any thing else , besides god , persons or things , and will make a man willing rather to part with all , persons or things ; how neare or deare soever , then with god ; yea , so tender a love it is , as it will not suffer a man to go in any way , though never so pleasing to flesh and blood , that he knows displeaseth the lord , nor transgress the least of gods commandements with knowledg , without grief of heart , as appears in the example of ioseph and david . ioseph sincerely loved his god , and this love constrained him to contemn the carnall love of his miftress , and the carnal pleasure proffered him by her , for fear of displeasing god. david sincerely loved his god ; and hence it was that his heart smote him , for cutting off the lap of sauls garment ; a small matter one would think , yet ( saith david ) he is the lords annointed . i have therefore transgressed his commandement in laying violent hands on him , and was therefore grieved ; his love constrained him to grieve . hence it appeareth , in the next place , that sincere love to god , produceth and preserveth a tender conscience , a holy feare of god in the heart and soul , and a holy hatred of all sin , how shall i do this wickedness and sin against my god , saith the soul that sincerely loves god , when tempted to sinne by the world , the flesh , or the devil : god hates all iniquity , and he that fincerely loves god , hates what he hates , therefore ( saith the psalmist ) you that love the lord , hate evill , to wit , because god hates it . sincere love to god makes a man love the whole will of god , i love thy command●m●nts , saith david , above gold , yea , above fine gold : i esteem all thy pr●cepts , concerning all things to be right , and hate every false way . this language of david shews , that he loved the whole will of god , even that which did cross and condemn that sinne , which his nature was most prone to ; and it is the nature of sincere love to god , to make a man thus to love the will of god. a sincere lover of god , loveth not the word of god the less , but ●●e more for discovering his darling sinne , and so consequently he loves not , nor esteems not the faithfull ministers of the word the lesse , but the more for their faithfulnesse , in discovering and opposing sinne , predominate sinne whether personal or national . sincere love to god is an obediential love , it makes a man cordially obey the will of god , rather then any thing in the world besides . this is evident by the language of christ , g if a man love me , ( saith christ , to wit , sincerely ) he will keep my words . he that hath my commandements , and keepeth them , he it is that loveth me , ibid. v. 21. and by the language of his beloved disciple , h this is love , that we walk after his commandements . the great character of sincere love to god , set by christ and his beloved disciple , is obedience , to wit , cordiall obedience to all the revealed will of god ; and hence it is evident ▪ that sincere love to god is an obedientiall love. that this love leads a man to obey god rather then any thing in the world besides , is manifest by the carriage of such in all ages of the world , in whose hearts the sincere love of christ hath dwelt ; the three children in captivity , being commanded of men to do what they were forbidden of god , chose rather to obey god then man. peter and iohn , being forbidden of men , to do what they were commanded of god , reply , whether it be right in the sight of god to hearken unto you , rather then unto god , judge ye , and chose rather to obey god then man , as the words following shew : and thus it is with other sincere lovers of god , if god and man , god and sin , god and satan , come in competition , or opposition , all craving obedience : if sincere love to god be in the heart , it will soone end the controversie , and cause a man to obey from the heart , god before all ; sincere love to christ will make a man think christ's yoke easie , and his burthen light , his commandements not grievous ; it will make a man obey actively and passively , and resist unto blood , striving against sinne , as the scripture speaks . sincere love to god mortifieth in us the love of the world , if any man love the world the love of the father , ( to wit , the sincere love of the father ) is not in him , 1 joh. 2.15 . this language of iohn , intimates thus much unto us , ( to wit ) that where the sincere love of god dwels , it mortifieth the love of the world , to wit , those things in the world , which are properly said to be of the world , and enemies unto god , as all unchast loves , diabolicall love , and inordinate love of carnall things , the lusts of the flesh , the lusts of the eyes , and the pride of life ; all which are enemies unto god , and his grace in us , and cannot subsist with the love of god , being contrary unto it . sincere love to god makes a man very sensible of gods dishonour , and grieve at it , as ionathans love to david , made him very sensible of the dishonour his father did him , and grieve at it ; so sincere love to god makes a man very sensible of the dishonour done to god , and grieve at it , it makes him sensible of the dishonour done to god by others , but most sensible of the dishonour done to god by himself , and grieve at it ; this appears in david , david sincerely loved god , and this made him grieve at the dishonour other men did to god , but most of all at the dishonour which himself had done to god , the consideration of this made his heart pant , and his strength fail , and made him go mourning all the day long . sincere love to god makes a man prize the light of gods countenance , and the apprehension of his love in christ , above all things in the world , lord , lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me , this putteth gladness into my heart , more then corn and wine . let him kiss me with the kisses of his lips , for his love is better then wine . this is the language of sincere lovers of god and christ , and a clear evidence it is of the truth asserted , and lively demonstrates the judgement and affection of a sincere lover of god and christ. sincere love to god makes a man delight in communion with god by prayer , meditation , and the use of all his other ordinances here , and long for the marriage-day of the lamb , to the end he might enjoy a more near union , and sweet communion with christ his well-beloved , and be perfectly conformed unto his holy will , as the language of sincere lovers of god shew , i my soul thirsteth for god , for the living god , when shall i come and appear before him , k oh god! thou art my god , early will i seek thee , my soul thirsteth for thee , my flesh longeth for thee , &c. l i have a desire to depart , and to be with christ , which is best of all m come lord iesus , come quickly this longing desire to depart and to be with christ , and to have christ come to consummate the mysticall marriage , though it be a fruit of love , yet it is not an inseparable property of sincere love , neither is it in all , that sincerely love god , nor in all in whom it is , is it at all times alike , but in those only which apprehend the love of god in christ towards them , and at such time , as they apprehend it ; and this is not every sincere lovers portion here , therefore a christian ought not to judge his love to god unsound , onely because he wants this longing desire to be with christ , and to have christ come to consummate this mystical marriage , but to have recourse to the foresaid properties of sincere love , for the tryall of his love , when this fails , and to such as follow . sincere love to god is a constant growing love , and an everlasting love , it holds out in all times and seasons , and variety of conditions , prosperity and adversity , praise and persecution , health and sickness , plenty and poverty , liberty and bonds , yea , in death it self , and after death through all eternity ; death doth not terminate this grace , but perfect it ; therefore saith the apostle of a sincere lover , n he dwelleth in love , and of this love , o it never faileth . a man that sincerely loves god continues to love him , when he hides his face from him , and he cannot see him , nor one glimpse of his favor , neither within him , nor without him ; yea , when he frowns upon him ▪ and shewes himself marvelous unto him , as iob speaks , and the arrows of the almighty stick fast in his soul , and satan , and his own conscience deluded by satan , tells him , he shall never see the face of god with comfort ; and however god carryes himself towards him , yet he dares not from thence take leave to vary his carriage towards god , but loves him still , for better , for worse , and obeys him to the utmost of his power : which shews in the next place , that he that sincerely loves god , loves him for nought . that man may be said to love god for nought , who loves him principally for himself , and not for his , who loves him , because he is of all things most lovely , who had rather have god without all , then all without god , for his portion ; who had rather have a houseless christ , a harbourles● christ , a hated and a persecuted christ , th●● all the honours , pleasures , and riches of the world without christ ; who had rather have grace without glory , then glory without grace ; who had rather have the gospel , and gospel-ordinances in power and purity , with poverty and trouble , then peace and plenty without them ; who had rather christ should reign , then himself ; who desires christ may encrease , though he himself decrease ; and truth live , though he die ; who preferrs the interest of god and christ before his own interest ▪ or any interest whatsoever ; who labours more to get , and to keep a good conscience , then a good estate in the world ; in a word , he that loveth god , more then these earthly contentments , he , and he only , may be said to love god for nought , and to love him sincerely , as christs language to peter intimates , lovest thou me , more then these ? as if he had said , if thy love be not more to me then to these earthly things , it 's worth nothing in my account ; if it be ●ore to me , then to ●hese ▪ if it adhere to me with the loss of these ●hat shews it is not for these , but for nought that thou lovest me , and this argues thy love sincere . sincere love to christ is very industrious , and it makes the subject in which it is very industrious in following after the lord , and the things of the lord ; and the more it aboundeth , the more industrious the soul is in following after her beloved ; this is evident by the language , and practice of such , as have sincerely loved the lord in all times , i p follow after , saith the apostle . my soul followeth hard q after thee , saith another sincere lover of god. early will i seek thee , &c. and the spouse in the canticles , r sought night and day after her beloved : mary magdalen s and other lovers of christ , were very industrious in seeking after him : all which evidently demonstrates the truth asserted ( to wit ) that sincere love is very industrious . sincere love to god and christ , makes the soul unsatisfied in thinking and speaking of the divine excellencies , wisdome , beauty and majesty of god and christ : love of what kind soever , delights in the comtemplation of the object which it fastens on ; the soul delights to be still thinking and speaking of her beloved , whatever it be , as every ones experience can te●● him ; the soul that sincerely loves god doth no less : see an instance of this in the spouse in the canticles , she thinks of her beloved , a●d speaks of her beloved , as one unsatisfied with the thoughts and praises of him , as one resolved to win ( if it were possible ) all the world , to love what she loved ; and this lively demonstrates the sincerity of her love , and the nature of sincere love . sincere love to god is a soul-warming affection , it warmeth that heart , in which it is , with a spirituall heat , with a holy zeal for god , and the things of god ; yea so warmeth it , that many waters cannot quench it , nor floods drown the fire , which it kindleth within : this is evident by the zeal of those , which have sincerely loved god in all ag●s , we may take all the saints for an example of this , but i will instance only in moses , and p●ul ; moses , who was the meekest man upon the earth , had his spirit so warmed with the love of god in his heart , tha● the fire of zeal brake forth in an unquenchable flame in him , when he saw god dishonoured , and an idol magnified by the people of god. and paul's spirit was hereby so stirred within ●im , when he saw the people given to idola●ry , that he could not forbear to reprove it , whatever he underwent for it ; all these had their hearts so warmed with the love of g●d , that neither water nor bloud , could quench the flame that love had kindled ; which evidently demonstrates this love to be a heart-warming affection . though sincere love to god do warm the hearts of all , in whom it is , with a zeal of god , yet doth it not warm the hearts of all alike , according to the measure and degree of love in the heart , such is the zeal that issueth out of it . sincere love to god is a soul-humbling affection , it thinks it can never do , nor suffer enough for god , and thence it is , that it doth not glory in any doing or suffering , it comes stil short of what it should do , and what it would do , and therefore is not puffed up with what it doth , but rather humbled by its failings ; knowledge puffeth up , but love casteth down the soul. sincere love to god is a heart-softening affection , as is evident by the carriage of nathan towards david , when the lord sent nathan to awaken david , and call him to repentance ; what did nathan , but labour to set an edge on david's love , by setting the loving kindness of the lord before him , as one knowing , that if any thing melted his heart , this would do it , and this we see did it , which plainly shews , that love is a heart-softening affection . this is yet farther evident in other of the saints , iosiah loved his god , and hence it was that his heart melted , when he considered , how he and his people had offended god by walking contrary to his statutes ; mary magdalen sincerely loved christ , and hence it was that her heart was so mollified and melted , for the sinne she had committed . love softeneth the heart in which it is ; nothing more , nothing so mollifying as love ; love delated , and love apprehended mollifyeth the heart , as oyl doth the hand . the way to encrease sorrow for sinne , is to encrease love to god ; grief is but an effect of love , love is the leading affection to grief , anger , hatred , and desire ; grief springs not so naturally from any thing , as it doth from love , there is no grief so kindly , none so pier●ing , none so lasting and wasting , as that the 〈◊〉 springs from pure love . object . but this property of love makes me to question the truth of my love , for i find my heart is hard , i cannot grieve for sinne , as i should , or as i would . answ. softness of heart hath other appearances , besides grief , it shews it self in yeelding to walk in the statutes of the lord , and keep his ordinances , and do them , inflexibility and readiness to obey the known will of the lord , without standing out against any part of it , and to these a child of god should have recourse in such case . sincere love to god is a sinne-abating affection ; this i gather from the propheticall prediction of jesus christ , concerning these times , because iniquity shall abound , the love of many shall wax cold ; hence it is evident , that the abounding of iniquity , springs from the totall want or decay of love ; if love did abound , iniquity could not abound , it would abate the force of it ; love is therefore called a breast-plate . the abating of iniquity , is according to the abounding of love ; in what measure love aboundeth , in that measure sinne abateth ; but as love decayes , abates , and cools , iniquity abounds . while the church of ephesus continued in her first and fervent love , we read of no complaints of her , but when her love abated , her in●quity abounded . sincere love to god will abate sinne in a person , church , or nation , if it be in the person , church , or nation . sincere love to god , is an establ●shing affection ; this i ga●her from the language of the apostle , 2 thes. 2.10 , 11. because they received not the love of the truth , t●at they might be saved , for this cause god shall send them strong delusions to believe lies , &c. hence it is evident , that had these ( of whom the apostle speakes ) received the love of the truth , had they sincerely loved the god of truth , they had continued in the truth , in the knowledge of it , in the belief of it , in the obedience of it , and neither totally nor finally apostatized from the truth ; which strongly argues , love is an establishing affection . the knowledge of the truth , without love of the truth ( to wit ) sincere love , is utterly unavaileable unto salvation ; the knowledge of the truth without love of the truth , is unvaled to uphold in the profession , and obedience of the truth . he whose judgement is unsound , is in danger to be corrupt by flatteries , as the prophet daniel speakes ; but he whose love is unsound , is in more danger to be corrupt by flatteries . he whose love is sound , may through frailty fall , and through fear of some corporall evil , become guilty of partiall apostacy ; but he shall never fall away totally nor finally from the god of truth , nor from the truth of god : by all which it appears , that love is an establishing affection . sincere love to god , is not lessened by encrease of knowledge , but encreased with it ; he that loves god sincerely , his knowledge doth not lessen his love to god , or the ordinances of god , or the ministers of god , but encreaseth it ; his love doth abound more and more , as his knowledge doth abound more and more ; this is sufficiently intimated by the language of the apostle , phil. 1.9 . he whose light doth not encrease , but rather decrease his love , hath cause to question his love , and his light too . finally , sincere love to god , alwayes produceth sincere love to man for gods sake ; this is evident by the language of the apostle , if any man say , i love god , and hate his brother , he is a liar ; for he that loveth not his brother , whom he hath seen , how can he love god , whom he hath not seen ? as if the apostle had said , it is impossible for that man to love god sincerely , which loveth not his brother ; if a man love god , this love will constrain him to love his brother , it will produce love to man for gods sake ; this is farther intimated , ver . 21. by these few proper●ies , effects , and appearances of a sincere love to god , i conceive a christian may judge aright of his love to god , and so consequently of his condition . quest. but how shall i know , whether my love to man be sound , and such as demonstrates the holy spirits saving habitation in me , or not ? answ. by considering , 1 , what sincere love to man is : and , 2 , what the appearances of it are . sincere love to man , demonstrating the holy spirits saving habitation in the soul , is a free affection of the soul , delated on man for god , and according to the rules of god given in the holy scriptures . and it is manifest thus , it issueth out of the love of god , and is carried to man for god , for gods sake , as the apostle plainly shews , by this we know we love the children of god , when we love god and keep his commandements , &c. as if he had said , by this we know , that our love towards man is sound , and such as demonstrates the holy spirits saving habitation in us , even by this , that it issueth out of the love of god , as the spring and fountain of it , and is delated on man , for gods sake , for so much that phrase [ keep his commandements , ] implies . god commands us to love one another , and to aim principally at his glory herein ; now when a man doth this , when he makes gods commandement , the efficient cause of his love towards his brother , and gods glory the finall cause of it , then doth he love him for god , for gods sake . a mans love to his brother , then issues out of the love of god , and the commandement of god is the efficient cause of it , when he loves him , because god commands him so to do , and out of love to god commanding . a man then makes the glory of god the finall cause of his love towards his brother , when he therefore delates his love upon him , that he may acquire and gain honour to god and his gospel , which he hath called him to the profession of thereby , and makes this his utmost scope , and ultimate end in loving him . secondly , that love to man , which demonstrates the holy spirits saving habitation in the soul , is a love squared by , and congruous to the rule of god ( to wit ) the holy scriptures . that love which is squared by , and congruous to the rule of god , is an universall love , a love which extendeth it self to all a the saints , yea to all b men , good and bad , yea to very c enemies , because god requires this at our hands , that we should love our enemies ; and in this respect i may call it a singular love . it worketh no d ill to any , deviseth not e evill against any , no , thinketh no f evill to any ; but good g to all , but is more abundant , more tender and strong towards the godly then towards any other ; he that loveth him that begat , loveth him also that is begotten of him , saith the apostle h . the words imply a speciall love , or love after a speciall manner , it is as if the apostle had said , he that loves god in sincerity , loves the children of god after a speciall manner ; love the brotherhood , saith the apostle , i meaning after a speciall manner , and this he doth , that loves god sincerely , his love in reference to them , is a love of large extent ; it extendeth even unto loss of life , in some cases ; as in case the honour of god may be advanced thereby , or a publick good procured unto the brethren ▪ the church of god thereby ; this i think is the apostles meaning , in the 1 ioh. 3.16 . if sincere love to god and man , be in the heart of a man , it will constrain him , in such cases as these , to deny himself unto the death , to advance the honour of god , and the churches good ; it will make him preferre the churches good before his own , witness k aquila and priscilla , whose love to god and the church , constrained them to yeeld their own lives , to preserve paul's : the like exm●ples we have in moses and paul , whose love to god and the church , caused them to slight life , and deny themselves to the death , and beyond it too , for the advancing of gods glory , and the churches good . then again , that love to man which is congruous to the rule of god , is a love paralleling the love of christ towards us , for the kind of it ; christ commands us , to love one another , as he hath loved us , l and he whose love is congruous to this rule , doth this for kind , though not for measure . that love which is congruous to the rule of god and the love of christ , is a free-love . m he that loves his brother according to christs rule , and christs example , loves him freely . it is a condescending love , n it will make a man condescend to men of low estate , condescend to his brother that cannot come up to him , by reason of his mean place , education , parts or gifts . it is an establishing love ; a grace without which the heart of a man can never be established in grace , as i gather from the language of the apostle , o to the thessalonians . it is a reall love , a love not terminated in p words , but manifested in deeds , according to q ability . it is a uniting love , it knits the hearts of christians together , as appears by the language of the apostle , r makes them of one heart and of one soul , s witness the saints in the primitive church . it is a growing love , and encreaseth still , 1 thes. 3.12 . it is a covering grace , it covereth all infirmities in the godly , so farre forth , as the glory of god may not be any way prejudiced , but advanced thereby , and forgiveth all trespasses done by the ungodly , so farre forth likewise , as may be gathered from the language of solomon : love ( saith he ) covereth all sinne ; and the language of peter , charity shall cover the multitude of sinnes . in reference to the godly , it is a love in the truth , and for the truths sake ; as appeares by the language of s● iohn concerning the elect lady , 2 joh. 1.2 . i then love my brother in the truth , when the bond that links me and him together , in a christian conjunction , is the true and constant profession of the truth . i may then be said to love my brother for the truths sake , when that grace and truth which is in him , is the principall attractive of my love ; for that love which is delated on the godly by a godly heart , hath grace for the principall attractive of it , and not base by-respects , and therefore continueth as long as grace lasteth , though other motives to love fail , and such occurrences fall out , as usually extinguish a love led by by-respects , therefore saith the apostle of this love , it never faileth , it is still growing and encreasing in a state of imperfection , and at length perfected in heaven , it never faileth . it is a love that suffereth long , is kind , envieth not , vaunteth not it self , is not puffed up ; doth not behave * it self unseemly , seeketh not her own , is not easily provoked , it rejoyceth not in iniquity , but rejoyceth in the truth , it beareth all things ; believeth all things , loveth all things , endureth all things , 1 cor. 13.4 , 5 , 6 , 7. it is a heart-softening affection , a heart-mollifying love ; this is intimated by the language of the apostle , heb. 3.13 . exhort one another daily , while it is called to day , lest any of you be hardened , through the deceitfullness of sinne . hence it is evident , that if our love one towards another were such , as it should be , and did operate as it should do , it would soften and mollifie our hearts : congruous love is mollifying . here note two or three things ; christians frequently complain of hardness of heart in these dayes , and not without cause , but few i believe take notice , that want in love is the cause of it ; strangeness weakens , cools and abates love , nothing more , this it doth in man towards god , and in man towards man , and as love abates , and strangeness grows , the heart contracts hardness more and more , probatum est . whilest the galatians love towards paul continued , they were pliable within and without , they would have parted with any thing to have done him good , but when once their love abated , their hearts were hardned towards him , and his message too . love and intimate converse melts the heart , nothing more ; strangeness hardens it , nothing the like ; intimate converse with god , encreaseth love to god , and melteth the heart ; intimate converse with the godly-wise , doth the like . our great hardness of heart , and unprofitableness under the great meanes of grace in publick , i may truly say , hath in great part sprung from the gross neglect of the duties of christian love ; and the great strangeness that is grown amongst christians , in these times , where we meet , but in complement usually . but when god shall give his people one heart , and one way , to serve him , with one consent ; when their love shall abound , one towards another , and operate without these obstructions of division , in judgement , and affection [ they shall then have hearts of flesh , and not of stone : ] as appears by ier. 32.39 . and zeph. 3.9 . compared with ezek. 36.26 . which places have reference to one and the same time . it is said of leviathan , job 41. that the flakes of his flesh are joyned together : they are firme in themselves , they cannot be moved . his scales are one so neer another , that no air can come between them . they are joyned one to another , they stick together , that they cannot be sunder●d . the lord jesus christ is the great leviathan of heaven and earth , and his people are his scales , and the flakes of his flesh ; and were they so joyned together in christian love and society , that no air of temptation could come between them , they would be firm in themselves ; and so stick together , that they could not be sundered , yea , in their neck would strength remaine , and sorrow would be turned into joy before them . i wish all the saints to whose view this may come , may take these things into consideration . great is the latitude of christian love , of love congruous to the rule of god ; for they whose love is congruous to the rule of god. grudge not a one against ●●e other ; speak not evil b one of another : do not bite c and devour one another ; devi●e ●ot evill one against another ; d ; do not oppress , over-reach , or defraud e one another , i● any matter ; render not evill f for evill unto any man ; say not i will do g so to him , as he hath done to me , i will ●ender unto the man according to his deeds ; they bear not false h witness against their neighbour , nor bear witness , without i cause against their neighbour , nor deceive with their lips ; lay not wait against the dwelling of k the righteous ; spoil not his resting place ; adde not affliction l to the afflicted ; rejoyce not in their m enemies fell , much less in their brothers ; hate not their brother in n heart ; stand not against the blood o of their neighbours , out of desire of revenge , nor upon a politicall account ; are not as cain * who slew his brother ; they judge not their p brother , nor set at nought their brother ; give no offence q willingly to any , but endeavour , as much as lawfully they may , to live peaceably r with all men ; they put away all s bitterness , and wrath , and anger , and ●lamour , and evill speaking , with all malice ; love one another as t god gave us commandement ; love one another , as christ hath loved u us ; love as * brethren ; love without x dissimulation , cordially , y unfeignedly , out of a pure heart , fervently ; love not in word z and in tongue only , but in deed and in truth ; they walk a in love ; abound b in love , grow c in love , speak the truth d in love , serve one another e in love , continue f in love , are kindly affectionated one towards another g with brotherly love ; rejoice with them h that rejoyce , and weep with them that weep ; in honour preferre i one another , have compassion k one of another , are pitifull , are courteous l one towards another , tender m hearted ; if rich , they are rich in good works ready to distribute , willing to communicate , shew mercy o with cheerfullness , they beare one anothers p burdens . if strong , beare the infirmities q of the weak , support r the weak , beare one with another , a●d forbeare one s another ; forsake not the t assembling of themselves together , but exhort one another daily , edify one another u and comfort one another , with the word of the lord ; * teach and admonish one another , consider one another to provoke x unto love , and to good works , confess their faults one y to another ; this ( i think ) is meant , at least chiefly , of faults committed one against another , and pray one for another ; pray for all men , even enemies ; † do good unto all , a but especially unto the houshold of fai●h , they are not overcome of evill , but b labour to overcome evill with goodness ; they do as they would c be done by in all things ; they esteem d very highly in love , for their works sake , their lawfull and faithfull ministers , especially those in whom they have propriety ; they receive e one another , as christ received us to the glory of god ; and be at peace among themselves . then again . he whose love to his brother is congruous to the rule of god , goes not up and down as a tale-bearer , f he seeks not his own , g but his brothers good ; labours to avoid whatsoever may offend h or weaken his brother , or be a stumbling block unto him ; labours to please i his brother for his good , to edification ; he loves his neighbour as himself ; k doth good freely , l looking for nothing again ; he saies not as cain , am i my brothers keeper ? but watches over his brother for his good , and reproves m his brother in love , according to christ's rule n privately and publiquely , if need be ; informs against his brother o in such place and case , as christ commands him , and with-draws from his brother in case of p scandall or contempt of the churches lawfull constitutions and censures ; or in case he cause divisions q or offences in the church , contrary to the doctrine of the holy scriptures ; mourns r for his brother , and praies for s him in such cases . labours to restore t his brother in the spirit of meekness , when overtaken in any fault , and returns to him u when he turns to the lord. forgives * him and comforts him , and confirms his love towards him ; he forgives his brother his trespasses from his x heart , as often as he y offendeth , and repenteth , freely , as z christ forgave us ; for christ's sake , and as god hath forgiven us . all these qualifications the scripture cals for , in my love towards my brother , as these quotations in the margin do manifest ; therefore that love towards man , which is congruous to the holy scripture , must needs have these qualifications in it , ergo . but here the soul conscious to its own wants and failings , will be ready to reply , as the disciples did to christ , when he told them , how hard a matter it was for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven ; who then can be saved , said the disciples ? so the soul will be ready to say here , if all this be in that love which is congruous to the rule of god , who then can say his love is congruous to the rule of god ? surely none , for in much of this we faile all . he that truly wills , desires , and indeavours to do all this , that christ may have the honour of it , doth it in a gospel-sense , and in gods acceptation , who accepts the will for the deed : where ability is wanting , this must be granted , otherwise no child of adam could conclude on the affirmative . now for other appearances of love , they are these ; what a man loves , he prizes accordingly ; what a man loves , he delights in accordingly ; what a man loves , he desires to enjoy ; what a man loves , he cannot hear reproached , reviled , and spoken against , but with grief of heart : this needs no proving , every ones experience , will testifie the truth of it . wouldest thou know , whether thy love to god and thy love to man be sound , and such as demonstrates the holy spirits saving habitation in thy soul or not ? then go through what hath been said in this little epitomie , touching love to god , and love to man ; and consider , whether thy love be truly such , yea or nay ; and if thou findest it truly such , though but weakly , conclude thou maist safely to thy comfort , that thy love is such , as really demonstrates thou art beloved of god and indued with the holy spirit of god savingly : for love indeed and in truth , argues that we are of the truth , and shall assure our hearts before him , as the apostle affirms , 1 ioh. 3.18 , 19. therefore if thou upon a true tryal , findest by this that hath been said , that thou hast any truth of love to god and thy brother , argue not against thy self , or thy love , but bless god for that love thou hast , and labour to grow and increase in love to god and man daily . repentance . another grace of the holy spirit of god , demonstrating his saving habitation in the ●oul , is repentance ( to ●●t ) true gospel-repentance . i ( s●ith the lord ) will pour upon the house of david , the spirit of grace and supplications ; and they shall look upon him , whom they have pr●●●ed , and they sh●ll mourn for him , &c. zach. 12 10. this text plainly points out unto us two things ▪ 1. that wheresoever the holy spirit of god dwelleth savingly , in what soul soever he resideth , as a sanctifier , there he worketh true faith and repentance . 2. that in whomsoever these graces are wrought , they are a true and real testimony of the holy spirits saving habitation in that soul , ●or as much as it is proper and peculiar unto the spirit of god alone , to work these in the heart of man. here note , three or foure things , 1. that the grace of repentance , though it be a distinct grace from faith , yet is it an inseparable concomitant of justifying faith , coupled with it in infusion , and he that totally wanteth either , hath neither . secondly note ; that faith , and love , and repentance , and every other renewing grace habitually considered , are coequal , the habit of every grace being infused together : so that where there is one grace in truth , there is every grace in truth , in the habit of it , in some measure . and thirdly , that although every grace of the spirit , habitually considered , be coequal , yet these actually considered , and according to their manner of working , and appearing in us precede each other ; faith precedes love , and faith and love precedes repentance , repentance being a fruit of faith and love . fourthly , that grace ( to wit ) renewing grace , and glory , are inseparably linked together : he that hath the one shall certainly have the other , for this grace is the earnest of our inheritance . lastly n●te , that this grace of repentance , is a renewing grace , a speciall work of the spirit of god in man , a●d a grace that he worketh in all that truly beleeve and love . that repentance is a renewing grace , a special work of the spirit of god in man , is evident by those special promises , which are made unto it in holy scripture , of spiritual and eternal blessednesse . he that confesseth , and forsaketh his finne ▪ shall have mercy , prov. 28.13 , if my people , which are called by my name shall humble themselves , and pray and turn from their evill wayes , then will i hear from heaven , and will forgive their sinne , &c. 2 chron. 7.14 . and the red●emer shall come to sion , and to them that turn from transgression in iacob , saith the lord , isa. 59.20 . again , when , i say unto the wicked , thou shalt surely dye , if he turn from his sinne , and doe that which is lawful and right , he shall surely live , he shall not die , none of his sinnes that he hath committed , shall be mentioned unto him ; he hath done that which is lawfull and right , he shall surely live , ezek. 33.14 , 15 , 16. all sins ( all manner of sinns , ) and blasphemies shall be forgiven unto him . mark 3.28 . matth. 12.31 . compared , though your sinnes be as scarlet , they shall be made as white as snow ; though they be red like crimson , they shall be as wooll , isai. 1.18 . and act. 11.18 . true repentance is called , repentance unto life . by all which it is evident , that it is a renewing grace , a special work of the spirit of god in man. repentance being a special work of the spirit of god in man , and an inseparable concomitant of a justifying faith , is therefore a true touchstone , to try our selves and our spiritual estate ▪ by , and such an one as all must try themselves by , that will gather to themselves , a true testimony of their eternal happiness by christ , and make their calling and election sure in the subject . but what is this grace of repentance ? how may it be defined ? repentance is a divine quality wrought by the spirit of god in the soul , whereby a sinner , is so much touched in heart for his sinnes that he truly turns from them all unto the lord. i think it not necessary , nor meet for me , to discuss the termes or genus of this description : but here no●e , 1. that repentance unto salvation , is an evangelical grace , a gospel-grace ; the law knows no repentance , cals for none , nor works none ; it is the gospel and the gospel onely , that knows repentance , cals for it , and works it : moses cals not for repentance , but christ doth , mar. 1.15 . that this repentance consisteth of two essentiall parts , ( to wit ) contrition and conversion , humiliation and reformation ; therefore he that would make a true trial of his repentance , must have recourse unto both of these . that it is evangelical contrition , and not legall , that is the first essential part of repentance , unto life ; it is cordial reformation , and not feigned , that is the second essential part of repentance unto life . but what is this evangelicall contrition ? and how may i discern , whether i have it or no ? evangelical contrition , is a godly sorrow of soul for all sinne , arising from the apprehension of a gracious god displeased by sinne , and thou maist discern it by this which here follows . 1. evangelical sorrow springs out of the love of god , and hatred of sinne , and increaseth the love of god , and hatred of sinne in the soul ; the love of christ constraineth the soul to hate sinne , and to mourn and grieve for sinne ; and the bitterness of this sorrow and grief for sinne , sweeteneth the love of god in christ unto the soul , and inbittereth sinne : and hence it comes to pass , that the soul loves christ more , and hates sinne more after it hath once felt this sorrow and been soked in it , then ever it did before . 2. evangelicall sorrow is mixed with faith ; the evangelical mourner , bewailes his sinne , and rests on the mercy of god in christ , and the promises which are in him , yea , and in him , amen , for the pardon of his sinne , and the mortification of his corruptions , and grace to amend . faith of adherence , is an inseparable concomitant of evangelical sorrow , although faith of evidence be not so . he that sorrows for his sinne and rests not on christ for the pardon of his sinne , his sorrow is legal , and not evangelical , desperation and not contrition . 3. evangelical sorrow is mixed with hope ; the evangelical mourner , mourns not without hope , he hath hope of obtaining mercy , even in the deepest of his sorrow for sinne , as appears by his carriage in his mourning ; he despaires not , but seeks to god for mercy ; his sorrow drives him to god , and not from god ; as is evident by the example of the prodigall , in his deepest distresse , he despaires not , but goes to his father for mercy ; but had he not had hope of obtaining mercy , he would have despaired , had he not had hope of obtaining mercy , he would never have gone to his father to seek it . 4. evangelical sorrow is mixed with joy , being mixed with faith and hope ; the evangelical mourner looks upon his sorrow as a sacrifice , with which god is well-pleased , and therefore joys that he can sorrow , that he can offer this sacrifice to god , the sacrifices of god are a broken and a contrite heart , and spirit : a broken , and a contrite heart , o god , thou wilt not despise , saith the scripture , psal. 51.17 . and this the contrite heart beleeves , and therefore joys , when it can sorrow . 5. hence it comes to passe , that the evangelical mourner , is an agent , as well as a patient , in the action of mourning . he strives to provoke and quicken his dull heart , and soul , to mourn , and thinks no labour too much to bestow , to bring his soul to a godly manner of mourning ; he desires nothing more then to turn his carnal mirth into godly mourning , be afslicted , and mourn , and weep , saith the scripture , let your laughter be turned into mourning , and your joy into heavinesse , jam. 4.9 . this , this soul labours wonderfully to do , and nothing grieves him more , than that he cannot more grieve for sinne : he labours to make his carnall mirth the matter of his spiritual mourning , and wishes , o that mine eyes were a fountain of tears , that i could weep day and night , for the sinne of my nature , and the sinne of my life , and the iniquity of my people . 6. evangelical sorrow , is a heart-mollifying sorrow , it softeneth the heart , and makes it very tender and pliab●e , sensible of the least sinne , and the least displeasure of god for sin : hearts broken with evangelicall sorrow , are like broken bones , very sensible of every touch . hearts broken with evangelical sorrow are very pliable to the will of the lord above all other , lord , what wilt thou have me to do ? saith a contrite soule , act. 9.6 . as if he had said , declare thy will , lord , and i am ready to obey it , to the utmost of my power , whatever it be . such as the measure of this sorrow is , such usually is the softness of the heart , and the pliability of the will ; the more of this sorrow the soul hath , the more tender is the heart made thereby , and the more pliable is the will ; the less of this sorrow the soul hath , the less softening hath the heart , and the less yielding is there in the will , to the will of the lord. 7. evangelical sorrow is a heart meekening sorrow ; it meekeneth the heart , and maketh it humbly stoop to the yoke of christ , and patiently bear the chastising hand of christ , during the good pleasure of christ. i will beare the indignation of the lord , because i have sinned against him , untill he plead my cause , and execute judgment for me , saith the contrite soul , mich. 7.9 . it moderateth anger and maketh all calm within and without . 8. evangelical sorrow is a heart-humbling sorrow , it maketh the heart humble and lowly ; the more of this sorrow there is in the heart , the more humble it is , and the less of this there is in the heart , the prouder it is , the more fearless and careless it is of sinne ; i am no more worthy to be called a sonne , make me as a servant , ( or any thing , the meanest imployment ) in my fathers house , is too good for me , saith the contrite soul. i am but a walking-dunghill , and fitter to be set on a dunghill , then on a throne , saith the contrite soul. 9. and hence it is , that the soul evangelically contrite , admires free grace , in every favour that it receives , spiritual or temporal , and is the thankfullest soul of all others , for mercies received ; what shall i render unto the lord , for all his mercies towards me , saith a contrite soul ? this soul speaks to it self in the language of the lord to ierusalem , i was polluted in my blood , and cast out to the loathing of my person , and no eye pitied me , to do any office of love unto me : and then the lord had compassion on me , and washed me with water , yea , with blood , with the blood of his sonne he throughly washed away my filth , and annoynted me with oyl , indued me with his spirit , and his grace , &c. i had forfeited all right to heaven and earth into the lords hand , and he hath given me all back again freely , and put me in a better condition , than i was in before . o the deepnesse of the riches of the justice and mercy of god! 10. in the tenth place , evangelical sorrow , is a sorrow that keeps the soul in a sweet heavenly frame , for all holy and heavenly duties ; it sweetly fits the soul for all holy performances . sorrow that flowes from the apprehension of love in god , is fresh and lively , and full of spirits ; so that a man never performs any holy duty better , then when his heart is filled with this sorrow : set a soul filled with this sorrow , to pray , and he will pray sweetly , and heavenly , fervently , and effectually ( to wit ) in faith , and so prevaile much with god ; set him to hear , and he will hear humbly , and the whole word of the lord will be sweet unto him , every precept and every threatning of the lord , every bitter thing will be sweet unto him , every crum that fals from his table will he gather up , as precious food : set a soul filled with this sorrow to divine meditation , and he will do it with great , delight and freedome : set him to receive the sacrament of the supper of the lord , and he will do this action in its beauty , he will looke upon him , whom he hath pierced and mourn , for his sinne that hath pierced him , and every other holy duty will he perform , with a more heavenly mind , than others , which have not felt this sorrow , or not in that measure , which he hath done . 11. the soul evangelically contrite , sorrows not so much for suffering , as for sinning ; not so much for being displeased , as for displeasing , and dishonouring god by sinne , it is grieved for its sinne , because the holy spirit of god is grieved by its sinne , and broken with its whorish heart , as the prophet speaks , and is melted by the consideration of the incomparable goodness of god , and his kindnesse , and love in christ towards its self , abused by its self , rather then broken with horrour , threatnings , punishments , or slavish feare ; against thee , thee only have i sinned , and done this evill in thy sight , saith the contrite soul , and this is that which pierceth his soul. 12. the soul evangelically contrite , longs after freedome from sinne , more than freedome from suffering ; it saies with the church , lord , take away all mine iniquity , not with phara●h , the plague ; lord , look upon my affliction and my pain , saith the contrite soul , and ease me of that , if it be thy blessed will , but however forgive all my sinnes , deliver me from all my transgressions . wash me throughly from mine iniquity , and cleanse me from my sinne : hide thy face from my sinnes , and blot out all mine iniquities . o wretched man that i am , who shall deliver me ( and when shall i be delivered ) from the body of this death ? this is the language of contrite souls . the soul evangelically contrite , counts sin the worst evill , and christ the best good ; the guilt of sinne , the power of sinne , and the being of sinne , is of all burdens the heaviest unto a contrite soul , and that which of all other it longs to be freed from . 13. the soul evangelically contrite , priseth christ as the chiefest good , as the only true good ; it is not satisfied with any thing without christ , it is not fully satisfied with any thing but christ , christ in his blood , christ in his spirit , christ in his ordinances , christ in his ministers , christ in whomsoever his image is stamped is precious , above all earthly things , unto the contrite soul ; thou art my beloved and my desire is towards thee , saith the contrite heart to christ. to the soul evangelically contrite , the light of gods countenance , and the sense of his love in christ , is more worth than all the treasures , and pleasures in the world , lord , lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me ; thy love is better than wine , ( better then corn and wine , ) it strengthens more , it comforts more , it puts gladness in my heart , more then corn and wine , more than the choicest creatures in the world , saith the contrite soul. when once this contrition had ceazed on davids heart , his soul did thirst for god , as the thirsty land for rain , and as the chased hart for the water-brooks . and not after god only in his immediate dispensations , but in his mediate also , after god in his ordinances , in his sanctuary , as appears , psal. 63.2 . & 84.10 . & 27.4 . and thus did mary magdalen , and paul , and other saints , under the new testament , when once this contrition had ceazed on their hearts , they were very industrious seekers of god in his ordinances ; by which it is eminently evident , that it is the nature of evangelical contrition , of hearts evangelically contrite , to prize highly communion with god , in his ordinances . as it was with david , and mary , and the other saints here , so it is with every soul evangelically contrite , he hath the same judgement of and affection towards gods ordinances , in truth , though not in the same degree . such as the measure of contrition wrought in the soul is , such usually is the measure of his affection to , and thirst after these divine excellencies forementioned . 14. the soul evangelically contrite , disclaims all righteousnesse of its own , and rests wholly on the merit of christ , for justification before god , we are all as an unclean thing , and all our righteousnesses are as filthy raggs , saith the contrite church , isai. 64.6 . what things were gain to me , those i counted loss for the excellency of the knowledge of christ iesus , my lord , and do judg them , but dung , that i may winne christ , saith the apostle , phil. 3.8 , 9. when once this evangelical contrition h●d ceazed on the heart of paul , he renounced all his own righteousnesse , all before conversion and all after conversion , ( his old man and his new ) in matter of justification , and rested wholly upon the merit of christ , which plainly demonstrates the truth asserted . 15. evangelical sorrow is a lasting sorrow , and a wasting sorrow ; when once it hath ceazed upon the heart of a christian , it doth not pass away , as the morning cloud , and early dew , or a land-flood , but continueth and riseth up , as a spring , and is never exhaust , till sin , the cause of it , be wholly taken away , and not only the guilt , and punishment of sinne , but the very being of sinne , till total deliverance from this body of death be granted . this is evident in the apostle paul , when once this sorrow had ceazed on his heart , he did not cease to bewail his proness to sinne , till his being in this world ceased , as appears , rom. 7. ver . 14.24 . and as it is a lasting sorrow , so it is a wasting sorrow , it consumes the body of death , it brings a consumption on sinne , it weakeneth the power of naturall corruption , and warreth succesfully against the most giant-like corruption , it comes from the heart of a sinner , and it goes to the heart of sinne . 16. finally evangelical sorrow , is a reforming sorrow , it makes a man truly turn from sinne , from all sinne , unto the lord , and this is indeed the great distinguishing character of it , and that which demonstrates the truth of it , contrition without conversion is not repentance unto life ; he that sorrows for his sinne , and turns not from his finne , unto the lord , his sorrow is but a sorry one : humiliation without reformation , ( saith one ) is but a foundation without a building , and reformation without humiliation , is but a building without a foundation , a building which will not stand . humiliation and reformation god hath coupled together , in his gospel-promises , wherein repentance is fully described ; therefore repentance unto life , must needs consist of both these : evangelical contrition and true conversion are so coupled together , that they cannot be sundered ; wheresoever sorrow for sinne is found , it is attended with true turning from sinne , unto the lord. and this is the second essential part of true repentance . and this the scripture cals conversion . repent and be converted , saith the apostle in the forecited place , act. 3.19 . it is , as if he had said , mourn for sinne , and turn from sinne , if ever you would have your sinnes to be done away . he that truly turns from sinne , turns from all sinne ; he that turns not from all sinne , doth not truely turn from any sinne ; god requires a sinner , to turn from all his transgressions , and he that truly turns from sinne , doth this ; he turns from all sinne in affection , in purpose and resolution he allows not himself in any known sinne , he loaths all sinne , and conscionably indeavours to forsake all sinne , and get every corruption mortified , therefore saith the apostle , godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation , his meaning is , it produceth reformation ( to wit ) a true turning from all sin unto the lord. he that truly turns to the lord , doth it not feignedly , as hypocrites do , but unfeignedly , cordially , with his whole heart , as the prophet speaks , with full purpose of heart , to walk in all the wayes of god ; this the apostle cals , repentance unto salvation , and this is attended with carefulnesse , and circumspection for time to come , cleering of our selves , or apologie for our selves of our detestation of our fact ; indignation or exceeding anger with our selves for our offences ; feare , ( to wit ) feare of relapsing into our former sinnes again ; vehement desire ( to wit ) after strength and assistance from christ , for the present , and future time ; zeal ( to wit ) in the performing of all good duties , contrary to our former special sinnes ; revenge ( to wit ) a holy revenge on our selves , subduing of the body , and keeping it under , lest it should hereafter be an instrument of sinne , as it hath formerly been . all this is evident by the language of the apostle , in the forecited place , 2 corinth . 7.11 . wouldest thou then know , whether thy repentance be repentance unto life , or no ? whether it be such as truly demonstrates the holy spirits saving habitation in thy soul , and the truth of thy faith , yea , or nay ? thou must then have recourse to both the parts of true repentance fore-mentioned ( to wit ) contrition and conversion ; and if by what hath been said , it appears to be truly such , know that it is a sure argument of thy eternal happinesse , bless god for it and labour to grow in it . obedience . another work of the holy spirit of god on man , demonstrating his saving habitation in man , and a mans eternal salvation by christ , is obedience ( to wit ) sincere , and cordial , evangelical obedience , to the revealed will of god. this obedience , and this onely , god requires and accepts of his elect , in and through jesus christ. that this obedience is a work of the spirit of god in man , appears both by argument and by scripture ; 1. by argument thus ; naturally the heart of man is obstinate , stubborne and disobedient to the will of the lord ; deceitfull above all things , and hypocritical in all its wayes , doting on legal , and never minding evangelical obedience ; and nothing can make such a change in the heart and soul of a man , as of stubborne and disobedient , of hypocritical and deceitfull , to become sincere and cordial in obedience , and of a doter on legal , to become an evangelical obeyer of the will of the lord : but the almighty spirit of god , whose proper office it is , to renew the image of god in fallen man ; therefore this obedience must needs be the work of the spirit of god , in whomsoever it is . by scripture this is evident likewise , i will put my spirit within you ( saith the lord ) and cause you to walk in my statutes , and keep my iudgments , and do them , ezek. 36.27 . hence it is evident , that it is the spirit of god , which works the heart of man to obedience . that this obedience is a work of the spirit of god in man , demonstrating his saving habitation , and sanctifying operation in man , is evident by the language of the apostles , we are his witnesses of these things , and so is also the holy ghost , whom god hath given ( to wit ) savingly , to them that obey him , ( to wit ) cordially and evangelically , act. 5.32 . and by that of peter , we are elect according to the fore-knowledge of god the father , through sanctification of the spirit unto obedience , 1 pet. 1.2 . that this obedience is such a work of the spirit of god in man , as demonstrates his eternall salvation by christ , is farther evident by these scriptures following : christ being made perfect became the author of eternall salvation , unto all them that obey him , heb. 5.9 . obey my voyce ( saith the lord ) and i will be your god , and ye shall be my people , jer. 7.23 . if ye will obey my voice indeed , and keep my covenant , then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me , above all people , and ye shall be unto me a kingdome of priests , and an holy nation , exod. 19.5 , 6. not every one that saith unto me , lord , lord , shall enter into the kingdome of heaven , but he that doth the will of my father , which is in heaven , mat. 7.21 . he that doth the will of god abideth for ever , 1 joh. 2.17 . by these texts it is evident , that th●s obedience is such a work of the spirit of god in man , as lively demonstrates his eternal happiness . quest. but what is this obedience you speake of ? how may it be defined ? sol. it is a special work of the spirit of god in man , whereby he is inabled to apply christ unto himself , according unto all his promises , and himself unto christ , according unto all his precepts . under these two general heads , the whole work of obedience is comprehended , as is evident from the words of the new covenant ; i saith the lord will be your god , and ye shall be my people , jer. 31.33 . what doth the lord require herein on our part ? but to take him for our god , and yield up our selves unto him , as his people , to apply christ unto our selves , and our selves unto christ , as aforesaid . this is the obedience of faith , this is evangelical obedience , the obedience which the gospel cals for , and which it only accepts . what shall we do , that we might work the works of god ? said some to christ , ioh. 6.28 . christ replyes , ver . 29. this is the work of god , that ye believe on him , whom he hath sent . in these few words , is comprehended the whole work of obedience , the whole work assigned us by god , this is the work of god , &c. it is , as if christ had said , you naturally seek heaven by works , but altogether mistake that work of works , which is only acceptable , and effectual to attain its end , beleeve on him whom he hath sent ; beleeve on him , who hath fulfilled the law for us , and will fulfill the law in us ; this is the work of god assigned to us , and a work which god worketh in us , and this is unto flesh and blood , of all works the hardest . here note these corollaries . corol. 1. that the obedience of faith is of all works the most difficult unto flesh and blood ; this requires a man to deny himself totally , which flesh and blood will rather deny god himself , then do . we rejoyce in christ iesus and have no confidence in the flesh , &c. 2. our souls naturally had rather dye , and put off their immortality and everlasting being , then put on the lord jesus christ. they will not come to me . 3. we all naturally dote upon works , and say , as the young man in the gospel , that came to christ , what shall i do that i may inherit eternall life ? but the work of works , beleeve in the lord iesus christ , we are of all other the farthest from , till the spirit of god work in us . these from our saviours mouth , i have deducted , this is the work of god , that ye beleeve in him whom he hath sent . 4. man naturally is so proud , that he will not seek after god , saith the psalmist , that is , ( god in christ ) for no otherwise can god be approached unto ; he thinks himself rich , and to need nothing , and knows not that he is poor , and blind , and miserable , wretched and naked , and therefore scornes to seek to god in christ for wealth . he will rather make a covering of figg-leaves than of christs righteousnesse , rather cover himself with rotten raggs , than be beholding to christ for his robe . 5. man regenerated , so far forth as carnal , is very unwilling to be beholding to christ wholly , for all the good he stands in need of ; hence it is , that many regenerate persons will rest on promises no further , than they can find themselves to obey precepts , weary themselves out with labouring to fulfil the law , and never study the obedience of faith , which is to renounce all that we can do , to put no confidence in the flesh , but rest only on what christ hath done , and suffered for us , beleeving that every promise shall be made good to us , so farre forth as may be good for us ( for christ's sake . ) this is to apply christ unto our selves . and our selves unto christ ] according unto all his precepts : this is the latter clause in the description of evangelicall obedience : a christian by the obedience of faith , opens the everlasting doors to the king of glory , to come in , and take possession and rule all in his heart and in his life : he resigns up all to be ordered by him , who so loved him , that he gave himself for him , so that not he , but christ liveth , * ruleth , and ordereth all : every thought is yielded up unto the obedience of christ , with desire that he will bring it into subjection , 2 cor. 10.5 . faith doth both receive and give ; it is faith that applies christ to the man , and the man to christ , as appears by ioh. 1.12 . compared with 2 cor. 8.5 . faith makes him ours , who makes all happiness ours ; faith makes him ours , in whom we are compleat , and generates love in our souls to him that hath loved us , and given himself for us , and this love constrains us to live , not unto our selves , but unto him which dyed for us , and rose again , 2 cor. 5.14 , 15. and this is that obedience , which the gospel cals for , and which only it accepts ; and this , if fincere and cordial , is very acceptable with god , though many wayes deficient . it is the gospel , and the gospel only , that cals for this obedience ; the law doth not require us to apply our selves unto christ , no more than it doth require us to apply christ unto our selves , but barely saith , do this , and live , transgrefse this and dye , the gospel doth not barely call for this obedience of faith , but promises to give it , and works the heart unto it , yea freely gives it us as a gift , they shall looke on him , whom they have pierced , &c. zach. 12.10 . i will put my spirit within you , and cause you to walk in my statutes , saith the lord , &c. ezek. 36.27 . to you it is given in the behalf of christ ; not only to beleeve on him , but also to suffer for his sake , saith the apostle , phil. 1.29 . these things premised , i proceed to the tryal of obedience ; and for the more perspicuity , propound this question . quest. how may i discern , whether my obedience be sincere and cordiall obedience , yea , or nay ? answ. thou mayest discern it , by the efficient cause , by the final cause and by the properties of cordial obedience : the efficient cause of cordial obedience , is the love of god ; the final cause thereof , is the glory of god. 1. the efficient cause of cordial obedience , is the love of god ; cordial obedience springs out of love to god , and he that cordially obeys the will of god , obeys it in love to god , not slavish feare , nor self love , nor vain glory ; but lo●e to god , is that which leades him to obey the will of god : therefore saith the apostle , the love of christ constraineth us , 2 cor. 5.14 . here note these two things , 1. that whatsoever a man doth in way of obedience to the will of god , be the action never so good , or glorious in it self , is no wayes acceptable unto god , except it spring from love ; a pregnant proof of this we have , 1 cor. 13.1 , 2 , 3. where the apostle shews at large , that all obedience without love , comes to just nothing ; all parts and gifts , all faith and obedience , though it be to the death , and the cruellest death , that possibly may be , without faith working by love , without obedience springing from love , comes to just nothing at length , it profiteth me nothing , saith the apostle . on the other hand , though we can do but little for god , if that little we do , issue out of love to god , it is very pleasing to , and acceptable with god , who looks more on our affection , than our action ; thou hast ravished my heart , my sister , my spouse , thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes , &c. how faire is thy love , my sister , my spouse ? how much better is thy love , then wine ? &c. cant. 4.9 , 10. i conclude this therefore , with the saying of a worthy man , a christians affection is his perfection in this fraile condition . the final cause of cordial obedience , is the glory of god : he that cordially obeys the will of god , propoundeth the pleasing of god , and the glory of his name , for his direct , chief , and ultimate end , in all that he doth , in way of obedience , according to the direction of the holy ghost by the apostle , 1 cor. 10.31 . and these two , the efficient , and the end , denominate the action . 1. the properties of cordial obedience , are these ; cordial obedience is free and willing obedience , voluntary , and not forced . to whom ye yield your selves servants to obey , his servants ye are , saith the apostle , rom. 6.16 . it is willingnesse in obedience , that is the beauty of obedience , and that which god chiefly looks to in obedience , if you be willing and obedient , or willingly obedient , then so and so , ye shall eat the good of the land , isai. 1.19 . if there be first a willing mind , it is accepted , according to that which a man hath , not according to that he hath not , 2 cor. 8.12 . if i do this thing willingly , i have a reward , 1 cor. 9.17 . by all these places it is evident , that cordial obedience , is willing obedience : this was that which rendered abraham's obedience so lovely in the eye of god , he rose early to go about the offering up of isaac , which shews , he did it willingly . he whose obedience springs from love to god , hath his heart first warmed with the sense of gods love to him ; and he that aims principally at the glory of god , in his obedience , hath his heart humbled , when he hath done the best that he can , for that he cannot bring more glory to god , and hence it comes to pass , that he is willing , and ready to obey ; he consents to obey , and that without grudging or repining , even when he comes short of doing , what he desires to do . what i would , that do i not , saith a cordial server of christ. 2. cordial obedience , is universal obedience , and that both in respect of the subject , and in respect of the object , it is yielded of the whole man to the whole will of god ; the soul , according to all the powers and faculties thereof , is only , and wholly for christ , in its scope and bent , the understanding , the will and the affections , are in their scope and bent , only and wholly for christ , therefore saith the apostle , of such as were cordial servers of christ , ye have obeyed from the heart , &c. rom. 6.17 . the body and all its members , are yielded up wholly , and only to christ , to the service of christ , for the magnifying of christ , shall i take the members of christ , and make them the members of an harlot , saith the cordial server of christ ? god forbid , 1 cor. 6.15 . god requires the whole man , soul and body , to be wholly yielded up unto him , unto his use and service , in obedience , ye are bought with a price , therefore glorifie god in your body , and in your spirit , which are gods , saith the text , 1 cor. 6.20 . god requires soul and body ( to wit ) the whole man to be ( wholly ) yielded up unto him , unto his use and service in obedience , in obeying ( all his revealed will ) touching , beleeving , doing , and suffering , take diligent heed , to do the commandement and the law , which moses the servant of the lord commanded you , to love the lord your god , and walk in all his wayes , and to keep his commandements , and to cleave unto him , and serve him with all your heart , and with all your soul , josh. 22.5 . and again , exo ▪ 23. ver . 20 , and 22. behold i send an angel before thee , if thou shalt indeed obey his voice , in all that i speak , then i will be an enemy unto thy enemies , &c. saith the lord. go ye and teach all nations , saith christ to his apostles , what should they teach them ? why , teach them to observe ( all things ) whatsoever i have ( commanded you ) mat. 28.19 , 20. the apostle useth the like phrase , 2 cor. 2.9 . where he cals for obedience in all things : here is universal obedience unto the whole will of god , required in the whole man , and he that cordially obeys the will of god , obeys according to this rule of god ( to wit ) universally . he yeelds up his whole man , to the obedience of the whole will of the lord , without picking and chusing in the wayes of god , without reservation , or exception , or desire of dispensation . however he failes in his obedience , and comes short of what he ought to do , and desires to do , yet he determines not to reserve any part of himself from christ , nor to stand out against any part of his holy will , but hath his heart and mind ready prest , to obey every of his commandements , which he knows , as well as any , the least as well as the greatest , and the greatest , as well as the least ; he thinks not tithing of mint and comin too small a precept to make conscience of , nor a right hand , nor a right eye , nor an only isaac , nor life it self , or whatsoever may indeare it unto him , too much to sacrifice , when christ shall call for it at his hands ; he resolves to obey those precepts , which cross his corrupt nature most , and the sinne of his constitution , as well as those which it can better brook ; he resolves to obey both law and gospel , in every precept , negative and positive , to his utmost power ; his obedience is of as great a latitude as the whole will of god ; he hath respect unto all gods commandements , as the psalmist speaketh . 3. cordial obedience is conscionable obedience : he that cordially obeys the will of god , obeys not out of by respects , but for conscience sake : conscience of duty leades him to the performance of duty , so that he , as of sincerity , as of god , in the sight of god , obeys the will of god , as the apostles phrase is , 2 cor. 2.17 . he that obeys the will of god , out of love to god , and conscience of duty , esteems all gods precepts , concerning all things , to be right , and hates every false way , one as well as another , even vain thoughts ; he consents to the whole will of god ; that it is good , and delights in the whole will of god , after the inward man , and with the mind serves the law of god , even when the flesh is captivated by the law of sinne : his heart inclineth to perform the statutes of the lord alwayes , even unto the end , and he wisheth , that his wayes were so directed , that he might keep all the statutes of his god. the will of his god is deare unto him above all things , above a silver and gold ; above b necessary food ; above c life , and all the comforts of it . and he is tender of it , as of the apple of his eye , according to that of solomon , prov. 7.2 . to him , the yoke of christ is easie , and his burthen light ; his commandements are not grievous , for he delights to do his will. 4. cordial obedience , is constant and persevering , it holds out in all times and seasons , and variety of conditions , as moses and christ intimate . d and true it is , that he which cordially obeys christ , continues to obey him , in prosperity & adversity , in time of peril , as well as in time of praise , when multitudes disobey and oppose the will of christ , as well as when they seem to stand for the will of christ , when all formal servers of christ forsake him , and cry , crucifie him , as well as when they followed him , and magnified him , with hosanna : he resolves with peter to follow christ , though it be alone , and labours to follow christ , as ruth followed e naomi , as elisha f followed elijah , and asahel g followed abner , and doth it , as is evident by many ●●●mples in holy writ , noah , ioshua , and elija● 〈◊〉 mary magdalen , and other wome● 〈…〉 followed christ , were notable exam●●● 〈◊〉 , in their time . here note these four things , 1. that opposition doth not take off , but rather spur on a cordial server of jesus christ. 2. that he that cordially obeys the will of christ , is conformable unto christ in obedience : he obeys the will of christ , as christ obeyed the will of his father , for kinde , though not for measure , and degree , ( to wit ) freely , universally , constantly , even unto the death : in all which respects , cordial obedience , may be styled singular obedience . 3. and thirdly note , that notwit●standing all this , one that cordially serves and obeys christ , may , and sometimes doth desist for a time , through strong temptations , and humane weaknesse , according to outward appearance . this was peter's case , when he denyed his master , yet his heart still moved towards his master , his affections still yerned towards christ , even whilst his tongue denyed him , as appeares by the consequence . 4. lastly note , that he that cordially desires , and really indeavours , to obey the will of the lord , if it were possible , exactly and perfectly , from right grounds , and for right ends , doth this in gods account , god who will accept the will for the deed , accepts this desire and indeavour ( in and for christ ) as obedience ; he that consents to obey , doth obey in gods account . to get a sure testimony to thy self then , of the holy spirits saving habitation in thy soul , and of thy eternal salvation by christ , examine thy obedience 〈◊〉 these rules of trial , and if it be correspond●●● with them , know that it is such as 〈◊〉 ●●●onstrates the holy spirits saving operat●●● 〈◊〉 thee , and thy eternal salvation by christ , and give him the glory of all , and humbly , and beleevingly seek to him , to better thy obedience daily , that god may have glory by it . poverty of spirit . matth. 5.3 . blessed are the poor in spirit , for theirs is the kingdom of heaven . this is jesus christs own position , therefore it needs no proof , but cals for belief . christ in these words bequeathes the kingdom of heaven , not 〈…〉 only , but by deed of gift ( if i may so 〈◊〉 to the poore in spirit , blessed are the poor in spirit , for theirs ( is ) the kingdome of heaven , &c. by the kingdom of heaven in scripture , is sometimes meant , the kingdom of grace , and sometimes the kingdom of glory ; both these , as christ here affirms , belong to them that are poor in spirit ; blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven , &c. the poor in spirit , ] are a generation , mean and base in their own eyes , and in the eyes of the world too , but a generation very precious in the eye of jesus christ , a generation very blessed , and highly honoured by christ himself ; a kingdom of grace , and a kingdom of glory is here by christ assigned to them ; blessed are the poor in spirit , for theirs is the kingdom of heaven . for the better understanding of these words , note , that a man may be two wayes poor in spirit ; he may be gracelesly poor , or graciously poore in spirit ; gracelesly poor are all the posterity of adam , as they come into the world ; but this is not a blessed , but a cursed poverty of spirit . graciously poor in spirit , are all those , in some measure , in which christ is formed ; graceless poverty of spirit , is natural ; but gracious poverty of spirit is supernatural , evangelical and divine ; natural poverty , or graceless poverty of spirit , is cursed , but gracious and divin poverty of spirit is blessed , blessed are the poor in spirit , fortheirs is the kingdom of heaven . it is a gracious poverty of spirit , and not graceless poverty of spirit , to which christ assigns the kingdom of heaven . the frame of his spirit , which is gracelesly poor , is lively pictured , iob 11.12 . man is born like a wild asses-colt . job . 39.7 , 8. he scarneth the multitude of the city , he regardeth not the crying of his driver , the range of the mountains is his pasture , and he searcheth after every green thing . a proud , impudent , silly , vain creature . these words declare man gracelesly poore in spirit to be . thou sayest thou art rich , and hast need of nothing , and knowest not that thou art wretched , and miserable , and poor , and blind , and naked , rev. 3.17 . this is gods description of man graciously poor in spirit , but this is not that poverty of spirit , which i am seeking after , not that on which christ pronounces ▪ [ blessed , ] not that on which the kingdom of heaven is intailed , therefore i pass by it . quest. but what is that poverty of spirit , which christ pronounceth blessed , and on which he entailes the kingdome of heaven ? how may it be described ? answ. it is a speciall work of the sanctifying spirit in the soul , whereby a man is brought to see and feel his own emptiness of grace , and christs fulness ; and is truly humbled , in regard of the one , and in some measure comforted , in regard of the other , as one that hopes to receive of his fullness , grace for grace . this is that gracious poverty of spirit , which christ pronounces blessed , and on which he intailes the kingdome of heaven ; and the appearances of it are these which follow . 1. a man graciously poor in spirit , abhors himself , and loaths himself , because of all his abominations ; he is worse in his own eies , than he can be in any mans else ; he sees a fullness of sinne in his nature , and a fullness of sinne in his conversation , and yet not such a fullness as he would see , iob 13.23 . he is in his own account , the chief of sinners . 1 tim. 1.15 . 2. a man graciously poor in spirit , sees in himself a great emptiness of grace ; he sees that he is not sufficient of himself to think a good thought ; he is in his own account , the poorest man , in the best things of all , that look after them , less than the le●st of all saints ; he disclaimes all his own righteousnesses , and accounts them as rotten raggs , and abominable things , in reference to justification before god ; he forgets all that is behind ; if he cast up his parts , his gifts , and his graces , he concludes , circumcision is nothing , nor vncircumcision is nothing ; his faith , his love , his repentance , his obedience , all put together , nothing ; he brings in the totall summe in meer ciphers ; i am nothing , yea worse then nothing , saith this soul ; can a man be profitable unto his maker ? i am unprofitable to god and man : when saw i thee a stranger , and took thee in ? or naked , and cloathed thee ? &c. wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool ? saith this soul. 3. a man graciously poor , or blessedly poor in spirit , is a man of a contrite spirit , a man that trembleth at the word of the lord ; to him will i look , saith the lord , that is poor , and of a contrite spirit , and trembleth at my word , isa. 66.2 ▪ in this text , poverty of spirit , contrition , and the effect of it , tr●mbling at the word of the lord , are joyned together as linkes of a chain ; so as he that hath one of them , hath all of them , in some measure . as for contrition , it hath been already spoken of from ( pag. 56. to pag. 64. ) to which i refer the reader . 4. a man graciously poor in spirit , as he sees a fullness of sinne , and an emptiness of grace in himself , and bewailes it ; so he sees a fullness of grace in christ , a fullness of mercy with god in christ to pardon him , and heal him , to justifie him , and sanctifie him , and fill him with all grace ; and this is attended with some hopes , to be made a partaker of it ; the truth of this is evident in the poor publican , he saw a fullness of sinne in himself , and an emptiness of grace ; and he saw a fullness of mercy in god ; and merit in christ , to take away his sinne and garnish his soul with all grace , and had some hopes to attain this , otherwise he would never have gone to god for mercy . a man graciously or evangelically poor in spirit , hath some hope of obtaining mercy . 5. and this makes him very industriously to seek after the lord , in a conscionable use of all those means , which he hath appointed ; i will arise , and go to my father , &c. saith the poor prodigal . when once this poverty of spirit had seized on his spirit , he thought no labour too much to attain what he sought ; draw me , we will runne after thee , saith the spouse , graciously poor in spirit , cant. 1.4 . 6. a man graciously poor in spirit , esteems spirituall riches the best riches ; and for them , he will with the merchant-man , give the best price ; for th●m he will part with all carnall things , and count them but dung ; he doth hunger and thirst after righteousness , more than after riches ; after the riches of grace , more than after the riches of the world . 7. a man graciously poor in spirit , is a man of a humble spirit ; if god dispense his gifts liberally unto him , or make greater discoveries of himself , his mind , and will unto him , than he doth to others , he will humbly , and thankfully , and really ascribe all the glory thereof unto the lord , and his free grace , and say as daniel , as for me , this is not conferred upon me , for any wisdome , or goodness , that i have more than other , but of free grace , for christs sake , bestowed upon me , therefore to him be all the glory : who am i , or what is there in me , that god should shew such favour unto me , above what he doth unto other this is vigor fit , and ●●t fit , to give the denomination of a man graciously poor in spirit . 8. a man graciously poor in spirit , is the contentedst man with his condition of all others ; i went out full , but the lord brought me home empty , saith a soul gratiously poor in spirit , and yet she was contented with her condition . shall we receive good at the hand of god ? and shall we not receive evill ? shall the thing formed , say to him that formed it , why hast thou made me thus ? it is the lord , let him do with we , as seemeth good to him . this is the lan●uage of soules graciously poor in spirit : such a soul lookes upon every thing , as a mercy , that is on this side hell , and how bad soev●r his condition be , thinks it too good for him . 9. a man graciously poor in spirit , justif●es god in all his deali●gs , even under his sadest providences , and dispensations of justice ; the lord is righteous in all his wayes , ( saith this soul , ) i am justly under this condemnation , for i receive the due reward of my deeds , for i have rebelled against his commandmen●s , &c. 10. the soul gracio●sly poor in spirit , gr●anes under that privy pride , which he finds in himself , as that which is the great burd●n on his spirit , and that which he longs to be delivered from ; oh wretched man that i ●m , who shall deliver me ? and when shall i be delive●ed ●rom ▪ this corrupt nature of mine , which exalts it s●lf against god , and hinders the influence of his gr●ce in me ? these appearances of gratious poverty of spirit , may serve to dis●ry a soul graciously and blessedly poor in spirit ; try thy spirit by them , and if by what hath been said , thou findest this qualification in thy self , in any measure , bless god for it , labour to grow in it , and remember the words of our lord jesu christ , blessed are the poor in spirit , for theirs is the kingdome of heaven . death to sinne. rom. 8.10 . if christ be in you , the body is dead , because of sinne ; but the spirit is life , because of righteousness . in these words , the apostle lays down two great characters of our union with christ , or christ resident in us ; the first this , the body is dead , because of sinne ; the second this , the spirit is life , because of righteousness ; christ is in you ( saith the apostle ) except ye be reprobates , 2 cor. 13.5 . if christ be in you , it will appear thus , the body is dead , because of sinne . the body , here spoken of , is not a body of flesh , not a body celestiall , nor a body terrestiall , but a body diabolicall , a body of sin , as the members , mentioned col. 3.5 . demonstrate ; and likewise the language of the apostle , rom. 7.24 . where he calls corrupt nature the body ; and more plainly , rom. 6.6 . stiles it , the body of sinne , ephes. 4.22 . the old man ; this is the body here meant . the body of sinne , is the depravedness and corruption of our whole nature , by reason of which we are naturally averse to all good , and prone to evill continually , and so liable to all misery , and therefore the apostle calls it , a body of death . the body is alive in all those , in whom christ lives not ; but where christ lives , this body dies . if christ be in you , the body is dead , because of sinne , &c. death to sinne is double ; there is a death to the guilt of sinne ; and a death to the power , reign , and dominion of sinne . death to the guilt of sinne , is a perfect fredome from all sinne , by the death of christ for our sinne ; thus all in whom christ lives , are dead to sinne totally . we are dead to the guilt of sinne , by the body of christ , who died for us : the death of our dear saviour hath purchased , and perfected this death for us : the bloud of iesus christ cleanseth us from all sinne ; 1 joh. 1.7 . from all sinne past , present , and to come ; he that is thus dead , is freed from sinne , as the apostle speaks , rom. 6.7 . redeemed from all iniq●ity , tit. 2.14 . and this is the great priveledge of all those in whom christ lives , of all the true member● of jesus christ : christ undertakes for them , as iudah did for benjamin , i will be s●rety for him ; of my hand shale thou require him : if i bring him not unto thee , and set him before thee , then let me bear the blame for ever , said iudah to his father , gen. 43.9 . thus christ undertakes for all his members , for all his elect , so as they may , and ought , to turn all charges brought against them , over to christ ; all inditements from god , or satan , or conscience abused by satan over to christ their surety . * who shall lay any thing , to the charge of gods elect ? ( saith the apostle ) it is god that justifieth , who is he t●at condemneth ? &c. so may he that is thus dead to the guilt of sinne , say , what sinne is it that can condemne me , that can b●ing in an in●ictment against me ? it is christ that died , it is christ that died for me , and by his death , perfected this death for me , i am now compleat in him ; in this resp●ct , who is it , or wh●t is it then , that can lay any thing unto my cha●ge , that can seperate me from the love of god in christ jesus ? sin , my worst enemy cannot do it , for i am totally dead to the guilt of it , by vertue of my union with christ ; is ch●ist be in y●u , the bo●y is dead , because of sinne perfectly ●ead to the guilt of sinne . though just●fication acquits a sinner from all sinne , in gods determination , yet is not his p●r●●n formally granted , nor actually ; put in ex●●u●i●n un●●ll sued out , and the tr●bute of ac●u●ll repentance , for k●own sinne is ●aid , ( except in some cases ) viz. in case of the want of t●e use of 〈◊〉 as in children , and dis●●●cted persons , in whom conscience cannot do its ●●ffice , be●●us● of debility in the under●●anding : thi● ( with submission to a better ju●gement ) i humbly conceive to be according to t●uth , and no●e it , to vindicate my s●l● , and cau●ion the reader concerning that antinomi●● tenet , about justification , so common in these daies . thus is a true believer perfectly dead to the guilt of sinne , by the death of christ for his sinne , but to the power , dominion , and being of sinne , no child of adam is totally dead in this life , no not the best of the children of god , but dying daily ; therefore ( saith the apostle , ) i die daily , &c. if any man thinks himself freed from sinne , or perfectly dead to sinne in this sence , he deceives himself , and the truth is not in him , 1 joh. 1.8 . for totally dead to sinne , in this sence , was never any sonne of man , in this life , but he that was the sonne of god ( to wit ) jesus christ. totally dead to the power , and being of sinne is not he , that is totally dead to the guilt of sinne , untill this earthly house be quite pulled down , and death that last debt , and wages of sinne to the godly paid , then , and never till then , is he , in whom christ lives , totally freed from the power and being of sinne . by the mercy of god , death , which was to man the wages and punishment of sinne , is made unto all true believers , the end of sinne ; the worker of death ( to wit , sinne ) doth perish , by its own workes sinne is slain , and abolished by death . totall death , to the power , and being of finne , is one great part of the privative gain , which death brings to all that are in christ , to all that die in the lord : death the devorcer of soul and body , brings perfect death to the power and being of sinne , the enemy and burden of soul and body . perfectly dead to the power and being of sinne , is no man here , this death belongs to that other world ; but truly dead to the power and reign of sinne , are all those here , in whom christ lives ; and this is that death which this text points at , if christ be in you , the body is dead , because of sinne , &c. all in the state of nature , are dead in sinne ; all in a state of grace , are dead to sinne , according to the meaning of this text , dead to sinne , in a gospel sence . death to the power and reign of finne , is one part of the renovation of our natures , consisting in that which the scripture calls mortification , by vertue of which , the love of sinne , and delight in sinne , which is indeed , the life of sinne , is destroyed ; at this death the apostle points , rom. 6 2. how shall we that are dead to sinne , live any longer therein ? as if he had said , how shall we that are dead to the guilt of sinne , take pleasure in the filth of sinne , or wallow in any sinne with delight ? it is impossible ; for death to the guilt of sin , alwayes produceth death to the power and dominion of sinne ; if christ be in you , the body is dead , because of sinne . is christ be in you , as a iustifier , he is in you , as a sanctifier also , the body is dead , because of sinne . christ and sinne , may dwell in the same subject at the same time ; yea christ may live , where sinne doth dwell ; christ liveth in me ; sinne dwelleth in me , saith the apostle ; but christ and sinne cannot both live , and reign together , in the same subject at the same time . caesar and pompey might better have lived and reigned togeher , than christ and sinne ; where either of these lives , it reigns , and both cannot reign together ; if christ be in you , the body is dead , because of sinne . this body ( to wit ) sinne , whilest alive rules and reignes , as a husband , as a lord and master , and is obeyed freely and willingly , ( with the consent of the whole will , ) so much that phrase of the apostle , to whom ye yeeld your selves servants to obey , doth imply . but when christ once espouseth a soul unto himself , he divests this lord of his power , he puts this husband to death , and assumes all the rule and domination to himself : and the soul thus espoused , yeelds to obey him , as her sovereign lord and sole commander ; we have no king but caesar , said the iews ; so saith the soul dead to sinne . i have no king but christ , i yeeld my self willingly to no other ; therefore saith the apostle , if christ be in you , the body is dead , because of sinne , that is the desire , and bent of the soul , which is naturally to sin , and for sinne , is turned from sinne , and against sinne ; so that the body of sinne cannot without much reluctancy and opposition bear sway , where christ dwells . 1. the body of sinne , whilest alive , makes a willing sinner , but when dead , a nilling sinner ; i do that , which i would not , saith the soul dead to sinne ; rom. 7.16 . the soul alive to sinne , in sinning , doth the evill which it would do ; but the soul dead to sinne in sinning , doth the evill which it would not do . 2. the soul alive to sinne , allows it self in sinne ; in some sinne or other , every soul in whom this body is alive allows it self ; but the soul dead to sinne , allows not it self in any known sinne ; what i do , i allow not , saith a soul dead to sinne , rom. 7.15 . i do this , and i do that , which i should not , through humane frailty , and the violence of temptation , from without and from within , or true necessity ; but i allow not what i do , i do not resolve in cold bloud , that thus and thus i will do , but the quite contrary . the soul that is truly dead to sinne , allows not it self in any one known sinne . the soul that is alive to sinne , is in league with finne , it makes leagues with sinne , as the israelites did with the inhabitants of canaan ; there is no unregenerate person , but he is in league with some sinne or other , and though he lay some tribute upon his sinne , or upon himself for his sinne , yet he continues his league with sinne still , and intends not the ruine of sinne , nor the utter extirpation of sinne : but the soul that is dead to sinne , doth not make a league with any one sinne , but his design is to ruine sinne , all sinne ; he will not covenant to sinne , as iudas and the chief-priests did , but covenant against sinne , as iob did , iob. 3 1. ● . this is the second character of a foul dead to sinne . as saul should have dealt with amalek , so doth the soul dead to sinne , deal with sinne ; it spa●es none , it warrs against the whole body of death , against every sinne . 3. the soul alive to sinne , in sinning , doth the evill which he loves ; but the soul dead to sinne , in sinning , doth the evill which he hates ; what i hate , that do i , saith a soul dead to sinne , rom 7.15 . the soul alive to sinne , though he refrain from sinne , yet he loves it still ; but the soul dead to sinne , though he fall into sinne , and be many times overpowred by sinne , yet he doth not love sinne , but hates it , so farre forth as regenerate . object . but conscience may here reply in some soul , and say ; i cannot by this conclude that i am one dead to sinne , but rather , that i am one alive to sinne , for i find much inclination in my will to sinne , and much adhering in affections to sinne . answ. 1. if this alone were sufficient to give the denomination of a soul alive to sinne , then no soul living in a body of flesh , could conclude , that he were truly dead to sinne , for their is no soul inhabiting this earthly house , no not the best alive , but hath cause thus ●o complain . 2. but secondly , every soul , dead to sinne ; doth bear the image of a double person , he beares the image of the first adam , and the image of the second adam : he is partly flesh , and partly spirit , and he is thus in every faculty of his soul ; there is flesh in every faculty of his soul , sinne dwelling in every faculty ; this therefore doth not render the soul alive to sinne . 3. then thirdly , thou speakest in this , as one seeking after a perfect death , to the power and being of sinne in thy self ; but the apostle , in this text , points only at a true death to sinne ; and truly dead to sinne , he may be , and is , to whom sinne is a burthen . so much for ●●swet to this objection . 4. in the fourth place , the body of sinne , i● truly dead , wastes and decayes ; there is a decaying in this body , and a wasting away , as in the natural body , when once dead ; therefore saith the apostle , i die daily , thereby implying , that where there is a true death to sinne , there is a true decaying of sinne . object . but conscience in some may here reply again , and say , i cannot hence conclude , that i am one truly dead to sinne ; but rather see cause to conclude on the contrary , for i do not find that corruption doth decay and wast away in me , but rather that it grows stronger and stronger . answ. strong apprehensions of corruption , are no argument of the strength of corruption , at least , if they be accompanied with loathing of them , and warring against them , in the strength of christ ; but rather symptomes of a new life ; this therefore should not cause any to conclude , that there is no death to sinne in him , but rather excite him to cleave closer to christ , who hath begun this death in him , and will at the length perfect it . 5. in the fifth place , the soul that is truly dead to sinne , is universally dead to sinne ; he is dead to every sinne , and he is dead to sin in every faculty of his soul , though but in part , yet in every part of soul and body ; this , and no less then this , will serve to demonstrate a man truly dead to sinne , in a gospel-sence . 6. finally , the soul that is truly dead to sinne , is alive to righteousness ; the soul that is dead in sinne ▪ is alive to sinne , and the soul that is dead to sinne , is alive to righteousness ; if christ be in you , the body is dead , because of sinne , but the spirit is life , because of righteousness . this is the next thing to be spoken of , and it is the second character , laid down by the apostle , to demonstrate christ resident in us , the spirit is life , because of righteousness . by spirit in this text , is meant ( as i conceive ) the regenerate part of man , and nothing else ( to wit ) that which is born of the-spirit : in this sence , i take the word spirit here , because it is set in opposition to the forementioned body ; which body ( as is evident ) is the unregenerate part , or old man ; so this word spirit is used by the apostle unto the galathians , the flesh lusteth against the spirit , and the spirit against the flesh ; the regenerate part lusteth against the unregenerate ; so christ useth the word spirit , joh. 3.6 . that which is born of the spirit , is spirit , but the spirit is life , because of righteousness : it is , as if the apostle had said , if christ be in you , it will appear by this , the spirit is life , because of righteousness . that is , the regenerate man is alive because of righteousness ; he is alive because of a double righteousness , or because of righteousnes in a double sence . 1. he is alive , because of the righteousness of justification , and , 2. because of the righteousness of sanctification . that man is truly and perfectly alive , because of the righteousness of justification , which hath christs righteousness imputed unto him for righteousness . a man thus alive to righteousness , lives either the life of hope , the life of faith , or the life of sence ; and this life satan doth labour much to deprive him of . where the soul is thus alive , because of the righteousness of justification , that soul is alive indeed , because of the righteousness of sanctification ; and this is that life which this text points at , if christ be in you , &c. the spirit is life , because of righteousness ; if christ be in you as a justifier , he is in you as a sanctifier ; if christ be in you , the body is dead because of sinne , but the spirit is life , because of righteousness . the truth of this assertion , doth further appeare thus ; whom he justisieth , them he also glorifieth , saith the text , rom. 8.30 . but without holinesse no man shall see the lord , therefore it follows by necessary consequence , that he that is justified hath this qualification in him , to wit , sanctification , otherwise he could not see the lord or be glorified . to whom christ is made righteousness , he is made sanctification also , 1 cor. 1.30 . this may suffice for the confirmation of this truth . that man is alive , because of the righteousness of sanctification , which hath the righteousnesse of the quickning spirit imparted unto him , for the inlivening and regulating of his whole man. a christian , in this world , is alive , because of the righteousnesse of sanctification truly , but imperfectly , his spirit is alive , because of righteousnesse , that is , his understanding , will , and affections , &c. all the members of his body , his whole nature , so farre forth as regenerate , is alive , because of the righteousnesse of sanctification ( i say ) so farre forth alive , ( that is ) so farre forth , he approves of righteousnesse , imbraceth righteousnesse , and lives in the practise of righteousnesse , out of love to the god of righteoufnesse . this is evident in the apostle paul , as soon as christ had taken up his dwelling in paul , and he was once alive to righteousnesse , his whole man so farre forth as regenerate , was turned about to another point , he had another judgment of the things of god than he had before and accordingly imbraced , what he before refused ; his heart was warmed with a love to the will and wayes of god , and desire to walk therein ; lord , what wilt thou have me to do ? ( saith he ) command what thou wilt , i am ready prest to obey thy will. and his great care was , to have alwayes a conscience void of offence towards god , and towards man , as himself affirms , act. 24.16 . and thus it is with every man alive to righteousnesse , he hath the same frame of spirit that paul had , the same grace that he had , as a man alive to righteousnesse , though not in the same measure . every man in whom christ lives , is alive because of righteousnesse , but every one is not alike alive , every one in which christ lives , is truly alive , because of righteousnesse , but every one is not strongly alive to righteousnesse , some are more vigorously alive then others . as christ is more or lesse in a man , so is he more or less alive to righteousnesse . a man truly alive to righteousnesse , hath these appearances ; 1. he is of all other men the most sensible of his own unrighteousnesse , he sees more unrighteousnesse , then righteousnesse in his best actions , more flesh then spirit in himself , as appears in paul , rom. 7. 2. the body of sinne , which is dead , stinks in the nostrils of him which is truly alive to righteousnesse , as the dead corpse of a man doth in the nostrils of him that is alive , in a natural sense . 3. lastly , a man truly alive to righteousnesse , is a new creature , of whom i shall speak in the next place . wouldest thou then know whether christ be resident in thee , yea or nay ; consider seriously what the holy ghost doth in this text affirm ; if christ be in you ▪ the body is dead , because of sie● but the spirit is life , because of righteousness● ; and go through what hath been here said , on this ●ubject , and if it hereby appear , that thou are one truly dead to sin , and alive to righteousnesse , conclu●e thou mayest safely , that the lord is thy portion , that christ is resident in ●ny soul , who having once taken possession there , will not be ●uted ; christ in thee , the hope of glory , will assuredly bring the soul and b●dy , to live with him in glory ; if we be dead with him , we shall also live with him , saith the text ▪ 2 tim 2.11 therefore i● we be dead with christ , and risen again with him , we shall assuredly live together with him in glory . a new creature . 2 cor. 5.17 . if any man be in christ , he is a new creature . every one that is out of christ , is ou● of the root of life , out of the stock of grace , out of the way , the only true way unto eternal happiness , and thus are all the posterity of adam by nature . it mainly concerns every one therefore , to consider seriously , what he bottoms upon , the old adam or the new , one of these two all flesh standeth on : how we shall come to the knowledg of this , this text tels us , if any man be in christ , he is a new creature . these words , as they are in themselves an intire sentence , contain in them a true and lively description of a man in christ ; in them the apostle lays down posit●vely , one great character of a soul resident in christ , he is a new creature . this he layes down indefinitely [ if any man , &c. ] as if he had said , if any man , of what nation , station , quality , rank or condition soever [ be in christ ] it will appear thus , he is a new creature . quest. but what is it to be in christ ? answ. to be in christ , according to the meaning of this text , is to be truly and really united unto christ , or ingrafted into christ , as a sience is into the stock , incorporate into it , and made truly one with it , and every one that is thus in christ , is a new creature . quest. but what is that ( may some say ) what is a new creature ? answ. a ●ew creature , according to his formality , is a creature wholly new ( i say ) a creature wholly new , so saith the apostle in this text , old things are past away , all things are become new . by a creature wholly new , i do not mean a creature void of humane frail●y , nor a creature totally freed from the being or power of corrupt nature , not a creature exempt from the exercise of temptations , but a creature renewed in every part , though but in part , and freed from the evil of temptations . his appearances are many , for a new creature , according to the meaning of this text , is one that is born again , born of the spirit , as christ speaks ; he is one in whom christ is formed , one in whom christ lives ; he is one that is sanctifi●d throughou● , in soul and body , and spirit of his mind as the 〈…〉 one holy 〈…〉 and 〈…〉 he is 〈…〉 from the 〈…〉 old thing● 〈…〉 new , as this text speaketh ; he is one whose heart and spirit , principles and practises are all new and holy ; he is one , who having received a new life from christ , desires and endeavours to live , as a new creature unto christ only : one that in every condition , labours to live for the honour of christ , and so as he may truly say , to me to live is christ ; to me , thus and thus to live , is for the honour of christ : he is one in whom the name of christ is glorified , and the gospel held forth : one , who in all things whatsoever he doth , in word or deed , labours to do all in the name of the lord iesus christ , to the glory of god by him : one , who desires and endeavours to have his whole conversation , such as becometh the gospel of christ , and to have every thought brought in subjection to the obedience of christ. he is one , who though he have fleshly lusts in him , doth not make provision to fulfill them , he doth not habitually design , and take thought , how to fulfill them , but how to mortifie them : he is one , who though he walk in the flesh , doth not warre after the flesh , but against the flesh ; he makes not his liberty an occasion to the flesh : he is one , who though he cannot live without sinne , doth not allow himself in any known sinne , but hates every false way , and groans under the remainder of the old man in him , as his greatest burden ; he is one , that carries a holy jelousie over h●mself , and all his wayes , and thence labours to keep a spirituall watch within , and without ; he is one , that worships god in the spirit , and puts no confidence in the flesh : one that servs god in newness of spirit , not in the oldness of the letter ; one that labours to be filled with the spirit : he is one , whose conversation is in heaven , whilst he is on earth ; one that delights in the law of god after his inward man , he delights to do the will of god. he is one of another spirit , then the world hath ; one that walks by another rule then the world doth , to wit , the word of god. he is a growing crea●ure , he grows in grace ; he forgets what is behind , and reacheth forth to that which is before : he aims at perfection , and presseth towards this neark . he is one , that lives in christ , as a branch in the vine and brings forth fruit in him : he is one in whose nostrils the whole body of death , and every part and member of it stinks : one that labours to abstain from all appearance of evill , * and to be holy and blameless before god , out of love to god : he is one that minds the things of the spirit , is led by the spirit , and walks after the spirit : he is a world-contemning , and a world-overcoming creature : he is one that labours to deny himself , and take up his cross and follow christ , as caleb a did ( to wit ) fully ▪ and as david did , of whom god saies , b he followed me with all his heart , to do that only which was right in mine eyes ; and as ruth , c followed naomi , as elisha followed d elijah , and asaebel e followed abner , he would not leave abner , though he died by his hand . a new creature is one , that counts himself a stranger and a pilgrim in this world , and lives like a stranger a and pilgrim in this world : one , whose conversation here , declares that he minds , desires , and seeks after a better country , then this world affords ( to wit ) an heavenly . he is one , that makes it his chiefest work to glorifie god , and save his soul : one to whom the talent of time is very precious : one , that labours to use every talent , wherewith he is in●rusted , according to the will of his lord , and for the honour and glory of his lord : one that labours so to walk before god here , that whether present or absent , he may be accepted of him : one that labours to honour god by using lawfull things lawfully , as well as by shunning things unlawfull in themselves : he is one that labours so to keep his account here , that he may give it up with joy , when the day of account comes : he is one , that doth not commit sinne : one that seeks not his own , but christs , and his brothers good : one whose affections are set on things above , more then on the things below . he is one , to whom the preaching of the cross of christ , to wit , the gospel , is the wisdom of god , and the power of god : one , who being born again , as a new born babe , desires the sincere and nourishing milk of the word , that he may grow thereby : one that hears the voice of christ , speaking in his word , by his ministers , knows it , and obeys it , and declines the voice of a stranger : he is one , to whom the whole word and will of god is sweet , every bitter thing in it sweet : he accounts no truth gall and wormwood , as some phrase it : he is one , to whom all gospel-ordinances are sweet and delectable : he is one that deserts not old truth to follow new light , but makes it his sunne to discover the verity of it : he is one , that receiveth the ambassadors of christ , ( to wit ) the lawful and faithful ministers of the gospel , as christ himself , and esteems them very highly in love , for their work sake : he is one that delights in the law of god after his inward man : one that labours to live by saith , in every condition , prosperity and adversity : one to whom the yoke of christ is easie , and his burden light : one to whom none of christs commandements are grievous ; he is one that continu●th in the word of christ , in the love of it , in the belief of it , in the obedience of it ; he is one faithfull unto the death ; he is one , which how high soever he be in place , in parts , in gifts or grace , is low in his own eyes , little in his own fight , his heart is lowly still ; hence it comes to pass , that when he hath done his best to follow the rule of righteousness , he abh●rs himself for his unrighteousness , and accounts himself a wretched man : finally , he is one that is joyned to the lord iesus christ , and one spirit with him . all this , and much more then this , the scriptures affirm to be in a new creature , as all that are acquainted wit● the holy scriptures know : who so desires to be better informed , touching a new creature , may consult learned dr preston on a new creature ; but a prefect enumeration of all the qualifications of a new creature , is no where to be found , but in the holy scriptures , which indeed do picture him to the life , and to them i refer the reader , for full satisfaction herein : and for the benefit of those which are unacquainted with the scriptures , or want time , or ability , to collect a cleare and sound evidence of a new creature from the scriptures , i will reduce this long description of a new creature to seven particulars , and speak of them particularly , what god hath been pleased to impart unto me , that if ever god in his providence should any wayes bring this manuscript to publique view , it may be helpful to some poor souls this way . first , a new creature is one , in whom iesus christ , the new man is formed , ( to wit ) truly formed ; the truth of this is evident , by the language of the apostle , gal. 4.19 . my little children ( saith he ) of whom i travell in birth again , untill christ he formed in you , &c. which words do clearly and strongly prove , that when christ is formed in the creature , the creature is then new and not before , it is then a new creature , and not till then , it is then born again , born of god , and new indeed . regeneration may well be called a forming of christ in us , for it formes christ in the understanding , in the will , in the affections , in the conscience , in all the faculties of the soul , in all the parts and members of the body , in the whole man , in the whole life and conversation . here note two or three things ; first , that god forms christ in the whole man , where he forms him truly ; god forms christ in the whole man , by conforming the whole man to christ. 2. when every faculty of the soul , is in its scope and bent for christ , then is christ formed in the soul , when every facultie of the soul and member of the body is bent for christ , then is christ formed in the whole man. 3. when a mans will , desire , aim and indeavour , is to square his whole life by the word of god , as his rule , then is christ formed in his conversation , then is he a new creature in gods account , who measures man more by his will and affection , then his action , as appears by 2 cor. 8.12 . compared with prov. 23.26 . wouldest thou then know , whether thou art a new creature , yea , or nay ; consider then , whether christ be formed in thee ( ●o wit ) truly formed , yea or nay ; ask thy soul the question that saul asked the wi●ch ? what form is he of ( said he ) what sawest ●hou ? so do thou ask thy soul , what form art thou of , o my soul ? whose image dost thou beare , christ's or satans ? if christ's , truly though weakly , this argues thy state good , thy creation ●tw , this demonstrates thee a creature new , a new creature . then again , say as he , what seest thou ? what seest thou o my soul in thy self ? what light ? what darknesse ? if nothing but darknesse ? what darknesse is it ? affected darknesse or afflicting darknesse ? if afflicting darknesse , this speaks the creature new . if thou descriest light in thy understanding , consider then , how it operates , how it regulates , how it transforms . 1. consider , how that light which thou hast , be it more or lesse , doth operate , whether it puffeth up or casteth down thy soul , whether it lifteth up thy soul , in praise or in pride , whether it give glory to god or self ; renewing light is humbling . god glorifying ; the more iob saw of god , the more he abhorred himself ; the more a new creature knows god and himself , the more he loaths himself , and admires his god , and desires to advance him . consider , what affection sutable to its notion that light which thou hast produceth in thee ; what love to god , and the things of god ; what love to man for god ; what hatred of sinne , what joy in the lord , what desire to injoy the lord in all , and above all things ; what comfortable hope of increase of grace and glory ; what trust in god , and desire to do for god , and be with god , it generates in thee . consider , what power of godlinesse thy light produceth in thee , what self-discovery , what self-denyall it hath begotten in thee , especially touching thy predominate sinne ; what contempt of the world in the good and evill of it , what conscience of sinne , of duty , and the manner of it , what conjunction of duties of the second table with the duties of the first table ; what contentation with thy state , what watchfulnesse over thy heart , and all the out-goings of it ; what willingnesse to take christ with the cross ; what desire and indeavour to help others ; what hunger and thirst after all those means , which god hath appointed for the increase of it , and all grace in us ; what fruitfullness in righteousness , &c. saving illumination produceth fruitfulnesse . secondly , consider how that light which thou hast , doth regulate and reform thee , consider how it regulates thy judgment , thy will and affections ; how it reforms thy life and all thy actions , and conforms them to the word and will of christ : consider , what death to sinne , what life to righteousnesse it produceth in thee , what through reformation it hath begotten in thee ; renewing light is reforming light ; universally reforming , inwardly reforming , and perseveringly reforming . thirdly , consider how that light which thou hast , transforms thee . consider , what transformation it makes in thee . renewing light is transforming light ; light from the sanctifying spirit of christ , transforms into the image of christ ; christ truly formed in the understanding speaks the man transformed , by the renewing of his mind , as is evident by the language of the apostle , rom. 12.2 . be you transformed by the renewing of your mind , &c. consider , how that light which thou hast , elevateth and raiseth thy soul from earth to heaven ; and if thou findest that the light that is in thy understanding do thus operate , thus regulate , and thus transform , truly though weakly , be it more or lesse , know , it lively demonstrates christ formed in thy understanding , thy light renewing light , and thee a creature new . of christ formed in the other faculties of the soul , ( to wit ) will and affection , and in life and conversation , more shall be spoken in due place : for the present , note this . as christ the new man , is more or lesse formed in the creature , so the creature is more or lesse new . when christ shall be perfectly formed in the crea●ure , then , and never till then , the creature shall be perfectly new , according to degrees . thus far of the first appearance of a new creature , he is one in whose understanding christ is formed : 2. the second appearance of a new creature , which i mean to insist on , is this : he is one that hath a new heart , this conclusion i deduct from the language of the lord , ezek. 36.26 . where the lord speaking of making the creature new , begins at the heart : a new heart will i give you , and a new spirit will i put within you , saith the lord , &c. satan doth his best works without , but god and nature do their first works within . nature begins its work within , as philosophers and anatomists conceive ; in natural generation , the heart , lives , and brain , parts which have in them , the begining of motion , are the first in being , though not the first in appearing , nor the first perfected , say they . so in spiritual generation ( to wit , ) regeneration , where it is true and reall , the work is begun within , in the heart and spirit , that is made new first , although perfect●d last , words and actions , which are but the effects of these causes , appear before them , and give demonstration of them , but these , as the cause , must needs preceed the effect . a man by a common work of the spirit of god on him , may be made another man then formerly he was , and yet not be a new creature ; he may have another heart then formerly he had , and yet not have a new heart ; he may be qualified with moral grace in a high degree , and inabled to do much for god , and yet not be a new creature , as appears in saul and iudas ; when god brought saul to the kingdom of israel , according to samuels prop●esie , the spirit of the lord came upon him , and ●e became another man , and the text saies , god gave him another heart , 1 sam. 10. ver . 6 , 9. a he●rt other wayes qualified then formerly . and saul was valiant and prosperous in his enterprises against the philistins , and gifted for ruling , yet saul never was a new creature , he never had a new heart : iudas when called to the apostleship by christ , was by the spirit of chrift gifted for the work whereunto christ called him , he was made another man then he was before , yet was he not made a new creature , he never had a new heart ; he was gifted for the church , but not for his own salvation . there is a vast difference , between being made another man , and being made a new man , as these instances declare ; neither saul nor iudas ever were new creatures , nor ever had a new heart , nor any renewing grace wrought by the spirit of god in them . a new heart is proper and peculiar to a new creature , fit , and but fit , to give the appearance of a new creature . the creature therefore is to be accounted new , only as it can derive newnes from within , newnes from the heart and spirit ; all without may be new , all the apparel new , and yet the person old that weares it ; so all without may be new in appearance , profession , words and actions , all new , and yet the creature old still ; the newness of the creature consists chiefly in the renovation of the inward man ; i say ( chiefly ) not only . a new creature is one all glorious within , one that hath the root of the matter within him , as iob speaks ( to wit ) integrity in his inward parts , a new heart and spirit . he therefore that will judg aright of his own spiritual estate , must needs begin where god begins , at the heart and spirit , he must confider , whether he have a new heart or not . quest. but you will say , what is a new heart ? and , how may i discern whether i have a new heart , yea , or nay ? ans. a new heart , considered according to its formality , is a heart wherein christ is formed , a heart indued with renewing grace , and acted by it , a heart made one with the lord , a heart wherein christ is resident and president ; and it may be discerned by divers appearances . take this discription of a new heart , in which expression you like best , it comes all to one , it is not my work , nor purpose to speak of the terms of this description , therefore i passe from it , to the appearances of a new heart . 1. a new heart is a heart washed from wickednesse , this is intimated by the language of the lord to ierusalem , jer. 4 ▪ 14. o ierusalem wash thy heart from wickednesse , that thou maist be saved , &c. quest. but you will say , how shall i know , whether my heart be washed from wickedness , or not ? ans. i will mention only one character of a heart washed from wickednesse , which is this ; in a heart washed from wickedness , vain thoughts do not lodg as welcome guests , and if not vain thoughts , then much lesse wicked thoughts : this is plainly hinted in this text , wash thy heart from wickedness , that thou maist be saved ; how long shall vain thoughts lodg within thee , it is as if the lord had said ? thy willing lodging of vain thoughts within thee , plainly demonstrates thy heart is not washed from wickednesse , for were thy heart washed from wickednesse , vain thoughts would not , nay they could not lodg within thee , as welcom guests . vain thoughts may , and oftentimes do , arise in the best and most holy man or woman alive , but they do not lodg with such a person as welcome guests . object . but may some say , i cannot from this conclude , that my heart is washed from wickedness , but rather that it is not washed from wickedness , for i find that vain thoughts do not only arise in me , but lodg with me , abide with me long , and many times with delight , i do not only think vain thoughts , but many times bid them welcome . ans. this know , that every one whose heart is washed from wickednesse , beares the image of a double person ; he beares the image of a person washed , and of a person unwashed , of the old man , and of the new ; and so farre forth as he is washed and clensed , he doth decline and hate vain thoughts , but so farre forth as unwashed and unregenerate , they are welcome and pleasing to him ; the heart that is washed from wickednesse is not perfectly but imperctfely washed : hence it comes to pass , that there is in it both a detesting of , and a delighting in ( the same thing , ) at the same time ; vain thoughts lodg not with the regenerate part of the man , as welcome guests , whatever they may do with the unregenerate part . vain thoughts , as satans souldiers , may quarter upon a man , whose heart is washed from wickednesse , will he , nill he , but they are not welcome guests , but wearysome guests to him , so farre forth as washed . whosoever therefore can find , that he doth truly hate and decline vain thoughts , ought not hence to conclude , that his heart is not washed from wickednesse , nor that he hath not a new heart , but rather to conclude with the apostle , rom. 7.17 . it is no more i that do it , but sinne that dwelleth in me ; it is no more i , as washed and sanctified , that welcome these guests , but it is sin that dwelleth in me that doth it . 2. secondly , another appearance of a new heart is , purity : a new heart is a pure and simple heart : that which is in ezekiel called , a new heart , is by christ called , a pure heart , mat. 5.8 . and a blessed heart ; which plainly declares , that a new heart is a pure heart . a pure heart is of all other the most sensible of its impurity , it still finds more impurity , then purity in its self , and therefore goes to christ for more cleansing stills , to the blood of christ , to the spirit of christ , to the ordinances of christ , with the desire and language of david , create in me a cleane heart , o lord , and puts that promise in suit , ezek. 36.25 . a pure heart will not mix with any impure thing , but is still purging it out , it is like a pure fountain , still purging it self , it makes a man very industrious tokeep a pure conscience . to keep himself pure from the pollutionsthat are in the world through lust , pure in thought , in word ▪ and in deed : a pure heart desires to have all pure within and without . a pure heart loves the pure word of god , for the purity of it , not for the novelty of it ; thy word is very pure , therefore ●h● servant loveth it , saith a pure heart , psal. 119.140 . a pure heart makes the pure word of god its rule to walk by in all things , and labours to order its conversation by this , both towards god and towards man in all things . the purity of the heart in the state of grace , consists in the simplicity and sincerity of holinesse , not in the perfection of it ; its purity is evangelical . the purity of sincere holinesse , is fit , and but fit to give the appearance of a new heart . 3. a new heart is an upright heart : uprightnesse is another expression , whereby a new heart is deciphred in scripture ; in divers places , when the heart is made new , it is made upright ; uprightnesse therefore is fit , and but fit to give the appearance of a new heart ; uprightnesse of heart being that which makes the great difference between a true child of god and an hypocrite . an upright heart , by the grace of regeneration , is not a heart totally void of hypocrisie , but a heart indued with sincerity , which is contrary to , and warreth against hypocrisie , such a heart christ cals , an honest and good heart , luk. 8.15 . the appearances of uprightnesse of heart are very many , but for brevity sake , i will mention only some few , which an upright heart cannot well be without . an upright heart , is a heart set against all sinne ; original , as well as actual ; secret , as well as open sinne , applauded , as well as down cr●ed sins : sinne and uprightnesse , by the grace of regeneration , are direct antipodes , flat contraries , and the heart fo farre forth as upright , is set against all sinne , but most against that sinne , which is more its own then other ( to wit ) its predominate sin , as the language of an upright man declares , psal. 119. ver . 101. & 104. compared with 2 sam. 22.24 . an upright heart ▪ is a heart careful of all duty , and desirous to correspond all circumstances in duty ; integrity and uprightnesse , shews it self by yielding universal obedience to all gods revealed will , 1 king 9 4. it makes a man studious and careful to approve himself upright towards god , and towards man in all things , act. 24.16 . it makes a man very desirous to know , what god would have done , and how he would have it done : the upright heart saith as paul , lord , what wilt thou have me to do ? and with manoah , intreats the lord to shew him , how he would have him to do it , let the angel come again and teach us , what we shall do unto the child that shall be born , said manoah to the lord , when his wife told him , what tidings the angel of the lord had brought her a of sonne ; and not only fo , but inquires farther , how he should do it , how shall we order the c●ild , and how shall we do unto him ? said he , iudg. 13. ver . 8 , 12. and it is the property of an upright heart , to desire to know gods will , and to do gods will , as he would have it done , and so as it may be accepted of him ; i will worship the lord in the beauty of holinesse , saith an upright heart , i will seek the lord , and i will do it early , in the morning will i direct my prayer unto thee , and will observe what becomes of it , saith an upright man. an upright heart , is an humble heart , the heart that is lifted up is not upright ; so much pride , so much hypocrisie there is in the heart ; so much integrity and uprightnesse , so much humility is there in the heart : christ formed in the heart , and the heart , must needs resemble him in humility , for he was meek and lowly in heart ; an upright heart is a levelled heart . an upright heart , is a heart in love with christ , the upright love thee , saith the spouse to christ , cant. 1.4 . an upright heart , is a heart espoused to christ and faithfull to him ; a heart intire to christ , whether present or absent , a heart which desires that all its approaches to christ might be in marriage-dresse , psal. 45.14 . an upright heart , earnestly and cordially desires that all were like it self , sincere and upright , witnesse the language of an upright man , act. 26.29 . and wishes well to all that are such . an upright heart , delights to walk by an upright rule and in an upright way , i delight to do thy will , o god , saith an upright heart , psal. 40.8 . i will behave my self wisely in a perfect way , i will walk within my house with a perfect heart , psal. 101.2 . an upright heart begins the work of reformation at home , as the language of christ , mat. 7.5 . intimates . thou hypocrite first cast out the beam out of thine own eye , &c. thereby intimating , that it is the nature and property of sincerity and uprightnesse to begin at home , to labour for self-reformation in the first place , and then reformation of all under its charge , psal. 101.78 . integrity and uprightnesse is no patron of tolleration , it cannot tollerate sinne , where it hath power to suppress it or restrain it . an upright heart delights in uprightnesse in whomsoever it finds it , more then in any other qualification whatsoever , it knows that all parts put together without this , will not make a good whole , and therefore esteems uprightnesse , more then any other qualification whatsoever , psal. 101.6 . an upright heart , is a faithfull heart , it is so called , neh. 9.8 . where it is said of abraham , who had an upright heart , that god found his heart faithfull before him : an upright heart is a heart faithfull to god , and faithfull to man ; it is faithfull to god absolutely , and first , it is faithfull to man , relatively and conditionally , with reference to god and the conditions between it and others . an upright heart is not satisfied with a bare forme of godlinesse , but labours for the power of godlinesse ; it is not satisfied without works , but labours to have all glorious within ; it labours to do all duties after a spiritual manner , and so as they may be accepted of god , and it labours conscionably to practise what it doth profess and teach others , do and teach . an upright heart is a heart stedfast with god , stedfast in his covenant , as it is easie to be gathered , from that which is spoken of the israelites , psal. 78.37 . their heart was not right with god , that is , their hearts were not sincere and upright : but how doth that appeare ? why the next words tell us , they were not stedfast in his covenant ; had their hearts been sincere and upright , they had been stedfast in his covenant they would wilfully have broken it , and cast it behind their backs . an upright heart longs and desires still to be more upright , it groanes under the guile that it finds remaining in it self , and warrs against it , and longs to be delivered from it . an upright heart is a heart perpendicularly , directly and chiefly for god , in all its aimes and ends ; it exalts god in all things , and above all things , because he only is to be exalted : uprightnesse exceedingly desires , and indeavours to improve every price in its hand to the glory of god the giver , ioh. 7.18 . an upright heart is not satisfied with its own tryal , but desires god should try it , and goes to god to do it ; thus did upright david , psa. 26.2 . & 139.23 ▪ 24. and upright iob. let me be weighed in an even balance , saith he , iob 31.6 . an upright heart can comfor●ably appeal to god in its worst condition , except in some cases ( viz. ) in case of ignorance of its own integrity , or in case of some guilt charged upon it by god , conscience , or satan , or in case of some temptation , wherein satan by his sophistery mis-represents him to himself , and fantacy joyning with satan , gives a false idea and representation of things to the understanding , whereby it comes to passe , that conscience doth accuse , when it should excuse ; in such cases , an upright heart cannot , nor dares not to own its own integrity , nor appeal to god , but if it be not hindered by the interposition of some one of these , or the like , it can comfortably appeal to god in its worst condition , as is evident by divers examples , as in hezekiah , 2 king. 20.3 . and in iob , job 23. ver . 10 , 11 , 12 chap. 16.17 . and in ieremiah , jer. 12.3 . david , 1 chro. 29.17 . paul , 1 thes. 2.10 . an upright heart is a soyl , wherein the immortall seed of the word takes kindly rooting , springs up , and brings forth fruit , in some measure , more or lesse , as christ affirms in that parable , mark 4.8 . integrity or uprightnesse is a growing and spreading plant , it is a plant which how small soever it be at its beginning , if once planted , grows greater and greater , it is alwayes greater at last , then at the first ; this bildad hinted to iob , job 8.7 . and this christ plainly affirms in the parable of the mustard seed , mat 13.31 , 32. uprightnesse is a plant that will thrive , though in a barren soyl . finally , integrity or uprightnesse is an abiding plant ; it is a plant that will live under a torrid or a friged zone , a plant that will bide the hottest summer and the coldest winter ; my meaning is , it will hold out in the hottest persecution , and in the greatest defection ; an upright heart abides in the truth , and the truth abids in it : the upright do hold on his way , job 17.9 . an hypocrite may professe the truth , and go farre in the profession of it for a time , but he will not alwayes abide in it , sooner or later he will fall off quite , as is evident by those texts quoted in the margin ; but an upright heart will hold on its way , & hold out upright in crooked times , it will hold fast its integrity whatever it part with else , as god and an upright man affirms , iob 2.3 . and 27.5 , 6. as an hypocrite will not abide in the truth , no more will the truth abide in him : truth may be in an hypocrite for a time , but it will not abide in him ; god doth sooner or later take it quite from him ; but truth in an upright heart , it abideth there , so saith the apostle , the annointing which ye have received of god abideth in you , 1 joh. 2.27 . truth in an upright heart is in its proper element , and therefore abideth there . these appearances of an upright heart , which i have collected from the bare word , i thought not amisse here to insert , and for brevity sake , i will multiply no more , but proceed to the fourth appearance of a new heart . 4. a new heart is a self loathing heart , as appears by ezek. 36.26 . compared with ver . 31. a new heart will i give you , saith the lord , and what follows ? then shall ye remember your own evill wayes , and your doings that were not good , and shall loath your selves in your own sight , &c. thence it is evident , that a new heart is a self-loathing heart , it loaths it self for all its iniquities , and for all its abominations , for all its guilt of sinne , and for all the filth of sinne that it sees in its self , for its inward corruptions as well as its outward transgressions . 5. a new heart is an obedient heart , a heart made pliable to the will of god , as appears by the fore-cited place , ezek. 36. a new heart will i give you , saith the lord , v. 26. and cause you to walk in my statutes , and keep my judgments , and do them , ver . 27. hence it is evident , that a new heart is a heart pliable to all the revealed will of god , a heart on which the word of god , and the works ofgod make impression , and it is therefore called a heart of flesh , ibid v. 26. 6. a new heart is a heart new principled ; it hath in it principles above nature , above morality ( to wit ) divine principles , principles of grace , by which the whole new man is acted . 7. another appearance of a new heart , is this , a new heart is alwayes accompanied with a new spirit , a new heart will i give you , and a new spirit will i put within you , saith the lord , ezek. 36.26 . a new heart and a new spirit are here coupled in infusion by the lord , which shews , they are twins born together , they alwayes go together , live everlastingly together ; this david pointed at , psal. 51.10 . create in me a clean heart , o god , and renew a right spirit within me , &c. david knew that where god gave a new heart , he gave a new frame of spirit also , and therefore he puts both into his bill , when he put this promise in suit ; when god makes the heart new , he makes the spirit new also , he frames it of another fashion , points it towards another course , raiseth it from earth to heaven , meekeneth it , and makes it more easie to be intreated . 8. the principles then being new and the spirit new , where the heart is made new , it must needs follow in the next place , by necessary consequence , that the life and conversation is new also , for these being made new , cannot but produce newnesse of life ; therefore i conclude this thus , a new heart alwayes produceth a new life ; if the heart be new , the life will be new also ; christ if truely formed in the creature , is formed in every part of the creature , in the whole man , in the whole life and conversation of the man , from his convertion , and new birth ; this is the last , but not the least demonstrator of a new heart , of a new creature , and such , as without which , no man can ever safely conclude , that his heart is new or his creation new ; he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world , that we should be holy and blamelesse before him in love , eph. 1.4 . this therefore is vigor fit , and but fit to give the appearance of a new heart , of a new creature . thus much of the second appearance of a new creature , he is one that hath a new heart . 3. in the third place , a new creature is one that lives in christ , the new ftock , as a branch in the vine ; and brings forth fruit in him . that a new creature is one that lives in christ the new stock , is evident by the language of the apostle in this text , if any man be in christ , he is a new creature ; hence it is evident , that he is in christ , or else he is not a new creature , first in christ and then a new creature ; as dr preston doth well observe . a new creature is one that hath his abiding in christ , one that lives in christ , as his stock ; if you ask him the question , that the two disciples asked christ , master , where dwellest thou ? he may say , in christ. that a new creature is one that lives in christ , and hath his abiding in him , as his stock , is evident by the language of christ , ioh. 15.6 . if any man abide not in me , he is cast forth , as a branch withered &c. that he bringeth forth fruit , is evident by the language of christ in the 5 , & 6. verses of that chapter , he ●hat abideth in me , and i in him , the same bringeth fo●th much fruit ; and not only beareth fruit , but beareth fruit in christ , as a branch in the vine , as the language of christ in the 2 v. of that chap. implies , every branch that beareth not fruit [ in me ] he taketh away ; hence it is evident , that a new creature , is one that beareth fruit in christ , as a branch in christ , the true vine ; and this is that which distinguisheth him from a meer morall creature , both may be fruitfull in righteousnesse , and bring forth much fruit , as appears in the scribes and pharisees , who were a generation fruitfull in righteousnesse , and brought forth much fruit , and so do many others which have but morall grace , as appears , mat. 7.22 , 23. but herein lyes the difference , as to this point , between a meer morallist , and a new creature . a meer morallist brings forth fruit in himself , that is , from his own principles , by a common assistance from christ , he being but self , and in the state of nature still , and he brings forth fruit to himself , as ephraim did , to his own honour , and praise , and glory ; self is his utmost end in all he doth ; but a new creature brings forth fruit in christ , he is fruitfull in righteousnesse , as a branch in christ the true vine ; his fruitfulnesse issueth out from supernatural and divine principles , from a special work of the spirit of christ in him . quest. but how may i discern , whether my fruitfulnesse in righteousness issue from a common assistance of the spirit of christ , to wit , naturall and moral principles only , or whether i be fruitfull in righteousnesse as a branch in christ the true vine ? sol. 1. fruitfulnesse in righteousnesse issuing from natural and moral principles only , is not universal but partial , but he that is fruitful in righteousnesse as a branch in the vine , is fruitful in every good work , at least in his aime and indeavour . 2. fruitfulnesse in righteousnesse , issuing from moral principles , is usually more exemplary in circumstantials , then in substantials , more in mint and annise , then in judgment and mercy ; but he that is fruitfull in righteousnesse , as a branch in the vine , sunders not what god hath coupled together , but places substantials in the vant-gard , in the first place . 3. fruitfulnesse in righteousnesse , issuing from morall principles is usually more in the eyes of men , than in the eye of god : such as are fruitfull in righteousnesse from their own principles , are more studious to make all things seem good and glorious in the eyes of men , than they are to approve the righteousnesse of their hearts or wayes to god ; but he that is fruitfull in righteousnesse as a branch in the vine , is more studious and carefull to approve the uprightnesse of his heart and actions to god in all things , than to make things seem good in the sight of men ; he is more desirous to be fruitfull then to seem fruitfull . 4. fruitfulnesse in righteousnesse , proceeding from naturall and morall principles , is usually attended with much pride inwardly in heart , if not outwardly in expression ; and the more fruitfull this man is , the more proud he is : contrarywise fruitful in righteousnesse as a branch in the vine , is attended with much humility ; a man that is fruitful in righteousnesse , as a branch in the vine , sees that he hath no sap , but what he hath from the stock , into which he is ingrafted ; no sufficiency in himself to any good ; he sees that his good motions , affections and actions , flow all from christ , and therefore he humbly ascribes all to christ ; the glory of all his fruitfulnesse , he layes on christs shoulders , he shall beare the glory , saith this soul , he dares take none to himself , though tempted thereunto by satan , but sayes of christ , as mephibosheth did of ziba , let him take all , who is all in all , who am i ? and what am i , that i should offer , after this manner . thus his being filled with the fruits of righteousnesse , redounds to the glory of christ , who is his righteousnesse : the more fruitfull a branch in the vine is , the lower he is . that fruitfulnesse in righteousnesse , proceeding from natural and morall principles only , is attended with these forementioned effects , is evident in the scribes and pharisees , who were men very fruitfull in righteousnesse from their own principles , yet did pick and chuse in the wayes of god ; tythe mint and annise , and omit the weightier matters of the law , and of the gospel too ; strain at a gnat , and swallow a camel , as christ tells them , mat. 23. were very industrious to make all they did , feem good and glorious in the eyes of men , but cared not how rotten their hearts were ; the more fruitfull they were , the more proud they were ; all this christ taxes them with , mat. 23. and thereupon cals them , not new creatures , not fruitfull branches in the v●nt , but whited sepulchers , graves , fools , blind , hypocrites , &c. that fruitfulnesse in righteousnesse , proceeding from divine principles , from a christian , as a branch in the vine , doth produce effects contrary to these forementioned , is evident in david and paul , and other fruitfull branche● of the true vine . they were not partiall in the wayes of god , but had respect unto all gods will , psal. 119.128 their great care was to approve their hearts and their wayes to god , as appears , psal. 139.23 . & 119.80 . compared with the 2 cor. 5.9 . their fruitfulneffe did not produce pride , but humility , as appears by the language of as fruitfull a branch , as ever was , eph. 3.8 . less than the least , &c. in the fifth place , fruitfulnesse in righteousnesse , proceeding from moral principles , is usually attended with repose and trust in the work done ; he that is thus fruitfull , rests in the work done ; thus it was with the pharisee that pleaded his actions , his repose was in them , as christs language to the publican intimates ; but contrarywise , he that is fruitfull in righteousnesse , as a branch in the vine , as a branch truly and really in the vine , rests not in any works done by him , but renounces all , in matter of justification ; he sees more unrighteousnefse then righteousnesse in his best actions ; all our righteousnesses are as filthy raggs , said the fruitful branches , isai. 64.6 . all as dross and dung , saith another fruitfull branch , phil. 3.8 . we are unprofitable servants , and have done nothing , that is worth any thing . lord , when saw we thee an hungred ? or athirst ? or a stranger ? or naked ? or sick ? or in prison ? and did minister unto thee ? say the fruitfull branches , matth. 25.37 , 38 , 39. which language evidently declares , that their repose and trust was not in their actions . in the fixth place , fruitfulnesse in righteousnesse , issuing out of morall principles , brings no true peace to the mind and conscience of a man , as appears in the young man that came to christ , to ask , what he should do to be saved ? he was very fruitfull in righteousnesse from his own principles , as appears by his own language , yet very scrupulous , how it would go with him at the last ; which shews , that the effect of his fruitfulnesse was not quietnesse , but unquietnesse ; not confidence , but diffidence : but on the other side , fruitfulnesse , as a branch in the vine , brings sweet peace and rest to the mind , and conscience of a man , as appears , isai. 32.17 , there the lord promises his people , that the work of righteousnesse shall be peace , and the effect of righteousnesse , quietnesse and assurance for ever . the more fruitful in righteousnesse a man is , as a branch in the vine , the more contentment and rest shall he have within himself . object . but do we not see the contrary , may some say , are not many fruitfull branches in the vine very unquiet , and restless , and unsatisfied in conscience about their eternall estate ? answ. this , if granted , doth not null the truth asserted ; for , first , this unquietnesse doth not spring from their fruitfulnesse , but rather from that unfruitfulnesse , which they see in themselves : secondly , the text doth not say , that it alwayes is quietnesse , but it shall be peace and quietnesse , it shall yield him peace and quietnesse at the last , it shall end in peace and quietnesse , and assurance for ever , that shall be the issue of it , with this david concurreth , psal. 37.37 . seventhly , fruitfulnesse in righteousnesse , proceeding from naturall and morali principles , is usually stinted at a stay , bounded and limited by carnal reason ; so far it will go , but no farther ; this is evident in saul , seven dayes he would stay for samuel , but no longer , if samuel come not then , he will offer sacrifice himself ; this mans fruitfulnesse doth not increase , but decrease : but fruitfulnesse in righteousnesse , proceeding from a branch in the vine , is a thriving and a growing fruitfulnesfe , a branch in the vine proposeth no other period to himself in piety , then perfection , and this he labours to the utmost of his ability , through the help of his heavenly husband-man to attain , and goes on dayly by degrees towards , so that he brings forth most fruit in age , as the psalmist speaks , psalm 92.14 . eighthly , fruitfulnesse , proceeding from natural and moral principles , is many times attended with malice ag●inst those that are fruitful in righteousnesse , as branches in the vine , as is evident in the scribes and pharisees , who whre men very fruitful in righteousnesse from their own principles , they prayed , and fasted , and gave alms , tythed mint , and anice , and cummin , and yet were very malicious against christ and his disciples , none more malicious than they were : but fruitfulnesse in righteousnesse , proceeding from a branch in the vine , is not attended with malice to any but with love to all , even to very enemies . ninthly , a man fruitful in righteousnesse from his own principles , brings forth fruit from the good treasure of his brain , and such maxims as are fastened there ; this did the pharisees , and thus do all meer moralists ; but a man fruitful in righteousnesse , as a branch in the vine , brings forth fruit out of the good treasure of his heart , as christ affirmeth , luk. 6.45 . a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things , or , that which is good . a branch in the vine , out of an ho●est and good heart bringeth forth fruit , so saith christ , luk 8.15 . here nore one main difference that is between an evill man and a good , or a meer formalist and a branch truly in the vine ; in an evill man , or a meer formalist , his heart is the treasury of all the evill , which he bringeth forth , but not of the good ; but a good man , or a branch truly in the vine , his heatt is the treasury of the good fruit which he bringeth forth : in the heart of an evill man ( to wit ) a man out of christ , dwelleth no good thing , nothing that is truly and spiritually good , therefore ( out of it ) can come no such fruit : but in the heart of a good man ( to wit ) a branch truly in the vine , dwelleth a principle of faith and love , from which his fruitfulnesse springs ; these constrain him , or lead him along , as the apostle speaks , 2 cor. 5.14 . and herein lies the great and main difference , that is between the fruitfulnesse of a man in christ , and a man out of christ , between a branch in the vine , and a meer motalist , both bring forth fruit , good fruit ; but the one bringeth it forth out of the treasure of an honest and good heart , and the other doth not so ; this christ confirms in that forecited place , luk. 6.45 . in the tenth place , a man whose fruitfulnesse in righteousnesse , springs from naturall and moral principles only , his fruit doth not remain , but rots before it is ripe , fals before it is fit to be gathered : how much fruit soever the best meer moralist brings forth , he brings none at all to perfection , as these texts here quoted do excellently and elegantly set forth , iob 15.33 . he shall shake off his unripe fruit , as the vine , and cast off his flower , as the olive , mat. 13.6 . and when the sun was up , they were scorched , and because they had not roote , they withered away , and bring no fruit to perfection , luk. 8.14 . here we have the period of the fruitfulnesse of the best meer moralist , set down by the holy ghost , all his fruit comes to just nothing at last : but contrarywise , he that is fruitfull in righteousnesse , as a branch in the vine , his fruit remaineth and ●indly ripeneth , as appears by ioh. 15.16 . i have chosen you , and ordained you , saith christ of the living branches of the vine , that ye should bring forth fruit , and that your frui● should remain : and it is said of such an one in ier. 17.8 . that he shall not cease from yielding fruit : and luk. 8.15 . he brings forth fruit with patience : and psal. 1.3 . he bringeth forth his fruit in his season ; by all which it is evident , that a branch truly in the vine , hath this priviledg and character , beyond the best meer moralist or formalist whatsoever , how little soever his fruit of righteousnesse seems to be , either in his own eyes or the eyes of other men , yet his fruit remaineth and kindly ripeneth , it cometh to perfection at the length . eleventhly , a man fruitfull in righteousnesse from naturall and morall principles , brings forth fruit to himself only , as israel did , israel is an empty vin● , he bringeth forth fruit to him●elf , hos. 10.1 . israel was a fruit-bearing vine , yet but an empty vine ; how comes this to passe ? why the next words tell us , he brings forth fruit to himself . thus it is with a man , whose fruitfulnesse springs from naturall and morall principles only , he brings forth fruit to himself , to his own base ends , his own honour , profit , and the like ; but he that is fruitfull in righteousnesse , as a branch in the vine , bringeth forth fruit unto god , to the glory of god , as the scripture speaks , rom. 7.4 . his fruitfulnesse springs from , and depends upon christs conjunction with his soul , and tends chiefly to the advancing god in christ , god is both the efficient and fina●● cause of his fruitfulnesse . lastly , a fruitfull branch in the vine , is usually most pulled and cudgelled , ●ressed and oppressed ; ioseph was a fruitfull branch in the vine , even a fruitfull bough by a well , whose branch runs over the wall , yet the text tels us , that the archers sorely grieved him , they shot at him , and hated him , gen. 49.22 , 23. as it was with ioseph , so it is usually with other fruitfull branches in the vine , satan and men stirred up by satan , do impugne , molest and trouble them more than they do meer moralists , this jesus christ hinted to his disciples , when he told them , in the world ye shall have tribulation . lay all these together , and make a touch-stone of them to try thy fruitfulnesse by , and according as thou findest it , agree or disagree with them , make up the conclusion . a fourth character or appearance of a new cre●ture , is this , he is one that sinneth not , one that doth not commit sinne , so saith the text , 1 ioh. 3.6 . whosoever abideth in him sinneth not ; and ver . 9. whosoever is born of god ▪ doth not commit sinne ; this assertion is a touch-stone of the holy ghosts making , therefore it must needs be both necessary and safe for a christia● to try himself by , and this i thi●k is such , as ( if rightly understood ) may afford much comfort , to a poore child of god , when many other appearances of his new birth are hidden from him , though in the letter ( i confess ) it seems one of the unlikeliest texts in scripture so to do . whosoever abideth in him , sinneth not , saith the ●ext ; what shall i hence conclude , that a branch in christ , a true beleever , a new creature , is totally freed from the power , act , and being of sinne , so that he doth not nor cannot sinne actually ? ( god forbid ) this were to give the scripture the lye , which saith , that in many things we sin all , even [ we ] that are born again . and if we say that we have no sinne , we deceive our selves , and the truth is not in us , 1 ioh. 1.8 . and rom. 7.23 . a new creature saith , i see a law in my members , rebelling against the law of my mind , and leading me captive to the law of sinne , which is in my members . he doth not say ( i saw ) as one speaking of the time past , before conversion , but [ i see ] as one speaking in the ( present tence ) and of the time after conversion ; he doth not say , bringing me into captivity to the law of sinne ( which was ) in my members , but ( unto the law of sinne which is in my members ; ) by all which it is evident , that this text means no such thing as immunity and freedom from the motions , act , or being of sinne : he therefore that shall hence conclude , that he is totally freed from the power and being of sinne , so that he doth not nor cannot sinne no more than the glorified saints , or christ himself , doth make of a touch stone , a mill-stone to grind him to powder . object . but if this be not the meaning of this scripture , what then is the meaning of it ? answ. the meaning of it ( ●s i humbly conceive ) is this , that a true beleever , one that lives in christ , and christ in him , one that 〈◊〉 again , and made a new creature , sinne●●ot as an u●regenerate person doth , he give● not himself over to the commission of any known sinne , neither allows himself in the omission of any known duty ; he is not a willing slave to any sin ; he sins not knowingly , without damping and quenching , in some measure , for some time the actings of grace , and the spirit of god in him , he doth not commit sin ; he doth commit sinne in the apostles sense ( as i conceive ) which doth sin of purpose , and with the consent of the whole will , and with the whole sway of his affections , this every one in the state of nature doth , he sins with the consent of the whole will , and with the whole sway of his affections , and must needs do so , because he hath no principle fastened on those faculties to cross him , therefore in sinning , he doth the evill which he would do , the evill which he loves . but it is quite other wayes with a child of god , who is born again , and made a new creature , put in a state of grace ; he doth not ( so sin , ) neither indeed can he , because his feed ( to wit ) the grace of the spirit remaineth in him ; though he sinne , and sinne in many things , yet doth he not sinne with the consent of his whole will , nor with the whole sway of his affections in any thing . ( the evill which i would not that do i ) saith a new creature , what i hate that do i. the will , as all other faculties of the soul , is but in part renewed ; christ is formed in it imperfectly , it hath in it ( at the best estate here ) a regenerate part , and an unregenerate part , and so far forth as it is renewed , it doth nill the evill which the unregenerate part doth chuse ; therefore a regenerate man saith , it is no more i that do it , and so the apostle here , he that is born of god , doth not commit sin , because he doth it not as regenerate , but as unregenerate . so for the affections ; a renewed man cannot sinne with the whole sway of his affections , because the renewed part of them doth decline , and oppose what the unrenewed part of them doth imbrace and cleave to . this contradiction , in the same faculty of the soul , is proper and peculiar to a child of god , in his state of imperfection , and may therefore well serve to decipher him out , and distinguish between a new creature and a meer naturalist . for although there may be , and oftentimes is , a contradiction and combate in an unregenerate person , between severall and distinct faculties of the soul , the appetite against reason , the will or affections against conscience , yet there never is a contradiction in the same faculty of the soul , in an unregenerate person , neither indeed can there be , for there is nothing in it to oppose ; this combate is peculiar to a new creature , where there is flesh and spirit in the same faculty , and what the one chuseth , the other refuseth , it may therefore well be a christians touch-stone to try himself by . there is yet another way , whereby a man may be said to commit sinne , which is far more dangerous than the former , yea , remedilesse , and that is , when a man doth wilfully and obstinately oppose that which the word of god , and the spirit of god doth throughly convince his conscience is the truth , and ought to be followed , out of meer malice , scorn and contempt , and this is that which ( i think ) this text points at chiefly ; but ( thus ) a child of god , a member of christ , a new creature cannot commit sinne , because his seed remaineth in him , as the apostle here speaks , he that thus commiteth sin is of the divell , and sealed by him to hels eternity , 1 ioh. 3.8 . ch . 5.16 . mat. 12.32 . in the fifth place ; a new creature , is one that groans under the remainder of the old man in him ( to wit ) the naturall propensity which he finds in himself to all evill ; the inticing tempter of corrupt nature , which makes him a verse to all good , and prone to all evill , as that which spoiles all his good dutyes , as that which is his greatest burden , bewailes it as that alone which makes his condition wretched and miserable , longs earnestly for a total deliverance from this burden of corrupt nature , prayes earnestly for strength against all the inticings thereof , and rests of christ by faith , in the use of all lawfull meanes by him appointed , for a total deliverance at length , and strength against all the inticings thereof , until total delivera●ce be granted , all which is evident in paul , rom. 7. and truly i never yet found any burden like this burden , though i have born many ; this burden alone had not christ borne the heavior end of it , had sunk my soul in despaire , or driven it upon desperate attempts ; the time hath been , when to have been freed from the power of natural corruption , my soul hath chosen death , rather than life , and longed for d●ath , more then for hid treasures , as iob speaks ; yea , when it would have joyed in that which nature abhors , an untimely death by the hand of man , would have infinitely more joyed me , than the acquiring of the whole earth with all it affords , only for the freeing of my soul from the power of corrupt nature , which was so potent , that my unbeleeving heart did often conclude , that i should one time or other fall by it , and by it be undone to all eternity ; yet the lord was my stay , and prevented what i much feared , and out of this deep the lord at length delivered me , to the glory of christ my keeper and deliverer , and the incouragement of others in the like case ; i speak this , much more i could speake on this subject experimentally , but i forbeare . in the sixt place , a new creature is one , that minds the things of the spirit , is led by the spirit , and walks after the spirit ; these expressions tend all to one and the same end , namely , to denominate a new creature , therefore i put them together . a new creature , is one that minds the things of the spirit , so saith the text , rom. 8.5 . they that are after the sl●sh , do mind the things of the flesh , but they that are after the spirit , the things of the spirit ; as carnall hearts mind carnall things , so spirituall hearts , mind spirituall things ; a new creature minds the things of the spirit , after the rule of the spirit , the word of god ; he minds the things of the spirit in the first place , he minds them savourly , chiefly and principally , more than the things of the flesh , and declares it by following after them industriously ; the apprehension of the love and favour of god , and that which leades thereunto ( to wit ) the pure ordinances of god , are the only jewels which he esteems and follows after , and for the acquiring and retaining of these , he will part with all the good of the world , and count it but dung , as is evident in the parable of the merchant-man , who sould all to buy the pearl : a new creature , his great care , desire , and indeavour is , to be more new : o that i were more dead to sinne , more alive to righteousnesse ! that i were lesse in the flesh , more in the spirit ! lesse in my self , more in christ ! saith a new creature ; and these are the things which he minds and follows after . he is led by the spirit of god , so saith the apostle , rom. 8.14 . as many as are led by the spirit of god , they are the sons of god. this language plainly shews who are the adopted sonnes of god , and so consequently , who are new creatures ; for to be such a sonne of god , as this text speaks of , and to be a new creature , is all one in effect , and he that is such , is led by the spirit of god ; that is his mark , set by the holy ghost , by the hand of the apostle . the spirit of god may be said to lead man two manner of wayes ; more generally , or , more specially ; as a qualifier only , or as a sanctifier ; and that leading of the spirit which denominates our son ship , or the creature new , is not the more generall , but the more speciall leading of the spirit ( to wit ) the spirit leading , as a sanctifier , as an inward sanctifier , as well as an outward . a man may then be faid to be led by the spirit of god , according to the meaning of this text , ( as i humbly conceive ) when h● , by a speciall work of the spirit of god upon his soul is inabled voluntarily , and cordially to resign up himself , in all things to be guided by the spirit of god , and cordially and couragiously to decline all other leaders ( contrary unto this . ) 1. he that is thus led by the spirit of god , is not under the law , saith the apostle , gal. 5.18 . if ye be led by the spirit , ye are not under the law : by [ law ] in this text , some divines take to be meant the moral law , and so taking it , conclude , that he that is led by the spirit , is freed from the curse of the moral law , which is very true ; of this mind was mr perkins : others by law here , understand the domineering power of corrupt nature , that which the apostle cals , the law of sinne , rom. 7 25. of this mind was luther : [ law ] thus taken , the conclusion is , that he that is led by the spirit of god , is not under the domineering , reigning power of sinne ; he is no servant of sinne , he doth not voluntarily yeeld himself to obey any sinne in the lusts thereof , as an unregenerate person doth , with free consent ; [ law ] taken in this latter sence , is that which ( i think ) this text points at , by the scope of this chapter , and all the passages of it ; and taken in this sense , i am sure it is most for my purpose , therefore i pitch upon it ; he that is led by the spirit of god , as a sanctifier , is in great measure freed from this law of sinne . when this law , ( to wit ) lust , leads , as commander in chief , the person is soon led away with a spirit of errour and inticers thereunto , as the apostle shews , ● tim. 3.6 . 2. but he whom the spirit of god leads , as commander in chief , beleeves not every spirit , but tries the spirits whether they are of god , as the apostle exhorts all christians to do , 1 ioh. 4.1 . he makes the written word his touchstone to try them by ; he knows that whatsoever is revealed contrary to the word of god , is not of the spirit , for the spirit of god doth not dispense things contrary unto , but agreeable with the word of god , as christ affirms , ioh. 16.13 , 14 , 15. the spirit ( saith christ ) shall not speak of himself , but he shall glorifie me , for he shall receive of mine and shew it unto you ; he shall take of mine , and shew it unto you ; which language plainly shews , that the spirit of god doth make use of the word of god , and revealeth the meaning of it , but never contrad●cts it : note this , all you that boast of the spirit , and yet slight and contemn the word . 3. he whom the spirit of god leads after a special manner , he leades into all truth , as christ affirms , ioh. 16.13 . he shall guide you into all truth , that is , into all truth necessary for you , in such a sphere and condition , as god hath assigned you unto , truth in judgment , in heart , in practice . but here note , that although the spirit of god doth lead into all truth , yet the spirit doth not this all at once ; neither doth the spirit this ordinarily , without the reading and preaching of the word , but by it , specially where it may be had . 4. he whom the spirit of god thus leads , he fits and inables to walk with god , under ordinances , as appears by ezek. 36.27 . where god gives his spirit , he gives him for a leader , and whom the spirit of god leads , it inables to walk with god , in the use of his ordinances , as that text plainly shews , ( even in the most glorious times of the gospel , for of these the prophet here speaks . ) note this , all you that boast of the spirit , and think you are led by the spirit , and yet cry down ordinances . 5. he whom the spirit of god thus leads , he quickeneth in some measure , rom. 8.11 . where the spirit of god dwels as a leader , he dwels as a quickener , he quickeneth our souls even while they dwell in houses of clay , in mortal bodies , he quickeneth them in every faculty , and to every holy duty , though not all in like measure , nor to all duties at the same time . note this , all you that not being under a temptation to distrust , think you are led by the spirit of god , and yet find no quickening at all by the spirit , neither desire any , nor feel want of it . 6. he that is thus led by the spirit of god , worships god in spirit and in truth , he doth serve god in newnesse of spirit , as the apostle affirms , phil. 3.3 . he doth inwardly , and sincerely , worship and serve god as well as outwardly and formally : he knows his leader is not pleased with any outward performances , severed from the service of the spirit ( to wit ) the inward man , and therefore he strives with all his might , to exercise all the powers of his soul , and act , and improve all his graces in , and by the service of god , being exceedingly desirous to serve his leader acceptably . note this , all formal and persunctary servers of god , that think you are led by the spirit of god , and all gods people , that think you are not led by the spirit of god , and yet exceedingly desire and labour thus to do . 7. he whom the spirit of god thus leadeth , he helpeth his infirmities , the spirit ( saith the apostle ) helpeth our infi●mities , meaning theirs to whom he is a leader ; but how doth the spirit that ? why , by discovering our infirmities unto us , and supplying what is wanting in us , out of christs fulnesse , which he holds up and applies to us . the text doth not say , that the spirit perfectly cureth our infirmities , [ but he helpeth our infirmities , ] he helpeth them , by doing that for us , which we cannot do our selves , rom. 8.26 . this each mans experience , which is thus led by the spirit will tell him . 8. he that is thus led by the spirit , finds so much sweetnesse in his leader , that he still desires to be more led by him , to be filled with the spirit , as the scripture speaks ; he never thinks he hath enough of the spirit , but still desires more , and his soul follows hard after the lord in prayer , and in the use of all meanes by him appointed , for the attaining a greater measure of the spirit than he yet hath . 9. he that is thus led by the spirit of god , is led by the written word of god , the revealed will of god , which is the instrument , rule , and demonstrator of the spirit of god , in reference to man ; and he that hath the word of god , or might have , and will not be led by it , hath no ground to conclude , that he is led by the spirit of god , as it is evident by isai. 8.20 . these leaders ( to wit ) ( the word and the spirit , ) are never opposite one to another . 10. he that is thus led by the spirit of god , is chary of the sword of the spirit ( the word of god ) and fights with it against all his spiritual enemies , the world , the flesh , and the divel ; this is evident in the natural sonne of god , jesus christ , mat. 4.4 , 7 , 10. and in many of the adopted children of god , of whom we read in scripture . note this , all you that slight the wor● of god and fight not with it , but against it , and yet make your boast , that you are led by the spirit . 11. he that is thus led by the spirit of god doth walk in the spirit , and he doth walk after the spirit ; but what is it to walk ●n the spirit , or to walk after the spirit ? these expressions ( i think ) differ not much . to walk in the spirit ( saith luther ) is to wrestle in spirit against the flesh , and to follow spirituall motions . walking in the spirit ( saith mr perkins ) is to order our lives according to the direction and motion of the spirit . a man may then be said to walk after the spirit ( saith ios. ex●n . ) when in respect of the trade and course of his life , he walks not according to the guidance , and motion of his corrupt nature , but of the holy spirit . hence ( i conceive ) a man may then be said to walk [ in and after the spirit ] when he walks not after the flesh , as the apostle speaks ; but after the rules of the spirit , given in the word of god , and according to the motions , dictates , and guidance of the spirit ( which are never contrary unto , but agreeable with the word of god ) when he doth not voluntarily , and approvedly obey the dictates of corrupt nature , but the word and spirit of god , when he doth walk according to the rule of the written word ( at lest , in his aim desire and endeavour . here note two or three things ; he that is thus led by the spirit of god , walks after the spirit , more strongly , or mor● weakly , as he is more or lesse new . he walks after the spirit , more swiftly , or more slowly , as chris● by his spirit draws him more strongly or mor● weakly ; some christ by his spirit draws more strongly and they run after him , as the church speaks , cant. 1.4 . they follow their leader vigorously , unweariedly , wit● delight ; others he draws more weakly , 〈◊〉 they walk more slowly after him , according to the different dispensations of the spirit of god ; so doth man move more strongly or more weakly , more swiftly or more slowly , in the wayes of god. then again note this , man at his best estate here follows his leader , walks after the spirit , but as a blind , lame impotent creature , if at one time he runs after his leader , and follows him vigorously , at another time he is weary and walks slowly ; now he stumbles , and anon fals , and were it not that his leader , is very able , wise , and watchfull , he would give over quite and fall irrecoverably . 12. in the next place , a man that is thus led by the spirit of god , is a curagious and resolute opposer of all leaders , contrary unto this leader ; if the world tempt and strive to be his leader , he opposes that ; if the flesh tempt , and strive to be his leader , he opposes that ; if the divell tempt , and strive to be his leader , he resisteth him ; and all this he doth in the strength of the spirit of god , whom he hath chosen for his leader ; all this is evident in paul , a man led by the spirit of god , after a special manner ; his courage and resolution was such , that he maintained a constant warre with these three enemies , on this ground , that they would have been his leader , they had led him before , & would have led him again , but this he had rather dye then yield to , when once led by the spirit , as his own testimony , in divers places proves . he that thus doth , may be , and sometimes is led captive , by some one or other of these enemies ; this the apostle paul sadly complains of , as an experimented truth , rom. 7.23 . 13. finally he whom the spirit of god thus leads , he leads so long as he needeth leading ; he will lead us over death , unto glory , psal. 48.14 . compared with psal. 73.24 . he whom the spirit of god once leads as a sanctifier , he never totally nor finally gives over leading , but leads him through grace unto glory . lay all these things together , and consider , whether it be thus with thy selfe , yea , or nay ; and if upon a true tryal thou findest it thus with thee ; conclude thou mayst safely , that thou art one led by the spirit of god after a special manner , and so consequently a sonne of god by adoption , an heir of heaven , a new creature . the seventh and last appearance of a new creature , which i will mention here , is thi● ; he is one that is joyned to the lord jesus chr●i● , and one spiri● with him . that he is one joyned to the lord jesus christ , is evident from the words of this text , if any man be in christ , he is a new creature ; here it is granted , that a new creature is in christ ; e●go , it must needs then be granted , that he is joyned to christ ; for to be in a thing , is more then to be joyned to it , and the greater doth necessarily comprehend the lesser ; but according to the meaning of the apostle here , these expressions of being in christ , and being joyned to christ , i conceive comes all to one . that he that is thus united to christ , is one spirit with christ , is evident by the language of the apostle , 1 cor. 6.17 . he that is joyned to the lord , is one spirit ; in these few words we have a compleat description of a new creature , in his conjunction with christ , and in his conformity to christ ; in his union with christ and communion with him ; of this union with christ , what it is , and how effected the reader may see more in pag. 2 , 3. this only i will add here , and so proceed ; that the joyning to the lord , here spoken of , is not a bare joyning in nature only , by christ's participation of our humane nature , neither is it a joyning in glory ; but it is a joyning to the lord in grace . a new creature is one then , that is joyned to the lord in grace ; and he that is thus joyned to the lord is one spirit , that is , he is one spirit with the lord jesus christ , he is one with christ in every thing , one with christ , in affection ; one with him , in action ; one with him , in function ; one with him , in life and conversation ; christ is formed in him in all these , and he thereby made one spirit with christ. 1. he is one with christ in affection ; christ is formed there , he loves what christ loves , and hates what christ hates ; christ loves righteousnesse , and hates iniquity ; all iniquity , heb. 1.9 . and so doth he that is joyned , united and married to the lord , and so become a new creature , he loves righteousnesse and hates iniquity , as truly , though not so strongly , as christ doth , as the language of such an one declares , psalm 119. verse 127 , 128. 2. he is one with christ in action ; christ is formed there ▪ he walks by the same rule , he obeys the same law that christ doth ( to wit ) the will of the father ; the rule of christ's action was the will of his father . i ( saith he ) came down from heaven , not to do mine own will , but the will of him that sent me , joh. 6.38 . i seek not mine own will , but the will of the father which hath sent me . joh. 5.30 . my meat is to do the will of him that sent me , and finish his work joh. 4.34 . not as i will , but as thou wilt , mat. 26.39 . christ and a new creature , walk by one and the same rule ; the head doth not walk one way , and the members another ; the head doth not walk ●y one rule , and the members by another , but both by one and the same rule , to one and the same end ( to wit ) the glory of the same god ; christ's rule was the will of the father , christ's ultimate end of all his actions , was the glory of the father , and he that is joyned to the lord jesus christ ▪ is one with him in this ; christ and a new creature are one in their ends and aimes ; lord , what wilt thou have me to do ? saith a new creature , i desire thy will should be the rule of my action ; i desire christ may be magnified , in my body , whether it be by life or by death ; this is the language of one joyned to the lord jesus christ , and one spirit with him ; he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him , the same is true ( saith christ ) and he that seeketh the glory of christ , according to the rule and examp●e of christ , the same is [ new ] say i. 3. thirdly , christ and a new creature , are one in function ; christ is a prophet , and he that is joyned unto him , is one with him in this ; chris● is a prophet to teach his members , and his members are one prophet with him , to exhort and build up themselves and one another in their m●st holy faith ; but with these differences . christ hath the spirit of prophesie , as a fountain , and without measure , in all fulnesse ; but h●s members as streams issuing from that fountain , by gift , and of his ●ulnesse ▪ ch●ist is an universal prophet to teach all his pe●ple , without limitation of persons or place ; but all his members are not so , they are limited prophe●s , and m●y not go beyond the bounds of their proper sp●ere , not beyond the bounds set by this great prophet , in his word . christ is a priest , and he that is joyned to him , is one with him in thi● ; christ hath made all ●is members priests to god , rev. 1.6 . to offer up spirituall sacrifice to god ; christ hath offered up himself to god , he dyed and s●crificed hims●lf to god ; and he that is j●●ned unto him is made conformable unto his death , he hath sacri●iced all to christ , his whole self , his own reason , will , righteousnesse and wickednesse ; all within him and without him ; he is become dead to sinne , dead to his own righteousnesse , dead to the world , dead to all by the body of christ ; they that are christs have crucified the flesh , with the affections and lusts , saith the apostle , gal. 5.24 . christ is a king , to rule over his people , and over his enemies , and he that is joyned unto the lord christ , is one with him in his kingly function ; he hath made us kings , saith the text , rev. 1.6 . kings in a spiritual sense , to rule over our thoughts , affections , words , and actions , over all our lusts , so as sin doth not rule , nor reign in us , within nor without , as an approved lord , christ and a new creature are one in life and conversation ; a new creature , is one dead with christ , and risen again with him , to newn●sse of life ; he that is joyned to the lord is one spirit , christ is formed in his life and conversation , by transforming him , in hi● life and conversation , and conforming him in his lise and conversation , to the image , and example of christ ; so as he may truly say with the apostle , it is no more i that live , but christ that dwelleth in me . christ was holy and harmlesse in his nature , life and conversation , heb. 7.26 . he w●s inwardly holy , as well as outwardly holy ; holy in his thoughts , in his affections , in his words , and in his actions ; holy in all mann●r of conversation , in all places , in all company , in all times , and variety of conditions : holy in life , and holy in death , and he that is joyned to the lord jesus christ , is holy as he is holy ; but with this difference . christ our head was holy by nature , but we his members , are holy by grace only . christ our head was holy with a perfect holinesse , but we his members have only a sincere holynesse in this life , our conformity unto christ is in kind , not in degree . christ our head had a derivative holynesse ; he could derive holynesse into his members , and infuse it into them which had none ; but this is proper and peculiar unto him ; this cannot the best of his members do . he that is joyned unto the lord , is one spirit ; one holy spirit dwelleth in the head , and in the members ; in the head without measure , in the members , as it seemeth good unto the head to infuse it . christ and his have one heart , and they have chosen one way ; one way of holynesse , leading to a place of perfect holynesse and happinesse ; they speak one language , mind one thing , aim at one end ; one they are in the state of grace , and one they shall be for ever in glory ; he that is joyned to the lord , is one spirit . a new creature , a true member of jesus christ , is better known by his spirit , then his outward man ; for the root of the matter , ( as iob speaks ) is within him , his circumcision is inward , in his heart and spirit ; he is one spirit with the lord jesus christ. ye know not what spirit ye are of , said christ to his disciples , luk. 9.55 . but this text shews what spirit a new creature , a true member of christ is of , he is one spirit with christ ; he that is joyned to the lord , is one spirit . a new creature , one joyned to the lord in grace , is very watchful over his outward man , over his words and deeds , but especially over his heart and spirit , to keep them stedfast with god : thus was christ , and he that is joyned to the lord , is one spirit . quest. but what spirit was the lord iesus christ of ? answ. 1. the spirit of christ was a spirit of truth , it is so called , ioh. 14.17 , & 16.13 . we read of a lying spirit in the 2 chro. 18.21 , 22. and this is powred out in these dayes , wherein so many lyes and slanders are daily broached to the dishonour of god , and the truth ; but this spirit is not one with christs spirit , but with antichrists ; christs spirit is the spirit of truth , but antichrists spirit is the spirit of falshood , error and all deceiveableness , as appears by the 2 thes. 2.10 . 2. christ was of a humble , meek , and lowly spirit , as himself affirms , matth. 11.29 . and the prophet zechariah of him , zech. 9.9 . of this christ gave many reall testimonies when here on earth ; he was not only humble , meek , and lowly in his carriage , and in shew , but in heart and spirit ; he was really such , as his birth , life and death did testifie . 3. christ was of a just and righteous spirit ; so saith the prophet zech 9.9 . he is just ; christ was not only morally just ; but he was divinely just , as is evident by his government ; the revealed will of god is the cannon by which he rules , they which walk contrary unto it , sooner or later he punisheth ; and they which walk according to it , he sooner or latter rewardeth ; he doth judg with righteousness , and reprove with equity , ( saith the prophet ) isai. 11.4 . 4. christ was of a mercifull , tender , and compassionate spirit ; he had compassion on the souls of his enemies , as that text , ezek. 16. ver . 4 , 5 , 6. with many others shew ; he had compassion on soul and body , when he beheld ierusalem , and thought on her sinne and sufferings , he pittied her , prayed for her , admonished her , and wept over her , luke 19.41 , 42. all which were reall testimonies of his compassionate spirit , and the texts in the magin illustrate this . 5. christ was of a holy and heavenly spirit : he was holy , saith the author to the hebrews ; his spirit is called , a holy spirit , eph. 4.30 . christs spirit was heavenly , he was all for the things of the other world ; his thoughts , words and works all steered their course thither-wards , which evidently declared his heavenly spirit . 6. christ was of a publique and industrious spirit , he sought not his own , but our good ; when on earth , he was still doing good to soul or body , mat. 4.23 . he minded not himself , his own ends , or ease , but his fathers businesse , and that he followed industriously , as appears by luk. 2.46 , 49. compared with ioh. 4.34 . which plainly shews , he had a publique and industrious spirit . 7. christ was of a soft and flexible spirit , he had a spirit pliable to all his fathers will , a spirit easie to be intreated , a sympathizing spirit , in all their afflictions he was afflicted ( saith the prophet ) isai. 63.9 . he had a broken and a contrite spirit , a spirit broken with sorrow for our sinnes , all which were reall testimonies of his soft and flexible spirit . 8. christ was of a lively spirit , and of a descerning spirit , he had a spirit directly opposite to that spirit spoken of isai. 29.10 . he had a spirit , spiritually alive ; hence it was , that he was of quick understanding in the feare of the lord , as the prophet speaks , isa. 11.3 . 9. christ was of a patient spirit , he had a spirit slow to anger , and long suffering , he took all patiently , from god and man , without repining in heart or tongue ; he was oppressed , and he was afflicted , yet he opened not his mouth , saith the prophet , &c. isa. 53.7 . when he was reviled , he reviled not again ; when he suffered , he threatned not , 1 pet. 2.23 . these were reall testimonies of his patient spirit . 10. christ was of a loving spirit , even towards his very enemies , he prayed for his enemies , luk. 23.34 . died for his enemies , rom. 5.10 . and all this out of love to them , which was a reall testimony of his loving spirit . 11. christ was of a praying spirit , he spent much time in prayer , as the evangelists shew , with much delight and industry , as appears by mar. 1.35 . mat. 14.23 . luk. 6.12 . ioh. 17. chap. which shews he was of a praying spirit . 12. christ was of an obeying spirit , of a self-denying spirit ; he denied his own will ( as man ) to do his fathers will , as appears by luk. 12.14 . compared with ioh. 5.30 . the last words , matth. 26.39 . phil. 2.8 . by all which it is evident , that christ was of an obeying spirit . 13. christ was of a thankfull spirit , that which was matter of joy to him , he made matter of praise and thanksgiving to his father , as appears by matth. 11.25 . mar. 6.41 . christ had a spirit thankfull to god , and thankfull to man ; whatever kindnesse was shewed unto him , returned upon the head of the doer with abundant recompence , and this lively domonstrates his thankfull spirit . 14. christ had a spirit delighted in the exercise of all gods ordinances , and all holy duties , as his frequent exercise therein , and exhortation thereunto , do fully evince ; he was still ready to take every opportunity to instruct the people , as appears by mat. 5.1 . mar. 2.2 . & 6.34 . luk. 5.1 , 3. and he exhorted his disciples to duty , mat. 9. ult . by which it is evident , that his spirit was delighted therewith . 15. christ was of a world contemning spirit , as his birth , life , and death , did fully declare and evince , for in all these he shewed his contempt of the world , both in the good and evill of it . 16. christ was not of a time-serving , but of a god-glorifying spirit ; he sought not his own , but his fathers glory , in all times and things , as his own language , ioh. 12.28 . & 17.4 . shews , christ sought his fathers glory in all things , and above all things ; which evidently declares , he had a god-glorifying spirit . 17. christ was of a faithfull spirit ; he was faithfull to god in all things ; he was faithfull to him that appointed him , saith the author to the hebrews , heb. 3.2 . he was a faithfull high-priest , he is called , faithfull and true , rev. 19.11 . the faithfull and true witnesse , rev. 3.14 . by all which is evident , that christ was of a faithfull spirit . 18. christ had an elivated spirit , his spirit was raised above the world , and the things of the world ; his spirit did sore aloft and solace it self , in the things of the other world ; it did solace it self in god , in what he did injoy in god , before he left the bosome of his father , and what he should injoy with him again , when he had finished the work , which his father gave him to do . this is evident by the language of christ , ioh. 17.5 . and by that which is spoken of him , heb. 12.2 . 19. christ was of a stable spirit ; he did not stagger in spirit , or reel up and down from one opinion to another , but his spirit was stedfast with god , and unmoveable , in calmes and in storms ; he was yesterday , and to day , and the same for ever : how variable soever the world was in their opinion of him , yet he was still the same , as appears , heb. 13.8 . which evidently demonstrates , his spirit was stedfast with god. 20. in fine , christ had a spirit full of all divine excellency and beauty , he had a spirit of wisdome and vnderstanding , a spirit of counsell and might , a spirit of knowledge and of the feare of the lord , a spirit indued with all divine excellency , as the prophet shews , isa. 11.2 , all these qualifications were in the spirit of the lord jesus christ ; and he that is joyned unto the lord , he that is ingrafted into christ , and made new by him , is one spirit with him ; he that is joyned unto the lord is one spirit , saith this text. here note , that this text doth not say , that he that is joyned unto the lord is equal with him , but that he that is joyned unto the lord [ is one ] with him , he that is joyned unto the lord is one spirit ; christ , and he that is joyned unto him , are one in spirit . the particulars fore-mentioned , shew what spirit the lord jesus christ was of , and this text tels us , what spirit he that is one with christ is of , what spirit a new creature is of ; he that is joyned to the lord , is one spirit , he is one spirit with the lord. as face answers face in water , so doth the heart of man to man , saith solomon ; as a picture answers to the life , so doth the spirit of a new creature , answer to the spirit of christ , saith the text , he that is joyned to the lord is one spirit . wouldest thou then know thy self , and thy condition truely , i know no rule in scripture more infallible , than this in this text , he that is joyned to the lord is one spirit ; consider what hath been said on this text ; consider what spirit christ was of , and then examine thy self whether thou art one spirit with him ; consider whether the spirit that is in thee , do truly answer to the life , to the spirit of christ ; if so , know that it argues thy state good , thy creation new , christ and thee truely one . object . but i find so much hypocrisie , so much pride , so much hardnesse of heart , and unholinesse in my self , may a poor soul say here , that i cannot hence conclude , that i am one joyned to the lord , and one spirit with him ; but rather that i am joyned to the devill , and one spirit with him : i cannot hence conclude , that i am a new creature , but rather that i am in the state of nature still . answ. this text doth not say , that he that is joyned to the lord is totally freed from these corruptions , but that he is one spirit , he is one spirit with the lord iesus christ , he is one with him in spirit : and this a man may be said to be , when he hath these divine qualifications of spirit forementioned , truely wrought in him , though weakly and imperfectly , and much flesh , much corruption remaining in him ; this must be granted , otherwayes no man in this life could be said to be joyned to the lord , and one spirit with him . 2. but secondly , a true sense of these corruptions , accompanied with a loathing of them , and warring against them in faith , is so farre from rendering thee such as the objection speaks of , that it strongly argues the clean contrary ( to wit ) that thou art indeed joyned to the lord , and one spirit with him ; that thou art incorporate into christ , and made new by him ; for it is from christ , and that new quality of grace , which he hath infused into thy soul , that this sense of corruption and antipathy springs ; hence it is that corrupt nature becomes a burden on the spirit , naturally it is not so . the apostle paul , when joyned to the lord ▪ and one spirit with him , when ingrafted into christ , and made new by ●im ; then , and never till then , did he groan under this burden ; then , and not before , did he complain of this body of death , and the motions of lusts that warre in our members . wouldest thou then know from scripture-grounds , what thy condition is ; whether christ be in thee and thou in christ , go through what hath been said on these two texts ; if christ be in you , the body is dead , because of sinne , &c. and this we are now upon ; if any man be in christ he is a new creature . consider whether thou art become dead to sinne , alive to righteousnesse , a new creature : consider whether christ be formed in thee , whether thou hast a new heart , whether thou livest in christ , as a branch in the vine , and bringest forth fruit in him : whether thou art one that doth not commit sinne , in a scripture sense : whether thou art one that groans under the remainder of the old man in thee , as thy greatest burden : whether thou art one that minds the things of the spirit , that art led by the spirit , and walks after the spirit . finally , whether thou art one spirit with the lord iesus christ : and if upon a true tryall of thy self , thou findest by what hath been said , that it is thus with thy self , conclude thou maist safely ( as i conceive ) to thy comfort , with the church in the canticles , my well-beloved is mine , and i am his ; that thy estate is good , thy interest in christ true and real , and thy title to heaven , such as no enemy whatsoever , no not satan , nor sinne , shall be able to deprive thee of it , whatever satan or thy own conscience , abused by satan , may say to thē contrary . fatherly chastisements . heb. 12.6 . whom the lord loveth he chasteneth , and scourgeth every sonne whom he receiveth . in these words , the apostle fetcheth an argument of divine and fatherly love , from a rod , and concludes sonneship , by adoption , from chastisement , whom the lord loveth he chasteneth , and scourgeth every sonne whom he receiveth the position of the apostle , is confirmed by a plurality of witnesses , both solomon and christ concurre with paul herein ; whom the lord loveth he correcteth , even as a father the son in whom he delighteth , saith solomon , prov. 3.12 . as many as i love , i rebuke and chasten , saith christ , rev. 3.19 . the truth of this position hath been experimented by a cloud of witnesses , by all the sonnes and daughters of god , that have gone before us unto glory , and will be by all that shall follow after us , and therefore needs not much proving . the apostle tells us , that through many afflictions , we must enter into the kingdom of god. and in ver . 8. of this chap. saith , that if ye be without chastisement ( whereof all are partakers ) then are ye bastards , and not sonnes . immunity from correction , is rather a character of a bastard , than of an adopted son of god ; it is rather a note of an ismael , than of an isaac ; it is rather the mark of a goate , than of a sheep ; it is rather a demonstrator of a child of this world , than of a disciple of christ : for the crosse is a reculicen which all christs disciples must weare , as he himself tels us : in a word , it is rather a badge of an heire of hell , than of an heire of heaven ; of a reprobate , rather than an elect , and adopted child of god , for chastisement is the universal lot of all gods children , as this text tels us , whom the lord loveth he chastiseth , yea , scourgeth . the most people in the world , fetch their evidence of gods love , from gods liberall dispensations of his gifts , either natural or supernatural , eternal or internal , transient gifts : i have this gift liberally dispensed to me of god , saith one , and i have that gift liberally dispensed to me of god , saith another . i have health ( saith one ) and i have wealth , saith another ; i have no changes , but constant prosperity , through my pollicy in winding with the times : i have esteem in the world , and successe in every thing i go about ortake in hand ; therefore doubtlesse god loves me ; ergo. another looks higher than this , and saith , i have natural parts , and supernatural gifts liberally dispensed to me of god , above what many others have : i have wit and understanding , &c. more than many others : i have knowledg , and i have utterance , and herein excell many : i have esteem among the godly wise , and a name to live : i have a form of godlinesse , and a shadow of every grace of the spirit , many talents in my hand , and hence conclude , god doubtlesse loves me , whoever he hates , ergo. but neither of these argue well for their sonneship , nor their eternal estate ; for no where doth the scripture make any of these signs of gods special love , or our adoption . it is evident by scripture , that a cain may prosper in the world as well as an abel , and a glutton excell a lazarus , in these contingent things : an ahithophel , through his policy , may enjoy prosperity , while a paul suffereth all adversity : a sonne of beliall , may weare purple and scarlet , and fare deliciously every day , while a sonne of god weares sheep-skins , and goats-skins , and lives upon gods providence : a nebuchadnezzar may have successe in his enterprises , as well as a ioshua for a time , philistins may triumph , while israelites are led captive : a iudas may have as good natural parts , and supernatural transient gifts , as a paul , or a iohn , as a chosen vessell or a beloved disciple , yea , happily more : a iesabell may be as beautifull in the eye of man , as a rebeckah : a pharisee more exemplary in a form of godlinesse , than a nathaniel : an hipocrite may be more like a beloved child of god , in his own eyes , and other mens too , than a true child of god. a foolish virgin may have as faire a lamp in her hand , as a wise . by all which it is evident , that none of these things , are sufficient to denominate a man , beloved of god , after a special manner , nor to render him an adopted son of god. in these words the apostle lays before us , things quite contrary to these ( to wit ) chastisement and scourging , as signs of gods love ; here is love written in characters , a hand that every one cannot read , a hand that few can read right ; here is love wrapped up in a rod , which none but a loving and beloved child , can draw out , or well apprehend ; none but a child , savingly indued with the spirit of his heavenly father , can see his love , when he feels his rod , or argue his sonneship , from his chastisement . to fetch an evidence of gods love , and a mans own adoption from gods chastisements and scourgings , is peculiar to a child of god , and it is his prerogative , thus to do . it is not every adopted child of god neither , that can thus argue his sonneship ; i am chastised of god , therefore i am beloved of him ; i am scourged more than many others , therefore doubtlesse i am beloved more than others : it must be a child , grown to some maturity in grace , that must thus conclude ; whom the lord loveth , he correcteth , &c. love , as attributed unto god , is not a quality ; as it is in man , but an effect of tree grace , and it is either more generall or more speciall : of the more generall love of god towards man , we read in mar. 10.21 . where it is said , of the young man that came to christ , that iesus beholding him , loved him . of the more speciall love of god towards some , we read ierem. 31.3 . 2 thes. 2.16 . iohn 13.1 . the more generall , or common love of god , is manifested in , and by his common gifts and dispensations , such as the young man that came to christ was indued with ( to wit ) great place in the world , great possessions , morall righteousnesse , desire of , and indeavour after eternall life , with the injoyment of temporall felicity , and predominate corruption . but the more speciall love of god towards man , is manifested in , and by his fatherly chastisements and scourgings , as this text tels us , whom the lord loveth , he chastiseth , &c , whom the lord loveth ] after a speciall manner , he sooner , or later certainly chastiseth ; he scourgeth every sonne whom he receiveth unto glory . the chastisements of god , are many for number , various for kind , differing in measure , duration , and immediate causes ; but my purpose is not to discuss these , but to consider , when gods chastisements , of what kind soeever , are sure and certain pledges of his more speciall and eternall love towards a man ; which to find out , i will premise these foure things . first , that chastisements and sufferings from god , are not pledges of divine love towards all : a man may be chastised of god , and yet not be beloved of god , but hated , as esau was ; all things saith solomon , come alike to all , and if all things , then chastisements alike to all ; eliphaz tels us , that a man is born to trouble ( it is as incident to him ) as to the sparks to fly upward , job 5.7 . troubles are chastisements ; and these do not argue love to all that are visited with them . the second thing premised , is this ; that although chastisements and scourgings , are not pledges of gods love to all , yet they are to some . thou in very faithfulnesse hast afflicted me , saith the psalmist , psal. 119.75 . the third thing premised is ; who they are to whom chastisements and scourgings are pledges of divine love ? they are pledges of divine love to them and to them only , to whom all things work together for good ( to wit ) to the adopted children of god ; when we are judged , we are chastened of the lord , that we should not be condemned with the world , saith an adopted son of god , of himself and his brethren , 1 cor. 11.32 . the fourth thing premised is ; when chastisements and scourgings are pledges of divine love , and that is , when they are sanctified : sanctified chastisements , and they only , are pledges of gods speciall love toward man. quest. but how shall i know , whether gods chastisements be sanctified ●o me , or not ? answ. chastisements sanctified , have many appearances , many effects they produce , whereby they may be known , a few of which i will mention , instead of many . 1. chastisements sanctified , make a man to reflect on himself , read himself over , and call his sinnes to remembrance , as appears in iosephs brethren , gen. 42.21 . and iob 7.20 . 2. chastisements sanctified , lead to repentance ; ephraim was by chastisements sanctified , brought to repentance , ier. 31.18 , 19 ▪ and so was manasseh , and the prodigall : by which it is evident , that chastisements sanctified , make a man turn from his evill way unto the lord ; they make a man turn to him that smiteth ; they regulate the whole man ▪ and conform him to the whole will of god , they better his obedience ; before i was afflicted , i went astray , but now i have learned to keep thy word , saith david , psa. 119.67 . and it 's said of jesus christ , though he were a sonne , yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered , heb. 5.8 . 3. chastisements sanctified , make a man humble , vile in his own eyes ; my soul hath them still in remembrance , ( saith the church of her afflictions ) and is bowed in me , lam. 3.20 . i am black ( saith the spouse , when under the sun of persecution ) by my mothers children . look not upon me , because i am black , &c. the churches afflictions were sanctified , and hence it was , that she was humbled by them , and become vile in her own eyes . 4. chastisements sanctified , wean a man from the world , mortifie in him the love of the world , and deaden his affections to the noblest vanities of the world ; they draw the heart from all things here below , and work it to a holy contempt of them , and inhance the price of grace and glory . 5. they drive the soul to god , and indeare communion with him ; they will make a man pray frequently , and pray fervently ; seek the lord early , and seek him earnestly , wrestle with god in prayer , witnesse iacob and the prodigall . 6. chastisements sanctified , beget and increase love in the chastised , towards the chastiser ; rebuke a wise man , and he will love thee , saith solomon , pro. 9.8 . chastisements sanctified increase love to god. 7. chastisements sanctified meeken the heart , and moderate anger , mortifie in man hatred and malice , which generate thoughts and desires of revenge , against the instruments in gods hand ; they beget patience under all strokes ; i have sinned , therefore i will beare the indignation of the lord , saith the soul , whose chastisement is sanctified , and justifiesgod in all his dealings . 8. chastisements sanctified , soften the heart , and make it pliable to the will of god ; they subject a man unto christs yoke . 9. they fit a man for any condition that god cals him unto , prosperity or adversity ; they fit him to abound , and fit him to want , fit him to live to christ , and fit to him to dye for christ ; they fit a man to live to christ here , and to live with christ heareafter in heaven . 10. they make a man long to be dissolved , to be with christ , yet patiently to wait on god all the daies of his appointed time , untill his change come , rom. 5. ● . job 14.14 . 11. sanctified chastisements indeare to a man , his fathers house , his house of grace , and his house of glory ; they did thus operate in david , psa. 42. and in israel in captivity , psal. 137.1 , 6. and in the prodigall , luk. 15. when his chastisement was sanctified unto him , it indeared his fathers house . 12. sanctified chastisements will make a man labour to excell in grace ; there is no man so covetous after grace , as he to whom gods chastising hand is sanctified ; there is none so sensible of the want of grace , nor of the worth of grace , as this soul is , therefore such an one usually labours , above all others , to excell in grace . 13. finally , sanctified chastisements , leave impression behind them , when they are gone ; they do not only make impression , while they are present , as unsanctified chastisements many times do , but they leave impression behind them , when they are removed ; impression of holy feare , of love , of humility , of watchfulnesse , of holinesse , of compassion towards others under gods chastising hand ; they yield the peaceable fruit of righteousnesse , to them that have been exercised thereby , and the like ; they do not barely produce good purposes and promises , but resolve them into performances , according to ability and opportunity . by some one or other of these , every one may perceive , whether gods chastisements be sanctified to him , or no ; and so consequently , whether gods rod , upon himself , be a sign and pledg of gods speciall love towards him , or not . object . but god chastises in wrath and displeasure , as well as in love , in my wrath i smote thee , saith god of his own people , isa. 60.10 . in a little wrath i hid my face from thee , &c. isai. 54.8 . how shall i then know , whether god chastise me in love or in displeasure ? sol. to find out this , consider , 1. that those which the lord here speaks of , though they were the lords own people by profession , yet they were not all such by true conversion , they were not all beloved , after a speciall manner . 2. know , that god may , and often times doth , chastise in wrath , and yet in love too ; when god chastiseth his own adopted child , he many times doth it in wrath , and displeasure towards his sin , but alwayes in love to his person . wouldest thou then know , whether thou art chastised of god in love , or not ; consider , whether thou art an adopted child of god , or not ; try thy selfe by what hath been formerly said , and if thou findest , that thou art truely such , conclude thou mayest certainly , that all thy chastisements do spring from love ; for whatsoever stroks god smites such an one with , he doth it in love to his person , ( this is a sure rule ) though god speak bitter things against thee , as iob complains he did against him , and do bitter things unto thee , yet all springs from his love , though he bide his face from thee for a while , and chastise thee with s●ourging , he doth it in love to thy person ; all gods dealings with thee , spring from his love , his love is the efficient whatsoever be the meritorious or immediate cause of thy chastisement ; when god is angry with thee , and smites thee for thy sinne , it is in love to thy person , he loves thee still . is ephraim my deare sonne , is he a pleasant child ? for since i spake against him , i do earnestly rem●ember him still , &c. ier. 31.20 . all gods children , even the best of them all here , have faults , many faults ▪ and god will not suffer them to go unchastised ; children are sure of chaftisement , however servants speed ; legitimate sonnes are sure of chastisement , when they offend , however bastards escape ; god hath no time to chastise his children , but here , therefore they are sure of chastisement here ; it will not stand with gods love to passe by them , and wink at their faults ; the nearer in relation , the surer of correction , the dearer in affection , the surer of chastisement ; whom the lord loveth , he chastiseth , and scourgeth every sonne , whom he receiveth . wouldest thou then get a true evidence of the speciall love of god towards thee , and of this adoption by jesus christ , consider well of two things : first , whether thou hast been chastised of the lord , yea , or nay ? secondly , whether thy chastisiments are sanctified to thee , or not ? and if thou canst truely conclude on the affirmative , thou hast good ground to beleeve , that thou art one beloved of god , after a speciall manner ; that thou art an adopted child of god , and an heir of heaven : but if thou hast been altogether free from , or unprofitable under gods chaftisement , thou hast just cause to feare , whether thou art an adopted child of god , or not ; at least that thou art not yet brought home to thy heavenly father ; for whom the lord loveth , he ( certainly sooner or later ) chastiseth , as the text tels us , whom the lord loveth , he chastiseth , and scourgeth every son , whom he receiveth . gospell sufferings , or suffering as a christian. 2 tim. 2.12 . if we suffer , we shall also reign with him . in these words , the apostle briefly layes before us another and a higher evidence of our salvation ( to wit ) suffering . heaven the kingdom of glory , where jesus christ reigns , is here promised to sufferers : but to find out , what kind of sufferers they are , to whom this great reward is promised , we must consult with other scriptures , for it is not to all kind of sufferers , that this promise is made . before i speak of the kind of suffering , here spoken of , i shall here note foure or five things . first , that suffering is a lesson very hard to flesh and blood to learn ; which the apostle knowing , as a wise scholemaster , sets before us , his schoolers , that which we all naturally desire ( to wit ) soveraignty , as the reward of this service , as a motive to quicken our dull hearts to buckle to our duty . if we suffer we shall also reign with him . 2. active obedience is a lesson hard to learn ; passive obedience is a lesson harder to flesh and blood to learn ; neither of them can we learn to any purpose , unlesse christ be our schoolemaster , but both of them will christ teach us , so far forth as he sees it necessary for us , if he once undertake the work . 3. suffering is of divers sorts , good or bad , according as the true cause of it is ; a man may suffer for well doing , or for evill doing , it is to sufferers for well-doing , not to sufferers for evill doing that the crown is promised . 4. suffering is either just , or unjust ; suffering is alwayes just from god , but not alwayes just from men , it is not to just suffering , but to unjust suffering from men , that this promise is made . 5. it is not to sufferers for the evill of sinne , nor to sufferers of the evill of sinne , to which the crown is promised : but to sufferers of the evill of punishment for the avoiding of the evill of sinne , that it is promised , as ●ppears by comparing this text with some others ; peter explains pauls meaning here , touching suffering , 1 pet. 3.14 . if ye suffer for righteousnesse sake , happy are ye , chap. 4.14 . if ye be reproached for the name of christ , happy are ye , &c. christ concurreth in this , matth. 5.10 , 11 , 12 , & 19.29 . hence it is evident , that it is not to all kind of suffering , but only to gospel-suffering , that this great reward is promised . i will not here stand to distinguish between suffering for righteousnesse sake , and suffering for christs sake , or for his name sake , but leave it for them whose proper worke it is . 1. but here note , 1. that the sufferings of the gospell comprehend both the doctrine of the gospell , and the discipline of the gospell , and gospell-conversation , and a man is a sufferer for the gospel , that suffers in the defence of either of these , or for either . 2. and secondly . note , that it is not suffering as an evill doer , but suffering as a christian , that denominates an heir of heaven ; let none of you suffer as a murderer , or as a thief , or as an evill-doer , saith the apostle ; yet if any man suffer ( as a christian ) let him not be ashamed , but let him glorifie god on this behalfe , 1 pet. 4.15 , 16. hence it is evident , that it is to him only that suffers as a christian , that this promise of reigning with christ is made ; the apostles meaning in this text then , is , that if we suffer as christians , we shall reign with him in glory . quest. but what is it to suffer as a christian ? or when may a man be said to suffer as a christian ? answ. to suffer as a christian , is to suffer as christ did suffer ; and a man may be said to suffer , as a christian , when he is truly conformable to christ in suffering . christ suffered for the will of his father , for the fulfilling of the will of his father , and he suffered according to the will of his father ; now when a man doth these two , when he suffers for the will of christ , and suffers according to the will of christ , then doth he suffer as christ did , then may he be said to be conformable unto christ in suffering , and to suffer , as a christian. a man then suffers for the will of christ , when he suffers for doing that which christ would have him to do , or for refusing that which christ would not have him to do . a man then suffers , according to the will of christ , when he suffers as the word of god requires him to suffer , ( viz. ) when he suffers out of love to god , and suffers beleevingly , patiently , joyfully , couragiously , and perseveringly ; for confcience towards god , that god may have honour thereby , and glorifies god for suffering . my purpose is not to enter upon an accute discourse of either of these , but briefly to assert what i think necessary for the right understanding of them , as god shall inable me . 1. it is the will of christ , that he that suffers for his will , should suffer out of love to his will , and he that doth suffer for the will of christ , and doth not suffer out of love to the will of christ , doth not suffer according to the will of christ , this is evident by the language of the apostle , 1 cor. 13.3 . though i give my body to be burned , and have ●ot love , it profiteth me nothing ; it is as if the apostle had said , it is the will of christ , that i should suffer out of love to him , and if i do not thus , all my suffering is worth nothing , it is not according to the will of christ , nor worth any thing in gods account ; it comes to just nothing at last , it profiteth me nothing , &c. a● all our active obedience , so all our passive obedience , must spring out of love to god , as the efficient cause of it , else it is worth nothing with god. 2. it is the will of christ , that he that suffers for his will , should suffer beleevingly ; this appears thus , it is the will of christ , that he that suffers for his will , should suffer patiently , joyfully , couragiously and perseveringly , but this a man cannot possibly do , except he beleeve ; therefore it follows by necessary consequence , that it is the will of christ , that he that suffers for his will , should suffer beleevingly . this is also evident by scripture , ioh. 14.1 . where christ making a speech ●o his disciples to fit them for suffering , bids them beleeve , thereby declaring , that his will was , that they should suffer beleevingly ; and intimating , that if they did not suffer beleevingly , they did not suffer according to his will , although they suffered for his will. a man may be then said to suffer beleevingly , when he by faith committeth the keeping of his soul unto god in well-doing , as the apostle peter speaks ; when he beleeves that christ will be with him in all his sufferings , strengthen him to suffer , carry him through all that he cals him to suffer , and abundantly reward all his sufferings for his sake , according to his word . 3. it is the will of christ , that he that suffers for his will should suffer patiently ; god cals for patience in suffering ; be patient in tribulation , rom. 12.12 . in your patience , possesse ye your souls , luk. 21.19 . we should follow christ in patient suffering , saith the apostle , for even hereunto are we called : hence it is evident , that he that suffers for the will of christ , doth not suffer according to the will of christ , except he suffer patiently . divine patience , or patience considered , as a divine quality , is the issue and creame of many graces ; it is a diamond in the midst of a triangle , ( to wit ● a vertue between stupidity , despising the chastisement of the lord , and fainting under it ; it is a grace which keeps a man quiet within , when all things are troublous , and very unquiet without ; it is a grace which possesses a man of himself , when dispossessed of all earthly comforts ; it is a speciall work of the spirit of god in the soul , enabling a man not stupidly , but quietly to bear whatsoever god lays upon him , without feeling murmuring , or repining , against god or man , in heart or in tongue , or fainting under his chastising hand . when it is thus with a sufferer for christ , then may he be said to suffer according to the will of christ in this particular ( to wit ) patiently . 4. christ requires joy in sufferers for his will ; count it all joy a when you fall into divers temptations . rejoyce , and be exceeding glad b saith christ. rejoyce in that day and leap for joy . c it is divine joy , or the joy of grace , that christ here calls for in sufferers for his will ; it is that joy , which nehemiah calls , the joy of the lord. and this is a holy passion of the soul , issuing out of the apprehension of what christ hath done for it , and will do for it , reviving , elevating , and strengthening the soul , and carrying it above it self . it is a wing grace , which whiles the soul is actually possessed of , is thereby carried above it self , above the world , and above satan . faith and joy are the two wings of the soul , which bear it up , both in doing and suffering ▪ if either of these be c●ipt , the soul is much hindered thereby , and exposed to many dangers . joy , as all other graces of the spirit , hath different degrees in different times and subjects , and is usually greatest in the greatest sufferers , and sufferings for christ. when a man is spoiled in his estate , spoiled in his good name , spoiled in his body , or any thing respecting the preservation or felicity of this life , for his faithfullness to the word and will of christ ; and yet with the good prophet , rejoyces in the lord , and joys in the god of his salvation , then may he be said to suffer joyfully , then may he be said to suffer according to the will of christ , in this particular . 5. christ in his word , calls for courage , in sufferers for his will ; the will of christ is , that he that suffers for a good cause , should not be ashamed d of his cause , nor of his sufferings . if any man suffer ( as a christian ) let him not be ashamed . e be not thou ashamed of the testimony of the lord , f nor of me his prisoner , saith paul to timothy . the will of christ is , that he that suffers for his will should not be afraid . g if ye suffer for righteousness sake , happy are ye , and be not afraid of their terrour nor be troubled . fear them not , saith christ , thrice in one chapter . h fear no● them that kill the body , but are not able to kill the soul , phil. 1.28 . christ compares his church i to a company of horses in pharaohs chariots , which in all probability were the best in egypt , and like to the war-horse , which the lord describes to iob , job 39. very couragious in the hottest battell . christ by this metaphor hints unto us , that his will is , that we should be very bold and couragious , in whatsoever we do , or suffer for his sake , and that he expects it at our hands ; his will is , that we should be like a company of horses in pharaohs chariots , full of spirits and courage , in doing and suffering , and not like a company of jades in a dung-cart , spiritless and unfit to bear any thing , for his sake . it is christian-courage that christ requires in sufferers for his will. christian courage , is a grace of the ●pirit , whereby a man resolves ( through the help and assistance of jesus christ ) to cleave close to his word and will , and boldly to stand for it , mauger all opposition ; and chuses rather to suffer any thing , than omit any thing , or commit any thing , that should derogate from the honour of christ. a man doth then declare christian courage , when he is not ashamed , nor afraid to own a good cause , or appear in it , because of suffering ; when he can suffer for the gospel , or any ordinance of god , and truly say with the apostle , k though i suffer these things , neverthel●ss i am not ashamed ; i am not ashamed of the gospel of christ , nor of the cause of god. and when with the three children , l he slights the torment , and the tormentor ; resolving in the strength of christ , to do his duty , whatsoever he suffer for it , and to cleave close to the word and will of christ , whether deliverance , or no deliverance arise here ; when he is more afraid to displease god than man ; when he is more afraid of losing things spiritual and eternal , than of losing things temporal ; when he chooses to suffer , rather than sinne ; when he endureth the cross , and despiseth the shame ; when he refuseth base deliverance , and yeeldeth his body rather than his cause , ( his cause being good ) into a tyrants hand . when a sufferer for a good cause , doth thus declare his courage , he declares it in a high degree , and suffers according to the will of christ , in this particular . 6. christ in his word requires perseverance unto the end ▪ in suffering for his will ; and it is unto the persevering sufferer , that this great reward of reigning with christ , is promised ; be thou faithfull unto the death , and i will give thee the crown of m life . he n that shall endure unto the end ▪ the same shall be saved . christian perseverance , is a conftant holding out in the truth to the last breath , in the belief , love , profession , and practice of the truth . and this he may be said to do , that doth never totally , nor finally apostatize from the truth once received . it is possible , for one that perseveres in suffering , at some time , and in some kind , and measure , to desist from his former forwardness , through strong temptations and humane frailty ; witness peter , who through fear denied his master , and forsware him , and yet did after suffer for him . 7. the will of christ is , that he that suffers for his will wrongfully , should do it for conscience sake , for conscience towards god o ; conscience of his duty should be the principall motive , inducing him to suffer ; i do not say , the only , but the principall motive . a man may then be said to suffer for conscience towards god , when conscience of his duty , is the thing that puts him upon suffering ; when he to avoid sinne , or performe duty , exposes himself to suffering ; when he out of scruple in conscience , of the lawfullness , or unlawfullness of a thing , commanded or forbidden by authority , refuseth it , and chooses rather to suffer in his outward man , than to baffle his conscience , or displease god , by rebelling against lawfull authority ( which is gods ordinance ; ) he that doth thus suffer , doth suffer for conscience towards god , and according to the will of christ , in this particular . 8. the will of christ is , that he that suffers for his will , should aim at his honour and glory therein ; this appeares thus ; whether you eat or drink ▪ or whatsoever you do , do all to the glory of god , saith the text , 1 cor. 10.31 . that is , do it so that god may have glory thereby , do it aiming at the honour and glory of god therein ; hence i argue thus . if it be the will of christ , that i should aim at his honour and glory in all that i do , then it is the will of christ , that i should aim at his honour and glory , in all that i suffer , for suffering is doing : but it is the will of christ , that i should aim at his honour and glory , in all that i do : therefore it is the will of christ , that i should aim at it , in all that i suffer . a man may then be said to aim at the honour and glory of christ , in suffering , when he makes that his direct , chief and utmost end , in all that he suffers ; when he makes the honour and glory of christ , the finall cause of all his sufferings ; when he suffers not out of vain glory , but that christ may be magnified thereby , when a man doth thus suffer for the will of christ , then doth he suffer according to the will of christ , in this particular . 9. finally , the will of christ is , that he that suffers for his will , shoul● glorifie god , for suffering . if any man suffer , as a christian , let him not be ashamed ; but let him glorifie god on thi● behalf , 1 pet. 4.16 . a man doth then glorifie god for suffering . 1. when he boldly and thankfully acknowledges the favour of the lord towards him , in calling him forth , and enabling him to suffer , for his sake . 2. when he makes his sufferings , the matter of his joy and thanksgiving ; when he rejoyces and praises god , that he is counted worthy to suffer in any kind for christs sake . 3. when he doubles his diligence in duty upon this account ; thus did the apostles glorifie god , for suffering , phil. 1.29 . act. 5.41 , 42. art thou then a sufferer ; consider whether thou sufferest as a christian , yea , or nay ? whether thou sufferest for the will of christ ? and whether thou sufferest according to the will of christ ? and if thou canst truly conclude on the affirmative , thou hast good ground to conclude , that thou art one that shall reign with jesus christ , in his everlasting kingdome : if ye suffer , ye shall also reign with him ; and not only reign with christ , but reign with him in greater glory : for our light affliction , which is but for a moment , worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory , 2 cor. 4.17 . suffering as a christian , is a reall testimony of a reall christian ; and suffering as a christian is a high evidence of gods speciall love towards a person . dost thou then suffer and suffer as a christian ; thou maist then safely conclude , i shall reign with christ : henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness ; an exceeding , and eternall weight of glory : a kingdome that cannot be shaken ; a crown that cannot be taken ; glory that cannot here enter into my heart to conceive ; glory that cannot be measured ; glory that fadeth not away , but remaineth through all eternity ; glory that cannot enter into me , i shall one day enter into . i now suffer with christ , and for christ , i shall one day be glorified with christ , and by christ , whatsoever satan or the world may say to the contrary . sealing by the spirit . ephes. 4.30 . grieve not the holy spirit of god , whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption . — [ whereby ye are sealed , &c. ] that which i pitch upon in this text , as most for my purpose , is this , that the holy spirit of god doth seal the elect unto the day of redemption . the whole trinity doth concur in this work of sealing soules to eternall happiness ; but sealing is here attributed to the third person in trinity ( to wit ) the holy spirit of god , because it is a work most proper to his office ; it is the holy spirit of god that sealeth soules to the day of redemption , as the apostle here tells us . the persons sealed , by the holy spirit of god , are the elect of god , true believers , as the apostle intimates by that particle [ ye ] whereby [ ye ] are sealed , speaking of true believers . these , all these , and none but these , the holy spirit of god doth seal unto the day of redemption , unto the day of the full manifestation of our redemption , unto the day of the redemption of our bodies from corruption , and the fruition of the redemption of our souls and bodies from hell , by jesus christ. sealing is a metaphor taken from merchants , who use to seal their own wares , for speciall ends . the divine seales of god , are of a double kind , and of a double use ; they are of a double kind , they are either externall , or internall ; outward or inward ; ● . externall , or outward , and such a seal was circumcision in the time of the law , it is so called by the apostle , rom 4.11 . and such are our sacraments ▪ baptism , and the lords supper , now in the daies of the gospel . 2. internall , or inward ; the internall or inward seal of god , is the seal of the holy spirit of god , metaphorically so called ; and this is that which this text points at . seales are of a double use , they serve to demonstrate , and to confirme ; they signifie , and ratifie ; i speak after the manner of men ; gods seales do no less , they demonstrate , they confirme ; but gods externall seales , without the internall seal of the spirit of god , cannot assure any soul , of the speciall love of god , nor of his adoption ; many outwardly sealed go to hell , the outward seales alone , cannot seal any soul unto the day of redemption ; it is the inward seal of the holy spirit of god , that seales us unto the day of redemption , as this text tells us , grieve not the holy spirit of god , whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption . the internall , or inward divine seal of the spirit of god , is twofold , demonstrative , or confirmative ; the holy spirit of god seals the elect to the day of redemption two wayes , 1. with a seal of demonstration , 2. with a seal of confirmation . the seal of demonstration ; set by the spirit of god , i call that a speciall work of the holy spirit of god , whereby a sinfull soul is truly regenerated , and the image of god stamped upon him . the seal of confirmation , i call that a speciall work of the holy spirit of god within us , whereby we are perswaded and assured , after an immediate manner , that we are the children of god , adopted in christ , and beloved with an everlasting love . both these seales agree in their efficient cause , for they are both the speciall workes of the holy spirit of god , whereby the soul is marked for , and assured of eternall happiness , when this life is ended . of the first of these seales ( to wit ) the seal of demonstration , i shall speak something from this text , as god shall enable me ; and somewhat of the other ( to wit ) the seal of confirmation from another text , if the lord permit , and so conclude this work . before i speak further of this seal of demonstration , or the appearances of it , i will here premise six things . first , that as a merchant sets his seal upon his wares , by which he demonstrates such and such wares to be his , and distinguisheth them from all other ; so god sets his seal upon his people ( to wit ) this seal of regeneration , by which he demonstrates them to be his , and distinguisheth them from all the people in the world , profane , morall , hypocriticall : this i may call gods broad-seal , sealing a soul to the day of redemption . secondly , this seal god sets upon all his wares ; all his adopted children , are sooner or later sealed with this seal : every reall saint , every one that is effectually called , hath this seal of demonstration set upon him , regeneration wrought in him , gods image stamped upon him . but all the children of god have not this in like measure , the impression is not alike visible in all , neither to the parties themselves , nor to others ; some bear this impression , as babes ; others , as men grown up to some maturity ; all gods adopted children bear this impression truly , but none of them perfectly in this life . the third thing premised is this , that this seal of demonstration ( to wit ) true regeneration , is of absolute necessity unto salvation ; for , without holiness no man shall see the lord , heb. 12.14 . no man shall ever inherit the kingdome of glory , that hath not this seal set upon him in the kingdome of grace . christ will own none of these wares for his , in that other world , whom he doth not thus seal in this world , it stands not with his justice to own such . the fourth thing premised is this , that this seal of regeneration demonstrates to god , to man , to others , and to a mans self , except in some * cases , that he is gods ; he hath chosen us in him , before the foundation of the world , through sanctification of the spirit , and belief of the truth , 2 thes. 2.13 . fifthly , this seal of regeneration , is such as others may discern ; therefore i call it , a seal of demonstration : the image of god , if once stamped in truth upon the soul , cannot be hid no more , than fire in a mans bosome ; the love of god in the heart , will shew it self in the outward man ; nay , this seal of regeneration is many times more obvious unto others , than unto the parties themselves : this seal is so lively stamped on some of gods people , that it shews it self very eminently in the eies of others , when they that have it , cannot , nor will not , behold it in themselves . the sixth and last thing premised is this , that this seal of regeneration , whereever it is truly stamped by the holy spirit of god , is gods mark , and the soules earnest for heavens eternity ; the lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself , psal. 4.3 . the person thus sealed is a sequestred person , sequestred for the lords use , sealed unto the day of redemption ; where note , that this seal of regeneration , doth confirme and make sure the love of god unto the person on which it is set , as well as the other , though not alwayes to the apprehension of the person . object . but satan doth many times counterfeit this seal , and thereby cheats and cosens many a soul ; he counterfeiteth holiness , and perswades the soul , that is but seemingly regenerate , that he is truly regenerate ; and him that hath but civill holiness , that he hath saving holiness ; and by this sophistry of his , cheats and undoth many a soul ; how shall i then come truly to discern , whether the demonstrative seal , set upon my self , be indeed the seal of the holy spirit of god ▪ or but the counterfeit set by satan ? answ. 1. wheresoever there is true regeneration wrought by the holy spirit of god , satans seal , which is upon our soules , as we come into the world , is cancelled , corruption is not barely restrained , but mortified ; the body is dead , because of sinne , as the scripture speaks ; the soul is bent against every sinne , it allows not it self in any known sinne , it hates all sin , but where satan counterfeits this seal , corruption is but restrained , the heart loves it still , and cherisheth some one sinne or other . 2. the soul ●hus sealed by the holy spirit of god , beares the image of god , the image of god is stamped upon it ; as the seal is , so is the print which it makes ; the spirit of god is a holy spirit , and the soul that is sealed by it is a holy soul : he is renewed in the spirit of his mind ; holiness is stamped upon his heart and spirit ▪ and from thence spreads it self through the whole man , and through the whole life ; from the time of conversion , regeneration , wrought by the spirit of god , makes the heart pure and holy , as well as the outward man ; therefore the apostle calls it , holiness of truth , ephes. 4.24 . and saith in another place , the spirit is life , because of righteousness . christ makes it a note of a good man , that he can derive goodness from within , luk 6 45. therefore i may safely pitch upon it , that holiness engraven upon the heart and spirit of a man , and from thence , declaring it self in the whole man , and in the whole life , is vigor fit and but fit to give the denomination of a soul thus sealed ; regeneration wrought by the spirit of god is begun in the inward man ; it is universall , and goes through every faculty of the soul , and every part and member of the body , through the whole life and conversation ; he that is truly sanctified , is sanctified throughout , and holy in all manner of convers●tion ; he that is sealed by the holy spirit of god , beares the image of god in all these . but satans counterfeit seal of demonstration , stamps his own image ; he is seemingly an angel of light , whilest really a devil ; and he that is thus sealed by satan , resembles him in this , he is a seeming saint , a reall devil ; so christ spake of iudas , have not i chosen you twelve , and one of you is a devil ? he that is thus sealed by satan , hath holiness painted on his outside , but wickedness graven on his heart , as is evident in the scribes and pharisees , who were thus sealed by satan ; they were outwardly holy ( as christ shews at large , mat. 23. ) but inwardly very ugly and rotten , and therefore calls them , whited sepulchres , not sealed soules . civill holiness may , and many times doth enable a man to carry himself civilly , and holily in the eies of men ; but saving holiness makes a man studious , and carefull to approve himself unto god , in his very thoughts and affections , and in the motions of his heart , as well as the motions of the outward man ; yea , this is that which he is most carefull of , and industrious about , that is sealed by the holy spirit of god , his chief work is within doors ; his principall care , desire and endeavour , is to approve his heart unto god , and so walk , that he may be accepted of him , and glorifie him . then again , civill holiness springs from morall principles , good education , and the like ; but saving holiness springs from love : love to god is the root out of which it springs , as the apostle shews , eph. 1.4 . the soul that is thus sealed by the spirit of god , his holiness springs from love to god , the love of christ constraineth him thereunto . the soul that is thus sealed by the holy spirit of god , dares not sunder what god hath coupled together ( to wit ) holiness towards god , and righteousness towards men : a man truly regenerate , is carefull of both , witness paul , act. 24.16 . he makes conscience of all sinne , and of all duty ; he warrs against all sinne , and hath r●spect unto all gods commandments . the soul thus sealed by the holy spirit of god , is one in whom sinne dwelleth as a rebell , and ruleth as a tyrant only : he is one that is of all men the most sensible of , and affected with carnallity in himself ; i am carnall ( saith he ) sold under sinne , rom. 7. he is one that serves the lord , with all humility of mind , act. 20.19 . the more holy , and the more righteous a soul sealed by the holy spirit of god is , the more humble he is ; christ and paul were notable examples of this . he that is thus sealed by the holy spirit of god , is a world-overcoming creature , a flesh-overcoming creature , and a devil overcoming creature ; he is more than a conquerour ( over all these ) through christ that hath loved him , and sealed him by his spirit . he is one that is a new creature , and of this something hath been already spoken in this treatise , to which i refer the reader , for a farther discovery of a regenerate person . in fine , he that is thus sealed by the holy spirit of god , is one that holds on his way , and grows in grace . i joyn these together , so doth iob , the righteous shall hold on his way , and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger , job 17.9 . this seal of the holy spirit of god , hath this priveledge , above and beyond all other seales , the impression which it makes remaineth and increaseth . this seal of demonstration , if once truly stamped , by the spirit of god , on a soul , abideth there , the impression never weares out ; this annointing abideth , as iohn speakes , 1 ioh. 2.27 . truth of grace in the heart , and it abideth there , and the heart abideth in the truth ; when god gives a man truth of grace , he gives it him , to have and to hold for ever ; the soul thus sealed beares in it the marks of the lord jesus unto the death , and most eminently after death in glory ; this seal of the holy spirit of god is lasting , and everlasting ; true regeneration , seales a man to the day of redemption , but this it could not do , were it not a lasting substance . this may suffice to discerne the reality of this seal of demonstration by ( to wit ) true regeneration , and to distinguish it from that counterfeit set by satan ; i do not intend an innumeration of the qualifications and appearances of a regenerate person here , but only endeavour to discry him , and distinguish between him , and one but seemingly regenerate , and therefore strik● 〈◊〉 , and proceed to the other seal of the holy spirit of god , ( to wit ) the seal of confirmation , mentioned before , and for this purpose shall pitch upon ; rom. 8.16 . spirits witness with our spirits . rom. 8.16 . the spirit it self , beareth witness with our spirit , that we are the children of god. this is the last , but not the least evidence , that a child of god hath in this life , for heave●s eternity ; of this ▪ i ●ay say , as david said of 〈◊〉 sword , there is none like that , give it me ; there is no testimony to that of the spirit of god , witnessing with our spirits , to satisfie conscience , to resolve all doubts , remove all scruples , and end all controversies , about our eternall estate . when the spirit of god beareth witness with our spirit , that we are the children of god ( to wit , ) by grace and adoption , the soul then enjoys heaven upon earth , and hath meat to eat , that the world knoweth not of ; it is sealed unto the day of redemption , indeed with a seal of confirmation , and it knoweth that it is so . the spirit it self , beareth witness with our spirit , that we are the children of god : hence it is evident . that no mans own spirit , can truly ass●re him , of the love of god towards him , nor ● his adoption , unless the spirit of god concur , and bear witness with his spirit , no more than a mans own deed or seal , can assure him of what is delegated or assigned unto him by another . neither is it the spirit of god alone , simply and singly considered , that doth this , but it is the spirit of god concurring with our spirits , the spirit bearing witness with our spirit , that doth assure us of the love of god , and our adoption . when the spirit of god by a speciall work of his upon our soules , convinces them of the speciall love of god towards us , of our justification , and sanctification , and we by faith assent thereunto , then doth the spirit bear witness with our spirit , according to the meaning of this text ( as i conceive ) then is the soul sealed unto the day of redemption , with a seal of confirmation . and this is that seal , which i am now to speak of , and that which this text points at ; this may be called gods privy seal , sealing a soul unto the day of redemption ; of this seal the apostle speakes , eph●s . 1.13 . in whom after ye believed , ye were sealed with the holy spirit of promise , &c. before i speak of the appearances of this seal of the spirit of god , i shall here note two or three things . this seal of confirmation , god sets upon some of his people , but this he doth not set upon all his people ; the spirit of god doth ●hus bear witness with our spirits in some of gods children , but it doth not thus bear witness with our spirits , in all gods children . neither doth it thus bear witness , at all times in those in whom it doth at some : the scriptures afford frequent examples of this . 2. this testimony or witness of the spirit of god , in whomsoever it is , proceedeth from , and dependeth on free grace , and is a token of royall favour , to whomsoever it is granted ; it is christs golden scepter held up to the soul. 3. this seal or testimony of the holy spirit of god , though it be the ratifier of our redemption , and salvation in our hearts , yet it is not the meritorious cause of it , neither is it absolutely necessary unto salvation . 4. this seal of the holy spirit of god , on whomsoever it is set , is an earnest , and but an earnest , of that inheritance , which he shall one day be possessed of , with the adopted children of god in heaven : this is evident by the language of the apostle , eph. 1.14 . obj. but satan doth sometimes coun●erfeit this seal too , he perswades the soul , that it is in a good condition , and highly favoured of the lord , and draws the soul to presume upon it , when as it is indeed in the very gall of bitterness , and bonds of iniquity : how shall i then discern a true and well-grounded perswasion , and the testimony of gods spirit , from a presumptuous concei● , and the devils delusion . answ. we must try the spirits , try the testimony that we have ( if any , ) so saith the apostle , 1 ioh. 4.1 . believe not every spirit , but try the spirits , whether they are of god. object . but how shall i do that ? how shall i try the testimony that i have , whether it be of god or no ? answ. by the rule of faith , the written word of god , as the lord directeth , isa. 8.20 . luk 16.29 . the written word of god ( to wit ) the holy scriptures , is the only true touch-stone that we have , to try the spirits , and their testimony by . and it affirms , first , that a true testimony of the holy spirit of god , is ever agreeable , and exactly answerable unto the written word of god : gods witnesses do never disagree in their testimony , the word of god , and the spirit of god speak the same thing ; as a pair of indentures do exactly answer one another , so doth the testimony of the spirit of god , exactly answer to the testimony of the word , the word of god and the spirit of god speak the same thing ; to the law , and to the testimony , saith the lord , if they speak not according to this word ▪ it is because ther● is no life in them , isa. 8.20 . he●ce it is evident , that if the written word of god , do not concur with the testimony that thou hast , that testimony is not the testimony of the holy spirit of god , but a meer delusion of satan , a dead and counterfeit thing ; it is not a sealing unto the day of redemption , but a sealing unto the day of destruction . secondly , the word affirms , that whosoever is sealed by the holy spirit of god , with this seal of confirmation , is first sealed by him with a seal of demonstration ; this seal of the holy spirit of god is not an antecedent to , but a subsequent of the other seal of demonstration , it doth not precede , but follow after faith and sanctification ; in whom after ye believ●d , ye were sealed with the holy spirit of promise , saith the apostle , speaking of this seal , eph. 1.13 . hence it is evident , that a man is first a true believer , he hath first a true faith , a true and reall interest in christ ; he is justified , and sanctified , and made a new creature , before thus sealed by the holy spirit of god. here i desire the reader to note two or three things . first , that it is a true believer only , that is capable of this seal of the holy spirit of god , he that believeth on the sonne of god hath the witness in himself , 1 joh. 5.10 . he only that believeth aright , hath this witness of the spirit of god in himself , he only that hath a justifiing faith , is thus sealed by the spirit of god. secondly note , that this testimony of the spirit of god is one of the kisses of christs mouth , which the church prayes for , cant. 1.2 . but christ doth not thus kiss and embrace his children , when they be all filthy and nasty , he doth first cleanse them by his blood , and by his spirit , justifie them and sanctifie them , renew and heavenlize them . thirdly note this , that the spirit , and the water and the blood , do concur in their testimony , where the spirit of god doth be●r witness , so saith the scripture , 1 ioh. 5.8 . there are three which bear witness in the earth , the spirit , and the water and the blood , and these three agree in one . fourthly note , that the blood and the water may , and sometimes do , bear witness , where the spirit of god doth not thus bear witness with our spirits , that we are the adopted children of god : but the spir●t of god doth never thus bear witness , where the blood , and the water do not bear witness . christs blood doth satisfie for sinne , and his spirit cleanse from sinne , wheresoever his spirit doth thus bear witness ; he therefore that thinks he is sealed by the spirit of god with a seal of confirmation , and yet is not sealed with the seal of demonstration , is but deluded and bewitched by satan , and in a fools paradice . in the third place , whomsoever the holy spirit of god doth seal , with a seal of confirmation , whomsoever he doth assure of the fatherly love of god towards him , he doth qualifie with the disposition of a son ( to wit ) love to his heavenly father , fear of offending him , desire , care , and endeavour to walk before him in all wel-pleasing , obeying his voice out of love , mourning for its offences , and depending on god its heavenly father for all things . the soul thus sealed apprehends much love in god , and this generates much love in it towards god again , and the things of god ; this , saith this soul , is no common favour , but a singular ; all of my brethren eat not of this bread , wear not this raiment ; this is benjamin's portion , and it calls for much love from me , much filial fear and care , more duty and better done . and hence it comes to pass , that this soul grows not careless and fearless , but more carefull and conscionable in duty , and tender of doing any thing that may displease god , grieve the holy spirit of god , whereby he is sealed ; quench the motions thereof , or cause him to suspend his testimony . the soul thus sealed by the holy spirit of god , is never better pleased with it self , than when it can weep over christ , whom it hath pierced , and find christ bleed over it ; it is never well , but when in this frame , it desires nothing more than such a frame of spirit , as cannot look upon sinne , but it sighs for sorrow , nor upon its saviour , but it smiles for joy . when christ thus imparts himself to the soul , this soul speaks to christ , as god once spake to abraham , now i know that thou lovest me , seeing thou hast not with-held from me , thy sonne , thine only sonne , whom thou lovest , said god to abraham : so saith this soul to christ , now i know that thou lovest me , seeing thou hast not with-held from me this grace that is so lovely in thy sight , but when it cannot find christ thus present with it , it is troubled . fourthly , the soul that hath this seal , or testimony of the spirit of god , hath a spirit of prayer ; in whomsoever the spirit of god is a spirit of adoption , he is also a spirit of supplication ; whomsoever the spirit of god doth assure of the fatherly love of god towards him , he enables to cry abba , father , and maketh request for him with unutterable rhetorick ; he enables the soul to pour it self forth to god , in supplication and thanksgiving ; this is evident by gal. 4.6 . rom. 8.15 , 26. the soul thus sealed by the spirit of god , longs after , and delights in , approaches to god , and god approaches to it in all his holy ordinances ; let me see his countenance , let me hear his voice , saith the soul thus sealed , for sweet is his countenance , and his voice pleasant , it delights to meditate on , and walk with its god , it doth not leave off duty , but performs it more conscionably and spiritually . in the fift place , sound assurance produces fruitfullness ; the soul that is by the spirit of god , assured of the grace and favour of god towards it , is usu●lly the fru●tfullest in righteousness , as is ev●dent by the language of the apostle , col. 1.6 . after the colossians knew the grace of god in truth , they were more fruitfull in righteousness , than ever . sound assurance of the love of god , produces care and industry , in the work and wayes of god , as is evident by the language of the apostle , 2 cor. 5.1 , 8. we know , we are confident , saith he of himself , and other believers ; and what follows ? therefore we labour , that whether present or absent , we may be accepted of him , ver . 9. these mens assurance produced not carelesness and sloth , but care and industry , and it is the property of good assurance so to do . this condemns that popish tenet , that assurance of salvation is the destroyer of all piety and charity . and it condemns that assurance that is fruitless or careless . in the sixt place , sound assurance produces joy , 1 pet. 1.8 . faith of evidence and joy , are inseperably united , they are twins born at once , and if assurance die , joy dies with it ; in whomsoever the spirit of god is a spirit of confirmation , he is a spirit of consolation ; the soul that is assured of the love of god towards it , cannot but rejoyce in it ; spiritual consolation doth not spring so naturally from any thing , as it doth out of the witness of the spirit ; joy may be ( i mean some kind of joy ) where assurance is wanting , but assurance never goes without joy , spirituall joy . there is a generation ( as solomon tels us ) which in the midst of laughter , their heart is sad ; and there is a generation , which in the midst of sadnesse , their heart rejoyceth ; and those which are thus sealed by the holy spirit of god are they , such is the power of sound assurance , that it will make ( i mean instrumentally ) the heart to joy , whilst the outward man sorrows ; it will fill the heart , with joy unspeakable , and full of glory , whilst the outward man is filled with shame and contempt ; yea ▪ sound assurance is for the most part , then strongest , and shews it self with most vigor and light somenesse within , when the greatest damp of outward discomforts , lye upon the person , and the world most frowns upon him , or persecutes him , for his frowardnesse and faithfulnesse , in the cause of god. when paul and silas had much cause to sigh , for their usage amongst men , they then sang and rejoyced , act. 16.25 . when the apostles did suffer shame for christ , then did they most rejoyce , act. 5.41 . when the people of god were spoiled of their goods , and spoiled in their persons , then did they rejoyce ; and whence sprang their joy in this disconsolate condition , but from their assurance ? they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods [ knowing ] that they had in heaven , a better , and induring substance , heb. 10.34 . assurance of gods favour , produceth joy according to its measure and degree , assurance of hope , produceth joy , assurance of faith , produceth more joy ; the riches of the full assurance of understanding , most of all . the joy that springs from assurance , is a heart strengthening joy , a life lenghtening joy , and a joy that no man can take from us , it is a soul inlarging , a shame despising , a god-glorifying , a world-overcoming , and a sin-overcoming grace . in the seventh place , sound assurance produceth humility ; this seal of confirmation , when set by the spirit of god , doth work the soul to more humility of mind , then usually is in others ; the apostle paul is a notable instance hereof , he was thus sealed by the holy spirit of god , when he said , i am perswaded that neither death nor lfe , angels , principalities , nor powers , nor any other thing , shall be able to separate me , from the love of god , which is in christ iesus our lord ; and then did be serve the lord with all humility of mind , and with many tears , as himself saith , act 20.19 . sound assurance is heart-humbling , heart-molifying . sound assurance , leaves not the soul without a holy jelousie of it self , nor without a christian watch ; this is evident in the apostle paul , rom. 8.38 , 39. compared with 1 cor. 9.26 , 27. i am perswaded ( saith he ) that neither dea●h , nor life , nor any other creature , shall be able to separate me from the love of god , &c. yet was he not hereby taken off from , but rather incited to a holy jealousie of , and watchfulnesse over himself and all his wayes , as appears by the forecited place . sound assurance , and holy jealousie may well stand together ; and he whose assurance is void of holy jealousie and watchfulnesse , hath great cause to be jealous of his assurance . sound assurance is not the destroyer , but the nurse of holy jealousie and watchfulnesse ; neither is holy jealousie an enemy to , but a preserver of sound assurance . in the ninth place , sound assurance works the heart to more contempt of the world , and the things of the world , then others usually attain to , and it doth mightily quicken and spur forward the soul to more holinesse , hatred of sinne , and zeal , and courage in the cause of god ; moses and paul are pregnant examples of this ; of the effects of this seal in moses , we may read in heb. 11. v. 24 , 25 , 26 , 27. exod. 32.31 , 32 and in paul , phil. 3. v. 7 , to 15. act. 20. v. 19 , to 25. in the tenth place , sound assurance will bide the trial , and it is willing to be tried ; it shuns not the light , but comes to the light , that its reality might be made manifest . sound assurance is not usually injoyed long without some buffetings of satan ; the soul that is t●us sealed by the spirit of god , hath u●ually some thorne in the flesh , some messenger ( or other ) of satans to exercise it , and humble it : thus it was with the apostle paul , when thus sealed by the holy spirit of god , as appears by 2 cor. 12.7 . and thus it is with other of the children of god , who are thus sealed by the spirit of god , as each mans experience will witnesse ; to this i set a probatum est . sound assurance of the love of god , makes the soul long for the full fruition of it ; this seal of the holy spirit of god , moves the soul nothing more , to desire to be dissolved , to be with god ; how long , lord ? saith this soul , come lord iesus , come quickly : i have a desire to depart , and to be with christ , saith a soul thus sealed , phil. 1.23 . the soul thus sealed by the spirit of god , longs to be with god , yet labours to wait patiently for him , all the daies of his appointed time ; iob was thus sealed by the spirit of god , when he said , i know that my redeemer liveth ; he was assured that christ was his redeemer , and he longed to be with him , yet patiently waits for him , not a day or two , but all the daies of his appointed time , iob 14.14 . he that presumeth , many times makes more haste , than good speed ; but he that beleeveth maketh not haste . finally , he that is thus sealed by the spirit of god , is also led by the spirit of god , ( mark that ) he is led by the spirit of god , after a speciall manner , as many as are led by the spirit of god , they are the sonnes of god , saith the text , rom. 8.14 . so many as are led by the spirit of god as a sanctifier , ( and no more , have good ground to conclude ) they are the children of god , by this rule of the apostle , and so consequently to conclude , that the testimony that they have of their adoption ( if any ) is the testimony of the spirit of god. having thus briefly spoken of this feal of confirmation , set by the spirit of god , and severall appearances of it , i shall here desire the reader to take notice . that this seal of confirmation , on whomsoever it is set by the spirit of god , is usually the resolution of many doubts , the blessing of many prayers and teares , the fruit of a strong and well grounded faith , or the rich reward of long patience in suffering evill , for doing good and eschewing evill , or the victory and triumph of a sore spirituall warre , or the fragrant flower of a well-dressed garden , the rich crop of a well-manured field , or the pearl purchased , with the adventure of all the glory and crown , of high degrees in grace and holinesse , the blessing of much acquaintance with , and experience of the word and waies of god , and exact walking therein , the begining of heaven upon earth , a cordiall to keep from fainting under some great burden , the frui●ion of sweet submission unto christs yoke , or a stock put into our hands by god , for some great after-trading for god , in doing or suffering : in a word , it is the most secret , sweet , and soul-ravishing manifestation of the love of christ , that the spouse of christ is capable of on earth . this is that hidden manna , and new name mentioned ▪ rev. 2.17 . which no man knoweth , ●ut he that hath it . this christ promised to his church , in the day of her sufferings for his sake , as a speciall means to support her under , and carry her through , and above all the troubles , that she should meet with in the world for her close cleaving to his word and will , at that day ( saith he ) ye shall know , that i am in the father , and you in me , and i in you , john 14.20 . having spoken somewhat of the signs and demonstrations of these seales of the holy spirit of god severally : i will only add a word or two concerning such signs and effects , as are proper to them both , joyntly considered , and so conclude this manuscript . the soul that is thus sealed by the holy spirit of god ( to wit ) with the seal of demonstration , and the seal of confirmation . 1. doth earnestly long , and desire to be more sealed ; he or she , that hath truth of grace , doth earnestly long for , and indeavour after , more grace , higher degrees of grace ; he still presses towards the mark , phil. 3.13 . he prayes for , and indeavours after , what christ hath promised , in the name of the whole trinity to give , cant. 1.11 . borders of gold , with studs of silver , augmentation of all grace . the soul that is by the spirit of god , perswaded and assured of the fatherly love of god , counts not that it hath enough , but longs still to be more and more confirmed in it ; the tast that it hath of the sweetnesse and goodnesse of this wine , makes it long to drink deeper of it , and to desire flaggons of it , cant. 2 5. the sweetnesse , strength and comfort which the soul finds in , and by the apprehension of the love of god , makes it long and labour to apprehend it more : paul was assured of the love of god , and he did exceedingly desire , and labour to apprehend it more , as will appear by rom. 8.38 , 39. compared with phil. 3.12 , 13. the apprehension of the love of god , doth not satiate the soul , but whets it , and sets appetite upon it ; and hence it comes to passe , that 2. the soul that is thus sealed by the spirit of god , highly prizes all those means , ordinances , and instruments of god , whereby it came to be thus sealed , and industriously , and conscionably uses them , for the carrying on and perfecting of this work begun in it : the soul thus sealed by the spirit of god , knows experimentally , that it is but whilst the king sitteth at his table , as the church speaks , cant. 1.12 . that his spicknard sendeth forth the smell thereof ; but whilst christ continues his powerfull presence in his holy ordinances , and his speciall spirituall presence in the soul , that grace doth thrive , or send forth any good savour , by thoughts , words , or deeds , and therefore it longs earnestly after , and prayes fervently for all these , as that which is the life of its life , and the soul of its soul , the chariot of the spirit , whereby he descends into our hearts and carryes them up to heaven . he knows ex●er●mentally that all helps , publique and private , are little enough , to keep this seal faire unto the day of redemption , and therefore slights none , but carefully and conscionably uses all that god affords him . he knows that he is never the neer for that priviledg of free accesse to the throne of grace , that christ hath purchased for us , unlesse he make use of it , and therefore leaves not off praying ; he finds experimentally , that he is little or nothing the better for the publique meanes ( at least in heart ) unlesse he duly and conscionably use all private helps too ; and therefore , as one sensible of his own wants and weaknesse , and the spirits worth and sweetnesse , he waits for the movings of the spirit at all these pooles . but contrary wise , the soul in which satan counterfeits these seales of the spirit of god , when it is once thus sealed by him , is many times ready to say as esau , i have enough ; and with laodicea , i am rich , and increased with goods , and have need of nothing , neither grace , ordinances , nor ministers ; leaves manna , and loaths it , declines and deserts the ordinances , churches , and ministers of christ , and fals off from , or ( at least ) grows cold and customary in duty , which evidently demonstrates it to be satans seal , and not the seal of the holy spirit of god , that is upon it . 3. the soul thus sealed by the holy spirit of god ▪ obeys the truth of god , as it is discovered unto him by his word and spirit , in his ministers ; and he that doth not apply himself to do this , and yet thinks himself sealed , is but bewitched , his testimony that he hath , is but a bewitching , as the apostle intimates , gal. 3.1 . whosoever therefore thinks himself sealed by the holy spirit of god , with a seal of demonstration , and with a seal of confirmation , and yet doth not these three things , is deceived , and deceiveth his own heart ; it is satans seal , and not gods , that is upon him ; his sealing is a sealing to the day of destruction , not a sealing to the day of redemption . having finished what i promised , i shall now draw to a conclusion of the whole , and shall conclude this thus . having travelled through the holy scriptures , and seached the records thereof ▪ to see what i might find therein , that might intitle me to the inheritance of the saints in light , i have taken notice of divers remarkable places of scripture , very helpfull for this purpose , some of which i have studied industriously , according to my poore ability , and through the help of my gracious god , have acquired some comfort and satisfaction thereby in this weighty matter of evidence : what the lord hath been pleased to impart unto me , in this weighty matter . i have committed to writing for my own present and future benefit , and that i might leave it for a legacy to my children after me , which having done , i commit this work , and the reader of it to the blessing of god , through jesus christ. trin. vni deo gloria . an appendix , to the foregoing discourse . containing certain rules to be observed by every person , that hath attained any good assurance of the love of god , and his own salvation , and desires to retain it . forasmuch as assurance of the love of god , and a mans own salvation , is a pearl of great price , hard to be gotten , but quickly lost ; and being once lost , harder to be regained , than gotten at first , as many examples in scripture shew , and many christians experience will tell them ; i think it necessary , both for my own behoof and the readers , to adde to this little draught of evidence , some few rules of direction to be observed , for the keeping of this precious jewel , when it is once attained ; but before i mention them , i desire the reader to take notice of four things , first , that although a christian , which hath once a true and real interest in jesus christ , cannot lose his inheritance , nor misse of salvation , yet he may lose his evidence ( i mean his assurance of it ) and feare himself to be but an hypocrite , and a lost creature , and satan labou●s above all things , to rob him of his evidence , whom he cannot rob of his inheritance . secondly note . that evidence of our interest in god and christ , is a gift of gods free grace , and it dependeth upon gods free will ; i do not remember any particular promise in the bible , that god hath made ( ordinarily ) to give this blessing of assurance unto his people , or to continue it unto them alwayes , unto whom he gives it ; on whomsoever god bestows this grace of assurance , it is over and above what he hath covenanted with his people to give them ; and i call it ( a gift of free grace ) in this respect ; god gives this blessing at pleasure , and he may take it away at pleasure ; we hold it as tenants at will , and when the lord pleaseth , he may reverse his grant , or suspend his favour . thirdly , that god usually , ( i do not say alwayes ) continues this blessing , or suspends it , according to the use or abuse of it ; god varies his carriage towards the creature in respect hereof , as the creature varies its carriage towards him ; though gods love towards his people be alwayes the same , yet his discov●ries of it are not alwayes the same ; though the spirit of god be alwayes a leader to his people , yet be is not alwayes a witnessor to them ; the spirit of god many times suspends his testimony from those , to whom he continues his guidance . fourthly , it behooveth every one therefore , to whom the lord vouchsafeth this royall favour , to study how to carry himself , so that he may still enjoy it , this hath been my work and indeavour ever since the lord hath vouchsafed me any sence of his love , and evidence of my interest in christ , for this purpose i have propounded to my self , and shall here briefly commend to the reader , these rules , which follow . 1. having once gotten any good assurance of the love of god , and thy own salvation , thus do ; lay up this jewell safe in the cabbinet of a tender conscience . 2. set a guard about it , guard it with the feare of god , and spirituall watchfulnesse ; in the feare of the lord is strong confidence . * therefore be thou in the feare of the lord all the day long ; all the day of thy life , all thy life long ; and labour to keep a constant , spirituall watch over thy heart , over thy whole man and thy whole life . a what i shall say more concerning this subject , i shall conclude in two sorts of rules ; the first , negative , the second , positive ; the negative rules are these . peace being spoken to thy soul , take heed of doing any thing that should infring or interrupt it , take heed of returning unto folly ; take heed of relapsing into any sinne ; this rule the word prescribes , on this very ground , b beware therefore of returning unto former , or like offences . beware of eating , touching or looking after forbidden fruit ; all sinne is forbidden fruit , therefore take heed of it , and the first motions thereunto ; remember adam and eve , who were by their externall senses led to eat of that fruit , which god had forbidden them to eat , or to touch , and thereby lost that sweet communion with god , which they had before , and that influence of his grace , which they had and might still have had , had they not eaten of that fruit . shun all sinne , hate and abhor all sinne , especially scandalous sinnes ; remember reuben and david ; reuben by one scandalous act , loft his priviledg , and david by one scandalous act lost his evidence . take heed of secret sinnes , allow not thy self in , give not way to any secret sinne , for these often interpose between god and the soul , between the sonne of righteousnesse , and the soul , and eclyps the light of gods countenance , and the bright beames , and ra●es of the sun of righteousnesse from us , thou hast set our iniquities before thee , our secret sinnes in the light of thy countenance , saith the psalmist , psal. 90.8 . therefore beware of these . take heed of sinning against l●ght , against any light ▪ naturall , morall , or divine : sin not presumptiously . take heed of backsliding in heart , in profession or in practise , from the truth of god , or power or form of godlinesse . be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines , they are very unsetling ; but beware lest ye be led away with the error of the wicked , and fall from your own stedfastnesse , as the scripture speaks . take heed of abusing lawfull things , meate , drink , marriage , apparell , christian liberty , and the like ; take heed of abusing any of these , by unlawfull use of them ; the creature , as it is empty of what it promiseth , so it is inticing and insnaring with what it hath , and therefore had need to be warily used , or it may soone be abused , and the abuse of it , grieve the holy spirit of god , and cause him to suspend his testimony , and god to hide his face from thee . take heed of preferring the injoyment of any thing , before the injoyment of god in christ , and communion with him , or equalizing any thing with it . take heed of despising , slighting , neglecting , or formall using of ordinances , or holy duties . take heed of melancholly . i mean , that humour which is properly so called ; give not way to it , feed not thy self with it . take heed of carnal-confidence , put no confidence in the flesh , nor in any inherent thing ; seek not after righteousnesse in thy self , to justifie thy person before god , or build upon . take heed of unnecessary diffidence , and f●aggering at the promises of god through unbelief , and neglecting thy watch . take heed of spiritual pride ; it is an ill flower springing out of a good stemm , it often breeds contention between god and man , and brings men into fits of a spiritual falling sickness , wherein they lye like dead men , and only fome out their own sh●me , therefore beware of it . take heed of grieving the holy spirit of god , grieve not the holy spirit of god , whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemption ; by slighting his testimony , or doing any thing contrary and disagreeing to his will. thus much of the first sort of rules ▪ which are purely negative , and respect things to be avoided , by him that would keep his evidence : i shall now speak of the 2. sort of rules , which respect things to be done , by those that having attained some good evidence for heaven , desire to keep and retain it . 1. if thou wouldest keep thy assurance ▪ labour to walk worthy of it , to be thankfull for it , and give god the glory of it ; we sorfit many blessings by our ingratitude , and god often takes that from us , the glory of which we do not freely give to him . 2. if thou wouldest still keep thy assurance , walk humbly with god , and walk humbly with man , in the enjoyment of it . 3. if thou wouldst keep thy assurance , labour to follow the counsel of the apostle , eph. 4.17 . ye hence forth w●lk not as other gentiles walk , in the vanity of their mind , &c. ye that have obtained of the lord , such a choise favour as this ; ye which know in some measure , what it is to enjoy god , and communion with him ; ye that have some ●ssurance of an inheritance that fadeth not away , walk not in the vanity of your minds , nor after the vanities of the world , as others do that n●ver had such a jewell , as this , bestowed upon them . but see that ye walk circumspectly , not as fools , but as wise , redeeming the time , as the scripture directs , e●hes 5 15 , 16. labour to walk exactly with god , and exactly with men , and redeem the time by improving of it ; walk worthy of god , as we are bid , 1 thes , 2.12 . 4. if thou wouldest still retain thy assurance , practice that good thou dost know , be careful of all duty towards god , and towards man , in every relation wherein thou standest , and not only of the matter of duty , but also of the manner of performing it . 5. if thou wouldst still retain thy assurance , take upon thee christs yoke : follow christs steps , and labour to walk according to christs rule in every thing . labour to be strong in the lord , and in the power of his might . put on the whole armour of god , that ye may be able to stand against the wiels of the divell : above all , take the shield of faith , wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked , ephes. 6.10 , 11 , 16. 7. if thou wouldest still retain thy assurance , study the grounds of thy assurance ( viz. ) the promises of god : study their freenesse , their latitude , their stability , their author , and his faithfulnesse , and study thy interest in the promises , and labour to live upon the promises . 8. in the eight place , if thou wouldst still retain thy assurance , rest not satisfied , with any measure of assurance attained , but still la●our to increase thy assurance ; count not thy self to have attained , or to have apprehended assurance enough , but forget what is behind , and reach forth to that which is before ; follow after more , presse towards the mark , as the apostle did , phil. 3.12 , 13 , 14. labour for increase of assurance ; labour for the riches ( for all riches ) of the full assurance of understanding , as the scripture speaks * labour to apprehend the breadth , and length , and depth , and heighth of the love of god , and to know the love of christ , which passeth knowledg , to be filled with all the fullnesse of god , as the scripture speaks , eph. 3.18 , 19. quest. but you will say , how shall i do this ? what may i do to increase my assurance , and better my evidence ? answ. if thou wouldest increase thy assurance , and better thy evidence , thou must do these eight things . 1. thou must diligently and conscionably continue to use all those means and ordinances , for the increasing of thy assurance , which thou didst use for the getting of it , and labour to be made better by those meanes thou usest . 2. labour to grow up into christ the head , from whom all the body , by joynts and bands , and all our graces by participation of his fulnesse , have nou●ishment ministred unto them , and increase with the increase of god. 3. dye daily unto sinne , and live unto righteousnesse , labour to be more like god and heaven daily , if thou wouldest have more assurance of thy interest in god and heaven . 4. in the fourth place , if thou wouldest increase thy assurance , stir up the gift of god , that is in thee ; exercise and act grace , labour to grow and increase in grace , to be strong in grace , in all grace ; but especially in the grace of faith ; he that increaseth knowledg ( saith solomon ) increaseth sorrow ; so he that increaseth faith increaseth assurance . 5. in the fifth place , if thou wouldest still injoy thy assurance and increase it , then labour to improve the assurance thou hast , be it more or lesse , to the glory of god , thy own and thy brothers good ; they that improved their talents , had a continuance , and an increase of them , whilst h● that improved not his talent had it taken from him . 6. in the fixth place , if thou wouldest increase thy assurance , diligently follow every good work ; labour to be fruitfull in every good work . 7. then again , if thou woulde●● increase thy assurance , use well the office , place , calling , and relations , which god hath set thee in ; this is the way to attain great boldnesse in the faith , as is easie to be gathered , from the language of the apostle , 1 tim. 3.13 . 8. finally if thou wouldest increase thy assurance , pray for the increase of it ; urge god with that general promise , mat. 25.29 . for the obtaining of this particular blessing of increase of assurance . thus much for answer to the foresaid query , ( viz ) what we must do to increase our assurance and better our evidence . i return now to the work in hand , which is to propound more rules to be observed by those , who having attained some good evidence for heaven , desire to retain it ; i have already propounded eight rules , i come new to the ninth . 9. if thou wouldst still retain thy assurance , then labour to keep a holy jealousie over thy self , and over all thy performances , and wayes ; holy jealousie is no destroyer , but a nourisher and strengthener of good assurance . 10. if thou wouldest still injoy thy evidence , then labour to profit by all gods chastisements ; god many times deserts his people , and hides his face from them , because they do not profit by lesser chastisements ; he useth greater rods , because lesser will not serve the turn : labour therefore to discern gods design in every stroke of his , and to answer gods ends in every correction . 11. in the next place , if thou wouldest still injoy thy assurance , then call thy selfe often to account , and when thou espiest any failings in thy selfe , speedily humble thy self before the lord for them , renew faith and repentance , seek pardon and reconciliation , apply the blood of christ for thy cure , let not conscience lye under the guilt of any known sinne unrepented of ; if our hearts condemne us not , then have we confid●nce towards god , 1 john 3.21 . labour therefore so to try , judge and condemn thy selfe that thy heart may not condemne thee ; labour so to act repentance upon every occasion , that conscience may not find any guilt unrepented of , to charge thee with ; labour to prevent conscience herein , by doing that thy self now , that it would do hereafter , by being such a self condemning sinner , that thou maiest avoid a self-condemning conscience : he that is not a self condemning sinner here , shall be sure of a self condemning conscience hereafter ; therefore o christians ! iudg your selves , that you be not judged of the lord ; condemn your selves , that you be not condemned of conscience ( at least not justly . ) 12. l●t your conversation be such , as becometh the gospell of christ , in simplicity and godly sincerity : this was ground of confidence and rejoycing to the apostles , 2 cor. 1.12 . it may be so to thee , nay it will be so to thee , whiles conscience speaks truth . 13. cast thy self wholly upon the merit of christ for righteousnesse , to justifie thy person before god. 14. stand fast in the lord , labour to keep the faith ; paul saith , i have kept the faith , and hence infers , henceforth there is laid up for me , a crown of righteousness , 2 tim. 4.7 , 8. 15. then again , if thou wouldest keep thy evidence . hold fast ( not only ) the faith , but also the profession of thy faith , without wavering , as the author to the hebrews exhorts all christians to do , heb. 10.23 . 16. in the next place , if thou wouldest still retain thy assurance , then pray for the continuance of it , and live for the continuance of it ; follow the counsell of christ to his disciples , watch and pray , that ye enter not into temptation . 17. remember that the foundation of god standeth sure , and his gifts of saving grace are without repentance , and his love towards his , is an everlasting love . 18. finally if thou wouldest still retain thy evidence for heaven and secure it from danger , from satan , and all his devices , then intrust jesus christ with it who purchased it for thee ; he and he only , is able to secure it . thus much for the rules to be observed by every one , that having attained some good evidence for heaven , desire to preserve and retain it . now the lord of his infinite mercy in christ , inable me so to follow these rules , and all the rules of his holy word , that i may never know experimentally , what a deserted condition is , but still enjoy the light of his countenance , and the sence of his love , and in death triumph over death , in assurance of life and happinesse that shall never end , that christ may be magnified in me , both in life and in death , and of me through all eternity . amen , amen . finis . courteous reader , these books following are print● or sold by simon miller , at the star in st. pauls church-yard . small folio . the civil wars of spain in the reign of charles the fifth , emperor of germany , and king of that nation , wherein our late unhappy differences are paralleled in many particulars . a general history of scotland , from the year 767. to the death of king iames , containing the principal revolutions and transactions of church and state , with politicall obseruations , and reflections upon the same : by david hume of godscroft . the history of this iron age. doctor lightfoot his harmony on the new testament . in qarto large . barklay his argenis translated by sir robert le grise knight . quarto small . abraham's faith ; or the good old religion , proving the doctrine of the church of england to be the only true faith of gods elect ; by i. nicholson minister of the gospell . the anatomy of mortallity : by george stroad . aynsworth , on the camicles . paul bayn , his diocesans trial. gralle against appolonius . a treatise of civil pollicy ; being a clear decision of 4● . queries , concerning prerogative right and priviledg , in reference to the supreme prince and the people : by samuel rutherford professor of divinity of st andrews in scotland . politick and military observations of civill and military government , containing the birth , increase , decay of monarchies , the cartiage of princes and magistrates . mr. tinchin his meritorious price of mans redemption cleared . a●●rology theologized , shewing what nature and influence the stars and planets have over men , and how the same may be diverted and avoided . the harmony of confessions . 4o. octavo . florus anglicus with cuts , the reconciler of the bible , wherein above 2000 , seeming contradictions are fully and plainly reconciled . a view of the jewish religion 〈◊〉 their rites , customes , and ●●●emonies . ed. vvaterhouse esq his dis●●rse of piety and charity . a view and defence of the re●ormation of the church of england , very usefull in these times . mr. peter du moulin , his antidote against popery ; published on purpose to prevent the delusions of the priests and jesuites who are now very busie amongst us . herberts devotions , or a companion for a christian , containing meditations and prayers , usefull upon all occasions . mr. knowles , his rudiment , of the hebrew tongue . a book of scheams or figures of heaven ready set for every foure minutes of times , and very ●seful for all astrologers . florus anglicus , or an exact hi●tory of england , from the reign of v●illiam the conqueror , to the death of the late king. lingua , or the combate of the tongue and the five senses for superiority : a serious comedy . the spirits touchstone ; being a clear discovery how a man may certainly know whether he be truly taught by the spirit of god , or not . the poor mans physitian and chirurgion . the idol of clowns . the christian moderator in 3. parts . the golden fleece , or a discourse of the cloathing of england duodecem . doctor smith's practice of physick . the grammer war. posselivs apothegmes . faciculus florum . crashaw's visions . helvicus colloqu●es . the christian soulder , his combate with the three arch enemies of mankind , the world , the flesh , and the devil . in 24. the new testament . the third part of the bible . plaies . the ball. chawbut . martyr'd souldier . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a31952-e190 is. 50. ●0 . iob 13.15 . 2 pet. 1.10 . laetitia bonae c●nscientiae est paradisus animarum , gaudium angelorum , hortus delicia rum ●ger benedictionis , templum solo monis , aula ●ei , habitaculum spiritus sancti . bernard . eph. 4.30 . eph. 1.14 . ioh. 16.7 . rom. 8.16 . mat. 21.1 . 2 cor. 12.9 . socratis historia . li. 1 ca 16. act 18.24.26 . rom 16.23 . phi. 4.2 , 3 rom. 16.1 , 6 , 12. notes for div a31952-e1530 con 1. con. 2. con. 3. quest. answ : rule . 1 ▪ joh. 16 . 2● iosh. 2.12 . the second rule . jer. 17.9 . iob 28.14 , 15. cant. 1.8 . in the use of all means . 2 pet. 1.10 . isa. 7.9 . iohn 3. ioh. 16.27.29 . rom. 8. phil. 2 . 1● a heb. 6.11 . b heb. 10.22 . c col. 2.2 . d 1 tim. 3.13 . e eph. 1.18 . f 2 pet. 1.10.11 . rule 3. g 1 cor. 2.10 . ro● 8.16 . rule 4. rule 5. a true beleever only is capable of assurance . isa. 57.15.66 , 2. labour to do thy duty . isa. 32.17 . act. 7.55 . hab. 12.14 . mat. 5.8 . rule . 6. rule 7. 2 pet. 1.5 , 6 , 7.3.18 . luk. 6.47 , 48. rule 8. 1 can. 13. notes for div a31952-e3630 quest. answ. he that is in christ , chosen in him before the foundation of the world , eph. 1.4 . object . answ. note . thi● union is 〈…〉 b●t mystical . as an inward sanct●fier . renewing grace is the earnest of the spirit . th● donation or ●●mmunication of this grace by the spirit of god is the inward and effectuall call of god , whic● demonstrates our election . by this faith ch●ist dwels in our hearts . christ is become the end of the law for righteousness to every true believer , rom. 10.4 . all that believe aright , are justified from all sinn , act. 13.39 . rom. 3.26 . believers do eater in●o rest , heb. 4.3 . although a reprobate may have faith and divers kinds of faith yet he never hath this faith. note . quest. sol. justifying fai●h described . property , 1. a cant. 5.10 . b ps. 45.2 . c cant. 5.16 . d cant. 2.3 . e cant. 5.16 . f cant. 1.2 . g ps. 63.3 . h psal. 73.25 . i phil. 3.7 , 8 , 9. job 23.8 , 9. job 13. ●6 , 27. ver . 15. 2 sam 2. 2 kin. 2.4 . the holy ghost originally as the author , faith instrumentally as the meanes sanctifieth . 2 cor. 12.7 , 8. good faith is full of good workes 13. property . faith ove●cometh not at once , but by degrees , it is still overcoming , and at length overcometh . 1 s●m . 3.18 . note . luk. 17.5 . mark. 9.24 . ioh. 8.31 . matt. 24.13 . col. 1.23 . note . iob 19.28 . 1 iohn 3.8 , 19. psal. 145.20 . a prov. ● . 17 . b 1 ioh. 4 19. c 1 ioh. 3.23 , 24. d 1 ioh. ● . 16 . ibid. v. 12. 1 ioh. 4.7 . e 1 ioh. 3.14 . ioh. 13.34 , 35. quest. answ. sincere love to god , what. mat. 22.37 . prop. 2. he that loves god aright , loves him for himself . f 1 pet. 1.3 . ● cor. 5.14 . it makes a man tender of offending god. gen. 39.8 , 9. 1 sam. 24.4 , 5 , 6. ps. 97.10 . psal. 119.127 , 128. note . g ioh. 14.23 . h 2 ioh. 6. 1 ioh. 2.5.1 , 5 , 3. dan. 3.12 , 18. act. 4.19 . 1 ioh. 5.3 . psal. 119 158 psal. 51.4 . psal. 38. psal. 4.6 , 7. cant. 1.2 . i psal. 4● . 2 . k psal. 63.1 , 2. l phil. 1.23 . m rev. 22.20 . note . n 1 ioh 4.16 o 1 cor. 13.8 . he that fears god aright , feates him for nought , 〈◊〉 the lan●●●ge of ●●can concern●ng 〈◊〉 ●●●●mates , io● 1.9 . so he that loves god aright , loves him for nought . p phil. ● . 12 . q psal. 63 ▪ 8. & v. 1. r cant. 3.1 , 2. s joh. 20.1 . mat ▪ 28.1 . ubi amor , ibi oculus . cant. 5.10 . to the end . cant. 8.7 . exod. 32.19 , 20. act. 17.16 . &c. note . 2 sam. 12 no●e . mat. 24.12 . therefore ioshua and iude exhort us to look to our love , iosh. 23.11 , 12. iude v. 21 note . as we thri●e in love , so we th●ive in all grace that iss●es out of love . note . this was peter's c●se . note . 1 joh. 4.20 . sincere love to man , what . 1 ioh. 5.2 . note . a col. 1.4 . b 1 thes. 3.12 . c mat. 5.44 . d rom. 13.10 . e prov. 3.29 . f 1 cor. 13.5 . g luk. 6.30 h 1 ioh. 5.1 i 1 pet. 2.17 . k rom. 16.3 , 4. l joh. 13 34 mat. 10.8 . m luk. 6.35 . n rom. 12.16 . o 1 thes. 3.12 , 13. 1 joh 2.10 . p 1 joh. 3.17 , 18. jam. ● . 15 , 16. q luk 3.11 . r col. 2.2 . s act. 4.32 . prov. 10.12 . 1 pet. 4.8 . it is an everlasting love . 1 cor. 13.8 . * and is thereby distinguished from a carnall love , which oftentimes doth . christian love and carnall love herein differ . note . this me thinks is very observable . b jam. 4.11 . c gal. 5.15 . d prov. 3.29 . e 1 thes. 4. ● . f 1 thes. 5.15 . g prov. 24 29. h exod. 20.16 . i prov. 24 28. k prov. 24 15. l prov. 22.22 . m prov. 24 17. n levit. 19.17 . o verse 16. 1 joh. 3.12 . * gain was wicked , and slew his brother , yet was he not so impudent as to give god thanks for it , when he had done , much less did he call out adam thereunto . obadiah ver . 12 , 13 14. p rom. 14.13 , 10 , 21. q 1 cor. 10.32 . r rom. 12.18 . s eph. 4.31 . t 1 joh 3.23 u ioh. 15.12 . * 1 pet. 3.8 . x rom. 12.9 . y 1 pet. ● . 22 . z 1 ioh. 3.18 . a ephes. 5.2 . b 1 thes. 3.12 . c 2 pet. ● . 18 . d ephes. 4.15 . e gal. 5.13 . f heb. 13.1 . g r●m . 12.10 . h ver . 15. i rom. 12 10. k 1 pet. 3.8 . l ibid. m eph. 4.32 . 1 tim. 6.18 . o rom. 12.8 . p gal. 6.2 . q rom. 15.1 . r act. 20.35 . s col. ● . 13 . t heb. 10.25 . u 1 thes. 5.11 . * col. 3.16 . x heb. 10.24 . y james 5.16 . 1 tim. ● . 1. † matth. 5 . 4● . a gal. 6.10 . b rom. 1● . ●● ▪ c luke 〈…〉 1. matth. 7.12 . d 1 thess. 5. ●● , 13. e rom. ● 5. 1 t●●ss . 5.13 . f lev. 19.16 . g 1 cor. 10.24 . h rom. 14.21 . i rom. 15.2 . k lev. 19.18 . mat. 22.39 . l lu 6.35 . m lev. 19.17 . n mat. 18.15 , 6. o ib. v. 17. p 1 cor. 5.11 . 2 thes. 3.6 , 14. mat. 18.17 . or in case of heresie , 1 tim. 6. v. 3 , 5. q rom. 16.17 . r 1 cor. 5.2 . s ia. 5.16 . t gal. 6.1 . u phi. v. 12. * 2 cor. 2.7 , 8. x mat. 18.35 . y luk. 17.4 . mat 18 . 2●.22 . z col ● . 13 . & eph. 4.32 . object . answ. this , and no less then this , is vigor fit to give the appearance of a sincere love. the gospel joines repentance and remission of sins toge●her , luk. 2● . 47 . act. 5.31 . repentance unto salvation , 2 cor. 7.10 . note . quest. sol. note . this is evident by the words in the proclamation of the king of nineve ion. 3.8 . quest. answ. it is for inward fins , as well as outward . note . luk. 1. note . it makes the soul to justifie god in all his dealings , as appears by , neh. 9.33 . lam. 1.18 . luk. 23.41 . luk. 15.19 . ezek. 16. note . eze. 6.9 . ps. 51.4 . hos. 14 2. ps. 25.18 . psa. 39 8. psa 51.2 , 9. note . note . psal. 4.6 . cant. 1.2 . psal. 4.7 . psa. 63.1 . psa 42.1 . paul mourned for his sin after he was justified from his sinne . this is fruit fit , and but fit for real repen●ance . pro. 28.13 . 2 chron. 7.14 . isai. 1.16 , 17. act. 3.19 . ezek. 14.6.18.30 . 2 cor. 7.10 . ier. 24.7 . 1 kin. 8.48 . * gal. 2.20 . love the lord thy god , and walk ever in his wayes , are joyned together , deu. 19.9 . note . deut. 30.2 . act. 3.22 . thus did zacharias and elizabeth obey god , luk. 1.6 . psal. 119.6 . a ps. 119.72 . b iob. 23.12 . c act. 20.23 , 24. d deut. 19.9 . deut. 5.29 . iohn 8.31 . e ruth . 1.16 . f 2 king. 2. g 2 sam. 2. ver . 19. to the 24. note . 2 cor. 8.12 . eph. 3.8 . he tremble●h at the word , when it is rightly applied , yea sometimes when it is wrongfully applied by satan , conscience , or m●n . d●n . 2.10 he thinks not the better of himself for what he doth or for what g●d doth by him . ruth 1.21 . lam. 1.13 . luk 23 , 40 , 41. rom. 7.24 . heb. 10.14 . * 〈…〉 . 〈◊〉 . 〈…〉 when sin is sentenced to death and dying , then is it dead in gods account , and in scripture phrase . note . gal. 2.20 . rom. 7.17 . rom. 6.16 . the evill which i would not , v. 19. note . note . caution . a creature universally wed . the app●arances of a new crea●ure . a new creature doth not allow himself in any one known sin , nor in omit●ing any known duty . he is one that doth not follow after sin● , but after grace . * to clense himself from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirit . 1 ioh. 5.4 . a numb . 14.24 . b 1 king ▪ 14 8. c ruth 1.16 . d 2 kin● 2. e 2 sam. 2. ve● . 19 , to the 24. jesus christ formed in thee the first demonstration of thy new creation . 1 sam. 28.14 . & 13. the new man is renewed in knowledg col. 3.10 . renewing light ishumble , and humbling . iob 24.5 , 6. 1 col. 1.6 . persons savingly inlightened , walk as children of light . eph. 5.8 . 2 cor. 3.18 . note . a new heart the second demonstration of a new creature . note . note . the newness of the heart , consisteth not in the substance of it , but in the quality of it ; when the heart is made new , the substance is not altered , but the quality isaltered : a renewed heart , is in scripture called a new heart . job 19.28 . such as the heart is , such is the man. a new heart , is in scripture called by divers names , and set forth by divers properties , some of which i will here speak of , as god shall inable me . note . note . note . note . a heart wherein there is no guile reigning . prov. 16.17 . psal. 19.12 , 13. an uprightheart goes not after any known s●n , but p●●ys and fights against all sinne . ps. 101.3 . conscienciousin private duties , as well as exact in publique duties . an upright heart makes a man studious and carefull to walk uprightly . psa. 29. ● . psa. 63.1 . ps. 53. ●6 . hab 2.4 . ps. 125.4 . this it doth , because god delightsin uprightness , more then in any other qualification . iob 13.23 . iob 16.19 . iob 13.6 . uprightnesse if once in the heart will never out . iob 27.10 . iob 15.33 . iob 18.16 . mat. 13.5 , 6. iob 23.11 , 12. hence it is that the scripture calls for renovation in spirit in professors of religion . eph. 4.23 . the third demonstration of a new creature is living in christ and bringing forth fruit in him . col. 1.10 . this he finds by experience . 1 sam. 13.8 . note . luk. 6.45 . a new creature is ●ne that doth not commit sin . this is his four●h demonstration . therefore an unregenerate person is said to be the servant of sin . a regenerate person is not a servant of sin but a captive to the law of sin . he that is born of god doth not commit that sin unto death , the sin against the holy ghost . this body of death is worse to a new creature , and this is his fifth demonstration . iob 3 21. a new creature minds the things of the spirit , and is led by the spirit , this is his sixt demonstration . psal. 4.6 . ps. 63.3 cant. 1.2 . note . when a man may be said to be led by the spirit . note . note . nor at all times alike . note . and according as the burdens which he goes under , beheavior or lighter . note . a new creature is one joyned to the lord jes●s christ , and one spirit with him ▪ this is his seven●h demonstration . a rege●ative and sensitive s●ul , is comprehended under a rationall , so is a joyning to christ under a being in christ. ioh. 7.18 . spi●i●uall p●i●st● col. 2.12 . note . note . job 19.28 . his goverment is spirituall , yet external and internall . mat. 26.41 . mark. 6.34 . mat. 9.36 . mat. 15.32 . mat. 14.14.27 . isai. 42.3 . luke 23.34 . act. 10.38 . heb. 5.7 . luk. 22.44 . prov. 8.30 . note . thus from providences . 1 cor. 11.32 . to them that love god. cant. 1.5 , 6. g●n 32. mic. 7.9 . thus did pauls bonds operate in him , phil. 1.23 . heb. 12.11 . note . p●al . 89.30 , 31 , 32. gospell-doctrine , gospell-discipline , gospell-conversation . note . 1 pet. 2.21 , 23. divine patience , what ? a ja. 1.2 . b mat. 5.12 . c lu. 6.23 . divine joy , what ? hab. 2.17 , 18. d mar. 8.38 . e 1 pet. ● . 16 . f 2 tim. 1.8 . g 1 pet. 3.14 . h mat 10.26.28 , 31. rev. 2. ●0 . i cant. 1.9 . note . christian courage . k 1 tim. 1.2 . rom. 1.16 . l dan. 3.18 . thus did the three children we read of in daniel , declare their courage . rom 2.7 . m rev. 2.10 . n mat. 24.13 . perseverance . not● ▪ o 1 pet. 2.19 . i think it not fit here to define conscience , and therefore will pass by that . note . this christ in●●●nated to peter , joh. 13 8. and plainly told nicodemus , joh. 3.5 . * viz. in case of ignorance , temptation , desertion . such a seal was set upon those , mentioned phil. 4.3 . whose names the apostle judged were in the book of life . the saving graces of the spirit , are called , the earnest of the spirit , 2 cor. 5.5 . hates fin for its evil nature , and because god hates it . eph. 4.23 . saving holiness springs from divine principles he is still figh●ing against these , and at last overcomes them all . note . note . joh. 16.13 , 14 , 15. note . all gods adopted children , have hannah's portion , love , speciall love , but all of them have not be●jamin's double portion ( to wit ) love , and the assurance of it ; this is a choice favour , a high priviledg . he hath the spirit ofprayer , though not the gift of prayer note . note . sound assurance makes the soul to triumph over death the king of terrors , as appears in paul , rom. 8.38 39. & 1 cor. 15.55 . note . some singular doing or suffering for god , or from god , by means of sin , or satans or men . notes for div a31952-e36880 * prov. 14.26 . a follow the counsel that moses gave to israel , deut. 4.9 . take bred to thy self , and keep thy soul with all diligence , &c. negative rules . b ps 85 8. sin not away thi● blessin● give not r●ines to any lust ; keep thy self from the accused 〈◊〉 ▪ 2 pet. 3.17 . remember that god never gave any man any qualification , how glorious soever to the end he should glory in it ▪ gods people may often say of their pride , as ieph●●●● did of 〈◊〉 daughter alas my pri●e , thou hast brought me very low walk according to the ruls of the scripture . * 2 col. 2. labour to grow in grace daily . mat. 25. pray that the spirit of god may still bear witnesse with thy spirit of gods love towards them . clavis bibliorum the key of the bible, unlocking the richest treasury of the holy scriptures : whereby the 1 order, 2 names, 3 times, 4 penmen, 5 occasion, 6 scope, and 7 principall parts, containing the subject-matter of every book of old and new testament, are familiarly and briefly opened : for the help of the weakest capacity in the understanding of the whole bible / by francis roberts ... roberts, francis, 1609-1675. 1648 approx. 503 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 203 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a57377 wing r1583 estc r20707 12356495 ocm 12356495 60145 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a57377) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 60145) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 645:23) clavis bibliorum the key of the bible, unlocking the richest treasury of the holy scriptures : whereby the 1 order, 2 names, 3 times, 4 penmen, 5 occasion, 6 scope, and 7 principall parts, containing the subject-matter of every book of old and new testament, are familiarly and briefly opened : for the help of the weakest capacity in the understanding of the whole bible / by francis roberts ... roberts, francis, 1609-1675. calamy, edmund, 1600-1666. 624 p. : 2 folded charts. printed by t.r. and e.m. for george calvert ..., london : 1648. "an epistle to the reader," signed by edmund calamy. imperfect: all pages after p. 336 lacking in filmed copy. reproduction of original in the university of illinois (urbana-champaign campus). library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bible. -o.t. -commentaries. 2003-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-06 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-07 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2003-07 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-08 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion clavis bibliorvm . the key of the bible , vnlocking the richest treasury of the holy scriptures . whereby the 1 order , 2 names , 3. times , 4 penmen , 5 occasion , 6 scope , and 7 principall parts , containing the subject-matter of every book of old and new testament , are familiarly and briefly opened : for the help of the weakest capacity in the understanding of the whole bible . by francis roberts , a. m. pastor of the church at augustines , london . col. 3.16 let the word of christ in dwell in you richly in all wisdome . london , printed by t. r. and e. m. for george calvert , and are to sold at his shop at the signe of the half-moon in watling-street , neer to pauls stump . 1648. an epistle to the reader . there is no one duty more commanded , or commended in the word of god , or more practised by the saints of god , then the diligent and conscientious reading of the holy scriptures . our saviour christ commands us not only to read them , but to a search into them . the apostle paul commands us not only to have them with us , but b in us ; and not only to have them in us , but to have them dwelling and abiding in us , richly in all wisedome . david professeth of himselfe that the c law was in the midst of his bowels . and that he had d hid the word in his heart , that he might not sinne against god. austin saith of himselfe e , that the holy scriptures were his holy delight . and hierome tels us of one nepotianus , who f by long and assiduous meditation of the holy scriptures , had made his breast the library of iesus christ. and for my part , i have alwayes observed , that the more holy and humble any man is , the more he delighteth in the holy scriptures ; and the more profane and proud any man is , the more he slighteth and undervalueth them . cursed is that speech of politian that proud critick , that he never spent his time worse then in reading the scriptures . and famous is the answer of basil to that cursed apostate julian who said of the sciptures , g that he had read them , understood them , and condemned them ; but basil answered him excellently : that he had read them , but not understood them , for if he had understood them , he would not have condemned them . no man that hath the holy spirit , but will love those books which were written h by holy men as they were moved by the holy spirit . as david said of goliah's sword . i there is none to that , give it me , so may i say of the holy scriptures . there are no bookes like these books , k which are able to make thee wise unto salvation , and to make the man of god absolute , and perfect unto every good worke . and therefore let me perswade all men to read these books , & not only to read them , but to l meditate in them day and night : and to hide them in their hearts as a divine cordiall , to m comfort them in these sad dayes ; as a n divine lampe , to guide them in this houre of darknesse ; and o as part of the whole armour of god , to inable them to resist temptation , in this houre of temptation , that is now coming upon the whole earth . and when they read them , 1 to read them with an humble heart , for god hath promised to give p grace to the humble , and q to teach the humble his way . 2 to read thē with prayer , that god would r open their eyes , that they may understand the wonders of his law . 3 to read them with a godly trembling , for feare least with the spider these should suck poison out of their sweet flowers , and s wrest the scriptures to their owne destruction , as they that are unstable and unlearned . 4 to read them with a t purpose to practice what they read . he that practiseth what he understandeth , god will help him to understand what he understands not . 5 to read them in an orderly and methodicall way ; and for their better help herein , to take this ensuing treatise in their hands . it is short and pithy ; it sets the whole bible before them , in an orderly , plaine and perspicuous manner , and helps them to understand every book . the author of it is a godly learned minister , well knowne and very well esteemed on in this famous city . the book it selfe is called the key of the bible , because it unlocks the richest treasury of the holy scriptures . take this key with you , whensoever you goe into this treasury . and pray unto him that hath the u key of david , that openeth and no man shutteth , and shutteth and no man openeth , that he will open this treasury unto you . the rabbins say that there are foure keyes that are in gods keeping . the key of the clouds , the key of the wombe , the key of the grave , the key of food . i may adde that there is a fifth key also in gods bestowing , which is the key of the scriptures . the god that made these books , can only un-riddle these books . and therefore when you use this key , pray for that other key , and pray unto christ to deale with you as he did with his apostles , x to open your understanding that you may understand the scriptures . so prayes , your servant in christ iesus , edmund calamy . imprimatur , edmund calamy . an introductory advertisement to the reader ; containing some generall directions for the right understanding of the holy scriptures ; and how this present treatise is to be improved most advantagiously to that end . the holy scriptures are the a lively oracles of the living god , unfolding the secrets of his will to man : the epistle of iesus christ , revealing from heaven the saving mysteries of his sweetest love unto his church : and the blessed charter of the saints , which no tract of time shall reverse ; whereby they hold of god all their present enjoyments , in the life that now is , and all their future hopes of that life which is to come . b chrysostom prefers scripture before angels ; & saith c get you bibles , the medicines of the soule . d iob esteemed them more then his necessary food . paul e delighted therein touching the inward man. david preferred them before f the honey and honey-combe ; before g great spoyl , h thousands of gold and silver , i all riches , and therefore accounted them his k heritage , his l counsellors , his m comfort , &c. yea professeth n his heart did break for longing to gods judgements at all times . and every godly and truly blessed man should make the scriptures his o delight , and meditate therein night and day . notwithstanding how many gracious soules are there , whose delight it is to repair often to this sanctuary of the scriptures , ( as p augustine stiles them ) but cannot tell what they see there , of the lord , and of his glory ; who frequently read in this blessed book , but ( like the q ethiopian eunuch ) understand not , or not to purpose , what they reade ? and this comes to passe , 1 partly , through the sublimity of those supernatural and heavenly mysteries therein revealed , whereby r some things are hard to be understood . 2 partly through the obscure and mysterious manner of scriptures , revealing many things , whereby the lord would exe●cise the sharpest and deepest apprehensions of men . 3 partly through defect of some familiar manu-duction into the whole bible , and the severall books of old and new testament therein contained , which might like a clew of thread conduct into these sacred treasuryes , and like a key unlock this cabinet of christs richest jewels . whereupon , after much deliberation how this might be best effected , apprehending that some briefe and solid discovery of the 1 order , 2 names 3 times , 4 penmen 5 occasion , 6 scope , 7 principall parts of the books in the bible , would much conduce o ripen christians in bible-knowledge , spreading before their eyes in a generall view the current of the whole scriptures : i entred upon this task and finished it ( by divine assistance ) in such sort as is represented in the ensueing treatise . it was immediately intended for the help and benefit of some speciall godly friends , ( whom i shall ever highly respect and honour ) but through importunity is now made publike for the good ( i hope ) of many . the lord make it as usefull , as it was intended , and is desired . by way of preface , be pleased to pause a little with me upon the serious consideration of 1. the worth of scripture-knowledge . 2. the way how to attaine to it . that will quicken christians to scripture-study . this will help them to scripture-understanding . scripture-knowledge is of great worth and consequence to every christian. or , the holy scriptures are most worthy of all christians constant study , and utmost endeavours to understand them . for , 1. the author inventing and inditing the holy scriptures is god blessed for ever , father , sonne and holy ghost ; s all scripture is divinely inspired . hence called the t oracles of god ; u the word of christ. and the x saying of the holy ghost , y for the prophecy came not at any time by the will of man , but holy men of god spake as they were moved by the holy ghost . we are apt to value , desire to study and understand the books of godly , learned , judicious mens making : how much more should we to the utmost indeavour to understand the scriptures , which are the only books of gods making ? mens writings are too much mingled with vanity , ignorance , folly , mistakes , imperfections , infirmities and corruptions , savouring much of a carnall spirit when most spiritual : but gods word is satisfactorily full , without all vanity : most wise z faithfull and true , without all falshood or folly ; compleatly a perfect , beyond all imperfection ; b most pure , and c exceedingly refined , without all corruption , and without all carnall mixtures ; wholly spirituall , sweetly resembling that most spirituall spirit that did indite them . 2. the amanuenses or penmen of the holy ghost for the scriptures , were not contemptible or ordinary , but incomparable and extraordinary persons . as moses the d meekest man on earth ; the peculiar favourite of god , with whom e god talked face to face ; the f none-such of all the prophets in israel . samuel g that mighty man in prayer . david the king , that h man after gods own heart . king solomon , that i wisest of all the kings , whom god honoured with the k building of the temple . daniel in whom was found l an excellent spirit , and great dexterity in m expounding secrets and mysteries . iohn n the disciple whom iesus loved above all the rest , o who leaned on iesus breast . paul p who was caught up into the third heavens , whose writings ( saith q chrysostome ) like a wall of adamant , compasse about or surround all the churches . in a word r all of them holy men of god , moved by the holy ghost . these being the penmen , how incomparable and extraordinary must their writings needs be ; who would not study them , and earnestly pry into them ? 3. the matter of the scripture is most invi●ing , able to allure the hearts of men and angels to the study of them , yea to transport and ravish their spirits in the understanding of them . herein are revealed most profound and inexplicable mysteries . the nature of the blessed god , simple , without composition ; s al-sufficient , without any externall addition , t immutable , without all shadow of alteration ; u eternall , x immense , incomprehensible , y omnipresent , and wholly z infinite , without all limitation , &c. the a vnity of essence ; the b trinity of persons ; the father not being the son , nor either of them the holy ghost ; yet all of them the holy god. the secrets of gods eternall counsels , especially touching the c electing of his owne in christ , predestinating them to the adoption of children , when all others are passed by . the curious order of the creation , to bring his purposes to passe . the permission of mans fall from the pinacle of his naturall integrity , that thereby he might take occasion to glorify the height of justice and mercy in raising him up by christ to a farre higher pitch of supernaturall felicity . the person and office of iesus christ the mediatour , and both altogether d wonderfull , e god and man united in one person , to unite god and man in one covenant ; the son of god became the son of man , to make the sons of men sons of god ; a king to subdue all our enemies to us , and us to himselfe . a prophet , to unveyle the bosome secrets of his father unto us . a priest , offering up himselfe upon himselfe , by himselfe ; offering up himselfe the sacrifice , as man ; upon himselfe , the alta● , as god ; by himselfe , the priest , as god-man . christ was humbled , and thereby we exalted ; christ wounded , we healed , christ accused , we cleared ; christ condemned , we justified and acquitted ; christ accursed , we blessed ; christ slaine , and we live ; and christ conquered , that so we might be more then conquerours through christ that loves us . what shall i say ? in scripture is revealed , how enemies are reconciled , sinners justified , aliens adopted , beggars made heirs and co-heirs with christ , and how dust and ashes shall be glorified for evermore . here are unfolded the f covenant of grace , wholly made up of heavenly cordials . the g promises of the life that now is , and that which is to ●ome , h exceeding great and previous . the i comforts of god able to counterpoise the deepest disconsolations ▪ and k commands surpassing all the lawes in the world , in holinesse , iustice and goodnesse . here are discovered , the miseries of all that a●e in the first adam , the felicities of all that are in the second adam , and the way how poore soules are translated from those miseries to these felicities . here you shall find god descending to man , in preparing all spirituall priviledges for sinners in jesus christ our saviour , in tendering richest grace by covenant-promises and ordinances , and in applying these preparations and tenders actually to the soule by the spirit : 2 man ascending unto god , by the spiritualizing of his nature , acting of his faith , aspiring of his desires , fervency of his prayers , and holy tendency of his conversation : yea both god and man sweetly closing together in a most intimate communion in iesus christ , which is as another paradise , and heaven on earth . in a word , what is there not in holy scriptures ? are we poore ? here 's a treasury of riches . are we sick ? here 's a shop of l soule medicines . are we fainting ? here 's a cabinet of cordials . are we christlesse ? here 's the star that leads to christ. are we christians ? here 's the bands that keep in christ. are we afflicted ? here 's our solace . are we persecuted ? here 's our protection . are we deserted ? here 's our recovery are we tempted ? here 's m our sword and victory . are we young ? here 's our beauty . are we old ? here 's our wisdome . while we live , here 's the rule of our conversation ; when we dye , here 's the hope of our glorification . so that i may ( with n tertullian , i adore the fulnesse of the scripture . oh blessed scriptures ! who can know them , and not love them ? who can love them , and not delight to meditate in them night and day ? who can meditate in them and not desire to love them , love to desire them , and both desire and love to understand them ? this is the book of books ; ( as david said of goliath's sword there 's none like that . said one , ex aliis paleae viles , hinc grana leguntur aurea : tu paleas linquito , grana lege . i may engish it , other writings chaffe unfold , scriptures yeeld the purest gold . others dote on chasty games , gather thou these golden graines . take away our papers ( said p augustine ) and bring amongst us the book of god ; he●re christ saying , heare truth speaking , &c. i may close up this paragraph with his words , who thus emphatically expresseth himselfe , * the sacred scripture is the book of life , whose original is eternall , whose essence is incorporeall , whose knowledge is life , whose writing is indelible , whose inspect is desireable , whose doctrine is easie , whose knowledge is sweet , whose depth is unsearchable , whose words are innumerable ; and onely one word , all. 4. the forme of the scripture , both inward and outward , if well considered , commands all possible endeavours and industry for the understanding thereof . 1. the inward forme , is , that accurate conformity of the things laid down in scripture to that infallible and eternall truth of gods own understanding that indited and revealed them . writings compiled by men carry in them a conformity to the idea in their understanding , which being subject to ignorance , errour and corruption , through the imperfection that is in them , must needs produce writing● semblably imperfect , ignorant , erroneous and corrupt : but no such thing can be incident unto the scriptures , which are conforme to the divine understanding of q the only wise god , which is r infinite , s unsearchable , and wholly admirable which is all t light without any darknesse at all ; all u truth , without the least errour ; all perfect , without any shadow of imperfection ; all pure , without any colour of corruption . so that the scriptures of themselves cannot lead us unto errour , but the more we truly understand them , the more our minds shall be enriched with truth , and elevated to a conformity to the supream truth of god. 2. the outward forme of the scriptures , o● manner how things are therein revealed , is not onely plaine and easie , nor only darke or difficult , but rather x mixt of both ; some things being facile , y some things being hard to be understood ; some places are such shallowes , wherein lambs need not be afraid to made , some againe such deeps as elephants may be enforced to swim . z by plainnesse god nourishes the weakest , by obscurenesse he exercises the accutest , ( as augustine hath intimated ) . that facility occasion not our contempt of scriptures , there are interwoven some difficulties ; that difficulties deterre not from the study of scripture , there are intermingled some facilities . for as a augustine notes , if all were shut up , how should obscure things be revealed ? if all things were hid , whence should the soule have ability to knock for the opening of things shut up ? is therefore our capacity weaker ? here 's reliefe for our infirmity : is our apprehension deeper ? here 's worke enough for the sharpest perspicacity . so that the most ignorant need not be afraid , the most intelligent need not be ashamed , of endeavours after scripture understanding . 5. the end is manifold and excellent , for which god committed his word to writing , and that writing to us . viz. b for doctrine , that faith and truth may be asserted ; for reproofe or conviction , that errour may be confuted : as athanasius said , hereticks are to be stoned with scripture c arguments ; for correction of manners enormous or offensive ; for instruction in the paths of righteousnesse ; and for d consolation that drooping dejected distressed spirits may not be overwhelmed . now then if we study not to understand scriptures , how in doctrinals , they ● assert the truth , 2 confute errour ; how in practicals , they 1 direct in wel-doing , 2 correct for ill-doing ; we frustrate the chief ends and scope why the scriptures were imparted unto us . 6. how acceptable is our study and understanding of the scripture unto god! for , 1. he commands us this way to bestow our selves e search the scriptures . f let the word of christ indwell in you richly in all wisdome . not be , but dwell with you : not dwell with you , but dwell in you , yea indwell in you , greek : not dwell in you , but dwell in you richly : nor only dwell in you richly , but in all wisdome . 2. he commends them that have industriously acquainted themselves with the scripture . g timothy , that from a child he had known the holy scripture , able to make him wise unto salvation . h apollos , that he was an eloquent man , and mighty in the scriptures . the i bereans , that they were more noble then those of thessalonica , in that they received the word with all readinesse of mind , and searched the scriptures dayly , whether those things were so . and he makes it one character of the godly blessed man k that his delight is in the law of the lord , and therein he meditates day and night . 3. he condemns the contrary unskilfulnesse in the scriptures , as the l infirmity of babes . yea as the root of all errour in spirituals ; m do ye not erre because yee know not the scriptures ? appositely saith chrysostome to this purpose ; n ignorance of the scriptures hath brought forth heresies , hath brought in corruption of life , hath turned all things upside down . — ignorance of the scriptures is a very hell. and elsewhere he saith , o it is the cause of all evils to be ignorant of the scriptures . p hierom also to like purpose ; he that knowes not the scriptures , knowes not the power of god , and his wisdome . the ignorance of scriptures is the ignorance of christ. 4. in a word , he promises happinesse to the right understanding of the scriptures . q if yee know these things , happy are yee , if ye do them . and sometimes notably rewards them that endeavour to understand them . while the r ethiopian eunuch read the prophet isaiah , that he might understand it ▪ the lord sent philip to instruct him & to convert him ; the eunuch was baptized , and went on his way rejoycing . 7. finally , the true and solid understanding of the scripture , is the foundation of all possible benefit or advantage by the scripture . for how should we forsake sin , s deny ungodlinesse and worldly lusts , and labour to get out of our carnall condition , till by scripture we be convinced of the sinfulnesse of sinne , and danger of our naturall condition ? how should we desire christ earnestly , or accept christ delightfully , till we understand by the scripture what want we have of christ what worth there is in christ ? till we understand scripture principles , how shall we receive them ? till we understand scripture-promises , how shall we believe them ? till we understand scripture-commands , how shall we obey them ? till we understand scripture-directions , how should we follow them ? and till we understand scripture-comforts , what supporting sweetnesse can we expect from them ? o therfore labour diligently to understand the counsels of god , then you will be in more immediate capacity of reaping all spirituall benefits by the word of god , t the understanding of the scriptures ▪ ( saith hierome ) is the true meate and drink which we have from the word of god. therefore ( as he saith elsewhere ) u let 's fetch fit timber out of the scriptures , to build in our selves an house of wisdome . hitherto of the worth of scripture-knowledge ; now of the way how to attaine it . that holy scriptures may be more profitably and cleerly understood , certaine rules or directions are to be observed and followed . these directions might be digested into two ranks , viz. i. some more speciall and peculiar , more particularly concerning schollers , as , 1 the competent understanding of the originall languages , hebrew , caldee , and greek ; wherein the scriptures were written . 2 the prudent use of logick , for orderly and methodicall resolution of the text , &c. 3. the subservient helps of other arts , as rhetorick , naturall philosophy , &c. without which it is impossible satisfactorily to interpret the scriptures . for as x ambrose well observes , though penmen of scripture wrote not according to art , but according to grace , which is above all art ( for they wrote what the spirit did dictate to them ; ) yet they that have written of art , have found an art in their writings , &c. 4 the benefit of humane histories to illustrate and cleere the divine . 5 the conferring of ancient translations with the originals , especially the greek version of the old-testament by the lxxii . much followed in the allegations of the new testament , and the syriack version of the new testament . 6 the prudent use of the most orthodox learned and judicious commentators . 7. constant caution , that all tongues , arts , histories , translations , and comments be duly ranked in their proper places in a subserviency under , not a regency or predominancy over the holy scriptures , which are to controule them all . for when hagar shall once usurp over her mistresse , its high time to cast her out of doors , till shee submit herselfe . many such things ought be insisted upon , but that is besides my present intention . ii. some more generall and common directions , which may be of use to all sorts of christians , learned or unlearned : especially unto the people , for promoting whose understanding in this blessed book of god , these ensuing rules , faithfully followed , may ( through divine blessing ) prove abundantly advantagious . viz. i. rule . beg y wisedome of the only wise god , who gives liberally and upbraids not . that by gods wisedome you may know gods minde ; by the assistance of that spirit which indited the scripture ; you may discerne the true sense and meaning of the scriptures . for what the woman said of iacobs well , may much more be affirmed of these wels of salvation , z thou hast nothing to draw with , and the well is deep . scripture mysteries are profound , our capacities very shallow ; when we know most , a we know but in part ; therefore pray with hierome , b i desire to enter into thy house the church , by thy way the scriptures ; o direct my way , lest i fall in thy scriptures by which i desire to enter . intreat the lord to anoint thine eyes with eye-salve , c that thou mayst see ; to d open thine understanding , as sometimes he did the apostles , to understand the scriptures . when thou settest thy selfe to peruse the scripture from day to day , forget not to dart up davids sweet petition unto god , e open thou mine eyes , that i may behold wondrous things out of thy law . ii. rule . labour sincerely after a truly gracious spirit , then thou shalt be peculiarly able to penetrate into the inward marrow and mysteries of the holy scriptures . he will best comprehend scripture meaning in his head , that hath got the scripture law written in his heart ; f thou wilt never ( saith bernard ) understand pauls meaning , unlesse thou drinkest of pauls spirit . gracious persons are g illuminated persons ; h they have the anointing that teacheth them all things , viz. necessary to salvation . the lord delights to impart his secrets to them that feare him . i what man is he that feareth the lord ? him shall he teach in the way that he shall chuse . — the secret of the lord is with them that feare him , and he will shew them his covenant , christ hath promised peculiarly to k maniest himselfe to them that love him , so as not unto the world ; and where christ is so manifested , the sense of scripture is singularly manifested ; for christ is the kernell of the scripture . the gracelesse man though by light of nature , and accomplishments of art , he may know much of scripture theoretically and speculatively , yet his light is but darknesse , he reaches not to the life of understanding ; knowes gods minde in scripture , only as we know far countreys by maps : but the gracious person understands the scriptures experimentally , feelingly , as a traveller knows remote countries in which he hath actually been . l the naturall man receiveth not the things of the spirit of god , for they are foolishnesse unto him : neither can he know them , because they are spiritually discerned . but he that is spirituall judgeth all things , — we have the minde of christ. iii. rule . peruse the scripture still with an humble selfe-denying heart . be not puffed up , or conceited with thine own knowledge , or other perfections ; m he that thinks he knows any thing , knows nothing yet as he ought to know . empty vessels are most receptive ; so are selfe-emptying mindes , it is a great help to knowledge n not to be ignorant of our ignorance ; for ●ense of want spurs on indeavours after enjoyment . the fructifying showers quickly glide away from the lofty hils , but they stay and soake into the low valleys . god that o resists the proud , yet gives grace to the humble and lowly ; and among other graces the grace of knowledge and understanding : for p with the lowly is wisedome . q the meek ( or humble ) will he guide in judgement ; and the meek will he teach his way . thus christ saith , r i thanke thee o father , lord of heaven and earth , because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent , but hast revealed them unto babes ? whence becanus s notes , that such as are proud and attribute to their own wisedome , attaine not to the true sense of scripture . be therefore clothed with humility in use of scripture , that true scripture-knowledge may increase . iv. rule . familiarize the scripture to thy selfe , by constant and methodicall exercise therein . method and order , as it is the mother of memory , so it is a singular friend to a clear understanding . the generality of the scripture , have such a contexture and coherence one part with another , that small insight into it will be gained , by reading it confusedly , disorderly ; therefore read the whole in order . divers have published directions , how to read over the whole scripture methodica●ly , once a yeare , &c. consult them . but be constant in perusall and studying of the scriptures ; hereby scripture phrase and sense will become familiar and facile . how hard at first to write , to play on an instrument ▪ &c. but by multiplying acts , men get habits and write , play , &c. with facility and dexterity . use not scripture only by fits and starts , in some good pangs or moods , &c. but habitually converse with scripture , trade in them , t meditate therein night and day ; u let the word of christ , ( not only lodge or sojourne in you , but even ) dwell in you . hence those commands of god to his people of old . x this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth , but thou shalt meditate therein day and night . — y these words shall be in thine heart , and thou shalt whet them diligently upon thy children , and shalt talke of them , when thou sittest in thine house , and when thou walkest by the way , and when thou lyest down , and when thou risest up . and thou shalt bind them for a signe upon thine hand , &c. v. rule vnderstand scripture according to the theologicall z analogy , or certaine rule of faith and love . anomaly , i. e. irregularity , is some deviation from the rule , or exception against the rule ; to this here analogy is opposed . by this analogy , understand , a certaine epitome of scriptures , or briefe abridgement of christian religion , collected out of the plaine places of scripture , according to which other darke and figurative expressions in scripture are to be explained . this analogy of faith and love , paul charges timothy to hold fast , a saying , hold fast [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] i. e. that [ delineation , draught , platforme , patterne , or , ] forme of sound words , which thou hast heard of me in faith and love , which is in christ iesus . where seems to be intimated , a systeme , or forme of doctrine , communicated from paul to timothy , according to which timothy was to steer as by a compasse . this forme of doctrine is described here 1 ▪ by the generall nature of it . a forme of sound words , a draught or model of wholesome doctrine . 2. by the principall parts of it , into which it is branched ▪ viz. 1 faith , 2 love. faith , compriseth credenda , all things to be believed , as in the creed taken out of scripture . love containes facienda , all things to be done , as in the decalogue , lords prayer and sacramental institutions , which are scripture ; into these two , the whole body of divinity is usually distributed . 3. by the primary foundation upon which this forme of sound words is built , viz. christ iesus ; compare herewith , 1 cor. 3.11 . eph. 2.20 . so that if in any place of scripture , the word , or letter of the text be repugnant to the analogy of faith and love , it is not to be understood properly and literally , but improperly and figuratively . as for instance , b this is my body , — this is my blood , &c. this cannot be understood properly , that the bread and wine are christs body and bloud , for that is contrary to the analogy or rule of faith , w ch tels us that christs human nature is ascended into heaven , c whom the heavens must containe till the restitution of all thing● ; therefore it is to be understood figuratively , and in a ●acramentall sense , the signe being put for the thing signified , by a met●●ymie . so we are commanded d to eate christs flesh , — e to pluck out our right eye , cut off our right hand , if they offend us . we cannot read any of these literaelly and properly , for that were against the analogy or rule of love , f thou shalt not kill ; therefore we must seek for a spirituall and improper sense , viz. eating christs flesh , not carnally with our teeth , but spiritually by faith , i. e. beleeving in christ crucified , &c. as also denying all corruptions , corrupt affections , inclinations , or occasions , though as dea● and usefull , as right hand or right eye unto us . thus this rule faithfully followed , will cleare many hard and intricate passages in scripture . it is therefore of singular consequence to every one that desires solidly to understand the scriptures , to be well grounded in the fundamentals & principles of christian religion , without which , like a ship without ballast , a man g shall be carried away with every winde of vaine doctrine , perverting or mistaking the scriptures . vi. rule . be well acquainted with the 1 order , 2 titles , 3 times , 4 penmen , 5 occasion , 6 scope , and 7 principall parts of the books both of the old and n. testament . these will much promote the solid & judicious understanding of the whole bible in a short space . for 1 hereby you shall have the very idea or character of every book , lively describing the nature and contents of it before your eyes , as in a map , before you begin to peruse them . 2 hereby you shall have a clew to conduct you , a compasse to saile and steere by , in the perusall of any book ; 3 hereby also you shall have a summary recapitulation or recollection of the chief aime , and subject matters of every book , much tending both to help judgement , and strengthen memory , after the perusall of any book of old or new testament . and therefore this course must needs be as an usefull key , to unlock the rich cabinet of the holy scriptures , and to discover the precious treasures thereof unto you . now this is the intent and scope of this manuall , this small treatise ; viz. so familiarly to open and unfold . the 1 order , 2 titles , 3 times , 4 penmen , 5 occasion , 6 scope , and 7 principall parts of the books of old and new testament . that the whole tenour of the bible , might be spread open in a generall view , to the meanest capacity . for , 1. the order of the books , especially of the historicall books ( observed all along , and compendiously represented in the two tables , before the old and new testament , ) more evidently help to discover the order of histories and matters handled therein , and the order of gods governing his church in severall conditions . 2. the titles , 1 some of them summarily signify to us the chief matter of the book , as genesis , the generations of the heaven and earth : exodus israel's departure out of egypt , &c. 2 some of them declare the instrumentall authors , or penmen of them , as the titles of prophets books , isaiah , &c. who being extraordinary men of god , guided by the spirit , their books are of divine authority . 3 some denote the churches or particular persons for whose sakes immediately some parts of scripture were penned , which affords light to divers passages therein . 3. the times of the books set forth , partly , the length or space of time , in which things related were done , as in historicall books , which serve to disclose the connection and continuance of the history and chronology . partly the time or season , when the bookes were written , which serves to cleare the understanding of divers particular passages , which otherwise would be very difficult , both in the prophets , and in the apostles . see therefore those two tables , for the timeing of the prophets and epistles , p. 104. to 107. and p. 177. to 186. distinguish well betwixt times and times , & you dissolve many knots . 4. penmen , being holy men of god extraordinarily inspired , intimate to us the divine authority of their writings . this incites faith , love , and awfull reverence to their books . 5. the occasion upon which the books were written , together with 6. the scope , drift , or end of the book , being well considered , give great light to the whole book ; the whole frame , disposition and chiefe arguments handled in the book , having a singular tendency to the scope ; therefore as the archer fixeth his eye steadily on the mark , when he would shoot accurately : so still fix your thought upon the occasion and scope of every book , when you would peruse them understandingly . 7. the principall parts of the book , here analytically laid down , exhibit clearly to your view , both the chiefe subject , or matters insisted upon in every book ; as also the methodicall and orderly coherence of all the parts of the book with one another . books lookt upon confusedly , are but darkly and confusedly apprehended : but considered distinctly , as in these distinct analyses or resolutions into their principall parts , must needs be distinctly , and much more clearly discerned . this the chiefe purpose and aime of this book ; by these particulars to familiarize the scriptures unto christians , that delight to converse with god in his owne book ; to whom i earnestly commend this direction , for the more profitable use of this book , viz. that 1 before they read any book of scripture , they would first read what is in this key said of that book . 2 in reading they would still remember the occasion and scope of the book , and now and then compare the principall parts here , with the text : and 3 after the perusall of the book , they would read againe what this key speaks of it . hereby the understaning will be cleared , the memory confirmed . vii . rule . heedfully and judiciously observe the accurate concord and harmony of the holy scriptures : though written by severall persons at severall times , in severall places ; yet one and the same spirit inditing all , is still like himselfe , consonant to himselfe in all . the discord is in our mindes , rather then in gods word . hence z augustine , let us be at concord in our own heart , and the scripture will have no discord in it . there are principally five notable respects , in which scriptures sometimes seem most contrary , repugnant and opposite one to another , when yet they are not dissonant , but consonant and sweetly concording one with another , as , 1 when the word or phrase is used in severall places , not in the same , but in severall senses and acceptations . 2 when they treat not of the same , but of severall subjects . 3 when they speak not of the same , but severall parts of a thing . 4 when they speak not in severall places according to the same , but severall respects . 5 when they intend not the same , but severall times . these things well considered , will lay a notable foundation for reconciling all places of scripture that seem to be any way opposite one to another . take the illustrations of thē severally . 1. scriptures seem opposite , but are not , when the same a word or phrase in severall places is used not in the same , but in severall senses and acceptations ; for the same words have oft times severall significations . in such case , distinguish the severall acceptations , and the scriptures agree . as paul saith , b work out your own salvation with feare and trembling . but iohn saith , c there is no feare in love , but perfect love casteth out fear , &c. these places are not opposite : because the word [ fear ] in iohn signifies a base servile stavish fear ; in paul , a filial childlike religious fear . in this sense it is said of the d samaritās , they feared the lord : & again they feared not the lord , i. e. they feared the lord servilly , and hypocritically for his lyons , but they feared him not religiously ▪ ●ilially , sincerely . not to feare god aright , is not to feare him at all . again christ saith , e if a man keep my saying , he shall never see death . but paul saith , f it is appointed to all men once to dye ; yet here 's no opposition ; for christ speaks of death spiritual and eternall : paul of death temporal or corporall . further ieremiah saith , g cursed be the man that trusteth in man ; christ saith , h except yee eat● the flesh of the son of man , — yee have no life in you , by eating understand believing , v. 47. yet here 's no opposition . [ man ] signifies either meer man , who is vaine , deceitful , &c. of him ieremiah speaks : or man subsisting in the second person of god ; of him christ speaks . moses saith , god i rested on the seventh day from all his work , but k christ saith , my father worketh hitherto and i worke , yet here 's no opposition ; for the works of god are either works of creation , whereby new kinds of creatures are made ; so moses intended that god rested from his work ; or works of conservation and providence , sustaining and governing his works created , so christ meant the father and he wrought still . adde hereunto ; christ saith , l if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother , and wife and children , and brethren and sisters , yea and his own life also , he cannot be my disciple , but paul saith , m husbands , love your wives , n no man ever yet hated his own flesh , yet no opposition ; for hatred is taken either properly and absolutely ; so understand paul : or comparatively , a lesse love being counted hatred ; of that , understand christ. moreover paul saith , o therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law . but p iames saith , yee see then how that by works a man is justified , and not by faith onely , yet no reall opposition ; for iustification in pauls sense , signifyes an instrumentall application of gods righteousnesse , viz. jesus christ to our selves , and so faith alone justifies before god : but iustification in iame's sense signifies a declarative manifestation of the truth of that faith whereby we are justified , by the fruits and workes of it . paul speakes of our justification before god : james of our justification be●ore men . paul of the justification of our persons by faith : iames of the justification of our faith it self , by works . 2. holy scriptures seeme opposite but are not , when they treat not of the same , but of severall subjects , or severall matters . as , christ promised the apostles , q when the spirit of truth should come , he should guide them into all truth . but paul testifieth , that peter erred , and r was to be blamed ; here are severall subjects , viz. doctrine and practise , as to doctrine the apostles erred not therein , because they had it immediately from god. but as to matter of practise , peter there erred , dissembling fellowship with the gentiles for feare of the jewes . nor were any of the apostles exempted from sinne and errour in practise . again , it is said in one place , that s elijah went up by a whirlewind into heaven . and in another , t behold i will send you elijah the prophet , before the coming of the great and dreadfull day of the lord. yet these places oppose not one another , because here are severall subjects spoken of ; the former being elijah the tishbite ; the latter iohn the baptist , the new-testament elijah , so called because he came u in the spirit and power of elijah . furthermore , iohn the baptist being asked , if he were elias , x answered , i am not ; and yet y christ saith , iohn baptist was that elias which was for to come . viz. not personally , but virtually ; so here 's no opposition . 3. scriptures seeme opposite but are not , when though they speak of the same matter or subject , yet they intend not the same , but severall parts therof . as paul saith , z in me dwels no good thing , and yet he saith , a i delight in the law of god ; which doubtlesse is good . yet these oppose not , because in the former paul speakes of his carnall unregenerate part , in me , that is my flesh , dwels no good thing : in the latter of his spirituall regenerate part , i delight in the law of god , after the inner man. again ; christ saith , b my father is greater then i. but paul , saith , c christ iesus being in the forme of god , thought it no robbery to be equall with god. yet no opposition ; for in christs person are two natures , viz. d of god and man ; now as christ is god , so he is equall to the father , as paul meant : as christ is man so the father is greater then he , as himselfe said . 4. scriptures seeme opposite and contrary , but are not , when they speak of things , not in the same , but in severall respects , notions or considerations . for the severall respect , removes all contradiction or opposition . as christ saith , e if i beare witnesse of my selfe , my witnesse is not true . but elsewhere he saith f though i beare record of my selfe , yet my record is true . yet here 's no opposition indeed , because christ speaks of bearing witnesse of himselfe in severall respects ; in the former place , of bearing witnesse to himselfe , disjunctly and solely without the father , so his witnesse were not true : in the latter of bearing witnesse of himselfe , conjunctly or jointly with the father ; so his witnesse of himselfe is true . againe iohn saith g , he that is borne of god , committeth not sinne , nor can sinne . — and yet elsewhere , h if we say that we have no sin , we deceive our selves , and the truth is not in us . if we say that we have not sinned , we make him a lyar , &c. yet here 's no reall opposition ; for in some respects they that are born of god , may be said to sin , in some respects they sin not . they have sinne originall in them ; and actuall sin , through infirmity , &c. is done by them , while they are in this world : but they sin not as unregenerate men sin . viz. i 1 not against the gospel-remedy , jesus christ. 2 not as under the reign of sinne ; 3 not with a full will ; 4 not presumptuously ; 5 not habitually ; 6 not with allowance of themselves in any bosome corruption ; 7 not totally and finally . furthermore , god saith k i am the lord , i change not ; and elsewhere saith l i will repent of the evil that i thought to do unto them . — and i will repent of the good wherewith i said , i would benefit them . yet no reall contradiction ; for in some sense god cannot repent , viz. affectively , in respect of his essence , no nor in respect of his eternall decree : in some sense , after the manner of men he is said to repent , viz. effectively , in respect of his works which he effecteth , when he doth something crosse to what he had formerly done , as when he drowned the world , which he had made ; dethroned saul , whom he had annointed king , &c. adde to these ; it is said of christs kingdom m it shall have no end , but be established for ever . but paul saith , n christ at the end shall deliver up the kingdome to god even the father . yet no reall opposition , for , christs kingdome may be considered in divers respects , viz. 1 as it is essentiall belonging to christ as god : so he he shall never deliver up his kingdome . 2 as oeconomicall , dispensatory or mediatory ; the mediatory kingdome of christ is considerable in respect of , the substance of it , so christ our mediatour shall be head of his church , and mysticall body for ever ; the circumstance of it , or manner of administration of it , by word , sacraments , effusion of the spirit , &c. and thus at last christ shall deliver up the kingdome to the father , for then god in christ , face to face , shall be an endlesse sabbath , sermon , sacrament , all in all . 5 finally , scriptures may seeme but are not really opposite , when they intend not the same , but severall times . or at least when they speake of the same times in severall respects . distinguish wisely the times , and respects , and the opposition ceaseth , as o iotham the sonne of vzziah is said to reigne sixteen yeeres in ierusalem ; and yet mention is made of the p twentieth yeer of jotham son of uzziah . notwithstanding here 's no reall opposition in this computation ; for iotham reigned alone onely 16. yeers : but he reigned with his father vzziah ( who could not mannage-the affaires of the kingdome , being smitten with leprosie ) 4. yeers before ; in al 20 years . again , matthew saith , q after six dayes , iesus taketh peter , james , and john his brother , and bringeth them up into an high mountaine apart . but luke saith r , about an eight dayes after these sayings , he took peter , and john and james , and went up into a mountaine — yet no opposition : for 1 either it may be said , luke's expression of , [ about an eight dayes after , ] hath a latitude , and may beare a day under : and matthew's expression hath a latitude , [ after ▪ six dayes ] and may beare a day or two over : 2 or matthew numbers the dayes exclusively , luke inclusively . furthermore the time of the government by judges , in the s book of iudges , is computed to be about two hundred ninety and nine years . but paul in his sermon at antioch , saith , t and when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of canaan , he divided their land to them by lot , and after that , he gave unto them iudges , about the space of foure hundred and fifty years , untill samuel the prophet . here seems to be a great opposition , but if things be well examined , there is none at all . yet it may not be dissembled that this is so hard a knot , that it much puzzles writers satisfactorily to unty it . 1 partly , because this computation of 450. years , is so punctually confuted by this text , viz. to begin after canaan was divided by lot , and to end at samuel exclusively . 〈◊〉 partly , because that noted chronology mentioned in 1 king. 6.1 . assures us expresly , that the time from israels coming out of egypt till the beginning of the building of the temple in the fourth yeere of solomon , was precisely but 480. yeeres . but if we allow for the time of the iudges 450. yeers , in this account ; we shal find the whole time from going out of aegypt till the temples founding , will arise to 591 yeeres in all , viz. from their departure out of aegypt , till their entrance into canaan 40. yeere thence to ioshuah's death , about 17. y. thence to elies death , ( for samuels time is included in sauls reigne , act. 13.21 . ) according to this supposition . 450. y. thence to the death of david , 80. y. thence to the founding of the temple in solomons fourth yeere , 4. y. in all , 591. yeeres . so that in these regards , it is no easie matter clearly and undoubtedly to reconcile these times . many opinions are offered in writers to this end , yet most of them , if not all , labour under some inconvenience or other . to omit the variety of opinions , let it suffice to mention only two , which learned men seem most to incline unto . u some thinke , that here paul intended not to reckon up the time while the iudges ruled , ( because so it were impossible to reconcile these foure hundred and fifty years with those foure hundred and eighty years , in 1 king. 6.1 . as hath been intimated ) : but to point out at what time god gave israel judges , viz. after these things w ch were declared . v , 17 , 18 , 19. viz. from the birth of isaac , ( which seems to be noted in that phrase , god chose our fathers , v. 17. among all people god choosing abraham , among all abrahams children choosing isaac , and making a covenant with him , ) till the beginning of iudges , which is computed to be foure hundred fourty seven years , that 's about foure hundred and fifty years , wants but three years ; and its usuall in scripture to put the round number for the punctuall number . this computation they make thus , from isaac's birth , to iacobs birth , yeers 60. from iacobs birth to the going down into egypt 130. thence to the comming forth of egypt , 210. thence to the entring into the land of canaan 40. thence to the dividing of the land by lot , 7. which make up in all 447. but this opinion is attended with these two inconveniences . 1. the present text in the acts seems plainly to confine us for these foure hundred and fifty years , between the dividing of the land of canaan by lot , and the beginning of samuels rule ; which limits this computation transgresseth . 2. the number computed doth not exactly amount to foure hundred and fifty , wants three . x others therefore to avoid these inconveniences , confine and bound their computation according to this text , to the space of time betwixt the dividing canaan by lot , and samuels rule . and they thinke paul reckoned up all the years mentioned in the judges , and so they compute both the years of the judges , and the years of israels oppressours , distinctly and severally ; ( though the years of the oppressours are indeed comprized under the years of the iudges ) and both together do punctually make up the foure hundred and fifty years , here mentioned in the acts. as followeth , the iudges mentioned in the book of iudges , governed in all . 299. years . to these adde the fourty years of eli , who so long judged israel , 1 sam. 4.18 . 40. so the whole time of the iudges rule , till samuel , was , 339. israels oppressours were 1. cushan who oppressed them , iudges 38. 8 years 2. moab , iudg. 3.14 , 18. 3. iabin , iudg. 4.3 . ●0 . 4. midian , iudg. 6. ● . 7. 5. ammon iudg. 10.8 . 18. 6. philistims , iudg. 13.1 . 40. so the whole time of their oppressors , was 111. now adde these together ▪ viz. the years of their iudges , and the years of their oppressours , three hundred thirty and nine , and one hundred and eleven , and the totall resulting is foure hundred and fifty years exactly ; ( only th●s inconvenience remaines , the same years are reckoned twice over , yet it is not in the same , but several respects ) . now if out of the number of years , from departure out of egypt , till the founding of the temple , as first computed viz. — 591 , you subduct the years of the oppressours of israel under their iudges , which seems to be twice reckoned up , viz. one hundred and eleven years . the remaine is just foure hundred and eighty years , according to that of 1 kings 6.1 . and so the scripture on all sides are reconciled accurately ; and therefore this opinion seems most to be embraced . viii . rule . learne that excellent art of explaining and understanding the scriptures , by the scriptures . the scriptures in some places speak more darkly and dubiously , in other places they expresse the same things more clearly and certainly : y the doubtfull are to be explained by the certaine , as darke places by those that are clear , as augustine noteth ; as , peter being to prove to the iewes christs resurrection by scripture , viz. z thou wilt not leave my soule in hell , nor suffer thine holy one to see corruption : he alledgeth for clearing this another scripture to evince that this promise was made to david concerning christ , and could not properly be intended of david himselfe , a men and brethren let me speak freely to you , of the patriarch david , that he is both dead and buried , and his sepulchre is with us unto this day . therefore he being a prophet , and knowing that god had sworne with an oath , &c. certainly scripture is the best expounder of it self , scripture-exposition of it self , ( as b augustine , and before him c irenaeus observed ) is most regular and safe . let us ( saith d chrysostome ) attend to the scope of scripture , which interprets it selfe and suffers not his hearer to erre . the gold was not sanctified ( saith e origen ) without the temple , no more any sense but what is drawn out of the scripture . and most excellently f hilary , he is the best reader , who interprets sayings by sayings ; who brings not an interpretation to scripture , nor imposeth a sense upon scripture , but findeth a sense in scripture , and drawes it from scripture , &c. now that we may more successefully and clearly understand scripture by scripture , these ensueing particulars are to be observed . 1. that iesus christ our mediatour , and the salvation of sinners by him , is the very substance , marrow , soule , and scope of the whole scriptures . as many g passages not obscurely intimate unto us . what are the whole scriptures , but as it were the spirituall swadling-cloathes of the holy child iesus ? 1 christ is the truth and substance of all the types and shadows . 2 christ is the matter and substance of the covenant of grace under all administrations therof ; under the old-testament christ is veyled , under the new covenant revealed . 3 christ is the center and meeting place of all the promises , for h in him all the promises of god are yea , and they are amen . 4 christ is the thing signified , sealed , and exhibited in all the sacraments of old or new testament , whether ordinary or extraordinary . 5 scripture genealogies are to lead us on to the true line of christ. 6 scripture chronologies , are to discover to us the times and seasons of christ. 7 scripture lawes , are i our schoole-master to bring us unto christ ; the morall by correcting , the ceremoniall by directing ; and 8 scripture gospel is christs light , whereby we know him ; k christs voice whereby we heare and follow him ; christs cords of love whereby we are drawn into sweet union and communion with him ; yea it is the l power of god unto salvation unto all them that believe in christ iesus . keep therefore still jesus christ in your eye , in the perusall of the scripture as the end , scope , and substance thereof . for as the sunne gives light to all the heavenly bodies : so jesus christ m the sunne of righteousnesse gives light to all the holy scriptures . 2. still remember how iesus christ is revealed in scripture , gradually in promises and covenants , till the noon day of the gospell shined most clearly . especially in these more remarkeable periods of time : 1 to adam immediately upon his fall , most obscurely and imperfectly . 2. to noah more clearly then to adam . 3. to abraham , isaac and iacob more clearly then to noah . 4. to moses and israel at mount sinai more clearly then to abraham . 5. to david and his seed more clearly then to moses . 6. to israel after the babylonish captivity , more clearly then to david . 7. to the church under the n. testament , the n. covenant is laid open more clearly then to all others . for , 1 god is a god of order , and he makes knowne his gracious contrivances orderly : 2 christ and salvation by him are treasures too high and precious to be disclosed all at once to the church : 3 the state of the church is various , she hath her infancy , her youth , and all the degrees of her minority , as also her riper age ; and therfore god revealed christ not according to his own ability of revealing , but according to his churches capacity of receiving : 4 this gradual revealing of christ suits well with our condition in this world , which is not perfect but growing on to perfectiō , fully attainable in heaven only . now this gradual unveiling of the covenant and promises in christ , is to be much considered throughout the whole scripture ; that we may see the wisedome of gods dispensations , the imperfection of the churches condition here , especially in her minority , and the usefulnesse of comparing the more dark and imperfect , with the more clear and compleat manifestations of the mysteries of gods grace in christ. 3. well compare the texts , you would understand , with the context : and note the n coherence . for ( though some scriptures are laid downe in certain independing aphorismes , like an heap of gold rings or distinct jewels , as most part of the proverbs ; yet ) the generality of the scriptures is concatenated or linked together part with part like a golden chaine , intwisted or woven together like a curious silken web , one thing so depending upon another , as o that they mutually help to the interpreting of one another . consider therefore still the coherence and dependance , otherwise you will runne into a thousand misunderstandings . as where it is said , p if the righteous scarcely be saved , where &c. a weak christian perhaps is discouraged hereby , thinks he shall scarce ever come to heaven : now the context clears it , for the apostle speaks q that judgement [ or affliction ] must begin at the house of god , gods people ; and thence argues to the certainty of wicked mens greater punishments : so that here [ scarcely be saved ] is to be understood not of spirituall and eternal salvation from hell , but of temporall salvation from temporall afflictions and persecutions , from which the righteous shall not be free . 4. compare dark places with clearer , what is in one place veyled , is in another oft-times unveyled . as , with parables r conferre the exposition ; with visions , s the interpretation ; with laws , t the explication thereof , &c. for as u augustine hath observed , in those things that are plainly laid downe in scripture , are found all things containing faith and manners ; and places obscure are to be illustrated by those that are manifest . 5. explaine those places , wherein any matter or subject of divinity is touched only occasionally or accidentally , with sundry other places wherein it is handled and insisted upon purposely and professedly , which are the very seate and chief fountain of the argument . as if you would understand iames , c 2. touching justification by works as well as faith , where justification is spoken of more accidentally ; compare it with the epistle to the romans , c. 2 , 3 , 4 &c. wherein justification is purposely and fully handled . so if you would truly understand any texts about the matter of creation , consult with places where the creation is professedly handled , as in gen. c. 1. and c. 2. and psal. 104. 6. parallel types , with anti-types or things typified . the types more familiarly lead us to the understanding and apprehending of things typified , and consequently more firmly fix them in our memories : the anti-types more evidently unfold and unveyle the types unto us . as , the type of the brazen serpent , x paralleld with christ the truth . the type of mannah , y and water out of the rock , with the anti-type christ , whose body and bloud are meat and drinke indeed , &c. 7. carefully ponder what prophecyes and promises are already actually fulfilled , and what remain further to be fulfilled in their season . for so farre as any scripture clearly testifies the fulfilling of any of them , so farre we have a clear and undoubted commentary upon them , as isa. 7.14 . fulfilled and so cleared , matth. 1.22 , 23. so exod. 12.46 . fulfilled and cleared , iohn 19.26 . so isa 61.1 , 2. fulfilled and cleared , luk. 4.18 , 19.21 . with many such like ; and where prophecyes or promises are found to be yet unfulfilled , we shall thereby be incited to study them , and the intended time of their accomplishment , exercising faith and prayer thereupon . 8. finally , parallel heedfully the old and new testament together ; and specially all those places in the old testament , which are in any respect alledged in the new testament , whether 1 the phrase and words only , or 2 the sense and matter only , or 3 both words and matter , be cited . this would give wonderfull light to many hundreds of passages in the bible . and for this end i have with much care and diligence compiled , a parallel of the places of the old testament , any way alledged in the new ; and had once resolved to have inserted it in this place ; but to avoid prolixity , i must now forbeare it , least the porch prove too big for the building . ix . rule . the last direction i shall commend to the reader for the improvement of heavenly dexterity in , and understanding of the holy scriptures , is ; endeavour sincerely to practise scripture , and you shall solidly understand scripture ▪ z bernard said truely , he rightly reads the scriptures that turne●s words into workes ; knowing into doing . the mightiest man in practise , will in the end prove the mightiest man in scripture . theory is the guide of practice , practise the life of theory . where scripture-contemplation and experience meet both together in the same person , true scripture understanding must needs be heightned and doubled . to this effect is christs promise a my doctrine is not mine , but his that sent me . if any man will do his will , he shall know of the doctrine , whether it be of god. to like purpose subscribes the experience of david . b thou through thy commandements hast made me wiser then mine enemies : for they are ever with me . i have more understanding then all my teachers : for thy testimonies are my meditation . i understand more then the antients ; because i keep thy precepts . these things ( christian reader ) i thought fit to commend to thee by way of preface ; but shall detaine thee no longer from the perusall of the book it selfe . the lord , that c teacheth his people to profit , advance thy spiritual profiting abundantly by both : so prayeth he who earnestly desires to be serviceable to iesus christ , and usefull to his church and people , fran. roberts . augustine's , london , aug. 26 — 1647 aug. 21 — 1648 clavis bibliorvm . the key of the bible : unlocking the richest treasury of the holy scriptures . the holy scriptures , rom. 1.2 . were written by moses , the prophets , the apostles , and other holy men of god , luk. 16.29.31 . eph. 2.20 . and 3.5 . and 2 pet. 1.21 . the covenant of god with man in christ the mediatour , that substantiall or begotten word , iohn 1.1 . is the principall subject revealed and explained in the whole scripturall , or written word . gods covenant with man in christ is represented to us in holy scripture principally two wayes . viz. 1. as promised , fore-prophecied and typified in christ to be manifested afterwards in the flesh . hence called the covenants of promise , eph. 2.10 . covenants , not covenant : because of the severall publications of the covenant with more and more augmentations , in severall points or periods of time . thus the covenant is made known in all the bookes of scripture , written before christs comming : which are therefore called the old-covenant , heb. 8.13 . or the old-testament , 2 cor. 3.14 . 2. as performed , fulfilled and actually accomplished in christ already come , and manifested in our flesh in fulnesse of time , gal. 4.4 , 5. heb. 9. heb. 10. thus the covenant is most clearly and fully unveyled to us in all the books of scripture written since christs coming ; which are therefore stiled the new covenant or the new testament heb. 8.8 . matth. 26.28 . heb. 9.15 . thus the whole bible is distributed into the 1 old ; and 2 new testament . the old testament . the old testament , ( revealing the covenants of promise ) in respect of the penmen whom the holy ghost imployed to write the books thereof , is disparted by the holy ghost himselfe into two generall heads , viz. 1 moses , and 2 the prophets , luk. 16.29.31 . and 24.27 . iohn 1.45 . or , the law of moses ; and the prophets , act. 28.23 . j. moses . moses ( the man of god , psal. 90.1 . the first penman of scripture : ) was an ebrew borne in egypt , after the worlds creation about 2432 years , before christ about 1496. years ; * the seventh from abraham , the father of the faithfull , 1 chron. 6.1 , 2 , 3. and 2.1 . and 1.34 . as enoch was the seventh from adam the father of the world , iude 14. when moses was borne he was very fair , act. 7.20 , 21 , 22. he was marvellously saved from death being drawne out of the water , whence his name moses , i. e. drawn-forth , was given to him , exod. 2 10 he was nourished by king pharao●s daughter for her own sonne , ex. 2.9 , 10. act. 7.21 . learned in all the wisedome of the egyptians , and mighty in words and in deeds , act. 7.22 . he lived in pharaohs court 40. years , and then left the court , choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of god , &c , act. 7.23 . heb. 11.24 , 25 , 26. he was a stranger , a shepheard in the land of madian 40. years , act. 7.29.30 . exod. 3. thence god called him to feed iacob his people , and israel his inheritance . he fed israel most faithfully 40. years , numb . 12.7 . heb. 3.2.5 . being in the church in the wildernesse , act. 7.38 . with the angel that spoke to him on mount sinai , and with our fathers , where he received the lively oracles to give unto us , and commanded us a law which is the inheritance of the church of iacob , deut. 33.4 . of all the prophets that arose in israel , there was none like moses whom god knew face to face , deut. 34.10 . he dyed 120. years old , his eye not being dimme nor his naturall strength abated , and was buried of god , no man knowing of his sepulcher to this day . deut. 34.5.6.7 . moses wrote the law of god in the five first bookes , called in greek the pentateuch , i. e. the five-fold-volume . at first it seemes to be written in one volume or roll , there being such a continued connection of book with book , exod. 1.1 . levit. 1.1 . num. 1.1 . deut. 1.1 . but was afterwards , according to the several subject matters therin contained , divided into five severall books , containing 1 an history of things past : 2 a covenant between god and his church then present : 3 and a prophecy of further grace to come , now exhibited by iesus christ , deut. 18.15 . &c. iohn 5.46 . and 1.17 . in propounding of which things , ( as ainsworth observes ) moses hath a veile upon his glorious face : for in the histories are implied allegories , gal. 2.24 . and in the lawes are types and shadows of good things to come ; the body whereof is of christ , heb. 9.9 . and 10.1 . col. 2.17 . in genesis ( which history endeth with israels going downe into egypt , ) we have the image of a naturall man , fallen from god into the bondage of sin . in exodus , is the type of our regeneration , and state renewed by iesus christ. in leviticus the shadow of our mortification , whilst we are made sacrifices unto god. in numbers , our spirituall warfare , whereunto we are mustered , and armed to ●ight the good fight of faith . in deuteronomie , the doctrine of our sanctification , and preparation to enter into our heavenly canaan , after moses death , by the conduct of iesus the son of god. so h. ainsworth in his preface before his annotat. on gen. &c. genesis . genesis i. e. generation , so called by the greek ; because it sets forth the generations of the heavens & of the earth , in their first creation , gen. 2.4 . the hebrews name their books of the old testament , either 1 from the prophets , the penmen of them . or 2 from the principall subject or argument handled in them : or 3 from the first hebrew word wherewith they begin , as the 5. books of moses , & the lament . of ieremiah . hence genesis is called in hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bereschith i. e. in the beginning . penman . it is not probable this book was written by moses whilst a private man , and a shepheard in madian , in the desert : but rather after he was a publick person , and furnished with a prophetick spirit ; otherwise the credit and authority of this history would be too much enfeebled . nor is it absurd which some hebrew writers think , who referre this writing to that of exod . 24.12 . come up to me into the mount , and be thou there , and i will give thee the tables of stone , and the law , and the precepts , which i have written to teach them . understanding by the tables , the decalogue : by the precepts all the ceremoniall , and iudiciall ordinances : and by the law all other writings of moses , whether historicall or dogmaticall , d. paraeus in prolegom . in genes . p. 14.15 . in fol. this book as it is absolutely the ancientest writing extant in the world : so it is most compendious ; being an history of 2369 years , as ainsw . thinks , or rather of 2368 as iunius and paraeus comput . iun. annot. in gen. 1. parae . prologom . in genes . this may appeare in three eminent intervals or periods of time recorded in genesis . viz. i. from the creation to the beginning of the flood , in noahs 600 th yeare , through 10 generations ; 1656 yeares . gen. 5. and 6.11 . viz. from adams creation to seth's nativity , 130 years . from seth to enos , 105. from enos to cainan 90. from cainan to mahalee● 70. from mahaleel to iared ▪ 65. from iared to enoch , 162. from enoch to mathusalah . 65. from mathusalah to lamech , 187. from lamech to noah's birth , 182. from noah's birth to the beginning of the flood , 600 in all 1656. ii. the second period of time , is ; from the beginning of the flood , through other 10 generations to abrahams birth , 352 years , gen. 11. viz. from the flood to arphaxad , 2 years . from arphaxad to selah , 35 years . from selah to heber , 30 years from eber to peleg , 34 years . from peleg to reu , 30 years . from reu to serug , 32 years . from serug to nachor , 30 years . from nachor to terah , 29 years . from terah to abraham , 130 years . in all 352 years . so that abraham was borne in the 2008 yeare from the creation . iii. the third period , is ; from abrahams birth to josephs death , through foure generations , 360 years , viz. from birth of abraham to the birth of isaac , 100 years , gen. 17.17 . and 21.5 . from isaacs birth to iacobs birth , 60 years , gen. 25.26 . from iacobs birth to his going down into egypt , 130 years , gen. 47.9 . from iacobs descent into egypt to his death , 17 years , gen. 47.28 . from death of iacob to the death of ioseph 53 years , which may be thus gathered . ioseph died when he was 110 years old , gen. 50.26 . he stood before pharaoh when he was 30 years old , gen. 41.46 . after the seven years of plenty , in the third yeare of famine iacob came into egypt , in the one hundred and thirtieth yeare of iacob , and fourtieth yeare of ioseph , gen. 45.6 . ioseph lived with his father in egypt seventeen years . therefore when his father dyed , ioseph was 57 years old . consequently he lived after his fathers death 53 years , gen. 50.26 . so that the totall of this third intervall , amounts to 360 years . and therefore 1656 and 352 and 360 being added together : this history of genesis , is evidently an history of 2368 yeares continuance . the scope of genesis , is to set forth , the generation of the world : the corruption thereof by sin : the restauration thereof by christ the seed of the woman , together with the government of the old world before the flood , and the foll●●ing world after the flood , especially of the church of god in particular families in both . principall parts of this book . in genesis are described ▪ i. the originall 1 of the world . chap. 1. 2. of mankinde , and so of the church . ch . 2.3 . of sinne and punishment thereof , ch . 3. ii. the government . 1. of the old world before the flood , where are 1. the propogation of sin and punishment from adam to posterity . c. 4. 2. preservation of the church in the sinfull world . c. 5. 3. iudgements of god upon the world , foretold . c. 6. inflicted , c. 7. 2. of the world following after the flood ; according to the times of divers renowned patriarchs , noah , abraham , isaac , iacob . 1. noah , whose 1 deliverance from the flood c. 8. 2. benediction . c. 9. 3. family , 1 as united , c. 10. 2 as dispersed c. 11. are recorded . 2. abraham , touching whom are laid down 1 his calling from his country and kindred c. 12.1 to ver . 10. 2. his going down , into egypt , ver . 10. to the end , into canaan c. 13. 3. his rescuing of lot , c. 14. 4. his dealing with god , who , 1 promises him issue c. 15. 2 performes to him by hagar . c. 16. 3 makes a covenant with abraham ; whereof note , the forme c. 17. the fruit or effect of it 1 on gods part , viz. communication of his counsels to him . ch . 18. and of his benefits ch . 19 , 20 , 21. 2 on abrahams part divers sweet fruits , viz. 1 the obedience of his faith , c. 22. 2 his humanity c. 23. 3 his piety in the matching of his sonne c. 24. 3. isaac , whose 1 posterity , c. 25. 2. peregrination into the land of egypt , c. 26. 3. benediction of his two sons , c. 27. are mentioned . 4. iacob , whose three peregrinations are declared . viz. i. into mesopotamia , wherin note , 1. his journey c. 28. 2. his arrivall and marriage , c. 29. 3. his increase in goods , and children c. 30. ii. into canaan , where observe , his passage hither , c. 31. 4 his abode there , where the things that befell him are recited , viz. 1. his meeting of his brother esau , with 1 preparation for it , c. 32. 2 manner of it , c. 33. his daughter dinah's defilement c. 34. 2. rachels death c. 35. & 3. isaacs death and buriall by iacob and esau , where is mentioned esaus race , c 35.36 . selling of ioseph c. 37. incest of iudah , c. 38. iii. into egypt : of which peregrination of iacob , are mentioned , the antecedents , the manner , and consequents . antecedents . viz. 1. iosephs being made knowne to the egyptians , and to his owne kindred . to the egyptians in prison , c. 39.48 . out of prison to the king and his people . c. 41. to his owne , not at their first coming into egypt to buy corne . c. 42. but at their second coming , c. 43.44.45 . where all the circumstances thereof are noted . 2. iosephs sending for his father , c. 45. manner , 1. of iacobs going thither , c. 46. 2. of iacobs being there , where note , his conference with pharaoh c. 47. his blessing of ioseph c. 48. his propheticall benedictions to all his sonnes , c. 49. consequents upon iacobs death c. 50. exodus . exodus . i. e. going-out ; or departure , so called by the greek , because it declares israels departure out of egypt , after they had been long-oppressed there under tyrannicall servitude . in heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 veelleh schemoth , i. e. and these are the names , exod. 1.1 . scope ; to set forth gods governing and ordering of his church , now reduced and united into one body , out of all the severall families of israel . this is the church in the wildernesse , act. 7.38 . exodus is an history , from the death of ioseph till the erecting of the tabernacle , for about 142. years . viz. from death of ioseph to the birth of moses , 60 years . as iunius computes . annot. in ex. from moses birth to the departure out of egypt . 80 years , exod. 7.7 . from the departure out of egypt , to the erecting of the tabernacle two years exod. 40.17 . in the second yeare . viz. the second yeare after their coming out of egypt . iun. annotat. principal parts of this book . exodus contains an historicall narration of i. gods actions for israels deliverance out of egypt . things done of god , were before , in , or after israels deliverance . i. before their deliverance , are 1. his permission of the egyptian tyranny over them , which was the occasion of the deliverance c. 1. 2. his preparation both of instruments and actions , for deliverance 1. of instruments . viz. moses who is borne c. 2. called c. 3. aaron c. 4. 2. of actions viz. words c. 5.6 . signes , both confirming their words c. 7. and punishing the egyptians for not letting israel go , with ten plagues , viz. 1 turning water into blood , c. 7. 2 frogs , 3 lice , 4 and a mixed swarme of flyes , c. 8. 5 pestilence , 6 boyles , 7 haile , c. 9. 8 locusts , and 9 darknesse , c. 10. 10 death of the first-borne , foretold , c. 11. fulfilled , c. 12. ii. in their deliverance , where note 1. the●r departure , egresse or going out , acted c. 12. attested for the benefit of posterity , with signes and observations c. 13. 2. their progresse or going on . whereof 1 their passing through the red sea , c. 14. 2 their thanksgiving for this wonder of mercy in a gratulatory song , c. 15. iii. after their deliverance , when god did 1. supply them with food and necessaries c. 16. 2. defend them from evils c. 17. 3. appoint judicatories , for all matters of difference , that might fall out among them c. 18. ii. gods institutions , in which regard consider gods prescriptions , israels performances . i. gods prescriptions , where note , 1. preparation of the people c. 19. 2. the promulgation of his lawes , 1 moral with their appendixes , c. 20. 2 iudicial both in humane and sacred things c. 21 , 22 , 23. 3 ceremoniall . touching the ceremoniall lawes , here are laid down , 1. the preparation to them c. 24. 2. the parts of them . viz. 1 the tabernacle with the appurtenances and utensils thereof , c. 25.26 , 27. 2 the priests and their ornaments or vestments for ministration , c. 28. 3 sacrifices , c. 29. and divers sacred things , c. 30. 3. the close of ceremoniall directions , c. 31. ii. israels performances of gods prescriptions . here consider israels obedience . 1. about morals ; 1 violated by idolatry , c. 32. 2. restored and renewed againe by reconciliation with god , c. 33. and renewing of the tables , c. 34. 2. about ceremonials ; viz. 1. the parts of the tabernacle ; the matter chap. 35. the fashioning of the tabernacle , c. 36. & of the ark , c. 37. the making of sacred things belonging , to the people , c. 38. to the priests , c. 39. 2. the totall disposing , ordering , and erecting of the tabernacle , c. 40. leviticus leviticus . so denominated by the greek , from the chiefe subject or matter of the book , which principally describes the lawes , sacrifices and services of the levitical priesthood . it is stiled among the hebrewes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vajikra . i. e. and he called . this being the first hebrew word in the hebrew text , beginning this book . scope of this book . to make known leviticall lawes sacrifices and ordinances , and by those shadows to lead israel by the hand to jesus christ the true priest and sacrifice of the church , see levit. 11.44 . and 20.26 . this book relates the memorable words , acts and leviticall ceremoniall laws made known from god to israel , for one moneths space viz. from about the beginning of the second yeare , after israels departure out of egypt , the tabernacle being already reared , till the beginning of the second moneth of the same yeare , as jun. in annot. compare exod. 40.17 . with numb . 1.1 . which was in the yeare , from the worlds creation , 2514. as ainsw . computes . principal parts . leviticus describes the sacred ceremoniall law ▪ 1. of things . 2. of persons . 3. of actions . i. the ceremoniall law of things , c. 1. to c. 8. either according to the substance of them , as of 1. burnt-offerings , c. 1. 2. meat-offerings , c. 2. 3. peace-offerings , c. 3. 4. sin-offerings , in case of ignorance , c. 4. or of infirmity , c. 5. or , according to the rite and ceremony of them , c. 6.7 . ii. the ceremoniall law of persons , c. 8. to 16. viz. 1. of the priests , in their consecration to their office , c. 8. in their discharge of their office , either according to gods assistance , c. 9. or mens infirmity , c. 10. 2. of all the people , touching whom are lawes about their sanctification , both from uncleannesse without them , in matter of their food , c. 11. or in them ▪ by reason of 1 child-bearing , c. 12. 2 leprosie , whereof its rise and state , c. 13. it s cure , c. 14. 3 issue of seed or bloud , c. 15. iii. the ceremonial law touching actions , necessary or voluntary . 1. necessary , whereof are laid down the particulars and the confirmation of them . 1 the particulars of these necessary actions , are 1. in purification , common to the whole church , c. 16. proper to every godly person , c. 17. 2. in sanctimony or holinesse , both of the people ; 1 to be observed , not only in their own bodies , c. 18. but also among one another mutually , c. 19. 2 to be maintained in their judgements , c. 20. as also in the holinesse of the priests in their persons , c. 21. things , c. 22. 3. in exercise ecclesiasticall , in legall times c. 23. in legall rites , c. 24. politicall , c. 25. 2 the confirmation or obsignation of these particular lawes , by promises and threats , c. 26. 2. voluntary , viz. touching vows , c. 27. numbers numbers gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , so called because a great part of the book is spent in numbring the tribes and families of israel , and of their journeys from egypt to canaan . in hebr. its called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bammidbar i. e. in the desert ▪ because this is the first word of this book in the hebrew text . numbers containes an history from the beginning of the second moneth of the second yeare , after israels coming ●ut of egypt , to the beginning of the eleventh moneth of the fourtieth yeare . viz. 38. years and upwards , as iun. and ainsw . observe . and this may remarkably be evinced , by comparing numb . 1.1 . and 36.13 . diligently with deut. 1.3 . which , as above , demonstrate both the beginning and ending of this history of numbers . scope . lively to set forth the rich blessing of god upon israel , in their wonderfull increase ; his vigilant providence over them in all their wildernes journeyes and difficulties ; and yet his severity against their corruption , for which many of them perished in the wildernesse , after they had been delivered out of egypt , so that they could not enter into his rest because of their unbeliefe , heb. 3.19 . iude ver . 5. principall parts . this book of numbers containes an historicall narration of israels 1 preparation for their journey , 2 iourney it selfe , and 3 of their station , i. israels preparation for their journey , wherein three things . i. the numbring of them , which was 1. civil , both of all the heads of the people according to the families , c. 1. and of the order of the tribes in their tents , c. 2. 2. sacred , where is reckoned up , both the number of levites and other officers about the tabernacle c. 3. as also their order and ministry c. 4. ii. lawes , 1. common about sanctimony , whether necessary c. 5. or voluntary , c. 6. 2. particular for the princes offering of every tribe , at the dedication of the tabernacle and altar . c. 7. for the levites service , c. 8. iii. the manner 1. of their sanctification and order , c. 9. and of their journeying , c. 10. ii. israels journeys , which are distinguished by the history of their eight notable murmurings in their way , viz. 1. irksomenesse of their journey . 2. loathing of mannah , c. 11. 3. aarons and miriams emulation against moses , c. 12. 4. their unbelief at kadesh , where are recorded , their murmuring c. 13. the judgement of god for it c. 14. their reconcilement to god afterwards , c. 15. 5. the envy of the levites and others against the priests , c. 16. 6. the indignation of the people for the precedent judgement , where are set down both their murmur●ng , c. 16.41 , 42 , 43. and their reconcilement , c. 16. vers . 44. to the end , and c. 17 , 18 , 19. 7. murmuring for want of water , c. 20. 8. murmuring because of the way , and the light bread , and so were plagued with fiery serpents , c. 21. iii. israels station , state or condition when they were now nigh to the possession of their inheritance , c. 21. to the end of the book . here is set down a double state or condition . 1. of the people themselves . 2. of their inheritance . 1. of the people themselves , either as 1. overcoming their enemies , and possessing the land , c. 21. 2. tempted by magicall arts and inchantments , c. 22 , 23 , 24. 3. ●nsnared with , and plagued for idolatry and fornication c. 25. 4. reconciled to god and numbred for the entring upon the inheritance , c. 26. 5. furnished with a new governour ioshuah , that was to succeed moses , c. 27. 6. instructed in sacred things , necessary , c. 28 , 29. voluntary , c. 30. 2. of the inheritance , which is considered , either 1. in part , as possessed , c. 31. as assigned to gad , reuben , and halfe the tribe of manasseh , c. 32. ( here by way of digression is a summary recapitulation of the severall stations of israel in their march through the wildernesse , c. 33. ) 2. in whole , and that either , as it is circumscribed with bounds or borders , whereof the manner of dividing the land , c. 34. or as it is circumscribed with lawes , both of refuge for the man-slayer , that slew any unawares , c. 35. and of successions in their inheritances . c. 36 deuteron : deuteronomie i. e. the second law , or law repeated , thus denominated by the greek , because this book containeth a repetition of gods law given by moses to israel , as in hebrew it is sometimes from the same ground called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mischneh i. e. repetition of the law . from the first words in the book it s cal'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 elleh haddebarim , i e. these are the words , or only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 debarim , i. e. the words . penman of this book , as of all the foure former books was moses , who also wrote the history of his own death aforehand in the last chapter by a prophetick spirit ; or ioshua wrote it for him . alsted . praecog . theol. l. 2. c. 118. this book containes the history of but a few dayes , viz. from the beginning of the eleventh moneth , to about the seventh day of the twelfth moneth of the fourtieth yeare , after israels departure out of egypt , for moses began to speak these words , in the first day of the eleventh moneth of the said fourtieth yeare , deut. 1.3 . which was a little before his death ; he died when he was one hundred and twenty years old deut. 34.7 ▪ after which israel mourned for moses in the land of moab thirty dayes , deut. 34.8 . this determines the time of the history ? as iun. well observes . thus alsted in praecog . theol. l. 2. c. 118. computes the time of this history . viz. 1. the first part of this book containes the history of the first day of the eleventh moneth of the fourtieth yeare , after their coming out of egypt , c. 1 , 2 , 3 ▪ 4. 2. the second part contains the history of the second day , c. 5. to 11 ▪ 3. the third part containes the history , ( as is probable ) of foure dayes at most c. 11. to 26. 4. the fourth part containes the history of one day , c. 27.28 . 5. the fifth containes the history also of one day , c. 29 , 30. 6. the sixth containes the history of one day , c. 31. &c. 7. the 7 th part contains the history of their mourning for moses thirty daies c. 34. proofe hereof may be drawn from the history of ioshua , by computing backwards from the day of the passeover . for in the land of canaan the first passeover was celebrated , in the one and fourtieth year after israels coming ou● of egypt , on the fourteenth day of the moneth nisan josh. 5 , 10. before which they were circumcised , which probably took up foure dayes , josh. 5. one day they were passing thorough jordan , two dayes in preparation for it . adde to these the time of searching out the land , and lastly the thirty dayes mourning . and thus going backwards , we shall find that deuteronomie containes an history of but a very few dayes . scope . that the law formerly given of god may by this new repetition of it be more declared , confirmed and applied to the present condition of israel ; and they thereby fitted and better prepared for the promised canaan , upon which they were entring . principall parts , are ; the preface ; narration ; and conclusion of the book . i. preface or prologue , c. 1. to 5. contayning , 1. a narration . 1. of gods calling of israel from horeb to the promised land. c. 1. 2. of the execution of this call , both by divine conduct against their enemies . c. 2. and by appointment to enter the land. c. 3. 2. an exhortation to obed . c. 4. ii narrative containing the main bulk and substance of the book , c. 5. to 32. viz. the law , and confirmation thereof . i. the law , shewing the way of well living . 1. universall . c. 5. 2. particular ; where , of the decalogues principle , and things principled . 1. the principle of the decalogue is gods love , whereof you have , 1. the proposition . wherein note . 1. the manner and object of it , c. 6. 2. the opposites , idolatry , c. 7. ingratitude , c. 8. pride , c 9. 2. the conclusion . c. 10. 2. the things principled , touching , 1. the place of divine worship c. 11 ▪ 12. 2. the manner , c. 13.14 . 3. the time , c. 15.16 . 4. the persons which are to performe worship to him . who are informed according to the three parts of the soule , and this either joyntly or severally . jointly . 1. according to the rationall part ; where , of persons ecclesiasticall and politicall together , c. 17. of persons ecclesiasticall apart , c. 18. of persons politicall apart , c. 19. 2. according to the irascible part , in case of war c. 20. 3. according to the concupiscible part , c. 21 , 22. severally , where are both lawes , c. 23 , 24 , 25. and the close of them , c. 26. ii. the confirmation of the law by certain arguments , viz. 1. signes c. 27. 2. promises and threats . c. 28. 3. by solemn renewing of the covenant : partly , 1 by word , comminatory , c. 29. promissory , c. 30. 2 by writing and instruments , c. 31. iii. conclusion of the whole book c. 32 , 33 , 34. which is either , i. propheticall and hortatory , wherein is a double prophecy . 1. common , touching the church of the jewes till the time of the messiah ▪ c. 32. 2. speciall , containing the blessing of the 12 tribes c. 33. 2. historicall , concerning the death of moses , c. 34. ij. the prophets . the prophets wrote all the bookes of the old testament , besides the pentateuch of moses . these prophets inspired infallibly by the holy-spirit of prophecy , wrote books of three severall sorts , viz. 1 historicall , 2 dogmaticall or doctrinall , and 3 propheticall . the hebrews thus distinguish the books of the old testament . 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thorah i. e. the law. viz. the five books of moses . 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nebi●m i. e. the prophets . the prophets they distinguish into two sorts , viz. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nebiim rishonim i. e. the former prophets ; perhaps so called because they treat of the first prophets , these are foure , viz. ioshua , iudges , samuel and kings . and 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nebiim acharonim i. e. the later prophets ; which they reckon up in foure books also . viz. isaiah , ieremiah , ezekiel , and the twelve minor prophets which were anciently , joyned all in one volume , lest they through their smalnesse should be lost ; that phrase seemes to favour this , it is written in the book of the prophets , act. 7.42 . the prophet amos being cited , which is one of the minor , or lesser prophets . 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the writings ; by way of emphasis . see the reason hereof in rivet . isag. ad sucr . scrip . c. 29. sect. 16. the greek cals these books , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; hagiographa i. e. the holy writings , upon some such ground . of this sort are eleven in this order in hebrew , ruth ; psalmes ; iob ; proverbs ; ecclesiastes ; song of songs ; lamentations ; daniel ; esther ; ezra ; chronicles ; under ezra comprehending nehemiah , which sometimes is called the second of ezra , and the two books of the chronicles being reckoned as but one book . but the former distribution of the prophets bookes into 1 historicall , 2 doctrinall , and 3 propheticall , ( being both more consonant to the matter of these books , and to the method of our bibles ) shall here be followed . i. historical books . the historical books of the prophets relate the history of the jewes , and of the church of god among them , from the death of moses , which was , when he was one hundred and twenty years old , deut. 34.7 . ioseph ant. l. 4. c. 3. in 2493 year of the world ; helvic . untill the period of the persian monarchy , possessed by alexander the macedonian , called alexander the great , who conquered the persians , and got dominion of asia , about ann. 3614 after the worlds creation , helvic . in chronolog . so that these books contain an history of about 1121 years continuance . of this history of the jews , and of the church of god , there are two principall parts or periods ; viz. 1. of the israelites entrance into the promised land . 2. of their government and condition , after that entrance . joshuah . 1. israels entrance into the promised land , is described in the book of joshuah . so called from the chiefe subject handled therein , viz. the acts of ioshuah , the successour of moses , the governour and chiefe captaine of israel , under whose conduct they conquered the land ; divided it by line and lot among the tribes ; and possessed it , according to all gods faithfull promises in that behalfe unto their fathers , josh. 21.43 , 44 , 45. & 23.14 , 15. penman of this booke some conceive to be ioshuah , because it beares his name . but that reason is not cogent ; 1 partly because the bookes of iudges , ruth , and kings , bear their name , yet not penned by them : 2 partly because the denomination of this book is rather from the subject matter , then the author . other thinke eleazer the high-priest ( whose death is recorded iosh. 24.33 . gathered together the chief materials of which this booke is compiled . it being the priests duty , to leave upon record all memorable ecclesiastical affairs for the benefit of after ages , and propagation of religion . this more probable : but not certain . alsted . praecog . theol. l. 2. c. 119. iohan. calvin . argument . in lib. iosuae . this book containes an history of almost eighteene yeeres . viz. from the death of moses to the death of joshuah . iun. arg. in lib. iehosh . gerh. loc . prim . de scriptura . in exegesi . sect. 125. scope . of this booke to demonstrate gods exact faithfulnesse in performing all his promises made to the fathers ; that all his people may be encouraged to trust to him the better for ever ▪ iosh. 21.45 . & 23.14 , 15. principall parts . in this book is an history of ioshuah's life and death . i. of ioshua's life . wherein consider ▪ 1. his vocation . god cals him to be governour of israel in moses stead , c. 1. 2. his administration , both in time of warre , and peace . 1. in time of warre , whereof is laid down ; 1. a narration . 1. of sending the spies to search the land , c. 2. 2. of the passing thorow jordan , where the antecedent passages and manner of it , c. 3. the consequents upon it . c. 4.5 . 3. of the seiges and victories ; his first victory over jericho , c. 6. the impediment of his proceedings , the accursed thing , c. 7. his manifold and happy successe after removal of the accursed thing , he conquered all the country c. 8 , 9 , 10 , 11. 2. a repetition of his warlike exploits , &c. c. 12. 2. in time of peace . wherein are , 1. the distribution of the land of canaan , under which are described , 1 the borders of the land , c. 13. 2 the manner of the distribution , by lot. c. 14. 3 the parties among whom the land was divided , viz. the israelites c 15. to 20. 4 the menslayers , &c. c. 20 5 the levites c. 21. 2. the dismission and remanding of the reubenites , gadites & half tribe of manasseh to their lot on the other side iordan . c. 22 3. the exhortation and charge of joshuah to the people before his death , c. 23. ii. of ioshuah's death , and the things immediately antecedent , and consequent thereto , c. 24. ii. israels condition and government after their entrance into the promised land. which is historically described , what it was . 1. before their carrying away into babylon . 2. during the captivity . 3. after the captivity . i. before their carrying away into babylon , and that either under the iudges , or the kings . i. vnder the iudges . and here we have two histories , viz. one common and generall : another particular . judges i. the common or generall history , is the book of iudges , so called , not from the authors of it , but from the subject matter of it , in hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shophtim , i. e. iudges . penman of this book the hebrewes thinke to be samuel . alsted . praecog . theol. l. 2. c. 119. o●hers thinke that every iudge recorded the things acted in his owne dayes respectively : and that samuel , or ezra , or ieremiah , or king hezekiah , ( whose men copied out some of solomons proverbs , prov. 25.1 . ) collected and digested them into one volume . hugo cardinal●s in prolog . in hunc . lib. this book containes an history of israels politie , and the state thereof from the death of ioshuah , till the priesthood of eli. how during that time israel oftimes apostatized from god , for which god delivered them into their enemies hands ; but upon their conversion to him , he saved them by iudges raised up from among their tribes , out of their enemies hands . it is an history of about 299 years , which may be thus computed . from ioshuah's death , to othniel's 40 y. iudg. 3.11 . from othniel's death to ehud's and shamgar's 80 ▪ y. 3.30 . thence to deborah's death 40 y. 5 31. thence to gideons death-40 y. 8 28 thence to abimilech's death 3 y. 9 22. thence to tholah's death 23 y. 10 2 thence to iair's death 22 y. 10 3 thence to iephte's death 6 y. 12 7 thence to ibzan's death 7 y. 12 9 thence to elon's death 10 y. 12 11 thence to abdon's death 8 y. 12 14 thence to samson's death-20 y. 16 31 scope of this book , to shew what happy haleyonian dayes gods church enjoyes under pious magistrates . how severe god is against the sins , especially the idolatry of his own people : and yet how he remembers mercy in midst of severest judgements . principall parts . this book being a glasse discovering israels calamity , and the cause thereof their sin . describes their sin ; i. as general , universal and common to all the tribes , viz. by the 1. kinds or sorts of their sinnes . 1. negligence in driving the canaanites out of the land . c. 1. 2. perfidiousnesse , in apostatizing from god to idols . c. 2. 2. effects or fruits of their sinnes . viz. five severall oppressions by their enemies , i. e. 1. syrians , c. 3. 2. canaanites c. 4. and 5. 3. midianites , where of gideon's 1. call. c. 6. 2. acts polemical c. 7. and political . c. 8. 3 successour , abimilech c. 9. 4. ammonites . here 1. the cause and effect of the oppression , israels apostacy and repentance c. 10. 2. the remedy . viz. warre undertaken against ammonites c. 11. ephraimites . c. 12. 5. philistines . sampson being avenger : samsons birth c. 13. prosperity c. 14. adversity c. 15. and death c. 16. are at large delineated . ii. as speciall viz. 1. idolatry , of one family c. 17. of the tribe of dan c. 18. 2. lust of uncleannesse , perpetrated , c. 19. punished c. 20 , 21. ruth ii the particular history under the iudges , is the book of ruth , so stiled from ruth the moabitesse , a gentile ( moab being one of the incestuous sons of lot gen. 18. ) concerning whom this book treats , especially of her marriage with boaz , whose pedigree , by a prophetick spirit , is brought down to k. david , ruth 4.18 . to the end , ruth bearing to boaz , obed ; the grandfather of david , of whom according to the flesh christ came , matth. 1.5 , 6. the chald. paraphrast thinks that ruth was the daughter of eglon king of moab , but that is not proved by any scripture , nor is it likely that a kings daughter would marry a stranger , and leave her native countrey to seek bread in another land , saith gerh. augustine refers the time of this history , to the beginning of the kings . aug. l. 2. de doctrin . christian . c. 8. ioseph . l. 5. antiq. and hugo cardinalis referre it to the time of eli , the priest. d. kimchi in c. 1. ruth . and other of the rabbines ( as some note ) conceive ; that , boaz who married ruth , was that judge which is called ibzan judg. 12.8 . who immediately succeeded iephte . iunius and tremellius comparing this history of ruth with matth. 1.5 . are of opinion , that this history fell out in the dayes of deborah . annot . in ruth 1.1 . but it s certaine it fell out in the time of the iudges , ruth 1.1 . though the particular time perhaps cannot so punctually be demonstrated . penman of this history is not certainly knowne . hebrews thinke samu●l penned it . alsted . in praecog . theol. l. 2. c. 119. many writers annex this book of ruth as an appendix to the book of iudges , as they do the lamentations , to the prophecy of ieremiah . andr. rivet . isag. ad sacr . script . c. 29. p. 501. scope of this book . to delineate part of the genealogy of christ , ruth 4.18 . &c. compared with mat. 1.5.6 . and to shew that salvation by iesus christ belongs to sinners of the gentiles , as well as to the iewes : christ deriving his line not only from iewes , but also from gentiles and sinners , for the raising up of their hope and consolation in him . principall parts . in this history are described . 1. ruths distresse in her widowhood c. 1. 2. ruths deliverance from this distresse , which is 1. inohoate . 1. by her gleaning in boaz his field with his approbation , c. 2. 2. by her lodging at boaz his feet in the threshing floor at her mothers appointment , he being a neer kinsman c. 3. 2. consummate , by boaz his marrying of her c. 4. ii. vnder the kings . and here we have three histories compiled in six books viz. the two books of samuel , the two books of kings , and the two books of chronicles , which histories set forth the state of the kingdome of israel three wayes . viz. 1. as the kingdome was vnited of which the two books of samuel . 2. as the kingdome was divided , of which the two books of kings . 3. as the kingdom was both vnited and divided , of which the two books of chronicles . as trelcatius in oeconomiâ bibliorum , well observes , : and as the matter of these histories doth clearly evince . i. the united state of the kingdome of israel , is described what it was , both under the kings . 1. by election . and 2. by succession . and how it increased and flourished whilest so united . i samuel i under kings by election , the kingdomes condition is recorded in the i. book of samuel . so called , either from the matter or subject herein handled . viz. the history of samuel , which takes up a great part of the book . as alsted . in praecog . theol. l. 2. c. 120. or also from the instrumentall efficient cause , or penman of this of this book , samuel being supposed to have penned this book , till c. 25. david the rest . gloss. ordinar . iunius and trem. are of opinion , that samuel had a great share in penning of these two books that bare his name ; and that nathan the prophet , and gad the seer penned part thereof , from that intimation , 1 chron. 29.29 . which words of samuel , nathan and gad seem to be the two books of samuel , penned by them three . iun. in annot. in 1 chron. 29.29 . by the greek and latin , it is also called the 1. book of kings , because the later part of it containes the history of saul , the first king of israel . this history treats of the last judges , viz. eli , and samuel , and of the first king , viz. saul . declaring when and upon what occasion the lord changed the government by iudges into a regall government , viz. in days of samuel , and upon occasion of the extreame wickednesse of both elye's and samuels sons , c. 1. to 9. as also how saul carryed himselfe both in life and death : and how god prepared david for the throne , saul being rejected . it is an history of about 80 yeeres continuance . viz. under ely 40 yeeres , 1 sam. 4.18 . and under samuel and saul 40 yeeres , act. 13.21 . scope . to discover mans mutability , but gods immutability in all the revolutions and alterations of families , and common-wealths : viz. in their constitution , administration , and alteration . principall parts . this booke treats of the affaires of israel under a double kind of civill government , i. aristocraticall under samuel the prophet and judge . whose , 1. birth is recorded , c. 1. 2. calling . where , of eli his predecessour , and of his sonnes ; whose i. grievous sinne is recorded , c. 2. ii. severe punishment is , 1 , foretold by samuel . c. 3. 2. inflicted by god. where , of the warre , acted c. 4. finished , where we have a descripti●n . 1. of the philistines punishment , c. 5. and of their restoring the captivated ark , c. 6. 2. of israels repentance , c. 7. ii. monarchicall , under a king. 1. to be elected , what a one he was like to be , c. 8. 2. actually elected , what a one he proved ; evidenced , in saul , david ▪ 1. saul , described . 1. as elected , where are laid down his calling , c. 9. unction , c. 10. warlike successe , c. 11. 2. as rejected . the causes of which rejection are recited , viz. 1. the peoples sin , c. 12. 2. sauls unbeliefe , c. 13. rashnesse in judging , c. 14. and disobedience , c. 15. 2. david . touching whom are declared , his 1. election . where note 1. his call , c. 16. 2. his preparatory 1 conquest of goliath c. 17. 2 advancement into sauls family , c. 18. 2. ejection . david being exiled . 1. in his own country , c. 19 , 20. 2. out of his country , c. 21. to 30. 3. advancement . 1. by his victory , c. 30. 2. by saul's death , c. 31. ii samuel ii under kings by succession . in this respect the kingdome 's state is declared in the ii. of samuel . so called for reasons formerly mentioned . it s also by the greek and latin stiled the second book of kings , because therein the history of david the second king of israel is continued . this is an history of about 40 yeeres continuance , 2 sam. 5.5 . an history of davids kingdome . may well be called the annals of david . penman ; some thinke to be the high-priest ; or some disciple of samuel , who yet for honours sake gave the booke his masters name . alsted . praecog . theol. l. 2. c. 120. but rather it is probable that the latter part of the i. of samuel ; and this whole booke of the ii. of samuel , were penned by nathan the prophet , and gad the seer . 1 chron. 29.29 . scope . to declare gods faithfulnesse in delivering of his own from distresses . that divers great infirmities are incident to gods uprightest servants . and that ( like checker-worke ) their prosperity is intermingled with crosses and calamities . principal parts . in this booke ; ( which is a description of davids kingdome ) we have a narration of davids 1 life and 2 death . i. davids life is represented as it was 1 glorious ; and as it was 2 ignominious . 1. as it was glorious in his royall inauguration . where consider things , 1. antecedent viz. 1. his mourning for sauls death , c. 1. 2. his returne into judea , c. 2. 3. his war with the house of saul , c. 3.4 . 2. concomitant . he is confirmed king by all israel , c. 5. 3. consequent , viz. 1. ecclesiasticall , as his fetching up the ark to sion c. 6. his purpose of building god an house , c. 7. 2. polemicall or warlike , c. 8. 3. politicall , or civil , c. 9 , 10. 2. as it was ignominious ; and that 1. by his sins , adultery and murder , committed c. 11. corrected c. 12. 2. by his sorrowes . 1. private , 1. in amnon , by his incest , c. 13. 2. in absolom , where are declared , his restitution , c. 14. his sedition begun c. 15. continued c. 16. concluded , c. 17 , 18 , 19. 2. publique . 1. sedition of the people , c. 20. 2. famine three yeeres , c. 21. ii. davids death . occurrents antecedent thereunto . 1. his gratulatory and laudatory psalme , c. 22 ▪ 2 , his sweet swanlike song , and testament , c. 23. 3. the pestilence upon his numbring the people , c. 24. ii. the divided state of the kingdome of israel , and how upon that division it decreased and came to ruine , is laid down in the two books of kings . this d●vision and decay of the kingdome is laid downe two wayes . 1. according to the causes and beginnings thereof . 2. according to the progresse thereof . i kings i. according to the causes , and first beginnings of this division and decay thereupon ensuing . these are set forth in the i. of kings . this book is stiled in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. melacim . i. e. 1. of kings . by the greek and latine the iii. of kings . the history of the kings both of iudah and israel , being the subject matter of the book . in this book the causes and first beginnings of the kingdomes division and decay are laid downe , partly by way of opposition of the flourishing state of davids kingdome united under solomon , c. 1. to c. 11. partly by way of exposition of the occasions ( viz. solomons sinnes , gods justice , solomons death , c. 11. ) and of the first beginnings of the division and decay of the kingdome under rehoboam , to whom onely two tribes were left subject , iudah and benjamin , 1 king. 11.21 . and under ieroboam to whom the other tenne tribes revolted : and afterwards under their successours severally . so that in this book are the acts of five kings of iudah after solomon , viz. rehoboam , ●bijam , asa , iehoshaphat , iehoram : and of eight kings of israel , viz. ieroboam , nadab , baasha , elah , zimri , omri and tibni , ahab , ahaziah . this is an history of 118. yeeres viz. under solomon 40 yeeres , 1 king. 11.42 . under the rest of kings of iudah , 78. yeeres , for rehoboam reigned 17 yeeres . 1 king. 17.31 . — ab●jam 3 yeeres . 1 king. 15.2 . — asa , 41. yeeres . 1 king. 15.10 . — iehoshaphat , 17. yeers . 1 king. 22.51 . — in all 118 yeeres . penman of this book , and also of the second booke of kings is conceived not to be any one man , but divers . though the hebrewes would have them to be written by ieremiah . others think that the churches history , which was written by divers , was digested and collected into volumes , either by e●ra ; gerh. loc . com. 1 de scriptura . in exegesi . § . 129. or by the chiefe priests and prophets as the churches pub. actuari●s . alsted proecog . theol. l. 2. c. 120. however , it seemes evident , that the beginning of 1. of kings , touching solomons reign , was written by nathan , abijah and iddo , 2 chron. 9.29 . see iun. in loc . and other parts by iehu son of canani , 2 chron. 20.3 . see iun. annot ▪ ibid. and by the prophet isaiah , ( as iunius thinks ▪ ) partly in his prophecy , par●ly in the book of kings , 2 chron. 26.22 . scope . to shew how the piety of kings , preserves their kingdomes in unity , and flourishing prosperity : but the sins and wickednesse of kings , especially their idolatry , whereby they divide themselves from god , brings divisions into their kingdomes , and consequently ruine upon themselves , their families and dominions . principall parts , might be pointed out , according to the periods of every severall kings reigne , but rather thus . this book containes the increase and decrease of the kingdome of israel . i. increase of the kingdome under solomon ; whose life and death are recorded . 1. solomons life . therein consider his 1. election , c. 1 , 2. 2. administration or government of the kingd●m , where note 1. his great prudence , c. 3 , 4. 2. his magnificence in building , the temple , c. 5 , 6 , 8. his own house , in lebanon , c. 7. the kings house more publique , c. 9. 3. his condition , prosperous , c. 10. adverse , c. 11. 2. solomons death , c. 11. ii. decrease of the kingdom once divided ; and this under 1. the kings of iudah 1. rehoboam , c. 12 , 14. 2. abijah , c ▪ 15.3 . asa , c. 15. 4. iehoshaphat . c , 22. 5 iehoram , c. 22. ver . 50. 2. the kings of israel contemporary to the kings of iudah , viz. 1. ieroboam c. 12 , 13 , 14. 2 nadab , c. 15. 3. baasha , c. 16.4 . elah , 5. zimri 6. omri , c. 16.7 . ahab . 1 whose stock is recorded , c. 16. from ver . 28. 2 whose prosperous state is declared , in respect of elijahs presence . here are considered , elijah's ambassadge to the king , c. 17 , 18. elijah's exile , c. 19. in respect of ahabs double victory , c. 20. 3 whose acts and manners are described , c. 21. 4 whose death is delineated , c. 22. 8. ahaziah , c. 22. ver . 51. &c. ii kings 2. according to the progresse and growth of the kingdom 's division , and the miserable calamities , growing and increasing thereupon , this is related in the 11. of kings called in hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 11. melacim , i. c. the second of kings , by the greek and latin , the iv. of kings . the history of the kings being still continued in this book . this book is an history of about 320. years , under 12. kings of israel , and 16. kings of iudah . vnder 12. kings of israel , 162 years . ahazia 1 yeare . 1 kings 22.52 . ioram 11 yeare . 2 kings 3.1 . & 8.25 . iehu 28 yeare . 2 kings 10.36 . iehoahaz 17 yeare . viz. 15 alone , and two with his son , 2 kings 13.1.10 . ioash 16 yeare . 2 kings 13.10 . ieroboam 41 yeare . 2 kings 14.23 . zechariah 6 moneths 2 kings 15.8 . shallum 1 moneth 2 kings 15.13 . menachem 10 yeare . 2 kings 15.17 . pekachijah 2 year . 2 kings 15.23 . pekah 20 year . 2 kings 15.27 . hosheah who reigned 18 y. viz. 9 y. free . 2 kings 17.1 . and 9. y. a tributary to the king of assyria , by whom at last he was carried captive , ver . 6. vnder 16 kings of iudah , 320 year . iehoram 12 y. viz. 8. alone , and 4. with his father iehoshaphat 2 kings 8.17 . ahazia 1. y. 2 king. 8.26 . athalia 6 year , 2 kings 11.3 . ioash 40. y. 2 king. 12.1.39 . iunius . amaziah 29 yeare 12 of which in exile , — 2 kings 14.2 . azariah or vzziah 52. yeare . 2 kings — 15 , 5. iotham 16. yeare . 2 king 15.33 . — 15. yeare iun. ahaz 16. yeare , 2 kings 16.2 . — 14. year iun. hezekiah 29. year , 2 king. 18.2 . manasses 55. yeare , 2 king. 21.2 . ammon 2 yeare , 2 kings 21.19 . iosiah 31. yeare . 2 king. 22.1 . ioahaz 3. moneths . 2 kings 23.36 . ichoiakim 11 yeare , 2 kings 23.36 . ichoiachin three moneths . 2 kings 24.8 zedekiah 11. year , 2 kings 24.18 . thence till iehoiakins advancement , 26. year , 2 kings 25.27 , 30. penmen of this 11. of kings , see in penmen of 1. of kings . scope ; to delineate gods verity in his promises and threats , together with his severity in his judgements . the continuall revolution of families and states , the mischief of sin , especially in magistrates , dividing them and their people from god , and consequently themselves amongst themselves , till both kings , people and kingdomes be ripe and ready for desolation . principall parts , may be considered either according to the reign of the severall kings of israel and iudah , as afore . or as followeth ; this book declareth . the state of the kingdomes of israel and iudah ; together with their defection and declining , 1. severally of the kingdome of israel under 1. ahaziah , c. 1.2 . 2. ioram , where of elishah's miracles , c. 3.4.5 . oracles or prophecies , c , 6.7.8 . 2. joyntly of israel and iudah , parallel'd as it were together , c. 9. to 18. 3 severally of the kingdome of iudah , whose 1. weakning , is recorded 1. under a good king hezekiah , c. 18. 19.20 . 2. under a bad king manasseh , c. 20.21 . 2. reparation is indeavoured by iosiah , c. 22.23 . 3. subversion is 1. begun c. 23. 24. 2. accomplished c. 25. iii. the united and divided state of the kingdome is laid downe in the two books of chronicles , with some further additions and amplifications to the former histories . this is done two wayes . i chron. 1. acording to the united state of the kingdome in i. of chronicles , so called because the acts of former times are herein recorded , or chronicled . in hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dihre haijamim , i. e. the words of dayes , because they are as a sacred diary ; reporting the acts and occurrents in the church of god , and civil states both domestique and forrein . munsterus not unfitly stiles them libros annalium , i. e. the books of annals . annals barely declaring matters of fact for divers years in order ; as , gellius notes l. 5. n. a. c. 18. these two books are the chvrches annals . in greek these two books are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , bibloi paralipomenon , i. e. the books of things omitted : or , the books of remaines : because some things omitted , or not fully described in the pentateuch , ioshuah , iudges , ruth , samuel and kings , are here summarily explicated , and supplyed . this i. of chron. principally insists upon the history of david , relating his genealogy from the first adam and so forwards towards the second adam ; wherein the 12. tribes and their families , &c. are recorded c. 1. to 10. and his famous acts c. 10. to the end of the book ; so that this book is a compendious chronology of all the former books to the books of kings , of things from the worlds creation , till about the yeare 2985. viz. of genesis — 2368 y. all which have been aboue particularly explained and demonstrated . so the i. of chronicles is the longest history of any one book in the whole bible . exodus 142. y. all which have been aboue particularly explained and demonstrated . so the i. of chronicles is the longest history of any one book in the whole bible . the other books of moses 39 y. all which have been aboue particularly explained and demonstrated . so the i. of chronicles is the longest history of any one book in the whole bible . joshuah 17. almost 18 y. all which have been aboue particularly explained and demonstrated . so the i. of chronicles is the longest history of any one book in the whole bible . judges — 299 y. all which have been aboue particularly explained and demonstrated . so the i. of chronicles is the longest history of any one book in the whole bible . i. of samuel 80 y. all which have been aboue particularly explained and demonstrated . so the i. of chronicles is the longest history of any one book in the whole bible . ii. of samuel 40 y. all which have been aboue particularly explained and demonstrated . so the i. of chronicles is the longest history of any one book in the whole bible . hierom calls the chronicles , instrumenti veteris epitomen , &c. the epitome of the old testament ; and that it is of such consequence , that whosoever would arrogate to himselfe the knowledge of the scriptures without it , doth but mock and abuse himselfe . hieronym . in ep. ad paulin. and again stiles it , totius divinae historiae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i. e. the chronicle of the whole divine history . hier. in prolog . galeat . penman of this and the second book is uncertaine . r. salomo . r. d. kimchi , think it was ezra . saith alsted in praecog . theol. l. 2. c. 120. iunius also is of the same judgement . iun. annot. in 1 king. 11.41 . and in his argument before 1 chron. the argument that generally inclines them all to this opinion , is , that the same words which are used in the close of the chronicles 2 chron. 36.23 . are also used in the beginning of ezra . ezr. 1.1 , 2 , 3. scope . the primary scope of this book seemes to be this ; clearly to describe the line and genealogy of christ , the messiah promised to david , abraham , and adam : that when in fulnesse of time christ should be revealed and performed ; the church might infallibly know , that he was the promised seed of the woman . principall parts . this first book of chron. describes the israelitish kingdome in its 1 foundation , and 2 administration . i. foundation . where , of 1. the general genealogy of all nations from adam to iacob , c. 1. here is a chronicle of 1 the pentateuch . 2 ioshuah . 3. iudges . 2. particular geneal of the nation of israel by the twelve tribes , c. 2. to 9. here is a chronicle of 1 the pentateuch . 2 ioshuah . 3. iudges . ii. administrat●on under . 1 saul , whose 1 genealogy is in c. 9. 2 death c. 10. 2 david whose 1. kingly condition , c. 11 , 12 , 14. 2 acts 1 sacred , restoring gods ●orship , in respect of the 1 place , c. 13 , 15 , 17 , 22. 2 persons ministring in the 1 tabernacle c. 16 2 temple , c. 23. 24 , 25 , 26 here is a chronicle of the two books of samuel . 2 polemical or martial , c. 18 , 19 , 20. 3. political , c. 21.27 . 3. death , c. 28 , 29. where is declared how david before his death in a solemne assembly at ierusalem took his leave of his kindred . set solomon or his throne , after he had given him directions about the temple , and himself with his princes had offered willingly towards the building of it . ii chron : 2. according to the united and divided state of the kingdom in the ii of chronicles . so called for the reasons formerly alledged . this booke relates the history of the israelitish state from the beginning of king solomons reigne , till their returne from the babylonish captivity , which fell out about the first yeare of cyrus king of persians . setting down both the union and flourishing condition of the kingdome , under solomon . but the division and decay of the kingdome thence ensuing , till it came to utter ruine . so this book contains an history of about 472 yeeres . from solomon to carrying away of iechonias , 401. as jun. and tremell . compute . in the captivity , — 70 as jun. and tremell . compute . under cyrus the persian , — 1. as jun. and tremell . compute . so that this book is an epitome or chronicle of the two books of kings , with additions . if we consider the books of samuel , kings , and chronicles , all together , they containe an historicall narration , how the kingdome of israel 1 began under samuel : 2 increased under david : 3 flourished under solomon : and 4 failed under zedekiah ; thus it endured almost 565 yeers . penman , see in 1. of chron. scope , for substance the same with that of the two books of kings . principall parts . this book containes an historicall narration of the kingdome of israel's , i. flourishing , or increase under king solomon . touching solomon are recorded , his 1. vertues , c. 1. 2. buildings . 1. sacred , viz. the temple , where , 1. his preparation for it , c 2. 2. his extruction or building of it , viz. of the temple , contayning ▪ c. 3. and of the holy utensils , contayned in it , c. 4. 3. his dedication of the temple , partly by dedicated things , especially the arke brought into the temple c. 5. partly by praise and prayer , c. 6. partly by sacrifice , c. 7. 2. civil , viz. severall cities which he builded , c. 8. 3. condition and death , c. 9. ii. fading , or decrease under the following kings of iudah and israel ( the kingdome being divided ) till the returne from captivity in the reigne of cyrus . where note five concussions of shakings of the kingdome under these ensuing kings . viz. rehoboam , c. 10 , 11 , 12 abia , c. 13 asa , c. 14 , 15 , 16 jehoshaphat , c. 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 jehoram , c. 21 ahaziah , c. 22 joash , c. 23 , 24 amaziah , c. 25 uzziah , c. 26 jotham , c. 27 ahaz , c. 28 hezekiah , c. 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 manas●eh , c. 33 amon , c. 33 josi●h , c. 34 , 35 joahaz , c. 36. jehoakim , c. 36. jechoniah , c. 36. zedekiah , c. 36. ii. after the people of israels captivity in which regard we have their reduction , or bringing back from the captivity of babylon hystorically declared : and that two wayes . 1. according to the truth and manner of it . 2. according to the fruit and event of it . ezra . 1 the truth and manner of gods peoples returne from babylon , is contained in the book of ezra . so called from ezra the penman of it ; whose acts also are the chief subject-matter of it . some count and call ezra a prophet . lactant. lib. 4. iust. c. 11. but augustine doubts whether he may be called a prophet , aug. l. 18 de civit . dei c. 36. hierome saith he was iosedech , whose son was iesus the high-priest . see ludovic . viv. in lib. 18 de civit. dei . c. 36. but how can he be denyed to be a prophet , when christ himselfe stiles all the books of the old testament moses and the prophets , luk. 16.29.31 ? this is certaine , ezra was a priest , ezr. 7 , 11 , 12. he was of the house and linage of aaron ; see his pedigree , ezr. 7.1.2 , 3 , 4 , 5. a most expert and ready scribe in the law of moses , ezr. 7.6 , 10 , 11. he was sent with commission by artaxerxes from babylon to ierusalem , &c. ver . 11. &c. zerubbabel restored the temple : ezra the worship of god : nehemiah the city ierusalem . this book , and that of nehemiah following , are by the hebrewes , reputed as but one volume , and that is called by them the i. of ezra , this the ii. of ezra . hieronym . in epist. ad paulin. and lactant. instit. l. 4. c. 11. the greek and latin divide them ( as our english ) into two books , the former being ascribed to ezra , the latter to nehemiah . the book of ezra , in order well followes the chronicles ; for the very words which conclude the chronicles , 2 chron. 36. last , do begin this book of ezra , ezra 1.1 , 2 , 3. not only intimating , that ezra was probably penman of them both , but also that in this book the history is continued . in ezra is declared the iewes returne from babylon . and it is an history for about 146. years , viz. from the edict of cyrus , to the nineteenth year of artaxerxes mnemon . as iunius computes , of cyrus and cambyses 9 magi 1 darius histaspis 36 xerxes 22 artaxerxes longimanus 40 darius nothus 19 artaxerxes mnemon 19 scope . to evidence how punctually faithfull and alsufficiently able god is , in performing of his promises to his church and people in their season , touching their deliverance and restauration , against all impediments , improbabilities and seeming impossibilities . for he made cyrus an heathen king his shepheard , and nursing father to his church , to bring them out of babylon , wherein they were as helplesse and hopelesse , as dead bodies or dry bones in a grave . ezek. 37. 2 , 3 , 11 , 12 , 13. to build the temple and ierusalem , isa. 44. 28. and 45. 1. &c. compared with ezra 1.1 , 2. &c. principall parts . in this book are laid downe , touching the jewes returne , 1. the causes of their return from babylon , viz. 1. instrumentall , cyrus his grant , c. 1. 2. materiall , persons returning , c. 2. 3. finall , the restauration of the temple , and worship of god , c. 3. 2. the impediments of their returne , 1. recited , viz. the samaritanes . c. 4. and the ruler of canaan , c. 5. 2. removed , by the renewing of cyrus his edict , c. 6. 3. the successe of their returne , where are described , 1 ezra's commission , c. 7. 2. his execution of his commission , c. 8. 3. the reformation of mixed marriages , which are described , c. 9. abolished , c. 10. nehemia : ii. the fruit and event of the jews returne from babylon , is laid down in the book of nehemiah . so called , 1 partly because nehemiah was pen-man of it , neh. 1.1 . 2 partly because the acts of nehemiah are the principall subject-matter of the book , nehemiah being the great repairer & restorer of the holy city ierusalem . it is by some called the ii. of ezra ; because the history begun by ezra touching the iewes returne from babylon is here continued . nehemiah is supposed to aeb the same who is called the tirshatha ezr. 2.63 . so munsterus . neh. 8.9 . which signifies , a cup-bearer , gerh. exeg . in loc . 1. de scrip. § . 132. but in the chaldee tongue is a title of dignity and honour . r. aben ezra . saith gerh. translated legatus regis ; i. e. the kings legate , ambassadour or commissary . by iun. & trem. ( who yet interpret this rather of shazbazzar , whom many think to be zerubbabel : ) in the margin of our english bibles it is rendred , governour . he was the son of hachaliah , neh. 1.1 . and cup-bearer to king artaxerxes , in the twentieth yeare of his reigne , neh. ● . 11 . and 2.1 . the kings palace was at shushan , neh. 1.1 . that being the metropolis of persia , which darius hystaspis built . plin. n. h. l. 6 c. 27. in this book are declared the happy fruits of the jews returne both in reference to the politique and ecclesiastick state . it contains an history of about 55 years , as gerh. loc. com. supradict . & iunius in annot. shew . viz. from the twentieth yeare of artaerxes mnemon neh. 2.1 . 24 thence of darius ochus 23 thence of asrenes 3 thence of darius the last 5 scope , to let us know how deep and desperate the distresses of the church may grow , before god will restore her . how difficult , slow and perplexed a work the work of reformation is , both by reason of adversaries to be opposed , and publick corruptions to be removed . how easily and wonderfully god can bring reformation to perfection against all impediments whatsoever , when he is resolved to carry it on . what excellent and usefull instruments , pious and faithfull magistrates are for the accomplishing both of civil and ecclesiasticall reformation ; nehemiah being a lively patterne of a true reformer indeed . principall parts . this book sets forth the restauration of hierusalem , and this by. i. reparation of the wals , gates and buildings where consider 1. the cause of it . 1. principall god ▪ c. 1. 2. instrumentall , nehemiah , c. 2. 2. the work it selfe . 1. begun . c. 3. 2. hindred by impediments ; externall . c. 4. internall . c. 5. mixt c. 6. 3. perfected . c. 6. ii. reformation both of the state politick and ecclesiastick , c. 7. to 13. hereunto appertain . 1. the custody of the city . the number of the captives that returned , ( viz. 49942. neh. 7.66.67 . ) and the oblation c. 7. 2. a description of two festivals . c. 8. 3. the peoples publick repentance in a solemne fast , testified by a solemne covenant made and subscribed for reformation c. 9 , 10. 4. the inhabitants of ierusalem , viz. rulers , voluntiers , and men chosen by lot . c. 11. 5. the number and offices of the priests : with the dedication of the wals of ierusalem , c. 12. iii. correction of such corruptions and miscarriages , as had risen in iudea , in nehemiah's absence ▪ c. 13. esther . iii. vnder the iewes captivity in babylon , and other places out of iudea ; the condition of the church is described in the book of esther ; stiled by the hebrewes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 megillath esther , i. e. the volume of esther , so denominated from esther the queen a iewesh , whose faithfull service , done for the oppressed church and people of god in extremity of straits , is the primary subject of this book . some writers exclude this book out of the canon of scripture , as melito in eusebius , lib. 4. c. 25. athan●sius in synopsi . and nazianzen . in carm. de script . but the hebrews and primitive christians with other writers unanimously receive it as part of the canon . penman is not so unanimously determined upon among authors . some thinks it was written by the men of the great synagogue . r. moses is said to be of this opinion . or by ioachim the priest , sonne of iesus the high-priest . philo iudeus in chronol . or , by mordecay , as is conjectured partly from chap. 9.20 , 23. as the latin fathers . the ground of whose conjecture seemes to come short . or by ezra or nehemiah , who wrote the two former histories of the church of like nature . isidorus . alsted . praecog . theol l. c. c. 120. but eusebius in his chronicles , supposeth that the penman was after ezra . this book containes an history of the church under the reigne of ahashuerus king of persia , from the third yeare of his reigne , esth. 1.1 , 2 , 3. till the end of his reigne , viz. about 20. years ( for he reigned in all about 21. or 22. years ) this ahashuerus is conceived to be xerxes sonne of hystaspis , ezr. 4.6 . iun. annot. the time of this history is thus computed . ahashuerus makes his feast in his third yeare , — esth. 1.3 . marrieth esther , in his seventh yeare , esth. 2.16 . haman conspires against the iewes , and is hanged , in his twelfth yeare , esth. 3.7 . and 7.10 . thence esther reigns till the end of his reigne , mordecai being chief governour , 10. y. helvic . chron . s●ope , most lively to manifest ; how singularly vigilant god is over his church in extreamest straits and deepest dangers ; not only to preserve her from them , and advantage her by them ; but also to returne the plots of her cruell enemies upon their own heads , when they are nearest execution . principall parts . this book declares the jewes deliverance from hamans plot , both by what meanes and in what manner it was delivered . i. meanes of deliverance , esther advanced . of whose advancement , here 's 1. the occasion c. 1. 2. the manner of it . c. 2. ii. the manner of the deliverance , where are laid downe 1. hamans cruell plot against the jewes . c. 3. 2. the perill ensuing upon this plot , 1. generally to all the jewes . c. 4. 2. particularly to mordecai himselfe . c. 5. 3. gods countermining of hamans undermining designe . 1. by advancement of mordecai . c. 6. 2. by ruining of , 1 haman . c. 7. 2 of the rest of the jewes enemies . whose slaughter was impetrated , c. 8. perpetrated . c. 9. 3. by producing out of all an happy , prosperous quiet condition to his owne people . ii. doctrinal books . the dogmatical , or doctrinall books . thus farre of those books which are more properly historicall ; now of the bookes which were written in the same times with the former , which declare to us the will of god in a more doctrinall way , and therefore for distinction sake called , doctrinall . they are also called the poeticall books , because it is conceived that they , or most of them in hebrew were written in metre , or poeticall measures ; which now are not so easie to be found out . these dogmaticall books containe in them doctrines . 1. of more speciall and particular reference to some particular individuall person . 2. or of more generall reference and respect to all . job . 1. doctrines of more speciall reference to a particular person ▪ are laid down in the book of iob . so called , because that precious man iob and his various condition is the chiefe subject-matter of the booke . some think that there never was such a man in the world as this iob of which this book speaks : but account this booke rather parabolicall , then historicall . r. moses ben. maimon in more nebuchim part 3. § . 22. and thalmud ord. 4. tract . 3. but this dreame is sufficiently refelled by that honourable mention that is made of this renowned iob in other scriptures both in old and new testament ezek. 14.14 , 20. iam. 5.11 . who this iob was , is more doubted . 1. some thinke that iob came of nahor abrahams brother , and that he was the third from nahor : thus ; nahor — vz — riob ; and that he lived about that time that israel was in egypt . alsted . chron. p. 100 and p. 115. and p. 502. and hieronym . in q. hebr. tom. 4. fol. 96. seemes to incline hereunto , especially , seeing iob is said to dwell in the land of vz , iob 1.1 . and vz was one of nahors sonnes , gent 22. ●1 . but that land seems not to have received its name of vz coetaneous to abraham ; but rather from vz son of aram , sem's nephew presently after the flood , gen. 10.23 . as gerh. well notes , in exegesi . loc ▪ com. de scrip. § . 136. 2. others rather are of opinion , that iob is the same which iobab king of the idumeans , of the race of esau gen. 36.34 . and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might be changed into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; the name iobab into iob ; either from the custome of the hebrew tongue , which oft-times changeth one letter for another ; or from the aramick , idumean , or other dialect of the country where he sojourned ; or from the change of his condition in the world ; while prosperous he might be called iobab , the letter being doubled ; when in distresse his name contracted into iob. see the like in case of abraham , gen. 17.5 . of naomi , ruth 1.20 . this latter opinion is urged by arguments not to be neglected . 1. from the circumstances of place . iobab lived in the land of idumea , gen. 36.33 . iob in the land of vz , a chiefe tract in idumea , iob 1.1 . lam. 4.21 . hence kings of edom are called kings of the land of vz , ier. 25.20 . 2. from description of their possessions , iobab had regall majesty gen. 36.33 . iob had a princely state , not usuall to private men , iob 1.1 , 2 , 3. and also princely dignity , habit , and office , iob 29.9 , 12 , 14. 3. from similitude of names . as moses reckons up among esau's sons , one eliphaz who brought forth one theman builder of a town of his own name , gen. 36.10 , 15. so iobs history mentions , eliphaz the temanite iob 2.11 . many authors , as the lxx interpret . at the end of iob. euseb. demonstr . evangel . l. 1. c. 5. ambros. in com. in rom. 9. august . de civit. dei , l. 18. c. 47. gerh. quo supr . § 134. vid. mercer . in praefat in lib ▪ iob & com. in iob 1.1 penman of this book is not certainly known . some think it was solomon ; but that 's scarce probable , iob living so long before solomon , and many penmen of holy scripture intervening betwixt them . some that iob penned this book himselfe , because the expressions and speeches of iob are laid down in such emphaticall and patheticall terms . some rather thinke that moses wrote genesis and iob about the same time , viz. a little before israels departure out of aegypt , in the yeare of the world , 2452. alsted . chron. p. 100. r. solomon , and other hebrewes favour this opinion . scope , to evidence as in a mirrour the wise , just and fatherly providence of god to his own faithfull and upright servants , even in midst of manifold , deepest , strangest and longest afflictions . hebrewes say , iob's calamity lasted 12 moneths . suidas saith , seaven yeeres . principal parts . in this book iobs threefold condition is described viz. his prosperity , his adversity , and his recovery out of all his distresses . i. iobs prosperity , is described c. 1.1 , to ver . 6. ii. iobs adversity , is deciphered to us . 1. by the occasion , variety and extremity of it , c. 1. ver . 6. to chap. 3.1 . 2. by the distemper of his spirit under the extremity of his dolours , c. 3. 3. by the dialogue had under his affliction , wherein this q. is for substance fully discussed , whether strange , heavy , and long afflictions be infallible signes either of gods hatred , or of afflicted persons hypocrisy ? likewise jobs faith , patience , courage , perseverance and commendable deportment is interwoven in the dialogue ; though now and then he discovered some infirmities . here consider the dispute betwixt iob and his three friends and the moderatours of the dispute . 1. the dispute hath in it 8 severall acts. 1. eliphaz his first reproofe c. 4.5 . and iobs answer , c. 6 , 7. 2. bildads first reproofe of iob , c. 8. and iobs answer , c. 9 , 10. 3. zophar's first rebuke c. 11. with iobs answer , c. 12 , 13 , 14. 4. eliphaz his second reproofe , c. 15. and iobs defence , c. 16 , 17. 5. bildad's second rebuke , c. ●8 . iobs answer , c. 19. 6. zophar's second reproofe , c. 20. iobs answer c. 21. 7. elephaz his third reproofe , c. 22. iobs answer , c. 23 , 24. 8. bildad's third reproofe , c. 25. iobs answer by shewing gods majesty , c. 26 , 27 , 28. and by paralleling his present calamity with his former felicity , c. 29 , 30 , 31. 2. the moderatours in this dispute are , 1. elihu ; who first reproves iobs friends , c. 32. iob himselfe c. 33. 2. renders the reasons of his reproofe drawn from the majesty of god , c. 34. 3. exhorts iob to repentance , c. 35. 4. returnes to the description of gods majesty , c. 36 , 37. 2. god himselfe who reprehends and convinceth job of ignorance , and infirmity , by arguments drawn from the creation and gubernation . 1. of the meteors c. 38. 2. of other creatures , especially of the more considerable creatures , viz. the lyon , c. 39. elephant , c. 40. whale , c. 41. iii. iobs recovery out of his adversity , described . 1. by his preparative to it , viz. iobs penitentiall confession of his sin , &c. this was the sweet fruit of the dialogue with iob. 2. by the manner of his restitution &c. c. 42. 2. doctrines of more generall reference unto all sorts of persons , are contained partly in davids , partly in solomons books , whereof some were written originally in prose , others in metre , trelcat . in oecon. bibl. psalmes . 1. in davids book viz. that which was ( if not wholly , as some thinke , august . de civitat . dei , l. 17. c. 14. yet ) principally penned by david , i. e. the book of psalmes . it is called in hebrew , by the latter hebrewes ( who gave names or titles to books , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sepher tehillim . i. e. the book of hymnes , or prayses : because the divine praises of god are the chiefe subject-matter of the psalmes . in the old testament , the psalms of israel 2 sam. 23.1 . because penned for the use of the israel of god. in the new testament , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the psalmes luk 24.44 . and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the bible or book of psalmes , luk. 20.42 . act. 1.20 . because the psalmes are digested into one volume . the greeke cals it also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the psalter ; from the psaltery a musicall instrument , used in singing of the psalmes . anciently it was called soliloquium i. e. the soliloquy ; because it containes the saints sweetest and secret talkings with god in prayers and prayses , and gods with them in precious returnes . parva biblia , & summarium v. test. i. e. the little bible , and the summary of the old testament . luth totius scripturae epitome . i. e. the epitome of the whole scriptures . athanas. in epist. ad marcel . it is a compendium of all divinity , a common shop of medicines for the soule , an universall store-house of good doctrines profitable to every one in all conditions . basil in psal. 1. by august . lib. psalmorū prol. it s call'd tutela pueris , juvenibus ornamentum , solatium senibus , mulieribus aptissimus decor . i. e. a safeguard for children , an ornament to youth , a solace to aged men , and the fittest comelinesse for women . the psalmes are a iewel made up of the gold of doctrine , of the pearles of comfort , of the gemmes of prayer . this book is a theater of gods works . a sweet field and rosary of promises . a paradise of sweet fruits and heavenly delights . an ample sea wherein tempest-tossed soules find richest pearles of consolation . an heavenly schoole wherein god himself is chiefe instructer . the abridgment , flower and quintessence of scriptures . a glasse of divine grace , representing to us the sweetest smiling fatherly countenance of god in christ. and a most accurate anatomie of a christian soule , delineating all its affections , motions , temptations , plunges with their proper remedies . incipientibus primum efficitur elementum , proficientibus incremen●um , perfectis stabile firmamentum , totius ecclesiae vox una . i. e. it is rudiment for the young , increase for the proficient , firm establishment for the perfect , it s as but one voice of the whole church . august . ibid. in a word , quid est quod non discatur in psalmis ? non omnis magnitudo virtutis , non norma justitiae , non pudicitiae decor , non prudentiae consummatio , non patientiae regula , non omne quicquid potest dici bonum procedit ex ipsis ? dei scientia , perfecta praenunciatio christi in carne venturi , & communis resurrectionis spes , suppliciorum metus , gloriae pollicitatio , mysteriorum revelatio . omnia prorsus in his velut magno quodam & communi thesauro recondita atque conferta sunt bona . i. e. what is it that may not be learned in the psalmes ? doth not the greatnesse of all vertue , the rule of righteousnesse , the gracefulnesse of charity , the consummation of prudence , the law of patience , and every thing that may be called good , flow from them ? the knowledge of god , the perfect prediction of christ to come in the flesh , the common hope of the resurrection , the feare of punishments , the promise of glory , the revelation of mysteries , yea all good things are hid and heaped together in these psalmes , as in some great and common treasury . aug. in lib. psalmorunt prolog . for , if we look at the matter of the psalmes , how rich is it ! consider , in the book of psalms 1. god dealeth with us , by 1. information ; thence arise psalmi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the didacticall or teaching psalms . 2. exhortation ; thence the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i. e. the hortatory psalmes ; or admonitory ps. 3. consolation ; thence the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i. e. consolatory psalms . 4. narratiō of things already past ; thence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i. e. the historicall psalmes . 5. prediction , or foretelling of things to come ; thence psalmi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i. e. the propheticall psalmes . 2. we deal with god , by 1. prayer ; whence psalmi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i. e petitory or praying psalms . 2. prayse & thanksgiving ; thence psalmi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i. e. the gratulatory or thanksgiving psalms . penmen of the book of psalmes are supposed by some to be many ; and the titles of divers psalmes do import as much unto us . ten pen-men are enumerated . viz. david , solomon , moses , asaph , ethan , heman , ieduthun , and the three sons of korah ; but augustine thinks david was penman of them all , de civitat . dei l. 17. c. 14. however david penned greatest part of them , as the titles and testimonies in the new testament do intimate . some thinke that ezra after the babylonish captivity , collected these psalmes , ( before dispersed ) into one volume . some think this was done by king hezekiah's friends or servants before the babylonish captivity , athanasius in synopsi . sum and scope of the psalms , seems to be . to set out the sweet entercourse and communion betwixt god & his church and people in all outward conditions , and inward soul cases ; how therin they are weak or strong ▪ believe , hope , joy , lament , confesse , pray , vow , praise the lord , &c. as occasion requires ; and how god tries , delivers , comforts , supports , encourages , instructs , enables them , and faithfully deales with them , in all variety of their cases and conditions . but every particular psalme hath his particular scope ; handling distinct matters upon distinct occasions . some being penned before , some under , some after the babylonish captivity , as is evident . principal parts . this book is by the hebrews divided into five books , viz. 1. from psal. 1. to the end of psal. 41. concluded with , amen and amen . 2. from psal. 42. to the end of psal. 72. shut up with . amen and amen . ended ▪ are the prayers of david son of iesse . 3. from psal. 73. to the end of psal. 89. closed with , amen and amen . 4. from psal. 90. to the end of psal. 106. ended with , amen , halelu-jah . 5. from beginning of psal. 107. to the end of psal. 150. concluding with halelu-jah . this division seems to arise from the peculiar close of these five psalmes . or thus , the psalmes are either 1 directed from man to god , as the 1 praying , and 2 thankesgiving psalms . 2 or from god to man. as the psalmes which are 1 hortatory , 2 consolatory , 3 didacticall . 4 propheticall . the particular unfolding of the penman , kind , occasion , matter , scope and principall parts of every psalme severally ; will make a large appendix to this tract , and is reserved till some other opportunity . 2. in solomons books , ( the wisest of kings , 1 king. 3.12 . & 4.29 . ) his bookes are three , which according to the severall doctrines , and matters comprised in them , we may distinguish into 1 proverbiall , 2 penitentiall and 3 nuptiall . it is hard to say at what time these severall books were penned by solomon , yet perhaps the nuptiall book , was penned in his younger years , when his affections were more warme , active , lively in spirituals . the proverbiall book in his manly ripe age , when his prudence and parts were at highest , most grave , solid , setled : and the penitentiall book in his old age ▪ after all the vaine courses which he had lost himselfe in , as the current of the book seems clearly to evidence . proverbs . 1. his proverbiall book called the proverbs of solomon , because though it containe other's proverbs , yet most are solomon's prov. 1.1 . in hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mis●le shelomoh , i. e. either similitudes , or excelling sentences , that overcome and beare rule over the rest , from mashal , which notes dominion . this book was penned not by one , but by divers : and that not at one , but at severall times . solomon penned the nine first chapters , in that order , as they are , as also c. 10. to c. 25. cartwright in loc . solomon was author of the proverbs also , from c. 25. to c. 30. but the men of hezekiah king of iudah copied them out , prov. 25.1 . probably they collected them out of other writings of solomon , and ranked them in this order , wherein we now have them . alsted . praecog . theol. l. 2. c. 120. cartw. in prov. 25.1 . and iun. ibid. who thinkes they extracted these proverbs out of the records of the acts of solomon , and digested them into a body ; most of these proverbs appertaining to ethicall and civil administration . the thirtieth chapter was penned by agur sonne of iakeh , c. 30.1 . of him we read elsewhere no further mention in scripture . he was a prophet , prov. 30.1 . his proverbiall prophecy is annexed to solomons proverbs , perhaps because of mutuall resemblance between them . the 31 th chapter containes the proverbiall instructions , with which bathsheba trained up solomon ( here called lemuel ) in his tender years , which instructions king solomon committed to writing afterwards . iun. in loc . cartw. in loc . the scope . to instruct men in true wisedome and understanding , the very head and height whereof is the sincere feare of the lord , prov. 1.2 . to 8. to this end the book is filled with choice succinct sententious aphorismes , adages , or proverbs , compendiously holding forth duties of piety to god , equity to man , sobriety towards ones selfe . generall distribution of the book take thus . i. here 's solomons preface to his proverbs , w ch hath a methodicall texture and coherence in it self , c. 1. to 10. ii. here is the whole body or book of the proverbs themselves , which are either , 1. solomons owne proverbs , which or most part are pithy , distinct aphotismes , without method , dependance , coherence , &c. and these . 1. written by solomon himselfe , c. 10.1 . to c. 25.1 . 2. written by him , and collected by the men of king hezekiah , as c. 25.1 . to ● . 30.1 . 2. or others proverbs by way of appendix annexed to solomons . viz ▪ 1 ▪ of agur. c. 30. 2. of bathsheba , but written by solomon , c. 31. ecclesi : 2. his penitential book , solomons retractations or recantations , called in hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the words of the preacher eccles. 1.1 . and to the same sense in greek , latin , and english , ecclesiastes , or the preacher , because solomon being furnished with wisedome and manifold experience touching the vanity of all things besides true religion , preacheth the same to the church for the instruction and warning of all gods people : this book he wrote in extream old age , repenting of his fall : this seemes to be one of his last acts , according to that , 2 chron. 9.29 . scope of this book is to evidence wherein a mans true happinesse consists . viz. not in any sublunary , naturall , created excellency , all such being vanity of vanities , extreamest vanity and vexation of spirit ; but only in true sincere feare of god , and truth of religion , compare eccles. 1.2 . with eccles. 12.13 , 14. principall parts ; to this end , touching true happinesse , he insists upon it , 1. negatively , showing where it is not to be found . viz generally , not in any meer , naturall , sublunary treasure in this world . specially , not in 1. knowledge of all naturall things . 2. pleasures , or sweetest earthly delights . 3. highest honours , or 4. compleatest riches , c. 1. to c. 7. 2. positively and affirmatively , wherein true felicity is to be found , and this he showes . 1. particularly , declaring what are the degrees and meanes of happinesse , so farre as a man may attaine thereunto in this imperfect life , c. 7. to c. 12.8 . 2. summarily in the close of the whole book , c. 12.8 . to the end . this book is an undeniable argument of solomons repentance after his relapse , and consequently of his salvation . song of songs . 3. his nuptiall book treating of the spiritual contract , and marraiage betwixt christ and his church , called the song of songs , which was solomons , c. 1.1 . and canticles , because of all solomons songs , which were 1005. 1 king. 4.32 . this was the choycest and most excellent ; the matter thereof being one of the sweetest spirituall mysteries . viz. the churches spirituall espousals to , and communion with jesus christ , that great mystery , eph. 5.32 . scope of this song , is , ( under the metaphor or allegory of lovers upon contract , and intending marriage , ) to shadow out to us that sublime spirituall happy union and communion betwixt christ and his church , inchoate in this life , more imperfectly with the iewes , more perfectly with the gentiles : consummate in the life to come . this is carried on dialogue-wise betwixt christ and his church ; his friends and her damosels , being the foure speakers , especially the two first . as is the custome of a bridegroome and a bride . principall parts , of this song of songs . i. the inscription , denoting the 1 kind of writing ; 2 excellency 3 and penman of it c. 1.1 . ii. the substance of the song , streaming out a torrent of spirituall love betwixt christ and the church , laid down dialogue-wise , in a familiar colloquy betwixt 1 christ as the bridegroome . 2 the church as the bride , and 3 the friends of them both rejoycing in the marriage ; all in a continued allegory . herein are particularly , 1. the ardent desires of the church after christ , as impatient of his absence : with christs acceptance thereof . c. 1. ver . 2. to 9. 2. the reciprocall invitatory commendations of one another ; and the mutuall gratulations and contentment of christ and the church in one another , c. 1.9 . to the end of c. 2. 3. the churches renewed desires night and day , at home and abroad , in the city in the fields ( as it were ) to bring christ neerer to her self , c. 3.1 . to 6. yea rather to have her selfe brought immediately to the full enjoyment of christ in heaven , v. 6. to the end . 4. christ most affectionately prayseth his church in her members , professing himselfe ravished with her faith , graces , and spirituall beauty , c. 4.1 . to 15. which is amplified , 1. by the churches selfe-denying acknowledging all her graces to come from christ as the fountaine , v 15. 2. by her prayer for his influence to make her ( as a garden of spices ) more and more fruitfull ; and for his presence to accept her fruit , v. 16. 3. by christs satisfying her desires , comming into his garden , accepting the fruits thereof , and welcoming his friends , c. 5.1 . 5. the churches spirituall desertion , in christs withdrawing himselfe from her . where are , i. the occasion of it , her carnall scurity , c. 5.2.3 . ii. the manner of it ; withdrawing , yet leaving some quickning grace behinde him . v. 4 , 5. iii. the consequents of it , in respect of , 1. the church her selfe , v. 4 , 5 , 6. 2. the watchmen abusing her , ver . 7. 3. the daughters of ierusalem , whom she charged to signifie her distresse to her beloved , ver . 8. this charge is amplified , 1 partly by the inquiry of the daughters of ierusalem , what christ is ? ver . 9. 2 partly by the churches patheticall description of christs transcendent excellencies , ver . 10. to the end . 3 partly , by the inquiry of the daughters of jerusalem , after christ , c. 6.1 . 4 partly by the churches declaring to them , where christ was , viz. he was now returned , and gone down into his garden c. 6.2 . 5 partly by her affectionate complacency in christ returned , ver . 3. 6. christs sweet and consolatory deportment towards his church after her desertion , and his returne to her . wherein , 1. he assures her she is as precious in his eyes , and as deare to his heart as ever , c. 6.4 . to 11. 2. he declares his desire after the spirituall spring of the churches graces , after the winter of her afflictions , ver . 11. 3. he discovers the rapture of his ravished affections to her , most sweetly inviting her to himselfe , ver . 12 , 13. most highly commending her throughout , c. 7.1 . to 8. and promising his presence , and what he will do for her ; that she may become most delightfull to him , v. 8.9 . 7. finally , the church reciprocates her utmost affection to christ , for his love . and this , i. more generally c. 7.10 . ii. more particularly , her desire , 1 that christ and she may go together to view their husbandry , whether their plants did flourish and fructifie , viz. the gospel thrive , ver . 11 , 12 13. 2 that she may enjoy christ most intimately and familiarly , c. 8. 1 , 2 , 3. 3. that the daughters of jerusalem may not disturbe him , ver . 4. 4. that it may be considered , what she hath forgone and undergone for christs love , ver . 5. 5. that christ would give her a fuller 1 confirmation of his love , setting her as a seale upon his heart : and a fuller 2 manifestation or evident assurance therof , setting her as a seale upon his arme , strengthning , helping her , &c. and this because she beares to christ an invincible and unquenchable love , ver . 6 , 7. 6. that the gentiles called a little sister , may be called , and incorporated into the church with the jewes , ver . 8 , 9 , 10. this is amplified by christs common care of both , as one vineyard , kept by himselfe , not by others , as solomons was ▪ ver . 11 , 12. christ teaching his spouse her duty , to her neighbours in publishing and bearing witnesse to his truth ; to himselfe in prayer and thanksgiving , ver . 13. iii. the conclusion of the song , containing the churches most ardent desire after christs second coming , that the marriage betwixt christ and her selfe , may be compleatly consummated in heaven those mountaines of spices , c. 8.14 . iii. the propheticall books . thus farre of books historicall and doctrinal , now to the books propheticall . for distinction sake they are called propheticall , because the matter of them is principally propheticall , though many historical and doctrinal passages are also inserted in them all along ; as there are many prophecies of things to come , dispersed up and down the other books , which yet are principally historical and doctrinal . these prophetical books are in all 16 , ( lamentations being counted an appendix to ieremiah ) they may be considered , 1. according to the times of their prophecy and writing . 2. according to their order as set in our bibles . they are not placed in our bibles in that method and order as they were at the first spoken and written by the prophets . i. according to the times wherein they were first prophesied and written . these times are for most part discovered in the beginning of the severall prophesies , and of such we may determine certainly : or they may be collected from other scriptures , or the matter of the prophesies , of which we cannot conclude altogether so cleerly . these times may be referred ( as the historical books ) to three principall periods , viz. 1. before , 2. neere or under . 3. after the babylonish captivity . and if in these three periods we parallel these prophets , with those historical books , they will notably help to cleer and explain one another . i. before the transportation of israel into babylon , these prophets prophesied and wrote , viz. 1. under vzziah king of judah , and ieroboam the second , king of israel . ionah , he prophecied before or about beginning of ieroboams reigne , see 2 king. 14 25. as iun. noteth in ionah 1.1 . about the close of his reigne , thinkes drusius in quaesitis epist. 9. 1. amos . see amos 1.1 . 2. under vzziah , iotham , ahaz and hezekiah kings of judah , and ieroboam king of israel . hosea . hos. 1.1 . ioel . ioel prophesied about the same time with hosea , as is thought ; because the things prophecied in ioel , relate to the dayes of vzziah and ieroboam . see iun. annot. in ioel 1.1 . isaiah . isa. 1.1 . ( here the days of king ieroboam are not mentioned . ) michah . only under iotham , ahaz , and hezekiah , mich. 1.1 . 3. under iosiah . ieremiah . till the eleventh yeere of zedekiah , jer. 1 , 2 , 3. being compared with ier. 51.64 . iun. annot. ibid. lamentations . written by ieremiah , upon occasion of king josiah's death 2 chr. 35.25 . zephaniah . zeph. 1.1 . obadiah . seems to be contemporary with ieremiah , compare his prophecy with ier. 49.7 . &c. and ezek. 25. 13. &c. see iun. in obad. 1. nahvm . about the close of iosiah's reigne as the matter of the book , and the harmony of the history import . so iun. in nah. 1.1 . habbakkvk . about the end of iosiahs reigne , or in his sons reign , iunius in hab. 1.1 . ii. neere upon , and under the babylonish captivity . daniel . in the third yeere of iehoiakim's reigne , dan. 1.1 . ezekiel . in the fifth yeere of king iehoiakin's captivity , ezek. 1.1 , 2 , 3. iii. after their returne from babylons captivity . haggai . in the second yeere of darius , and the sixth moneth , hag. 1.1 . zechariah . in the second yeere of darius , the eighth moneth , zech. 1.1 . malachi ▪ last prophecy of the old-testament . reproves the corruptions after building of the temple . see iun. in mal. 1.1 . ii. according to their order as they are placed in our bibles . and so they are resolved into two ranks , viz. 1. the greater prophets , viz. the foure first ( the lamentations being annexed as an appendix to ieremiah , ) so called , not because these had greater authority , then the others , but from the greatnesse of their bookes ; the prophecy of isaiah , being neer as big or bigger then all the lesser prophets , together . 2. the lesser prophets . viz. the twelve latter , hosea , &c. which were digested into one volumne of old by the jewes , ( called the booke of the prophets , act. 7.42 . ) some of them being very small , lest any of them should be lost . all these books are named from their penmen , except the lamentations . i. the greater prophets , are ●he books of isaiah , ieremiah , ezekiel , daniel . isaiah isaiah . this book is set first , ( though in time ionah , amos , hosea , and ioel , seeme to have been before him ) perhaps , because of the excellency of the prophecy , most frequently , fully and clearly prophecying of christ , as if christ had been exhibited already , had suffered already . hence the ancients called him evangelisticus propheta , & propheticus evangelista , the evangelicall prophet , and propheticall evangelist , or the evangelist and apostle of the old testament . christ and his apostles greatly esteemed this book ▪ it being oftner alledged in the new testament , then any other book of the old testament ▪ except the psalms . some observe isaiah to be quoted sixty times , the psalmes sixty foure times . alsted . ethiopians had great respect to this book as appears , act. 8.27.28 . time of this prophecy was in foure kings reigns , isa. 1.1 . if we reckon from the death of vzziah , isa. 6.1 . till the fifteenth yeare of king hezekiah , when the babilonish ambassadours came to hezekiah and saw all his treasures , 2 king. 20. 12 , 13 , 14. he must at the least prophecy fourty five years : but its probable he prophecied longer . scope ; to hold forth the true messiah clearly , as the only sufficient remedy against all sin and misery . generall parts , this prophecy is either . 1. comminatory , as it is for the most part , till c. 40. these promises are now and then inter-woven ; herein 1. the jewes are threatned , c. 1. to c. 13. 2. enemies of the jewesh church are threatned , for the churches benefit , c , 13. to c. 29. 3. the jewes againe are threatned with the babylonish captivity , c. 29. to 40. 2. promissory , and that 1. for the restauration of the old church of the jews from the misery of that captivity , c. 40. to c. 49. 2. for the compleating and consummation of the churches glory in gospel times by christ himselfe , c. 49. to the end of the prophecy . jeremiah . jeremiah . he was of the towne of anatho●h , jer. 1.1 . a very young man when he began to prophesie , ier. 1.6 . time of his prophecy was in days of iosiah , iehoiakin and zedekiah , jer. 1.2 , 3. which must needs be fourty three years at least by computation , both in iudea and egypt . scope . to divorce the iewes in his times from their many horrid sins , denouncig heavy judgemenas against them : but to comfort the true servants of god in their lowest misery , with promises of christ , and threatnings against all their enemies . generall parts . herein are 1. the preface , containing the vocation of ieremiah , c. 1. 2 the prophecy it self , which is directed both against the iews & the enemies of the jewes , ● against the jews 1. in iudea , under king iosiah , c. 2. to c. 21. under iehoiachim and zedekiah , c. 21. to c. 43. 2. in egypt , c. 43.44.45 . 2 against the jewes enemies . viz. egyptians , c. 46. philistines and tyrians , c. 47. moabites . c. 48. ammonites , edomites , &c. c. 49. babylonians , c. 50.51 . 3. conclusion historicall , annexed to the prophecy , by some other then ierem●ah , c. 52. lamenta : unto the prophecy of jeremiah may be annexed as an appendix the book of lamentations . called in hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 kinoth , i. e. lamentations ; 2 chron. 35.25 . and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 echah , viz. the first hebrew word of the book ( as many other books are named by the first word of the book ) . this book seems to be penned by ieremiah the prophet , upon the death of that precious king ●osiah , 2 chron. 35.25 . when the jewes fell to their sinfull confidence in egypt , which beginnings of sorrows and miseries gave ieremy occasion , ( he knowing by the spirit of prophecy the judgments which should befall them ) to lament all the miseries from iosiahs death , till the destruction of the temple and ierusalem , and captivity of the people in babylon . the foure first chapters are penned alphebetically , ( as many psalmes are for help of memory in such an excellent piece as this is , ) in 1.2 , 4. chapters , every verse begins with a distinct letter of the hebrew alphabet , c. 3. hath only every third verse so beginning . most mournefull melting , patheticall affections abound in the whole book . greg. nazianzen . affirmed thus of himselfe , as oft as i take this book into my hands , and read the lamentations , i perceive my speech to be stopped , and i am overwhelmed with tears , and methinks i see that calamity as it were set before mine eyes , and i joyne lamentations with jeremiah ; greg. nazianzen . or. 12. pag. 202. paris , 1630. scope , seemes to be this ▪ lively to point out the severity and impartiality of gods judgements , even against his own dearest people the iewes for their iniquities , inviting them to repentance , faith and prayer , for obtaining of gods favour in pardoning of sin , and removall of judgement . principall parts . are : i. narratory , wherein are contained . 1. a most patheticall description of the wofull miseries , overwhelming ierusalem and iudea , yet all acknowledged to be most justly inflicted for their sin , c. 1. 2. a mournfull expostulating lamentation for the desolating miseries upon all persons and affairs , civil or ecclesiasticall in the whole kingdome , c. 2. 1. to 19. 3. the prophets counsell to them to convert to god and pray ; and he gives them a forme of words , c. 2. verse 19.20 , 21 , 22. 4. the churches sad complaints ( in one mans person ) of gods many and heavy afflictions upon her , c. 3. 1. to 18. 5. the arguments of comfort , wherewith the church supported her selfe in these extremities v. 18. to 42. 6. how the church eased her heart in crying to god for her selfe , against her enemies , v. 42. to the end . 7. most patheticall aggravations of her calamities . c. 4.1 . to 21. ii. minatory , against the enemies of israel , c. 4.21 . iii. promissory , to the afflicted daughter of sion , c. 4.22 . iiii. petitory , wherein the church of god , 1 bewaileth her miseries , 2 acknowledgeth sin to be the cause thereof , 3 deprecats his wrath , 4 and implores his mercy , c. 5. ezekiel . ezekiel . he was descended of the priestly stock , ezek. 1.3 . prophecyed in the land of chaldea , to the captives and gentiles , in the fifth yeare of iehoiachin's captivity , ezek. 1.1 , 2 , 3. scope . to comfort the church of god in captivity , and to instruct them how to behave themselves therein , amongst profane heathenish idolaters . generall parts . herein are , i. the preface setting forth the prophets calling to this office ; gods call , c. 1. ezekiels fearfulnes , c. 2. gods confirming and strengthning him , c. 3. ii. the prophecy it self , containing three ranks of sermons preached at severall times , to severall persons , &c. 1. to the iews , whom he sharply rebuks & threatens for their impieties in seventeen severall sermons , c. 4. to c. 25. 2. to the enemies of gods people , whose ruine and destruction he foretels in eight sermons , c. 25. to c. 33. 3. to the jewes , exhorting them to repentance , and encouraging them to hope , not only for an inchoate deliverance from babylons slavery , and that in six sermons , c. 33. to c. 40. but also for a consummate spirituall deliverance from spirituall misery by christ the messiah , and this is set out in vision 1 of the new temple to be erected , c. 40.41 , 42. 1 of the new worship of god to be restored , c. 43.44 . 3 of the new ierusalem , and new earth that should be discovered , c. 45.46 , 47 , 48. daniel : daniel , daniel was carried captive with the jewes into babylon , dan. 1.6 . living and prophecying among the captives , a long time , foretold future events to the end of the world . was a man of an excellent spirit , dan. 5.12 . author of this book , matth. 24.15 . dan. 12.4 . scope , to display unto gods church and people gods wise and faithfull dealings with them in all states , from dayes of nebuchadnezzar till christ , for the comfort of the iews , and from christ to the end of the world , his peculiar providence over his own in all their distresses and deliverances , for the comfort of the saints under the new testament . generall parts . this book relates principally two sorts of matters , viz. 1. matters done already for time past , laid down historically , c. 1. to 7. and these things are reported 1. summarily . c. 1. 2 severally under the babylonian monarchy , whereof we have 1 the rise , c. 2.3 . 2 the growth , c. 4. 3 the close , c. 5. or under the persian monarchy , c. 6. 2. matters to be done afterwards for future , laid down prophetically , c. 7. to the end of the book . he prophecies , 1. of future calamities , where , in days of belshazzar , he had a double vision of the foure beasts c. 7. of the ram and he-goat , c. 8. in the time of the persian monarchy , where he hath a double vision , one in the first yeare of darius the mede , c. 9. the other in the third yeare of cyrus , c 10. with the exposition of them c. ●1 . 2. of the elects deliverance from these calamities , both before and after christ to the worlds end ; though calamities of the saints be sharp and long , yet at last deliverance shall fully come , and the promise thereof not faile , but be exactly fulfilled , c. 12. 2 the lesser prophets or minor prophets so called , not because they had lesser authority from god for their propheticall office , but because their books are of a farre lesse bulk and volume then the former . they are twelve , hosea , ioel , &c. hoshea hosheah . he was sonne of beeri , prophecyed the same time that isaiah did , hos. 1.1 . with isa. 1.1 . 2. he prophecyed ( as is probable ) longer then any other of the prophets ; in all about seventy years . principally deals against the ten tribes of israel , now and then against iudah . his stile is sharp and succinct , which makes him somewhat more dark and obscure . scope , to convince the iewes , especially the ten tribes of their many great iniquities , especially of their idolatryes , and to perswade them to repentance with hope of mercy . generall parts . this prophecy is either i. parabolicall , comprehending two types . the first being propounded , c. 1. accommodated , c. 2. the second in , c. 3. in both which under the person of a prophet , he signifies in himselfe future events , and evils that should befall the kingdome and kingly house of israel , captivity . blindnesse of the people , illumination and conversion of a remnant by christ. ii. plaine and naked , and so it is , comminatory , and consolatory . 1. comminatory , which is laid downe chiefly in three sermons , or speciall prophecies , viz. 1. against all israel , for their vanity , inhumanity , impiety ; too evident in the kingdomes present bad government , dehorting iudah from israels sins , both by the horrour of their injustice and feare of punishment , c. 4. 2. against priests , israel , and the kings house , threatning ruine for their spirituall whoredome , and obstinate backsliding from god , observance of humane traditions , carnall con●idence in forraine aid of assyrians , contempt of gods word , casting off gods covenant , and other wickednesses and hypocrisies , c. 5 , 6 , 7. and all this under the person of a judge . 3. vnder the person of an herauld , he proclaimes gods judgements against them and the causes thereof . viz. for their defection from his worship and spirituall kingdome , and from the temporall kingdome of david , hypocrisie , departing from all good , secure joyfulnesse , sacriledge and other hereditary sins , threatning poverty , deportation , losse of gods worship , death and devastation , c. 8 , 9 , 10 2. consolatory , which containes two sermons . 1. under the person of a father , god promising in christ , that ( though neither prophet , law , mercies nor judgements had brought them to repentance , yet ) his elect should be converted , embrace christ and the promises , c. 11. 2. disswading them from per●idiousnesse , idolatry , avarice , pride , he promiseth , ( the wicked being destroyed ) to preserve a remnant , and to heale the penitent , c. 12 , 13 , 14. in c. 14. putting on the person of a friend . joel . joel . ioel was sonne of pethuel , joel 1.1 . some think this pethuel was samuel so called , i. e. a perswader of god , because what he asked of god in prayer , he obtained . alst. scope ; to convince the iewes of their sins by occasion of an imminent famine and to draw them to repentance , holding forth many inviting promises to the penitent . generall parts . this prophecy is , 1. comminatory , threatning a grievous famine ( taking occasion thereof , by the loc●sts caterpillers , and palmer wormes , the forerunners of a famine ) labouring to make the people sensible of present evils , and sins the cause thereof ▪ c. 1. 2. hortatory , stirring them up to publique repentance , c. 2. ver . 1. to 19. which exhortation is urged , 1. by promises to his people both touching , temporall deliverances from present evils , ver . 19. to 28. eternall evangelicall mercies in christ , ver . 28. to the end of the chap. 2. by threats against their adversaries on every side , c. 3. amos. amos . amos an heardman of tekoa , yet furnished with a propheticall spirit , amos 1.1 . severely denounceth judgements ; is thought to be slaine by amaziah the priest. scope , to hold forth the severity of gods judgements against his churches enemies , and his church it selfe ; for their sins . annexing some evangelicall promises to a remnant . generall parts herein are , i. comminations . 1. against the enemies of the church , for their insolencies against his people , &c. c. 1. 2. against the jewes and israelites themselves for their own wickednesses ▪ which threatnings are laid down . 1. more plainely against their idolatry , c 2 , 3. violence , c. 4. impiety , pride , inhumanity , luxury , c. 5.6 . 2. more darkly and obscurely under three severall types , the first c. 7. the second c. 8. the third c. 9. ad ver . 11. ii. consolations and evangelicall promises , c. 9. ver . 11. to the end . obadiah . obadiah . who he was , is not evident by scripture , but only by this booke , that he was a prophet . he prophesied against the edomites or idumeans , who came of edom , which is esau , gen. 36 , 1.8 , 19. and hated israelites iacobs race , as esau hated jacob himselfe . scope , to threaten ruine to the edomites , for their enmity against the israelites , and to comfort the church with promised salvation and deliverance in christ. generall parts . 1. a commination of imminent ruine to the edomites for their enmity against the israelites ver . 1. to 12. 2. a prohibition of edom from further injur●ng his people , ver . 12. to 17. 3. ample promises of deliverance and salvation to the church , by the kingdom of christ , from all her enemies . ver . 17 , to the end . jonah . jonah . he was son of amitta● , ionah 1.1 . some call him the prophet and apostle of the gentiles ; because he was sent to preach to ninive the metropolis of the assyrians , a gentilish city . this booke is chiefly historicall . scope . to shew how god invited the city of niniveh to repentance by ionas preaching . generall parts . 1. gods first calling of jonas to preach , to niniveh , with jonas his refusall , gods humbling him for it , and the effects of that humiliation , ionas his prayer , and deliverance , c. 1 , 2. 2. gods second calling of him to the same taske , together with jonas his obedience , ninive's repentance , gods forbearance of the judgement threatned , and ionas his passionate causelesse discontent , c. 3 , 4. nineveh repenting , aggravated israel's and judah's impenitency . micah : micah . he is described , mic. 1.1 . coetaneous to esay , imitator of esay , compare them together . prophecied in corruptest times . scope . to threaten destruction to iudah and israel for their great impieties fomented among them by their rulers and prophets ; but to comfort the remnant of the elect by evangelicall promises in christ. generall parts . i. his first sermon . 1. minatory , both in generall against iudah and israel for their sins , c. 1 , 2. and in especiall against magistrates for their injustice , c. 3. 2. consolatory , through the mercies of god , and the coming of the messiah c. 4 , 5. ii. his second sermon , contaninig gods 1. contestations against their sinnes c. 6. 2. gods consolations of his elect remnant , with gospel promises , c. 7. nahum , nahum . he is described , nah. 1.1 . about same time that ieremiah prophecyed in iudea , nahum prophecyed against nineveh the metropolis of assyria , relapsing to impiety after ionas his preaching ; before babylons captivity . scope . to comfort the iewes and the godly israelites by the denouncing of judgments against the assyrians , who under pul , tiglath-pelesar , salmanazar , senacherib and esarhaddon their kings , grievously infested israel : esarhaddon carrying israel captive to assyria in dayes of mannasseh . generall parts . i. a preface to the prophecy from the nature of god , 1. most potent and severe against all his wicked enemies , c. 1. ver . 2. to 7. 2. kind and gracious to the godly and faithfull , ver . 7. ii. denunciation of judgement against nineveh , and the kingdom of assyria , under the metaphor of a mighty ●lood that should at last destroy them , c. 1.8 , 9 , 10. together with the causes of those judgements ver . 11. to the end of the chap. iii. amplification of these threatned judgments , 1. partly by a lively ad-umbration and description of them , c. 2. 2. partly by a narration of the causes procuring these judgmēts , viz their cruelties , whordoms , sorceries , idolatries , c. 3.1 ▪ to 8. 3. partly by confirmation of these threatnings fore-prophecied , by example of gods judgements upon alexandria in aegypt , c. 3.8 . to the end . habakk : habakkuk . as nahum prophesied against niniveh and assyrians ; so habakkuk against both iewes and babylonians . scope . both to warne the iewes of their overthrow by the chaldeans for their sinnes , and to comfort them afterwards by their enemies destruction , but their own life of faith in deepest afflictions . the prophesy is laid down dialogue-wise . generall parts . i. the prophets complaint and expostulation to the lord against the extreame wickednesse of the iewes , c. 1.2 , 3 , 4. ii. the lords answer to the prophet , threatning great calamities to the iewes by the proud destructive caldeans . ver . 5. to 12. iii. a second expostulation of the prophet , against the cruel oppression of iewes , as well good as bad , under the wicked blaspemous king of caldeans , ver . 12. to the end of the chap. iiii. gods second answer to the prophet . 1. directing the good to manage such deep afflictions under the caldeans , viz. by living by faith in hope of deliverance , c. 2.1 , to 5. 2. threatning to be avenged upon the caldeans for all their wickednesse and cruelty against his people , ver . 5. to end of the c. v. the prophets sealing up the doctrine of the life of faith in his excellent prayer penned in his own and the churches name , c. 3. zephania , zephaniah . his stock , and the time of his prophecy is described , c. 1.1 . he was coetaneous to ieremiah , prophecied the same things for substance , but farre more briefly and succinctly . he prophesied against both iewes and forraigne nations . chiefe scope . to reprove the wickednesse of the iewes , especially of the princes and many of the people , for hankering after idolatry , expecting it should be set up againe , hiding their idols ; even after that glorious reformation of king iosiah . and to comfort the elect remnant with evangelicall promises , and reformation by christ. generall parts . 1. a most severe denunciation of desolation and other judgements to befall all sorts both in jerusalem and iudea , for their secret idolatries , oppressions and injurious coveteousnesse , c. 1. 2. an exhortation of the jewes to repentance and self-reformation both the gracelesse iewes and those that had some sparkes of grace appearing in them . partly by the exemplary formidable judgements which god would execute upon forraigne nations in sight of the iewes , c. 2. partly by threatnings of judgements against iewes themselves for their sins if they repented not , c. 3.1 . to 8. 3. a sweet consolation made up of evangelicall promises touching the calling of the gentiles , restauration of the church , pardon of sins , purity and everlasting glory by christ , c. 3.8 . to the end . haggai . haggai . of him and the time of his prophecy , see hag. 1.1 . scope . to quicken the iewes that had returned from the babylon●sh captivity , ( being now extreame ingratefully dull in the worke of reformation , ) to lay aside all sluggish delayes and excuses , and to make haste with the repaire of the temple . generall parts . i. gods sharp reprehension of the ingratefull sluggish jewes for their great sin in not repairing the temple , c. 1.1 . to 12. ii. gods singular encouragement of the iewes to fall speedily and vigorously to this work , by divers sorts of excellent promises ▪ viz. 1. of his promoting and perfecting the worke , when they should sit close to it , c. 1.12 . to the end . 2. of the surpassing glory that he would communicate to this latter temple ( though the structure was not so stately ) beyond that of the former temple . c. 2.1 . to 10. 3. of gods singular benediction upon the corne and all the fruits of the earth for their use , if they would buckle diligently to this temple-worke , ver , 10. to 20. 4. of the glorious excellency of christs kingdome , the perfection and complement of all reformation , ver . 20. to the end . zechariah zechariah , his descent and the time of his prophecy , see in zech. 1.1 . scope , to encourage and incite the people returned from captivity , especially the governours , zerubbabel and joshuah , to the building of the temple . generall parts . this prophecy seems to comprize the summe of five sermons severally preached by the prophet . viz. i. his penitentiall sermon calling the jews to repentance . this is prefixed as a preface , before the following sermons of mercy and judgement , to prepare f●r the receiving of that , the avoiding of this , zech. 1 , 1.2 . to 7. ii. his visionall sermon . viz. his propheticall visions , which are in all eight , some very obstruse ; some light may be brought to them , by comparing them with daniels prophecy . these visions seem to be delivered at once ; are contained from c. 1 , 7. to c. 7 , 1. these visions are i. uisions of mercy , as 1. the vision of men on horse back among the myrrtle-trees in the bottome : pointing out christs singular presence with , and providence over his church , in lowest state , c. 1. 7. to 18. 2. the vision of four carpenters , &c. intimating how god would break and scatter the horns of his churches enemies , c. 1.18 . to the end . 3. the vision of the man with the measuring line in his hand to measure ierusalem , promising the restauration and re-peopling of ierusalem , c. 2. 4. the vision of ioshuah the high-priest in filthy garments , and sathan at his right hand accusing him : showing that though sins of people and priest might be objected against them , and their intercessors , yet they had another high priest , who would plead their cause , pardon their sin , build the temple , and quiet his church , viz. christ the branch , c. 3. 5. the vision of the golden candlestick and the two olive trees standing by it : declaring that gods grace alone is sufficient for the reparation and preservation of his church , without all other created meanes , against greatest mountaines of opposition , c. 4. ii. uisions of judgement . c. 5. and 6. the vision of the flying book : and of the ephah . evidencing , that though their state should be restored , and his church established amongst them : yet he would severely punish them for their sins at present , and subvert them for future , if their sins grow riper and riper , c. 5. iii uisions of comfort , viz. c. 7. the vision of foure chariots drawne with foure sorts of horses ; comming out from between two mountaines of brasse ; comfortably pointing out , the provident decrees and counsels of god immoveable as mountaines of brasse , and directing ( for his providence begins and steers all actions ) the course and motion of the foure chariots and horses , ( viz. either the foure empires of the earth , or ( as some think , ) the angels of heaven , those ministring spirits ) for the fulfilling of his will for his churches good ; so that whatsoever his church had or should further suffer under them , was foreseen and fore-appointed by god himselfe ; a great comfort to them that were come out of captivity already , and to them that as yet remained in captivity , c. 6.1 . to 9. 8. the vision or rather the historical praediction of what was really to be done , for his churches comfort , viz. the oblation of some iewes which came from babylon , as embassadors from the rest , and the typical coronation of ioshuah the high-priest under which is declared the kingdome and priest-hood of christ , together with the re-establishment and enlargement of the church under him , c. 6.9 . to the end . iii. his casuisticall sermon , wherein the prophet at large resolves the iews in a case of conscience touching fasting , proposed to him and the priests , with many other lessons excellently inserted , c. 7. and c. 8. iv. his propheticall sermon , foretelling future events , c. 9.10 . and 11. wherein are principally considerable . 1. threatnings of destruction to the churches enemies , land of hadrach , damascus , hamath , &c. c 9 , 1. to 7. 2. promises of deliverance and protection to his church against al their enemies , c. 9 , 7 , 8 3. promissory predictions of christs incarnation , kingdom , and the benefits thereof to his people , from whom all comfort and salvation principally flowes , c. 9 , 9. to c. 11 , 1. 4. denunciations of dreadfull judgements even to the jewes themselves , for their ingratefull and abominable rejection of christ and his gospel , c. 11. v. his evangelicall sermon , peculiarly belonging to the church which christ had gathered by his gospel , c. 12.13 , and 14. wherein are laid down many sweet priviledges of the church . 1. the churches victory over all her enemies , to whom shee shall be a cup of trembling , a burdensome stone , a torch of fire in a sheaf c. 12 , 1. to 7. 2. the churches safety and protection only from the lord. c. 12 , 7 , 8. 3. the benefits enwrapped in this salvation for the church , viz. 1 heart-wounding repentance for their sinnes that pierced christ , c. 12 , 9. to the end , 2 remission of all sins to the penitent by faith in the blood of christ , c. 13 , 1. 3 purifying of the evangelicall doctrine from all pollution and desilement , v. 2. to 7. 4. a select separation of the remnant appertaining to the election from the drossy multitude , c. 13.7 . to c. 14 , 1● . 4. the removall of all the churches ruined enemies , from offending the church any more , or su●duing them to the church , and consecrating all their wealth to holy uses , c. 14 , 12 to th● end of the book . malachi . malachi . he prophecyed after the babylonish captivity , the temple being now repaired , and the publike worship restored , against the many notorious corruptions remaining among them , even after such wonderfull mercyes . he is the last prophet of the old testament , deciphering out in the close of his book iohn the baptist , the first prophet of the new testament , mal. 4.5 , 6. with luk. 16.16 . scope . to call the i●wes , after this reparation of gods temple and worship , to repentance , from their many and foule corruptions ; especially the comming of christ the messiah , the great reformer and refiner of his church , being so neare at hand . generall parts . besides the title , herein are wrapped up in one continued sermon , these principall matters . i. a preface ( aggravating the ingratefull wickednesse of the jewes ) drawne from gods singular love in election of them in iacob , when he rejected the edomites in esau. c. 1.2 . to 6. ii. a sharp contestation against the people , especially the priest the keepers of the law , for their corruptions . viz. 1. against their contempt and pollution of the worship of god , which priests should have vindicated , by office c 1.6 . to c. 2.10 . 2. against their corrupt marriages , both marriages with infidels , and polygamies . c. 2 10. to 17. 3. against the wickednesse and perversenesse of many , that made a mock of gods justice and judgements , c. 2.17 . to c. 3.7 . 4. against their sacriledge , in robbing god of tiths and offerings &c. c 3.7 . to 13. 5. against their atheisticall contempt of gods feare , worship , and true repentance c. 3.15 . to 4.5 . iii. an earnest invitation of all to repentance , that so they might be prepared , duely to entertaine the messiah , who with his forerunner iohn the baptist , in the spirit and power of elias , was now immediately to appeare in humane flesh , c. 4 , 5 , 6. thus farre of the old testament , wherein the new testament is veiled : come we next to consider of the new testament , wherein the old testament is revealed . the new-testament . the new testament , revealing fully and cleerly the new covenant in christ , and the spirituall administrations thereof , is contained in the books written since christs manifestation in the flesh . in reading of the old-testament , the veile is untaken away : — but ( in the new testament ) the veile is done away in christ. and we all with open face , beholding as in a glasse the glory of the lord , are changed into the same image from glory to glory . 2 cor. 3.14.18 . in the books of the old testament , god describes to us , the old covenant of grace in christ veiled under promises , prophecies and types : in the books of the new testament the lord delineates to us the new covenant of grace in christ unveyled , actually exhibited and performed ; christ being the body and substance of all those ancient types and shadowes , iohn 1.17 . hebr. 10.1 . coloss. 2.17 . the center and meeting-place of all the prophecyes and promises , luke 1.70 . and 24.27 . acts 10.43 . 2 cor. 1.20 . the bookes of the new testament are either 1 historicall . 2 epistolicall , or 3 propheticall , as further appears in the annexed table . ☞ i. historical books . the historical books of the new testament are such a● containe principally matters of fact , though matters of faith and doctrine are also interwoven . the histories of the new testament , are i. of christ the head of the church . ii. of the church of christ , his body . the history of jesus christ himselfe is contained in the foure evangelists , wherein christs genealogy , nativity , life , doctrine , miracles , death , resurrection and ascension , are described . matthew , mark , luke and iohn , are usually called by way of emphasis , the foure evangelists , because they alone wrote the evangelicall history of iesus christ. matthew and iohn were apostles matth. 10.23 . mark 3.18 , 19. mark and luke were ( though not apostles , yet ) holy apostolicall men , the apostles disciples , companions and assistants in the work of the ministry . the generall and common scope of these foure histories , and of the writing of them is that which iohn expresseth in particular , viz. that we might believe that iesus is the christ , the sonne of god ; and that beleeving we might have life through his name , john 20.31 . particular ends , and occasions may be noted in the particular considerations of them . this one history of iesus christ , is written by foure severall penmen . the reasons thereof are worthy to be inquired into . ancient writers ( who much please themselves with the mysteriousnesse of numbers ) have excogitated divers ; some fetch a reason from the foure rivers of paradise . origen . some , from the foure rings of the ark wherein the the tables of the law were contained , hieronym . some from the foure chief , cardinall winds iraen . advers . haeres . l. 3. c. 11. some thinke that the gospel being to be dispersed to the whole world , the world being divided into foure chiefe parts , therefore there were foure-evangelists , and hence this history of christ , written by foure evangelists , is called sancta quadriga domini i. e. the lords chariot drawn of foure , wherein christ rides as in triumph throughout the world , to spread abroad the sweet odour of his knowledge , &c. d. aurel. augustin . de consensu . evangelistarum , lib. 1. c. 5 , 6 , 7. tom. 4. august . expos. in evang. ioan. tract . 36. iraen . quo supra most accommodate that of the four * living creatures , ezek ▪ 1.5 . and rev. 4.6 . to the number of the evangelists , but severally . ambrose gives , the man to matthew , who begins with christs pedigree ; the lyon to mark , who begins his history of the lyon-like ministry of iohn baptist , that evangelicall elias , christs immediate forerunner ; the calfe to luke , who begins ▪ his gospel with the nativity of christ , and that in a stable , there being no room for him in the inne ; and the eagle to iohn , who in the beginning of his gospel soares aloft to that high mystery of christs divinity and godhead , d. ambros. praefat. in evang. secund . luc. but leave we these notions of wit , which seem rather to be similitudes , allusions , or allegories , used for illustration , rather then arguments for demonstration , why these foure should write our blessed saviours history . we may rather conceive christs history was written by these foure . 1. because god , who appointed many witnesses of christs doctrine and works , &c. not only to ierusalem , all iudea , and samaria , but to the utmost parts of the earth , act. 1.8 . & 10.39 , 41 , 24. did peculiarly stirre up these foure persons by his spirit to this work ; for holy men writ who were moved , and as moved by the holy ghost , 2 pet. 1.20 , 21. 2. this history of christ , is the history of histories , of greatest worth in it selfe , and concernement to us : and likely to be most opposed by the devil , & the wicked world , &c. therfore god ( that requires two or three witnesses , for confirmation of things , deut. 17. 6. heb. 10.28 . ) makes use of foure witnesses to write christs story , that by the writings of foure , every thing might he established , beyond suspition . 3. that we may see the authority of the gospel , depends not upon the pen-men thereof , but upon the holy ghost that indites it , and therefore this history is written , not only by matthew and iohn , apostles , who were eye and eare-witnesses of what christ did and spake ; but also by mark and luke the apostles followers , who stedfastly believed the apostles report , luk. 1.1 , 2. though not● eye-witnesses themselves , yet were incited thereto by the spirit . 4. that this gospel-history might be compleated , one explaining what another left obscure , for matter or order , one supplying what another had omitted , as , matthew , who wrote first , ( as pareus thinks proem . in matth. p. 599. ) viz. in the ninth yeare after christs ascension , for the most part relates the things done , but seldome insists upon the order of doing them . mark who wrote next , viz. in the tenth yeare after christs ascension , briefly relates what matthew did more largely , ( mark being as an abstract , or epitome of matthew , ) but withall he more insists upon the ordering and timing of things done . luke , who wrote in the fifteenth year , after christs ascension , having seen others writings , propounds to himselfe to write of things from the very first , and that methodically ; it seemed good to me also , having had perfect understanding of things , from the very first , to write unto thee in order , luke 1.3 . in many things he shews the order of things by circumstances , and in most agrees with mark , whence tertullian cals lukes gospel , digestum historiae evangelicae , i. e. an orderly digesting of the evangelicall story : but sometimes things manifest in matthew and mark , he puts not in their own place . iohn who wrote his gospel in the two and thirtieth yeare after christs ascension , professedly , ( as eusebius in hist. eccles. testifies ) addes the acts of christ in the first yeare of his ministry , omitted by the rest . and in the rest of his history , he not only insists much upon christs doctrine not formerly spoken to , but also expressely notes the feasts of certaine distinct years , incident in the time of christs ministry , intimating that the evangelicall history penned by others , should be distributed into certain years , according to those feasts . 5. finally , though the holy ghost could by one and the same contexture of words , have given us the history of christs words and deeds , ( as gerson noteth ) yet not without some great mystery therein , he pleased , sub quadam concordissima , ( si it a dicipossit ) dissonantia — i. e. under a certain harmonious & most concording dissonancy , ( if we may so speake ) to excite the mindes of the faithfull , to the more humble and vigilant investigation of the truth ; that so it might appear , the foure evangelists ) did not speak by mutuall conspiration , but by divine inspiration . matthew . the gospel according to matthew . the english word [ gospel ] comes from the old saxon word , [ godspel ] i. e. good speech ▪ the greek word signifies good-tydings , or a good-message : this word gospel in new testament , is of severall acceptations . it is used . 1. in bad sense for a false pretended gospel , gal. 1.6 , 7. 2. in good sense and that either 1. properly , and so the word is used , either 1. generally , for the doctrine or promise of salvation freely by christ to all that will believe . thus the gospel is everlasting , rev. 14.6 . one and the same under old and new testament , gal. 3.8 . 2. specially , for the doctrine of grace in accomplishing the promise by christ exhibited , this is peculiar to the new testament rom. 1.1.2 . 2 cor. 4.4 . 2. metonymically . 1. for the preaching , or ministery of the gospel , 1 cor. 9.12.14 . 2. for the history of christ , who is the prime subject of the gospel . thus the books of the four evangelists are called gospells . this book is called the gospel according to mat. because he was penman of it . matthew , an hebr. name , in syriack 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mattha , some derive it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mas. i. e. tribute , others from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mathach , i. e. to extend , to explaine , &c. so that matthew should sound as much as , an explainer , viz. of scripture . but rather it is to be deriv'd from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nathan i. e. he hath given or bestowed , whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 matthan , a gift ; so matthew no●es a gift , viz. of god , vid. greg. gregori lexicon sanctum , sect. 858. p. 641. matthew was also surnamed levi , in hebr. i. e. associated , mark. 2.14 . luk. 5.29 . so he had two names . he was the sonne of alpheus mark. 2.14 . by profession a publicane , sitting at the receipt of custome , luk. 5.27 . mark. 2.14 . with matth. 9.9 . his calling was very infamous among the jews , yet christ cals him from the receipt of custome , to be a disciple , who presently obeyed , and made christ a great feast , luk. 5.27 , 28.29 . mark 2.14 , 15. matth. 9.9 , 10. he was one of the twelve apostles . matth. 10.3 . penman of this book , authority whereof was never questioned by the church of christ. he is called , a most faithfull commentator of the gospel , by tertul. lib. de carne christi , c. 22. p. 310. edit franeher , 1597. he preached the gospel to sinners , not only by word , but by exemplary correcting his own life ▪ chrysost. in praesat . oper . imperfect . matthew wrote his gospel as some think in the one and twentieth yeare after christs ascension , iraen . l. 3. c. 1. or the fifteenth yeare , as nicephorus l. 2. c. 45. or the ninth yeare after christs ascension , as pareus proem . in matth. p. 599. and alsted in praecog . theol . l. 2. c. 123. p. 710 occasion of matthews gospel , some declare thus . matthew after he had first preached to the hebrews , and thence was to go to the gentiles , he committed his gospel to writing ; that so he might supply and compensate his absence by his writing , left behind with them , euseb. hist. eccles. l. 3 , c. 24. and out of him nicephorus l. 2. c. 45 the language , in which matthew wrote , some thinke was hebrew ; tha● he being an hebrew , wrote in hebrew to the hebrews , divers ancient writers embrace this opinion , iraen . l. 3. c. 1. athan●s . in synops. p. 141. euseb. hist. eccles. l. 3. c. 24. nazianz. in carm. hieron . praefat. in 4. evang. ad damas. & in c. 11. hoseae . august de consens ▪ evang. l. 1. c. 2. nicephor . l. 4. c. 32. and that it was translated into greek , by iohn the evangelist , as some ; by iames , as o●hers ; by luke and paul , as others ; by mark , as o●hers are of opinion . some thinke he wrote not in pure hebrew , but in syriack , being the dialect then most commonly used , alsted . praecog . theol. l. 2. c. 123. but others judge , matthew wrote not his gospel originally in hebrew , but in greek , and that upon these grounds ▪ 1. the hebrew gospel of munsterus his edition is such for language , as it is improbable it should be written by matthew , or any other skilfull in the hebrew tongue . 2. the same authors who report matthew , to have writ in hebrew , acknowledge the greek gospel of matthew in the apostles times , to be commended to the church as authentick . iren. l. 3. c. 39. hieron . in catal . illustr . euseb. l. 3. c. 34. and 39. and l. 5. c. 10. &c. 3. the other apostles originally wrote in the greek tongue , ( as then most common ) and that not only promiscuously to all both jewes and gentiles , but peculiarly when they wrote to the iewes . as author of the epistle to hebrews , peter , iames. and their apostolicall function required them to write in the most knowne tongue , as most to edifying . 4. matthew's stile plainly agrees with mark 's , differs not much from iohn's , and though therein there be some hebraismes , so there are in most books of the new testament ▪ 5. matthew interprets hebrew names by greek , therefore he wrote in greek not in hebrew , e. g. immanuel matth. 1.23 . golgotha , matth. 27.33 . eli eli lamasabachtani , matth. 27.46 . 6. none can certainly tell who should be the author of the greek version , if matthew wrote in hebrew . and this opinion tends to destroy the credit and authority of matthew's gospel in greek . stope , to evidence to all , but especially to the beleeving hebrews , with whom he had preached , that this iesus christ , was the true messiah ; the true promised seed of david and abraham , matth. 1.1 . principall parts . this history describes . i. christs birth , and there , his genealogy , conception , nativity , place where , and some consequents thereupon , c. 1.2 . ii. christs life , wherein are deciphered , 1. the things done in reference to christs threefold office . viz. i. priestly ; his inauguration by iohns publike promulgation , c. 3. ii. kingly , he combates with sathan and conquers him , c. 4. iii. propheticall , which he executed . 1. alone by himselfe , and that either , as a prophet only , teaching , 1 the causes of godlinesse , c. 5. 2 the duties of godlinesse , c. 6. 3 the impediments unto godlinesse , c. 7. as a prophet and king joyntly , doing miracles , c. 8. and 9. 2. together with , or by his apostles in their mjnistry , c. 10. 2. the authority and esteem that christ had . 1. with his owne , c. 11. 2. with others , both 1 ecclesiasticall persons who conferred with him , that they might ensna●e him and accuse him , c. 12. 2 and politicall , whether with the people , who flocked no heare him preach . c. 13. or with the magistrate , herods opinion of him , c. 14. iii. christs death . set forth by the antecedents , manner , and consequents of it . i. by the antecedents of it , comprised in his journey to ierusalem , wherein no●e , 1. whence he went , the terme from which , viz. from galilee , c. 15. compared with c. 19. 1. while christ was in galilee . 1. he answers the pharisees and sadduces about a signe , c. 16. 2. he is transfigured to encourage both himselfe and his apostles against his passion , c. 17. 3. he preacheth humility and love to his disciples , c. 18. 2. what way he went , viz. through the coasts of iudea , where are recorded his words and deeds , c. 19. and 20. 3. whither he went , the terme to which , viz. to ierusalem . here are declared , 1. how he was entertained at ierusalem , c. 21. 2. what he did there , viz. he disputed with sadduces and pharisees , c. 22. accused the pharisees of hypocrisy , &c. c. 23. foretold ierusalems destruction , and the signes of his comming to judgement , c. 24. admonisheth all to prepare for the last judgement , and describeth it . c. 25. ii. by the manner of his death , where note 1. the preface , or harbenger of it , his agony in the garden , iudas his treachery , &c. c. 26. 2. the progresse made to bring him to his end , both in the ecclesiasticall and civil consistory . c. 27. 3. the consummation of his passion , c. 27. iii. by the consequents of his death , c. 28. mark. the gospel according to mark . so denominated from mark the penman of it . mark , some derive from the hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 marak . i. e. he hath polished , &c. as hebrewes . others rather take it to be a latine name ( made a denizon in the greek tongue ) and derived from the moneth of march , because mark was borne in that moneth , it being usuall so to denominate men that were born in march , probus . he was also called iohn act. 12.12 . & 15.37 . viz. iohn mark. his father seemes not to be mentioned in scripture . his mother was that mary in whose house they were praying for peter , when peter brought out of prison by the angel , came and knockt at the doore , act. 12.12 . he was cousin to barnabas , his sisters son , col. 4.10 . though he was not an apostle , yet he was an apostolicall man. some think he was one of the 70 disciples . hieronym ▪ if so , he both heard and saw christ. however he was the follower of paul and barnabas , act. 12.25 . and they had him to their minister , act. 13.5 . afterwards when there arose a sharp controversie betwixt paul and barnabas about mark ; paul and barnabas departed a sunder , and barnabas took mark along with him to cyprus , act. 15.37 , 38 , 39. and after this ( as some thinke ) mark lived with peter , who cals him marcus my sonne , 1 pet. 5.13 . from whose mouth he wrote the gospel , as some think , yet others are of opinion , there were two marks , vid ▪ iacob . laurent . in 1 pet. 5.13 . irenaeus stiles him the disciple and interpreter of peter . iraen . advers . heraes . l. 3. c. 1. p. 229. edit . colon. 1596. mark wrote his gospel two yeares after matthew , as some think , vid. annotat . in irenaeum quo supr . p. 229.230 . and he wrote it upon occasion of the request of some brethren at rome , as some conceive . epiphan haeres . 51. euseb. eccles. hist. l. 6. c. 11. & l. 1. c. 15. niceph. lib. 2. c. 15. hieron . catal. illust . that conceit of baronius that he wrote his gospel in latin , is rejected as groundlesse . gerh. loc . com . de sac. script . exeg . c. 9. § . 244. scope ; to describe the true christ , and to prove that iesus is the christ. and this he doth compendiously , as matthew had done before more copiously . he also notes the series and order of the history . principall parts . an historicall narration of christs life , and death is orderly and compendiously laid down ; i. christs life and conversation is described , 1. by his fore-runner iohn baptist , c. 1. 2. by things done by iesus christ , either , 1. before his transfiguration ; as the oracles which he preached , and the miracles which he wrought ; the splendour and glory of both which are much augmented , both by men , and by god. i. by men , and those both christs friends , and christs foes , 1. christs friends , as by matthewes calling to the apostleship , c. 2. by the 12 apostles being sent forth to preach , c. 3. by the peoples flocking together to heare christs doctrine , c. 4.5 . 2. christs foes , viz , by christs own country-men that despised him , c. 6. by the scribes and pharisees , cavilling at him and his disciples , c. 7.8 . ii. by god , in his trans-figuration , c. 9. 2. in his trans-figuration , c. 9. 3. after his trans-figuration , where we have christs acts . 1. before his entring into the holy city , c. 10. 2. at his entring into ierusalem , c. 11. 3. after his entrance , his 1. disputation with the scribes , pharises , sadduces , herodians . c. 12. 2. predictions of ierusalem's destruction , and the end of the world , c. 13. ii , christs passion and death , is set forth , 1. by the antecedents of it , c. 14. 2. by the manner of it , c. 15 , 3. by the consequents of it . his buriall , resurrection , ascension , &c. c. 15.16 . luke . the gospel according to luke . so denominated from luke the penman of it , luke some account an hebrew name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lokam , i. e. to him the resurrection ; theophilact thinkes , that luke and cleophas first met christ after his resurrection . but this is lesse probable , because luke testifies , that he wrote this history of christ , according as things were delivered to him by ministers of the word , that were eye-witnesses — luke 1.1.2 . others rather count luke a latin name from lucius . lucius derived a luce oriente , i. e. from the morning light , they were wont to impose this name upon such as were borne in the morning , about sun-rising , &c. he was of antioch in syria , as hieronym . and theophylact. by particular vocation , a physician , luke the beloved physition , col. 4.14 . and some think he was a most excellent painter . niceph. l. 6. c. 16. & l. 15. c. 14. he was a faithfull and constant companion of paul , 2 tim. 4.11 . his fellow labourer , philem. 24. and some think luke is intended by that brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches , 2 cor. 8.18 . bez. in loc . intimates this was hierom's opinion . though chrysostome rather thinks it was barnabas , to whom calvin subscribes , calv. in loc . piscat in loc . luke was an inseparable companion of paul and his fellow-worker in the gospel ; saith irenalis l. 3. c. 14. pauls follower ; and though not an apostle , yet apostolicall ; saith tertull. advers . marcion . l. 4. c. 2. that luke was most skilfull in the greek tongue , not onely hieronym . in isaiah c. 6. testifies ; but also his very stile cleerly evidenceth . whereupon one saith , it is known to the learned , that luke observed a more pure hellenisme then the rest of the evangelists , causab . exerc. 2. c. 1. paul converted luke at the●es , think hieronym . eusebius ▪ and niceporus . luke lived a single life , and taught first in france , italy , macedonia , and dalmatia ; thinks epiphan . his death is variously reported ; he lived 84 yeares saith hieron . in catal. and then dyed in bithynia . hicrony . in catal. at ephesus , thinks dorotheus . he was hanged on a fruitfull olive-tree ; thinks nicephorus . he wrote his gospel about fifteene yeeres after christs ascension niceph. and that in the parts of achaiah , hieronym . occasion of his writing , some say was the appointment of peter or paul , that 's doubtfull . probably the request of theophilus ( supposed to be some eminent senator ) to whom he directs both his gospel , and the acts. though some take this name theophilus , for any go●ly man , lover of god. luke himselfe cleerely sets down one occasion , viz. the unsuccessefull attempts of many who wrote false gospels , luke 1.1.2 . scope , besides the generall ayme of all the evangelists , luke seemes particularly to intend to supply what others had omitted , and to record thing● from the very first , and that methodically in order ; that theophilus might know the certainty of things wherein he had been instructed , luke 1.3 , 4. principall parts . in lukes evangelical history , are , i. the preface to the whole history c. 1. v. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4. ii. the body of the history it selfe , which containes a narration of , i. christs life , private or publique . 1. private where 1. of things before his nativitie , and of his conception , c. 1. 2. of his nativity it selfe , and his education , c. 2. 2. publique in the ministery of the gospel , where are , i. his instalment into his publique ministry , c. 3. ii. his executing of his ministry . 1. by himselfe alone , both in teaching , c. 4. and in acting , c. 5. 2. by his disciples also , which disciples are either , primary , the 12 apostles called and instructed , c. 6 , 7 , 8. and sent forth , ● . 9. or secondary , as the 70 disciples sent to preach , c. 10. ii. christs death is described . 1. by the antecedents of it , viz. christs words and workes in his journey to hierusalem ; here are considerable , 1. the terme from which christ went , from galile c. 9. v. 51. 2. his passage it selfe , wherein christ discoursed of gods worship and service , inward , and outward . 1. inward , as 1. prayer , c. 11. 2. faith , c. 12. 3. repentance , whereof are laid down , the motives c. 13. the impediments , c. 14. the effects or fruits , c. 15. 2. outward , viz. 1. of eschewing evil , i. e. the abuse of riches c. 16. and scandall c. 17. 2. of doing good duties , c. 18. 3. the terme to which he came , viz. to ierusalem , where of his 1. entertainment c. 19. 2. disputation , c. 20. 3. prophecy c 21. 2 , by the manner of it . beginning of his passion , c. 22. progresse c. 23. period , c. 23. 3. by the consequents of his death , c. 24. john. the gospel according to john . this book is thus intituled from the penman of it , viz. not iohn the baptist ( as he is surnamed luke 1.63 . ) nor iohn surnamed marke , act. 15.37 . but iohn the apostle , compare matth. 10.2 . with john 21.20 , 24. this is the disciple which testifyeth of these things , and wrote these things . he wrote also three epistles ; and the revelation in patmos . john is originally an hebrew name , viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iochanan . 1 chron 12.22 . ierem. 40.13 . it is also sometimes written 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i●hochanan , as in 1 chron. 26.3 . it is compounded of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iehovah , the proper and essentiall name of god , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chanan i. e. he hath been gracious ; whence comes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chen i. e. grace ; so that iohn imports , the lord hath been gracious ; or , the grace of the lord . this iohn was the sonne of zebedee , and brother of iames , all of them fishermen by trade : matth. 4.21 . and 10.2 . mark 1.19 . luke 5.10 . salome ( mentioned mark 15 40. and 16.1 . ) is supposed to be iohn's mother . as iohn was with his father , and brother in the ship , mending their nets , jesus called him and his brother , matth. 4.21 . luke 5.10 . it is thought that iohn lived a single life : yet some are of opinion that iohn was the bridegroome at cana in galilie . ioh. 2.1.9 . it is certain ; that iohn was one 1 of the three whom christ took up with him to mount tabor to behold his trans-figuration , matth. 17.1 . &c. mark 9.2 . luke 9.28 . &c. and z one of the two , whom christ sent to prepare his last passeover , luke 22.8 . and 3 that disciple whom iesus peculiarly loved above all the rest , ioh. 13.23 . and 19.26 . and 20.2 , & 21.7.20 . 4 who leaned on iesus breast at supper ; and 5 to whom christ by a private token discovered that iudas should betray him , ioh. 13.23 , 24 , 25 , 26. and 6 to whom christ dying on the crosse , commenced his own mother , ioh. 19.25 , 26 , 27. after christs ascension , iohn , with peter , healed miraculously the lame man as they were going into the temple , act. 3.3 , 4 , &c. preached boldly against all prohibitions , act. 4.13 , 19. was sent to samaria having received the word , from the apostles at ierusalem , acts 8.14 . tertullian saith , that the apostle iohn , after he in rome had been cast into burning oyle , and suffered nothing thereby , was banished into an iland tertul. lib. de praescriptione adversus haereticos cap. xxxvi . p. 211 edit . franeker . 1597. nero slung him into the burning oyle , as is thought : domitian banished him into the isle patmos rev. 1.9 , 10. whence it s supposed , he returned under nerva ; came to ephesus in the 97 yeere of his age , where he lived and taught till he was 99. he made his sepulcher with his own hands . left his disciples , papias at ierusalem ; policarpus at smyrna ; and ignatius at antioch . he is supposed to write his gospel towards the end of his life . alsted . praecog . theol. l. 2. c. 123. iohn's gospel hath still been had of most high account with antiquity . see basil. in homil . sub princ. ioan. chrysost in prolog . comment . super ioan ▪ ambros. l. 3. de sacram . c. 2. cyrill in prolog . ioan. hieronym . proem . comment . in matth. august . de civit. dei . l. 10. c. 29. and tract . 56. in ioan. occasion of iohn's writing his gospel , ecclesiasticall writers tels us was twofold . viz. 1. to oppose and confute the blasphemous heresies of ebion and cerinthus , who denyed the divinity of christ ; hence iohn so clearly asserts it , iohn . 1. see iren. advers . haeres . l. 3. c. 11. p. 257. edit . colon. 1596. hieronym , in proem . comment . in matth. 2. to supply what the other three evangelists had omitted , who principally relate things done by christ , but for one yeare wherein christ suffered , after iohn was cast into prison , euseb. hist l. 6. c. 13. ex clem. alexandr . scope of iohn's writing is expressely noted , iohn 20.31 . these are written that yee might believe that iesus is the christ , the sonne of god , and that believing yee might have life through his name . the principall parts , or generall branches of this hist. are , i. a description of christs person according to his divine and humane nature , c. 1. ii. a delineation of christs office , discharged by him in his foure ominent journeys to ierusalem , viz. 1. at the feast of the passeover , john 2.12 , 13. here are considerable 1. the terme whence he went , from cana of galilee , c. 2. 2. his abode there , the doctrine that he preached , and the acts he did , c. 2.14 . &c. and ● 3 , and 4.1 , 2 , 3. 3. his returne from ierusalem through samaria , and his deeds and act● there , c. 4. 2. at the feast of pentecost ▪ wherein 1. he cured him that had the palsie thirty eight years , c. 5. 2. he fed the multitude aboue five thousand with five loaves and two fishes , and preached himselfe the true mannah , c 6. 3. at the feast of tabernacles , where are 1. christs comming to ierusalem , c. 7 , 1. to 15. 2. his abode there ; during which , he taught , c. 7 , 14. to the end . he disputed , c. 8. he cured the man borne blinde , c. 9. he preached himselfe , the true shepheard of his sheep , c. 10. 3. his returne thence beyond iordan , c. 10.40 . &c , whence he came againe into iudea to bethany , to raise lazarus from the dead , c. 11. 4. at the celebration of the true passeover , when christ our passeover was sacrificed for us . where christs death is described by the antecedents , manner , and consequents of it . 1. by the antecedents going before his death , viz. 1. his actions , entring into the city , c. 12. washing his disciples feet at supper , c. 13. 2. his words spoken , either at supper , c. 13 , 31. to the end , and c. 14. as they were going to the garden of gethsemane , 1 warning his disciples of the worlds persecution , c. 15. 2 comforting them against the crosse , c. 16. 3 praying for them and all his elect , c. 17. 2. by the manner of his passion , 1. in the garden , c. 18 , 1. to 15. 2. in the high-priests palace , c. 18 , 15. to 28. 3. in the hall of judgement before pilate , c. 18 , 28. to c. 19. v. 17. 4. in the place of execution , c. 19. ver . 17. to the end . 3. by the consequents of his passion , viz. christs appearing after his resurrection , 1. to mary magdalene and the disciples in iudea , c. 20. 2. to the disciples fishing in galilee , c. 21. the acts : the history of the church of christ , his body , and that in the purest primitive apostolicall times , is contained in the acts of the holy apostles . so denominated from the principall subject matter of this book , viz. the acts of the apostles in the infancy of the primitive church , therein recorded historically . penman of this history was luke the beloved physitian , who also wrote the gospel ( of whom see what is there spoken ) as appears 1. by the preface or introduction here prefixed , wherein he mentions the former treatise of the gospel penned by him ; names theophilus to whom he directed particularly this history of the apostles , as well as that history of christ ; and also he connects or knits this book to his gospel , by continuing the history where he formerly left . viz. at the resurrection and ascension of iesus christ , which here is somewhat more fully described , and what followed thereupon , act. 1.1 , 2. so that his gospel , and the acts of the apostles are but as one continued history . 2. by the very stile , which seems notably to indigitate luke unto us , partly it being compleat and polished greek becomming luke an accurate grecian , who had also most diligently perused the septuagint version ; partly it being replenished with hebraismes , suitable to luke's native genius , being by country a syrian of antioch , ( the syrian language being one of the hebrew dialects ) partly because herein somtimes is the language of a physitian , very agreeable to lukes profession , as act. 17.16 . his spirit was stirred in him . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. his spirit was in a paroxysme ; the word is used by physitians to signifie a sharp fit of an ague , fever , &c. & again , the contention was so sharp , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. there befell a paroxysme , — this word is not used in all the new testament by any , but luke , and paul , ( whose companion luke was ) 1 cor. 13.5 . heb. 10.24 . 3. by the consent of ancient and moderne writers . no doubt this book was written by luke of antioch , the physitian , hieron in praefa● . act. luke the follower of the apopostle and companion of all his travell , wrote the gospel , — and put forth also another excellent volume entituled the acts of the apostles . hieronym . de vir illustr . and againe , the acts , of the apostles seem to import a bare history of the infancy of the new-born christ , but if we know luke the physi●ian to be the penman of them , whose praise is in the gospel , we shall consider also that all his words are a medicine for a languishing soule . hieron . praefat . in act. and out of him beda , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the book of the acts which luke wrote . oecumen . in scholiis . none but the unlearned and unskilfull , can doubt whether luke were penman of the acts , &c. erasmus . occasion . it is thought that luke wrote this history at rome , during pauls imprisonment there . hieron . de vir illustr . and that at the request of the faithfull brethren at rome : and by the command of paul , dorotheus and nicephor . hist. l. 2. c. 43. alsted . praecog . theol. l. 2. c. 123. the time of writing is referred to the sixtieth year of christ , the fourth of nero , 27th . after pauls conversion . but the peculiar guidance of the holy ghost , was the principall cause of lukes writing both this and the former book . scope . to describe unto us the rise , growth , state and practice of the primitive christian church in her infancy , in the purest apostolicall times , how she observed and obeyed christs commandements to his apostles , after his resurrection and before his ascension , speaking to them of the things pertaining to the kingdome of god , acts 1.2 , 3. and this both in matters of faith , worship , church-communion , and church-government ; that herein the primitive church might be an exemplary patterne to the following churches in all succeeding ages . so that this is a most usefull book to the church of god. principall branches . the acts of the apostles , are laid down in this history , 1. more generally . the acts of all the apostles . i. after christs resurrection , till his ascension , c. 1 , 1. to 12. ii. after christs ascension till the feast of pentecost . viz. their devotion , and their election of matthias to the apostleship in room of iudas , c. 1 , 12. to the end . iii. at the feast of pentecost , how they preached and walked after they had extraordinarily received the holy-ghost , c. 2. iiii. after the feast of pentecost , viz. 1. how the apostles , ( upon report of the miracle that peter and iohn had wrought upon the lame man , and the doctrine they had boldly taught , against all the oppositions and threats of the priests and elders ) powred forth their prayers against the enemies of christ and his gospel . c. 3 , 4. to 32. 2. how themselves provided for the necessities of christians that wanted , c. 4 , 32. to c. 5. 3. how they wrought wonders to the conversion of many , c. 5 , 12. to 17. 4. how the apostles were imprisoned and beaten for preaching iesus christ , and how stoutly they behaved themselves under these sufferings . c. 5 , 17. to the end . 5. how thu● apostles appointed seven deacons to take care of the poore , whereof steven being one , wrought miracles , disputed , was accused , answered his accusation , and is barbarously stoned to death , c. 6. & 7. 6. how the apostles continuing at ierusalem , in the great persecution occasioning the dispersion , sent peter and iohn to samaria to preach to them . the holy ghost also sending philip to baptize the ethiopian eunuch , and to preach , c. 8. in which persecution , saul being a great actor , was wonderfully converted and called to the apostleship , c. 9 , 1. to v. 32. 2 more specially . the acts of peter and paul are storied . i. peters acts . viz. 1. his miracles wrought , recovering aeneas and raising dorcas from death , c. 9 , 32. to the end . 2. his doctrine , preached to cornelius a gentile , c. 10. defended against them of the circumcision , that opposed his communion with the uncircumcised , c. 11. 3. his imprisonment and miraculous release , c. 12. ii. pauls acts are recorded according to foure remarkable per●grinations or journeys which he took ; viz. 1. his first journey was with barnabas , to the gentiles . his deeds and acts in that journey , are in c. 13.14 . 2. his second journey with silas , from antioch to ierusalem , where 1. the occasion of the journey , viz. the doctrine of certaine comming from ierusalem , that circumcision was necessary to salvation ; whereupon that famous synod was called at ierusalem , c. 15. 2. pauls deeds and acts , while he was in asia , c. 16. 3. pauls deeds and acts while he abode in graecia , untill he returned againe to antioch , c. 17. to c. 18. vers . 22. 3. his third journey undertaken for the ephisians sakes , where note 1. whence he went. c. 18.23 , &c. 2. what way he travelled , going , c. 19. comming , c. 20 3. whither he came , viz. to ierusalem . c. 21.22 , 23. then to cesarea , where consider things done under felix , c. 24. under , festus , c. 25. under ●grippa , c. 26. 4 his fourth and last journey which he took towards rome , c. 27 , 28. ii. epistolical books . the epistolical books of the new testament , are , all the epistles , written by the apostles ; the apostles being oft-times unable to instruct by their personall presence , supplyed that by writing epistles . these epistles are either written , 1. to the beleeving gentiles , or 2. to the beleeving iews ; as was formerly noted , to the beleeving gentiles , the apostle paul wrote his epistles , which are either 1. generall written to whole churches : or 2. particular to some select particular persons . some do rank pauls epistles thus , according to the persons to whom they were written , viz. pauls epistles were written either to whole churches , either in europe , as to the churches at rome . — in italie . corinth . in grecia thessalonica in grecia philippi . — in thracia asia , as to the churches at galatia in asia minor ephesus in asia minor colosse in asia minor iudea , and in other nations dispersed , as the epistle to the hebrewes . to particular persons ; as to timothy . titus . philemon . others endeavour , and that not unprofitably to marshall pauls epistles , in the order of times and seasons , wherein they were severally written , which order is not observed as they are placed in our bibles . and though the punctuall time when every epistle was written , cannot evidently and infallibly be demonstrated either by the epistles themselves , or other ecclesiasticall histories , yet we may have good probabilities hereof , as may appeare in this type or table ensuing , viz. pauls epistles were written , 1. before his bonds and captivity at rome . 2. in his bonds and imprisonment there . i. before his bonds and captivity at rome , as these seven epistles in this order , viz. 1. first of all seems to be written the i. to thessal . from athenes by tychicus . for paul by reason of the tumultuous jews going from thessalonica to berea , and thence to athenes act. 17. thence he confirmes the thessalonians in the faith by his first epistle , written about seventeen years after his conversion , ninth yeare of claudius , and nineteenth yeare after christs passion , when the councell at ierusalem was held . hieron . 2. about the same time , and in the same place paul seemes to have written the ii. to thessal . by tychicus also . for what he had written in the former of christs coming , and of the end of the world , he further explaines in this , and vindicates . 3. the i. to timothy seems written by paul , from laodicea , of phrygia palatina , sent by tychicus the deacon , when returning the second time from ierusalem , he passed through the region of galatia and phrygia , acts 18.23 . and before he returned to ephesus , acts 19.1 . for he promiseth to timothy , that he would shortly come thither . 1 tim. 3.14 . viz. in the nineteenth yeare after his conversion , ( as is thought ) in the eleventh of claudius , and the one and twentieth after christs death . 4. next seems written the i. to corinth , from ephesus , while paul stayed there , act. 19.9 . ( and this rather then from philippi , as the greek postscript intimates , ) and before he went through macedonia , ) 1 cor. 16.5 . for he passed through macedonia , after his three years abode at ephesus . see acts 19.1.8.10 . compared with act. 20.1 . about the end of which time he is supposed to write this epistle at ephesus before pentecost . for he saith , i will tarry at ephesus , until pentecost ; 1 cor. 16.8 . which when he wrote , he seems plainly to be at ephesus : and this pentecost went before that pentecost , when he intended to be at ierusalem , act. 20.16 . which fell out about the sixty fourth yeare after christs death , in the ninth of nero , which yeare coming to ierusalem with the contribution , he was cast into bonds , in the thirtieth yeare after his conversion , athanas. in synops . chrysostome . 5. not much after this first epistle , paul wrote his ii. to corinth , from philippi when after demetrius his tumult , he left ephesus and came into macedonia , acts 20.1 , 2 , 3. for then he must needs come to philippi , ( which was the first city upon the coast of macedonia , act. 16.12 . ) hither referre that promise of his that he would come to corinth , with them of macedonia , 2 cor. 9.4 . that is there said to be done , when after he had passed thorough macedonia into greece , he had stayed three moneths , ast. 20.2 , 3. and after , we never read that he returned into greece . 6. in the same passing through macedonia ; at nicopolis not farre distant from philippi , before he came into greece , paul is supposed to have written his epistle to titus whom he cals from creet to nicopolis , because there he had determined to winter , tit. 3.12 . though he seems after to have altered his purpose , and to have wintred in grecia , as is thought at corinth . 7. the eminent epistle to the romanes seems to have been written , whilst paul was wintring at corinth . for after that , we read not that he returned to corinth , but having wintred in greece because of the treacheries of the jewes , returning through macedonia , he came into syria with the contribution , whence at last he was carried bound to rome , in the sixty fourth yeare of christ , the ninth of nero , and in the thirtieth year after his own conversion . so that the ii. to corinth , to titus , and to the romans , all these three seems to bewritten , as is said , and all within the space of halfe a yeare : but the epistle to the romans seems to be the last he wrote before he came captive to rome . origen & chrysost prove it was written after both the epistles to corinth : because in both those epistles he stirs them up to a collection for the poor saints at ierusalem , 1 cor. 16.1 . to 6. 2 cor. 8. and 9. which contribution he saith he had received from the churches of macedonia and achaia , rom. 15.25 . to carry it into iudea ; and he brought it to ierusalem , in his last journey into syria , described act. 20. and 21. as himselfe testifies in his apology before felix , act. 24.17 . ii. in his bonds and imprisonment at rome , and this under , 1. his former . 2. his later imprisonment . i. vnder his former imprisonment , when he was in more free custody at his first coming to rome act. 28.16 , 20 , 30 , 31. then probably he wrote his epistle to the hebrewes , for he promiseth the hebrews to come and see them , heb. 13.23 . therefore then he had some hopes of liberty , or it may be he had liberty at that time and preached in italy . whence perhaps the epistle is said to be written , not from rome , but from italy . ii. vnder his latter imprisonment when he was clapt up in close● restraint . then he wrote his other six epistles ( in which he mentions his chains ) and probably he wrote them in this order , viz. 1. to the galatians to whom he writes that he beares in his body the mark●● of the lord iesus , gal. 6.17 . i. e. either his chaines , torments , or brands . 2. to the ephesians , to whom he mentions his chain , eph. 6.20 . 3. to the philippians , whom he salutes in the name of divers of caesar's houshould , phil. 4.22 , 4. to the colossians whom he requests to remember his bonds , colossians 4.18 . 5 , to philemon , paul wrote being a prisoner and now aged , phil. 9. and it is thought he wrote this epistle after his first apology , in which all men forsook him , but the lord stood by him , and delivered him from the mouth of the lyon , 2 tim. 4.17 . therefore having some dawnings of hope that he should be delivered , he desires philemon to prepare him a lodging , for i trust ( saith he ) that through your prayers i shall be given unto you , phil. 22. but the lord had otherwise determined . some think this epistle was written after the ii to timothy , because there he bids timothy and mark to come to him , whom here he intimates to be with him , ver . 1.24 . but others collect rather the contrary , 1 partly because here he desires a lodging to be provided for him , ver . 22. but in that epistle he is not solicitous about his lodging , but about his departure out of this life , 2 tim. 4.6 . 2 partly because , there he complains that demas had forsaken him , 2 tim. 4.10 . but here he salutes philemon in demas his name , ver . 24. therefore this epistle was written before demas his desertion , or demas had returned againe unto him . 6. last of all , a little before his martyrdome ( whichfell out in the thirty seventh yeer of christ , in the fourteenth yeer of nero , & in the thirty fifth yeer after his own conversion ) paul wrote his ii. to timothy , as all circumstances evince , and the epistle it selfe intimates . i am now ready to be offered , and the time of my departure is at hand , 2 tim. 4.6 . this noting the severall times of the apostles writing his epistles is usefull , to let us see why the apostle wrote so variously about the same things , as circumcision and other ceremonies , as ; to the romanes , that they should receive the weake , &c. about ceremonies and indifferent things , rom. 14. 1. &c. but to the galatians , and colossians , utterly condemns use of circumcision , &c. gal. 5.2 . &c. col. 2 , the reason is the difference of times , chrisostome . ceremonies were alwayes mortales , mortall ; at christs death became mortuae , dead ; onely moses must be honourably buried , for the weak iewes the use of them was permitted a while ; but after that they became mortiferae , deadly to them that used them . but here pauls epistles shall be considered according to the method and distribution of all the books of the new testament first proposed : and that the rather , because so we shall view them as they stand in order in our bibles . and first of pauls generall epistles to whole churches , which are nine , viz. romanes . the epistle of the apostle paul to the romanes . so denominated , 1. partly from the object to whom the epistle is written , viz. the believing romanes , rom. 1.7 . when this epistle was written , there was so famous a church at rome , that their faith was spoken of throughout the whole world , rom. 1.8 . yea there were even in caesars houshould that had received the faith . phil. 4.22 . but by whom or when was the church of the romanes first planted ? answ. scripture is silent , papists say by peter , bel●●m . de pont. rom. l. 2. c. 2. but peter never was at rome , much lesse planted the church there d. pareus in rom. 16. pub. ii. barnabas is supposed to have preached christ at rome , and to have converted the romanes , under the reign of tyberius , if clement may be believed . recognition . clementis lib. 1. but now rome is as infamous as once it was famous , being the seat of antichrist , rev. 17 , 9 , &c. the spirituall egypt rev. 11.8 . sodome rev. 11.8 . and babylon devoted to destruction , rev. 18.2 , &c. 2. partly from the penman of the epistle , viz. paul , rom. 1.1 . paul is a latin name from paulus , i. e. a little one , so the romanes were wont to call them that were of a lesser stature , he seemes most to be delighted with this romane name , being appointed apostle to the gentiles . some think he first had this name given him , upon occasion of his conversion of sergius paulus the deputy , act. 13.7.9.12 ▪ hieronym . de claris script , before he was called saul , i. e. desired , asked , &c. from the hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shaal , i. e. he hath asked , desired , &c. it is not likely that he changed his name saul into paul : but rather that he had two names , as all the iews had that were freemē of rome ; saul then denoted his nation and religion , paul signified his roman freedome . and scripture favours this that he had two names , saying , saul , which also is paul , act. 13.9 . the history of paul is notably described in the new testament , especially in phil. 3. 1 tim ▪ 1. and in act. 13. to the end of the book , but more summarily , act. 22.3 , to 22. and 26.4 . to 24. he was a iew by nation ; of the tribe of benjamin ; of the province of cilicia ; borne in the city tarsus , ( which being a colony and having the priviledge of the romane freedome , paul though of iewish parents , yet saith he was a roman free-born , act. 22.7.28 . ) circumcised the eighth day ; brought up at the feet of gamaliel ; a great proficient above many in the iewish religion ; in his zeale persecuting all that seemed to oppose it ; held the garments of those that stoned stephen , consenting to his death ; made havock of the church , &c. but at last , as he was in his circuit of persecution , he was miraculously converted of a wolfe to become a lamb , and of a persecuter to be a prime apostle , in his apostleship he suffered and laboured more then all the rest of the apostles ; was peculiarly sent to teach the gentiles . at last he was carryed bound to rome , and there he was be headed by nero in seventeenth yeere after christ's ascension , in the fourteenth yeer of nero , and thirty fifth yeere after his conversion , and buried in the ostiense way . hieronym . he wrote fourteen epistles , of which one said , as oft as i read paul , me thinks i heare not words so much as thunders , paulum quotiesc●nque lego , videor mihi non verba au●dire , sed tonitrua . hieronym . contr . iovinian . de epist. paulin. his epistle to the romanes , though no● first written , yet is set first . 1. by reason of the dignity of the romanes to whom it was written , rome being the seate of the empire , and head of the world. 2. because of the largenesse of the epistle , this being the longest of all the epistles . as isaiah is set first being the longest of all the prophets . 3. but especially from the dignity of the matter , and dexterity in handling it . the body of divinity is so admirably herein handled , espicially the principall points of election , reprobation , redemption , faith and iustification by faith , &c. that it is deservedly called by some clavis theologiae , the key of divinity ; and methodus scripturae , the method of scripture . when it was written , see in former table . where it was written , is to be considered . origen in praefat. comment . thinks at corinth . 1. because he commends phaebe to the romans , rom. 16.1 . she was a servant to the church at cenchrea , which is a port of corinth . 2. because he salutes them in the name of gaius his host , &c. rom. 16.23 . and gaius a corinthian , and there baptized by paul 1 cor. 1.14 . 3. because he salutes them in the name of erastus chamberlaine of the city , rom. 16.23 . who abode at corinth , 2 tim. 4.20 . 4. the postscript testifies thus much . occasion and scope of this epistle seemes to be this . the report that paul had received of some disagreements both in judgement and affection , in them of the church of rome , who were partly believing jewes , partly believing gentiles . the iewes either wholly opposing the gospel , or mingling law and gospel together in the case of justification ▪ and all of them excluding the gentiles from the fellowship of christ , and despising them , insisting too much upon the prerogative of the jew : contrariwise the gentiles , knowing that the jewes were rejected of god , and the gentiles implanted in their stead , too much insulted over them as a people cast away , boasting of their own wisdome and vertues , and using their christian liberty with offence . now to reconcile these controversies , and to settle them both in the truth , and in unity of judgement and affection , the apostle being hindred from coming to them deals by letters ; demonstrating that neither iewes had cause to boast of their righteousnesse and prerogatives , nor gentiles of their wisdome : both of them naturally being liable to eternal condemnation notwithstanding , and both of them being to be justified by faith in christ alone , and that they should not abuse grace , but walke in newnesse of life , &c. generall parts . in this epistle to the romanes are chiefly three parts . i. a preface to the whole epistle , c. 1.1 . to 17 , ii. a treatise , contayning the main substance of the epistle , which is either , informatory and doctrinall . or hortatory , and practicall . 1. doctrinall , viz , touching the cause of our justification , more neere , more remote . 1. more neere cause of justification where , 1. the false cause , viz. works , is removed , c. 1.17 . to end . c. 2. & 3.1 , to ver . 21. 2. the true cause , viz. faith , is 1. defended from calumnies , c. 2.21 . to the end , & c. 3. 2. confirmed by abrahams example , and testimonies , c. 4. 3. explicated by the fruits or effects thereof ; 1. inward , viz. peace with god , and full assurance of faith , c. 5. 2. outward , viz. 1 newnesse of life , c. 6. 2 freedom from the curse of the law , c. 7. 3 constancy in the state of grace , against all condemnation , notwithstanding al infirmities or afflictions , within or without them that are in christ , c. 8. 2. more remote cause of justification viz. predestination where , of 1. the jewes rejection , described , 1. by the cause thereof , gods pleasure , the jewes unbeliefe , c. 9. 2. by the signes and effects thereof , their blindnesse c. 10. 2. the jewes restauration , and of the remnant to be saved , c. 11. 2. practicall and hortatory , inciting to good-works , and duties ; either , 1. generall , towards god and man , c. 12. 2. speciall duties , either in 1. things necessary , towards superiours , c ▪ 13 ▪ 2 things indifferent and arbitrary , towards inferiours , and the more infirm in faith , c. 14. & , c. 15. ver . 1. to 14. iii. a conclusion of the whole epistle , consisting of 1 excuses about his freedome in writing to them , his not coming to them ; and other advertisements touching his purpose of seeing them , and his desires of their prayers , c. 15. ver . 14. to the end . 2. commendations and salutations , c. 16. i corinth : the first epistle of the apostle paul to the corinthians . so denominated from the penman thereof , paul ( of whom in epistle to the romanes ) and from the object to whom he wrote it , viz. the corinthians ; or the church of god at corinth , 1 cor. 1.1 , 2. corinth was an eminent city of achaia ( which achaia by an isthmus was annexed to greece , neer to athens ) seated in an isthmus , or a little tract of land betwixt two seas , the aegean and ionian sea , a most famous mart , very populous , and flowing with wealth , it was lumen & decus totius graeciae . cic. pro leg . manil. i. e. the light and glory of all greece : yet very infamous for luxury and multitudes of vices . once utterly destroyed by l. mummius the roman consul ; but after for the opportunity of situation restored to its ancient splendour by augustus . d. pareus in prolegom . in i ad corinth . paul coming from athens to corinth , laid the first foundation of a church there , 1 cor. 3.10 . he was the●r spirituall father that begot them , 1 cor. 4.15 . converting , by his preaching , crispus and sosthenes chiefe rulers of the jewish synagogue there ; and many other corinthians ; among whom paul continued preaching , a yeare and six moneths ; god assuring him by night in a vision , that he had much people in that city . act. 18.1 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 17. and this church of corinth grew one of the most eminen● churches for all manner of spirituall gifts , 1 cor. 1.5 , 6 , 7. when and where this epistle was written , see in the table before epistle to romanes . as the epistle to romanes is set first for doctrine of faith : so this is set second for doctrine of church-government , excellently handled therein . occasion of writing this epistle , seemes to be twofold . 1. the information that paul had from them of the house of cloe , of the many and wofull distempers that infested the church of corinth after paul's departure , as 1 schismes and divisions 1 cor. 1.11 . &c. 2 many notorious scandals , as lusts , incest , covetousnesse , law-suits , &c. 1 cor. 5. & 6. 3 idolatrous communion with infidels in their idoll-feasts , 1 cor. 8. & 10. 4 vncomely habits in publique assemblies , 1 cor. 11.3 , to 17. 5 prophanations of the lords supper , 1 cor. 11.17 . to the end . 6 barbarous confusion in their publique church-assemblies , 1 cor. 14. and 7 finally such epicure-like profanesse , as to deny the resurrection and eternall life , 1 cor. 15.12 , &c. 2. the writing of some of the corinthians unto the apostle for satisfaction in some particular cases , as 1 about marriage . 2 about things sacrificed to idols . 3 about spirituall gifts . 4 about prophesying . and 5 about charitable collections for the saints in iudea . 1 cor. 7.1 . scope . the apostle therefore in this epistle principally endeavours , to apply healing medicines speedily to all the evils and maladies that began to grow in that church ; and to give them satisfactory resolutions in all the particulars , wherein they craved his advise from the lord. generall parts . in this i. epistle to corinthians , consider i. the exordium or preface to the whole epistle , c. 1. v. 1. to 10. ii. a treatise of severall subjects , according as the present state and necessity of the church required , in respect of their present corruptions abounding ; and paul's resolution in some doubts propounded . herein therefore the apostle , 1. sharply taxeth their schismes and divisions about their ministers , and their diversity of gifts , as eloquence , &c. for which some factiously admired one , some another , c. 1 , 10. to c. 5. herein note 1. an emphaticall exhortation to unity , c. 1.10 . to 14. 2. paul's tacit clearing himselfe from being any cause of these divisions among them , either 1 by his baptism , he baptizing very few , and none in his own name , v. 14. to 17. or 2 by his preaching amongst them , for he preached christ crucified , not with wisedome of words to entice them , but in demonstration of the spirit and power to save them , yet his doctrine was farre above the reach of carnall men c. 1 , 17. to the end and , c. 2. 3. he shows why he preached to thē so plainly , because they were carnal , c. 3 , 1. to 5. 4. that their teachers should be no such cause of divisions ; they are but ministers , can do nothing without god , and therefore he warnes their teachers to take heed that they build upon christ the foundation ; and people not to admire mens persons , c. 3 , 5. to the end . 5. he directs them what account to have of him and his ministry , and how little cause they have to prefer their other eloquent teachers before him , c. 4. 2. he severely reproveth divers notorious scandals amongst them . as 1. their suffering of the incestuous person among them , who should have been delivered to sathan by their church-governours , c. 5. 2. their covetous and quarrelsome law-suits even before infidels , c. 6 , 1. to 12. 3. their fornications , which they counted as indifferent things , c. 6.12 . to the end . 3. he resolveth their doubts or questions propounded to him , touching 1. marriage , and therein concerning 1. conjugall benevolence , c. 7.1 . to . 8. 2. the unmarried and widowes , v. 8 , 9. 3. divorce , v. 10. to 25. 4. virgins , v ▪ 25. to the end . 2. idolothytes , or things sacrificed to idols , shewing that they ought not ( under pretence of christian liberty , ) eat to the scandal of their brethren , c. 8 : as he preached without wages ( which yet were due to him ) that he might avoid the calumny of his antagonists ; and became all things to all men to gaine them . c. 9. by other arguments he condems eating things sacrificed to idols , as being idolatry , or communion with devils , and inconsistent with communion with christ in his supper , c. 10. & c. 11.1 . 4. he directs and endeavours to reforme their practice in divers particulars . 1. how men and women are to behave themselves in point of their outward habits , in publique assemblies , c. 11 , 2. to 17. 2. how the lords saints ought to be managed and received c. 11. v. 17. to the end . 3. how all spirituall gifts are to be employed for promoting the churches profit and preserving the unity of the mysticall body , c. 12. beyond all which gifts , grace , as love , &c , is much to be preferred ; yea gifts without grace are as nothing , c. 13. 4. how they should prophecy , ( the woman still keeping silence in their churches ) c. 14. 5. he condemnes and confutes the prophane errour of them that denied the resurrection , c. 15. 6. he instructs them about the collections for the saints at jerusalem , ●c . 16 , 1.2 , 3 , 4. iii , the conclusion of the whole epistle , with certain advertisements about more private affairs , exhortations to certain duties , and salutations , c. 16.5 . to the end ii corinth . the ii. epistle of paul the apostle to the corinthians , so called from paul the penman of it . ( of whom see before in epistle to the romans ) and from the parties to whom he wrote , viz. the church at corinth , ( of which see in i. to corinth . ) and to all the saints in all achaia , 2 cor. 1.1 . probably there being many saints in that province , who could not so safely and conveniently meet in church-assemblyes , but were dispersed up and down by reason of the turbulency of those times . calvin in loc . when this epistle was written , see before in the table . occasion of this epistle seems to be , those calumnies and aspersions cast upon pa●ls words and actions by false apostles and other his adversaries after his former epistle ; they charged him with l●vity , that he came not to them according to his premise : with pride and tyrannicall severity , because of the incestuous person : with less●ning the authority of the law : and that however he was glorious in his letters , yet in person he was but base , &c. paul therefore wipes off these aspersions , & shows that he wrote not his former epistle to them for any such ends , but for promoting of their salvation . so that this epistle is for most part of it apologeticall , viz. pauls apology against his adversaries calumnies , and this the end and scope of it ; as also to testify his love to them , and to prevent his having sorrow from them , when he should come unto them . 2 cor. 2.3 , 4. principall parts . are i. an introduction or exordium to his epistle , c. 1 , 1. to 8. ii. the substance of his epistle , containing a treatise apologeticall and hortatory . 1. in the apologeticall or excusatory part of he epistle . 1. he purgeth himselfe both from the charge of l●vity and temerity that he came not to them according to his promise , 1 cor. 16.2 . to 8. and of severity in the case of the incestuous person , showing them the true causes of his absence , wherein ( to clear himself from severity , &c , ) he inserts his exhortation to them , touching the restoring and comforting of the incestuous person , excommunicated according to his former epistle , but now repenting c. 1 , 8. to the end , and c. 2. 2. he commends and magnifies his ministery to them , 1 partly from the effect it had on them , converting them , c. 3 , 1. to 6. 2 partly from the subject matter of his ministry , viz. the gospel farre surpassing the law in glory , c. 3 , 6. to the end . 3 partly from his undaunted constancy in preaching the gospel , notwithstanding all afflictions thereupon incident unto him , those afflictions working for him a far more exceeding and eternall weight of glory , c. 4. his assurance of which glory he demonstrates upon divers grounds , c. 5. 2. in the hortatory part of the epistle , he exhorts the corinthians , and beseecheth them 1. to walke worthy of the gospel , and not to receive the grace of god in vaine , and this is done more generally , c. 6 , 1 , to 14. more specially by avoiding the fellowship of insidels and idolaters , c. 6 , 14. to the end , and c. 7 , 1. 2. to beare him like affection in receiving his doctrine and exhortations , as he beares towards them for their repentance ; and kindnesse to titus , c. 7 , 2. to the end . 3. to a liberall contribution , to the poor saints at ierusalem , and in iudea ; and this by many emphaticall arguments , c. 8 , and c. 9. 4. to behave themselves with such du●ifull obedience to his doctrine and ministry , that he may have cause to use lenity and gentlenesse towards them , and not be put to exercise that severity against them which he intended against some , c , 10. whereupon ( that he may vindicate himselfe and his apostleship from contempt in their eyes , who preferred the false apostles before him ) he enters upon a necessitated and forced commendation of himselfe and his apostleship by many considerations , c. 11. and c. 12. iii. the conclusion of the whole epistle , 1. with comminations of severity and sharpnesse , which he will use towards them , if they repent not , c. 13 , 1. to 11. 2. with valedictory exhortations and salutations , c. 13. v. 11 , 12 , 13 , 14. galatians . the epistle of paul the apostle to the galatians . so intituled from the penman paul , who wrote it : and from the churches in galatia to whom he wrote it . gal. 1.1 , 2. galatia , so called from galli , i. e. the french , that came and inhabited there , who called the countrey after their name . that they were french , all agree ; but from what part of france they came , is lesse evident ; see calvin's judgement herein , calv. in argum. epist. ad galat. galatia was an ample province of asia minor , neer to phrygia , into which anciently entred a people from gallia of europe , and seated themselves betwixt bithynia and cappadocia , as is testified by strabo . l. 12. iustin. l. 25. ab initio . livi. l. 8. decad . 4. plin. nat. hist. l. 5. c. 32. the more principall cities in the province of galatia , ( as appianus in chronolog . fol. 44. notes ) were these synopa , pompriopolis , claudiopolis , ancyra , ( the metropolis , famous for an ancient councel there , ) laodicea , antioch and nicopolis , d. pareus in com. in gal. 1.2 . paul with silas and timothy , travelled through the region of galatia once , but were forbidden of the holy ghost to preach the word in asia , act. 15.40 . and 16.1 , 2.3.6 but afterwards he went over all the countrey of galatia and phrygia in order , strengthening all the disciples , act. 18.23 . in which countrey of galatia , in most of the famous cities , paul had planted famous churches of christ , as is conceived , gal. 1.8 . &c. occasion . it seemes by the current of the epistle , that after pauls departure from galatia , having planted the gospel there : there came among them false apostles and corrupt teachers , who endeavoured to disgrace paul's apostleship among them , and to pervert the purity and simplicity of the gospel among them , and to pervert the purity and simplicitie of the gospel of christ , by mixtures of legall doctrines : urging the observance of both morall and ceremoniall law , and particularly of circumcision , as necessary to justification ; so mingling and blending together law and gospell , works and faith , iudaisme and christianisme : tending dangerously to the subversion of that church . scope . hence the apostle yearning over these churches , writes this epistle to them , to recover them out of this errour in that fundamentall point of iustification : to convince them of iustification by faith only ; to demonstrate unto them the nature and use of morall and ceremoniall law : and incite them to a holy christian conversation . principall parts of this epistle , to this end , are , i. an exordium , preface , or entrance into the epistle , wherein he notably asserts the divine authority of his apostleship , against false apostles denying it , c , 1 , 1. to 6. ii. a treatise containing matters , reprehensory , informatory or doctrinall , and hortatory ▪ i , reprehensory , wherein he sharply taxeth them that they had so soon fallen from the gospell doctrine of justification by faith , which he had preached to them , to an opinion of justification by the works of the law , c. 1 , 6. to c. 3 , 1. to this end that he may more fully convince them of their errour in forsaking the gospel which he preached , he shewes , after his serious obtestation , 1. how he had his doctrine from god , who called him to preach to the gentiles , c. 1 , 11. to 16. 2. how faithfully he had preached the gospell committed to him , withstanding all legall mixtures in point of justification , c. 1 , 16. to c. 3 , 1. ii. informatory or doctrinall , wherein he asserts and proves the doctrine of justification by faith alone , and not by legall works , by many arguments , c. 3 , 4. as for example , because 1. they received the spirit not by preaching of the law , but by preaching of faith , c. 3 , 1. to 6. 2. abraham the father of the faithfull was justified by faith ; consequently so must his faithfull seed be justified whether jews or gentiles , c. 3 , 6. to 15. 3. the heavenly inheritance is not by law , but by promise , therefore of faith , c. 3 , 15. to 19. and here by way of prolepsis to prevent objections , he shews what was the use of the law before christ , and why the ceremoniall law is abolished at christs comming ; c. 3 , 20. to c. 4. v. 12. and he lenisies the sharpnesse of his former rebukes , by signifying his humble , modest and tender carriage towards them , c. 4 , 12. to 21. 4. the very testimony of the law it selfe condemnes this justification by the works of the law , as he evidences in the allegory of hagar and sarah , c. 4 , 21. to the end . iii. hortatory , here the apostle exhorts them 1. constantly to persist in their christian liberty from the ceremoniall law , c. 5 , 1. to 13. 2. not to abuse their christian liberty , v. 13. 3. to severall generall duties of christianity , c. 5 , 14. to c. 6 , 11. iii. a conclusion of the whole epistle containing , 1 a testification of his love unto them , in writing to them with his own hand . 2 a commonefaction against false teachers . 3 an opposition of his owne example against that of the false apostles , he preaching the gospel sincerely , walking accordingly , and being willing to suffer for it ; and his 4 valediction , c. 6 , 11. to the end . ephesians . the epistle of the apostle paul to the ephesians . so denominated from the saints at ephesus to whom paul wrote , eph. 1.1 . ephesus was a city on the shore of the ionian sea , looking towards the west of asia minor , of old a city of great traffique , but much addicted to magick arts , and to superstition , there being the temple of the great goddesse diana , act. 19 , paul came to ephesus at first , and reasoned with the jewes in their synagogues , but tarried not there at that time , because he hasted to keep the feast at ierusalem , acts 18 , 19 , 20 , 21. after that he came a second time to ephesus , and continued there preaching and disputing for two years and three moneths , and so planted a famous church there , act. 19.1 , 8 , 10. &c. 1 cor. 16.9 , till by the uproare at ephesus he was necessitated to depart , act. 20.1 . yet after his departure into macedonia , act. 19.1 , 2. he committed the care and inspection of the church at ephesus unto timothy , 1 tim. 1.3 , 4. &c. and paul being afterwards at miletus , called thither the elders of ephesus , exhorting and encouraging them in their charge , knowing they should see his face no more , acts 20.17 . to the end . after timothy , it is supposed iohn the evangelist was bishop of this church . when and whence this epistle was written , see in table before epistle to romans . occasion of pauls writing to the ephesians , was not schismes and scandals , as in the church of corinth ; nor false doctrine supplanting justification by faith , that fundamentall point , as in the church of galatia ; but the apostles singular tendernesse and provident care of this church , ( he being not now farre from his death , ) lest they should faint or be discouraged by his bonds at rome , and be weary of the gospel through the crosse. scope , to encourage the ephesians to constancy in faith and piety , and growth therein , notwithstanding all his or their tribulations for the gospel . principall parts , to this end , are ▪ i. the inscription or exordi●in of the epistle , c. 1 , 1 , 2. ii. the body of the epistle being doctrinall and hortatory . 1. doctrinall , wherein he laid down gods benefits to them and us , or the causes of salvation . 1. gods eternall and free predestination of us to adoption in christ , through faith , c. 1. 2. redemption by the bloud of christ , and effectuall vocation by his grace , c. 2. 3. publication of the riches of christ by the gospel , especially by his ministery to the gentiles . c. 3. 2. hortatory , wherein by way of gratitude for former benefits , he stirs them up to divers christian duties , which are either , 1. more generall and common to all christians , c. 4. and c. 5 , 1. to 22. 2. more speciall and peculiar to some particular relations , as to , 1. husbands and wives , c. 5.21 . to the end . 2. parents and children , c. 6 , 1. to 5. 3. masters and servants , c. 6 , 5. to 10. iii. the conclusion of the epistle , wherein he encourages them to be strong and constant against all temptations , through the help of the compleat armour of god , described ; showes why he sent tychicus to them , and so concludes , c. 6 , 10. to the end . philippi : the epistle of paul the apostle to the philippians . so intituled because written by paul to the saints , bishops and deacons at philippi , phil. 1.1 . philippi was the name of two cities , viz. one in thessalie , at first called dathos , but after philippi from philip of macedo who repaired it . alsted . praecog . theol. l. 2. c. 124. another a city of macedonia , situate in the confines of thracia , in the fields whereof pompey was overcome by caesar ; and after brutus and cassius , by anthony and o●●avi●s . this latter philippi , is here meant to this philippi , paul came , being warned by vision to go into macedonia , act. 16.9 . to the end of the chapt . here lydia and the iailor were converted , and paul here laid the foundation of a slourishing church , calv. argum. in ep. ad philip. when and whence this epistle was written , see in former table , &c. occasion , the church at philippi sent their bounty to paul now prisoner at rome , to support him and supply his wants there , by epaphroditus their pastor , who doubtlesse coming to paul , disclosed to him the spirituall stare of that church , whereupon paul writes this epistle from rome , by epaphrodit us phil. 2.25 . scope . to confirme the philippians in faith and godlinesse , to warne them against seducers , and to testify his thankfulnesse for their bountifull remembrance of him , in his distresses . principall parts , to this ●nd are i. an exordium or preface to his epistle , c. 1 , 1 , 2. ii. the substance of the epistle , wherein he 1. confirmes them in the faith , by promising to them gods perfecting grace , praising their zeal , testifying his love to them , removing the scandall of the crosse , and intimating his great desire for the furtherance and joy of their faith , c. 1 , 3 , to 27. 2. exhorts them to piety , viz. to bearing the crosse , unity , humility of minde , and purity of life , c. 1 , 27. to c. 2 , 19. 3. commends their faithfull ministers , timothy and epaphroditus , c. 2 , 19. to the end . 4. warnes them of the false doctrine of false apostles , that would mingle works with faith in justification , opposing against them his owne example , desiring the philippians to imitate him , c. 3. 5. encourages them in divers particular and generall duties , c. 4 , 1. to 10. 6. gratefully commemorates their bounty to him , c. 4 , 10. to 21. iii. the conclusion of the epistle , with salutations and a valediction , c. 4 , 21 , 22 , 23. colossians the epistle of the apostle paul to the colossians . so intituled from the colossians to whom paul wrote this epistle , to the saints and faithfull brethren in christ , which are at colosse , col. 1.2 . these colossians were not that people dwelling in rodes ( called colossians from that huge colossus or image of the sunne 70 cubites high , there erected : but rather those inhabitants of colosse a chiefe city in phrygia in asia minor , neere unto hierapolis and laodicea ; as hierome and chrysostome thinke . and this epistle it selfe seemes to intimate thus much , wherein he mentions epaphr●s his zeale for them at colosse , laodicea , and hierapolis , col. 4.13 . bids them salu●e the brethren in laodicea , ver . 15. and that this epistle be read in the church of the laodiceans , ver . 16. now laodicea and hierapolis are neere colosse , but farre distant from rhodes , as learned writers import . xenophon in 1. de expedit . cyri ; writes , that after he entred into phrygia , he went streight 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. vnto colosse a city of universall resort , rich , and great . euseb. in chronic . saith , that three cities of asia , laodicea , hierapolis and colosse fell with one and the same earthquake . and plin. in nat. hist. l. 5. c. 32. seates not colosse in any iland , but among the cities of the continent . when and whence this epistle was written , see in the former table . occasion . epaphras fellow-labourer with the apostles , had in colosse with other ministers planted a church . the faith preached to the colossians was impugned , partly by some converted out of iudaisme who urged the ceremonies of the law as necessary to salvation , confounding christ and moses together : partly by some converted out of gentilisme , who obtruded philosophicall subtilties upon them , counting the simplicity of the gospel too much below wise men , and so blended theology with philosophy , the apostle therefore being prisoner at rome , writes to them to instruct and stablish them in the true doctrine of the gospel taught them by epaphras against all the impostures of false teachers . scope . to shew , that all hope of mans salvation is grounded in christ alone , and that therefore we should fully rest our selves in the faith of christ , and live according to gospel rules , rejecting all mosaicall ceremonies , and philosophicall speculations . principall parts . in this epistle are , i. the preface , containing , 1. the inscription , c. 1.1 , 2 , 3. 2. the entrance into the epistle , wherein he commends their faith and other graces , and wishes their growth therein , v. 3. to 12. ii. the body of the epistle consisting of matters doctrinall and practicall . 1. doctrinall , where he , 1. describes iesus christ and his benefits most lively ▪ that he is the true sonne of god , head and saviour of his church most al-sufficient , c. 1.12 , to c. 2.8 . 2. confutes seducers that obtruded on the colossians either philosophicall notions , or mosaicall antiquated ceremonies , c. 2.8 . to the end . 2. practicall , where he instructs and exhorts them in practicall duties either 1. generall , common to all christians , c. 3.1 , to 18. 2. speciall , peculiar to some relations , husbands , wives , parents , children , masters and servants , c. 3.18 . to c. 4.2 . where he annexes some generall exhortations ver . 2. to 7. iii. conclusion of the whole epistle , contayning some private affairs and salutations , c. 4.7 . to the end . i thessal : the first epistle of paul the apostle to the thessalonians . so denominated , because written by paul to the church of the thessalonians . 1 thes. 1 1. and they from their city thess. which was the metropolis or mother city in macedonia , scituate on the edge of the macedonian shore : anciently it was called thermae , and thence the thermaick haven . some give this reason of the change of the name ; philip king of macedonia in a memorable battle in these parts overcame the people of thessaly . for monument of which victory , the neighbouring city was reedified and enlarged , and named thessalonica ; as it were , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. put the victory to another . it was sold by andronicus to the venetians , but they did not long enjoy it ; for it was ; as other parts of greece , quickly possessed by the turks . is now a famous empory for indian marchandice , ( but under the dominion and idolatry of the turks ) known by the name of saloniki . maginus in geograph . in thessalonica god pleased to plant a church by the ministry of paul and silas , converting both jewes and greeks . see the history of it , act. 17.1 . &c. there the unbelieving jewes mov'd with envy , raised tumults against paul and silas , and also against the saint● that entertained them , iason &c. 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9. so that paul and silas were glad to fly away by night to berea ver . 10. occasion ( as may appeare from act. 17. and 1 thes. 2. & 3 , 1.2 , ) was this . paul being forced by tumults to depart from thessalonica , and fearing least the church there newly collected should be hazzarded through feare of troubles and persecutions ; and going to athens , he sends timothy back to confirme the thessalonians in the faith , and report their stare to him . where●●on timothy informing him of their constancy notwithstanding persecutions , and of all their affaires , from athenes paul wrote this epistle to them for their encouragement . when this epistle was written , see in table above . scope . to encourage the thessalonians both to constant perseverance in faith and grace received , notwithstanding all tribulations befalling him or them ; as also to make progresse and go on therein unto perfection . principall parts , to this end are , i. the inscription of the epistle , c. 1.1 . ii. the substance or subject matter of the epistle is hortatory . he exhorteth , i. to constancy and perseverance in the faith , c , 1.2 . to c. 4. whereunto he urges them . 1. from the consideration of god ; rich grace bestowed on them by the apostles ministry , and the generall fame thereof in the churches of christ , c. 1.2 . to the end . 2. from the graciousnesse of the instrument whereby they were converted , viz. paul whose boldnesse , sincerity , meeknes and amiable behaviour to them is declared c. 2.10 . to 13. 3. from their own experience of the efficacy of the doctrine of faith , c. 2.13 . to the end . 4. from the apostles care and tendernesse over them , who ( though he could not come himselfe to them , yet ) sent timothy to them to comfort and establish them , c. 3. ii. to progresse in grace towards perfection therein 1. in generall , c. 4.1 , 2 , 3.2 . in particular , he exhorts them to certaine duties ( wherein perhaps they were defective , or endangered ) as 1 chastity , c. 4.4 , 5. 2 justice , ver . 6 , 7 , 8. 3 brotherly love , ver . 9 , 10. 4 care of quiet and peaceable living together in christian society , ver . 11 , 12. 5 moderation of sorrow and lamentation for the dead in christ ; declaring what shall become of the dead , what of the living at christs second coming , v. 13. to the end . after this he meets with that curious question that might be moved , but when shall these things be ? shewing it shall be sudden , though the particular time when , is not known ; therefore they should alwayes be prepared , c. 5.1 , to 12. 6 due respect to the publique ministry over them c. 5.12 , 13. 7 and he shuts up his exhortation with an heap of christian duties concisely couched together , ver . 14. to 23. iii. the conclusion of the epistle , with supplications for them , salutations , and valediction ver . 23. to the end . ii thessal . the second epistle of paul the apostle to the thessalonians . so stiled for the reason above . when and whence this epistle was written , see in former table . occasion seems to be some information , or reports which the apostle had received ; touching their persecutions for the gospel ; touching false teachers , who insinuated to them ( perhaps taking occasion by some passages of the former epistle about christs second coming ) that christs second coming wo●ld be speedily , in that age ; and touching exorbitant walking of some , in idlenesse ; church-discipline mean while sleeping . the whole current of the epistle intimates this occasion . scope . 1 to comfort the church of thessalonians against all persecutions for christ. 2 to informe them of their mistake about the second coming of christ , that it could not be presently . and 3 to exhort them to divers christian duties . principall parts , to these ends . i. inscription and salutation , c. 1.1 , 2. ii. body of the epistle , being 1. consolatory against all sufferings and persecutions c. 1.3 . to the end . 2. monitory , warning them against that erroneous doctrine which any false teachers might suggest unto them , ●s if christs second coming were at hand : wherein he prophetically assures them that before christs coming , there will be an apostacy , and a revelation of antichrist that man of sin , c. 2. 3. hortatory , wherein he peremptorily prescribes reformation of certain corruptions in manners & practice among them , interlacing divers sharp reproofs thereof . because he deales somewhat sharply with them , 1. he premiseth an insinuative preface wherein , 1 ▪ he begs their prayers . 2 perswades himself confidently of their obedience . 3 and prayes for them , c. 3.1 . to 6.2 . he prescribes the reformation of two evils , viz. 1 the remissenesse of church-discipline towards inordinate walkers , ver . 6. to 11. 2 the neglect of manuall labour by some contrary to the apostles rule , ver . 11. to 16. iii. the conclusion of the whole epistle , with supplications , salutations and valediction , ver . 16. to the end . thus farre of pauls nine generall epistles , written to whole churches : next come to be considered pauls foure particular epistles , directed to certaine particular persons , viz. two to timothy , and one to titus about affairs ecclesiasticall ; and one to philemon about matters oeconomicall . those epistles to timothy and titus , augustine would have him that is a teacher in the church to have alwayes before his eyes ▪ augustin . de doctrin christian. l. 4 ▪ c. 16. i timothy the first epistle of the apostle paul to timothy . so denominated from timothy to whom paul wrote . timothy is a greek name ; signifies , an honourer of god. probably his godly parents desired he might be such an one when they gave him this name : and he proved an excellent instrument of honour to god both in doctrine and conversation , according to the happy omen and presage of his name . he is supposed to be of lycaoni● , in asia . his father was a greek , his mother a jewesse who believed , act. 16.1 . her name eunice , daughter of lois his grandmother ; both sincere believers , 2 tim. 1.5 . from a child they trayned him up in the scriptures , 2 tim. 3.14 , 15. whence paul is perswaded that the like faith dwelt in him , as did in his mother and grandmother , 2 tim. 1.5 . his father being a greek , he was not circumcised after the custome of the jewes , but being come to maturity , paul circumcised him , for the gaining of the jewes by his ministry , act. 16.3 . and having good commendation of him by the brethren of lystra and iconium , paul made him his companion in travels throughout the churches , act. 16.2 , 3 , 4. &c. sometimes paul sent him as a messenger to the churches ; whereupon paul makes such an honourable mention of him and his workes , act. 19.22 . rom. 16.21 . 1 cor. 4.17 . and 16.10 . phil. 2.19 , 20 , 21 , 22. 1 thes. 3.2 , 6. gives him divers excellent titles , cals him his brother , 1 thes. 3.2 . heb. 13.23 . his beloved son and faithfull in the lord , 1 cor. 4.17 . his natural son in the faith , 1 tim. 1.2 . his dearely beloved sonne , 2 tim. 1.2 . the minister of god ; and his fellow-labourer in the gospel of christ , 1 thes. 3.2 . his work-fellow , rom. 16.21 . yea paul joynes timothy with himselfe in the inscriptions of divers epistles to the churches , that so he might both commend timothies worth and authority to the churches , as also propound him as an exemplary pattern to all faithfull ministers . see 2 cor. 1.1 . phil. 1.1 . col. 1.1 . 1 thes. 1.1 . 2 thes. 1.1 . philem. 1. at last after many travels with paul by sea and land , paul returning into asia committed the care of the church of ephesus to him , whom he knew to be so able and trusty , 1 tim. 1.3 . &c. which he happily taught , and governed about fifteen yeers ; but at last more grievously inveighing against the idolatrous worships of diana ; under nero the christians cruel enemy , he was slain of the gentiles with arrowes and stones , as is testified by eusebius hist. l. 3. c. 14. some thinke that his bones , together with the reliques of andrew and luke were translated to constantinople by constantine the emperour . as hieronym . and nicephorus . when this epistle was written , see in the table above . occasion and scope . the apostle being to depart into macedonia , left timothy at ephesus , that he might prevent unsound doctrine , and ordaine elders for that church . compare act. 20. 1 tim. 1.3 . &c. that therefore timothy might the better know how to behave himselfe in that church in all ecclesiasticall affairs , he writes to him this epistle , not knowing how long he should be absent from him . 1 tim. 3.14 , 15. so that this epistle may not unfitly be stiled ▪ s t. pauls directory for right mannaging of the office of the ministery in the church of god. principall parts , to this end ; are i. the inscription of the epistle , c. 1 , 1 , 2. ii. the matter or substance of the epistle , which is chiefly by way of practicall instruction or direction . he directs timothy , 1. touching ●aith how to maintaine against the teachers of the law , the truth of the gospel wonderfully committed to paul ) notwithstanding all impediments , and to adde to faith a good conscience , c. 1 , 3. to the end . 2. touching ecclesiasticall worship , for whom they should pray , c. 2.1 . to 8. how men and women should behave themselves in prayer , and in publick assemblies , c. 2 , 8. to the end . 3. touching church officers . 1 how bishops and deacons with their wives ought to be qualified , c. 3 1. to 14. to which he annects , the end or scope of his writing this epistle to timothy , viz. that he might know how to governe the church , the house of god , the pillar of truth , giving an epitome of gospel-truth , c. 3 , 14. to the end . which he amplifies by a propheticall prediction of the apostacy , from the faith which should come to passe in the latter times , c. 4.1 . to 6. 2 how timothy should behave himselfe both in his doctrine and conversation , c. 4.6 . to the end . how in private reproofs , c. 5 , 1 , 2. how towards widows , c. 5 , 3 , to 17. how towards elders ▪ c. 5 , 17. to the end . what duties he should teach servants , and how he should carry himselfe towards them that teach otherwise , and count gaine godlinesse , c. 6. to 17. and how he should instruct rich men , c. 6 , 17 , 18 , 19. iii. the conclusion of the epistle , exhorting timothy to keep that which was committed to him , and to avoid prophane and vaine bablings , and oppositions of science , &c. c. 6 , 20.21 . ii timoth : the second epistle of paul the apostle to timothy . so denominated from timothy to whom paul wrote . a description of this timothy , see in former epistle . occasion . the apostle having left timothy at ephesus to take care of the church there , 1 tim. 1.3 . when he departed from the elders of ephesus , after he had called them to miletus , and given them charge of the flock , they all wept sore , acts 20.36 , 37. probably , timothy was one of those that powred out tears , 2 tim. 1.4 . and perhaps the apostle , that he might comfort timothy lamenting him , intimated some hopes of his returne unto him , 1 tim. 3.14 . but paul meane while being carried away captive to rome , and by his bonds hindred from coming againe to timothy , thought it necessary by this epistle to stablish and comfort him , both against the apostles sufferings and martyrdome approaching as also against all the pressures and persecutions of the church , & that he should be moved by none of them , to desert or neglect the faithfull , keeping of that excellent treasure of truth , committed of trust to him , 2 tim. 1.8 , 13. and 2.1 , 2 , 3.4 . and 4.1 , 2 , 5 , 6. &c. and that they might more effectually be comforted in one another , he desires him to come shortly to him , 2 tim. 4.9 . that so they might take their last farewell one of another . for this was pauls last epistle ( as his swan-like song ) a little before his death , 2 tim. 4.6 , 7. scope , to stirre up and strengthen timothy , to constancy and fidelity , in discharge of his ministeriall office , and the keeping and asserting of the truth , deposited and committed of trust to him ; against all the present dangers and persecutions impending him or the apostle for the same , in these perillous times . principall parts . to this end are i. an inscription of the epistle , c. 1 , 1 , 2 , together with an insinuative patheticall proem , testifying his singular affection to timothy , v. 3 , 4 , 5. ii. the substance of the epistle , which is chiefly hortatory and consolatory . herein he , 1. exhorts and encourages him to constancy and faithfulnesse in all the work of the ministry committed to him , notwithstanding all the apostles afflictions endured for the truth , all the troubles timothy might incurre in defence of the truth , and the unfaithfulnesse of some revolting from the truth , c. 1 , 6. to the end , and c. 2. 2. prophetically forewarnes him of the perillousnesse of the last dayes , especially by reason of wicked hypocrites and seducers , c. 3 , 1. to 14. 3. most earnestly incites and charges him to be constant in the faith , according to the scriptures which he knew from a child , and to be instant in preaching the word , against all discouragements , after the apostles example , who had finished his course , and now shortly was to receive his crown , c. 3 , 14. to c. 4 , 9. iii. conclusion of the epistle , with 1 some particular directions , c. 4 , 9. to 16. 2 narration of his owne affairs , v. 16 , 17 , 18. 3 salutations , v. 18. to 22. and 4 valediction , v. 22. titus . the epistle of paul to titus . so intituled from the name of the person to whom he wrote , tit. 1.1 , 4. titus is evidently a greek name , either derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 titus , i. e , a dove ; ( as ionah in hebrew hath his name from a dove , ) or rather from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tio i. e. to honour , esteem , &c. thence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , titos i. e. honoured ; a fit name for him , that was truely honoured both by god and man. titus was by nation a grecian , a gentile , & uncircumcised probably till his death , gal. 2.3 . yet effectually converted by paul to the faith , hence called his naturall sonne after the common faith , tit. 1.4 . yea he cals him his partner and fellow-helper . 2 cor. 8.23 . and his brother , 2 cor. 2.13 . having enjoyed him as a companion of his travels , gal. 2.1 . a comfort in his sorrows , 2 cor. 7.6 . and having used him as a legate or messenger unto divers churches , and betrusted him with the collections for the poor saints in iudea , 2 tim. 4.10 . 2 cor. 8.6 , 16 , 17. paul having planted a church in the isle of creta , now called candy , he left titus there behind him to finish the work , appointing him to set in order things that were wanting , and to ordaine elders in every city , tit. 1.5 . and there it is thought , he died and was buried . occasion and scope , paul having left titus in creet to order things wanting , &c. in the church now planted there , and perceiving that in his absence false teachers , erroneous in judgement , and scandalous in life , crept in , seeking to destroy the faith , by mingling christ and moses together , to disturbe church-government planted , and to disjoyne the practice from the profession of piety . paul therefore sollicitous for the church , writes this epistle to titus , both to strengthen and gaine authority to his ministery there against all contempt ; as also to direct him , how to order and stablish things wanting in the church , how to represse distempers and disorders arising , and how to demeane himselfe , both in doctrine and conversation , towards severall sorts of persons . principall parts to this end i. an inscription , c. 1 , 1 , to 5. ii. substance of the epistle , ( of like nature to the i. to timothy ) wherein he 1. declareth for what ends he left titus in creet , c. 1 , 5. 2. directeth him in reference to these ends . 1. what qualifications are requisite in bishops , or elders both for life and doctrine , c. 1 , 6. to the end . 2. how titus should accordingly approve himselfe in the ministry , both in his doctrine and life , and that towards both aged men and women , as also towards servants , c. 2. and generally towards all christians , how he should teach them to behave themselvs , both towards magistrates , and mutually towards one another , backing the same with ●ogent arguments , c. 3 , 1. to 12. iii. a conclusion of the whole epistle consisting of more private directions , salutations , and his apostolicall valediction , c. 3 , 12. to the end . thus of pauls epistles written to particular persons about ecclesiasticall affairs . now of his epistles written to particular persons , yea to a church , philem. 1.2 . about oeconomicall or houshold affairs . viz. philemon . the epistle of paul to philemon . so called because peculiarly and in the first place directed to him , philem. 1.2 . philemon , as some thinke sounds like an hebrew name , and signifies , the mouth of bread , so denoting his beneficence and bounty relieving them with bread , &c. that were poore and needy , see v. 7. hieron . others rather taking this etymon to be uncertain , count philemon a greek name , signifying kissing , from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 philema . i. e. a kisse , so intimating his kindnesse . this is not that ancient comick poet , called philemon , which paul seems to have read , by some expressions in his epistles , as 1 tim. 2.12 . and 5.23 . tit. 2.3 . the fragments of which poet are extant , collected by henr. steph. but this philemon is supposed to be by countrey a phrygian , as theophylact. and in particular a minister of the church at colosse , an eminent towne in phrygia . paul here cals him fellow-labourer , phil●m . v. 1. viz. in preaching the gospel ; and a partner , v. 17 ▪ compare philem. v. 1 , 2. with col. 4.17 , he is called a bishop by anselme , an evangelist by hierom. and here is mention of the church in his house , v. 2. probably , philemon was converted or much edified by pauls ministry , from that intimation , v. 19. was deare to paul ▪ he cals him brother v. 7 , 20. his dearly beloved . v. 1. he is commended for his faith in christ , and bountifull love to all the saints , vers . 5.7 . though rich , yet is suspected to be sornewhat too covetous , from that expression , v. 18 , 19. we find no mention of him in scripture , but only in this epistle . occasion . onesimus servant to philemon , had much wronged him in purloyning his goods , ( it is probably thought he stole some money from him ) and so ranne away from him to rome , where ( providence so ordered things , ) hearing paul preach he was converted , and ministred to paul in prison . but paul understanding the cause of his depar●ing from his master , sends onesimus back again to his master with this epistle , perswading him to forgive him , and entertaine him again . scope . to reconcile onesimus , now converted , to philemon his master , whom he had much wronged formerly , being unconverted , and had runne away from him . principall parts , of this most elegant and patheticall epistle , to this end , are i. the preface or exordium to the epistle , containing 1. the inscription , v. 1 , 2 , 3. 2. the apostles gratulation at philemons faith in christ , and liberall love to the saints , v. 4. to 8 , hereby he indears both himselfe and his request to philemon . ii. the proposall of his request to philemon , more generally , and after more particularly , viz. that he would againe receive onesimus , whom he had sent to him , v. 8. to 13. iii. cogent arguments , pressing this request , ( every word almost being an argument ) some of which are couched in the proposall of his request ; as 1. onesimus is converted , v. 10. 2. now he will be a profitable servant , v. 11. 3. onesimus was dear to paul ▪ as his own bowels , v. 12 , 4. pauls prizing onesimus his service , v. 13.14 . 5. providence seemed so to over-rule his departure by converting him in the interim , as if god would prepare him for constant service , v. 15. 6. he is now not a servant , so much as a brother in christ , v. 16. 7. paul that makes this request , is philemons partner , v. 17. 8. philemon shall not loose by receiving him , v. 18 , 19. 9. paul shall reap the fruit of sweet refreshing in the grant of this request , v , 20. iiii. the conclusion of the epistle , containing 1. pauls hope of philemons gratifying him . 2. his request to prepare himselfe a lodging . 3. salutations . 4. and the apostolicall valediction , v. 21. to the end . hitherto of the epistles written to the believing gentiles , and all by paul : now of the epistles written to the believing iews by severall apostles . hebrews . the epistle of paul the apostle to the hebrews . so intituled in the greek copies , from the penman writing it , and the parties to whom he wrote . the syriack version hath it , the epistle to the hebrews . hebrews . so denominated not from heber , selah's son , sem's grandechild mentioned gen. 10.24 . but rather from abram the father of the faithfull . and that not from the name abram , which is written with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereas hebrews , is written originally with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hhhibri . but from the epithet given first to abram , viz. abram the hebrew , gen. 14.13 . abram being called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the hebrew from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to passe over or passe thorough , gen. 12.6 . because from mesopotamia he passed over euphrates into canaan , and so passed thorough the land . compare gen. 12.1 . to 7. with act. 7.2 , 3 , 4. so that abram the hebrew , sounds as much as abram the passenger , or the passer-thorough . hence abrams posterity are called hebrews , which name seems somwhat more worthy then the name iews , because the name iews came but from iudah , iacobs son the kingly stock . to hebre●s by nation , but now become christians by profession , this epistle was written . some think the apostle wrote only to those hebrews that dwelt in ierusalem and iudea , because he promises to see them , heb. 13.23 . but peter seems to testify this epistle was written to the dispersed hebrews ; compare 2 pet. 3.15 . and 3.1 , 2. with 1 pet. 1.1 , 2. why might not the epistle be written to them all ? penman of this epistle is not so infallibly agreed upon by learned men . some of old ascribed it to luke , or barnabas , or clement , euseb. hist. l. 6. platin . in vit . petri , p. 10. and hieronymus . some to barnabas , tertullian . see erasin . annot. in act. 1. p. 199. some to apollos , luther in gen. 48. fol. 643. de luc. osiander in praefat. ad hebr. calvin himselfe , though in his argument , before this epistle , he saith , he cannot be brought to think it was pauls , yet after seems to incline to that opinion , that paul wrote it , calv. com. in heb. 13 , 13. but that paul was penman of this epistle , was the unanimous opinion of all the ancient greek writers , ( except caius mentioned by nicephorus l. 4. c. 34. ) and of divers latin authors , ancient and moderne . see gerh. loc . com . de script . sacr . loc . 1. exeges . sect. 275. and d. pareus proem in ep . ad hebr. sect. 1. g. whitaker disp . de sacr . script . q. 1. c. ult . that the apostle paul was penman of this epistle , may be evinced by divers considerable arguments , as 1. all the greek copies of the epistle to the hebrews , ( except one wherein the title was only , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. to the hebrews ) have this title 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the epistle of paul the apostle to the hebrews . th. bez. in annot. ante ep . ad hebr. 2. the testimony of peter is most considerable ; as our beloved brother paul also , according to the wisedome given unto him , hath written unto you . as also in all his epistles , speaking in them of these things , in which are some things hard to be understood , &c. 2 pet. 3.15 , 16. wherein note with gerh. piscat . and others , 1. that paul wrote to them also to whom peter wrote , but peter wrote to the hebrews , both his epistles , 1 pet. 1.1 , 2. 2 pet. 3.1 , 2. therefore paul wrote to the hebrews , either this epistle is that which paul wrote to the hebrews , or it s lost . that it should be lost , is unlikely , when gods providence hath preserved such a small epistle , and of private concernment , as his epistle to philemon , for the use of the church , but doubtlesse what paul wrote to the hebrews , was more large and full , and touching the mystery of salvation by christ crucifyed , as most necessary to them who stuck too much to the leviticall priesthood , as if it should be perpetuated , and stumbled at christ c●ucified ; and this is the argument of this epistle . 2. that paul wrote to them of the same things that peter wrote . herein peters epistle , and this to the hebrews , agree , as that by christ are given to us , all things pertaining to life and godlinesse , 2 pet. 1.3 , 4. that iesus christ is the son of god in whom the father is well pleased with us , of whom the prophets spoke , 2 pet. 1.16 , 17 , 18.19 . so these things are largely handled , heb. 1.1 . to c. 10.19 peter exhorts them to faith and holinesse , 2 pet. 1.5 . to 16. and 3.1 . to 15. so the epistle to the hebrews , c. 2 , 1. to 5. and 3.1 , 6. to the end and c. 4. and 6.11 , 12. and c. 10 , 19. to c. 13 , 20 ▪ peter shews the danger of apostacy , 2 pet. 2.20 , 21 , 22. so the epistle to the hebrews , c. 6 , 4. to 9. and 10.26 , to 32. 3. that paul wrote wisely , much wisedome appears both in words , matter and method of this epistle to the hebrews . 4. that herein are some things hard to be understood , as about apostates , heb. 6. and heb. 10. as about predestination , rom. 9. c. 11. and eph. 1. 3. pauls zeale and affection was great to the hebrews , rom. 9.1 , 2 , 3 , 4. &c. and can we thinke he should never write to them that were so exceeding deare to him , and what could he write more proper and necessary for them , then touching the abrogation of the leviticall priesthood , and the excellency of christs person and office ; which this epistle treats of , above any other ? 4. mention is here made of timothy his brother , and that he is set at liberty , heb. 13.23 . elsewhere paul cals timothy his brother , 1 thes. 3. 2. philem. 1. and in what account timothy , ( pauls companion ) was with paul , see annot. in 1 tim. before . 5. the author of this epistle mentions his bonds , heb. ●0 . 34 . and 13.23 . and this is pauls manner in his epistles , rom. 16.21 . 1 cor. 16.10 , 11. 2 cor. 1.1 . col. 1.1 . 1 thes. 1.1 . and 3.2 . 2 thes. 1. 1. philem. 1.9.10 . 6. the character of the stile and language in this epistle , seems so plainly to be the same with pauls in his other epistles , that they indigitate paul to be the penman well consider and parallel the ensuing places . heb. 1 , 2 , 3. — with col. 1.14 , 15 , 16 , 17. heb. 5 , 12 , 13. — with 1 cor. 3.1 , 2. heb. 9.15 . — with rom. 3.25 . heb , 10.34 . — with phil. 1.13 . and philem. v. 1 , 9 , 10. heb. 10.34 . — with 1 thes. 2.14 . heb. 10.36 . — with gal 3.22 . heb. 11.11 , 12. — with rom. 4.18 , 19. heb. 12.1 . — with 1 cor 9.24 . heb. 13.7 . — with philip. 2.25.29 . heb. 13.9 . — with eph. 4.14 . heb. 13.15 , 16. — with rom. 12.1 , 2. heb. 13.17 . — with 1 thes. 5.12 , 13. heb. 13.18 — with 2 cor. 1.11 , 12. act. 23.1.24.16 . heb. 13.20 , 21. — with 1 thes. 5.23 . rom. 15.23 . and 16.20 . 2 cor. 23.13 . phil. 49. 7. finally , that which the apostle himselfe counts as it were the character and seale of all his epistles , his token , 2 thes. 3.17 , 18. the grace of our lord iesus christ be with you all . amen ; is the valedictory close of this epistle , heb. 13.25 . these arguments may strongly perswade that the apostle paul was pen-man of this epistle , and consequently , that this epistle is of apostolicall , yea of divine authority , as well as his other epistles . nor are the objections usually brought to the contrary , of such difficulty , but that they may easily receive satisfactory answers . and are answered by bez. pareus and piscator in their prologue before this epistle . gerh. exeges . loc . com. 1. de script . sacr . cap. 10. sect. 277. &c. when and whence this epistle was written , see in former table . that it was not written in hebrew by p●ul , an hebrew to the hebrews , and so translated into greek , by luke or barnabas as some think , viz. clem alexan. s●rom . l. 4. euseb. hist. eccles. l. 3. c. 3● . hieronym . in catal. script . illustr . &c. but rather that paul wrote this epistle at first in greek , may be probably believed upon these ensuing grounds , vid. fran. iunium paral . l. 3. in c. 9. hujus epist. p. 479. 1. the stile and phrase of this epistle seems rather to grecize , then to hebraize , there being fewer hebraismes in this epistle , then in pauls other epistles . 2. the places alledged out of the old testament , are not alledged according to the hebrew originall , but the greek version of the lxxii . 3. the hebrew names are interpreted , as melchi-zedek , king of righteousnesse , and salem , peace , heb. 7.1 , 2. 4. most iewes then understood the greek tongue , especially those that lived in asia minor. 5. peter and iames wrote their epistles to the dispersed iewes in greek , and paul wrote all his other epistles to the gentiles in greek ; why then should we imagine this to be written in hebrew ? 6. the ancient writers testifie not , that they have seen any originall hebrew copy of this epistle . occasion , seemes to be the infirmity and affliction of the believing hebrews . for the whole current of the epistle , seems to intimate , that though they had entertained christ , yet they adhered too much to moses and the leviticall priesthood , and perhaps some of them had some hesitancy about christ , whether he were the promised messiah : and yet for their entertaining of christ so farre as they did , they seem not only to be reproached by their countreymen , as apostates from the law , but were greatly persecuted for christ ; the apostle understanding this their s●ate , wrote to instruct and support them herein ; vid. athanas. in synops. scope . for confirmation and comfort , of the weak and afflicted hebrews , to evidence that iesus christ is true god and man , like us in all things , ( only sin excepted , ) and therefore the only true messiah , promised in the old testament , and exhibited in the new ; that he is the churches only king , prophet and priest , able to save all that come to him to the uttermost , having by offering up himselfe once , for ever perfected them that are sanctified , and abrogated the leviticall priesthood and law , and therefore that they ought to believe in him , persevere in faith , and walk worthy of christ and his gospel . principall parts . to this end . this epistle is partly doctrinall , partly practicall . i. doctrinall and informatory touching christ himselfe , viz. in respect of 1. his person ; that he is 1. the eternall sonne of god , c. 1. 2. true man , taking flesh of the seed of abraham , c. 2. and therefore his doctrine to be more hearkned to then the word of moses or angels . 2. his office , viz. 1. propheticall , wherein he farre surpassed moses , whom therefore we must believe and obey lest we lose the eternall , as israel the temporall canaan c. 3 , 4. 2. sacerdotall or priestly , wherein christ is asserted by the apostle , to be out great high-priest , to this end , 1. he compares him to aaron in his call to his office , c. 5.1 . to 6. 2. he preferres him before aaron , c. 5 , 6. to 11 , ( and being to speake further of this mystery , by way of digression he taxes their dulnesse in understanding , and warnes them against apostacy , c. 5.11 . to the end , & c. 6. ) christ is preferred before aaron , 1. in excellency of order , being of melchisedeck's order , who was above levi , christ also being made of this order by an oath , and that for ever . c. 7. 2. in excellency of sacrifice and ministry beyond aarons , he being mediator of the new and lasting covenant , the old being antiquated , c. 8. he entring into heaven , not an earthly tabernacle , with his own blood , not blood of beasts ; once , and not often ; hath purged the conscience not onely the flesh ; and this not for a season , but for ever c. 9 , and 10 , 1. to 19. 3. regall in divers places . ii. practicall and hortatory to christians , whom he exhorts 1. to faith and constancy therein , 1. from the perill of apostacy ; and the great reward , c. 10.19 . to the end . 2. from the cloud of faithfull examples to be followed , c. 11. 2. to divers religious exercises . 1. to patience and constancy under the crosse , c. 12.1 . to 14. 2. to peace and holinesse , 14. to 18. 3. to entertainment of the gospel , v. 18. to the end . 4. to charity , c. 12.1 , 2 , 3. 5. to marriage-chastity ver . 4. 6. to contentment ver . 5.6 . 7. to follow the faith and constancy of their teachers , ver . 7. to 16 , 8. to benisicence , ver . 16. 9. to due respect to church-governours ver . 17. and so concludes his epistle ver . 18. to the end . thus of the epistle of the apostle paul to the believing hebrewes . now follow seven other epistles , some of them evidently , the rest of them probably , written to believing hebrews . viz. the epistle of iames , jam. 1.1 . the two epistles of peter ; compare 1 pet. 1.1 , 2. with 2 pet. 1.1.2 . & 3.1 . the first epistle of iohn seems probably written to al the believing hebrews , especially in asia minor ; for 1. the greek title cals it a catholique or generall epistle zanch. prolegom . in 1 ioan. ep. p. 6 , bez. annot. in 1 ioan. because generally written to al the jewes . ( though some think it was written to the parthians , among whom were many jewes of the old captivity and dispersion of the tenne tribes , whence parthians are thought to be named in the first place , act. 2.9 . possilius in indic . operum augustin . august . l. 2. q. evang. c. 39. ) 2. the very matter of the epistle being directed against the blasphemous errou●s broached among the iewes , especially those of ebion and cerinthus against the divinity of christ , seemes to imply that it was principally written to the iewe● . the second epistle of iohn is to an elect lady , probably a believing hebrew , of great wealth and worth . for he warns both her and her children of the heresies and seducers that opposed the person of christ after the manner of his first epistle . and he intimates his intention of visiting them shortly . gaius , ●o whom he wrote his third epistle , is not obscurely intimated there to be a believing jew , 3 ioh. v. 1 , 2 , 6 , 7. as piscat . in loc . notes . finally the epistle of iude seemes written to the dispersed believing iewes . 1 in the greek title it being called catholike or generall . 2 and for the matter of it being of like nature with 2 of pet. even as an abstract of it ; against the seducers of those times , as the samenesse of words and phrase import . these seven epistles are by some called , catholique ; by some canonicall . catholique , or generall ; not in respect of the universall concernment of the matters contayned in them , for such is the matter of pauls epistles also : but in respect of the parties to whom these epistles are written , viz. not to any particular church , as the epistle to the romanes , corinth , &c. nor to particular persons as the epistle to timothy , titus , philemon : but generally to the believing iewes dispersed in severall countries . in this respect divers latin , especially greek writers call them catholique , viz. greek scholiast . ( as bez. annot. ante epist. iac. observes . ) origen apud euseb. hist. l. 6. c. 19. dionys. alexandrin . apud euseb. l. 7. c. 20. eusebiu● hist. l. 2. c. 22. cyril hierosolym . catech. 17. hieronym ▪ in catal. script . &c. though properly the second and third epistle of iohn cannot be called catholique , yet being joyned to iohn's first epistle , which is catholique , by use they come to be so called , though abusively . canonicall ; not that these seven epistles onely , or peculiarly , among al● others are canonicall and a●thentique ; that were to derogate from other epistles of paul ; but because they contain canons or rules of christian life . ger. loc . ●om . exeg . loc . 1. c. 10. § . 291. beza thinks they were by mistake called canonicall ( perhaps for catholicall ) for 1. why should not also pauls epistles be called canonicall ? 2. greek writers do not so call them . 3. latins have , though groundlesly , doubted of the authority of the epistle of iames , and second of peter . therefore it s not probable they would call them canonicall . bez. annot. ante epist. iacob . & d. pareus in prolegom . in epist. iacobi . james . the catholique epistle of james the apostle . so stiled in the greek copies . bez. penman hereof was iames. iam. ● . 1 . iames in greek and latine is the same with the hebrew iakob , which signifies a supplanter . gen. 25.25.27 . 36. but what iames this was , is not so easily determined . there were three of that name ( as some learned authors are of opinion ) two of them apostles , and one of the 70 disciples , viz. 1. iames the sonne of zebedee , brother to iohn , matth. 4.21.22 . & 10.2 . he was with christ at his transfiguration , mat. 17.1 . he was called iames the greater , either in respect of his age , or of his stature , or of his calling to the apostleship . the syriack interpreter seems to ascribe this epistle to this iames , as tremellius renders it , tres epistolae , &c. i. e ▪ three epistles of three apostles before whose eyes our lord did trans-fi-gure himselfe , viz. of iames , peter , and iohn . but ( as pareus notes , proem . in epist. iac. ) the kings edition translated by g. fabritius hath it thus , in nomine domini i●shua meschicho sigillamus tres epistolas : iaakoub , & petri , & iouchanon . i. e. in the name of the lord iesus the messiah , we seale the three epistles of iames , and peter , and iohn . this speakes not particularly of iames the greater . besides , this iames was pu● to death by herod agrippa , in the second yeare of claudius . see act. 12.1 , 2. but this epistle seemes to be writt●n afterwards to the convert iewes dispersed , afte● claudius had cast both iewes and christians out of the city of rome , act. 18.1 , 2. su●ton in claud. c. 25.2 . iames the sonne of alpheus , an apostle also , matth. 10.3 . act. 1.3 . brother of i●de , iud. 1. called sometimes iames the lesse , for distinction from the former iames , mark. 15.40 . and the brother of the lord , gal. 1.19 . matth. 13.55 . mark. 6.3 . either 1 because he was the sonne of ioseph ( the supposed father of christ ) by a former wife , as divers both greeke and latin fathers think see iacob . laurentii com. in la. 1.1 . p. 1● . 12 . or rather ● he is called the lords brother ( after the hebrewes manner of speaking ) because he was cousin germane to him , his mother being that mary wife of cleophas , ( as some thinke ) which was sister to the blessed virgin , mark. 16.1 . hieronym . advers . he●uid . lib. theodoret. in epist. ad gal. cap. 1. ignatius thinks he was called the lords brother because he so exactly resembled christ in countenance , and conversation , as if they had been twins , and that he was surnamed iustus . ignat . in epist. 2 ad ioan. seniorem . this iames is conceived to be penman of this epistle , it being most suitable to an apostle of unlimited commission to take care of all the tribes dispersed . the matter of the epistle becomes an apostolicall spirit . nor ( saith pareus ) doth any thing solidly contradict this opinion ; who there answers objections against it . therefore if the epistle be apostolicall , it is questionlesse of divine authority . 3. as for the third iames called oblias , of the number of the seventy disciples , bishop of ierusalem , some question whether there were such an one ; others count it most unlikly that he should be penman of this generall epistle , that was confined him selfe to a particular charge . occasion and scope . iames taking notice that the twelve tribes dispersed were under great temptations and tryalls of affliction ; and also that too many among them contented themselves with a fruitlesse profession of faith without the concurrent practice of holinesse : w●ites unto them , principally to comfort and support them under their present sharp tryals and tribulations , iam. 1.2 . &c. 5.7 , to 12. as also to exhort them to joyne good works and an holy life to their faith , without which their faith was but a dead carkasse , c. 2.14 . to the end . principall parts . in this epistle are , i. a superscription , c. 1.1 . ii. substance of the epistle , which is chiefly hortatory ( here and there some few doctrinals being inserted . ) they are exhorted , 1. to patience and prayer under the outward tentations of the crosse c. 1.2 , to 13. 2. to ascribe the inward tentations to sin , to themselves , not to god , c. 1. ver . 13. to 19. 3. to right hearing of the word c. 1.19 . to 26. 4. to true religion and undefiled , c. 1.26 , 27 , 5. to avoid respect of persons , c. 2.1 , to 14. 6. to joyn unto faith the proper fruits of good-works , without which faith is but false and dead , and not that faith that justifieth , c. 2.14 . to the end . 7. to avoid the sinfull abuses of the tongue , c. 3. 8. to restrain their corrupt lusts and the pernicious fruits thereof , c. 4.1 , to 8. 9. to walk penitently and holily , c. 4. 8. to 13. 10. not to undertake humane actions with vaine confidence , but with dependence upon gods providence , c. 4.13 . to the end . 11. not to abuse riches , &c. c. 5 , 1. to 7. 12. that the godly patiently beare the injuries of the rich , c. 5. vers . 7. to 12. 13. to take heed of all rash swearing , ver . 12. 14. to use prayer , especially as an antidote against afflictions , ver . 13. to 19. 15. to reduce an erring brother , ver . 19 , 20. i peter . the first catholique epistle of peter the apostle . so called , partly in reference to the dispersed jewes to whom generally this epistle is directed ( as was fore noted ) ; partly in respect of peter the apostle penman of it , 1 pet. 1.1 . peter [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] a greek name . not the proper name , but rather the surname of this apostle , act. 10.5 . his proper name was simon , an hebrew name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. an hearer . from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to heare . act. 10.5 . ioh. 1.43 . christ surnamed him peter . this surname was 1 promised to him by christ when he was first called to be christs disciple , ioh. 1.43 . 2. given to him by christ when he called him to the apostleship , &c. mark. 10.16 . luk. 6.14 . 3. confirmed to him by christ also , upon peters firme and excellent confession of christ , matt. 16.17 . peter in greek is the same with kephas or kipha in syriack , both signifie a stone . christ gave him this name by anticipation , in reference to that firm and solid confession of faith touching christ , which peter should , yea did make ; and on which faith confessed , as on a rock , christ did promise to build his church , &c. matth. 16.16 . &c. which was fulfilled , peter preaching the first sermons whereby both iewes and gentiles were converted to christ , and the first foundation of the christian church after christ was laid , act. 2.14 . &c. 10 34. &c. which was the priviledge conferred by christ upon peter peculiarly above all the apostles . peter was the sonne of iona , and brother of andrew ; by trade they were fishers , whence christ called them to be fishers of men , matth. 4.18 . ●eter had his notable eminencies ; as 1. 〈◊〉 singular courage , zeale , and boldnesse for expressing himselfe , matth. 26.3 . luke 22 , 23. act. 2.14 . hereupon counted one of the three pillers of the primitive church , gal. 2.9 . 2. he made that admirable confession of christ , matth. 16.16 . 3. he was one of the three which christ took up into the mount to see his glorious transfiguration , matth. 17.1 . &c. mark. 9.2 . luk. 9.28 . 4. he was one of the three which christ took out from his apostles to accompany him in his bitter agony , matth. 26.36 , 37. &c. 5. christ after his resurrection eminently restored him to the exercise of his pastorall office , by his threefold profession of his sincere love to christ , after his threefold denyall of christ , ioh. 21.15 , 16 , 17. he had also his remarkable infirmities . 1. inconsiderately cut off malchus his eare , matth. 26.51 . &c. 2. self-confidently presumed against denying christ , matth. 26.31 . to 36. 3. shamefully denyed christ thrice , and every time worse then other , matth. 26.69 , to 75 ▪ 4. and walked not with a right foot in the beginning of his ministry , drawing the gentiles to iudaize among the iewes , &c. gal. 2.14 . &c. when and whence this epistle was written . it 's more then probable peter wrote this epistle by sylvanus to the iewes of the dispersion while he was now at babylon , 1 pet. 5.12 , 13. there was a babylon in chaldea , psal. 137. a babylon in egypt . and in resemblance hereunto the mysticall babylon , viz. rome , rev. 14.1 . & 16.19 . & 17.5 . & 18.2 ▪ 10 , 21. now papists themselves upon this place generally contend , that here by babylon is meant rome , that they may prove peter was at rome , fenardent . in loc . but they forget how herein they confesse rome to be that wicked babylon destined to destruction , rev. 17. and 18. luther leaves every man to abound in his own sense which babylon it was . pareus thinks that babylon in chaldea is to be here understood , where peter the apostle of the circumcision preached to the iewes : and that no one reason can be given why peter should conceale the name of rome , had he intended rome . d. par. com. in 1 pet. 5.13 . from that phrase , if any man suffer as a christian , 1 pet. 4.16 . intimates that this epistle was written after antioch , had received the faith , for there the disciples were first called christians , act. 11.26 . and it was about the same time , that iames was crowned with martyrdome , act. 12.1 , 2. occasion . the strangers that came up to ierusalem at pentecost , were many of them converted by peters sermon , and so baptized acts 2. to whom therefore peter here writes , as to new borne babes , 1 pet. 2.2 . weak , and as yet unsetled in the faith , and upon their returne into their owne countreys , much exercised for christs sake with afflictions and crosses , as the current of the epistle manifests . scope . that therefore the apostle as a spirituall father , might confirme these his children in faith , against all troubles and persecution , he writes to them all this epistle , assuring them , that the faith or doctrine of grace wherein they stood , was the true grace of god , and cons●quently he exhorts and stirs them up to persevere therein . to grow and abound in grace and godlinesse . this the great drift of both his epistles , see 1 pet. 5.12 . and 2 pet. 3.1 . &c. principall parts of the epistle to this end , are , i. the inscription , c. 1 , 1 , 2. ii. the substance of the epistle it selfe , which is principally hortatory , in reference to that grace of god. he incites them , 1. to the constant exercise and improvement of that grace of god , whereby they are brought into a regenerate and sanctified state ; and this concernes them all in their generall calling as christians , c. 1 , 3. to c. 2. v. 13. 2. to the due exercise of grace , in respect of their respective conditions and relations wherein they stand towards others . and this exhortation concernes them severally , according to their respective particular callings and conditions . viz. how 1. subjects are to behave themselves towards magistrates , c. 2 , 13. to 18. 2. servants towards their masters , ver . 18. to end . 3. wives towards their husbands , and husbands towards their wives , c. 3 , 1. to 8. 4. all brethren towards one another , v. 8. 5. distressed and afflicted ones towards oppressours and persecutors , c 3 , 9. to c. 5 , 1. 6. presbyters towards their flocks , and the younger towards the elder , c. 5 , 1. to middle of v. 5. 7. how all of them should carry themselves towards others , themselves , and god , v. 5. to 10. and so he sweetly closes up the whole series of his exhortations , with a patheticall prayer to the god of all grace , for their stablishment and perfection in grace after their short afflictions : concluding it with a gratefull doxology unto god , v. 10 , 11. iii. conclusion of the epistle , containing an intimation of his scope in writing , salutations , and a valediction , c. 5 , 12 , 13 , 14. ii peter : the ii. catholique epistle of peter the apostle . the apostle himselfe cals this his second epistle . he writes it to the same people , to whom he wrote his first , viz. to the believing jews dispersed , and in effect to the same end , 2 pet. 3.1 , 2. and 1.12 , 13 , 14 , 15. some few writers have doubted of the authority of this epistle , ( as also of that of iames , of the second and third of iohn , and of the epistle of iude , ) as eusebius intimates , eccles. hist. l. 3. c. 22. hieronym . in catal. vir . illustr . in petro. nor is it found in the syriack version . b●t divers cogent arguments perswade us that this is an apostolicall epistle , and written by peter , as 1. the inscription mentions the same penman of this epistle with the first , viz. simon peter a servant and an apostle of iesus christ. 2 pet. 1.1 . he that wrote this epistle , testifies , that he must shortly put off this his tabernacle , as our lord iesus christ hath shewed him , 2 pet. 1.14 . to whom did christ shew this but to peter ? iohn 21.17 . 3. he that wrote this epistle , was with christ upon the mount at his transfiguration , beheld his majesty , — and heard that voice of the father from heaven , when he was with christ on the holy mount , this is my beloved sonne in whom i am well pleased , 2 pet. 1.16 , 17 , 18. now there were only three , viz. peter , iames and iohn in the mount with christ , at his transfiguration , matth. 17.1 , 2. therefore it must be written by one of them three , ( and by whomsoever of them , it is of apostolicall , yea of divine authority , ) but unto iames or iohn none ever yet ascribed it , nor is there any reason so to do , but many to the contrary : therefore it must needs be confessed to be written by peter . 4. he that writes this epistle , cals it his second epistle , and intimates he wrote them both to the same persons , viz. the dispersed believing jews . compare 2 pet. 1.1 . and 3.1 . with 1 pet. 1.1 . 5. he that wrote this epistle cals paul his beloved brother , commends him , and approves the authority of his epistles , 2 pet. 3.15 , 16. which were too much for any , but for an apostolicall pen. 6. an holy apostolicall spirit breathes throughout this whole epistle , both in his exhortations to holy duties , monitions against false-teachers and apostacy , and predictions of things to come . 7. the stile and phrase apostolicall and consonant enough to that of peters first epistle . hist. magd. cent. 1. l. 2. c. 4. 8. to all these may be added the consent of ancient writers , that count this epistle canonicall and apostolicall , concil . laodicen . can. 59. carthaginens . 3. athanas. in synops. damascen . l. 4. c. 18. epiphan . heres . 76. august . l. 2. de doctrin . christian. c. 8. and beda in comment . wonders how any should doubt of the authority of this epistle , when the penman hath put his name in the beginning , and testifies he was with the lord in the holy mount . so that this epistle is of unquestionable authority . peter made this epistle a little before his death , 2 pet. 1.14 . occasion & scope . peter considering , that shortly he must put off the tabernacle of his body 2 pet. 1.14 . that some were too negligent of making their calling and election sure ; that there then were , and afterwards would be false teachers and seducers in the church , and scoffers against the second comming of christ ; therefore peter wrote this epistle to stirre them up , by putting them in remembrance of those things which had been preached among them , 2 pet. 1.12 , 13 , 14. & 3.1 , 2. specially inciting them to progresse in grace , to watchfulnesse against false teachers and scoffers , and to a preparednesse for the comming of christ , as the whole current of the epistle evidences . principall parts . i. inscription of the epistle , c. 1 , 1 , 2. ii. substance of the epistle , which is 1. hortatory , exhorting them to progresse and perseverance in grace and piety , c. 1. 2. monitory , warning them to take heed of those hereticall and blasphemous seducers which should creep into the church , threatning destruction to them , c. 2. 3. propheticall , foretelling of sensuall scoffers against christs comming in the last days : and of the day of judgement , the new heavens and new earth ; whereunto they should prepare themselves by piety , c. 3 , 1. to 17. iii. conclusion of the epistle , with a summary recitall of his former exhortations , and with a doxology unto our lord jesus christ , c. 3 , 17 , 18. i john. the first catholique epistle of john the apostle . this epistle hath this title in all the ancient manuscript copies . bez. annot. ante hanc ep. which as beza there well advertiseth us , we are thus to understand , viz. the first epistle of iohn the apostle which is catholick ; for of all iohn's epistles , this only is catholique or generall , the other two being particular . viz. the 2 d to the elect lady and her children ; the 3 d to gaius , and therefore it were improper to call it the first generall epistle in any other sense . penman of this epistle , is iohn the apostle , as is evident . 1. from the greek title , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the first catholique epistle of john the apostle ; thus all ancient greek copies have it . bez. 2. from his manner of speaking of christ , asserting his divinity in divers passages of this epistle , as 1 iohn 1.1 , 2. & 2.22.23 , 24. & 5.5 , 6 , 7. &c. and calling him the word 1 iohn 1.1 . and 1 iohn 5.7 . iohn being most sublime in asserting the godhead of christ , iohn 1.1 , 2 , 3. &c. and rev. often ; and no writers in the new testament , stiling christ the word but iohn in his gospel , iohn 1.1 , 14. in his revelation , rev. 1.2 . and 19.13 . and here in this epistle . 3. from that eminent and singular character of iohns spirit . viz. the spirit of love , most predominant and conspicuous all along this epistle , as in his gospel and revelation . iohn was the disciple whom jesus loved above all his disciples . iohn 13.23 . & 19.26 . and 20.2 . and 21.7 , 20. he was a meer compound of sweetest love ; in all his writings , breaths nothing in a manner but love ▪ hence excellently calvin , haec epistola , prorsus digna est ejus discipuli spiritu , qui prae aliis ideò a christo dilectus fuit , ut ipsum nobis familiarem redderet . i. e. this epistle is altogether worth the spirit of that disciple , which was therefore beloved of christ above the rest , that he might render him familiar unto us . calv. argum. in 1. ioan. of iohn , see more in annot . on gosp. of iohn . iohn therefore being the undoubted penman of this epistle , it is of unquestionable authority , eusebius and hieronymus testify , that there never was doubt in the church about the author or authority of this epistle . euseb . hist. eccles. l. 3. c. 25. hieronym , in catalog . augustin cals it satis dulcem & satis memorabilem in ecclesia dei , quód in ipsa charitas maximé commendetur . i. e. a most sweet epistle and most memorable in the church of god , because love is especially commended therin . aug. praef. in 1. ioan. ep. and saith that orbem ter●arum ipsa edificavit , i. e. it hath edified the world , aug. tract . 7. when and whence this epistle was written , iohn wrote his gosp. at ephesus , iraen . l. 3. c. 1. advers . haeres . this epistle seemes to be written after his gospel . he wrote it when he was now old ; thinks hierome . and being old , he departed not from asia , therefore is probable he wrote it at ephesus , zauch . prolegom . in 1. ioan. p. 6. iohn lived after the other apostles and wrote after them . occasions . i. iohn observed that in his daies there were many hereticall teachers , seducers , which he cals anti-christs , ( and by a propheticall spirit foresaw that afterwards there would arise many more . ) epiphanius reckon● up these before and in iohn's dayes , viz. 1. simonians . 2. menandrians . 3. saturnilians . 4. basilidians . 5. nicolaitanes ▪ of whom rev. 2. 6. gnosticks . 7. carpocratians , from carpocrates in asia ; who taught men must sinne , and do the will of all the devils ; otherwise they could not enter into heaven . 8. cerinthians and merinthians , from cerinthus and morinthus , who denyed christs divinity , said he was not before mary , that he was a meere man. 9. habionits , who held the same heresie . 10. nazaraei , that urged moses law , see epiphan . in panario . l. 1. tom. 2. ii. iohn took notice of divers carnall believers , who made great profession of knowledge , faith and piety towards god , who yet lived ungodly to the scandall of the gospel . iii. finally , iohn considered how necessary it was to encourage true believers in faith , and promote them to assurance of their interest in eternall life . these gave iohn occasion of writing this epistle by way of remedy . scope . the blessed apostle iohn in this epistle principally levels at these three ends . 1. to detect and confute hereticall and anti-christian seducers , and warne the believers against them and their false doctrine . these things have i written to you , concerning them that seduce you 1 john 2.26 . particularly and especially proving , that christ is true and eternall god , against corinthians and hebionites , c. 1. that christ is true man , and assumed true flesh , against cerdonians , manichees , priscillianists and valentinians , ( which by a propheticall spirit , he foresaw would follow , ) c. 4. that iesus is the true christ , the promised messiah against iew● and nazarites , c. 2. that the father , word and holy ghost , are three true distinct persons , of one essence ; against sabelli●ns , &c. c. 5. that they that are born of god ought not , nay , as such , cannot commit sin ; and such as do not righteousnesse are of the devill , not of god , against the carpocratians , c. 3. 2. to stirre up all that professe to know god and believe in him , that they walk in light , not in darknesse , 1. iohn 1.5 , 6 , 7. as christ walked , that they keep the commandements , especially abound in love , 1 iohn 2.4 , 5 , 6. and all along the epistle . 3. to provoke true believers to growth in faith and grace ; and to help forward their assurance of their interest in eternall life . this last end is clearly professed in 1 iohn 5.13 . these things have i written unto you , that believe on the name of the sonne of god , that yee may know that yee have eternall life . — and therefore it is most singularly observable of this sweet and precious epistle , what a multitude of marks , signs or discoveries of believer's spirituall state , are here plainly and purposely laid downe for this end , more then in any other so short a piece of scripture in the whole bible . which signes are here reduced to severall heads , and set downe for the help and comfort of the readers , in some of which , at least the weakest ( if a sincere christian ▪ ) may find abundant soule-refreshing , and heart-establishment . i. evidences , signes or discoveries of gods love to us . 1. christs being sent to lay down his life for us , that we might live by him , 1 iohn 3.16 . and 4.9 , 10. 2. adoption , that we should be called the sonnes of god , 1 iohn 3.1 . 3. our not loving the world , nor the things of the world inordinately , 1 john 2.15 , 16 , 17. 4. our love to god , which is an effect , or reflexive beame of gods love to us , 1 iohn 4.19 . ii. evidences or signes of our regeneration , sonneship , &c. 1. that the world knoweth us not , 1 iohn 3.1 . 2. true believing that jesus is the christ , 1 iohn 5.1 . 3. not committing sin , 1 iohn 3.9 . and 5.18 . especially in respect of that great sin of sins , the wicked one toucheth him not , 1 john 5.18 . 4. hope ( if not assurance ) that we shall be conforme to god in his glorious appearing , 1 iohn 3.2 , 3. 5. in hope of glory , purifying our selves as god is pure , 1 iohn 2.3 . 6. overcoming erroneous hereticall spirits , 1 iohn 4.1 , 4. 7. overcoming the world by faith , 1 iohn 5.4 , 5. 8. doing of righteousnesse , 1 iohn 2.29 . and 3.10 . 9. true love of the brethren , 1 iohn 3.10.14 . and 4.7 . iii. evidences or signes that we are of the truth , of the true number of gods people . 1. having an unction from the holy one teaching us all things , 1 iohn 2.19 , 20 , 27. 2. the testimony of an upright heart or conscience , 1 iohn 3.19 , 20 , 21. 3. perseverance with the faithfull in christ and the truth 1 iohn 2.19.27 . iiii. evidences or signes of being in light , not in darknesse ; in life , not in death . 1. having the sonne , 1 iohn 5.11.12 . 2. loving , and not hating our brother , 1 iohn 2.9 , 10 , 11. and 3.14 , 15. v. evidences or signes of the true knowledge of god. 1. keeping his commandements , 1 iohn 2.3 , 4. 2. denyall of sinne , 1 iohn . 3.6 . 3. mutuall love of one another , 1 iohn 4.7 , 8. vi. evidences or signes of our love to god and iesus christ. 1. the casting out of base feare , 1 iohn 4.18 . 2. not loving the world , and things in the world inordinately , 1 iohn 2.15.16 . 3. keeping of his commandements and his word chearfully , 1 iohn 2.5 . and 5.3 . 4. opening our bowels of compassion to brethren in need , 1 iohn 3.17 . and 1 iohn 5.1 . 1 iohn 4.11 , 12 , 20 , 21. vii . evidences or signes of our communion with god and iesus christ. 1. his spirit given us , 1 iohn 3.24 . and 4.13 . 2. the truth 's abiding in us , 1 iohn 2.24 . 3. confessing that jesus is the son of god , 1 iohn 4.15 . 4. not doing sinne 1 iohn 3.6 , 8. 5. love to god and dwelling therein , 1 iohn 4.16 . 6. walking in light , not in darknesse . 1 iohn 1.5 , 6 7. 7. walking as christ walked , 1 iohn 2.6 . 8. keeping his words and commandements , 1 iohn 2.3 , 4 , 5. and 3.23 , 24. 9. brotherly love , 1 iohn . 4.12 . viii . finally , evidences or signs of true brotherly love , or love of gods children . 1 joh. 5.1 ▪ 2. 1. knowing of god , 1 iohn 4.7 , 8. 2. loving of god , 1 iohn 5.1 , 2. 3. keeping gods commandements , 1 iohn 5.2 . 4. not loving in word and in tongue , but in deed and in truth , 1 iohn 3.18 . 5. reall compassion to our brother in need , yea even hazzarding our life for him in some cases 1 iohn 3.16 , 17. by these evidences , signes or characters of our spirituall estate , clearly laid downe in this excellent epistle , the weak in faith may become strong in assurance , and the strong may become stronger : yea all that truly believe in the name of the son of god , ( if the fault be not their owne ) may hereby come to know , that they have eternall life . all which evidences i shall indeavour very shortly ( god willing , ) more fully to open and unfold in a distinct treatise , called , believers evidences for eternall life . a subject which , i hope , to gracious hearts will be most welcome and seasonable , in these sad afflicting dayes ; to help forward their assurance for heaven , when they can have no assurance of any thing on earth , principall parts . in reference to these excellent ends are . i. the proem to the whole epistle , declaring , 1. what the apostle treats of . viz. of christ the word of life . viz. his person , god-man : and his office . 2. what he is about to say of christ ; not any novelty , but what was from the beginning ; not any uncertainty , but that whereof they were infallible witnesses . 3. to what purpose he will treat of these things , that they may have communion with god , and so their joy be full , they become happy , c. 1.1.2.3 , 4. ii. the substance of the epistle it selfe , which is either , 1. practicall , full of heavenly exhortations . viz. 1. to holinesse of life and conversation . viz. 1. not to walk in darknesse , but in light , c. 1. v. 5 , 6 , 7. 2. not to deny sin to be in us , but penitently to confesse it , c. 1 , 8 , 9 , 10. 3. to avoid sinne , and yet if sinne overtake us to repaire to christ our propitiation c. 2 , 1 , 2. 4. to adde to our knowledge of god , true obedience to his word , c. 2 , 3. to 9. 5. to brotherly love , c. 2 , 9. to 15. 6. to take heed of inordinate love of the world . c. 2 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 2. to beware of the dangerous anti-christs , and hereticall seducers , abounding in the world , especially ●orinthians and ebionites denying christs godhead , c. 2 , 18. to the end . 3. to abandon practising of sinne , as inconsistent with the state of grace , contrary to the wicked seducements of the carpocratians forementioned , who taught men to sin , c. 3 , 1. to 11. 4. to sincere reall brotherly love , by many arguments , c. 3 , 11. to the end . and c. 4 , 7. to the end . 5. to take heed of believing every spirit , but to try them , especially such as deny christs manhood , ( as after did the cerdonians , manich●es , priscillianists and valentinians , ) c. 4 , 1. to 7. 2. dogmaticall , wherein he asserts that iesus is the christ the son of god , and true man , and this from divers arguments and testimonies which we should believe , that we may have eternall life begun , c. 5 , 1. to 14. for perfecting whereof we should pray ; where he directs us how , and for whom to pray , c. 5.14 . to 21. iii. conclusion , with a serious monition against idolatry , c. 5 , 21. ii john. the second epistle of john the apostle . this epistle of iohn is nor , as the first , catholique or generall : but particular , being written to particular persons , viz. the elect lady , and her children . who she was , is not known ; some think that elect was her prop●r name : but that 's improbable , for then iohn would not have said , to the elect lady ; but , to the lady elect . some turne this into an allegory , and say that by the elect lady iohn intended the whole christian church : but this is most unlikely , and plainly repugnant to this epistle it selfe , for , 1. to write to the whole christian church under the notion of an elect lady is so unusuall , that we find no such thing done in all the new-testament . 2. this epistle not onely mentions this lady and her children , v. 1.4 . but also sends her salutations from the children of her elect sister , v. 13. 3. the apostle speakes of his intention to come and see her , and speake face to face . which cannot be understood of the whole christian church , ver . 12. she is thought to be some eminent religious matron of great estate , who much relieved and supported the members of the church in her dayes . bez. annot. in 2 ioan. piscat . in 2 ioan. penman . some thinke was another iohn then the apostle , as is testifyed by euseb. eccles. hist. l. 3. c. 39. but this seems to be a plain mistake , for 1. the greek copies call it in the title , the second epistle of iohn the apostle . 2. the matter of the epistle is not only divine and apostolicall ; but notably owns iohn to be the writer , wherein christian love , walking in the truth , and taking heed of seducers and antichrists , are pressed as in the first epistle of iohn . so that this is iohns genuine language . compare these passages among others , viz. 1 ioh. 2 ▪ 7. with 2 ioh. 5. — and 1 ioh. 2.23 . with 2 ioh. 9. — and 1 ioh. 4.1 , 2 , 3. with 2 ioh. 7. — and 1 ioh. 5.3 . with 2 ioh. 6. &c. 3. the salutation is plainly apostolicall . ver . 1 , 2 , 3. and notably relisheth of iohn's spirit . 4. both ancient and modern writers , account this epistle canonicall , and ascribe it unto iohn the apostle , concil . carthagin . 3. can. 4.7 . concil . laodic . c. ult . hieronym , in epist. 85. ad euagrium . august . de doctrin . christian , l. 2. c. 8. sentent . episcoporum concil . carthaginens . apud cyprian . sent. 81. cyprian op . edit . 1593. p. 449. beda . piscat . bez. in 2 iohan. so that this epistle being written by iohn the apostle , is of unquestionable authority . occasion . some thinke that iohns familiar christian acquaintance with this elect lady , gave him occasion of writing this epistle . others rather think it was written against the antichristian heresie of basilidis and his followers , who taught that christ was not a true man but a phantasm , and therfore that he neither did , nor suffer'd those things which he is said to do and suffer . epiphan . heres . 24. compare 2 ioh. 7. scope . to incite the elect lady and her children , to persevere in the truth , and carefully to shun all hereticall seducers , that bring not christs doctrine . a● also to adorne the truth , with love and good workes . principall parts . to this end , are , i. the inscription of the epistle , containing ▪ 1. the writer . 2. persons written to . 3. a testification of the apostle's and other 's sincere love to the lady and her children . 4. his pious wish o● supplication for them , ver . 1 , 2 , 3. ii. the substance of the epistle , wherein the apostle , 1. congratulates with the lady , that some of her children walked in the truth , ver . 4. 2. exhorts to constancy in the ancient doctrine of love and truth , ver . 5 , 6. 3. warnes them against seducers , denying christs incarnation , shewing the danger of them , and forbidding all fellowship with them , ver . 7. to 12. iii. the conclusion of the epistle with , 1. intimation that he omits writing many other things , hoping to come to them and speak them by word of mouth , verse 12. 2. salutations from her sisters children , ver . 13. iii john. the third epistle of iohn the apostle . this epistle is not generall , but particular ; written to gaius . penman of this epistle , also was iohn the apostle , and therefore it is authentique and canonicall . both these are ev●dent by all the foure reasons alleadged touching iohn's second epistle . and the word , phrases , and method of these two epistles harmoniously agree , as an in●entive reader may well observe . iohn directs this epistle , to the well-beloved gaius , but what gaius this was is not so evident . scripture mentions three persons of this name , viz. 1. gaius of macedonia , act. 19.21 , 2. gaius of derbe , act. 20.4 . 3. gaius of corinth , 1 cor. 1.14 . whom paul cals , gaius mine host , and of the whole church , writing from corinth to the romanes . rom. 16.23 . this gaius was a man eminent for hospitality , especially to the ministers and members of the church of christ. perhaps this gaius of corinth was the gaius to whom here iohn also writes , for 1. he is singularly commended here for his charity and hospitality , 3 ioh. ver . 5 , 6. 2. the consent of writers subscribes hereunto . see lorin . comment . in 3 iohan. epist. ver . 1. however he was a very eminent man in the church . when or where this epistle was written , is not certainly known . occasion . the bountifulnesse and hospitablenesse of gaius , which iohn had some occasion to improve towards some ministers that went to preach to the gentiles , who seeme to have brought this epistle from iohn to gaius , see ver . 6 , 7 , 8. scope , to request gaius , according to his wonted bounty and benevolence to the saints , to bring forward on their journey certain ministers that went to preach the gospel to the gentiles . to brand diotrephes , and commend to him demetrius . principall parts . i. the inscription , mentioning , 1. who wrote this epistle . 2. to whom . 3. the wel-wishing prayer for him , verse 1 , 2. ii. the substance of the epistle , which is partly , 1. gratulatory , wherein he rejoyceth at gaius his 1. w●lking in the truth , ver . 3 , 4. 2. charity and hospitality to the brethren and strangers , ver . 5 , 6. 2. hortatory , wherein by divers arguments insinuated , he exhorts him to bring on their journey certaine brethren that went to preach the gospel to the gentiles , ver . 6 , 7 , 8. intimating that he wrote to the church about this matter also , but feares it would be to little effect , because of diotrephes his pride , contemning the apostle ; neither receiving the brethren himselfe , nor suffering others to do it , whom therefore he threatens , ver . 9 , 10 , 11. but contrariwise commends demetrius , ver . 13. iii. conclusion of the epistle , with 1. an apology for his writing so short an espistle , because he trusted shortly to see him . 2. salutations , ver . 13 , 14. jude . the catholique ( or generall ) epistle of the apostle judas . thus denominated , from the penman who wrote it , and from the persons to whom it was written , viz. the same to whom peter wrote his second epistle ; for substance being both the same . penman . iudas the brother of iames , jud. 1. this is originally an hebrew name , viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iehudah , i. e. praise ; from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hodah , i. e. he hath confessed , he hath praised . this name was first given to the fourth sonne of iakob , because at his birth his mother praised the lord. gen. 29.35 . matth. 2.6 . there were two apostles that had this name , viz. 1. iudas iscariot that had the bag , and betrayed christ , matth. 10.4 . and afterwards in some sort repented , restored the thirty peeces , hanged himselfe , matth. 27.3 , 4 , 5. so that he burst asunder in the middest , and all his bowels gushed out , and so he went to his own place , act. 1.18 , 25. 2. iudas the brother of iames , luk. 6.16 . act. 1.13 . viz. of iames the sonne of alpheus , who was famous at ierusalem among the apostles , act. 15. and 21.28 . where he is conceived to keep his chief abode , that he might teach the iewes that resorted thither out of all nations ; unto which iewes especially iudas here seemes principally to write , and therefore mentions iames. bez. annot. in iud. 1. this iudas is also called lebbeus , i. e. hearty ; and surnamed thaddaeus which is in syriack the same with iudas in hebrew , matth. 10.3 . this iudas is supposed to preach the gospel in mesopotamia , pontus , aegypt and persia , where the magi slew him for his free and faithfull reproving of their superstitions . authority of this epistle , ( though suspected heretofore by some , and that upon very inconsiderable grounds ; euseb. eccles. hist. l. 2. c. 23. yet ) is now generally acknowledged to be divine ; especially considering that , 1. iudas the brother of iames , one of the apostles wrote it , iude 1. 2 pet. 1.21 . 2. the matter of it , yea and most of the very phrases and words , are the same with those of the second epistle of peter , if diligently compared . see the parallel by p. pareus com. in iude. 3. antiquity have received this epistle as authentique , and part of the divine canon . euseb. eccles. hist. l. 2. c. 23. and lib. 3. c. 22. hieronym . in catal. vir illustr . concil . laodicens . concil . carthaginens . athanasus , augustine and others who recite the catalogue of the books of scripture , reckon iudes epistle among the rest . arguments or objections to the contrary are invalid . these the principall . object . 1. this epistle recites histories no where else to be found in scripture , as the contending of michael the archangel , with the devil about the body of moses , iude 9. answ. 1. divers stories are pointed at in new testament . which we find not in the old testament . as that iannes and iambres withstood moses , 2. tim. 3.8 . that at mount sinai , moses said , i exceedingly feare and quake , heb. 12.21 . shall therefore these epistles authority be suspected ? 2. these stories ( though formerly unwritten , but happily derived by tradition from hand to hand , yet ) now are written by guidance of the spirit of god. and the writing of them rather assures us of the truth of these histories , then detracts from the authority of the books wherein they are recorded . 3. this story hath some footsteps in deut. 34.9 . whereupon some say , the angel would have buried moses , but the devil challenged moses to be his own , because of his killing the aegyptian , and therefore withstood him . but others better ; god knowing israels pronenesse to idolatry , least they should commit idolatry with moses dead body ( as after they did with the brazen serpent ) buried him no man knowing where , and the devil , endeavouring to discover it , the angell withstood him . obj. 2. iude mentions the prophesie of enoch , ver . 14 , 15. the old testament hath no such prophecie . ans. 1. some thinke in iudes time there was a canonicall book of enoch extant , as tertull. lib. de habit muliebr . beda com . in ep. iud. 2. others say better then they , suppose enoch's book were apocryphall , yet in apocryphall books ther 's some truth , and why may not this apostle alleadge this passage out of enochs prophecie , without approving that whole book , or disvesting this epistle of its authority ; as well as the author to the hebrew , alleadge some passages out of the book of maccabees , heb. 11. or paul some sentences out of heathen authors and poets , 1 cor. 15.32 . tit. 1.12 . act. 17.28 . 1 tim. 2.12 . & 5.23 . tit. 1.3 . 3. others think this prophecy of enoch was rather reall then verball , viz. respecting the order of the patriarchs , that as death by reason of sinne had reigned over the six first fathers , adam seth , enos , cainan , mahalelel , iared , but could not touch the seventh , enoch : so death shall reigne ove● the world 6000 yeeres , ( which shall so long continue ) but in the 7000. yeeres , eternall life shall begin ; and death shall be swallowed up in victory . 4. but others best of all understand here , as the text seems evidently to carry it , enochs verbal prophecie , which though not written , yet iude received by tradition , or rather by revelation of the same spirit of god by which enoch prophecyed , and here recorded as part of the divine canon . obj. 3. jude alleadges other apostles sayings , ver . 17. therefore seemes rather to be a disciple of the apostles , then an apostle himselfe , especially seeing he cals not himselfe an apostle , but the servant of jesus christ , ver . 1. and therefore this epistle not authenticall . ans. 1. though it could be proved iude was no apostle , yet it therefore followes not , his epistle is not authenticall . mark and luke , not apostles , yet the three books they wrote are of unquestionable authority . the authority of books of scriptur are not from the penmen writing them , but from the spirit of god inditing them . 2. daniel cites ieremiah , dan. 9.2 . ezekiel cites daniel , ezek. 14.19 . were they therefore not prophets , but prophets disciples ? peter alleadgeth pauls epistles , 2 pet. 3.15 , 16. was peter therefore no apostle but onely a disciple ? 3. iudes alleadging the other apostles deroga●es not from the authority of his epistle , but proves that iude wrote after both paul and peter , in whose epistle these predictions are extant , 1 tim. 4.1 . &c. 2 tim. 3.1 . 2 pet. 2.1 . &c. 4. finally , though iudas here call not himselfe an apostle , that argues not therefore he was not an apostle . iames in his epistle , iohn in his three epistles , paul in his epistle to the philippians , and in both his epistles to the thessalonians superscribe not themselves apostles ▪ were they therefore no apostles ? but iudas here stiles himselfe the brother of iames , and that 's full as much as if he had stiled himselfe an apostle , for the texts are expresse that iudas the brother of iames was one of the twelve apostles . see luk. 6.16 . act. 1.13 . obj. 4. but iude the apostle taught in persia , and therefore had he written this epistle , he would rather have written it in the persian , then grecian tongue . ans. 1. it s not infallibly certain that iude was in persia when he wrote this epistle . 2. no necessity of the apostles writing in the language of the people with whom they then lived . matthew lived among the ethiopians , paul at rome when he wrote some of his epistles , yet they wrote not in ethiopick or latin , but in greek . greek being then the most common language in the world , the holy ghost would have greek to be the originall language for new testament , as the hebrew especially for the old. and iudes epistle is catholique or generall , and therefore was written in greek the generall tongue . when and where this epistle was written is uncertaine . some think this apostle was in persia , or asia minor when he wrote it , viz. a yeere before he dyed , and that he there dyed , anno 68. after christ. niceph. l. 4. c. 40.44 . probably he wrote after both paul and peter , to whose writings he seems to have reference , v. 17. the whole epistle is as an abstract of peters second epistle . occasion , seems from the current of the epistle , to be those abominable heresies of the simonians , nicolaitanes , gnosticks , &c. abounding in those times times who held sin to be indifferent , womē & al things to be common , &c. oecumen . epiphan . in haeres . gnostic . sec. iud. 3.4 . scope . to warne all the faithfull in those times of the cursed and detestable hereticks and seducers that were cunningly crept in among them , that they contend earnestly for the truth against all their damnable errours and heresies ; and for purity and holinesse of life , against all their impure lustfull licentious and ungodly p●actices . iude 3 , 4 , 8 , 10 , 20 , 21. principall parts . to this end are , i. inscription of the whole epistle , expressing , 1. penman who wrote this epistle . 2. parties to whom it was written . 3. the salutation of them , ver . 1 , 2. ii. the substance of the epistle , wherein are laid down , 1. the maine proposition or exhortation , to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints ver . 3. there being so many lascivious hereticall men crept in among them , ver . 4. 2. arguments enforcing this exhortation upon them , against these lascivious heritiques , demonstrating the damnablenesse and destructivenesse of their wayes , 1. by examples of gods vengeance for like impieties and impurities in former times , viz. upon israel for unbeliefe , ver . 5. upon angels for apostacy , ver . upon sodom and gomorrha &c. for their lusts , ver . 7. these examples he applyes to these seducers , 1. describing them by their , 1. uncleannesse , ver . 8. 2. despising and reproaching magistrates , ver . 8 , 9. 3. impudency in reviling what they know not , ver . 10. 4. bruitish intemperance in carnall pleasures , ver . 10. 5. cruelty to their brethren . 6. covetousnesse . 7. seditiousnesse , ver . 11. 8. epicurisme in meats and drinks , ver . 12. 9. hypocrisie . 10. instability . 11. deadnesse and barrennesse to all good fruit , ver . 12. 12. wrathfulnesse . 13. shamefull uncleannesse . 14. levity and inconstancy , ver . 13. 2. threatning them , in generall with woe , ver . 11 , in particular with eternall destruction , ver . 13. 2. by testimonies , 1. of enoch . ver . 14.15 . to which he adds further descriptions of their viciousnesse , ver . 16. 2. of the apostles themselves . v. 17 , 18. where he further describes these heretiques by their separation from church assemblies , by their want of gods spirit . v. 9. 3. hortatory directions by way of remedy , for 1. mutuall edification . 2. prayer , v. 20. 3. love of god , ver . 21. 4. different course to be taken by them in recovering severall persons from seducements , v. 22 , 23. 5. zeale against all impurity , v. 23 iii. conclusion of the whole epistle with adoxology to god , who is able to keep them without spot and blamelesse , &c. v. 24 , 25. iii. the prophetical book , viz. the revelat. the prophetical book of the new testament , prophetically foretelling what shall be the future condition of the church of christ in all ages , to the end of the world , is the revelation of john the divine . this may well be called a propheticall book ; for 1 the holy ghost himselfe divers times stiles it a prophecy , rev. 1.3 . and 7.10 , 18.19 . 2 and the nature of the book is chiefly propheticall , as the series of the book implyes ; and also some passages plainly testify , that it treats of things , which must shortly come to passe , rev. 1.1 . and things which shall be hereafter , rev. 1.19 . title , this book in greek is called [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] i. e. the apocalypse ( or revelation , ) of john the divine ▪ whereby are indigitated to us , both the nature of the book , and the penman of it . nature of the book , a revelation . so called , because it reveals and makes known unto us secret hidden mysteries , and future events . it s true , this revelation , is not without mixture of much intricatenesse and obscurity , ( as all prophecies are enigmaticall and ambiguous to men , till they be effected , but when the time prophecied is come , then they have a more clear , and certaine exposition . so iraen . advers . haeres . l. 4. c. 43. ) and this to exercise the reader to search out the truth , as august . de civitat . dei , l. 20. c. 17. hath well observed . penman or instrumentall author of it , viz. iohn the theologue or divine . what iohn this was , some question . eusebius mentions two iohns , whose monuments were to be seen at ephesus , viz. iohn the evangelist , who wrote the gospel , and 1 epistle of john : and iohn the presbyter , who wrote 2. and 3. epistle of iohn , and the revelation , euseb. eccles. hist. l. 3. c. 39. to him also seems to incline , dionys. alexandrinus in lib. de repromissionibus , but that this is a great mistake , and that iohn the evangelist and apostle was penman of this revelation , may be cleared by these considerations . 1. this title attributes it to iohn the divine . this epithet we read no where to be given to iohn the presbyter , but belongs to iohn the apostle and evangelist , [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] by way of peculiar emphasis , because like an eagle he soares aloft , writes more sublimely of the divinity of iesus christ , both in this book , ( in which d. par●us hath observed xlviii . arguments of christs divinity ) as also in his gospel , iohn 1.1 . &c. and in his 1. epistle . and the king of spaines bible , of montanus edition , hath this greek title before the revelation , [ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ] i. e. the revelation of the holy apostle , and evangelist iohn the divine , which title clears this matter , and is consonant to rev. 1.1 , 2. ( whether it were prefixed by iohn , or after by the church , ) nor is it any way probable that christ sent his angel to any other iohn , then to the apostle with this revelation . 2. iohn the penman of this book is so descr●bed , that iohn the apostle and evangelist seemes plainly to be indigitated , revel . 1.1 , 2. his servant iohn : who bare record of the word of god , and of the testimony of iesus christ. now how notably did iohn beare record of the word of god , and testimony of iesus christ ? see iohn . 1.1.2.14 . and 1 iohn 1 , 1. and 5.9 . compared with revel . 19.13 . 3. the style much resembles that of iohns gospel and epistles . as for instance ; it is peculiar to iohn to stile christ , the word . compare iohn 1.1.14 . 1 iohn 1.1 . and 5.7 . with revel . 1.2 . in his gospell he stiles christ the lamb of god iohn , 1.29.36 . so in the revelation christ is called the lamb at least 28. times . 4 that iohn who wrote this revelation , had it in the i le patmos made known to him , who was there for the name of god and testimony of iesus christ rev. 1.9 . and histories mention no other iohn , but only iohn the apostle to be in patmos . banished thither by domitian the emperour for the gospel's sake , neer to period of his reigne , ( as funccius computes ) about the ninety seventh year after christ. see euseb. hist. eccles. l. 3. c. 16. and 18. 5. to these might be added the harmonious consent of ancient fathers , who unanimously conclude , that iohn the apostle penned this book . dionys. areopag . who was pauls disciple , act. 17. who wrote about the sixtieth year after christ , in those writings ascribed to him , calleth the apocalypse , a secret and mysticall vision of the beloved disciple , dionys. eccles. hierarch . c. 3. iustin martyr , who wrote in the one hundred and fiftieth year after christ , ascribes the apocalypse to iohn , one of the apostles of christ. iustin. in dial. ad tryphon . to which passage eusebius relating , saith , iustin mentions the apocalypse of iohn , plainly saying it is the apostles , euseb. hist. eccles. l. 4. c. 18. irenaeus , who wrote in the eightieth year after christ , saith , and what things soever iohn the disciple of the lord saw in the apocylapse — iraen . advers . haeres ▪ l. 4 c. 50. and l. 4. c. 37. p. 373. a. coloniae 1596. to these might be added the suffrage of many more , as of greek fathers , clem. alexand. paedag. l. 2. c. 12. athanas. in synops. epiphan . haeres . 51.54 , 76. chrysost. hom. 5. in psal. 91. of latin fathers , as tertull. contra marcion l. 4. cyprian . de e●hort . martyr . c. 8.10.11.12 . ambros. in psal 50 & l. 3. de spir . sanct . c. 21. august . de civi● . dei l. 20. c. 7. & de haeres . c. 30. & de doct. christ. l. 2. c. 18. videantur annot. in irenae . l. 5. c. 30. p. 490. colon. 1596. but in so plaine a case these may suffice . so that by all this , it s plainly evident that the penman of the revelation was iohn the apostle , that wrote the gospel , and the epistles . the unfolding of his name , and who he was more particularly , see in annot. to iohn's gospel . authority of this book , is not humane , but divine . for , 1. this book was indited by iesus christ himselfe the faithfull and true witnesse , who sent his angel to testifie the same to iohn the apostle , and by him to the churches . the revelation of iesus christ which god gave unto him , to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to passe ; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant iohn — rev. 1.1 . and towards the close of the book he saith , i iesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches , rev. 22.16 . note , this revelation was given by iohn the apostle to the churches , by an angel to iohn , by iesus christ to that angel , by god to iesus christ : how punctually then is the divine authority of it asserted ? 2. it was penned by iohn the apostle of christ ( who was divinly inspired & acted by the holy ghost ) as hath bin formerly manifested , and therefore it is of divine authority , especially considering that this blessed apostle was commanded by iesus christ to write this book , saying i am alpha and omega , the first and the last : and wh●● thou seest write in a book , — write the things which thou hast s●en , and the things which are , and the thing● which shall b● hereafter , rev. 1.11 19. see also rev. 2.1.8.12.18 . and 3.1 , 7 , 14. and 14.13 . and 19.9 . and 21.5 . 3. the nature of the book imports the divine authority of it . for 1. it is eminently propheticall , speaking of things that shall be hereafter , rev. 1.1 , 19. and 22.7 , 10 , 18 , 19. and the prophecies of this book , are touching future events in reference to the church to the end of the world , till the church , the lambs wife , shall be fully ready for compleat marriage with the lamb , rev. 19.7 , 8 , 9. so that neither ancient writers nor any other , but such as were inspired with a spirit of prophecy from the al-knowing god , could foretell these things to come , isa● . 41.22 . 2. in the propheticall expressions of it , it is consonant to other propheticall books , and gives light to them , daniel , zechariah , especially ezekiel , as in the particulars of eating up the book , rev. 10.9 , 10. with ezek. 2.8 . and 3.3 . of sealing gods promise , rev. 7.2 , 3. with ezek. 9. of the foure living creatures , rev. 4.6 , 7. with ezek. 1.5.6 . of gog and magog , rev. 20.8 . with ezek . 38.2 . and 39.1 . of the measuring of the temple and city , rev. 21.15 . with ezek. 40.3 . &c. of the two olive trees , &c. rev. 11.4 . with zech. 4.3 , 11 , 14. &c. 3. many things foretold in this book prophetically , are fulfilled and come to passe actually , as interpreters have observed in many particulars . therefore this book is of divine authority , ierem. 28.9.4 . promise of explaining how long the idolatrous and tyrannicall kingdome of anti-christ should last , was made to daniel the prophet , dan. 12.4 , 9. which some conceive to be fulfilled in these apocalypticall visions , rev. c. 11. and 12. and 13. and 17. &c. and had not christ under the new testament left his church some propheticall record , for her comfort against the horrid cruelty , idolatry and darknesse of the anti-christian dominion , showing when it should have an end , and how happy at last the church should be , all her enemies being universally made the footstool of the lambe ; she were in a worse condition then under the old testament ; which were absurd . 4. as the holy ghost by moses , the first penman of the canon of the old testament warned the jewes against adding to or diminishing from the word of god , yee shall not adde unto the word which i command you , neither shall you diminish from it , deut. 9.2 . and 12.32 . so by the apostle iohn the last penman of the canon of the new testament , iesus christ warneth all persons that heare the words of this prophecy ; if any man shall adde unto these things , god shall adde unto him the plagues that are written in this book : and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy , god shall take away his part out of the book of life , and out of the holy city , and from the things which are written in this book , rev. 22.18 , 19. by which severe commination , the integrity and divine authority of this book is asserted by christ , against all whom christ foresaw , would either indeavour to infringe the authority of it , or corrupt the purity of it . hereby then the whole divine canon is sealed up , as fully now compleat , and divinely authenticall , after which we are to expect no more scripture from god. 5. the generall current of best antiquity , except some few particular persons , and divers of them guilty of such heresies as this book condemnes , hath embraced this book , and accounted it of divine authority . as those formerly cited , to prove iohn the apostle to be penman of it , and many more that might be enumerated . as that ancient ancyran councel , held before the nicene . in append. as also the third councell of carthage , can. 47. cyprian frequently alledges the revelation among the other canonicall bookes , as de exhort . martyrum , c. 8. c. 11. c. 12. testimon . advers . iudaeos l. 2. c. 1. sect. 3.6 , 11. &c. 6. the cavils and objections , against the divine authority of this book , reckoned up by erasmus or others , how weak and unsatisfactory they are , may appeare in severall writers , who have confuted them . especially vid. bez. prolegom . in apocylaps . ioannis . and gerh. loc . com. de scrip . sac . in exeges . cap. 10. sect. 294. ad sin . cap. excellency of this book is most considerable for , 1. the conveyance of it at first to the church is singular . from god to iesus christ ; from iesus christ to an angel ; from the angel to iohn , whom jesus peculiarly loved above all his apostles and disciples , rev. 1.1 . and this to iohn when in exile for christ in the isle patmos ; and that not on a common day ▪ but on the lords day , the queen of dayes ; and ●o iohn in patmos , on the lords day , not in an ordinary but extraordinary composure and elevation of his soule , when he was in the spirit , caught up ( as it were ) and transported in an holy extasie and spirituall rapture , that he might the more attend to these mysteries revealed , and have more immediate un-interrupted communion with jesus christ the revealer , rev. 1 , 9 , 10. &c. what can all this import , but some singularly eminent treasure for the church in this book , whereby the church in her deepest tribulation , may be ( with iohn ) spiritually intransed and ravished with many surpassing grounds of joy , and consolation ? 2. the stile is stately and sublime , and may wonderfully take the highest notion ; the expressions quick , piercing and patheticall , and may pleasingly penetrate the dullest affection . the whole contexture is so full of divine majesty , that it commands an awfull reverence in all gracious hearts that read it . 3. the matter of it is most heavenly and spirituall , and that in exceeding great variety , notably describing the divinity of christ , his offices and the benefits of them , clearly pointing out anti-christs seate , tyranny , rise , growth , power , acts and fall , and most lively delineating the churches condition , what it was in the primitive times after christ , and what it should be afterwards till the worlds end ; how sad , yet s●fe under anti-christs dominion ; how sweet and happy after anti-christs destruction ; how comfortable at the day of judgement ; and how glorious in heaven with iesus christ for evermore . what saint would not thirst much to read and here , more to understand , but most of all to enjoy these things ? some of them are laid downe most mystically in abstruse visions , to exercise the judgements of the wisest ; some more familiarly to succour the infirmity even of the weakest . in some places the lamb may wade , in others the elephant may swim . those prevent contempt , these anticipate discouragement . ioao●imus abbas prefers this prophecy , before the prophecy of all other prophets . beza saith , that those things in other prophets , which were not fulfilled after christs coming , the holy spirit hath heaped them all together in this precious book , and also added others so farre as was needfull or usefull for the church to know them , bez. prolegom . in apoc. oecolampadius cals this book , the best paraphrast of all the prophets . ioh. oecolamp . praefat. in dani●l . hierome saith , apocalypsis tot habet sacramenta quot verba . parum dixi , pro merito voluminis , laus omnis inferior est ; in verbis singulis multiplices latent intelligentiae , i. e. the revelation hath as many mysteries as words . it s but a little i say , all praise is too low for the merit of this volume ; manifold understandings lie hid in every word . hieron . in epist. ad paulin. 4. the book it selfe is compleat , capable of no addition or detraction , but upon severest penalties , rev. 22.18.19 . 5. the penman eminent , viz. john that beloved disciple , that sweet compound of love . it was moses his honour who was gods peculiar favourite , to be penman of the first book of the old testament . and it was iohn's honour who was christs peculiar favourite , to be penman of the last book of the new testament ; oh what divine love and favour is made known unto the church , in all the volumes between the armes of these two favourites ! 6. finally , god counts them blessed soules , that read , heare and keepe the words of this prophecy . blessed is he that readeth , and they that heare the words of this prophecy , and keep these things that are written therein , rev. 1.3 . a blessed book , that renders them blessed , who are practically versed in it . the time when this revelation was written , was when iohn was banished into the i le that is called patmos , for the word of god , and for the testimony of iesus christ , rev. 1.9.10 . iohn was banished into patmos , by that cruell persecutor domitian , in the fourteenth yeare of his reigne , saith hieron . catal . illustr . vir . in vit . ioan. domitian reigned in all but fifteen years , as helvic . observes , and his fourteenth yeare was in the ninety fourth yeare after christ , helvic . in chronol ▪ in the ninety sixth after christ , saith pareus prolegom . in apocal. c. 5. this book is conceived to be written after all the books of the new testament . occasion of this revelation seemes to be this . iohn being banished into the i le patmos , rev. 1.9 , 10. doubtless gave himselfe to prayer , and sacred meditations about the affairs of christ and his church , whereupon iesus christ appeared to his beloved disciple , in a spirituall ravishment , showing him what was his pleasure , both touching the present churches of asia , and touching his whole church to the end of the world ; thus comforting him : and commanding iohn to write his visions , for the comforting of them . scope of this book is , generally , to make knowne by iohn unto the churches both the things that then were , and that should be thereafter , rev. 1.19 . particularly . 1 to informe the church of the many sharp conflicts she should have with satan and his instruments , especially hereticks , persecuting tyrants , and anti-christ himselfe , that so she might not dream only of halcyon dayes , but might prepare more and more for the worst of stormes ▪ 2 to discover and point out in lively colours that grand anti-christ , that the church might run and read , and most infallibly know who he is . 3 as also to support and comfort the church and all the faithfull , over all their tribulations , with the hopes of the utter overthrow of anti-christ and all their enemies ; of their owne joyfull triumphs over them ; and of the happy condition which the church shall afterwards enjoy , partly in this world , but chiefly in the world to come . though this book be most obscure and intricate , yet these things may somewhat facilitate the understanding of i● , if we shall , 1. keep the maine scope of the book , still in our eye . 2. compare the passages and phrases of the revelation , with those of other prophecies , as rev. 11.4 . with zech. 4.3 , 11 , 14. rev. 10.9 , 10. with ezek. 2.8 . and 3.3 . — rev. 4.6 , 7 , 8. with ezek. 1.5 , 6 , 7 , 8. — rev. 20.8 . with ezek. 18.2 . and 39.1 . — rev. 21.15 . with ezek. 40.3 . &c. 3. parallel with this prophecy , the subsequent histories after iohn's time , the histories of the roman empire and church , which testify clearly what cruelty and persecutions the romane emperours successively raised up against christians : with what subtilty and fraud the b. of rome did by degrees , ( through the folly , cowardise , negligence , &c. of the emperours , ) step up into their throne , and subjugate not onely rome , the seate of the empire , but also the whole empire it selfe to his dominion and pleasure , whence we may derive not a little light , to see what is meant by the opening of the seals . the stars falling from heaven to earth . the beast speaking great and blasphemous things . the beast and false prophet . the image of the beast . and the whore riding upon the beast with seven heads and ten hornes , and ruling in the city on the seven hils , &c. 4. consider prudently the experience of later and present times ; how accurately doth the description of the beast and scarlet whore agree , to the papacy ? of the locusts , to the romane clergy , and of the frogs comming out of the mouth of the dragon , the beast and the false prophet , to the iesuites and romane emissaries , compassing sea and land , and creeping into kings palaces , to gather them together , to the warre of the great day of god almighty . 5. finally , if we shall diligently read , meditate and pray , that the holy spirit , who revealed these things to iohn , would reveale their sense and meaning to us , these things may help us to untie many knots , and render many difficulties easie . principall parts . in the book of revelation are chiefly considerable , 1 the preface , 2 the substance of the book , and 3 the conclusion . the preface , which is ● . generall , in reference to the whole prophecy , noting the matter , author , penman , and profit of this book , c. 1. ver . 1 , 2 , 3. 2. speciall or particular , in reference to the seven churches of asia minor , and in them to the whole catholick church , figured by them , wherein are , 1. a nomination of persons writing and written to . 2. the salutation . 3. and a glorious description of jesus christ , ver . 4. to 9. the substance or body of this propheticall book . c. 1. v. 9. to c. 22. v. 6. wherein is contained a narration of the state of the church . i. militant on earth . c. 1. v. 9. to c. 20. v. 11. ii. triumphant in heaven , c. 20. v. 11. to c. 22. v. 6. the condition of the church militant is declared 1. for present , what it was when iohn wrote the revelation , c. 1. v. 9. to c. 4. v. 1. 2. for future , what it should be till the judgement day . c. 4. v. 1. to c. 20. v. 11. i. uision . i. touching the state of the church then present . viz. the asian churches principally ; are laid downe two things , viz. 1. a preparation to the discovery of it , by a vision of seven golden candlesticks and seven starres . this is iohn's first vision . and here we have a description , both of iohn who had the vision : as also of the vision it selfe ; both in respect of the 1 forme of it . the 2 effect it had upon iohn , and the 3 consequents ensuing thereupon . viz. the comforting of john , command to write the vision , and the interpretation of the vision , c. 1. v. 9. to the end of the chapter . 2. a narration or description of the condition of christs church then present , and this in seven distinct epistles , directed to the seven angels of those seven asian churches . viz. 1. of ephesus , c. 2. v. 1. to 8. 2. of smyrna , c. 2. v. 8. to 12. 3. of pergamus , c. 2. v. 12. to 18. 4. of thyatira , c. 2. v. 18. to the end of the chapter . 5. of sardis , c. 3 , 1. to 7. 6. of philadelphia , c. 3. v. 7. to 14. 7. of laodicea , c. 3. v. 14. to the end of the chapter ▪ in all which seven epistles ▪ the same method is generally observed by the spirit of christ , viz. every epistle , containing 1. a description of jesus christ , suitable to the vision of him , in c. 1. formerly . 2. a narratio● of the good commendable ; or evill condemnable in the angel of every church , and so in every church . 3. promises or threats , proportionable to their vertues or vices , 4. hortatory conclusions , inciting to attention , ii. touching the state of the church for the future , especially the european churches , this is insisted upon more largely and more mystically . which in sum amounts to thus much , viz. to pre-monish the church of her great tribulations in this world , 1 by persecuting tyrants , 2 then by persecuting hereticks , 3 at length by anti-christs most cruell oppressions both corporall and spirituall . against all which the holy-ghos● intermingles many comforts to the church , as that 1 god will be with her in all her distresses and not forsake her . 2 her troubles shall not be endlesse , nor over-long . 3. her enemies shall all of them at last be utterly destroyed . 4. the church shall at last be set in a safe and happy condition in this world , but especially in the world to come . now all these things are laid down visionally , in six other visions , remarkably distinct from one another , viz. ii. vision . c. 4 , 5 , 6 , 7. iii. vision . c. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , iiii. vision . c. 12 , 13 , 14. v. vision . c. 15 , 16. vi. vision . c. 17 , 18 , 19. vii . vision . c. 20 , 21 , 22. to v. 6. all which visions seem to be comprized in two distinct prophecies , or systemes of visions , parallel and contemporary to one another . both revealing the mysteries for substance , but the later proceeding more punctually to particulars , as some are of opinion ; others rather think the former prophecy comprehends the destinies of the romane empire , under seven seals and seven trumpets ; the later prophecy , the destinies of the church , or of christian religion . the i. prophecy beginning with the b. sealed with 7. seals c. 4. v. 1. ending c. 11. ii. prophecy , beginning c. 12. v. 1. ( yet so as to take in some passages mentioned in the fifth trumpet , as the little book , the measuring of the temple , the outer court , the two witnesses ) continuing to the end of the book . now the sober considering , and wise comparing of these two distinct prophecies with one another , may ( as some think , ) singularly serve to clear many difficulties throughout this book , ii. uision . the i. prophecy beginneth . the state of the church future is revealed to john , in a mysterious vision of a book sealed with seven seals , ( all the particular mysteries in which book , what man on earth can certainly and infallibly open , unlesse he had iohn's apocalypticall key ? ) here consider the i. preparatorys to the opening of the seals , viz. 1. the vision of god sitting upon a glorious throne in heaven , c. 4. wherein are ● . the transition to this vision , v. 1. 2. the description of god enthroned in heaven , v. 2 , 3. 3. em●le●es of majesty about the throne , viz. 1 twen●y ●oure elders , 2 lightnings , thunders , voices , 3 seven lamps , i. e. the seven spirits of god , 4 a sea of glasse , 5 foure living creatures , 6 the songs of prayse , presented to him that sate on the throne by the foure beasts , and ●●enty foure elders , vers . 4. to the end of the chapter . 2. the vision of a book , in the hand of him that sate on the throne , sealed with seven seales , c. 5. here note 1. the sealed book described , v. 1. 2. the inability of all creatures to open the book , v. 2 , 3 , 4. 3. the lambs ability to open it , who stood before the throne , v. 5 , 6 , 7. 4. the foure beasts and twenty foure elders gratulation , with adoration to the lamb for opening it ▪ vers . 8. to the end of the chapter . ii. the opening of the seven seals themselves in order , c. 6 , 7 , 8. in the opening of which seals is revealed to iohn , what shall be the future state of the church of god , from that time to the end of the world . in the seventh of which seales are brought in seven trumpets ; & in the seventh of which trumpets , are brought in seven vials of the wrath of god , full of the seven last plagues . more particularly consider here the i. seale opened , where 1 the attention required , 2 the matter revealed in it , viz. a white horse &c. c. 6. verse 1.2 . ii. seale opened , where 1 attention called for . 2 the mystery revealed , a red horse , &c. c. 6. v. 3.4 . iii. seale opened , where 1 attention is incited . 2 the mystery revealed , a black horse , his rider having ballances in his hand , a spirituall famine threatned , c. 6. v. 5 , 6. iv. seale opened , where 1 attention is stirred up 2 matter revealed , a pale horse and his rider death , hell following , &c. c. 6. ver . 7.8 . v. seale opened , where note 1 what was seen , soules under the altar , martyred . 2. what these soules did , cryed for vengeance . 3. what they obtained , 1 white robes for present , 2 promise of compleat glory with their fellow martyrs , c. 6. v. 9.10.11 . vi. seale opened , setting forth god● dreadfull judgements upon the enemies of the church , for their bloody cruelties exercised to death upon the saints , as was intimated in the fifth seale . here are considerable , 1. the signes seen by iohn , viz. a great earthquake , the sunne became black , &c. c. 6 , v. 12 , 13 , 14. 2. the things signified , viz. kings , great men , &c i. e. all sorts and degrees of persecutors , in horrour and despaire at their vvits ends , by reason of gods judgements coming upon them from christ so terribly , as if the very judgement-day were come , c. 6. vers . 15.16.17 . iii. uision . vii . seale opened . here consider 1 preparatories to it , 2 mysterious contents of it . 1. preparatories to it , are in c. 7. fore-arming the church with previous consolations against all ensuing miseries that were to come upon it : against which evils the holy ghost here comforts the church . 1. by that security , which the angel of god , sealing the servants of god in their foreheads , shall afford them in midst of troubles , c. 7 , 1. to 9. 2. by that triumphant victory , which after their great tribulation , all the faithfull shall have over all their miseries and enemies , c. 7. v. 9. to the end of the chapter . 2. mysteries revealed in the opening of this seventh seale ; being farre more , and those more intricate to understand , then in the opening of any of the other six seals . events following the opening of the seventh seale , are either i. preparatory , as 1. silence in heaven for halfe an houre , portending great things to follow , c. 8.1 . 2. vision of seven angels with seven trumpets , v. 2. 3. vision of another angel , and his actions , viz. offering up of incense ; and casting the fire of the altar into the earth , c. 8. v. 3. 4 , 5. 4. preparation of the seven angels to sound their trumpets v. 6. ii. executory , viz. the angels actuall sounding of their seven trumpets . c. 8. v. 7. &c. to c. 12.1 . i. trumpet sounded , where consider , 1. the signe following ▪ haile and fire mingled with bloud cast upon the earth , 2 the effect thereof , viz. the third part of trees burnt , &c. c. 8. v. 7. ii. trumpet sounded , where 1. the signe following , viz. a great mountaine burning with fire cast into the sea . 2. the effect ensuing , the third part of the sea became blood , &c. c. 8. v. 8.9 . iii. trumpet sounded , where , 1. the signe ensuing thereupon . a great star fell from heaven — called worm-wood , 2. the effects thereof , viz. the third part of the waters became bitter , and many died of them , c. 8. v. 10 , 11. iv. trumpet sounded , where 1. the signe . viz. the third part of sun , moon and stars smitten . 2. the effects thereupon . viz. day and night shone not for a third part , c. 8. v. 12. here is annexed ( by way of preparatory transition to the other three trumpets , ) john's vision of an angel flying through the midst of heaven , denouncing three woes by reason of the three last trumpets , c. 8 , 13. i. woe . v. trumpet sounded , where note 1. the signe appearing , viz. a starre falling from heaven to earth . 2. the foure effects of this starre falling , viz. he opens the bottomlesse pit , thence raiseth up smoake . darkens sunne and aire with the smoake , and brings locusts unto the earth out of the smoake , which locusts are variously and notably described . 3. the conclusion shutting up the calamities of this trumpet , and forewarning of them that follow , c. 9. 1. to 13. ii. woe . vi. trumpet sounded , c. 9. v. 13. to the end of the chapter . herein consider , 1. the command to loose the foure angels bound in euphrates , v. 13 , 14. 2. execution of this command , v. 15. 3. the description of the large army of euphratean horses and horsemen , v. 15 , 16 , 17. 4. the calamitous effects wrought by them , v. 18 , 19 , 20 , 21. vii . trumpet , concerning which note . 1. preparatories to it . 2. sounding of it . i. preparatoryes to it ( it being the trumpet of highest concernment , because when that shall be sounded , the mystery of god shall be finished ▪ as he hath declared to his servants the prophets , c. 10 , 7. ) are very largely premised , c. 10 , 1 , to c. 11.15 . which seems principally to be consolatory to the church , against all her former and future tribulations , and this by the vision of a mighty angel come down from heaven , viz. jesus christ himselfe the angel of the covenant . touching whom here are , 1. the angels description , c. 10. ver . 1. 2. the angels actions , 1. held a little book in his hand , 2. set his right foot on the sea , his left on the land . 3. roared as a lyon ; 7. thunders ecchoing again . 4. swore that time should be no more , but when the 7 th angel should sound , the mystery of god should be finished , c. 10. v. 2. to 8. 3. the angels commands to john , 1. to eate the little book in the angels hand , that he might prophecy ▪ c. 10.8 , 9 , 10 , 11. 2. to measure the temple , altar , and worshippers , but not the court ; for it should be trodden under foot of the gentiles 42. moneths , c. 11. v. 1 , ● . 4. the angels promises concerning his two winesses , and their prophecy , and how after they shall be killed by the beast upon the finishing of their testimony . they shall againe revive , c. 11. v. 3. to 14. thus the second woe is ended , and the third hastneth , v. 14. iii. woe . ii. sounding of the seventh trumpet , wherein the mystery of god is finished . and the churches miseries ended , c. ● 1. v. 15. to the end of the chap. where consider , i. things heard in heaven , viz. 1. great voyces , saying ▪ the kingdomes of this world are become the lords , and his christs , &c. ver . 15. 2. the triumphant song or gratulation of the 24. elders unto god , for honouring himselfe , and for the coming of his judgement to reward the saints , and destroy the earth , ver . 16. 17 , 18. ii things seene &c. in gods temple opened in heaven , viz. 1. the saints rewards , the ark of his testament , i. e. jesus christ. 2. the wickeds rewards , lightnings , voices , thundrings , earthquakes and great haile , ver . 19. the former prophecy endeth . iv. uision the ii prophecy beginneth . hitherto of the i. prophecy , or systeme of visions , denoting ( as is thought by some ) more especially the condition of the last empire viz. the romane : now to the ii prophecy or systeme of visions , ( contemporary with the former both in the seales and trumpets ) foretelling chiefly the future condition of the church till the judgement day . herein chiefly are set down , 1. the tribulations and persecutions of the church by severall enemies . 2. the deliverance of the church by her enemies destruction . 3. the happy condition of the church , upon her deliverance . though the common opinion of interpreters ( who take not any notice of 2 contemporary prophesies , and their synchronismes , but judge these visions to be one continued prophecy , ) bring all that followes under the seventh trumpet , thus . viz. the sounding of the seventh trumpet is propounded , i. summarily , c. 11.15 . to the end of the chap. ii. plenarily , and this either , 1. by way of recognition and fuller explaining of the former seales and trumpets , in a digression , c. 12 , 13 , 14. 2. by way of prediction of things future under the seventh trumpet more largely , c. 15 , 16 , 17 , &c. for substance these will come much to one . ( but le ts follow the former . ) i. the persecutions of the church by severall enemies greatly distressing her in this whole fourth vision , c. 12. ver . 1. to c. 15. ver . 1. more particularly here note , i. the persecution of the woman that brought forth the man-child , viz. both jesus christ , and the primitive church of the jewes ( as some are of opinion ) even from her infancy ; and this by dragon , i. e , ( as is expounded c. 12. ver . 9. ) satan ▪ c. 12. v. 1. to 17. ii. the dragons persecution of , and making war with the remnant of her seed . viz. ( as some thinke ) with the church of the gentiles , where consider , 1. the dragons resolution and endeavours thus to persecute , c. 12. v. 17. 2 , the instruments of persecution , incited and imployed by the great red dragon , viz. 1. the beast rising up out of the sea having seaven heads and ten hornes , c. 13. ver . 1. to 11. 2. the beast rising out of the earth , having two hornes like a lambe , and speaking as a dragon , &c. c. 13. ver . 11. to the end of the chap. 3. the event of this persecution , viz. the saints victory through their constant and faithfull confession of christ even to martyrdom , this their victory being exellently amplifyed by the causes , and effects of it , c. 14. 1. to the end of the chap. v. uision . ii. the deliverance of the church , by the destruction of her enemies represented in the vision of the 7. vials full of the wrath of god , the 7. last plagues , poured out upon the eart● by 7. angels , here are , the i. preparatories to the pouring out of the vials c. 15 , throughout . ii. pouring out of the vials of the wrath of god upon the earth , c. 16.1 . &c. viz. i. vial poured out , c. 16. ver . 2. ii. vial poured out , v. 3. iii. vial poured out , v. 4. to 8. iv. vial poured out , v. 8 , 9. v. vial poured out , v. 10 , 11. vi. vial poured out , v. 12. to 17. vii . vial poured out , c. 16. this pouring out of the vii . vial , is laid down , 1. more summarily , 2. more plenarily . i. more summarily & compendiously c. 16. ver . 17. to the end of the chap. vi uision . ii. more plenarily and copiously , c. 17 , 18 , 19 , & 20 to ver . 11. wherin divers mysteries are most lively explicated , which formerly were heretofore more obscurely mentioned . notably pointing out the rise , seate , reigne , vassals , successe , and at last the fatall ruine of anti-christ and all the churches enemies . so that this part affords no small light to the prophetick part of the revelation . here consider , 1. the judgement of the great whore . 2. the event thereupon . i. the judgement of the great whore c. 17 , 18 , 19. where are , 1. a notable description of the great whore , that is to be judged ; by visionall representation , c. 17.1 . to 7. by real explanation therof , v. 7. to 16. 2. the instruments that shall destroy the whore. viz. the ten hornes , which are ten kings , &c. c. 17. ver . 16 , 17 , 18. 3. the emphatical promulgation of the woful ruine of babylon , the seate of the great whore , this is done by three angels , 1. the first angel declares the inevitable certainty of babylons ruine , c. 18..1 , 2 , 3. 2. the second warning all god's people to come out of her , sets forth the grievousnesse of her destruction , with the sad lamentations of all her friends and vassals , ver . 4. to 21. 3. the third angel , under the type of a great milstone cast into the sea , as it were seales up the irrecoverablenesse of her ruine , ver . 21 , 22 , 23 , 24. 4. the gratulatory exaltations of the heavenly company 1 for the judgement of the whore , 2 for the preparation of the lamb's wife for marriage with him , c. 19. ver . 1. to 11. 5. the finall and totall conquest of the lamb and his armies , over the beast and false prophet , and the kings of the earth and their armies , c. 19. v. 11. to the end of the chap. hitherto of the judgement of the great whore. vii . or last uision . ii. the event following after the judgement of the great whore ; which is chiefly three-fold , 1. the safety of the saints ( surviving the ruine of babylon ) from the seducements of the dragon , the devil and satan , being chained up 1000 yeares , c. 20.1.2 , 3. 2. the reviving of the martyrs , and raigning with christ 1000. yeares , the rest of the dead not living again till the 1000. yeares were finished , c , 20. v. 4 , 5 , 6. 3. the saints miraculous deliverance from , and victory over gog and magog ; ( satan , after the 1000. yeares expired , being loosed out of prison . ) c. 20. v. 7. to 11. hitherto ( as is conceived ) hath been revealed the future state of the church as militant on earth . the condition of the church as triumphant in heaven , is described both in respect of the 1. inchoation ▪ and 2. duration of it . 1. the inchoation or beginning of the churches triumph , shall be at the last and generall judgement : which is pathetically described , c. 20. v. 11. to the end of the chapt . 2. the duration or continuance of it ; viz. eternal happinesse in heaven , which is most gloriously set forth , c. 21. throughout &c. 22. ver . 1. to 6. the conclusion of this whole prophecy ; which is either , 1. principal , containing a confirmation of the whole prophecy of this revelation , by the testimony , 1. of the angel , by whom the lord shewed these things to john , c. 22. v. 6. 2. of christ himselfe , who gave this revelation , ver . 7. 3. of iohn that received this revelation , ver . 8 , 9. 4. of christ againe , ver . 10 to 18. 5. of iohn denouncing heavie judgements upon all that shall adde to , or take from this prophecy , ver . 18 , 19. 6. of christ testifying these things , promising his speedy coming ; amplified by iohn's earnest request in his own and the churches behalfe , ver . 20. 2. lesse principall , containing the apostolicall salutation to all the 7. churches and faithfull saints to whom this revelation was written , ver . 21. he that testifieth these things , saith ; i come quickly . amen . even so , come lord jesus . rev. 22.20 . d. bernard . medit. devot . c. 4. praemium est videre deum , vivere cum deo , vivere de deo ; esse cum deo esse , in deo , quierit omnia in omnibus : habere deum qui est summum bonum . et ubi est summum bonum , ibi est summa felicitas , summa jucunditas , vera libe●tas , perfecta charitas , aeterna securitas , & secura aeternitas : ibi est vera laetitia , plena scientia , omnis plenitudo , & omnis beatitudo . sic cum deo homo beatus erit , in cujus conscientia peccatum inventum non fuerit . videbit deum ad voluntatem , habebit ad voluptatem , fruetur ad jucunditatem . in aeternitate vigebit , in veritate fulgebit , in bonitate gaudebit . 1 tim. 1.17 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . the holy scriptures are contained in the books of the old & new testament . i. the books of the old testament , are i moses . he wrote the law of god in five books called the pentateuch i. e. the-five fold-volumne . these books according to the greek are called genesis . exodus . leviticus . numbers . deuteronomie . ii. the prophets , their books are either i. historicall ; containing the history , of 1. israel's entrance into the promised land , viz. — ioshua . 2 israels condition and government after their entrance into canaan , 1 ●efore their carrying away into babylon , either under 1. iudges . and here we have ●he 1. generall hist. iudges . 2. particular hist. ruth . 2 kings , and this as th● stat● of the kingdome was i. vnited under kings by 1. election . i. samuel . 2. succession . ii. samuel . ii. divided , and that according to the 1. beginnings of this division , in i. kings . 2. progresse of this division , in ii. kings . iii. vnited and divided , as in i. chronicles . ii. chronicles . 2. after their captivity ; here their returne from captivity is declared , according to the 1. truth and manner of it , in ezra . 2. fruit and event of it , in nehemiah . 3. vnder their captivity in babylon , and elsewhere ; in esther . ii. doctrinall , or poeticall containing doctrines , 1. of more speciall reference to a particular person , viz. — iob. 2. of more generall reference to all sorts of persons , in 1. dauid● book , principally penned by him , viz. psalmes . 2. solomons books which are , either 1. proverbiall . — proverbes . 2. penitentiall . — ecclesiastes . 3. nuptiall , viz. song of songs . iii. prophetical written either by , the 1. greater prophets who wrote , either 1. before the captivity of babylon , viz. isaiah , ieremiah , lamentations . 2. neer● upon , and under the captivity , viz. ezekiel daniel 2. lesser prophets , who prophesied and wrote , either 1. before israel's transportation into babylon , viz hosea ioel amos obadiah ionab micah nahum habakkuk zephaniah . 2. afte● israels returne from babylons captivity . viz. haggai zechariah malachi . ii. the books of the new testament , see in the table , at p. 140. ☞ the bookes of the new-testament , are either i. historicall , describing unto us the history of 1. christ the head of the church ; whose genealogy , birth , life doctrine , miracles , d●ath and resurrection , are recorded by foure evangelists . matthew . marke . luke . iohn . 2. the church , christs body , whose primitive plantatio● , state and augmentation both among jewes and gentiles , is delcared in the acts of the apostles . ii. epistolicall , as all the epistles written by the apostles , either 1. to believing gentiles , as pauls epistles , 1 generall , which paul wrote unto whole churches about matters of generall and publ●ke concernment , as ●he epistles to the romanes . i. corinthians . ii. corinthians . galatians ephesians philippians colossians i. thessalonians ii. thessalonians . 2 particular , to particular persons touching 1 publique ecclesiasticall affaires , as the epistles to i. timothy . ii. timothy . titus . 2. private oeconomicall affaires , as his epistle to philemon . 2. to the believing iewes , as it is probable al these epistles were , viz. 1 the epistle ( probably written by paul ) to the hebrewes . 2. the 7. epistles commonly called , generall , or the catholique epistles of iames. — iames peter . i. peter ii. peter . iohn general . — i. iohn . particular . ii. iohn iii. iohn iude. — iude , iii. propheticall , foretelling what shall be the future state and condition of the church of christ to the end of the world , written by iohn , the apost . viz. the revelation ▪ notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a57377-e270 a john ● . 39 . b col. 3.16 . c psal , 40.8 , d ●sal . 119.1 . e august . sacrae scripturae tuae sunt sanctae delitiae meae . f longâ & assiduâ meditatione scripturarum pectus suum fecerat bibliothecam christi . hier. epistola ad heliod . in epitaphium nepotiani . g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . pezelii mellificium historicum in vita iuliani . h 1 pet. 1.21 , i 1 sam ▪ 21.9 . k 2 tim. 3.15 , 16. l psal. 1.1 , 2. m ps. 116.92 . n psal. 119.105 . o eph. 6.13 . p jam. 4.6 . q ps 25.9 . r psal. 119.18 . s 2 pet. 3.16 . t job . 7.17 . u rev. 3.7 . x luk. ●● . 45 . notes for div a57377-e1270 a act. 7.38 . b chrysost : in gal. hom. 1. c chrysost. in ep. ad col. hom. 9. d job . 23.12 . e rom. 7.22 . f psal. 19.9 . & 119.103 g psal. 119.162 . h ps. 119.72 . i psal. 119.14 . k psal. 119 111. l psal. 119.24 . m psal. 119.50 . n psal. 119.20 . o psal. 1.1 , 2. p august . de civit. dei l. 20. c. 32. prope fin . q act. 8.30.31 . r 2 pet. 3.16 . s 2 tim. 3.16 . t rom. 3.2 . u col. 3.16 . x act. 28.25 . y 2 pet. 1.21 . z psal. 19.7 , 9. a psal. 19.7 . and 2 tim 3.16 , 17. b psal. 19.8 . c psal. 119.140 . d numb . 12.3 . e exod. 33.11 . f deut. 34.10 . g psal 99.6 . jer. 15.1 . with 1 sam. 7.9 , 10. & 12.16 , 17 , 18. h act. 13.22 . i 1 king. 3.12 . neh. 13.26 . k 2 sam. 7.13 . l dan. 9.12 . m dan. 2.25 , 28 , 30 , 47. n joh. 13.23 . o joh. 21.7 , 20. p 2 cor. 12.2 , 3 , 4. q chrysost. de sacerd . l. 4. r 2 pet. 1.21 . s gen. 17.1 . t ●am . 1.17 . u psal 90.2 . & 102.26 , 27. x 1 king. 8.27 . jer. 23.24 . y psal. 139.1 , 12. z psal 147. ● . a deut. 6.4 . 1 cor. 8.6 . b 1 joh. 5 7. c rom. 8.29 , 30. eph. 1.4 , 5 , 6. d is. 9.6 . e 1 tim. 2.5 . and 3.16 . f jer. 31.31 . to 3● . heb. 8.8 . &c. g 1 tim. 4.8 . h 2 pet. 1.4 . i 2 cor. 1.3 , 4 , 5. psal. 94.19 . k rom. 7.12 . l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chrysost. in coloss. homil . 9. omnis scriptura divinitùs inspirata , utilis est ad docendum : h●c ipsa de causa a spiritu sancto scripta est , ut veluti ex communi quodam sanitatis fonte , omnes nobis ex hac remedia propriis p●ssionibus asssumamus aug. in psalm . pro. egom . m eph. 6 , 17 ▪ n adoro scripturae plenitudinem . tertull . advers . hermogen . p auferantur de medio chartae nostrae , procedat in medium codex dei : audi christum dicentem , audi veritatem loquentem . august enarrat . in psal. 57. * sacra scriptura est liber vit●e cujus origo eaterna , cujus incorporalis essentia , cujus cognitio vita , cujus scriptura indelebilis , cujus inspectus desiderabilis , cujus doctrina facilis , cujus scientia dulcis , cujus profunditas inscrutabilis , cujus verba innumerabili● ; & unum tantum verbum , omni● . hug. de arc. no● . q 1 tim. 1.17 . r psal. 147 5. s rom 11.33 . t ioh. 1.5 . u humana omnia dicta argumentis & testibus egent : dei autem sermo ipse sibitestis est . quia necesse est quicquid incorrupta veritas loquitur , incorruptum sit testimonium veritatis . salvian . de gubern . dei. l. 3. x deus in scripturis quasi amicus familiaris loquitur ad cor doctorum & indoctorum . august . epist. 3 y 2 pet. 3.16 . z magnisicè & salubriter spiritus sanctus ita scripturas sanctas modificavit , ut locis apertioribus , fami occurrerer , obscurio●ibus fastidia de●orgerer . nihil enim fere de illis obscuritatibus eruitur , quod non pla●●ssimè . dictum alibi reperiatur . aug. de doct. christ. l. 2. c. 6. in omni copia scripturarum sanctarum , pascimur apertis , e●ercemur obscuris : illic fame● pellitur , h●c fastidium . augdo verb. dom. serm. 11. a verbi dei altitudo exercet studium , non denegat intellectum . si enim omnia clausa essent , nihil esset unde revelarentur obscura . rursus si omnia tecta essent , non esset unde alimentum anima perciperet , & haberet vires quibus posset ad clausa pulsare . august . de verb. apostoli . serm. 13. c. 1. ad init . tom. 10. b 2 tim. 3.16 , 17. c lapidandi sunt haeretici sacrarum literarum argumentis . athan . cont. ari. or. 2 haeretici sunt luci●ugae scripturarum . tertull. de resur . carnis . d rom. 15.4 . e ioh. 5.39 . f col. 3.16 . g 2 tim. 3.15 . h act. 18.24 . i act. 17.11 k psal. 1.1 , 2. l heb. 5.13 . m mark 12.24 . mat. 21.29 . n chrysost hom. de lazar. o chrysost. in epist. ad coloss. hom 9. p qui nescit scripturas , nescit dei virturem , ejus que sapientiam ▪ ignoratio scripturarum ignoratio christi est . hieron in proem . isa● . q joh. 13 . 1● r act. 8.28 29. &c. s tit. 1.11 t verus cibus & potus qui ex verbo dei sumitur , scientia scripturarum est . hicron . in eccle. c. 3. u congrua de testimoniis scripturarum ligna quae●entes , aedificemus domum sapien●ae in nobis . hicronym . in aggeum . ● . 1. x negant plerique nostros secundum artem scripsisse . nec nos obnitimur non enim secundum artem scripserunt sed secundum gratiam , quae super omnem artem est . ( scripserunt enim quae spiritus iis loqui dabat ) sed tamen ii qui de arte scripserunt , de eorum . scriptis artem invenerunt ; & condiderunt commenta artis & magisteria , &c. ●mbr . ep. l. 8. epist. lxiii . y jam. 1.5 . z john 4.11 . a 1 cor. 13.9 . b ego cupio intrare in domūtuam , i. e. ecclesiam & volo intrare per viam tuam rectam . quae est ista via ? lectio scripturarum . dirige viam meam ne in scripturis ●uis per quas ingredi cupio in ecclesiam tuam , corruam . omnis qui ●alè intelligit scripturas , in via dei corruit . hi●ron . in ps. 5. c rev. 3.18 . d luk. 24.45 . e ps. 119.18 . f nunquam pauli sensum ingredieris , nisi pauli spiritum imbiberis . bernard ad ●ratr . de mont. g heb. 10.32 , 33 , 34 h 1 john 2.27 . i psal. 25.12 , 14. k joh. 14.21 , 22 , 23. l 1 cor. 2.14.15 , 16. m 1 cor. 8.2 . n deo meo gratias ago , quod ignorantiam meam non igno . pro ; said one . o prov. 3.34 ●am 4.6 & 1 pet. 5.5 . p pro. 11.2 . q psal. 25.9 . r matth. 11.25 . s homines clatos , superbos , qui suo judicio praesentes sunt , & proprio ingenio multum tribuunt , non assequi legitimum scripturae sensum ▪ &c. becanus . t psal. 1.2 . u col. 3.16 . x josh. 1.8 . y deut. 6.6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. z rom. 12.6 . a 2 tim. 1.13 . b matth. 26.26 , 28. mark 14.22 , 24. luk. 22.19 , 20. 1 cor. 11.24 , 25. c act. 3.21 . d john 6. e matth. 5.29 , 30. f exod. 20.13 . g eph. 4.14 . z cum corde nostro nos concordemus : & scriptura sancta in nulla parte discordat . aug. de verb. dom. ser. 16. a ex verbis sensum sequamur , & ex sensu rationem intelligamus , & ex ratione veritatem apprehendamus . hilar. de trinit . l. 5. b phil. 2.12 . c 1 john 4.18 . d 2 king. 17.32 , 33 with v 34. e john 8.51 . f heb. 9.27 . g jer. 17.5 . h john. 653. i gen. 2.3 . k john 5.17 . l luk. 14.26 . m col. 3.19 . n eph. 5.29 . o rom. 3.28 . p jam. 2.24 . q joh. 16.13 r ga● . 2.11 . &c. s ● king. 2 ▪ ●1 . t mal. 4.5 . u luke 1.17 . x joh. 1.21 y matt. 11.14 & 17.11 , 12. mark. 9 11 12 , 13. z rom. 7 18 a rom. 7.22 b joh. 14.28 . c phil. 2.5 , 6. d see joh. 1.14 . 1 tim 3.16 gal. 4.4 . e joh. 5.31 f joh. 8.14 g 1 joh. 3.9 h joh. 1.8.10 . i see all these particulars largly opened in my beleevers evidences for eternal life . cap. 2. p. 38. &c k mal. 3.6 . l jer. 18.8.10 m isai. 9.7 . luk , 1.33 . n 1 cor. 15 24. o 2 king. 15.33 . p 2 king. 15 30. q mat. 17.1 . r luk. 9.28 s see key of the bible . p. 137. t act. 13.19 , 20. u ●ez . annot . in act. 13.20 . ludovic . de dieu animadvers . in act. apost . c. 13. v. 20. x beroaldus , with others . y ubi apertius sententiae ponuntur , ibi discent dum est quomodo in locis intelligantur obscuris . aug. de doct. christian. l. 3. c. 25. z psal. 16.10 . a act. 2. ●5 . to 32. b aug. de doct. chri. l. 3. c. 28. c iren. l. 4. c. 63. d chrysostom . in gen. hom. 13. e orig. in matth. hom. 25. f hilar. de trinit . l. 1. — retulerit magis quam attulerit . — g joh 5.39 act. 3.18 . &c. act. 7 52. & 10 43. rom. 10.4 . 2 cor 3.14 , 16. gal. 3.24 . 1 cor. 2.2 . revel . 19.10 . h 2 cor. 1.20 . i gal. 3.20 . k joh 10.4.5 . l rom. 1.16 . 1 cor. 1.18 . m mal. 4.2 n ille qui cor habet , quod praecisum est ju●gat scripturae & legat superio●a vel inferiora , & in vēiet sensum , qu●m pravus vol●bat malé interpretari . aug. de verb. dom. serm 49. o dictotum intelligentia , aut ex praepositis , aut ex consequentib●s expectetur . hilar. de trini● . l. 6. p 1 pet. 4.18 . q 1 pet 4.17 . r matth. 13.3 . &c. with v. 18. &c. s rev. 1.12 , 13 , 16 , 20. t matth. 5.21 . to the end of the chapt . u in iis quae aperte in scriptura posita sunt , inveniuntur illa omnia quae continent sidem , moresque vivendi . august . de doctrin . christian. l. 2. c. 9. ad obscuriores locutiones illustrandas de manifestioribus suman●ur exemplo . ibid. ubi apertiùs sententiae ponuntur , ibi discendum est quomodo , in locis intelligantur obscuris . aug. de doct . christian . l. 3. c. 25. x num. 21.9 with joh. 3 , 14 15.16 . y exod. 16 15. &c. and 17.6 . with 1 cor. 10.3 , 4. john 6. z is divinas scripturas recte legir , qui verba vertit in opera . bernard . in tract . de ord. vitae . a ●ohn 7.16 , 17. b ps. 119.98.99 100. c isa. 48.17 . notes for div a57377-e14250 * mose● is the seventh from abraham , a new henoch , who was the seventh from adam . so was eber the seventh from enoch ; and isaac the seventh from eber. all excellent among ordinary men . as the sabbath in regard of the six other daies . the view of holy script . p. 133. * haec autem animalia tria , sive leo , sive homo , sive vitulus in terra gradiuntur : unde isti tres evangelistae in his maximè occupati sunt , quae christus in carne operatus , & quae precepta mortalis vitae exercendae carnem ▪ portantibus tradidit . at vero joannes super nubila infirmitat●s humanae velut aquila volat , & lucem incommutabilis veritatis acutissimis atque firmissimis o●ulis cordit in●u●tur . aug. de consens . evang● de 1. c. 6. tom. 4. suidas . ☞