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<DATE>2013-03-20</DATE>
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<NAME>John Pas</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
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<P>The CROVVN &amp; GLORY OF CHRISTIANITY: OR HOLINESS, The only way to HAPPINESS.</P>
<P>Di&s;covered in LVIII. Sermons, from <HI>Heb.</HI> 12.14. Where you have the Ne|ce&s;&s;ity, Excellency, Rarity, Beauty and Glory of Holine&s;s &s;et forth; with the re&s;olution of many weighty Que&s;tions and Ca&s;es. Al&s;o Motives and Means to perfect Holine&s;s: With many other things of very high and great importance to all the Sons and Daughters of men, that had rather be ble&s;&s;ed then cur&s;ed, &s;aved then damned.</P>
<P>By THOMAS BROOKS, late Preacher of the Go&s;pel at <HI>Margarets New Fi&s;h-&s;treet,</HI> and &s;till Preacher of the Word in <HI>London,</HI> and Pa&s;tor of a Congregation there.</P>
<Q><P>To him that ordereth his conver&s;ation aright, will I &s;hew the &s;alvation of God, <BIBL><HI>P&s;alm 50.</HI> ult.</BIBL></P></Q>
<Q><P>Ble&s;&s;ed are the pure in heart, for they &s;hall &s;ee God, <BIBL><HI>Matth. 5.8.</HI></BIBL></P></Q>
<Q><P>God hath from the beginning cho&s;en you to &s;alvation, through &s;anctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth, <BIBL><HI>2 The&s;. 2.13.</HI></BIBL></P></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>H. Crips, J<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Sims,</HI> and <HI>H. Mortlock,</HI> and are to be &s;old at their &s;hops, at the entrance into Popes-head Alley out of Lumbard &s;treet, and at the &s;ign of the Cro&s;s-keyes, and at the Phoenix in S^t^. <HI>Pauls</HI> Church-yard, near the little North door, 1662.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
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<HEAD>To all the Lords, Knights, Ladies, Gentry, Mini&s;ters and Commons of <HI>Eng|land,</HI> (and the Dominions thereunto be|longing) that have but the lea&s;t de&s;ire, the lea&s;t mind, or the lea&s;t will to e&s;cape hell, and to go to heaven, or to be happy in both worlds, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE><HI>My Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen,</HI> &amp;c.</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_THe Philo&s;ophers &s;peaking of happine&s;s, were divided into two hundred eighty eight opinions, every one intending &s;omething, yet re&s;olving upon nothing; and therefore the man in <HI>Plutarch</HI> hear|ing them wrangle about <HI>(&s;ummum bonum)</HI> the chiefe&s;t good, one placing of it in this, and another in that, went to the Market and bought up all that was good, hoping that among all he &s;hould not mi&s;s of happine&s;s, and yet he mi&s;t it; true happine&s;s being too great and too glorious a thing to be found in any thing below real holine&s;s.</P>
<PB REF="3">
<P>All men in the general de&s;ire to be happy, but all men do not de&s;ire in this or that particular, or in this or that way to be happy; here there is an infinite difference, <HI>quot homines tot &s;ententiae,</HI> &s;o many men &s;o many minds.</P>
<P>A de&s;ire of happine&s;s is planted in all men by the con&s;titution of nature; this is &s;o intrin&s;ecal, and &s;o innate in nature, it is &s;o ingraven in it, that even the fall of <HI>Adam,</HI> as great as it was, hath not blotted it out.</P>
<P>This de&s;ire of happine&s;s is left in man for a &s;tock to graft holine&s;s on: God grafts the plant of Grace upon the &s;tock of nature.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 29.20. to the 27.</NOTE> Indeed Happine&s;s, like <HI>Rachel,</HI> is &s;o fair and &s;o beautiful a thing, that every one is apt to fall in love with it, and earne&s;tly to de&s;ire it; yea many there be, that would &s;erve twice &s;even years to enjoy it; but by the &s;tanding Law of that heavenly Countrey above, the younger &s;i&s;ter mu&s;t never be be&s;towed before the elder; you can never enjoy fair <HI>Rachel,</HI> Heaven and Happine&s;s, except you are fir&s;t married to tender-eyed <HI>Leah,</HI> real holine&s;s; he that will have heaven, mu&s;t have union and communion with Chri&s;t: and he that will have union and communion with Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 6.14, 15.</NOTE> mu&s;t be holy. <HI>For what fellow|&s;hip hath righteou&s;ne&s;s with unrighteou&s;ne&s;s? and what communion hath light with darkne&s;s? And what concord hath Chri&s;t with</HI> Belial? Of all the ma|ny thou&s;ands that have travelled to happine&s;s, there is not one to be found but hath travelled thither in a way of ho|line&s;s. Now the drift, the &s;cope of this following Treati&s;e, is to make men holy, that they may be happy: it is to make men gracious on earth, that they may be glorious in heaven. Now to prevent all mi&s;takes, ra&s;h cen&s;ures and mi&s;con|&s;tructions, I judge it very convenient and nece&s;&s;ary be|fore I go any further, to acquaint the Reader plainly and
<PB REF="3"> hone&s;tly with tho&s;e Arguments that have prevailed with me to Dedicate this Book to all &s;orts, ranks and degrees of per&s;ons, rather then to any &s;ingle per&s;on, or to any one &s;ort or rank of men what&s;oever: And they are the&s;e &s;ix,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Becau&s;e all &s;orts and ranks of men are faln <MILESTONE N="1"> from that Primitive holine&s;s that once they had:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;alm 14.3. Rom. 3.12.</HI> Qui te non habet Domine Deus, totum perdidit. <HI>Bernard.</HI></NOTE> There are five things that we have all lo&s;t by our fall in <HI>Adam.</HI> Fir&s;t, we have all lo&s;t that holy image that God had &s;tampt upon us, and &s;o we are become vile. Secondly, we have all lo&s;t our Son-&s;hip, and &s;o we are become &s;laves. Thirdly, we have all lo&s;t our friend&s;hip with God, and &s;o we are become enemies. Fourthly, we have all lo&s;t our communion with God, and &s;o we are become &s;trangers. And fifthly, we have all lo&s;t our glory, and &s;o we are be|come mi&s;erable. Some &s;ay that the naked body of man was &s;o glorious in his e&s;tate of Innocency, that all the bea&s;ts of the field admired it, and thereupon did homage to him. O how glorious was his &s;oul then! Certainly if the Cabinet was &s;o glorious, the Jewel within it was much more glorious; But how glorious &s;oever man was in his primitive e&s;tate, it is mo&s;t certain that he is now &s;o &s;adly faln from the highe&s;t pinacle of glory, to &s;o low a &s;tep of mi&s;ery, that God &s;ometimes &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ds him to the Pi&s;mire to learn in&s;truction;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 6.6, 7.</NOTE> and &s;ometimes he &s;ends him to the Stork and the Swallow to make a right improve|ment of precious time;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 8.7.</NOTE> and &s;ometimes he &s;ends him to the Ox and to the A&s;s to learn knowledge;<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 1.3.</NOTE> and &s;ometimes he &s;ends him to the Fowls of the air to learn confidence; yea and &s;ometimes he &s;ends him to the very Lillies and Gra&s;s of the field,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 6.25, <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> to learn how to live without carking and di&s;tracting cares. It is true, mans fir&s;t e&s;tate was a &s;tate of perfect holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 1.27.</NOTE> he being made in the image of
<PB REF="4"> God, and after the likene&s;s of God. It was an e&s;tate of perfect light,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 2.20.</NOTE> knowledge, prudence, wi&s;dom and under|&s;tanding; It was an e&s;tate of very great honour and dig|nity, and therefore the P&s;almi&s;t (&s;peaking of man in this e&s;tate) brings him in with a Crown of glory and honour upon his head.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 8.5.</NOTE> <HI>Thou ha&s;t crowned him with glory and honour.</HI> Mans fir&s;t e&s;tate was &s;o &s;tately an e&s;tate, that he was not &s;o much below the glorious Angels, as he was above all other creatures. God made him the Sove|raign Lord of the whole Creation,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 1.26. P&s;alm 8.6, 7, 8.</NOTE> God gave him an ab&s;o|lute Dominion and Authority both of Sea and Land, and all creatures in both were &s;ubjected to him. Such was the exqui&s;ite beauty and perfection of his body, that from the crown of his head to the &s;oles of his feet, there was not the lea&s;t blain or blemi&s;h; his outward man was cloathed with all &s;uch requi&s;ite beauties and abilities that might render him lovely and comely to every eye. In a word, mans fir&s;t e&s;tate was a &s;tate of perfect happine&s;s, all with|in him, and all without him, and all about him, &s;poke him out to be compleatly ble&s;&s;ed; there was nothing within him, but what was very &s;weet and de&s;irable; there was nothing without him, but what was very delightful and amiable; neither was there any thing about him, but what was &s;er|viceable and comfortable.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lam. 5.16.</NOTE> O but now by his fall, his crown is faln from his head, and from the heads of all his po&s;te|rity; for <HI>Adam</HI> was a publick per&s;on, he was the Prince of all mankind; and though all mankind was not actu|ally in his loyns when he fell, yet they were all potentially in his loyns when he fell. If two Kings make a league, and the one break it, he makes not only him&s;elf but all his Subjects lyable and obnoxious to all the calamities and mi&s;eries that &s;hall follow thereupon. <HI>Adam</HI> was our com|mon Father, and we are all his Sons and Daughters:
<PB REF="4"> Now we know by the Law of inheritance, that if the Fa|ther forfeit his Lea&s;e, he di&s;-inherits his po&s;terity. Now <HI>Adam</HI> forfeited his Lea&s;e (as I may &s;ay) and divine Ju|&s;tice took the advantage of the forfeiture, and &s;o hath turned all his po&s;terity out of doors. So that there is now no way under heaven to be happy, but by being holy; all &s;orts and ranks of men are faln in <HI>Adam,</HI> and there is no way to ri&s;e but by Chri&s;t and holine&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>A &s;econd Rea&s;on why I dedicate this Treati&s;e to all <MILESTONE N="2"> &s;orts and ranks of per&s;ons, is, becau&s;e the matter contain|ed in this book, is of the greate&s;t and highe&s;t concernment imaginable, to all ranks and degrees of men, from the greate&s;t Emperour that ever &s;et upon a Throne, to the meane&s;t and the poore&s;t wretch that ever lay upon a Dung|hill: And doubtle&s;s that which is of &s;uch a marvellous importance to all, may very ju&s;tly and rea&s;onably be dedi|cated to all.</P>
<P>A third rea&s;on why I dedicate this Treati&s;e to all <MILESTONE N="3"> &s;orts and ranks of per&s;ons, is, becau&s;e God intends to &s;ave &s;ome of all &s;orts, ranks and degrees; though greatne&s;s and goodne&s;s do not alwayes meet, yet greatne&s;s and goodne&s;s do &s;ometimes meet; and though riches and religion do not alwayes meet, yet riches and religion do &s;ometimes meet; though not many wi&s;e, yet &s;ome wi&s;e;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 1.26.</NOTE> though not many mighty, yet &s;ome mighty; though not many noble, yet &s;ome noble, &s;hall be called, &s;anctified and &s;aved. Look as the Sun in the Firmament doth ca&s;t his light and warmth upon all &s;orts, ranks and degrees of men:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 5.45.</NOTE> So doth the Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;hine upon the under&s;tandings and con&s;ciences of all &s;orts, ranks and degrees of men, and by his &s;ecret and &s;piritual influences, he warms and cheers the hearts of high and low, rich and poor, noble and ig|noble. <HI>Abraham</HI> was very great and very gracious:
<PB REF="5"> <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> was very high, and very holy: <HI>Job</HI> was very rich, and very righteous.<NOTE PLACE="marg">It is a &s;trange &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ying in <HI>L<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">p|&s;ius,</HI> The names of all good Princes (&s;aith he) may ea&s;ily be engraven or written in a &s;mall Ring. <HI>Lip&s;. de co<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">|&s;tantia, lib.</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 25.</NOTE> Though mo&s;t of tho&s;e Kings and Princes that we read of in Scripture were bad, very bad, yet &s;ome of them were good, yea very good. Some of them were as famous for grace, righteou&s;ne&s;s, and holine&s;s, wit|ne&s;s <HI>David, A&s;a, Jo&s;iah, Hezekiah, Jeho&s;aphat,</HI> &amp;c. as <HI>Saul, Jehoram, Jehu, Ahab,</HI> and others of them were infamous for all unrighteou&s;ne&s;s and wickedne&s;s. God for the glory of his own grace, and the honour of his Sons blood, will have &s;ome of all &s;orts, ranks and degrees &s;anctified and &s;aved: and upon this very ground he en|gages his &s;ervants to pray for all &s;orts, ranks and degrees of men, in <HI>1 Tim. 2.1, 2, 3, 4.</HI> Now where God is re|&s;olved to &s;ave, there he is re&s;olved to &s;anctifie: where he is re&s;olved to make happy, there he is re&s;olved to make ho|ly. And therefore I look upon my &s;elf as many wayes ob|liged to have &s;o large a heart for God, as to do all I can to help on the &s;alvation of all &s;orts, ranks, and degrees of men in the world. My hearts de&s;ire and prayer for <HI>Eng|land</HI> is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 10.1. <HI>Pauls</HI> Copy is not to be de|&s;pi&s;ed, but imitated.</NOTE> that her Princes and Nobles may be &s;anctified and &s;aved, and that her Gentry may be &s;anctified and &s;aved, and that all the people of the Nation may be &s;anctified and &s;aved. I look upon my &s;elf as engaged to do all I can by my pen and prayers to help make <HI>England</HI> holy, that &s;o <HI>England</HI> may be truly happy: For of this I am mo&s;t cer|tain, that if God will but make <HI>England</HI> a holy Nation, it is not all the powers on earth, nor all the powers of hell, that &s;hall ever make <HI>England</HI> a mi&s;erable Na|tion.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> A fourth Rea&s;on why I thus Dedicate this Treati&s;e as you &s;ee, is, becau&s;e my former poor labours and endea|vours have been acceptable to &s;ome of all ranks and de|grees, and they have been ble&s;t to &s;ome of all ranks
<PB REF="5"> and degrees; and I have been encouraged, whetted and &s;tirred up by &s;ome on all hands, once more to ca&s;t in my Net, and now I have done it; O that it may i&s;&s;ue in the drawing of many &s;ouls to Chri&s;t, and in the making of the gracele&s;&s;e gracious, the prophane holy, and in the making of tho&s;e that are holy, to be yet more holy, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>A fifth Rea&s;on why I thus Dedicate this Treati&s;e as <MILESTONE N="5"> you &s;ee, is, becau&s;e though all men are bound to be holy, yet the great, the rich, the noble, and the honourable of the earth, are bound above all other men in the world to be holy.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Reader if thou art one that &s;tande&s;t upon thy birth, no|bility and greatne&s;s, do thy &s;elf that favour, and thy &s;oul that right, as to read from page 343. to page 447. be|fore thou goe&s;t any further.</NOTE> God hath laid upon them greater obligations and Tyes to holine&s;&s;e, then he hath upon any other men under heaven; and this you may &s;ee &s;o clearly and &s;o fully proved in this Book, (from page <HI>433.</HI> to page <HI>447.</HI>) that neither the world nor the Devil, as cunning and as learned a Devil as he is, will ever be able to di&s;prove. This rea&s;on alone is &s;ufficient to ju&s;tifie my pre&s;ent pra|ctice.</P>
<P>My &s;ixth and la&s;t Rea&s;on why I thus Dedicate this Treati&s;e as you &s;ee, is, that it may be a ble&s;&s;ed Te&s;timony and a &s;tanding Witne&s;&s;e for Chri&s;t (in this day of bla|&s;phemy, <MILESTONE N="6"> prophane&s;&s;e, loo&s;ne&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 43.10, 12. chap. 44.8.</NOTE> and wickedne&s;&s;e) again&s;t all &s;orts, and ranks of per&s;ons into who&s;e hands it may fall, who notwith&s;tanding all that is here &s;aid, &s;hall con|tinue ob&s;tinate and impenitent in their ungodly cour&s;es and practi&s;es, as men re&s;olved rather to go to hell then to heaven, and to be for ever unhappy, rather then they will be holy. Wo, wo to them for ever, that had rather be Satans bond-&s;laves then Chri&s;ts free-men, that had ra|ther be ve&s;&s;els of wrath then ve&s;&s;els of honour, and that had rather be fire-brands of hell then glorious Saints in heaven.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 2.12. Rom. 9.22.</NOTE> And &s;o I have done with tho&s;e rea&s;on<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> that may &s;atisfie the Reader concerning my Dedication of this
<PB REF="6"> Treati&s;e to all &s;orts, ranks and degrees of per&s;ons.</P>
<P>Having premi&s;ed the&s;e things in the general, give me leave to &s;ay, That if this Treati&s;e &s;hould fall into the hands of any of the Learned Judges of this Land, or in|to the hands of any of the Ju&s;tices of this Nation, I would then take the humble boldne&s;&s;e to offer this to their mo&s;t &s;erious con&s;ideration, <HI>viz.</HI> That if they would di&s;|charge the duties of their places, &s;o as to give up their accounts at la&s;t with joy and cheerfulne&s;s to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, it highly concerns them to &s;tudy this doctrine of holine&s;&s;e, yea to fall in love with ho|line&s;&s;e, and highly to prize it, and earne&s;tly to pre&s;&s;e after it, and to be re&s;tle&s;&s;e in their own &s;pirits, till they have experienced the powerful operations of holine&s;&s;e in their own &s;ouls; for till then, they will never be able &s;o to ad|mini&s;ter Ju&s;tice and Judgement as becomes tho&s;e that have the name of God, and the name of profe&s;sion upon them, and that judge them&s;elves to be in a higher Form then tho&s;e Heathens were, who were famous for ju&s;tice and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cato, Fabricius, Scipio, Camby|&s;es, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> (and yet never heard of a Chri&s;t nor &s;al|vation by him) and as becomes tho&s;e that would not &s;tand trembling and quaking in the great and terrible day, when Chri&s;t the Lord-chief-Iu&s;tice of heaven and earth &s;hall pa&s;&s;e a righteous and impartial judgement upon all the Judges and Ju&s;tices that ever were on earth.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joel 2.11, 31. Acts 17.31. 2 Tim. 4.1, 2.</NOTE></P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Where ju&s;tice is, God is, and where God is, there is no want of men or fortitude, &s;aid <HI>Herod</HI> at the head of his Army, the bet|ter to encou|rage his &s;oul|diers.</NOTE>My Lords and Gentlemen, you know that the wi&s;e&s;t Prince that ever &s;et upon a Throne, hath told us that <HI>Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e exalts a Nation, Prov. 14.34.</HI> It is not valour in war, but righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; it is not policie in Government, but righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; it is not wittine&s;&s;e of in|vention, but righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; it is not civility in behaviour, but righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; it is not antiquity of forms, but righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; it is not largene&s;&s;e of dominion, but
<PB REF="6"> righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; nor it is not greatne&s;&s;e of command,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Iu&s;tice is <HI>con|&s;ervatrix Hu|manae conjun|ctionis, quae ad beatitudinem via e&s;t,</HI> &amp;c. Amos 5.24. The Hebrew word <HI>Veiiggal|chat</HI> is here rendred run down, is from <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Galal,</HI> that &s;ignifies to roul down f eely, plenti|fully, plainly, vigorou&s;ly, con&s;tantly: Where ju&s;tice thus rouls down, all the world &s;hall never make that Nation mi&s;erable.</NOTE> but righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e that is the honour and the &s;afety, that is the renown and the &s;ecurity of a Nation: That Nation that exalts righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, that Nation &s;hall be certainly exalt|ed by righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. It is not <HI>Achitophels</HI> policy, it is not <HI>Jeroboams</HI> calves in <HI>Dan</HI> and <HI>Bethel,</HI> it is not <HI>Jehues</HI> pompous zeal, it is not <HI>Goliahs</HI> &s;word, it is not rich Mines of Gold and Silver, nor Magazines, nor Ar|mies, nor Coun&s;els, nor Fleets, nor Forts, but Ju&s;tice and Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e that exalts a Nation, and that will make a mean people to become a great, a glorious, and a famous people in the world. The world is a Ring, and Righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e is the Diamond in that Ring: The world is a body, and Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and Ju&s;tice is the &s;oul of that body. Ah <HI>England, England,</HI> &s;o long as judgement runs down as waters in the mid&s;t of thee, and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e as a mighty &s;tream, thou &s;halt not die but live and bear up bravely again&s;t all gain-&s;ayers and oppo&s;ers; but if in|ju&s;tice &s;hall grow rampant, and thou &s;halt brandi&s;h the &s;word of Ju&s;tice in the behalf of the friends of <HI>Baal, Balaam,</HI> and <HI>Bacchus,</HI> and turn the wheel upon the righ|teous; if the &s;word of ju&s;tice &s;hall be a &s;word of prote|ction to the de&s;perate &s;wearer, and to the cruel oppre&s;&s;or, and to the roaring drunkard, and to the cur&s;ing mon&s;ter, and to the Go&s;pel de&s;pi&s;er, and to the Chri&s;t contemner, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and &s;hall be a devouring &s;word to the upright and peaceable in the Land, Divine vengeance will dig thy grave, and divine Ju&s;tice will tumble thee into it, though all the Nations of the earth &s;hould labour to prevent it. It is a ba&s;e and ignoble &s;pirit, to pity <HI>Cataline</HI> more then to pity <HI>Rome;</HI> to pity any particular &s;ort of men, more then to pity the whole: It is cruelty to the good, to ju&s;tifie the bad: It is wrong to the &s;heep, to animate the Wolves:
<PB REF="7"> It is danger (if not death) to the Lambs, not to re&s;train or chain up the Lyons; but from all the&s;e vanities the Lord deliver all your &s;ouls. And O that you would for ever remember this, that as the con&s;titution of a mans bo|dy is be&s;t known by his pul&s;e; if it &s;tir not at all, then we know he is dead: if it &s;tir violently, then we know him to be in a Fever: if it keep an equal &s;troak, then we know he is &s;ound, well, and whole; &s;o the e&s;tate and con&s;titution of a Kingdom or Common-weal, is be&s;t known by the manner of executing ju&s;tice therein: for ju&s;tice is the pul&s;e of a Kingdom; if ju&s;tice be violent, then the Kingdom is in a Fever, in a very bad e&s;tate; if it &s;tir not at all, then the Kingdom is dead; but if it have an equal &s;troak, if it be ju&s;tly and duely admini&s;tred, then the Kingdom is in a good, a &s;afe, and &s;ound condition. When <HI>Ve&s;pa&s;ian</HI> asked <HI>Apollonus, What was the cau&s;e of</HI> Nero<HI>'s ruine?</HI> he an&s;wered, <HI>That</HI> Nero <HI>could tune the Harps well, but in Government he did alwayes wind up the &s;trings too high, or let them down too low;</HI> The Application is ea&s;ie.</P>
<P>Now having premi&s;ed thus much in the general, give me leave to tell you, that there are eight &s;pecial Rules that you are carefully and faithfully to ob&s;erve in the admini|&s;tration of Ju&s;tice and Righteou&s;n&s;&s;e. And how you will be able to act &s;utable to tho&s;e Rules without a Spirit of holine&s;&s;e, without principles of holine&s;&s;e, and without an experience of the powerful influences and operations of holine&s;&s;e in your own &s;ouls, I cannot for the pre&s;ent un|der&s;tand.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Now my Lords and Gentlemen, the fir&s;t Rule that you are to ob&s;erve in your admini&s;tring of Judgement and Ju|&s;tice,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 82.1, 6. Luke 20.21. Mat. 22.16.</NOTE> is this, You mu&s;t do Ju&s;tice impartially: you are cal|led Gods, and in this you mu&s;t be like to God, who is no
<PB REF="7"> acceptor of per&s;ons:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Audi alteram partem,</HI> &s;aid <HI>Lotharius</HI> the &s;econd Duke of <HI>Saxony.</HI></NOTE> he accepts not the rich man becau&s;e of his Robes, neither doth he reject the poor man becau&s;e of his Rags. <HI>Deut. 1.17. Ye &s;hall not re&s;pect per&s;ons in judgement, but you &s;hall hear the &s;mall as well as the great; you &s;hall not be afraid of the face of man,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Bona e&s;t mi&s;e|ricordia, &s;ed non quum e&s;t contra judici|um, Aug.</HI> Mercy is good, but not when it is contrary to judgement.</NOTE> <HI>for the judgement is Gods: and the cau&s;e that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.</HI> And &s;o in <HI>Levit. 19.15. Ye &s;hall do no unrighteou&s;|ne&s;s in judgement; thou &s;halt not re&s;pect the per&s;on of the poor, nor honour the per&s;on of the mighty: but in righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;halt thou judge thy neigh|bour.</HI> The great man is not to be &s;pared for his might, nor the poor man for his mi&s;ery: It is neither the great mans power, nor the poor mans meane&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Judges in <HI>Aegypt</HI> were pourtraied without hands and without eyes, to &s;ignifie that they were not to take bribes, nor to accept mens per&s;ons.</NOTE> that a Judge is to mind in judgement. A Judge, a Ju&s;tice, mu&s;t never out of carnal pity cry out, Oh he is a poor man; nor yet out of ba&s;e fear cry out, Oh he is a great man. Their eyes are to be alwayes upon cau&s;es, and not upon per&s;ons. The &s;tatues of the Theban Judges were made without hands and without eyes, to intimate to us, that as Judges and Ju&s;tices &s;hould have no hands to receive Bribes, &s;o they &s;hould have no eyes to &s;ee a friend from a foe, a brother from a &s;tranger. And it was the O<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">f the Heathen Judges, as the Orator relates, <HI>Audiam accu&s;atorem &amp; reum &s;inc affectibus &amp; per&s;onarum re&s;pectione.</HI> I will hear the Plantiff and Defendant, with an equal mind, without affection and re&s;pect of per&s;ons. In the twelfth Novel of <HI>Ju&s;tinian,</HI> you may read of an Oath impo&s;ed upon Judges and Ju&s;tices, again&s;t inclining or addicting them&s;elves to either party: yea they put them|&s;elves under a deep and bitter execration and cur&s;e in ca&s;e of partiality, imploring God in &s;uch language as this, <HI>Let me have my part with</HI> Judas, <HI>and let the
<PB REF="8"> lepro&s;ie of</HI> Gehezi <HI>cleave to me, and the trembling of</HI> Cain <HI>come upon me, and what&s;oever el&s;e may a&s;toni&s;h and di&s;may a man, if I am partial in the ad|mini&s;tration of Ju&s;tice.</HI> That was a famous act of ju|&s;tice that was performed by <HI>Canutus</HI> King of <HI>Den|mark,</HI> who when one of the twelve Thieves that he had condemned, pleaded that he was of the Royal blood, &s;a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">th the King, It is rea&s;on &s;ome favour &s;hould be &s;hewed to this per&s;on; whereupon he commanded that he &s;hould be hang|ed on the highe&s;t Gibbet, which was done accordingly. It was <HI>Cato</HI>'s complaint of old,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cato, ap. Gell. l.</HI> 11. <HI>c.</HI> 18. The Roman Orator ob|&s;erved, that the force of ju&s;tice is &s;uch, and &s;o great, that even Thieves and Robbers, both by Sea and Land, who live upon in|ju&s;tice and rapine, yet cannot live upon their trade without &s;ome practice of it among them&s;elves.</NOTE> that tho&s;e that robbed private men, were clapt up and laid by the heels in cold irons: but, &s;aith he, publick thieves that wrong and rob the Common-wealth, they &s;it in &s;carlet, with gold chains about their necks. And the Scythian Philo&s;opher hath long &s;ince complained, that Laws were like Spiders webs, that would take flies, but not Wa&s;ps or Hornets; his meaning was, that if poor mean men offended, they &s;hould be &s;ure to be puni&s;hed; but gre<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">t men that were the ma|kers of Laws, they might be breakers of the Laws, and yet never &s;mart for it. In all ages &s;ome or others have poured out &s;ad complaints aga<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n&s;t partial ju&s;tice. <HI>Pi|late</HI> that unju&s;tly condemned Chri&s;t, was afterwards kickt off the Bench by <HI>Caius</HI> the Emperour for partial ju&s;tice, and for grief and &s;hame he became h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s own exe|cutioner. O Sirs, God will one day kick &s;uch Judges and Ju&s;tices,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 9.17. and P&s;alm 11.5.</NOTE> not only off the Bench, but into hell who make a Trade of partial ju&s;tice, except there be &s;ound repen|tance on their &s;ides, and pardoning grace on his. O that all the Judges and Ju&s;tices of the Land would for ever remember, what the wi&s;e&s;t Prince that ever &s;wayed a Scepter &s;aith, in <HI>Prov. 18.5. It is not good to accept the per&s;on of the wicked, to overthrow the righte|ous
<PB REF="8"> in judgement.</HI> It is not good, that is, it is bad,<NOTE PLACE="marg">By the figure <HI>Liptote,</HI> much is to be under|&s;tood, when there is but little &s;aid.</NOTE> it is very bad, yea it is &s;o exceeding bad, as that it can hardly be expre&s;&s;ed or uttered: it is &s;o great a wickedne&s;&s;e, it is &s;o horrid and &s;o hideous a wickedne&s;&s;e, yea it is &s;o hel|l &s;h a wickedne&s;&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, as can hardly be imagined, as can rare|ly be declared. The Poet in the (Greek) Epigram taught the &s;ilver Ax of ju&s;tice that was carried before the Ro|man Magi&s;trate to proclaim, If thou be an offendor, let not the &s;ilver flatter thee: if an innocent, let not the Ax affright thee. The Athenian Judges judged in the night, when the faces of men could not be &s;een, that &s;o they might be impartial in judgement. I have read of <HI>Zaleu|cus,</HI> that impartial Law-giver and Judge among the <HI>Locrians,</HI> how that he made a very &s;evere Law again&s;t Adulterers: <HI>viz.</HI> That who&s;oever &s;hould be found guilty thereof, &s;hould have both their eyes put out; Now it &s;o fell out, that his Son proved the fir&s;t offendor: forthwith &s;entence was pronounced, and execution ready to be done, whereupon the people earne&s;tly intreated the Judge his fa|ther that he would pardon the fact, who upon &s;erious de|liberation, put out one of his own eyes, and one of his &s;ons, and &s;o &s;hewed him&s;elf to be both a tender Father, and an upright and impartial Judge at once. O Sirs, it is your wi&s;dom and work, yea it is as much your glory as it is your duty, to be impartial in all your admini&s;trations of Ju|&s;tice, and not to favour friends or relations, nor to fear the frowns of enemies, but to proceed impartially accord|ing to the merits of the Cau&s;e that is before you. But,</P>
<P>Secondly, As you mu&s;t do ju&s;tice impartially, &s;o you mu&s;t <MILESTONE N="2"> do ju&s;tice &s;peedily. <HI>Jer. 28.12. O hou&s;e of</HI> David, <HI>thus &s;aith the Lord, execute judgement in the morn|ing, and deliver him that is &s;poyled out of the hand
<PB REF="9"> of the oppre&s;&s;or, le&s;t my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, becau&s;e of the evil of your doings.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezra 7.16.</NOTE> After examination, execution is to be done with expedition: When men cry out for ju&s;tice, ju&s;tice, you mu&s;t not cry out <HI>Cras, Cras,</HI> to morrow, to morrrw; you mu&s;t do ju&s;tice in the morning; Noon ju&s;tice and evening ju&s;tice is not &s;o acceptable to God, nor &s;o honour|able to your &s;elves, nor &s;o advantagious to others, as morning ju&s;tice is. You are called Gods: and as in other things,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ioel 3.4. Gen. 19. Num. 16. P&s;alm 101.8. The Per&s;ian King had one about him, who&s;e office it was to mind him every morning of his cha ge, &s;aying, Ari&s;e O King, and have an eye to tho&s;e affairs for which the great God hath made you King, and di&s;patch them.</NOTE> &s;o in this, you &s;hould be like to God, who is &s;peedy and &s;wift in the exerci&s;e of Ju&s;tice, as you may &s;ee by com|paring the Scriptures in the margin together. To delay ju&s;tice, is wor&s;e &s;ometimes then to deny ju&s;tice; it is an evil thing and a dangerous thing, when Magi&s;trates, Judges and Ju&s;tices, are as long a bringing forth their Verdicts, as the Elephant her young. Delayes of ju&s;tice makes many more irreconcileable: It makes the Clyent often go with an heavy heart, an empty pur&s;e, and a thred|bare coat: It fetcheth heavy &s;ighs and groans from the hearts, and a Sea of tears from the eyes of the delayed and oppre&s;&s;ed. Magi&s;trates, Judges, and Ju&s;tices, &s;hould be alwayes ready to do ju&s;tice: they &s;hould be alwayes at lei&s;ure to do ju&s;tice. I have read of one of the Kings of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> how that he would many times alight off from his hor&s;e to do ju&s;tice only to a poor body. It were well if all Judges and Ju&s;tices would write after this Copy, to be rea|dy to do ju&s;tice and judgement at all times, and upon all occa&s;ions. O Sirs, you may have time to live, even when you have out-lived your &s;ea&s;ons and opportunities of do|ing ju&s;tice and judgement; and what a hell will then your lives be to you? To prevent this hell, it is good to do ju|&s;tice in the morning. I have read of a very poor woman, who was very earne&s;t with King <HI>Philip</HI> of <HI>Macedon</HI> to
<PB REF="9"> do her Ju&s;tice, but he deferred her,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Plutarch. Apo|thegm. in vita Dometrii.</NOTE> and told her that he had no lei&s;ure to hear her: &s;he replyed then, Why have you lei&s;ure to be King? The poor woman thought that they were very unmeet to be Kings and Judges, who could not be at lei&s;ure to do ju&s;tice, when the nece&s;sities and mi&s;eries of poor creatures cryed aloud for Ju&s;tice, Ju|&s;tice. I have read of a famouus pa&s;&s;age of <HI>Theodorick</HI> King of the Romans, who when a widow came to him with a &s;ad complaint,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Poets feign Ju&s;tice to be the daughter of <HI>Jupiter,</HI> whom he hath &s;et o|ver the world to revenge tho&s;e injuries that one man doth to ano|ther, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> that &s;he had a &s;uit depending in the Court three years, which might have been ended in a few dayes: the King demands of her the Judges names; &s;he tells him; he &s;ends a &s;pecial command to them to give all the &s;peedy di&s;patch that was po&s;sible to the widows cau&s;e, which they did, and in two dayes determined it to the widows liking: this being done, the King calls for the Judges, and they &s;uppo&s;ing that they &s;hould have both ap|plau&s;e and reward for their expedition, ha&s;tened to him full of joy: but after the King had propounded &s;everal things to them about their former delayes, he commanded both their heads to be &s;truck off, becau&s;e they had &s;pun out that Cau&s;e to a three years length, which two dayes would have ended. Here was Royal Ju&s;tice indeed. O that all the Magi&s;trates, Judges, and Ju&s;tices of the Na|tion, would every morning lay <HI>Prov. 13.12.</HI> warm up|on their hearts. <HI>Hope deferred maketh the heart &s;ick: but when the de&s;ire cometh, it is a tree of life.</HI> The Hebrew word <HI>Memu&s;h&s;hacah,</HI> that is here rendred <HI>deferred,</HI> is from <HI>Ma&s;hach,</HI> that &s;ignifies to draw out at length: men are &s;hort-breathed, and &s;hort-&s;pirited, and hopes hours are full of eternity: and when their hopes are drawn out at length, this makes their hearts &s;ick; and ah what a world of &s;uch &s;ick &s;ouls lies langui&s;hing at Hopes Ho&s;pital all the Nation over, yea
<PB REF="10"> all the world over. Hope in this Text is put for the good things men hope for; now when the good things men hope for (be it ju&s;tice or a quick di&s;patch, <HI>&amp;c.</HI>) are deferred and delayed, this makes the poor Client &s;ick at heart. A ling|ring hope alwayes breeds in the heart a lingring con&s;um|ption. The harder travel hope hath, and the more &s;trong|ly it labours to bring forth, and yet is deferred and delay|ed, the more deadly &s;ick the Client grows. But when the de&s;ire cometh, that is, when the thing de&s;ired, wi&s;hed and looked for, be it ju&s;tice, be it righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, be it &s;ucce&s;&s;e, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> is gained, it is a Tree of life; or rather as the He|brew hath it, is a Tree <HI>(Chajim)</HI> of lives. All &s;orts of lives, and all the comforts and contents of life, are wrapt up in the enjoyment of the thing de&s;ired. He that hath the&s;e things granted to him, that are earne&s;tly de&s;ired by him, is once more put into a Paradi&s;e. Wilful delayes in ju&s;tice, makes the Iudge unrighteous, <HI>Luke 18.6.</HI> But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, As you mu&s;t do ju&s;tice &s;peedily, &s;o you mu&s;t do ju&s;tice &s;incerly;<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 61.8.</NOTE> you mu&s;t do ju&s;tice out of love to ju&s;tice. When the golden Angels appear to draw you to perver<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> ju|&s;tice,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 8.20.</NOTE> you mu&s;t &s;ay as <HI>Peter</HI> did to <HI>Simon Magus, Thy money peri&s;h with thee. Deut. 16.20. That which is altogether ju&s;t &s;halt thou follow, that thou maye&s;t live, and inherit the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.</HI> Or rather as the Hebrew hath it, <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>T&s;edek, T&s;edek;</HI> Iu&s;tice, Iu&s;tice &s;halt thou follow, that is, pure Iu&s;tice &s;halt thou follow. The &s;treams of ju&s;tice &s;hould be alwayes pure and clear. Ju&s;tice, Ju&s;tice &s;halt thou follow; that is, all manner of Ju&s;tice &s;halt thou fol|low, and nothing but Ju&s;tice &s;halt thou follow; and thou &s;halt follow Ju&s;tice &s;incerely, exactly, carefully, and con|&s;tantly: thou &s;halt be not &s;eemingly ju&s;t, but really ju&s;t;
<PB REF="10"> not hypocritically ju&s;t, but intirely ju&s;t; not partially ju&s;t, but univer&s;ally ju&s;t; not ju&s;t to &s;ome, but ju&s;t to all; not tran&s;iently ju&s;t, but perpetually ju&s;t; not &s;ometimes ju&s;t, but alwayes ju&s;t; and &s;o much the Geminating of the word <HI>Ju&s;tice, Ju&s;tice,</HI> imports. <HI>Prov. 21.15. It is joy to the ju&s;t to do judgement.</HI> This argues much &s;incerity and integrity in a mans &s;pirit, when he doth not only do judgment, but joyes to do judgement; it is a va|nity to do ju&s;tice &s;lightly, lightly, wantonly; but it is an honour to do ju&s;tice from a principle of divine joy; he that joyes to do judgement, he will do ju&s;tice &s;incerly, he will do ju&s;tice out of love to ju&s;tice; and indeed there are no Judges, there are no Ju&s;tices to tho&s;e that do ju&s;tice out of love to ju&s;tice. <HI>Mazarinus</HI> complaineth of Forraign Judges, that they too much re&s;embled the blood-&s;tone, which hath a &s;pecial property to &s;tanch blood, but as Jewellers ob|&s;erve, it puts not forth this vertue, unle&s;s it be let in or covered over with &s;ilver, and &s;o applyed to the vein: but certainly the&s;e men were far from doing ju&s;tice &s;incerely, from doing ju&s;tice out of love to ju&s;tice. Some Judges and Ju&s;tices there have been, who for the cleanline&s;&s;e of the conveyance, would like Mendicant Fryars, touch no mo|ney them&s;elves, but have a boy or a Clerk with a bag to receive it for them: Certainly the&s;e were as far from do|ing ju&s;tice out of love to ju&s;tice, as heaven is from hell, or as the Pope, the Turk and the Devil, are from being real Saints. Doubtle&s;&s;e many Magi&s;trates, Judges, and Ju&s;tices have found that a gift blindeth the wi&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 23.8.</NOTE> and perverteth the words of the righteous. Golden du&s;t hath put out more eyes then it hath done good to hearts. O this golden-wedge, this &s;ilver &s;quin&s;ie hath made many men &s;ilent and &s;peechle&s;&s;e in good cau&s;es. <HI>Titus Ve&s;pa|&s;ian</HI> was &s;o delighted in doing of ju&s;tice, that if a day
<PB REF="11"> had pa&s;t over his head wherein he had done no <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> of ju|&s;tice, he would cry out, <HI>Amici, diem perdidi:</HI> O my friends, I have lo&s;t a day. And &s;o <HI>Epaminondas</HI> a Hea|then, though he was very poor, and often tempted with great bribes and pre&s;ents to be unju&s;t, yet he refu&s;ed and &s;corned all, and would commonly &s;ay, that if the cau&s;e were good, he would do it without a bribe, becau&s;e it was good; but if the cau&s;e was bad, he would not meddle with it for a world. The&s;e Heathens will one day ri&s;e in judgement again&s;t all &s;uch corrupt Judges and Ju&s;tices, that will not do ju&s;tice without a bribe. If this Treati&s;e &s;hould fall into the hands of any &s;uch, I would then let them know, that God will one day make good that dreadful word again&s;t them, that you have in <HI>Job 15.34. For the Congregation of hypocrites &s;hall be de&s;olate, and fire &s;hall con&s;ume the Tabernacles of bribery;</HI> Or as the Septuagint reads it, of men that take gifts fire &s;hall con&s;ume: or rather as the Hebrew hath it, Fire &s;hall eat the Tabernacles, it &s;hall feed on their Tabernacles as gree|dily as a hungry man doth feed on his meat. O, the &s;um|ptuous buildings and brave &s;tructures that have been built by the hands of bribery, &s;hall be &s;et on fire by a hand of ju&s;tice.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 10.2, 3. and chap. 3.33.</NOTE> If bribery brings in a thou&s;and one year, Divine ju&s;tice will ca&s;t away two for it the next year. God will one day burn up on both hands, all the comforts, and all the con|tentments, and all the enjoyments of corrupt Magi|&s;trates, Judges, and Ju&s;tices. I have read of a Polonian Judge, that &s;tood up very &s;toutly and re&s;olutely a long time for a poor Plaintiff again&s;t a rich Defendant: but at la&s;t he received from the Defendant a great &s;umme of money, &s;tamped with the u&s;ual &s;tamp of that Countrey, which is a man in compleat armour; and at the next Se&s;sion in open Court, he adjudged the Cau&s;e in the favour of the
<PB REF="11"> Defendant: and being &s;harply blamed by his friends for it, he &s;hewed them his large bribe, and demanded of them Who could &s;tand out again&s;t &s;o many men in compleat ar|mour? Ah <HI>England, England,</HI> it would be better with thee, if this &s;pirit did not &s;till &s;urvive; but alas, what good will all the&s;e mens men in armour do them in the great day of our Lord, when the thoughts of all &s;uch cor|rupt Magi&s;trates, Judges, and Ju&s;tices, &s;hall be exceeding|ly troubled, their countenances changed, their hearts ter|rified, their con&s;ciences awakened, their &s;ouls amazed, and their knees da&s;hed one again&s;t another! O that all Judges and Ju&s;tices would for ever make <HI>I&s;a. 5.23.</HI> their daily companion, <HI>Wo to them which ju&s;tifie the w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">c|ked for a reward, and take away the righteou&s;ne&s;s of the righteous from him.</HI> I have read of <HI>Sy&s;amnes</HI> a covetous tenacious Judge, who for filthy lucre pronounced a fal&s;e &s;entence; whereupon <HI>Camby&s;es</HI> King of <HI>Per&s;ia</HI> commanded him to be killed and flead, and his skin to be nailed over the Tribunal: and then he commanded his &s;on to &s;it as Judge there, that &s;o this &s;ight might arm him again&s;t all inju&s;tice, and be a terrour to all that &s;ucceed|ed him. If Princes did but exerci&s;e &s;uch Royal ju&s;tice upon all corrupt covetous Judges and Ju&s;tices, ju&s;tice would be had at a cheaper rate, and poor men would not be &s;o often put to pawn their Coats, nor rich men would not &s;o often empty their Pur&s;es, nor mortgage their inheri|tances. But,</P>
<P>Fourthly, As you mu&s;t do ju&s;tice &s;incerly, &s;o you mu&s;t <MILESTONE N="4"> do ju&s;tice deliberately: you mu&s;t have one ear for the De|fendant, and another for the Plaintiff,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut 17.4.</NOTE> or el&s;e you will tell the world at once, that you are both weak and wicked. <HI>Deut. 19.17, 18, 19. vide.</HI> It argues much weakne&s;s and emptine&s;s of &s;pirit, to judge a matter before all is
<PB REF="12"> heard that can be &s;aid.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 29.16.</NOTE> <HI>Jobs</HI> piety and prudence &s;hined forth eminently in this, that the Cau&s;e that he knew not, he &s;earched it out. Before God would pronounce judge|ment upon <HI>Adam,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 3.</NOTE> he fir&s;t examins him, and propounds &s;everal interrogatories to him: And in tho&s;e two great and famous acts of ju&s;tice, when God confounded <HI>Babels</HI> builders,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 1. and chap. 18.</NOTE> and rained hell out of heaven upon <HI>Sodom</HI> and <HI>Gomorah,</HI> he tells you that he will go down and &s;ee. You are called gods; in this it is as much your glory as it is your duty, to imitate the great God. Though <HI>Solomon</HI> was in all his glory, yet he had patience to hear both what the mother and the harlot had to &s;ay. The Holy-Gho&s;t puts the fool upon him that an&s;wers a matter before he hears it, <HI>Prov. 18.13.</HI> It was the u&s;ual cu&s;tom of <HI>Philip</HI> King of <HI>Macedon,</HI> to &s;tep one of his ears while&s;t the accu&s;er was &s;peaking, that &s;o he might re&s;erve it for the defend|ant. I have read of &s;ome who have deeply &s;uffered both in their civil liberties, and in their con&s;ciences, for their ra&s;h and ha&s;ty pa&s;sing of judgement upon others. Why hath God given the Judges of the earth two ears, and but one tongue, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> that they &s;hould be &s;wift to hear, and &s;low to &s;peak? I have read of <HI>Lewis</HI> King of <HI>France,</HI> that when he had through inadvertency granted an unju&s;t &s;uit, as &s;oon as ever he had read tho&s;e words of the P&s;almi&s;t, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is he that doth righteou&s;ne&s;s at all times,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 106.3.</NOTE> he pre&s;ently recollected him&s;elf, and upon better thoughts gave his judgem<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nt quite contrary. Certainly all acts of ju&s;tice ought to flow from mature deliberation: All Ma|gi&s;trates, Judges, and Ju&s;tices, in their admini&s;trations of ju&s;tice and judgement, &s;hould wi&s;ely ob&s;erve by what principles they act, and by what Rules they act, and by what Authority they act, and in what manner they act, and to what ends they act: and how all the&s;e important
<PB REF="12"> things can be done without &s;erious deliberation, I cannot for the pre&s;ent under&s;tand. Ju&s;tice in the Emblem is repre&s;ented with a Ballance in the one hand, and a Sword in the other, to note that matters mu&s;t be fir&s;t delib<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rately weighed in the Ballance, before Judgement can be pa&s;&s;ed. He that only u&s;eth the Sword and not the Ballance, may &s;mite an innocent <HI>Naboth,</HI> and acquit a guilty <HI>Ah<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">b.</HI> The Civil Law concludes it very unrea&s;onable for any man to give Advice or Judgement before he hath con&s;ide|red and weighed the whole Cau&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Civile dig. <HI>4.</HI> de legis &s;ena|tu&s;que con&s;ul.</NOTE> And therefore by your own Laws you are bound to deliberate before you give Judgement: Unle&s;&s;e you will tell the world, that you, even you, are unrea&s;onable men, who above all others &s;hould be the Ma&s;ters of the greate&s;t rea&s;on as well as men of the greate&s;t mea&s;ures of grace and holine&s;&s;e. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly, As you mu&s;t do Ju&s;tice deliberately, &s;o you <MILESTONE N="5"> mu&s;t do Ju&s;tice re&s;olutely, couragiou&s;ly, valiantly. As &s;oon as <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> came into the office of Magi&s;tracy, God charges him no le&s;&s;e then three times (in a breath as it were) to be very couragious, in <HI>Jo&s;hua 1.6, 7, 9.</HI> A Judge that is timerous, will quickly be treacherous: A Judge that is fearfull, can never be faithful. <HI>Solomons</HI> Throne was &s;upported with Lyons, to &s;hew that Magi|&s;trates &s;hould be men of courage and mettal. The <HI>Athe|nian</HI> Judges &s;ate in <HI>Mars</HI> &s;treet,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 17.22. Job 31, 31, 34.</NOTE> to &s;hew that they had Martial hearts, and that they were men of courage and mettal. <HI>Job</HI> was a Judge of rare courage and magna|nimity; nothing could fear him, nothing could daunt him, nothing could terrifie him, nothing could di&s;courage him from doing Ju&s;tice and Judgement. The <HI>Graeci|ans</HI> placed Ju&s;tice betwixt <HI>Leo</HI> and <HI>Libra</HI> to &s;ignifie that as there mu&s;t be indifferency in determining, &s;o there
<PB REF="13"> ought to be courage in executing. Where there is cou|rage without knowledge, there the eye of Ju&s;tice is blind; and where there is knowledge without courage, there the &s;word of Ju&s;tice is blunt. Judges and Ju&s;tices &s;hould be men of courage for God and godline&s;&s;e: Why &s;hould not the &s;tandard be of &s;teel, and the chief po&s;ts in the hou&s;e be heart of Oak? I have read of <HI>Age&s;ilaus</HI> how that he was by all concluded fit to be made their King, but that he halted. Men of the be&s;t &amp; choice&s;t accompli&s;hments, if they are not couragious and magnanimous, but lame and halting, they are no wayes fit for Magi&s;trates. Judges and Ju&s;tices &s;hould have Martial Spirits, high Spirits for Ju&s;tice and Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. Every Judge, every Ju&s;tice &s;hould have a Lyons heart, an Eagles eye, and a Gyants arm. Such men who&s;e hearts are faint, who&s;e heads are dull, who&s;e ears are heavy, who&s;e eyes are dim, who&s;e hands are weak, and who&s;e feet are lame, are more fit to &s;it in a Chimney corner, then to &s;it Judges and Ju&s;ti|ces upon the Bench. It hath been long &s;ince &s;aid of <HI>Cato, Fabritius,</HI> and <HI>Ari&s;tides,</HI> that it was as ea&s;ie to remove the Sun out of the Firmament, as to remove them from Ju&s;tice and Equity, they were men of &s;uch couragious and magnanimous Spirits for Ju&s;tice and Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, No &s;carlet Robe doth &s;o well become a Judge, as holy courage and &s;toutne&s;&s;e doth. I have read of <HI>Lewis</HI> the eleventh King of <HI>France,</HI> who going about to e&s;tabli&s;h &s;ome unju&s;t Edicts, which when &s;ome of his chief Cour|tiers perceived, they went altogether to him in Red-Gowns: the King asked them what they would have: the Pre&s;ident <HI>La Vacqueri</HI> an&s;wered, We are come with a full purpo&s;e to lo&s;e our lives every one of us, rather then by our connivency any unju&s;t Ordinance &s;hould take place: The King being amazed at this An&s;wer, and at the cou|rage,
<PB REF="13"> con&s;tancy and re&s;olution of tho&s;e Peers, gave them gracious entertainment, and commanded, that all the for|mer Edicts &s;hould be forthwith cancelled in his pre&s;ence. Courage and re&s;olution may prevent many a Publick mi&s;|chief and mi&s;ery. But,</P>
<P>Sixthly, As you are to do Ju&s;tice re&s;olutely, couragiou&s;ly, <MILESTONE N="6"> &s;o you are to do Ju&s;tice and Judgement exactly.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 23.6, 7.13. The Egypti|ans had a no|table practi&s;e, when their Judges were &s;et, they cau&s;ed the Image of a divine Nu|men by them called truth, to be hung about his neck, who &s;ate next unto the Judges, to make them the more exact and heedfull in Iudgement.</NOTE> <HI>2</HI> Chro. <HI>19.5, 6, 7. And he &s;et Judges in the Land, throughout all the fenced Cities of</HI> Judah, <HI>City by City. And &s;aid to the Judges, Take heed what you do, for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in the Judgement. Wherefore now, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; Take heed and do it, for there is no ini|quity with the Lord our God, nor re&s;pect of per&s;on, nor taking of gifts.</HI> God is exact in all his wayes, and he is exact in all his works: he is exact in all his promi&s;es, &amp; he is exact in all his threatnings: he is exact in all his Re|wards, and he is exact in all his puni&s;hments; he is exact in the exerci&s;e of his mercy, and he is exact in the exer|ci&s;e of his Ju&s;tice: And therefore you that are called Gods, &s;hould in this be like God. O Sirs, &s;ome by force, others by flattery; &s;ome by large pre&s;ents to your relations, and others by promi&s;ing great rewards to your &s;elves may indeavour to corrupt you, and blind you, and induce you to judge ra&s;hly, incon&s;iderately, irregularly, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And therefore you have the more cau&s;e to be exact in tran&s;acting all your judicial affairs. O remember, that the mo&s;t &s;harp &amp; pierc|ing eye of God is &s;till upon you! O remember, that the &s;evere eye of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who is the Judge of Judges, is never off of you; And the Angels tho&s;e Princes of glory, are very &s;trict Ob&s;ervers of you. When the <HI>Ethiopian</HI> Judges were &s;et in their &s;eats of Judicature, certain empty chairs were placed about them, into which they conjectured the holy
<PB REF="14"> Angels came and were &s;pectators of all their tran&s;actions; and this they thought would work &s;uch an awe, &s;uch a dread, &s;uch a care, &s;uch a fear, and &s;uch a re&s;olution in them that they could not but manage all their Judicial proceedings with much exactne&s;&s;e and heedfulne&s;&s;e. And as the Angels have their eyes upon you, &s;o Satan hath al|wayes his eyes upon you,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cave, &s;pectat Cato,</HI> was a watch-word among the Romans. O how much more &s;hould <HI>Cave, &s;pectat Dominus,</HI> be a watch-word among&s;t you!</NOTE> he hath alwayes a watchfull eye, an envious eye, a malitious eye, a crafty eye, and a reveng|full eye upon you; witne&s;&s;e his di&s;&s;wading you &s;ometimes from your duty, and witne&s;&s;e his di&s;tracting and di&s;turb|ing of you while&s;t you are in your duty; and witne&s;&s;e his accu&s;ing of you for the neglect of your duty; and witne&s;&s;e his endeavours to pride you, and puffe you up upon the di&s;|charge of your duty. And as the eye of Satan is upon you, &s;o the eyes of good men are upon you, and the eyes of bad men are upon you: And if all this doth not be&s;peak you to be very exact and accurate in all your Judicial tran&s;actions, I know nothing. My Lords and Gentlemen, if all this will not do, then remember that the lives, liber|ties, con&s;ciences, rights, priviledges, e&s;tates and intere&s;ts of per&s;ons (next to God, and Chri&s;t, and Grace) are the mo&s;t choice and precious, the mo&s;t de&s;ireable and delecta|ble Jewels that men have in all the world, and therefore you had need be very exact and accurate in all your Judi|cial tran&s;actions. Yea once more, remember that God will one day bring you to an exact account concerning all your Judicial proceedings: That &s;ame mouth that tells you that you are Gods,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 82.6. Heb. 9.27.</NOTE> tells you al&s;o, that you mu&s;t die like men: And after death comes Judgement. You that now call others to Judgement, &s;hall &s;hortly be called to Judgement your &s;elves:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 17.32.</NOTE> you that now &s;it in Judgement upon others, &s;hall ere long be Judged by him that will Judge the world in righttou&s;ne&s;s. My Lords and
<PB REF="14"> Gentlemen, give me leave to tell you,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Tennes</HI> the &s;on of <HI>Cyrnus,</HI> (who was wor&s;hipped as a god) was &s;o &s;trict and ex|act in Judge|ment, that he cau&s;ed an Ax to be held over the witne&s;&s;es heads, to exe|cute them out of hand, if they were taken with fal&s;hood; and from thence was the Pro|verb, <HI>Tenedia bipennis.</HI></NOTE> that that Judge to whom you mu&s;t be re&s;pon&s;ible, is no ignorant Judge, nor no covetous Judge, nor no partial Judge, nor no fearful Judge, nor no doating Judge, nor no trifling Judge, though &s;uch there may be in the world; but he is an omni&s;cient Judge, an omnipotent Judge, an impartial Judge, a holy Judge, a couragious Judge, a &s;erious Judge, a &s;evere Judge, an unbia&s;&s;ed Judge, a righteous Iudge, and a re&s;o|lute Iudge. Alas Sirs, it is not your &s;carlet Gowns, nor your Titles of honour, nor your great e&s;tates, nor your in|tere&s;t in Princes, nor your noble relations, nor your ap|plau&s;e among men, that will &s;tand you in &s;tead when you &s;hall &s;tand before that Iudge that is a con&s;uming fire, <HI>Heb. 12. ult.</HI> Well Gentlemen, remember this, there is never a profe&s;sing Iudge nor Iu&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ce in the world, that will be able at la&s;t to give up their accounts with joy, and to &s;tand in judgement when the Lamb &s;hall &s;it upon his Throne, but &s;uch as have made it their great bu&s;ine&s;&s;e to take the &s;pirit of the Lord for their guide, and to &s;et up the glory of the Lord as their great end, and to make the Word of the Lord their principal Rule, and to eye the example of the Lord as their choice&s;t and chiefe&s;t pattern; and therefore it is much to be feared, that the numher of &s;uch Iudges and Iu&s;tices, that will be able to &s;tand before the Iudge of all the world, will be but few. But,</P>
<P>Seventhly, As you mu&s;t do ju&s;tice and judgement ex|actly; <MILESTONE N="7"> &s;o you mu&s;t do ju&s;tice to others, as you would have others do ju&s;tice to you. For Judges and Ju&s;tices to do as they would be done by, is the Royal Law, the golden Rule, and the Standard of equity. Judges and Ju&s;tices &s;hould think of others, as they would have others think of them; and &s;peak of others, as they would have others &s;peak of them; and do to others, as they would have others do to
<PB REF="15"> them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 7.12. <HI>Severus</HI> the Emperour had this Scripture often in his mouth; and when&s;oever he puni&s;hed any of his &s;ouldiers for offering of in|juries to o|thers, he &s;till commanded this Scripture to be pro|claimed by the Cryer.</NOTE> Whatever by the light of nature, or by the light of con&s;cience, or by the light of Scripture, a Judge, a Ju|&s;tice, would have another do to him, the &s;ame mu&s;t he do to another. In all ju&s;t things (for &s;o this Law of Chri&s;t is only to be under&s;tood) we mu&s;t do to others, as we would have others do to us; as we would have others carry it equally, ju&s;tly and righteou&s;ly towards us, &s;o we mu&s;t car|ry it equally, ju&s;tly, and righteou&s;ly towards others: and as we would not have others to wrong us in our names, e&s;tates, rights, liberties, lives, &s;o we mu&s;t not wrong others in their names, e&s;tates, rights, liberties, lives, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> This Law of Chri&s;t is the &s;umme of all righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e; it is the foundation of all Ju&s;tice and Equity. Self-love doth &s;o commonly blind the &s;ons of men, that to judge righteou&s;ly, they mu&s;t change the per&s;on, they mu&s;t put them&s;elves in others room. All Princes, Judges, Ju&s;tices, Parents, Ma&s;ters, Subjects, Servants &amp; Children &s;hould &s;o act in their relations, as they would have others act in the correlation. All inju&s;tice will be repaid one time or ano|ther; and therefore men had need be ju&s;t, and do to others as they would have others do to them. I have read of a Citi+zen of <HI>Comun</HI> in the Dukedom of <HI>Farrara,</HI> who being ca&s;t into pri&s;on upon &s;u&s;pit<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">on of murder, his wife could get no promi&s;e of his deliverance, unl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;e &s;he would give the Captain, who&s;e pri&s;oner he was, two hundred Ducats, and yield her body to his plea&s;ure; which, with the con|&s;ent of her husband, &s;he did; but after the Captain had his de&s;ire, he notwith&s;tanding put him to death. The Duke <HI>Gonzala</HI> hearing of it, commanded the Captain to re|&s;tore the two hundred Ducats to the widow, with an ad|dition of &s;even hundred Crowns; then he enjoyned him to marry her pre&s;ently, and la&s;tly, before he could enjoy his new wife, the Duke cau&s;ed him to be hanged for his
<PB REF="15"> treachery and inju&s;tice. Sometimes in this life, inju&s;tice is repaid upon the heads of unju&s;t Judges. My Lords and Gentlemen, before I clo&s;e up this head, give me leave heartily to recommend to your Ju&s;tice, tho&s;e wrongs and injuries which more immed<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ately &s;trike at the honour and glory of the great God. God hath put his name upon you, <HI>P&s;alm 82.6. I &s;aid that ye are gods:</HI> yet it mu&s;t be granted that you are gods in a &s;maller letter, mortal gods, gods that mu&s;t die like m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n; all the &s;ons of <HI>I&s;h,</HI> are &s;ons of <HI>Adam.</HI> And as God hath put his name upon you &s;o he hath made you his Vice-Royes. <HI>2 Chron. 19 6. Ye judge not for your &s;elves, but for the Lord.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 13.2. Exod. 16.7, 8. 1 Sam. 8.7.</NOTE> And therefore God takes all affronts that are done to you, as done to him&s;elf, as you may &s;ee by comparing the Scri|ptures in the margin together. And God hath provided for your honour among men. <HI>Exod. 20.28. Thou &s;halt not revile the gods,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 13.7. Jo&s;h. 4.14.</NOTE> (<HI>i. e.</HI> the Magi&s;trates) <HI>nor cur&s;e the Ruler of thy people.</HI> I have read of <HI>Fabius Maximus,</HI> who highly reverenced and honoured his own &s;on, being Con&s;ul: this Heathen will one day ri&s;e up in judgement again&s;t all &s;uch that &s;corn to give to Magi|&s;trates that honour that by the fifth Commandment is due unto them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 2.9, 10. 1 Sam. 10.2. Iude 8.2. 1 Sam. 8.7.</NOTE> And God is very &s;evere in revenging the wrongs that are done to you: He interprets all the inju|ries that are done to you, as done to him&s;elf. And why then will you not revenge the wrongs and injuries that are done to the great God? Give me leave, Gentlemen, in the behalf of the great God, a little to expo&s;tulate with you. Shall the lea&s;t di&s;honourable word that is &s;poken again&s;t an earthly Prince be &s;everely puni&s;hed? and &s;hall all tho&s;e horrid and helli&s;h bla&s;phemies by which the Prince of the Kings of the earth is di&s;honoured and re|proached all the Nation over, pa&s;&s;e unob&s;erved?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 1.5.</NOTE> Shall all
<PB REF="16"> affronts that are offered to Emba&s;&s;adors, be deeply re&s;ented and ju&s;tly cen&s;ured, as high indignities done to the Prince that employed them? And &s;hall the Emba&s;&s;adors of the great God (I mean &s;uch as are called, commi&s;sionated, &s;pirited, gifted and graced for that high office by God him&s;elf) be &s;corned, defamed, injured, reviled, and on all hands evilly intreated? and yet no man &s;ay, Why do you thus wickedly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chron. 36.15. <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> to provoke the great God to your own de&s;truction? Shall it be looked upon as noble and nece&s;|&s;ary ju&s;tice, that all in&s;urrections in the State be puni&s;hed as Rebellion? and &s;hall tho&s;e who are daily up in open arms again&s;t the great God, and that daily bid defiance to him, to his Son, to his Ordinances, to his people, to his word, and to his wayes, e&s;cape without the lea&s;t la&s;h, the lea&s;t cen&s;ure? Shall tho&s;e that rob their neigbours (though it be but to the value of five &s;hillings, yea le&s;&s;e) be indited, examined, condemned and executed? and &s;hall others that rob God of his glory, of his Sabboths, and of his &s;ervice, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> e&s;cape without the lea&s;t &s;haking of the rod, or without the lea&s;t danger of the whip? Shall all prophan<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;e, loo&s;ne&s;&s;e and wickedne&s;&s;e be winked at, yea countenanced and encouraged, notwith&s;tanding his Ma|je&s;ties mo&s;t Zealous, pious and renowned Declaration a|gain&s;t it? and &s;hall real holine&s;&s;e and the power of god|line&s;&s;e, be on all hands &s;corned, di&s;countenanced, oppo&s;ed and reviled, and yet no man &s;ay, What means the&s;e things? Well, my Lords and Gentlemen, for ever re|member this, All tho&s;e &s;ins that are in this Land com|mitted, which by your ju&s;t power and gracious examples might have been prevented, all tho&s;e &s;ins in the great day &s;hall be charged upon your accounts; and therefore it highly concerns you with all your might to brow-beat wic|kedne&s;&s;e, to di&s;countenance ungodline&s;&s;e, and to improve
<PB REF="16"> your power to the uttermo&s;t for the &s;uppre&s;sing of all pro|phane&s;&s;e, and for the countenancing, encouraging, and promoting of real holine&s;&s;e, that &s;o you may give up your accounts at la&s;t with joy. I have read of King <HI>Ethel|bert,</HI> how that by his godly example, and by his counte|nancing and encouraging &s;uch as were godly, and by his di&s;countenancing of prophane&s;&s;e and wickedne&s;&s;e, he drew this whole Kingdom once to look after godline&s;&s;e. Oh my Lords and Gentlemen, if you would be but &s;hining ex|amples and patterns of holine&s;&s;e to the Nation; if you would but in good earne&s;t put forth your utmo&s;t power for the encouraging of godline&s;&s;e, and for the &s;uppre&s;sing of prophane&s;&s;e: O what a holy Nation, yea what a happy Nation &s;hould we have! King <HI>Cyrus</HI> commanded the chief officers of his Army to keep a &s;trict hand upon them|&s;elves; for &s;aith he, that is the be&s;t way in the world to keep the whole Army in good order: the application is ea&s;ie. But,</P>
<P>Eighthly, In the exerci&s;e of ju&s;tice, you mu&s;t look that <MILESTONE N="8"> ju&s;tice and mercy, that ju&s;tice and clemency go hand in hand. <HI>Prov. 20.28.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 29.14. P&s;alm 101.1.</NOTE> <HI>Mercy and truth pre&s;erve the King: and his Throne is upholden by mercy:</HI> Some read the words thus,<NOTE PLACE="marg">It is u&s;ual in Scripture, by Truth, to un|der&s;tand Iu|&s;tice.</NOTE> <HI>Mercy and ju&s;tice pre&s;erve the King, and his Throne is upholden by mercy.</HI> All ju&s;tice will not pre&s;erve the King, nor all mercy will not pre&s;erve the King; there mu&s;t be a mixture both of ju|&s;tice and mercy to pre&s;erve the King, and to uphold his Throne; and to &s;hew that mercy is more requi&s;ite then ju|&s;tice, the word <HI>Mercy</HI> is doubled in the Text. Ju&s;tice without Mercy turns into rigour, and &s;o becomes hateful; Mercy without Ju&s;tice turns into fond pity, and &s;o becomes contemptible. Look as the rod of <HI>Aaron</HI> and the pot of <HI>Manna</HI> were by Gods command laid up in the &s;ame Ark,
<PB REF="17"> &s;o mu&s;t mercy and ju&s;tice be pre&s;erved intire in the bo&s;om of the &s;ame Magi&s;trate,<NOTE PLACE="marg">King <HI>John</HI> thought to &s;trengthen him&s;elf by gathering a great deal of money toge|ther, but neg|lecting the exerci&s;e of mercy, cle|mency and lenity, he lo&s;t his peoples affections, and &s;o after many endle&s;s tur|moyles, he came to an unhappy end.</NOTE> Iudge, and Iu&s;tice. Mercy and ju&s;tice, mildne&s;&s;e and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, lenity and fidelity, are a &s;afer and a &s;tronger guard to Princes and People, then rich Mines, munitions of Rocks, mighty Armies, powerful Navies, or any warlike preparations. It is very ob&s;ervable that Chri&s;t is called but once the Lion of the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> in the book of the <HI>Revelation,</HI> and that is in <HI>chap. 5.5.</HI> but he is called a Lamb no le&s;&s;e then nine and twenty times in that book: and what is this, but to &s;hew the tran&s;cendent mercy, clemency, lenity, mild+ne&s;&s;e and &s;weetne&s;&s;e that is in Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and to &s;hew that he is infinitely more inclined to the exerci&s;e of mer|cy, then he is to the exerci&s;e of ju&s;tice. It is true, Magi|&s;trates, Judges and Ju&s;tices, &s;hould be Lions in the execu|tion of ju&s;tice; and it is as true, that they &s;hould be Lambs in the exerci&s;e of mercy and clemency, mildn<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;e and &s;weetne&s;&s;e: And the more ready and inclinable they are to the exerci&s;e of mercy, where mercy is to be &s;hewed, the more like to the Lamb they are. <HI>Seneca</HI> hath long &s;ince ob&s;erved, that the cu&s;tom of anointing Kings, was to &s;hew that Kings &s;hould be above all other men of the greate&s;t &s;weetne&s;&s;e and mildne&s;&s;e; their anointing being a &s;ign of that Kingly &s;weetne&s;&s;e and mildne&s;&s;e that &s;hould be in them. <HI>Nero</HI>'s &s;peech hath great prai&s;e, who when he was to &s;ub&s;cribe to the death of any condemned man, would &s;ay, <HI>Utinam ne&s;cirem literas,</HI> I wi&s;h I did not know how to write. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="9"> Ninthly and la&s;tly, you mu&s;t do ju&s;tice proportionable to the nature of the offence; your penalties and puni&s;h|ments mu&s;t be alwayes &s;uitable to the offence; to puni&s;h any fact more &s;everely then it de&s;erves, is alwayes inju|&s;tice to the offendour: for &s;o far innocency it &s;elf &s;uffers,
<PB REF="17"> as any man is puni&s;hed beyond the demerit of his offence;<NOTE PLACE="marg">I have read of the River <HI>Nilus,</HI> that if it either ex|ceed or be de+fective in its due over|flowings of the land of <HI>Egypt,</HI> it cau&s;eth fa|mine: the application is ea&s;ie. <HI>Cleobulus,</HI> one of the &s;even Sages, was wont to &s;ay, that Medio|crity was without compare.</NOTE> and to puni&s;h le&s;&s;e then the Fact de&s;erves, may be of dan|gerous con&s;equence to the publike. The Roman <HI>Fa&s;ces</HI> were a bundle of rods with an Ax in the mid&s;t, to &s;ignifie the equity of Magi&s;trates in puni&s;hing &s;ome only with reds, and others with the Ax; the Romans had their rods for le&s;&s;er faults, and their Ax for capital crimes. Ju&s;tice is then remi&s;s, when it &s;pares where it ought to puni&s;h; and Ju&s;tice is then too &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">vere, when it puni&s;heth where it ought to &s;pare. Extream right often proves extream wrong: he that will alwayes go to the utmo&s;t of what the Law al|lows, will too too often do more then the Law requires; it is rare, very rare, to &s;ee a man dance upon the brink of the pit, and not to tumble in: A rigid-&s;everity often mars all; equity is &s;till to be preferred before extremity. To inflict great penalties and heavy cen&s;ures for light offences, this is to kill a Fly upon a mans fore-head with a Beetle. In the French Hi&s;tory, there is mention made of an old Courtier that would needs depart the Court, and retire him&s;elf to a private life; the King de&s;ired him before he went, to leave his advice in &s;ome general Rules, what was be&s;t to be done in the Government of the Kingdom. Upon which motion, he took a fair paper, and wrote upon the top of the leaf, <HI>Moderation;</HI> and in the middle of the leaf, <HI>Moderation;</HI> and at the bottom of the leaf, <HI>Mo|deration;</HI> &s;ignifying thereby thus much to the King, that the be&s;t way in the world to have his Crown &s;et fa&s;t, and to keep his Kingdom &s;afe, was to manage throughout all his affairs with moderation. And there is nothing more evident in Scripture and Hi&s;tory then this, that many by &s;cruing the pegs of Government too high, have broke all in pieces about their ears.</P>
<P>Now my Lords and Gentlemen, there are five things
<PB REF="18"> or Rules that will be of &s;ingular u&s;e to help you in this ca&s;e, to &s;teer &s;uch a cour&s;e as may be &s;afe and honourable to you; and as may render you a mercy and a ble&s;sing to the Nation.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> And the fir&s;t is this, never make tho&s;e things to be &s;ins, which God never made to be &s;ins; to make tho&s;e things to be &s;ins, which God hath made to be no &s;ins, is to make gods of your &s;elves; yea it is to lift up your &s;elves above God him&s;elf, as if you were more holy, more wi&s;e, more ju&s;t, and more righteous then the holy one of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> is. Indeed the Papi&s;ts, that are will-wor&s;hippers, and com|monly highly conceited of their own wi&s;dom and worth, they frequently tran&s;gre&s;&s;e this Rule with their <HI>Touch not,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 2.21, 23.</NOTE> <HI>ta&s;te not, handle not;</HI> which things have indeed a &s;hew of wi&s;dom in will-wor&s;hip, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but why &s;hould you? why &s;hould you? who have a higher profe&s;sion up|on you, and a more clear Go&s;pel-light &s;hining every day more &s;trongly upon you. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, Never make tho&s;e things to be ab&s;olute and nece&s;&s;ary duties, that God hath nowhere declared to be &s;uch.<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 33.22. Jam. 4.12.</NOTE> Such things that do neither fall under a general nor a particular command of God, may not be impo&s;ed upon the con&s;ciences of men as ab&s;olute and nece&s;&s;ary du|ties to be performed by them; a faithful ob&s;erving of the&s;e two Rules, would prevent a multitude of &s;ins, a &s;ea of &s;or|rows, and a world of troubles. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, In all your admini&s;trations of ju&s;tice, take the Authority of the Word with you: this will yield you mo&s;t comfort, mo&s;t peace, mo&s;t &s;ecurity, and mo&s;t boldne&s;&s;e, in the great day of your account. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, Never put off your own &s;ouls with any &s;uch pleas or arguments now, that are not pleadable in the Court of con&s;cience, when you &s;hall lie upon your dying-beds;
<PB REF="18"> nor that are not pleadable before the Court of hea|ven, when you &s;hall &s;tand before Chri&s;ts Judgement-feat. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly and la&s;tly, In all your admini&s;trations of ju&s;tice <MILESTONE N="5"> and judgement, be &s;ure that you act nothing upon the ac|count of any command, commi&s;sion, or authority under heaven, that you dare not own, plead and &s;tand by before the great authority of heaven, when the King of Kings &s;hall make a narrow in&s;pection into all your Judicial pro|ceedings, and accordingly pa&s;&s;e judgement upon you. What though this command, and that commi&s;sion, and the other authority may bear you out in this world, yet if they are too weak to bear you out in the other world, you will cur&s;e the day that ever you were born, and wi&s;h that you had rather been a turning of &s;pits, or lying under an hedge, or a begging at the rich mans door, then that you had ever &s;ate in &s;eats of Judicature, to act upon &s;uch grounds, as are no wayes pleadable before the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, when he &s;hall come in the glory of his father, with all his holy Angels, to judge all the Kings, Princes, Nobles, Judges and Ju&s;tices of the earth. My Lords and Gentlemen, if the&s;e five things or Rules were but &s;incerely, &s;eriou&s;ly, re&s;olutely, and con&s;tantly followed, no heart can conceive, nor no tongue can expre&s;&s;e the hai|nous &s;ins, the &s;ore troubles, and the dreadful calamities, and woful mi&s;eries that thereby would be prevented. And thus my Lords and Gentlemen, I have done with tho&s;e &s;pecial Rules that you are carefully, diligently, faithfully, and con&s;tantly to ob&s;erve, in all your Judicial admini&s;tra|tions; but how you will be able to act &s;uitable and an&s;wer|able to the&s;e Rules without a &s;pirit of holine&s;&s;e, without a principle of holine&s;&s;e, and without an experiment of the powerful operations of holine&s;&s;e in your own &s;ouls, I am
<PB REF="19"> not able to &s;ee;<NOTE PLACE="marg">If you plea&s;e to read from page 433. to page 447. you will find ma|ny more weighty ar|guments to move you to labour after holine&s;s.</NOTE> and therefore how much it &s;tands you upon that want that holine&s;&s;e, that this Treati&s;e holds forth, to &s;tudy holine&s;&s;e, to love holine&s;&s;e, to prize holine&s;&s;e, to countenance holine&s;&s;e, to encourage holine&s;&s;e, to promote holine&s;&s;e, and to be re&s;tle&s;&s;e till you have experienced the power, and life, and &s;weet of holine&s;&s;e in your own hearts and lives, I mu&s;t leave you to Judge. And O that after all this pains that I have taken upon the account of your immortal &s;ouls, I may not have cau&s;e to complain, as once <HI>Marcus Antonius</HI> did, <HI>Alas</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>tho&s;e Graces which the Deity &s;ent down as &s;o many pillars to &s;tay up humane Societies,</HI> viz. <HI>Faith and Mode&s;ty, Ju|&s;tice and Verity, they found &s;uch cold entertain|ment in the world, that they are fled back to heaven.</HI> I &s;hall follow the&s;e weak endeavours with my be&s;t prayers, that you may all put on holine&s;&s;e as a Royal Robe, and that all your Judicial admini&s;trations may &s;avour of a &s;pirit of holine&s;&s;e, and of the power and prevalency of holine&s;&s;e, that &s;o you may be as high in happine&s;&s;e above others, as you are now in power and place exalted above others.</P>
<P>If this Treati&s;e &s;hould fall into any of their hands who call and account them&s;elves the only Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t; I mean &s;uch, who preach rather to plea&s;e then to profit; to tickle the ear, then to awaken the con&s;cience; that are better at fleecing of their Flocks, then they are at feeding of their Flocks;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 13. read it throughout. Mat. 23.23. Mat. 15.1, 10.</NOTE> that &s;eek more mens goods, then their good; that &s;et up mens Traditions above Gods own in&s;titutions; that prefer humane commands, before di|vine commands; that are very zealous and warm for Mint, Ani&s;e, and Cummin, but are very cold, carele&s;&s;e and negligent in the great and weighty matters of the Law, <HI>viz.</HI> Judgement, Mercy and Faith. That can ble&s;&s;e God in the Church, and bla&s;pheme him in the Tavern:
<PB REF="19"> That prefer mu&s;ick in the Church,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gentlemen, if you plea&s;e to turn to page 296, 297, 298, 299. of this book, you will find more matter that concerns you.</NOTE> before &s;inging of Halle|lujahs in heaven: That prefer a fat Benefice before an intere&s;t in an heavenly inheritance: That can kneel de|voutly behind a pillar, and in their drunken fits rail as &s;toutly again&s;t a po&s;t: That pretend a grea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> deal of reve|rence to the name of Je&s;us, and yet in their lives do daily crucifie the Lord Je&s;us: That with <HI>Judas,</HI> can ki&s;&s;e Chri&s;t, and betray Chri&s;t in a breath: That pretend much kind|ne&s;&s;e to the head, and yet &s;hew nothing but unkindne&s;&s;e to the body: That preach as if they had no mind to go to heaven, and live as if they were re&s;olved to go to hell: That fea&s;t their own bodies, but &s;tarve their peoples &s;ouls: That are very devout upon a Saints day, but very loo&s;e and prophane upon the Lords day: That think it a greater &s;in to eat fle&s;h in <HI>Lent,</HI> then it is to lie with their neigh|bours wife: That &s;peak ten words for them&s;elves, and hardly two for Chri&s;t; and that in&s;tead of preaching up holine&s;&s;e, and promoting of holine&s;&s;e, and countenancing and encouraging of holine&s;&s;e, do all they can to di&s;counte|nance holine&s;&s;e, to brow-beat holine&s;&s;e, to keep down holi|ne&s;&s;e, to be&s;patter holine&s;&s;e, to work men out of love with holine&s;&s;e, and to hinder the growth and encrea&s;e of holi|ne&s;&s;e; O that the&s;e men would &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;ider, how un|like to the Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t they are: Do but look into a Scripture gla&s;s, and you may ea&s;ily &s;ee that Hell is not more unlike to Heaven, nor &s;in more unlike to grace, nor Satan more unlike to God, then you are unlike to the holy, con&s;cientious, painful, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Several Authors in Print have proved this to my hand at large, and therefore I &s;hall not enlarge upon it; only give me leave to &s;ay, that Gods holy things ought to be handled with fear and reverence, rather then with wit and dalliance: Spiritual nicene&s;s is the next degree to
<PB REF="20"> unfaithfuln&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">See my <HI>Pre|cious R<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">medies again&s;t Satans Devices,</HI> from page 349. to page 357. And &s;ee my <HI>Un&s;earchable Riches of Chri&s;t,</HI> from page 291. to page 314.</NOTE> Mini&s;ters mu&s;t not be like the drug that the Phy&s;itians &s;ay is hot in the mouth, and cold in the operation: hot in the Pulpit, but cold, carnal, and care|le&s;&s;e in their conver&s;ations. Tho&s;e that &s;tand before Princes, mu&s;t be exact in their carriages. God appointed both the weights and mea&s;ures of the &s;anctuary to be twice as large as tho&s;e of the Common-wealth; to &s;hew that he expects much more of tho&s;e that &s;erve him there, then he doth of others. The &s;ouls of Prie&s;ts, (I may &s;ay of Mini|&s;ters) mu&s;t be purer then the Sun-beams, &s;aith golden|mouth'd <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom.</HI> Gay things in a Sermon are only for men to gaze upon and admire: What are high &s;trains and fla&s;hes of wit, new minted words and phra&s;es, but like gay weeds and blew-bottles to the good corn? Do|ctrine is but the drawing of the bow, application is the hitting of the mark: How many are wi&s;e in generals, but vain <HI>(en dia-l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">gi&s;m is)</HI> in their practical infe|rences! A general Doctrine not applyed, is as a &s;word without an edge, not in it &s;elf, but to others; or as a whole loaf &s;et before children, that will do them no good. A garment fitted for all bodies, is fit for no body: and &s;o that which is &s;poken to all, is taken as &s;poken to none. <HI>Aarons</HI> bells were golden bells <HI>(Dulce &s;onantes)</HI> &s;ounding plea&s;antly, and not as &s;ounding bra&s;&s;e or tinkling Cym|bals, as many of the carnal Clergy of this Nation are this day. Many there be that account them&s;elves the only Mi|ni&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that are but like empty Orators, that have a flood of words, and but a drop of matter; of whom we may truly &s;ay, <HI>Multa loquuntur &amp; nihil di|cunt;</HI> they &s;peak much, and yet &s;ay nothing, becau&s;e they &s;ay nothing to the purpo&s;e. When the Lacedemonian in <HI>Plutarch</HI> heard how &s;weetly the Nightingale &s;ang: O, &s;aid he, that I had this Bird, &s;urely it is a rare di&s;h; but
<PB REF="20"> when he had taken it, and eat it, and found nothing but a little picking meat, he concluded with that proverbial &s;aying, <HI>Voxes &amp; praeterea nihil:</HI> Now I &s;ee that thou art a meer voice and nothing el&s;e. How applicable this is to many Preachers in the&s;e dayes, who have good lungs, but bad brains, and wor&s;e hearts and lives, the prudent Reader may ea&s;ily &s;ee. <HI>John</HI> the <HI>Bapti&s;t</HI> was a burning and a &s;hining light, as well as a voice: His Sermons were &s;tuft with divine and weighty matter, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and not filled up with big words, or &s;trains of wit. Many there be that have <HI>Johns</HI> voice in the Mini&s;try, that have not that heat and life that <HI>John</HI> had in his Mini&s;try. That great Orator <HI>(Demo&s;thenes)</HI> him&s;elf could &s;ay, that the riches of <HI>Greece</HI> did not con&s;i&s;t in words. The Oracle would have King <HI>Philip</HI> of <HI>Macedon</HI> to u&s;e &s;ilver lances in winning an impregnable fort, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But it is not for Mini&s;ters to u&s;e golden &s;entences, &s;trong lines, frothy wit, in winning of &s;ouls to Chri&s;t; for it is iron and not gold that killeth in the encounter: it is the &s;teel &s;word, and not the golden &s;word that winneth the field.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 38.2.</NOTE> We to &s;uch Preachers that darken coun&s;el by words without know|ledge, that affect &s;ublime notions, ob&s;cure expre&s;sions, uncouth phra&s;es, making plain truths difficult, and ea&s;ie truths hard: that &s;eek ab&s;tru&s;ities, and love to &s;oar aloft in dark expre&s;sions, and take plea&s;ure to &s;hoot their ar|rows over their hearers heads. The heatheni&s;h Prie&s;ts had their Mythologies and &s;trange canting expre&s;sions of their imaginary unacce&s;sible Deities, to amaze and a|mu&s;e their blind &s;uper&s;titious followers, and thereby to hold up their Popi&s;h and Api&s;h Idolatries in greater venerati|on. And is not this &s;pirit now revived among many? Certainly men of ab&s;tracted conceits and &s;ublime &s;pecu|lations, are but wi&s;e fools, and commonly they are as er|ronious
<PB REF="21"> as they are curious: Such as mind more the hu|moring of their hearers fancies, then the &s;aving of their &s;ouls, do little con&s;ider that of <HI>Seneca, Aeger non quae|rit medicum eloquen<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">em &s;ed &s;anantem:</HI> Sick men are not bettered by Phy&s;itians &s;ugared words, but by their skilful hands. The &s;word of the &s;pirit never wounds deep, till it be pluckt out of the gaudy &s;cabards of hu|mane eloquence. Mr. <HI>Greenham</HI> &s;peaking of non-Re&s;i|dents, wi&s;heth that this Motto might be written on their &s;tudy doors without, and walls within, on all their books they look on, on all the beds they lie on, and on all the tables they &s;it at, <HI>&amp;c. The price of blood, the price of blood, the price of blood.</HI> A Preachers life &s;hould be a Commentary upon his doctrine; his practice &s;hould be the counterpane of his Sermons: heavenly do|ctrines &s;hould alwayes be adorned with a heavenly life.</P>
<Q><L>Preachers are the Gla&s;s, the School, the Book,</L>
<L>Where peoples eyes do learn, do read, do look.</L></Q>
<P>Gentlemen, by the&s;e &s;hort hints you may &s;ee, as in a gla&s;&s;e, if you will not put a cheat upon your own &s;ouls, how unlike to the true, holy, and faithful Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t you are. O Sirs, do not you know that the holy Scriptures (that never &s;poke Trea&s;on nor Sedition) do clearly evidence, that an ignorant, prophane, &s;can|dalous, &s;uper&s;titious, in&s;ufficient, and &s;oul-flattering Clergy, are the greate&s;t Pe&s;t, Plague, Affliction, Judge|ment, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that can befall a people, as you may ea&s;ily &s;ee by comparing the&s;e Scriptures together, <HI>Mich. 2.11. I&s;a. 30.10, 11. Jer. 5.</HI> ult. <HI>Lam. 2.14. I&s;a. 9.16. Ezek. 3.18. Jer. 23.9, 18. Ezek. 13.22. Jer. 6.14.</HI>
<PB REF="21"> and <HI>chap. 27.14, 16. 1 The&s;. 5.3. Jer. 14.13, 14, 15, 16. I&s;a. 28.7, 8. Ezek. 34.</HI> throughout. <HI>Rom. 2.21, 22, 23, 24.</HI> Other judgements, as &s;word, famine, pe&s;tilence, burning fevers, agues, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> cannot &s;eparate between God and mens &s;ouls; for men may have very &s;weet and high communion with God under the &s;ore&s;t of tho&s;e judgements. Other afflictions and judgements may &s;pring from the fatherly love of God, and from a gracious de|&s;ign of good to his people. <HI>Rev. 3.19. Prov. 3.11. Heb. 12.5.6, 7, 8. P&s;alm 89.30, 35. Job 7.17, 18.</HI> but this is a &s;ad fruit of Gods judicial Anger and &s;evere Indignation again&s;t a people. Other judgements often i&s;&s;ue in mens &s;eeking of the Lord, and in mens returning to the Lord. <HI>I&s;a. 26.16, 17. Ho&s;ea 5.14, 15.</HI> compared with <HI>chap 6.1, 2, 3.</HI> and <HI>chap. 2.6, 7.</HI> but this judge|ment frequently i&s;&s;ues in mens for&s;aking of the Lord, and in their running from God, and in their walking contrary to God, and in the hardening of them again&s;t God, and in an everla&s;ting &s;hutting of them out from the pre&s;ence of the Lord: as you may &s;ee by comparing of the&s;e Scri|ptures together. <HI>Matth. 15.14. Luke 6.39. 1 The&s;. 5.3. 2 The&s;. 1.7, 8, 9, 10. Matth. 23.13.</HI> Do not you know that where there is no vi&s;ion, the people peri&s;h? <HI>Prov. 29.18. Jipparang,</HI> that is here rendred <HI>peri&s;h,</HI> is from <HI>Parange,</HI> that &s;ignifies <HI>to be made naked, to be made bare and uncovered.</HI> They are made naked as &s;ouldiers are among the &s;hot and weapons of their ene|mies, when their armour is not on their backs; or they are naked as people that are &s;tript of their garments, and ex|po&s;ed to peri&s;h by cold in the Winter, or to be &s;corched or roa&s;ted by heat in the Summer; or they are naked, <HI>i. e.</HI> they are made the objects of &s;hame and contempt to all that look upon them: or they are made naked, that is, of
<PB REF="22"> the grace,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 32.25.</NOTE> ble&s;sing, and protection of God: or they are naked, that is, &s;ay others, they are for&s;aken and ca&s;t off; for every one for&s;akes and ca&s;ts off naked per&s;ons, they will have nothing to do with them: Others render the words thus, The people will keep holy-day, they will have nothing to do but to weep and wail, or, they will do nothing that is good; Others thus, The people &s;hall be &s;tripped naked, they &s;hall be left as a City without walls, expo&s;ed to the fury of the enemy, as a body without clothes, open to wind and weather. Others carry it thus, The people &s;hall be di&s;covered; it will then appear what is within, whe|ther grace or &s;in; it will then be di&s;covered, what pant|ings, breathings, hungerings, and longings there be in &s;ouls after God, and Chri&s;t, and holine&s;&s;e, and Ordinan|ces, <HI>&amp;c. Pagnin</HI> thus, The people will grow barbarous, rebellious, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as experience in all ages hath fully de|mon&s;trated. Others thus, The people &s;hall be of no e&s;teem, of no repute, no body will prize them, no body will value them, no body will regard them; men &s;et no price, no value upon naked per&s;ons. Others thus, The people &s;hall be di&s;per&s;ed, &s;cattered, &s;hivered and &s;hattered; and this in all Ages hath been too apparent. Others thus, They &s;hall be drawn away with errours: they &s;hall either be &s;tarved, or el&s;e poy&s;oned with God-di&s;honouring, Chri&s;t-denying, Scripture-deba&s;ing, Con&s;cience-wa&s;ting, life-polluting, and &s;oul-damning opinions; it is concluded on all hands, that it &s;hall go ill, very ill, with that people that want vi|&s;ion, that want &s;erious, &s;incere, faithful and powerful preaching; for where there is no vi&s;ion, no &s;erious, &s;incere, faithful and powerful preaching, there the people peri&s;h certainly, undoubtedly, there they go tumbling to hell thick and three-fold; and this is evident in the Text, <HI>where there is no vi&s;ion, the people peri&s;h;</HI> he doth
<PB REF="22"> not &s;ay they may peri&s;h, but they do peri&s;h: or they are in danger of peri&s;hing, but they do certainly peri&s;h. Where there is no &s;erious, con&s;cientious, faithfull, powerfull preaching, there the people grow abominably wicked; as wofull experience tells us: And what the i&s;&s;ue of that will be, you may &s;ee in <HI>P&s;alm 9.17. The wicked &s;hall be turned into hell,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">See P&s;alm 11.6.</NOTE> <HI>and all the Nations that forget God:</HI> or as the Hebrew hath it, the wicked &s;hall be turn|ed into, into hell, that is, they &s;hall certainly be turned into hell; yea, they &s;hall be turned into the nethermo&s;t hell, into the lowe&s;t dungeon in hell.</P>
<P>Where vi&s;ion fails, there men peri&s;h temporally; when vi&s;ion, when preaching cea&s;ed among the Jews, O the dreadfull calamities and mi&s;eries that came upon that people! how &s;oon did God burn up all their outward com|forts, contentments and enjoyments on every hand, <HI>2 Chron. 15.3, 5, 6.</HI> compared with <HI>Ch. 13.9, 10, 11.</HI> and <HI>Chap. 36.15. &mdash; ult. Mat. 23.37, 38.</HI> They &s;hut their eys against all that light that Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles brought amongst them: and what was the I&s;&s;ue of this? why about <HI>40</HI> years after Chri&s;ts A&s;cen&s;ion the <HI>Romans</HI> came and took away their City, and &s;old thirty of them a penny, as <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> writes, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and ever &s;ince that time, (which is above &s;ixteen hundred years ago) they have been &s;cattered as Dung over the face of the whole earth.</P>
<P>Where vi&s;ion fails, there men peri&s;h totally:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 6.16.17, 19.</NOTE> both the bodies and the &s;ouls of men peri&s;h, where &s;erious, con&s;ci|entious preaching fails, <HI>Ho&s;. 4.6. My people are de|&s;troyed for want of knowledge:</HI> The Chaldee rende|reth it, they are be&s;otted and &s;o fitted for de&s;truction. The Papi&s;t &s;ay, that ignorance is the Mother of devotion: but this Text tells us that it is the Mother of de&s;tructi|on.
<PB REF="23"> The Heathens were wont to &s;ay, that if their God <HI>Jupiter</HI> would de&s;troy one, he would fir&s;t be&s;ot him: So the&s;e people were fir&s;t be&s;otted, and then de&s;troy|ed.</P>
<P>Where vi&s;ion fails, there the people peri&s;h in&s;en&s;ibly and unexpectedly: they flatter them&s;elves that God is made up all of mercy, and will not believe but they &s;hall go to heaven, till they awake with everla&s;ting flames about their ears, as you may &s;ee in <HI>Sodom</HI> and <HI>Gomorrah.</HI></P>
<P>Where vi&s;ion fails, there men peri&s;h &s;uddenly: In a moment they go down to hell, <HI>Job 21.13, 14, 15.</HI> As the travail of a woman comes &s;uddenly upon her when &s;he lea&s;t expects it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 24.22. Deut. 7.4.</NOTE> &s;o everla&s;ting pains and torments come &s;uddenly upon poor &s;inners when they lea&s;t expect them. <HI>1 The&s;&s;. 5.3.</HI> As God rained hell out of heaven upon <HI>Sodom</HI> and <HI>Gomorrah</HI> on a &s;udden:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 18. Matth. 24.37, 38, 39. 1 Sam. 15.32.</NOTE> and as he &s;wept away the Old world on a &s;udden: and as <HI>Samuel</HI> cut-off <HI>Agag</HI> on a &s;udden, when he concluded that the bitterne&s;s of death was pa&s;t: &s;o God ca&s;ts &s;inners to hell on a &s;udden, he &s;weeps them away on a &s;udden, he cuts them off on a &s;udden; and when they &s;ay Surely the bitterne&s;&s;e of death is pa&s;t, and everla&s;ting wrath is pa&s;t, and hell is pa&s;t, and eternal ruine is pa&s;t, then on a &s;udden God cuts them off, and gives them their portion with Devils and damned Spirits, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Where vi&s;ion fails, there men peri&s;h inevitably, irre|coverably, <HI>1 The&s;&s;. 5.</HI> And they &s;hall not e&s;cape, <HI>Prov. 6.15. Therefore &s;hall his calamity come &s;uddenly, &s;uddenly &s;hall he be broken without remedy.</HI> Here is their di&s;mial doom, they &s;hall not be only brui&s;ed, but broken, yea, they &s;hall be &s;uddenly broken when they lea&s;t look for it, when they do not at all dream of it, or dread
<PB REF="23"> it; and this without remedy, they &s;hall be &s;o broken, as that there &s;hall not be &s;o much as a pe&s;sibility of making them up again; if a man lo&s;e his e&s;tate, his friend, his child, this l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;e may be made up again; but if a man once lo&s;e his &s;oul, there is no repairing nor making up of that le&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>Where there is no vi&s;ion, there men peri&s;h everla&s;ting|ly, there they peri&s;h eternally, <HI>2 The&s;&s;al. 1.7, 8, 9. Jude 7.</HI></P>
<P>Do not you know that God will require the blood of all their &s;ouls at your hands, that peri&s;h either by your in&s;uf|ficiency, or neglect, or bad examples! <HI>Ezek. 3.18, 19, 20. Thou &s;halt &s;urely die; Moth Tamuth,</HI> in dying thou &s;halt die; that is, thou &s;halt certainly die, thou &s;halt eternally die, The Antients commonly interpret it of the death of the &s;oul.</P>
<P>Do not you know that a man were better have the blood of all the men in the world upon him, then the blood of one &s;oul upon him? For there is no blood that cries &s;o loud, that will lie &s;o heavy, and that will &s;ink a man &s;o deep in hell, as the blood of &s;ouls. I &s;ay as the blood of &s;ouls.</P>
<P>Do not you know that there are no men upon the face of the earth, that are by office &s;o &s;trictly, &s;o &s;trongly, &s;o uni|ver&s;ally, &s;o indi&s;pen&s;ably, and &s;o &s;ignally engaged to prize ho<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ine&s;&s;e, to countenance holine&s;&s;e, to encourage holine&s;&s;e, to promote holine&s;&s;e, and to practi&s;e holine&s;&s;e, as the Mi|ni&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t are? Do not you know that Mini|&s;ters are called Angels in re&s;pect of their offices?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 2. P&s;alm 104.9.</NOTE> now Angels are &s;piritual creatures, their communion is &s;piri|tual, their food is &s;piritual, their delights are &s;piri|tual, their minds are &s;piritual, their affections are &s;piri|tual, and their exerci&s;es are &s;piritual; and in all the&s;e re|&s;pects
<PB REF="24"> Mini&s;ters &s;hould be like to the Angels; but are not many of them &s;piritual mad men in the&s;e dayes? be|ing nothing l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;e then what they profe&s;&s;e to be; &s;piritual men in a mockery;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;ea 9.7.</NOTE> &s;uch as many light &s;light &s;ouls call a Spiritual Pig, that is the poore&s;t, the leane&s;t, and the wor&s;t of all the ten, &s;uch a one as hath no &s;ub&s;tance in it. So the&s;e have no &s;ub&s;tantial goodne&s;&s;e, no &s;ub&s;tantial holine&s;&s;e at all in them; whereas in holine&s;&s;e they &s;hould as far ex|ceed all other men, as the Angels in holine&s;&s;e do exceed them.</P>
<P>Do not you know, that there is no rank nor order of men on earth that have &s;o enriched hell, that have been &s;uch benefactors to hell, as the ignorant, in&s;ufficient, pro|phane, &s;candalous and &s;uper&s;titious, Clergy? In times of Popery letters were framed and publi&s;hed as &s;ent from hell, wherein the Devil gave the carnal, ignorant, in&s;uf|ficient, &s;candalous and &s;uper&s;titious Clergy of tho&s;e times no &s;mall thanks for &s;o many millions of &s;ouls as by their means were daily &s;ent to hell.</P>
<P>Do not you know, that all the true faithful Prophets, Apo&s;tles and Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that are menti|oned in the Old and New Te&s;tament,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chron. 36.15. Jer. 7.25. chap. 25.4. &amp; 35.15. chap. 11.7, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> 2 Corin. 11. <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> were men of the greate&s;t holine&s;&s;e; and men that made it their greate&s;t bu&s;ine&s;&s;e and work in this world, to keep down a &s;pirit of prophane&s;&s;e and wickedne&s;&s;e, and to countenance, encou|rage and promote holine&s;&s;e! O how diligent, O how fre|quent, O how abundant, O how con&s;tant were they in the work of the Lord, that prophane per&s;ons might be made holy, and that tho&s;e that were holy might be made more and more holy! yea that they might perfect holine&s;&s;e in the fear of the Lord,<NOTE PLACE="marg">In a Sermon before King <HI>Edward</HI> the &s;ixt.</NOTE> <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Bi&s;hop <HI>Latimer</HI> &s;peaking of the Clergy of his time, tells us, that many can away with <HI>prae&s;unt,</HI> but not with <HI>bene;</HI> if that <HI>bene</HI> were out of
<PB REF="24"> the Text all were well; if a man might eat the &s;weet and never &s;weat, it were an ea&s;ie matter to be a Preacher; if there were not <HI>opus</HI> but <HI>bonum,</HI> all were well too. But every Clergy man is or ought to be <GAP DESC="foreign">, that is, &s;aith <HI>Augu&s;tine, Nomen operis,</HI> to be a Steward and Over-&s;eer in Gods hou&s;e; and that is an office of great labour, tru&s;t and employment. Stewards and Over-&s;eers commonly eat their bread in the &s;weat of their brows, and after much beating of their brains; but how unlike to &s;uch Stewards and Over-&s;eers the Clergy are that I am now expo&s;tulating with, I mu&s;t leave the Chri&s;tian Reader to judge. <HI>Erne&s;tus</HI> Duke of <HI>Lunebury,</HI> cau&s;ed a burning Lamp to be &s;tamped on his coyn, with the&s;e four letters, <HI>A. S. M. C.</HI> by which was meant, <HI>Aliis &s;erviens me|ip&s;um contero: By giving light to others, I con&s;ume my &s;elf.</HI> And &s;uch were the Lords faithful Prophets, Apo&s;tles, and Mini&s;ters of old: and &s;uch are all his faith|ful, laborious, and con&s;cientious Mini&s;ters now: But how unlike to the one or the other they are, that now I am rea|&s;oning with, you may ea&s;ily perceive, by comparing them together. I have read of the Nobles of <HI>Polonia,</HI> that when the Go&s;pel is read, they clap their hands upon their &s;words, and begin to draw them out, intimating by that Ceremo|ny, their re&s;olution to defend the Faith, and their willing|ne&s;&s;e to hazard their lives for the Go&s;pels &s;afety. The faithful Prophets, Apo&s;tles and Mini&s;ters of old, were willing to &s;acrifice them&s;elves for the Go&s;pels &s;ake: but how many are there in the&s;e dayes, that are more ready and willing to make a &s;acrifice of the Go&s;pel for profit &s;ake, and preferment &s;ake, and honour &s;ake, and lu&s;ts &s;ake, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> then they are to make them&s;elves a &s;acrifice for the Go&s;pel &s;ake! and how unlike the&s;e are to the faithful, con&s;cientious Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t that have
<PB REF="25"> been in all Ages, I mu&s;t leave you to judge.</P>
<P>Do not you know that <HI>Pharaoh</HI> had that tender regard of his cattel, as that he thought none fit to be their Ru|ler, their Over-&s;eer, but &s;uch as were known men of activi|ty?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 47.6, 7.</NOTE> <HI>Pharaoh</HI> would have none to be his Cowherds, but men of activity, men of skill, men that were prudent and diligent, ingenuous and indu&s;trious. Shall <HI>Pharaoh</HI> be &s;o careful for his Cows, and &s;hall not others be as care|ful for &s;ouls? What man is there under heaven that hath the u&s;e of his rea&s;on, his wits, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that when he is to travel, would take a fool, an <HI>Ignoramus</HI> for his guide: and that when he is &s;ick, would &s;end for a Moun|tebank to be his Phy&s;itian: or that when he is to ride a dangerous way, would make choice of a Coward to defend him: or that when he hath a Law-&s;uit, would make u&s;e of a Dunce to plead it: or that when he hath a &s;uit of cloathes to make, would &s;end for a bungling Taylor to make it? &s;urely none. And why then &s;hould not men be as wi&s;e for their &s;ouls?</P>
<P>Do not you know that that &s;ort of per&s;ons that now I am a &s;peaking of, have been the greate&s;t in&s;truments of bringing the greate&s;t calamities and mi&s;eries, and the &s;ore&s;t de&s;olations and de&s;tructions that ever have been brought upon Cities, Nations, Kingdoms and Countries! Compare the Scriptures in the margin together,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 26.8, 9, 11, 14, 15. Lam. 4.11, 12, 13. Amos 7.10, 11. 1 Kings 22. 2 Chron. 18.</NOTE> and then let con&s;cience &s;peak. And who is &s;o ignorant as not to know that it was the High-Prie&s;ts, Scribes and Phari&s;ees that brought the innocent blood of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t upon that once great and glorious Nation of the Jews, to their utter de&s;truction and de&s;olation, about forty years after Chri&s;ts A&s;cen&s;ion, when the Romans came and took their City, and practi&s;ed the greate&s;t &s;everity and cruelty imaginable upon them, as <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> and other Hi&s;torians
<PB REF="25"> &s;hew? In the <HI>Marian</HI> dayes, and in the Ma&s;&s;acre of the Prote&s;tants in <HI>France,</HI> how great a hand this &s;ort of men had that I am now a rea&s;oning with, all the world knows. And &s;o the Pagan Prie&s;ts &s;tirred up the Pagan Empe|rours to be de&s;perate Per&s;ecutors of the people of God that were within their Empires; which occa&s;ioned. <HI>Tertul|lian</HI> to give that good coun&s;el to <HI>Scapula</HI> a Pagan per&s;e|cutor; <HI>God</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>will &s;urely make inqui&s;ition for our blood, and therefore if thou wilt not &s;pare us, yet &s;pare thy &s;elf: if not thy &s;elf, yet &s;pare thy Countrey, which mu&s;t be re&s;pon&s;ible when God comes to vi&s;it for blood.</HI></P>
<P>Do not you know that his Maje&s;tie hath very Chri|&s;tianly, Zealou&s;ly, argumentatively, and &s;martly declared again&s;t drunkenne&s;&s;e, lewdne&s;&s;e, prophan&s;&s;e, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and that he hath declared that his re&s;olution is and &s;hall be to promote the power of godline&s;&s;e, to encourage the Exer|ci&s;es of Religion, both publick and private, to take care that the Lords day be applyed to holy Exerci&s;es, without unnece&s;&s;ary diverti&s;ements; and that in&s;ufficient, neg|ligent and &s;candalous Mini&s;ters be not permitted in the Church?</P>
<P>Do not you know that when the great Shepherd our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;hall appear,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 5.2, 3, 4: Ezek. 3.17, 18, 19.</NOTE> that he will call you to a particular and exact account for every &s;oul that hath mi&s;|carried under your charge, either by rea&s;on of your igno|rance, in&s;ufficiency, prophane&s;&s;e, loo&s;ne&s;&s;e, or &s;uper&s;tition, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and how will you then be able to &s;tand in that day? <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Gentlemen, if you &s;ay you know not the&s;e things, and that they are Riddles and My&s;teries to you, how dare you &s;ay that you are the Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t? But if you &s;hall &s;ay that you know very well that the&s;e things are
<PB REF="26"> certainly true, yea that they are &s;uch clear and undeny|able truths, that no Devil can deny, and yet &s;hall con|tinue in your ignorance, in&s;ufficiency, prophane&s;&s;e, loo&s;|ne&s;&s;e, &s;uper&s;tition, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> what man on earth is there that hath but read the Scriptures, and that can but write his own name, and that would not be begged for a fool in <HI>fo|lio,</HI> will believe you to be the true faithful Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t?</P>
<P>Well Gentlemen, I have read of <HI>Alexander</HI> the great, how that he had a &s;ouldier of his name that was a Coward, which when he under&s;tood, he commanded him either to fight like <HI>Alexander,</HI> or el&s;e to lay down the name of <HI>Alexander:</HI> So &s;ay I to you, Gentlemen, either preach as the Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t ought to preach, <HI>viz.</HI> plainly, &s;piritually powerfully, f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">elingly, fervently, frequently, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and live as the Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t ought to live, <HI>viz.</HI> heavenly, graciou&s;ly, holly, humbly, righteou&s;ly, harmle&s;ly, and exemplarily, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Or el&s;e lay down your very names of being the Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and put no longer a cheat upon your &s;elves, nor upon the people, by making them believe that you are the only Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, when you have nothing of the Spirit of Chri&s;t, nor of the Anointings of Chri&s;t, nor of the Grace of Chri&s;t, nor of the life of Chri&s;t in you. Gentlemen, if this coun&s;el be &s;eriou&s;ly minded and faith|fully followed, it will turn more to your accounts in the great day of our Lord Je&s;us, and do you more good then, then all the profits, preferments, and honours of this world can do you good now: But if you &s;hall &s;light and de&s;pi&s;e this coun&s;el now, I &s;hall be found a true Prophet to your wo and mi&s;ery in that great day, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>If this Treati&s;e &s;hould fall in the hands of any Ladies and Gentlewomen (as I &s;uppo&s;e it may) that have not
<PB REF="26"> yet experienced the &s;weet and powerful operations of holine&s;&s;e in their own &s;ouls, I would then &s;ay,</P>
<P>Ladies and Gentlewomen, your &s;ouls are as precious, and as immortal, and as capable of union and com|munion with Chri&s;t here, and of an eternal frui|tion of Chri&s;t hereafter, as the &s;ouls of any men in the world are. I have read a &s;ad &s;tory of one <HI>Bochna,</HI> a woman which had but two &s;ons in all the world; and whil&s;t &s;he was walking with the one towards the River, &s;he heard the other crying out, and ha&s;tening back, &s;he found a knife &s;ticking in his &s;ide, which killed him immediately: then &s;he made ha&s;te to the other child, but he in her ab&s;ence was fain into the River and drowned, and &s;o &s;he lo&s;t both her &s;ons at once. Now Ladies, this is your very ca&s;e; every one of you have two children (as I may &s;ay) a &s;oul and a body, a life eternal, and a life temporal; and O what a dreadful and un&s;peak|able lo&s;&s;e would it be to lo&s;e both the&s;e at once? and yet as certain as there is a God in Hea|ven, you will lo&s;e them both without Holi|ne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>All know, that know any thing of Scripture or Hi&s;tory, that there have been many great Ladies and Gentlewomen, that have been great lovers of holine&s;&s;e, and great delighters in holine&s;&s;e, and great prizers of holine&s;&s;e, and great admirers of holi|ne&s;&s;e, and great countenancers of holine&s;&s;e, and great encouragers of holine&s;&s;e, and great promoters of holine&s;&s;e, and great followers after holine&s;&s;e, and great experiencers of the &s;weet and powerful opera|tions of holine&s;&s;e in their own &s;ouls. And O that this might be all your honour and happine&s;&s;e, to be
<PB REF="27"> in all re&s;pects as famous for holine&s;&s;e, as any of your &s;exe hath been before you.</P>
<P>Chri&s;t hath prayed as much for your &s;ouls, as he hath for the &s;ouls of others; and he hath paid as much for your &s;ouls, as he hath for the &s;ouls of others; and he hath &s;weat, and wept, and bled as much for your &s;ouls, as he hath for the &s;ouls of others; and he hath &s;uffered, and &s;atisfied as much for your &s;ouls, as he hath for the &s;ouls of others; and he hath purcha&s;ed and prepared as great and as glorious things for your &s;ouls, as he hath for the &s;ouls of others, if you will be but a holy people to him; and what doth all this &s;peak out, but an un&s;peakable readine&s;&s;e and willingne&s;&s;e in Je&s;us Chri&s;t to &s;anctifie you, and &s;ave you, as well as others?</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">A man might write volumes on this &s;ub|ject; there is &s;o much &s;aid in Scripture and Hi&s;tory upon this ac|count; but in an Epi&s;tle a touch mu&s;t &s;uffice, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE>All knowing men can tell you, that many La|dies and Gentlewomen in all Ages, have been very famous for all Natural, Moral, Spiritual and Ac|quired excellencies; yea more famous then many men that yet have done worthily in their Genera|tion; and by their attainments you may ea&s;ily &s;ee what is po&s;sible for you to attain unto, both in re&s;pect of gifts and grace. Of all things, graci|ous examples are mo&s;t awakening, convincing and encouraging; for in them you may &s;ee that both the attainment of holine&s;&s;e, and the exerci&s;e of holi|ne&s;&s;e, is po&s;sible, though difficult; in eying of ex|amples, it is alwayes be&s;t to eye the highe&s;t, the holie&s;t and the worthie&s;t examples; for as he that &s;hooteth at the Sun, though he falls &s;hort of his mark, yet will &s;hoot higher then he that aimeth only at a &s;hrub; &s;o tho&s;e that &s;et up the highe&s;t examples of
<PB REF="27"> holine&s;&s;e for their mark, for their imitation, will certainly attain to greater degrees of holine&s;&s;e, then tho&s;e that propo&s;e to them&s;elves the meane&s;t and the lowe&s;t examples of holine&s;&s;e for their pattern and imitation.</P>
<P>Well, Ladies and Gentlewomen, do you think that it is good going to hell,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 33.14. 2 The&s;. 1.7, 8, 9, 10.</NOTE> that it is good dwelling with the devouring fire, that it is good dwelling with everla&s;ting burnings, that it is good for ever to be &s;eparated from the pre&s;ence of God, Chri&s;t, Angels, and the &s;pirits of ju&s;t men made perfect? that it is good for ever to lie a &s;weltering under the wrath of an infinite ju&s;t God, and to abide for ever and ever under tho&s;e pains and torments that are end|le&s;&s;e, ea&s;ele&s;&s;e, hopele&s;&s;e and remedile&s;&s;e? and that it is good to be a&s;&s;ociated, and fettered with Devils and damned &s;pirits to all eternity? O no, this can|not be good; for the very &s;erious thoughts of the&s;e things are enough even to rai&s;e a hell a this &s;ide hell in our hearts. O then, Ladies and Gentle|women, pray that you may be holy; hear that you may be holy; read that you may be holy; and with all your might pre&s;&s;e after holine&s;&s;e, and pur&s;ue hard after holine&s;&s;e, as after the one thing nece&s;&s;ary; for with|out holine&s;&s;e you will as certainly go to hell, as ho|ly per&s;ons &s;hall certainly go to heaven; and this you will find as clearly and fully proved in this following Treati&s;e, as heart can wi&s;h.</P>
<P>O that you would for ever remember this, that without all peradventure you &s;hall never be &s;aved, unle&s;&s;e you are &s;anctified; you &s;hall never be truly happy, unle&s;&s;e you are really holy: except God &s;hould do five things that are not po&s;sible for him to do:
<PB REF="28"> <HI>viz. 1.</HI> Change his purpo&s;e. <HI>2.</HI> Make null and void his decree. <HI>3.</HI> Make a new Go&s;pel. <HI>4.</HI> Find out a new way to heaven. And <HI>5.</HI> ungod him&s;elf. God mu&s;t undo him&s;elf and ungod him&s;elf, if ever he make you happy before he hath made you holy: and therefore O what infinite cau&s;e have you to read this following Treati&s;e, and to &s;tudy this Trea|ti&s;e, and to meditate on this Treati&s;e, and to pray over this Treati&s;e, and to look up to heaven for coun&s;el and &s;trength to make &s;uch an improvement of the means, helps, and directions that are here pre&s;cribed for the attaining of holine&s;&s;e, as that you may be made really holy, that &s;o you may be everla&s;tingly happy! And to quicken and encourage your hearts in this work, I could heartily wi&s;h, that as &s;oon as you have read over the Epi&s;tle, you would read from page <HI>433.</HI> to page <HI>447.</HI> for there you will finde many Arguments that are of a particular concernment to your &s;elves, and that ought to be no &s;mall obligations upon you to work you to pur&s;ue after holine&s;&s;e with all your might, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>If this Treati&s;e &s;hould fall into the hands of any faithful, &s;erious, gracious, con&s;cientious, labori|rious Mini&s;ters hands, (as I &s;uppo&s;e it may) I would then &s;ay, Reverend Sirs, let my weak en|deavours be a &s;pur, a provocation to you to lay out your choice&s;t and your chiefe&s;t gifts, parts, &s;trength, time and opportunities to promote holine&s;&s;e of life, and holine&s;&s;e in Doctrine, Wor&s;hip, Di&s;cipline, and in all your &s;acred Communions. Certainly, had we all eyed holine&s;&s;e more, and preached holine&s;&s;e more, and practi&s;ed holine&s;&s;e more, and cryed up
<PB REF="28"> holine&s;&s;e more, and encouraged holine&s;&s;e more, and countenanced holine&s;&s;e more, the countenance both of God and man might have been &s;et more plea|&s;ingly towards us, then they are this day. When once maintenance comes to be more in Mini&s;ters eyes then holine&s;&s;e; and when their &s;tudies and endeavours are more to make men Pro&s;elytes to this or that way, this or that form, this or that party, then to make men holy, it is no wonder if God writes out bitter things again&s;t them. I doubt not but providential di&s;pen&s;ations have bad &s;uch a teaching vertue in them, as to lead you to lay your fingers upon &s;everal &s;uch like &s;ores, and to mourn over them, and to ju&s;tifie the holy One of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> who is holy in all his wayes, and righteous in all his works.</P>
<P>Truly Brethren, I have alwayes lookt upon the great work of the Mini&s;try to lie in two things; Fir&s;t in making unholy men holy: and &s;econdly in making them that are already holy, to be more and more holy. Fir&s;t to beget holine&s;&s;e, and then to nur&s;e up holine&s;&s;e; fir&s;t to bring &s;ouls to Chri&s;t, and then to build up &s;ouls in Chri&s;t, is without all peradventure the work of works that &s;hould be mo&s;t in every Mini&s;ters eye, and that &s;hould al|wayes lie neare&s;t and warme&s;t upon every Mini&s;ters heart, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And through grace I have reade this my grand de&s;ign in the cour&s;e of my Mini&s;try, and throughout all my writings; and now it yields me that joy, that comfort, that content, and that &s;ati&s;|faction, that I would not be without for all the world. Be&s;ides, I know it will turn mo&s;t to my account at the great day. O that all of you that yet
<PB REF="29"> have any opportunities and advantages in your hands to preach the everla&s;ting Go&s;pel, would make this your great bu&s;ine&s;&s;e to promote holine&s;&s;e, and to exalt and lift up holine&s;&s;e in the world: For as this great principle of holine&s;&s;e &s;hall gain ground upon the hearts, con&s;ciences and lives of men; &s;o all the things of Antichri&s;t, and all the Trade of Antichri&s;t, and all tho&s;e grand mi&s;|chiefs and mi&s;eries that threaten the &s;ons of men, will fall before it, as <HI>Dagon</HI> fell before the Ark.</P>
<P>If this Treati&s;e &s;hould fall into the hands of any of Gods &s;anctified ones, of what degree or rank &s;oever they are of, as I &s;uppo&s;e it may fall into the hands of many &s;uch, I would then &s;ay, Dear friends, In this Treati&s;e you will find many &s;trong Motives to provoke you to perfect holine&s;&s;e in the fear of the Lord, and many &s;pecial Means to enable you to perfect holine&s;&s;e in the fear of the Lord, and many evidences whereby you may cer|tainly and infallibly know whether you have at|tained to any con&s;iderable highth of holine&s;&s;e, or no; and in the opening of the&s;e things, you will find that great Doctrine about degrees of Glory in Heaven to be A&s;&s;erted and Proved, and the Ob|jections again&s;t it to be fairly di&s;mi&s;&s;ed, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Reader, If thou art one that to this very day art in an un&s;anctified e&s;tate, and an enemy to holi|ne&s;&s;e, or a &s;coffer at holine&s;&s;e, or a a &s;ecret de|&s;pi&s;er of holine&s;&s;e, or a de&s;perate oppo&s;er of holi|ne&s;&s;e, or a bitter per&s;ecutor of holine&s;&s;e, then I would commend this following Treati&s;e (before any
<PB REF="29"> I know extant in the world) to the &s;ervice of thy &s;oul, for I know none that is &s;o calculated and fit|ted up for that purpo&s;e as this is. Read and judge. This I will a&s;&s;ure thee, O thou un&s;anctified &s;oul, that the grand de&s;ign of this book is thy &s;alvati|on; it is to make thee really holy, that thou maye&s;t be eternally happy; and of this thou may|e&s;t be confident, <HI>viz.</HI> that I &s;hall follow the&s;e poor labours with my earne&s;t prayers that they may be ble&s;&s;ed to the internal and eternal welfare of thy &s;oul, and that they may i&s;&s;ue in the conviction, conver&s;ion, and &s;alvation of thy &s;oul. I &s;hall &s;end this Treati&s;e forth into the world with <HI>Jacobs</HI> ble&s;sing and prayer for his &s;ons,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 43.14.</NOTE> <HI>God Almighty &s;end thee mercy in the &s;ight of the man,</HI> &amp;c. in the &s;ight of the proud man that he may be hum|bled, and in the &s;ight of the hardened man that he may be &s;oftened, and in the &s;ight of the carnal man that he may be &s;piritualized, and in the &s;ight of the polluted man that he may be wa&s;hed, and in the &s;ight of the un&s;anctified man that he may be &s;anctified, and in the &s;ight of the ignorant man that he may be enlightened, and in the &s;ight of the &s;tubborn man that he may be bowed, and in the &s;ight of the unconverted man that he may be changed, and in the &s;ight of the lo&s;t man that he may be &s;aved.</P>
<P>Chri&s;tian Reader, I &s;uppo&s;e by this time that I have almo&s;t tired thee in reading, as I have my &s;elf in writing, and therefore I &s;hall pre&s;ently draw to a clo&s;e; only before I take my leave of thee,
<PB REF="30"> give me leave to &s;ay, that I am much of <HI>Car|thagena's</HI> his mind, who to tho&s;e three things which the Antients held impo&s;sible, &s;aith, that to find a Book Printed without <HI>Errata's,</HI> &s;hould un|doubtedly have been added as a fourth impo&s;sible, if the Art of Printing had been then invented, though the Author had <HI>Briareus</HI> his hands, and the Printer <HI>Argus</HI> his eyes. Notwith&s;tanding all the care that hath been taken, thou wilt find figures mi&s;placed, and &s;ome mi&s;pointings, with &s;ome other mi&s;takes of the Printer: I hope the ingenuous Rea|der will ca&s;t a mantle of love over the mi&s;takes of the pre&s;&s;e, and do me that right and him&s;elf that curte&s;ie as to correct &s;uch errours of the Pre&s;&s;e that the &s;econd Impre&s;sion may prevent. <HI>Seneca</HI> I remember is railed upon by &s;landerous tongues for the faults of <HI>Nero</HI> his Schollar. And the &s;capes of <HI>Quintilians</HI> Schollars, are imputed to <HI>Quintilian</HI> him&s;elf; but I know the Chri&s;tian Rea|der that is daily &s;en&s;ible of the <HI>Errata's</HI> of his life, hath not &s;o learned Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Reader, I do not offer thee that which co&s;t me nothing: This Treati&s;e that now I put into thy hand, is the fruit of much prayer and &s;erious &s;tudy: If thou finde&s;t any profit and benefit by it, give Chri&s;t all the glory; the crown of prai&s;e be|comes no head but his; only when thou art in the Mount, let me lie near thy heart: O pray earne&s;t|ly, pray fervently, pray frequently, and pray un|weariedly, that I may have much of the fre&s;h an|nointings of the holy Spirit, that my communion
<PB REF="30"> with a holy God may every day ri&s;e higher and higher, and that all my tran&s;actions both before God and man may &s;avour of &s;ome highths of ho|line&s;&s;e: So thou wilt the more &s;trongly oblige me to be</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Thy &s;ouls Servant in all Go&s;pel-Engagements, <HI>Tho. Brooks.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="31">
<PB N="1" REF="31">
<HEAD>The Nece&s;&s;ity, Excellency, Rarity, and Beauty of HOLINESSE.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>HEBREWS 12.14.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Follow Peace with all men, and Holine&s;s, without which no man &s;hall &s;ee the Lord.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_I Remember a &s;aying of golden mouth'd <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">The pream|ble to the Text.</NOTE> If I were (&s;aid he) the fitte&s;t man in the world to preach a Sermon to the whole world, gathered together in one Congregation, and had &s;ome high mountain for my Pulpit, from whence I might have a pro&s;pect of all the world in my view, and were furni&s;hed with a voice of Bra&s;s, a voice as loud as the trum|pet of the Arch-Angel, that all the world might hear me, I would choo&s;e to preach on no other text then that in <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 4.2. <HI>O mortal men, how long will ye love vanity, and follow after lea&s;ing?</HI> So I &s;ay, had I <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tomes</HI> tongue, head and heart, and were I every way advantaged to preach a Sermon to the whole world, I would choo&s;e to preach on
<PB N="2" REF="32"> this Text, before any other in the Bible, <HI>Follow peace with all men, and Holine&s;s without which no man &s;hall &s;ee the Lord.</HI></P>
<P>Beloved, the &s;alvation of &s;ouls is that which &s;hould be fir&s;t, and mo&s;t in a Mini&s;ters eye, and that which &s;hould al|ways lye clo&s;e&s;t and warme&s;t upon a Mini&s;ters heart.<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 63.3. John 17.22. Luke 4 4. 1 Cor. 6.20. 1 Pet. 1.18, 19, 20. Heb. 9.12, 13, 14, 15.</NOTE> O Sirs, our dear Lord Je&s;us was infinitely tender of the &s;ouls of men; he left his Fathers bo&s;ome for &s;ouls, he trod the Wine-pre&s;s of his Fathers wrath for &s;ouls; he prayed for &s;ouls; he payed for &s;ouls; he &s;weated for &s;ouls; he bled out his heart blood for &s;ouls; and he made him&s;elf an offering for &s;ouls: and O what an encouragement &s;hould this be to all his faithfull Me&s;&s;engers to woe for &s;ouls, to mourn for &s;ouls, to pray for &s;ouls, to &s;tudy for &s;ouls, and in preaching to &s;pend, and to be &s;pent for the &s;alvation of &s;ouls! Ah friends, there is no work, nor wi&s;dom on earth to that of winning &s;ouls, <HI>Prov.</HI> 11.30. and <HI>He that winneth &s;ouls is wi&s;e.</HI> There is no Art, no indu&s;try to that of winning &s;ouls, of taking &s;ouls as Fowlers take Birds, as the Hebrew word (<GAP DESC="foreign">) imports. Now though there is a great deal of Art required to take Birds; yet there is ten thou&s;and times more Art required to take <HI>&s;ouls:</HI> In a word, to convert a &s;oul is a greater work, then to &s;way a Scepter,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom.</NOTE> or then it is to pour out ten thou&s;and Talents into the Baskets of the poor. My de&s;ign in chu&s;ing this Text, is the winning of &s;ouls, it is the &s;alvation of &s;ouls: it is the bringing in, and building up of &s;ouls. I have read of <HI>Lewis</HI> the ninth King of <HI>France,</HI> that he was found in&s;tructing his poor kitching-boy in the way to heaven, and being asked the rea&s;on of it: he an&s;wered, The meane&s;t hath a &s;oul as pre|cious as my own, and bought by the &s;ame blood of Chri&s;t: he who only went to the price of &s;ouls,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 16.26.</NOTE> hath long &s;ince told us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 12.16.</NOTE> that a &s;oul is more worth then a world. That I may catch &s;ome poor &s;oul or other by a holy craft, and e&s;tabli&s;h, and &s;trengthen others in the love and liking of holine&s;s, and in the power and practi&s;e of <HI>holine&s;s,</HI> I have ca&s;t my thoughts upon this Scripture.</P>
<P>But to draw nearer to my Text.</P>
<P>As no means hath more enriched hell then beautifull
<PB N="3" REF="32"> faces: &s;o no means hath more enriched heaven then the beauty of holine&s;s. Now that I may di&s;cover the Nece&s;&s;ity, Beauty, Rarity, and Excellency of Holine&s;s, I have cho&s;en this Text, <HI>Follow peace with all men, and Holine&s;s with|out which no man &s;hall &s;ee the Lord.</HI> I &s;hall give a little light into the words, and then come to that main point I intend to &s;tand upon.</P>
<P><HI>Follow peace with all men:</HI> the Greek word <GAP DESC="foreign"> tran&s;|lated <HI>follow,</HI> &s;ignifies to pur&s;ue and pre&s;s after peace: As the per&s;ecutor pur&s;ues and pre&s;&s;es after him he per&s;ecutes; it notes an earne&s;t, an eager, an affectionate, and an ince&s;|&s;ant pre&s;&s;ing, and following after peace with all men, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 34.14. <HI>Seek peace, and pur&s;ue it:</HI> Here the Hebrew word <HI>(Bakki&s;h)</HI> tran&s;lated <HI>&s;eek,</HI> &s;ignifies to <HI>&s;eek earne&s;tly,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dulce nomen pacis.</HI> The ve y name of peace is &s;weet.</NOTE> vehe|mently, &s;tudiou&s;ly, indu&s;tirou&s;ly: Thus peace with God, and peace with con&s;cience, and peace with men mu&s;t be &s;ought. <HI>Seek peace and pur&s;ue it:</HI> the word tran&s;lated <HI>pur&s;ue (Veradhphehu</HI> from <HI>Radaph</HI>) &s;ignifies an <HI>earne&s;t pur&s;uit:</HI> it is a Metaphor taken from the earne&s;tne&s;s of wild Bea&s;ts, or ravenous Foul which will run or flie fa&s;t and far, eagerly and unweariedly, rather then be di&s;appointed of their prey: though Chri&s;tians meet with many rubs and remoraes, yet peace mu&s;t be re&s;olutely pur&s;ued.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 5.22. 2 Cor. 13.11. I&s;a. 9.6, 7. Heb. 1.2.</NOTE> The &s;pirit of God is a &s;pirit of peace: and God delights to be &s;tiled <HI>Deus pacis,</HI> the God of peace, and Chri&s;t affects to be <HI>Princeps pacis,</HI> the Prince of peace: and King of <HI>Salem, i. e.</HI> King of peace. <HI>&V;bi pax, ibi Chri&s;tus, quia Chri&s;tus pax:</HI> Where peace is, there is Chri&s;t, becau&s;e Chri&s;t is peace: Therefore let all that are intere&s;ted in Chri&s;t, pur&s;ue after peace. But this is not the point that I have in my eye at this time. I &s;hall ha&s;ten to it; <HI>With all men,</HI> that is, with all Orders, Ranks, and &s;orts of men.</P>
<P><HI>And Holine&s;s, &amp;c.</HI> We mu&s;t &s;o pur&s;ue after peace,<NOTE PLACE="marg">A man may be mi&s;erable un|der peace, but never under holine&s;s.</NOTE> as that we do not neglect holine&s;s for peace &s;ake. Better is holi|ne&s;s without peace, then peace without holine&s;s. Holine&s;s differs nothing from happine&s;s but in name; holine&s;s is happine&s;s in the Bud, and happine&s;s is holine&s;s at the full. Happine&s;s is nothing but the Quinte&s;&s;ence of holine&s;s. A man were better be holy in hell, then unholy in heaven: ho|line&s;s
<PB N="4" REF="33"> would make hell to be no hell, as the fire was no fire to tho&s;e holy Worthies, <HI>Dan.</HI> 3.27. Look as unholine&s;s would make heaven to be no heaven, yea, turn a heaven into a very hell. So holine&s;s would turn a hell into a very heaven: What holine&s;s this is in the text, I &s;hall di&s;cover to you in the opening of that point I intend to &s;tand upon.</P>
<P><HI>Without which no man;</HI> This expre&s;&s;ion is Exclu&s;ive, <HI>no man,</HI> be he rich or poor, high or low, honourable or ba&s;e, young or old, Jew or Gentile, bond or free, under one form or another, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Shall &s;ee the Lord.</HI> To <HI>&s;ee</HI> in the Hebrew phra&s;e, is ordi|narily u&s;ed to <HI>enjoy,</HI> P&s;al. 4.6. <HI>Who will &s;hew us any good?</HI> The word in the Hebrew is from <GAP DESC="foreign"> to <HI>&s;ee, Who will make us to &s;ee any good!</HI> that is, to enjoy any good. <HI>Without ho|line&s;s no man &s;hall &s;ee the Lord:</HI> that is, without holine&s;s no man &s;hall ever come to a ble&s;&s;ed, to a glorious fruition and enjoyment of the Lord.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom.</NOTE> There was once a holy man who profe&s;t that the want of the enjoyment of God would be a far greater hell to him, then the feeling of any puni&s;h|ment: and yet this great hell, every one &s;hall be &s;ure to feel that lives and dyes without holine&s;s. The Jews &s;ay of holy <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 37.37.</NOTE> that he died <HI>ad o&s;culum or is Dei,</HI> at the ki&s;&s;es of Gods mouth, and in divine embraces. When a man of holine&s;s dies, he &s;hall be &s;ure to die in divine embraces, and live for ever in divine embraces. When <HI>Socrates</HI> was to die, he com|forted him&s;elf with this, that he &s;hould go to a place where he &s;hould enjoy <HI>Homer</HI> and <HI>Mu&s;aeus,</HI> and other Worthies who lived before him. But ah, what an un&s;peakable com|fort is this to a holy man when he comes to die, to con&s;ider that he is going to a place where he &s;hall &s;ee the Lord, not as now through a gla&s;s darkly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 13.12.</NOTE> but in all his heaven|ly bravery, and in all his divine Embroidery, and be&s;pan|gled Glory! And let this &s;uffice for the opening of the words.</P>
<P>In my Text you have two things, Fir&s;t, An Exhortation to <HI>follow peace and holine&s;s.</HI> Secondly, The Rea&s;on or Ar|gument to enforce the duty pre&s;t, viz. <HI>Without which no man &s;hall &s;ee the Lord.</HI> The words will afford us many weighty
<PB REF="33"> Ob&s;ervations; I &s;hall only name one, which I intend to in&s;i&s;t upon, and that is this: <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<FLOATEXT LANG="eng" TYPE="doctrine">
<HEAD>DOCTRINE.</HEAD>
<P>That real holine&s;s is the only way to happine&s;s: All men mu&s;t be holy on earth, or they &s;hall never &s;ee the beatifical vi&s;i|on, they &s;hall never reach to a glorious fruition of God in Heaven.</P>
</FLOATEXT>
<P>For the clearing up, and making good of this great and glorious truth, I &s;hall endeavour the&s;e three things.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, to &s;hew you what this holine&s;s is, without which no <MILESTONE N="1"> man &s;hall &s;ee the Lord.</P>
<P>Secondly, I &s;hall by an induction of particulars make good <MILESTONE N="2"> the Propo&s;ition.</P>
<P>Thirdly, give you the Rea&s;ons of the point. <MILESTONE N="3"> </P>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<P>Fir&s;t, What is this holine&s;s without which no man &s;hall &s;ee the Lord? I an&s;wer there is a &s;ixfold holine&s;s.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, There is a Legal holine&s;s: Now a Legal holine&s;s con|&s;i&s;ts <MILESTONE N="1"> in an exact, perfect, and compleat conformity in heart and life to the whole revealed will of God; and this was the holine&s;s that <HI>Adam</HI> had in his innocency: and this holine&s;s was immediately derived from God, and was perfect. <HI>Adam</HI> knew the will of God perfectly (&s;o far as it was revealed to him) and had a divine principle in him of perfect confor|mity to that ble&s;&s;ed will. <HI>Adams</HI> holines was as co-natural to him, as unholine&s;s is now to us: and had he &s;tood fa&s;t in that glorious condition, we had all been as naturally ho|ly from the womb, as now we are &s;infull.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 51.5.</NOTE> <HI>Adams</HI> holine&s;s was as natural, and as plea&s;ing, and as delightfull to him, as any way of unholine&s;s can be natural, plea&s;ing and delight|full unto us. But this holine&s;s which was <HI>Adams</HI> choice&s;t &s;parkling gemm of beauty, and his weightie&s;t crown of glo|ry, is by Satans policy long &s;ince fallen off from <HI>Adams</HI> head; now if this Legal holine&s;s were the holine&s;s meant in the text, then woe to man that ever he was born; for then no man &s;hould ever &s;ee the Lord.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"></NOTE> For by <HI>Adams</HI> fall all men
<PB N="6" REF="34"> are gone out of the way, and there is none legally righteous, no not one. Now if we look upon man as fallen from that holine&s;s which was his greate&s;t honour, dignity and excel|lency,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg Nazianz. Pindarus. Ae&s;chylus. Marcus Impe|rat.</NOTE> he is become a pile of du&s;t, a puff of wind, &s;aith one, a dream of a &s;hadow &s;aith another, a &s;hadow of &s;moak, &s;aith a third: a poor &s;illy flea, a worm, a little foul, a curious nothing; yea, man faln from his primitive glory is become a very vanity, &s;aith the Prophet, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 39.5. Verily, Every man at his be&s;t &s;tate is altogether vanity. <HI>Verily,</HI> this a&s;&s;everation is only u&s;ed in matters of greate&s;t weight and moment: and notes the reality and certainty of the things delivered. Every man <HI>(chol Adam all Adam)</HI> Or every Son of <HI>Adam,</HI> not &s;ome man, but every man at his be&s;t &s;tate (<HI>Nit&s;ab</HI> from <HI>Jat&s;ab</HI>) that is, in his mo&s;t &s;ettled and compo&s;ed condition, when he is be&s;t con&s;tituted and underlaid, when he &s;tands a tiptoe, and is in the heighth and perfection of all crea|ture comforts and contentments, is altogether, not in &s;ome mea&s;ure, but altogether vanity, <HI>(chol Hebel)</HI> all vanity. Since the fall of <HI>Adam</HI> every natural man in his be&s;t e&s;tate is vanity: nay, every man is every vanity: Imagine what vanity you will, fallen man is that, he is a comprehen&s;ive vanity: be is an Epitome of all vanity. Man in honour before his fall, was the be&s;t of creatures, but &s;ince his fall he is become the wor&s;t of creatures; by his fall he is fallen below the very bea&s;ts that peri&s;h, <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 1.3, 4. <HI>Prov.</HI> 6.6. <HI>Jer.</HI> 8.7. <HI>Matth.</HI> 6. He that was once the Image of God, the glory of Paradi&s;e, the worlds Lord, and the Lords darling, is now become a burthen to heaven, a burthen to him&s;elf, and a &s;lave to others, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> which made One cry out,
<Q><L>Oh what is man?</L>
<L><NOTE PLACE="marg">Quarles.</NOTE>A &s;cu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">tlefull of du&s;t, a mea&s;ured &s;pan,</L>
<L>Mans breath a bubble, and his dayes a span;</L>
<L>Tis glorious mi&s;ery to be born a man.</L></Q> By all which, you may ea&s;ily perceive how far we are off from that legal holine&s;s that <HI>Adam</HI> had in inno|cency.<NOTE PLACE="marg">R. Solom. Deut. cap. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Rabbi Solomon</HI> makes <HI>Adam</HI> &s;o high, that he
<PB N="7" REF="34"> touched heaven with his head. I &s;hall not di&s;pute the cer|tainty of that: but certainly, the higher he was in holine&s;s, the greater was his fall, and ours in him. This Legal holi|ne&s;s was &s;o lo&s;t in <HI>Adam,</HI> that no &s;on of <HI>Adam</HI> could ever find it &s;ince <HI>Adam</HI> fell: and if this were the holine&s;s without which no man &s;hould ever &s;ee the Lord, then farewell for ever to the &s;ons of <HI>Adam.</HI> But this legal holine&s;s is not the holine&s;s in the Text.</P>
<P>Secondly, There is an Imaginary holine&s;s, a Conceited <MILESTONE N="2"> holine&s;s, an Opinionative holine&s;s, Prov. 30.12. <HI>There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Coelum gratis non acciqiam.</HI> I will not have heaven, but at a rate: &s;aid a proud impure per|&s;on.</NOTE> <HI>and yet is not wa&s;h|ed from their filthine&s;s:</HI> they were very bad, and yet they had a great opinion of their own goodne&s;s; they were very filthy, and yet they &s;tood very much upon their own purity; their hands were black, their hearts were black, their works were black, and their ways were as black as hell and yet they dur&s;t &s;ay that none could &s;ay black was their eye: they were filthy within, and filthy without, filthy in body, and filthy in &s;oul, and filthy in &s;pirit; filthine&s;s had quite over&s;pred them, and yet they thought to cover their filthine&s;s with a vizzard of ho|line&s;s (the wor&s;t men are commonly be&s;t conceited of them|&s;elves.) Ah friends, there hath been no generation wherein there hath not been &s;uch a generation of men who have wal|lowed in &s;in like Swine in the mire, and yet have kept up in them&s;elves a &s;trong opinion of their own goodne&s;s and ho|line&s;s: this generation had neither their &s;ouls nor con&s;ci|ences wa&s;ht in the blood of Chri&s;t, nor &s;anctified by the &s;pi|rit of Chri&s;t, and yet they gloried in their conceited purity and holine&s;s, as if they had been purified by Chri&s;t. There are many that are &s;hining Chri&s;tians, that are pure golden Chri&s;tians in their own eyes, that are viler then dro&s;s, yea,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Regis animum qui&s;&abque; intra &s;e habet.</HI> Every man hath in him the mind of a King: is <HI>Calvins</HI> Note on that 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 5.5.</NOTE> then &s;moak in Gods eyes, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 65.5. <HI>Stand by thy &s;elf, come not near to me; for I am holier then thou: the&s;e are a &s;moak in my no&s;e, a fire that burneth all the day:</HI> they were very licentious, very ungracious, very rebellious, very Super&s;titi|ous, very Idolatrous, <HI>ver.</HI> 2, 3, 4. and yet counted them&s;elves very religious: they were wor&s;e then others, and yet thought them&s;elves better then others; they were very bad, and
<PB N="8" REF="35"> yet judged them&s;elves very good: they were more impure, more prophane, and more polluted then others, and yet they reckon them&s;elves more pure and holier then others: they &s;tand upon their comparative goodne&s;&s;es, and yet at the the &s;ame time are charged by God of the greate&s;t wicked|ne&s;s. And thus their kin&s;men the Phari&s;ees &s;tand upon their images, forgeries, and outward dre&s;&s;es of holine&s;s, when at the &s;ame time they practi&s;ed the wor&s;t of wickedne&s;s, <HI>Mat.</HI> 23.5. <HI>Luke</HI> 30. <HI>&amp;</HI> 18.11, 12. So tho&s;e in <HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 12.8. <HI>And</HI> Ephraim <HI>&s;aid, yet I am become rich, I have found me out &s;ub&s;tance: in all my labours they &s;hall find no iniquity in me,</HI> that were &s;in; or is &s;in. <HI>Ephraims iniquities were grown ever his head</HI> (as may be &s;een throughout this whole Pro|phecy) and yet <HI>Ephraim</HI> cannot bear the being charged with iniquity: it was little le&s;s then &s;in to charge <HI>Ephraim</HI> with &s;in, though he was notoriou&s;ly guilty of the highe&s;t crimes: yet he would have you to know that he was as &s;hie of &s;in, and as clear of &s;in, as he that was &s;hie&s;t and cleare&s;t. <HI>Ephraim</HI> could give good words when his works were abo|minable; he could pretend much to innocency, when he was guilty of the greate&s;t impiety: but though <HI>Ephraim</HI> had his cloak at hand, yet it was too &s;hort to cover his &s;in; for God &s;aw it, and condemned him for it. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom</HI> doth elegantly &s;et forth the blindne&s;s and bruti&s;hne&s;s of &s;uch per&s;ons. When they lie in the mire (&s;aith he) they think they are be&s;meared with &s;ome &s;weet oyntments: when they are full of Vermine,<NOTE PLACE="marg">There is a truth in that old &s;aying, <HI>Avaro dee&s;t tam quod ha|bet, quam quod non habet:</HI> A covetous man wanteth as well that which he hath, as that which he hath not.</NOTE> they vaunt them&s;elves, as if they were adorned with pretious &s;tones. And &s;o the <HI>Laodice|ans</HI> were of the &s;ame temper of &s;pirit, Rev. 3.17. <HI>Becau&s;e thou &s;aie&s;t, I am rich, and increa&s;ed with goods, and have need of nothing: and knowe&s;t not that thou art wretched, and mi&s;erable, and poor, and blind, and naked.</HI> They had a great opi|nion of their own goodne&s;s, worth, and excellent &s;tate, having need of nothing, when they they had nothing of a Chri&s;tian in them. Thou &s;aye&s;t thou art rich, I but thou do&s;t but &s;ay &s;o; thou boa&s;te&s;t and bragge&s;t of thy riches: as many proud Beggars do of that wealth they have not; for all thou deeme&s;t thy &s;elf rich, thou art but poor and
<PB N="9" REF="35"> beggarly. It is mans &s;in, and judgement, that ever &s;ince he cea&s;ed to be what he &s;hould be, he &s;triveth to &s;eem to be what he is not: Thou &s;aye&s;t thou art increa&s;ed with goods, and neede&s;t nothing; I, but thou do&s;t but &s;ay &s;o, thou do&s;t but dream it is &s;o: for thou art ignorant of thine own wretched and lamentable e&s;tate; Thou &s;aye&s;t thou art rich, but I know thou art poor and beggarly: if a dram of grace would &s;ave thy life, thy &s;oul, thy family, nay, the whole world, thou ha&s;t it not: Thou &s;aye&s;t, thou &s;ee&s;t: but thou art blind, thou art de&s;titute of &s;piritual eye-&s;ight; thou &s;ee&s;t not thine own wants, nor Chri&s;ts worth: thine own emp|tine&s;s, nor Chri&s;ts fulne&s;s: thine own &s;infulne&s;s, nor Chri&s;ts holine&s;s: thine own poverty, nor Chri&s;ts (riches and) plenty; thine own mi&s;ery, nor Chri&s;ts mercy: thine own in&s;ufficiency, nor Chri&s;ts al&s;ufficiency: thine own vanity, nor Chri&s;ts glo|ry, <HI>&amp;c. Multi multa &s;ciunt, &s;e autem nemo:</HI> Many know much, but few know them&s;elves, or their own danger, infe|licity, or mi&s;ery: and indeed no mi&s;ery to this. The <HI>Chine&s;es</HI> u&s;e to &s;ay of them&s;elves, that all other Nations of the world did &s;ee but with one eye, they only with two; and of this &s;pirit and temper were tho&s;e blind <HI>Laodiceans:</HI> they thought they knew all things, when they knew nothing that they &s;hould, nor as they &s;hould. By all which you may &s;ee, that there is an imaginary holine&s;s, a conceited holine&s;s, where there is no real holine&s;s; but an imaginary holine&s;s will bring a man but to an imaginary ble&s;&s;edne&s;s; a conceited holine&s;s will bring a man but to a conceited happine&s;s; he that doth but dream that he is holy, he doth but dream that he &s;hall be happy.</P>
<P>Ba&s;tards of old were not to inherit,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 21.10.</NOTE> but to be thru&s;t out from among the true heirs, <HI>Judges</HI> 11.1, 2. <HI>Now</HI> Jepthah <HI>the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the &s;on of a harlot: and</HI> Gilead <HI>begat</HI> Jephthah: <HI>And</HI> Gileads <HI>wife bare him &s;ons, and his wives &s;ons grew up, and they thru&s;t out</HI> Jephthah, <HI>and &s;aid unto him, Thou &s;halt not inherit in our Fa|thers hou&s;e, for thou art the &s;on of a &s;trange woman.</HI> Ah Sirs, you that are but ba&s;tard Chri&s;tians, ba&s;tard Profe&s;&s;ors, ba&s;tard Believers, ba&s;tard Saints, you &s;hall never inherit
<PB N="10" REF="36"> among the heirs of glory,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 The&s;. 1.8, 9. Matth. 8.12. Ch. 22.13.</NOTE> but &s;hall be thru&s;t out for ever from the pre&s;ence of the Lord, and the glory of his power, and thru&s;t into utter darkne&s;s, becau&s;e you have plea&s;ed your &s;elves, and &s;atisfied your &s;pirits, and ble&s;t your &s;ouls in a ba&s;tard holine&s;s, in a conceited holine&s;s, <HI>Deut.</HI> 23.2. <HI>A ba&s;tard &s;hall not inherit in the Congregation of the Lord:</HI> he &s;hall have no fellow&s;hip, nor communion with the peo|ple of God: the door of Admi&s;&s;ion &s;hall be &s;hut upon him:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 25.10, 11, 12. Ch. 7.21, 22, 23.</NOTE> The fooli&s;h Virgins had but a Ba&s;tard holine&s;s, a con|ceited holine&s;s, an outward dre&s;s of holine&s;s: and therefore the door of life, the door of hope, the door of help, the door of grace, the door of mercy, the door of glory was &s;hut upon them. <HI>William</HI> the Conquerour was much &s;lighted and &s;corned becau&s;e he was a Ba&s;tard: God and his people will &s;light &s;uch, and &s;corn &s;uch, and turn their backs at la&s;t upon &s;uch that have no more then a ba&s;tardly holine&s;s: and therefore this cannot be the holine&s;s here meant: But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, There is an outward, external vi&s;ible holine&s;s, which includes mens freedom from &s;candalous vices, and their ordinary performance of religious duties.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 1.5, 6. <GAP DESC="foreign">, they were both, &s;aith the Vulgar, <HI>Sine querela,</HI> with|out complaint; their conver|&s;ation was &s;uch as none could ju&s;tly complain of it. It was ir|reprehen&s;ible, it could not be reprehended.</NOTE> Now in this &s;en&s;e <HI>Zacharias</HI> and <HI>Elizabeth</HI> were both holy per&s;ons: for they <HI>walked in all the commandments and ordinances of God blamele&s;s.</HI> And &s;o the Apo&s;tles, 1 The&s;&s;. 2.10. <HI>For ye are witne&s;&s;es, and God al&s;o, how holily, and ju&s;tly, and un|blameably we behaved our &s;elves among you that believe:</HI> An|&s;werable to this, is that of the Apo&s;tle in 2 Cor. 1.12. <HI>For our rejoycing is this, the te&s;timony of our con&s;cience, that in &s;implicity and godly &s;incerity, Not with fle&s;hly wi&s;dom, but by the grace of God we have had our conver&s;ation in the world, and more abundantly to you-wards.</HI> The&s;e precious &s;ouls behaved them&s;elves holily towards God, ju&s;tly towards the world, and unblameably towards believers; they were ho|ly in Religious work, they were ju&s;t in their Civil affairs and Commerce, and unblameable in their private carriage and behaviour among&s;t their familiar and mo&s;t bo&s;ome friends. And this is that the Apo&s;tle pre&s;&s;es upon Chri&s;tians in Phil. 2.15. <HI>That ye may be blamele&s;s and harmele&s;s, the &s;ons of God, without rebuke,</HI> (or unblemi&s;hed) <HI>in the mid&s;t
<PB N="11" REF="36"> of a crooked and perver&s;e Nation, among whom ye &s;hine</HI> (or &s;hine ye) <HI>as lights in the world.</HI> Chri&s;tians mu&s;t be the &s;potle&s;s &s;ons of God:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 32.5.</NOTE> they mu&s;t have no &s;pots upon them that are incon&s;i&s;tent with Son&s;hip, or Saint&s;hip. Now it is certain: without this outward vi&s;ible holine&s;s there is no hap|pine&s;s, there is no fruition of God in everla&s;ting ble&s;&s;ed|ne&s;s: They that pretend their hearts are as good as the be&s;t, when their lives are as bad as the wor&s;t, &s;hall expe+rience this truth at la&s;t to their &s;hame and co&s;t, that without vi&s;ible holine&s;s here, there can be no fruition of God hereafter.</P>
<P>Yet this mu&s;t be granted,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 3.5. They &s;ay of Halifax Nuts, that they are all &s;hells, no kirnels. There are many that make a glori|ous &s;hew be|fore men, that are abomina|ble in the &s;ight of God, <HI>Luke</HI> 16.15. that are <HI>Aurum ho|minibus, lutum Deo:</HI> Gold in mans eyes, dirt in Gods &s;ight. <HI>Gregor. Mor. c.</HI> 34. <HI>l.</HI> 13.</NOTE> that a man may be vi&s;ibly ho|ly, that is not inwardly holy: A man may be outwardly ho|ly, that is not throughout holy: a man may have an out|ward dre&s;s of holine&s;s upon him, that hath not the &s;pirit and vitals of holine&s;s in him: As <HI>Judas</HI> had, and <HI>Simon Magus</HI> had, and <HI>Demas</HI> had, and the Scribes and Phari&s;ees had, Matth. 23.25, 27, 28. <HI>We unto you Scribes and Phari&s;ees, hypocrites; for ye make clean the out&s;ide of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and exce&s;s. Wo unto you Scribes and Phari&s;ees, hypocrites; for ye are like unto whited Sepulchres, which indeed appear beautifull out|ward, but are within full of dead mens bones, and of all un|cleanne&s;s. Even &s;o ye al&s;o outwardly appear righteous un|to men, but within ye are full of hypocri&s;ie and iniquity.</HI> They were outwardly religious, but inwardly vitious; they had the &s;emblance of &s;anctity but (inwardly) very full of im|purity: They were fair Profe&s;&s;ors, but foul Sinners; they were gracious without, but impious within. Look as they are the wor&s;t of vices that are covered over with the &s;hew of vertue: &s;o they are the wor&s;t of &s;inners that cover over their inward filthine&s;s under the vizards of outward holi|ne&s;s. The Egyptian Temples were fair without, but foul and filthy within; &s;uch were the Scribes and Phari&s;ees in Chri&s;ts days, and &s;uch are many profe&s;&s;ors in our dayes. It is &s;aid of <HI>Diony&s;ius</HI> the Tyrant, that though he loved not the Phi|lophers, yet he would wrap him&s;elf up in their cloaks, that men might have the better opinion of him: So there be ma|ny
<PB N="12" REF="37"> that put on an outward dre&s;s of holine&s;s, that wrap them&s;elves up in the cloak of holine&s;s, that &s;o others may take them for holy per&s;ons, and yet they love not holine&s;s, they have nothing of real honlie&s;s in them; but as he is not a Jew which is one outwardly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Romans 2.28, 29. Cha. 4.12.</NOTE> but not inwardly: &s;o he is not a holy per&s;on who is only &s;o outwardly, but not in|wardly; that hath the name of holine&s;s upon him, but hath no principles of holine&s;s in him: though without outward vi&s;i|ble holine&s;s no man &s;hall &s;ee the Lord; yet a man may have an outward vi&s;ible holine&s;s, that &s;hall never &s;ee the Lord in happine&s;s. I hate him even to hell (&s;aith the Hea|then in <HI>Homer</HI>) that &s;aith one thing with his mouth, and thinketh another thing in his heart. So God will at la&s;t hate that man to hell,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat 23.14. 2 Tim. 3.5. 1 Cor. 7.19. Philip. 3.3. Gal. 5.6. Chap. 6.15.</NOTE> yea, ca&s;t him into the hotte&s;t place in hell, that hath a form of godline&s;s upon him, but nothing of the reality and power of holine&s;s in him. Outward holine&s;s is good, but it mu&s;t be throughout-holine&s;s that will do a man good to all eternity. It is not the &s;hews but the &s;ub&s;tance of holine&s;s that will bring a man to ever|la&s;ting happine&s;s: Meer outward holine&s;s will certainly leave a man &s;hort of heaven and happine&s;s: but throughout-holine&s;s will certainly lodge the &s;oul in the bo&s;ome of God for ever. It is true, all men reach not to an outward holi|ne&s;s; which made <HI>Athana&s;ius</HI> wi&s;h, <HI>&V;tinam omnes e&s;&s;ent Hypo|critae,</HI> Would to God that all were hypocrites: Without all peradventure, it is a very de&s;ireable thing that all were out|wardly holy: yet all that reach to this, mu&s;t go farther, or el&s;e they will &s;it down on this &s;ide happine&s;s, Mat. 5.20. <HI>For I &s;ay unto you, that except your righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;hall exceed the righ|teou&s;ne&s;s of the Scribes and Phari&s;ees, ye &s;hall in no ca&s;e enter into the kingdom of heaven:</HI> Now they were much in works of Piety, in works of Charity, in works of Equity, and in works of Curte&s;ie, by which means they gained &s;o much upon the hearts of the people, that it was commonly con|ceited and voted among them, that if there were but two of all the world that &s;hould go to heaven, the one &s;hould be a Scribe, and the other a Phari&s;ee. Yet your righteou&s;|ne&s;s mu&s;t exceed theirs, or the gates of glory will be &s;hut
<PB N="13" REF="37"> upon you. Their righteou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;s was only ex|ternal, not internal; it was partial, not univer&s;al; it was rather circum&s;tantial then &s;ub&s;tantial: and therefore Heavens doors were double-bolted again&s;t them. Heaven is for that man, and that man is for heaven, that is not only outward|ly holy, but throughout holy.</P>
<P>Fourthly, There is a Relative holine&s;s; now Relative ho|line&s;s <MILESTONE N="4"> is a &s;pecial relation which per&s;ons or things have unto God. Relative holine&s;s includes two things.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, A &s;eparation of per&s;ons or things from common u&s;e: <MILESTONE N="1"> and thus in the Law,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 19.2. 1 Kings 8.35. Ezra. 8.28. Chap. 10, 11. I&s;a. 63.18.</NOTE> tho&s;e things were called holy which were &s;eparated from common u&s;e, and &s;et apart for the Wor&s;hip and Service of God: As the Oyl, Shewbread, Fir&s;t-fruits, Incen&s;e, Altars, Ve&s;tments; and in this &s;en&s;e the Prie&s;ts and Levites were called holy, becau&s;e they were &s;eparated from others to &s;erve in the Tabernacle. And in this &s;en&s;e the people of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> are frequently called a &s;an|ctified people, a holy people, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The Greek word <GAP DESC="foreign"> an&s;wers to the Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign"> which commonly &s;igni|fies that which is appropriated to a holy u&s;e: and this is the proper notion of holine&s;s in the Old and New Te&s;tament, as I might &s;hew you out of &s;ome hundred places of Scrip|ture. Now certainly without this holine&s;s of &s;pecial &s;epa|ration from the common conver&s;ation of the world, there is no &s;eeing of God, nor no fruition of God hereafter, 2 Cor. 6.17, 18. <HI>Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye &s;eparate, &s;aith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye &s;hall be my &s;ons and daughters, &s;aith the Lord Almighty.</HI> God will have no communion with any in this world that are not &s;eparated from the &s;infull practi&s;es of the world. God will look upon none, he will own none, he will delight in none, he will acknowledge none, he will receive none for his &s;ons and daughters, but &s;uch as are &s;eparated from all evil vices, and unholy cour&s;es. Suitable to this, is I&s;a. 52.11. <HI>Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean things, go ye out of the mid&s;t of her; Be ye clean that bear the ve&s;&s;els of the Lord.</HI> E&s;trange your &s;elves from them that
<PB N="14" REF="38"> are e&s;tranged from God;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cicero</HI> (though Heathen) had rather to have no com|panion then a bad one.</NOTE> have nothing to do with them that have nothing to do with God; &s;eparate your &s;elves from them who have &s;eparated them&s;elves from God; have no delightfull conver&s;e with them who have no delightfull conver&s;e with God; have no bo&s;ome communion with them that have no bo&s;ome communion with God. Oh Sirs, you are to keep your &s;elves as pure and clean from others defilements, as you would keep your &s;elves free from others puni&s;hments: He that will imitate others in their &s;ins, &s;hall certainly participate with others in their &s;orrows. It is true we may live with wicked men in their Cities: but it is as true, we mu&s;t not lie with wicked men in their enormities. There are many profe&s;&s;ors that are like the Planet <HI>Mercury,</HI> good in conjunction with tho&s;e that are good, and bad with tho&s;e that are bad; but the&s;e wound many at once: God, Chri&s;t, the Go&s;pel, and their own credits and con&s;ciences: The&s;e do <HI>virtutis &s;tragulam pudefacere,</HI> put virtue to an open &s;hame: And the&s;e are de&s;ervedly to be &s;hamed by your &s;epara|ting from them, and by your renouncing all intimate commu|nion or fellow&s;hip with them. But,</P>
<P>Secondly, As Relative holine&s;s takes in a &s;eparation of per&s;ons or things from common u&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2. So Chri&s;t is &s;aid to &s;ancti|fie him&s;elf, when he de|dicated him|&s;elf to be a &s;a|crifice for the &s;ins of his people, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> &s;o it takes in a dedi|cation and devoting of them to a holy u&s;e. And thus the Nazarites, Temple, Mount <HI>Zion,</HI> the Sabbath day, and other Fe&s;tival dayes are &s;aid to be holy under the Law. In &s;hort, the whole Jewi&s;h Religion did lie in holy times, holy places, holy per&s;ons, and holy things; and certainly without this holine&s;s, without this dedicating of our &s;elves to God, we &s;hall never come to a glorious fruition of God; he that doth not dedicate him&s;elf really to God, wholly to God, only to God, and alwayes to God on earth, &s;hall never come to a &s;ight and vi&s;ion of God in heaven: if we do not give up our &s;elves to God, God will never give up him&s;elf to us, Ho&s;. 3.3. <HI>And I &s;aid unto her, Thou &s;halt abide for me many dayes: thou &s;halt not play the harlot, and thou &s;halt not be for another man: &s;o will I al&s;o be for thee.</HI> God will be only theirs that are really his: and he will be altogether theirs that are wholly his; he will only
<PB N="15" REF="38"> be a husband to them that dedicate them&s;elves to him, as a wife doth to her husband: he will devote him&s;elf theirs, who devote them&s;elves his: he will avouch him&s;elf to be theirs who avouch them&s;elves to be his, Deut. 26.17, 18, 19. <HI>Thou ha&s;t avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his wayes, and to keep his Statutes, and his Com|mandments, and his Judgements, and to hearken unto his voice. And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promi&s;ed thee, and that thou &s;hould&s;t keep all his commandments: And to make thee high above all Nations which he hath made in prai&s;e, and in name, and in honour, and that thou may&s;t be a holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath &s;poken.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">That is an apt &s;aying of <HI>Ter|tullian, Nego|tiatio e&s;t ali|quid amittere ut majora lu|creris:</HI> That is right mer|chandi&s;e when &s;omething is parted with to gain more.</NOTE> God will re&s;ign him&s;elf up to them who re&s;ign them&s;elves up to him; he will give up him&s;elf to them that have given up their names and their hearts to him: He will be&s;tow him&s;elf as the greate&s;t pearle of price upon them that &s;hall make a &s;urrender of them&s;elves to him. There is no way to be higher then others, happier then others, more noble and honourable then others, then by making a <HI>dedi</HI>-gift of our &s;elves to God. He that dedicates him&s;elf to God, dedicates all; he that doth not dedicate him&s;elf, dedicates nothing at all. What <HI>E&s;chines</HI> once &s;aid to <HI>Socrates,</HI> Others, &s;aid he, give thee Gold, Silver, Jewels, but I give thee my &s;elf: That mu&s;t a Chri&s;tian &s;ay to his God, Ah Lord, there are &s;ome that give thee their lips, but I give thee my heart; others give thee good words, good expre&s;&s;ions, but I give thee the be&s;t of my affections: others give thee a few cold prayers, but I give thee my whole &s;oul: and had I as many hearts in my body as I have hairs on my head, I would give them all to thee: for thou art worthy, thou only art worthy. What the King of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> once &s;aid to the King of <HI>Syria,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Kings 20.4.</NOTE> <HI>I am thine, and all that I have,</HI> that mu&s;t a Chri&s;tian &s;ay to his Chri&s;t, <HI>I am thine O Lord, and all that I have.</HI> A Chri|&s;tian mu&s;t cry out with him who cried, Lord, I have two mites, a &s;oul and a body, and I give them both to thee.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard.</NOTE> And this was the honour and commendations of the <HI>Macedonians,</HI> that they gave up them&s;elves to the Lord, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 8.5. Having
<PB N="16" REF="39"> no better pre&s;ent at hand, they pre&s;ent them&s;elves to God; and certainly there is no pre&s;ent more honourable,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Romans 12.1.</NOTE> dilecta|ble, and acceptable to God then this, of giving up our &s;elves to God. Well, remember this: That man was never re|ally holy, that is not relatively holy; nor that man will ne|ver be really happy, that is not relatively holy: without Relative holine&s;s there will be no vi&s;ion of God in everla&s;t|ing happine&s;s: We mu&s;t be &s;eparated from the corruptions and pollutions of the world, and we mu&s;t dedicate our &s;elves to God, or we &s;hall never come to a future fruition of God. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="5"> Fifthly, There is an imputative holine&s;s, and that is the holine&s;s of Chri&s;t imputed to us. For to prevent mi&s;takes, you may plea&s;e to take notice that there is a twofold ho|line&s;s in Chri&s;t:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Con&s;ult the&s;e Scriptures, Luke 1.35. Mark 1.24. Heb. 7.26. Rom. 5.19. Col. 1.22. Rom. 2.3, 4. 2 Cor. 5.21, 22. Galat. 3.13. Jerem. 23.6.</NOTE> fir&s;t, there is his e&s;&s;ential and per&s;onal holine&s;s as he is God: Now this e&s;&s;ential holine&s;s of Chri&s;t cannot be imparted nor imputed to any mortal man; it is e&s;|&s;ential to him. But Secondly, there is his mediatory holine&s;s, or that holine&s;s which he wrought for us as Mediator. Now the holine&s;s of Chri&s;t as Mediator did con&s;i&s;t both in the habitual holine&s;s of his per&s;on, in the ab&s;ence of all &s;in, and in the rich and plentiful pre&s;ence of all holy and &s;upernatural qualities, as al&s;o in the actual holine&s;s of his life and death: by his active obedience, by his &s;ubjecting of his heart and life to divine precepts, he perfectly fulfilled the commands of the Law: and by his pa&s;&s;ive obedience, his voluntary &s;ufferings, he fully &s;atisfied the comminations, penalties, and cur&s;es of the Law. Now this mediatory holine&s;s of Chri&s;ts is ours by imputation, and by vertue of which we &s;tand <HI>recti in curia,</HI> ju&s;tified in the &s;ight of God, 1 Cor. 1.30. <HI>But of him are ye in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, who of God is made unto us wi&s;dom, and righteou&s;ne&s;s, and &s;anctification, and redemp|tion:</HI> This Mediatory holine&s;s of Chri&s;t reckoned unto a believing &s;inner, is that whereby he is con&s;tituted holy <HI>in foro Dei;</HI> and upon this account they are &s;aid to be all <HI>fair, Cant.</HI> 4.7.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nemo-bonus, qui non ex malo bonus. <HI>Aug.</HI></NOTE> to be <HI>without &s;pot or wrinckle, Ephe&s;.</HI> 5.25, 26, 27. to be <HI>compleat in him, Col.</HI> 2.10. and to be <HI>without fault before the throne of God, Rev.</HI> 14.4, 5. And certainly, with|out
<PB N="17" REF="39"> this mediatory holine&s;s of Chri&s;t there is no appearing before God, there is no glorious vi&s;ion nor fruition of God.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hab. 1.13.</NOTE> God is a God of that infinite purity and holine&s;s, that no holine&s;s below the imputative holine&s;s of Chri&s;t can make a man &s;tand before him, or bring a man to the fruition of him. It was a very &s;weet and excellent &s;aying of <HI>Bernard,</HI> when in his own opinion he was at the point of death: I confe&s;s (&s;aid he) I am not worthy,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Guliel. Abbas in. vita Bern. lib. <HI>1.</HI> cap. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> I have no merits of mine own to obtain heaven by: but my Lord had a double right thereunto; An hereditary right, as a Son, and a Meri|torious right as a Sacrifice: He was contented with the one right him&s;elf; the other right he hath given unto me; by the vertue of which gift, I do rightly lay claim unto it, and am not confounded. Though we cannot lay claim to hea|ven, nor to a ble&s;&s;ed fruition of God by any inherent holi|ne&s;s in us, it being weak and imperfect; yet we may lay claim to both by the mediatory holine&s;s of Chri&s;t imputed to us. As Chri&s;ts E&s;&s;ential holine&s;s gives him an hereditary right to everla&s;ting happine&s;s; So his Mediatory holine&s;s gives us a right to everla&s;ting ble&s;&s;edne&s;s. The co&s;tly cloak (of <HI>Alci&s;the|nes</HI>) which <HI>Diony&s;ius</HI> &s;old to the <HI>Carthaginians</HI> for an hun|dred Talents, was but a mean and beggarly ragg to that embroidered royal Robe of Chri&s;ts mediatory holine&s;s, that is imputed or reckoned to us. And therefore as ever you would come to a vi&s;ion of God in happine&s;s, you mu&s;t labour to be intere&s;ted by faith in Chri&s;ts mediatory holine&s;s. But,</P>
<P>Sixthly and La&s;tly, there is an inherent, internal quali|tative <MILESTONE N="6"> holine&s;s:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Holine&s;s is not any &s;ingle grace alone, but a conjun|ction, a con|&s;tellation of all graces to|gether.</NOTE> Now this inherent holine&s;s lies in two things. Fir&s;t, in the infu&s;ing of holy principles, divine qua|lities, or &s;upernatural graces into the &s;oul; &s;uch as the Apo&s;tle mentions in Gal. 5.22, 23. <HI>But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-&s;uffering, gentlene&s;s, goodne&s;s, faith, meekne&s;s, temperance; again&s;t &s;uch there is no Law.</HI> The&s;e habits of grace which are &s;everally di&s;tingui&s;hed by the names of faith, love, hope, meekne&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> are nothing el&s;e but the new nature, or <HI>new-man, which after God is created in righteou&s;ne&s;s and true holine&s;s,</HI> Ephe&s;. 4.24. The&s;e &s;eeds
<PB N="18" REF="40"> of holine&s;s, the&s;e habits of grace are tho&s;e &s;weet ointments with which all mu&s;t be annointed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 John 3.9. 2 Cor. 1.21. 1 John 2.27.</NOTE> that &s;hall ever come to a ble&s;&s;ed &s;ight or vi&s;ion of God. You may know much of God, you may hear much of God, you may talk much of God, and you may boa&s;t much of your hopes and intere&s;t in God, and yet without the&s;e habits of holine&s;s, you &s;hall never, come to a ble&s;&s;ed fruition of God in happine&s;s; without the&s;e feeds of holine&s;s, you &s;hall never reap a crop of ble&s;&s;edne&s;s. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, This inherent, this qualitative holine&s;s lies in an holy u&s;e and exerci&s;e of tho&s;e &s;upernatural graces in a way of holy walking;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 10.35. 1 John 1.3.7. Tit. 2.12. Luke 1.73. 2 Pet. 1.8. 1 Pet. 1.15, 16. I&s;a. 35.8.</NOTE> all holy habits mu&s;t be brought forth into holy acts; gracious habits mu&s;t be attended with gratious mo|tions; gratious operations, and a gracious conver&s;ation: out|ward works mu&s;t be &s;uitable to inward habits; it is with &s;piritual habits as it is with natural habits; the more they are acted and exerci&s;ed, the more they are increa&s;ed and &s;trengthened: holy habits are golden Talents that mu&s;t be imployed and improved. Gracious habits are the candles of the Lord &s;et up in us: and God hath &s;et up tho&s;e candles of heaven not to idle by, not to &s;leep by, but to work by, and to walk by. Where there is holine&s;s of di&s;po&s;ition, there mu&s;t be, nay, there will be holine&s;s of conver&s;ation; a holy heart is alwayes attended with a holy life:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Where there are the &s;eeds of holine&s;s, there will be the flowers of holine&s;s.</NOTE> you may &s;eparate a man from his friend, but you can never &s;eparate (though you may di&s;tingui&s;h) acts of holine&s;s from the habits of holine&s;s: now it is certain without this holine&s;s, you &s;hall never come to a &s;ight or fruition of God in happine&s;s. And thus I have &s;hewed you what that holine&s;s is, without which there is no hope, no po&s;&s;ibility of ever &s;eeing the Lord.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="part">
<P>I come now to the &s;econd thing, and that is, to prove the truth of the Propo&s;ition, <HI>viz.</HI> That without men are holy, they can never be happy; without holine&s;s on earth, none of the &s;ons of men &s;hall ever come to a ble&s;&s;ed vi&s;ion and fruition of God in heaven. Now this great and weighty truth, I &s;hall make good by an induction of particulars thus.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, God hath by very plain and clear Scriptures bolted and barred the door of heaven and happine&s;s again&s;t all unholy ones.<NOTE PLACE="marg">See al&s;o Mat. 7.21, 22, 23. Ch. 25.10, 11, 12.</NOTE> Witne&s;s 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.9, 10. <HI>Know ye not that the unrighteous
<PB N="19" REF="40"> &s;hall not inherit the Kingdom of God? be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor Idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abu&s;ers of them&s;elves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor revilers, nor extortioners, &s;hall inherit the Kingdom of God.</HI> Heaven is an undefiled inheritance,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1.4.</NOTE> and none that are defiled can enter into the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of it. When the Angels fell from their righteou&s;ne&s;s, heaven re|jected them; it would no longer hold them: and will it now accept of the unrighteous? will it now entertain and welcome them? &s;urely no. Such &s;inners make the very earth to mourn and groan now, and &s;hall they make heaven to mourn and groan hereafter? Surely no. What though the Serpent did wind him&s;elf into an earthy Paradi&s;e, yet none of the &s;eed of the Serpent (&s;o remaining) &s;hall ever be able to wind them&s;elves into a heavenly Paradi&s;e, witne&s;s Gal. 19.20, 21. <HI>Now the works of the fle&s;h are manife&s;t, which are the&s;e, Adultery, fornication, uncleanne&s;s, la&s;civiou&s;ne&s;s, Ido|latry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, &s;trife, &s;editions, here&s;ies, envying, murders, drunkenne&s;s, revellings, and &s;uch like: of the which I tell you before, as I al&s;o have told you in time pa&s;t, that they which do &s;uch things, &s;hall not in|herit the kingdom of God.</HI> Before they go to hell he tells them again and again, that they &s;hall not inherit the king|dom of God. By the Kingdom of God, we are to to under&s;tand the kingdom of Heaven, the kingdom of glo|ry: now the kingdom of heaven, of glory, is called the kingdom of God; 1. Becau&s;e he hath prepared it. 2.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 20.23. Luke 12 32.</NOTE> Be|cau&s;e it is a royal gift that he confers and be&s;tows upon his little, little flock. <HI>Augu&s;tus</HI> in his Solemn Fea&s;ts gave trifles to &s;ome, and Gold to others:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 4.10, 11. Chap. 20.6. Dan. 4.16, 17.</NOTE> The trifles of this world God often gives to the wor&s;t and ba&s;e&s;t of men; but the kingdom of heaven he only gives to his bo&s;ome friends. 3. Becau&s;e that of, and under him, the Saints hold it and po&s;&s;e&s;s it. 4. Becau&s;e with him they &s;hall for ever reign in the fruition of it. And &s;o that in <HI>John</HI> 3.3. <HI>Je&s;us an&s;wered and &s;aid unto him, Verily, verily, I &s;ay unto thee, Except a man be born again, be cannot &s;ee the kingdom of God.</HI> To give a little light into the words.</P>
<PB N="20" REF="41">
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, Truth, truth, or truly, truly.</NOTE><HI>Verily, verily;</HI> the Greek is <HI>Amen, amen:</HI> The word <HI>Amen</HI> is Hebrew, and in the Old Te&s;tament is mo&s;t com|monly u&s;ed by way of wi&s;hing, or imprecation; but here, and in other places of the New Te&s;tament, the &s;en&s;e of it is altered from precatory to a&s;&s;ertory, or from the way of wi&s;hing, to the way of affirming. This phra&s;e, <HI>Amen, amen,</HI> or <HI>Verily, verily,</HI> imports,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, The truth and certainty of the things delivered; for the word <HI>Amen</HI> doth properly &s;ignifie truth.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, This double A&s;&s;everation is never u&s;ed but in matters of greate&s;t weight and importance; the mat|ters here &s;poken of, are of a very cele&s;tial and &s;ublime Nature.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, This gemination <HI>Verily, verily,</HI> is a vehement confirmation of what Chri&s;t &s;peaks.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, This gemination calls aloud for the greate&s;t ob&s;ervation, and mo&s;t &s;erious attention of the &s;oul to what Chri&s;t is a &s;aying.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver. 2.</NOTE><HI>I &s;ay unto thee; I,</HI> that thou ha&s;t confe&s;t to be a Tea|cher &s;ent from God; <HI>I,</HI> that lie in the bo&s;ome of the Father; <HI>I,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">John 1.18. Rev. 3.14.</NOTE> that am of the Cabinet Coun&s;el of heaven; <HI>I,</HI> that know his heart, and all his &s;ecrets; <HI>I,</HI> that am the faithfull and true witne&s;s and cannot lye; <HI>I,</HI> that am called the <HI>Amen,</HI> the truth it &s;elf;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 1.18.</NOTE> <HI>I,</HI> that have the keyes of heaven and hell at my own Girdle; <HI>I,</HI> that open and no man &s;huts, and <HI>I</HI> that &s;hut and no man opens; I that &s;hall be your Judge in the great day, <HI>I &s;ay unto thee, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 2.28, 29.</NOTE><HI>Except a man be born again;</HI> A man, be he old or young, learned or unlearned, high or low, rich or poor, knowing or ignorant, circumci&s;ed or uncircumci&s;ed, under this form or that, a member of this Church or that, let his di&s;po&s;ition be nev<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r &s;o ingenuous, and his parts never &s;o high, and his conver&s;ation (as to men) never &s;o blamele&s;s and harmle&s;s; yet except this man be born again, he cannot &s;ee the king|dom of God.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 5.17.</NOTE><HI>Be born again:</HI> Except a man be fir&s;t unmade, and new|made up again; except he be of an old creature made a new creature, yea, a new creation of God, there is no &s;eeing of the kingdom of God; the whole frame of the old man mu&s;t
<PB N="21" REF="41"> be di&s;&s;olved, and a new frame erected; el&s;e there is no hea|ven to be enjoyed. The kingdom of God is a divine king|dom, and there is no po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of it without a divine na|ture; a new head without a new heart;<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 1.4. 1 Cor. 7.19. Gal. 5.6. Luke 17.21. Rom. 14.17.</NOTE> a new lip without a new life, will never bring a man to this kingdom of light. That man is for the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of God is for that man, that hath got the kingdom of God within him; if the kingdom of grace do not enter into thee here, thou &s;halt never enter into the kingdom of glory here|after. A new heart is for a new heaven, and a new heaven is for a new heart. <HI>Except a man be born again,</HI> except a man be born from above, and &s;o <HI>Cyrill</HI> interprets that word <GAP DESC="foreign">. Generation in &s;ome &s;en&s;e is from below, but regeneration is only from above, and without this there is no fruition of God above.</P>
<P><HI>He cannot &s;ee the kingdom of God.</HI> The Scripture &s;peaks of &s;everal Cannots.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, There is a natural Cannot: now every &s;on and <MILESTONE N="1"> daughter of <HI>Adam</HI> is by nature born under a Cannot; they are all born under a cannot believe, a cannot repent, a can|not love God, a cannot walk with God, a cannot &s;ee God, a cannot enjoy God, 1 Cor. 2.14. <HI>The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are fooli&s;hne&s;s unto him:</HI> neither can he know them, becau&s;e they are &s;piritu|ally di&s;cerned. A blind man cannot &s;ee colours, nor a na|tural man cannot di&s;cern &s;piritual things: they are too high, they are too &s;ublime for him, they are my&s;teries that he cannot under&s;tand, that he cannot unriddle. The natural man can a&s;cend no higher then nature, as the water can ri&s;e no higher then the &s;pring from whence it comes.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Quantum de|&s;cendit, tantum a&s;cendit.</NOTE> The Scripture &s;ets &s;uch &s;ad &s;ouls below the Ox, and the A&s;s, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 1.3. Take nature civilized, and moralized, refined and rai&s;ed, &s;ublimated, &s;trengthened, and improved to the ut|mo&s;t, and it cannot enable a man to do a &s;upernatural acti|on; nature cannot act <HI>ultra sphaeram,</HI> above it &s;elf. But,</P>
<P>Secondly, there is a contracted and an habituated Cannot: <MILESTONE N="2"> and of this Cannot the Prophet &s;peaks in Jer. 6.10. <HI>To
<PB N="22" REF="42"> whom &s;hall I &s;peak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold their ear is uncircumci&s;ed, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach: they have no delight in it:</HI> They had by their carnality, impiety, &s;en&s;uality, &s;ecurity and ob&s;tinacy, contracted upon their poor &s;ouls &s;uch deafne&s;s, wretchedne&s;s, unteachablene&s;s, and un|tractablene&s;s, that they could neither love the word, nor like it: they could neither take plea&s;ure nor delight in it; nay, they could neither hear it, nor bear it, though it never &s;o near|ly concerned the internal and eternal welfare of their &s;ouls.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> properly, di|&s;tinctly &s;igni|fies an adulte|tere&s;s: and this phra&s;e of having eyes full of the adultere&s;s, an|&s;wers to that of the Rheto|rician who de&s;cribing an uncha&s;t, la&s;ci|vious per&s;on, rhetorically &s;aid of him, that he had Whores in his eyes.</NOTE> And of this <HI>Cannot</HI> the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks in 2 Pet. 2.14. <HI>Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cea&s;e from &s;in, beguil|ing un&s;table &s;ouls: an heart they have exerci&s;ed with cove|tous practices: cur&s;ed children.</HI> By their riot and exce&s;s, by their la&s;civiou&s;ne&s;s and wantonne&s;s, by their loo&s;ne&s;s and uncleanne&s;s which they had habituated and accu&s;tomed them&s;elves unto, they brought upon them&s;elves a cur&s;ed nece&s;&s;ity of &s;inning, &s;o that they could not cea&s;e from &s;in: They mourn over &s;in, and yet they cannot cea&s;e from &s;in: they re&s;olve again&s;t &s;in, yet they cannot cea&s;e to &s;ins they pray again&s;t &s;in, yet they cannot cea&s;e to &s;in: they make many promi&s;es, vows, and Covenants again&s;t &s;in, yet they cannot cea&s;e from &s;in, their &s;ouls being habituated and accu&s;tomated thereunto, Jer. 2.20. <HI>For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and bur&s;t thy bands; and thou &s;aid&s;t I will not tran&s;gre&s;s:</HI> (I will never play the harlot more: but were they as good as their word? no,) <HI>for upon every high hill, and under every green tree, they wandred playing the harlot.</HI> I have read of a man who in the time of his &s;ickne&s;s, was &s;o terrified in his con&s;cience for his &s;ins, that he made the very bed to &s;hake upon which he lay: and cried out all night long, I am damned, I am damned, and made many great promi&s;es and prote&s;tations of amendment of life, if God would be plea&s;ed to recover him; In a little while he did recover: and being recovered, he was as ba&s;e and vile, as wretched and wicked as ever he was before. Cu&s;tom in &s;in takes away all con&s;cience of &s;in, <HI>Jer.</HI> 13.23. <HI>Can the Aethiopian change his skin, or the Leopard his &s;pots?
<PB N="23" REF="42"> then may he al&s;o do good that is accu&s;tomed to do evil.</HI> The Ethiopian cannot make his black skin white: he cannot change the hew or the colour of it by wa&s;hing; to attempt this is but labour in vain. Nor the Leopard cannot change his &s;pots: no more can a poor &s;inner that hath habituated and accu&s;tomed him&s;elf to &s;in, that is de&s;perately enthral|led to &s;in, turn from his &s;in: The &s;pots of the Leopard are not in him by accident but by nature: and they are &s;uch which no Art can cure, nor water wa&s;h off, becau&s;e they are not only in the skin, but in the fle&s;h and bones, in the &s;inews and mo&s;t inward parts. By cu&s;tom &s;in hath be&s;potted not only the skin, the life, the out&s;ide of a poor &s;inner, but al&s;o the very heart and &s;oul of a poor &s;inner, &s;o as that he is never able to wa&s;h off the&s;e &s;pots. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> reports of one <HI>Theotimus,</HI> that having a di&s;ea&s;e upon his body, his Phy&s;iti|an told him, that except he did ab&s;tain from intemperance, drunkenne&s;s, uncleane&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> he was like to lo&s;e his eyes; his heart being habituated to &s;in, and &s;et upon wickedne&s;s, he an&s;wered, <HI>Vale lumen amicum,</HI> farwell &s;weet light then. But,</P>
<P>Thirdly, as there is a contracted Cannot, an habituated <MILESTONE N="3"> Cannot, &s;o there is a judicial Cannot. The Lord inflicts a judicial cannot upon many per&s;ons in judgement: they can|not return from their &s;ins, they cannot with&s;tand a temp|tation, they cannot lay hold on eternal life, they cannot make &s;ure work for their &s;ouls, they cannot leave their bo&s;ome lu&s;ts, they cannot prefer Chri&s;t above all the world, they cannot make provi&s;ion for eternity, they cannot &s;ee the things that belong to their peace, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and this Cannot the Lord in wrath hath brought upon them, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 6.9, 10. <HI>And he &s;aid, Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but under|&s;tand not: and &s;ee ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and &s;hut their eyes;</HI> (or annoint, be&s;meer, lime their eyes) <HI>le&s;t they &s;ee with their eyes, and hear with their ears,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Many men, &s;aith <HI>Bernard</HI> do &s;eek for &s;traws to put out their own eyes.</NOTE> <HI>and under&s;tand with their heart, and convert and be healed.</HI> They would not &s;ee, they &s;hall not &s;ee; they would not hear, they &s;hall not hear; they would not under&s;tand, they &s;hall not under&s;tand: they would not convert, they &s;hall not convert: they
<PB N="24" REF="43"> would not be healed, they &s;hall not be healed. When men are &s;tifly and de&s;perately re&s;olved upon their &s;inful cour&s;es, when men grow &s;tubborn, rebellious, licentious, and will wilfully wink and &s;hut their eyes again&s;t the light, and &s;top their ears again&s;t the truth, God in his ju&s;t judgement gives them up to dulne&s;s, &s;tupidne&s;s, blindne&s;s, darkne&s;s, I&s;a. 44.18. <HI>They have not known nor under&s;tood, for he hath &s;hut their eyes that they cannot &s;ee;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> dawbed, or plai&s;tered.</NOTE> (or he hath dawbed up their eyes from &s;eeing) <HI>and their hearts, that they cannot under&s;tand.</HI> God in his righteous judgement ca&s;ts a judicial Cannot up|on them, he hath dawbed up their eyes that they cannot &s;ee, and he hath &s;hut up their hearts that they cannot un|der&s;tand the great concernments of their &s;ouls. Now while&s;t men lie under the&s;e &s;ad Cannots, they can never &s;ee the kingdom of God. The&s;e three Cannots like a three|fold cord, bind poor &s;inners, &s;o as that they can never come to a &s;ight or fruition of God in grace or glory till they are delivered from the&s;e Cannots, by a new birth, by being born again.</P>
<P><HI>See the kingdom of God:</HI> that is, they cannot enter into it, they cannot enjoy it, they can have no childs part or por|tion in it, except they are new born, except they pa&s;s the pangs of the &s;econd birth. Let their education be never &s;o &s;weet, their illumination never &s;o great, their profe&s;&s;ion never &s;o amiable, and their conver&s;ation never &s;o unblame|able; yet except they are new born, it had been good for them that they had never been born. And thus you &s;ee by plain Scriptures, that the Lord hath bolted the gates of glory again&s;t all unholy per&s;ons.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> A &s;econd Argument to prove, that without holine&s;s, there is no happine&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> is this; Without holine&s;s men are &s;trangers to God, and therefore without holine&s;s they can|not be admitted to a co-habitation with God. God loves not to dwell with &s;trangers, nor to a&s;&s;ociate him&s;elf with &s;trangers; now &s;uch are all unholy per&s;ons, Ephe&s;. 2.12. <HI>That at time ye were without Chri&s;t, being aliens from the Common-wealth of</HI> I&s;rael, (or being far removed from the Citizen&s;hip of <HI>I&s;rael) and &s;trangers from the Covenants of
<PB N="25" REF="43"> promi&s;e, having no hope, and without God in the world.</HI> Here are five <HI>withouts</HI> in the words, 1. They were without God the Author of hope. 2. They were without Chri&s;t the foun|dation of hope. 3. They were without the Church (which was contained in the Common-wealth of <HI>I&s;rael</HI>) the place of hope. 4. They were without the Covenants of promi&s;e. (That is, they were without the precious promi&s;es which God in his Covenant had made, and oftentimes renewed with the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> and therefore called Covenants in the plural number) the ground and rea&s;on of hope. And La&s;tly, they were without the grace of hope: they had no hope of communion with Chri&s;t, no hope of fellow&s;hip with the Saints; no hope of any intere&s;t in the promi&s;e; no hope of reconciliation to God here, nor no hope of a fruition of God hereafter. And thus you &s;ee what &s;trangers they were to the Lord, and to the great concernments of their own &s;ouls. God of old would not have &s;trangers come in|to his Sanctuary: And do you think then that he will ever admit &s;uch into heaven? Surely no. Ezek. 44.6.7, 9. <HI>And thou &s;halt &s;ay to the rebellious, even to the hou&s;e of</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord God, O ye hou&s;e of</HI> I&s;rael,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heaven would be no heaven, were there any &s;trangers there. See my <HI>String of Pearls.</HI></NOTE> <HI>let it &s;uffice you of all your abominations, In that ye have brought into my Sanctuary &s;trangers uncircumci&s;ed in heart, and uncircum|ci&s;ed in fle&s;h, to be in my Sanctuary to pollute it, even my hou&s;e; when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my Covenant, becau&s;e of all your abominations. Thus &s;aith the Lord God, No &s;tranger uncircumci&s;ed in heart, nor uncircumci&s;ed in fle&s;h &s;hall enter into my Sanctuary,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 7.21, 22, 23. Ch. 25, 11, 12. Ch. 22.11, 12, 13.</NOTE> <HI>of any &s;tranger that is among the children of</HI> I&s;rael. Such as had no holine&s;s within, nor no holine&s;s without: &s;uch as had no holine&s;s in their hearts, nor no holine&s;s in their lives, God would not have them to enter into his Sanctua|ry; and therefore certainly &s;uch he will never &s;uffer to enter into heaven. If God &s;huts the doors of an earthly Tabernacle again&s;t &s;uch as were &s;trangers to him, to his Covenant, to his Church, and to them&s;elves, will he not much more &s;hut the door of his heavenly Tabernacle again&s;t &s;uch that are &s;trangers to him, and to his Chri&s;t,
<PB N="26" REF="44"> and to his word, yea, that are &s;trangers to their own &s;ouls, and to all the concernments of another world? and &s;uch are all tho&s;e that are uncircumci&s;ed in heart, and uncircum|ci&s;ed in fle&s;h. Princes Pallaces are not for &s;trangers, but for &s;ons, friends, familiars, favourites; no more is the Pallace of heaven: we will not admit &s;trangers to cohabit with us: and will <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">od admit &s;uch to cohabit with him, that never had any acquaintance or familiarity with him? Surely no. In hi&s;tory we read of &s;uch Towns and Cities as would not admit &s;trangers to inhabit among them: and &s;uch a City is that above.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 33.12, 17.</NOTE> It hath been long &s;ince concluded, that <HI>(In coelo nullus erit alienus)</HI> in heaven there &s;hall be no &s;trangers: none &s;hall be admitted into that &s;tate, but &s;uch as God knows by name. <HI>Charon</HI> (in <HI>Lucian</HI>) re|que&s;ting <HI>Mercurius</HI> to &s;hew him <HI>Jupiters</HI> Palace above; how &s;ayes <HI>Mercurius,</HI> that &s;uch a caitiff as thou who&s;e conver&s;a|tion hath been altogether with black &s;hades, and impure gho&s;ts, &s;hould&s;t &s;et thy foot in that pure place of light! what a di&s;honour and derogation were that to the place! The Application is ea&s;ie.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Unholy per&s;ons have fellow&s;hip and familiarity with Satan, and therefore doubtle&s;s God will have no familiari|ty nor fellow&s;hip with them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 6.14, 15, 16.</NOTE> As righteou&s;ne&s;s can have no fellow&s;hip with unrighteou&s;ne&s;s, nor light with dark|ne&s;s, nor Chri&s;t with Belial, nor heaven with hell, no more can a holy God have any communion or fellow&s;hip with unholy &s;ouls: for they are Satans hou&s;e, <HI>Luke</HI> 11.21. he keeps po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of them as a man doth of his hou&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 18.2.</NOTE> and hath familiarity with them as a man hath with tho&s;e of his hou&s;e: he is their Father, and they are his children, <HI>John</HI> 8.44. and look what familiarity a Father hath with his children, that hath an unholy devil with unholy &s;ouls. A workman cannot be more familiar with his tools, then Satan is with unholy &s;ouls, and therefore he is &s;aid to work in the chil|dren of di&s;obedience; as a Smith worketh in his forge, or as an Artificer worketh in his &s;hop, <HI>Ehpe&s;.</HI> 2.2. Unholy per&s;ons have bo&s;ome fellow&s;hip with Satan, 1 John 5.19. <HI>And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth
<PB N="27" REF="44"> in wickedne&s;s:</HI> or in that wicked one the Devil, as the Greek will bear; they lie as it were in the bo&s;om of Satan, as the child lies in the bo&s;om of the Mother, or as the Wife lyes in the bo&s;om of the Husband, or as a friend lyes in the bo&s;om of his friend: Unholy per&s;ons partake with him at his Table, they eat with him, and drink with him, and con|ver&s;e with him, 1 Cor. 10.21. <HI>Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of Devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lords Table, and of the Table of Devils.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">If <HI>Judas</HI> was at the Sacra|ment, the greater was his wo.</NOTE> <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> brings in the Devil boa&s;ting again&s;t Chri&s;t, and challenging <HI>Judas</HI> as his own thus, He is not thine Lord Je&s;us, he is mine; his thoughts beat for me; He eats with thee, but is fed by me; he takes bread from thee, but money from me: he drinks with thee, and &s;ells thy blood to me. By all which you may &s;ee what fellow&s;hip and familiarity there is between Satan and a &s;inner. Now what is this le&s;s then bla&s;phemy to a&s;&s;ert, that a holy God will have fellow&s;hip with them that have fellow&s;hip with the Devil? God hath not ca&s;t Satan out of heaven, that he may make room for his familiars in heaven: if heaven was too holy to hold unholy devils, it will be found at la&s;t to be too holy to hold unholy &s;ouls; certainly they &s;hall not lie in the bo&s;ome of God, who have the Devil for their bed-fellow.</P>
<P>Fourthly, Unholy per&s;ons are full of contrariety to God; <MILESTONE N="4"> their natures, principles, practi&s;es, aims, minds, wills, affecti|ons, judgements, intentions, and re&s;olutions,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lev. 26.21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 40, 41. I&s;a. 58.4, 5, 6. Jerem. 44.16, 17, 18. Ch. 2.25. &amp; Ch 18.11, 12</NOTE> are contrary to God, his name, nature, being, truth and glory; you may as &s;oon bring Ea&s;t and We&s;t, North and South, light and darkne&s;s, heaven and hell together, as you &s;hall bring a holy God and unholy &s;ouls together. Antipathies will never incorporate; as &s;oon may midnight be married to the noon|day, as a holy God embrace an unholy &s;inner. That unholy per&s;ons are made up of contrarieties to God, is mo&s;t evident, as you may &s;ee in I&s;a. 22.12, 13. <HI>And in that day did the Lord God of Ho&s;ts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldne&s;t, and to girding with &s;ack-cloth: And behold, joy, and glad|ne&s;s, &s;laying oxen, and killing &s;heep, eating fle&s;h, and drinking wine; let us eat and drink, for to morrow we &s;hall die.</HI> The&s;e
<PB N="28" REF="45"> &s;ad &s;ouls practi&s;e quite contrary to what the Lord calls for at their hands:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom 8.7. Iames 4 4. Pope <HI>Julius</HI> the third would have his Pork (though it was forbidden him by h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s Phy&s;itians) in de&s;pite of God him&s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">f.</NOTE> he calls them to weeping, and mourning; and behold joy and gladne&s;s: he calls them to fa&s;ting, and behold here is nothing but fea&s;ting, carou&s;ing, and making merry, and jovial, and that in contempt of God and his dreadfull judgements. Unholy per&s;ons are like the Rainbow; now the Rainbow is never on that &s;ide of the world that the Sun is on; but when&s;oever it appears, it is &s;till in oppo&s;ition again&s;t the Sun if the Sun be in the Ea&s;t, the Rainbow is in the We&s;t, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> So unholy &s;ouls in all t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">eir actings and walkings will &s;till be oppo&s;ite to God; they will &s;till be cro&s;s and contrary to him, John 8.38. <HI>I &s;peak that which I have &s;een with my Father: and ye do that which ye have &s;een with your Father.</HI> Unholy hearts are full of the highe&s;t &s;trains of contrariety and oppo&s;ition again&s;t the Lord. I have read of a King (that Reigned in no very remote part of the world) who having received a blow from the hand of God, took a &s;olemn Oath to be re|venged on him; and ordained that for ten years &s;pace no man &s;hould pray to him, &s;peak of him, nor &s;o long as he was in Authority, to believe in him. O the vanity, the contrariety and bla&s;phemy of this Prince! Now we will not admit &s;uch to be about us who are made up of contrarie|ties to us: and will God, will God? heaven and earth, fire and water, the Woolf and the Lamb, the Winds and the Sea will &s;ooner accord then a holy God, and an unholy heart. There can be no amity where there is a &s;piritual An|tipathy.</P>
<P N="5"> <MILESTONE N="5"> 5. Fifthly, Without holine&s;s no man can have any &s;piri|tual communion with God in this world; he may hear, but he can have no communion with God in hearing without holine&s;s; he may pray, but he can have no communion with God in prayer without holine&s;s: he may come to the Sacra|ment, but he can have no communion with God in the Sa|crament without holine&s;s; he may come into the commu|nion of Saints, but he can have no communion with God in the communion of Saints without holine&s;s: he may read and meditate, but he can have no communion with God in
<PB N="29" REF="45"> reading and meditation without holine&s;s, Deut. 23.14. <HI>For the Lord thy God walketh in the mid&s;t of thy Camp to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; there|fore &s;hall thy Camp be holy, that he &s;ee no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.</HI> Keep up holine&s;s among you, and you &s;hall keep me among you, &s;aith God; but if you turn away from holine&s;s, I will undoubtedly turn away from you: a holy God will keep company with none but tho&s;e that are holy. Holine&s;s is the bond that ties God and &s;ouls together: God will cleave clo&s;e to them who in holine&s;s cleave fa&s;t to him: but if he &s;ee uncleanne&s;s and wick|edne&s;s among you, he will certainly turn away from you. The holy &s;pirit gives the lye to tho&s;e that &s;ay they have fellow&s;hip with God, and yet maintain familiarity and fellow&s;hip with &s;in, 1 John 1.6. <HI>If we &s;ay we have fellow&s;hip with him, and walk in darkne&s;s, we lye.</HI> The Apo&s;tle dares give the lye to any man (without fearing the &s;tab) who pretends to com|munion with God, and yet walks in darkne&s;s. Men may be much in Ordinances, and yet for want of holine&s;s may have no communion at all with God in Ordinances. I&s;aiah 1.11.&mdash; 18. and though communion with God in Ordinances is the very life and &s;oul of Ordinances; yet mul|titudes who enjoy Ordinances can content and &s;atisfie them|&s;elves without that which is the very life, &s;oul and quint|e&s;&s;en&s;e of Ordinances. There are many that cry out, <HI>the Tem|ple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord,</HI> who have no communion with the Lord of the Tem|ple at all, <HI>Jer.</HI> 7.4.&mdash; 12. Though unholy per&s;ons may trade much in Ordinances,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 29.13. Ezek. 24.21, 22. Ch. 33, 30, 31, 32.</NOTE> yet they will never make any earnings, any advantage by all their trading and &s;tir, be|cau&s;e they cannot reach to communion with God in them, which is the only means of being enriched by them. As ma|ny men ri&s;e early and go to bed late, and make a great deal of &s;tir and do to be rich in the world, and yet for want of a &s;tock nothing comes on it; they are poor &s;till, and beg|garly &s;till, and low and mean in the world &s;till. So many ri&s;e early, and go late to Ordinances, they exerci&s;e them|&s;elves much in religious duties, and yet nothing comes on
<PB N="30" REF="46"> it; their &s;ouls are poor, and beggarly, and thredbare &s;till: And no wonder; for they want a &s;tock of holine&s;s to trade with. <HI>Remigius</HI> a Judge of <HI>Lorraign,</HI> &s;aith that the Devil in tho&s;e parts did u&s;e to give money to Witches which at fir&s;t did appear to be good and currant coin, but after a while it turned to dry leaves. Ah Sirs, all duties and Ordinances to a man that wants holine&s;s, will be &s;ound at la&s;t to be but as dry leaves, to be &s;aple&s;s and livele&s;s, and heartle&s;s, and comfort|le&s;s to him. Now if without holine&s;s no man can have any &s;piritual communion or fellow&s;hip with God here, then certainly without holine&s;s no man can have a glorious communion with God hereafter: if without holine&s;s God will not take us into his arms on earth, then undoubtedly without holine&s;s God will never put us into his bo&s;om in heaven. But to proceed.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="6"> Unholy per&s;ons are fools; and what &s;hould &s;uch do in the pre&s;ence of God, who is wi&s;dom it &s;elf; the fool and the ungodly man, are <HI>(Synonomaes)</HI> words &s;ignifying the &s;ame thing in Scripture,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deu. 36.6.21. P&s;alm 94.8.</NOTE> P&s;alm 14.1. <HI>The fool (i. e.</HI> the wicked, the unholy per&s;on) <HI>hath &s;aid in his heart, there is no God: they are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doth good,</HI> Jer. 4.22. <HI>For my people are fool|i&s;h, they have not known me, they are &s;otti&s;h children, and they have no under&s;tanding: they are wi&s;e to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge,</HI> Prov. 1.7. <HI>Fools de&s;pi&s;e wi&s;dom, and in&s;truction,</HI> that is, wicked and ungodly men de&s;pi&s;e wi&s;dom and in&s;truction: and to &s;hew that the world is full of &s;uch fools, he u&s;es the word in the plural no le&s;s then &s;ixteen times in this book of the <HI>Proverbs.</HI> I &s;hall open this truth a little more to you, by proving that they have all the characteri&s;tical notes and properties of fools: So that one face is not more like another, then a fool is like a wicked man, or then a wicked man is like a fool: For,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, A fool prefers toyes and trifles before things of great|e&s;t <MILESTONE N="1"> worth: he prefers a bra&s;s counter before a piece of gold, a fine Baby before a rich inheritance:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 1.29.</NOTE> an Apple that plea&s;eth the eye, before a pearl of greate&s;t price; &s;o wicked and ungodly men, they prefer their lu&s;ts before the Lord,
<PB N="36" REF="46"> I&s;a. 65.12. <HI>Therefore will I number you to the &s;word, and ye &s;hall all bow down to the &s;laughter: becau&s;e when I called, ye did not an&s;wer; when I &s;pake, ye did not hear, but did evil before mine eyes, and did choo&s;e that wherein I delighted not.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Such a one was Cardinal <HI>Borbonius</HI> who profe&s;t he would not leave his part in <HI>Paris</HI> for a portion in Pa|radi&s;e.</NOTE> Upon choice they preferred the honours, the riches, the bravery and glory of the world, above their own &s;ouls, and the great concernments of another world. Such fools were <HI>Laban,</HI> and <HI>Nabal,</HI> in the Old Te&s;tament; (who&s;e names by inver&s;ion of letters are the &s;ame; and the latter &s;ignifies a fool) and &s;uch were the two rich fools in the New Te&s;tament, <HI>Luke</HI> 12.16.&mdash;22. and <HI>Chap.</HI> 16.19.&mdash;<HI>ult.</HI> I have read of the fooli&s;h people of the Ea&s;t Indi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s in the I&s;le <HI>Zeylon,</HI> who preferred a con&s;ecrated Apes tooth above an incredible ma&s;s of trea&s;ure. Such fools are all unho|ly per&s;ons, who prefer the toyes, the trifles of this world before the plea&s;ures and trea&s;ures that be at Gods right hand. The world is full of &s;uch fools.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 16.11. Mat. 6.19, 10.</NOTE> <HI>(Si admores homi|num re&s;picias, mundum univer&s;um &s;tultorum domum judica|bis)</HI> &s;aith One, if thou beholde&s;t the manners of men, thou wilt judge the whole world to be a hou&s;e of fools. Ah friends! What folly to that of mens &s;pending their time, their &s;trength, their lives, their &s;ouls in getting the great things of this world, and neglecting that one thing nece&s;&s;a|ry, the &s;alvation of their &s;ouls! <HI>Matth.</HI> 16.26. O! What vanity is it to prefer a &s;moke of honour, a bla&s;t of fame, a dream of plea&s;ure, a wedge of gold, a Babyloni&s;h gar|ment, and &s;uch like tran&s;itory trifles and tra&s;h before a ble&s;&s;ed eternity!</P>
<P>Secondly, Fools make no improvement of advantages and <MILESTONE N="2"> opportunities that are put into their hands, Prov. 17.16. <HI>Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wi&s;dom,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Like Gra<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">|hoppers they &s;ing and &s;port away their precious time and opportu|nities of mer|cy, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&s;eeing he hath no heart to it.</HI> It is to no purpo&s;e to put a price into the hand, if folly be bound up in the heart: if a man had as much wealth as would buy all the grace, all the peace, all the comforts, and all the wi&s;dom in the world; yet if he hath neither wit nor will to make an improvement of his wealth, what good would his wealth do him? To what purpo&s;e is the Market open, and good penny worths
<PB N="32" REF="47"> put into the buyers hands, if the buyer hath neither wi&s;dom nor heart to buy! Unholy per&s;ons are &s;uch &s;piritual fools; though they have a price, an opportu|nity put into their hands, which if improved might make them for ever: yet they have no heart to make an im|provement of the means and advantages that might do them good to all eternity.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov 1.20. ult. I&s;a. 53.1. Ch. 55.1, 2. Mat. 25.3.6.10. Ch 23.37. Luke 19.41, 42. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> That great Conqueror vainly feared, that his Fa|ther <HI>Philips</HI> Victories would deprive the Son of an opportunity to improve his Magnanimity.</NOTE> Ah what opportunities have un&s;anctified per&s;ons to get changed hearts, renewed na|tures, purged con&s;ciences, reformed lives, to get an inte|re&s;t in Chri&s;t, to obtain the favour of God, to procure pardon of &s;in, to make provi&s;ion for their immortal &s;ouls! But they have no hearts to improve the&s;e oppor|tunities, and &s;o by neglecting of them they cut the throat of their own &s;ouls: And this will be the worm that will he gnawing of them to all eternity, that they have let &s;lip the opportunities of grace, that they have trifled away the &s;ea|&s;ons of mercy. Ah Sirs, there is no fool to that fool that hath an opportunity put into his hand to make him&s;elf for ever, and yet hath no heart to improve it: The hotte&s;t place in hell will be the portion of &s;uch fools, <HI>Mat.</HI> 11.21, 22. The little Bee &s;o &s;oon as flowers appear, goes abroad, views the gay Diapery and the diver&s;ity of the flowery fields, &s;ucks the &s;weete&s;t of them, fraights her thighs, makes a curious comb, and &s;o betimes hoards up honey in Summer again&s;t Winter. And &s;o the little bu&s;ie Ant in Summer provides food for Winter, Prov. 6.6.7, 8. <HI>The Stork, the Crane and the Swallow know their &s;ea&s;ons and opportunities, Jer.</HI> 8.7. All the&s;e poor little creatures are not &s;o much below man in nature, as they are above &s;infull man in worth, wi&s;dom and work: The&s;e improve their Summer &s;ea&s;ons, their harve&s;t hours; and yet &s;uch &s;piritual fools are wicked man, that they let &s;lip &s;uch &s;ea&s;ons of grace and mercy, that cannot be redeemed with ten thou&s;and worlds. Ah how is man fallen from his primitive nobility and glory, that the&s;e little bu&s;ie creatures are propounded as a pattern of diligence and wi&s;dom unto him! The Antients painted Opportunity with a hairy forehead, but bald behind, to &s;ignifie that while a man hath it before him, he may lay hold on it, but
<PB N="33" REF="47"> if he lets it &s;lip away, he cannot pull it back again. There is a great truth in what the <HI>Rabbi</HI> hath long &s;ince &s;aid, <HI>Ne|mo e&s;t cui non &s;it hora &s;ua;</HI> Every man hath his hour: and he who over&s;lips his &s;ea&s;on, may never meet with the like again; There are many thou&s;and &s;piritual fools in hell: that find this true by experience, and therefore now they bewail their folly, but all too late, all too late.</P>
<P>Thirdly, Natural fools are very incon&s;tant, they are ne|ver long in one mind: now they are for this,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;ia&s;ticus 22.11, 12, 13, 14, 15.</NOTE> and anon <MILESTONE N="3"> for that; now in this mind, and anon in that; their minds are more changeble then the Moon; they turn oftner then the Wether-cock, they are only con&s;tant in incon&s;tancy: and &s;uch &s;piritual fools are all unholy per&s;ons: For now they are for a righteous cau&s;e, and anon they are again&s;t it: now they are for God, and anon they are again&s;t him; now they are for Chri&s;t, and by and by they are again&s;t him: now they cry out <HI>Ho&s;anna, Ho&s;anna in the highe&s;t,</HI> Mat. 21.9, 15. but did they hold in this mind long? no their mind is pre&s;ently changed, and they cry out <HI>crucifie him, crucifie him,</HI> Luke 23.21. Now they are for the Saints, and anon they are again&s;t them: they cry up the Go&s;pel, and pre&s;ently they make oppo&s;ition again&s;t the Go&s;pel; like the kingdom of <HI>Congo</HI> who at fir&s;t kindly embraced the Go&s;pel, but as &s;oon as they found it re&s;train their lu&s;ts and carnal liberties, they made fierce oppo&s;ition again&s;t the Go|&s;pel: this week they are for Ordinances, and the next they are again&s;t Ordinances: this hour they will for&s;ake their &s;ins, and the next hour they're return to their &s;ins as the <HI>dog to his vomit, and as the Sow to her wallowing in the mire,</HI> 2 Pet. 2.20, 21, 22. Now they are for this way, and anon for that; now they are for this opinion, and anon for that: now they are for this Religion,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Beza.</NOTE> and to morrow they are for another Religion, 2 <HI>Kings</HI> 17.33. like <HI>Baldwin</HI> a French Lawyer of whom it is &s;aid that he had <HI>Religionem Epheme|ram,</HI> every day a new Religion, but con&s;tant to none: This moment you &s;hall hear them ble&s;s, and the next mo|ment you &s;hall hear them cur&s;e, James 3.9, 10. <HI>Out of the &s;ame mouth proceeds ble&s;&s;ing and cur&s;ing. Lewis</HI> the &s;econd
<PB N="34" REF="48"> would &s;wear, and then ki&s;s his Crucifix, and then &s;wear again more confidently, and ki&s;s his Crucifix again more devoutly. Now becau&s;e this Age is full of &s;uch &s;wear+ing fools, and happily this Treati&s;e may fall into &s;ome of their hands, give me leave to &s;ay, that it is ob&s;ervable that the word in the Hebrew which the Scripture u&s;eth for &s;wearing, is alwayes u&s;ed in the pa&s;&s;ive voice <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Na&s;ha|bange</HI> to note (&s;ay &s;ome) that a man &s;hould not &s;wear but when an oath is laid upon him, and he driven to it. The word al&s;o hath a &s;ignification of &s;even <GAP DESC="foreign"> as having refe|rence (&s;ay &s;ome) to the &s;even &s;pirits of God before the throne, before whom we &s;wear, and therefore &s;hould ne+ver &s;wear but in <HI>truth, righteou&s;ne&s;s and Judgemen,</HI> Jer. 4.2. Rev. 1.4. Ch. 5, 6. one day you &s;hall have the&s;e &s;piri|tual fools the&s;e prophane fools crying out, O! heaven, heaven, heaven: O! That we may go to heaven; and the next day you &s;hall &s;ee them live as if there were neither heaven nor hell: one day with <HI>Balaam</HI> you &s;hall have them wi&s;h, Oh that we might die the death of the righteous! and the next day with <HI>Saul</HI> you &s;hall have them a per&s;e|cuting of the righteous to death: one day you &s;hall have them cry out <HI>What &s;hall we do to be &s;aved!</HI> and the next day you &s;hall &s;ee them live as if they were re&s;olved to be dam|ned. Thus the&s;e &s;pititual fools like natural fools are always <MILESTONE N="4"> fickle and incon&s;tant.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mi&s;chief is the fools bable, the fools fiddle. Fools can re|joyce in other mens harms, and laugh to &s;ee others lament.</NOTE>Fourthly, Fools delight to &s;port and play with &s;uch things as are mo&s;t hurtfull, pernicious and dangerous to them, as you all know that have ob&s;erved any thing of na|tural fools, Prov. 10.23. <HI>It is a &s;port to a fool to do mi&s;chief.</HI> Fools take as great delight and plea&s;ure in doing mi&s;chief, as wi&s;e men do in their lawfull &s;ports or pa&s;times: Wi&s;dom is not more a joy and delight to a man of under&s;tanding, then mi&s;chief and wickedne&s;s is a &s;port or recreation to a fool: It is a great contentment and merriment to a fool to do wicked|ly, Prov. 14.9. <HI>Fools make a mock of &s;in;</HI> they make a jear of that which they &s;hould fear more then hell it &s;elf; they make that matter of &s;port which may prove matter of damnation to them: they make a May-game, a pa&s;time of that which may
<PB N="35" REF="48"> make them mi&s;erable to all eternity; they make a mock and flout of that on earth for which the devil will mock and flout them for ever in hell. Ju&s;tice will at la&s;t turn over &s;uch fools to Satan who will be &s;ure to return mock for mock, jear for jear, and flout for flout: they that love &s;uch kind of pa&s;time, &s;hall have enough of it in hell. Now all unholy per&s;ons are &s;uch &s;piritual fools, as that they delight,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 1.22.</NOTE> and take plea&s;ure in &s;in which is the mo&s;t perni|cious and dangerous thing in the world, P&s;al. 62.4. <HI>They delight in lyes.</HI> Though every lye de&s;erves a &s;tab from God, yet &s;piritual fools make but a &s;port of them. Such a one was <HI>The&s;pis</HI> (the Poet) who being reproved by <HI>Solon</HI> for lying: an&s;wered him That it was not material,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Plutarch</HI> in the life of <HI>Solon.</HI></NOTE> &s;eeing it was but in &s;port: upon which <HI>Solon</HI> beating the ground with his &s;taff, replied, If we commend lying in &s;port, we &s;hall find it afterwards in good earne&s;t in all our bargains and dealings. It is &s;aid of <HI>Ep<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">minondas</HI> a heathen, that he abhorred <HI>mendacium joco&s;um,</HI> a je&s;ting lye; this Heathen in the great day will put &s;uch lyars to the blu&s;h who de|light in lyes, I&s;a, 66.3.<NOTE PLACE="marg">There was no fle&s;h &s;o &s;weet as that which the Eagle robbed the Altar of.</NOTE> <HI>Ther &s;oul delighteth in their abo|mination,</HI> 2 The&s;&s;. 2.12. <HI>they take plea&s;ure in unrighteou&s;|ne&s;s,</HI> 2 Pet. 2.13. <HI>They count it plea&s;ure to riot in the day time, &s;porting them&s;elves with their own deceivings.</HI> Not that there is any real delight in intemperance, for if there were then <HI>Heliogabalus</HI> an exceeding intemperate per&s;on &s;hould have been more happy then <HI>Adam</HI> in Paradi&s;e.<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">He writ a Book to pro|voke the Ap|petite.</NOTE> <HI>Api|cius</HI> was the greate&s;t Glutton that ever was; at length he hanged him&s;elf: &s;uch &s;hall hang in hell at la&s;t, who delight to abu&s;e many at once; the creatures, their Creator, and their own &s;ouls and bodies. Well Sirs, Sin is the poy&s;on of the &s;oul, the nakedne&s;s of the &s;oul, the di&s;ea&s;e of the &s;oul, the burden of the &s;oul, and if mercy do not prevent, will prove the bane of the &s;oul. O then how great is their folly that delight in it, and that make a &s;port of it!</P>
<P>Fifthly, Natural fools are taken more with the outward <MILESTONE N="5"> &s;hine, lu&s;tre, beauty and glory of things, then they are taken with the intrin&s;ecal vertue, value and worth of them: they are more taken with the &s;hine and lu&s;ter of gold, jewels
<PB N="40" REF="49"> and precious &s;tones, then they are with the worth and va|lue of them. So unholy hearts are taken more with the form of godline&s;s then they are with the power, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 2.5. they are taken more with a name to live, with a name of being holy, then they are taken with holine&s;s it &s;elf. <HI>Rev.</HI> 3.1, 2.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin.</NOTE> <HI>Multi Chri&s;tianum nomen ad judicium habent, non ad remedium:</HI> Many have the name of Chri&s;tians to their con|demnation,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 58.2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Mat. 1.9. Za. 7.4, 5, 6, 7. Matth. 23.</NOTE> not to their &s;alvation: They are taken more with the outward &s;hine and pomp of duties then they are taken with the &s;piritualne&s;s and holine&s;s of duties; they are taken more with what of man is in duty, then they are taken with that of God which is in a duty; they are taken more with rai&s;|ed notions, then they are taken with rai&s;ed affections; they are taken more with &s;ome witty, rhetorical expre&s;&s;ions in duty, then they are taken with the holy movings and breath|ings of the &s;pirit in duty, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 33.30, 31, 32. All which &s;peaks them out to be &s;piritual fools; and indeed no fools to tho&s;e who are taken more with the &s;hadow of Reli|gion, then they are with the &s;ub&s;tance of Religion; who are taken more with the out&s;ide of godline&s;s then they are with the infide of godline&s;s: for what is this but to be taken more with the out&s;ide of the Cabinet then with the trea&s;ure that is within; or to be taken more with the pur&s;e that holds the gold, then with the gold that is in the pur&s;e; and with <HI>Democritus</HI> the Philo&s;opher to e&s;teem a Room cove|red <MILESTONE N="6"> over with green branches of trees above the royal Palace!</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">They cry as the Epicure cryed, <HI>&V;tere temporibus, prae&s;entibus utere rebus.</HI></NOTE>Sixthly, Natural fools are all for the pre&s;ent; they cry out Spend and God will &s;end; they only mind and care for the things of this life; As what they &s;hall eat, and what they &s;hall drink, and what they &s;hall put on; they are all for their bodies, their bellies, their backs: they take no care, they make no provi&s;ion for their immortal &s;ouls. A &s;pruce Roman riding on a lean Jade, was asked by the Cen&s;or his rea&s;on: he an&s;wered, I look to my &s;elf, but my man to my hor&s;e. So fools look only to their bodies, let who li&s;t look to their &s;ouls. Such fools are all un&s;an|ctified per&s;ons: they look only after their bodies, and their outward concerments: they look not at the nece&s;&s;i|ties,
<PB N="41" REF="49"> mi&s;eries and wants of their &s;ouls; &s;uch were tho&s;e in <HI>John</HI> 6.26, 27. who cro&s;t the Seas and followed af|ter Chri&s;t for loaves, but never lookt after the meat which endureth to everla&s;ting life. And &s;uch fools were tho&s;e in Ho&s;. 7.14. <HI>who howled upon their beds for corn and wine:</HI> let them have but provender, provant for their bodies, and they care not what becomes of their &s;ouls; and &s;uch were they in Phil. 3.19. <HI>who&s;e God was their gut.</HI> And &s;uch were the <HI>Laodiceans</HI> in <HI>Rev.</HI> 3.14.&mdash; 19. who had well fed bodies, but &s;tarved &s;ouls: who&s;e hou&s;es were full of goods, but their hearts empty and void of Chri&s;t and grace: who had thred-bare &s;ouls under all their purple Robes; who were rich in temporals, but very poor and beggarly in &s;pirituals. And &s;uch a one was that rich fool in <HI>Luke</HI> 12. who only laid up for his body, for this life, but never took care for another life, for a better life; he makes many years provi&s;ion for his body, and not a days provi&s;ion for his &s;oul; he talks of living many years when he had not a day, nor a night to live in this world: And being thus fooli&s;h in his reckoning, Chri&s;t brands him for a fool to all generations, Ver. 20, 21. <HI>Thou fool, this night &s;hall thy &s;oul be required of thee: then who&s;e &s;hall the&s;e things be which thou ha&s;t provided!</HI> So is he that heapeth up trea|&s;ure for him&s;elf, and is not rich towards God. Every man in the world is a fool, that heaps up trea&s;ure to him|&s;elf, that adds land to land, and hou&s;e to hou&s;e, and heap to heap, and baggs to baggs, and hundreds to hundreds,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Plato</HI> &s;eeing one over in|dulgent to his body, asked him what he meant to make his pri&s;on &s;o &s;trong.</NOTE> and thou&s;ands to thou&s;ands, and is not rich towards God. This age is full of &s;uch golden fools, who pamper their bodies, but &s;tarve their &s;ouls: who trick and trim up their bodies with Gold, Silver and Silks, whil&s;t their &s;ouls are nak|ed, and ragged, and de&s;titute of all grace and goodne&s;s. The Jews have a &s;tory of a fooli&s;h woman that took two children to nur&s;e, the one very mean, deformed, crooked, blind, and not likely to live long: the other a goodly, lively, lovely, beautifull child, and likely to live long: now this fooli&s;h woman &s;pent all her pains, care, diligence and at|tendance upon the wor&s;t child, never &s;o much as minding
<PB N="38" REF="50"> or regarding the be&s;t child: this age is full of &s;uch fool|i&s;h men and women who having two to nur&s;e, their bodies and their &s;ouls, &s;pend their time, their care, labour and pains in making provi&s;ion for the fle&s;h, in laying up for their bodies, and in the mean while never regard their &s;ouls, never look after their &s;ouls, though they have the beauty of a Deity upon them, and though they are immortal, and capable of union and communion with God in grace, and of a ble&s;&s;ed fruition of God in glory. Surely no fools to the&s;e fools.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="7"> Seventhly, The &s;harpe&s;t and &s;evere&s;t cour&s;e you can take, cannot &s;eparate between a fool and his folly. Notwith|&s;tanding all your frowns, threats, checks, knocks, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> A fool will not leave his folly: nay you &s;hall &s;ooner beat a fool to death then you &s;hall beat him off from his folly, Prov. 27.22.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Solomon</HI> in this place alludeth to one kind of grinding which in old time the peo|ple were ac|cu&s;tomed to, which was to put their parched corn into a morter, and to beat it unto pow|der.</NOTE> <HI>Though thou &s;hould&s;t bray a fool in a morter among wheat with a pe&s;tell, yet will not his fooli&s;hne&s;s depart from him:</HI> The husk doth not &s;tick &s;o clo&s;e to the grain of corn, as folly doth to the heart of a fool: there is a po&s;&s;i|bility of &s;evering the husk from the flower by beating; but there is no po&s;&s;ibility of &s;evering a fool from his fol|ly. You &s;ee it in <HI>Pharaoh,</HI> who though he was often in Gods morter, yet he could not be &s;evered from his folly; nay, he did chu&s;e rather to be beaten to death; and to &s;ee his friends relations, favourites, followers, &s;ubjects, and &s;ouldiers, with their fir&s;t born, beaten to death before his eyes, rather the he would leave his folly. And &s;uch a fool was King <HI>Ahaz,</HI> who when God had him in the morter, and threatned to beat him and his people to death, yet then in his di&s;tre&s;s he &s;inned more again&s;t the Lord; 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 28.22. and therefore for his ob&s;tinacy, obduratene&s;s and irreclaimablene&s;s, he is branded and mark't with a black coal by the Lord to all po&s;terity,<NOTE PLACE="marg">They were like tho&s;e Bears in <HI>Pliny,</HI> that could not be &s;tirred with the &s;harpe&s;t prickles.</NOTE> This is that King <HI>Ahaz.</HI> And &s;uch &s;piritual fools are all ungodly per&s;ons; let God frown, chide, &s;trike, reprove, correct, yet they will not turn from the evil of their doings: they will rather be con&s;umed and de&s;troyed, then they will be amended or reformed. Jer. 5.3. <HI>O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou ha&s;t &s;tricken them, but they have not grieved; thou ha&s;t con&s;umed them,
<PB N="39" REF="50"> but they have refu&s;ed to receive correction:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">See Ez. 22.18. Jer. 2.30, 31. Ch. 19. ult. Amos 4.4.13. I&s;a. 26.10, 11. 2 Pet. 2.22.</NOTE> <HI>they have made their faces harder then a rock; they have refu&s;ed to return.</HI> no &s;mart nor grief, no calamities nor mi&s;eries can turn ob|&s;tinate fools from their impieties, Jer. 6.29. <HI>The bellows are burnt, the lead is con&s;umed of the fire; the Founder melt|eth in vain;</HI> (or in vain melting melteth he, trying tryeth he) <HI>for the wicked are not plucked away.</HI> All the co&s;t and charge that God hath been at, all the pains and labour that he hath taken to &s;ever the&s;e wicked ones from their wickedne&s;s was lo&s;t; they would not be refined nor re+formed. After Gods greate&s;t &s;everity, a &s;piritual fool will return to his iniquity, Prov. 26.11. <HI>As a dog returneth to his vomit, &s;o a fool returneth to his folly,</HI> or iterateth his folly. It is true, the compari&s;on is homely, but good enough for tho&s;e fools to whom it is applyed. Spiritual fools &s;ometimes vomit up their &s;ins when they are under terrors of con&s;cience, or under the afflicting hand of God, or upon a dying bed: but &s;till retain a di&s;po&s;ition and pur|po&s;e to return to them again. As &s;ome &s;ay, the Serpent vomits up his poy&s;on when he goes to drink, and then takes it in again. Fooli&s;h &s;ouls &s;ay to their lu&s;ts, as <HI>Abra|ham</HI> to his &s;ervants, Gen. 22.5. <HI>Abide you here, and I will go yonder and come again to you.</HI> Whatever becomes of their &s;ouls, they are re&s;olved to keep clo&s;e to their &s;ins, I&s;a. 1.5. And as <HI>Ae&s;ops</HI> fooli&s;h fi&s;hes leaped out of the warm water into the burning fire for ea&s;e: So the&s;e poor fools will rather adventure a burning in hell: then they will attempt a turning from their folly.</P>
<P>Eighthly, Natural fools make the &s;imple&s;t and unhap|pie&s;t <MILESTONE N="8"> exchanges: they will exchange a pearl for a Pippin,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The fooli&s;h Indians pre|fer every toy and trifle above their mines of Gold.</NOTE> things of greate&s;t worth and value for a feather, a rib|bon, a toy, a trifle; a hou&s;e to live in, for a hou&s;e of clay, or a hou&s;e of Cards: and like <HI>Glaucus</HI> a fooli&s;h Captain who changed with <HI>Diomedes</HI> his Armour of Gold for <HI>Dio|emedes</HI> his armour of bra&s;s. All unholy per&s;ons are &s;piritual fools; they will exchange &s;pirituals for carnals, and eter|nals for temporals; they will exchange God, Chri&s;t, the Go&s;pel, heaven and their &s;ouls for a lu&s;t, for the world,
<PB N="44" REF="51"> nay, for a little of the worlds &s;miles, plea&s;ures, or profits, <HI>Mat.</HI> 16.26. and well may he lay claim to a Boat-&s;wains place in <HI>Barkleys</HI> &s;hip of fools, that will exchange his &s;oul, and his &s;oul concernments for the toyes and trifles of this world.</P>
<P>Now do you think, that God who hath within him&s;elf all the wi&s;dom of Angels, of men, and univer&s;al nature, that he who hath all glory, all dignity, all riches, all trea&s;ures, all plea&s;ures, all comforts, all delights, all joyes, all beati|tudes in him&s;elf; That that God who is a &s;uper-&s;ub&s;tanti|al &s;ub&s;tance, and under&s;tanding not to be under&s;tood, a word never to be &s;poken,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Diony&s;. Areop. de divin. nom. cap. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> that he will have everla&s;ting fellow&s;hip and communion with fools! that a God who&s;e wi&s;dom is infinite and un&s;earchable, will ever deba&s;e him|&s;elf &s;o as to have his royal Pallace filled with fools, as to make tho&s;e his companions in heaven, that he can take no plea&s;ure in on earth! Eccle&s;. 5.4. <HI>he hath no plea&s;ure in fools.</HI> The wi&s;e God would not have his children keep company with fools, Prov. 14.7. <HI>Go from the pre&s;ence of a fooli&s;h man, when thou perceive&s;t not in him the lips of knowledge:</HI> and will he keep company with them him&s;elf? Surely no. God hath given it under his own hand, that &s;uch &s;hall not tarry in his &s;ight, P&s;al. 5.5. <HI>The fooli&s;h &s;hall not &s;tand in thy &s;ight</HI> (or as the Hebrew hath it, before thine eyes) <HI>thou hate&s;t all workers of iniquity.</HI> God will never admit fools to be his favourites: he will at la&s;t &s;hut the door of glory again&s;t them, <HI>Mat.</HI> 25.4.&mdash;13.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="7"> A &s;eventh Argument to prove that without real holine&s;s there is no happine&s;s; that without holine&s;s on earth no man &s;hall ever come to a ble&s;&s;ed vi&s;ion or fruition of God in heaven, is this. Unholy per&s;ons are to be excluded and &s;hut out from &s;acred, from &s;pecial communion and fellow|&s;hip with the Saints in this world; and therefore without all peradventure they &s;hall never be admitted to everla&s;t|ing communion and fellow&s;hip with God, Chri&s;t, Angels and Saints in that other world. That they are to be &s;hut out from having any &s;pecial communion with the Saints here, is mo&s;t plain, and evident from &s;everal Scripures:
<PB N="41" REF="51"> take the&s;e for a ta&s;te, Lev. 10.10.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lev. 13.46. Numb. 5.1, 2, 3, 4. Exod. 12.48. Lev. 22.3, 4, 5, 6, 7. As oft, &s;aid One, as I have been among wicked men, I return home le&s;s a man then I was before. The <HI>Docrenean</HI> well will quench a burning torch; &s;o will bad company the mo&s;t burning and mo&s;t &s;hining Chri|&s;tians, as you &s;ee in <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> and <HI>Peter.</HI> P&s;al. 106.35. when they were mingled among the Heathen, they quickly learn, their works. P&s;a. 119.115.</NOTE> <HI>And that ye may put diffe|rence between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean,</HI> Ezek. 44.23. <HI>And they &s;hall teach my people the difference between the holy and prophane, and cau&s;e them to di&s;cern be|tween the unclean and the clean.</HI> And becau&s;e the Prie&s;ts did not improve their power and intere&s;t to pre&s;erve the things of God from prophaning and polluting, the Lord was very much offended and provoked. Ezek. 22.26. <HI>Her Prie&s;ts have violated my Law, and have prophaned mine holy things; they have put no difference between the holy and prophane, neither have they &s;hewed difference between the un|clean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am prophaned among them.</HI> And in <HI>Chap.</HI> 44.7, 8. God &s;adly complains that <HI>they brought into his Sanctuary &s;trangers uncircumci&s;ed in heart and uncircumci&s;ed in fle&s;h:</HI> and prohibits &s;uch from entring into his Sanctuary, ver. 9. <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord God, No &s;tranger uncircumci&s;ed in heart nor uncircumci&s;ed in fle&s;h &s;hall enter into my Sanctuary, of any &s;tranger that is among the children of</HI> I&s;rael. God ex|pects that faithfull teachers &s;hould put a difference between per&s;on and per&s;on, between the holy and prophane, be|tween the clean and the unclean in all holy admini&s;trations. Jerem. 15.19. <HI>Therefore thus &s;aith the Lord, If thou take forth the pretious from the vile, then thou &s;halt be as my mouth; let them return unto thee, but return not thou unto them.</HI> Now certainly if under the Ceremonial Law natural un|cleanne&s;s did exclude and &s;hut out the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> from a participation in holy things, then certainly moral unclean|ne&s;s may ju&s;tly exclude and &s;hut out Chri&s;tians from a participation in holy things under the Go&s;pel, Mat. 7.6. <HI>Give not that which is holy unto dogs, neither ca&s;t ye your pearls before &s;wine, le&s;t they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rent you.</HI> Holy things are too precious to be &s;pent and &s;pilt upon &s;wini&s;h &s;inners. Go&s;pel admi|ni&s;trations are pretious pearls that mu&s;t not be given to &s;wine, 2 Cor. 6.17. <HI>Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye &s;eparate, &s;aith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.</HI> Prophane, &s;candalous,
<PB N="42" REF="52"> blind and ignorant per&s;ons are very unclean things, and from them we mu&s;t come out; as we would be in with God, we mu&s;t be out with them: we mu&s;t reject them as we would have God to receive us, 2 Tim. 3.5. <HI>Having a form of godline&s;s, but denying the power thereof, from &s;uch turn away.</HI> Our Saviour Chri&s;t hied him to the wilderne&s;s among&s;t the bea&s;ts, and carried his Di&s;ciples with him, holding their fellow&s;hip to be le&s;s hurtfull and dange|rous: It is better to live among bea&s;ts, then to live among men of bea&s;tly principles and bea&s;tly practi&s;es. Now there are ten &s;orts of per&s;ons that Chri&s;tians mu&s;t turn from, that they mu&s;t have no intimate, no &s;pecial commu|nion with in this world:</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t Unbelievers, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.14, 15, 16. We &s;hould not clo&s;e with them that have not clo&s;ed with Chri&s;t; nor give our &s;elves up to them who have not given up them&s;elves to Chri&s;t. Every unbeliever is a condemned per&s;on: the Law hath ca&s;t him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 3.18.</NOTE> the Go&s;pel hath ca&s;t him, and his own con&s;cience hath ca&s;t him; and what &s;acred communion, what delightfull fellow&s;hip can believers have with con|demned per&s;ons!<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver. 36.</NOTE> Every Unbeliever is under the wrath of the great God; he is under that wrath that he can neither avoid nor abide; and what communion can &s;uch have who are under love, with tho&s;e that are under wrath. Every unbeliever makes God a Lyar.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Iohn 5.10.</NOTE> And what children will have communion with &s;uch who every day give their Fa|ther the Lye to his very face! Every unbeliever doth pra|ctically &s;ay, Tu&s;h there is no &s;uch loveline&s;s, or comeline&s;s, there is no &s;uch beauty or glory, there is no &s;uch fulne&s;s or &s;weetne&s;s, there is no &s;uch goodne&s;s or graciou&s;ne&s;s in Je|&s;us as men would make us believe: and what is this but to give God the Lie? Tu&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> there is no &s;uch favour, there is no &s;uch peace, there is no &s;uch pardon, there is no &s;uch Righteou&s;ne&s;s, there is no &s;uch Grace, there is no &s;uch glory to be reaped by Chri&s;t as God and men would per|&s;wade us; and what is this, but to tell God he lyes to his very teeth? And what ingenuous child can take plea&s;ure in &s;uch who are &s;till a &s;pitting in his Fathers face! Every un|believer
<PB N="43" REF="52"> is a di&s;obedient per&s;on,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 14.11. Heb. 11.31. <GAP DESC="foreign">. 1 Tim. 5.8. 2 Cor 6.14, 15. 1 Cor. 14.23. ult. 2 Tim. 3.1.6.</NOTE> and therefore unbelievers and di&s;obedient are in the Greek expre&s;&s;ed by one word; and what communion can obedient children have with tho&s;e that are di&s;obedient and rebellious! Every unbe|liever is a Pagan, a Heathen in the Scripture dialect; and what communion can tho&s;e who are of the hou&s;hold of faith have with Pagans and Heathens! Every unbeliever is a Traytor, he commits Trea&s;on daily again&s;t the Crown and dignity of heaven; and what Loyal Subjects will hold communion with Traitors! Unbelievers are the greate&s;t Robbers, they rob God of his declarative glory (though they cannot rob him of his E&s;&s;ential glory) they rob h m of the glory of his truth and faithfulne&s;&s;e; as if he would fal&s;ifie the word that is gone out of his mouth: as if he were yea and nay; and as if his credit was &s;o low and contemptibe, that he mu&s;t needs run a hazzard that &s;hall tru&s;t to him, or roul him&s;elf upon him. They rob him of the glory of his goodne&s;s and mercy, as if there were any &s;ins too great for him to pardon; or any mercy too great for him to give, or any wrath too great for him to divert, or any debt too great for him to &s;atisfie. They rob him of the glory of his omnipotency and al|&s;ufficiency, as if there were &s;omething too hard for a God; now what communion can the people of God have with Robbers? with the greate&s;t Robbers, with the wor&s;t of Robbers; and yet &s;uch are all unbelievers. And there|fore let no unbelievers mutter or murmur when the door <MILESTONE N="2"> of admi&s;&s;ion is &s;hut again&s;t them. But,</P>
<P>Secondly, Such as have a form, a picture, a mask,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Solon</HI> made a Law, that the Son &s;hould not be bound to relieve his Father when he was old, unle&s;s he had &s;et him in his youth to &s;ome calling. <HI>Plutarch</HI> in the life of <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">olon.</HI></NOTE> a <MILESTONE N="3"> vizzard of godline&s;s, but deny the power, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.5.</P>
<P>Thirdly, Such as walk di&s;orderly, that live either with|out a calling, or idly and negligently in their calling: the&s;e make Religion odious, by making Religion a mask for their idlene&s;s and lazine&s;s, 2 The&s;. 3.6. <HI>Now we com|mand you, Brethren, in the name of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that you withdraw your &s;elves from every Brother that walketh di&s;orderly</HI> Now who they are that walk di&s;|&s;orderly, you may &s;ee in ver&s;e 11. <HI>For we hear that there
<PB N="44" REF="53"> are &s;ome which walk among you di&s;orderly, working not at all, but are bu&s;ie bodies.</HI> Such vagrant Profe&s;&s;ors that live idely, that will have an ore in every mans boat, a &s;ickle in every mans harve&s;t, a curious eye upon every mans way and work, are to be &s;hut out of the communion of Chri&s;tians, and to be &s;hunned as a man would &s;hun a Ser|pent, an ill Air, a contagious di&s;ea&s;e, or as the Sea-man &s;huns rocks and &s;ands and &s;helfs. It was a great vanity in <HI>Diony&s;ius</HI> that would needs be the be&s;t Poet; and in <HI>Caligula</HI> that would needs be the be&s;t Orator; and in <HI>Nero</HI> that would needs be the be&s;t Fidler; and &s;o became the three wor&s;t Princes, minding more other mens bu&s;ine&s;s then their own callings; &s;o it is a very great vanity in many profe&s;|&s;ors to mind more other mens bu&s;ine&s;s then their own; from the &s;ociety of &s;uch, Saints mu&s;t withdraw. No man is too Noble to have a calling; if Iron had rea&s;on, it would chu&s;e rather to be u&s;ed in Labour then to grow ru&s;ty in a corner. By <HI>Mahomets</HI> Law the Grand Turk him&s;elf was to be of &s;ome Trade. The hour of Idlene&s;s is the hour of temptation; an Idle per&s;on is the Devils Tennis-ball to&s;&s;ed by him at his plea&s;ure. God ordained the neck of the con&s;ecrated A&s;s &s;hould be broken (<HI>Exod.</HI> 13.13.) in|&s;tead of &s;acrificing him; peradventure becau&s;e that crea|ture hath ever been the Heroglyphick of &s;loth and lazine&s;s. Among the <HI>Aegyptians</HI> Idlene&s;s was a capital crime.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Saith <HI>Diphi|lus.</HI></NOTE> Among the <HI>Lucans</HI> he that lent money to an Idle per&s;on, was to lo&s;e it. Among the <HI>Corinthians</HI> Idle per&s;ons were delive|red to the <HI>Carnifex.</HI> By <HI>Solons</HI> Law Idle per&s;ons were to &s;uffer death. The Antients call Idlene&s;s the burial of a living man. And <HI>Seneca</HI> had rather be &s;ick, then idle. Now &s;hall Nature do more then Grace? Shall poor blind Heathens be &s;o &s;evere again&s;t Idle per&s;ons; and &s;hall Chri&s;ti|ans embrace them? Shall they not rather turn their backs upon them, and have no communion with them, who think them&s;elves too great, or too good to hold the Plough!</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, Such who&s;e Judgements are corrupt and un&s;ound in foundation truths, Titus 3.10. <HI>A man that is an heretick,
<PB N="45" REF="53"> after the fir&s;t and &s;econd Admonition reject. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump:</HI> and what leaven is more infe|ctions then that of here&s;ie and error! 2 John 9, 10. <HI>Who&s;o|ever tran&s;gre&s;&s;eth and abideth not in the doctrine of Chri&s;t, hath not God: he that abideth in the doctrine of Chri&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> in<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> your hou&s;e, neither bid him God &s;peed.</HI> You mu&s;t have nothing to do with them, who have nothing to do with God;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Iohn 2.22, 23, 24, 25. Col. 2.18, 19. <HI>Eu&s;e. l.</HI> 3. <HI>c.</HI> 25. Lev. 13.44.</NOTE> your hou&s;e mu&s;t be too hot to hold him who holds not fa&s;t to founda|tion truths, who holds not clo&s;e to Chri&s;t the head. <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI> reports of <HI>John</HI> the Evangeli&s;t, that he would not &s;uffer <HI>Corinthus</HI> the Heretick in the &s;ame Bath with him, le&s;t &s;ome Judgement &s;hould abide them both; He that had the Le|pro&s;ie in his head, was to be pronounced utterly unclean: the breath of the erroneous is more dangerous and infectious then the breath of Lepers: for one infects but the body, but the other infects the &s;oul, and therefore ought more carefully to be avoided. An erroneous mind is as odious to God as a vicious life; and why &s;hould it not be &s;o to us al&s;o? Certainly we &s;hould &s;hun the &s;ociety of erroneous per&s;ons as we &s;hould &s;hun a Serpent in the way, or poy&s;on in our meat, 1 Tim. 6.5. <HI>Perver&s;e di&s;putings of men of corrupt minds, and de&s;titute of the truth, &s;uppo&s;ing that gain is godline&s;s: from &s;uch withraw thy &s;elf:</HI> Or as the Greek word <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifies, &s;tand off, keep at a di&s;tance, as you would from one that hath an infectious di&s;ea&s;e; or as Sea-men &s;tand off from rocks, or from a Lee-&s;hore. It is recorded by <HI>Theodoret,</HI> that when <HI>Lucius</HI> an Arrian Bi|&s;hop came and preached among&s;t the <HI>Antiochians</HI> his erro|neous doctrines, the people went out of the Congregation,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. Hi&s;t. lib. <HI>4.</HI> cap. <HI>20.</HI></NOTE> and would not &s;o much as lend an ear to him. In the&s;e dayes there are many old errors new vampt, and old <HI>Jeze|bels</HI> (old harlots) new painted. The be&s;t way is not to lend an ear to them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 8.30.36.</NOTE> but to &s;erve them as they &s;erved <HI>Je|zebel:</HI> they gave her no quarter, but ca&s;t her down, and trode her under foot. Errors about the foundation are like the <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> Artichoaks which over-run all the
<PB N="46" REF="54"> ground where they are planted, and choak the very heart of it. And therefore to be abhorred, avoided, and &s;hunned as a man would &s;hun hell it &s;elf. Who but a fool or mad man would exchange one old piece of gold for a hundred n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">w counters? and what then &s;hall we think of tho&s;e who willingly and readily exchange old tried truths for new <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">! The &s;ociety of &s;uch mu&s;t be &s;hunned.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="5"> Fi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters">ly, Such as cau&s;e divi&s;ions and di&s;cord among the people of God, Rom. 16.17. <HI>Now I be&s;eech you, Brethren, mark them which cau&s;e divi&s;ions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avod them. Mark them,</HI> the Greek word <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifies &s;uch a marking as a watch-man u&s;eth that &s;tands on a Watch-Towre to de&s;cry an approaching enemy.<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Turks pray daily that the divi&s;ions among Chri|&s;tians may be hightned, that &s;o they may be the &s;ooner <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ined and undone.</NOTE> Ah, with what a wary, with what a watchfull, with what a curious, with what a jealous, with what a &s;erious, with what a diligent eye doth the watch|man watch all the motions, turnings and windings of the approachiny enemy! with &s;uch an eye we &s;hould mark them that cau&s;e divi&s;ions. <HI>And avoid them,</HI> the Greek word <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifies a &s;tudious carefull declining of them: A man mu&s;t decline and &s;hun them, as he would de|cline and &s;hun &s;uch per&s;ons or things that are mo&s;t perni|cious, dangerous or infectious to him. Divi&s;ions are a di&s;|honour to Chri&s;t, a reproach to Chri&s;tians, a blot upon profe&s;&s;ion, a block in the way of the weak, and a &s;word in the hand of the wicked; they are Satans Engines and an inlet to all de&s;truction and confu&s;ion. And therefore the Authors of them are to be &s;hunned and avoided.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="6"> Sixthly, Such Chri&s;tians as are &s;candalous and pro|phane in their lives and conver&s;ations, 1 Cor. 5.11. <HI>But now I have written unto you,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, not to be joyned, mixed, or mingled w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">th them, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Prov. 9.6. P&s;al. 15.4. Ephe&s;. 5.7. P&s;al. 119.115. Prov. 4.14, 15.</NOTE> <HI>not to keep company; if any man that is called Brother, be a fornicator, or covetous, or an Idolater, or a rayler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with &s;uch a one no not to eat:</HI> with &s;uch a Brother who be|lies his profe&s;&s;ion, with &s;uch a Brother who&s;e cour&s;e and conver&s;ation contradicts his profe&s;&s;ion, we mu&s;t not hold Chri&s;tian communion. Certainly I may not have fellow|&s;hip with him at the Lords Table, whom I may not have
<PB N="47" REF="54"> fel|low&s;hip with at my own Table, Eph. 5.11. <HI>Have no fellow|&s;hip with unfruitfull works of darkne&s;s, but rather reprove them,</HI> Acts 2.40. <HI>Save your &s;elves from this untoward ge|neration:</HI> Wicked company is very dangerous and infe|ctious, 1 Cor. 15.33. <HI>Evil communication corrupts good manners.</HI> As he that walketh in the Sun will be tanned, and he that toucheth pitch will be defiled; &s;o he that a&s;&s;ociateth him&s;elf with the wicked will be tainted and polluted; Guilt or grief is all you &s;hall gain by bad com|pany, 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.7, 8. witne&s;s <HI>Lot, David, Jo&s;eph,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 120.7, 8. Gen. 42.15, 16. Ma<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">k 14.66. ult. 1 Kings 22.8. 2 Chron. 24.17, 18.</NOTE> and <HI>Pe|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">er.</HI> By bad company Chri&s;tians come to lo&s;e much of the &s;weetne&s;s, &s;eriou&s;ne&s;s, goodne&s;s and graciou&s;ne&s;s of their &s;pirits. Gold though the noble&s;t mettal, lo&s;eth of its lu&s;tre by being continually worn in the &s;ame pur&s;e with Silver. Familiarity with vain per&s;ons hath much worn off the &s;piritual lu&s;tre, beauty and glory that hath been up|on many Chri&s;tians. Bad company will prove a very great hinderance to you in your Chri&s;tian cour&s;e, P&s;alm 119.115. <HI>Away from me ye wicked, for I will keep the com|mandments of my God.</HI> I cannot keep my Gods commands whil&s;t I keep your company; I &s;hall never do my duty till I abandon your Society. Divine commands will never lie clo&s;e and warm upon my heart, &s;o long as I give you my hand. How hard is it to keep the commandment of labour among the &s;lothfull, or the commandment of dili|gence among the negligent, or that of liberality among the covetous, or that of humility among the Ambitious, or that of love among the malicious, or that of union among the contentious, or that of cha&s;tity among the la&s;civious, or that of righteou&s;ne&s;s among the unrighteous, or that of faithfulne&s;s among the unfaithfull, or that of fruitfulne&s;s among&s;t the unfruitfull, or that of thankful|ne&s;s among the unthankfull, or that of faith among the doubtfull? <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But, <MILESTONE N="7"> </P>
<P>Seventhly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 16.6.11, 12. Gal. 1.8. Mat. 7 15.13. De. 13.1, 2, 3. Titus 10.11.</NOTE> A &s;eventh &s;ort of per&s;ons that Chri&s;tians mu&s;t have no intimate, no &s;pecial communion with, is fal&s;e Prophets, fal&s;e Teachers. They are not to give &s;uch any hou&s;e room, 2 <HI>Joh.</HI> 10.11. nor heart room, <HI>Mat.</HI> 24, 23, 24.26
<PB N="48" REF="55"> They are to &s;hun them and avoid them, <HI>Rom.</HI> 16.17. It is not &s;afe for a Chri&s;tian to hear them or to have any commu|nion or fellow&s;hip with them. <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> writeth of a certain Bird called <HI>(Capri-mulgus)</HI> a Goat-Sucker,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lib. de Animal.</NOTE> which u&s;eth to come flying on the Goats, and &s;uck them, and upon that their milk dryeth up, and they grow blind. Ah how many a &s;eeing man hath been made blind, and how many hopeful thriving Chri&s;tians have had all their &s;prings of love, of life, of &s;weetne&s;s and goodne&s;s dried up in them by the &s;lights, deceits, and in&s;inuations of fal&s;e Teachers! Fal&s;e Prophets have their pithanology, their good words and fair &s;peeches, and &s;ubtile devices whereby they blind many &s;ouls, and dry up all the &s;piritual milk and moi|&s;ture that is in them and therefore they are to be &s;hun|ned and avoided. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="8"> Eighthly, you mu&s;t have no intimate, no &s;pecial commu|nion with &s;uch as are ob&s;tinate and refractory, and that will not &s;ubmit to Chri&s;ts Rules and Laws,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Greek word <GAP DESC="foreign"> is very &s;ignifi|cant, for it denotes &s;uch a perturbation of the mind, that he who is affected therewith, &s;eeks up and down wher<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> he may hide him&s;elf for &s;hame.</NOTE> 2 The&s;. 3.14. <HI>And if any man obey not our word by this Epi&s;tle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be a&s;hamed,</HI> or <HI>that he may turn into him&s;elf,</HI> as it is in the Orignal. Such as are refractory, mu&s;t be noted with a brand of in|famy; &s;uch mu&s;t be infamous in your eye who look with an eye of contumacy upon any command, or in&s;titution of Chri&s;t. The Greek word <HI>(Semeiou&s;thai,)</HI> &s;ignifies to note him &s;o as to make a &s;ign (as it were) of him; or to mark him &s;o as to put him to the blu&s;h, to put him to &s;hame. The ob&s;tinate, the refractory per&s;on &s;hould be a marked per&s;on, you mu&s;t &s;et a cro&s;s upon him, that all may know him, and &s;hun him; the A&s;&s;emblies of the Saints are honourable, and refractory Chri&s;tians are to be &s;hut out of them; Matth. 18.15, 16, 17. <HI>Moreover, if thy Brother &s;hall tre&s;pa&s;s again&s;t thee, go and t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ll him his fault between thee and him alone: if he &s;hall hear thee, thou ha&s;t gained thy Brother. But if he will not hear thee,</HI> (if he be refractory) <HI>then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witne&s;&s;es every word may be e&s;tabli&s;hed; And if he &s;hall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the Church:
<PB N="49" REF="55"> but if he neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man, and a Publican.</HI> He that &s;hall be refra|ctory under private and publick admonition, is to be &s;hut out from Church-communion: He that to &s;mall faults &s;hall add contumacy, is to be cut off from the Saints Soci|ety. We mu&s;t turn our backs upon him that turns his back upon the Church. As we would keep our &s;elves un|tainted, as we would pre&s;erve the Church from being infe|cted, as we would not have the name of God bla&s;phemed, and as we would have the refractory Chri&s;tian a&s;hamed and humbled, we mu&s;t neither have Sacred nor Civil So|ciety with him.</P>
<P>A ninth &s;ort of per&s;ons that Chri&s;tians mu&s;t have no in|timate, <MILESTONE N="9"> no &s;acred, no &s;pecial communion with, are fools, Prov. 9.6. <HI>For&s;ake the fooli&s;h, and live; and go in the way of under&s;tanding.</HI> Chap. 14.7. <HI>Go from the pre&s;ence of a fooli&s;h man,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Who would hang a Jewell in a Swines ear, or &s;ow precious &s;eed among craggy Rocks, or put &s;weet liquor into a mu&s;ty ve&s;&s;el? <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> <HI>when thou perceive&s;t not in him the lips of know|ledge.</HI> Chap. 23.9. <HI>Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will de&s;pi&s;e the wi&s;dom of thy words.</HI> There is no profit, no plea&s;ure, no delight to be had in the &s;ociety of fools. Fools are neither capable of doing good, nor of receiving good: and therefore what &s;hould good &s;ouls do among &s;uch! A fool hath neither an ear to hear, nor an eye to &s;ee, nor a heart to under&s;tand, nor a memory to retain, nor a will to chu&s;e, nor affections to embrace any thing that is good. And therefore their company is to be &s;hunned and avoided. The &s;ociety of fools is as dangerous as it is vexations. Proverbs 13.20. <HI>He that walketh with wi&s;e men &s;hall be wi&s;e: but a companion of fools &s;hall be de&s;troy|ed.</HI> The Hebrew word <HI>(Jeroange)</HI> that is here u&s;ed, &s;ig|nifies to be broken: yea, to be broken as &s;ometimes an Army is broken by &s;ome fierce and &s;udden &s;urprizal; a companion of fools &s;hall be broken in his credit, in his e&s;tate, in his name, in his reputation; yea, in his very wits, for nothing contributes &s;o much to make a man a fool as the company of fools.</P>
<P>The tenth and la&s;t &s;ort of per&s;ons that Chri&s;tians mu&s;t <MILESTONE N="10"> have no familiarity, nor &s;ociety with, are &s;corners. Such
<PB N="50" REF="56"> as &s;corn the Saints,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quintinus</HI> the Libertine was a great &s;coffer and &s;corner of the Saints; he called the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> a broken ve&s;&s;el; <HI>John</HI> a fooli&s;h youth, <HI>Peter</HI> a denyer of God; and <HI>Matthew</HI> an u&s;urer, <HI>&amp;c. Calvin.</HI></NOTE> and &s;corn Religion, and &s;corn Pro|fe&s;&s;ion; &s;uch who &s;corn every way of Chri&s;t, and every in&s;titution of Chri&s;t, Prov. 9.8. <HI>Reprove not a &s;corner le&s;t he hate thee:</HI> Wi&s;e and gracious reproofs are pearls that are not to be ca&s;t before &s;corners. Now certainly, if I may not reprove &s;corners, then I may not keep company with &s;corners, Prov. 22.10. <HI>Ca&s;t out the &s;corner, and contenti|on &s;hall go out, yea &s;trife and reproach &s;hall cea&s;e.</HI> The &s;corner mu&s;t be ca&s;t out of your family, and out of your company. Strife and contention, &s;hame and reproach are the &s;corners attendants, and therefore he that would be rid of them, mu&s;t ca&s;t out him. The Hebrew word <HI>(Gere&s;h)</HI> here tran&s;lated <HI>ca&s;t out,</HI> &s;ignifies not &s;imply to eject or ca&s;t out: but to ca&s;t out or drive out, as God did drive <HI>Adam</HI> out of Paradi&s;e, <HI>Gen.</HI> 3.24. for the word is the &s;ame; and this God did as the Rabbins ob&s;erve, with violence and di&s;plea&s;ure. So mu&s;t the &s;corner be ca&s;t out, or drove out. Look as God did drive out the <HI>Amorite</HI> and the <HI>Cana|nite,</HI> and the <HI>Hittite,</HI> and the <HI>Perizzite,</HI> and the <HI>Hivite,</HI> and the <HI>Jebu&s;ite</HI> before his people, <HI>Exodus</HI> 34.11. So mu&s;t the &s;corner be driven out of the &s;ociety of the Saints; for the Hebrew word is the &s;ame in both places. Look as <HI>Sarah</HI> would have <HI>Abraham</HI> to ca&s;t out the bond-woman and her Son, <HI>Gen.</HI> 21.10. &s;o mu&s;t the &s;corner be ca&s;t out of the company of the Saints; the word is &s;till the &s;ame. Look as the Sea ca&s;teth up mire and dirt, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 57.10. &s;o &s;hould Chri&s;tians ca&s;t out &s;corn|ers from among them, the word being &s;till the &s;ame. The &s;corner con&s;trues every thing to the wor&s;t; he envies tho&s;e that excell him; he di&s;dains tho&s;e that are below him; he is never contented, never &s;atisfied, he is &s;till a quar|relling, &s;till a fretting, and &s;till a perplexing of him&s;elf and others; and therefore you mu&s;t ca&s;t him out with &s;coffing <HI>I&s;mael,</HI> or the hou&s;e will be too hot to hold you. Ca&s;t out the firebrand, and the fire goes out; ca&s;t out <HI>Jonah,</HI> and the &s;torm &s;hall cea&s;e; ca&s;t out the bond-woman, and her &s;cornfull &s;on, and all will be quiet: <HI>Davids</HI> ble&s;&s;ed man is de&s;ribed by this,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 1.1.</NOTE> that <HI>he fits not in the &s;eat of the &s;corn|full.</HI>
<PB N="51" REF="56"> Scorners are no companions for ble&s;&s;ed men; Of all men the ble&s;&s;ed man will never chu&s;e the &s;corner for his Pue-fellow. God him&s;elf &s;corns the &s;corner, Prov. 3.34. <HI>Surely he &s;corneth the &s;corner, &amp;c.</HI> of all men in the world God ca&s;ts the greate&s;t contempt and &s;corn upon &s;corners, and therefore why &s;hould we make &s;uch our bo&s;ome A&s;|&s;ociates? And thus you &s;ee the &s;everal &s;orts of per&s;ons that God hath &s;hut out from the communion of his peo|ple: Well Chri&s;tians, remember this, dead &s;tones mu&s;t not be laid in a living Temple: No &s;tones but hewen &s;tones were to be brought and laid in the building of <HI>Solomons</HI> Temple,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Kings 5.15, 16, 17, 18. 2 Chron. 2. Chap. 2.18. 1 Pet. 2 5. 2 Chron. 35.</NOTE> which was a Type of the Church of Chri&s;t in Go&s;pel dayes: Certainly &s;uch &s;tones, &s;uch &s;ouls as are not hewen by the word and &s;pirit, are not fit to be laid in Chri&s;ts building. In <HI>Jo&s;iahs</HI> dayes when the Pa&s;&s;eover was kept, there were Porters at every gate of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> that no unclean or un|circumci&s;ed ones might enter. And the Engli&s;h Annotati|ons on <HI>Rev.</HI> 21.27. do &s;ay, that in the la&s;t Church on earth, di&s;cipline in likelyhood &s;hall be &s;o &s;trictly executed, that no prophane per&s;on &s;hall be found there, only elect per&s;ons &s;o far as men can Judge. That vain per&s;ons are to be &s;hut out from &s;acred communion with the people of God, is further evident by the Judgement of many ap|proved Authors. As,</P>
<P><HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom.</NOTE> &s;aith, that the Table of the Lord is that where|on the carka&s;s is laid, and that we mu&s;t not &s;uffer chattering Jayes to come thereunto; for only high-flying Eagles are to feed thereupon. Thereupon the &s;ame Author prote&s;ted, that he had rather give his life to a murderer then Chri&s;ts body to an unworthy receiver,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Chry&s;o&s;t.</HI> in Matth. <HI>Hom.</HI> 6. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom</HI> in Mat. <HI>Hom.</HI> 83.</NOTE> and rather &s;uffer his own blood to be poured out like water, then to tender Chri&s;ts ble&s;&s;ed blood to a ba&s;e liver. And again, Church-officers (&s;aith he) are to keep the Sacrament pure, as a man would keep a plea&s;ant &s;pring clean whereat he u&s;eth to drink, not letting the feet of filthy bea&s;ts and Swine to puddle it. The &s;ame Author further &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom in Epi&s;t. ad Heb. Hom. <HI>17.</HI></NOTE> that in the Primitive times when ever tht Sacrament was Admini&s;tred; a Deacon &s;tood up, and cried in the open A&s;&s;embly, Holy things
<PB N="52" REF="57"> to holy men, holy things to holy men, thereby debar|ring all others that were unholy, and rai&s;ing the hearts of the holy.</P>
<P><HI>Ju&s;tin Martyr</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ju&s;tin Martyr.</NOTE> who was about the year after Chri&s;t 150. he lived not above thirty years after St. <HI>John,</HI> he in his Apology (to <HI>Antoninus</HI> the Emperour) for Chri&s;tians, writes thus, In our A&s;&s;emblies we admit none to the Lords Sup|per, but &s;uch as being baptized continue in profe&s;&s;ing the true faith, and in leading &s;uch lives as Chri&s;t hath taught. There were three things, &s;aith this Author, that were required of them that were to be received to the Sacrament, A New Birth; 2. Soundne&s;s in Faith; 3. A pro|mi&s;e to live well.</P>
<P><HI>Au&s;tin</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Au&s;tin.</NOTE> well ob&s;erves, That as many think the eating of an Apple was but a &s;mall &s;in; So many think that the eating of the Sacrament is but a &s;mall &s;in: But as many horrid &s;ins were wrapt up in that, &s;o are there many wrapt up in this: 1. Here is pride; el&s;e no man in his wick|edne&s;s would pre&s;ume to come to the Lords Table 2. Here is Rebellion and Trea&s;on again&s;t the Crown and dignity of Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Romans 2.22.</NOTE> their hands and lips adore him (as <HI>Judas</HI> his did) but their hearts and lives abhor him. 3. Here is Theft, and Sacriledge; now if to take away the Communion cup be &s;uch a high offence,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 11.27.29.</NOTE> &s;uch horrid &s;acriledge; what is it then to take the Bread and Wine &s;et apart and &s;anctified for a holy u&s;e by the Lord him&s;elf? 4. Here is Murder, the wor&s;t murder, the greate&s;t murder, the cruele&s;t mur|der; thou kille&s;t thy &s;elf, thy &s;oul, and as much as in thee lies, Gods deare&s;t Son. Now certainly, in &s;ome re&s;pects this &s;in is a greater &s;in then <HI>Adams</HI> was: For 1. <HI>Adams</HI> Eating was again&s;t a Creator, but thine is again&s;t a Redeem|er: now it is more to redeem a &s;oul, then to create a world. 2. His was again&s;t the word of the Lord, thine again&s;t the blood of the Lord. 3. His &s;truck at the Cove|nant of Works, thine at the Covenant of Grace. 4. He eat but once, but thou eate&s;t often.</P>
<P>Yea, <HI>Aquinas</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Aquinas.</NOTE> &s;aith, the Maje&s;ty of Church Di&s;cipline &s;hould never &s;uffer this, to let open and known offen|dors
<PB N="53" REF="57"> pre&s;ume to come to the Table of the Lord.</P>
<P>It was a worthy &s;aying of <HI>Bil&s;on</HI> an approved Author, Suppo&s;e any man (&s;aith he) be he a Prince,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Bil&s;ons Chri&s;ti|an Subject. par. <HI>3.</HI> pag. <HI>63. 64, 74,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>52.</HI></NOTE> if he will not &s;ubmit him&s;elf to the precepts of Chri&s;t, but wilfully main|tain either here&s;ie or open impurity, the Mini&s;ters are to admoni&s;h him what danger from God is at the door; and if he impenitently per&s;i&s;t, they mu&s;t not &s;uffer him to commu|nicate either in divine prayer, or any holy my&s;teries among the people of God; but wholly to be excluded the Con|gregation. Again, not only the lack of the word and Sa|craments (&s;aith the &s;ame Author) but the abu&s;e of either greatly hazards the weale of the whole Church: yea, ca&s;ting holy things to dogs, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> procures a dreadfull doom as well to con&s;enters as pre&s;umers, it being the way to turn the hou&s;e of God into a den of Theives, if prophane ones be allowed to defile the my&s;teries and A&s;&s;emblies of the faithfull.</P>
<P>I, &s;aid <HI>Calvin,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Calvin.</NOTE> will &s;ooner die then this hand of mine &s;hall give the things of God to the contemners of God.</P>
<P>Mr. <HI>Rutherford</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rutherford.</NOTE> (that champion for Presbyterie) in his divine right of Church-Government, <HI>pag.</HI> 520, &s;aith that they are co-partners with the wicked who di&s;pence the bread to them who are knowingly dead in &s;ins. I might multiply many others: but let the&s;e &s;uffice: for a clo&s;e, let me only &s;ay, How the Father can be guiltle&s;s of the death of his child, that giveth him poy&s;on, to drink, with this Caution, that he telleth him it is poy&s;on I cannot &s;ee. <HI>Jo|&s;ephus</HI> reports of &s;ome that prophanely &s;earched the &s;e|pulchres of the Saints,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;eph. Antiq. lib. <HI>12, 13.</HI> &amp; l. <HI>16.</HI> cap. <HI>11.</HI></NOTE> &s;uppo&s;ing to find &s;ome trea&s;ures there, but God made fire to ri&s;e out of the earth that devoured them on a &s;uddain. Now if Gods wrath like fire breaks forth to con&s;ume &s;uch as wrong but the &s;epulchres of his Saints, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Oh then with what flames of fury will God burn up &s;uch as abu&s;e not only the Sacrament of his Son, but his Son him&s;elf? It was a very great wicked|edne&s;s in <HI>Julian</HI> to throw his blood in the face of Chri&s;t; but for a wicked Communicant to take Chri&s;ts own blood
<PB N="54" REF="58"> as it were running from his heart, and to throw it into he face of Chri&s;t, is mo&s;t abominable and damnable. By all that hath been &s;poken, you clearly &s;ee, that unholy per|&s;ons are to b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;hut out of the &s;pecial communion of Saints here on earth: and therefore certainly the Lord will never &s;uffer &s;uch to have communion with him in heaven; it will not &s;tand with the holine&s;s and purity of God to have fellow&s;hip with &s;uch in the kingdom of glory, whom he would not have his people have fellow&s;hip with in the kingdom of grace.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="8"> The eighth Argument to prove that without real holine&s;s there is no happine&s;s:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Unholy per|&s;ons are throughout the Scriptures branded to their everla&s;t|ing contempt) with the wor&s;t Appellations.</NOTE> that without holine&s;s on earth, no man &s;hall ever come to a bl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;&s;ed vi&s;ion or fruition of God in heaven, is this, The Scripture that &s;peaks no Trea&s;on, &s;tiles unholy per&s;ons bea&s;ts, yea, the wor&s;t of bea&s;ts: and what &s;hould &s;uch do in heaven. Unholy per&s;ons are the mo&s;t dangerous, and the mo&s;t unruly pieces in the world, and therefore are emblemized by Lions, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 22.21. and they are cruel: by Bears, and they are &s;avage, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 11.7. by Dragons, and they are hideous, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 29.3. by Wolves, and they are ravenous, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 22.27. by dogs, and they are &s;narling, <HI>Rev.</HI> 22.15. by Vipers and Scorpions, and they are &s;tinging, <HI>Mat.</HI> 12.34. <HI>Ezek.</HI> 2.6. by Spiders and Cockatrices, and they are poy&s;oning, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 59.5. by &s;wine, and they are &s;till gruntling, <HI>Mat.</HI> 7.6. No man in this world is more like another,<NOTE PLACE="marg">It was wont to be a tryal whither land belonged to <HI>England</HI> or <HI>Ireland,</HI> by putting in Toads or Snakes, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> into it; if they lived there, it was concluded that the land belonged to <HI>England;</HI> if they died, to <HI>Ireland.</HI></NOTE> then the Epicure is like a Swine; the fraudulent per&s;on a Fox; the lu&s;tfull per&s;on a Goat; the back-biter a barking Curr; the &s;landerer an A&s;p; the op|pre&s;&s;or a Wolf; the Per&s;ecutor a Tyger; the Seducer a Ser|pent. Certainly the Iri&s;h Air will &s;ooner brook Toads and Snakes and Serpents to live therein, then heaven will brook &s;uch bea&s;ts as unholy &s;ouls are to live there. Surely, God and Chri&s;t, and the Spirit, and Angels, and the Spirits of ju&s;t men made perfect are not &s;o in love with Dogs and Swine, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as to put them into their bo&s;oms, or make them their companions. Heaven is a place of too great &s;tate to admit &s;uch vermine to inhabit there. When <HI>Cyneas</HI> the Emba&s;&s;ador of <HI>Pyrrhus</HI> after his return from
<PB N="55" REF="58"> <HI>Rome,</HI> was asked by his Ma&s;ter what he thought of the City and State; he an&s;wered and &s;aid, that it &s;eemed to him to be <HI>Re&s;publica Regum,</HI> a State of none but great States|men, and a Common-wealth of Kings. Such is heaven, it is no other State then a Parliament of Emperours, a Common|wealth of Kings. There is not a &s;oul in heaven under the de|gree of a King, <HI>Rev</HI> 6.1. and every King there hath a Robe of honour upon his back, a golden Scepter in his hand, and a glorious Crown upon his head: And do you think that it will &s;tand with the State of heaven, or with the State of this Common-wealth of Kings to admit &s;uch vermine as as unholy per&s;ons are, to be of that noble &s;ociety, &s;urely no? God hath long &s;ince re&s;olved upon it, that no unclean bea&s;ts &s;hall enter into heaven, that no dirty dogs &s;hall ever trample upon that golden pavement: All in heaven are holy, the Angels holy, the Saints holy, the Patriarchs holy, the Prophets holy, the Apo&s;tles holy, the Martyrs holy, but the Lord him&s;elf above all is mo&s;t glorious in holine&s;s, and therefore all tho&s;e holy ones do as it were in a divine An|them &s;ing and &s;ay, <HI>Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 21. ult. There are no Owls in <HI>Creet,</HI> nor no wild bea&s;ts in <HI>Le|banon.</HI></NOTE> <HI>heaven and earth are full of the Maje&s;ty of thy glory.</HI> Now certainly, it would be a hell to the&s;e holy ones to have unho|ly wretches to be their companions. When the holy An|gels fell from their holine&s;s, heaven was &s;o holy that it &s;pewed them out,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;aiah 6.3.</NOTE> as once <HI>Canaan</HI> did its (unholy) inha|bitants; and therefore certainly there will be no room in hea|ven for &s;uch filthy bea&s;ts as unholy per&s;ons are. Well, remem|ber this, that all tho&s;e &s;tinging Expre&s;&s;ions and Appellations which di&s;grace and vilifie unholy per&s;ons, they were in|&s;pired by a holy &s;pirit, and penned by holy Secretaries and enrolled in his holy word, and publi&s;hed by his holy me&s;|&s;engers, and all by his holy appointment, who as he is great|er then the greate&s;t, and wi&s;er then the wi&s;e&s;t, and bet|ter then the be&s;t:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lev. 18.28.</NOTE> So he is too pure and too holy to eat the words that are gone out of his mouth, or to deny or un&s;ay what he hath &s;poken, or not to maintain the truth thereof again&s;t all gain-&s;ayers. It is prophecied that when the Church &s;hall be re&s;tored to her purity and glory, &s;uch
<PB N="56" REF="59"> bea&s;ts &s;hall not be there, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 35.9. <HI>Ezek.</HI> 28.24. The Maje&s;ty of Church-di&s;cipline &s;hall be &s;uch as &s;hall keep out all &s;uch bea&s;ts. <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> above is too glorious a habitation for bea&s;ts, or for men of bea&s;tly &s;pirits, or bea&s;tly principles, or bea&s;tly practices. The City of the great God was never built for bea&s;ts. A wilderne&s;s and not a Paradi&s;e is fitte&s;t for bea&s;ts.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="9"> The ninth Argument to prove the truth of the Pro|po&s;ition,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 23.32. Chap. 34.12. If you would &s;ee the great|ne&s;s and dan|gerou&s;ne&s;s of this &s;in, then read Ezra 10. &amp; 1 Kings 11. with Exo. 34.14, 15, 16. Judg. 3.6, 7, 8. When <HI>Diony|&s;ius</HI> the elder Tyrant of <HI>Syracu&s;a</HI> asked <HI>Ari&s;tides</HI> a <HI>Lo|crian</HI> his good will to marry his daughter; I had rather &s;ee my daugh|ter dead (&s;aid he) then married unto a Tyrant. <HI>Plutarch</HI> in the life of <HI>Timole|on.</HI> The Appli|cation is ea&s;ie.</NOTE> is this God; would not have his holy ones in this world to be yoked in marriage with unholy ones, and there|fore certainly he will never &s;uffer &s;uch to be yoked to him|&s;elf to all eternity. That God would not have his righte|ous people to be yoked in marriage with the unrighteous, is mo&s;t evident by the&s;e Scriptures, <HI>Deut.</HI> 7.3.6. <HI>Neither &s;halt thou make marriages with them: thy daughter thou &s;halt not give to his &s;on, nor his daughter &s;halt thou take unto thy Son: For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath cho&s;en thee to be a special peo|ple unto him&s;elf, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.</HI> Ezra 9.12. <HI>Now therefore give not your daugh|ters unto their &s;ons, neither take their daughters unto your &s;ons.</HI> But did they keep this commandment of the Lord? No, as you may &s;ee in the &s;econd ver&s;e of that chapter: <HI>For they have taken of their daughters for them&s;elves, and for their &s;ons: &s;o that the holy &s;eed have mingled them&s;elves with the people of tho&s;e lands; yea, the hand of the Princes and Rulers have been chief in this tre&s;pa&s;s.</HI> But how did this operate upon good <HI>Ezra!</HI> that you may &s;ee in the third ver&s;e, <HI>And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and pluckt off the hair of my head, and of my beard, and &s;ate down a&s;tonied.</HI> Oh the &s;orrow, the grief, the perplexity, the holy pa&s;&s;ion, the indignation, the amaze|ment, the a&s;toni&s;hment that this abomination begot in the heart of good <HI>Ezra!</HI> The like effect this &s;in had upon the heart of good <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> as you may &s;ee in that remark|able text, <HI>Neh.</HI> 13.23, 24, 25. compared with <HI>Ch.</HI> 10.29, 30. So in 2 Cor. 6.14, 15. <HI>Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellow&s;hip hath righteou&s;ne&s;s with
<PB N="57" REF="59"> unrighteou&s;ne&s;s? and what communion hath light with dark|ne&s;s? And what concord hath Chri&s;t with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?</HI> It is an evil thing, a dangerous thing to be yoked to any who have neither skill nor will to bear the yoke of Chri&s;t. Under the Law an Ox and an A&s;&s;e might not be yoked or coupled together, <HI>Deut.</HI> 22.10. (and to this the Apo&s;tle alludes as &s;ome judge) God would not have righteous &s;ouls to be yoked in marriage with tho&s;e that are unrighteous: a gra|cious &s;oul were better be married to a quartern ague then to an ungracious wife.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Proverbs 12.4.</NOTE> A vertuous wife is a crown to her husband: &s;he is the life of life: if thou art a man of ho|line&s;&s;e, thou mu&s;t look more for a portion of grace in a wife,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor 7.39.</NOTE> then for a portion of gold with a wife: thou mu&s;t look more after righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e then riches: more after piety then money: more after what inheritance &s;he hath in heaven, then what po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions &s;he hath on earth: more at what intere&s;t &s;he hath in Chri&s;t, then at what intere&s;t &s;he hath in creatures; more at her being new born, then at her be<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ng high born; more at her being good, then at all her worldly goods. If money makes the match, and &s;he be good enough, that hath but goods enough, thou &s;halt be &s;ure to have hell enough with &s;uch a wife. In thy choice to err but once is to be undone for ever, at lea&s;t as to the comforts and content|ments of thy life: once ble&s;t or cur&s;t mu&s;t be for ever &s;o: Men have not leave to choo&s;e or change often. By what hath been &s;aid, it is mo&s;t evident that God would not have the holy &s;eed to mingle or marry with the unholy. And do you think that a holy God wil mingle and marry with &s;uch in heaven, that he would not have his people to min|gle or marry with on earth? &s;urely no. Or do you think that that God that would not in the Law have an Ox and an A&s;&s;e plough together that he will be yoked to &s;uch wretches (may I &s;ay to &s;uch A&s;&s;es) who&s;e ungodline&s;s hath deba&s;ed them below the very Ox and A&s;&s;e! <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 1.3. Surely no.</P>
<P>The tenth and la&s;t Argument to prove that without real <MILESTONE N="10"> holine&s;&s;e there is no happine&s;&s;e, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> is this. Unholy per|&s;ons are adjudged, doomed and &s;entenced to another place,
<PB N="58" REF="60"> <HI>viz.</HI> to hell,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth 11.23. Ch. 23.15.33. The Hebrew word <HI>Sh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ol</HI> hath &s;everal &s;ignifications; Sometimes it &s;ignifies the grave, &s;ome|times it &s;igni|fies extraordi|nary great angui&s;hes and di&s;tre&s;&s;es; and &s;ometimes it &s;ignifies hell or the place of the damned, as here, and as in Job 11.8. &amp; Prov. 15.1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> P&s;al. 9.17. <HI>The wicked &s;hall be turned into hell, and all the Nations that forget God.</HI> In the Hebrew there ar two <HI>into's:</HI> into, into Hell, that is, the wicked &s;hall be turned into the nether mo&s;t hell, into the lowe&s;t and darke&s;t dungeon of Hell: <HI>They &s;hall be turned into hell,</HI> that is, they &s;hall be certainly turned into hell; they &s;hall be vehemently, forcibly turned into hell: God will as it were with both hands thru&s;t them into hell. The wicked &s;hall from hell to judgement, and from judgement they &s;hall be turned with a witne&s;s into hell. The <HI>Photinians</HI> hold that there is no hell, and many now adayes &s;ay there is no hell but what a man finds in his own con&s;cience: and multitudes with <HI>Cae&s;ar</HI> do think that all that is &s;poken of hell, is fal&s;e and fabulous: They will not believe that there is a hell, till they come to feel them&s;elves in hell, till they find everla&s;ting flames about their ears. They are &s;entenced to the fire, to everla&s;ting fire, they are doomed to fire and brim&s;tone, Mat. 25.41. <HI>Then &s;hall he &s;ay unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cur&s;ed, into ever|la&s;ting fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels.</HI> This terrible &s;entence breaths out nothing but fire and brim&s;tone, terror and horror, dread and wo. The la&s;t words that ever Chri&s;t will &s;peak in this world, will be the mo&s;t tor|menting, and amazing, the mo&s;t killing and damning, the mo&s;t &s;tinging and wounding. <HI>Depart from me,</HI> there is rejection: Pack, be gon, get you out of my fight, let me never &s;ee your faces more. It was a heavy doom that was pa&s;t upon <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> that he &s;hould be driven from the &s;ociety of men,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Daniel 4.25.</NOTE> and in an extremity of a &s;otti&s;h melancholy &s;pend his time among&s;t the bea&s;ts of the field: but that was nothing to this &s;oul-killing word <HI>Depart from me;</HI> it was nothing to mens being ca&s;t out of the pre&s;ence of Chri&s;t for ever; The remembranre of which made one to pray thus,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Bernard in</HI> P&s;alm 91.</NOTE> O Lord, deliver me at the great day from that &s;oul killing word <HI>Depart.</HI> And what &s;aith another,
<Q><L><NOTE PLACE="marg">Sphinx.</NOTE>This word <HI>Depart,</HI> the Goats with horror hears.</L>
<L>But this word <HI>Come,</HI> the Sheep to joy appears.</L></Q></P>
<PB N="59" REF="60">
<P><HI>Ye cur&s;ed:</HI> there is malediction. But Lord, if we mu&s;t depart, Oh let us depart ble&s;&s;ed; no, <HI>depart ye cur&s;ed:</HI> You have cur&s;ed others,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cur&s;ings now are their hymns, but in hell they &s;hall be their woes, Rev. 16.9.11.21.</NOTE> and now you &s;hall be cur&s;t your &s;elves; you have delighted your &s;elves in cur&s;ing, and now you &s;hall be cur&s;t for ever. You &s;hall be cur&s;t in your bodies, and cur&s;t in your &s;ouls; you &s;hall be cur&s;t of God, and cur&s;t of Angels, and cur&s;t of Saints, and cur&s;t of De|vils, and cur&s;t of your companions, yea, you &s;hall cur&s;e your very &s;elves, your very &s;ouls. You loved not ble&s;|&s;ing, and therefore you &s;hall have cur&s;ing enough: <HI>Depart from me ye cur&s;ed:</HI> all your cur&s;es, all your malidictions &s;halt at la&s;t recoyl upon your own &s;ouls. Now thou cur&s;e&s;t every man and thing that &s;tands in the way of thy lu&s;ts, and that cro&s;&s;es thy de&s;ignes: but at la&s;t all the cur&s;es of heaven and hell &s;hall meet in their full power and force upon thee.</P>
<P>But Lord, if we mu&s;t depart, and depart cur&s;ed; Oh let us go into &s;ome good place: no, <HI>depart ye into everla&s;ting fire;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Therefore they do but dream, who think and &s;ay, that the devil and damned &s;hall be delivered at la&s;t. P&s;alm 11.6. <HI>Al&s;ted.</HI></NOTE> there is the vengeance and continuance of it. You &s;hall go into fire, into everla&s;ting fire, that will neither con&s;ume it &s;elf, nor con|&s;ume you. Eternity of extremity is the hell of hell. The fire in hell is like that &s;tone in <HI>Arcadia,</HI> which being one kindled could never be quenched. If all the fires that over were in the world were contracted into one fire, how terrible would it be! yet &s;uch a fire would be but as a painted fire upon the wall, to the fire of hell. The greate&s;t and the hotte&s;t fires that ever were on earth are but Ice in compari&s;on of the fire of hell. If it be &s;o &s;ad a &s;pectacle to behold a malefactors fle&s;h con&s;umed by peice-meals in a lingring fire: Ah how &s;ad, how dreadfull would it be to experi|ence what it is to lie in unquenchable fire, not for a day, a moneth, or a year, or a hundred, or a thou&s;and years, but for ever and ever! If it were &s;aith one, but for a thou&s;and years, I could bear, it but &s;eeing is for eternity, this amazeth and affrighteth me. I am afraid of hell &s;aith another, becau&s;e the worm there never dies,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyril.</NOTE> and the fire never goeth out: It is called <HI>unquenchable fire,</HI> Mat. 18.8. and <HI>eternal fire</HI> in the Epi&s;tle of <HI>Jude, ver.</HI> 7.
<PB N="60" REF="61"> The torments of the damned are very grievous for the bitterne&s;&s;e of them, but more grievous for the diver&s;ity of them, but mo&s;t of all grievous for the eternity of them. To lye in everla&s;ting torments,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Diony&s;. in A ocaleps. <HI>18.</HI> fol. <HI>301.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Matth.</HI> 25. <HI>ult.</HI> goes beyond all the bounds of de&s;peration: To roar for ever for di&s;|quietne&s;&s;e of heart, to rage for ever for madne&s;&s;e of &s;oul, to weep, and grieve, and gna&s;h the teeth for ever for vexation of &s;pirit, is a mi&s;ery beyond all expre&s;&s;ion. <HI>Sue|tonius</HI> reports of <HI>Tiberius Cae&s;ar,</HI> that being petitioned by a certain offendor to ha&s;ten his puni&s;hment, and to grant him a &s;peedy di&s;patch,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>L<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">b.</HI> 3 <HI>cap.</HI> 6.</NOTE> he made him this An&s;wer, <HI>Nondum tecum in gratiam redii:</HI> Stay Sir, you and I are not friends yet. So if after a damned &s;oul hath been in hell a thou|&s;and years, he &s;hould petition the Lord for a &s;peedy death, the Lord would an&s;wer after the &s;ame manner, Stay &s;oul, you and I are not yet friends: if after thou&s;ands and millions of thou&s;ands of years, the reque&s;t &s;hould be renewed, the An&s;wer would &s;till be the &s;ame. Stay you and I are not yet friends. Wronged Ju&s;tice can never be &s;a|tisfied, and therefore the &s;inner mu&s;t be for ever torment|ed: the &s;inner in hell will &s;in for ever, and therefore he mu&s;t be puni&s;hed for ever. It will not &s;tand with the un|&s;potted Ju&s;tice and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God to cea&s;e puni&s;hing where the &s;inner cea&s;es not &s;inning. One tells us of &s;ome Devout per&s;onages,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jo. Pet. Camois.</HI> B. of <HI>Betty</HI> in <HI>France</HI> in his draught of eternity, Dan. 3. <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> who cau&s;ed tho&s;e words of the Prophet, I&s;a. 33.14. <HI>Who among us &s;hall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us &s;hall dwell with everla&s;ting burnings?</HI> to be written in letters of gold upon their chimney pieces. The fear of <HI>Nebuchadnezzars</HI> fiery furnace made men do any thing to avoid it: and &s;hall not the fear of eternal flames, of everla&s;ting burnings, work men to bewail their &s;ins, to hate all their bitter &s;weets, and to lay hold on everla&s;ting &s;trength, that it may go well with them for ever! I have read of a cha&s;te Virgin, who being &s;trongly tempted and &s;oliticed by a lewd Ru&s;&s;ian to uncleanne&s;&s;e, after &s;ome di&s;|&s;cour&s;e, &s;he called for a pan of burning coals, reque&s;ting him for her &s;ake to hold his finger in them but one hour; he an&s;wered, it is an unkind and unrea&s;onable reque&s;t:
<PB N="61" REF="61"> it is truth &s;aith &s;he, it is &s;o; but you ask me a more unkind and unrea&s;onable reque&s;t, <HI>viz.</HI> to &s;atisfie you in a thing for which I &s;hall not only burn an hour, but burn both body and &s;oul in hell fire for ever and ever. And &s;o over|came the temptation.</P>
<P>But Lord, if I mu&s;t go into fire, into everla&s;ting fire: Oh let me have &s;ome good company in my mi&s;ery. No, the Devil and his Angels &s;hall be your companions. Ah who can conceive or expre&s;s the mi&s;ery of cohabitation with Devils and damned Spirits. Many unholy &s;ouls would not live in a hou&s;e haunted with evil &s;pirits one night for all the world, and yet they live as if it were nothing to be bil|letted with helli&s;h Fiends and furies for ever. If the &s;ight of a &s;eeming gho&s;t for a moment be &s;uch a terror and torment to thee: what will the horrible &s;ight of devils, and the ga&s;tly &s;ight of the damned be?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 30.29.</NOTE> If it was &s;o great an affliction to <HI>Job</HI> to be a companion to Owls, what will it be to thee to be a companion to devils?<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 120.5.</NOTE> If it was &s;o great a grief and wo to <HI>David</HI> to &s;ojourn in <HI>Me&s;ech,</HI> and to dwell in the tents of <HI>Kedar</HI> for a time; what a wo will it be to unholy &s;ouls to dwell with Devils and reprobates for ever? Ah, how will Satans deformity, antipathy and cru|elty amaze thee, and torment thee! How will the damneds wringing of hands and gna&s;hing of teeth aba&s;h thee and con|found thee! How will thine old companions cur&s;ing of thee, the &s;ight of thy near relations in mi&s;ery with thee, and devils &s;cornfully in&s;ulting over thee, and the never dying worm feeding perpetually upon thee, be many hells of horror to thee? Had an unholy &s;oul as many worlds in his hand to give as there be &s;tars in heaven, he would give them all for a licen&s;e alwayes to &s;leep under tho&s;e pains and torments that will admit of no intermi&s;&s;ion or mitigation. In <HI>Rev.</HI> 21.8.<NOTE PLACE="marg">As the Anti|ents fain of <HI>Endymion,</HI> that he got leave of <HI>Jupiter</HI> al|wayes to &s;leep.</NOTE> you have a catalogue of that damned crue, of that rout of Reprobates which &s;hall be your companions for ever: <HI>But the fearfull, and unbe|lieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremon|gers, and &s;orcerers, and Idolaters, and all liars, &s;hall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brim&s;tone:
<PB N="62" REF="62"> which is the &s;econd death.</HI> The&s;e companions are the de|vils lime-twigs; they are his &s;corpions with which he will torment and whip poor &s;ouls for ever: Such companions will make many hells to meet in one; they will be the top of the &s;ouls torments. Thus I have done with tho&s;e argu|ments that prove the point; <HI>Viz. That without holine&s;s there is no happine&s;s,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="part">
<P><HI>I</HI> come now to the Rea&s;ons of the Point, Why is it that <HI>Without holine&s;s there is no happine&s;s; that without holine&s;s on earth, no man &s;hall ever come to a ble&s;&s;ed vi&s;ion or frui|tion of God in heaven.</HI> Among other Rea&s;ons that might be rendered, you may plea&s;e to take the&s;e.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="Rea&s;on"> Fir&s;t, Becau&s;e God hath &s;aid it, who is truth and faith|fulne&s;&s;e it &s;elf, and cannot lye. That he hath &s;aid it, witne&s;&s;e the very Text and the proofs that are produced to make good the doctrine: and hath he &s;aid it, and &s;hall it not come to pa&s;s? Hath he &s;poken it, and will he not accompli&s;h the word that is gone out of his mouth?<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;aiah 46.11. Chap. 48.15. Jerem. 32.24. I&s;aiah 55.11. Zech. 1.6. Dan. 9.12. P&s;al. 119.138.</NOTE> <HI>God is not a man that he &s;hould lye,</HI> Numb. 23, 19. <HI>Al&s;o the &s;trength of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>will not lye,</HI> 1 Sam. 15.29. God will make good every word that is gone out of his mouth: Men &s;ometimes eat their words as &s;oon as they have &s;poken them; they often &s;ay and un&s;ay, but &s;o will not the holy One of <HI>I&s;rael;</HI> that fir&s;t and &s;upream being, that gives being to all others, will certainly give being to all his promi&s;es and threatnings. God him&s;elf &s;hall &s;ooner cea&s;e to be, then the word that is gone out of his mouth &s;hall be fru&s;trated. He that is the faithful witne&s;&s;e hath &s;aid it, <HI>that without holine&s;s no man &s;hall &s;ee the Lord. And verily, heaven and earth &s;hall pa&s;s away before one jot or one tittle</HI> (that is, before the lea&s;t letter or particle of a letter) <HI>of Gods ble&s;&s;ed word &s;hall pa&s;s unfulfil|led.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 5.18.</NOTE> <HI>Gods faithfulne&s;&s;e is great.</HI> Lam. 3.23. <HI>It reaches unto the clouds,</HI> P&s;alm 36.5. <HI>He will not &s;uffer his faithful|ne&s;&s;e to fail,</HI> P&s;alm 89.33. <HI>His faithfulne&s;&s;e endures through all Generations,</HI> P&s;alm 119.90. God will never &s;uffer his faithfulne&s;&s;e to be &s;tained or blotted, and therefore he will undoubtedly make good the word that is gone out of his mouth. I had rather &s;aid <HI>Plutarch,</HI> that men &s;hould &s;ay
<PB N="63" REF="62"> there was never any &s;uch per&s;on in the world as <HI>Plutarch,</HI> then that they &s;hould &s;ay <HI>Plutarch</HI> is unfaithfull. A man were better &s;ay there is no God, then &s;ay that God is unfaithful; a noble &s;pirit can better bear any charge, then that of being unfaithfull; and &s;o can a faithfull God.</P>
<P>Secondly, Becau&s;e real holine&s;&s;e is that great principle <MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="Rea&s;on"> that fits and capacitates &s;ouls for communion with God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The glory of glory con|&s;i&s;ts in &s;eeing of God. 1 Cor. 13:12. 1 John 3.2. as the hell of hell lyes in the &s;ouls everla&s;ting &s;eparation from God.</NOTE> and for a ble&s;&s;ed &s;ight and fruition of God, Matth. 5.8. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are the pure in heart, for they &s;hall &s;ee God.</HI> With|out a principle of purity, of &s;anctity, there is no vi&s;ion of God in glory: If a man be never &s;o poor, yet if his heart be pure, God will make a hou&s;e of his heart, wherein his honour will delight to dwell; let a mans out&s;ide be ne|ver &s;o homely, yet if his in&s;ide be but cleanly, God will make it his own habitation. God is for that man, and that man is for God, that carries about with him a pure heart. Heart-purity makes a man a darling of heaven. Many affect pure language, pure hou&s;es, pure habits, pure hands, pure air, pure meat, pure drink, pure ge&s;tures, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> who yet for want of heart-purity &s;hall never &s;ee the face of God in glory. Heart-purity &s;peaks a man eternally hap|py. Holine&s;&s;e is that noble principle that fits a man for the happie&s;t &s;ight of God: it makes a man a meet compa|nion for God both here and herafter; without this prin|ciple no man can have communion with God in this world, much le&s;&s;e can he have communion with God in heaven, if this precious principle of holine&s;&s;e be not &s;eated in his heart; it will not &s;tand with the holine&s;&s;e of God, to have any thing to do with tho&s;e that have no principles of holine&s;s in them: It is a principle of holine&s;&s;e that fits a man for the &s;ervice of God, that fits a man for fel|low&s;hip with God, that fits a man for walking with God, that fits a man for corre&s;pondency with God, and that fits a man for the delight of God, and that fits a man for an everla&s;ting fruition of God. And therefore certainly without holine&s;&s;e there is no happine&s;&s;e; without a prin|ciple of purity there can be no &s;eeing of the face of God in glory.</P>
<PB N="64" REF="63">
<P> <MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="Rea&s;on"> A third Rea&s;on why <HI>Without real holine&s;s there is no happi|ne&s;&s;e, &amp;c.</HI> is this, becau&s;e heaven is a holy place, and there|fore no unholy &s;ouls can enter there: it is called the <HI>high and holy place, I&s;a.</HI> 57.15. the inheritance of the Saints in heaven is an <HI>inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled.</HI> 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.4. Holine&s;&s;e dwells in heaven, 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3.13. as a man dwells in his hou&s;e. Heaven is the hou&s;e of Gods holine&s;&s;e, and therefore certainly without holine&s;&s;e there is no entring into that hou&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 26.34. P&s;alm 78.69. Hebrews 9.8. Chap. 12.24.</NOTE> <HI>Rev.</HI> 21.27. The Holy of Holies in the Temple was a Type of heaven. And as none might enter into the Holy of holies that were unholy; &s;o none can enter into heaven, which is the true Holy of holies, but tho&s;e that are holy. Heaven was &s;o holy, that it ca&s;t out the Angels when they fell from their holine&s;&s;e: Paradi&s;e was a Type of heaven, and no &s;ooner did <HI>Adam</HI> lo&s;e his holine&s;&s;e, but he was &s;hut out of Paradi&s;e. Hea|ven is a City of holine&s;&s;e, and none can enter into that City but &s;uch as are holy, <HI>Rev.</HI> 22.14. Heaven is &s;o holy that it would groan to bare one unholy &s;oul. Well, heaven is a holy place, and the inhabitants are all holy, and the work of heaven is holy, and what then &s;hould un|holy &s;ouls do there?</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="Rea&s;on"> A fourth Rea&s;on why <HI>Without real holine&s;s there is no hap|pine&s;&s;e,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Coelum e&s;t altera gehenna damnatorum.</HI> Heaven is another hell to the damned, &s;aid One. I&s;a. 66.3, 4.</NOTE> <HI>&amp;c.</HI> is this, Becau&s;e unholy per&s;ons have no hearts to go to heaven: though now and then they may talk of heaven, and now and then lift up their eyes and hands to hea|ven, and now and then expre&s;&s;e a few cold wi&s;hes, and lazy de&s;ires after heaven; it is no difficult thing to demon|&s;trate that in good earne&s;t they have no heart to go to heaven! For Fir&s;t, How often hath God &s;et life and death, heaven and hell before them, and they have cho&s;en death rather then life, and hell rather then heaven. 2. Do you <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hink that that man hath any heart to heaven, that will not &s;o much as part with a lu&s;t for heaven?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 13.33, 34.</NOTE> 3. Will you &s;ay that that man hath a heart to go to heaven, that hath not &s;o much as a hand to lay hold on the opportunities of grace that might bring him to heaven! 4. Will you &s;ay that that man hath a heart to go to heaven, that
<PB N="65" REF="63"> daily hardens his heart again&s;t him who is the way to heaven. 5.<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 14.6. I&s;a 63.10.</NOTE> Will you &s;ay that that man hath a heart to go to heaven, who is &s;till a grieving, vexing, and quench|ing that &s;pirit of holine&s;&s;e that can only fit, frame and form him for heaven! 6. Will you &s;ay that that man hath a heart to go to heaven, that rarely &s;pends a &s;erious thought of heaven, and that lives in this world as if there were no heaven! 7. Will you &s;ay that that man hath a heart to go to heaven who&s;e &s;infull cour&s;es &s;peak him out to be one of tho&s;e who have made a covenant with death,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 18.15, 18.</NOTE> and an agreement with hell! 8. Do you think that that man hath a heart to go to heaven,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 3.8. 1 Cor. 4.9, 10.</NOTE> that dete&s;ts tho&s;e mo&s;t that are the be&s;t woers for heaven! 9. Do you think that that man hath any heart to go to heaven, who can take no plea&s;ure nor delight in tho&s;e that are travailing to|wards heaven! 10. Will you &s;ay that that man hath a heart to go to heaven, that will do nothing affectionately for heaven; that will not hear for heaven, nor pray for heaven, nor trade for heaven, nor look for heaven, nor long for heaven, nor &s;trive for heaven,<NOTE PLACE="marg">No man ever went to hea|ven &s;leeping.</NOTE> nor wait for hea|ven! The heart commands all, it carries all; if the heart were bent for heaven, the head would contrive for hea|ven, the eye would look out for heaven, and the ear would hear for heaven, and the tongue would &s;peak for heaven, and the foot would walk towards heaven, and the hand would do for heaven. By all which it is mo&s;t evident that unholy per&s;ons are not cordially willing to go to heaven: it is mo&s;t certain, that unholy per&s;ons have no &s;uch great mind to go to heaven; as &s;ome imagine when <HI>Dives</HI> was in hell, his de&s;ire was not to be with <HI>Abra|ham</HI> in heaven,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 16.24, 27, 28, 29.</NOTE> but that <HI>Lazarus</HI> might come and give him a little ea&s;e in hell: he preferred a little ea&s;e in hell before his being with <HI>Abraham</HI> in heaven. Neither did he de&s;ire, that his five brethren might go to heaven, but that they might be kept out of hell; and that not out of love to them, but out of love to him&s;elf, he knowing that their company would be no &s;mall increa&s;e of his own torments. Heauen would be a very hell to an unholy
<PB N="66" REF="64"> heart. If now the pre&s;ence of God in his &s;ervants, and the pre&s;ence of God in his Ordinances be &s;uch a hell to unholy &s;ouls: Ah what a hell would the pre&s;ence of God in heaven be to unholy hearts! It is true, an unholy heart may de&s;ire heaven as it is a place of freedom from troubles, afflictions, oppre&s;&s;ions, vexations, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and as it is a place of peace, re&s;t, ea&s;e, &s;afety, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but this is the lea&s;t and lowe&s;t part of heaven; but to de&s;ire it as it is a place of purity, of grace, of holine&s;&s;e, of enjoying of God, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> is above the reach of an unholy heart. The company of heaven are all holy, the imployments of hea|ven are all holy, and the enjoyments of heaven are all holy, and therefore heaven cannot but be an unde&s;ire|able thing to unholy hearts. An unholy heart is no ways de&s;irous nor ambitious of &s;uch a heaven as will rid him of his darling &s;ins, as will make him conformable to a holy God, as will everla&s;tingly divorce him from his old companions, and link him for ever to tho&s;e gratious &s;ouls that he hath &s;corned, de&s;pi&s;ed and per&s;ecuted in this world. <HI>Ergo, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="5" UNIT="Rea&s;on"> Fifthly and La&s;tly, Becau&s;e without real holine&s;&s;e men are good for nothing, they are fit for nothing; without holine&s;&s;e men are neither good for Church nor State, they are neither fit to Rule, nor to be ruled; to command, nor to be commanded; to guide, nor to be guided, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Men void of holine&s;&s;e are in the Scripture re&s;embled to chaff,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 1.4. I&s;a. 41.2. Zeph. 1.17. Ezekiel 2.6. I&s;a. 9.18. Ch. 10.6.17. Chap. 57.27.</NOTE> to du&s;t, to dirt, to briars and thorns, which are things that are good for nothing, that are fit for nothing. And what &s;hould &s;uch men do in heaven, who are good for nothing on earth! The Hor&s;e is good to carry, the Ox is good to draw, the Sheep is good for cloth, the Cow is good to give milk, the A&s;&s;e is good to bear, and the Dog is good to keep the hou&s;e; but what is a man void of holi|ne&s;&s;e good for? An unholy per&s;on is good for nothing but to be de&s;troyed, and to make &s;ome room for a better per&s;on to &s;tand up in that place which he takes up in the world: As the Hogg in the Arabick fable tells us that a Butcher carrying three creatures upon his Hor&s;e, A Sheep, a
<PB N="67" REF="64"> Goat and a Hog, the two former lay very quiet and &s;till, but the Hog kicked and cried and would never be quiet: thereup|on the Butcher &s;aid, Why are thou &s;o impatient when the other two are &s;o quiet? the Hog an&s;wered, Every one knows him&s;elf; the Sheep knows that he is brought into the Ci|ty for his wool &s;ake, and the Goat knows that he is brought into the City for his milk &s;ake, and &s;o they need not fear nor care; but ala&s;&s;e I know very well, that I have neither wool nor milk, but that a&s;&s;oon as I am come into the City I mu&s;t be killed, for that is all I am good for.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 7.6.</NOTE> An unho|ly &s;oul is like a Hog, good for nothing but to be killed. Certainly, heaven-happine&s;&s;e is too great and too glorious a thing to be po&s;&s;e&s;t by them that are good for nothing. We look upon &s;uch as are fit for nothing, to be worthy of bani&s;hment from the &s;ociety of men: But oh how much more worthy are they to be bani&s;hed from the pre&s;ence of the Lord, and the glory of his power,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 The&s;&s;. 1.8 9. Heb. 12.22, 23. Romans 2.5.</NOTE> and to be &s;hut out for ever from the &s;ociety of Angels, and the &s;pirits of ju&s;t men made perfect, who are fit for nothing but to di&s;|honour the Lord, undo their own &s;ouls, and to trea&s;ure up wrath again&s;t the day of wrath! And thus I have given you an account of the Rea&s;ons of the Point.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="uses">
<HEAD>&V;&s;e.</HEAD>
<P>VVEE &s;hall now come to make &s;ome improvement of this great truth to our own &s;ouls. Is it &s;o, <HI>That real holine&s;&s;e is the only way to happine&s;&s;e, and that without holine&s;&s;e here, no man &s;hall ever come to a ble&s;&s;ed vi&s;ion or fruition of God hereafter?</HI> Then the fir&s;t U&s;e &s;hall be a U&s;e of Conviction. This then may &s;erve to convince the world of &s;everal things: As</P>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="application">
<P>Fir&s;t, That the number of tho&s;e that &s;hall be eternally happy, the number of tho&s;e that &s;hall attain to a ble&s;&s;ed <MILESTONE N="1"> vi&s;ion and glorious fruition of God in heaven are very few: for there are but a few that reach to this holine&s;&s;e without which there is no happine&s;&s;e, <HI>Rev.</HI> 3.4. <HI>Thou ha&s;t
<PB N="68" REF="65"> a few names,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">A few names, that is, a few per&s;ons, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">cts 1.15. who are all known to Chri&s;t by name; as he &s;aid to <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> I know thee by name, Ex. 33 12, 17. by the&s;e Scrip|tures it is evident that few &s;hall be &s;aved, Jer. 5.1. Ezek. 22.30. Ch. 9.4, 6, 7. Mich. 1.13. Luke 23. Rom. 9.21. Matth. 22.14. 1 Cor. 1.20.</NOTE> even in Sardis, <HI>which have not defiled their garments, and they &s;hall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.</HI> Among the many in <HI>Sardis</HI> there were but a few that had holy in&s;ides and pure out&s;ides: Among the multitude that made a holy profe&s;&s;ion, there were but few that walkt an&s;werable to their holy calling: and there|fore but a few that &s;hould walk with Chri&s;t in white. White in antient times was the Habit of Nobles: to walk with Chri&s;t in white, is to partake with Chri&s;t in his glory, they and only they at la&s;t &s;hall be cloathed nobly, royally, glo|riou&s;ly, who maintain inward and outward purity. The holy &s;eed is a <HI>little little flock, Luke</HI> 12.32. here are two Diminitives in the Greek <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>little little flock;</HI> to &s;hew the exceeding littlene&s;s of it. They were little in their own eyes, and little in their enemies eyes, and little in regard of that world of Wolves among whom they were pre&s;erved as a &s;park of fire in the mid&s;t of the wide Ocean. When the <HI>Syrians</HI> came up again&s;t <HI>I&s;rael</HI> in the time of <HI>Ahab,</HI> it is &s;aid that <HI>the children of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>pitched before them like two little flocks of Kids, but the</HI> Syrians <HI>filled the countrey,</HI> 1 <HI>Kings</HI> 20.27. holy &s;ouls are but like two little flocks of kids; but the unholy fill the world: Gracious &s;ouls are like the three hundred men of <HI>Gideon:</HI> but gracele&s;s &s;ouls are as the Midianites that were like Gra&s;hoppers for multitude, Judges 7.7.12. <HI>Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads unto life, and few there be that find it, Matth.</HI> 7.14. The way of holine&s;s that leads to happine&s;s, is a narrow way; there is but ju&s;t room enough for a holy God and a holy &s;oul to walk together. <HI>And few there be that find it;</HI> And no wonder: for there are but few that minds it, that loves it, that likes it, or that en|quires after it. <HI>The whole world lies in wickedne&s;s,</HI> 1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 5.19. and will die in their wickedne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Among&s;t the millions in <HI>Rome,</HI> there are but a few Senators, and they too none of the be&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>John</HI> 8.21. Geographers &s;ay, that if all the known parts of the world were divided into one and thirty parts, there will be found but five parts that do &s;o much as profe&s;s the knowledge of our Lord Je|&s;us Chri&s;t; For at this day nineteen parts of the world are po&s;&s;e&s;t by unholy Turks and Jews, which do not, nor will not
<PB N="69" REF="65"> &s;o much as acknowledge Je&s;us Chri&s;t to be the King and Head of his Church. And &s;even parts of the world is po&s;&s;e&s;t this day meerly by Heathens who wor&s;hip &s;tocks and &s;tones. And of tho&s;e five parts that are po&s;&s;e&s;t by Chri&s;tians, how many are Papi&s;ts, Athei&s;ts, Hypocrites, Drunkards, Swearers, Lyars, Adulterers, Idolaters, Oppre&s;|&s;ors? How many are proud, covetous, carnal, formal, lukewarm, indifferent, <HI>&amp;c!</HI> Now &s;hould all the&s;e &s;orts of &s;inners be &s;eparated (as they &s;hall in the great day) from tho&s;e that are gracious and holy, would it not quickly appear, that the flock of Chri&s;t is a little little flock! Ah how few among the great ones are found to be gracious! How few among the rich are found to be rich in Chri&s;t, rich in grace, rich in good works!<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 1.16. 1 Tim. 6.16, 17. <HI>Flavus Vopi&s;|cus. Lip&s;. de Con&s;tantia, lib.</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 25.</NOTE> how few among tho&s;e that are high born, can you find that are new born? It was the &s;aying of One, that all the names of good Emperours might be engraven in a little Ring. And &s;o &s;aith <HI>Lip&s;ius,</HI> that the names of all good Princes may ea&s;ily be written in a &s;mall Ring. I have read of godly Mr. <HI>Buchanan</HI> that was King <HI>James</HI> his Tutor, who lying upon his dying bed, de&s;ired a Noble man then with him to tell the King, that his old Ma&s;ter <HI>Buchanan</HI> was going to a place where few Kings come. (Kings are as rare meat in heaven, as veni&s;on is in poor mens kitchins, &s;aith the Dutch Proverb.) And how few among the wi&s;e can you find that are wi&s;e for heaven, that are wi&s;e for their &s;ouls, that are wi&s;e for eternity. And how few among the learned, can you find that have learned Chri&s;t, and learned their own hearts, and learned to deny them&s;elves, and learned to &s;ave their own &s;ouls and others! By all which it is mo&s;t evident that few are holy, and that few &s;hall be happy. But,</P>
<P>Secondly, and more particularly, Is it &s;o that real holi|ne&s;s <MILESTONE N="2"> is the only way to happine&s;s: and that without holine&s;s here no man &s;hall ever come to a ble&s;&s;ed vi&s;ion or fruition of God hereafter? Then this may &s;erve to convince &s;everal &s;orts of per&s;ons of their wofull and mi&s;erable conditions. As,</P>
<PB N="70" REF="66">
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, All prophane per&s;ons who give up them&s;elves to wickedne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 21.14. 2 Pet. 2.20. ult. I&s;a. 66.3. Ephe&s;. 4.19. I&s;aiah 5.19. Ierem. 9.5.</NOTE> who wallow in all ungodline&s;s, and delight them&s;elves in all manner of filthine&s;s, who commit wick|edne&s;s with greedine&s;s; who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and &s;in as it were with a cart-rope; who wea|ry them&s;elves to commit iniquity; who are &s;o de&s;perate|ly &s;et upon wickedne&s;s, that neither the rod of God, the la&s;hes and checks of their own con&s;ciences, nor the fla&s;hes of hell upon their &s;ouls can reduce them, who are re&s;ol|ved that they will gratifie their lu&s;ts, though they damn their &s;ouls; and who will live wickedly, though they peri&s;h eternally: Who by cu&s;tom in &s;in, have de&s;troyed all con&s;cience of &s;in, and contracted &s;uch de&s;perate hard|ne&s;s upon their own hearts, as neither &s;miles nor frowns, promi&s;es, nor threatnings, life nor death, heaven nor hell, mini&s;tery nor mi&s;ery, miracle nor mercy can po&s;&s;ibly molli|fie them; the&s;e are grown from naught, to be very naught; from very naught, to be &s;tark naught; the&s;e &s;ouls are &s;adly left of God, and wofully blinded by Satan, and fully ripened for ruine. Now if without holine&s;s no man &s;hall &s;ee the Lord, what will become of all prophane wretches, who are &s;o far from being holy, that they fall &s;hort of common hone&s;ty? Certainly God will &s;hut the gates of glory upon &s;uch workers of iniquity. Such prophane <HI>E&s;aus</HI> &s;hall never be ble&s;t with a &s;ight of God in glory.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 7.22.</NOTE> A wicked man is a &s;in lover; he is a &s;in maker, he lives in &s;in upon choice;<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 11.5. 1 John 3.8.</NOTE> the Hebrew word that is commonly u&s;ed for a wicked man <GAP DESC="foreign"> properly &s;ignifies a laborious &s;inner, a practitioner in &s;in; now &s;uch as the&s;e are, God will have nothing to do with, Job 8.20. <HI>Behold God will not ca&s;t away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers,</HI> or rather as the Hebrew carries it, he will not take the ungodly by the hand: that is, he will not have any fellow&s;hip, any &s;ociety, any familiarity with the ungodly: the holy God will not &s;o much as take an un|unholy &s;oul by the hand; he will not in the lea&s;t counte|nance him nor re&s;pect him; he will not welcome him nor entertain him, nor &s;hew the lea&s;t favour to him. Now
<PB N="71" REF="66"> certainly if God will not take the wicked by the hand, he will never take them into heaven, he will never take them into his bo&s;ome. God will have no commerce nor communion with tho&s;e to whom he will not &s;o much as lend a hand. God will wa&s;h his hands of them for ever, to whom he will not give a hand. Which made <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;ay, that he would not be a wicked man one half hour for all the world, becau&s;e he might die in that half hour. God will wa&s;h his hands of every man that lives and dies a wicked man, <HI>Mat</HI> 25.11.12. The hearts and ways of wicked menare full of hells: and therefore to fill heaven with &s;uch, would be to fill heaven with hells.</P>
<P>Secondly, This truth may &s;erve to convince tho&s;e that <MILESTONE N="2"> are &s;coffers and mockers at holine&s;s of their wofull and mi&s;erable e&s;tate. Holine&s;s is &s;o high, and &s;o noble a thing,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 3.3. Jude 18.</NOTE> that men &s;hould rather honour it, then deride it; reverence it, then reproach it: they &s;hould rather &s;et a crown of glory, then a crown of thorns upon the head of it. Holi|ne&s;s is the glorious Image of God fairly &s;tampt upon the foul; and to deride holine&s;s, is to deride God him&s;elf: God takes all the affronts that are done to his Image: as done to him&s;elf: and this &s;coffers &s;hall know at la&s;t to their eternal wo.<NOTE PLACE="marg">As <HI>Suetonius</HI> reports it was.</NOTE> If it was &s;uch a hainous crime in <HI>Tiberius</HI> his dayes to carry the Image of <HI>Augu&s;tus</HI> upon a Ring or Coin into any &s;ordid place; Ah how hainous a crime is it then to ca&s;t dirt and filth, &s;corn and reproach upun holine&s;s, which is the Image of the invi&s;ible God! The de&s;pite and contempt that is done to the Image or coin of a Prince is done to the Prince him&s;elf; and accordingly he will re|venge it. In old <HI>Rome</HI> there were near as many Statues as there were living people; and &s;ome were made of Gold, &s;ome of Silver, &s;ome of Bra&s;s, &s;ome of Ivory, and &s;ome of po|li&s;hed Marble: And there was an Earl appointed who&s;e office it was continually to walk up and down in the night attended with many &s;ouldiers to &s;ee that none did wrong the Statues of tho&s;e that were &s;et up in the City,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lip&s;ius de Mag. Rom. Imperii.</NOTE> and if any &s;uch were found that had done wrong to any of the Statues, they were put to death. Holine&s;s is the Statue of God, and &s;uch as &s;hall dare to deface it and wrong it,
<PB N="72" REF="67"> God will de&s;troy:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 9 22.25. Ch 21.9.15. The Apo&s;tle interprets <HI>I&s;maels</HI> mock|ing to be per&s;ecution. Gal. 4, 27. 2 Kings 2.23, 24. 2 Chr. 30.10. Ch. 36.15.21. 2 Kings 19.20. ult.</NOTE> The old world &s;cofft and &s;cornd at righ|teou&s;ne&s;s, and God &s;weeps them away with a flood. <HI>Cham</HI> mock't and &s;coff't at Righteous <HI>Noah;</HI> and what did he get by it, but a cur&s;e? <HI>I&s;mael</HI> &s;coff't at holy <HI>I&s;aac;</HI> and what did he get by his &s;coffing and mocking but ejecti|on out of <HI>Abrahams</HI> family? And what became of tho&s;e two and forty young &s;coffers that &s;coffed and mocked at holy <HI>Eli&s;ha?</HI> were they not cur&s;ed in the name of the Lord, and torn in pieces by two She bears, which were more fierce and cruel then others? The Jews were much given up to &s;coffing and mocking of the me&s;&s;engers of the Lord, till there was no remedy: till old and young were de&s;troyed by the &s;word of the <HI>Caldees:</HI> till their Temple and City were fired and &s;acked, and thirty of them &s;old for a pen|ny: <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and tho&s;e that e&s;caped the &s;word, were capti|vated and en&s;laved. <HI>Senacherib</HI> &s;coffed and mocked at the Virgin d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ughter of <HI>Sion,</HI> but his &s;coffs i&s;&s;ued in the de&s;truction of his Army by the hand of an Angel; and in his own, by the hands of his two Sons. <HI>Julian</HI> the Emperour was a great mocker and &s;coffer at the Chri&s;tians, but God &s;truck him with an Arrow from heaven, which made him cry out <HI>Vici&s;ti Galilee,</HI> thou Galilean (meaning our Lord Je&s;us) ha&s;t overcome me. <HI>Felix</HI> for one malicious &s;coff did nothing day and night but vomit blood till his unhappy &s;oul was &s;eparated from his wretched body. <HI>Lucian</HI> for barking again&s;t religion as a dog, was by the ju&s;t judge|ments of God devoured of dogs. Hi&s;tory tells us of &s;ome &s;coffers that God hath &s;tricken with madne&s;s: Others with blindne&s;s: others with loath&s;ome di&s;ea&s;es: and &s;ome God hath &s;tricken dead: and others he hath left to be their own Executioners. Scoffing at holine&s;s is a Metro|politan &s;in; and therefore no wonder if God executes upon &s;coffers Metropolitan judgements. Mockers and &s;coffers are the wor&s;t of &s;inners. Among the three &s;orts of &s;in|ners that <HI>David</HI> mentions, Scorners have the chair. The chair of Pe&s;tilence, as the Septuagint tran&s;lateth it. Scorners are the pe&s;ts of mankind.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;alm 1.1.</HI> In Cathedra pe&s;t lentiae.</NOTE> The eye of the Scorn|er is blinded; the heart of the &s;corner is hardned; the
<PB N="73" REF="67"> judgement of the &s;corner is perverted: the will of the &s;corner is enthralled: and the con&s;cience of the &s;corner is &s;eared, and this makes the &s;corner fall mad upon &s;cof|fing at holy men and holy things. Look as they are the wor&s;t of &s;ervants that will &s;coff and mock a child in the family, becau&s;e he is his Fathers picture (though they take wages of his Father, and live by his Father) &s;o they are the wor&s;t of &s;inners who &s;coff at holine&s;s which is the very picture of God, though they live by him, and cannot live without him: Yet this world is full of &s;uch mon&s;ters who count it a grace to di&s;grace holine&s;s, and to lade holy ones with all the names of &s;corn and contempt that they can invent, or that Satan can help them to: The&s;e are your holy brethren, the&s;e are Phanaticks, the&s;e are your holy Sect, the&s;e are your pure &s;ouls, the&s;e are your &s;trict Pre|cifians, the&s;e are the Saints for&s;ooth, the&s;e are the brother|hood! <HI>Era&s;mus</HI> &s;aith, that that Proverb, A young Saint, and an old devil, was devi&s;ed by the Devil him&s;elf to &s;coff and mock men out of their holine&s;s. It hath been the common portion of men mo&s;t eminent in grace and holi|ne&s;s, to be mo&s;t &s;cofft and &s;corned in all Ages:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Iob 17.2. Nehem. 4.1. I&s;aiah 28.22. Luke 18.32.</NOTE> witne&s;s <HI>Noah, I&s;aac</HI> and <HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> but now cited: and witne&s;s <HI>Job,</HI> Chap. 21.3. <HI>Suffer me that I may &s;peak, and after that I have &s;poken mock on.</HI> Chap. 12.4. <HI>I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he an&s;wereth him: the ju&s;t upright man is laughed to &s;corn.</HI> So <HI>David,</HI> P&s;alm 35.16. <HI>With hypocritical mockers in fea&s;ts, they gna&s;hed upon me with their teeth,</HI> P&s;alm 44.14. <HI>Thou make&s;t us a by-word among the Heathen.</HI> P&s;alm 79.4. <HI>We are be|come a reproach, and deri&s;ion to them who are round about us.</HI> P&s;alm 109.25. <HI>I am become a reproach to them; when they looked upon me, they &s;haked their heads.</HI> So I&s;a. 8.18. <HI>Be|hold I and the children that the Lord hath given me, are for &s;igns, and for wonders in</HI> I&s;rael. So Jeremiah, Chap. 20.7. <HI>I am in deri&s;ion daily, every one mocketh me.</HI> So Paul, Acts 17.18. <HI>What will this babler &s;ay?</HI> So the Apo&s;tles, Acts 2.13. <HI>Others mocking, &s;aid, The&s;e men are full of new wine.</HI> So tho&s;e <HI>Worthies of whom this world was not worthy,</HI> Heb.
<PB N="74" REF="68"> 11.36.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 26.68. Ch. 27 29, 31. Luke 22 63. Chap. 23.11. Mark 15 31. Yea, the Phi|lo&s;ophers cal|led Chri&s;t a Magician, and affirmed that he did all by Necromancy. <HI>Calv. Jn&s;t. Adver&s;. Libert. c.</HI> 9.</NOTE> <HI>Others had tryal of cruel mockings.</HI> But above all, how &s;adly, how frequently, yea, how fearfully was our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;coffed and &s;corned by <HI>Herod</HI> and <HI>Pilate,</HI> and flouted by the ra&s;cally &s;ouldiers? but the vengeance of his Father overtook them all. And in the Primitive times as <HI>Tertullian</HI> ob&s;erves, the Saints were called, heards of A&s;&s;es, vile fellows, the Di&s;ciples of a man crucified: <HI>Galileans, Nazarites;</HI> Eaters of mens fle&s;h, and drinkers of mens blood. The Heathens (as the &s;ame Author ob|&s;erves) painted the God of the Chri&s;tians with an A&s;&s;es head, and a book in his hand; to &s;ignifie that though the Chri&s;tians pretended to knowledge, yet they were a company of &s;illy ignorant A&s;&s;es. The Libertines of old have ca&s;t much &s;corn and contempt upon all the Apo&s;tles: they call <HI>Mat|thew</HI> an U&s;urer,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lam 3.45. 1 Cor. 4 45. Lam 2.15, 16. Ch. 4 2. vide.</NOTE> <HI>Peter</HI> an Apo&s;tate, <HI>Luke</HI> a pelting Phy&s;itian, <HI>Paul</HI> a broken ve&s;&s;el, and <HI>John</HI> a fooli&s;h young man, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> by way of &s;corn and contempt: <HI>Athana&s;ius</HI> was called <HI>Sa|thana&s;ius,</HI> and <HI>Cyprian</HI> was called <HI>Coprian,</HI> one that gathers up dung: and &s;o <HI>Luther, Calvin,</HI> and almo&s;t every one that hath attained to any eminency in holine&s;s, they have been commonly accounted as the off-&s;couring and refu&s;e among the people. Now certainly, if holine&s;s be the on|ly way to happine&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> then &s;uch as are &s;corners and &s;coffers at holine&s;s; are out of the very way to happine&s;s: and how &s;uch are like to come to heaven, that &s;corn the very path that leads to heaven, I &s;hall leave you to judge. If the Ravens of the valley &s;hall pick out his eyes that mocketh his Father, and the young Eagles eat out his eyes that de&s;pi&s;eth the in&s;truction of his Mother,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 30.17. The fir&s;t thing that Eagles do when they have found a carka&s;s, is to pick out its eyes.</NOTE> (as <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;peaks) then of how much &s;orer puni&s;hment are they guilty off, who mock and &s;coff at holine&s;s which is the very Image, picture and glory of God him&s;elf! holine&s;s is &s;o near akin to God, that no man can deride holi|ne&s;s, but he derides God him&s;elf. As he <HI>that mocks the poor, derides him that made him,</HI> Prov. 17.5. &s;o he that mocks holy ones, derides that God that made them holy. And will God take this at the &s;corners hands? no, he will reta|liate: he loves to retaliate &s;corn upon the &s;corner,
<PB N="75" REF="68"> <HI>Proverbs</HI> 3.34. <HI>Surely he &s;corneth the &s;corners:</HI> God will pay home &s;corners in their own coyn, &s;corners &s;hall be &s;ure to have &s;corning enough.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 1.24. ult. P&s;alm 2.4. I&s;a. 37.36.</NOTE> God &s;o &s;corns the per|&s;ons and prayers of &s;corners, that he will have nothing to do with them. The Angels &s;o &s;corn &s;corners, that in&s;tead of being a life-guard to them; they &s;tand ready pre&s;t to ex|ecute the vengeance of heaven upon them. And Saints are &s;o far to &s;corn them (by a divine precept) as not to reprove them, Prov. 9.8. <HI>Reprove not a &s;corner le&s;t he hate thee.</HI> Yea, God in his ju&s;t judgements will make &s;corners to be an abomination to all &s;orts of men, <HI>Prov.</HI> 24.9. <HI>The &s;corner is an abomination to men;</HI> that is, to all &s;orts of men: the &s;corner is an abomination not only to holy men, but al&s;o to all ingenious men, and to all civil and mo|ral hone&s;t men. As the &s;corners tongue and hand is again&s;t every man, &s;o every mans tongue and hand &s;hall be again&s;t him. Now if the &s;corners of men be abominable to men, then much more are the &s;corners of holine&s;s abominable to God: and therefore certainly, &s;uch &s;hall be &s;hut out from a glorious fruition of God.</P>
<P>Thirdly, If real holine&s;s be the only way to happine&s;s, <MILESTONE N="3"> and that if men be not holy on earth, they &s;hall never come to a ble&s;&s;ed vi&s;ion or fruition of God in heaven: Then by way of conviction, this looks &s;owerly and &s;adly upon all Formali&s;ts who have only a form, a &s;hew, a profe&s;&s;ion of holine&s;s, but have nothing of the reality, &s;pirit, life, or power of holine&s;s in them. 2 Tim. 3.5.<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 58.1.2, 3. Zach. 7.4.5, 6.</NOTE> <HI>Having a form of godline&s;s, but denying the power thereof, from &s;uch turn away.</HI> They have (<GAP DESC="foreign">) a face, a vizard, a mask, a &s;hew of godline&s;s, but they have nothing of the pith, &s;ap, life, or marrow of godline&s;s: their devotion, their godline&s;s lies in good words, and in fair &s;hews, and in religious ge&s;tures; if you hearken to their voice, if you look upon their eyes, if you ob&s;erve the motion of their hands, and the bowing of their knees, and the &s;haking of their heads, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> you would think that they were men of much religion, of much godline&s;s. But if you look into their hearts and lives, you will find them to be the
<PB N="76" REF="69"> greate&s;t renouncers and denyers of Religion and godli|line&s;s in the world. They have the &s;emblance of goline&s;s, but not the &s;ub&s;tance; they have the lineaments of god|line&s;s, but not the life: they have the face of godline&s;s, but not the heart: they have the form, the &s;hadow of godline&s;s, but not the power. They are like a well drawn picture which hath all the lineaments of a man, but wants life, wants a principle of motion and operation. Mark 1.<NOTE PLACE="marg">A form of godline&s;s is <HI>Englands</HI> Epi|demical di&s;ea&s;e.</NOTE> The form of godline&s;s is common, but the power of godline&s;s is rare. 2. The form of godline&s;s is cheap, but the power of godline&s;s is dear. 3. The form of god|line&s;s is ea&s;ie, but the power of godline&s;s is difficult. 4. The form of godline&s;s is a credit, but the power of godline&s;s is a reproach. 5. The form of godline&s;s is plea&s;urable and delightfull, but the power of godline&s;s is di&s;plea&s;ing and undelightful (to the ignoble part of a Chri&s;tian.) 6. The form of godline&s;s will &s;tand with &s;ecret and with open wickedne&s;&s;e (as you &s;ee in <HI>Saul,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Peter 1.17. Jer. 44.17.</NOTE> <HI>Jehu, Judas, Simon Magus, Demas,</HI> and the Scribes and Phari&s;ees) but the power of godline&s;s will not; the power of godline&s;s layes the Ax to the very root of all &s;in, both &s;ecret and open. <HI>Rachel</HI> was very fair and beautifull to the eye, but &s;he was barren, and that marred all. So the Formali&s;t, he is a very fair and beautifull Chri&s;tian to the eye, but he is barren God-wards, and Chri&s;t-wards, and Heaven-wards: he is fruitle&s;s, &s;aple&s;s, and lifele&s;s, and that marrs all. The Formali&s;t takes up a form of godline&s;s, 1. To quiet his con&s;cience: 2. To get him&s;elf a name. 3. To cloak over his &s;ins. 4. To ad|vance his worldly intere&s;t: and 5. To avoid oppo&s;ition and per&s;ecution from the world, the fle&s;h, and the Devil. 6. And to conform to old cu&s;toms. And what &s;hould &s;uch Forma|li&s;ts do in heaven? A formal Chri&s;tian is but a figure, a flaunt, a flouri&s;h, a fla&s;h; and all he doth, is but the &s;ha|dow of what he &s;hould do. A formali&s;t is more light then life, more notion then motion, more head then heart, more out&s;ide then in&s;ide, more leaves then fruit, more &s;hadow then &s;ub&s;tance. A formali&s;t is a blazing Comet, a painted Tomb, a Stage-player, a white devil, or a devil in an An|gels
<PB N="77" REF="69"> habit, and what &s;hould &s;uch devils do in heaven? Cer|tainly, if without real holine&s;s no man &s;hall &s;ee the Lord; then the formali&s;t (that hath only the &s;hape, the &s;hew, the form of godline&s;s, but nothing of the reality and power of it) &s;hall never be ble&s;t with &s;uch a &s;ight: A formali&s;t is neither hot nor cold; of all &s;orts of &s;inners he is the wor&s;t, and God &s;o loaths him, that he is re&s;olved he will rid his &s;tomack of him, Rev. 3.16. <HI>I will &s;pue thee out of my mouth:</HI> and certainly, heaven is too holy a place to lick up that gorge God hath ca&s;t up. Lukewarm water cannot be &s;o loath&s;ome to our &s;tomacks, as a formali&s;t is to Gods. God is never at &s;uch ea&s;e, as when he hath ca&s;t up, and ca&s;t out the formal Chri&s;tian.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Magdenburge Cent. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> I have read of <HI>Ana&s;ta&s;ius</HI> the Empe|rour, how God &s;hot him to death with a thunder-bolt be|cau&s;e of his lukewarmne&s;s and formality. God hath a thun|der-boult for every formali&s;t, by which he will at la&s;t cer|tainly &s;trike them down to the lowe&s;t hell: A formali&s;t is too loath&s;ome a thing, too heavy a burden for heaven to bear.</P>
<P>Fourthly, If real holine&s;s be the only way to happine&s;s: <MILESTONE N="4"> if men mu&s;t be holy on earth, or el&s;e they &s;hall never &s;ee the face of God in heaven: Then this truth by way of conviction looks &s;owerly and &s;adly upon all tho&s;e who plea&s;e and &s;atisfie them&s;elves with civility and common hone&s;ty: who are good negative Chri&s;tians, who ble&s;s them|&s;elves that they are no &s;wearers, nor drunkards,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 18.10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Mat. 5.21. Chap. 19.20, 21, 22.</NOTE> nor ex|tortioners, nor adulterers, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> they pay every man his own, they are ju&s;t and righteous in their dealings; no man can &s;ay black is their eye; their carriage is civil, comely, harmle&s;s and blamele&s;&s;e. <HI>They make a fair &s;hew in the fle&s;h, Gal.</HI> 6.12. or as the Greek hath it, they &s;et a good face on it. But as good a face as they do &s;et on it, I mu&s;t crave leave to tell them that civility is not &s;anctity; civility re&s;ted in, is but a beautifull abomination, a &s;mooth way to hell and de|&s;truction. I may truly &s;ay of all civil men (who are di&s;|&s;titute of that real holine&s;s that leads to happine&s;s) what <HI>Era&s;mus</HI> &s;aid of <HI>Seneca,</HI> If you look upon him as a hea|then, then he &s;eemeth to write as if he were a Chri&s;tian;
<PB N="78" REF="70"> but if you look upon him as a Chri&s;tian, then he &s;eemeth to write as a heathen. So if you look upon many civil moral mens lives, you will find them &s;o full of ingenuity, equity, righteou&s;ne&s;s, &s;weetne&s;s and ju&s;tice, that you will be ready to &s;ay, Sure the&s;e are holy men. But then do but ob&s;erve how unacquainted they are with God, with Chri&s;t, with the Scripture, with the way and working of the &s;pirit, with the filthine&s;s of &s;in, with the depths and devices of Satan, with their own hearts, with the new|birth, and with the great concernments of eternity, and you will judge them to be meer heathens, to be men void of all principles of grace and holine&s;s; and to be meer &s;trangers to union and communion with Chri&s;t, and to the more &s;ecret and inward operations and workings of the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t, and to the mo&s;t &s;piritual duties and &s;ervices that are commanded by Chri&s;t. Civility is very often the nur&s;e of impiety,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 5.19, 20, Acts 7.54. Chap. 13.50. Ch. 17.17, 18. Romans 8.7.</NOTE> the mother of flattery, and an enemy to real &s;anctity: a high conceit of civility keeps many a man from looking after inward and outward purity: moral hone&s;ty proves to many men a bond of iniquity. There are tho&s;e who are &s;o blinded with the fair &s;hews of civi|lity, that they can neither &s;ee the nece&s;&s;ity, nor beauty of &s;anctity: there are tho&s;e that now ble&s;s them&s;elves in their common hone&s;ty, whom at la&s;t God will &s;corn and ca&s;t off for want of real holine&s;s and purity.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 25.3.11, 12. As <HI>Ari&s;tides,</HI> &s;o <HI>Socrates, Plato, Titus Ve&s;patian, Tul|ly,</HI> with multi|tudes of others among&s;t the <HI>Lacedemoni|ans, Grecians, Romans,</HI> &amp;c.</NOTE> Many of the Heathens were &s;o famous for ju&s;tice and righteou&s;ne&s;s, for equity, fidelity and &s;obriety, for civility and moral hone|&s;ty, that it would put many profe&s;&s;ors to the blu&s;h to read what is written of them: and yet there was &s;uch a tincture of popular applau&s;e, of pride and vain glory, of hypocri|&s;ie and &s;elf-flattery, upon their civility and moral hone&s;ty, that for any thing we can find in Scripture to the contrary, there is cau&s;e to fear that they &s;hall be mi&s;erable to all eter|nity: for all their civility and moral hone&s;ty, they were left in a damnable, I will not &s;ay in a damned condition: he that ri&s;es to no higher pitch then civility and moral hone|&s;ty, &s;hall never have communion with God in glory. <HI>Naa|man</HI> was a great man but a Leper,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 5.1:</NOTE> <HI>Naaman</HI> was an honou|rable
<PB N="63" REF="70"> man, but a Leper; <HI>Naaman</HI> was a mighty man, but a Leper; <HI>Naaman</HI> was a victorious man but a Leper; <HI>Naa|man</HI> was in high favour and e&s;teem with his Prince, but a Leper. This <HI>but he was a Leper,</HI> &s;tained all his honour, and was a blot upon all his greatne&s;s and glory, both at Court, and in the field; both in the City, and in the Countrey. So it is a &s;tain, a blot upon the mo&s;t moral hone&s;t man in the world to &s;ay, he is a very civil hone&s;t man, but Chri&s;tle&s;s: he is a very ju&s;t man, but gracele&s;s; he is a man of much moral righteou&s;ne&s;s, but he hath not a dram of real holine&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> This <HI>but</HI> is a fly in the box of ointment that &s;poils all. Well Sirs, remember this, though the moral hone&s;t man be good for many things, yet he is not good enough to go to heaven, he is not good enough to be made glorious, <HI>Mat.</HI> 5.20. Certainly, there is nothing in all the world below real &s;anctity, that will ever bring a man to the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of glory. And though it may grieve us (to &s;peak after the manner of men) to &s;ee &s;weet natures, to &s;ee many moral hone&s;t men take many a weary &s;tep towards heaven, and to come near to heaven, and to bid fair for heaven, and yet after all to fall &s;hort of heaven: yet it will be no way grievous to a holy God to turn &s;uch &s;weet natures into hell, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 9.17. moral hone&s;ty is not &s;ufficient to keep a man out of eternal mi|&s;ery; all it can do is to help a man to one of the be&s;t rooms and ea&s;ie&s;t beds that hell affords. For look as the moral mans &s;ins are not &s;o great as others, &s;o his puni&s;hments &s;hall not be &s;o great as others. This is all the comfort that can be afforded to a moral man, that he &s;hall have a cooler hell then others have: but this is but cold com|fort. Moral hone&s;ty without piety is as a body without a &s;oul, and will ever God accept of &s;uch a &s;tinking &s;acri|fice. Surely no.</P>
<P>Fifthly, If real holine&s;s be the only way to happine&s;s; if <MILESTONE N="5"> men mu&s;t be holy on earth, or el&s;e they &s;hall never come to a fruition of God in heaven; then this truth by way of conviction looks &s;owerly and &s;adly upon all Neuters, who divide their hearts between God and Mammon,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth 6.29.</NOTE> who halt
<PB N="80" REF="71"> between God and <HI>Baal,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Kings 18.21. Zeph. 1.5. 2 Kings 17.32, 33. Chap. 18.11. James 1.8. A double-&s;oul'd man. Matth. 19.16.26.</NOTE> who divide their &s;ouls between heaven and earth, between Religion and their lu&s;ts. Like the <HI>Samaritans,</HI> who both wor&s;hipped the Lord, and the <HI>A&s;&s;yrians</HI> Idols too. A Neuter is a mon&s;ter; he hath two tongues, two minds, and two &s;ouls: he hath a tongue for God, and a tongue for the world too; he looks up to God and &s;aith Certainly thou art mine; he looks down upon the world, and &s;aith Surely I am thine; He hath a mind to be religious, and a mind to &s;ave his own &s;take in the world too. He hath a &s;oul reaching after the happine&s;s of ano|ther world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 23.10.</NOTE> <HI>Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my la&s;t end be like his,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Balaam:</HI> and he hath a &s;oul &s;trongly reaching after this evil world too,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 2.15. Jude 11. <HI>Callenuceus</HI> tells us of a Noble man of <HI>Naples,</HI> that was wont pro|phanely to &s;ay that he had two &s;ouls in his body, one for God, and another for who&s;oever would buy it.</NOTE> as if heaven and hap|pine&s;s were wrapt up in it. As you may &s;ee in the &s;ame per&s;on, <HI>he loved the wages of unrighteou&s;ne&s;s:</HI> he loved it as his portion, he loved it as his life, he loved it as his happine&s;s, he loved it as his all; he loved it as his &s;oul, yea, he loved it above his own &s;oul, for he damned his &s;oul to gain it. It is true, when he was under a divine re|&s;traint, he profe&s;&s;ed that he would not cur&s;e the people of God for a hou&s;e full of Gold; but when he was from under that re&s;traint, his heart was &s;o &s;et upon the unrigh|teous reward, that he would have cur&s;t them for a handfull of gold. The Neuter (as the Romans paint <HI>Era&s;mus</HI>) hangs between heaven and earth; He is neither fit to go to heaven, nor yet worthy to live on earth. If <HI>Meroz</HI> was to be certainly cur&s;t, to be bitterly cur&s;t, to be uni|ver&s;ally cur&s;t (as the Hebrew phra&s;e, <HI>cur&s;ing cur&s;e ye Me|roz</HI> imports, in <HI>Judges</HI> 5.23.) for &s;tanding Neuter, when they &s;hould have come forth to the help of the Lord: Do you think that Neuters in religion &s;hall be ble&s;t? Do you think that ever &s;uch &s;hall go to heaven, who are indifferent whether they go to heaven, or no? or that ever &s;uch &s;hall be happy, who are indifferent whether they be holy or no? or that ever &s;uch &s;hall &s;ee the face of Chri&s;t with joy, who are indifferent whether they have an inte|re&s;t in Chri&s;t or no? or that ever &s;uch &s;hall be admitted into the kingdom of glory, who are indifferent where ever
<PB N="81" REF="71"> they have any entrance into the kingdom of grace or no. Certainly heaven is too holy to hold any &s;uch indifferent, irre&s;olute Neutral &s;ouls. In the Univer&s;ity not long &s;ince there were three Doctors heads of hou&s;es; one of them was accounted an Innovator; the &s;econd a Puritan; the third a Neuter. A witty Scholler pre&s;ented them thus to the world; the fir&s;t in a Coach driving to <HI>Rome:</HI> the &s;e|cond driving to <HI>Genev<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">h:</HI> the third running on foot, beg|ging &s;ometimes the one, &s;ometimes the other to receive him, but both refu&s;ed him. Neuters &s;hall be refu&s;ed on all hands at la&s;t.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Newters are Traytors; they betray Chri&s;t for the worlds &s;ake, and the world for Chri&s;ts &s;ake; and them&s;elves for &s;in and Satans &s;ake; And who will not refu&s;e and &s;corn traytors?</NOTE> God will refu&s;e them becau&s;e he loaths halting: Angels will refu&s;e them becau&s;e they loath halving: Good men will refu&s;e them, becau&s;e they loath lukewarm|ne&s;s; and bad men will refu&s;e them becau&s;e they pretend to goodne&s;s, though they live in wickedne&s;s. <HI>Ambo-dexters</HI> in Religion are ignominious di&s;gracers both of the name and profe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;tians, they are prodigious tray|tors to the crown of heaven: they are the greate&s;t ene|mies to the power of godline&s;s, they are the very off|&s;pring of <HI>Judas,</HI> and in the day of account it will be found that it had been good for them that they had never been born. Neutrality is the &s;piritual adultery of the heart:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aut totum me|cum tene, aut totum omitte. Greg. Nazien.</NOTE> Neuters are &s;piritual Harlots, they have their hearts di|vided between God and Mammon, betwixt Chri&s;t and other Lovers. Now Harlots in Ancient time were to be burnt, <HI>Gen.</HI> 38.24. Certainly hell is for the Neuter, and the neuter for hell: God will be as &s;evere, yea, more &s;evere in pu|ni&s;hing &s;piritual whoredom, then ever men have been in puni&s;hing corporal whoredom. God looks upon every neuter as a man in arms again&s;t him, Matth. 12.30. <HI>He that is not with me, is again&s;t me.</HI> And therefore Martial Law &s;hall be executed upon them. God will blot out their names, and hang them up as monuments of his ju&s;tice and vengeance. Sirs, do not deceive your own &s;ouls, no man was ever yet carried to glory in the chariot of neutrali|ty or mediocrity: he that is not throughout holy, is not really holy, and he that is not really holy, can never be truly happy: it is only throughout holine&s;s that entitles a
<PB N="82" REF="72"> man to everla&s;ting happine&s;s.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1.15. 2 Pet. 3.11. Matth. 24.51.</NOTE> The true mother would not have the child divided; &s;he would have all or none; you mu&s;t be for all holine&s;s, or for none. Neuters now de|vide and cut tho&s;e things a&s;under, that God hath clo&s;ely joyned together: but at la&s;t God will &s;uite their puni&s;h|ment to their &s;in, and cut them a&s;under, <HI>Luke</HI> 12.46. Now the neuter chu&s;es here a piece, and there a piece: and at la&s;t God will cut him in pieces,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 15.23.</NOTE> as <HI>Samuel</HI> did <HI>Agag.</HI> Well, Neuters, now you divide one command from another, one duty from another, one promi&s;e from another, one threatning from another, one ordinance from another, and one way of God from another: But the day is a coming wherein God will divide your &s;ouls from your bodies, and both from him&s;elf, his Son, his Saints, and his Glory for ever.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="6"> Sixthly, If real holine&s;s be the only way to happine&s;s, if men mu&s;t be holy on earth, or they &s;hall never come to a fruition of God in heaven: Then this truth by way of conviction, looks &s;owerly and &s;adly upon all hypocrites, who have only a &s;eeming holine&s;s, a feigned holine&s;s, a counterfeit holine&s;s. The Apo&s;tle &s;peaks of a true holi|ne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.24. (or holine&s;s of truth, as the Greek reads it) in oppo&s;ition to that feigned and counterfeit holine&s;s, that is in the world: pretended holine&s;s is mo&s;t oppo&s;ite to the holine&s;s of God. Hypocritical holine&s;s is the greate&s;t unholine&s;s;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ex. 30.32, 33. Who can with patience &s;ee Apes in the habit of No|bles! &s;aith <HI>Lucianus.</HI></NOTE> and as God hath, &s;o certainly God will &s;till &s;ute the puni&s;hment to the &s;in. If it was death in <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his Law, to counterfeit that Ceremonial and figurative ointment; what &s;hall it then be to coun|terfeit the &s;pirit of life and holine&s;s? Di&s;&s;embled &s;an|ctity is double iniquity: He that profe&s;&s;eth religion with|out being religious, and godline&s;s without being godly: he that makes counterfeit holine&s;s a cloak to impiety, and a Mid-wife to iniquity; He that is a <HI>Cato</HI> without, and a <HI>Nero</HI> within; a <HI>Jacob</HI> without, and an <HI>E&s;au</HI> within: a <HI>David</HI> without, and a <HI>Saul</HI> within; a <HI>Peter</HI> without, and a <HI>Judas</HI> within: a Saint without, and a Satan within: an Angel without, and a devil within, is ripened for the wor&s;t
<PB N="83" REF="72"> of torments, Matth. 24.5. <HI>And &s;hall cut him a&s;under, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there &s;hall be weeping and gna&s;hing of teeth.</HI> Hypocrites are the free|holders of hell: all other &s;inners do but hold under them: none have &s;o large a portion in hell as hypocrites have: No man at la&s;t will be found &s;o mi&s;erable, as he that hath the name of a Saint upon him, but not the divine nature in him: that hath a profe&s;&s;ion of holine&s;s upon him, but no principles of holine&s;s in him: that hath a form of god|line&s;s, but not the power: that can cry up godline&s;s, and court godline&s;s, but in practi&s;e denyes it: that is a Jew out|wardly, but an Athei&s;t, a Pagan, a devil inwardly. Who had a greater name for holine&s;s, and who made a greater &s;hew of holine&s;s, and who did more de&s;pi&s;e and in&s;ult over men for the want of holine&s;s, then the Scribes and Phari&s;ees? and who &s;o mi&s;erable now as they? Mat. 23.14.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Hypocritis nihil e&s;t crudelius, impatientius, &amp; vindictae cupidius. Lu|ther.</HI> There is not a more cruel creature, more impati|ent and vin|dictive then an hypocrite; &s;aid he that had the expe|rience of it in his own per&s;on.</NOTE> <HI>Wo unto you Scribes and Phari&s;ees, hypocrites: for ye de|vour widows hou&s;es, and for a pretence make long prayers, therefore ye &s;hall receive the greater damnation.</HI> Pretended holine&s;s will double damn &s;ouls at la&s;t. Sirs, do not de|ceive your own &s;ouls: A painted &s;word &s;hall as &s;oon defend a man, and a painted mint &s;hall as &s;oon inrich a man, and a painted fire &s;hall a&s;&s;oon warm a man, and a painted friend &s;hall a&s;&s;oon coun&s;el a man, and a painted hor&s;e &s;hall a&s;&s;oon carry a man, and a painted fea&s;t &s;hall a&s;&s;oon &s;atisfie a man, and a painted hou&s;e &s;hall a&s;&s;oon &s;helter a man, as a painted holine&s;s &s;hall &s;ave a man. He that now thinks to put off God with a painted holine&s;s, &s;hall not fare &s;o well at la&s;t, as to be put off with a painted happine&s;s. The lowe&s;t, the hotte&s;t, and the darke&s;t habitation in hell will be his portion, who&s;e religion lyes all in &s;hews and &s;hadows. Well, &s;piritual Counterfeits, remember this, it will not be long before Chri&s;t will unmask you, before he will unca&s;e you, before he will di&s;robe you, before he will take off your vizards, your hoods, and turn your rotten in&s;ides out|ward, to your eternal &s;hame and reproach before all the world. Counterfeit Diamonds may &s;parkle and gli&s;ter, and make a great &s;hew for a time, but their lu&s;tre will
<PB N="84" REF="73"> &s;oon wear off <HI>(Nil fictum e&s;t diuturnum)</HI> nothing counter|feit will la&s;t long. <HI>Maud,</HI> mother to King <HI>Henry</HI> the &s;econd, being be&s;ieged in <HI>Winche&s;ter</HI>-ca&s;tle, counterfeited her &s;elf to be dead,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Anno 1141.</NOTE> and &s;o was carried out in a Coffin, whereby &s;he e&s;caped; at another time being be&s;ieged at <HI>Oxford</HI> in a cold Winter, by wearing white apparrel &s;he got away in the &s;now undi&s;covered, but at la&s;t vengeance did over-take her. So though hypocrites may for a time &s;eem to be dead to &s;in,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 17.8. chap. 36.13.</NOTE> and dead to the world, though they may cloath them&s;elves with a &s;now-like purity, and with the white &s;attin of &s;eem|ing &s;anctity, yet God at la&s;t will unmask and unmuffle them, and vengeance will with a witne&s;s overtake them, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 33.14. Hypocrites are like blazing Stars, which &s;o long as they are fed with vapours,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 20.5. Ho&s;ea 6.4.</NOTE> &s;hine as if they were fixed Stars; but let the vapours dry up, and pre&s;ently they vani&s;h and di&s;appear: As the joy of the hypocrite, &s;o the goodne&s;s of the hypocrite is but for a moment; it is as a morning cloud and as the early dew; an hypocrite is a meer comet, a flaunt, a fla&s;h; principles of holine&s;s are la&s;ting, but hypo|cri&s;ie makes a man only con&s;tant in incon&s;tancy.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="7"> Seventhly, If real holine&s;s be the only way to happine&s;s; if men mu&s;t be holy on earth, or they &s;hall never come to a fruition of God in heaven: Then this truth by way of con|viction, looks &s;owerly and &s;adly upon &s;uch, who plea&s;e and ble&s;s them&s;elves with common gifts and common grace;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12.4. Matth. 7.22.</NOTE> with a gift of knowledge, a gift of faith, a gift of prayer, a gift of utterance, a gift of memory, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> when they have nothing of real holine&s;s in them. Like cho&s;e in <HI>Mat.</HI> 22.23. who had great gifts, but were &s;o far from real &s;anctity, that they were workers of iniquity; they had a flood of gifts, but not a drop of grace; they had many gifts, but not one &s;aving grace; they could work miracles, but that miracle of holine&s;s being not wrote in them, Chri&s;t takes an everla&s;ting farewell of them, <HI>Depart from me ye workers of iniquity.</HI> So they in <HI>Heb.</HI> 6. had enlightened heads, but where was their humblene&s;s and holine&s;s of heart? they had &s;ilver tongues, but where was their &s;anctified &s;ouls? they had &s;ome &s;mack, &s;ome ta&s;tes and reli&s;hes of heavens glory, but where was
<PB N="85" REF="73"> their inward and outward purity? Notwith&s;tanding all their extraordinary gifts of &s;peaking with tongues, ca&s;ting out of Devils, and opening of prophe&s;ies, yet were they not re|newed, regenerated and &s;anctified by the Holy Gho&s;t:<NOTE PLACE="marg">As Nur&s;es milk is of u&s;e to others, but of none to them&s;elves.</NOTE> Their gifts might be of &s;ingular u&s;e, to the enlightening, quickening, edifying, comforting and encouraging of others, and yet never have any influence upon their own hearts, to the changing, renewing and &s;anctifying of them. Men of greate&s;t gifts are not alwaies men of greate&s;t holine&s;s: The Scribes and Phari&s;ees, <HI>Judas, D<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">mas, Tertullus,</HI> and <HI>Simon Magus,</HI> were men of great gifts, and yet they had no real holine&s;s; they had the ninety nine of gifts wh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ch Chri&s;t looks not after, but wanted the one, <HI>viz.</HI> real holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 23.15.</NOTE> which with Chri&s;t is all in all:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> trembled when he con|&s;idered the extraordinary gifts and parts that were in his ba&s;e child, to think what God meant in infu&s;ing &s;o precious a &s;oul, and in giving &s;uch rare gifts to &s;uch an im|pure creature.</NOTE> The Devil hath greater gifts then any man on earth, and yet he is a Devil &s;till; gifts without ho|line&s;s, will but make a man twice told the child of hell: The more of gifts here, the more (without holine&s;s) of hell hereafter. The greate&s;t Schollars have often proved the greate&s;t &s;inners, the &s;toute&s;t oppo&s;ers, and the wor&s;t of per|&s;ecutors. There are none &s;o wicked, as he that is wittily wicked. The highe&s;t gifts many times prove but the faire&s;t pathes to the chambers of death. As the richer the Ship is laden with barrs of &s;ilver and gold, the deeper it &s;inks; &s;o the richer the &s;oul is laden with &s;ilver parts and golden gifts, and yet not ballanced with real holine&s;s, the deeper it &s;inks under wrath and mi&s;ery: And no wonder, for 1. Gifts do but tickle the ear, they do not clean&s;e heart. 2. They do but &s;tir the affections, they do not kill corruptions. 3. They are but ornaments to a mans profe&s;&s;ion, they have no &s;aving in|fluence upon a mans conver&s;ation. They tempt a man to take up with the world, but they never help a man to overcome the world. 4. They make a man wi&s;e to deceive, and wi&s;e to delude both <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">im&s;elf and others; rare accompli&s;hments are many times turned into beautiful ornaments to adorn the Devil and errour withall. 5. The gifted man cares not who is mo&s;t holy, &s;o he may be mo&s;t honoured; who is highe&s;t in favour with God, &s;o he may be highe&s;t in favour with men; who is mo&s;t &s;erviceable, &s;o he may be mo&s;t acceptable; who
<PB N="86" REF="74"> gets mo&s;t of another world, &s;o he may have mo&s;t of this world; and what &s;hould &s;uch an one do in heaven? Gifts differ as much from real holine&s;s, as an Angel in heaven differs from a Devil in Hell.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zach. 7.5, 6. Rom. 14.6, 7, 8.</NOTE> 6. Gifts makes a man work for life, but holine&s;s makes a man work from life. 7. Gifts work a man to &s;et up for him&s;elf, and to deal and trade for him&s;elf; but holine&s;s works a man to deal for God, and to trade for God and his glory. 8. Gifts takes up in ingenuous civilities and outward formalities, but holine&s;s takes up only in that holy one.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hab. 1.12. 1 Cor. 8.7.</NOTE> 9. Gifts only re&s;trains the &s;oul, but grace renews and changes the &s;oul. 10. Gifts puffs the &s;oul, but holine&s;s humbles the &s;oul. 11. Gifts makes a man beautiful like <HI>Rachel,</HI> but holine&s;s makes a man fruitful like <HI>Leah.</HI> 12. Gifts makes a man mo&s;t &s;tudious and laborious about mending and reforming other mens hearts and lives; but holine&s;s makes a man mo&s;t &s;tudious and indu&s;trious in mend|ing and reforming his own heart and life.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 45.13.</NOTE> 13. Gifts makes all glorious without, but holine&s;s makes all glorious within. 14. Gifts makes a good head, but holine&s;s makes a good heart. 15. Gifts envies, le&s;&s;ens, darkens, ob&s;cures, and di&s;|parages with <HI>buts,</HI> and <HI>ifs</HI> and <HI>ands,</HI> the excellencies of others; but holine&s;s makes a man rejoyce in every Sun that out-&s;hines its own.<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 4.14. 1 John 3.9.</NOTE> 16. Gifts are fading and withering, but holine&s;s is an everla&s;ting &s;pring that can never be drawn dry.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 13.1, 6.</NOTE> 17. Gifts draws from God, but holine&s;s draws to God; though men of gifts may bid fair for heaven, yea come &s;o near as to hear the mu&s;ick of heaven, yet without holine&s;s they &s;hall never enter into heaven. When night comes, the Father will only take in his own child into his hou&s;e, and though another child which may be much like his own &s;hould attempt to come in, yet the Father will keep him out, and wi&s;h him to repair to his own home; So when the night of death comes, the Father of Spirits will only take into the family of heaven his own child, <HI>viz.</HI> the child of holine&s;s; but now if the child of gifts (which is &s;o like the child of holine&s;s) &s;hould pre&s;s hard upon God to come in, as that child of gifts <HI>Baalam</HI> did,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 23.10.</NOTE> <HI>Let me die the death of the righte|ous, and let my la&s;t end be like his;</HI> God will an&s;wer him, No,
<PB N="87" REF="74"> he will &s;ay to him as he did to that child of gifts <HI>Judas,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 1.25. Mat. 8.12.</NOTE> Go to your own place. In the night of death and judgement, the children of the Kingdom &s;hall be ca&s;t out: the children of the Kingdom, that is, of the Church; now the children of the Kingdom are children of gifts, and yet there will come a day when the&s;e children &s;hall be ca&s;t out.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 25.6, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> As <HI>Abra|ham</HI> put off the &s;ons of the Concubines with gifts, but en|tailed the inheritance upon <HI>I&s;aac:</HI> So God puts off many men now with gifts, but he entails the heavenly inheritance upon holine&s;s. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 24.3, 4. <HI>Who &s;hall a&s;cend into the hill of the Lord? and who &s;hall &s;tand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lift up his &s;oul to vanity, nor &s;worn deceitfully:</HI> Heaven is for that man, and that man is for heaven, who hath clean hands and a pure heart, who&s;e holy conver&s;ation is attended with heart-pu|rification; a pure heart is better then a golden head; a heart full of holy affections, is infinitely beyond a head full of cu|rious notions; there is no Jewel; there is no anointing to that of holine&s;s; he that hath that hath all, and he that wants that hath nothing at all. But,</P>
<P>Eightly and la&s;tly, if real holine&s;s be the only way to hap|pine&s;s; <MILESTONE N="8"> if men mu&s;t be holy on earth, or they &s;hall never come to a ble&s;&s;ed fruition of God in heaven; then by way of conviction let me &s;ay, that this truth looks very &s;owerly and angrily upon tho&s;e who are &s;o far from being holy them&s;elves, that they cannot endure holine&s;s in tho&s;e that are about them, or any waies related to them. Ah how many unholy people be there, that cannot endure holine&s;s in their Mini&s;ters! and how many unholy husbands are there, that cannot endure holine&s;s in their yoak-fellows! and how ma|ny unholy parents are there, that cannot endure holine&s;s in their children! and how many unholy Ma&s;ters are there, that cannot endure holine&s;s in their &s;ervants! The Panther, &s;ay &s;ome, when &s;he cannot come at the man, &s;he rendeth and teareth his picture in pieces; &s;o many unholy husbands, un|holy fathers, and unholy ma&s;ters, when they cannot rend and tear the per&s;ons of their relations in pieces; ah how do they do their be&s;t to rend and tear the image of God upon
<PB N="88" REF="75"> them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 23.14, 15. 2 Sam. 6.16, 20.</NOTE> <HI>viz.</HI> holine&s;s in pieces! The&s;e forlorn &s;ouls will not be holy them&s;elves, nor &s;uffer others to be holy neither; they will neither go to heaven them&s;elves, nor &s;uffer others to go thither who are &s;trongly bia&s;ed that way: Some de&s;pi&s;e their gracious relations, even <HI>e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> nomine,</HI> for that very rea&s;on, becau&s;e they are holy; &s;ometimes you &s;hall hear them &s;peak at &s;uch a rate as this; Well, our relations are wi&s;e and witty, but &s;o holy; they are very knowing and thriving, but &s;o preci&s;e; they have good parts and &s;weet natures, but they are &s;o &s;trict; they are &s;o round that they will not endure an oath, a lye, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and therefore I cannot abide them, I cannot endure them. The&s;e are like he in <HI>Seneca,</HI> which was &s;o fear|fully idle, that his &s;ides would ake to &s;ee another work: So the&s;e are &s;o fearfully wicked, that it makes their &s;ides, their heads, their very hearts ake, to &s;ee others holy. How far the&s;e are in their actings below Heathens, you may &s;ee in <HI>Rom.</HI> 16.10, 11. <HI>Ari&s;tobulus</HI> and <HI>Narci&s;&s;us</HI> that are &s;poken of in this Scripture, were both Heathens, and yet they had in their families tho&s;e that were in the Lord, tho&s;e that were gracious, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Heathens were &s;o ingenuous, that they would not de&s;pi&s;e that holine&s;s in others, that they wanted in them&s;elves; they were &s;o noble, that they would give holi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e&s;s hou&s;e-room, though they knew not how to give it heart-room:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 39.1, 2, 3, 4.</NOTE> So <HI>Potiphar,</HI> though he was an Heathen, yet he gave holy <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> both hou&s;e-room and heart-room: The&s;e and &s;everal other heathens of the like &s;pirit with them, will one day ri&s;e in Judgement again&s;t many in the&s;e dayes, that are &s;o far faln out with holine&s;s, as that they will not endure it under the roof of their hou&s;es, yea as that they make it the greate&s;t matter of &s;corn and deri&s;ion: Like tho&s;e in <HI>Lam.</HI> 2.15, 16. <HI>All that pa&s;s by, clap their hands at thee; they hi&s;s and wag their head at the daughter of</HI> Jeru&s;a|lem, <HI>&s;aying, Is this the City that men call the perfection of beau|ty, the joy of the whole earth? All thine enemies have opened their mouth again&s;t thee; they hi&s;s and gna&s;h the teeth; they &s;ay, We have &s;wallowed her up,</HI> &amp;c. Ah how many &s;uch mon&s;ters are there in the&s;e dayes, who expre&s;s their deri&s;ion, di&s;dain, and contempt of holine&s;s and holy per&s;ons, by all
<PB N="89" REF="75"> the &s;cornful ge&s;tures, po&s;tures and expre&s;&s;ions imaginable; that clap their hands, that hi&s;s, that wag their head, that gna&s;h their teeth, and that &s;ay, Lo the&s;e are your Saints, the&s;e are your holy ones, your perfect ones, your beautiful ones! It is very &s;ad to want holine&s;s, but it is &s;adde&s;t of all to deride holine&s;s, to di&s;dain holine&s;s. Of this evil &s;pirit, <HI>Salvian</HI> complained in his time;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvi. de Guber. lib. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> What madne&s;s is this (&s;aith he) among&s;t Chri&s;tians, that if a man be good, he is de&s;pi&s;ed as if he were evil! if he be evil, he is honoured as if he were good! And as great cau&s;e have we to complain of the prevalency of the &s;ame evil &s;pirit in our times: If the wife be holy,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 7.16.</NOTE> how is &s;he de&s;pi&s;ed (by her unholy husband) as if &s;he were wicked! If &s;he be wicked, how is &s;he honour|ed as if &s;he were holy! So if the child be gracious, how is he di&s;dained as if he were gracle&s;s! if he be gracle&s;s, how is he admired as if he were gracious! So if a Servant be godly, how is he &s;corned as if he were godle&s;s! if he be godle&s;s, how is he applauded as if he were godly! Certainly God will never endure &s;uch to &s;tand in his &s;ight, who cannot en|dure the &s;ight of holine&s;s. Doubtle&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 1.5.</NOTE> God will never give them any room in heaven, who will not &s;o much as give ho|line&s;s a little hou&s;e-room (I &s;ay not heart-room) here. He that now de&s;pi&s;es and di&s;dains holine&s;s in others, &s;hall at la&s;t be eternally de&s;pi&s;ed and di&s;dained for want of holine&s;s him&s;elf.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="application">
<HEAD><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 2.</HEAD>
<P>THe &s;econd U&s;e is a U&s;e of Tryal and Examination; Is it &s;o, that real holine&s;s is the only way to happine&s;s? mu&s;t men be holy on earth, or el&s;e they &s;hall never come to a ble&s;&s;ed vi&s;ion or fruition of God in Heaven? Oh then, what cau&s;e hath every one to try and examine, whether he hath this real holine&s;s without which there is no happine&s;s, or no! Now becau&s;e this is a point of great importance, and a mi&s;take here may undo a man for ever; and con&s;idering the great aver&s;ne&s;s and backwardne&s;s of mens hearts to this
<PB N="90" REF="76"> noble and nece&s;&s;ary work, I &s;hall therefore in the fir&s;t place propo&s;e &s;ome con&s;iderations to provoke all your hearts to fall in good earne&s;t upon this great point of Tryal and Ex|amination. Now to this purpo&s;e con&s;ider,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, it is po&s;&s;ible for you to know whether you have this real holine&s;s or not; it is po&s;&s;ible for you by the light of the Spirit,<NOTE PLACE="marg">See my Trea|ti&s;e of A&s;&s;u|rance, pag. 1, to 26. where you have this truth made fully evident.</NOTE> by the light of the Word, and by the light of your own Con&s;ciences, to &s;ee whether holine&s;s, which is the image of God, be &s;tamped upon your &s;ouls, or no: Though it be impo&s;&s;ible for thee to climb up to heaven to &s;earch the re|cords of glory, to &s;ee whether thy name be written in the book of life; yet it is po&s;&s;ible for thee to go down into the Chambers of thine own &s;oul, to enter into the withdrawing rooms of thine own heart, and there to read what impre&s;&s;i|ons of holine&s;s are upon thee; though this work be hard and difficult, yet it is noble and po&s;&s;ible; though the heart be deceitful and full of &s;hifts, yet it is po&s;&s;ible for a man to make &s;uch a curious, &s;uch a narrow, &s;uch a diligent, &s;uch a faithful, and &s;uch an impartial &s;earch into his own &s;oul, as that he may certainly know whether he hath that real holi|ne&s;s that is the pledge of immortal happine&s;s, or no; it is po&s;&s;ible for him that hath this Jewel, this holine&s;s, to know it, to finde it, and in the beautiful face of holine&s;s to read his own everla&s;ting happine&s;s. I might call in the experiences of many precious Saints,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>As</HI> Abraham, Noah, Jacob, David, Job, Paul, <HI>and others.</HI></NOTE> to bear witne&s;s to this truth; but I &s;uppo&s;e it is needle&s;s. What great and weighty, what high and hard, what hazardous and dangerous things do many Souldiers, Saylers, &s;ick Patients and others attempt and un|dertake, upon the meer account of a po&s;&s;ibility! it is po&s;|&s;ible that the Souldier may win the field; it is po&s;&s;ible that the Mariner may make a happy voyage; it is po&s;&s;ible that the &s;ick Patient may recover; it is po&s;&s;ible that he that &s;trives for ma&s;tery may overcome, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Now upon this very ac|count, that it is po&s;&s;ible, what will they &s;tick at? what will they not attempt and endeavour to effect? And why then &s;hould not Chri&s;tians upon the account of a po&s;&s;ibility, make a diligent &s;earch after that holine&s;s, that will at la&s;t throne the &s;oul in everla&s;ting happine&s;s? Well, Chri&s;tians, as a
<PB N="91" REF="76"> po&s;&s;ibility of obtaining grace and mercy, &s;hould bear up your hearts again&s;t de&s;pair:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 9.26. Mark 10 27. Chap. 14.36. Mark 9.23. Luke 18.27.</NOTE> as a po&s;&s;ibility of obtaining a pardon, &s;hould keep up your hearts in a &s;eeking and a wait|ing way; and as a po&s;&s;ibility of &s;alvation by Chri&s;t, &s;hould be argument &s;ufficient to work a &s;oul to venture it &s;elf upon Chri&s;t; &s;o a po&s;sibility of knowing whether you have this pearl of price, Holine&s;s, &s;hould work you to make a dili|gent &s;earch and enquiry after it. Let no man do more upon the account of a po&s;&s;ibility for this world, then you will do upon the account of a po&s;sibility for another world: Let no man do more upon the account of a po&s;&s;ibility for his body, then you will do upon the account of a po&s;&s;ibility for your &s;ouls: Let no man do more upon the account of a po&s;sibility for temporals, then you will do upon the ac|count of a po&s;&s;ibility for eternals. It is po&s;&s;ible for you to know whether this babe of grace, Holine&s;s, be formed in your &s;ouls or no; and therefore &s;earch and enquire after it.</P>
<P>Secondly, Con&s;ider this, that it is a point of very great <MILESTONE N="2"> concernment to you, to know whether you have this real holine&s;s or no; your &s;ouls lies upon it; eternity lies upon it;<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 4.5.</NOTE> your All lies upon it; and an errour here, may make a man mi&s;erable for ever; it is good for thee to know the &s;tate of thy body, the &s;tate of thy family, the &s;tate of thy flock;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prov. 27.25.</HI> Multi multa &s;ciunt, &s;e au|tem nemo.</NOTE> but it is of infinite more con&s;equence for thee to know the &s;tate of thine own &s;oul: No man lives &s;o mi&s;erable, nor no man dies &s;o &s;adly, as he that lives and dies a &s;tranger to his own &s;oul: It is good for thee to &s;et all reckonings even between thy &s;elf and others, but it is far better to &s;et all reckonings even between God and thine own &s;oul. Ah how many are there, who are better known to others,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 12.16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. Chap. 16.19, 26.</NOTE> then they are to them&s;elves! and who are able to give a better account of their Lands and Lord&s;hips, of their Trea&s;ures and Mannors, yea of their Hor&s;es, Hawks and Hounds, then they are of the &s;tate of their &s;ouls! Ah how many are there that are very inqui&s;itive to know things to come,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 7.10.</NOTE> to know what will be hereafter, to know whether they &s;hall be great and rich in the world, to know whether they &s;hall be pro&s;perous and
<PB N="92" REF="77"> &s;ucce&s;sful in their undertakings; to know whether they &s;hall be crowned with length of dayes,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 21.23, 24. I&s;a. 41.22, 23. Chap. 43.9, 10. The heathens did admire that &s;aying as an Oracle, <HI>(No&s;ce te ip|&s;um)</HI> Know thy own &s;elf.</NOTE> or whether they &s;hall be cut off in the flower of their age; to know the &s;e|cret coun&s;els of Princes, and what will be the i&s;&s;ue of &s;uch and &s;uch mutations and revolutions that have happened among&s;t us: and yet are not at all inqui&s;itive after the &s;tate of their &s;ouls, nor whether they have this real holine&s;s, without which there is no happine&s;s! They never enquire what will become of them hereafter; They never enquire what &s;tate they &s;hall enter upon after death, whether upon a &s;tate of eternal wo, or a &s;tate of everla&s;ting b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">s: Of all acquaintances in this world, there is none to that of a mans being acquainted with the &s;tate of his own &s;oul. A mi&s;take about my outward condition may trouble me, but a mi&s;take about my &s;piritual condition may damn me. There are ma|ny wayes to make up my mi&s;takes about temporals, but there is no way to make up my mi&s;takes about eternals: If at la&s;t I &s;hall be &s;ound to be mi&s;taken in the great concernments of my &s;oul, I am undone for ever. Well Sirs, you are in a &s;tate of nature, or in a &s;tate of grace; you are in a &s;tate of darkne&s;s, or in a &s;tate of light; you are in a &s;tate of life, or in a &s;tate of death; you are in a &s;tate of love, or in a &s;tate of wrath; you are either Goats or Sheep, Sons or Slaves; you are either in the broad way to de&s;truction, or in the narrow way of &s;alvation; and therefore what can be of greater concernment in this world to you, then to know in which of the&s;e two &s;piritual e&s;tates you are in? How can you order aright your prayers, or your prai&s;es, or any reli|gious &s;ervices, till you come to know in which of the&s;e two &s;piritual e&s;tates you &s;tand! whether you be in a &s;tate of na|ture, or in a &s;tate of grace; in a &s;tate of &s;in, or in a &s;tate of holine&s;s; for all religions duties mu&s;t be ordered according to mens &s;piritual e&s;tates. If a man be in a &s;tate of nature, his work lies one way; if he be in a &s;tate of holine&s;s, his work lies another way: By all which it is mo&s;t evident that it very nearly concerns you to &s;earch and try, whether you have this bird of Paradi&s;e, Holine&s;s, in your bo&s;oms, or no: And for a clo&s;e, let me &s;ay, that a mi&s;take about your &s;piritual
<PB N="93" REF="77"> e&s;tate will at la&s;t be found, not only in&s;ufferable and inex|cu&s;able, but very terrible and damnable.</P>
<P>Thirdly, Con&s;ider, That a cordial willingne&s;s to enter upon this work of tryal, is a hopefull evidence of your re|al integrity and &s;anctity. Un&s;anctified &s;ouls hate the light; they had rather go to hell in the dark, then come to be weighed in the ballance of the Sanctuary. As pure gold fears neither fire nor furnace, neither te&s;t nor touch&s;tone;<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 3.20.</NOTE> neither one ballance nor another, &s;o a pure heart, a &s;ancti|fied &s;oul dares venture it &s;elf upon tryal: yea,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 31.5, 6. P&s;alm 26 2. P&s;alm 139 23, 24. Matth. 12.20.</NOTE> upon the very tryal of God: For he knows that God never brings a pair of &s;cales to weigh his graces, but only a touch&s;tone to try the truth of his graces: he knows if his gold be true, though it be never &s;o little, it will pa&s;s for current with God. As Bankrupts care not for ca&s;ting up their accounts, becau&s;e they know all is naught, very naught, &s;tark naught with them: &s;o un&s;anctified &s;ouls, they care not to come to the tryal, to the te&s;t, becau&s;e they know that all is naught, yea wor&s;e then naught with them: They have no mind to ca&s;t up their &s;piritual e&s;tates, becau&s;e at the foot of the account they mu&s;t be p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">t to read their neck-ver&s;e Undone, undone, for ever undone. And therefore as old deformed women cannot indure to look into the looking-gla&s;s, lea&s;t their wrinckles and deformity &s;hould be di&s;covered, &s;o un&s;anctified &s;ouls cannot endure to look into the gla&s;s of the Go&s;pel, lea&s;t their deformities, impie|ties and wickedne&s;&s;es &s;hould be di&s;covered and detected. I have read of the Elephant, how unwilling he is to go into the water, but when he is forced into it, he puddles it le&s;t by the clearne&s;s of the &s;tream he &s;hould di&s;cern his own de|formity. So unholy per&s;ons are very unwilling to look into their own hearts, or into the clear &s;treams of Scrip|ture, le&s;t their &s;ouls deformity and ugline&s;s &s;hould appear to their own terror and amazement. And therefore as you would have a hopefull evidence of your integrity and &s;anctity, fall upon this work of tryal. For as it is a hope|ful evidence that the Clyents cau&s;e is good, when he is rea|dy and willing to enter upon a tryal; and as it is a hopefull
<PB N="94" REF="78"> &s;ign that a mans gold is true gold, when he is willing to bring it to the touch&s;tone; and that a man thrives, when he is willing to ca&s;t up his books; &s;o it is a hopeful evidence that a Chri&s;tian hath real holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 6.4, 5.</NOTE> when he is ready and willing to bring his holine&s;s to the te&s;t to try whether it be true or no: when he is willing to ca&s;t up his books, that he may &s;ee what he is worth for another world.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, Con&s;ider, that there are very many that deceive them&s;elves about their &s;piritual e&s;tates.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 15.34. Prov. 30.12.</NOTE> It is the ea&s;ie&s;t thing in the world for a man to deceive him&s;elf: there are tho&s;e that do but think that they &s;tand, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.12. and the&s;e at la&s;t come to fall from their &s;eeming &s;tanding into a real hell:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matthew 23.</NOTE> Yea, from their highe&s;t &s;tanding, into the lowe&s;t hell. There are many that think them&s;elves to be &s;ome|thing, when they are nothing, <HI>Gal.</HI> 6.3. There are many that have a form of godline&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;aiah 9.17. Chap. 29.13. Jer. 7.4, 8, 9, 10, 11. Rev. 3.16, 17, 18. I&s;a. 65.2.3, 4, 5 Matthew 25.</NOTE> but none of the power, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.6. There are many that have a name to live, but are dead, <HI>Rev.</HI> 3.1. There are many that are very con|fident of their integrity, and yet are full of horrible hy|pocri&s;ie. There are many that carry the Lamps of pro|fe&s;&s;ion, that have no oyle of grace in their hearts: There are many that take a good nature for grace, civility for &s;anctity, and a garb of godline&s;s for real holine&s;s; yea, there are tho&s;e who dare &s;ay that they excell others in ho|line&s;s, when in truth they exceed mo&s;t men in wicked|ne&s;s. Yea, there are many now in hell, who have had a great confidence of going to heaven. There are many that cry out with <HI>Agag, Surely the bitterne&s;s of death is pa&s;t:</HI> wrath is pa&s;t, and hell is pa&s;t, and damnation is pa&s;t, when as ven|geance is ready to fall on them, and hell &s;tands gaping to devour them. The heart of man is full of &s;elf-love, full of &s;elf-flattery, and full of hypocri&s;ie, and therefore many a man who is only a Jew outwardly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 2.28, 29.</NOTE> thinks him&s;elf to be a Jew inwardly: many a man thinks him&s;elf to be as good a Chri&s;tian as the be&s;t, and to be as happy as the be&s;t, and to be as fair for heaven as the be&s;t, till he comes to hear that tormenting word, <HI>Depart, I know ye not.</HI> As ma|ny are kept off from Chri&s;t, by a conceit that they have
<PB N="95" REF="78"> him already: &s;o many are kept off from holine&s;s, by a conceit that they have it already. And therefore it doth very much concern you to make a diligent enquiry, whe|ther you have that holine&s;s without which there is no happine&s;s, or no. I have read of <HI>Plato,</HI> that when he did walk in the &s;treets, if he &s;aw any di&s;ordered in &s;peech, di&s;gui&s;ed in drink, or otherwi&s;e our of frame, he would &s;ay to him&s;elf, <HI>Num ego talis,</HI> Am I &s;uch a one as this is? Am I &s;uch a &s;wearer as this is? Am I &s;uch a drunkard as this is? Am I &s;uch a wan|ton as this is? Am I &s;uch a royotous per&s;on as this? <HI>&amp;c.</HI> So &s;hould every Chri&s;tian &s;ay when he hears of any that doth but think that they &s;tand, <HI>Num ego talis:</HI> Am I &s;uch a one as this is? When he &s;ees one that thinks him&s;elf &s;omething when he is nothing, he &s;hould &s;ay Am I &s;uch a one as this is? when he &s;ees a man to have a form of godline&s;s but no power, he &s;hould &s;ay, Am I &s;uch a one as this is? when he hears of a man that hath a name to live, but is &s;piritually dead, he &s;hould &s;ay, Am I &s;uch a one as this is, <HI>&amp;c.?</HI> and when he hears or reads of one that is really holy, he &s;hould &s;ay am I &s;uch a one as this is; As you would not put a cheat upon your own &s;ouls, it highly concerns you to try whether you have real holine&s;s or no. Look, as many young children catch many a fall out of a &s;trong conceit of their abilities to go: &s;o many a man out of a &s;trong conceit that he hath holine&s;s when he hath none, catches many a fall in an eternal fall at la&s;t. The be&s;t way to prevent an everla&s;ting mi&s;carriage, is to make a privy &s;earch after holine&s;s in thine own heart.</P>
<P>Fifthly, Con&s;ider that there is a great deal of counter|feit <MILESTONE N="5"> grace and holine&s;s in the world: There is not more counterfeit coin this day in the world, then there is counter|feit holine&s;s in the world. Look as many <HI>Bri&s;tows</HI> &s;tones and counterfeit Gemms do &s;o &s;hine and &s;parkle like true Jewels, that if a man be not very carefull, he may be ea|&s;ily cheated: &s;o counterfeit grace, counterfeit holine&s;s doth &s;o &s;hine and &s;parkle, they do &s;o neerly re&s;emble real holi|ne&s;s, and the &s;anctifying and &s;aving graces of the Spirit, that a man may be ea&s;ily mi&s;taken, if he do not make a narrow &s;earch. Doth the gracious &s;oul ab&s;tain from gro&s;s
<PB N="96" REF="79"> &s;ins?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 25.1, 2, 3, 4. Ezra 8. E&s;ther 4. Daniel 9. Mat. 6.16. Luke 18 11. Matth. 27. Hebrews 12. Matthew 6. Acts 10.1, 2, 3, 4 Luke 19.11. Acts 21.8. 1 Sam. 15.24. I&s;aiah 58. 2 Chr. 32.26. 1 Kings 22.15. Ionah 3. Mark 6. Ezek 33.30, 31, 32, 33. Luke 18.11.</NOTE> &s;o doth the formali&s;t too. Do Saints fa&s;t and pray? &s;o do Phari&s;ees too. Doth <HI>Peter</HI> &s;hed tears? &s;o doth <HI>E&s;au</HI> too. Doth <HI>Peter</HI> repent? &s;o doth <HI>J<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">das</HI> too. Doth <HI>Cor|nelius</HI> give Alms? &s;o do the Phari&s;ees too. Doth <HI>Zacheus</HI> believe? &s;o doth <HI>Simon Magus</HI> too. Doth <HI>David</HI> confe&s;s his &s;in? &s;o doth <HI>Saul</HI> too. Doth <HI>David</HI> delight in ap|proaching to God? &s;o doth <HI>I&s;aiahs</HI> hypocrites too. Doth <HI>Hezekiah</HI> humble him&s;elf? &s;o doth <HI>Ahab</HI> and the King of <HI>Nineveh</HI> too. Doth a gracious &s;oul hear the word with joy? &s;o did <HI>Herod</HI> too. Doth a gracious &s;oul receive the word with joy? &s;o did the &s;tony ground too. Doth a gracious &s;oul delight in his teacher? &s;o did <HI>Ezekiels</HI> worldlings too? Is a gracious &s;oul in Clo&s;&s;et duties? &s;o is the Phari&s;ee too, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> When counterfeit coin is abroad, you will not take a piece, but you will try it; you will bring every piece to the touch|&s;tone. Ah that you would deal &s;o by your holine&s;s! there is a great deal of counterfeit holine&s;&s;e abroad, and there|fore you had need bring yours to the tryal. As all is nor gold that gli&s;ters: &s;o all is not holine&s;&s;e that men take for holine&s;&s;e, that men count for holine&s;&s;e. The child is not more like the Father, nor one Brother like another; Wine in the Bottle is not more like to Wine in the Butt, nor water in the Ci&s;tern more like to water in the River,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The difference between the&s;e true and coun|terfeit graces, is largely di&s;|covered in my Treati&s;e on <HI>A&s;&s;urance.</HI></NOTE> nor fire in the forge more like to fire in the chimney, nor milk in the &s;awcer to milk in the brea&s;ts, then counterfeit grace and holine&s;&s;e is like to that which is real. Counterfeit faith doth &s;o neerly re&s;emble true faith, and counterfeit love true love, and counterfeit repentance true repentance, and counterfeit obedience true obedience, and counterfeit knowledge true knowledge, and counterfeit holine&s;&s;e true holine&s;&s;e, that it is not an ea&s;ie matter to di&s;cover the one from the other. The <HI>Cyprian</HI> Diamond (&s;aith <HI>Pliny</HI>) looks &s;o like the true <HI>Indian</HI> Diamond, that if a man do not look warily to it, he may ea&s;ily be deceived and cheated. O Sirs, true grace and counterfeit, true holine&s;&s;e and coun|terfeit look &s;o like one another, that without a divine light to guide you, you may be ea&s;ily cheated and decei|ved for ever. In the&s;e dayes of profe&s;&s;ion there is abun|dance
<PB N="97" REF="79"> of fal&s;e ware put off; Satan is a &s;ubtile Merchant; and where prophane&s;&s;e will not pa&s;&s;e for current coin, there he labours to furni&s;h his cu&s;tomers with the &s;hews and re|&s;emblances of grace and holine&s;&s;e, that &s;o he may hold them the fa&s;ter in golden &s;etters, and put them off from looking after that real holine&s;&s;e without which no man can be ble&s;&s;ed here, or happy hereafter. And therefore it neerly concerns every <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">an to &s;earch and try whether he hath real holine&s;&s;e or no.</P>
<P>Sixthly, Con&s;ider, If upon tryal you &s;hall find in you <MILESTONE N="6"> this real holine&s;&s;e that paves the way to happine&s;s, it will turn exceedingly to your accounts: thy happine&s;&s;e de|pends upon the real being of holine&s;&s;e (in thee) but thy comfort depends upon thy &s;eeing of holine&s;&s;e. Real holine&s;&s;e will yield thee a heaven hereafter; but the &s;ee|ing of holine&s;&s;e will yield thee a heaven here: he that hath holine&s;&s;e and knows it, &s;hall have two heavens; a heaven of joy, comfort, peace, content and a&s;&s;urance here; and a heaven of happine&s;&s;e and ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e hereafter; but he that hath holine&s;s and doth not know it, &s;hall certainly be &s;aved,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Co. 3.11, 16.</NOTE> yet &s;o as by fire; he &s;hall have a heaven at la&s;t, but he mu&s;t pa&s;&s;e to it by the flaming &s;word. When a per&s;on is heir to a great e&s;tate, and knows it; when a per&s;on is &s;on to a King, and knows it; when a per&s;on is highly in favour, &amp; knows it; when a per&s;on is out of all hazard and danger, and knows it; when a per&s;ons pardon is &s;ealed, and he knows it: then the &s;prings of joy and comfort ri&s;es in him. So, when a man is holy, and knows it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 47.2, 3, 4, 5. 2 Cor. 4.16, 17, 18.</NOTE> then the &s;prings of divine joy and comfort ri&s;es in his &s;oul, as the waters ri&s;e in <HI>Ezekiels</HI> Sanctuary. The knowledge of the goodne&s;&s;e and holine&s;&s;e of thy e&s;tate will make heavy afflictions light: long afflictions &s;hort, and bitter afflictions &s;weet: the knowledge of the good|ne&s;&s;e and holine&s;&s;e of thy e&s;tate, will make thee frequent, fervent, con&s;tant, and abundant in the work of the Lord. The knowledge of the goodne&s;&s;e and holine&s;&s;e of thy e&s;tate wi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">l &s;trengthen thy faith, rai&s;e thy hope, inflame thy love,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 15. ult.</NOTE> increa&s;e thy patience, and brighten thy zeal. The know|ledge of the goodne&s;&s;e and holine&s;&s;e of thy e&s;tate will make
<PB N="98" REF="80"> every mercy &s;weet, every duty &s;weet, every ordinance &s;weet, and every providence &s;weet. The knowledge of the goodne&s;&s;e and holine&s;&s;e of thy e&s;tate will rid thee of all thy &s;infull fears and cares;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 1.22, 23. 2 Cor. 5.1, 10.</NOTE> it will give thee ea&s;e under every burden, and it will make death more de&s;ireable then life. The knowledge of the goodne&s;&s;e and holine&s;&s;e of thy e&s;tate will make thee more &s;trong to re&s;i&s;t temptation, more victorious over oppo&s;ition, and more &s;ilent in every condition. The know|ledge of the goodne&s;&s;e and holine&s;&s;e of thy e&s;tate, will turn every Winter night into a Summers day; every cro&s;&s;e into a crown, and every wilderne&s;&s;e into a Paradi&s;e. The know|ledge of the goodne&s;&s;e and holine&s;&s;e of thy e&s;tate; will be a &s;word to defend thee, a &s;taff to &s;upport thee, a cordial to &s;trengthen thee, a plai&s;ter to heal thee, and a &s;tar to lead thee. And O who then will not take &s;ome pains with his own heart, to know the goodne&s;&s;e and holine&s;&s;e of his own e&s;tate! Well, remember this, next to a mans being holy, it is the greate&s;t mercy in this world to know that he is holy. But if upon trial a man &s;hall find that his e&s;tate is bad, and that his holine&s;&s;e is not of the right &s;tamp, yet this will be many wayes a mercy, and an advantage to him. For the way to be found, is to &s;ee your &s;elves lo&s;t; the way to infinite mercy, is to &s;ee your own mi&s;ery: the way to <HI>Canaan,</HI> is through the wilderne&s;&s;e: the way to heaven, is by the gates of hell: upon the knowledge of the bad|ne&s;&s;e and &s;adne&s;&s;e of thy e&s;tate, thou wilt be awakened out of thy &s;ecurity, and thou wilt be alarmed to loath thy &s;elf, to judge thy &s;elf, ro condemn thy &s;elf, to be &s;ick of &s;in,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts. 2.37, 42. Ch. 16.22, 35.</NOTE> to break with Satan, and to clo&s;e with Chri&s;t. Now the daily language of thy &s;oul will be, <HI>Men and Brethren, what &s;hall I do to be &s;aved?</HI> O what &s;hall I do to get my &s;infull nature changed, my hard heart &s;oftned, my blind mind enlightned, my polluted con&s;cience purged, and my poor naked &s;oul with grace and holine&s;&s;e adorned! Now the daily language of thy &s;oul will be that of the Martyr, O none but Chri&s;t, none but Chri&s;t. O none but Chri&s;t to pardon me; none but Chri&s;t to ju&s;tifie me; none but Chri&s;t to command me; none but Chri&s;t to &s;ave me: and none
<PB N="99" REF="80"> but Chri&s;t to reign over me. Now the language of thy &s;oul will be this,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Co. 1.30, 31.</NOTE> O though I have formely thought my &s;elf to be wi&s;e, yet now I &s;ee my &s;elf to be a fool! O that Chri&s;t would be wi&s;dom to me! O now I &s;ee my &s;elf to be red with guilt, and black with filth, O that Chri&s;t would be righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e to me! O now I &s;ee my &s;elf to be unclean, unclean, O that Chri&s;t would be &s;anctification to me!<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 3.16, 17, 18,</NOTE> O now I &s;ee my &s;elf to be in a damnable condition, Oh that Chri&s;t would be redemption to me! O now I &s;ee my &s;elf naked, O that Chri&s;t would cloath me; now I &s;ee my &s;elf poor and mi&s;erable, O that Chri&s;t would enrich me! now I feel my &s;elf to be hungry, O that Chri&s;t would (be bread of life to) feed me! now I perceive my &s;elf to be lo&s;t, O that Chri&s;t would &s;eek me! Now I fear that I am peri&s;hing, O that Chri&s;t would &s;ave me!<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 7.3, 4, 5, 6.</NOTE> Now the lan|guage of your &s;ouls will be that of the Lepers, <HI>If we &s;tay here we die:</HI> if we &s;tay in our un&s;anctified and unrenewed e&s;tate we die: If we &s;tay in our &s;ins we die, if we &s;tay on our duties we die: if we &s;tay on a conceited or counterfeit holine&s;&s;e we die: If we &s;tay on a form of godline&s;&s;e we die: If we &s;tay on a name to live we die; If we &s;tay where the world &s;tayes we die: if we &s;tay in any thing a this &s;ide Chri&s;t and real holine&s;&s;e, we die, we eternally die; And therefore let us ari&s;e and make a venture of our &s;ouls up|on Chri&s;t, and pur&s;ue after that holine&s;&s;e without which there is no happine&s;&s;e. But,</P>
<P>Seventhly and La&s;tly, Con&s;ider, that there are many that <MILESTONE N="7"> are truly holy, that have real holine&s;&s;e in them, and yet for want of a narrow &s;earch, a diligent enquiry into their &s;piritual e&s;tates, they come to be &s;orely and &s;adly afflicted with fears and doubts about their wants of holine&s;&s;e. As the trea&s;ures of this world often lye ob&s;cure and hid in the bowels of the earth: &s;o the trea&s;ures of holine&s;&s;e of|ten lie ob&s;cure and hid in many a gracious &s;oul, for want of a privy &s;earch, As it is one mercy for me to believe, and another mercy for me to know that I do believe;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 John 5.13. P&s;alm 4.6.</NOTE> As it is one mercy for me to be beloved, and another mercy for me to know that I am beloved.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 51.1, 2, 3.</NOTE> As it is one mercy
<PB N="100" REF="81"> for me to be pardoned in the court of glory, and another mercy for me to know that I am pardoned in the Court of con&s;cience. As it is one mercy for me to have my name written in the book of life,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 10.20.</NOTE> and another mercy for me to be told that my name is written in that book. So it is one mercy for me to have real holine&s;&s;e in me: and another mercy for me to &s;ee it, and to know it: As we many times complain of the want of tho&s;e things that we have in our hands: &s;o many dear Chri&s;tians complain of the want of that holine&s;&s;e that they have in their hearts. As the well,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen 21 16, 17, 18, 19.</NOTE> the &s;pring of water was neer to <HI>Hagar</HI> though &s;he &s;aw it not; &s;o the &s;pring of holine&s;&s;e is neer to many a Chri&s;tian, yea it is in many a Chri&s;tian, and yet he &s;ees it not,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 28.16.</NOTE> he knows it not. As <HI>Jacob</HI> once &s;aid, <HI>The Lord was in this place, and I knew it not:</HI> So many a precious &s;oul may &s;ay, I had real holine&s;&s;e in my heart, and I knew it not. As the face of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> did &s;hine,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod 34.29. ult.</NOTE> but he &s;aw it not, he knew it not, though others did &s;ee it and take notice of it: &s;o holine&s;&s;e &s;hines in many a Chri&s;tians heart and life, yet cor|ruptions rai&s;e &s;uch a du&s;t in his &s;oul that he &s;ees it not, he knows it not, though others can &s;ee it, take notice of it, and ble&s;&s;e and admire the Lord for it. As there be &s;ome that think they are rich,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev 3.16, 17. Prov. 13.7.</NOTE> when they are not; and that &s;ay they are rich, when they are not; &s;o there be others that are rich, and yet they will not &s;ay it, nor believe it; So there be &s;ome that think they have holine&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;aiah 65.3, 4, 5, 6. Mark 8.18.</NOTE> when they have not; yea that &s;ay they have holine&s;&s;e when they have not. So there be others that have real holine&s;&s;e, and yet they dare not think &s;o, they dare not &s;ay &s;o. Yea they are apt in times of temptation, de&s;ertion, &s;ore afflictions, and when they are under the &s;en&s;ible &s;tirrings of &s;trong corruptions, to conclude that they have no holine&s;&s;e, no grace, when indeed they have: witne&s;&s;e <HI>Job, Chap.</HI> 13.24. And <HI>Ch.</HI> 19 9 witne&s;&s;e <HI>David, P&s;alm</HI> 22.1, 2. witne&s;&s;e <HI>A&s;aph, P&s;al.</HI> 77.2.11. witne&s;&s;e <HI>Heman, P&s;alm</HI> 88.1.17. witne&s;&s;e <HI>Jeremiah, Lam.</HI> 3.18. witne&s;&s;e the whole Church, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 49.15, 16. <HI>Ezek.</HI> 37.11, 12. And witne&s;&s;e the Di&s;ciples, <HI>John</HI> 14.4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 20. compared. To know our &s;elves to be holy is very de&s;ireable,
<PB N="101" REF="81"> but wo were to many precious Chri&s;tians if they might not be holy and yet not know it; if they might not have holi|ne&s;s in their hearts, when the appearance of holine&s;s is hid from their eyes. Look as &s;parks and coals of fire are often hid under the a&s;hes and we &s;ee them not; and as in Winter the &s;ap and life is hid in the root of the tree, and we perceive it not; and as precious flowers are hid in their &s;eeds, and we di&s;cern them not; &s;o when it is Winter with a Chri&s;tian, his holine&s;s may be &s;o hid and covered under fears, doubts, &s;ins, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that he may not be able to &s;ee it, to di&s;cern it, or conclude that he hath it: As the air is &s;ometimes clear, and &s;ometimes cloudy, and the Sea &s;ometimes ebbing and &s;ome|times flowing; &s;o the holine&s;s of the Saints is &s;ometimes &s;o clouded, and at &s;o low an ebb, that a Chri&s;tian can hardly di&s;cern it, he can hardly &s;ay, Lo here is my holine&s;s; the be|ing of holine&s;s in the &s;oul is one thing; the &s;eeing of holine&s;s in the &s;oul is another thing; the being of holine&s;s is one thing; the feeling of holine&s;s is another thing. A Chri&s;tian may as &s;afely conclude that there are no &s;tars in the sky in a dark night, becau&s;e he cannot &s;ee them; and that there is no trea&s;ure in the Mine, becau&s;e he cannot di&s;cern it, nor come to the feeling of it, as he may conclude that he hath no holine&s;s in his heart, becau&s;e he cannot &s;ee it, he cannot feel it. As the trea&s;ures of this world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 2.3, 4, 5, 6.</NOTE> &s;o the trea&s;ures of holine&s;s often-times he low: a man mu&s;t dig deep before he can come at them. As the babe lives in the womb, but doth not know it, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s the Sun often &s;hines into the hou&s;e and a man doth not &s;ee it; &s;o the babe of grace may be formed in the &s;oul, and yet a Chri&s;tian not know it; and the Sun of holine&s;s may &s;hine in his &s;oul, and yet he not &s;ee it. O there|fore how greatly doth it concern Chri&s;tians to make a dili|gent, a narrow, and a &s;erious &s;earch into their own hearts, whether they have this Jewel of glory, Holine&s;s, in their &s;ouls or no! And if the&s;e arguments will not provoke you to fall upon this work of trial, I know not what will.</P>
<P>But me thinks I hear &s;ome of you &s;aying, O Sir, how &s;hall we do to know whether we have this real holine&s;s or no?
<PB N="102" REF="82"> we &s;ee it is our very great concernment to know whether God hath &s;own this heavenly &s;eed in our &s;ouls, or no: but how &s;hall we come to know this? Now to this I an&s;wer, there are &s;everal wayes whereby this may be di&s;covered. As,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, a per&s;on of real holine&s;s is much affected and taken up in the admiration of the holine&s;s of God: Unholy per|&s;ons may be &s;omewhat affected and taken with other of the excellencies of God; but it is only holy &s;ouls that are affect|ed and taken with the holine&s;s of God. <HI>Exod.</HI> 15.11. <HI>Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among&s;t the Gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holine&s;s, fearful in prai&s;es, doing wonders?</HI> In this &s;tately de&s;cription of God, holy <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> is mo&s;t taken up in magnifying and admiring the holine&s;s of God: Holine&s;s is that glory of the Creator, that holy ones mo&s;t delight to glory in.<NOTE PLACE="marg">So P&s;a. 78.41. &amp; 89.19, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> I&s;a. 43.3. and chap. 49.7.</NOTE> So holy <HI>David, P&s;alm</HI> 71.22. <HI>&V;nto thee will I &s;ing with the Harp, O thou holy one of</HI> I&s;rael: So <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 12.6. <HI>Cry out and &s;hout, thou inhabitant of</HI> Zion: <HI>for great is the holy one of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>in the mid&s;t of thee.</HI> The inhabitants of <HI>Zion</HI> mu&s;t &s;hout and hollow out (as the Hebrew word carries it) in token of joy, becau&s;e he that is great and in the mid&s;t of them, is the holy one of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI> So <HI>Hab.</HI> 1.12. <HI>Art not thou from everla&s;ting, O Lord my God, my holy one?</HI> Among holy ones, none to the holy One: Yea the more holy any are, the more deeply are they affected and taken with the holine&s;s of God: as you may &s;ee in <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> 6.3. <HI>And one cried unto another</HI> (or this cried to this) <HI>and &s;aid, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Ho&s;ts, the whole earth is full of his glory.</HI> The holy Seraphims by trebling the acclamation of his holine&s;s, <HI>Holy, holy, holy,</HI> do denote not only the &s;uper|lative eminency, glory and excellency of Gods holine&s;s, but al&s;o they do di&s;cover how greatly, how abundantly they are affected and taken with the holine&s;s of God. To the holy Angels, the holine&s;s of God is the &s;parkling diamond in the ring of glory: But now unholy per&s;ons are rather affected and taken with any thing then with the holine&s;s of God: The carnal &s;ecure &s;inner is affected and taken with the pati|ence, forbearance and long-&s;uffering of God: O, &s;aith he,
<PB N="103" REF="82"> what a God of patience is this, that hath waited &s;o many years for my repentance? that he that might long &s;ince have damned me, waits &s;till to &s;ave me! that he who might long &s;ince have ca&s;t me into hell, is &s;till willing that I &s;hould go to heaven!<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 29.18, 19, 20, 21. Eccle&s;. 8.11.</NOTE> The pre&s;umptuous &s;inner is much affected and taken with the mercy and goodne&s;s of God: Well, &s;aith the pre&s;umptuous &s;inner, though I have &s;inned thus and thus, yet God hath been merciful to me; and though I do &s;in daily thus and thus, yet God is &s;till merciful to me; and though I &s;hould &s;till go on to &s;in &s;even-fold more, yet he would be merciful to me: He doth not delight in the death of a &s;in|ner, nor in the damnation of &s;ouls: O what a merciful God is God! The pro&s;perous &s;inner, he is taken with the bounty and liberality of God; O, &s;aith he, what a bountiful God, what a liberal God is this, who fills my barns, fills my baggs, who pro&s;pers me at home and abroad, who hath ble&s;t me with a healthful body, a fair e&s;tate, a &s;aving wife, a full trade, laborious &s;ervants, and thriving children! <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But where is there a &s;inner in all the world that is affected and taken with the holine&s;s of God! Certainly there is nothing that renders God &s;o formidable and terrible to unholy per|&s;ons as his holine&s;s doth. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 30.11. <HI>Get you out of the way, turn a&s;ide out of the path, cau&s;e the holy One of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>to cea&s;e from before us:</HI> O that you would not preach &s;o much, nor talk &s;o much to us of the holy One of <HI>I&s;rael:</HI> O that you would once cea&s;e from mole&s;ting and vexing us with me&s;&s;age upon me&s;&s;age from the holy One: Why cannot you as well talk and preach to us of the merciful one, the com|pa&s;&s;ionate one, the affectionate one, the pittiful one, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as be &s;till a talking to us of the holy one, the holy one!<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 5.4, 5, 6. Hab. 1.13.</NOTE> O we love not to hear it! O we cannot tell how to bear it! no|thing &s;trikes the &s;inner into &s;uch a damp, as a di&s;cour&s;e on the holine&s;s of God; it is as the hand-writing upon the wall; nothing makes the head and heart of a &s;inner to ake, like a Sermon upon the holy one; nothing gaules and gripes, no|thing &s;tings and terrifies un&s;anctified ones, like a lively &s;et|ting forth of the holine&s;s of God: But now to holy &s;ouls, there are no di&s;cour&s;es that do more &s;uit them and &s;atisfie
<PB N="104" REF="83"> them, that doth more delight and content them, that doth more plea&s;e and profit them, then tho&s;e that do mo&s;t fully and powerfully di&s;cover God to be glorious in holine&s;s. Well, this is an everla&s;ting truth, he that truly affects the holine&s;s of God, and affects God for his holine&s;s, is certainly made partaker of his holine&s;s; if you are really holy, you are much affected and taken with the holine&s;s of God. Souls, what &s;ay you to this! But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, True holine&s;s is diffu&s;ive, it doth extend, dif|fu&s;e and &s;pread it &s;elf all over the &s;oul,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 119.6, 128. <HI>Bonum e&s;t &s;ui communica|tiv<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">m.</HI></NOTE> it &s;preads it &s;elf over head and heart, lip and life, in&s;ide and out&s;ide. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 45.13. <HI>The Kings daughter is all glorious within, her cloathing is of wrought gold:</HI> (inward holine&s;s, is the inward glory of the Kings daughter:) the Kings daughter is all glorious within; her under&s;tanding is hang'd with holine&s;s, her mind is adorn|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d with holine&s;s, her will is bowed to holine&s;s, &amp; all her affe|ctions are &s;prinkled, yea cloathed with holine&s;s; her love is holy love, her grief is holy grief, her joy is holy joy, her &s;orrow is holy &s;orrow, her fear is holy fear, her care is holy care, her zeal is holy zeal; and her cloathing is of wrought gold, that is, her life and conver&s;ation (which is as vi&s;ible to others as the cloathes &s;he weares) is very &s;parkling and &s;hining in grace and holine&s;s. True &s;anctification is through|out, it reaches to &s;oul, body and &s;pirit, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 5.23. True holine&s;s is a divine leaven,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 13.33.</NOTE> which leavens the whole man. Look as leaven diffu&s;es it &s;elf through the whole dough; &s;o true holine&s;s diffu&s;es it &s;elf through the whole man: Look as <HI>Ab&s;oloms</HI> beauty was &s;pread all over him, even from the crown of his head to the &s;ole of his foot;<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 14.25.</NOTE> &s;o the beauty of holine&s;s &s;preads it &s;elf over every member of the body, and every faculty of the &s;oul: Look as <HI>Solomons</HI> Temple was glorious both within and without, &s;o holine&s;s makes all glorious both within and without. Look as <HI>Adams</HI> &s;in &s;pread it &s;elf over the whole man,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 John 16.</NOTE> &s;o that holine&s;s that we have by the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> &s;preads it &s;elf over the whole <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">n; &s;o that that man that is not all over holy, that is not through|out holy, that man was never truly holy: Look as that ho|line&s;s which was in Chri&s;t did diffu&s;e and &s;pread it &s;elf over
<PB N="105" REF="83"> all Chri&s;t; &s;o that his per&s;on was holy, his natures were holy, his heart was holy, his language was holy, and his life was holy; &s;o real holine&s;s &s;preads it &s;elf over head, hand,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1.15.</NOTE> heart, lip, and life. The fruit of the &s;pirit is in all goodne&s;s, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 5.9. he that is truly good, is all over good; he hath goodne&s;s engraven upon his under&s;tanding, and goodne&s;s engraven upon his judgement, and goodne&s;s engraven upon his will, and goodne&s;s engraven upon his affections, and goodne&s;s engraven upon his inclination, and goodne&s;s en|graven upon his di&s;po&s;ition, and goodne&s;s engraven upon his conver&s;ation; he that is not all over good, is not really good; there are tho&s;e that have new heads but old hearts, new words but old wills, new expre&s;&s;ions but old affections, new memories but old minds, new notions but old conver&s;a|tions: and the&s;e are as far off from true holine&s;s, as the Pope, the Turk, and the Devil are from real happine&s;s. In every holy per&s;on there are many divine miracles; there is a dead man re&s;tored to life, a dumb man re&s;tored to &s;peech, a blind man re&s;tored to &s;ight, a deaf man re&s;tored to hear|ing, a lame man re&s;tored to walking, a man po&s;&s;e&s;t with Devils po&s;&s;e&s;t with grace, a heart of &s;tone turned into an heart of fle&s;h, and a life of wickedne&s;s turned into a life of holine&s;s; if it be thus with thee, I dare write thee and call thee both holy and happy. But,</P>
<P>Thirdly, Per&s;ons of real holine&s;s do &s;et the highe&s;t price <MILESTONE N="3"> and the greate&s;t value and e&s;teem upon tho&s;e that are holy; they do not (as the blind world do) value per&s;ons by their great places, names, profe&s;&s;ions, arts, parts, gifts, gay cloathes, gold chains, honours and riches, but by their ho|line&s;s. As a holy God,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom</HI> cal|led &s;ome holy men in his time <HI>(Agge|lous)</HI> earthy Angels; and &s;o Doctor <HI>Tay|lor</HI> lookt upon holy <HI>Bradford</HI> as an Angel.</NOTE> &s;o holy &s;ouls look not how rational men are, but how religious; not how notional, but how experimental; not how great, but how gracious; not how high, but how holy; and accordingly they value them. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 16.3. <HI>But to the Saints that are in the earth, and to the excel|lent in whom is all my delight. Prov.</HI> 12.26. <HI>The righteous is more excellent then his neighbour:</HI> It is holine&s;s that diffe|rences one man from another, and that exalts one man above another; a holy man is a better man then his neighbour; in
<PB N="106" REF="84"> the eye, account, and e&s;teem of God, Angels and Saints, there is no man to the holy man: The Sun doth not more excell and out-&s;hine the Stars, then a righteous man doth ex|cell and out-&s;hine his unrighteous neighbour. <HI>Prov.</HI> 28.6. <HI>Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightne&s;s, then he that is perver&s;e in his ways, though he be rich.</HI> A man of holine&s;s prefers an holy <HI>Job,</HI> though upon the dunghill, before a wicked <HI>Ahab</HI> upon the throne; he &s;ets an higher price upon an holy <HI>Lazarus,</HI> though cloathed with rags and full of &s;ores, then upon a rich and wretched <HI>Dives,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 16.</NOTE> who is cloathed glo|riou&s;ly, and fares &s;umptuou&s;ly every day. As King <HI>Ingo</HI> valued poor ragged Chri&s;tians above his Pagan Nobles, &s;ay|ing, that when his Pagan Nobles in all their pomp and glory &s;hould-be ca&s;t down to Hell, tho&s;e poor Chri&s;tians &s;hould be his con&s;orts and fellow-Princes in heaven: this blind mad world, rates and values men according to their worldly in|tere&s;t, greatne&s;s, glory, and grandure; but men of holine&s;s, rate and value men by their holine&s;s, by their inward excel|lencies, and by what they are worth for another world: the world judgeth him the be&s;t man in the Pari&s;h that is mo&s;t rich; but a holy man judgeth him the be&s;t man in the Pa|ri&s;h that is mo&s;t righteous; the world counts him the be&s;t man in the Town that is cloathed mo&s;t gorgeou&s;ly, but a ho|ly man counts him the be&s;t man in the Town, who&s;e in&s;ide and out&s;ide, who&s;e heart and life, who&s;e body and &s;oul is cloathed with &s;anctity and purity; the world reckons him the be&s;t man in the City, who&s;e bags are fulle&s;t, and who&s;e e&s;tate is large&s;t; but a holy man reckons him the be&s;t man in the City who&s;e heart is fulle&s;t of holine&s;s, and who hath mo&s;t to &s;hew for a fair e&s;tate in the other world. Certainly to an holy man, there is no wife to an holy wife, no child to an holy child, no friend to an holy friend, no Magi&s;trate to an holy Magi&s;trate, no Mini&s;ter to a holy Mini&s;ter, nor no &s;er|vant to an holy &s;ervant; internal excellencies carries it with a holy man, before all external glories. The Jews &s;ay that tho&s;e &s;eventy &s;ouls that went with <HI>Jacob</HI> into <HI>Egypt,</HI> were as much worth as all the &s;eventy Nations in the world. Doubtle&s;s &s;eventy holy per&s;ons in the e&s;teem and judgement
<PB N="107" REF="84"> of tho&s;e that are holy, are more worth then a whole world,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Plato</HI> could &s;ay, that no Gold or pre|cious &s;tones doth gli&s;ter &s;o gloriou&s;ly, as the prudent &s;pirit of a good man.</NOTE> yea then &s;eventy worlds of unrighteous &s;ouls. A &s;oul truly holy, &s;ets the highe&s;t price upon tho&s;e that are holy; holy <HI>Paul</HI> prized holy <HI>One &s;imus</HI> as his Son, <HI>Philem.</HI> v. 10. as him|&s;elf, v. 17. yea as his own bowels, v. 12. 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 22.27. <HI>With the pure thou wilt &s;hew thy &s;elf pure, or</HI> (as the Hebrew will bear it) <HI>with the choice thou wilt &s;hew thy &s;elf choice.</HI> Pure &s;ouls are the choice&s;t &s;ouls in all the world: They are choice in every eye but their own. All worldly excellencies in the judgement of a holy man, are but as Copper, Bra&s;s, Tin and Lead; but holine&s;s is the tryed &s;ilver, the gold of <HI>Ophir,</HI> the pearl of price in his eye that hath purity in his heart. They only rate and value men aright, who rate and value them according to their holine&s;s; and if men were thus rated and valued, mo&s;t men in the world would be found not worth the money that <HI>Judas</HI> &s;old his Ma&s;ter for. If thou prize&s;t others for their holine&s;s, thou art a holy per&s;on; no man can truly prize and highly value holine&s;s in another, but he that hath holine&s;s in his own heart. Some prize Chri&s;tians for their wit, others prize them for their wealth; &s;ome prize them for their birth and breeding, others prize them for their beauty and worldly glory; &s;ome prize them for the great things that have been done by them, others prize them for the good things that they have received from them; &s;ome prize them for their Eagles eyes, others prize them for their &s;ilver tongues; but he that is truly holy, prizes them for their holine&s;s, he values them for their purity and &s;anctity. But,</P>
<P>Fourthly, He that is truly holy, will be &s;till a reaching and <MILESTONE N="4"> &s;tretching him&s;elf out after higher degrees of holine&s;s;<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 84.7. P&s;al. 119.106. Col. 1.10. 2 Cor. 7.1.</NOTE> yea a man that is truly holy, can never be holy enough, he &s;ets no bounds nor limits to his holine&s;s; the perfection of ho|line&s;s is the mark that he hath in his eye; he hears, and prayes, and mourns, and &s;tudies, and &s;trives that he may come up to the highe&s;t pitch of holine&s;s. <HI>Phil.</HI> 3.12, 13, 14. <HI>Not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which al|&s;o I am apprehended of Chri&s;t Je&s;us. Brethren, I count not my
<PB N="108" REF="85"> &s;elf to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting tho&s;e things which are behind;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">A Metaphor from runners in a race, who &s;train and &s;tretch out them|&s;elves to the utmo&s;t, that they may take hold on the mark or prize that is &s;et be|fore them.</NOTE> <HI>and reaching forth unto tho&s;e things which are before, I pre&s;s toward the mark, for the price of the high calling of God in Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</HI> Received mea&s;ures of holine&s;s will not &s;atisfie a holy &s;oul; &s;o much holine&s;s as will keep hell and his &s;oul a&s;under, will not &s;atisfie him; nor &s;o much holine&s;s as will bring him to happine&s;s, will not &s;atisfie him; he will be &s;till reaching and &s;tretching out after the highe&s;t mea&s;ures of holine&s;s; his de&s;ires are for more holine&s;s. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 27.4. the beauties of holine&s;s do &s;o affect him and inflame him, that he cannot but de&s;ire to be more and more holy. Lord, &s;aith the &s;oul, I de&s;ire to be more holy, that I may glorifie thy name more, that I may honour my profe&s;&s;ion more, and that I may &s;erve my gene|ration more. Lord, I de&s;ire to be more holy, that I may &s;in le&s;s again&s;t thee, and that I may enjoy more of thee; I would be more holy, that I may be more prevalent with thee, and that I may be more victorious over all things be|low thee. And as a man of holine&s;s de&s;ires more holine&s;s, &s;o a man of holine&s;s earne&s;tly prayes for more holine&s;s. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 51.2, 7.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 17.9. Prov. 4.18.</NOTE> He prayeth that he may be filled with the fruits of righteou&s;ne&s;s, and that he may go on from faith to faith, and from &s;trength to &s;trength; he prayeth that his &s;park of holine&s;s may be turned into a flame, his drop of holine&s;s into a Sea, and his mite of holine&s;s into a rich Trea&s;urie; he prayeth that he may like the Eagle fly higher and higher, and that his &s;oul may be like the ri&s;ing Sun, that &s;hines brighter and brighter till it be perfect day: he pray|eth that he may like the Gyant refre&s;hed, rejoyce to run his cour&s;e; and that holine&s;s in his &s;oul, like the waters in <HI>Ezekiel's</HI> &s;anctuary,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 47.</NOTE> may &s;till be ri&s;ing higher and higher. It was <HI>Beza's</HI> prayer, <HI>Lord, perfect what thou ha&s;t begun in me, that I may not &s;uffer Shipwrack when I am almo&s;t at heaven.</HI> And as a man of holine&s;s prayeth for more holine&s;s, &s;o a man of holine&s;s believes for more holine&s;s. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 51.7. in your Tran&s;lations you read the words prayer-wi&s;e, but in the He|brew the words run in the future thus: <HI>Thou wilt purge me from &s;in with Hy&s;&s;op, and I &s;hall be clean; thou wilt wa&s;h me
<PB N="109" REF="85"> and I &s;hall be whiter then &s;now:</HI> In the &s;en&s;e of all his &s;in|fulne&s;s and vilene&s;s he believes that God will give out greater mea&s;ures of purity and &s;anctity to him: <HI>Thou wilt purge me, and I &s;hall be clean: thou wilt wa&s;h me, and I &s;hall be whiter then &s;now.</HI> So in P&s;al. 65.3. <HI>Iniquities pre|vail again&s;t me: as for our tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, thou &s;halt purge them away.</HI> Though for the pre&s;ent iniquity did prevail, yet he had faith enough to believe that God would purge him from his tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, and that he would mortifie prevailing corruptions. And as a man of holine&s;s believes for more holine&s;s, &s;o a man of holine&s;s hopes for more holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 3.14.</NOTE> 1 <HI>John</HI> 3.2, 3, 4. In every ordinance he hopes for more holine&s;s, and under every providence he hopes for more holine&s;s, and under every mutation and change of his condition he hopes for more holine&s;s. When he is in pro&s;perity, he hopes that God will make him more zealous, thankfull, cheerfull, fruitfull and u&s;efull; and when he is in Adver&s;i|ty, he hopes that God will inflame his love, and rai&s;e his faith, and increa&s;e his patience, and &s;trengthen his &s;ub|mi&s;&s;ion, and quiet his heart in a gracious re&s;ignation of him&s;elf to God. I dare boldly &s;ay that that man was ne|ver truly holy who endeavours not to get up to the highe&s;t pitches of holine&s;s: True holine&s;s knows no re&s;trictions,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ille non e&s;t bonus, qui non vult e&s;&s;e melior.</NOTE> nor limitation. But now counterfeit holine&s;s is either like <HI>Hezekiahs</HI> Sun which went backward: Or like <HI>Jo&s;huahs</HI> Sun which &s;tood &s;till: or like <HI>Ephraims</HI> morning cloud which &s;oon pa&s;&s;ed away. No round but the highe&s;t round in <HI>Jacobs</HI> Ladder will &s;atisfie a holy &s;oul: True holine&s;s make a man divinely covetous. Look as the victorious man can never make conque&s;ts enough, nor the Ambitious man can never have honour enough, nor the voluptuous man plea&s;ure enough, nor the worldling Mammon enough, nor the wanton vain embraces enough, no more can a man of holine&s;s have ever holine&s;s enough in this world. As the grave &amp; the barren womb are never &s;atisfied,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 30.15, 16.</NOTE> they never &s;ay it is enough: So a holyman while&s;t he is a this &s;ide eternity, he is never &s;atisfied, he can never &s;ay that he hath holine&s;s enough.</P>
<P>Fifthly, Where there is real holine&s;&s;e, there is a holy <MILESTONE N="5">
<PB N="110" REF="86"> hatred,<NOTE PLACE="marg">True hatred is (<GAP DESC="foreign">,) again&s;t the whole kind.</NOTE> dete&s;tation, and indignation again&s;t all ungodline&s;&s;e, and wickedne&s;&s;e and that upon holy accounts; P&s;a. 119.101. <HI>I have refrained my feet from every evil way:</HI> (but why?) <HI>that I may keep thy word,</HI> ver. 104. <HI>Through thy precepts I get under&s;tanding: therefore I hate every fal&s;e way.</HI> The good that he got by divine precepts, &s;tirred up his hatred again&s;t every fal&s;e way: <HI>ver.</HI> 128. <HI>Therefore I e&s;teem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every fal&s;e way.</HI> His high e&s;teem of every precept, rai&s;ed up in him a holy indignation again&s;t every evil way. A holy man knows, that all &s;in &s;trikes at the holine&s;&s;e of God, the glory of God, the nature of God, the being of God, and the Law of God: and therefore his heart ri&s;es again&s;t all; he looks upon every &s;in, as the Scribes and Phari&s;ees that accu&s;ed Chri&s;t; and as that <HI>Judas</HI> that betrayed Chri&s;t; and that <HI>Pilate</HI> that condemned Chri&s;t; and tho&s;e Souldiers that &s;courged Chri&s;t; and as tho&s;e &s;pears that pierced Chri&s;t; and therefore his heart cries out for Ju&s;tice upon all. He looks upon every &s;in as having a hand in the death of his Sa|viour, and therefore he cries out Crucifie them all, crucifie them all; he looks upon every &s;in as a grieving of the &s;pirit, as a vexing of the Spirit,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 4.30. I&s;a. 63.10. 1 The&s;. 5.19.</NOTE> and as a quenching of the &s;pirit; and &s;o nothing will &s;atisfie him but the ruine of them all. He looks upon every &s;in as a di&s;honour to God, as an enemy to Chri&s;t, as a wound to the Spirit, as a reproach to the Go&s;pel, and as a moth to (his) holine&s;&s;e: and there|fore his heart and his hand is again&s;t every &s;in; but now if you will but look into the Scriptures, you &s;hall find that all tho&s;e that have been but pretenders to holine&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a 58.1.9. Zach. 7.4, 5, 6, 7.</NOTE> their hearts have been alwayes engaged to &s;ome one way of wickedne&s;&s;e or another. <HI>Jehu</HI> was very zealous again&s;t Idolaters; but yet his heart was engaged to his golden calves.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mark 6. John 12.6.</NOTE> <HI>Herod</HI> hears <HI>John</HI> Bapti&s;t gladly, and reforms many things, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but yet his <HI>Herodias</HI> mu&s;t &s;till lye in his bo&s;ome. <HI>Judas</HI> was as forward in religious Services as any others, but yet money did bear the ma&s;terie with him: The Pha|ri&s;ees made long prayers,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 23.19. Chap. 16.23.</NOTE> that they might the better make a prey upon widows hou&s;e. The young man offered fair
<PB N="111" REF="86"> for heaven; but yet his po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions had &s;o po&s;&s;e&s;t, and lockt up his heart, that Chri&s;t could get no enterance.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 8.13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23.</NOTE> Though <HI>Simon Magus</HI> believed, and was baptized, and wondred at the miracles and &s;igns which were done by <HI>Philip:</HI> yet for all the&s;e &s;hews of godline&s;&s;e, he was a pri&s;oner to his lu&s;ts; his condition was dangerous, poy&s;onous and odious; he was in the gall of bitterne&s;&s;e and bond of iniquity. So tho&s;e in <HI>Mat.</HI> 7.21, 22, 23. though they complemented with Chri&s;t, &s;aying, <HI>Lord, Lord,</HI> though they prophecied in Chri&s;ts name, and ca&s;t out devils in Chri&s;ts name; yea, though they did not a few,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Qui habet unium vitium, habet omnia;</HI> He that hath any one vice, hath all other with it; &s;aith <HI>Seneca</HI> truly.</NOTE> but many wonderfull works in Chri&s;ts name; yet all this while they were workers of ini|ty, they were Arti&s;ts in &s;in; they were &s;o addicted to &s;in, that they made a trade of &s;in. Look, as every Lyon hath his den, every Dog his kennel, every Sow her &s;tie, and ever Crow her ne&s;t; &s;o every unholy per&s;on hath one &s;in or another, to which his heart is engaged and married. and that &s;in will undo him for ever. As <HI>Ly&s;imachus</HI> lo&s;t his earthly kingdom by drinking one draught of water: So many lo&s;e a heavenly kingdom by indulging &s;ome one &s;in or other. One flaw &s;poils the Diamond; one Trea&s;on makes a Traytor; one turn brings a man quite out of the way; one Leak &s;inks the Ship; one wound &s;trikes <HI>Goliah</HI> dead; one <HI>Dalilah</HI> betrayes <HI>Samp&s;on:</HI> one broken wheel &s;poils the whole Clock;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Judges 8.</NOTE> and one fly &s;poils the whole box of oyntment. And as one Ba&s;tard de&s;troyed <HI>Gideons</HI> &s;eventy &s;ons: &s;o one predominant &s;in is enough to de&s;troy the &s;oul for ever. As by taking one nap <HI>Samp&s;on</HI> lo&s;t his &s;trength: and by eating one Apple <HI>Adam</HI> lo&s;t Paradi&s;e: &s;o many men by favouring one &s;in, lo&s;e God, heaven and their &s;ouls for ever. He that favours any &s;in, though he frowns upon many, doth but as <HI>Benhadab,</HI> recover of one di&s;ea&s;e, and die of another: Yea, he takes pains to go to hell; &s;in favoured ever ends tragically. And as no unholy heart ri&s;es again&s;t all &s;in; &s;o no unholy heart di&s;dains &s;in or ri&s;es again&s;t &s;in upon noble accounts, upon holy and heavenly accounts: Sometimes you &s;hall have an unholy per&s;on angry with &s;in, and falling out with &s;in, becau&s;e in hath
<PB N="112" REF="87"> crackt his credit, or clouded his honour, or hindered his profit, or imbittered his plea&s;ure, or enraged his con&s;ci|ence, or expo&s;ed him to &s;hame here, and hell hereafter: But never becau&s;e a righteous Law is tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed, a holy God is di&s;honoured, a loving Saviour is (afre&s;h) cruci|fied, or the ble&s;&s;ed Spirit grieved. It is between a holy and an unholy &s;oul, as it is between two children; one will not touch the coal becau&s;e it will &s;mut him, and the other will not touch it becau&s;e it will burn him. A holy heart ri&s;es again&s;t &s;in, becau&s;e of its defiling nature; but an un|holy heart ri&s;es again&s;t &s;in, becau&s;e of its burning and damning nature. A holy man is mo&s;t affected and afflicted with the evil that is in &s;in; but an unholy heart is mo&s;t affected and afflicted with the puni&s;hment that is due to &s;in: A holy per&s;on hates &s;in, becau&s;e it pollutes his &s;oul; but an unholy per&s;on hates it, becau&s;e it de&s;troyes his &s;oul. A holy per&s;on loaths &s;in, becau&s;e it makes again&s;t Gods holine&s;&s;e; but an unholy per&s;on loaths it, becau&s;e it provokes Gods ju&s;tice. A holy per&s;on dete&s;ts &s;in, becau&s;e of the hell that is in &s;in; but an unholy per&s;on dete&s;ts &s;in, becau&s;e of the hell that follows &s;in: a holy heart abhors all &s;in, but an unholy heart is &s;till in league with &s;ome &s;in.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 12.9. Cha. 7.15, 19. I&s;a. 28.15, 18.</NOTE> Now becau&s;e this is a point of great concernment, I &s;hall a little more open and evidence the truth of it in the&s;e three particulars.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, The heart of a holy man ri&s;es again&s;t &s;ecret &s;ins, again&s;t &s;uch as lye furthe&s;t off from the eye of man, P&s;al. 119.113. <HI>I hate vain thoughts, but thy Law do I love.</HI> What more &s;ecret then vain thoughts! and yet again&s;t the&s;e the heart of a holy man ri&s;es. When <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> was tempted to be &s;ecretly wicked with his Mi&s;tris, his heart ri&s;es again&s;t it; <HI>How can I do this great wickedne&s;s, and &s;in again&s;t the Lord!</HI> Hezekiah <HI>humbled him&s;elf for the pride of his heart.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gene&s;. 39. 2 Chron. 32.24, 25, 26.</NOTE> Heart &s;ins lye mo&s;t clo&s;e and &s;ecrret: And yet for the&s;e a holy man humbles him&s;elf. <HI>Job</HI> would not &s;uffer his heart in an Idolatrous way &s;ecretly to ki&s;&s;e his hand.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 31.26, 27.</NOTE> The heart of a holy man ri&s;es again&s;t wickedne&s;&s;e in the dark, again&s;t folly in a corner,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 7.23, 24.</NOTE> again&s;t &s;in a Clo&s;et. So <HI>Paul</HI> was much affected and afflicted with the operations of &s;in within
<PB N="113" REF="87"> him, <HI>with the Law in his members rebelling again&s;t the Law of his mind. Paul</HI> after his conver&s;ion never fell into any &s;candalous &s;in: tho&s;e &s;ins that did mo&s;t trouble him and di&s;tre&s;&s;e him, were of his own hou&s;e, yea, were in his own heart. A holy man knows that &s;ecret &s;ins are &s;ins, as well as tho&s;e that are open.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 19.12.</NOTE> He knows that &s;ecret &s;ins mu&s;t be repented of as well as others: he knows that God takes notice of &s;ecret &s;ins as well as of open. 2 Sam. 12.12. <HI>Thou did&s;t it &s;ecretly:</HI> he knows that &s;ecret &s;ins do often interpo&s;e between God and his &s;oul.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 90.8.</NOTE> <HI>Thou ha&s;t &s;et our iniquities before thee: our &s;ecret &s;ins in the light of thy countenance.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 38.24, 25, 26, 27.</NOTE> He knows that &s;ecret &s;ins will quickly become publick, except they are pre&s;ently loathed and &s;pee|dily mortified: He knows that &s;ecret &s;ins, like &s;ecret di|&s;ea&s;es and &s;ecret wounds, do oftentimes prove mo&s;t dange|rous and pernicious; He knows that &s;ecret &s;ins are the price of blood, as well as open &s;innings. He knows that &s;ecret &s;ins are a grief to the Spirit, as well as tho&s;e that are manife&s;t. He knows that &s;ometimes God puni&s;hes &s;ecret &s;ins with manife&s;t Judgements, as you may &s;ee in that great in&s;tance of <HI>David,</HI> 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 12.10.18. Upon all which ac|counts, a holy heart ri&s;es in a dete&s;tation of &s;ecret &s;ins. But,</P>
<P>Secondly, The heart of a holy man ri&s;es again&s;t the lea&s;t <MILESTONE N="2"> &s;ins, as well as again&s;t &s;ecret &s;ins, in a &s;trict &s;en&s;e. I know there is no &s;in little, becau&s;e there is no little hell, no little damnation, no little Law, nor no little God to &s;in again&s;t; but yet &s;ome &s;ins may comparatively be &s;aid to be little,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 2.3. Matth. 23.24. <GAP DESC="foreign"> 1 Sam. 24.5. 2 Sam. 24.10.</NOTE> if you compare them with tho&s;e that are more great and gro&s;&s;e, that are more hainous and odious. Now the ha|tred of a holy man ri&s;es again&s;t the lea&s;t, P&s;alm 119.163. <HI>I hate and abhor lying: but thy Law do I love.</HI> I hate, I abhor with horror, I loath, I dete&s;t, I abominate lying as I do hell it &s;elf: So much the Original word imports. <HI>Davids</HI> heart &s;mote him for the cutting off the lap of <HI>Sauls</HI> gar|ment: And his heart &s;mote him again for numbring of the people; and yet neither of the&s;e &s;ins were hainous or &s;can|dalous. Some write, that there is &s;uth a native dread and
<PB N="114" REF="88"> terror of the Hauk implanted in the Dove, that it dete&s;ts and abhors the very &s;ight of the lea&s;t feather that hath grown upon the Hauk. Certainly, there is &s;uch a holy dread of &s;in implanted in the heart of a Saint,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 8.13. Daniel 8.1. Gal. 2 3, 4. Jude 23.</NOTE> that he cannot but dete&s;t and and abhor the lea&s;t &s;in; yea, the ve|ry appearance of &s;in: his &s;oul ri&s;es again&s;t the lea&s;t mo|tions or inclinations to evil, though they are &s;ilverd over with the mo&s;t &s;pecious &s;hews, and mo&s;t glorious pretences: for he knows that the lea&s;t &s;ins are contrary to a righteous Law, a holy God, and to his ble&s;&s;ed Saviour, and the Spirit his only Comforter.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, A holy man knows, that little &s;ins if not prevented, will bring on greater.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 12.26. Mat. 26.70. ult.</NOTE> <HI>David</HI> gives way to his wandring eye, and that led him to tho&s;e &s;candalous &s;ins for which God broke his bones, hid his face, and withdrew his Spirit. So <HI>Peter</HI> fir&s;t denyes his Ma&s;ter, and then for&s;wears him, and then falls a cur&s;ing and damning of him&s;elf, as the Greek word <GAP DESC="foreign"> imports, he imprecated the wrath of God to fall upon him, and that he might be &s;eparated from the pre&s;ence and glory of God if he knew the man; and then concludes with a mo&s;t incredible lie, <HI>I know not the man;</HI> when as there was hardly a Jew which knew not Chri&s;t by face, he being very famous for the many miracles that he daily wrote before their eys. Ah, to what a height will &s;in &s;uddenly ri&s;e!<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ge. 27.19, 20. So <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> confe&s;&s;eth that his Mother <HI>Monica</HI> by &s;ipping and &s;upping when &s;he filled the cup to others, came at la&s;t to take a cup of <HI>Nimis</HI> &s;ometimes. <HI>Plutarch.</HI></NOTE> So <HI>Jacob,</HI> fir&s;t he tells three lyes in a Breath: 1. <HI>I am E&s;au,</HI> 2. <HI>Thy fir&s;t born;</HI> 3. <HI>I have done according as thou bade&s;t me:</HI> and then he di&s;&s;embled in calling his meat <HI>veni&s;on;</HI> and then he takes the name of God in vain, by intitling God to that he did: <HI>The Lord thy God brought it to me.</HI> Ah of what an incroaching nature is &s;in! how in|&s;en&s;ibly and &s;uddenly doth it get ground upon the &s;oul! I have read of a young man that was tempted to three great &s;ins, <HI>viz.</HI> to kill his Father, to lye with his Mother, and to be drunk; judging the la&s;t to be the lea&s;t, he yielded to it, and being drunk, he killed his Father, and ravi&s;hed his own Mother. Le&s;&s;er &s;ins u&s;ually are inlets to greater: As the little Thief let in at the window opens the door, and makes way for the greater: and the little wedge makes way for the
<PB N="115" REF="88"> greater. When <HI>Pompey</HI> could not take a City that he a&s;|&s;aulted by force, he pretended that he would withdraw his Army: only he de&s;ired that they would entertain a few of his weak and wounded Souldiers, which accordingly they did; the&s;e Souldiers &s;oon recovered their &s;trength, and opened the gates of the City, by which means <HI>Pompeys</HI> Ar|my entred and &s;ubdued the Citizens. So little &s;ins yielded to, &s;oon gather &s;trength, and open the door to greater: and &s;o a conque&s;t is made upon the &s;oul. This a holy heart well under&s;tands, and therefore it hates and abhors the lea&s;t &s;in. But,</P>
<P>Secondly, A holy heart knows that little &s;ins have ex|po&s;ed <MILESTONE N="2"> both &s;inners, and Saints to very great puni&s;hments. A gracious &s;oul remembers the man that was &s;toned to death for gathering of &s;ticks on the Sabbath day. He re|members how <HI>Saul</HI> lo&s;t two kingdoms at once;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nu. 15.30.37. 1 Sam. 15.23. Mat. 25.25.31. Acts 5.3, 4. Gen. 19.26. ch. 3. ch. 27.</NOTE> his own kingdom, and the kingdom of heaven for &s;paring of <HI>Agag,</HI> and the fat of the Cattel; he remembers how the unprofi|table &s;ervant for the non-improvement of his Talent, was ca&s;t into outer darkne&s;s. He remembers how <HI>Ananias</HI> and <HI>Saphira</HI> were &s;tricken &s;uddenly dead for telling a lie. He remembers how <HI>Lots</HI> wife for a look of curio&s;ity was turn|ed into a pillar of Salt. He remembers how <HI>Adam</HI> was ca&s;t out of Paradi&s;e for eating an Apple, and the Angels ca&s;t out of heaven for not keeping their &s;tandings. He remem|bers that <HI>Jacob</HI> &s;marted for his lying to his dying day. He remembers how God followed him with &s;orrow upon &s;orrow, and breach upon breach, filling up his dayes with grief and trouble. He remembers how <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was &s;hut out of the holy land, becau&s;e he &s;poke unadvi&s;edly with his lips.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Kings 13.</NOTE> He remembers the young Prophet who was &s;lain by a Lyon, for eating a little bread, and drinking a little water contrary to the command of God, though he was drawn thereunto by an old Prophet under a pretence of a revelation from heaven.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 1.19, 20, 21, 22, 23.62. 2 Sam. 6.7, 8.</NOTE> He remembers how <HI>Zacharias</HI> was &s;tricken both dumb and deaf, becau&s;e he believed not the report of the Angel <HI>Gabriel.</HI> He remembers how <HI>&V;z|zah</HI> was &s;tricken dead for &s;taying up the Ark when it was
<PB N="116" REF="89"> in danger to have fallen. Yea, he can never forget the fifty thou&s;and men of <HI>Beth-&s;heme&s;h</HI> who were &s;lain for look|ing into the Ark.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 6.19, 20, 21.</NOTE> Now ah how doth the remembrance of the&s;e things &s;tir up the hatred and indignation of a gra|cious &s;oul again&s;t the lea&s;t &s;ins. A dram of poy&s;on di&s;|fu&s;eth it &s;elf to all parts, till it &s;trangle the vital &s;pirits, and &s;eparates the &s;oul from the body; A little coal of fire hath turned many a &s;tately fabrick into a&s;hes. A little prick with a thorn may as well kill a man, as a cut with a drawn &s;word: A little fly may &s;poil all the Alabla&s;ter Box of oint|ment. General <HI>Norris</HI> having received a &s;light wound in his Arm in the wars of <HI>Ireland,</HI> made light of it, but his Arm gangren'd, and &s;o he lo&s;t both Arm and life together. <HI>Fabius</HI> a Senator of <HI>Room</HI> (and Lord Chief Ju&s;tice be&s;ides) was &s;trangled by &s;wallowing a &s;mall hair in a draught of milk. Three fits of an Ague carried away <HI>Tamerlain,</HI> who was the terror of his time. <HI>Anacreon</HI> (the Poet) was choaked with the kernel of a grape. An Emperour died by the &s;cratch of a comb: One of the Kings of <HI>France</HI> died (mi&s;e|rably) by the chock of a Hog; And his Brother with a blow of a ball at Tennis was &s;truck into his grave. And thus you &s;ee little things have brought upon many, great mi&s;eries. And &s;o little &s;ins may expo&s;e and make per&s;ons very liable to great puni&s;hments: And therefore no won|der if the heart of a holy man ri&s;es again&s;t them. Tho&s;e &s;ins which are &s;eemingly but &s;mall, are very provoking to the great God, and very hurtfull to the immortal &s;oul: And therefore they cannot but be the object of a Chri&s;tians ha|tred.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, A holy heart knows that a holy God looks and expects that the lea&s;t &s;ins &s;hould be &s;hunned and avoided. He looks that the Cockatrice &s;hould be cru&s;hed in the Egg.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 137.9.</NOTE> God looks that <HI>Babylons</HI> little ones &s;hould be da&s;hed again&s;t the &s;tones. Not only great &s;ins but little ones mu&s;t be killed, or they will kill the &s;oul. The Viper is killed by the little ones that &s;he nouri&s;hes in her own bowels. So many a man is eternally &s;lain by the little &s;ins that he nouri&s;hes in his own bo&s;ome: as a
<PB N="117" REF="89"> little &s;tab at the heart kills a man, &s;o a little &s;in without a great deal of mercy will damn a man. God expects that his children &s;hould ab&s;tain from all appearance of evil.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;. 5.22. <HI>Bernard</HI> glo&s;|&s;eth <HI>Quicquid e&s;t male colora|tum.</HI> What&s;o|ever id of an ill &s;hew, or ill report.</NOTE> As thou would&s;t neither wound thy con&s;cience, nor thy cre|dit, God nor the Go&s;pel, thou mu&s;t keep off from the ve|ry appearances of evil. A Chri&s;tian is to hate not only the fle&s;h, but the garment; and not only the garment which is be&s;meared, but the very garment that is (but) be&s;pot|ted with the fle&s;h. <HI>Jude</HI> 23. Our fir&s;t Parents were not only forbidden to eat of the forbidden fruit, but they were forbidden to touch it, <HI>Gen.</HI> 3.3. And certainly, he that would not gape after forbidden fruit, mu&s;t not gaze upon forbidden fruit: He that would not long after it, mu&s;t not look upon it; he that would not ta&s;te it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 6.3, 4.</NOTE> mu&s;t not touch it. The pious Nazarite was not only commanded to ab&s;tain from wine and &s;trong drink, but al&s;o from eat|ing grapes, whether moi&s;t or dry: yea, he was prohibi|ted from eating any thing that was made of the vine-tree from the kernels, even to the husk. Le&s;t by the &s;weet and contentment of any of the&s;e, he &s;hould be tempted or en|ticed to drink wine, and &s;o forget the Law,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 31.5. <HI>Difficile quis venenum bibet, &amp; vivet. Cypr.</HI> A man can hardly drink poy&s;on and live.</NOTE> and break his vow, and make work for hell or repentance, or the Phy|&s;itian of &s;ouls. Sin is &s;o hatefull a thing that both the re|mote occa&s;ion, and the lea&s;t occa&s;ion that might draw the &s;oul to it, is to be avoided and &s;hunned as a man would avoid and &s;hun hell it &s;elf. He that truly hates the nature of &s;in, cannot but hate the lea&s;t &s;in, yea, all appearances of &s;in. A holy heart knows that the very thought of &s;in, if not thought on, will break forth into action, action in|to cu&s;tom, cu&s;tom into habit, and then body and &s;oul are undone for ever. Look, as nothing &s;peaks out more &s;in|cerity and real &s;anctity, then &s;hunning the very appear|ances of vanity: &s;o nothing &s;peaks out more indignati|on again&s;t &s;in, then the avoiding the occa&s;ions of &s;in. But,</P>
<P>Fourthly, A holy heart knows, that the indulging of <MILESTONE N="4"> of the lea&s;t &s;in is ground &s;ufficient for any man to que&s;ti|on his integrity and ingenuity towards God; he hath
<PB N="118" REF="90"> much rea&s;on to &s;u&s;pect him&s;elf, and to be &s;u&s;pected by others, who dares break with God, and with his own con|&s;cience for a trifle; he that will trangre&s;s for a mor&s;el of bread,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 28.21.</NOTE> will be ready enough to &s;ell his &s;oul for a groat. He that will pervert Ju&s;tice for a few pieces of &s;ilver, what will he not do for a hatful of gold? he that will &s;ell the poor for a pair of Shoos,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Amos 2.6.</NOTE> will de&s;troy the poor for a brace of Angels. He that will &s;ell &s;ouls dog-cheap, that will &s;lay the &s;ouls that &s;hould not die,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezekiel 3.19.</NOTE> and &s;ave the &s;ouls alive that &s;hould not live, for handfulls of barley, and pieces of bread, will make no bones of making merchandi&s;e of &s;ouls for &s;ilver and gold:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 8.12, 13. Zech. 13.14.</NOTE> He that will &s;ell his Saviour once for thirty pieces of &s;ilver, will &s;ell him as often as you plea&s;e for a greater &s;umm. He that makes no con&s;cience of be|traying Chri&s;t into the hands of &s;inners for thirty &s;hil|lings,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 7, 4, 5, 6.</NOTE> will make no con&s;cience of betraying his own &s;oul into the hands of the devil at the price of a halter. He that dares lye to &s;ave a little of his e&s;tate, what will not he do to &s;ave his life.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 1.11.</NOTE> The&s;e things a holy heart well un|der&s;tands, and the &s;erious remembrance of them &s;tirs up in him a holy indignation again&s;t the lea&s;t tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="5"> Fifthly, and la&s;tly, (take many things in one) A holy heart knows that the lea&s;t &s;in co&s;t Chri&s;t his deare&s;t blood: without &s;hedding of blood there was no remi&s;&s;ion, no re|mi&s;&s;ion of great &s;ins,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hebrews 9.22.</NOTE> nor no remi&s;&s;ion of little &s;ins. He knows that the blood of Chri&s;t is as requi&s;ite to clean&s;e the &s;oul from the lea&s;t &s;in, as it is to clean&s;e it from the greate&s;t, 1 John 1.7. <HI>And the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t his Son clean&s;eth us from all our &s;ins.</HI> It is not the ca&s;ting of a little holy water upon us: it is not the Papi&s;ts Purgatories,<NOTE PLACE="marg">About little &s;ins, you may &s;ee more in my <HI>Precious Remedies again&s;t Satans Devices. pag.</HI> 22.34.</NOTE> nor their whippings, nor St. <HI>Francis</HI> his ki&s;&s;ing or licking of our &s;ores, nor a Bi&s;hops ble&s;&s;ing, nor a few knocks on the brea&s;t, nor a few tears dropping from our eyes, that can clean&s;e us from the lea&s;t &s;in. No, it is only the blood of Chri&s;t that clean&s;eth us from all our &s;ins; there is not the lea&s;t &s;pot in a Chri&s;tians heart that can be wa&s;ht out, but in the blood of the Lamb. When
<PB N="119" REF="90"> Satan appeared and pre&s;ented to a dying man in a long Parchment Role his Idle words, his fal&s;e words, his an|gry words, his wanton words, and his more wicked words and deeds: The dying man an&s;wered, All this is true Sa|tan, but yet there is one thing more for thee to &s;et down under all my &s;ins, and that is this, <HI>The blood of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t his Son clean&s;eth us from all our &s;ins.</HI> Whereupon the devil vani&s;hed, as being vanqui&s;hed. Certainly, there is not a vain thought, nor an Idle word, nor an angry word, not a wanton word that can be pardoned or clean&s;|ed but by the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. The remembrance of which cannot but &s;tir up a holy indignation in a graci|ous &s;oul again&s;t the lea&s;t corruption. When <HI>Julius Cae&s;ar</HI> the Emperour was murdered, <HI>Antonius</HI> brought forth his bloody Coat, and &s;hewed it to the people, which &s;tirred up in them &s;uch an indignation again&s;t the murderers, that they cryed out, Slay the murderers, and went and burnt their hou&s;es, and all that was in them. So when a holy heart looks upon his &s;ins, yea his little &s;ins, as tho&s;e that have murdered the Prince of glory, ah what an indignation doth it rai&s;e in the &s;oul again&s;t them! A holy heart knows that there is not the lea&s;t &s;in, but doth in a mea&s;ure e&s;trange the &s;oul from God; as little clouds do &s;omewhat interpo&s;e between the Sun and us; &s;o little &s;ins do &s;omewhat inter|po&s;e between God and our &s;ouls: and as &s;ometimes a little matter, a mi&s;take or lending an ear; or a word out of joint, or an act of forgetfulne&s;s doth occa&s;ion &s;ome di&s;tance between deare&s;t friends: &s;o &s;ometimes little &s;ins do occa|&s;ion &s;ome di&s;tance between our deare&s;t God and our &s;ouls.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 15.36. ult. Prov. 16.28. Chap 17.9.</NOTE> A holy heart knows that Chri&s;t looks upon tho&s;e &s;ins as great, which the blind world accounts but little. Chri&s;t accounts hatred, murder, 1 <HI>John</HI> 3.15. A wanton eye, adul|tery. <HI>Matth.</HI> 5.28. And he reckons the officious lie, and the merry lie among&s;t the mo&s;t mon&s;trous &s;ins, and con|demns it to the lowe&s;t hell. <HI>Rev.</HI> 21.8. The con&s;ideration of all which rai&s;es no &s;mall indignation in a holy heart again&s;t the lea&s;t, the &s;malle&s;t &s;in. But now unholy hearts make nothing of little &s;ins; with <HI>Achan</HI> they will be bond|&s;laves
<PB N="120" REF="91"> for a wedge of gold: with <HI>Gehazi</HI> they will be &s;er|vants of unrighteou&s;ne&s;s for a talent of &s;ilver,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 5.22, 23.</NOTE> and two changes of garments: with <HI>Adam</HI> they will tran&s;gre&s;s for n Apple: and with <HI>E&s;au</HI> they will &s;ell their birth-right of grace here, and of glory hereafter, for a me&s;s of Pot|tage. The hearts of unholy per&s;ons may ri&s;e again&s;t gro&s;s &s;ins, &s;uch as are not only again&s;t the Law of God, but again&s;t the light and laws of nature, and Nations; their &s;ouls may ri&s;e in arms again&s;t tho&s;e &s;ins that makes them liable to the laws of men, or that layes them open to &s;hame, fear, grief, or lo&s;&s;e: But as for vain thoughts, idle words, petty oaths, &s;infull motions, and frequent omi&s;&s;ions, they look upon the&s;e as trifles, motes and gnats that are not to be regard|ed, or bewailed. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, As a holy heart ri&s;es again&s;t the lea&s;t &s;ins: So a holy heart ri&s;es again&s;t bo&s;ome &s;ins, again&s;t con&s;titution &s;ins, again&s;t tho&s;e that either his calling, former cu&s;tom, or his pre&s;ent inclination or condition do mo&s;t di&s;po&s;e him to. It is true, a prodigal per&s;on may abhorr covetetou&s;|ne&s;s, and a covetous per&s;on may condemn prodigality: A furious per&s;on may hate fearfulne&s;s; and a fearfull per&s;on may dete&s;t furiou&s;ne&s;s. But now the hearts of tho&s;e that are holy ri&s;e again&s;t complexion &s;ins, again&s;t darling &s;ins, again&s;t tho&s;e that make for pre&s;ent plea&s;ure and profit, again&s;t tho&s;e that were once as right hands, and right eyes; that were that to their &s;ouls, that <HI>Dalilah</HI> was to <HI>Samp&s;on, Herodias</HI> to <HI>Herod, I&s;aac</HI> to <HI>Abraham,</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> to <HI>Jacob,</HI> P&s;alm 18.23. <HI>I was al&s;o upright before him; and I kept my &s;elf from mine iniquity,</HI> That is, from my darling &s;in where|unto I was mo&s;t inclined and addicted. What this bo&s;ome &s;in was that he kept him&s;elf from,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 119.29.</NOTE> is hard to &s;ay. Some &s;up|po&s;e his darling &s;in was lying, di&s;&s;embling; for it is cer|tain, he often fell into this &s;in: Others &s;uppo&s;e it to be &s;ome &s;ecret iniquity, which was only known to God and his own con&s;cience. Others &s;ay it was uncleanne&s;s, and that there|fore he prayed, that <HI>God would turn away his eyes from be|holding vanity, P&s;alm</HI> 119.37. Others judge it to be that &s;in of di&s;loyalty which <HI>Saul</HI> and his Courtiers fal&s;ly charged
<PB N="121" REF="91"> upon him. It is enough for our purpo&s;e that his heart did ri&s;e again&s;t that very &s;in,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 44.15.20. I&s;a. 1.29. ch. 57.5. Ier. 17.1, 2. Ho&s;ea 2.8. I&s;a. 31.6, 7.</NOTE> that either by cu&s;tom or &s;ome &s;trong inclination he was mo&s;t naturally apt, ready and prone to fall into. Idolatry was the darling &s;in of the people of <HI>I&s;|rael:</HI> they called their Idols <HI>delectable,</HI> or <HI>de&s;ireable things, I&s;a</HI> 44.9. they did dearly affectand delight in their Idols; but when God &s;hould come to put a &s;pirit of holine&s;&s;e upon them, then their hearts &s;hould ri&s;e in hatred and de|te&s;tation of their Idols, as you may &s;ee in <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 30.18.25. mark <HI>ver.</HI> 22. <HI>Ye &s;hall defile al&s;o the covering of thy graven Images of Silver, and the ornament of thy molten Images of gold: thou &s;halt ca&s;t them away as a men&s;trous cloth, thou &s;halt &s;ay unto it, Get thee hence.</HI> They were &s;o delighted and enamoured with their Idols, that they would deck then up in the greate&s;t glory and bravery, they would attire them with the mo&s;t rich, co&s;tly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">After the re|turn of the Jews out of <HI>Babylon,</HI> they &s;o hated &amp; ab|horred Idols, that in the time of the Romans they cho&s;e rather to die, then to &s;uffer the Eagle which was the Impe|rial Arms to be &s;et up in their Temple.</NOTE> pompous and glorious ray|ment. O but when a &s;pirit of holine&s;&s;e &s;hould ri&s;e upon them, then they &s;hould defile, deface, and di&s;grace their Idols, then they &s;hould &s;o hate and abhor them, they &s;hould &s;o dete&s;t and loath them, that in a holy indignation they &s;hould ca&s;t them away as a men&s;trous cloth, and &s;ay unto them, get ye hence, pack, be gon, I will never have any more to do with you. God hath now made an everla&s;ting divorce between you and me. And &s;o in <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 2.20. <HI>In that day,</HI> (that is, in the day of the Lords exaltation in the hearts, lives and con&s;ciences of his people, <HI>ver.</HI> 17.) <HI>a man &s;hall ca&s;t his Idols of &s;ilver, and his Idols of gold, which they made, each one for him&s;elf to wor&s;hip, to the moles and to the Bats.</HI> In the day of Gods exaltation they &s;hall expre&s;&s;e &s;uch di&s;dain and indignation again&s;t their Idols, that they &s;hall take not only tho&s;e made of trees and &s;tones, but even their mo&s;t pretious and co&s;tly Idols, tho&s;e that were made of &s;ilver and gold, and ca&s;t them to the moles and to the bats; that is, they &s;hall ca&s;t them into &s;uch blind holes, and into &s;uch dark, filthy, na&s;ty and du&s;ty corners as moles make under ground, and as Bats rou&s;t in: So when holi|ne&s;&s;e comes to be exalted in the &s;oul, then all a mans dar|ling and bo&s;om &s;ins, which are his Idols of &s;ilver, and his
<PB N="122" REF="92"> Idols of gold: the&s;e are with a holy indignation ca&s;t to the moles and to the bats; they are &s;o loathed, abandoned and ca&s;heered, that he de&s;ires they may be for ever buried in oblivion, and never &s;ee the light more. Idols were <HI>Ephraims</HI> bo&s;om &s;in, <HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 4.17. Ephraim <HI>is joyned</HI> (or glewed) <HI>to Idols, let him alone;</HI> but when the dew of grace and holine&s;&s;e fell upon <HI>Ephraim,</HI> as it did in <HI>Chap.</HI> 14.5, 6, 7. <HI>Then &s;aith</HI> Ephraim <HI>what have I any more to do with idols! v.</HI> 8. Now <HI>Ephraim</HI> loaths his Idols as much or more then be|fore he loved them; he now abandons and abominates them, though before he was as clo&s;ely glewed to them, as the wan|ton is glewed to his <HI>Dalelah,</HI> or as the Enchanter is glewed to the Devil, from whom by no means he is able to &s;tir. <HI>Ephraim</HI> becoming holy, cryes out, <HI>What have I any more to do with Idols?</HI> O I have had to do with them too long and too much already! O how doth my &s;oul new ri&s;e again&s;t them! how do I dete&s;t and abhor them! &s;urely I will ne|ver have more to do with them. But now unholy hearts are very favourable to bo&s;ome &s;ins; they &s;ay of them as <HI>Lot</HI> of <HI>Zoar,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 19.20.</NOTE> <HI>Is it not a little one, and my &s;oul &s;hall live!</HI> And as <HI>David</HI> &s;pake of <HI>Ab&s;alom,</HI> 2 Sam. 18.5. <HI>Deal gently for my &s;ake with the young man, even with</HI> Ab&s;alom. <HI>Beware that none touch the young man Ab&s;alom,</HI> ver. 12. <HI>And the King &s;aid,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mark Acts 19.24.30.</NOTE> <HI>Is the young man</HI> Ab&s;alom <HI>&s;afe?</HI> ver. 29. An un|holy heart is as fond of his bo&s;om &s;ins, as <HI>Herod</HI> was of his <HI>Herodias;</HI> or a <HI>Demetrius</HI> was of his <HI>Diana;</HI> or as <HI>Na|aman</HI> was of the Idol <HI>Rimmon,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 5.18.</NOTE> which was the Idol of the <HI>Syrians:</HI> or as <HI>Judas</HI> was of bearing the bagg; or as the Phari&s;ees were of having the uppermo&s;t &s;eats, and of being &s;aluted in the market place with tho&s;e glorious titles <HI>Rabbi, Rabbi.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Matthew 6.</NOTE> Bo&s;om &s;ins have at lea&s;t a &s;eeming &s;weetne&s;&s;e in them: and therefore an unholy heart will not ea&s;ily let them go. Let God frown or &s;mile, &s;troke or &s;trike, lift up or ca&s;t down, promi&s;e or threaten, yet he will hide and hold fa&s;t his darling &s;ins:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 20.12, 13.</NOTE> let God wound his con&s;cience, blow upon his e&s;tate, leave a blot upon his name, crack his credit, afflict his body, write death upon his relations, and be a terror to his &s;oul, yet will he not let go his bo&s;om lu&s;ts.
<PB N="123" REF="92"> he will rather let God go, and Chri&s;t go, and grace go, and heaven go, all go, then he will let &s;ome plea&s;urable, or pro|fitable lu&s;ts go. An unholy heart may &s;igh over tho&s;e &s;ins, and make war upon tho&s;e &s;ins, that war again&s;t his honours, profits or plea&s;ures, and yet at the &s;ame time make truce with tho&s;e that are as right hands and right eyes; an unholy per&s;on may &s;et his &s;word at the brea&s;ts of &s;ome &s;ins, and yet at the &s;ame time his heart may be &s;ecretly courting of his bo&s;om &s;ins. But now an holy heart ri&s;es mo&s;t again&s;t the <HI>Dalilah</HI> in his bo&s;om, again&s;t the <HI>Benjamin,</HI> the &s;on, the &s;in of his right hand. And thus you &s;ee how an holy heart hates and di&s;dains all &s;ins; he abhors &s;mall &s;ins as well as great, &s;ecret &s;ins as well as open, and bo&s;om &s;ins as well as others that have not that acquaintance and acceptance with the &s;oul. Real holine&s;s will never mix nor mingle it &s;elf with any &s;in, it will never incorporate with any corruption: Wine and water will ea&s;ily mix, &s;o the wine of gifts and the water of &s;in, the wine of civility and the water of vanity, the wine of morality and the water of impiety will ea&s;ily mix, but oyl and water will not mix, they will not incor|porate; &s;o the oyl of grace, the oyl of holine&s;s, will not mix; it will not incorporate with &s;in; the oyl of holine&s;s will be uppermo&s;t. Mark natural and acquired habits and excel|lencies, as a pregnant wit, an eloquent tongue, a &s;trong brain, an iron memory, a learned head, all the&s;e with &s;ome high &s;peculations of holine&s;s, and &s;ome profe&s;&s;ion of holi|ne&s;s, and &s;ome commendations of holine&s;s, and &s;ome vi|&s;ible actings of holine&s;s, are con&s;i&s;tent with the love of lu&s;ts, with the dominion of &s;in, witne&s;s the Scribes and Phari&s;ees, <HI>Judas, Demas</HI> and <HI>Simon Magus;</HI> but the real infu&s;ed habits of true grace and holine&s;s, will never admit of the domini|on of any &s;in, whether great or little, whether &s;ecret or open. But,</P>
<P>Sixthly, Per&s;ons of real holine&s;s are cordially affected <MILESTONE N="6"> and afflicted,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 36.25, 26, 31.</NOTE> grieved and troubled about their own vilene&s;s and unholine&s;s; you may &s;ee this in holy <HI>Job,</HI> chap. 40. 3, 4, 5. <HI>Then</HI> Job <HI>an&s;wered the Lord and &s;aid, Behold, I am vile, what &s;hall I an&s;wer thee? I will lay my hand upon my
<PB N="124" REF="93"> mouth. Once have I &s;poken, but I will not an&s;wer; yea twice, but I will proceed no further.</HI> So holy <HI>Agur, Prov.</HI> 30.2, 3. <HI>Surely I am more bruti&s;h then any man, and have not</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><HI>Binath Adam,</HI> the under|&s;tanding of <HI>Adam.</HI></NOTE> <HI>the un|der&s;tanding of a man. I neither learned wi&s;dom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.</HI> Though all men are bruti&s;h, yet holy men are mo&s;t &s;en&s;ible of their bruti&s;hne&s;s, and mo&s;t affected and afflicted with it; wicked men are more bruti&s;h then the bea&s;ts,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 1.3, 4.</NOTE> yet they &s;ee it not, they bewail it not; but holy <HI>Agur</HI> both &s;ees his bruti&s;hne&s;s and bewails it. Holy <HI>Agur</HI> looking upon that rare knowledge, that depth of wi&s;dom, and tho&s;e admirable excellencies that <HI>Adam</HI> was endued with in his in|tegrity and innocency, confe&s;&s;es him&s;elf to be but bruti&s;h, to be as much below what <HI>Adam</HI> once was, as a bruit is be|low a man.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 51.</NOTE> So holy <HI>David</HI> cries not <HI>Perii,</HI> I am undone, I &s;hall peri&s;h, but <HI>peccavi, I have &s;inned, I have done fooli&s;hly.</HI> And &s;o for his being envious at the pro&s;perity of the fooli&s;h,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 73.2, 3.</NOTE> how doth he befool and be-bea&s;t him&s;elf! <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 73.22. <HI>So fooli&s;h was I and ignorant, I was as a bea&s;t before thee.</HI> The Hebrew word <HI>Behemoth,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Therefore the Elephant is called <HI>Behe|moth,</HI> in <HI>Job</HI> 40.15.</NOTE> that is here rendred bea&s;t general|ly, comprehends all bea&s;ts of the greater &s;ort. As an aggra|vation of his folly, he confe&s;&s;eth that he was as a bea&s;t, as a great bea&s;t, yea as an Epi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ome of all great bea&s;ts. So the holy Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> complains that he was undone,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 6.5.</NOTE> that he was cut off, not upon any worldly account, but becau&s;e he was a man of unclean lips, and dwelt in the mid&s;t of a people of unclean lips.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 9.</NOTE> So holy <HI>Daniel</HI> complained not that they were reproached and oppre&s;&s;ed, but that they had rebelled. So <HI>Peter, Luke</HI> 5.8. <HI>Depart from me, for I am a &s;inful man, O Lord:</HI> Or as the Greek hath it, I am a man, a &s;inner; O Lord depart from me, for I am a mixture and compound of all vilene&s;s and &s;infulne&s;s.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 7.23, 24.</NOTE> So holy <HI>Paul</HI> cries not out of his oppo&s;ers or per&s;ecutors, but of the Law in his members re|belling again&s;t the Law of his mind. <HI>Pauls</HI> body of death within him, put him to more grief and &s;orrow, then all the troubles and trialls that ever befell him. An holy heart la|ments over tho&s;e &s;ins that he cannot conquer; a holy per&s;on labours to wa&s;h out all the &s;tains and &s;pots that be in his &s;oul, in the &s;treams of godly &s;orrow; that his &s;ins may never
<PB N="125" REF="93"> drown his &s;oul;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zach. 2.10. I&s;a. 59.1, 2.</NOTE> he will do what he can to drown his &s;ins in penitential tears. A holy per&s;on looks upon his &s;ins as the crucifiers of his Saviour, and &s;o they affect him; he looks upon his &s;ins as the great incendaries, make-bates, and &s;epa|rati&s;t between God and his &s;oul, and &s;o they afflict him; he looks upon his fins as &s;o many reproaches to his God, ble|mi&s;hes to his profe&s;&s;ion, and wounds to his credit and con|&s;cience, and &s;o they grieve and trouble him; he looks upon his &s;ins as tho&s;e that make many a righteous &s;oul (be&s;ides his own) &s;ad, whom God would not have &s;added; and that opens many a &s;inful mouth that God would have &s;topped,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 13.22.</NOTE> and that &s;trengthens many a wicked heart, that God would not have &s;trengthened; and &s;o they fetch many a &s;igh from his heart, and many a tear from his eyes. When a holy man &s;ins, he looks upwards, and there he &s;ees God frowning; he looks downwards, and there he &s;ees Satan in&s;ulting; he looks within him&s;elf, and there he finds his con&s;cience either a bleeding, raging, or accu&s;ing; he looks without him|&s;elf, and there he finds gracious men lamenting and mourning; and gracele&s;s men deriding and mocking; the &s;en&s;e of which doth &s;orely and &s;adly afflict a gracious &s;oul. Some &s;ay that Saint <HI>Peters</HI> eyes (after his great falls) were alwayes full of tears, in&s;omuch that his face was fur|rowed with continual weeping for his horrid thoughts, his de&s;perate words, his &s;hameful &s;hifts, and his damnable deeds, which made him look more like a child of hell, then like a Saint who&s;e name was written in heaven. Some &s;ay of <HI>Adam,</HI> that when he turned his face towards the Garden of <HI>Eden,</HI> he &s;adly lamented his great fall. Some &s;ay of <HI>Mary Magdalen,</HI> that &s;he &s;pent thirty years in <HI>Galba</HI> in weeping for her &s;ins. <HI>Davids</HI> &s;ins were ever before him, and there|fore no wonder if Tears in&s;tead of Gemms were &s;o con&s;tant|ly the ornaments of his bed. Wicked <HI>Pharaoh</HI> cryes out,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 115.3.</NOTE> Oh take away the&s;e filthy frogs, take away the&s;e dreadful judgments; but holy <HI>David</HI> cryes out, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy &s;ervant. <HI>Pharaoh</HI> cryes out becau&s;e of his puni&s;hments, but <HI>David</HI> cryes out becau&s;e of his &s;in. <HI>An&s;elm</HI> &s;aith, that with grief he con&s;idered the whole cour&s;e
<PB N="126" REF="94"> of his life; I found (&s;aith he) the infancy of &s;in in the &s;ins of my infancy; the youth and growth of &s;in, in the &s;ins of my youth and growth; and the ripene&s;s of all &s;in, in the &s;ins of my ripe and perfect age; and then he breaks forth into this patheticall expre&s;&s;ion, What remaineth for thee, wretched man, but that thou &s;pend thy whole life in bewail|ing thy whole life! By all which it is mo&s;t evident, that holy hearts are very much affected and afflicted with their own unholine&s;s and vilene&s;s. Now certainly tho&s;e per&s;ons are as far off from real holine&s;s, as hell is from heaven, who take plea&s;ure in unrighteou&s;ne&s;s, who make a &s;coff and mock of &s;in, who commit wickedne&s;s with greedine&s;s, who talk wickedly, who live wantonly, who trade deceitfully, who &s;wear horribly, who drink &s;tifly, who lye hideou&s;ly, and who die impenitently. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="7"> Seventhly, Real holine&s;s naturalizes holy duties to the &s;oul, it makes religious &s;ervices to be ea&s;ie and plea&s;ant to the &s;oul:<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1, 2. Jam. 5.15.</NOTE> Hence prayer is called the prayer of faith, be|cau&s;e holy faith naturalizeth a mans heart to prayer; it is as natural for a holy man to pray, as it is for him to breath, or as it is for a bird to fly, or fire to a&s;cend, or a &s;tone to de|&s;cend:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 16.26. P&s;alm 119.166.</NOTE> And hence it is that obedience is called the obedi|ence of faith, becau&s;e holy faith naturalizes a mans heart to obedience. As &s;oon as ever this plant of renown was &s;et in the heart of <HI>Paul,</HI> he cryes out, <HI>Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 9.6. Gal. 3.2.</NOTE> And hence it is that hearing is called the hear|ing of faith, becau&s;e this holy principle naturalizes a mans heart to hearing.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 122.1, 2.</NOTE> <HI>I was glad when they &s;aid unto me, Let us go into the hou&s;e of the Lord.</HI> And &s;o in <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 2.3. <HI>And many people &s;hall go and &s;ay, Come ye, and let us go up to the moun|tain of the Lord, to the hou&s;e of the God of</HI> Jacob, <HI>and he will teach us of his wayes, and we will walk in his pathes; for out of</HI> Zion <HI>&s;hall go forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from</HI> Jeru&s;alem.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;. 1.3.</NOTE> And hence patience is called patience of hope, becau&s;e this holy principle of hope naturalizes a mans heart to a patient waiting upon God. <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.25. <HI>But if we hope for that we &s;ee not,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 6.10.</NOTE> <HI>then do we with patience wait for it.</HI> So holy love naturalizes the &s;oul to holy &s;ervice; in 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI>
<PB N="127" REF="94"> 1.3. you read of the labour of love; holy love is very labo|rious; nothing makes a Chri&s;tian more indu&s;trious, painful and diligent in the &s;ervice and waies of God, then holy love; holy love will make us to pray and to prai&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 14.7, 8. 2 Corin. 12.14, 15, 16.</NOTE> it will make us wait and work, it will provoke &s;ouls to &s;tudy Chri&s;t, to admire Chri&s;t, to live to Chri&s;t, to lift up Chri&s;t, to &s;pend and be &s;pent for Chri&s;t; and to break through all difficulties that it may come nearer to Chri&s;t, and cleave clo&s;er to Chri&s;t. As <HI>Jerom</HI> once bravely &s;aid, <HI>If my father</HI> (&s;aid he) <HI>&s;hould &s;tand before me, my mother &s;hould hang upon me, and my brethren &s;hould pre&s;s about me, I would break through my brethren, throw down my mother, tread under-feet my fa|ther, that I might the fa&s;ter cleave unto Chri&s;t my Saviour.</HI> O the laboriou&s;ne&s;s of holy love! So far as a Chri&s;tian is holy, &s;o far holy &s;ervices will be delightful and ea&s;ie to him. <HI>Rom.</HI> 7.22. <HI>I delight in the Law of God after the inward man.</HI> ver. 25. <HI>So then with the mind I my &s;elf &s;erve the Law of God.</HI> P&s;alm 119.16. <HI>I will delight my &s;elf in thy Statutes: I will not forget thy Word.</HI> Ver. 35. <HI>Make me to go in the path of thy Commandments; for therein do I delight.</HI> Ver. 47. <HI>And I will delight my &s;elf in thy Commandments which I have loved.</HI> Ver. 92. <HI>&V;nle&s;s thy Law had been my delights, I &s;hould then have peri&s;hed in mine affliction.</HI> Ver. 143. <HI>Trouble and angui&s;h have taken hold on me; yet thy Com|mandments are my delights.</HI> Sirs, Honour is not more &s;ute|able, delightful, and plea&s;ing to an ambitious man, nor plea|&s;ure to a voluptuous man, nor flatterie to a proud man, nor gold to a covetous man, nor exce&s;s to an intemperate man, nor revenge to an envious man,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 27.8. P&s;al. 81.8. <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> nor pardon to a condemned man, then Religious duties and &s;ervices are &s;uteable, plea&s;|ing and delightful to a holy man; but now unholy hearts are very aver&s;e to holy duties and &s;ervices: they are aver&s;e to hearing, aver&s;e to praying, aver&s;e to reading, aver&s;e to me|ditating, aver&s;e to &s;elf-judging, aver&s;e to &s;elf-examining, aver&s;e to holy wor&s;hip, aver&s;e to holy Sabbaths. <HI>Amos</HI> 8.5. <HI>When will the new moon be gone, that we may &s;ell corn? and the Sabbath that we may &s;et forth Wheat?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 26.10, 11. Jer. 5.1, 6.</NOTE> You may &s;ooner draw a Coward to fight, or a Malefactor to the Barr, or a
<PB N="128" REF="95"> Bear to the &s;take,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Wicked hearts are habitually aver&s;e to all that is good, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> then you &s;hall draw unholy hearts to holy &s;ervices. But if at any time, by the &s;trong motions of the Spirit, the clo&s;e debates of con&s;cience, the powerful per&s;wa|&s;ions of the Word, the education of godly parents, the pi|ous example of bo&s;om friends, the rich trea&s;ures in precious promi&s;es, the dreadful evils in terrible threatnings, or if at any time by the di&s;plea&s;ure of God, the &s;marting rod, the bowels of mercy, the woings of love, or if at any time by &s;ome fla&s;hes of hell, or glimp&s;es of heaven, or by the heavy &s;ighs, the deep groans, and the bleeding wounds of a dying Saviour, their hearts are wrote over to Religious &s;ervices, Ah how &s;oon are they weary of them! What little delight or plea&s;ure do they take in them! <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 43.22.<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 58.1, 2, 3, 4, 5.</NOTE> <HI>But thou ha&s;t not called upon me, O</HI> Jacob, (that is, thou ha&s;t not wor|&s;hipped nor &s;erved me &s;incerely, faithfully, feelingly, hear|tily, affectionately, humbly, holily, as thou &s;houlde&s;t, and as thou oughte&s;t) <HI>but thou ha&s;t been weary of me, O</HI> I&s;rael; that is, thou ha&s;t been weary of my wor&s;hip and &s;ervice, and thou ha&s;t counted it rather a burden then a benefit, a dammage then an advantage, a reproach then an honour, a di&s;grace then a favour, a vexation then a ble&s;&s;ing, and for all thy formal courtings and complementings of me, thou ha&s;t been &s;ecretly weary of me. So in <HI>Mal.</HI> 1.12, 13. <HI>Ye &s;ay, The table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruit thereof, even his meat is contemptible: Ye &s;aid al&s;o, Behold what a wearine&s;s is it! and ye have &s;nuffed at it, &s;aith the Lord of ho&s;ts,</HI> &amp;c. They did God but little &s;ervice, and that they did was after the wor&s;t manner too, and yet they &s;nuff, and puff, and blow, and &s;weat, and &s;well, and fall into a fu&s;tian fume, as if they had been over-tyred and wearied with the burden and weight of tho&s;e &s;acrifices which they offered up to the great God. A holy heart thinks all too little that he doth for God; but an unholy heart thinks every little too much that he doth for God. An holy heart, like the holy Angels, loves to do much and make no noi&s;e; but an unholy heart makes mo&s;t noi&s;e when he doth lea&s;t &s;ervice; an un&s;anctified &s;oul hath a Trumpet in his right hand, when he hath but a penny to give in his left hand, as here. But,</P>
<PB N="129" REF="95">
<P>Eighthly, Where there is real holine&s;s, there will be the <MILESTONE N="8"> exerci&s;e of righteou&s;ne&s;s towards men from righteous prin|ciples, and upon religious accounts, <HI>viz.</HI> the honour of God, the command of God, the will of God, the credit of the Go&s;pel, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Real holine&s;s towards God, is alwayes attend|ed with righteou&s;ne&s;s towards men. <HI>Eph.</HI> 4.24. <HI>And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteou&s;|ne&s;s and true holine&s;s,</HI> or, <HI>holine&s;s of truth.</HI> Titus 2.11, 12. <HI>For the grace of God that bringeth &s;alvation, hath appeared to all men. Teaching us, that denying ungodline&s;s and worldly lu&s;ts, we &s;hould live &s;oberly, righteou&s;ly, and godlily in this pre&s;ent world.</HI> The&s;e words contain the &s;umm of a Chri&s;tians duty, to live &s;oberly towards our &s;elves, righteou&s;ly to|wards our neighbours, and godlily towards God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The common &s;hekel is about 20. pence, &s;o then 400. &s;he|kels amount to 33. pound, &s;ix &s;hillings and eight pence, after five &s;hillings &s;terling the ounce.&mdash; And in this pur|cha&s;e is pro|phetically &s;hewed that <HI>Abrahams</HI> po|&s;terity &s;hould have the in|heritance of that land. As <HI>Jeremiahs</HI> buying of his Uncles field, was a &s;ign of the Jews re|turn, and of their pollicie there again to buy and &s;ell.</NOTE> is true godline&s;s indeed, and the whole duty of man. So holy <HI>A|braham</HI> in <HI>Gen.</HI> 23.16. <HI>And</HI> Abraham <HI>hearkened unto</HI> Ephron, <HI>and</HI> Abraham <HI>weighed to</HI> Ephron <HI>the &s;ilver which he had named in the audience of the &s;ons of</HI> Heth, <HI>four hundred &s;hekels of &s;ilver, currant money with the Merchant.</HI> It is re|corded to holy <HI>Abrahams</HI> everla&s;ting honour and fame, that he paid for the field that he bought of <HI>Ephron</HI> currant mo|ney not counterfeit, pure not adulterate, &s;hekels of &s;ilver, not &s;hekels of bra&s;s &s;ilver'd over; he paid the price that was pitcht, and he paid it in &s;uch coyn as would go currant in one Countrey as well as another. So holy <HI>Jacob</HI> in <HI>Gen.</HI> 43. &s;uppo&s;ing that the money that was returned in the &s;acks of corn that his &s;ons brought out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> was through &s;ome mi&s;take or over&s;ight, he very hone&s;tly and con&s;cientiou&s;ly ordered them to carry the money back again. Ver. 12. <HI>And take double money in your hand: and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your &s;acks, carry it again in your hands; peradventure it was an over&s;ight.</HI> A holy heart will not, a holy heart dares not take an advantage from ano|thers errour to do him wrong; it is but ju&s;tice to return and re&s;tore to every man his due. So holy <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in <HI>Numb.</HI> 16.15. <HI>And</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>was very wroth, and &s;aid unto the Lord, Re&s;pect not thou their offering: I have not taken one A&s;s from them, neither have I hurt one of them:</HI> He &s;ought their good,
<PB N="130" REF="96"> not their goods; he preferred their &s;afety before his own life; he did right to every man, he did wrong to no man; he did every man &s;ome good, he did no man the lea&s;t hurt. So holy <HI>Samuel,</HI> in 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 12.3, 4, 5. <HI>Behold here am I, witne&s;s again&s;t me before the Lord, and before his anointed: who&s;e Ox have I taken? or who&s;e A&s;s have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppre&s;&s;ed? or of who&s;e hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? And I will re&s;tore it you. And they &s;aid, Thou ha&s;t not defrauded us, nor oppre&s;&s;ed us, neither ha&s;t thou taken ought of any mans hand. And he &s;aid unto them, the Lord is witne&s;s again&s;t you, and his anointed is witne&s;s this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they an&s;wered, he is witne&s;s.</HI> He makes a &s;olemn prote&s;tation before the Lord, before his anointed, and before the people, that he had &s;o lived in the exerci&s;e of ju|&s;tice and righteou&s;ne&s;s among&s;t them, that they could not ac|cu&s;e him of the lea&s;t unrighteou&s;ne&s;s, they could not &s;ay, black was his eye, they could not &s;ay that he had le&s;&s;ened them to greaten him&s;elf, or that he had impoveri&s;hed them to enrich him&s;elf, or that he had ruined them to rai&s;e him|&s;elf; upon his appeal they unanimou&s;ly declare his inno|cency and integrity. So holy <HI>Daniel,</HI> in <HI>Dan.</HI> 6.4, 5. <HI>Then the Pre&s;idents and Princes &s;ought to find occa&s;ion again&s;t</HI> Da|niel <HI>concerning the Kingdom, but they could find no occa&s;ion nor fault; fora&s;much as he was faithful, neither was there any errour or fault found in him. Then &s;aid the&s;e men, we &s;hall not find any occa&s;ion again&s;t this</HI> Daniel, <HI>except we find it again&s;t him concerning the Law of his God.</HI> Though envy be the fa|ther of cruelty and malice, the mother of murder and am|bition, the plotter of others de&s;truction; yet holy <HI>Daniel</HI> was &s;o ju&s;t and righteous, &s;o innocent and prudent, &s;o care|ful and faithful in the admini&s;tration of his high office, that none of his envious, malicious, and ambitious enemies could (after their unity in a helli&s;h &amp; cruel con&s;piracy) charge him with the lea&s;t &s;pot of inju&s;tice or &s;hew of unrighteou&s;ne&s;s; they narrowly &s;can'd all his admini&s;trations, and diligently weighed all his actions, and yet them&s;elves being Judges, <HI>Daniel</HI> is found innocent: They could not &s;o much as
<PB N="131" REF="96"> charge him with a colourable fault.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 1.5, 6.</NOTE> So <HI>Zacharias</HI> and <HI>Eli|zabeth,</HI> they walked in all the Commandments and Ordi|nances of the Lord blamele&s;s; they walked not only in the Ordinances, but al&s;o in the Commandments of the Lord, and they walked not only in &s;ome Commandments, but in all the Commandments of the Lord; they walked in the Commandments of the &s;econd Table, as well as in the Com|mandments of the fir&s;t Table; they were as well for righte|ou&s;ne&s;s towards man, as they were for holine&s;s towards God. So the Apo&s;tles in 2 <HI>Corin.</HI> 7.2. <HI>Receive us, we wrong|ed no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.</HI> The Apo&s;tle would have the <HI>Corinthians</HI> to make room for them in their hearts and hou&s;es (as the Greek word <GAP DESC="foreign"> imports) for that they had wronged no man in his name or reputation, as the fal&s;e Apo&s;tles had; neither had they corrupted any man in his judgement by fal&s;e Doctrines or evil Examples, as the fal&s;e Apo&s;tles had; neither had they defrauded any man in his e&s;tate, as the fal&s;e Apo&s;tles had, who made a prize of their followers and hearers; of the &s;ame import is that of the Apo&s;tle in 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2.10. <HI>Ye are witne&s;s, and God al&s;o, how holily, ju&s;tly, and unblamably we behaved our &s;elves among you that believe.</HI> He takes God and them to witne&s;s, that they had lived holily in re&s;pect of God, and righteou&s;ly in re&s;pect of the world, and unblame|ably in re&s;pect of them that believe. By all which it is mo&s;t evident, That where there is real holine&s;s towards God, there will be the exerci&s;e of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e towards men.</P>
<P>But now where there is but the &s;hews and appearances of holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 23.14.</NOTE> there per&s;ons make no con&s;cience of exerci&s;ing righteou&s;ne&s;s towards men: witne&s;s the Scribes and Phari|&s;ees, who under a pretence of praying, made a prey of wid|dows hou&s;es; who under a pretence of piety, exerci&s;ed the greate&s;t covetou&s;ne&s;s, unrighteou&s;ne&s;s and cruelty, and that upon widdows, who are (u&s;ually) the greate&s;t objects of pitty and charity; they made no bones of robbing the wid|dow, under pretence of honouring of God. So <HI>Judas,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">John 12.6.</NOTE> who was a <HI>Cato</HI> without, but a <HI>Nero</HI> within; who under a pre|tence of laying up for the poor, robb'd the poor; he made
<PB N="132" REF="97"> u&s;e of counterfeit holine&s;s, as a cloak to cover all his thievi&s;h villanies; he pretended to lay up for the poor, but he intended only to lay up for him&s;elf, &amp; to provide again&s;t a rainy-day; it is like he had no great mind to &s;tay long with his Lord, and therefore he was re&s;olved to make the be&s;t market he could for him&s;elf; that &s;o when he &s;hould lay down his Steward&s;hip, he might have &s;omething to live up|on. <HI>Judas</HI> acted the part of a Saint in his profe&s;&s;ion, and di&s;cour&s;es, that &s;o he might be the le&s;s &s;u&s;pected to act the part of a thief in his more &s;ecret practi&s;es. <HI>Judas</HI> had not been long in office, before he put Con&s;cience out of office, and Con&s;cience being put out of office, <HI>Judas</HI> &s;ets up for him&s;elf, and under a Cloak of holine&s;s, he practi&s;es the greate&s;t unfaithfulne&s;s: Though the Eagle &s;ores high, yet &s;till her eye is upon her prey; &s;o though <HI>Judas</HI> did &s;ore high in profe&s;&s;ion, yet his eye was &s;till upon his prey, upon his bags, and &s;o he might have it, he cared not who went without it; &s;o he might be rich, he did not care though his Lord and his retinue grew never &s;o poor.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 King. 5.20, 26.</NOTE> <HI>Judas</HI> had <HI>Jacobs</HI> voice, but <HI>Gehazies</HI> heart and hands, and therefore he &s;crews up his Con&s;ciencee till he makes all crack again. Under all his &s;hews of &s;anctity, he had not &s;o much as common ho|ne&s;ty in him. Counterfeit holine&s;s is often made a &s;talking hor&s;e, to the exerci&s;e of much unrighteou&s;ne&s;s: Certainly that man is as far from real holine&s;s, as the Devil him&s;elf is from true happine&s;s; who lives not in the exerci&s;e of righte|ou&s;ne&s;s towards men, as well as in a profe&s;&s;ion of holine&s;s towards God. Well Chri&s;tians, remember this, it were bet|ter with the Philo&s;opher, to have hone&s;ty without Religion, then to have Religion without hone&s;ty. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="9"> Ninthly, He that is truly holy, will labour and endeavour to make others holy; a holy heart loves not to go to hea|ven alone, it loves not to be happy and ble&s;&s;ed alone; a man that hath experienced the power, excellency and &s;weetne&s;s of holine&s;s, will &s;trive and &s;tudy how to make others holy. When <HI>Samp&s;on</HI> had ta&s;ted honey,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Judg. 14.8, 9.</NOTE> he gave his father and mo|ther &s;ome with him. Holine&s;s is &s;o &s;weet a mor&s;el, that a &s;oul cannot ta&s;te of it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;. 1.5, 6, 7, 8.</NOTE> but he will be a commending of it
<PB N="133" REF="97"> to others. As you may &s;ee in holy <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> in <HI>Numb.</HI> 11.29. <HI>And</HI> Mo&s;es <HI>&s;aid unto him, Envie&s;t thou for my &s;ake?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Lilmod le lammed,</HI> we therefore learn that we may teach, is a proverb a|mong the Rabbines.</NOTE> <HI>would God that all the Lords people were Prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them.</HI> A holy &s;oul will never make a monopoly of holine&s;s; the Prophets you know were men of greate&s;t grace and holine&s;s; now holy <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> is very im|portunate and earne&s;t with God, that he would not only make the two that prophe&s;ied, but all the Lords people emi|nent and excellent in grace and holine&s;s; &s;uch was <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his holine&s;s and humblene&s;s, that he de&s;ires that all others might either equal him, or excell him in gifts and grace.<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Heathen: could &s;ay, I do therefore lay in and lay up, that I may draw forth again for the good of many.</NOTE> A heart eminently holy, is &s;o far from envying of the gracious excellencies of others, that it can rejoyce in every Sun that out-&s;hines his own: and every light that burns more dim then his, he de&s;ires that it may be &s;nufft, (not put out) that &s;o it may give a clearer and a greater light to others. So holy <HI>Paul</HI> in <HI>Acts</HI> 26.29. <HI>And</HI> Paul <HI>&s;aid, I would to God, that not only thou, but al&s;o all that hear me this day, were both almo&s;t, and altogether &s;uch as I am, except the&s;e bands.</HI> True holine&s;s is no Churl: nothing makes a man more noble in his &s;piritual de&s;ires, wi&s;hes, and actings for others, then holi|ne&s;s. Real holine&s;s, like oyl, is of a diffu&s;ive nature; like light, it will &s;pread it &s;elf over all, like <HI>Maries</HI> box of oint|ment, it fills all the hou&s;e with the &s;weet &s;cent thereof. Art thou a holy Father, then thou wilt with holy <HI>Abraham,</HI> la|bour to make thy children holy. <HI>Gen.</HI> 18.17, 18, 19. A holy heart knows, that both by his fir&s;t birth, but e&s;pecially by his new-birth, he &s;tands obliged to promote holine&s;s in all, but e&s;pecially in tho&s;e that are parts and pieces of him&s;elf. Art thou a holy Ma&s;ter, then thou wilt with holy <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> labour to make all under thy charge holy. <HI>Jo&s;h.</HI> 24.15. <HI>But as for me, and my hou&s;e, we will &s;erve the Lord.</HI> True holi|ne&s;s cannot be concealed, it will be a &s;tirring and a provoak|ing of others to be holy; as a holy man doth not love to be happy alone, &s;o a holy man doth not love to be holy alone. A holy ma&s;ter loves to &s;ee a Crown of holine&s;s &s;et upon every head in his family: Holine&s;s is a very beautiful thing, and it makes tho&s;e beautiful in whom it is; in a holy Ma&s;ters
<PB N="134" REF="98"> eye, there is no &s;ervant &s;o lovely and beautiful, as he that hath the beauty of holine&s;s upon him.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>George</HI> Prince of <HI>A<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">halt</HI> his family is &s;aid to have been <HI>(Eccle&s;ia, A|cademia, Curia)</HI> A Church, an Univer&s;ity and a Court.</NOTE> A holy Magi&s;trate will labour to make both his &s;ervants and his &s;ubjects holy. As holy <HI>David,</HI> holy <HI>A&s;a,</HI> holy <HI>Jo&s;iah,</HI> and holy <HI>Ezekiah</HI> did, he knows that the &s;ouls of his &s;ervants and &s;ubjects are the choice&s;t trea&s;ure that God hath committed to his care; he knows that every &s;oul is more worth then his Crown and Kingdom; he knows that he mu&s;t one day give up an ac|count for more &s;ouls then his own, and therefore he im|proves his power and intere&s;t every way for the making of all holy under him. As <HI>Lewis</HI> the ninth King of <HI>France</HI> took pains to in&s;truct his poor Kitchin-boy in the way to heaven, and being asked the rea&s;on of it, he an&s;wered, The meane&s;t have a &s;oul to &s;ave as precious as mine own, and bought by the &s;ame blood of Chri&s;t. It is &s;aid of <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> (that in this he was truly great) that he would have his whole Court gathered together, and cau&s;e the Scriptures to be read and opened to them, that they might be made holy Courtiers,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 21.27.</NOTE> and &s;o fitted for the Court of heaven, into which no unclean per&s;on or thing can enter. It grieved an Emperour, that a neighbour of his &s;hould die before he had done him any good. Ah, it is the grief of a holy Magi&s;trate to &s;ee others die before they are made holy; the great re|que&s;t of a holy Magi&s;trate living and dying, is this, Lord make this people a holy people! O make this people a holy people! Art thou a holy kin&s;man, a holy friend, then thou wilt labour to make thy kindred holy, and thy friends holy: As holy <HI>Cornelius</HI> did,<NOTE PLACE="marg">So in 1 John 39, 49. Chap. 4.28, 29, 30.</NOTE> as you may &s;ee in <HI>Acts</HI> 10.24, 27. <HI>And the morrow after they entred into</HI> Ce&s;aria: <HI>and</HI> Cornelius <HI>waited for them, and had called together his kin&s;men and near friends. And as</HI> Peter <HI>talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together.</HI> And in ver. 33. &s;aith <HI>Cornelius</HI> to <HI>Peter, Thou ha&s;t well done that thou art come: Now there|fore we are all here pre&s;ent before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver. 1, 2, 3, 4.</NOTE> Devout <HI>Cornelius</HI> gets his kin&s;|men and near friends together, that they al&s;o might be par|takers of the grace and mercy of God with him: he had experienced a work of grace and holine&s;s upon his own
<PB N="135" REF="98"> heart, and he u&s;es his be&s;t endeavours that they might ex|perience the &s;ame on theirs. A holy Chri&s;tian is like a load|&s;tone that draws to it &s;elf fir&s;t one iron ring, and that ano|ther, and that a third.<NOTE PLACE="marg">It is a true &s;aying in na|tural Philo|&s;ophie, that it is <HI>(Natu|rali&s;&s;imum opus viventis gene|rare &s;ibi &s;imile)</HI> the mo&s;t na|tural act or work of every living thing to produce another like unto it &s;elf.</NOTE> As there is a natural in&s;tinct in all creatures to propagate their own kind, as in bea&s;ts, birds and fi&s;hes; &s;o there is a holy, a &s;piritual in&s;tinct in all gra|cious hearts to propagate grace and holine&s;s in whatever hearts they can. Look as fire will a&s;&s;imilate and turn every thing that comes near it into its own nature; &s;o will a holy heart labour to make all that comes near him like him&s;elf. Look as one drunkard labours to make another, and one &s;wearer another, and one wanton another, and one thief another, and one idle per&s;on another, and one fearful per|&s;on another, and one doubtful per&s;on another, and one er|roneous per&s;on another, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> So one holy heart labours to make another, one gracious heart labours to make another, he that is humble will labour to make others humble, he that is &s;incere will labour to make others &s;incere, he that is faithful will labour to make others to be faithful, he that is fruitful will labour to make others fruitful, and he that is watchful will labour to make others watchful. A heart that is truly holy, will labour by prayers, reproofs, tears, exam|ple, coun&s;el, and commands, to make others like him&s;elf: He knows that there is no love, no wi&s;dom, no care, no pains (next to that which he takes with his own heart) to that which is laid out to make unholy hearts holy. And therefore he prayes and weeps, and weeps and prayes, that holine&s;s may be written upon all that his name is written up|on; he learns and teaches, and he teaches and learns, and all that he may teach and learn others to be holy; he counts it not worth while to live in this world, were it not for the glory of God, and the good of his own and others &s;ouls; but now what &s;hall we &s;ay of tho&s;e per&s;ons who are &s;o far from being holy, who are &s;o far from drawing others to be holy, that they do what they can to make tho&s;e that are holy to become unholy; and who &s;trongly tempt tho&s;e that are unholy to be more unholy; the&s;e are factors for hell, and certainly &s;uch &s;olicitors &s;hall at la&s;t be mo&s;t dreadfully hand|led by helli&s;h tormentors. But,</P>
<PB N="136" REF="99">
<P> <MILESTONE N="10"> Tenthly, He that is really holy, will be holy in the u&s;e of earthly and common things, as well as in the u&s;e of &s;pi|ritual and heavenly things.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Titus 1.15.</NOTE> He will be &s;piritual in the u&s;e of carnal things, and heavenly in the u&s;e of earthly things. There is a &s;ilver vein of &s;anctity that runs through all his worldly concernments. If you look upon him in his eating and drinking; you &s;hall find him holy, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.31. If you look upon him in his buying and &s;elling, in his paying and receiving, you &s;hall find him holy, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 23.18. <HI>And her Merchandi&s;e and her hire &s;hall be holine&s;s to the Lord.</HI> Before <HI>Tyres</HI> conver&s;ion &s;he laboured to inrich her &s;elf by hook and by crook: all was fi&s;h that came to <HI>Tyres</HI> net. <HI>Tyre</HI> could &s;ay any thing, or do any thing, or be any thing for gain. Oh, but when <HI>Tyre</HI> is converted and &s;anctified, then all her merchandi&s;e and hire, then all her gettings and earnings &s;hall be holine&s;s to the Lord. <HI>Tyre</HI> now &s;hall write holine&s;&s;e upon all her wares and commodities: <HI>Tyre</HI> &s;hall buy nothing, nor &s;ell nothing, nor exchange nothing, but there &s;hall be holine&s;&s;e written upon it. And <HI>Tyre</HI> &s;hall be as well holy in u&s;ing and improving of her merchandi&s;e and hire, as &s;he hath been holy in the getting of them; for &s;o it follows in the &s;ame ver&s;e, <HI>It &s;hall not be trea&s;ured nor laid up: for her merchandi&s;e &s;hall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat &s;ufficiently, and for durable clothing. Tyre</HI> before her conver&s;ion hoorded up riches; and laid up her merchandi&s;e to &s;pend upon her lu&s;ts; to &s;pend up|on her pride, and wantonne&s;&s;e, and luxuriou&s;ne&s;&s;e, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But now being converted &s;he u&s;es and improves what &s;he hath in the Service of the Lord, and for the comfort, &s;up|port and relief of the poor and needy. When <HI>Tyre</HI> is once made holy,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Calvin</HI> renders it Stables of hor&s;es, which are the mo&s;t &s;tinking and contemptible places; and yet the&s;e &s;hould be holily u&s;ed.</NOTE> then <HI>Tyre</HI> will be holy in the u&s;e of all her earthly enjoyments. If you look upon a holy man going to war, then you &s;hall find holine&s;&s;e written upon the bridles of his hor&s;es, Zach. 14.20, 21. <HI>In that day &s;hall there be upon the bridles</HI> (or bells) <HI>of the hor&s;es holine&s;s unto the Lord. Yea, every Pot in</HI> Jeru&s;alem <HI>and in</HI> Judah <HI>&s;hall be holine&s;s unto the Lord of Ho&s;ts.</HI> Here is holine&s;&s;e written upon the bridles of the hor&s;es they ride on, and
<PB N="137" REF="99"> holine&s;&s;e written upon the cups and pots they drink in: a holy heart will be holy in the u&s;e of the meane&s;t things; that are for common u&s;e. Every piece of his civility &s;hall &s;avour of &s;anctity, and in all the parts of his common con|ver&s;ation you &s;hall be able to di&s;cern &s;omething of the power of religion, Job 5.24. <HI>And thou &s;halt vi&s;it thy habi|tation, and &s;halt not &s;in.</HI> Thou &s;halt be holy in thy commerce, and holy in thy conver&s;e; holine&s;&s;e &s;hall be written upon thy dealings with thy &s;ervants, and holine&s;&s;e &s;hall be written upon thy carriages towards thy children, and holine&s;&s;e &s;hall be written upon all thy behaviours towards thy friends. What ever thou putte&s;t thy hand to in thy habitation, &s;hall have holine&s;&s;e written upon it: thou &s;halt make a <HI>Jacobs</HI> ladder of all thy earthly enjoyments, all the comforts that be in thy habitation, &s;hall be as &s;o many bright morning &s;tars to lead thee on in a way of holine&s;&s;e, and to lead thee up to a holy God. Look upon a holy man in his cal|ling, and you &s;hall find him holy: Look upon him in the u&s;e of the creatures, and you &s;hall find him holy: Look up|on him in his recreations, and you &s;hall find him holy. The habitual frame and bent of his heart is to be holy in eve|ry earthly thing that he puts his hand unto. A &s;pirit of holine&s;&s;e runs and &s;hines in all the common actions of his life. But now look upon tho&s;e who have only the &s;hews and appearances of holine&s;&s;e, and you &s;hall find that they have but a common &s;pirit in common things; take them out of their duties, and you &s;hall find them in a cour&s;e to be earthly in the u&s;e of earthly things, and carnal in the u&s;e of carnal things, and worldly in the u&s;e of worldly things. All their religion, all their holine&s;&s;e lyes in a few duties; take them out of the&s;e, and you &s;hall find them as carnal, as vain, as fooli&s;h, as filthy and as frothy, as light and as &s;light as tho&s;e that have not &s;o much as a cloak of holine&s;&s;e upon them. But he that is really holy, will be holy as well out of duties, as in duties: If you look narrowly upon him in all his worldly concernments, you &s;hall find &s;ome foot&s;teps of the aw, fear, dread, authority and glory of God upon his &s;pirit. Look as an unholy heart is car|nal
<PB N="138" REF="100"> in &s;piritual things, and earthly in heavenly things, and unholy in holy things, &s;o a man that is truly holy, he is as well holy in the ordinary affairs and actions of this life, as he is holy in any of the exerci&s;es of Religion. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="11"> Eleventhly, True holine&s;&s;e is conformable to the holine&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t. The holine&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t is that fir&s;t and noble pat|tern that real holine&s;&s;e makes us conformable to, 1 John 4.17.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 John 2.6.</NOTE> <HI>Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldne&s;&s;e in the day of judgement, becau&s;e as he is, &s;o are we in this world;</HI> there is no grace in Chri&s;t, which is not in &s;ome degree formed in a holy heart: and therefore the work of grace and holine&s;&s;e is called a forming of Chri&s;t in the &s;oul,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gratiam &s;uper gratiam,</HI> &s;ay &s;ome; <HI>Gratiam gratiae accuma|latam,</HI> &s;ay others. Cer|tainly Chri&s;t is a &s;eminary of graces. He is <HI>clara Epitome virtutum,</HI> An exact Epitome of graces.</NOTE> <HI>Gal.</HI> 4.19. Holy hearts have the very prints, &s;tamps and impre&s;&s;ions of the graces of Je&s;us Chri&s;t upon them, 1 John 16. <HI>Of his fulne&s;&s;e we have all received grace for grace.</HI> Look as face an&s;wers to face, &s;o the graces that are in real Chri&s;tians, an&s;wer to the graces that are in Je&s;us; there is &s;uch love as an&s;wers to the love of Chri&s;t; and &s;uch lowline&s;&s;e as an&s;wers to the lowline&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t, and &s;uch heavenly mindedne&s;&s;e as an&s;wers to the heavenly mind|edne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t; and &s;uch meekne&s;&s;e as an&s;wers to the meekne&s;&s;e of Chri&s;t; and &s;uch patience as an&s;wers to the patience of Chri&s;t; and &s;uch faith as an&s;wers to the faith of Chri&s;t; and &s;uch zeal as an&s;wers to the zeal of Chri&s;t; and &s;uch fear as an&s;wers to the fear of Chri&s;t, in truth and reality, though not in degree and quantity. Look, as in generation, the child receives member for member; or as the paper from the Pre&s;&s;e, letter for letter; or the gla&s;&s;e from the face, image for image; or as the wax from the &s;eal, &s;tamp for &s;tamp; &s;o holy hearts receive from Chri&s;t grace for grace. Look as wine in the bottle is conform|able to that in the Butt, and as water in the Ci&s;tern is con|formable to that in the river; and as light in the Air is conformable to that in the Sun; and as milk in the &s;awcer is conformable to milk in the brea&s;ts; and as money in the pocket is conformable to money in the bagg. So the graces that are in a holy Chri&s;tian are conformable to the
<PB N="139" REF="100"> graces that are in Chri&s;t, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.17, 18. To be a Philo&s;opher (&s;aith <HI>Plato</HI>) is to know God, to be in love with God, and to imitate God. So &s;ay I, to be a holy per&s;on, is to know a holy Chri&s;t, to be in love with a holy Chri&s;t, and to imi|tate the vertues of a holy Chri&s;t. It was the height of <HI>Cae&s;ars</HI> glory, to walk in the &s;teps of <HI>Alexander;</HI> And of <HI>Selymus</HI> (a Turki&s;h Emperour) to walk in the &s;teps of <HI>Cae&s;ar.</HI> And of <HI>Themi&s;tocles,</HI> to walk in the &s;teps of <HI>Mil|tiades:</HI> &s;o it is the height of a Chri&s;tians glory, to tread in the vertuous &s;teps of his deare&s;t Lord. And as <HI>Scipio</HI> ac|counted it no &s;mall di&s;paragement for him to walk one foot awry from that cour&s;e of life which <HI>Cyrus</HI> in <HI>Xeno|phon</HI> had gone before him in: &s;o a holy heart counts it no &s;mall di&s;paragement to him in the lea&s;t, to &s;tep awry from that holy pattern that Chri&s;t hath &s;et him. Look as the holy Prophet did lay his mouth to the <HI>Shunamites</HI> childs mouth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 4.34.</NOTE> and his eyes to his eyes, and his hands to his hands: So a holy Chri&s;tian layes his mouth to the mouth of Chri&s;t, and his eys to the eyes of Chri&s;t, and his hands to the hands of Chri&s;t, and his brea&s;ts to the brea&s;ts of Chri&s;t, and his heart to the heart of Chri&s;t: that is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 2.9.</NOTE> he doth in all things labour to re&s;emble Chri&s;t, to be like to Chri&s;t; e&s;pecially in tho&s;e holy vertues which were mo&s;t &s;hining in the heart and life of Chri&s;t. Now certainly, they are far from being holy, who count it a crime to be vertuous: and &s;o are they who walk directly contrary to Je&s;us Chri&s;t: he was holy, but they are prophane; he was humble, but they are proud; he was heavenly, but they are earthly; he was &s;piritual, but they are carnal; he was zealous, but they are luke-warm; he was meek, but they are contentions; he was charitable, but they are covetous; he was courteous, but they are malitious. Will you call the&s;e men holy? &s;urely no. But,</P>
<P>Twelfthly, He that is truly holy,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;hua 7.9. P&s;alm 69.9. Ezra 9.3. Nehemiah 9. Daniel 9. Micah 1.8. Ierem. 13.17.</NOTE> is much affected and af|flicted <MILESTONE N="12"> with the unholine&s;&s;e of others, P&s;al. 119.53. <HI>Hor|ror hath taken hold upon me, becau&s;e of the wicked that for|&s;ake thy Law.</HI> Ver. 158. <HI>I beheld the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors, and was grieved, becau&s;e they kept not thy Word.</HI> Ver. 136. <HI>Rivers
<PB N="140" REF="101"> of waters run down mine eyes; becau&s;e they keep not thy Law.</HI> By this Hyperbolical phra&s;e, he &s;ets forth the great|ne&s;&s;e of his &s;orrows, and that not becau&s;e his enemies had wronged him, but becau&s;e they had di&s;honoured his God. It was a great grief to him ro &s;ee others a grieving his God. So Jer. 9.1, 2, 3. <HI>O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night! Oh that I had in the wilderne&s;&s;e a lodging place of wayfaring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them.</HI> But why doth the holy Prophet thus take on? why doth he thus lament? why doth he wi&s;h him&s;elf turned into waters, and into a fountain of tears? why doth he prefer a habitation among&s;t the wild bea&s;ts, before his habitation among his own people? Why, the cau&s;e you have in the following words, <HI>for they be all Adulterers, an A&s;&s;embly of treacherous men; And they bend their tongues like their bow, for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, &s;aith the Lord.</HI> So Ezek. 9.4. <HI>And the Lord &s;aid unto him, Go through the mid&s;t of the City, through the mid&s;t of</HI> Jeru&s;alem, <HI>and &s;et a mark upon the foreheads of the men that &s;igh, and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the mid&s;t thereof.</HI> There were holy hearts in <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> that did &s;igh and cry, and cry and &s;igh for the wickedne&s;&s;e of the times; the abominations of the times did lye in &s;uch full weight upon them, that they did fetch many a &s;igh from their hearts, and many a tear from their eyes. Holy hearts are able to tell you many &s;ad &s;tories of the groans, griefs and gripes, that other mens &s;ins hath co&s;t them. When mo&s;t were a &s;inning, Gods marked ones were a mourning; when others were with a high hand a cur&s;ing, bla&s;pheming, and a rebelling, Gods marked ones were deeply &s;orrow|ing; they mourned cordially, they &s;ighed greatly, they grieved wonderfully, they groaned lamentably, and that not for &s;ome, but for all, for all Court &s;ins, and Church &s;ins, and City &s;ins, and family &s;ins. And &s;o holy <HI>Paul</HI> could not with dry eyes make mention of tho&s;e belly-gods, and earth-worms that were in his time, <HI>Phil.</HI> 3.18. So holy
<PB N="141" REF="101"> <HI>Lot</HI> was much affected and afflicted with &s;eeing and hear|ing of the wickedne&s;&s;e of tho&s;e among whom he lived, 2 <HI>Peter</HI> 2.7, 8. The Greek word for vexed, in <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 7. (<GAP DESC="foreign">) &s;ignifies to be oppre&s;&s;ed under the wan|ton and wicked conver&s;ation of the ungodly <HI>Sodo|mites,</HI> as a man that is oppre&s;&s;ed under a heavy bur|den which he labours under, and would fain be delivered from; Or to be oppre&s;&s;ed as the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> were under their cruel <HI>Aegyptian</HI> Taskma&s;ters. Ah, the &s;ins, the wickedne&s;&s;e of others &s;ets hard upon the hearts of the Saints. The <HI>I&s;ra|elites</HI> did not more labour, and &s;igh, and groan under all their loads and oppre&s;&s;ions, then many holy hearts do la|bour, and &s;igh, and groan under the load of wicked mens &s;ins. And the Greek word for <HI>vexed,</HI> in <HI>ver.</HI> 8.<NOTE PLACE="marg">It is a Meta|phor taken from En|gines that they did tor|ment people withall.</NOTE> (<GAP DESC="foreign">) &s;ignifies to be tortured, tormented and wracked. Oh their wickedne&s;&s;e did torment and wrack his righteous &s;oul, he could not &s;ee, nor hear of their wickedne&s;&s;e, but his &s;oul was as upon a wrack. <HI>Pambus</HI> in Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Hi&s;tory wept when he &s;aw an Harlot take &s;o much pains to deck and dre&s;&s;e her &s;elf in curious and co&s;tly apparrel, and all to entertain a wanton lover, and &s;o to make work for hell. Oh it can|not but grieve a gracious &s;oul to &s;ee what pains poor &s;in|ners take to go to hell! A holy heart looks upon other mens &s;ins as great di&s;honours done to his Father, his King; And therefore he cannot but cry out with <HI>Croe&s;us</HI> his Son (who though he was born dumb, yet &s;eeing &s;ome going about to kill his Father, his tongue-&s;trings unloo&s;ed, and he cried out) <HI>O kill not King</HI> Croe&s;us, <HI>kill not my Father.</HI> Oh kill not my God, and my King! Oh kill not, Oh di&s;honour not my dear Father, and Saviour, &s;aith a holy heart. Such is the love, and high re&s;pects that holy hearts bear to their heavenly Father, that they cannot but grieve, and mourn, and cry out when they &s;ee others to act Trea&s;on again&s;t the Crown and dignity of heaven. <HI>Elijah</HI> had rather dye then to &s;ee <HI>Ahab</HI> and <HI>Jezebel</HI> to ca&s;t contempt and di&s;ho|nour upon his God.</P>
<P N="1">1. A holy heart mourns for &s;in as &s;in, he weeps over <MILESTONE N="1"> the very nature of &s;in; he grieves for &s;in, as it is the
<PB N="142" REF="102"> breach of a holy Law,<NOTE PLACE="marg">He that hates a Thief as a Thief, will hate a Thief in another mans hou&s;e, as well as in his own.</NOTE> and as it is a di&s;honour to a holy God, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and therefore he cannot but mourn for other mens &s;ins, as well as his own. He that hates a Toad as a Toad, will hate a Toad in other mens bo&s;oms as well as his own. He that hates poi&s;on as poi&s;on, will hate poi&s;on in another mans hand as well as his own: So he that hates &s;in as &s;in, will hate it where-ever he &s;ees it. And he that mourns over &s;in as &s;in, cannot but mourn over &s;in where|ever he ob&s;erves it.</P>
<P N="2"> <MILESTONE N="2"> 2. By other mens &s;ins a holy man is put in mind of the badne&s;&s;e of his own heart. <HI>Bernard</HI> makes mention in one of his Homilies of an old man, who when he &s;aw any man &s;in, wept and lamented for him, and being asked why he grieved &s;o for other mens &s;ins, an&s;wered, <HI>Ille hodie, &amp; ego cras,</HI> he fell to day, and I may fall to morrow: the falls of others puts a holy man in mind of the roots of bitterne&s;&s;e that be in him&s;elf: other mens actual &s;ins are as &s;o many gla&s;&s;es through which a holy man comes to &s;ee the manifold &s;eeds of &s;in that be in his own nature, and &s;uch a &s;ight as this cannot but melt him, and break him.</P>
<P N="3"> <MILESTONE N="3"> 3. A holy heart knows that the be&s;t way to keep him&s;elf pure from other mens &s;ins, is to mourn for other mens &s;ins:<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 5.22. 1 Cor. 5.1, 2, 3. Ephe&s;. 5.11.</NOTE> He that makes con&s;cience of weeping over other mens &s;ins, will rarely be defiled with other mens &s;ins; he that mourns not over other mens &s;ins, is acce&s;&s;ary to other mens &s;ins: and fir&s;t or la&s;t may find them charged upon his ac|count: He that mourns not for other mens &s;ins, is in dan|ger of being in&s;nared by other mens &s;ins. And how then can a holy man look upon other mens &s;ins with dry eyes?</P>
<P N="4"> <MILESTONE N="4"> 4. A holy man looks upon other mens &s;ins as the crucifiers of his Saviour. He looks upon the proud mans pride as that which &s;et a crown of thorns upon the &s;acred head of Chri&s;t, and this makes him figh; he looks upon the &s;wearers oaths as the nails that nailed his ble&s;&s;ed hands and feet to the cro&s;&s;e, and this makes him grieve: He looks upon &s;corners as &s;pitting upon Chri&s;t, and worldlings as preferring <HI>Barabbas</HI> before Chri&s;t, and this makes him groan:
<PB N="143" REF="102"> He looks upon hypocrites as ki&s;&s;ing and betraying of Chri&s;t; and he looks upon drunkards and wantons, as giving gall and vinegar to Chri&s;t, and this makes him mourn: He looks upon other mens &s;ins, as having a hand in all Chri&s;ts tor|ments, and this puts him upon the wrack, and makes his very &s;oul heavy, even to the death.</P>
<P N="5">5. A holy heart knows that by mourning for other <MILESTONE N="5"> mens &s;ins, he may be in&s;trumental to keep off wrath.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 106. Ezek. 9.4.6.</NOTE> How oft did holy <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> by his tears quench the wrath of an an|gry God? However if wrath &s;hould break forth upon a Nation,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 26.20.</NOTE> yet they that mourn for the abominations of the times, they &s;hall be hid in the day of Gods publick vi&s;ita|tion. When the hou&s;e is on fire, the Father hath a &s;pe|cial care to provide for the &s;afety and &s;ecurity of his chil|dren: when the lumber is on fire, a man will be &s;ure fir&s;t to &s;ecure his (box of) Jewels. In times of common cala|mity, God will be &s;ure to look after his Jewels, his mourn|ing ones:<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 43.2, 3. Dan. 3.17, 18, 19, 26, 27, 28.</NOTE> though the lumber (the wicked) be burnt up on every hand in the day of Gods wrath; yet he will be &s;ure to pre&s;erve his jewels in the mid&s;t of the flames. <HI>Au|gu&s;tin</HI> coming to vi&s;it a &s;ick man, found the room full of mourners; he found <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">he wife &s;obbing, the children &s;ighing, and the kindred lamenting: whereupon he &s;uddenly breathed forth this &s;hort, but &s;weet ejaculatory prayer, <HI>Lord</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>what prayers do&s;t thou hear, if not the&s;e?</HI> So in times of common calamity, holy hearts may look up and &s;ay, Ah Lord, who&s;e &s;ighs, who&s;e groans, who&s;e tears wilt thou hear, if not ours? Who are mourners in <HI>Sion,</HI> and who wilt thou &s;ave and &s;ecure, in this day of thy fierce indignation, if not we who have laboured to drown both our own and other mens &s;ins in penitential tears!</P>
<P N="6">6. A holy heart looks upon &s;inners &s;ins to contri|bute <MILESTONE N="6"> very much towards the bringing in of &s;ore and &s;ad changes upon a Land and Nation:<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 107.33, 34.</NOTE> he knows that &s;inners &s;ins may turn Rivers into a wilderne&s;&s;e, and water-&s;prings into dry ground, and a fruitfull land into a barren wilder|ne&s;&s;e: he knows that &s;inners &s;ins may have a deep hand in provoking God to rain hell out of heaven upon a &s;infull Na|tion,
<PB N="144" REF="103"> as he did of old upon <HI>Sodom</HI> and <HI>Gomorrah,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eccle&s;. 9.18. Witne&s;s</HI> Achan, Mana&s;|&s;eh, Jeroboam, Saul, Herod, Ahab, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> and this &s;ets him a mourning; if one &s;inner de&s;troys much good, as <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;peaks, Ah, &s;aith he, what a world of good will a world of &s;in|ners de&s;troy then! the &s;erious thoughts of this makes him &s;igh.</P>
<P N="7">7. A holy heart looks upon other mens &s;ins, as their bonds <MILESTONE N="7"> and chains, <HI>Acts</HI> 8.23. and this makes him mourn. When <HI>Marcellus</HI> the Roman General &s;aw the multitude of cap|tives that were taken in the City of <HI>Syracu&s;e,</HI> the tears trick|led down his cheeks. Ah how can tears but trickle down a Chri&s;tians cheeks, when he &s;ees multitudes fa&s;t bound with the cords of their iniquity trooping to hell! Who can look upon a &s;inner as a clo&s;e pri&s;oner to the Prince of dark|ne&s;&s;e, and not bemoan him! Now if holy per&s;ons thus mourn for the wickedne&s;&s;e of others:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1.21. To applaud to them, and take plea&s;ure in them who take plea&s;ure in &s;in is the highe&s;t degree of ungodli|ne&s;&s;e.</NOTE> then certain|ly they are far from being holy, who take plea&s;ure in the wickedne&s;&s;e of others, who laugh and joy, who can make a &s;port, a pa&s;time of other mens &s;ins! The&s;e are rather mon&s;ters then men; there are none &s;o neerly allied to Satan, as the&s;e; nor none re&s;emble Satan to the life, &s;o much as the&s;e: The devil alwayes joyes mo&s;t when &s;inners &s;in mo&s;t. Neither doubtle&s;&s;e are they holy who tempt and entice others to be unholy: nor are they holy who only cry out of other mens &s;ins, but never &s;igh for other mens &s;ins; nor are they holy who in&s;ult over the iniquities of others, but never mourn for the ini|quities of others; nor are they holy, who can rail, reproach, and revile others for their &s;ins, but have neither skill, nor will to lament over others &s;ins, and yet this age is full of &s;uch wretches. Certainly that mans holine&s;&s;e will be found to be of the right &s;tamp at la&s;t, who can Evangelically mourn for other mens &s;ins as well as his own. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="13"> Thirteenthly, He that is truly holy, he loves the word, and is affected and taken with the word for its holine&s;&s;e and purity.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 2.2. P&s;al. 12.6, 7. &amp; 18.30. <HI>Sacrae Scriptu|rae tuae &s;unt &s;anctae delicia meae.</HI> Augu&s;t.</NOTE> P&s;al. 119.140. <HI>Thy word is very pure, therefore thy &s;er|vant loveth it.</HI> A pure heart embraces the word for its purity. So holy <HI>Paul</HI> in Rom. 7.12. <HI>Wherefore the Law is holy, and the commandment holy, and ju&s;t and good.</HI> Well, and what then? why &s;aith he, ver. 22. <HI>I delight in the Law of God
<PB N="145" REF="103"> after the inward man.</HI> But is this all? No &s;aith he, ver. 25. <HI>With the mind I my &s;elf &s;erve the Law of God:</HI> Holy <HI>Paul</HI> delights in the Law as holy, and &s;erves the Law as holy, ju&s;t, and good.<NOTE PLACE="marg">The&s;e &s;everal Titles, Law, Statutes, Te|&s;timony, Com|mandments, Iudgements, are u&s;ed pro|mi&s;cuou&s;ly for the whole word of God, commonly di&s;tingui&s;hed into Law and Go&s;pel.</NOTE> A holy heart is taken with the word for its &s;pi|rituality, divinity and purity. So in P&s;alm 19.8, 9, 10. <HI>The Statutes of the Lord are right, rejoycing the heart: the com|mandment of the Lord is pure enlightning the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean,</HI> (that is, the Doctrine that teacheth the true fear of God) <HI>enduring for ever: the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether; More to be de|&s;ired are they then gold, yea, then much fine gold: Sweeter al&s;o then honey, and the hony comb:</HI> or as the Hebrew hath it, Sweeter then the dropping of hony-combs. The whole word of God as it is a pure word, a clean word; &s;o it rejoyces a holy heart; and &s;o it is &s;weeter then the ve|ry droppings of honey-combs. It is more &s;weet then tho&s;e drops which drop immediately and naturally without any force or art, which is counted the pure&s;t and the &s;weete&s;t ho|ney. There is no profit nor plea&s;ure to that which the purity of the word yields to a holy heart. But now unholy hearts they are affected with the word as it is dre&s;t up with fine high notions (which are but my&s;terious nothings) they are taken with the word, as it is cloathed with Arts,<NOTE PLACE="marg">In great Fairs and Mar|kets, the Ped|lar and the Ballad-&s;inger who &s;ell toyes and trifles, have mo&s;t Children and fools hanging upon them; but they that are wi&s;e and prudent attend tho&s;e &s;hops where there is be&s;t &amp; riche&s;t commodities, you know how to apply it.</NOTE> Parts and Elegancy of phra&s;e they are plea&s;ed with the word; as it is apparelled with a &s;pru&s;e wit, or with &s;ilken Expre&s;&s;i|ons, or with &s;ome delicate Elocution. <HI>Augu&s;tin</HI> confe&s;|&s;eth, that the delight which he took before his conver&s;ion in St. <HI>Ambro&s;es</HI> Sermons, was more for the eloquence of the words, then the &s;ub&s;tance of the matter; &s;o many are taken more with the wit, elocution, action, high notions, and far fetch expre&s;&s;ions that be in a Sermon, then they are taken with the &s;pirituality, divinity, weight, and holy worth that is in a Sermon; the&s;e are like tho&s;e children, who are more taken with the fine flowers that are &s;trewd about the di&s;h, then they are with the meat that is in the di&s;h; and that are more taken with the red weeds, and blew bottles that grow in the field, then they are with the good corn that grows there. But now as the prudent Farmer is taken
<PB N="146" REF="104"> more with a few handfulls of &s;ound corn, then he is with all the gay weeds that be in the field. So a holy heart is more taken with a few &s;ound truths in a Sermon, then he is taken with all the &s;trong lines, and high &s;trains, and flouri&s;hes of wit with which a Sermon may be deckt up. Some are taken with the word as the profe&s;&s;ion of it brings in cu&s;tomers into their &s;hops, and keeps up their credits in the world. Others are taken with the word as it &s;eems to tickle their ears, and plea&s;e their fancies. Some are affected with Sermons becau&s;e of the elegancy of the &s;tyle, delicacy of the words, &s;moothne&s;&s;e of the language, and gracefulne&s;&s;e of the delivery. And the&s;e deal by Sermons as many men do by their No&s;egays, that are made up of many pickt (&s;weet) flowers, who after they have &s;melt to them a while, ca&s;t them into a corner. So the&s;e after they have commended a Sermon, after they have applauded a Sermon, they ca&s;t away the Sermon: they &s;mell to the Sermon, and &s;ay it is &s;weet, it is &s;weet, and pre&s;ently they throw it by as a No&s;egay that is withered, and of no fur|ther u&s;e. When a man that is &s;ick, crazy and un&s;ound, is at a Table that is furni&s;hed with variety of di&s;hes, you know he ea&s;ily and readily pa&s;&s;es over all the mo&s;t whole|&s;ome and nouri&s;hing di&s;hes, and falls a pidling and picking here and there upon kick&s;haws and puff-pa&s;te, that have little or no &s;ub&s;tance in them. So un&s;ound, unholy hearts when God hath prepared his Table, and made a fea&s;t of fat things for their &s;ouls in the Mini&s;try of his word, they can ea&s;ily and readily pa&s;&s;e over tho&s;e &s;ound, &s;olid, and &s;a|voury truths that are prepared for their &s;trength and nouri&s;hment, and fall a pidling and picking upon &s;ome new coined phra&s;es, or &s;ome quaint expre&s;&s;i|ons, or &s;ome Seraphical notions: And no wonder, for they are not &s;ound within, they are under a great di&s;temper. As the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> would not be &s;atisfied with whol&s;ome diet, but they mu&s;t needs have Quails as picking meat; Well they had them, and while&s;t they were at their picking meat, the wrath of God came upon them: the Ap|plication is as ea&s;ie, as it is dreadfull. But now a holy heart
<PB N="147" REF="104"> &s;avours the word, and reli&s;hes the word, and is affected and taken with the word as it is a holy word, a &s;ub|&s;tantial word, a pure word, a clean word, and as it be|gets holine&s;&s;e, and cheri&s;hes holine&s;&s;e, and increa&s;es holi|ne&s;&s;e, and as it works towards the compleating and perfe|cting of holine&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>Que&s;t. <HI>But how may a per&s;on know whether he loves the Word, and is affected and taken with the Word, as it is an holy Word, or no?</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Fir&s;t by what hath been already &s;aid; but be|cau&s;e the que&s;tion is weighty,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 119.6, 128. Acts 24.16. Heb. 13.18. As the wi&s;e Philo&s;opher delights in all <HI>Ari&s;totle,</HI> and the pru|dent Phy&s;iti|an in all <HI>Ga|len,</HI> and the grave Orator in all <HI>Tullie,</HI> and the under|&s;tanding Lawyer in all <HI>Ju&s;tinian;</HI> &s;o a holy man delights in all the Bible. The Jewi&s;h Rabbines were wont to &s;ay, That upon every letter of the Law, there hangs mountains of profitable matter. Gen. 12. and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hap. 22.</NOTE> I further an&s;wer in the &s;econd place; He that loves the Word, and that is affected and taken with the Word, as it is a holy Word, he loves the whole Word of God, and he is affected and taken with one part of the Word as well as another; every Law of God is a holy Law, and every Statute is a holy Statute, and every command is a holy command, and every promi&s;e is a holy promi&s;e, and every threatning is an holy threatning, and every exhortation is a holy exhortation; and therefore he that loves any part of the Word as a holy Word, he cannot but love every part of the Word, becau&s;e every part of the Word is holy. And indeed he loves no part of the Word as holy, who loves not every part of the Word as &s;uch. Every chapter in the book of God is a holy chapter, and every ver&s;e is a holy ver&s;e, and every line in that book is a holy line, and every word in every line is a holy word; he that loves a chapter as it is a holy chapter, he loves every ver&s;e in that chapter as a holy ver&s;e; and he that loves every ver&s;e as a holy ver&s;e, he loves every line as a holy line; and he that loves every line as a holy line, he loves every word in every line as a holy word: Upon ea&s;ie commands he reads holine&s;s, and upon difficult commands he reads holi|ne&s;s; upon comfortable commands he reads holine&s;s, and upon co&s;tly commands he reads holine&s;s, and upon danger|ous commands he reads holine&s;s, and therefore he loves all, and clo&s;es with all, and endeavours a conformity to all. A holy heart dares neither to di&s;pute with that word, nor make light of that word, where he reads holine&s;s engraven
<PB N="148" REF="105"> upon it; to a holy heart, there is no command of God un|ju&s;t or unrea&s;onable; but now an unholy heart, though it may for &s;ome worldly advantages court and cry up &s;ome parts of the word, yet it is ready with <HI>Judas,</HI> to betray and crucifie other parts of the word. The whole Scripture is but one intire love-letter, di&s;patcht from the Lord Chri&s;t to his beloved Spou&s;e on earth, and this letter is written all in golden letters, and therefore a holy heart cannot but be ta|ken and affected with every line in this letter; in this love-letter there is &s;o much to be read of the love of Chri&s;t, the heart of Chri&s;t, the kindne&s;s of Chri&s;t, the grace of Chri&s;t, and the glory of Chri&s;t, that a holy heart cannot but be affected and taken with it. The whole word of God is a field, and Chri&s;t is the trea&s;ure that is hid in that field; it is a ring of gold, and Chri&s;t is the pearl in that ring, and there|fore a holy heart cannot but be taken with the whole Word of God. <HI>Luther</HI> was wont to &s;ay, that he would not take all the world for one leaf of the Bible. And Rabbie <HI>Chija</HI> in the <HI>Jeru&s;alem Talmud</HI> &s;ays, that in his account all the world is not of equal value with one word out of the Law.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, A man that is affected and taken with the word as it is a holy word, he is alwayes affected and taken with it; he loves it and takes plea&s;ure in it, as well in adver&s;ity as in pro|&s;perity. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 119.59. <HI>Thy Statutes have been my &s;ongs</HI> (I but where we) <HI>in the hou&s;e of my pilgrimage,</HI> or <HI>pilgrim|ages,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">The Saints have com|monly lookt upon them|&s;elves as Pil|grims and Strangers in this world. Gen. 47.9, 39. P&s;al. 12.19. Heb. 11.9, 10, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> as the Hebrew hath it. When <HI>David</HI> was in his bani&s;h|ments by rea&s;on of <HI>Saul, Ab&s;olom,</HI> and others, now the Word of God was mu&s;ick to him, now it was matter of joy and rejoycing to him, his whole life was the life of a Pilgrim and Stranger; now as a Pilgrim he &s;ojourns here, and anon as a Stranger he &s;ojourns there; no man could take more plea&s;ure, joy and contentment in the rare&s;t and choice&s;t mu&s;ick, then <HI>David</HI> did in the Word of God, and that not only when he was in his royal Palace, but al&s;o when he was in the hou&s;e of his Pilgrimage; he that loves the Word, and that delights in the Word for its holine&s;s and purity,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 119.67, 69, 70, 72.</NOTE> he will love it and delight in it, in health and &s;ickne&s;s, in &s;trength
<PB N="149" REF="105"> and weakne&s;s, in honour and di&s;grace, in wealth and want, in life and in death. The holine&s;s of the Word is a la&s;ting holine&s;s, and &s;o will every mans affections be towards it, who affects it, and is taken with it for its holine&s;s and pure|ne&s;s. Some there be that cry up the Word, and that &s;eem to be much affected, delighted, and ravi&s;hed with the Word, (as <HI>Herod, Ezekiels</HI> hearers,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 33.30, 31, 32, 33. Mar. 6, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> and the &s;tony ground was) while&s;t the Word is either a cheap Word to them, or a pro|fitable and plea&s;ing Word to them, or while&s;t it is courted and countenanced in the world, or while&s;t it is the path to preferment, or a key to enlargement, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But when the Word gets within them, and di&s;covers their own &s;infulne&s;s and wretchedne&s;s to them, when it &s;hews them how Chri&s;t|le&s;s, and gracel<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;s, and lifele&s;s, and helple&s;s, and hopele&s;s they are; when it di&s;covers how far they are from heaven, and how near they are to hell. O!<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ier. 44.15, 29.</NOTE> then their hearts begin to ri&s;e again&s;t it, and to cry out, Away with it, it was never good dayes &s;ince we have had &s;o much preaching and hear|ing: Or when the Word comes to be &s;corned, &s;lighted, di&s;|graced, oppo&s;ed or per&s;ecuted, oh! then they turn their backs upon it, and quickly grow weary of it. As the Ju&s;|&s;ians in <HI>Strabo</HI> delighted them&s;elves with the mu&s;ick of an excellent Harper till they heard the market bell ring, &amp; then they run all away &s;ave a deaf old man, that could take but little delight in the Harpers ditties. So let the&s;e men but hear the bell of lu&s;t, or the bell of profit, or the bell of plea&s;ure, or the bell of applau&s;e, or the bell of honour, or the bell of errour, or the bell of &s;uper&s;tition &s;ound in their ears, and pre&s;ently they will run from the &s;weet mu|&s;ick of the Word, to follow after any of the&s;e bells: But now a man that loves the Word, and that is affected and taken with the Word as it is a holy Word, no bell can ring him from the Word, no di&s;grace, no affliction, no oppo&s;i|tion, no per&s;ecution can take him off from affecting the Word, and from taking plea&s;ure in the Word: The cau&s;e of his love is abiding and la&s;ting, and therefore his love cannot but be la&s;ting and continuing. Not but that a holy heart may &s;ometimes be more affected and taken with the
<PB N="150" REF="106"> Word, then at other times. As fir&s;t, when a man enjoyes much communion with God in the Word. Or 2. when God &s;peaks much peace and comfort to the &s;oul by the Word. Or 3. when God a&s;&s;ures a man more clearly and fully of the goodne&s;s and happine&s;s of his condition by the Word. Or 4. when God lets in very much quietne&s;s, or quickne&s;s, or &s;weetne&s;s, or &s;eriou&s;ne&s;s, or &s;piritualne&s;s into a mans &s;pirit by the Word. Oh then a man may more then ordina|rily be affected and taken with the Word. But now though a holy Chri&s;tian is not at all times in the &s;ame degree and mea&s;ure taken with the Word, yet take &s;uch a Chri&s;tian when he is at wor&s;t, and you &s;hall find two things in him. 1. You &s;hall find in him a holy love to the Word. And 2. you &s;hall find in him a real love to holy Chri&s;tians.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, He that loves the Word, and that is affected and taken with the Word as it is a holy Word, he is mo&s;t affected and taken with tho&s;e parts of the Word that do mo&s;t incite to holine&s;s, that do mo&s;t promote holine&s;s, and that do mo&s;t provoke to holine&s;s. As 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.15.16. <HI>But as he which hath called you is holy, &s;o be ye holy in all manner of conver&s;ation; becau&s;e it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy.</HI> (I &s;hall give you light into the&s;e words, when I come to open the holine&s;s of God to you.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ad &s;imilitudi|nem, non aequa|litatem. <HI>Calv.</HI></NOTE>) So <HI>Mat.</HI> 5.48. <HI>Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.</HI> Our <HI>&s;ummum bonum</HI> in this world, con&s;i&s;ts in our conformity to the heavenly pattern; in all imitations it is be&s;t to chu&s;e the mo&s;t perfect pattern: There is nothing more laudable and commendable, then for a Chri&s;tian to endeavour more and more to re&s;emble his God in the highe&s;t perfections of righteou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;s. So <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 5.15, 16. <HI>See then that ye walk circum&s;pectly, not as fools, but as wi&s;e;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> <HI>Redeeming the time, becau&s;e the dayes are evil.</HI> Chri&s;tians mu&s;t walk preci&s;ely, curiou&s;ly, exactly, accurate|ly: As the Carpenter works by line and rule, &s;o a Chri&s;tian mu&s;t walk by line and rule, he mu&s;t labour to get up to the very top of godline&s;s, he mu&s;t go to the utmo&s;t of every command, as the original word importeth. So <HI>Phil.</HI> 2.15. <HI>That ye may be blamele&s;s and harmle&s;s</HI> (or &s;incere) <HI>the &s;ons
<PB N="151" REF="106"> of God, without rebuke,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>i. e.</HI> Sine querela, &s;ine reprehen|&s;ione.</NOTE> <HI>in the mid&s;t of a crooked and perver&s;e Nation, among whom ye &s;hine</HI> (or <HI>&s;hine ye) as lights in the world.</HI> Gods &s;ons &s;hould be &s;potle&s;s &s;ons, as the Greek im|ports, that is, they &s;hould be without all &s;uch &s;pots as are in|con&s;i&s;tent with Son&s;hip or Saint&s;hip. And &s;o in <HI>Col.</HI> 2.6. <HI>As ye have therefore received Je&s;us Chri&s;t the Lord, &s;o walk ye in him.</HI> They had received Je&s;us Chri&s;t as their Lord and Law-giver, they had received Chri&s;t as a ruling Chri&s;t, as a reigning Chri&s;t, and as a commanding Chri&s;t; and now the great duty incumbent upon them, is to walk at &s;uch a rate of holine&s;s as may evidence that they have thus received Chri&s;t. And &s;o in 1 <HI>John</HI> 2.6.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn 13.15.</NOTE> <HI>He that &s;aith he abideth in him, ought him&s;elf al&s;o to walk even as he walked.</HI> Chri&s;ti|ans are to &s;et all Chri&s;ts moral actions before them as a pat|tern for their imitation; in his life a Chri&s;tian may behold the lively picture or lineaments of all vertues, and accor|dingly he ought to order his conver&s;ation in this world: To walk as Chri&s;t walked, is to walk humbly, holily, ju&s;tly, righteou&s;ly, meekly, lowly, lovingly, fruitfully, faithfully,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 4.</NOTE> uprightly, with an <HI>As</HI> of quality or &s;imilitude, but no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> with an <HI>As</HI> of equality; for that is impo&s;&s;ible for any Saint on earth to walk &s;o purely, &s;o holily, &s;o blamele&s;ly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 5.44, 45, 46, 47.</NOTE> &s;o un&s;pot|tedly, &s;o &s;piritually, &s;o heavenly as Chri&s;t walked; that is, with an <HI>as</HI> of equality. To walk as Chri&s;t walked, is to &s;light the world, and contemn the world, and make a foot|&s;tool of the world, and to live above the world, and to triumph over the world as Chri&s;t did; that is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 2.20, 21, 22, 23.</NOTE> with an <HI>As</HI> of quality, but not with an <HI>As</HI> of equality: To walk as Chri&s;t walked, is to love them that hate us, to pray for them that per&s;ecute us, to ble&s;s them that cur&s;e us, and to do good to them that do evil to us; but &s;till with an <HI>As</HI> of &s;imilitude, but not with an <HI>As</HI> of equality: To walk as Chri&s;t walked, is to be patient, and &s;ilent, and &s;ubmi&s;&s;ive, and thankful un|der the vile&s;t reproaches, the heavie&s;t afflictions, and the greate&s;t &s;ufferings, with an <HI>As</HI> of quality, but not with an <HI>As</HI> of equality. Now a holy heart that is taken with the holine&s;s of the Word, he is certainly taken mo&s;t with tho&s;e parts of the Word that do mo&s;t call for holine&s;s, and that
<PB N="152" REF="107"> do mo&s;t &s;trongly pre&s;s the &s;oul to make a progre&s;s in holi|ne&s;s. I have given you a ta&s;te of &s;ome of the mo&s;t principal Scriptures that do incite mo&s;t to holine&s;s, and I &s;hall leave it to your own con&s;ciences to give in witne&s;s for you, or again&s;t you, according to what you find in your own &s;pi|rits. Certainly to a holy man, there are no Prayers, no Ser|mons, no Di&s;cour&s;es, no Conferences, no books, nor no parts of Scripture, to tho&s;e that do mo&s;t encourage and provoke to holine&s;s. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="5"> Fifthly and la&s;tly, He that loves the Word, and that is af|fected and taken with the Word, as it is a holy Word, he highly prizes and values the holy di&s;pen&s;ers of the Word for their work &s;ake.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 10.24, 25, 26. Gal. 4.14.</NOTE> <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 52.7. <HI>How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publi&s;heth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publi&s;heth &s;alva|tion, that &s;aith unto</HI> Zion, <HI>thy God reigneth!</HI> If the very feet of tho&s;e that brought good tidings, though they were afar off, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nd &s;weaty, du&s;ty, and dirty with traveling upon the moun|tains,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> were &s;o de&s;irable and amiable, honourable and com|fortable: Oh then what was their faces, what was their me&s;&s;ages! &s;urely they were much more amiable and de&s;ire|able. So in 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 5.12, 13. <HI>And we be&s;eech you, Brethren, to know them which labour among you in the Lord,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 26.16, 17, 18. If a Mini&s;ter had as many eyes as <HI>Argus</HI> to watch, as many heads as <HI>Typheus</HI> to di&s;po&s;e, and as many hands as <HI>Briareus</HI> to labour, he might find employment enough for them all, in the faithful di&s;charge of his Mini&s;terial function.</NOTE> <HI>and ad|moni&s;h you: And to e&s;teem them very highly</HI> (or, <HI>more then abundantly,</HI> as the Greek hath it) <HI>in love for their work &s;ake, and be at peace among your &s;elves.</HI> Their work is to bring Chri&s;t and your &s;ouls together, and to keep Chri&s;t and your &s;ouls together. Their work is to turn you from darkne&s;s to light, and from the power of Satan to Je&s;us Chri&s;t: Their work is gradual; fir&s;t they are to bring you to a &s;aving ac|quaintance with Chri&s;t, and then they are to bring you to a holy acceptance of Chri&s;t, and then they are to bring you to a willing re&s;ignation of your &s;elves to Chri&s;t, and then they are to bring you to a &s;weet and ble&s;&s;ed a&s;&s;urance of your intere&s;t in Chri&s;t, and &s;o to fit you and prepare you for a glorious fruition of Chri&s;t; and therefore certainly their work is high and honourable, excellent and eminent, labo|rious and glorious, and why then &s;hould you not have a high
<PB N="153" REF="107"> and honourable e&s;teem of them, even for their work &s;ake! I have read of <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI> that being once to leave the Church of <HI>Milan,</HI> the people of the place flocked about him, laid hold of him, prote&s;ting that they had rather lo&s;e their lives then lo&s;e their Pa&s;tor, be&s;eeching him to remain, and to promote among them the Go&s;pel and Government of Chri&s;t, profe&s;&s;ing and promi&s;ing (for his encouragement) their ready &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to Chri&s;t. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;toms</HI> hearers were wont to &s;ay, that they had as good be without the Sun in the Firmament, as to be without <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom</HI> in the Pulpit. Some of the antients have long &s;ince concluded that <HI>Herod</HI> might have kept his oath (<HI>Mark</HI> 6.23.) and yet have &s;pared <HI>John Bapti&s;ts</HI> head, becau&s;e <HI>Johns</HI> head, <HI>Johns</HI> life, was more worth then all <HI>Herods</HI> Kingdom. O Sirs! Shall <HI>Titus Sabinus</HI> his dog bring meat to the mouth of his dead ma&s;ter, and hold up his head in <HI>Tyber</HI> from &s;inking, becau&s;e &s;ometimes he gave him a cru&s;t of bread! And will not you highly love, honour, and e&s;teem of tho&s;e Pa&s;tors who feed your &s;ouls with the bread of life, yea with that bread that came down from heaven? Certainly the more any man is affected and taken with the holine&s;s of the Word, the more highly they will honour and prize the holy and faithful di&s;|pen&s;ers of the Word: Holy men know that their place is honourable, their calling honourable, and their work ho|nourable, and therefore they cannot but honour them. Holy men know that if they do not honour them, they di&s;honour him who&s;e Emba&s;&s;adors they are. Holy men know that Chri&s;t takes all the affronts that are put upon them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 10.16. Mat. 22.4, 8. chap. 21.33, 44. and chap. 23.37, 38, 39. 2 Chron. 36.14, 22. 2 Sam. 10.1, 7. compared with chap. 12. ver. 31.</NOTE> as put upon him&s;elf, and will accordingly revenge them, as you may &s;ee by comparing the Scriptures in the margin toge|ther. Emba&s;&s;adors are inviolable by the Law of Nations. <HI>David</HI> never played any &s;uch har&s;h part, as he did to the Ammonites that de&s;pitefully u&s;ed his Emba&s;&s;adors that he &s;ent unto them, when they &s;haved off one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> I have read that <HI>Rome</HI> was de&s;troyed to the ground for &s;ome abu&s;es that were offered to an Emba&s;&s;ador that was &s;ent unto it. And the Romans &s;acked the famous City of <HI>Corinth,</HI> and
<PB N="154" REF="108"> razed it to the ground, for a little di&s;courte&s;ie that they offered to their Emba&s;&s;adors. No wonder then if God deal &s;o &s;everely with tho&s;e that &s;light his Emba&s;&s;adors, who come with me&s;&s;ages of grace and favour from the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and who&s;e great work is to make a firm, an everla&s;ting peace between God and &s;inners &s;ouls, and that all differences between God and them may be for ever decided, and a free trade to heaven fully opened and main|tained. As for &s;uch as &s;light, &s;corn and de&s;pi&s;e the holy and faithfull di&s;pen&s;ers of the word, I think they are as far from real holine&s;&s;e, as hell is from true happine&s;&s;e. And &s;o doubtle&s;&s;e are they that grumble at the expence of a penny for the maintenance of that divine Candle that wa&s;teth it &s;elf to give light to them:<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 12.14, 15, 16.</NOTE> that will rather die to &s;ave charges, then &s;pend a little money to &s;ave their lives, yea, their &s;ouls.</P>
<P>In the fourteenth place, A man that is really holy; will <MILESTONE N="14"> be holy among the unholy; he will retain and keep his holine&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 119.112. P&s;al. 106.3. 1 Joh. 3.9, 10.</NOTE> let the times be never &s;o unholy. Principles of grace and holine&s;&s;e are la&s;ting, they are not like the morn|ing cloud, nor the early dew. Holy <HI>Abraham</HI> was righte|ous in <HI>Caldea;</HI> holy <HI>Lot</HI> was ju&s;t in <HI>Sodom;</HI> holy <HI>Job</HI> was upright in the land of <HI>&V;zz,</HI> which was a place of much pro|phane&s;&s;e and &s;uper&s;tition: Holy <HI>Nehemiah</HI> was coura|gious and zealous in <HI>Dama&s;co:</HI> And &s;o was holy <HI>Daniel</HI> in <HI>Babylon.</HI> The &s;everal generations wherein the&s;e holy men lived, were wholly devoted to wickedne&s;&s;e and &s;uper|&s;tition, and yet the&s;e precious &s;ouls had wholly devoted them&s;elves to godline&s;&s;e. And of the &s;ame &s;pirit, mind and mettal was holy <HI>David,</HI> P&s;alm 119.20. <HI>My &s;oul breaketh for the longing it hath to thy judgements at all times.</HI> Let the times be never &s;o dangerous, licentious, &s;uper&s;titious, or erroneous, yet <HI>Davids</HI> heart was &s;trongly carried forth to Gods judgements; that is, to his word: for under this title <HI>Judgements,</HI> you are to under&s;tand the whole word of God. And &s;o there were &s;ome in <HI>Sardis</HI> that were of the &s;ame &s;pirit (with the Worthies above mentioned) Rev. 3.4. <HI>Thou ha&s;t a few names even in</HI> Sardis, <HI>which have not defiled their garments,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 14.4, 5.</NOTE> <HI>and they &s;hall walk with me in white:
<PB N="155" REF="108"> for they are worthy.</HI> In polluting times, pure hearts will keep them&s;elves pure. A holy heart will keep him&s;elf un|defiled, even in defiling times; when others are be&s;meared all over, he will keep his garments white and clean. Let the times never &s;o often turn, you &s;hall find that he that is really holy, will be holy under every turn: no turns &s;hall turn him out of a way of holine&s;&s;e, <HI>Job</HI> 17.9. <HI>The righteous &s;hall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Finis coronat opus.</NOTE> <HI>&s;hall be &s;tron|ger and &s;tronger.</HI> A man that is really holy, will be holy among the holy, and he will be holy among the unholy. If you look upon him among unholy friends, unholy children, and unholy &s;ervants, you &s;hall find him holy. If you look upon him among unholy neighbours, you &s;hall find him holy; and if you look upon him among unholy buyers and &s;ellers, you &s;hall find him holy: If you take him at his Ta|ble, you &s;hall find him holy; if you take him in his &s;hop, in his commerce, you &s;hall find him holy; if you take him in his family, you &s;hall find him holy; if you take him in his Clo&s;et, you &s;hall find him holy; if you take him in his journeyings, you &s;hall find him holy; or if you take him in his recreations, you &s;hall find him holy. True holine&s;&s;e is like that famous Queen <HI>Elizabeth, Semper eadem,</HI> alwayes the &s;ame. The Philo&s;ophers good man is <HI>(Tetra-gonos)</HI> four &s;quare, ca&s;t him where you will, like a Dye, he falls alwayes &s;ure and &s;quare. So ca&s;t a holy man where you will, and into what company you will, yet &s;till he falls &s;ure and &s;quare for holine&s;&s;e. True holine&s;&s;e is a part of the di|vine nature, it is of &s;uch a heavenly complexion, that it will never alter. If the times &s;hould be &s;o &s;ad and bad; that ho|ly per&s;ons &s;hould not be able to hold fa&s;t their e&s;tates, their liberties, their trades, their lives, their religion,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 18.13.</NOTE> yet they will &s;till hold fa&s;t their holine&s;&s;e. A holy Chri&s;tian is like gold; Now ca&s;t gold into the fire, or into the water, ca&s;t it upon the dunghill, or into the plea&s;ant garden, ca&s;t it among the poor, or among the rich, among the religious, or among the licentious; yet &s;till it is gold, &s;till it re|tains its purity and excellency; &s;o ca&s;t a holy Chri&s;tian, a golden Chri&s;tian into what condition you will, and into
<PB N="156" REF="109"> what company you will,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 39.</NOTE> yet &s;till he will retain his purity, his &s;anctity; yea, the wor&s;er the times are, the more a holy man &s;tudies holine&s;&s;e, and prefers holine&s;&s;e, and prizes holine&s;&s;e, and practi&s;es holine&s;&s;e, that he may keep up the credit of holine&s;&s;e, and the credit of a holy God, and the credit of his holy profe&s;&s;ion in the world. But now &s;uch as have only a &s;hew of holine&s;&s;e, an appearance of holi|ne&s;&s;e, the&s;e will be religious among the religious, and viti|ous among the vitious. They will be righteous among the righteous, and licentious among the licentious, they will be as the company is among&s;t which they are ca&s;t: with the good they will be good, and with the bad they will be bad; with the zealous they will be zealous, and with the &s;uper&s;titious they will be &s;uper&s;titious; and with the lukewarm they will be lukewarm, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> they are for all times and tides, they are for any turn that will &s;erve their turn,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 9.17.</NOTE> for any mode that will bring plea&s;ure or profit to them; they are like <HI>Alci|biades,</HI> of whom it was &s;aid, that he was <HI>(omnium hora|rum homo)</HI> a man for all times; for he could &s;wagger it at <HI>Athens;</HI> and take any pains at <HI>Thebes;</HI> he could live mo&s;t &s;paringly at <HI>Lacidaemon,</HI> and bib among the <HI>Thracians,</HI> and hunt among the <HI>Per&s;ians.</HI> So the&s;e men can accommodate them&s;elves to the times, and comply with them, what ever they be: with <HI>Proteu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s,</HI> they will transform them&s;elves into <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ll &s;hapes; as the times change, &s;o will they; what the times favour, that they will favour: what the times commend, that they will commend: &amp; what the times cry up and admire, that they will cry up and admire, and what the times frown upon and condemn, that they will frown upon and condemn. Look as curious and well drawn pictures &s;eem to turn their eyes every way, and to &s;mile upon every one that looks upon them; &s;o the&s;e can turn with the times, they can look as the times look, and &s;mile as the times &s;mile; they can &s;ay with the times, and &s;ail with the times. Sometimes they can act one part, and &s;ometimes another part, as the times require: if the times require a large profe&s;&s;ion, they can make it; if the times require a rigid Spirit again&s;t &s;uch as cannot comply with the times, they can act it: If the times
<PB N="157" REF="109"> be&s;peak them to leave their religion at the Church door, they can leave it, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> If the times call upon them to wor|&s;hip God according to the pre&s;criptions of men, they can do it. Oh but give me a man that is really holy, and he will be holy though the times &s;hould be never &s;o unholy; yea, the more licentious the times are, the more gracious he will labour to be.</P>
<P>In the fifteenth place, He that is really holy, propounds <MILESTONE N="15"> ordinarily to him&s;elf holy aims and ends in his actings and undertakings. The glory of God is the mark,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Iohn 7.18. Gen. 41.16. Dan. 2.23. Titus 2.10. 1 Cor. 10. ult. Rev. 12.11.</NOTE> the white that holy men have in their eyes, <HI>Rom.</HI> 14.7, 8. They live not to them&s;elves, but they live to him who lives for ever; they live not to their own wills, lu&s;ts, greatne&s;&s;e and glory in this world; but they live to his glory, who&s;e glory is dearer to them then their very lives. They make di|vine glory their ultimate end, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4.5.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quod non actibus, &s;ed &s;i|nibus pen&s;an|tur officia.</HI> That duties are e&s;teemed not by their acts, but by their ends, is mo&s;t certain.</NOTE> <HI>We preach not our &s;elves, but Chri&s;t Je&s;us the Lord:</HI> that is, in our preach|ing we woo not for our &s;elves, but for Chri&s;t. We are no kin to tho&s;e who &s;peak two words for them&s;elves, and hardly one for Chri&s;t. In all our preaching we eye the glo|ry of Chri&s;t, we de&s;ign the honour and exaltation of Chri&s;t; Real holine&s;&s;e is commonly attended with a &s;ingle eye; as counterfeit holine&s;&s;e is commonly attended with a &s;quint eye; &s;quint eyd aims, and &s;quint eyd ends do u&s;ually wait upon double hearts. Take a holy man in the exerci&s;e of his gifts and graces for the good of mens &s;ouls, or take him in the exerci&s;e of charity for the good of mens bodies, and in both you &s;hall find his eye fixt upon the glory of God. Suit|able to that 1 Pet. 4.11. <HI>If any man &s;peak, let him &s;peak as the oracles of God; if any man mini&s;ter, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Je&s;us Chri&s;t; to whom be prai&s;e and do|minion for ever and ever, Amen.</HI> Look as bright &s;hining golden ve&s;&s;els do not retain the beams of the Sun which they receive, but reflect them back again upon the Sun: So tho&s;e that are really holy, they do return and reflect back again upon the Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e the prai&s;e and glory of all the gifts, graces and vertues that they have
<PB N="158" REF="110"> received from him. The daily language of their Souls, is, <HI>Non nobis Domine,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 13.7.</NOTE> <HI>non nobis Domine. Not unto us Lord, not unto us Lord, but to thy name be all the glory.</HI> Holy men make con&s;cience of giving men their dues:<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Chron. 29.10.18.</NOTE> how much more then do they make con&s;cience of giving God his due.<NOTE PLACE="marg">So in P&s;al. 96.7, 8.</NOTE> Now glory is Gods due, and God &s;tands upon no|thing more, then that we give him the glory due unto his name, as you may &s;ee in <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 29.1, 2. There are three <HI>gives</HI> in tho&s;e two ver&s;es, <HI>Give unto the Lord, give unto the Lord, give unto the Lord the glory that is due unto his name.</HI> Glo|ry is Gods right, and he &s;tands upon his right; and this holy men know, and therefore they give him his right; they give him the honour and the glory that is due unto his name. Holy hearts do habitually eye the glory of Chri&s;t in all things.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 10.31. <HI>Quicquid agas, propter Deum agas:</HI> was an Ea&s;tern Apothegm, &s;aith <HI>Dru&s;ius.</HI></NOTE> When they eat, they eat to his glory; and when they drink, they drink to his glory; and when they &s;leep, they &s;leep to his glory; when they buy, they buy for his glory; and when they &s;ell, they &s;ell for his glory; and when they give, they give for his glory; and when they recreate them&s;elves, they recreate them&s;elves for his glory; &s;o when they hear, they hear for his glory; and when they pray, they pray for his glory; and when they fa&s;t, they fa&s;t for his glory; and when they read, they read for his glory; and when they come to the Lords Table, they come to his glory in all natural, moral and religious actions. Holy hearts have an habitual eye to divine glory. Do not mi&s;take me, I do not &s;ay that &s;uch as are really holy, do actually eye the glory of Chri&s;t in all their actions: Oh no, this is a happine&s;&s;e de&s;irable on earth, but &s;hall never be attained till we come to heaven. By and ba&s;e ends and aims will too often creep into the holie&s;t hearts, but holy hearts &s;igh and groan under them; they complain to God of them, and they cry for Ju&s;tice, Ju&s;tice upon them: And it is the &s;trong and earne&s;t de&s;ires of their &s;ouls to be rid of them. But take a holy Chri&s;tian in his ordinary, u&s;ual and habitu|al cour&s;e, and &s;o he hath holy aims and ends in all his acti|ons and undertakings. But now &s;uch who&s;e holine&s;&s;e is counterfeit, they never look at divine glory in what they
<PB N="159" REF="110"> do; &s;ometimes their eye is upon their credit,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mar. 6.5. John 6.26. Zach. 7.5, 6, 7.</NOTE> and &s;ome|times their eyes are upon applau&s;e, &s;ometimes they have plea&s;ure in their eyes, and &s;ometimes they have profit in their eyes, and &s;ometimes they have preferments in their eyes, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> They will be very godly when they can make a gain of godline&s;&s;e; they will be very holy, when holine&s;&s;e is the way to outward happine&s;&s;e; but this religious wick|edne&s;&s;e will double damn them at la&s;t. This is mo&s;t certain, that &s;ome carnal or worldly con&s;ideration or other, al|wayes acts him who hath not real, principles of holine&s;&s;e in him: but he that is really holy makes the glory of God his Center. <HI>Propter te Domine, propter te,</HI> was once, and is &s;till a holy mans Motto.</P>
<P>Que&s;t. <HI>But how may a per&s;on know when he makes the glory of God his aim, his end, in this or that &s;ervice which he performs?</HI> I &s;hall an&s;wer this Que&s;tion briefly, thus.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Fir&s;t, Such a man as makes the glory of God his aim, his end, he will do duty when all outward incouragements to duty fail; when the eye of men, the favour of men,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Antimachus</HI> the famous Poet held on in his exer|ci&s;e, when all his hearers had left him but <HI>Plato:</HI> &s;aying <HI>(Plato e&s;t mihi pro omnibus) Plato</HI> is to me in|&s;tead of all. So a holy Mi|ni&s;ter, when he is de&s;erted by &s;ome, and ca&s;t off by others, yet he will hold on in his work.</NOTE> the re&s;pects of men, and all other incouragements from men fails, yet then a holy man will hold up, and hold on in his work and way, yea, when all outward incouragements from God &s;hall fail, yet &s;uch a per&s;on will keep clo&s;e to his duty, Hab. 3.17, 18. <HI>Although the fig-tree &s;hall not blo&s;&s;ome, nei|ther &s;hall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the Olive &s;hall fail, and the fields &s;hall yield no meat, the flock &s;hall be cut off from the fold, and there &s;hall be no herds in the &s;talls&punc; Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my &s;alvation.</HI> When all nece&s;&s;ary and delightfull mercies fail, yet he will not fail in his duty: though God withholds his ble&s;&s;ings, yet he will not withhold his &s;ervice: in the want of a live|lyhood he will be lively in his duty; when he hath nothing to &s;ub&s;i&s;t by, yet then he will live upon his God. Though war and want come, yet he will not be wanting in his du|ty. There are three things in a holy heart that &s;trongly incline it to duty when all outward incouragements fail: The fir&s;t is a forcible principle, divine love: The &s;econd is a mighty aid, the Spirit of God: The third is a high aim,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 5.14. Phil&punc; 4.12, 13.</NOTE> the
<PB N="160" REF="111"> glory of God: but now it is otherwi&s;e with tho&s;e that have only a &s;hew of godline&s;&s;e: let but their outward incourage|ments fail them: let but the eye, the ear, the applau&s;e of the creature fail them: if they cannot make &s;ome gain of their godline&s;&s;e, &s;ome profit of their profe&s;&s;ion, &s;ome ad|vantage of their religion, they are ready with <HI>Demas,</HI> to throw up, and throw off all. Profit and applau&s;e are u&s;u|ally the baits that the&s;e men bite at;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Hac omnia tibi dabo:</HI> was the devils great argu|ment to pre|vail with Chri&s;t.</NOTE> and if they mi&s;&s;e the&s;e baits, then farewell profe&s;&s;ion, farewell religion, farewell all. But now look as <HI>Ruth</HI> kept clo&s;e to her mother in the want of all outward incouragements, <HI>Ruth</HI> 1. So &s;ouls that eye the glory of God in duties, they will keep clo&s;e to duties when all outward incouragements fail. Though outward incouragements be &s;ometimes as a &s;ide wind, or as oil, or as chariot wheels, means to move a Chri&s;tian to go on more &s;weetly, ea&s;ily and comfortably in the wayes of God, yet when this wind &s;hall fail, and the&s;e chariot wheels &s;hall be knockt off, a real Chri&s;tian will hold on his way, <HI>Job</HI> 17.9.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, When a man aims at the glory of God in what he doth, then he labours to hide and conceal all his humane excellencies that may any wayes tend to ob&s;cure, ecclip&s;e, or darken the glory of God, 1 Cor. 2.3, 4, 5. <HI>And I was with you in weakne&s;&s;e, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my &s;peech, and my preaching was not with enticing words of mans wi&s;dom, but in demon&s;tration of the Spirit, and of power: That your faith &s;hould not &s;tand in the wi&s;dom of men, but in the power of God.</HI> Holy <HI>Paul</HI> handled holy things in &s;uch a manner, as much of God, and little (or nothing) of man could be perceived. In religious exerci&s;es, <HI>Paul</HI> &s;eems to &s;ay to humane eloquence, and fle&s;hly wi&s;dom, to affected Rhetorick, and flattering Oratory, Stand a far off, come not near; I have now to do with God, and to do with &s;ouls, and to do with eternity, and therefore what have I to do with you? <HI>Paul</HI> had an eye to divine glory in what he did, and therefore he dur&s;t not tip his tongue, and &s;tore his head with aiery noti|ons, or with the enticing words of mans wi&s;dom. Of all
<PB N="161" REF="111"> the Apo&s;tles,<NOTE PLACE="marg">At a fe&s;tival time, when <HI>Bernard</HI> had preached very eloquently, and the people much admired and applauded him, he was much &s;added; the next day he preached a plain and powerfull Ser|mon without any Rhetorical dre&s;&s;es, at which many curious itch|ing ears were un&s;atisfied, but him&s;elf and his meaner capacitated Auditors were much plea&s;ed and delighted; and being asked the rea&s;on of it, he returned this an&s;wer, <HI>Heri Bernardum, hodie Je&s;um Chri&s;tum:</HI> ye&s;terday I preached <HI>Ber|nard,</HI> but to day Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>Paul</HI> was mo&s;t eminent and excellent in all humane Arts, Parts, and Gifts, and yet in religious exer|ci&s;es he layes them all by, 1 Cor. 14.18, 19. <HI>I thank my God, I &s;peak with tongues more then you all:</HI> Yet in the Church I had rather &s;peak five words with my under&s;tand|ing, that by my voice I might teach others al&s;o, then ten thou&s;and words in an unknown tongue. The Church of <HI>Corinth</HI> excelled all other Churches in gifts (I do not &s;ay in grace) and many among them prided them&s;elves up in the exerci&s;e of their gifts and tongues in their Church A&s;|&s;emblies, that &s;o they might win the more credit and re|pute to them&s;elves of being men of great learning, read|ing and parts; but the holy Apo&s;tle by his own example labours to win them to decline all vain o&s;tentation, and to work them to expre&s;&s;e them&s;elves &s;o as might be mo&s;t for the information, conviction, edification and &s;alvation of their hearers &s;ouls. Holy <HI>Paul</HI> had much learning, and yet in religious exerci&s;es he u&s;ed little. The <HI>Corinthians</HI> had le&s;&s;e, and yet made &s;uch &s;hews and flouri&s;hes of it (even in their religious duties,) as if in their brea&s;ts all the Li|braries in the world had been lockt up. This puts me in mind of what once I have read concerning a <HI>Rabbi</HI> that had but little learning and le&s;&s;e mode&s;ty and ingenuity; for he u&s;urping all the di&s;cour&s;e at Table where many were, one much admiring of him, asked one of his friends in private, Whether he did not take &s;uch a man for a great Scholer? to whom he an&s;wered, For ought I know he may be learned; but I never heard learning make &s;uch a noi&s;e. The more learning, the le&s;&s;e noi&s;e; the le&s;&s;e learning, the more noi&s;e men will make. The Sun &s;hews lea&s;t when it is at the high|e&s;t; and tho&s;e waters are mo&s;t deep, that run mo&s;t &s;ilent: they u&s;ually are men of the greate&s;t parts, that u&s;e them lea&s;t in religious works. Famous Mr. <HI>Dod</HI> was wont to &s;ay, that &s;o much Latine was &s;o much fle&s;h in a Sermon. The gilt upon the Pill may plea&s;e the eye, but it profits not the Patient; The paint upon the gla&s;s may feed the fancy, but the room is rather the darker then the lighter for it. Painted gla&s;&s;e in Churches is more glorious, but plain gla&s;&s;e
<PB N="162" REF="112"> is mo&s;t per&s;picuous: when men come to Church-work, to Pulpit-work, all plaine&s;&s;e mu&s;t be u&s;ed: Starched Oratory may tickle the brain, but its plain Doctrine that informs the judgement, that convinces the con&s;cience, that bows the will, and that wins the heart. That Sermon hath mo&s;t learn|ing in it, that hath mo&s;t plaine&s;&s;e in it. And therefore a great Scholer was wont to &s;ay, <HI>Lord, give me learning enough, that I may preach plain enough.</HI> Silly ignorant people are very apt to dote upon that mo&s;t, and admire that mo&s;t which they under&s;tand lea&s;t; But prudent Chri&s;tians judge of Mini&s;ters not by their lungs, but by their brains: not by their throats, but by their hearts and lives: not by their voices and tones, but by the plainne&s;&s;e, &s;piritualne&s;&s;e, &s;uit|ablene&s;&s;e and u&s;efulne&s;&s;e of their matter: Like <HI>Demo&s;t h&eacute;|nes,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Era&s;mus.</NOTE> who when he heard an Orator bellowing with a loud and roaring voice, &s;aid (<HI>Non quod magnum e&s;t bene e&s;t, &s;ed quod bene e&s;t magnum e&s;t.</HI>) I mark rather the goodne&s;&s;e then loudne&s;&s;e of an Oration. It is ob&s;ervable, that through|out the Scriptures,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Holy <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> covered his gli&s;tering face with a vail when he &s;pake to the people.</NOTE> that the profounde&s;t Prophets, and the greate&s;t Apo&s;tles, yea, and Chri&s;t him&s;elf did commonly ac|comodate them&s;elves to their hearers capacities: they kept in, and kept under all tho&s;e humane excellencies, the di&s;co|very of which might any wayes cloud divine glory. Men that have their eyes upon divine glory, do know that the more any acquired parts,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 9.8.</NOTE> gifts and excellencies do appear in holy exerci&s;es, the more the name, honour and glory of God is clouded, and the more tho&s;e that have mo&s;t of the in|dwellings of God are di&s;&s;atisfied and di&s;advantaged &amp; there|fore tho&s;e that have real re&s;pect to divine glory,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI> tells us of &s;ome in his dayes, who to win upon the minds of men, did amaze them with new words. <HI>Eu&s;eb. Hi&s;t. l.</HI> 4. <HI>c.</HI> 7.</NOTE> they draw as it were a curtain between all their humane excellencies, &amp; re|ligious exerci&s;es. That none may think this is my private opi|nion, let me add a few &s;ayings of theirs that have been emi|nent in acquired excellencies. <HI>Greg. Naz&punc;</HI> a holy &amp; a weighty Writer compares curio&s;ity &amp; novelty of &s;peech in the things of God unto la&s;civious dancing, &amp; the arts of Juglers where|by they deceive the &s;en&s;es of tho&s;e that look on. And fur|ther &s;aith that &s;imple proper genuine language was in holy things wont to be e&s;teemed godline&s;&s;e. And it was a
<PB N="163" REF="112"> remarkable &s;aying of golden-mouth'd <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom</HI> (as &s;ome call him) When I fir&s;t began to preach (&s;aid he) I was a child, and delighted in Rattles, in the applau&s;e of the peo|ple; but when I was a man, I began to depi&s;e them. New phra&s;es and expre&s;&s;ions do many times make way for the introducing of new doctrines, as learned <HI>Paraeus</HI> in his Comment on 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.1. ob&s;erves; for the mo&s;t part, &s;aith he, tho&s;e who in points of Divinity devi&s;e new terms and unu&s;ual expre&s;&s;ions, do hide under them &s;ome new and &s;trange doctrines; they wrap up their errour in &s;ome intri|cate words and di&s;tinctions;<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Orators of <HI>Athens</HI> were then &s;u|&s;pected, when they began to make excur|&s;ions with florid expre&s;|&s;ions.</NOTE> when our words in preaching differ from the &s;tile of the Holy-Gho&s;t, the people be in danger of turning a&s;ide to vain jangling, &s;aith <HI>Danaeus. Lo|quamur verba Scripturae,</HI> &amp;c. &s;aid that incomparable man, <HI>Peter Ramus,</HI> let us &s;peak the words of Scripture, let us make u&s;e of the language of the Holy-Gho&s;t, and for ever abominate tho&s;e that prophanely di&s;dain at the &s;tately plain|ne&s;s of Gods ble&s;&s;ed book, and that think to correct the divine wi&s;dom and eloquence with their own infancy and &s;ophi&s;try. <HI>Non quanta eloquentia, &s;ed quanta evidentia,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Aug. Melius e&s;t ut nos reprehendant Grammatici, quam ut non intellig&uacute;nt populi,</HI> the &s;ame Author in <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 138. Such as mind more (&s;aith another) the humouring of their hearers fancies, then the &s;aving of their &s;ouls, do little con&s;ider that of <HI>Seneca, (Aeger non quaerit medicum elo|quentem &s;ed &s;anantem)</HI> Sick men are not bettered by Phy|&s;itians &s;ugared words, but by their skilful hands. Doctor <HI>Sibbs</HI> was wont to &s;ay, That great affectation and good affe|ction &s;eldom go together. Truth is like <HI>Solomons</HI> Spou&s;e, all glorious within; &s;he is mo&s;t beautiful when mo&s;t naked, as <HI>Adam</HI> was in innocency. The King of <HI>Per&s;ia</HI> having &s;ent to <HI>Antalcidas</HI> the Lacedemonian Captain a Garland of Ro&s;es wonderfully perfumed with Spices and other &s;ophi&s;ticati|ons, he accepted of his love, but mi&s;liked the pre&s;ent, and &s;ent him word, (<HI>Ro&s;arum odorem artis adulteratione perdi|di&s;ti</HI>) Thou ha&s;t marred the &s;weetne&s;s of the Ro&s;es with the &s;weetne&s;s of thy perfumes. So many marr the &s;weetne&s;s of the Word by perfuming it with their humane eloquence
<PB N="164" REF="113"> and oratory. For a clo&s;e, remember, that God him&s;elf the great Ma&s;ter of &s;peech, when he &s;pake from heaven, he made u&s;e of three &s;everal Texts in a breath, <HI>Matth.</HI> 17.5. <HI>This is my beloved &s;on.</HI> P&s;alm 2.7. <HI>In whom I am well plea&s;|ed.</HI> I&s;aiah 42.1. <HI>Hear ye him. Deut.</HI> 18.15. which you may note again&s;t the curious quea&s;ine&s;s of &s;uch nice ones <MILESTONE N="3"> as di&s;dain at the &s;tately plainne&s;s of the Scriptures. But,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chri&s;tus opera no&s;tra non tam actibus quam finibus pen&s;at. <HI>Zanchius.</HI></NOTE>Thirdly, If thou do&s;t really and actually aim at the glory of God in what thou do&s;t, then the glory of God will &s;wal|low up all by-aimes and ends that may thru&s;t them&s;elves in upon the &s;oul, while&s;t it is at its work. Look as <HI>Aarons</HI> rod (<HI>Exod.</HI> 7.10, 11, 12.) &s;wallowed up the Magicians rods, &s;o the glory of God will &s;wallow up all carnal aims and ends. Look as the Sun puts out the light of the fire, &s;o the glory of God will put out and con&s;ume all other ends. This is mo&s;t certain, That which is a mans great end, that will work out all other ends. If thou &s;ette&s;t up the glory of God as thy chief end, that will by degrees eat out all low and ba&s;e ends. Look as <HI>Pharaohs</HI> lean kine (<HI>Gen.</HI> 41.4.) eat up the fat, &s;o the glory of God will eat up all tho&s;e fat and worldly ends that croud in upon the &s;oul in religious work. The keeping up of the glory of God as thy great end, will be the keeping down and the ca&s;ting out of all other ends.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, He that really and actually aims at the glory of God in what he doth, he will be doing what God com|mands,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom. 16.19.</HI> Obedientia non di&s;cutit Dei mandata, &s;ed facit. <HI>Pro&s;per.</HI></NOTE> though nothing for the pre&s;ent comes of it: If his eye be truly fixed upon divine glory, a command of God &s;hall be enough to carry him on in his work. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 27.8. <HI>When thou &s;aid&s;t, Seek ye my face, my heart &s;aid unto thee, Thy face Lord, will I &s;eek.</HI> When the glory of God is a mans mark, his heart will &s;weetly eccho and graciou&s;ly comply with divine commands. <HI>Jer.</HI> 3.22. <HI>Return ye back-&s;liding chil|dren, and I will heal your back-&s;lidings: Behold we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God.</HI> Gods commands fall with great power and force upon that mans heart, that hath divine glory in his eye. One word from God will command &s;uch a &s;oul to a gracious compliance with what God requires, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 119.4, 5. <HI>Thou ha&s;t commanded us to keep thy precepts
<PB N="165" REF="113"> diligently: O that my wayes were directed to keep thy Statutes!</HI> As &s;oon as God laies a command upon a Chri&s;tian, he look:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Tota vita boni Chri&s;tiani &s;an|ctum de&s;iderium e&s;t.</HI> Au&s;tin. The whole life of a good Chri&s;tian is a holy wi&s;h.</NOTE> up to heaven for power to turn that precept into practice, O that my wayes were directed to keep thy Statutes! O that I were as holy as God would have me to be! O that I were as humble and lowly as God would have me to be! O that I were as heavenly and &s;piritual as God would have me to be! O that I were as pure and perfect as God would have me to be! So ver. 48. <HI>My hands will I lift up to thy Com|mandments which I have loved.</HI> Many there be which thru&s;t away with all their might thy Commandments, but I lift up my hands to thy Commandments. Many there be that will &s;train them&s;elves to take a comfort,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prior e&s;t Au|toritas impe|rantis quam utilitas &s;ervi|entis.</HI> Tertul. The chief rea|&s;on of obedi|ence, is the Authority of the Lord, not the utility of the &s;ervant.</NOTE> but I &s;train my &s;elf to lift up thy Commandments. Many there are who will &s;tretch out their hands to take a reward, but I &s;tretch out my hands to take hold on thy Commandments. To give a little more light into the&s;e words, Sometime the lifting up of hands be|tokens admiration; when men are a&s;toni&s;hed and ravi&s;hed, they lift up their hands; <HI>I will lift up my hands to thy Com|mandments;</HI> that is, I will admire the goodne&s;s, the holine&s;s, the righteou&s;ne&s;s, the purity and excellency of thy Com|mandments. Again, we lift up our hands when we betake our &s;elves to refuge; why Gods commands are the Saints re|fuge; when they hou&s;e and &s;helter them&s;elves under the wings of Gods commands, they are &s;afe. Again, men lift up their hands when they take hold on a thing; now gracious &s;ouls do take hold on Gods Commandments to do them, to practi&s;e them, and to expre&s;s the life and power of them. Again, men lift up their hands to tho&s;e things that are high and above them; now the commands of God are high, they are &s;ublime, they are above us; they are &s;ublime and high, in regard of their original, they come down from God; they are &s;ublime and high in regard of the matter of them, they are heavenly Oracles, they are dictates of divine wi&s;|dom; they are &s;ublime and high in regard of the difficulty of keeping of them, they exceeding all humane &s;trength; and they are &s;ublime and high in regard of their &s;cituation, they are &s;cituated in heaven: <HI>Thy word</HI> (&s;aies <HI>David) en|dures
<PB N="166" REF="114"> for ever in heaven;</HI> but yet as &s;ublime and as high as they are, a man that hath his eye upon divine glory, will lift up his hands unto them; he will do all he can to expre&s;s the plea&s;ure that he takes in them, and the readine&s;s of his &s;oul to a holy compliance with them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Compare the&s;e Scri|ptures toge|ther; P&s;alm 44.12, 20. Can. 3.1, 2, 3. I&s;a. 26.8, 9. chap. 59.8, 9, 10, 11. Hab. 2.1, 2, 3. Micha. 7.7, 8, 9. Lam. 3.8, 44. compared with ver. 24, 25, 26, 31, 32, 40, 41, 55.</NOTE> A man that hath his eye upon divine glory, he will keep clo&s;e to his work, to his hear|ing work, to his praying work, to his mourning work, to his repenting work, to his believing work, to his waiting work; though nothing comes on it, though he make no earnings of it, though comfort doth not come, though joy and peace doth not come, though a&s;&s;urance doth not come, though enlargements do not come, though an&s;wers and returns from heaven do not come, though good dayes do not come, though deliverance doth not come, yet &s;uch will keep clo&s;e to their work, that have their eye upon divine glory. But now &s;uch who eye not the glory of God in what they do, they quickly grow weary of their work; if they can make no earnings of their &s;eekings, and fa&s;tings, and prayings, they are pre&s;ently ready to throw up all, and to quarrel with God him&s;elf, as if God had done them an injurie, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 58.1, 2, 3, 4.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="5"> Fifthly and la&s;tly, A man that really aims at the glory of God in this or that duty, he cannot be &s;atisfied nor content|ed with the performance of duties without &s;ome enjoy|ments of God in duties; without &s;ome conver&s;e and com|munion with God in duties, his &s;oul cannot be &s;atisfied; his &s;oul thir&s;ts and longs to &s;ee the beauty and the glory of the Lord in his &s;anctuary, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 63.1, 2, 3. and without this &s;ight he cannot be quieted. Here is the Ordinance, but where is the God of the Ordinance? Here is prayer, but where is the God of prayer? Here is the duty, but where is the God of duty? Here is enlargements, but where is the God of enlargements? Here are meltings and breakings of &s;pirit, but where is the God of the&s;e meltings and break|ings? <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 84.2. <HI>My &s;oul longeth, yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord: My heart and my fle&s;h cryeth out for the living God.</HI> The Courts of the Lord without &s;piritual conver&s;es with the living God, could not &s;atisfie his &s;oul: O
<PB N="167" REF="114"> &s;aith he, Here be the Courts of the Lord, the Courts of the Lord, but where is the living God? where is the living God? where is that God that makes men to live, and that makes Ordinances to be living &amp; lively Ordinances to his childrens &s;ouls? O the Courts of the Lord are very de&s;ireable, but the living God is much more de&s;irable! The Courts of the Lord are precious and glorious, but the living God is infi|nitely more precious and glorious! Here is the mantle of <HI>Elijah,</HI> but where is the God of <HI>Elijah?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 2.12, 13, 14. Mr. <HI>Fox, Acts and Mon.</HI></NOTE> Here are the Courts of the Lord, but where is the Lord of the&s;e Courts? It was the &s;peech of holy Mr. <HI>Bradford,</HI> That he could not leave a duty, till he had found communion with Chri&s;t in the duty; he could not give off a duty, till his heart was brought into a duty frame; he could not leave confe&s;&s;ion, till he had found his heart humbled and melted under the &s;en&s;e of his &s;in; he could not give over petitioning, till he had found his heart taken with the beauties of the things de|&s;ired, and &s;trongly carried out after the enjoyment of them. Neither could he leave thank&s;giving, till he had found his &s;pirit enlarged, and his &s;oul quickned in the return of prai|&s;es. And &s;o it was with holy <HI>Bernard,</HI> who was wont to &s;ay, <HI>O Lord, I never come to thee but by thee;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Nunquam abs te ab&s;que te recedo. <HI>Bern.</HI> M<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ditat.</NOTE> <HI>I never go from thee without thee.</HI> A man that hath his eye upon the glory of Chri&s;t, he cannot put off his &s;oul with any thing below communion with Chri&s;t, in tho&s;e Religious &s;ervices and du|ties that he offers up to Chri&s;t: Though the brea&s;ts of duty are &s;weet, yet tho&s;e brea&s;ts will not &s;atisfie the &s;oul, except Chri&s;t lies betwixt them. <HI>Can.</HI> 1.13. But now men that have ba&s;e, poor, low, and by-ends in what they do, they can come off ea&s;ily from their duties, though they find no &s;pirit, no life, no warmth in duty; yet they can come off with content from duty, though they have no communion, no conver&s;e at all with God in duty, though they have no pledges of grace, no pawns of mercy, no ta&s;tes of love, no reli&s;hes of heaven in a duty, yet they can come off from the duty with content and &s;atisfaction of &s;pirit; let but others applaud him, and his own heart hug him, and he hath enough.</P>
<PB N="168" REF="115">
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 45.1, 2. Zeph. 3.9. Can. 4.3. Compare the&s;e Scri|ptures toge|ther. Prov. 11, 30. chap. 1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.18. chap. 25.11. Mat 7.6. cha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">. 12.35. Col. 4.6. Eph. 4.29. Acts 26.25. John 6.25. 1 Pet. 4 11.</NOTE>In the &s;ixteenth and la&s;t place, A man that is really holy, &s;peaks a holy language; a holy heart and a holy tongue are in&s;eparable companions; if there be grace in the heart, there will be grace in the lips; if the heart be pure, the lan|guage will be pure. Chri&s;t &s;aies, his Spou&s;es lips are like a thred of &s;carlet; they are red with talking of nothing but a crucified Chri&s;t; and they are thin like a thred, not &s;welled with other vain di&s;cour&s;es. And ver. 10. he tells you, That the lips of his Spou&s;e drop as the honey-combs (or drop honey-combs) and that honey and milk are under her tongue. You know that <HI>Canaan</HI> was a land that flowed with milk and honey; why the language of the Spou&s;e was the language of <HI>Canaan;</HI> her lips were &s;till dropping &s;uch ho|ly, &s;piritual and heavenly matter, as was as &s;weet, plea&s;ant, profitable, de&s;ireable and delectable to mens &s;ouls, as ever honey and millk was to mens palates or appetites; and as many were fed and nouri&s;hed by milk and honey, &s;o many were fed and nouri&s;hed by the holy droppings of her lips; <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 37.30. <HI>The mouth of the righteous &s;peaketh wi&s;dom, and his tongue talketh of judgement.</HI> If the heart be holy, the tongue will be a talking wi&s;ely, fruitfully, feelingly, af|fectionately of that which may profit both a mans &s;elf and others. <HI>Prov.</HI> 10.20. <HI>The tongue of the ju&s;t is as choice &s;il|ver;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Quod hominis dignitas &amp; excellentia nulla alia re magis cogno&s;ci|tur quam ora|tione. <HI>Pet. Martyr. 2. pag. 4.</HI> Qui in Chri|&s;tum credunt, loquuntur novis.</NOTE> <HI>the heart of the wicked is little worth.</HI> Good mens words are of more worth then wicked mens hearts: and look as choice &s;ilver is known by its tinkling, &s;o holy men are known by their talking. And as choice &s;ilver giveth a clear and &s;weet &s;ound, &s;o the tongue of the ju&s;t &s;oundeth &s;weetly and plea&s;antly in the ears of others. Look as choice &s;ilver is highly prized and valued among men, &s;o is the tongue of the righteous among tho&s;e that are righteous: And look as choice &s;ilver allures and draws the hearts of men to a love and liking of it; &s;o the tongues of the righteous do allure and draw the hearts of men to a love and liking of vertue and goodne&s;s. Ver. 21. <HI>The lips of the righteous feed many.</HI> They feed many by their exhortations, in&s;tructions, admo|nitions and coun&s;els: The mouthes of the righteous are like the gates of &s;ome ho&s;pitable per&s;ons, where many are fed.
<PB N="169" REF="115"> The lips of the righteous are a free and well furni&s;hed table, at which many are fed and nouri&s;hed with the dainties of heaven to eternal life. Righteous men keep open hou&s;e, they keep free ho&s;pitality for all comers and goers; and if they have not alwayes bread in their hands, yet they have al|wayes grace in their lips to feed many. Though they may be outwardly poor, yet they have a trea&s;ure within to enrich many. The tongue is the in&s;trument of a Chri&s;tians glory, and is &s;o intere&s;ted in the quality it expre&s;&s;eth, that in the original it is taken for it, <HI>Cavod</HI> &s;ignifying both glory and the tongue, (by the authority of no le&s;s Rabbines then <HI>Ja|cob</HI> and <HI>David</HI>) as thereby intimating that the chiefe&s;t glo|ry of man is his tongue. The Primitive Chri&s;tians talked &s;o much and &s;o often of high and heavenly things, that the Ethnicks began to &s;urmi&s;e that they affected the Roman Empire, when indeed their ambition was of another, a nobler and a higher nature. But now men that have only a &s;hew of godline&s;s, they do practically &s;ay, Our tongues are our own, and who &s;hall controul us? Their &s;peech is &s;o far from admini&s;tring of grace to their hearers, that it admini|&s;ters u&s;ually either matter of carnal mirth, or of contempt, or of &s;corn, or of &s;orrow and mourning; certainly they have no holine&s;s in their hearts, who have &s;o much of hell,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 1.26, 27. chap. 3.8.12. Matth. 26.73.</NOTE> and the Devil, and lu&s;ts in their mouthes. I may &s;ay to mo&s;t, You are unholy per&s;ons, your &s;peech bewrayes you, your worldline&s;s, your prophanene&s;s, your cur&s;ing, your &s;wear|ing, your lying, your &s;landering, your reviling, your rail|ing, your deriding, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> doth plainly evidence that you have no holine&s;s, in you. Well, remember this, a tongue that is &s;et on fire from hell, is in danger to be &s;et on fire in hell. Hell is for that man, and that man is for hell, that hath &s;o much of hell in his mouth; the Devil is for that man, and that man is for the Devil, that hath &s;o much of the Devil in his mouth; Damnation is for that man, and that man is for damnation, that hath &s;o much of damnation in his mouth; the world is for that man, and that man is for the world, that hath &s;o much of the world in his mouth. Whatever is in the heart, will break out in the lips; if wickedne&s;s be in
<PB N="170" REF="116"> the heart, it will break out in the lips. Phy&s;itians &s;ay that the nature of di&s;ea&s;es is as well known by the tongue, as by the pul&s;e or urine. The &s;piritual di&s;ea&s;es that be in the heart, will quickly di&s;cover them&s;elves by the tongue. Whereever holine&s;s is in the heart, it will break forth in the lips; a holy heart and a holy tongue are married together, and it is not in man to put them a&s;under; you &s;hall &s;ooner &s;eparate the &s;oul from the body, then you &s;hall &s;eparate a holy tongue from an holy heart. And thus I have done with this u&s;e of examination; the Lord make you wi&s;e to lay the&s;e things to heart, that &s;o you may know how it is like to go with you in another world.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="use (and exhortation)">
<HEAD><HI>&V;&s;e</HI> 3.</HEAD>
<P>THe third U&s;e &s;hall be a U&s;e of Exhortation, and that both to un&s;anctified and &s;anctified ones. Fir&s;t, let me &s;peak to un&s;anctified ones; is it &s;o, that real holine&s;s is the only way to happine&s;s, and that without men are holy on earth, they &s;hall never come to the beatifical vi&s;ion or ble&s;|&s;ed fruition of God in heaven: O then, how &s;hould this provoke and &s;tir up all unholy per&s;ons to &s;trive and labour, as for life, after this real holine&s;s, without which they &s;hall never come to have any thing to do with God in everla&s;ting happine&s;s, <HI>&amp;c?</HI></P>
<P>Now that I may the better prevail with un&s;anctified &s;ouls; I &s;hall,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, propound &s;ome motives to &s;tir and provoke their hearts to look and labour after real holine&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, I &s;hall propo&s;e &s;ome means for the obtaining of holine&s;s.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, I &s;hall endeavour to an&s;wer tho&s;e objections, and remove tho&s;e impediments that hinder and keep men off from labouring after real holine&s;s.</P>
<P>For the fir&s;t, I &s;hall propound the&s;e following con&s;iderati|ons to provoke all un&s;anctified per&s;ons to look after holine&s;s.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N=".1"> Fir&s;t, Con&s;ider the nece&s;&s;ity of holine&s;&s;e: It is impo&s;&s;i|ble that ever you &s;hould be happy, except you are holy.
<PB N="171" REF="116"> No holine&s;&s;e here, no happine&s;&s;e hereafter. The Scripture &s;peaks of three bodily inhabitants of heaven: <HI>Enoch</HI> before the Law; <HI>Elijah</HI> under the Law; and Je&s;us Chri&s;t under the Go&s;pel; all three eminent in holine&s;&s;e, to teach us, that even in an ordinary cour&s;e there is no going to heaven without holine&s;&s;e. There are many thou&s;and thou&s;ands now in heaven, but not one unholy one among them all: There is not one &s;inner among all tho&s;e Saints; not one Goat among all tho&s;e Sheep; not one weed among all tho&s;e flowers; not one thorn or prickle among all tho&s;e Ro&s;es, not one Pibble among all tho&s;e gli&s;tering Diamonds: There is not one <HI>Cain</HI> among all tho&s;e <HI>Abels:</HI> nor one <HI>I&s;hmael</HI> among all tho&s;e <HI>I&s;aacs;</HI> nor one <HI>E&s;au</HI> among all tho&s;e <HI>Ja|cobs</HI> in heaven:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 5.11. Chap 7.9. Heb. 12.22, 23. Tho&s;e that would be im|mortally hap|py, they mu&s;t live holily and ju&s;tly, &s;aith <HI>Anti&s;the|nes</HI> the Hea|then.</NOTE> there is not one <HI>Seth</HI> among all the Patri|archs: not one <HI>Saul</HI> among all the Prophets: nor one <HI>Judas</HI> among all the Apo&s;tles; nor one <HI>Demas</HI> among all the Preachers: nor one <HI>Simon Magus</HI> among all the profe&s;|&s;ors. Heaven is only for the holy man, and the holy man is only for heaven: Heaven is a garment of glory, that is only &s;uited to him that is holy. God who is truth it &s;elf, and cannot lie, hath &s;aid it, that <HI>without holine&s;&s;e no man &s;hall &s;ee the Lord.</HI> Mark that word, <HI>no man;</HI> without holine&s;&s;e the rich man &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord: nor without holine&s;&s;e the poor man &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord; Without holine&s;&s;e the Noble man &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord; nor without holine&s;&s;e the mean man &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord. Without holine&s;&s;e the Prince &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord; nor without holine&s;&s;e the Pea&s;ant &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord. Without holine&s;&s;e the Ruler &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord; nor without holine&s;&s;e the Ruled &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord. Without holine&s;&s;e the learn|ed man &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord; nor without holine&s;&s;e the ignorant man &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord. Without holine&s;&s;e the husband &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord; nor without holine&s;&s;e the wife &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord. Without holine&s;&s;e the Father &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord; nor without holine&s;&s;e the child &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord. Without holine&s;&s;e the Ma&s;ter &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord; nor without holine&s;&s;e the &s;ervant &s;hall not &s;ee the Lord. <HI>For faithfull and &s;trong is the Lord of ho&s;ts
<PB N="172" REF="117"> that hath &s;poken it.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;h. 23.14.</NOTE> In this day &s;ome cry up one form, &s;ome another; &s;ome cry up one Church-&s;tate, &s;ome another: &s;ome cry up one way, &s;ome another: but certainly the way of holine&s;&s;e is the good old way; it is the King of Kings high-way to heaven and happine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jerem. 6.16.</NOTE> I&s;a. 35.8. <HI>And a high-way &s;hall be there, and a way, and it &s;hall be called the way of holi|ne&s;&s;e, the unclean &s;hall not pa&s;&s;e over it, but it &s;hall be for tho&s;e: the way-faring men, though fools, &s;hall not err therein.</HI> Some men &s;ay, lo, here is the way; Other men &s;ay, lo, there is the way; but certainly the way of holine&s;&s;e is the &s;ure&s;t, the &s;afe&s;t, the ea&s;ie&s;t, the noble&s;t, and the &s;horte&s;t way to happine&s;&s;e. Among the Heathens, no man could enter into the Temple of Honour, but mu&s;t fir&s;t enter into the Temple of Vertue. There is no entring into the Temple of happi|ne&s;&s;e, except you enter into the Temple of holine&s;&s;e. Ho|line&s;&s;e mu&s;t fir&s;t enter into you, before you can enter into Gods holy hill. As <HI>Samp&s;on</HI> cried out, <HI>Give me water, or I die:</HI> or as <HI>Rachel</HI> cried out, <HI>Give me children or I die;</HI> &s;o all un&s;an|ctified &s;ouls may well cry out, Lord give me holine&s;&s;e or I die:<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 15. throughout.</NOTE> give me holine&s;&s;e, or I eternally die. If the An|gels, tho&s;e Princes of glory fall once from their holine&s;&s;e, they &s;hall be for ever excluded from everla&s;ting happine&s;&s;e and ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e. If <HI>Adam</HI> in Paradi&s;e fall from his pu|rity, he &s;hall quickly be driven out from the pre&s;ence of divine glory. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> would not be a wicked man, an unho|ly man one hour for all the world, becau&s;e he did not know but that he might die that hour: and &s;hould he die in an unholy e&s;tate, he knew he &s;hould be for ever &s;eparated from the pre&s;ence of the Lord, and the glory of his power. O Sirs, do not deceive your own &s;ouls: holine&s;&s;e is of ab|&s;olute nece&s;&s;ity,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 The&s;&s;. 1.8, 9, 10.</NOTE> without it you &s;hall never &s;ee the Lord; it is not ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary that you &s;hould be great or rich in the world: but it is ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary that you &s;hould be holy: it is not ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary that you &s;hould enjoy health, &s;trength, friends, liberty, life, but it is ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary that you &s;hould be holy. A man may &s;ee the Lord without world|ly pro&s;perity; but he can never &s;ee the Lord except
<PB N="173" REF="117"> he be holy. A man may to heaven, to happine&s;&s;e without honour or worldly glory, but he can never to heaven, to happine&s;s, without holine&s;s: without holine&s;&s;e here, no heaven hereafter, Rev. 21.27. <HI>And there &s;hall in no wi&s;e enter in|to it any thing that defileth.</HI> God will at la&s;t &s;hut the gates of glory again&s;t every per&s;on that is without heart purity. Ah Sirs, holine&s;&s;e is a flower that grows not in natures garden. Men are not born with holine&s;&s;e in their hearts, as they are born with tongues in their mouths: holine&s;&s;e is of a divine off-&s;pring: it is a pearl of price, that is to be found in no nature but a renewed nature, in no bo&s;ome but a &s;anctified bo&s;ome. There is not the lea&s;t beam or &s;park of holine&s;&s;e in any natural man in the world.<NOTE PLACE="marg">I have read that the I&s;le of <HI>Arren</HI> in <HI>Ireland</HI> hath &s;uch a pure Air that it was never yet infected with the Plague, but &s;uch is not the nature of man.</NOTE> Gen. 6.5. <HI>Every imagination of the thoughts of mans heart is only evil continually.</HI> Job 25.4. <HI>How can man be clean that is born of a woman?</HI> The interrogation carries in it a &s;trong negation, <HI>How can man be clean?</HI> that is, man can|not be clean that is born of a woman: man that is born of a woman, is born in &s;in, and born both under wrath and under the cur&s;e. <HI>And who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?</HI> Job 14.4. I&s;a. 64.6. <HI>But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteou&s;ne&s;&s;es are as filthy rags,</HI> Rom. 3.10, 11. <HI>There is none righteous, no not one; there is none that under&s;tandeth, there is none thot &s;eeketh after God.</HI> Eve|ry man by nature is a &s;tranger, yea, an enemy to holine&s;&s;e. <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.7. Every man that comes into this world, comes with his face towards &s;in and hell, and with his back upon God and holine&s;&s;e. Such is the corruption of our nature, that propound any divine good to it, it is entertained as fire by water, or wet wood with hi&s;&s;ing. Propound any evil, then it is like a fire to &s;traw; it is like the fooli&s;h Satyr that made ha&s;te to ki&s;&s;e the fire; it is like that unctious matter which the Naturali&s;ts &s;ay, &s;ucks and &s;natches the fire to it, with which it is con&s;umed. All men are born &s;inners, and there is nothing but an infinite power that can make them Saints. All men would be happy, and yet they naturally loath to be holy. By all which you may clearly &s;ee that food is not more nece&s;&s;ary for the pre&s;ervation of natural
<PB N="174" REF="118"> life, then holine&s;s is nece&s;&s;ary for the pre&s;ervation and &s;al|vation of the &s;oul. If a man had the wi&s;dom of <HI>Solomon,</HI> the &s;trength of <HI>Samp&s;on,</HI> the courage of <HI>Jo&s;hua,</HI> the policy of <HI>Ahitophell,</HI> the dignities of <HI>Haman,</HI> the power of <HI>Aha&s;hueros,</HI> and the eloquence of <HI>Apollos,</HI> yet all the&s;e without holine&s;&s;e would never &s;ave him.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, Con&s;ider there is a po&s;&s;ibility of obtaining holine&s;s.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 2.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.</NOTE> Holine&s;s is a golden mine that may be come at if you will but digg, and &s;weat, and take pains for it; it is a flower of Paradi&s;e that may be gathered: it is a crown that may be put on;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 13.12, 13, 14.</NOTE> it is a pearl of price that may be ob|tained, if you will but part with the wicked mans Trinity, the world, the fle&s;h, and the devil to enjoy it. Though &s;ome of the Attributes of God be incommunicable, yet holine&s;&s;e is a communicable attribute; and this &s;hould mightily encourage you to look after holine&s;s. Well &s;in|ners, remember this, it is po&s;&s;ible that tho&s;e proud hearts of yours may be humbled, it is po&s;&s;ible that tho&s;e hard hearts of yours may be &s;oftned, it is po&s;&s;ible that tho&s;e un|clean hearts of yours may be &s;anctified; it is po&s;&s;ible that tho&s;e blind minds of yours may be enlightened; it is po&s;|&s;ible that tho&s;e &s;tubborn wills of yours may be tamed; it is po&s;&s;ible that tho&s;e di&s;ordered affections of yours may be regulated; it is po&s;&s;ible that tho&s;e drow&s;ie and defiled con&s;ciences of yours may be awakened and purged; it is po&s;&s;ible that tho&s;e vile and polluted natures of yours may be changed and purified. There are &s;everal things that do witne&s;s that holine&s;s is attainable. As,</P>
<P N="1"> <MILESTONE N="1"> 1. Witne&s;s Gods promi&s;e to give his holy Spirit to them that ask it, Luke 11.13. <HI>If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more &s;hall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask him!</HI> The holy Spirit is a gift more worth then a world, yea, then heaven it &s;elf, and yet to make men holy, God is willing to give his holy &s;pirit upon very ea&s;ie terms; They &s;hall have it for asking:<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 3.6. Titus 3.5. 1 Cor. 6.11.</NOTE> the Spirit is a &s;pirit of ho|line&s;s, he is holy in him&s;elf, and the Author of all that holine&s;s that is in man; it is he that mo&s;t powerfully moves
<PB N="175" REF="118"> and per&s;wades men to holine&s;s: it is he that pre&s;ents holi|ne&s;s in its beauty and glory to the &s;oul; it is he that &s;ows &s;eeds of holine&s;s in the &s;oul; and it is he that cau&s;es tho&s;e &s;eeds to grow up to maturity and ripene&s;s. <HI>Nil ni&s;i &s;anctum &agrave; &s;ancto &s;piritu prodire pote&s;t:</HI> Nothing can come from the holy &s;pirit, but that which is holy. The holy Spirit is the great principle of all the holine&s;s that is in the world; and this holy Spirit God hath engaged him&s;elf to give to tho&s;e that are unholy, Ezek. 36.25, 26, 27. <HI>I will &s;prinkle clean water upon you, and ye &s;hall be clean from all your filthi|ne&s;s, and from all your Idols will I clean&s;e you. A new heart will I al&s;o give you, and a new &s;pirit well I put with|in you, and I well take away the &s;tony heart out of your fle&s;h, and I will give you a heart of fle&s;h, and I will put my &s;pirit within you, and cau&s;e you to walk in my Statutes and ye &s;hall keep my Judgements and do them.</HI> The holy &s;pirit is a gift, a free gift, a noble gift, a precious gift, a glorious gift,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 2.21.</NOTE> that God will be&s;tow upon the unclean, upon the un&s;anctified, that they may be clean&s;ed and &s;anctified, and &s;o fitted for the Lords &s;ervice and u&s;e. It is po&s;&s;ible that you may be holy: Witne&s;s,</P>
<P N="2">2. His holy word that he hath given on purpo&s;e to make <MILESTONE N="2"> men holy, and to keep men holy:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 4.6, 7, 8, 9. Rom. 7.12. Luke 1.70 to 76.</NOTE> his commandments are holy, ju&s;t and good; his threatnings are holy, ju&s;t and good; and all his promi&s;es are holy, ju&s;t and good. The holy Scriptures were written with a finger of holine&s;&s;e, &s;o as to move to holine&s;s, and to work holine&s;&s;e; the whole word of God is an intire love-letter to provoke to holi|ne&s;s, and to promote holine&s;s. Holy commands &s;hould &s;weetly per&s;wade us to holine&s;s, and holy threatnings &s;hould divinely force us to holine&s;s, and holy promi&s;es &s;hould effectually allure us to the love of holine&s;s, to the embracing of holine&s;s, and to the practi&s;e of holine&s;s. The great de&s;ign of God in &s;ending this &s;acred volume in golden letters from heaven, was to enamour men with the love and beauty of holine&s;s. Again, it is po&s;&s;ible that you may at|tain to true holine&s;s; Witne&s;s,</P>
<P N="3">3. Tho&s;e holy Emba&s;&s;adors that he hath &s;ent on purpo&s;e <MILESTONE N="3"> to turn men from <HI>darkne&s;s to light, and from the power of Sa|tan
<PB N="176" REF="119"> to Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 26.18. 2 Corin. 5.18, 19, 20.</NOTE> Their great bu&s;ine&s;s and work is to treat with you about holine&s;s, it is to woo you to match with holine&s;s, and to follow after holine&s;s; it is to remove all lets and impediments that may any wayes hinder your em|bracing of holine&s;s; and it is to propo&s;e all manner of en|couragements that may win you over to make holine&s;s your great All. Again, it is po&s;&s;ible that you may be holy: Wit|ne&s;&s;e,</P>
<P N="4"> <MILESTONE N="4"> 4. The holy Examples of all the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apo&s;tles,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Praecepta do|cent, exempla movent.</NOTE> and Saints that are left on record, on purpo&s;e to provoke you to an imitation of them in holine&s;s; their holy examples, as &s;o many &s;hining &s;tars, are left upon record, to influence us to holine&s;s. In the holy examples of tho&s;e that are now triumphant in heaven, you may run and read that holine&s;s is attainable. In their holy examples, as in &s;o many looking-gla&s;&s;es, you may &s;ee that holine&s;s is a Jewel that may be procured; by that holine&s;s that others have reached to, &s;inners may &s;ee that it is po&s;&s;ible that they may be made Saints. Again, it is po&s;&s;ible that you may be holy: Wit|ne&s;&s;e,</P>
<P N="5"> <MILESTONE N="5"> 5. All tho&s;e notorious &s;inners that the Scripture declares, have been &s;anctified and made holy, to in&s;tance only in a few. <HI>Adam</HI> you know was created in an e&s;tate of innocency,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 1.26.</NOTE> in|tegrity and perfect holine&s;s; he being made in the image of God, and after the likene&s;s and &s;imilitude of God; it was agreed upon in the Parliament of heaven, that man &s;hould be made glorious in holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">In this Scri|pture he &s;peaks plainly of the Reno|vation of that knowledge, holine&s;s, and righteou&s;ne&s;s that <HI>Adam</HI> &s;omtimes had, but lo&s;t it by his fall. P&s;al. 8.4, 5, 6. Gen. 2.20.</NOTE> and &s;o he was, for he was made after Gods own image. And this the Apo&s;tle clearly and ful|ly evidences in that famous Scripture, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 4.22, 23, 24. That <HI>Adam</HI> was inve&s;ted and endowed with righteou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;s in his fir&s;t glorious e&s;tate; with righteou&s;ne&s;s, that he might carry it fairly, ju&s;tly, evenly, and righteou&s;ly towards man; and with holine&s;s, that he might carry it wi&s;ely, lovingly, reverentially and holily towards God; And that he might take up in God as his chiefe&s;t good, as in his great All, might be fufficiently made good out of this Scripture la&s;t cited: but I &s;hall not now &s;tand upon the di&s;|covery of <HI>Adams</HI> beauty, authority, dominion, dignity,
<PB N="177" REF="119"> honour, and glory with which he was adorned, inve&s;ted and crowned in innocency. Let this &s;atisfie, that <HI>Adams</HI> fir&s;t e&s;tate was a &s;tate of perfect knowledge, wi&s;dom, and under|&s;tanding; it was a perfect &s;tate of holine&s;s, righteou&s;ne&s;s, and happine&s;s; there was nothing within him, but what was de&s;irable and delectable; there was nothing without him, but what was amiable and commendable; nor nothing about him, but what was &s;erviceable and comfortable; and yet in the height of all his glory, he falls to Apo&s;ta&s;ie and open Rebellion again&s;t God; he takes part with Satan again&s;t God him&s;elf; he tran&s;gre&s;&s;es his righteous Law, he affronts his ju&s;tice, he provokes his anger, he &s;tirrs up his wrath again&s;t him&s;elf and his po&s;terity. The &s;in of <HI>Adam</HI> was a voluminous &s;in, all kinds of notorious &s;ins were bound up in it, as back&s;liding, rebellion, trea&s;on, pride, unbelief, bla&s;phemy, contempt of God, unthankfulne&s;s, theft, mur|der and idolatry, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The Philo&s;opher being asked which was the be&s;t member of the body, an&s;wered, The tongue; for if it be good, it is the be&s;t Trumpet of Gods glory; And be|ing asked again which was the wor&s;t, an&s;wered, The tongue; for if it be bad, it is the wor&s;t fire-brand of hell. So if any &s;hould ask me, Which was the be&s;t creature of God? I would an&s;wer, Man in honour before his fall: If you &s;hould ask me, Which is the wor&s;t? I mu&s;t an&s;wer, Man in his fall. <HI>Adam</HI> was once the wonder of all under&s;tanding, the mir|rour of wi&s;dom and knowledge, the image of God, the de|light of heaven, the glory of the creation, the worlds great Lord, and the Lords great darling; but being faln, ah how low, how poor, how mi&s;erable, how &s;otti&s;h, how &s;en&s;le&s;s, how bruti&s;h, yea how much below the bea&s;t that peri&s;heth was he! and yet God pardoned, changed, and &s;anctified him, and &s;tampt his image of holine&s;s afre&s;h upon him, when he made a Covenant with him in Chri&s;t, <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> 3.</P>
<P>So <HI>Mana&s;&s;eh,</HI> he was a notorious &s;inner, he was a &s;inner of the greate&s;t magnitude, his &s;ins reached up to heaven, his &s;oul was ripe for hell, he had &s;old him&s;elf to work all manner of wickedne&s;s, as you may &s;ee in 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 33. in
<PB N="178" REF="120"> ver&s;. 3. <HI>He reared up Altars for</HI> Baalim, <HI>and made groves, and wor&s;hipped all the hoa&s;t of heaven, and &s;erved them.</HI> ver&s;. 4. <HI>He built Altars in the hou&s;e of God.</HI> ver&s;. 5. Yea <HI>for all the hoa&s;t of heaven did he build Altars in the Courts of the hou&s;e of God.</HI> This was a horrid piece of impudence to pro|voke God to his very face, by equalizing his Altars to Gods Altar. ver&s;. 6. <HI>And he cau&s;ed his children to pa&s;s through the fire in the valley of the &s;on of</HI> Hinnom. Here was inhumane &s;uper&s;tition, and inhumane cruelty, to offer his own children in &s;acrifice to the Devil. <HI>Al&s;o he ob&s;erved times, and u&s;ed witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar &s;pirit, and with wizards; he wrought much evil in the &s;ight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">The com|plaint is an|tient in <HI>Sene|ca,</HI> that com|monly men live not <HI>ad rationem,</HI> but <HI>ad &s;imilitudi|nem.</HI> Seneca <HI>de vita beata. cap.</HI> 1.</NOTE> ver&s;. 9. <HI>He made</HI> Judah <HI>and</HI> Jeru&s;alem <HI>to err,</HI> by his example, <HI>and to do wor&s;e then the Heathens.</HI> The actions of Rulers, are mo&s;t commonly rules for the peoples actions, and their example pa&s;&s;eth as currant as their coin. The common people dare practi&s;e the very wor&s;t of wickedne&s;s that they &s;ee acted in a &s;carlet Robe; they are like tempered wax, ea&s;ily receiving impre&s;&s;ions from the &s;eals of great mens vices; they make no bones on it to &s;in by pre&s;cription, and to damn them&s;elves with authority. The heathen brings in a young man, who hearing of the adulteries and wicked|ne&s;&s;es of the gods, &s;aid, What, do they &s;o, and &s;hall I &s;tick at it? &s;o &s;ay mo&s;t, when great ones are greatly wicked, Why, they do thus and thus, and why &s;hould we &s;tick at it? The Egyptians e&s;teemed it graceful and their duty, to halt on that leg on which their King limped; mo&s;t men think it a grace to imitate the greate&s;t authority in their mo&s;t gracele&s;s actings: Which made the Poet &s;ay,
<Q><L>Subjects and Kingdoms commonly do chu&s;e,</L>
<L>The manners that their Princes daily u&s;e.</L></Q> Ver&s;. 10. <HI>And the Lord &s;pake unto</HI> Mana&s;&s;eh, <HI>but he would not hearken.</HI> He was &s;ettled in idolatry, and &s;topt his ears again&s;t all the coun&s;el and admonitions of the Prophets that were &s;ent to reclaim him. Now who would ever have thought that one &s;o abominably wicked and wretched,
<PB N="179" REF="120"> &s;hould ever have obtained &s;uch favour with God, as to be pardoned, renewed and &s;anctified! and yet ver&s;. 12, 13. <HI>He be&s;ought the Lord, and humbled him&s;elf greatly before the Lord, and prayed unto him, and God was intreated of him, and heard his &s;upplication, and brought him again to</HI> Jeru&s;a|lem <HI>into his Kingdom. Then</HI> Mana&s;&s;eh <HI>knew that the Lord he was God.</HI> He now acknowledges <HI>Jehovah</HI> to be the true God, and renounces all other gods, that he may cleave to God alone. There is no heart &s;o wicked, but grace can make it holy.</P>
<P>So <HI>Paul</HI> was once &s;o great a &s;inner, that had he &s;tept but one &s;tep further, he had faln into the unpardonable &s;in again&s;t the Holy-Gho&s;t; in 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.13. you have a brief &s;urvey of his great tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions.</P>
<P>He was a Bla&s;phemer, he bla&s;phemed God, and Chri&s;t, and his wayes and truth; he made a mock and &s;coff at ho|line&s;s; he made nothing of bla&s;pheming that God that he &s;hould have feared, and of bla&s;pheming that Chri&s;t that he &s;hould have &s;weetly embraced; and of bla&s;pheming tho&s;e Truths that he &s;hould have readily entertained. <HI>Paul</HI> was a great proficient in the School of bla&s;phemy, he made no|thing of belching out bla&s;phemy in the very face of heaven. And he was a per&s;ecutor too,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 9. Chap. 26.11.</NOTE> he per&s;ecuted holine&s;s to the death; yea he was mad in per&s;ecuting the poor Saints and &s;ervants of Chri&s;t; he did all he could to make their lives a hell, and to rid them out of this world; he thought them not worthy to live, though they were &s;uch Worthies of whom this world was not worthy;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chap. 8.3.</NOTE> he was a ravening and an untired Woolf that was never weary in worrying Chri&s;ts little flock, and in &s;ucking out the blood of his Lambs. Yea, and he was an injurious per&s;on too, he made no con&s;cience of wronging others,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 7.12.</NOTE> or of &s;quaring his carriage by that golden rule, <HI>Do to others, as you would have others do to you:</HI> This Royal Law, this &s;tandard of equity he regarded not; he made nothing of haling men and women to pri&s;on, and of compelling them to bla&s;pheme by his cruelty and wicked example; he &s;pared no &s;ex, but practi&s;ed the highe&s;t cruel|ty upon all that had any thing of &s;anctity in them; he would
<PB N="180" REF="121"> adventure the torments of hell, rather then not be a tor|menter of the Saints here; and the more active any were in holine&s;s, the more injurious was he to them. And yet be|hold this bla&s;phemer, this per&s;ecutor, this injurious per&s;on, became a &s;anctified Chri&s;tian, an eminent Saint, a pattern of holine&s;s to all Chri&s;tians in all ages.</P>
<P>Once more, witne&s;s that &s;ad bed-rool of un&s;anctified per&s;ons that are mentioned in 1 <HI>Cor,</HI> 6.9, 10. <HI>Know ye not that the unrighteous &s;hall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abu&s;ers of them&s;elves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extor|tioners &s;hall inherit the Kingdom of God.</HI> The&s;e mon&s;trous &s;inners and prodigious &s;ins, were enough to have brought another flood upon the world, or to have provoked the Lord to rain hell out of heaven upon them, as once he did upon <HI>Sodom</HI> and <HI>Gomorah,</HI> or to have cau&s;ed the ground to open and &s;wallow them up, as once it did <HI>Corah, Dathan</HI> and <HI>Abiram,</HI> and yet behold &s;ome of the&s;e are changed and &s;anctified! v. 11. <HI>And &s;uch were &s;ome of you; but ye are wa&s;hed, but ye are &s;anctified, but ye are ju&s;tified, in the name of our Lord Je&s;us, and by the Spirit of our God.</HI> Oh! the infinite goodne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Matthew, Zacheus, Mary Magdalen,</HI> the Jaylor, and the murderers of Chri&s;t, Acts. 2. are clear in&s;tances of this truth. 1 Cor. 7.14.16. 1 Pet. 3.1.6.</NOTE> Oh! the infinte grace, Oh! the infinite wi&s;dom and power of God, that hath pardoned, wa&s;hed, &s;anctified and clean&s;ed &s;uch guilty, filthy, and polluted &s;ouls! The wor&s;t of &s;inners &s;hould never de&s;pair of being made Saints, con&s;idering what unholy ones have been made holy. It is po&s;&s;ible that you may be made holy. Witne&s;s,</P>
<P N="6">6. All tho&s;e &s;anctified ones among whom you live, who once were as unholy or more unholy it may be, then ever you were; the &s;anctified husband is a clear witne&s;s to the un&s;anctified wife, that &s;he may be &s;anctified; the &s;anctified father is a witne&s;s to the un&s;anctified child that he may be &s;anctified; the &s;anctified ma&s;ter is a witne&s;s to the un&s;ancti|fied &s;ervant that he may be &s;anctified; the &s;anctified Prince is a witne&s;s to his un&s;anctified people that they may be &s;an|ctified; and the &s;anctified Mini&s;ter is a witne&s;s to his un&s;an|ctified hearers that they may be &s;anctified; the &s;ame Spirit,
<PB N="181" REF="121"> the &s;ame Grace, the &s;ame Power, the &s;ame Pre&s;ence that hath &s;anctified any of the&s;e, may &s;anctifie all of the&s;e; there is no heart &s;o unholy, but a holy God can make it holy; there is no &s;pirit &s;o unclean, but a holy Spirit can make it clean. Well &s;inners, there are many living and &s;tanding witne&s;&s;es of divine grace among you, and about you, that do &s;ufficiently declare that it is po&s;&s;ible that you may be &s;an|ctified and &s;aved. Again, it is po&s;&s;ible that you may be &s;an|ctified and made holy. Witne&s;s,</P>
<P N="7">7. The Oath of a holy God, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 33.11. <HI>Say unto them, <MILESTONE N="7"> As I live, &s;aith the Lord God,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 18.31, 32.</NOTE> <HI>I have no plea&s;ure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; Turn ye, turn ye from your evil wayes; for why will you die, O hou&s;e of</HI> I&s;rael? <HI>As I live,</HI> is the form of an Oath, and is much u&s;ed in the Scripture by God him&s;elf; wicked men are very hardly per&s;waded to believe that God is willing that they &s;hould be &s;anctified and &s;aved, and therefore God takes his oath on it, that he is infinitely more willing that wicked men &s;hould turn from their evil wayes and be &s;an|ctified and &s;aved, then that they &s;hould peri&s;h in their &s;ins, and be damned for ever. <HI>As I live,</HI> is a weighty oath, and imports the certainty of that which follows; it is ab&s;olute without eva&s;ion or revocation; As &s;ure as I live and am God, I have no plea&s;ure in de&s;troying and damning of &s;ouls, but de&s;ire that they would turn from their evil wayes, and that they would be &s;anctified and &s;aved; let me not live, let me be no longer a God, if I would not have the wicked to live and be happy for ever: The po&s;&s;ibility of your being holy, God hath confirmed by an oath, and therefore you may no longer que&s;tion it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">As <HI>Paulus Fa|gius</HI> ob&s;erveth in his com|ment on <HI>Gene&s;is.</HI></NOTE> The Egyptians (though Hea|thens) &s;o hated perjury, that if any man did but &s;wear by the life of the King, and did not perform his oath, that man was to die, and no gold was to redeem his life: And do you think that a holy God doth not &s;tand more upon his oath then Heathens, yea then the wor&s;t of Heathens? Certainly he doth.</P>
<P N="8">8. La&s;tly, it is po&s;&s;ible that you may be a holy; Witne&s;s, <MILESTONE N="8"> The great de&s;igns and undertakings of Je&s;us Chri&s;t to make
<PB N="182" REF="122"> lo&s;t man holy. His great de&s;ign in leaving his fathers bo&s;om and coming into this world,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, di&s;&s;olve, unravel the works of the Devil.</NOTE> was the de&s;troying, the di&s;|&s;olving of the works of the Devil. 1 <HI>John</HI> 3.8. <HI>For this purpo&s;e the Son of God was manife&s;ted, that he might de&s;troy the works of the Devil.</HI> Sin is Satans work, and Chri&s;t comes to de&s;troy it, and break it all in pieces. Mens &s;ins are Satans chains by which he links them fa&s;t to him&s;elf; but Chri&s;t was therefore manife&s;ted, that he might loo&s;e and knock off the&s;e chains; Satan had knit many &s;inful knots in our &s;ouls, but Chri&s;t comes to unty tho&s;e knots; he had laid many &s;nares, but Chri&s;t comes to di&s;cover and to break tho&s;e &s;nares. It was the great de&s;ign of Chri&s;t in the dive&s;ting of him&s;elf (as it were) of his divine honour, glory, and dig|nity,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 2.6, 7, 8, 15.</NOTE> and in his taking on him the nature of man, to de&s;troy Satan, and to &s;anctifie the &s;ouls of men. <HI>Heb.</HI> 2.11, 14, 15. It was the great de&s;ign of Je&s;us Chri&s;t in giving of him&s;elf for us, in giving his &s;oul, his body, his life, to ju&s;tice, to death, to wrath for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Titus 2.14.</NOTE> and purifie unto him&s;elf a peculiar people, zealous of good works. The crown of holine&s;s was faln from our heads, and Chri&s;t freely and willingly uncrowns him&s;elf, that once more we might be crowned with holine&s;s, immortality and glory. Chri&s;t was re&s;olved that he would lo&s;e all that was near and dear unto him, but he would recover our lo&s;t holine&s;s for us. Chri&s;t knew that heaven had been but a poor purcha&s;e, had he not purcha&s;ed holine&s;s for us. As heaven is but a low thing without God, &s;o heaven is but a low thing without holine&s;s. It is holine&s;s that is the &s;parkling Diamond in the Ring of happine&s;s; a man were better be holy in hell, then unholy in heaven; and therefore Chri&s;t ventures his All for holine&s;s. The great de&s;ign of Chri&s;t in redeeming of &s;ouls with the choice&s;t, the pure&s;t, the co&s;tlie&s;t, the noble&s;t blood that ever run in veins,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 1.74, 75.</NOTE> was that they &s;hould &s;erve him in righteou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;s all the daies of their lives. In a word, Chri&s;t had never taken &s;o great a journey from heaven to earth, but to make men holy; he had never taken upon him the form of a &s;ervant, but to make us the &s;ervants of the mo&s;t high God. He had never
<PB N="183" REF="122"> lyen in a manger, he had never trod the Wine-pre&s;s of his fathers wrath, but to make you holy; he prayed, he &s;weat, he bled, and he hung on the Cro&s;s, and all to make you holy; he was holy in his birth, and holy in his life, and holy in his death, and holy in all his &s;ufferings, and all to make you holy: The great de&s;ign of Chri&s;t in all he did, and in all he &s;uffered, was to make man holy. And thus you &s;ee by all the&s;e Arguments, that holine&s;s is at|tainable.</P>
<P>Thirdly, Con&s;ider this, that real holine&s;s is the honour <MILESTONE N="3"> and the glory of the creature, and therefore the Apo&s;tle links holine&s;s and honour together. 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 4.3, 4.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 3. <HI>ult.</HI> Eph. 5.27.</NOTE> <HI>For this is the will of God, even your &s;anctification, that ye &s;hould ab&s;tain from fornication; That every one of you &s;hould know how to po&s;&s;e&s;s his ve&s;&s;el in &s;anctification and honour.</HI> The ve&s;&s;el is mans body (which is the great uten&s;il or in&s;trument of the &s;oul, and contains it as in a ve&s;&s;el) now the &s;anctity and cha&s;tity of this ve&s;&s;el, is the honour of a Chri&s;tian; even bodily purity is a Chri&s;tians glory; he that keeps his ve&s;&s;el in holine&s;s, keeps it in honour:<NOTE PLACE="marg">A heathen could &s;ay, <HI>Nobilitas &s;ola e&s;t atque uni|ca vertus;</HI> Vertue is the only true no|bility.</NOTE> Holine&s;s is the greate&s;t dig|nity that mortal man is capable of; it is mans highe&s;t pro|motion, it is his highe&s;t exaltation; holine&s;s is the true gen|tility, and the true nobility of the &s;oul. <HI>Deut.</HI> 26. <HI>ult. And to make thee high above all Nations which he hath made, in prai&s;e, and in name, and in honour, and that thou maye&s;t be an holy people unto the Lord thy God.</HI> There is nothing that lifts a people &s;o high, and that makes them &s;o truly famous and glorious, as holine&s;s doth: Holine&s;s is the prai&s;e, the re|nown, the crown, and glory of a people: Holine&s;s is the diadem, the beauty, and the excellency of a people: Holine&s;s is the &s;trength, the honour, and the riches of a people: Ho|line&s;s is the image of God, the character of Chri&s;t; it is a beam of the divine nature, a &s;park of glory, it is the life of your lives, and the &s;oul of your &s;ouls; it is only holine&s;s that makes men to excell in honour all other people in the world. Look as Gods holine&s;s is his glory,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 15.11. I&s;a. 6.2, 3. P&s;alm 93.5. Eph. 5.27.</NOTE> and the Angels holine&s;s is their glory, and the Churches holine&s;s is their glory; &s;o the holine&s;s of any particular per&s;on, is the glory
<PB N="184" REF="123"> of that per&s;on. Why was <HI>Jabez</HI> reputed more honourable then his brethren, but becau&s;e he was more holy then his brethren! 1 <HI>Chron.</HI> 4.9, 10. <HI>And</HI> Jabez <HI>was more honour|able then his brethren; And his mother called his name</HI> Jabez, <HI>&s;aying, becau&s;e I bare him with &s;orrow. And</HI> Jabez <HI>called on the God of</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>&s;aying, Oh that thou would&s;t ble&s;s me indeed, and enlarge my coa&s;t, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou would&s;t keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he reque&s;ted.</HI> Holine&s;s is the true&s;t and the greate&s;t nobility and honour in the world. It is very ob&s;ervable, that among Turks, Jews, Indians, Per&s;ians, and Papi&s;ts, the &s;tricte&s;t and holie&s;t among them are mo&s;t highly e&s;teemed and honoured. <HI>Romanus</HI> the Martyr, who was born of noble parentage, intreated his per&s;ecutors that they would not favour him for his nobility; for it is not (&s;aid he) the blood of my ance&s;tors, but my Chri&s;tian faith that makes me noble. <HI>David</HI> thought it not &s;o happy, nor &s;o honourable a thing to be a King in his own hou&s;e, as to be a door-keeper in Gods hou&s;e. <HI>Solomon</HI> did prefer the title of <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tes,</HI> (that is, a &s;oul reconciled to the Church) before the title of the King of <HI>Jeru&s;alem:</HI> Holy <HI>Theodo&s;ius</HI> the Emperour preferred the title of <HI>mem|brum Eccle&s;iae,</HI> a member of the Church, before that of <HI>Caput imperii,</HI> the head of the Empire, profe&s;&s;ing that he had rather be a Saint and no King, then a King and no Saint. And holy <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> rejoyced more in being the &s;ervant of Chri&s;t, then in being the Emperour of the world. And <HI>Lu|ther</HI> had rather be (<HI>Chri&s;tianus ru&s;ticus,</HI> then <HI>Ethnicus Alexander</HI>) a Chri&s;tian clown then a Pagan Emperour. The&s;e holy men well knew that holine&s;s was the top of all their honour and glory. Well &s;inners, remember this, that holine&s;s is the high and ready way to the highe&s;t honour; and therefore as ever you would be truly honourable, la|bour to be truly holy. Great &s;welling titles are but as &s;o ma|ny Rattles, or as &s;o many Fethers in mens caps, without ho|line&s;s; he that can be content to live without holine&s;s, mu&s;t be contented to &s;ee his honour intombed while&s;t he lives. Honour without holine&s;s, is but a wind that will blow a man
<PB N="185" REF="123"> the &s;ooner to hell. Honour without holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 25.23. <GAP DESC="foreign">, with great fanta&s;ie or vain &s;hew; all the ho|nour, pomp and &s;tate of this world is but a fan|ta&s;ie.</NOTE> is but <HI>magnum nihil,</HI> a great nothing, a glorious fancy. Many a man hath been the wor&s;e, but where lives that man that hath been ever the better for his worldly honour? A man &s;welled with honour (without holine&s;s) is like a man in a Drop&s;ie, who&s;e bigne&s;s is his di&s;ea&s;e. Well, let Ambitioni&s;ts and all others who hunt after the breath of popular applau&s;e, know, that that honour which attends holine&s;s, is the true&s;t ho|nour, the highe&s;t honour, the greate&s;t honour, the happie&s;t honour, the &s;ure&s;t honour, the pure&s;t honour, and the mo&s;t la&s;ting and abiding honour. <HI>Mollerus</HI> upon <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 73.20. concludes that wicked mens earthly honours and dignities are but as idle dreams, and their &s;plendid braveries, but lucid fanta&s;ies. <HI>Adonibezek,</HI> a mighty Prince, is quickly made a fellow-commoner with the dogs, <HI>Judg.</HI> 1.7. And <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> a mighty conqueror,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 4.28. Acts 12.23.</NOTE> turned a grazing among the Oxen. And <HI>Herod</HI> reduced from a conceited god, to be the mo&s;t loath&s;om of men, a living carrion arre&s;t|ed by the vile&s;t of creatures, upon the &s;uit of his affronted Creator. And great <HI>Haman</HI> fea&s;ted with the King one day,<NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;t. 7.10.</NOTE> and made a fea&s;t for Crows the next; but that honour that waits on holine&s;s, is honour that will abide with a man, that will to the grave with a man, yea that will to heaven with a man. Some heathens have been weary of their honours,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Maximus,</HI> &amp;c.</NOTE> but the honour that attends holine&s;s is no burden to a Chri&s;tian; and others have rejected honours when they have been offered them, becau&s;e of the cumber and danger that attends them: High &s;eats are never but unea&s;ie, and Crowns are u&s;ually &s;tuft with thorns. But the honour that attends ho|line&s;s, is a Ro&s;e without prickles, it is a Crown without thorns; that honour that &s;prings from a root of holine&s;s, &s;hall be both &s;anctified and &s;weetened by God, &s;o as that it &s;hall not hurt nor harm a gracious &s;oul. Ah &s;inners, &s;inners, if you will be ambitious, be ambitious of that honour that comes in upon the foot of holine&s;s, for there is no honour to that honour. The Romans were in&s;atiable in their de&s;ires after worldly honour, which is but as a bla&s;t, a &s;hadow, a dream. O! how much more in&s;atiable &s;hould you be in
<PB N="186" REF="124"> your de&s;ires and endeavours after that honour that is linkt to holine&s;s, and that is &s;ub&s;tantial and la&s;ting!</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, To &s;tir you up to look after real holine&s;s; Con|&s;ider that holine&s;s is very attractive,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hi&s;tory tells us of many Infidels that have been woon to the Chri&s;tian faith by the holy lives of the Saints, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> drawing, and winning; it draws love, it draws de&s;ire, it draws delight. Holine&s;s is like a precious perfume, who&s;e &s;avour &s;preads it &s;elf, and is plea&s;ing and delightful to all that come near it. 2 <HI>Kings</HI> 4.9, 10. <HI>And &s;he &s;aid unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, which pa&s;&s;eth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber I pray thee, on the wall, and let us &s;et for him there a bed, a table, and a &s;tool, and a candle|&s;tick; and it &s;hall be, when he cometh to us, that he &s;hall turn in thither.</HI> The holine&s;s of the Prophets &s;pirit, the holine&s;s of his principles, the holine&s;s of his behaviour, and the holine&s;s of his conver&s;ation, did &s;o allure and win upon this great Lady, that &s;he becomes an importunate &s;uitor to her hu&s;|band, that he might be lovingly, freely, courteou&s;ly, and commodiou&s;ly entertained and accommodated as often as he came that way. So <HI>Acts</HI> 2.46, 47. <HI>And they continued daily with one accord in the Temple, and breaking bread from hou&s;e to hou&s;e, did eat their meat with gladne&s;s and &s;inglene&s;s of heart; Prai&s;ing God, and having favour with all the people.</HI> That which did grace and ingratiate the&s;e holy Converts into the favour of the people, was the exerci&s;e of their grace and holine&s;s. It was their &s;weet unity, their noble charity, their holy familiarity, their ble&s;&s;ed harmony, their &s;ingular &s;incerity, and their Chri&s;tian con&s;tancy, that brought them into favour with all the people; vi&s;ible holine&s;s is a load|&s;tone that will draw eyes and hearts after it. 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3.1. <HI>Likewi&s;e ye wives, be in &s;ubjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the Word, they al&s;o may without the Word be woon by the conver&s;ation of the wife.</HI> A holy conver&s;ation is a winning conver&s;ation;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 2.15. 1 Cor. 7.16.</NOTE> the holy conver&s;ation of the wife, may be the conver&s;ion of the husband; the holy, the wi&s;e, the watchful, the circum&s;pect conver&s;ation of the wife, may i&s;&s;ue in the &s;alvation of the husband; many a husband hath been woon to Chri&s;t by the holy conver&s;ation of the wife, and many a wife hath been woon by the holy conver&s;ation of
<PB N="187" REF="124"> the husband;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Monica</HI> woon her husband <HI>Patricia</HI> from being an im|pure Mani|chee, not by force of argu|ment, but by purity and cha&s;tity of life, &s;aith <HI>Augu&s;tine.</HI></NOTE> many a &s;ervant hath been woon by the holy conver&s;ation of the Ma&s;ter; and many a Ma&s;ter hath been woon by the holy conver&s;ation of the &s;ervant. <HI>Zozomen</HI> re|ports, that the holy life of a poor captive Chri&s;tian maide, made a King and all his family to embrace the Chri&s;tian faith. I have read of <HI>Cicilia</HI> a poor virgin, who by her holy and gracious behaviour in her martyrdom, was the means of converting four hundred to Chri&s;t. Many a &s;oul hath been woon by the dumb Oratory of a holy life. <HI>Ju&s;tin Martyr</HI> confe&s;&s;eth, that the con&s;tancy of Chri&s;tians in their piety and &s;ufferings, was the chiefe&s;t motive that converted him to Chri&s;tianity. <HI>For I my &s;elf</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>was once a Plato|ni&s;t, and did gladly hear the Chri&s;tians reviled: but when I &s;aw they feared not death, nor any of tho&s;e mi&s;eries which did mo&s;t frighten all other men, I began to con&s;ider with my &s;elf, that it was impo&s;&s;ible for &s;uch men to be lovers of plea&s;ure more then lovers of piety; and that made me fir&s;t think of turn|ing Chri&s;tian.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 2.12. Chap. 15.3, 16.</NOTE> There is nothing that hath that influence up|on the judgements of men to per&s;wade them, upon the con|&s;ciences of men to awe them, upon the mouthes of men to &s;top them, upon the hearts of men to convince them, and upon the lives of men to reform them, as holine&s;s. What <HI>Plato</HI> once &s;aid of his moral vertue, <HI>viz.</HI> that if it could be &s;een with bodily eyes, it would be beloved of all, and draw all hearts to it &s;elf: That is mo&s;t true of this Theological grace, holine&s;s; holine&s;s is &s;o beautiful and &s;o lovely a thing, that it renders men amiable and lovely in the very eyes of their enemies. <HI>Tilligny</HI> for his rare vertues,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Vide</HI> the French Hi&s;to|ry in the life of <HI>Charles</HI> the ninth.</NOTE> was re&s;cued from death by his greate&s;t enemies, at the ma&s;&s;acre of <HI>Paris.</HI> Holine&s;s makes a mans face to &s;hine, as it did <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his, and <HI>Stephens;</HI> nothing plea&s;es the eye, nor wins the heart, like holine&s;s: What is gold to godline&s;s, gifts to grace, parts to piety? a &s;park, a ray, a beam of holine&s;s, will certainly have an influence upon the &s;pirits of men, either to re&s;train them, or change them, or allay them, or &s;weeten them, or win them, or one way or another to better them. Look as the unholy lives and conver&s;ations of many profe&s;&s;ors do occa|&s;ion &s;ome to bla&s;pheme God, others to belye God, others to
<PB N="188" REF="125"> with&s;tand God, and others to for&s;ake God; Look as the loo&s;ne&s;s of many Chri&s;tians doth work &s;ome to reproach Chri&s;t, others to deny Chri&s;t, others to refu&s;e Chri&s;t, others to revile the good wayes of Chri&s;t, and others to oppo&s;e and de&s;pi&s;e the faithful followers of Chri&s;t: As <HI>Lactantius</HI> reports, that the loo&s;e lives of many Chri&s;tians was made by the Heathens the reproach of Chri&s;t him&s;elf, <HI>(Quomodo bonus Magi&s;ter, cujus tam pravos videmus di&s;ci|pulos?)</HI> How can we think the Ma&s;ter to be good, who&s;e di&s;ciples we &s;ee to be &s;o bad? And <HI>Salvian</HI> al&s;o complains, that the loo&s;e walking of many Chri&s;tians, was made by the Heathen the reproach of Chri&s;t him&s;elf, &s;aying, If Chri&s;t had taught holy doctrine, &s;urely his followers had led better lives.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Salvianus de G. D. l. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> And further the &s;ame Author relates, how the Hea|thens did reproach &s;ome Chri&s;tians, who by their lewd lives made the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t to be a reproach: Where (&s;aid they) is that good Law which they do believe? Where are tho&s;e rules of godline&s;s which they do learn? they read the holy Go&s;pel, and yet are unclean; they hear the Apo&s;tles writings, and yet are drunk; they follow Chri&s;t, and yet di&s;obey Chri&s;t; they profe&s;s a holy Law, and yet do lead impure lives. Now, I &s;ay, look as the holine&s;s of many profe&s;&s;ors is a di&s;honour to God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 13.22.</NOTE> a reproach to Chri&s;t, a &s;candal to Religion, a blot to profe&s;&s;ion, and a grief to ma|ny whom God would not have grieved: So the power of holine&s;s, the practice of holine&s;s, is very influential upon the wor&s;t of men, to win and work them to the Lord, and to a love and liking of his wayes. The holy lives of the Saints made the very Heathens to &s;ay, Surely this is a good God, who&s;e &s;ervants are &s;o good! <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> his holine&s;s did very much draw out the heart of <HI>Theodo&s;ius</HI> the Empe|rour to him; and the holine&s;s of <HI>Paphnutius</HI> did very much draw out the heart of <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> the great to him; there is nothing that gives a man that heart-room and that hearty room in the &s;ouls of others,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 The&s;. 1.3, 4, 5. read it.</NOTE> as holine&s;s, it is the holy man that is a man of a thou&s;and. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="5"> Fifthly, Con&s;ider, that real holine&s;s is the excellency of all a mans excellencies. As holine&s;s is the glory of God, a
<PB N="189" REF="125"> part of the divine nature, a &s;park of heaven, a ray of glory; &s;o it is the excellency of all a mans excellencies, it is the ex|cellency of all our natural excellencies, it is the excellency of all our moral excellencies, and it is the excellency of all our intellectual excellencies. Look as Gods holine&s;s is the excellency of all his excellencies, as the Angels, who be&s;t know what is the top of his excellency, do evidence by that three-fold repetition, <HI>Holy, holy, holy, I&s;a.</HI> 6.3.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 4.8. Some Greek Copics have the word <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>holy,</HI> nine times over, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> the&s;e mul|tiplied acclamations of holine&s;s, denote the &s;uperlative eminency, excellency, and perfection of Gods holine&s;s. Both among the Hebrews, and among the Grecians, the ho|line&s;s of God is the excellency of his omni&s;ciencie, omnipo|tencie, and omnipre&s;ence; it is the excellency of his eterni|ty, immutability, and fidelity; it is the excellency of his wi&s;dom, love, care and goodne&s;s. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 111.9. <HI>Holy and reverend is his name.</HI> Gods name comes to be reverend by holine&s;s; if his name were not holy, it would never be re|verend; and why is God called &s;o often <HI>the holy one,</HI> but to &s;hew us that holine&s;s is the very top of all his glory, and ex|cellency! God could not be glorious in any thing,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 15.11. That which God accounts his highe&s;t honour, is his holine&s;s.</NOTE> if he were not glorious in holine&s;s; That which &s;peaks his power to be glorious power, is his holine&s;s; and that which &s;peaks his wi&s;dom to be glorious wi&s;dom, is his holine&s;s; and that which &s;peaks his mercy to be glorious mercy, is his holine&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Were not the power of God a holy power, it could never be a glorious power; were not the wi&s;dom of God a holy wi&s;dom, it could never be glorious wi&s;dom; and were not the mercy of God holy mercy, it could never be glori|ous mercy, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> So the holine&s;s of a man, is the glory and excellency of all a mans excellencies; it is the perfection of all a mans perfections; in Paradi&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 12.23.</NOTE> mans perfect holine&s;s was his perfect ble&s;&s;edne&s;s; and in heaven, mans perfect ho|line&s;s will be his perfect happine&s;s. Holine&s;s adds an excel|lency to all a mans excellencies; that which adds an excel|lency to a mans wi&s;dom is holine&s;s; when a mans wi&s;dom is a holy wi&s;dom, then it is excellent wi&s;dom. So holy courage is excellent courage; and holy zeal is excellent zeal, and ho|ly knowledge is excellent knowledge, and holy faith is excel|lent
<PB N="190" REF="126"> faith, and holy love <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s ex<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ellent love, and holy fear is excellent fear; it is the adding of holine&s;s to all the&s;e, that renders the&s;e vertues truly excellent; it is holine&s;&s;e that is the top of all the&s;e royalties.<NOTE PLACE="marg">0000000 the&s;e &s;ignifie no|thing, but if you do but add a figure to them, 10000000. then they &s;ignifie much.</NOTE> Look as all ciphers &s;ignifie nothing except you add a figure to them: &s;o all the excel|lencies that be in men, whether they are natural, moral, or acquired, they &s;ignifie nothing, except you add holine&s;&s;e to them. Birth and breeding, wit and wealth, honour and learning, are but the &s;hadows and &s;hapes of noblene&s;s and true excellency; it is holine&s;&s;e that is the &s;oul and &s;ub&s;tance of all; and without holine&s;&s;e all other things are of no worth, all other excellencies have no excellency at all in them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 King. 5 1.</NOTE> <HI>Naaman</HI> was General of the Kings Army, he was a man in great favour with his Prince, a man much honoured among the people for being a &s;aviour and deliverer to them. He was al&s;o a mighty man in valour, but he was a Leper; this But he was a Leper, was a cloud upon all his glo|ry, it was a vail upon all his honour, greatne&s;&s;e and noble|ne&s;&s;e: So to &s;ay, there is a wi&s;e man, but unholy; and there is a great man, but unholy; and there is an ingenuous man, but unholy; and there is a noble-man, but unholy; and there is a valiant man, but unholy; and there is a good natured man, but unholy; and there is a learned man, but unholy, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> What is this But unholy, but a cloud of dark|ne&s;s upon all the excellencies that are in the&s;e per&s;ons? But let now holine&s;s be but added to each of the&s;e, and then they will &s;hine as &s;o many Suns. Holine&s;s is a garment that &s;ets off arts, and parts, and all other excellencies that be in man; let but this garment be wanting, and the nakedne&s;&s;e of all things will quickly appear. And this made <HI>Hierom</HI> to &s;ay, that he had rather have Saint <HI>Pauls</HI> coat with his heavenly gra|ces, then the purple of Kings with their Kingdoms. Look as a precious Jewel &s;et in gold, makes that much more con|&s;picuous and glorious, which was glorious before: So holi|ne&s;s adds beauty, &s;plendour and glory to a mans parts, birth, honour, and e&s;tate, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="6"> Sixthly, Con&s;ider that holine&s;s is not only an honour, and an ornament to the per&s;on that hath it, but it is al&s;o
<PB N="191" REF="126"> an honour and an ornament both to the per&s;ons and places to whom he &s;tands related; the holine&s;&s;e of the fa|ther is an honour and ornament to the child,<NOTE PLACE="marg">So holy <HI>Elia|kim</HI> was a throne of glo|ry to his fa|thers hou&s;e. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 22.23. The Hebrew is, A woman of of &s;trength, or a valiant woman; that is, a woman that is made &s;trong and valiant by grace, by ho|line&s;s, to with&s;tand &s;in, to conquer temptation, and to tri|umph in af|fliction, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> &s;o was <HI>Abra|hams</HI> to <HI>I&s;aac;</HI> and the holine&s;&s;e of the child is an honour and an ornament to the father, &s;o was <HI>I&s;aacs</HI> to <HI>Abraham;</HI> the holine&s;&s;e of the husband is an honour and ornament to the wife, &s;o was <HI>Abrahams</HI> to <HI>Sarah;</HI> and the holine&s;&s;e of the wife is an honour and an ornament to the husband, &s;o was <HI>Sarahs</HI> to <HI>Abraham:</HI> So in <HI>Prov.</HI> 12.4. <HI>A vertuous woman is a crown to her husband.</HI> (A crown is the top of honour, it is the top of royaltie and glory; why a vertuous wife is &s;uch a thing.) A &s;weet, a good natured wife, is as a gold ring upon her husbands finger; a gifted wife is as a gold chain about her husbands neck, but a holy vertuous wife is as a crown upon her husbands head. The holine&s;&s;e of the Prince is an honour and an ornament to the people; and the holine&s;&s;e of the people is an honour and an ornament to the Prince. The holine&s;&s;e of the ma&s;ter is an honour and an ornament to the &s;ervant; and the holine&s;&s;e of the &s;er|vant is an honour and an ornament to the ma&s;ter. And the holine&s;&s;e of one brother, is an honour to another brother. <HI>Jude</HI> glories in this, that he was the brother of <HI>James,</HI> Ver&s;. 1. <HI>James</HI> was famous for his &s;anctity; for his ho|line&s;&s;e he was called the ju&s;t, as <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI> writes;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eu&s;eb. lib.</HI> 2. <HI>c.</HI> 23. where you have ma|ny memorable things con|cerning the holine&s;s of his life, and the manner of his death.</NOTE> his ho|line&s;&s;e did &s;o &s;parkle and &s;hine, that the Jews were generally convinced that in holine&s;&s;e he was more eminent and excel|lent then others. Now <HI>Jude</HI> took it for a very high honour to be related to one &s;o eminent in holine&s;&s;e: Holy per&s;ons reflect a credit and an honour upon their relations: It was the &s;peech of a Heathen notably qualified, though but mean|ly bred and born, to a di&s;&s;olute per&s;on well born, upbraiding him with his birth, <HI>I am a grace to my &s;tock, but thou art a blot to thy linage.</HI> Yea holy per&s;ons are an honour to the places where they have been born and bred. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 87.5, 6. <HI>And of</HI> Zion <HI>it &s;hall be &s;aid, this and that man was born in her: and the highe&s;t him&s;elf &s;hall e&s;tabli&s;h her. The Lord &s;hall count when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah.</HI> God &s;eems to be very much affected and taken with
<PB N="192" REF="127"> the very places where holy men are born;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Some Anti|quaries &s;ay, that the Pri|mitive Church had her pub|lick Tables, where<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n the names of the per&s;ons that were mo&s;t noted for piety and ho|line&s;s were recorded.</NOTE> he loves the very ground that holy men tread on, and he delights in the very air that holy men breath in; holy per&s;ons reflect ho|nour upon the very places where they were born; the holy Patriarchs, Prophets, and Apo&s;tles, were the honour and the glory of the ages and places where they lived. They were as &s;o many bright morning Stars, they were as &s;o ma|ny ri&s;ing Suns in the places where they were bred and born. <HI>Melancthon</HI> was called the Phenix of <HI>Germany,</HI> and <HI>Luther</HI> was the glory of the age wherein he lived. And &s;o were many of the antients before them, and many &s;ince, who have been burning and &s;hining lights in the places of their abode. Look as an unholy per&s;on is a plague and a cur&s;e to the very place he lives in, and ha&s;teneth down wrath and vengeance upon it: as <HI>Bias</HI> the Philo&s;opher hath long &s;ince ob&s;erved; for he being at Sea in a great tempe&s;t, among many prophane debauched fellows, and perceiving them to call upon their gods (as the wor&s;t of men u&s;ually do in &s;uch ca&s;es) he comes to them, and de&s;ires them to hold their peace, le&s;t the gods &s;hould take notice that they were in the Ship, and &s;o not only them&s;elves but others al&s;o &s;hould &s;uffer for their &s;akes. It was the wickedne&s;&s;e of the wicked, that brought the &s;weeping flood upon the old world; and it was the wickedne&s;&s;e and filthyne&s;&s;e of the Sodomites, that cau&s;ed God to rain hell out of heaven upon the Cities where they lived: Let men be never &s;o honourable, or never &s;o potent, or never &s;o witty, or never &s;o wealthy, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> yet if they are prophane, if they are wicked, they will ha&s;ten down the wrath and vengeance of God upon the places of their abode. So a holy per&s;on is an honour and a ble&s;&s;ing to the very place he lives in: As you may &s;ee in <HI>Jacob</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> who were choice and noble ble&s;&s;ings to the very families where they lived. O Sirs, as ever you would be an honour to your relations, to your Countrey, and to the places of your abode, labour for holine&s;s. Some venture life and limb,<NOTE PLACE="marg">As many of the Romans did.</NOTE> and many a better thing, to reflect honour up|on their relations, and upon their Countrey; and why then &s;hould not you venture far, and venture high for holine&s;&s;e,
<PB N="193" REF="127"> which will be not only an honour to your &s;elves, but al&s;o an honour and a glory to all per&s;ons and places that you have relation to?</P>
<P>Seventhly, Con&s;ider, that holine&s;&s;e is the very ear-mark, <MILESTONE N="7"> the very livery and badge of Chri&s;ts &s;ervants and &s;ubjects. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 63.8. <HI>For he &s;aid, Surely they are my people, children that will not lye; &s;o he was their &s;aviour,</HI> And ver. 18. they are called <HI>the people of his holine&s;s.</HI> Gods people are too holy to lye, they will not lye for his glory, nor for their own worldly good. They will rather die then lye,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 13.7. Rom. 3.7, 8. Rev. 14.5.</NOTE> with that brave woman that <HI>Jerom</HI> writes of, who being upon the Rack, bade her per&s;ecutors do their wor&s;t; for &s;he was re|&s;olved rather to die then lye. Neither the merry lye, nor the je&s;ting lye, nor the officious lye, nor the pernicious lye, will down with tho&s;e that are the people of Gods holine&s;&s;e, or that are his holy people: &s;aith God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">It is &s;aid of golden mouth|ed <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom;</HI> that he never lyed, an&s;wer|able to this, I&s;a. 63.8.</NOTE> I have been at &s;o much co&s;t and charge about them, I have carried it &s;o kindly, &s;o bountifully, &s;o &s;weetly, &s;o favourably, &s;o nobly, to them I have been &s;uch an all-&s;ufficient Saviour, &s;uch a mighty pre|&s;erver, and &s;uch a glorious deliverer of them, that certain|ly they will not lye, they will not deceive my expectation, they will not deny me, they will not deal di&s;loyally nor un|worthily by me; they are of <HI>Augu&s;tines</HI> opinion, who hath long &s;ince told us, that we mu&s;t not tell &s;o much as an offici|ous lye, though it were to &s;ave all the world. So <HI>Jer.</HI> 2.3. I&s;rael <HI>was holine&s;s unto the Lord, and the fir&s;t fruits of his increa&s;e: all that devour him &s;hall offend: evil &s;hall come upon them &s;aith the Lord.</HI> Holine&s;&s;e to the Lord, is the mark that God &s;ets upon all his precious ones. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 4.3. <HI>Know that God hath &s;et apart him that is godly for him&s;elf.</HI> God hath won|derfully, gloriou&s;ly, marvelou&s;ly, yea miraculou&s;ly &s;et apart the pious, the holy, the merciful, the godly man, the graci|ous Saint, by &s;ome mark of di&s;tinction for him&s;elf,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Hebrew word, <HI>Cha&s;id,</HI> imports as much, Jo&s;h. 2. Judg. 11. 2 King. 9. Matth. 26.</NOTE> that is for his own honour, and glory, and &s;ervice, and delight. Look as <HI>Rahahs</HI> hou&s;e was known by a red thred, and the Ephraimites by their li&s;ping, and <HI>Jehu</HI> by his driving, and <HI>Peter</HI> by his &s;peaking: &s;o real Chri&s;tians are known by their holine&s;&s;e. Holine&s;&s;e is King Je&s;us his Livery, by which all
<PB N="194" REF="128"> his &s;ubjects and &s;ervants are known and differenced from all other per&s;ons in the world. And in the Primitive times a Chri&s;tian was known from another man, only by the holi|ne&s;&s;e of his conver&s;ation, as <HI>Tertullian</HI> witne&s;&s;es. Look as our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t by the &s;pirit of holine&s;s rai&s;ing him up from the dead,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1.4.</NOTE> was declared to be the Son of God: &s;o it is the &s;pirit of holine&s;&s;e, it is principles of holine&s;&s;e, it is the life and practice of holine&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 6.17, 18.</NOTE> that declares us to be the &s;ons of God. Holine&s;&s;e is that golden character by which God differences and di&s;tingui&s;heth his people from all others in the world.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 13.16. chap. 14.9, 10. &amp; chap. 19.20. A man were better be a bea&s;t, then to have the mark of the bea&s;t upon him.</NOTE> Look as the wor&s;hippers of the Bea&s;t are known by the mark of the Bea&s;t that is upon them, &s;o the wor&s;hip|pers of Chri&s;t, the people of Chri&s;t, are known by that mark of holine&s;&s;e that Chri&s;t hath &s;et upon them. This title, this compellation, Saints, is given four&s;core times to the people of God in Scripture, as if God took a greater delight to have his children known by this badge and livery, then by any other. As for &s;uch that have the name of Saints upon them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Title of a Saint is but an empty thing with|out holine&s;s.</NOTE> but nothing of the nature of a Saint in them; that have a name to be holy, and yet are unholy; that have a name to be gracious, and yet are gracele&s;&s;e; that have a name to live, and yet are dead; the&s;e God will in that day unmask, when he &s;hall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity. An unholy Saint is a white Devil, he is a mon&s;ter among men. Chri&s;t &s;weat, and prayed, and died, and was rai&s;ed to make &s;inners Saints, to make the re|bellious religious, and the licentious con&s;cientious; all he did and &s;uffered was to &s;tamp the &s;eal and impre&s;&s;e of holi|ne&s;&s;e upon them. And therefore as ever you would be owned and honoured by Chri&s;t another day, look that the holy Spirit &s;ets the &s;eal of holine&s;&s;e upon you. If the im|pre&s;&s;e of holine&s;&s;e be upon you in the day that the Lord makes up his Jewels, he will declare you to be his before all the world. He will &s;ay, The&s;e are my &s;heep, the&s;e are my &s;ons, I know them by that mark of holine&s;s that I find upon them. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="8"> Eighthly, Con&s;ider this, that a man of holine&s;&s;e, or a holy man, is a common good, a common ble&s;&s;ing. All fare
<PB N="195" REF="128"> the better for a holy man; all in the family, all in the Court, all in the City, all in the Countrey fare the better for the holy mans &s;ake.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 30.27. chap. 19.21, 22, 23, 24. chap. 41, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> All in <HI>Labans</HI> family did fare the better for <HI>Jacobs</HI> &s;ake; and all in the City of <HI>Zoar</HI> did fare the better for <HI>Lots</HI> &s;ake; and all <HI>Pharoahs</HI> Court, and the whole Countrey of <HI>Egypt</HI> did fare the better for <HI>Jo&s;ephs</HI> &s;ake. <HI>Sodom</HI> was &s;afe while&s;t holy <HI>Lot</HI> was in it:<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 2.12. P&s;alm 106.23.</NOTE> Holy <HI>Elijah</HI> was the chariots and hor&s;emen of <HI>I&s;rael:</HI> while&s;t holy <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;tood in the gap, de&s;troying judgements were diverted: when holy <HI>Phineas</HI> took up his Cen&s;er and &s;tood between the living and the dead, the plague was &s;tayed.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 26.46, 49.</NOTE> Holy per|&s;ons are publike mercies, publike ble&s;&s;ings. <HI>Job</HI> 22.30.<NOTE PLACE="marg">God will &s;ometimes deliver a whole Coun|trey, for the &s;ake of the inocent, &amp;c.</NOTE> <HI>He &s;hall deliver the I&s;land of the innocent: and it is delivered by the purene&s;s of thine hands:</HI> or as &s;ome read the words, <HI>the innocent &s;hall deliver the I&s;land;</HI> that is, the inhabitants of the I&s;land; the innocent &s;hall deliver tho&s;e that are not innocent; had there been but ten innocent, but ten righteous per&s;ons in <HI>Sodom, Sodom</HI> might have been a glorious city to this day; had there been but ten righteous &s;ouls among them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 18.32. to the end.</NOTE> God would never have rained hell out of heaven upon them. The guilt|le&s;s &s;hall deliver the guilty in an I&s;land; the guiltle&s;s by lift|ing up pure hands to God in prayer, &s;hall &s;tay the hand of God, that it de&s;troyes not the guilty. It is the holy &s;eed that upholdeth the civil &s;tate. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 6.13.<NOTE PLACE="marg">I will &s;eek thy good, was holy <HI>Davids</HI> royal and religious re&s;olution, P&s;alm. 122.9. Kings are for Kingdoms, not Kingdoms for Kings.</NOTE> <HI>But yet in it &s;hall be a tenth, and it &s;hall return, and &s;hall he eaten: as a teyl|tree, and as an oak who&s;e &s;ub&s;tance is in them, when they ca&s;t their leaves: &s;o the holy &s;eed &s;hall be the &s;ub&s;tance thereof.</HI> The holy &s;eed were the &s;tay and prop of their Land, and this the Lord evidences by a very familiar in&s;tance or &s;imili|tude; it is as if he &s;hould &s;ay, You &s;ee the way or caw&s;ey leading from the Kings hou&s;e to the Temple (&s;poken of in 1 <HI>Kings</HI> 10.5. and 2 <HI>Kings</HI> 12.21. 1 <HI>Chron.</HI> 26.16, 17. and 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 9.11.) how by rea&s;on of the oaks and trees on either &s;ide thereof, the earth between is &s;tayed and held up firm, which otherwi&s;e would fall to decay and moulder away: So &s;aith God, it is the holy &s;eed that bears up the whole &s;tate, and were it not for them, de&s;olation and de|&s;truction would come in as a flood upon you. <HI>Prov.</HI> 10.25.
<PB N="196" REF="129"> <HI>The righteous is an everla&s;ting foundation;</HI> the Hebrew Do|ctors &s;en&s;e it thus, The righteous are the foundation of the world, which would &s;oon &s;hatter and fall to ruine, but for their &s;akes. The whole world fares the better every day for the righteous &s;ake. If it were not for this holy &s;eed, the chaff of this world would &s;oon be &s;et on fire; if the number of the holy &s;eed were but called and converted, God would quickly turn the whole world into flames and a&s;hes; it is they that bear up the pillars of the earth. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 75.3. <HI>I bare up the pillars of the earth;</HI> holy per&s;ons are the true <HI>Atla&s;&s;es</HI> both of Church and &s;tate; they are the pillars on whom all do re&s;t, the props on whom all do lean; do but overturn the&s;e pillars, and all will fall about your ears, as the hou&s;e did about the Phili&s;tines when <HI>Samp&s;on</HI> &s;hook it; let but Kingdoms and Common-wealths wrack the&s;e, and they &s;hall quickly be &s;hip-wrackt them&s;elves. There is not a &s;inner in the world, but enjoyes his e&s;tate, his relations, his outward accommodations, yea his very life, upon the ac|count of the Saints, and therefore they mu&s;t needs be be|witcht, or fools, or mad men, that are &s;till a lifting and a thru&s;ting at the&s;e very pillars that bear them up. Look as <HI>Samp&s;ons</HI> &s;trength did lie in his locks, &s;o the &s;trength and &s;afety of the Nation lies in the holy &s;eed, they are the Bull|warks and Ammunition of the Nation; the &s;afety and felicity of the whole is bound up in them; it is not Armies, nor Navies, nor walled Cities, nor fortified Ca&s;iles, nor golden Mines, nor grave Coun&s;ells, that will &s;ecure a Nation; if once the people of Gods holine&s;&s;e be ca&s;t by as broken pitchers:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lam. 4.1, 2. E&s;t. 4. and chap. the la&s;t compared.</NOTE> it is their piety and prayers that keeps off &s;weep|ing judgements from a Nation, and that brings down variety of mercies upon a Nation. Holy per&s;ons are the clouds that water the earth, as a common ble&s;&s;ing; and they are the ri&s;ing Sun that &s;catters all clouds and darkne&s;&s;e. A holy man is (<GAP DESC="foreign">) a publke diffu&s;ive ble&s;&s;ing in the place where he lives; look as one &s;inner de&s;troyes much good,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 9.18.</NOTE> &s;o one Saint may &s;ave a Land, a Countrey. <HI>Jer.</HI> 5.1. <HI>Run ye to and fro through the &s;treets of</HI> Jeru&s;alem, <HI>and &s;ee now and know, and &s;eek in the broad places thereof, if ye can
<PB N="197" REF="129"> finde a man, if there bee any that executeth judgement,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">If among the rabb<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">, if a|mong the no|ble, if among the rich, if a|mong the fear|ned, a man could have been found that loved holine&s;s, that was &s;tout for righteou&s;|ne&s;s, and that practi&s;ed up|rightne&s;s, God would have &s;pared <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem.</HI></NOTE> <HI>that &s;eeketh the truth, and I will pardon it.</HI> Though <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> was far larger and more populous, I &s;ay not only then <HI>Sodom,</HI> but then all the other Cities that &s;inned and peri&s;hed with it, yet God makes &s;o large and noble an offer, that if there could be found in it but one man divinely qualified, but a man of ju&s;tice, a man of faithfulne&s;&s;e, a man of upright|ne&s;&s;e, a man of holine&s;&s;e, the Lord would pardon it, that is, hee would &s;pare it, hee would not de&s;troy it, not ruine it: God once made an offer to <HI>Abraham,</HI> that if there were but ten righteous &s;ouls in <HI>Sadome,</HI> he would &s;ave it; but here he falls &s;o low as to make an offer, that if there could bee but one righteous &s;oul found in <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> hee would not de|&s;troy it. One Saint may &s;ave a City, yea, a world of &s;inners from confu&s;ion and de&s;truction. <HI>Luther,</HI> while&s;t he lived, by Faith and Prayer, kept off troubles from <HI>Germany,</HI> but &s;oon after he was gone to his grave in Peace; O! the wars, the mi&s;eries and mi&s;chiefs, the di&s;tractions and confu&s;ions that came in like a &s;tood upon them! <HI>Po&s;&s;idonius</HI> in the life of <HI>Au|gu&s;tine</HI> tells us, that the famous City of <HI>Hippo</HI> could never bee &s;poyled while&s;t <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> lived. The flood could not drown the old world till holy. <HI>Meth<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">lah</HI> was laid up in peace. O Sirs! as ever you would be a publick ble&s;&s;ing, labour to bee holy. But,</P>
<P>Ninthly, Con&s;ider the antiquity of holine&s;&s;e; holine&s;&s;e <MILESTONE N="9"> is of the greate&s;t, highe&s;t, and antiente&s;t antiquity; the fir&s;t &s;uit that ever was put upon the back of mans Nature, was holine&s;&s;e; &s;in is of a later edition then holine&s;&s;e, holine&s;&s;e was when &s;in was not:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 32.7. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Gen. 1.26.</NOTE> <HI>Let us make man</HI> (&s;aith God) <HI>in our own Image:</HI> Sin is again&s;t nature, it is a def<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ct in nature, it came in by a lye, and by the by, through the &s;ubtilty of the Father of lyes.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 8.44.</NOTE> God &s;tampt his Image of holine&s;&s;e upon man, before ever Satan a&s;&s;ayed to tempt him. Holine&s;&s;e is of the antiente&s;t hou&s;e, of the greate&s;t antiquity. Sin is but an up&s;tart, holine&s;&s;e is the fir&s;t-born; the way of holine&s;&s;e is the olde&s;t way. <HI>Jer.</HI> 6.16. <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord, Stand yee in the waies and &s;ee and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and yee &s;hall find<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> re&s;t for your &s;ouls,
<PB N="198" REF="130"> but they &s;aid wee will not walk therein.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Lin &s;h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">th gnolam;</HI> paths of eternity, the paths of piety; the paths of pu|rity are paths of eternity, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> The way of holine&s;&s;e was that old way in which <HI>Adam</HI> at fir&s;t, and in which all the holy Patriarchs and Prophets walked. In this &s;en&s;e it is mo&s;t certain, that the olde&s;t way is the be&s;t way; the way of &s;an|ctity is of greate&s;t antiqui<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">y: Let Papi&s;ts and carnal &s;uper|&s;titious Prote&s;tants cry up their &s;uper&s;titious waies, as waie<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> of greate&s;t antiquity, yet when they have &s;aid all they can, there is no Antiquity to that of holine&s;&s;e; the way of Will-wor&s;hip was not the fir&s;t way of wor&s;hipping God in the world. Many carnal men cry out that they are for the good old way, they care not for this new way, they care not for this new Religion (as they call it), they &s;ay that we have ne|ver had good daies &s;ince there hath been &s;o much Praying, and &s;o much Preaching, and &s;o much Fa&s;ting, and &s;o much Printing, and &s;o much ado about c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o&s;e walking with God: 'Tis mo&s;t certain that a carnal Religion is be&s;t plea&s;ing to a carnal heart; and this you may &s;ee evidently among the <HI>Turks,</HI> who&s;e Religion gives much carnal liberty to the profe&s;&s;ors of it; and who&s;e Religion promi&s;es them a Paradi&s;e of &s;en&s;ual plea&s;ures in another world: And the &s;ame is very ob&s;ervable among the Papi&s;ts, and all the carnal Prote&s;tants in the world, who cry up that for the be&s;t Religion, and for the true Religion, and for the good old Religion, that is mo&s;t &s;uitable to their carnal rea&s;on, and mo&s;t plea&s;ing and indulging to their lu&s;ts. <HI>So|crates</HI> is &s;ufficiently condemned, for his pre&s;cribing of men to wor&s;hip God according to the manner of the country where they lived; and what was this, but to gratifie the lu&s;t of men by &s;ubjecting the rule of Gods wor&s;hip, to the laws and cu|&s;tomes of men, but from the beginning it was not &s;o. Ho|ly <HI>Noah,</HI> holy <HI>Enoch,</HI> and the re&s;t of the holy Patriarches, Prophets, and Apo&s;tles, walked only in waies of Piety and Purity. Holy <HI>Abraham,</HI> holy <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> and holy <HI>Jacob;</HI> never walked in tho&s;e waies that are now by loo&s;e, formal, carnal and &s;uper&s;titious per&s;ons, cryed up for the good old way, but in waies of holine&s;&s;e and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. I have read of the <HI>Cretians,</HI> that when they cur&s;ed their enemies, they did not wi&s;h their hou&s;es on fire, nor a &s;word at their hearts, but that they might bee delighted and given up to an ill
<PB N="199" REF="130"> cu&s;tome. It is one of the greate&s;t and bittere&s;t Cur&s;es and Woes, to be delighted and given up to ill cu&s;tomes; and the older the cu&s;tome is of evil, the wor&s;e it is; and ah how ma|ny are faln under the&s;e cur&s;es in the&s;e daies, wherein mul|titudes are addicted and given up to carnal and &s;uper&s;titious cu&s;tomes and chu&s;e rather to follow an ill cu&s;tome, though it be never &s;o ab&s;urd, irregular, vain, and &s;uper&s;titious, then to walk in a way of peace and holine&s;s. Well Sirs, &s;hall the Antiquity of holine&s;&s;e provoke you to be holy? Many will do much for Antiquity &s;ake, and why then &s;hould not you do much for holine&s;s &s;ake? Holine&s;&s;e is Gods fir&s;t-born, it is as antient as the antient of daies: The way of holine&s;&s;e is gray-headed, and of antiente&s;t in&s;titution; all other waies are but of ye&s;terday, they are but new waies to the way of holine&s;s. And O that this might alaram you to look after holine&s;&s;e! The <HI>Gibeonites</HI> cheated <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> with their old clouted &s;hooes, and with their old &s;acks, and old boots,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;h. 9.4, 5.</NOTE> and old garments; And &s;o doth <HI>Rome</HI> this day cheat and delude multitudes of poor, blinde, ignorant &s;ouls, with their old cu&s;tomes, and with their old ceremonies, and old traditions, and old inventions, under a pretence of the good old way, and the good old religion; but certainly the way of holine&s;s, the way of purity, is of the greate&s;t Antiquity, and therefore O embrace it! O walk in it! Look as the &s;tamp of Antiqui|ty upon &s;ome things is a di&s;paragement and a di&s;honour to them, as an old garment that is pa&s;t wearing, and an old hou&s;e that is pa&s;t mending, and an old &s;hip that is pa&s;t rigg|ing; &s;o the &s;tamp of Antiquity upon other things is a prai&s;e and an honour to them, as old gold, old friends, old manu|&s;cripts, old monuments, old &s;cars, and old holine&s;&s;e; the &s;tamp of Antiquity upon holine&s;s, is the prai&s;e and honour of holine&s;&s;e. Look as it is an honour to a man to be de&s;cend|ed of an antient hou&s;e; &s;o it is an honour to a man to bee allyed to holine&s;&s;e, becau&s;e &s;anctity is of greate&s;t An|tiquity; and therefore above all gettings, get holine&s;&s;e. But,</P>
<P>Tenthly, Con&s;ider, that of all things holine&s;&s;e will ren|der <MILESTONE N="10"> you mo&s;t beautiful and amiable; as holine&s;s is the beau|ty
<PB N="200" REF="131"> of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 15.11. <HI>Plato</HI> called God the horn of plenty, and the ocean of beauty, without the lea&s;t &s;pot of inju&s;tice. God is <HI>ip&s;a e&s;&s;enti|alis pulchritudo,</HI> beauty it &s;elf, the very e&s;&s;en|tial Idea, and pure Sampler of all beauties.</NOTE> and the beauty of Angels, &s;o it is the beauty and glory of a Chri&s;tian too: holine&s;&s;e is a Chri&s;tians greate&s;t honour and ornament. <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> 93.5. <HI>Holine&s;s becometh thine hou&s;e</HI> (that is thy Church) <HI>O Lord for ever.</HI> There is no garment that &s;uits the Church, that becomes the Church, like the garment of holine&s;&s;e; it is &s;ancti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">y that is the Churches excellency and glory; it is purity that is the Churches ornament and beauty. Holine&s;&s;e is a beauty that beautifies the Church; it is the gracefulne&s;s and comline&s;s of the Church; holine&s;s is &s;o beautiful a thing, that it puts a beauty on all things el&s;e; as holine&s;&s;e is the greate&s;t orna|ment of the Church Triumphant, &s;o it is the greate&s;t orna|ment of the Church Millitant, <HI>Ephe.</HI> 5.26, 27. The redne&s;s of the Ro&s;e, the whitene&s;s of the Lilly, and all the beauties of Sun, Moon, and Stars, are but deformities to that beauty that holine&s;&s;e puts upon us. If all natural and artificial beauty were contracted into one beauty, yet it would be but an ob&s;cure and an unlovely beauty, to that beauty that ho|line&s;&s;e puts upon us. <HI>P&s;alm.</HI> 29.2. <HI>Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name, wor&s;hip the Lord in the beauty of ho|line&s;&s;e.</HI> P&s;alm. 96.9. <HI>O wor&s;hip the Lord in the beauty of ho|line&s;&s;e.</HI> P&s;alm. 110.3. <HI>Thy people &s;hall bee willing in the day of thy power, in the beauty of holine&s;&s;e.</HI> You &s;ee beauty and holine&s;&s;e is by God him&s;elf &s;till linked together, and tho&s;e whom God hath &s;o clo&s;ely joyned together, no man may put a &s;under. The Scripture la&s;t cited doth not only &s;peak our holine&s;&s;e to be a beautiful thing, but it &s;peaks out many beauties to be in holine&s;&s;e. Tho&s;e Chri&s;tians that are volun|tiers in the beauties of holine&s;&s;e, they &s;hall be very beautiful and &s;hining through holine&s;&s;e: Holine&s;s ca&s;ts &s;uch a beauty upon man, as makes him very amiable and de&s;irable. The holine&s;&s;e of parents renders them very amiable and de&s;ire|able in the eyes of their children; and the holine&s;&s;e of chil|dren renders them very amiable and de&s;irable in the eyes of their paren<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s. When that incomparable Lady <HI>Cornelia</HI> pre&s;ented her &s;ons to the Common-wealth;<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 22, 22.</NOTE> &s;he &s;aid, <HI>(Haec &s;unt mea ornamenta)</HI> the&s;e are my Jewels, the&s;e are my or|naments. Holy children are their parents crown, their pa|rents
<PB N="201" REF="131"> ornaments; no gli&s;tering gold, no &s;parkling diamonds,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Xenophon</HI> in <HI>Plutarch</HI> never prayed that his &s;on <HI>Gryl|lus</HI> might be long lived, but that he might be a good man.</NOTE> no &s;hining or glittering apparel, renders children &s;o amiable and lovely in the eyes of their parents, as holine&s;&s;e doth. The holine&s;&s;e of the husband renders him very amiable in the eyes of the wife, and the holine&s;&s;e of the wife renders her very de&s;irable in the eyes of her husband. The holine&s;&s;e of the ma&s;ter renders him very lovely in the eyes of his &s;ervants, and the holine&s;&s;e of the &s;ervants renders them very comely in the eyes of their ma&s;ters, <HI>&amp;c. Jewels</HI> ho|line&s;&s;e, <HI>Bradfords</HI> holine&s;&s;e, and <HI>Bucers</HI> holine&s;&s;e, rendred them very amiable and lovely, not only in the eyes of their friends, but al&s;o in the eyes of their enemies. There is no|thing in this world that will render all &s;orts and ranks of people &s;o glorious and famous in the eyes of one another, as holine&s;&s;e will do: Were all ranks and orders of men more holy, they would certainly be more lovely in the eyes of one another. O that all men would cea&s;e from being in|jurious one to another, and labour to be more holy, and then I am &s;ure they would be more comely in one anothers eyes. Holine&s;&s;e is lovely, yea loveline&s;s it &s;elf; purity is a Chri&s;tians &s;plendor and glory; there is no beauty to that of &s;anctity; nothing beautifies and be&s;pangles a man like holine&s;&s;e: Holine&s;&s;e is &s;o lovely and &s;o comely a thing, that it draws all eyes and hearts to an admiration of it. Holine&s;&s;e is &s;o great a beauty, that it puts a beauty upon all other ex|cellencies in a man. That holine&s;&s;e is a very beautiful thing, and that it makes all tho&s;e beautiful that have it, is a truth that no Devil can deny. And therefore, O Sirs, as ever you would be ebautiful and lovely, labour to be holy. The natural beauty of <HI>Sarah, Rebeccah, Rachel,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 14.25.</NOTE> <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> and <HI>Ab|&s;alom</HI> was no beauty to that beauty, lu&s;tre and glory that holine&s;&s;e puts upon a man. <HI>Demetrius</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Plutarch</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Plutarch</HI> in the life of <HI>Demetrius.</HI></NOTE>) was &s;o pa&s;&s;ing fair of face and countenance, that no Painter was able to draw him; Holine&s;&s;e puts &s;o rare a beauty upon man, that no Painter under heaven is able to draw him. <HI>Scipio Africanus</HI> was &s;o comely a per&s;on, that the Barba|rians in <HI>Spain</HI> &s;tood amazed at his comeline&s;&s;e: Holine&s;&s;e puts &s;uch a comline&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mark 6.20.</NOTE> and &s;uch an amiablene&s;&s;e upon a per|&s;on,
<PB N="202" REF="132"> that many admire it, and &s;tand amazed at it. O Sirs, as ever you would be amiable and de&s;irable, be holy; as ever you would be lovely and comely, be holy; as ever you would be famous and glorious, be holy; as ever you would out|&s;hine the Sun in &s;plendor and glory, labour to be holy. Many have ventured their names, their e&s;tates, their liber|ties, their lives, yea their very &s;ouls to enjoy a lovely <HI>Bath|&s;heba,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">David, The|&s;eus, <HI>Prince</HI> Paris, Mark Antony, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> a fair <HI>Helena,</HI> a beautiful <HI>Diana,</HI> a comely <HI>Cleopatra, &amp;c.</HI> who&s;e beauties have been but clay well coloured: O how much more then &s;hould you be provoked to labour and venture your All for holine&s;&s;e, that will imprint upon you that mo&s;t excellent and mo&s;t exqui&s;ite beauty, that will to the grave and to glory with you; yea that will render you not only amiable and excellent in the eyes of men, but al&s;o lovely and comely in the eyes of God! I remember <HI>Bernard</HI> writing to a noble Virgin that was holy, tells her, that others were cloathed with purple and &s;ilk,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 45.13, 14.</NOTE> but their con&s;ciences were poor and beggerly; they gli&s;tered with their Jewels, but were loo&s;e in their manners; but you, (&s;aith he) are without meanly clad, but within &s;hine exceeding beautiful, not to humane, but to divine eyes; both in the eyes of God, Angels and men,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 16.1, 12.</NOTE> none &s;hine and gli&s;ter &s;o gloriou&s;ly, as tho&s;e that are holy. Unholy &s;ouls are foul &s;ouls, ugly &s;ouls, de|formed &s;ouls, withered &s;ouls, wrinkled &s;ouls, they are alto|gether unlovely and uncomely &s;ouls. I have read of <HI>Acco</HI> an old woman, who &s;eeing her deformity in a gla&s;s, run mad. Should God but &s;hew unholy men their deformity in the gla&s;s of the Law, it would either make them &s;piritually mad, or el&s;e it would make them fall in love with holine&s;&s;e; that &s;o they might be made comely and lovely, by being made pure and holy. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="11"> Eleventhly, Con&s;ider this to provoke you to be holy; that holine&s;&s;e is the mo&s;t gainfulle&s;t and the mo&s;t thriving trade in the world. Now that every one cryes out that all trading is gone; O that every one would &s;ettle to the trade of holine&s;&s;e! O there is no gain, there is no advantage, to the gain that comes in upon the account of godline&s;&s;e, 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 6.6. <HI>But godline&s;&s;e with contentment is great gain.</HI>
<PB N="203" REF="132"> Though godline&s;&s;e it &s;elf be great gain,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Godline&s;s is the greate&s;t riches, the be&s;t trea&s;ure, the highe&s;t honor, and the mo&s;t la&s;ting fame.</NOTE> yet godline&s;&s;e brings in a great deal of gain be&s;ides it &s;elf. The godly man is &s;till of the gaining &s;ide, his piety brings him in the greate&s;t plen|ty. chap. 4.8. <HI>Godline&s;&s;e is profitable to all things.</HI> A man is as well able to tell the &s;tars of heaven, and to number the hairs of his head, as he is able to tell the &s;everal commodi|ties, or to number up the variety of ble&s;&s;ings, or multitude of mercies that comes flying in upon the wings of godline&s;&s;e. Godline&s;&s;e hath the promi&s;e of both lives, that is, both of earthly favours, and of eternal ble&s;&s;ings al&s;o. It is profi|table, not for &s;ome things, but for every thing; both temporal, &s;piritual and eternal ble&s;&s;ings do grow upon this Tree of life, holine&s;&s;e. There is no trade to the trade of godline&s;&s;e. <HI>Prov.</HI> 22.4. <HI>By humility and the fear of the Lord, are riches, and honour, and life.</HI> Godline&s;&s;e hath the promi&s;e of Gold as well as of Grace, of honour as well as of heaven; of life and happine&s;&s;e here, as well as of glory and ble&s;&s;edne&s;&s;e here|after. The good things of this life, as well as the great things of a better life, follows holine&s;&s;e hard at heels. Holine&s;&s;e is not a barren but a fruitful womb; it is like that tree in <HI>Rev.</HI> 22.2. which did bear twelve manner of fruits, and that yielded fruit every moneth. What is of greater value among men then riches? and what is more glorious among men then honour? and what is more &s;weet among men then life? Why, all the&s;e fruits and ten thou&s;and more, grow upon the tree of holine&s;&s;e. The bag of riches, the robe of honour, and life, that is the comfort and &s;weet of both, hangs all upon the back of holine&s;s.<NOTE PLACE="marg">There is no argument to that which is drawn <HI>ab utili. Haec omnia tibi Dabo,</HI> &s;aid Satan to Chri&s;t.</NOTE> But that I may the more effectually win upon you, and provoke you to look after holine&s;&s;e, let me by an induction of particulars, further confirm the truth of this la&s;t con&s;ideration, e&s;pecially con&s;idering that there is no argument under heaven that is &s;o taking with all men as this of gain. Profit is a bait that all bite at; it is the great god of the world. And therefore thus,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Con&s;ider that holine&s;&s;e brings in pre&s;ent gain; and <MILESTONE N="1"> what gain to pre&s;ent gain? there are many that lay out much, and venture far, and run the hazard of all, and yet it is long before they &s;ee returns. O but holine&s;&s;e, that brings
<PB N="204" REF="133"> in pre&s;ent profit. <HI>Rom.</HI> 6.22. <HI>But now being made free from &s;in, and become &s;ervants to God, ye have your fruit unto holi|ne&s;&s;e, and the end everla&s;ting life.</HI> The Apo&s;tle doth not &s;ay, Ye may have your fruit unto holine&s;&s;e; but, Ye have your fruit unto holine&s;&s;e; he doth not &s;ay, Ye &s;hall have your fruit unto holine&s;&s;e; but, Ye have your fruit unto holine&s;&s;e; he doth not &s;ay, O that ye had your fruit unto holine&s;&s;e; but, Ye have your fruit unto holine&s;&s;e. So <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 19.11. Not only for keeping, but al&s;o in keeping of his commands, there is great reward. Holine&s;&s;e is its own reward; while&s;t a Chri&s;tian is in the very exerci&s;e of holine&s;&s;e, O what ble&s;&s;ed &s;ights, what &s;weet ta&s;tes, what glorious incomes from heaven hath he! O the &s;ecret vi&s;its, the &s;ecret whi&s;pers, the &s;ecret joggings, the &s;ecret love-tokens that Chri&s;tians meet with in the very practice of holine&s;&s;e! Holine&s;&s;e brings in pre&s;ent comfort and joy.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Seneca</HI> a Hea|then hath confe&s;&s;ed, that the be&s;t re|ceipt to drive away &s;adne&s;s, was to live well.</NOTE> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.12. <HI>For our rejoycing is this, the te&s;timony of our con&s;ciences, that in &s;implicity and godly &s;incerity, not with fle&s;hly wi&s;dom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conver&s;ation in the world, and more abundantly to you-wards.</HI> There is no mirth, no joy, to that that holine&s;&s;e brings in; let a mans load be never &s;o heavy, yet holine&s;&s;e will bring in that joy that will make him bear up bravely and cheerfully under it. Holine&s;&s;e brings in pre|&s;ent peace; hence it is that you read of the peaceable fruits of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, <HI>Heb.</HI> 12.10, 11. And holine&s;&s;e will bring in pre&s;ent communion with God. 1 <HI>John</HI> 1.7. <HI>But if we walk in the light, as he is the light, we have fellow&s;hip one with another:</HI> (that is, God and we have fellow&s;hip toge|gether, as it is ver. 3.) Now to walk in the light as he is in the light, what is it but to walk in holine&s;&s;e, to walk in pathes of &s;anctity? for only in &s;uch pathes the Lord walks. And therefore as you love pre&s;ent gain, labour after holine&s;s. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, As holine&s;&s;e brings in pre&s;ent gain, &s;o holine&s;&s;e brings in the be&s;t &amp; greate&s;t gain; &amp; this I &s;hall evidence thus.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, Holine&s;&s;e will make a man rich in the mid&s;t of po|verty. <HI>R<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">v.</HI> 2.9. <HI>I know thy poverty, but thou art rich;</HI> though the Church of <HI>Smyrna</HI> was poor in goods,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 2.5.</NOTE> yet &s;he was rich in grace, &s;he was rich in faith, and rich in hope,
<PB N="205" REF="133"> and rich in patience, and rich in contentment, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> &s;he was rich in Chri&s;t her head, and rich in promi&s;es, and rich in ex|periences, &s;he had &s;piritual riches in po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, and glorious riches in rever&s;ion; &s;o in 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.10. <HI>As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing all things.</HI> A holy man cannot be a poor man: A holy man is &s;till the riche&s;t man: But this is a riddle the world under&s;tands not. The riches of a Chri&s;tian have no bottom; all a Saints baggs are bottomle&s;s baggs. Experience tells us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 3. chap. 22, 23.</NOTE> that unholy mens baggs, pur&s;es, coffers, and mints may be drawn dry; but the Trea&s;ury, the riches of a Saint, can never be exhau&s;ted, for he &s;till po&s;&s;e&s;&s;es all things in Chri&s;t and with Chri&s;t; Though he hath nothing in hand, yet he hath all things in hope; Though he hath nothing in the ci&s;tern, yet he hath all things in the fountain. <HI>Gen.</HI> 33.9. <HI>E&s;au</HI> could &s;ay <HI>(Li Rab) I have much;</HI> and it was much that an <HI>E&s;au</HI> &s;hould &s;ay he had much: but &s;aies holy <HI>Jacob,</HI> v. 11. <HI>(Li col) I have all. E&s;au</HI> had much, but <HI>Jacob</HI> had all, becau&s;e he had the God of all: He had him that was all in all. It hath been &s;aid of the great Duke of <HI>Gui&s;e,</HI> that (though he was poor as to his pre&s;ent po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions) yet he was the riche&s;t man in <HI>France,</HI> in bills, bonds, and obligations, becau&s;e he had en|gaged all the Noble men in <HI>France</HI> to him&s;elf, by preferring of them. A holy man is the riche&s;t man in the world in pro|mi&s;es and obligations, for he hath the great and glorious God engaged by many thou&s;and promi&s;es to own him, to ble&s;s him, to &s;tand by him, to give grace and glory to him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 84.10, 11.</NOTE> and to with-hold nothing from him that may be good for him. When wicked men brag of their Lord&s;hips and Man|nors, and boa&s;t of their great po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions, and glory in their thou&s;ands a year: A holy man may make his boa&s;t of God, and &s;ay, God is mine, God is mine: he is my great all, he is my all in all; and therefore I am richer and a greater po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;or then any wicked man in the world, yea then all wicked men in the world put together. But,</P>
<P>Secondly, By holine&s;&s;e you will gain a good report, a <MILESTONE N="2"> good name, <HI>Heb.</HI> 11.39. <HI>And the&s;e all having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promi&s;e:</HI> Nothing
<PB N="206" REF="134"> rai&s;es a mans name and fame in the world like holine&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">A good re|nown is better then a golden girdle, &s;aith the French Proverb.</NOTE> The &s;even Deacons that the Church cho&s;e were holy men, <HI>Acts</HI> 6.5. and they were men of good report, ver. 3. they were men well witne&s;&s;ed unto, well te&s;tified of, as the Greek word imports. <HI>Cornelius</HI> was a holy man, <HI>Acts</HI> 10.1, 2, 3, 4. and he was a man of good report among all the Nation of the Jews. ver. 22. <HI>Ananias</HI> was a holy man. <HI>Acts</HI> 9.10, 20. and he was a man of a good report. <HI>Acts</HI> 22.12. <HI>Gaius</HI> and <HI>De|metrius</HI> were both holy men, and they were men of good re|port, witne&s;s that third Epi&s;tle of <HI>John.</HI> The Patriarchs and Prophets were holy men, and they were men of a good re|port. <HI>Heb.</HI> 11.1, 2. <HI>For by it the Elders obtained a good re|port:</HI> their holine&s;s did eternalize them. The Apo&s;tles were holy men, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2.10. And they were men of a good re|port, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.8. Now certainly it is none of the lea&s;t of mercies to be well reputed and reported of; next to a good con&s;cience, a good report is the noble&s;t ble&s;&s;ing. Good fare doth not more rejoyce and &s;trengthen the outward man, the ignoble part of man, then a good report doth rejoyce and &s;trengthen the inward man, the noble part of man. <HI>Prov.</HI> 15.30. <HI>A good report makes the bones fat.</HI> Yea and I may add, it makes the heart fat too. It is no &s;mall plea&s;ure to a man, to know that others are plea&s;ed with him. Beautiful objects do not more delight the eyes, then a good report delights the ears. O Sirs, as ever you would obtain a good report, you mu&s;t labour after holine&s;s. You may obtain a great re|port without holine&s;s, but you can never obtain a good re|port without holine&s;s. There is no &s;uch way to perpetuate your names,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Holy <HI>Abel</HI> hath been dead above this five thou|&s;and years, and yet his name is as fre&s;h and fra|grant as a Ro&s;e to this very day. Heb. 11.4.</NOTE> as to labour after holine&s;s. Holine&s;s will in|balm your names, it will make them immortal. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 112.6. <HI>The righteous &s;hall be in everla&s;ting remembrance. Prov.</HI> 10.7. <HI>The memory of the ju&s;t is ble&s;&s;ed, but the name of the wicked &s;hall rot.</HI> Wicked men many times out-live their names, but the names of ju&s;t men out-live them. When a holy man dies, he leaves his name as a &s;weet and as a la&s;ting &s;cent behind him; his fame &s;hall live when he is dead. Ac|cording to the Hebrew, the words may be read thus, <HI>The memory of the ju&s;t &s;hall be for a ble&s;sing.</HI> The very remembring
<PB N="207" REF="134"> of the ju&s;t &s;hall bring a ble&s;&s;ing upon them that remember them. While&s;t the ju&s;t, the holy man lived, he was a ble&s;&s;ing to tho&s;e among&s;t whom he lived, and when he is dead, his memory is a ble&s;&s;ing to po&s;terity. But the name of the wic|ked &s;hall not: while&s;t a wicked man lives, he laeis his name under di&s;dain and di&s;grace, and when he dies, he leaves it under an odious &s;tink. Wickedne&s;s corrupts not only the heart but the name: And look as wickedne&s;s makes a mans &s;oul &s;tink in the no&s;trils of God, &s;o wickedne&s;s makes a mans name &s;tink in the no&s;trils of men. Look as a wicked mans body (when he is dead) &s;tinks under ground, &s;o his name &s;tinks above ground. His very name ca&s;ts forth &s;o &s;tinking a &s;avour, that all the perfumes in the world, and all the &s;picery of hell can never &s;weeten it. Well, once more remember, that the&s;e words, <HI>The name of the wicked &s;hall rot,</HI> are a Me|taphorical &s;peech taken from a tree, which though for a time it grows green and flouri&s;hes, yet at length it grows rotten; &s;o though wicked men may flouri&s;h and be green and glori|ous for a time, yet at la&s;t they &s;hall rot, their names &s;hall rot on earth, their bodies &s;hall rot in the grave, and their &s;ouls &s;hall rot in hell: but the memory of the ju&s;t &s;hall be ble&s;&s;ed. Next to a holy mans &s;oul, there is nothing &s;o near and dear to him as his name: and this God will &s;o perfume, as that the fragrancy of it &s;hall la&s;t for ever. The name of a holy man &s;hall be alwayes as an ointment poured forth: but the name of a wicked man &s;hall be alwayes as a &s;tinking Jakes. O Sirs! what a deal of &s;tir do many men make to get a name, to get a name to be wi&s;e, a name to be knowing,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>As</HI> Nimrod, Cain, Ab&s;olom, Alexander, Pompey, Adri|an, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> a name to be learned, a name to be skilful, a name to be rich, a name to be great, a name to be mighty, and a name to be valiant, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And why then &s;hould you not labour after holine&s;s, that &s;o you may get a good name, which is rather to be cho&s;en then riches, <HI>Prov.</HI> 22.1. and which is better then precious ointment! <HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 7.1. O Sirs, &s;hall many Romans and others run the hazard of damning their &s;ouls to immortalize their names, and will not you labour after holine&s;s to eternalize yours? There is no way to a good name, to a good report, but by getting of holine&s;s.</P>
<PB N="208" REF="135">
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, By holine&s;s you will gain a hiding place, a &s;helter, a refuge in &s;tormy and tempe&s;tuous times. <HI>Prov.</HI> 11.6.<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 3.10. I&s;a. 26.20, 21.</NOTE> <HI>The righteou&s;ne&s;s of the upright &s;hall deliver them: but tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors &s;hall be taken in their own naughtine&s;s.</HI> Let a holy mans enemies, dangers, &s;nares, hazards be never &s;o many, yet his righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;hall &s;helter him again&s;t all. In the mid&s;t of trouble,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 43.2, 3, 4. John 14.1.</NOTE> holine&s;s will keep a man from trouble; and in the mid&s;t of dangers, holine&s;s will keep a man from dangers: Holine&s;s is the mo&s;t &s;overaign Antidote in the world, again&s;t all the troubles of this life. <HI>Noahs</HI> &s;anctity was <HI>Noahs</HI> &s;afety in the mid&s;t of a deluge: And <HI>Lots</HI> piety was <HI>Lots</HI> &s;ecurity, in the day of <HI>Sodoms</HI> ruine and mi&s;ery: And the three childrens innocency,<NOTE PLACE="marg">They walked up and down in the fiery furnace, as a man walks up and down in a plea&s;ant Garden.</NOTE> was a wall of fire about them in the mid&s;t of the fiery furnace: And <HI>Davids</HI> inte|grity was a &s;hield and buckler again&s;t <HI>Sauls</HI> rage and cruelty; &s;o in <HI>Prov.</HI> 13.6. <HI>Righteou&s;ne&s;s keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedne&s;s overthroweth the &s;inner.</HI> There is no guard, no protection again&s;t troubles and dangers, to that of righteou&s;ne&s;s. Righteou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;s is the mo&s;t pui&s;&s;ant Army, and the &s;tronge&s;t Tower of defence again&s;t all hazards and enemies. The Hebrew word that is here rendred <HI>keepeth,</HI> is from <HI>Nat&s;ar,</HI> that &s;ignifieth to keep with the greate&s;t care,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 32.14.</NOTE> diligence, and vigilancy that can be; it &s;ignifies to pre&s;erve and keep, as a man would pre&s;erve and keep the Apple of his eye, which is the chiefe&s;t and the ten|dere&s;t piece of the tendere&s;t part; and it &s;ignifies to keep, as a man would keep ammunition and provi&s;ion from fire,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nah. 2.1.</NOTE> or from treacherous hands, when a powerful and inraged enemy is drawing near. Why &s;aies he, look how careful and diligent, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> men are to keep and pre&s;erve tho&s;e things that are mo&s;t near and dear unto them, and that are mo&s;t highly prized and valued by them; So will righteou&s;ne&s;s and ho|line&s;s pre&s;erve and keep the righteous man in times of trou|ble and danger: So in <HI>Ezek.</HI> 14.14, 20. <HI>Though the&s;e three men,</HI> Noah, Daniel <HI>and</HI> Job <HI>were in it, they &s;hould deliver but their own &s;ouls by their righteou&s;ne&s;s, &s;aith the Lord. Though</HI> Noah, Daniel <HI>and</HI> Job <HI>were in it, as I live &s;aith the Lord God, they &s;hall deliver neither &s;on nor daughter: they
<PB N="209" REF="135"> &s;hall but deliver their own &s;ouls by their righteou&s;ne&s;s.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Saints may prevail with God for them|&s;elves, when they cannot prevail with him for others.</NOTE> The&s;e three, <HI>Noah, Daniel,</HI> and <HI>Job,</HI> were very holy men, they had great intere&s;t in God, and were very prevalent with God. But the Decree being gone forth, they could not prevail with God for others; yet their righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;hould be their own pre&s;ervation, &s;afety and &s;ecurity, in dayes of ca|lamity and mi&s;ery. So in <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 33.15, 16. <HI>He that walketh righteou&s;ly, and &s;peaketh uprightly, he that de&s;pi&s;eth the gain of oppre&s;sions, that &s;haketh his hands from holding of bribes, that &s;toppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and &s;hutteth his eyes from &s;eeing of evil, He &s;hall dwell on high; his place of defence &s;hall be the munition of rocks, bread &s;hall be given him, his waters &s;hall be &s;ure.</HI> Let us dive a little into this ad|mirable promi&s;e, <HI>He &s;hall dwell on high,</HI> but rather as the He|brew hath it, <HI>He &s;hall dwell on hights;</HI> if the holy man were among his enemies, he might be in danger, but he &s;hall dwell on hights, on many hights, and many a&s;cents, he &s;hall be out of harms way, out of Gun-&s;hot, he &s;hall be above the reach of danger. O! but his enemies may rai&s;e up mounts, and &s;o get as high as he is; Well, grant that, but yet they &s;hall not hurt him; for he is in a place of defence. O! but though he be in a place of defence, yet his defence is not &s;o &s;trong, but it may be broken down and de&s;troyed. No, not &s;o, for his place of defence &s;hall be the munitions of rocks; many rocks, and many munitions of rocks, &s;hall be the place of his defence, and therefore his defence is im|pregnable, and invincible. O! but though his defence be munitions of rocks, yet he may be fami&s;hed, he may be &s;tar|ved out, for rocks are barren places, and there is no plow|ing and &s;owing upon rocks: No, he &s;hall not be &s;tarved nor fami&s;hed out of his &s;trong place of defence; for bread &s;hall be given him, God will &s;pread a Table for him. O! but though he hath bread, yet he may peri&s;h for want of water; for he hath no faith, skill nor power to fetch water out of a Rock. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had not, and he hath not, and there|fore he may be forced to deliver up his place of defence for water to quench his thir&s;t, as King <HI>Ly&s;imachus</HI> and others have done; no not &s;o, for he &s;hall have water too. O but
<PB N="210" REF="136"> his water may be &s;pent, his water will not alwaies la&s;t, his Well, as well as <HI>Hagars</HI> bottle, may be dry; his pipes may be cut off, or the water that now &s;upplies him may be turned another way. No, not &s;o, for his water &s;hall be &s;ure. O! the &s;afety and &s;ecurity of holy men. <HI>Plutarch</HI> in the life of <HI>Alexander</HI> tells us, that when he came to be&s;iege the Sogdians, a people who dwelt upon a Rock, (or &s;uch as had the munition of Rocks for their defence) they jeered him, and asked him whether his &s;ouldiers had wings or not? for, &s;aid they, except your &s;ouldiers can fly in the air, we fear you not. Such is the &s;afety of Gods holy ones, that they need not to fear: There are no ladders long enough to &s;cale their place of defence, nor no Artillery or Engine &s;trong enough to batter down their munitions of Rocks. There is an Apologue how the Dove made moan to her fel|low birds of the tyrannie of the Hawk; one coun&s;els her to keep below, but &s;aith another, The Hawk can &s;toop for his prey; another advi&s;ed her to &s;oar aloft, but &s;aith ano|ther, the Hawk can mount as high as &s;he; another wi&s;hed her to &s;hroud her &s;elf in the woods, for there &s;he &s;hould be &s;ecure, but &s;aith another, alas, there is the Hawks Man|nour, the place where he keeps Court; another bids her keep the Town, but &s;aith another, that is to become a prey to man; but at la&s;t one bids her re&s;t her &s;elf in the holes of the Rock, and there &s;he &s;hould certainly be &s;afe, for violence it &s;elf could not &s;urprize her there, and there &s;he was &s;afe. Dove-like Saints, they have their mu|nitions of Rocks to fly to, and there they &s;hall be &s;afe. O Sirs! there is no brea&s;t-plate to that of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, there is no Armour of proof, no munitions of Rocks to that of holine&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heylin. Co&s;m. lib. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Noahs</HI> holine&s;&s;e was an Ark to &s;ave him, when <HI>Nimrods</HI> Tower of <HI>Babel</HI> which was rai&s;ed five thou|&s;and one hundred forty &s;ix paces high, could not &s;ecure him: And therefore as you tender your own &s;afety and &s;e|curity in times of trouble and calamity, O labour to be holy.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, By holine&s;&s;e you will gain deliverance from death in death, Prov. 11.4. <HI>Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteou&s;ne&s;s delivereth from death:</HI> and Chap.
<PB N="211" REF="136"> 10.2. <HI>Trea&s;ures of wickedne&s;s profit nothing, but righteou&s;ne&s;s delivereth from death.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Nugas</HI> the <HI>Scythian</HI> King de&s;pi&s;ed the rich pre&s;ents and ornaments that were &s;ent unto him by the Emperour of <HI>Con&s;tanti|nople,</HI> becau&s;e they could not ward off &s;orow, &s;ick|ne&s;s, di&s;ea&s;es, death.</NOTE> Many Trea&s;uries of the mo&s;t precious Jewels that be in the world cannot ward off a blow, a di&s;ea&s;e, a &s;ickne&s;&s;e in the day of Gods wrath. It is not the Crown of gold, that can cure the head-ache; nor the golden Scep|ter, that can cure the Pal&s;ie hand; nor the Neck-la&s;e of Pearl, that can cure the Aking teeth; nor the Honourable Garter, that can ea&s;e the Gowt; nor the Purple Robe, that can cha&s;e away the burning Feaver; nor the Velvet Slipper, that can heal the kibe-heel; no more can Trea&s;ures of gold or &s;ilver deliver from wrath, or help in a day of death! O, but Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e that delivers from death. Look what the Sword, the Shield, the Helmet, the Bre&s;t-plate, the Coat of Mail is to the Souldier in the heat of battell, that, all that, and more then that, is righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e to the righteous in the day of death. Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e or holine&s;&s;e of affe|ction, of action, of life and conver&s;ation, delivers from &s;pi|ritual death, and from eternal death, yea, it delivers from the evil, the hurt, the horror, the terror, the dread, and the &s;tinge of temporal death. Piety delivers not only from the &s;econd death, but al&s;o from all the evils and mi&s;eries of the fir&s;t death too. As the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the righteous will be a royal protection to him, both again&s;t the day of wrath, and the wrath of the day: So the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the righteous will be a royal protection to him, both again&s;t death, and again&s;t all the evils of death. Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e un&s;tings death, it takes away the venome, the poy&s;on and bitterne&s;&s;e of death: It turns that cur&s;e into a ble&s;&s;ing, that puni&s;hment into a benefit, that night of darkne&s;&s;e in|to a day of light, that wilderne&s;&s;e into a Paradi&s;e, that hell into a heaven, Prov. 12.28. <HI>In the way of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is life, and in the path thereof, there is no death</HI> In the way of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e is <HI>(chaiim) lives:</HI> &s;o the Hebrew hath it, in the way of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e there are many lives: in that way there is &s;piritual life, and eternal life, and natu|ral life, and all the comforts, and &s;weets, and ble&s;&s;ings, and happine&s;&s;e of that life, without which mans life would be but a lingering, a langui&s;hing death; yea, a hell rather then a
<PB N="212" REF="137"> heaven unto him. <HI>And in the path thereof there is no death.</HI> There is no &s;piritual death, there is no eternal death, yea, there is no corporal, no temporal death to hurt or harm the them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Death is not <HI>mors hominis,</HI> but <HI>mors pec|cati,</HI> not the death of the man, but the death of his &s;in. Phil. 1.23. 2 Cor. 5.12.4.7, 8. Death is a Chri&s;tians <HI>Quietus e&s;t,</HI> it is his di&s;|charge from all trouble and mi&s;ery.</NOTE> to &s;ting or terrifie them, to dammage or di&s;advantage them: for death is an out-let, and an in-let to a holy man: it is an out-let to &s;in, to &s;orrow, to &s;hame, to &s;uffering, to afflictions, to temptations, to de&s;ertions, to oppre&s;&s;ions, to confu&s;ions, and to vexations; and it is an in-let to a more clear, full and con&s;tant fruition of God and Chri&s;t, and an in-let to the &s;weete&s;t plea&s;ures, the pure&s;t joys, the highe&s;t de|lights, the &s;tronge&s;t comforts, and the mo&s;t &s;atisfying con|tentments. Death is the funeral of all a holy mans &s;ins and mi&s;eries, and it is the re&s;urrection of all his joyes, and the perfection of all his graces and &s;pirituall excellencies. Death to a holy man is nothing but the changing of his grace into glory, his faith into vi&s;ion, his hope into fruition, and his love into perfect comprehen&s;ion. The Per&s;ians had a cer|tain day in the year in which they u&s;ed to kill all Serpents and venemous creatures: &s;uch a day as that will the day of death be to a holy man. <HI>(Peccatum erat ob&s;tetrix mortis, &amp; mors &s;epulchrum peccati.)</HI> Sin was the Midwife that brought death into the world, and death &s;hall be the bear|ers that &s;hall carry &s;in out of the world. When <HI>Samp&s;on</HI> died, the Phili&s;tines died together with him: &s;o when a holy man dies, his &s;ins die with him. Death came in by &s;in, and &s;in goeth out by death: As the worm kills the worm that bred it; &s;o death kills &s;in that bred it.<NOTE PLACE="marg">&V;ltimus mor|borum medicus mors. Acts &amp; Mon. fol. <HI>1733.</HI></NOTE> Death cures all di&s;ea&s;es, the aking head and the unbelieving heart: the di&s;ea&s;ed body and the defiled &s;oul. At <HI>Stratford</HI> Bow were burned (in Queen <HI>Maries</HI> dayes) a lame man and a blind man; after the lame man was chained, ca&s;ting away his crutch, he bade the blind man be of good comfort; for &s;aith he, Death will cure us both, it will cure thee of thy blindne&s;&s;e, and me of my lamene&s;&s;e. Death will cure the holy man of all natural and &s;piritual di&s;tempers. Death is the holy mans Jubilee, it is his greate&s;t advantage, it puts him into a better e&s;tate then ever he had before. It is Gods Gentleman U&s;her to conduct us to heaven; it will
<PB N="213" REF="137"> blow the bud of grace into the flower of glory. O!<NOTE PLACE="marg">Death is but an entrance into life. <HI>Mi&s;eri infideles mortem appel|lant, fideles vero quid n&iacute;&s;i pa&s;cham? Bernard.</HI> Mi&s;erable <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n|believers call it death, but to faithfull believers, what is it but a Pa&s;&s;eover, but a Jubilee?</NOTE> who would not go through hell to heaven! who would not go through a temporary death to an eternal life! who would not willingly march through mortality to immortality and glory! O Sirs, holine&s;&s;e will make you look upon death as a welcome gue&s;t, a happy friend, a joyfull me&s;&s;enger: it will make you ki&s;&s;e it and embrace it, as <HI>Favinus</HI> the Italian Martyr ki&s;&s;ed and embraced his executioner: it will make you de&s;ire it, &amp; long after it with tears, as holy <HI>Bradford</HI> did. By all this you &s;ee, that holine&s;s will deliver you from death in death; and therefore I &s;hall clo&s;e up this head, as that wi&s;e (&amp; witty) man Sr. <HI>Francis Bakon</HI> clo&s;ed up a paper of ver&s;es,
<Q><L>What then remains, but that we &s;till &s;hould cry,</L>
<L>Not to be born, or being born, to die?</L></Q></P>
<P>Fifthly, and la&s;tly, by holine&s;&s;e you &s;hall gain the great|e&s;t <MILESTONE N="5"> boldne&s;&s;e in the day of judgement;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 19.25. <GAP DESC="foreign">, &s;ignifies boldne&s;s of face, a lifting up of the face &amp; countenance in the &s;ight or face of many beholders. It &s;ignifies a freedom and liberty of &s;peech.</NOTE> nothing will imbold|en a man in that great day like holine&s;&s;e; holine&s;&s;e will then make the face to &s;hine indeed, 1 John 4.17. <HI>Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldne&s;&s;e in the day of judgement: becau&s;e as he is, &s;o are we in this world.</HI> That which will make Chri&s;ts la&s;t appearance delightfull to Chri|&s;tians, will be their likene&s;&s;e to Chri&s;t in holine&s;&s;e: in nature and grace likene&s;&s;e begets the greate&s;t boldne&s;&s;e. As there is no child &s;o bold with the Father, as he that is mo&s;t like the Father, &s;o there is no Chri&s;tian &s;o bold with Chri&s;t, as he that is mo&s;t like to Chri&s;t. A holy Chri&s;t is mo&s;t fa|miiar with a holy Chri&s;tian; and a holy Chri&s;tian is mo&s;t bold with a holy Chri&s;t. The more a Chri&s;tian is like to Chri&s;t in holine&s;&s;e of heart and life, in holine&s;&s;e of affecti-and conver&s;ation, the more divinely bold and familiar will that man be with Chri&s;t, both in this world, and in the great day of account; when he that was a brat of Satans, is made a Saint, when he that was like hell, is made like heaven, when he that was mo&s;t ugly and uncomely, is made like him that is the holy of holies, this is that which gives boldne&s;&s;e both here and hereafter. O Sirs, it is not wit, nor wealth, but holine&s;&s;e; it is not race nor place, but holine&s;&s;e: it is not power nor policy, but holine&s;&s;e; it is not honour nor riches,
<PB N="214" REF="138"> but holine&s;&s;e: it is not natural excellencies, nor acquired abilities, but holine&s;&s;e that will give boldne&s;&s;e in the day of Chri&s;ts appearing, 1 Pet. 1.5, 6, 7. <HI>A well-tried faith</HI> (which is but a branch of holine&s;&s;e) <HI>&s;hall be found unto prai&s;e, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> At the coming of Chri&s;t, holine&s;s &s;hall be a mans prai&s;e, and honour,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 6.15, 16, 17.</NOTE> and glory. In that great day when &s;hame and everla&s;ting contempt &s;hall be poured forth upon the great Monarchs of the world, who have made the earth to tremble, <HI>when the Kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief Captains, and the mighty men,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>&s;hall cry out to the mountains and rocks to fall upon them, and to hide them from the face of him that &s;itteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:</HI> then, I &s;ay then &s;hall the righteous &s;hine as the Sun in the firmament.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 12.1, 2, 3. Prov. 28.1.</NOTE> In life and death, and in the day of account a righteous man will be as bold as a Lion. Real holine&s;&s;e will make a man death proof, and hell proof, and judgement proof. The day of judgement will be to a holy man a marriage day, a day of redemption, a day of coronation, a day of exaltation, and therefore he may well lift up his head and rejoyce. Look as the <HI>I&s;|raelites</HI> who had the blood of the Pa&s;&s;eover on their door-po&s;ts,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exo. 12.7.11.</NOTE> though the de&s;troyer was abroad, and a dreadfull cry was all over <HI>Aegypt,</HI> yet they were not &s;lain, not &s;tricken; they did not fear, not tremble, but had their loyns ready girt, and &s;taves in their hands, boldly and cheerfully expecting when the happy and joyful hour of their redemp|tion would come.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 9.14.</NOTE> So tho&s;e that have the door-po&s;ts of their hearts and con&s;ciences &s;prinkled with holine&s;&s;e, in this terrible day of the Lord, they &s;hall with boldne&s;&s;e and cheerfulne&s;&s;e lift up their faces, becau&s;e the day of their redemption is come.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sermon</HI> de Signis prae. extr. J&uacute;d.</NOTE> And this made <HI>Luther</HI> &s;ay, that he had rather never have been born, then not to be in hope of this day. This day to Gods holy ones will be <HI>(melodia in aure,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 1.5. 2 The&s;&s;. 2.7, 8, 9, 10.</NOTE> <HI>jubilum in corde.)</HI> like mu&s;ick in the ear, and a Jubilee in the heart. It is true, the ungodly &s;hall not &s;tand in Judge|ment: Stand they mu&s;t to be arraigned, &s;entenced and condemned. Stand they &s;hall, but not with any boldne&s;&s;e
<PB N="215" REF="138"> or cheerfulne&s;&s;e, comfort or content. Stand they &s;hall, but not to be approved, acquitted, or ab&s;olved. Chaff and &s;tubble cannot &s;tand before that God that is a con&s;uming fire. When <HI>Bel&s;hazzar</HI> &s;aw the hand writing upon the wall,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 12. ult. Dan. 5.5, 6.</NOTE> O how was he affrighted, how was his countenance changed, his joints loo&s;ed, and his knees da&s;hed one again&s;t another! O how do many ungodly men now tremble at a thunder-crack in the clouds, and at a fla&s;h of lightning in the air! but how will they tremble and quake, when the whole frame of heaven and earth &s;hall break in pieces, and be &s;et in a flame about their ears! O, what trouble of mind? what horror and terror of con&s;cience? what weeping and wail|ing? what crying and roaring? what wringing of hands? what tearing of hair? and what gna&s;hing of teeth will there be among the ungodly in this day, when they &s;hall &s;ee their &s;ins charged on them on the one &s;ide, and divine Ju&s;tice terrifying them on the other &s;ide! when they &s;hall look upward, and there &s;ee an angry God frowning upon them, and look downward, and there &s;ee hell gaping ready to receive them; and look inward, and there find con&s;cience accu&s;ing and gnawing of them! When they &s;hall look on their right hands, and there behold the good Angels &s;tanding with &s;o many flaming &s;words, to keep them out of heaven; and look on their left hands, and there be|hold the devil and his Angels ready pre&s;t to dragg them down to the lowe&s;t hell! O now how will they wi&s;h for the Rocks to fall upon them, and the mountains to cover them! how will they wi&s;h that they had never been born, or that they might now be unborn? how will they now wi&s;h that their immortal &s;ouls were mortal, or that their &s;ouls might be turned into the nature of Bea&s;ts, Birds, Stones, Trees or Air, or any thing rather what they are! I have read a &s;tory of two Souldiers,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Holcot.</NOTE> who being in the valley of <HI>Je|ho&s;aphat</HI> in <HI>Judea,</HI> the one &s;aid to the other, Here in this place &s;hall be the general Judgement, and therefore I will now take up my place where I will then &s;it; and &s;o lifting up a &s;tone, he &s;ate down upon it, as taking po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion be|fore hand, but being &s;ate, and looking up to heaven, &s;uch a
<PB N="216" REF="139"> quaking and trembling fell upon him, that falling to the earth, he remembred the day of Judgement with horror and amazement for ever after. But alas, what heart is able to conceive, or what tongue is able to expre&s;&s;e the fear and dread, the horror and terror, the a&s;toni&s;hment and amazement that will fall upon all ungodly per&s;ons in this day! And yet even now Gods holy ones &s;hall lift up their heads and hearts: they &s;hall be bold and &s;tedfa&s;t, they &s;hall be far from fear, &s;hame or trembling. And thus you &s;ee that godline&s;&s;e, that holine&s;&s;e is the mo&s;t gainfull trade: And therefore Sirs, as you love gain, as you tender your own profit and advantage, labour to be holy. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="12"> Twelthly, Con&s;ider this, that holine&s;&s;e will put the greate&s;t &s;plendour and maje&s;ty upon per&s;ons that can po&s;|&s;ibly be put upon them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 29.8, 9, 10, 11. vide Prov. 12.26.</NOTE> There is nothing that imprints &s;uch a reverence and Maje&s;ty upon man, as holine&s;&s;e doth: There is nothing that is &s;uch a grace to man as grace. It is holine&s;&s;e that puts the greate&s;t excellency and maje&s;ty upon man, P&s;alm 16.3. <HI>But to the Saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent in whom is all my delight.</HI> Saints are the mo&s;t excellent ones;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Arias Monta|nus, Junius, &amp;c.</NOTE> The Hebrew word (<HI>Veadire</HI> from <HI>Adar</HI>) that is here rendred excellent, &s;ignifies <HI>(magnificis)</HI> the magnificent ones, or the noble, glorious, or wonderfull ones. Saints or holy per&s;ons are the mo&s;t excellent, magnificent, noble &amp; glorious ones. And in <HI>Dan.</HI> 8.24. the holy people are called mighty, becau&s;e there are no people upon the earth, that have might and Maje&s;ty &s;tampt upon them as they have. Cant. 6.10.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Some by the Moon under|&s;tand inherent righteou&s;ne&s;s, and by the Sun, they under&s;tand imputed righ|teou&s;ne&s;s.</NOTE> <HI>Who is &s;he that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the Moon, clear as the Sun, and terrible as an Army with banners!</HI> The light, grace, glory and holine&s;&s;e of the Church ri&s;es by degrees: and this makes her terrible to all her enemies. Every degree of holine&s;&s;e is terrible to the unholy: but the higher the Church ri&s;es in holine&s;&s;e, the more terrible and maje&s;tical it grows. Holine&s;&s;e puts &s;uch a &s;plendor and graceful Maje&s;ty upon all per|&s;ons that have it, as even dazles the eyes &s;ometimes of wicked men, and begets in them an awe and reverence: As it is evident in <HI>Saul,</HI> 1 Sam. 24.17. <HI>And</HI> Saul <HI>&s;aid to</HI> David,
<PB N="217" REF="139"> <HI>Thou art more righteous then I: for thou ha&s;t rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.</HI> So <HI>Herod</HI> in <HI>Mark</HI> 6.20. it is &s;aid <HI>That he feared</HI> John, <HI>knowing that he was a ju&s;t man, and holy, and ob&s;erved him.</HI> Holine&s;&s;e is very Maje&s;tical; the greate&s;t Monarchs fall down before it. <HI>Herod</HI> reverences <HI>John</HI> not for his birth or breeding, but for his holine&s;&s;e: not for his Arts or Parts, but for his ho|line&s;&s;e; not for his Schollar&s;hip or greatne&s;&s;e, but for his holine&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 11.1, 2.</NOTE> So that great Monarch King <HI>Joa&s;h</HI> fell down before the holine&s;&s;e of <HI>Jehojada</HI> while&s;t he lived. And &s;o did the holine&s;&s;e of the three children command te&s;pect and honour from that great Monarch <HI>Nebuchadnezzar.</HI> And &s;o did the holine&s;&s;e of <HI>Daniel</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Daniel 3.</NOTE> cau&s;e King <HI>Darius</HI> to re|verence him, and to ca&s;t a favourable A&s;pect upon him. And &s;o did the Holine&s;&s;e that was written upon <HI>Judas</HI> the High-Prie&s;t, cau&s;e <HI>Alexander</HI> the Emperour to reverence him, and to fall down before him. In holine&s;&s;e there is &s;uch a &s;parkling lu&s;tre, that none can behold it, but mu&s;t admire it, and bow before the graceful maje&s;ty of it. It is not greatne&s;&s;e but grace, it is not riches but righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, it is not outward pomp or &s;plendour, but holine&s;&s;e that can over-awe the vain &s;pirits of men. A holy life is the upbraiding of that which is corrupt, Wi&s;dom 2.15.12. <HI>He is grievous unto us, even to behold him; for his life is not like other mens, his wayes are of another fa&s;hion, he upbraideth us with our offending the Law.</HI> Grace will make a man maje|&s;tical among tho&s;e that have no grace. <HI>Bradford</HI> was had in &s;o great reverence and admiration for his holine&s;&s;e, that a multitude that never knew him but by fame, greatly la|mented his death, yea,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts &amp; Mon. pag. <HI>1458.</HI></NOTE> and a number of Papi&s;ts al&s;o wi&s;hed heartily his life. Holy men have a daunting pre&s;ence and maje&s;ty with them, as <HI>Athana&s;ius</HI> had, and <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> had;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. Orat. de laude Ba&s;ilii.</NOTE> for when <HI>Valens</HI> the Emperour came to &s;urprize him, he being in holy exerci&s;es, &s;uch a &s;plendour and maje&s;ty was upon him, thnt it &s;truck &s;uch a terror into the Emperour, that he reeled, and had fallen backward, had he not been upheld by tho&s;e that were with him.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Epi&s;t. hi&s;t. Gal. <HI>82.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Henry</HI> the &s;econd King of <HI>France</HI> being pre&s;ent at the martyrdom of a certain Taylor
<PB N="218" REF="140"> who was burnt by him for his Religion, and &s;o terrified by the boldne&s;&s;e of his countenance, and by his holy and gra|cious behaviour in his &s;ufferings, that he &s;wore at his going away that he would never be pre&s;ent at &s;uch a &s;ight more. It is very ob&s;ervable, that the moral vertues of the Hea|then did put a great deal of &s;plendour and maje&s;ty upon them:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Valer. Max. l. <HI>2.</HI> cap. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> To in&s;tance only in <HI>Cato; Cato</HI> was a man of much ju&s;tice and integrity; he was a man of an un&s;potted con|ver&s;ation and of high reputation among the <HI>Romans:</HI> Now his morality put &s;uch a &s;plendour and maje&s;ty upon him, that when he was pre&s;ent, the very wor&s;t of the wor&s;t dur&s;t not in &s;peech or ge&s;ture di&s;cover any impiety or immo|de&s;ty, any wantonne&s;&s;e or wickedne&s;&s;e. Now certainly, if morality puts &s;uch a &s;plendour and maje&s;ty upon men: true &s;anctity will put much more upon them. And therefore Sirs, as ever you would have a &s;plendour &amp; maje&s;ty upon you, labour to be holy. <HI>Maximilian</HI> the Emperour had &s;uch a pre|&s;ence &amp; maje&s;ty with him, that a &s;tranger that never &s;aw him before, pointed him out among thirty great per&s;ons. O Sirs, it is not the gray beard, nor the purple Robe, nor the grim look that makes a man &s;o much a man of pre&s;ence and maje|&s;ty as holine&s;&s;e doth; and therefore as you would indeed be men of pre&s;ence, men of maje&s;ty, labour to be holy. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="13"> Thirteenthly, Con&s;ider that the times and &s;ea&s;ons wherein we live, call aloud for holine&s;&s;e. Many &s;ay, the times are bad, very bad, extream bad: I, and let me tell you that your hearts and lives are bad, very bad, extream bad; and it is the&s;e that have made the times &s;o bad, &s;o very bad, &s;o ex|tream bad; it is in vain to talk of better times, or wi&s;h for better times till you mend your manners, and get better hearts. The times would quickly mend, if every man would but in good earne&s;t labour to mend one. If your hearts and lives were but more holy, the times would quickly be more happy. You &s;ay you &s;hall never have peace and pro&s;perity till all be brought to uniformity in Religion: but I &s;ay you &s;hall never have any la&s;ting peace, felicity, or pro&s;perity till you come to be holy, 2 Kings 9.22. <HI>And it came to pa&s;&s;e when</HI> Joram <HI>&s;aw</HI> Jehu, <HI>that he &s;aid Is it peace,</HI>
<PB N="219" REF="140"> Jehu? <HI>And he an&s;wered, What peace &s;o long as the whore|doms of thy mother</HI> Jezebel, <HI>and her witchcrafts are &s;o many?</HI> The interrogation carries with it a &s;trong negation, <HI>What peace?</HI> that is, there is no peace to &s;uch a wicked wretch as thou art: thou mai&s;t wi&s;h for peace, and dream of peace, and long for peace, and look for peace, and pur&s;ue after peace; and yet thou &s;hall be far off from peace. What <HI>Jehu</HI> &s;aid to <HI>Joram,</HI> I may &s;ay to all unholy per&s;ons; What peace, and what pro&s;perity can you expect while&s;t your drunkenne&s;&s;e, and uncleanne&s;&s;e, and wan|tone&s;&s;e, and lukewarmne&s;&s;e, and dead-heartedne&s;&s;e, and wan|tonne&s;&s;e, and wickedne&s;&s;e remains? what good dayes, what happy year can you look for while&s;t your formality, and indifferency, and hypocri&s;ie, and infidelity do bear witne&s;&s;e again&s;t you?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver&s;e 3 doubt|le&s;s relates to <HI>Jeroboams</HI> and the ten Tribes fir&s;t revolt from the hou&s;e of <HI>David,</HI> and from the hou&s;e of God, and from all his Ordinan|ces; and this was a very wicked and unholy time, as is evident in &s;everal Scriptures.</NOTE> So when <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was very &s;uper&s;titious and vain in her wor&s;hip, then <HI>there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexati<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ns were upon all the inhabitants of the Countreyes, and Nation was de|&s;troyed</HI> (or beaten in pieces) <HI>of Nation, and City of City: for God did vex them with all adver&s;ity,</HI> 2 Chron. 15.5, 6. When men are unholy, God will vex them, he will vex them with adver&s;ity, he will vex them with all adver&s;ity. When Nations are ungodly, God will de&s;troy them, he will beat them in pieces, he will beat them in pieces one again&s;t ano|ther. When there is no holine&s;&s;e in him that comes in, nor in him that goes out, then there &s;hall be no peace to him that goes in, or to him that goes out; When all is &s;aid that can be &s;aid, and when all is done that can be done, wicked men will &s;till be as unquiet as the raging and foaming &s;ea, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 57.20, 21. God will one day or another be &s;till at war with that man that is at peace with his &s;in. It is &s;aid of the Locu&s;ts that came out of the bottomle&s;&s;e pit in Rev. 9.7, 8, 9. <HI>that they were like unto hor&s;es, and on their heads were as it were Crowns of gold, and their faces as it were faces of men, and their hairs as the hair of a woman, and their teeth were as it were the teeth of Lions, &amp;c.</HI> Here are <HI>qua&s;i</HI> Hor&s;es, <HI>qua&s;i</HI> Crowns of gold, <HI>qua&s;i</HI> faces of men, <HI>qua&s;i</HI> hairs of a woman, and <HI>qua&s;i</HI> teeth of Lions, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Now ju&s;t
<PB N="220" REF="141"> &s;uch things are all the comforts and contentments of un|holy per&s;ons, their gold and &s;ilver, is but as it were gold and &s;ilver; and their pro&s;perity and plenty is but as it were pro&s;perity and plenty; their peace and tranquility is but as it were peace and tranquility; and their victories and triumphs are but as it were victories and triumphs; and their joys and rejoycings are but as it were joyes and rejoycings. But mark when the holy Evangeli&s;t comes to &s;et down a de&s;cription of the Locu&s;ts tails, he doth not &s;ay that there were as it were &s;trings in their rails; but in plain po&s;itive downright terms he tels you that there were &s;tings in their tails, <HI>ver.</HI> 10. he tells you that their &s;tings were true &s;tings, real &s;tings, certain &s;tings; And &s;o while men remain unholy, there are &s;ure and certain &s;tings in the tails of all their comforts,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 29.14.</NOTE> contentments and enjoyments. The be&s;t way on earth to have a &s;ure, a &s;ound, a &s;olid, a la&s;ting peace with God, with our &s;elves, and with others, is to put onholine&s;&s;e as a Robe upon us, &amp; to put all inquity far from us, <HI>Job</HI> 11.13, 20.</P>
<P>O Sirs, the wor&s;er the times are, the better &s;hould every man labour to be. Many complain of burdens, Taxes, op|pre&s;&s;ions,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 59.9, 10, 11, 14, 15.</NOTE> and vexations, and they &s;ay with tho&s;e, <HI>That Judgement is turned backward, and that Ju&s;tice &s;tandeth afar off, and that truth is fallen in the &s;treet, and that equity can|not enter, and that he that departeth from evil maketh him&s;elf a prey, that judgement is far from us, and that Ju&s;tice doth not overtake us, that we wait for light, but behold ob&s;curity: for brightne&s;&s;e, but behold darkne&s;&s;e; that we grope for the wall like the blind, that we grope as if we had no eyes, that we &s;tumble at noon-day, that we roar all like Bears, and mourn &s;ore like doves: that we look for Judgement, but there is none: and for &s;alvation, but it is far off from us.</HI> The&s;e and a thou&s;and more &s;uch complaints may be found among&s;t us. This Scripture la&s;t cited, puts me in mind of a &s;trange, but yet of a very true &s;aying, <HI>viz.</HI> That there is more ju&s;tice and equity in hell, then there is in <HI>France:</HI> for in hell, the oppre&s;&s;or is oppre&s;&s;ed: in hell he that would not give a crumb of bread, &s;hall not have a drop of water. In hell &s;uch as &s;hed innocent blood, have blood to drink; in hell
<PB N="221" REF="141"> there are no bribes, in hell there is none to plead an unrigh|teous cau&s;e, in hell there is no re&s;pect of per&s;ons; in hell every man hath according to his de&s;erts: but in <HI>France</HI> it is otherwi&s;e, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And do not the &s;trong cries, tears, &s;ighs, groans and complaints of the poor and needy, of hire|lings, orphans, and widows, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> in mo&s;t Nations &s;trongly demon&s;trate that there is more Ju&s;tice and Equity in hell, then there is in mo&s;t of the Nations of the earth? But now what is the choice&s;t &s;alve for all the&s;e fores? certainly holi|ne&s;&s;e. What is the mo&s;t &s;overaign Remedy again&s;t all the&s;e maladies? nothing but holine&s;&s;e. O Sirs, the more holine&s;&s;e ri&s;es in a Nation, the more will righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e run down as mighty &s;treams, and the more the hearts of the poor and needy will leap and &s;ing for joy. There is no way to make a Nation happy but by making of it holy. O Sirs! as you are men, as you are Engli&s;h-men, as you love your Countrey, as you honour your King and Countrey, and as you de&s;ire the peace, pro&s;perity and felicity of your Countrey, labour to be holy. O <HI>England, England,</HI> it is holine&s;&s;e that will be a wall of fire about thee, and a glory in the mid&s;t of thee: it is holine&s;&s;e that will make thee happy at home, and pro|&s;perous abroad. Among all Engli&s;h men, there is no man to the holy man: Certainly that man that is mo&s;t bu&s;ie about mend|ing his own heart and life, contributes mo&s;t to the mending of the times. There are many &s;turdy blades that will talk &s;tifly for their Countrey, and that &s;ay that they will &s;tand &s;toutly for their Countrey, and yet by their daily ungodli|ne&s;&s;e they do undo their Countrey: the&s;e men de&s;troy by their lives, what they &s;eem to build with their hands. And therefore as ever you would have all things that are out of order in order, labour for a well ordered heart, and a well ordered life. Holine&s;&s;e of conver&s;ation is the be&s;t means under heaven to prevent confu&s;ion and de&s;olation.</P>
<P>Again, If you will look upon the pre&s;ent times as times wherein the Judgements of God are abroad in the world, I &s;ay if you will thus look upon them, then I &s;ay the times call aloud upon you for holine&s;&s;e. I&s;a. 26.9. <HI>When thy Judgements are abroad in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn
<PB N="222" REF="142"> righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e!</HI> O Sirs! when garments are rowld in blood, when the &s;word devours the fle&s;h of the &s;lain, when Ju&s;tice laies heap upon heap; when pe&s;tilence and famine de&s;troyes all on the right hand and on the left. O! then every one will &s;ay, Come let us break off our &s;ins, let us turn to the Lord, let us mend our wayes, and reform our lives, and get holine&s;&s;e into our hearts. We behold many &s;orer, heavier and wor&s;e judgements then the&s;e are upon us this day, if we had but eyes to behold them. O! that hardne&s;&s;e of heart,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><P>P&s;alm 78. P&s;alm 81.12. That which was wont to be &s;aid of <HI>A&s;rick,</HI> that it was ever a pro|ducing &s;ome new mon&s;ter or other, may be &s;aid of the Age, yea, of the land wherein we live.</P>
<P>2 The&s;&s;. 1.8, 9. Amos 8, 11, 12.</P></NOTE> that barrenne&s;&s;e of &s;oul, that blindne&s;&s;e of mind, that &s;earedne&s;&s;e of con&s;cience, that perver&s;ne&s;&s;e of Spirit, that Super&s;titious Will-wor&s;hip, and that loo&s;ne&s;&s;e of life that multitudes are given up to this day! O! tho&s;e God-di&s;honouring, tho&s;e Chri&s;t-denying, tho&s;e Ordinance-de&s;pi&s;ing, tho&s;e Con&s;cience-wa&s;ting, tho&s;e life-corrupting, and tho&s;e Soul-damning opinions, principles, bla&s;phemies, and practices that multitudes are given up to this day! O! the &s;piritual decayes, the &s;piritual witherings, the &s;pi|ritual &s;lumberings, the &s;piritual faintings, the &s;piritual lan|giu&s;hings that are to be found among a profe&s;&s;ing people this day! Now certainly there are no judgements to &s;pi|ritual judgements; none reach the &s;oul like the&s;e, none &s;eperate between God and the &s;oul like the&s;e: none lay men open to temporal and eternal judgements like the&s;e. Spiritual judgements are the mo&s;t in&s;en&s;ible judgements, they are the mo&s;t dreadfull judgements, they are the mo&s;t incureable judgements, they are the mo&s;t damnning judge|ments of all judgements. Spiritual judgements have mo&s;t of wrath and mo&s;t of horror, and mo&s;t of hell in them. O that now the&s;e terrible judgements are abroad in the earth, you would learn righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e that you would learn to be holy! For as there is no &s;uch &s;ence again&s;t, temporal judgements, as holine&s;&s;e; &s;o there is no &s;uch &s;ence again&s;t &s;piritual judgements as holine&s;&s;e. O the &s;piritual &s;trokes, the &s;piri|tual Arrows, the &s;piritual di&s;ea&s;es, the &s;piritual &s;ickne&s;&s;es, the &s;piritual plagues that are abroad in the world! and O that the dread and &s;en&s;e of the&s;e might provoke you, and prevail with you to labour after real holine&s;&s;e, to labour
<PB N="223" REF="142"> after the power of godline&s;s, which will be your greate&s;t &s;ecurity again&s;t the&s;e mo&s;t deadly and &s;oul-killing ma|ladies!</P>
<P>Again, the dayes and times wherein we live, call aloud for holine&s;&s;e; if you look upon them as dayes and times of grace, what greater and higher engagements to holine&s;&s;e were ever put upon a people, then tho&s;e that God hath put upon us, who enjoy &s;o many wayes, means and helps to make us holy? O the pains, the care, the co&s;t, the charge that God hath been at, and that God is daily at, to make us holy! Hath he not &s;ent,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 7.13, 25. Chap. 25.3, 4. and chap. 35.14, 15. I&s;a. 49.4, 5. 2 Cor. 12.14, 15. Rom. 13.11. <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> and doth he not &s;till &s;end his Me&s;&s;engers, ri&s;ing up early, and going to bed late, and all to provoke you to be holy? Have not many of them &s;pent their time, and &s;pent their &s;trength, and &s;pent their &s;pirits, and &s;pit up their lungs, and &s;pent their very lives, to make you holy? O Sirs! what do holy Ordinances call for, but holy hearts and holy lives? What do dayes of light call for, but walking in the light, and ca&s;ting off the deeds of darkne&s;s? What is the voice of all the means of grace, but this, O labour to be gracious? And what is the voice of the holy Spirit, but this, O labour to be holy? And what is the voice of all the miracles of mercy that God hath wrote in the mid&s;t of you, but this, <HI>Be ye holy, be ye holy?</HI> O Sirs, what could the Lord have done that he hath not done, to make you holy? Hath he not lifted you up to heaven, in re&s;pect of holy helps? Hath he not to this very day followed you clo&s;e with holy offers, and holy intreaties, and holy coun&s;els, and holy encouragements, and all to make you holy? And will you be loo&s;e &s;till, and proud &s;till, and world|ly &s;till, and malicious &s;till, and envious &s;till, and contentious &s;till, and unholy &s;till? O what is this,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 2 4, 5. I&s;a. 32.25.</NOTE> but to provoke the Lord to put out all the lights of heaven, to drive your Teachers into corners, to remove your Candle&s;ticks, and to &s;end his everla&s;ting Go&s;pel, that hath &s;tood long a tip-toe, among a people that may more highly prize it, and dearly love it, and &s;toutly defend it, and con&s;cientiou&s;ly practice it, then you have done to this very day? By what hath been &s;aid, I &s;uppo&s;e there is nothing more evident, then that the
<PB N="224" REF="143"> times and &s;ea&s;ons wherein we live, calls aloud upon every one to look after holine&s;&s;e, and to labour for holine&s;&s;e; never complain of the times, but cea&s;e to do evil, and labour to do well,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 1.16, 17, 18, 19.</NOTE> and all will be well; Get but better hearts, and better lives, and you will quickly &s;ee better times.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="14"> Fourteenthly, Con&s;ider that holine&s;&s;e will render you mo&s;t like to a holy God, a holy Chri&s;t, and to holy Angels. God is frequently called the holy one in Scripture; he is cal|led the holy one above thirty times in the old Te&s;tament.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gold being the mo&s;t pre|cious mettal, you lay it over tho&s;e things that are mo&s;t precious to you; &s;o doth God lay holi|ne&s;s over all tho&s;e things that are mo&s;t precious to him.</NOTE> Angels are holy, and Saints are holy, but it is God alone that is the holy one. His per&s;on is holy, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 6.3. his name is holy, <HI>Luke</HI> 1.49. his works are holy, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 45.17. his judgements are holy, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 22.1, 2, 3. his habitation is ho|ly, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 57.15. his Temple is holy, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.17. his King|dom is holy, <HI>Rev.</HI> 21.27. his Word is holy, <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 19. and his Sabbaths are holy, <HI>Exod.</HI> 16.23. Now this is Gods own Argument, <HI>Be ye holy, for I am holy, Lev.</HI> 19.2. 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.15, 16. Concerning the holine&s;&s;e of God, I &s;hall &s;peak at large (by divine a&s;&s;i&s;tance) when I come to pre&s;s you upon perfecting of holine&s;&s;e, and therefore let this touch &s;uffice for the pre&s;ent. Sirs, you cannot be l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ke to God in many other things, but you may be like to God in this one thing, in this noble thing, in this mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary thing, Holine&s;&s;e; and therefore labour after it.</P>
<P>Again, as holine&s;&s;e will render you mo&s;t like to a holy God, &s;o holine&s;&s;e will render you mo&s;t like to a holy Chri&s;t. The Apo&s;tle calls him <HI>the holy one,</HI> 1 <HI>John</HI> 2.20. Chri&s;t is e&s;&s;entially holy, he is infinitely holy, he is originally holy, he is &s;ingularly holy, he is eminently holy, he is perfectly holy, he is tran&s;cendently holy, and he is immutably holy: And &s;o much the Devil him&s;elf confe&s;&s;eth, in <HI>Mark</HI> 1.24. <HI>I know thee who thou art,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Alluding, as &s;ome think, to Exod. 28.36.</NOTE> <HI>the holy one of God,</HI> or rather as the Greek hath it, (<GAP DESC="foreign">) that holy one by way of excel|lency and eminency. Yea Chri&s;t takes delight to characte|rize him&s;elf by this title, in <HI>Rev.</HI> 3.7. <HI>The&s;e things &s;aith he that is holy:</HI> And in <HI>Dan.</HI> 9.24. he is called <HI>the mo&s;t holy;</HI> or as the Hebrew hath it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Kode&s;h k<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">da|&s;him.</NOTE> <HI>the holine&s;s of holine&s;&s;es.</HI> The&s;e ab|&s;tracts &s;peak out the vigour and &s;trength, the eminency and
<PB N="225" REF="143"> excellency of Chri&s;ts holine&s;s: Chri&s;t is holine&s;s it &s;elf, yea holine&s;&s;es; and what do the&s;e ab&s;tracts &s;peak out, but that perfect and compleat holine&s;s that is in Chri&s;t: The Angels in <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 6.3. do three times iterate or repeat, <HI>holy, holy, holy;</HI> now though &s;ome do conceive that this three-fold repetition hath reference to all the three per&s;ons, holy Father, holy Son, and holy Spirit, yet they that will but compare the Text with <HI>John</HI> 12.37, 42. &s;hall plainly &s;ee that it relates only to our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t: and &s;o the three-fold repeti|tion denotes only the &s;uperlative eminency of Chri&s;ts holi|ne&s;s. Chri&s;t is holy in his natures, in his offices, in his pur|po&s;es, in his coun&s;els, in his word, and in his works:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 4.23. Luke 1.35. Ephe&s;. 4. Gal. 2.20.</NOTE> His conception was holy, his conver&s;ation was holy, his conver&s;e was holy, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Holine&s;s is the image of Chri&s;t, it is the pi|cture of Chri&s;t, the perfections of Chri&s;t, it makes a man con|formable to the life of Chri&s;t. Chri&s;ts Holine&s;s, is that noble copy, after which we &s;hould all endeavour to write: Sub|jects may without Trea&s;on or offence attempt to be like their Prince, in wi&s;dom, goodne&s;s, righteou&s;ne&s;s, holine&s;s, peace, piety, clemency, and &s;anctity; though they cannot without rebellion and di&s;obedience endeavour to be like him in pow|er, greatne&s;s, might, maje&s;ty, &s;plendour and glory; &s;o we may &s;afely and honourably attempt to be like to Je&s;us Chri&s;t in wi&s;dom, righteou&s;ne&s;s, and holine&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">It is Chri&s;ts particular honour to be imitated in all morals ab&s;olutely.</NOTE> Though we may not attempt to be like him in his miracles, &s;igns and wonders. O Sirs! Some have counted it their greate&s;t honour and glory in this world, that they have been like &s;uch and &s;uch, who have been high and glorious in the world; and why then &s;hould not you reckon it your greate&s;t glory and hap|pine&s;s to be like to Chri&s;t in holine&s;s, though not in mea&s;ure or quantity, yet in truth and reality. As you would re|&s;emble Chri&s;t to the life, labour to be holy; in other things you cannot be like to Chri&s;t, but in holine&s;s you may; you cannot be like to Chri&s;t in his greatne&s;s, maje&s;ty, or glory, nor yet in his omnipotency, omni&s;ciency, nor omnipre&s;ence, nor yet in his general or &s;pecial providence, nor in a thou|&s;and other things, but you may be like to Chri&s;t in his ho|line&s;s: Look as face an&s;wers to face (as <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;peaks)
<PB N="226" REF="144"> &s;o you may reach to that holine&s;s that in reality may an&s;wer to the very holine&s;s of Chri&s;t: And this is your only way to be like to Chri&s;t.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">All Angels in re&s;pect of their nature are alike, but what the par|ticular diffe|rences are between An|gels, Arch|angels, prin|cipalities and powers, and what their di&s;tinct offices are, I confe&s;s (with <HI>Au&s;tin</HI>) I under&s;tand not, neither is it my duty to know, nor my danger to be ignorant of the&s;e things, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE>Again, as holine&s;s will render you mo&s;t like to a holy Chri&s;t, &s;o holine&s;s will render you mo&s;t like to the ble&s;&s;ed Angels. The ble&s;&s;ed Angels are holy in their nature, and holy in their offices, and holy in their actings; they are cal|led holy Angels, <HI>Mat.</HI> 25.31. <HI>When the &s;on of man &s;hall come in his glory, and all his holy Angels with him;</HI> and &s;o in <HI>Rev.</HI> 14.9, 10. <HI>And he that wor&s;hippeth the bea&s;t, or that re|ceives his mark in his fore-head, or in his hand, he &s;hall be tor|mented with fire and brim&s;tone in the pre&s;ence of the holy An|gels, and in the pre&s;ence of the Lamb.</HI> The Angels holine&s;s is their conformity to the original pattern of purity and ex|cellency. The Crown of holine&s;s was &s;et upon the heads of Angels at their Creation; tho&s;e Princes of glory were crowned with holine&s;s (as it were) in the cradle. The An|gels are holy in their prai&s;es, and holy in their waitings, and holy in their operations, and holy in all their mini&s;trations. <HI>Boddin</HI> tells a &s;tory of one, who de&s;ired of God the guidance and a&s;&s;i&s;tance of an holy Angel, and accordingly he had &s;en|&s;ible manife&s;tations of a holy Spirit that a&s;&s;i&s;ted him, and followed him to his death; if in company he &s;pake any un|wary words, he was &s;ure to be adverti&s;ed and reproved for it by a dream in the night; or if he read any book that was not good, the Angel would &s;trike upon the book, to cau&s;e him to leave reading in it. When that Sorcerer <HI>Balaam</HI> went to cur&s;e the people of God, a holy Angel &s;tood in the way, drew his &s;word upon him, and ju&s;tled his bones again&s;t the wall, and all to prevent the execution of his wicked and cur&s;ed intentions, <HI>Numb.</HI> 22.22. O! how much more then do they &s;tand in the way of the Saints, to prevent tho&s;e weakne&s;&s;es and mi&s;carriages which Satan and their own cor|ruptions would otherwi&s;e carry them to. And doubtle&s;s as they have a hand to re&s;train the Saints from evil, &s;o they have an eye and an influence upon them for good: 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 5.21. <HI>I charge you before God, and our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and the Elect Angels,</HI> &amp;c. The holy Angels have their
<PB N="227" REF="144"> eyes and their influences upon us; they are our ob&s;ervers and over&s;eers; they are called watchers in <HI>Dan.</HI> 4.17. for they watch our words, and they watch our works,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 11.10. Hebr. 1. <HI>ult.</HI> Rev. 22.9. The Angels watch you in all places, ca&s;es and conditions, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> and they watch our wayes; they watch us before duties, and they watch us in duties, and they watch us after duties; they watch us before duties, to &s;ee how we prepare and fit our &s;elves to meet with God; and they watch us in duties, to &s;ee how our graces are acted upon God, and how our hearts and affections are running out after God; and they watch us after duties, to &s;ee whether we walk worthy of God, and worthy of our duties, and worthy of our profe&s;&s;ion, and worthy of our high calling. In times of health, &s;trength, peace, pro&s;perity, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> they watch to &s;ee how wi&s;ely, holily, humbly, fruitfully, cheerfully, and thankfully we will walk with God; and in times of adver&s;ity, they watch to &s;ee how believingly, how contentedly, how &s;elf-denyingly, and how patiently we will &s;ubmit to God, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> All which &s;peaks out the holine&s;s of the Angels. O! Sirs, you cannot in this world be like to the Angels in power, &s;trength, might, nor in agility, activity, &s;plendour, beauty or glory; but yet you may be like to them in purity and &s;anctity. Sirs, do not de|ceive your &s;elves, you &s;hall never be like to the Angels in glory, if you will not be like to them now in grace; if you will not with them now put on the robe of holine&s;s, you &s;hall not with them hereafter put on the crown of happine&s;s. We are to follow the examples of the be&s;t men,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 11.1.</NOTE> not an inch further then they were followers of Chri&s;t. Chri&s;tians (&s;aith father <HI>Latimer</HI>) are not bound to be the Saints Apes, they are not to imitate them in every thing; where their examples were good, it is good to imitate them; and where they were bad, it is duty to decline them. The faire&s;t copies that ever were written by Saints, have their blots, their blurs, and their errata's, and therefore it is be&s;t, it is &s;afe&s;t, it is noble&s;t, to &s;et the mo&s;t exact, the mo&s;t perfect, and the mo&s;t excellent copy of the Angels before us; who as they excell in &s;trength, &s;o they excell in holine&s;s al&s;o. <HI>P&s;alm</HI> 103.20. <HI>Ble&s;s the Lord ye his Angels, that excell in &s;trength, that do his Commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his
<PB N="228" REF="145"> Word.</HI> The Angels obey divine commands readily, cheerful|ly, faithfully, univer&s;ally, reverentially, humbly, affectio|nately, and unweariedly. O Sirs, &s;uch obedience, &s;uch holine&s;s will be your honour here, and your happine&s;s here|after. To gather up all; as ever you would be like to a holy God, a holy Chri&s;t, and the holy Angels, labour to be holy. In holine&s;s you may be like them, in other things you cannot re&s;emble them. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="15"> In the fifteenth and la&s;t place, to provoke you to labour after holine&s;&s;e, con&s;ider, the &s;tinging Argument in the text, <HI>viz.</HI> That without it no man &s;hall &s;ee the Lord: The ex|pre&s;&s;ion is exclu&s;ive; now, to &s;ee, is an <HI>Hebraei&s;m,</HI> and im|plies both vi&s;ion and fruition; now without holine&s;s, no man, be he high or low, noble or ignoble, rich or poor, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> &s;hall ever come to a ble&s;&s;ed acquaintance with God here, or to a glorious fruition of God hereafter.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 3. chap. 4.13. and Levit. 14. 2 Sam. 14.13, 14. Jonah 2. Rev. 1.9.</NOTE> O friends, if it were &s;o great a mi&s;ery to <HI>Adam</HI> to be ca&s;t out of Paradi&s;e, and &s;o great a puni&s;hment to <HI>Cain</HI> to be ca&s;t out of his fa|thers family (which was the only vi&s;ible Church of God on earth) and &s;uch a &s;ore affliction for the Lepers in the Law to be &s;hut out from all conver&s;e with men, and &s;o great a trou|ble and torment to <HI>Ab&s;alom</HI> to be bani&s;hed his fathers Court, and &s;o great a hell to <HI>Jonah</HI> to be &s;eemingly ca&s;t out of Gods &s;ight, and &s;o great a tribulation to <HI>John</HI> to be con|fined to the I&s;le o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <HI>Patmos?</HI> O! how great a mi&s;ery, how great a puni&s;hment, how great an affliction, how great a trouble and torment, how great a tribulation, how great a hell will it be for all unholy per&s;ons for ever and ever to be bani&s;hed the Court of heaven, and to be &s;hut out from the pre&s;ence of the Lord,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 The&s;. 1.7, 11.</NOTE> and from the glory of his power? If it were &s;uch an un&s;peakable grief and mi&s;ery to the Primitive Chri&s;tians (as indeed it was) to be debarred of one ano|thers &s;ociety and company, by being confined to I&s;les, and Mines, and &s;trong holds: O then, what an un&s;peakable grief and mi&s;ery will it be to all unholy per&s;ons to be for ever debarred of the ble&s;&s;ed &s;ociety of God, Chri&s;t, Angels, and Saints, and to be everla&s;tingly confined to the &s;trong holds of hell, and to the &s;ociety and company of that damned
<PB N="229" REF="145"> crew who will be &s;till a cur&s;ing and a bla&s;pheming of God, and adding to one anothers torments! O Sirs, it is the &s;ight of God in heaven, wherein mans happine&s;s and ble&s;|&s;edne&s;s doth con&s;i&s;t; it is the fruition of God in heaven, that is the life, the honour, the crown and glory of Angels and Saints: Heaven it &s;elf would be but a low thing, yea it would be but <HI>magnum nihil,</HI> a great nothing, without the &s;ight and fruition of God there. Now without holine&s;&s;e there is no &s;eeing of God, there is no po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing or enjoying of God, there is no po&s;&s;ibility of ever obtaining a part or portion in God. Ah friends, without holine&s;s all is lo&s;t; thy &s;oul is lo&s;t, thy Chri&s;t is lo&s;t, thy God is lo&s;t, thy Crown is lo&s;t, thy Heaven is lo&s;t, thy glory is lo&s;t, and what are all other lo&s;&s;es to the&s;e lo&s;&s;es? <HI>Demorrathus</HI> (of <HI>Corinth</HI>) &s;aith, they lo&s;t the chiefe&s;t part of their lives happine&s;s, that did not &s;ee <HI>Alexander</HI> &s;it on the throne of <HI>Darius,</HI> but what was their lo&s;s, to that unconceivable and unexpre&s;&s;ible lo&s;s, that all unholy per&s;ons mu&s;t &s;u&s;tain, who &s;hall never &s;ee the King of Kings in his beauty, who &s;hall never behold the Lord on the throne of his glory! Well Sirs, if none of the&s;e Arguments can prevail with you to labour after holine&s;s, I mu&s;t conclude that divine Ju&s;tice hath hardened you, and that Satan hath blinded you, and that your lu&s;ts have be&s;ot|ted you, and that this world hath bewitched you, and that it had been ten thou&s;and thou&s;and times better for you, that you had never been born, then to live without holine&s;s, and to die without holine&s;&s;e, and to be everla&s;tingly damn|ed for want of holine&s;&s;e. And thus much for the Mo|tives.</P>
<P>I come now to lay down &s;ome means and helps to holine&s;s. Suppo&s;ing that the language of &s;ome of your &s;ouls may be this: O, what &s;hall we do to be holy! O what cour&s;e, what way, what means mu&s;t we u&s;e that we may obtain this holi|ne&s;s, without which we now clearly &s;ee that we &s;hall never come to a fruition of happine&s;s! Methinks I hear &s;ome of you crying out, Oh none but holine&s;s, none but holine&s;s: As that Martyr once cryed out, <HI>Oh none but Chri&s;t, none but Chri&s;t:</HI> Methinks I hear you crying out, O give me holine&s;s
<PB N="230" REF="146"> or I die: As <HI>Samp&s;on</HI> once cryed out, <HI>Give me water or I die:</HI> Or as <HI>Rachel</HI> once cryed out, <HI>Give me children or I die:</HI> So you cry out, O give us holine&s;s or we die, give us ho|line&s;s or we eternally die. O what &s;hall we do to be holy! we &s;ee we are undone without holine&s;s, we &s;hall be damned without holine&s;s. O! that we were but made holy, that hereafter we may be a&s;&s;uredly happy.</P>
<P>Well then, if you are in good earne&s;t re&s;olved to be ho|ly, I would thus advi&s;e and coun&s;el you: Fir&s;t take heed of &s;ome things: Secondly, Labour to put in practi&s;e other things. The things that you are to avoid and &s;hun, even as you would &s;hun poy&s;on in your meat, or a Serpent in your way, yea as you would &s;hun the Devil him&s;elf, or hell it &s;elf, are the&s;e.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, Take heed of mi&s;taking &s;ome particular Scriptures, as that of <HI>Ezek.</HI> 14.6. Chap. 18.30, 31, 32. and Chap. 33 11, 14, 16, 19. from the&s;e and &s;uch like Scriptures, many unholy hearts are apt to conclude that they can repent when they plea&s;e, and that though they do defer their re|pentance, yet it is no &s;uch difficult thing to confe&s;s their &s;ins at la&s;t ca&s;t, and to be &s;orry for their &s;ins at la&s;t ca&s;t, and to for&s;ake their &s;ins at la&s;t ca&s;t, and to beg the pardon of their &s;ins at la&s;t ca&s;t: And that if they do &s;o, God hath given his Word for it, he hath given it under his own hand, that he will pardon their &s;ins, and &s;ave their &s;ouls. Now to prevent the&s;e &s;oul-undoing mi&s;takes, thou mu&s;t know O &s;inner, Fir&s;t, that thou can&s;t as well wa&s;h a Blackamore white at plea&s;ure, as thou can&s;t repent at plea&s;ure; thou can&s;t as well rai&s;e the dead at plea&s;ure,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 13.23. chap. 31.18. Lam. 5.21. Acts 5.31. Eph. 1.17, 18, 19. 2 Tim. 2.25. Acts 11.18.</NOTE> as thou can&s;t repent at plea&s;ure; thou can&s;t as well make a world at plea&s;ure, as thou can&s;t repent at plea&s;ure; thou can&s;t as well &s;top the cour&s;e of the Sun at plea&s;ure, as thou can&s;t repent at plea|&s;ure; thou can&s;t as well put the Sea in a Cockle-&s;hell at plea|&s;ure, and mea&s;ure the earth with a &s;pan at plea&s;ure, as thou can&s;t repent at plea&s;ure; witne&s;s the proofs in the margin. I confe&s;s that if to repent, were to hang down the head like a Bull-ru&s;h for a day, or to whine with <HI>Saul</HI> for an hour, or to put on &s;ackcloath and walk &s;oftly with <HI>Ahab</HI> for a &s;hort
<PB N="231" REF="146"> &s;pace, or to confe&s;s with <HI>Judas, I have &s;inned,</HI> or to &s;ay with <HI>Simon Magus, Pray to the Lord for me,</HI> or to tremble with <HI>Felix</HI> for a moment; I &s;ay, if this were to repent, doubt|le&s;s you might repent at plea&s;ure; but alas friends, to repent is another thing, to repent is the harde&s;t and difficulte&s;t work in the world; and that will appear in the next parti|cular. And therefore,</P>
<P>Secondly, To repent, is to turn a flint into fle&s;h, it is to <MILESTONE N="2"> turn darkne&s;s into light, hell into heaven; and is this ea&s;ie?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 36.25, 26. Acts 26.18. Ezek. 16.61, 62, 63.</NOTE> To repent, is to make all clean, in-&s;ide clean, and out-&s;ide clean; it is to make a clean head and a clean heart, a clean lip and a clean life; and is this ea&s;ie? True repentance includes a true &s;en&s;e of &s;in, a deep &s;orrow for &s;in, a hearty loathing of &s;in, and a holy &s;hame and blu&s;hing for &s;in;<NOTE PLACE="marg">chap. 29.43.</NOTE> and is this ea&s;ie? To repent, is for a man to loath him&s;elf as well as his &s;in; and is this ea&s;ie, for man, that is &s;o great a &s;elf-lover,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Corin. 7.10, 11.</NOTE> and &s;o great a &s;elf-exalter, and &s;o great a &s;elf-admirer, to be|come a &s;elf-loather? To repent, is to cro&s;s &s;inful &s;elf, it is to walk contrary to &s;inful &s;elf, yea it is to revenge a mans &s;elf upon him&s;elf; and is this ea&s;ie? To repent, is to pluck out right eyes, and to cut off right hands, and offer up only <HI>I&s;aacs;</HI> and is this ea&s;ie? True repentance is a daily turning of the &s;oul further and further from &s;in, and a daily turn|ing of the &s;oul nearer and nearer to God. It is a repentance not to be repented of; it is a repentance from &s;in, as well as a repentance for &s;in: Sin hath ca&s;t the &s;oul at &s;uch a di&s;tance from God, that though the &s;oul be every day a turning nearer and nearer to God, yet it can never (in this life) get &s;o near him as once it was, and as in heaven it &s;hall be. And now tell me, O &s;oul, is this &s;uch an ea&s;ie thing to be every day a turning thy back upon &s;in, and a turning thy face nearer and nearer to God? &s;urely no: True repentance lies in a daily dying to &s;in, and in a daily living to him who lives for ever. The very life of repentance, is the repentance of the life; and is this ea&s;ie? But,</P>
<P>Thirdly, True repentance is a turning, not from &s;ome &s;in, <MILESTONE N="3"> but from every &s;in. <HI>Ezek.</HI> 18.30. <HI>Repent and turn your &s;elves from all your tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, &s;o iniquity &s;hall not he your
<PB N="232" REF="147"> ruine.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 18.21.31. and chap. 20.43. He that had the &s;pot of Lepro&s;ie in any one part of his body, was accounted a Leper, al|though all the re&s;t of his bo|dy were &s;ound and whole, <HI>Levit.</HI> 13. So he that hath but one &s;pot, one &s;in which he doth not endeavour to wa&s;h out in the blood of Chri&s;t, and in the tears of true repen|tance, he is a Leper in the account of God. It was an ex|cellent &s;aying of <HI>Luther, Optima &amp; apti&s;&s;ima poeni|tentia e&s;t nova vita.</HI></NOTE> Every &s;in &s;trikes at the Law of God, the honour of God, the being of God, and the glory of God, and there|fore the penitent mu&s;t &s;trike at all. Every &s;in fetcheth blood from the heart of Chri&s;t, and every &s;in is a grief and vexa|tion to the Spirit of Chri&s;t, and therefore the penitent mu&s;t &s;et upon crucifying of all: Every &s;in is an enemy to a mans peace, and to a mans comfort, and to a mans confidence, and to a mans a&s;&s;urance, and to a mans communion with God, and therefore he mu&s;t &s;et upon for&s;aking of all. If ever thou art &s;aved, O man, thou mu&s;t repent as well of thy <HI>Achans</HI> as thy <HI>Ab&s;aloms,</HI> of thy <HI>Rimmons</HI> as of thy <HI>Mam|mons,</HI> of thy <HI>Davids</HI> as of thy <HI>Goliahs,</HI> of thy &s;ecret as well as thy open &s;ins, of thy loved as well as of thy loathed lu&s;ts, of thy babe-tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions as well as of thy Giant-like pro|vocations: If thy repentance be not univer&s;al, it will never be effectual: If a &s;hip &s;pring three leaks, and only two be &s;topt, the third will certainly &s;ink the &s;hip; or if a man hath two dangerous wounds in his body, and takes only order for the cure of one, the other will undoubtedly kill him; or if a man hath two grievous di&s;ea&s;es upon him, and will only deal with the Phy&s;itian for remedies again&s;t the one, he will without all peradventure peri&s;h by the prevalency of the other. <HI>Herod</HI> turned from many &s;ins, but not from his <HI>Da|lilah,</HI> his <HI>Herodias,</HI> which was his ruine. <HI>Judas</HI> you know was a Devil in an Angels habit, he &s;eemed to be turned from every &s;in, but he was not; he was a &s;ecret thief, he loved the bag, and that golden Devil, Covetou&s;ne&s;s, choaked him, and hanged him at la&s;t. <HI>Saul</HI> for a time turned from &s;everal evils, but his &s;paring one <HI>Agag,</HI> co&s;t him his &s;oul and his Kingdom at a clap. I have read a &s;tory of a devout man, who among&s;t other gifts, had the gift of healing, and many per&s;ons re|&s;orted to him for cure: Among the re&s;t, one <HI>Chromatius,</HI> who being &s;ick, &s;ent for him, and told him of his &s;ickne&s;s, and de&s;ired that he might have the benefit of cure, as others had before him: The devout man replyed, I cannot do it till thou ha&s;t beaten all the Images in thy hou&s;e to pieces. O that &s;hall be done &s;aid <HI>Chromatius;</HI> Here take my keyes, and where you find any images, break them in pieces; which ac|cordingly
<PB N="233" REF="147"> was done; upon this the devout man went to prayer, but no cure was wrought; whereupon the &s;ick man cryed out, O I am as &s;ick as ever, O I am very weak and &s;ick &s;till: It can|not be otherwi&s;e, replyed the devout per&s;on, neither can I help it, for there is doubtle&s;s one Idol yet in your hou&s;e undi&s;cover|ed, and that mu&s;t be defaced too: True (&s;aith <HI>Chromatius</HI>) it is &s;o indeed, it is all of beaten gold, it co&s;t 200. l. I would fain have &s;aved it, but here take my keyes again, you &s;hall find it fa&s;t lock't up in my che&s;t, break it al&s;o in pieces; which being done, the devout man prayed, and <HI>Chromatius</HI> was healed. The moral of it is good; the &s;in-&s;ick &s;oul mu&s;t break, not &s;ome, but all its Idols in pieces, before a cure will follow. It mu&s;t deface its golden Idols, its mo&s;t co&s;tly Idols, its mo&s;t darling Idols; the returning &s;inner mu&s;t make head again&s;t all his &s;ins, and trample upon all his lu&s;ts, or el&s;e he will die and be undone for ever; and though this be as difficult as it is noble, yet it is no more then what God hath engaged to do, and to &s;ee done, as you may &s;ee by comparing <HI>Ezek.</HI> 36.25, 26, 27. with <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 30.21, 22. Now is this an ea&s;ie thing, to turn from every &s;in, to loath every &s;in, and to abandon every &s;in, with a Get you hence, for what have I more to do with you? <HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 14.8. Sure|ly no. As <HI>Nehemiah</HI> ca&s;t out <HI>Tobiah</HI> and all his hou&s;hold-&s;tuff, in <HI>Nehem.</HI> 13.6, 7, 8. &s;o true repentance, it ca&s;ts out Satan and all his retinue; As <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> would not leave &s;o much as a hoof behind him, <HI>Exod.</HI> 10.26. So true repentance will not leave &s;o much as a lu&s;t behind; a di&s;pen&s;atory con&s;cience is alwayes an evil con&s;cience; he that can di&s;pen&s;e with one &s;in, will, when opportunity pre&s;ents, commit any &s;in. And as the flood made clean work, it &s;wept away all <HI>Noahs</HI> friends, and drowned all his &s;ervants; &s;o the flood of penitent tears makes clean work, it &s;weeps away every lu&s;t, it drowns every corruption in re&s;pect of love and dominion. And as &s;ome Conquerours would not give &s;o much as one of their enemies Quarter; &s;o true repen|tance will not give one lu&s;t quarter; it falls heavily upon the bones of every &s;in, and nothing but the blood and death of &s;in will &s;atisfie the penitent &s;oul; the true penitent is for the mor|tifying of every lu&s;t that hath had a hand in crucifying of his deare&s;t Saviour. It was worthily (and wittily) &s;aid by one,
<PB N="234" REF="148"> that true repentance &s;trips us &s;tark naked of all the garments of the old <HI>Adam,</HI> and leaves not &s;o much as the &s;hirt behind. Well Sirs, remember this, to repent of &s;in, and yet to live in &s;in, is a contradiction; And if thou repente&s;t with a contradiction (&s;aith <HI>Tertullian</HI>) God will pardon thee with a contradiction; thou repente&s;t and yet continue&s;t in thy &s;in, God will par|don thee, and yet &s;end thee to hell; theres a pardon with a con|tradiction.</P>
<P>Again fourthly, if repentance be &s;uch an ea&s;ie work as you &s;uppo&s;e, I be&s;eech you tell me, why do many men lie under &s;uch horrours and terrours of con&s;cience as they do, for not re|penting, when as repentance would quickly give them ea&s;e, and turn their hell into a heaven! I was la&s;t Winter with a young man, who upon his dying-bed for &s;everal hours together, be|ing in a dreadful agony, lay crying out, I am damn'd, I am damn'd, I am damn'd, I am damn'd! Ah how &s;oon would this poor wretch have got out of this hell, if it had been &s;o ea&s;ie a thing to have repented, as you imagine it is! and how many, when they have been pre&s;t to repent, have profe&s;&s;ed, that if they might have a thou&s;and worlds to repent, they could not repent! And will you &s;ay that repentance is ea&s;ie? How many have &s;ought repentance with tears, and would have bought re|pentance with the price of their deare&s;t blood, but could not obtain it? and will you &s;ay that repentance is ea&s;ie? O Sirs, is it good to be damn'd? is it good to go to hell? is it good to dwell with a devouring fire, and to live in everla&s;ting burnings? Is it good to have your habitations among&s;t Devils and damn|ed &s;pirits? Is it good to be bani&s;hed the Court of heaven, and to be &s;eparated for ever from the glorious pre&s;ence of God, and the &s;weet enjoyments of Chri&s;t, and the ble&s;&s;ed &s;ociety of An|gels and Saints, and the fruition of all the happine&s;s that hea|ven affords? O no! O no! O why then do not men prevent all this by repentance, if it be &s;uch an ea&s;ie thing to repent! But,</P>
<P>La&s;tly, If repentance be &s;uch an ea&s;ie work, why then do your hearts &s;o ri&s;e both again&s;t the Doctrine of repentance, and again&s;t tho&s;e that preach it and pre&s;s it? of all words, is not the word of repentance the harde&s;t word to read? and of all &s;ayings and Sermons,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 6.60.</NOTE> is not that of repentance the harde&s;t
<PB N="235" REF="148"> to hear and bear? <HI>Luther</HI> confe&s;&s;es that before his conver&s;ion he met not with a more di&s;plea&s;ing word in all the Scripture, nor in all his &s;tudy of Divinity, then that word <HI>Repent.</HI> O man! if repentance be &s;o ea&s;ie, why doth thy &s;pirit rage, and why doth thy heart &s;o &s;well and ri&s;e again&s;t tho&s;e that preach repen|tance unto life? Of all Preachers,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 3.2. Acts 2. <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> there are none that do &s;o di&s;plea&s;e and move thee, that do &s;o cut and gall thee, as tho&s;e that are &s;till a crying out, <HI>Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.</HI> Repentance is the vomit of the &s;oul; and ah how do &s;inners hearts ri&s;e again&s;t that Phy&s;ick, and tho&s;e that bring it? Repentance is the bleeding of the &s;oul; and ah how do wicked men &s;torm and take on at that hand that lets them blood?<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 30.10. Jer. 5.30, 31. chap. 14.14. chap. 23.11. to the end.</NOTE> You love tho&s;e that preach plea&s;ing things, that tickle your ears, though they never touch your hearts; that plea&s;e your fancies, though they never meddle with your con&s;ciences; and one Ser|mon of mercy you prefer before a thou&s;and Sermons of re|pentance. Now certainly if repentance were &s;o ea&s;ie to you, the Doctrine of repentance would be more plea&s;ing to you. For a clo&s;e, know, that that white Devil who now pre&s;ents re|pentance to thee as the ea&s;ie&s;t thing in the world, He will at la&s;t ca&s;t, to work thee to de&s;pair, and to cut the throat of thy &s;oul, pre&s;ent it not only as a hard and difficult work, but as an impo&s;&s;ible work. O that the&s;e things may be &s;o ble&s;t unto you, as to pre&s;erve you from being deceived and deluded with a con|ceit that repentance is ea&s;ie, and &s;o by this means keep you from labouring to be holy!</P>
<P>Now as to that part of the plea (from the Scriptures for|merly cited) <HI>viz.</HI> That hereafter will be time enough to repent; I &s;hall thus reply, Certainly the pre&s;ent call of God, the un|certainty of the Spirits motion, and the danger of delay, calls upon thee for pre&s;ent repentance; it is a dangerous thing to deal with God, as ill Debtors do by their Creditors; fir&s;t they put them off one week, and then another week, and then a third week, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> till at la&s;t they provoke their Creditors to ca&s;t them into pri&s;on, and to practi&s;e all &s;everity upon them; they that thus deal with God, &s;hall be as &s;everely dealt with by God, as you may &s;ee in <HI>Prov.</HI> 1.24. to 32. The antient warriers would not receive an old man into their Army; and do&s;t thou think
<PB N="236" REF="149"> O vain man,<NOTE PLACE="marg">It is re|ported that God &s;hould &s;ay to a man who de&s;i|red to re|pent in his old age, <HI>&V;bi con|&s;ump&s;i&s;ti farinam, ibi con&s;ume furfurem:</HI> Where you have &s;pent your flour, there go &s;pend your bran, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> that when thou ha&s;t &s;pent thy time, and wa&s;ted thy &s;trength, and exhau&s;ted thy &s;pirits in the work of Satan, and in the &s;ervice of thy lu&s;ts, that God will receive thee to his grace and favour? If thou do&s;t thus flatter thy &s;elf, it is ten thou|&s;and to one but that thou wilt deceive thy &s;elf; that God that hath made a promi&s;e to late repentance, hath made no promi&s;e of late repentance; &amp; though true repentance is never too late, yet late repentance is &s;eldom true: Ah how many millions are now in hell, who have thought, and re&s;olved, and &s;aid, that they would repent hereafter, but that hereafter never came! Thou &s;ai&s;t to morrow, to morrow thou wilt repent, when thou knowe&s;t not what a to morrow will bring forth. Alas! how many thou&s;and wayes may death &s;urprize thee, before to mor|row comes? Though there be but one way to come into the world, yet there is a thou&s;and thou&s;and wayes to be &s;ent out of the world. O the di&s;ea&s;es, the hazards, the dangers, the acci|dents, the deaths, that daily, that hourly attend the life of man! A Jewi&s;h Rabbin pre&s;&s;ing the practice of repentance up|on his Di&s;ciples, exhorted them to be &s;ure to repent the day be|fore they died; to which one of them replyed, that the day of a mans death was very uncertain; to which the Rabbin made an|&s;wer, Repent therefore every day, and then you &s;hall be &s;ure to repent the day before you die. O Sirs, except you do repent to day, you cannot tell that you &s;hall repent the day before you die; for who knows to day, but that he may die to morrow? It was once demanded of one,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Au&s;tin.</NOTE> What he would &s;ay of a wicked man who had lived loo&s;ly, but died penitently? <HI>&amp;c.</HI> to whom he replyed, What would you have me &s;ay? That he is damned? I will not, for I have nothing to do to judge him. Shall I &s;ay that he is &s;aved? I dare not, for I would not deceive thee; what then? Why this, repent thou out of hand, and thou art &s;afe, whatever is become of him. Ah friends, you are never &s;afe till you repent; it is repentance that puts you out of all danger of mi&s;carrying for ever. Shall the husband-man take his pre&s;ent &s;ea&s;ons for &s;owing and reaping? Shall the good Tenant repair his hou&s;e while the weather is fair? Shall the careful Pilot take his advantage of wind and tide, and &s;o put out to Sea? Shall the Traveller mend his pace, when he &s;ees the night comes on? and
<PB N="237" REF="149"> &s;hall the Smi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> &s;trike when the Iron is hot? and &s;hall not we take the pre&s;ent opportunity of repenting and turning to the Lord? Remembring that there will be a time when time &s;hall be no more;<NOTE PLACE="marg">He. 12.17. Luke 13.24, 27.</NOTE> and when there &s;hall be no place found for repen|tance, though it &s;hould be &s;ought carefully with tears; and re|membring that there will be a time when thy gla&s;s will be out, &amp; when the door will be &s;hut, and when there will be no entrance at all. And remembring that it is a &s;afer cour&s;e with prudent <HI>Prometheus</HI> to fore&s;ee a danger and &s;hun it, then with fooli&s;h <HI>Epimetheus</HI> to go on unadvi&s;edly, and be puni&s;hed.</P>
<P>Ah friends, it is a dangerous thing to make repentance,<NOTE PLACE="marg">What mad|ne&s;s and folly is it for a man that hath many young, &s;trong, &s;tout hor|&s;es, and a long journey to go, to let the&s;e pa&s;s by, and to lay his carriage, and get up him&s;elf upon an old feeble jade, that can hardly bear him|&s;elf! The application is ea&s;ie. Mal. 1.13, 14.</NOTE> which &s;hould be the practice of all your dayes, to be the task of old Age. Doth not common experience tell us, that the longer the Ship leaketh, the harder it is to be emptied; and that the longer the hou&s;e goes to decay, the wor&s;e it is to repair; and that the further the nail is driven, the harder it will be to get out? and &s;o certainly the longer any man defers his repentance, the more difficult it will be for him to repent; his heart will every day grow more and more hard, &amp; his will more and more perver&s;e, and his judgement more and more corrupted, and his affections more and more di&s;ordered, and his con&s;cience more and more benummed or enraged, and his whole life more and more de|filed and debauched. Friends, do not deceive your &s;elves, old age is but a &s;ad, a &s;andy, a tottering and &s;inking foundation for you to build your hopes and happine&s;&s;e upon; for you to build your everla&s;ting condition, your eternal making or marring upon. Are the dog dayes of old age, are the trembling hands, the wrinckled face, the dazeled eyes, the &s;tinking lungs, the fainting heart, the feeble knees, and the failing leggs, are the&s;e a &s;acrifice worthy of God? is a body full of &s;ores, aches, and di&s;ea&s;es, and a &s;oul full of &s;in, an offering becoming a God? &s;urely no. O what madne&s;&s;e, what wickedne&s;&s;e is this, to &s;erve Satan, your lu&s;ts, and this world with full di&s;hes, and to put off God with &s;craps? to &s;erve the&s;e in the flower, in the prime and primro&s;e of you days, and to put off God with the dregs of old age? Certainly repentance is rather a work for youth then old age, it is a work rather for &s;trength then weakne&s;&s;e; and for health then &s;ickne&s;&s;e. O do not let Satan deceive you, do
<PB N="238" REF="150"> not let your own hearts delude you, but fall upon the work of repentance pre&s;ently, knowing, that as you have one day more to repent of, &s;o you have one day le&s;&s;e to repent in. What a piece of vanity is it, that while the Ship is &s;ound, the tackling &s;ure, the Pilot well, the Sailers &s;trong, provi&s;ions laid in, and the wind favourable, that the Mariners and pa&s;&s;engers &s;hould lie in the Rode, carding, drinking, diceing, dancing and idling! And when the Ship is leak, the Pilot &s;ick, the mariners faint, provi&s;ions &s;pent, and the winds boi&s;terous, then to weigh Anchors, and hoi&s;t up &s;ail, to make a voyage into a far Coun|trey! And yet &s;uch is the vanity of mo&s;t men, who in the dayes of their youth, health and &s;trength, who when their memories are &s;trong, and their fancies quick, and their Rea&s;on ripe, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> do &s;in away, and fool away, and trifle away the day of grace, the offers of mercy, the motions of the Spirit, and the intrea|ties of Chri&s;t; and when old age comes, when their wits are crackt, their &s;ouls di&s;tracted, their &s;en&s;es &s;tupified, their hearts a&s;tonied, their minds darkned, and their bodies di&s;ea&s;ed and di|&s;tempered, O then they think to leap into heaven, with a <HI>Lord have mercy upon me</HI> in their mouthes: and though they have lived like devils, yet they hope they &s;hall die like Saints; and though they never took no care of Gods honour, yet they hope that God will take care of their &s;ouls; but when the thred of their lives is cut, the next news that ever you &s;hall hear of the&s;e, is, that they are gone to hell.</P>
<P>I have read of a young man, who being admoni&s;hed of the evil of his way, and cour&s;e, and being pre&s;&s;ed to leave his wick|edne&s;&s;e, and to break off his &s;ins by repentance, upon the con|&s;ideration of Judgement, Eternity and Death a coming: he an|&s;wered, what do you tell me of the&s;e things? I warrant you I will do well enough, for when death comes, I will &s;peak but three words, and that will help all, &amp; &s;o he went on in his wick|edne&s;&s;e: but in the end coming to a Bridge on Hor&s;e-back to go over a deep water, the Hor&s;e &s;tumbling, and he labouring to recover his Hor&s;e, could not, but at la&s;t he let go the Bridle, &amp; gave up him&s;elf and his Hor&s;e to the waters, and was heard to &s;ay the&s;e three words, Devil take all: Here were three words with a witne&s;&s;e. And &ocirc; that all that think to repent at la&s;t, with a
<PB N="239" REF="150"> Lord have mercy upon me, would lay this in&s;tance to heart. The light of thy life may be put out before thou can&s;t once &s;ay, <HI>(Mi&s;erere mei Deus)</HI> Lord be mercifull to me a &s;inner. Though the Chariot wheels run all the day long very near one another, yet they never overtake one another. O, take heed of delaying thy repentance; for the more thou delaye&s;t it, the more will thy account be increa&s;ed, thy debt augmented, Satan &s;trengthned, thy body infeebled, thy lu&s;ts imboldned, thy &s;oul endangered, and all the difficulties of conver&s;ion more and more mul|tiplied; by delaying of thy repentance, thou goe&s;t the way to gratifie Satan, to cozen thy &s;elf, to lo&s;e the oppor|tunities of grace, and to damn thy &s;oul for ever and ever. Well, remember this, if thou wilt not repent to day, God may &s;wear in his wrath to morrow, that thou &s;halt not enter into his re&s;t, and then wo to thee, that ever thou wert born. And thus much for the preventing of the&s;e &s;ad mi&s;takes about repentance, which mi&s;takes keep off many a man from looking and labouring after that holine&s;&s;e without which there is no happine&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>Secondly, If ever you would be holy, O then take heed of a Witch; take heed of the world; the world <MILESTONE N="2"> often &s;wells the heart with pride,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">eut. 32.15.22.</NOTE> it makes men forget God, neglect Chri&s;t, &s;light Ordinances, and de&s;pi&s;e holine&s;&s;e. Ah the time, the thoughts, the &s;trength,<NOTE PLACE="marg">That Car|dinal was wretched as well as rich, that would not leave his part in <HI>Paris</HI> for a part in Paradi&s;e.</NOTE> the &s;pirits that this enticing world hath made many to &s;pend and con&s;ume, while&s;t their &s;ouls have lien a bleeding, and eternity hath been po&s;ting upon them! Oh the dead|ne&s;&s;e, the barrenne&s;&s;e, the li&s;tle&s;ne&s;&s;e, the heartle&s;|ne&s;&s;e to any thing that is good, that doth attend a world|ly temper! Many men are &s;o bewitcht with the profits, plea&s;ures and honours of the world, that they mind not holine&s;&s;e, they regard not holine&s;&s;e, they care not for holine&s;&s;e, nor the means that lead to holine&s;&s;e, Philip. 3.18, 19. <HI>For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now I tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the Cro&s;s of Chri&s;t: who&s;e end is de&s;truction; who&s;e God is their belly: and who&s;e glory is their &s;hame, who mind earthly things.</HI> Who were tho&s;e that walked di&s;orderly? why tho&s;e that mind|ed
<PB N="240" REF="151"> earthly things: Who were tho&s;e that fetcht tears from the Apo&s;tles eyes? why tho&s;e that minded earthly things: Who were tho&s;e that were enemies to the cro&s;s of Chri&s;t? why tho&s;e that minded earthly things: Who were tho&s;e who&s;e end is de|&s;truction? why tho&s;e that minded earthly things: who were tho&s;e who&s;e God was their belly? why tho&s;e that minded earthly things: Who were tho&s;e who&s;e glory was their &s;hame? why tho&s;e that minded earthly things. <HI>Sicily</HI> is &s;o full of &s;weet flowers, that dogs cannot hunt there: and what do all the &s;weet contents and delights of this world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Diodorus Siculus.</NOTE> but make men lo&s;e the &s;cent of heaven and holine&s;&s;e! The world proves &s;ilken halters to &s;ome, and golden fetters to others: to &s;ome it is like the Swallows dung that put out <HI>Tobias</HI> eyes, to others it is like the waters of <HI>Nilus,</HI> that makes the inhabitants deaf. All the flow|ers of this world are &s;urrounded with many bryars. The world is all &s;hadow and vanity, its like <HI>Jonahs</HI> gourd; man may &s;it un|der its &s;hadow for a while, but it &s;oon decayes and dies. He that &s;hall but weigh mans pains with his pay, his mi&s;eries with his plea&s;ures, his &s;orrows with his joyes, his cro&s;&s;es with his com|forts, his wants with his enjoyments, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> may well cry out Vanity of vanity, and all is vanity. The whole world is cir|cular,<NOTE PLACE="marg">If the whole earth were changed into a globe of gold, it could not fill thy heart.</NOTE> the heart of man is triangular, and we know a circle cannot fill a triangle. O Sirs, if your hearts be not filled with holine&s;&s;e, they will be filled with the world, the fle&s;h and the Devil. Either holine&s;&s;e or Satan mu&s;t po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e you: Some there be that have much holine&s;s, and much of the world too, as <HI>Abraham, I&s;aac, Jacob, Jo&s;eph, Job, David, Hezekiah, Daniel, &amp;c.</HI> And others there be that have no holine&s;&s;e, nor nothing of the world neither; the&s;e men are fair for two hells, a hell of mi&s;ery here, and a hell of torment hereafter. Some have much of the world, but not a &s;park of holine&s;&s;e: as <HI>Saul, Haman, Dives, Herod, &amp;c.</HI> who had a world of wealth, but not a dram of grace; and others have a great deal of holine&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Iames 2.5. Mat. 11.5.</NOTE> that have but little or nothing of the world, as the Apo&s;tles, and <HI>Lazarus, &amp;c.</HI> Now is it not infi|nitely better, to have holine&s;&s;e without the world, and &s;o be happy for ever, then to have much of the world without holine&s;&s;e, and &s;o be damned for ever?</P>
<PB N="281" REF="151">
<P>A man bewitch't with the world, will loo&s;e many precious opportunities of grace, which are more worth then a world;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 24.24. <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> witne&s;s Rich <HI>Felix,</HI> who had no lea&s;ure to hear poor <HI>Paul,</HI> though the hearing of a Sermon might have &s;aved his &s;oul. A man bewitch't with the world has his &s;inning times, and his eating times, and his &s;leeping times, and his trading times, and his fea&s;ting times, and his &s;porting times, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but he has not his hearing times, nor his praying times, nor his reading times, nor his mourning times, nor his repenting times, nor his reforming times, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> He can have time, yea and he will have time for every thing but to honor his God, and to make him|&s;elf happy for ever.</P>
<P>A man bewitch't with the world, will, when 'tis put to his choice, rather part with Chri&s;t to enjoy the world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 19.16.23.</NOTE> then part with the world to enjoy Chri&s;t; witne&s;s the young man in the Go&s;pel, who preferred a drop before a Sea, a crum before a Crown, and his trea&s;ure on earth, before trea&s;ure in heaven; he would not leave that on earth which he could not long keep, for the enjoyment of that in heaven, which he &s;hould never loo&s;e; rather then he would let his po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions go, he would let God, and Chri&s;t go, and heaven go, and all go, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> If Heaven can be had at no cheaper a rate, then parting with his po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions, Chri&s;t may keep his Heaven to him&s;elf, and make the be&s;t on't he can if he will, for hee'l have none on't upon tho&s;e terms.</P>
<P>Again, a man bewitch't with the world, will prefer the mo&s;t ba&s;e and contemptible things before the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, he will with the <HI>Gerge&s;ens,</HI> prefer his very Swine before a Saviour;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 8.28, <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> when they &s;aw what a &s;ad market their Hoggs were brought to, they de&s;ired Chri&s;t to depart out of their country; the&s;e <HI>Ger|ge&s;ites</HI> had rather loo&s;e Chri&s;t, then loo&s;e their Porkets; they had rather that the devil &s;hould po&s;&s;e&s;s their &s;ouls, then that he &s;hould drown their Pigs; they prefer their Swine before their &s;alvation, and pre&s;ent a wretched petition for their own damnation; they be&s;ought him that he would depart out of their coa&s;ts, though there be no mi&s;ery, no plague, no cur&s;e, no wrath, no hell to Chri&s;ts departure from a people, yet men be|witched with the world will de&s;ire this. Men bewitched with
<PB N="282" REF="152"> the world will prefer a <HI>Barabbas</HI> before a <HI>Je&s;us,</HI> they will with <HI>Judas</HI> betray Chri&s;t, and with <HI>Pilate</HI> condemn Chri&s;t, and with the Scribes and Phari&s;ees they will cry out, <HI>Crucifie him, Crucifie him,</HI> away with this Je&s;us, away with this Je&s;us, let <HI>Barabbas</HI> live, but let Je&s;us dye, let <HI>Barabbas</HI> be &s;aved, but let Chri&s;t be hanged. Ah what incarnate Devils will &s;uch men prove who are bewitched with this world?</P>
<P>A man bewitch't with the world will gain no good by the Mini&s;try of the Word; witne&s;s <HI>Ezekiels</HI> hearers, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 33.31, 32, 33. and witne&s;s the &s;tony ground, <HI>Mat.</HI> 13.22. and witne&s;s Chri&s;ts followers, <HI>John</HI> 6. Some Writers &s;ay that no|thing will grow where Gold grows, certainly where the love of this world growes, there nothing will grow that is good: A heart filled either with the love of the world, or the profits of the world, or the plea&s;ures of the world, or the honors of the world, or the cares of the world, or the bu&s;ine&s;&s;es of the world, is a heart incapacitated to receive any divine coun&s;el or comfort, tis a heart &s;hut up again&s;t God and holine&s;s, tis a heart po&s;&s;es't with many devils; and therefore no wonder if &s;uch a heart loaths the hony-comb of holine&s;s; yea tis no wonder to &s;ee &s;uch a heart to deride and &s;corn holine&s;s as the greate&s;t fooli&s;hne&s;s, <HI>Luke</HI> 16.14. The Poets tell of <HI>Licaon</HI> being turned into a Wolf; but when a worldling is made holy there is a Wolf turned into a man, yea a devil turned into a Saint; therefore the Holy Gho&s;t &s;peaking of <HI>Zacheus</HI> (who had long been bewitch't by the world) brings him in with an <HI>Ecce, Behold,</HI> as if it were a wonder of wonders that ever &s;uch a worldling &s;hould be made holy.</P>
<P>A man bewitch't with the world will venture the lo&s;s of his &s;oul to enjoy the world, <HI>Mat.</HI> 16.26. As that Pope that &s;old his &s;oul to the devil, for the enjoyment of the Popedom &s;ix years. We hate the Turkes for &s;elling of Chri&s;tians for &s;laves, but, Ah, how many be there among us that call them&s;elves Chri&s;tians, who yet &s;ell them&s;elves and their &s;ouls to the devil for &s;laves for half a crown, yea for a half penny? Look as <HI>Shemei</HI> by &s;eeking his &s;ervant lo&s;t his life, &s;o many by &s;eeking of the world have lo&s;t their &s;ouls. Now though of all lo&s;&s;es the lo&s;s of the &s;oul is the greate&s;t, the &s;ade&s;t, the &s;ore&s;t, the heavie&s;t, and the mo&s;t
<PB N="283" REF="152"> intollerable, inconceiveable and irrecoverable lo&s;s, yet a man bewitch't with the world will run the hazard of lo&s;ing it, of damning it to enjoy the world. You know the Reubenites in <HI>Jo&s;h.</HI> 22. preferred the country that was commodious for the feeding of their cattle (though it were far from the Temple, where they might have fed their &s;ouls, and have got heaven and holine&s;s for their &s;ouls) before their intere&s;t in the Land of Pro|mi&s;e; We &s;o, men that are bewitch't with this world in the&s;e days, O! how do they prefer their &s;en&s;ual delights, their bru|ti&s;h contentments, and their carnal enjoyments before the hea|venly <HI>Canaan,</HI> and before the beauties of holine&s;s, and before the Temple of Gods holine&s;s, where holine&s;s &s;parkles and &s;hines in all its bravery and glory, and where their &s;ouls might be abundantly &s;atisfied and delighted with the mo&s;t ravi&s;hing joys, the mo&s;t &s;urpa&s;&s;ing delights, and the mo&s;t tran&s;cendent plea&s;ures which are at Gods right hand. To draw to a clo&s;e, the <HI>Arabick</HI> Proverb &s;aith, <HI>That (Mundus cadavar e&s;t, &amp; petentes eum &s;unt canes) the world is a carka&s;s, and they that hunt after it are doggs.</HI> If this Proverb be true, what a multitude of pro|fe&s;&s;ors will be found to be doggs, who hunt more after earth then heaven, who hunt more after Terre&s;tial then Cele&s;tial things, who hunt more after nothingne&s;&s;es and emptine&s;&s;es, then they do after tho&s;e fulne&s;&s;es and &s;weetne&s;&s;es that be in God, Chri&s;t, Heaven and Holine&s;s. Well friends, as ever you would obtain that real holine&s;s, without which there is no hap|pine&s;s, take heed of a Witch, take heed of this world; and to that purpo&s;e, O that you would always look upon the things of this world, as you will look upon them when you come to dye. O that you would now look upon all the pompe, &s;tate, bravery, and glory of the world, as you will look upon it when your &s;ouls &s;hall &s;it upon your trembling lips. O with what a di&s;dainful eye, with what a weaned heart do men look upon tho&s;e things then? do &s;o now, and I dare a&s;&s;ure you, that though the world may trouble you, yet it &s;hall never bewitch you. I have read of a man that lying in a burning Feaver, pro|fe&s;t that if he had all the world at his di&s;po&s;e, he would give it all for one draught of Beer, at &s;o low a rate do men value the world at &s;uch a time as that is, if men were &s;o wi&s;e to value
<PB N="284" REF="153"> the world at no higher a rate in health, then they do in &s;ickne&s;s, in life, then they do at the time of their death, it would never bewitch them, it would never be as a wall of &s;eparation be|tween holine&s;s and them: As ever you would be holy here, and happy hereafter, take heed of this Witch, and believe it to be a Witch before it hath bewitched you, or el&s;e you may believe it too late.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, If ever you would be holy, then take heed of com|paring your &s;elves with tho&s;e that are (at lea&s;t &s;uppo&s;edly) wor&s;e then your &s;elves; many there be who by comparing them&s;elves with tho&s;e that are bad, very bad, think them&s;elves to be good, very good, yea to be too good to go to hell, and yet they are not good enough to go to heaven; and many there be who are wor&s;e then others, and yet by comparing them&s;elves with tho&s;e they &s;uppo&s;e very bad, they conclude them&s;elves to be very good; &s;uch a one was that proud Phari&s;ee in <HI>Luk.</HI> 18. who thought him&s;elf a far better man then the poor Publican, and yet he was not half &s;o hone&s;t, nor half &s;o ju&s;t, nor half &s;o righteous, nor half &s;o good as he was; the poor Publican was a&s;hamed of him&s;elf, he loathed him&s;elf, he aba&s;ed him&s;elf, he judged him&s;elf, and he condemned him&s;elf; the poor Publican acknowledged God, he adored God, he dreaded God, he ad|mired God, and he ju&s;tified God, in all which he exceeded the proud Phari&s;ee; and yet, O! how &s;cornfully does this proud Phari&s;ee look upon him? and how di&s;dainfully and di&s;grace|fully does he &s;peak of him? And this was the general frame and temper of the Scribes and Phari&s;ees, who thought no mans penny &s;o good &s;ilver as their own, who thought them&s;elves better then the be&s;t, when they were the very wor&s;t of the wor&s;t; for Publicans and Harlots believed and repented, and entred into the Kingdom of God before them, <HI>Mat.</HI> 21.31, 32. And &s;o they in that of <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 65. were naught, very naught, yea, &s;tark naught, they were the ba&s;e&s;t among the ba&s;e, they were the vile&s;t among the vile, they were the mo&s;t rebellious among the rebellious, and the mo&s;t &s;uper&s;titious among the &s;uper&s;titious, witne&s;s <HI>v.</HI> 2, 3, 4. And yet, O! how do they &s;troke them&s;elves, and ble&s;s them&s;elves, and commend them|&s;elves, and cry up them&s;elves, and exalt them&s;elves as the only
<PB N="285" REF="153"> holy ones, <HI>v.</HI> 5. they could deifie them&s;elves, and yet damne and devilifie others, though they were &s;uch mon&s;ters as God abhorr'd, <HI>v.</HI> 6. Ah! how many be there who by comparing them&s;elves with tho&s;e that are wor&s;e then them&s;elves, do judge them&s;elves to be good enough, and holy enough? they are good negative Chri&s;tians, and they think that's enough to bring them to heaven; they ble&s;s them&s;elves that they are no <HI>Na|bals</HI> for drunkenne&s;s, nor no <HI>Sodomites</HI> for filthine&s;s, nor no <HI>Hamans</HI> for haughtine&s;s, nor no <HI>Ammons</HI> for lu&s;tfulne&s;s, nor none of the old world for idlene&s;s, nor no <HI>Zacheus's</HI> for cove|tou&s;ne&s;s, nor no <HI>Laodiceans</HI> for lukewarmne&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> They ble&s;s them&s;elves that they are no <HI>Gehazies</HI> for lying, nor no <HI>Shemeies</HI> for cur&s;ing, nor no <HI>Joabs</HI> for &s;wearing, nor no <HI>Rab&s;hakehs</HI> for railing, nor no <HI>Doegs</HI> for cruelty, nor no <HI>Juda&s;es</HI> for treachery, nor no <HI>Dema&s;es</HI> for Apo&s;tacy, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And thus they cheat them|&s;elves, and find out fine ways to delude and damn their own &s;ouls; they think it grace enough, and holine&s;s enough, that they have attained to this, <HI>viz.</HI> not to be &s;o bad as the wor&s;t, though they fall infinitely &s;hort of coming neer unto the be&s;t. Well &s;its, remember this; if you are not &s;o great &s;inners as o|thers, your horrors, your terrors, your torments, your hell &s;hall not be &s;o great, nor &s;o hot as others, but without holine&s;s you &s;hall be as certainly damn'd as others; and what a cold comfort is this to have a cooler and a lighter hell then others, and yet this is all the comfort that can be handed to unholy hearts. But,</P>
<P>Fourthly, Take heed of flatterers: Ah! how good might <MILESTONE N="4"> many men have been, who are yet exceeding bad, had they not &s;old their ears to flatterers; flatterers are &s;oul-murderers, they are &s;oul undoers, they are like vaine Chyrurgions that skin over the wound, but kill the Patient; flattery is the very mother of folly, and the very nur&s;ery of all impiety; flatterers will cry up tho&s;e for religious, who are onely &s;uper&s;titious, and tho&s;e for wi&s;e men, who are fooli&s;h, and tho&s;e for knowing men, who are ignorant, and tho&s;e for vertuous men, who are vicious, and tho&s;e for holy men, who at be&s;t are but civil, and tho&s;e for happy men, who are (certainly) mi&s;erable; flatterers dare call the proud happy, and ble&s;s them whom God has cur&s;t, they dare call evil good and good evil, they dare call darkne&s;s light and light
<PB N="286" REF="154"> darkne&s;s, they dare &s;ay that that man has grace that has none, yea they dare &s;wear that &s;uch and &s;uch &s;hall be &s;aved, though for the pre&s;ent they live as if they were re&s;olved to be damned; they dare take upon them to tell you that &s;uch and &s;uch mens names are wri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ten in Heaven, and that &s;uch and &s;uch belong to the election of Grace, though their lives &s;peak them out to be void of all Grace. Ah, how many a man has been kept off from the thoughts of holine&s;s, and from the ways of holine&s;s, and from the love and liking of holine&s;s, by flatterers who have flattered them, that doubtle&s;s they are in the favour of God, and that certainly God did not make men to damn them, and that without all peradventure they have an intere&s;t in Chri&s;t, and that there is no que&s;tion but that their hearts are as good as the be&s;t, and that their conditions are good, and their &s;ouls happy; yea, they are &s;o confident of their happine&s;s that they dare venture a going to hell, if ever &s;uch &s;hould go to hell whom they fondly flatter; they dare pawn their &s;ouls and their &s;alvation on't, that &s;uch &s;hall never mi&s;carry; and by the&s;e fla<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">teries they harden men in &s;in, and arm them a|gain&s;t holine&s;s: flattery is that &s;weet poi&s;on that has de&s;troyed many a &s;oul; witne&s;s <HI>Rehoboam, Ahab, Herod, Nero, Alexan|der, &amp;c.</HI> So true is that of the wi&s;e man, <HI>Prov.</HI> 26. <HI>ult. A ly|ing tongue hateth tho&s;e that are afflicted by it, and a flattering mouth worketh ruine.</HI> A flattering mouth ruines name, fame, e&s;tate, life, body and &s;oul, it ruines a man both temporally and eternally,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Hebrew word <HI>Dachah</HI> &s;ignifies to throw down, to drive on forwards till a man falls in|to de&s;tructi|on; none drive &s;o fu|riou&s;ly to the ruine and de|&s;truction of &s;ouls as flat|terers do.</NOTE> it often undoes a man in both worlds, it makes a man mi&s;erable both here and hereafter: flatterers are de|vouring Caterpillars: flatterers tongues do more mi&s;chief then per&s;ecutors &s;words, for their &s;words can but de&s;troy the bodies of men, but flatterers tongues de&s;troy the &s;ouls of men: flatterers are the greate&s;t &s;oul-cheaters, and &s;oul undoers in the world; flatterers dare call vice vertue, they dare call pride neatne&s;s, covetou&s;ne&s;s good husbandry, drunkenne&s;s good fel|low&s;hip, prodigality liberality, wantonne&s;s a trick of youth, pa&s;&s;ion zeal, revenge courage, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> They dare call enormities infirmities, and wickedne&s;&s;es weakne&s;&s;es, they dare call great &s;ins little &s;ins, little &s;ins no &s;ins, they gild over all their poi&s;on|ous Pills with gold, they draw the faire&s;t Glove upon the
<PB N="287" REF="154"> fowle&s;t hand, they lay their neate&s;t colours upon the filthie&s;t &s;ores, they put their be&s;t paint upon the wor&s;t faces, and the riche&s;t robes upon the mo&s;t di&s;ea&s;ed bodies; and by the&s;e de|vices they entangle many to their utter ruine, <HI>Prov.</HI> 29.5. <HI>A man that flattereth his neighbor &s;preadeth a net for his feet.</HI> The Hebrew word (<HI>Machalik</HI> from <HI>Chalak</HI>) that is here ren|dered flatterer, &s;ignifies a &s;mooth-boots, a &s;oft butter-&s;poken man, becau&s;e flatterers, the better to deceive, do u&s;e to oyl their tongues, and to butter their lips, that &s;o by their &s;mooth &s;oft &s;peeches they may the more in&s;inuate them&s;elves into mens affections, and &s;o make way for their de&s;truction: flat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">erers have their &s;ilken nets to en&s;nare and entangle poor &s;ouls to their eternal ruine. Look as Fowlers &s;trew corn and lay baits, to draw Birds into their nets; or look as Hunters &s;pread their nets, that they may take bea&s;ts and prey upon them, or make a prey of them; &s;o flatterers they &s;pread their nets that they may catch poor &s;ouls, and either prey upon them, or el&s;e make make a prey of them. Flattery is the devils invi&s;ible net, and happy is that &s;oul that e&s;capes it: the flatterers net is wor&s;e then his &s;word, for his &s;word may be the more ea&s;ily &s;een, feared, and avoided, then his net. Of all arms the flatterers net is the mo&s;t perilous and dangerous, both to the lives, e&s;tates, and &s;ouls of men; 'twere ten thou&s;and times better to trample a flatterer under a mans feet, then for a man to &s;uffer his feet to be taken in the flatterers net. A flatterer is a &s;ore enemy in the habit of a friend, he is a Wolf in Sheeps clothing, he is a devil transformed into an Angel of light; and what puni&s;h|ment can be too great for &s;uch? The &s;everity of many Heathen Princes and Emperors has been very great again&s;t flatterers; take one in&s;tance for all,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Augu&s;tus Cae|&s;ar,</HI> and <HI>Tibe|rius Cae&s;ar,</HI> and <HI>Sigi&s;mund</HI> the Emperors, all were great enemies to flatterers.</NOTE> <HI>Alexander Severus</HI> commanded one <HI>Turinus</HI> a great flatterer, to be tyed to a &s;take and &s;tifled with &s;moak, with an Herald &s;tanding by, and proclaiming to all the people, that 'twas but ju&s;t that he that lived by the &s;moak of flattery, &s;hould dye by &s;moak. Now what a &s;hameful thing is it that &s;uch as are called Chri&s;tians &s;hould affect to be flattered, when Heathens have &s;o &s;everely puni&s;hed flatterers. Well &s;irs, as ever you would be holy, take heed of flatterers, and take heed of flattery; let <HI>Solomons</HI> coun&s;el be always in your
<PB N="288" REF="155"> eye, and let it always lye warm upon your hearts, <HI>Prov.</HI> 20.19. <HI>He that goeth about as a tale-bearer, revealeth &s;ecrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.</HI> A man that loves his &s;oul, and would be happy in another world, &s;hould &s;hun flatterers as he &s;hould &s;hun a Thief, a Serpent, a Wolf, a Lyon, a Devil; till thou &s;toppe&s;t thine ears again&s;t a &s;pirit of flattery, there is little hopes that ever thou wilt be holy.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="5"> Fifthly, If ever you would be holy, O! then take heed of putting the day of death far from you. Man is a creature na|turally prone to look upon death at a di&s;tance, to look upon death afar off, and to &s;ay with tho&s;e in <HI>Ezekiel, Behold they of the hou&s;e of I&s;rael, &s;ay the vi&s;ion that he &s;eeth is for many days to come,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Amos 6.3. Ezek. 12.27. Luk. 12.</NOTE> <HI>and he prophe&s;ieth of the times that are afar off.</HI> So the rich man in the Go&s;pel reckoned upon many years, when he had not many monthes, no not many weeks, no not many days, no not many hours to live in this world. Unholy per|&s;ons are very apt to &s;ay to death as <HI>Pharaoh</HI> &s;aid to <HI>Mo&s;es, Get thee from me,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 10.28.</NOTE> <HI>and let me &s;ee thy face no more:</HI> When death knocks at the poor mans door, he &s;ends it to the rich mans gate, and the rich man tran&s;lates it to the Schollar, and the Scholar po&s;ts it away to the Citizen, and the Citizen to the Courtier, and the Courtier to his Lady, and his Lady to her Maid, &amp; &s;o death is po&s;ted away as it were from one to another, every one crying out to death, O let me not &s;ee thy face, O let me not &s;ee thy face. 'Twas even a death to Queen <HI>Elizabeth, Sigi&s;mund</HI> the Emperor, <HI>Lewes</HI> the 11 of <HI>France,</HI> Cardinal <HI>Beauford</HI> and others, to think of death, or to hear of death; and therefore they &s;trictly charged all their &s;ervants about them, that when they &s;aw them &s;ick, they &s;hould never dare to name that bitter word Death in their ears. And <HI>Pa&s;hur</HI> can't ca&s;t his eye upon death, but he is pre&s;ently a <HI>Magor Mi&s;&s;abib,</HI> a terror to him&s;elf, <HI>Jer.</HI> 20.3. And <HI>Saul</HI> though he was a vali|ant King, yet at the news of death he falls on his face, 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 28.20. And &s;o <HI>Bel&s;hazzar</HI> though he was a mighty Emperor, <HI>Dan.</HI> 5.1, 7. yet a letter to him, from him whom <HI>Bildad</HI> cal|leth the King of terrors, <HI>Job</HI> 18.14. Ah how does it amaze, a|&s;toni&s;h, affright, and terrifie him! and how many are there
<PB N="289" REF="155"> who with <HI>Mecaenas</HI> in <HI>Seneca,</HI> had rather live in many di&s;ea&s;es then die; and with the mo&s;t famous Heathens, prefer the meane&s;t life on earth; above all the hopes they have of another world; like <HI>Achilles</HI> who had rather be a &s;er|vant to a poor country Clown here, then to be a King to all the &s;ouls departed; or like <HI>Withipoll</HI> a rich and wretched man, who when he was in danger of death, earne&s;tly de&s;ired that he might live five hundred years,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Vitellius</HI> look|ing for the me&s;&s;enger of death, made him&s;elf drunk to drown the the thoughts of it.</NOTE> though it were but in the &s;hape of a Toad. Near <HI>Lewes</HI> in <HI>Su&s;&s;ex</HI> a woman being ill, one of her neighbors coming to vi&s;it her, told her that if &s;he died &s;he &s;hould go to heaven and be with God and Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and with Angels and Saints, the &s;ick woman an&s;wered that &s;he had no acquaintance there, &s;he knew no body there, and there|fore &s;he had rather live with her and her other neighbors here, then to go thither to live among&s;t &s;trangers. And thus you &s;ee how apt per&s;ons are to &s;hrug at death, which is a common lot, and to &s;ay to it as <HI>Ephraim</HI> did to his Idols, <HI>Get you hence, what have we more to do with you?</HI> but this is and mu&s;t be for a lamentation, that men put off the thoughts of their latter end, to the latter end of their thoughts. Man naturally is a great life-lover, and therefore he will bleed, &s;weat, vomit, purge, part with an e&s;tate, yea with a limb, I limbs, to pre&s;erve his life; like him that cryed out, <HI>O give me any deformity, any torment, any mi&s;ery, &s;o you &s;pare my life.</HI> And upon this ac|count 'tis that he de&s;ires that &s;uch a gue&s;t as death may not knock at his door; but, Ah, that all &s;uch vain men would con|&s;ider, that by putting the day of their death far from them, they do but gratifie Satan, &s;trengthen their &s;ins, provoke the Lord and make the work of faith and holine&s;s more hard and difficult, and &s;o lay a deep foundation for their own eternal de&s;truction.</P>
<P>Well &s;irs, remember this, the &s;erious thoughts and medita|tions of death (if any thing) will work you to break off your &s;ins, to mend your lives, and to look to the &s;alvation of your &s;ouls; there is nothing that will &s;ooner work a man to a holy fear of offending God in any thing, and to a holy care of plea&s;ing God in every thing, then the &s;erious meditation of death: Though that text, <HI>Remember thy latter end, and thou &s;halt never do ami&s;s,</HI> be Apocryphal, yet the truth a&s;&s;erted is
<PB N="290" REF="156"> Canonical. I have read a &s;tory of one that gave a young pro|digal a Ring with a Deaths-head, on this condition that he &s;hould one hour in a day, for &s;even days together, think and meditate upon Death, which accordingly he did, and it bred a great change and alteration in his life and conver&s;ati|on. O! man, thou doe&s;t not know but that the &s;erious thoughts of death may work that de&s;ireable thing in thee, <HI>viz.</HI> holine&s;s, which yet has not been wrought in thee by all the holy coun&s;els, the gracious examples, the fervent prayers, &amp; the &s;orrowful tears of thy deare&s;t friends; thou doe&s;t not know but that the &s;eri|ous meditation of Death, may do thee more good then all the Sermons that ever thou ha&s;t heard, or then all the books that ever thou ha&s;t read, or then all the prayers that ever thou ha&s;t made, or then all the &s;ighs or groans that ever thou ha&s;t pour|ed out; and why then &s;houlde&s;t thou put the thoughts of death far from thee? Certainly, as he is a &s;inner in grain, that dares look death in the face and yet &s;in, that dares cut a pur&s;e when the Judge looks on; &s;o he is a mon&s;ter rather then a man, that dares look death in the face, and yet &s;atisfie him&s;elf to live without holine&s;s; that dares look death in the face, and yet &s;ay I'll drink and be drunk, I'll &s;ware and &s;wagger, I'll roar and whore, I'll cheat and cozen, I'll hate and oppo&s;e, I'll quarrel and kill, and my hands &s;hall be as bloody as my heart, and let death do her wor&s;t; if &s;uch a per&s;on be not in the ready way of being mi&s;erable for ever, I know nothing.</P>
<P>Well &s;irs, remember the&s;e three things.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, That there is nothing more certain then death: That Statute Law of heaven, <HI>Du&s;t thou art, and unto du&s;t thou &s;halt return,</HI> Gen. 3.19. will take hold of all the &s;ons of men: <HI>There is no man that lives and &s;hall not &s;ee death.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 89.48. Gen. 32.</NOTE> Though <HI>Jacob</HI> wre&s;t|led with an Angel and prevailed, yet death was too hard for him; though <HI>Hazael</HI> was as light of foot as a wild Roe, yet he could not out-run death,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 2.18.</NOTE> and <HI>Ab&s;alom</HI> could not out-ride it, nor <HI>Pharoah</HI> out-drive it; though <HI>Saul</HI> and <HI>Jonathan</HI> were as &s;wift as Eagles, and as &s;trong as Lyons, yet were they &s;lain a|mong the mighty: 'Twas not <HI>Solomons</HI> wi&s;dom that could de|liver him, nor <HI>Samp&s;ons</HI> &s;trength that could re&s;cue him, nor <HI>Hamans</HI> honor that could &s;ecure him, nor <HI>Goliahs</HI> &s;word that
<PB N="291" REF="156"> could defend him, nor <HI>Dives</HI> riches that could ran&s;om him from the grave; and therefore why &s;hould men put this day &s;o far from them? But,</P>
<P>Secondly, As there is nothing more certain then death, &s;o <MILESTONE N="2"> there is nothing more &s;udden then death. When the old world, when <HI>Sodom,</HI> when <HI>Pharaoh,</HI> when <HI>Hagar,</HI> when <HI>Amalek,</HI> when <HI>Haman,</HI> when <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> when <HI>Bel&s;hazzar,</HI> when <HI>Dives,</HI> when the Rich fool, and when <HI>Herod,</HI> were all in their prime and pride, when they were in their mo&s;t flouri&s;hing e&s;tate, when they were at the very top of their glory, Ah how &s;uddenly, how &s;adly, how &s;trangely, how unexpectedly, and how wonderful|ly were they brought down to the Grave, yea to Hel<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">? O! the thou&s;and thou&s;ands of cro&s;&s;es, lo&s;&s;es, di&s;ea&s;es, &s;ickne&s;&s;es, ca|lamities, dangers, and deaths which attends the life of man, and by the lea&s;t of which he may be &s;uddenly &s;urprized and carried into another world; and therefore why &s;hould man cry out <HI>cras, cras,</HI> to morrow, to morrow, when he does not know whether he &s;hall have a to morrow, when he does not know but that he may dye before he had begun to live? <HI>Wal|dus</HI> a rich Merchant of <HI>Lyons</HI> in France, &s;eeing one &s;uddenly drop down dead in the &s;treets, went home, repented, changed his life, &s;tudied the Scriptures, and became a worthy Teacher, Father and Founder of the Chri&s;tians called the <HI>Walden&s;es,</HI> or poor men of <HI>Lyons;</HI> And O! that the &s;erious thoughts of the &s;uddenne&s;s of death might have that happy effect upon your &s;ouls, as to work you to break your league with &s;in, and to fright you (as it were) into a love of holine&s;s, and into a life of holine&s;s. O! &s;wearer what doe&s;t thou know, but that death may &s;eize on thee whil&s;t the oath is in thy mouth? And what doe&s;t thou know, O drunkard, but that death may &s;tep in between the cup and the lip, as it did to <HI>Bel&s;hazzar?</HI> And what do&s;t thou know, O adulterer, but that a poi&s;oned dart may &s;trike thorough thy liver whil&s;t thou art in the very flagran|cy of thy lu&s;t, as it did tho<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ough <HI>Zimries</HI> and <HI>Cozbies?</HI> And what do&s;t thou know, O proud <HI>Haman,</HI> but that thou who art thus noblely fea&s;ted one day, maye&s;t be a fea&s;t for the Crows the next day? And what do&s;t thou know who art &s;o crafty, O <HI>Ahitophel,</HI> but that if thy &s;ubtile coun&s;el be rejected one
<PB N="292" REF="157"> hour, thou maye&s;t hang thy &s;elf the next hour? And what doe&s;t thou know, O thou oppo&s;ing and murmuring <HI>Corah,</HI> but that the earth may &s;uddenly open and &s;wallow thee up? and therefore why &s;hould you put that day &s;o far from you, that may &s;o &s;uddenly overtake you?</P>
<P><HI>Berline</HI> in <HI>Germany</HI> charged Saint <HI>Paul</HI> with a lye in the Pul|pit,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Scultet Annal.</NOTE> and was &s;uddenly &s;mitten with an Apoplexy, and fell down dead in the place: And what doe&s;t thou know, who art &s;o apt to charge the people of God with lying, but that God may &s;trike thee both dumb and dead, whil&s;t the lye is in thy mouth? <HI>Bibulus</HI> a <HI>Roman</HI> General riding in Triumph in all his glory, a Tyle fell off from a hou&s;e in the &s;treet and knockt out his brains: And what doe&s;t thou know, O vain glorious man, but that whil&s;t thou art triumphing in thy world glory, by &s;ome unexpected blow thou maye&s;t be &s;ent into another world?</P>
<P><HI>Lepidus</HI> and <HI>Av&s;idius</HI> &s;tumbled at the very thre&s;hold of the Senate and died, the blow came in a cloud from heaven; God by an invi&s;ible blow may &s;end thee out of this vi&s;ible world.</P>
<P><HI>Sophocles</HI> died &s;uddenly by exce&s;&s;ive joy, and <HI>Homer</HI> by im|moderate grief; exce&s;&s;ive joy or exce&s;&s;ive grief may &s;uddenly bring thee to thy long home.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Theater of Gods judge|ments, <HI>lib.</HI> 1. <HI>cap.</HI> 9. <HI>p.</HI> 64.</NOTE> <HI>Olympus</HI> the <HI>Arrian</HI> Heretick &s;peaking again&s;t the Holy Trinity as he was a Bathing him&s;elf, was &s;truck dead by a threefold Thunderbolt: We may run and read &s;ome mens &s;ins in the very face of their puni&s;hments. Mr. <HI>Perkins</HI> &s;peaks of One, who when it thundered, &s;coffingly &s;aid, It was nothing but Tom Tumbrel a hooping his Tubs, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and pre&s;ently he was &s;truck dead with a thunder-bolt from heaven. There would be no end of recounting the &s;everal judgements that have &s;uddenly &s;urprized all &s;orts of &s;in|ners; let the&s;e few in&s;tances &s;uffice to &s;tir up every un|holy heart, to take heed of putting far off the day of death. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, As there is nothing more &s;udden then death, &s;o there is nothing more &s;hort then life,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 8.9. P&s;al. 102.11. P&s;al. 73.20, &amp; 90.5. Job 20.8. ch. 7.7.</NOTE> and why then &s;hould you put the day of your death &s;o far from you? If you con&s;ider the life of man ab&s;olutely, 'tis but &s;hort, 'tis but as a &s;pan, a &s;hadow, a dream, a bubble, a bla&s;t, a puff of wind, a pile of du&s;t, a fad|ing
<PB N="293" REF="157"> leaf, or a tale that is told, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The life of man is as a dream that vani&s;heth when one awaketh, 'tis a wind that goeth away and cometh not again, 'tis as a cloud that is &s;oon di&s;per|&s;ed with the wind, 'tis as a vapor that appeareth for a time, and then vani&s;heth away, 'tis as the gra&s;s that &s;oon withereth, 'tis as the flower that &s;oon fadeth, 'tis as the candle that every light puffe of wind bloweth out: The life of man is rather made up of days then years, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 90.12. <HI>So teach us to num|ber our days, that we may apply our hearts to wi&s;dom. Mo&s;es</HI> does not &s;ay Lord teach us to number our years, <HI>but Lord teach us to number our dayes;</HI> fallen man is apt to mi&s;reckon, and to compute days for years; and therefore this holy Prophet de&s;ires, that God would teach them this Divine Arithmetick of numbering their days, it being a le&s;&s;on that none but a God can teach. So <HI>Job</HI> 14.1, 2. <HI>Man that is born of a woman, is of few days</HI> (or &s;hort of dayes) <HI>and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower and is out down: he floeth al&s;o as a &s;hadow and continueth not.</HI> He &s;peaks not of an Age, nor of years, nor of many dayes, but of a few days; mans days are &s;hort in them|&s;elves, and &s;horter in re&s;pect of the troubles that attends this pre&s;ent life. Mans life is &s;o &s;hort,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. l. <HI>1.</HI> Con|fe&s;&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> doubteth whether to call it a dying life, or a living death. Now the&s;e few days of mans life are upon the wing, ha&s;tning and flying from us as the Eagle ha&s;tneth to his prey; and therefore man had need &s;et a greater price upon every moment and minute of time, then he does upon all the world, and accordingly im|prove it.</P>
<P>Secondly, If you con&s;ider the life of man comparatively <MILESTONE N="1"> 'tis but &s;hort, and that will appear briefly thus;</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, If you compare the life of man to what man might <MILESTONE N="2"> have reach't to, had, he continued in his primitive glory; had man &s;tood fa&s;t in innocency he had never known what death and mi&s;ery had mean't; death is a fall that came in by a fall; had man kept &s;in out of the world, he had kept death out of the world; had man kept fa&s;t his holine&s;s and purity, he had remain|ed a piece of immortality to this day; death could never have carried man out of the world, had not man fir&s;t let &s;in into the world, <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.12. <HI>ult.</HI></P>
<PB N="294" REF="158">
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, If you compare the life of man, to the long lives of the Patriarchs before the &s;tood, then the life of man is but &s;hort; three&s;core years and ten is mans age, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 90.10. And where one man lives to this age, how many thou&s;ands die be|fore they come to it? But what is this age to the age that men lived to in former times? <HI>Enoch</HI> lived as many yeers as there be days in the year, and <HI>Adam</HI> lived nine hundred and thirty years, and <HI>Methu&s;elah</HI> lived nine hundred &s;ixty and nine years, <HI>Gen.</HI> 5. Now what were <HI>Platoes</HI> eighty years, or <HI>Thomas Pars</HI> 160. years, or <HI>Johannes de Temporibus, John</HI> of the times, three hundred three&s;core and one years, to the long lives of the Patriarchs? and though in <HI>Davids</HI> time old age and &s;eventy of|ten &s;hook hands, yet 'tis otherwi&s;e in our times; for as mens wickedne&s;s do more and more increa&s;e, &s;o their days do more and more decrea&s;e; the more wicked any generation is, the &s;horter liv'd, that generation &s;hall be; God will quickly di&s;|patch them out of the world, who make quick di&s;patches in ways of wickedne&s;s.</P>
<P>Thirdly, The life of man is but &s;hort, if you compare it to <MILESTONE N="3"> what it &s;hall be after the morning of the Re&s;urrection; O then mans day &s;hall reach to eternity; eternity is that <HI>(unum perpe|tuum hodie)</HI> one perpetual day that &s;hall never have end; when men after the re&s;urrection begin to live, they &s;hall never dye after that day, every man &s;hall live in everla&s;ting bli&s;s, or in everla&s;ting wo; when the la&s;t Trumpet has &s;ounded man &s;hall live for ever and ever.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, The life of man is but &s;hort, if you compare it with the days of God, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 39.5. Mine age is nothing before him, all time is nothing to eternity, mans life is but a minute, 'tis but a point of time to the days of eternity; what head, what heart can conceive or reckon up the duration of God, who ever was, who &s;till is, and who ever will be? every child, and every fool can tell you their age; but what man on earth, or what Angel in heaven can tell you the years of the Mo&s;t High? &s;urely none.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="5"> Fifthly and la&s;tly, the life of man is but &s;hort, if you com|pare it with the lives of other creatures; &s;ome &s;ay that 'tis nei|ther age nor &s;ickne&s;s that killeth the Eagle; &s;he ca&s;teth her
<PB N="295" REF="158"> feathers yearly, and &s;o gets new, whereby her youth &amp; &s;trength is renewed,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Pliny, Augu&s;t. Calvin,</HI> P&s;al. 103.5.</NOTE> by which means &s;he will live till &s;he be an hundred years old, &s;he dies not till her upper Bill be &s;o grown over her under that &s;he cannot take in her meat, and &s;o at la&s;t &s;he is &s;taryed. And &s;ome Elephants live three hundred years, wit|ne&s;s <HI>Aelian, Solinus</HI> and <HI>Strabo,</HI> &amp;c. by all which you &s;ee the bre|vity of mans life; And why then &s;hould man be &s;o weak, &s;o vain, as to put the day of his death &s;o far from him? I have read of the Birds of <HI>Norway,</HI> that they flye fa&s;ter then the fowls of any other Country; they knowing by an in&s;tinct that God has put into them, that the days in that Climate are very &s;hort (not above three hours long &s;ay &s;ome) do therefore make the more ha&s;te to their ne&s;ts. And O! that all that hear me this day would learn by the&s;e birds of <HI>Norway,</HI> to make ha&s;te to believe and to make ha&s;te to repent and to make ha&s;te to love God, and to make ha&s;te to be holy, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> &s;eeing their day of life is &s;o &s;hort, and their night of death is po&s;ting towards them.</P>
<P>And as the life of man is very &s;hort, &s;o 'tis very con&s;ider|able, that a very &s;mall matter, a very little thing may quickly put an end to mans life. When the Emperor threatned the Philo&s;opher with death, he replyed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Conrad. Ve&s;. perg. Nancler. &amp; Jo. Boel. in Adrian Paulus. Jovius, Elog. lib. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> what is that more then a <HI>Spani&s;h</HI> flie may do? An ordinary flye flying ca&s;ually into the mouth of the proud Pope <HI>Adrian</HI> &s;tifled him, that made the highe&s;t &s;tate then in the Chri&s;tian world &s;toop, even to the hold|ing of his &s;tirrop. <HI>Tamberlain</HI> a <HI>Scythian</HI> Captain, the terror of his time, died with three fits of an Ague. <HI>Anacreon</HI> the Poet, was choaked with the kernel of a Grape. <HI>Ae&s;chylus</HI> was killed by the &s;hell of a Tortoi&s;e, which fell from an Eagles Talons, who as &s;ome conceive took his bald head for a white rock. The Lord <HI>Mountaigne</HI> tells us of a Duke of <HI>Britany</HI> that was &s;tifled to death in &s;uch a throng of people, as is in &s;ome great congregations on the Lords day. An Emperor died by the &s;cratch of a Comb; and one of the Kings of <HI>France</HI> died by the chock of an Hogg; and one that was brother to a great Lord, playing at Tennis, received a blow with a ball a little above the right ear, which &s;truck him into his grave. There is nothing &s;o &s;mall but may be a mans bane; The paring of a Toe, the cutting off a corn, the &s;cratch of a nail, the prick
<PB N="296" REF="159"> of a pin, a fi&s;h-bone, a hair, a drop of water, a crum of bread, a bad air, or an evil &s;mell may bring a man to his long home, yea a little &s;moak may &s;oon &s;tifle him, or his own &s;pittle, let down unwarily may &s;uddenly choak him.</P>
<P>And O! that all that I have &s;poken upon this account might be &s;o ble&s;t, as to work you to take heed of putting the day of your death &s;o far from you. The evil &s;ervant when he thought his Ma&s;ter was gone afar off,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 12.45.</NOTE> then he layes about him, di&s;tem|pers him&s;elf,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 7.19, 20.</NOTE> and beats his fellow-&s;ervants. And &s;o the leud woman in the <HI>Proverbs,</HI> when the good man was gone a long journey, when he was far from home, then &s;he grew wanton, vain, and &s;ecure; &s;o when men put afar off the day of their death, then they grow more loo&s;e, prophane, and unholy; whereas a &s;erious and frequent eying and minding of death, as at hand, as at a mans elbow, would alarm a man to break off his &s;ins by repentance, and to labor for holine&s;s, as a man would labor for life it &s;elf. I have read of the women in the I&s;le of <HI>Man,</HI> that the fir&s;t Web they make is their winding &s;heet, wherwith they u&s;ually gird them&s;elves when they go abroad, to &s;hew that they are &s;till mindful of their mortality. Ah friends, a con&s;tant minding of your mortality, would contribute very much towards the making of you holy: He that daily looks upon death, will be daily a looking after holine&s;s; the oftener any man looks into the grave, the oftener that man will be look|ing up to heaven, and a begging that God would make him holy even as he is holy. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="6"> Sixthly and la&s;tly, Take heed of &s;ettling your &s;elves under a leud and &s;candalous Mini&s;try, or of having any inwardne&s;s with &s;uch who&s;e lives give the lye to their Doctrine; an ill liv'd preacher is the greate&s;t de&s;troyer of the &s;ouls of men; he that preacheth well, but lives ill, does what he can to mur|der all his hearers at once; there is no greater bar to holine&s;s then Mini&s;ters leudne&s;s; an unholy life marrs the &s;ounde&s;t and the &s;weete&s;t Doctrine, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 9.16. The leaders of his people have cau&s;ed them to ert. The &s;ins of Teachers are the teachers of &s;ins; as the corrupt glo&s;&s;es, &s;o the leud practi&s;es of many Preachers, makes many to &s;tumble at that word, and to &s;huff and chat, and conte&s;t, and kick again&s;t that word whereby they
<PB N="297" REF="159"> &s;hould be made holy and happy for ever; a &s;candalous Mini&s;ter is the greate&s;t Pe&s;t, the wor&s;e plague, and the &s;ore&s;t mi&s;chief that can be to a people, for his enormities, his wickedne&s;&s;es will have the &s;tronge&s;t influences upon the &s;ouls and lives of men to make them mi&s;erable in both worlds; his falls will be the fall and ruine of many, for people are more prone to live by examples then by precepts, and to minde more what the Mini&s;ter does then what he &s;ayes, and to eye more how he walks then how he talks. It was &s;aid of One (long &s;ince) that was an excellent Preacher, but a very bad liver, that when he was in the Pulpit, it was pitty he &s;hould ever come out of it, he preach't &s;o well, and when he was out of it, it was pitty that ever he &s;hould go into it he lived &s;o ill. Certainly 'tis pitty that ever &s;uch &s;hould go into a Pulpit, who preach well but live ill, who have much of God in their mouths, and much of the devil in their lives, who have the earth as much at their fingers end, as they have heaven at their tongues end, who puts a loud lye upon the truth, and who&s;e lives puts their words to a blu&s;h, who have much of heaven in their expre&s;&s;ions, and nothing of heaven in their conver&s;ations, who have much holine&s;s in their books, but none in their bo&s;oms, and much holine&s;s in their lips, but none in their lives; The leud lives of &s;uch per&s;ons cau&s;es people to &s;light and abhor the holy things of God, 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 2.17. yea their bad lives often rai&s;e doubts in their hearers hearts,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 2.22. Mal. 2. <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> whether tho&s;e things be true that they preach or no; hearers will be ready to object and &s;ay, if the&s;e things be true that the Mini&s;ter &s;ays, why does he not practice what he preaches? why does he not do as well as &s;ay? and with what face or confidence can he appear again&s;t that in the Pulpit, which he countenanceth and patronizeth in his life; who will credit that mans Doctrine who has <HI>Jacobs</HI> voice but <HI>E&s;aus</HI> hands, who is a Saint, yea an Angel in the Pulpit, but a de|bauched &s;inner, yea an incarnate devil out of it? I have read of a woman, who living in profe&s;&s;ed doubt of the God-head, after better illumination and repentance, did often prote&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mr. <HI>Wards</HI> Ser|mons.</NOTE> that the vicious life of a great Schollar, under who&s;e Mini&s;try &s;he did live, did conjure up tho&s;e damnable doubts in her &s;oul: There is nothing that brings holy truths &s;o much into que&s;tion,
<PB N="298" REF="160"> as the unholy conver&s;ations of &s;uch preachers neither; is there any thing that expo&s;es a Mini&s;ters per&s;on and office to &s;o much &s;corn and contempt as an unholy life. Let a Mini|&s;ter be never &s;o learned, &s;olid, quaint, elegant, zealous, judici|ous, &s;ententious, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> yet if he be carnal, covetous, worldly, vain and loo&s;e in his life and conver&s;ation, his hearers will ra|ther deride his doctrine, then reforme by his doctrine, they will rather contemn it, then &s;tudy how to profit by it; there|fore he &s;aid right that &s;aid
<Q><LG>
<L>Turpe e&s;t doctori, cum culpa redarguit ip&s;um.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>&V;nto a teacher it's no &s;mall di&s;grace,</L>
<L>When his own faults reprove him to his face.</L>
</LG></Q> There is nothing in all the world that is more powerful and pre|valent to corrupt and mi&s;lead unholy men, and to harden, &s;trengthen,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 13.22. Jer. 23.15.</NOTE> and encourage them in ways of wickedne&s;s, then the loo&s;ene&s;s of their lives, who&s;e office binds them to look to the &s;alvation of their &s;ouls, <HI>Mal.</HI> 2.8. <HI>Ye are departed out of the way, ye have cau&s;ed many to &s;tumble at the Law.</HI> When the preacher departs out of the way of holine&s;s, the people will quickly &s;tumble at the Law of holine&s;s; when Mini&s;ters are as wandring &s;tars, no wonder if their hearers wander from all that's good; he who&s;e life is not a &s;tanding reproof to &s;in, will by his life encourage &s;inners more and more in a way of &s;in; there is nothing that keeps men &s;o off from a good opinion of holine&s;s, and from the love of holine&s;s, and the liking of holi|ne&s;s, and from the pur&s;uing after holine&s;s, then the unholy lives of their teachers; and therefore as ever you would be holy, flye their Tents and abandon their company and &s;ociety. Mini&s;ters who&s;e lives are leud, though their parts may be high, are like a &s;tone gutter that conveyeth water into a garden,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tine.</NOTE> but re|ceiveth no benefit it &s;elf thereby; or like a Harpe that maketh others melody, but heareth nothing it &s;elf; they are like tho&s;e Carpenters that built the Arke to &s;ave others, and were drown|ed them&s;elves; or like Porters at great mens gates, that let in others, but lodge without them&s;elves; or like Sea-marks that rot them&s;elves, and yet give others warning to avoid Shipwrack;
<PB N="299" REF="160"> or like <HI>Ca&s;ars</HI> &s;ouldier that digged a fountain for <HI>Cae&s;ar,</HI> and pe|ri&s;hed him&s;elf for want of water. O! the folly and madne&s;s of &s;uch Mini&s;ters that give light to others, and yet walk in dark|ne&s;s them&s;elves, that fea&s;t others &s;ouls, but &s;tarve their own, that re&s;cue others from a devouring enemy, and yet &s;uffer them&s;elves to be devoured, that forewarne others of the hor|rible pit, and yet fall into it them&s;elves, that give good coun|&s;el to others, and yet can't take good coun&s;el them&s;elves, that &s;tudy and &s;trive to bring others to heaven, and yet have no minde to go thither them&s;elves. Certainly &s;ociety and compa|ny with &s;uch upon choice, can't but be a mighty hinderance to holine&s;s; he that is in good earne&s;t re&s;olved to be holy, mu&s;t re&s;olutely be re&s;olved to have nothing to do with &s;uch unholy per&s;ons. And thus you &s;ee the &s;everal things that you mu&s;t decline if ever you would be holy. But,</P>
<P>Secondly, As there are &s;everal things that you mu&s;t decline if ever you would obtain that real holine&s;s, without which there is no happine&s;s; &s;o there are &s;everal things that you are to do, that you are to put in practice, without which you will never be holy here, nor happy hereafter. Q. <HI>But what are they? A.</HI> They are the&s;e.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Greatly lament and mourn over thine own unholine&s;s, <MILESTONE N="1"> over thine own wickedne&s;s; the fir&s;t &s;tep to holine&s;s is melting and mourning over a mans own unholine&s;s; go to thy clo&s;et, and fall down before the mo&s;t high and holy God, and mourn bitterly over the unholine&s;s of thy nature, the unholine&s;s of thy heart, the unholine&s;s of thy affections, the unholine&s;s of thy intentions, the unholine&s;s of thy re&s;olutions, the unholy|ne&s;s of thy expre&s;&s;ions, and the unholine&s;s of thy conver&s;ation. <HI>Joel</HI> 2.12. <HI>Turne ye to the Lord with weeping and with mourn|ing.</HI> The foundation of a thorough reformation mu&s;t be laid in a deep humiliation; the be&s;t way to be holy, is to accu&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezra. 6.2. Jer. 50.4. P&s;al. 51.5.</NOTE> in|dict, arraign, and condemn thy &s;elf for thy unholine&s;s; you &s;hall as &s;oon e&s;pou&s;e light and darkne&s;s, and marry midnight to the noon day, as you &s;hall e&s;pou&s;e or marry a holy God to an unhumbled &s;inner. O! who can look upon &s;in as an offence a|gain&s;t a holy God, as the breach of a holy law, as the wounding and crucifying of a holy Saviour, as the grieving and &s;adding of a
<PB N="300" REF="161"> holy &s;anctifier, and as an eternal lo&s;s and undoing of his own &s;oul, and not mourn over it? O! who can ca&s;t a &s;erious eye upon the nature of &s;in, or upon the exceeding &s;infulne&s;s of &s;in, or upon the aggravations of &s;in, and not have his heart humbled, his &s;oul grieved, and his Spirit melted for &s;in? O! who can look upon &s;in as it &s;trikes at the honor of God, the name of God, the being of God, the glory of God, and the de&s;ign of God, and not have his mouth full of penitential confe&s;&s;ions, his eyes full of penitential tears, and his heart full of penitential &s;orrow? Some (as they &s;ay of witches) cannot weep for &s;in; but they that weep not for &s;in here (where there are handerchiefs in the hands of Chri&s;t to wipe off their tears) &s;hall weep out their eyes in hell hereafter; 'tis better to weep bitterly for thy &s;ins on earth, then to weep eternally for thy folly in hell. Ah how hard is that heart that can, &s;adly lament and bewail the lo&s;s of a groat, a chick, a child, a &s;heep, a &s;hip, a friend, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and yet can't let fall a tear to &s;ave a lo&s;t &s;oul? <HI>Jacob</HI> weeps and prevails with God, <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> 12.4. His tears made a happy con|que&s;t upon God; <HI>Jacob</HI> weeps and prevailes with God for his life, and what do&s;t thou know but that by thy penitential tears thou mai&s;t prevail with God for thy &s;oul? he weeps and pre|vails with God for temporals, and why maye&s;t not thou by weeping prevail with God for eternals; he weeps and pre|vails with God for &s;ome outward happine&s;s, and why mai&s;t not thou by weeping prevail with God for inward holine&s;s? 'Tis an old ob&s;ervation, that the tears of repenting &s;inners, are the wine of Angels. Certainly God him&s;elf can &s;mile to &s;ee a &s;inner grieve for his &s;ins, and to &s;ee him grieve that he can grieve no more,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 51.17.</NOTE> for that he has &s;inned again&s;t a God &s;o great, &s;o gracious, &s;o bountiful, &s;o merciful, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> though God be di&s;|plea&s;ed with a &s;inners &s;ins, yet he is very well plea&s;ed with a &s;inners tears, and therefore as he has a bagg for the one, &s;o he has a bottle for the other: It can't but be a plea&s;ure to God to &s;ee a &s;inner drown his &s;ins in a deluge of penitential tears; though tears of indignation, as was <HI>E&s;aus,</HI> and tears of di&s;&s;i|mulation, as was <HI>I&s;hmaels,</HI> and tears of de&s;peration, as was <HI>Judas's,</HI> be abominable to God, yet tears of godly compun|ction and contrition, are acceptable and delightful unto God.
<PB N="301" REF="161"> A &s;inner never looks &s;o &s;weetly, as when he weeps mo&s;t peni|tentially, witne&s;s <HI>Mary Magdalen, Mana&s;&s;eh,</HI> and tho&s;e mur|derers of Chri&s;t, <HI>Acts</HI> 2. A &s;inners face never &s;hines &s;o beau|tiful, as when 'tis bedewed with penitential tears; tears have a voice as well as blood, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 6.8. And God has an eye as well upon a mans tears as upon his prayers. Penitent tears are di|vine Amba&s;&s;adors, that never return from the throne of grace without an&s;wers of grace, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 38.5. <HI>Peter</HI> &s;aid nothing, but went out and wept bitterly, and obtained mercy, <HI>Mat.</HI> 26. <HI>ult.</HI> Tears are a kind of &s;ilent prayers, that will at la&s;t prevail for mercy. <HI>Naaman</HI> the <HI>Syrian</HI> was clean&s;ed of his lepro&s;ie by the waters of <HI>Jordan;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 King. 5.</NOTE> penitential tears may do much towards the clean&s;ing of thy leprous &s;oul from &s;in; he that really grieves that he cannot grieve for &s;in, is grieved for &s;in; he that is truely &s;orry that he cannot be &s;orry for &s;in, is in a mea&s;ure &s;orry for &s;in; he that truly de&s;ires to drown his &s;ins in his tears, he has in Divine account, drowned his &s;ins in his tears. The Maid in <HI>Scaliger</HI> &s;wooned at the &s;ight of a Lilly. O! how much more &s;hould you at the &s;ight of your unholine&s;s. <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> wept when he &s;aw the Ro&s;e, becau&s;e it brought to his mind the fir&s;t &s;in from whence it had the prickles. O! how &s;hould a &s;inner fall a weeping when he looks upon the greatne&s;s of his wickedne&s;s, and his want of holine&s;s. As ever you would be holy mourn over your own un|holine&s;s. But,</P>
<P>Secondly, If ever thou woulde&s;t be holy, thou mu&s;t &s;eek the <MILESTONE N="2"> holy Spirit; the &s;pirit is the efficient cau&s;e of all that holine&s;s that is in the world. The Spirit of God is a Spirit of holine&s;s, <HI>Rom.</HI> 1.4. he is frequently called the holy Spirit, <HI>Ca&s;t me not away from thy pre&s;ence, and take not thy holy &s;pirit from me,</HI> P&s;al. 5.11. <HI>But they rebelled and vexed his holy &s;pirit,</HI> I&s;a. 63.10. <HI>And grieve not the holy &s;pirit of God whereby ye are &s;ealed unto the day of redemption,</HI> Eph. 4.30. <HI>He therefore that de&s;pi&s;eth, de&s;pi&s;eth not man, but God, who hath al&s;o given unto us his holy Spirit,</HI> 1 The&s;. 4.8. <HI>In whom al&s;o after that ye believed, ye were &s;ealed by the holy &s;pirit of promi&s;e,</HI> Eph. 1.13. To make a man holy, is more then to create a world, 'tis a work too high and too hard for Angels or men, it becomes none, and it can be done by none but by the holy &s;pirit; &s;anctification is made the
<PB N="302" REF="162"> &s;pirits per&s;onal operation in that 2 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 2.13. and in that 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.2. 'Tis the great work of the &s;pirit to &s;hape, form, and fa&s;hion the new creature holine&s;s in all the ve&s;&s;els of glory. The &s;pirit is the root of all holine&s;s, and therefore the &s;everal parts of holine&s;s are called the fruits of the &s;pirit, <HI>Gal.</HI> 5.22. 'Tis true, God purpo&s;es holine&s;s to his people, and Chri&s;t has purcha&s;ed holine&s;s for his people, but 'tis onely the &s;pirit that is the efficient cau&s;e or worker of holine&s;s in his people; though the Father, Son, and Spirit hath de&s;igned to re-imprint holine&s;s upon mans heart, yet the &s;pirit has the greate&s;t hand in that work. When man was in his primitive glory, holine&s;s was his loveline&s;s and his likene&s;s to God, but being now faln, that image is &s;o broken and mar'd, that no hand can repaire it or re|&s;tore it, but the hand of the &s;pirit. The great principle of holi|ne&s;s which was in Chri&s;t (as to his humane nature) was the holy Spirit which he had above mea&s;ure, for he was anointed with the Unction of the Spirit above his fellows. So that look which way you will, the Spirit &s;till appears to be the great principle of holine&s;s; holine&s;s is the very picture of God, and certainly no hand can carve that excellent picture but the &s;pirit of God; Holine&s;s is the divine nature, and none can impart that to man but the Spirit. A man never comes to &s;ee his &s;ins, nor to be &s;ick of his &s;ins, nor to loath his &s;ins, nor to arraign his &s;ins, nor to condemn his &s;ins, nor to judge him&s;elf for his &s;ins (evange|lically) till he comes to be po&s;&s;e&s;t of the holy Spirit. A man never comes to &s;pit out the &s;weet mor&s;els of &s;in, he never come to make a &s;acrifice of his onely <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> and to cut his de|licate <HI>Agag</HI> in pieces, and to &s;trangle his <HI>Dalilah,</HI> and in good earne&s;t to &s;et upon an utter exterpation of tho&s;e &s;ins that his con&s;titution, inclination, cu&s;tome, calling, and intere&s;t does mo&s;t incline him to, till a &s;pirit of holine&s;s comes upon him; till this holy Spirit which is a &s;pirit of judgement and burning, falls upon the hearts of &s;inners, they will never be fired out of their pride, formality, carnality, &s;en&s;uality and &s;ecurity; when this holy Spirit comes as a Spirit of Glory and Power to change thy heart, to de&s;troy thy &s;ins, to reform thy ways, and to &s;ave thy &s;oul, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Oh then cry out, let him &s;till go on conquering and to conquer, till all his enemies ate made his foot&s;tool. Oh
<PB N="303" REF="162"> let him cut off every right hand, and pluck out every right eye, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that does offend; O let him do ju&s;tice upon every &s;in, upon every open &s;in, upon every &s;ecret &s;in, upon every bo&s;om &s;in, upon every plea&s;ing &s;in, and upon every gainful &s;in; Oh &s;et your &s;elves under the Cele&s;tial influences and &s;weet di&s;till|ings of the holy Spirit; Oh prize his motions, Oh welcome his motions, Oh comply with his motions, Oh follow his motions, that &s;o you may be holy and happy for ever. When <HI>David</HI> asked coun&s;el of God, whether he &s;hould goe up again&s;t th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Phi|li&s;tins or no, he received this an&s;wer, <HI>When thou heare&s;t the noi&s;e of one going in the top of the Mulbery-trees,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 5.24.</NOTE> <HI>then re|move, for then &s;hall the Lord go out before thee to &s;mite the Phili|&s;tines.</HI> So &s;hould every one wi&s;ely ob&s;erve, when the Spirit &s;weetly and &s;trongly moves them to mind holine&s;s, to fall in love with holine&s;s, to pre&s;s after holine&s;s; when the &s;pirit mo|ves them to leave off their &s;ins, to turn to God, to open to Chri&s;t, to tremble at threatnings, and to imbrace promi&s;es; Oh make much of the&s;e holy motions, Oh cheri&s;h the&s;e divine breathings, Oh don't quench the&s;e heavenly &s;parks, lea&s;t the Spirit never move thee more, nor never &s;trive with thee more, <HI>Gen.</HI> 6.3. Oh when thou heare&s;t a voice within thee, or a voice behind thee, &s;aying, <HI>Come with me from Lebanon, my &s;i&s;ter,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 30.21. Cant. 4.8.</NOTE> <HI>my &s;pou&s;e,</HI> &amp;c. Come away from thy cups, thou drunken wretch; come away from thy wanton <HI>Dalilahs,</HI> thou unclean wretch; come away from thy &s;inful plea&s;ures, thou voluptious wretch; come away from thy baggs, thou worldly wretch; come away from thy honors, thou ambitious wretch; and come away from thy fraud, thou cheating wretch: Oh hearken to this voice, Oh obey this voice that it may go well with thy &s;oul for ever; if now thou &s;trike&s;t while&s;t the iron is hot; if now thou hoi&s;te&s;t up &s;ail whil&s;t the wine is fair, thou mai&s;t be made for ever. In that 5 <HI>Joh.</HI> 4. there were certain times when the Angel came down and troubled the waters, and who&s;oever did then &s;tep in, was healed of what&s;oever di&s;ea&s;e he had: So there are certain times and &s;ea&s;ons wherein the Spirit of holine&s;s &s;tirs the heart and affections, and moves and breaths upon the &s;oul; now if men were wi&s;e to ob&s;erve the&s;e times and &s;ea&s;ons, they might be happy for ever; the time of the &s;pirits moving is the ac|ceptable
<PB N="304" REF="163"> time, if you ob&s;erve it you are made, if you neglect it you are mar'd; all the movings and motions of the &s;pirit are in order to an eternity of felicity and glory: Oh therefore don't grieve the Spirit, don't cro&s;s the Spirit, don't vex the Spirit, don't tempt the Spirit,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Spiritus &s;an|ctus e&s;t res de|licata.</NOTE> don't quench the Spirit, don't oppo&s;e the Spirit, don't re&s;i&s;t the Spirit, don't deal har&s;hly or un|kindly with the Spirit, by &s;inning again&s;t illumination, convicti|on, re&s;olutions and promi&s;es of reformation: Oh be more tender of the gracious motions of the Spirit, then thou art of thy name, thy e&s;tate, thy liberty, thy life; for he de&s;igns thy internal good in this world, and thy eternal good in the other world; and therefore don't affront him, nor carry it unworthi|ly towards him, if thou &s;houlde&s;t, it may be as much as thy life and thy &s;oul is worth; if a man &s;lip the opportunity of a favor|able gale, he may lie wind-bound till all be &s;pent: when the Spirit moves &s;alvation, and all the glory of heaven &s;tands wait|ing at thy door, if now thou will but open, the King of glory will enter in, and ble&s;s thee for ever. <HI>Saul</HI> by neglecting his opportunity lo&s;t an earthly kingdom; take heed lea&s;t thou by &s;lighting the motions of the Spirit, come&s;t to loo&s;e a heavenly kingdom; the letting &s;lip one &s;ea&s;on when the Spirit moves may undo a man in both worlds, and &s;ome think <HI>Felix</HI> found it &s;o. Well &s;irs, as ever you would be holy, you mu&s;t labor for a Spirit of holine&s;s; and for your encouragement remem|ber this, that though the holy Spirit be the great Jewel of Glory, yet God is more ready to give it then you are to aske it, witne&s;s that 11. of <HI>Luke</HI> from the 9. to the 14. <HI>ver&s;e.</HI> But,</P>
<P>Thirdly, If ever you would be holy, then you mu&s;t waite upon the word; the word of God faithfully preached, is the ordinary meanes by which holine&s;s is wrought in &s;inners hearts; the word is that triumphant Chariot of the Spirit, wherein he rides conquering and to conquer the &s;ouls of men; the holy word is de&s;igned by God to beget holine&s;s in &s;inners hearts, and to countenance, cheri&s;h, nouri&s;h, and &s;trengthen holine&s;s where it is begotten; <HI>John</HI> 17.17. <HI>Sanctifie them through thy truth, thy word is truth.</HI> And for their &s;akes, <HI>&amp;c. I &s;anctifie my &s;elfe, that they al&s;o might be &s;anctified through the
<PB N="305" REF="163"> truth,</HI> ver. 19. So <HI>Chap.</HI> 15.3. <HI>Now ye are cleane through the word which I have &s;poken to you.</HI> The ordinary way of making uncleane &s;ouls cleane, unholy &s;ouls holy, is the Mini&s;try of the word; <HI>Phil.</HI> 5.26. As there is a clean&s;ing vertue in the blood of Chri&s;t, 1 <HI>John</HI> 1.7. &s;o there is a clean&s;ing vertue in the word of Chri&s;t; <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 119.9. <HI>Wherewithall &s;hall a young man clean&s;e his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.</HI> Of all men, the young man is (u&s;ually) mo&s;t wild and wicked, mo&s;t licen|tious and rebellious, and yet the word of God is the power of God to his conviction and conver&s;ion, to his &s;anctification and &s;alvation; though the clean&s;ing of a young mans heart be one of the harde&s;t works in the world, yet this may be done by the word: There are no lu&s;ts &s;o &s;trong, but the word can ca&s;t them downe, nor no &s;taines &s;o deep, but the word can wa&s;h them out. Three thou&s;and &s;inners were made Saints by one Sermon, <HI>Acts</HI> 2.41. and five thou&s;and more were converted and &s;an|ctified by another Sermon, <HI>Chap.</HI> 4.4. Here were eight thou|&s;and men clean&s;ed, &s;anctified, and &s;aved by two Sermons, and doubtle&s;s mo&s;t of them were young. Oh Sirs, as ever you would have holy principles laid in your &s;ouls, and holy affections rai|&s;ed in your &s;ouls, and holy ends aimed at by your &s;ouls, heare the word in &s;ea&s;on and out of &s;ea&s;on, oh attend it, oh waite on it, 'twill be &s;ope to clean&s;e you, and fire to purge you, and water to wa&s;h you, and a winde to turne you from darkne&s;&s;e to light, and from the power of Satan to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>Acts</HI> 26.16,&mdash;24. The Go&s;pel preached hath been the power of God to the &s;alvation of multitudes of &s;ouls, <HI>Rom.</HI> 1.16. The word is that immortall &s;eed, by which holine&s;s, which is not only a grace, but the conjunction of all graces, is formed in the &s;oule, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.23. 'Tis the word that gives a &s;piritual Birth and Being to men, <HI>Gal.</HI> 4.19. The word enlightens the eye, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 119.105. It &s;oftens the heart, <HI>Deut.</HI> 32.2. It purges the con&s;cience, and it converts the &s;oule, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 19.7. It de|thrones Satan, it ca&s;ts downe &s;trong holds, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.4, 5. It quickens the dull, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 119.50. and it rai&s;es the dead, <HI>Joh.</HI> 5.24, 25. Oh therefore heare it, and waite on it, and come to it, that you may be made holy by it; many come to heare the word to cen&s;ure it, others to mock at it, others to inrich their
<PB N="306" REF="164"> curious notions by it, and others come to catch the Mini&s;ter at it; but doe thou come to it that thou maye&s;t be made holy by it, and doubtle&s;s fir&s;t or la&s;t thou &s;halt obtaine thy end; yea 'tis good for a man to come to the word, though his de&s;igne in coming be bad; 'tis good for a man to &s;it under that great or|dinance of the word, though he &s;its upon thornes, as it were, all the while he is there: They that come to &s;ee who hath got the newe&s;t fa&s;hions, may have their hearts fa&s;hioned into a con|formity with the word. They came to catch, but were caught in that <HI>John</HI> 7.46. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> coming to <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> to have his ears tickled, had his heart touched and turned. <HI>Come,</HI> &s;aith old Fa|ther <HI>Latimer</HI> (in a Sermon before King <HI>Edward</HI> the Sixt) <HI>to the publick meeting,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1550.</NOTE> <HI>though thou come&s;t to &s;leepe, it may be God may take thee napping.</HI> When thou come&s;t, though it be but to ta&s;te the Mini&s;ters &s;pirit, yet then God may take hold on thy &s;pirit, and make it the day of his power upon thy &s;oule; though thou come&s;t with a heart full of prejudices again&s;t Chri&s;t, yet by the word thou maye&s;t be brought to a love of Chri&s;t, to a liking of Chri&s;t, and to a choice of Chri&s;t, and to a ble&s;&s;ed clo&s;e and re|&s;ignation of thy &s;elfe to Chri&s;t. They that came to &s;urprize Chri&s;t, were &s;o taken with Chri&s;t, that being filled with admi|ration they could not but proclaime his divine Excellencies; <HI>Never man &s;pake like this man.</HI> The word is the word of the Lord, let the hand be what it will that brings it. When gold is offered, men care not how noble or ignoble, how great or how ba&s;e he is that offers it; &s;o men &s;hould not look &s;o much at the hand that brings the word, as at the word it &s;elfe; the word of the Lord was as much the word of the Lord, in the hand and mouth of <HI>Amos,</HI> who was rai&s;ed a Prophet from among&s;t the Heard&s;men of <HI>Tekoa,</HI> as it was the word of the Lord in the hand and mouth of <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> who, as &s;ome think, was a Prophet of the blood-royall. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> ob&s;erves of the Woman of <HI>Samaria, John</HI> 4.7. that &s;he came <HI>peccatrix</HI> to <HI>Jacobs</HI> Well, but &s;he went away <HI>praedicatrix,</HI> &s;he came a &s;inner, but &s;he went away a Prophete&s;s. Oh Sirs, let nothing hinder you from coming to the word! oh come to the word; though you come &s;inners, yet come, for though you doe come &s;inners, yet you may goe away Saints; though the dew of heaven hath richly and &s;weetly fallen
<PB N="307" REF="164"> upon your hearts, and yet, like <HI>Gideons</HI> &s;leece, you are &s;till dry, yet come to the word &s;till, for who can tell but that by the ve|ry next Sermon, God may make thy &s;oule like a watered gar|den, and like a &s;pring of water, <HI>who&s;e waters faile not,</HI> I&s;a. 58.11. It is reported of young King <HI>Edward</HI> the Sixth,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sir</HI> John Hay|ward in vita.</NOTE> that being about to lay hold on &s;ome thing that was above the reach of his &s;hort Arme, one that &s;tood by e&s;pying a great Bo&s;s'd Bible lying on the Table, offered to lay that under his feete to heigh|ten him, but the good young King di&s;liked the motion, and in|&s;tead of treading it under his feete, he laid it to his heart: oh come to the word, but come not to trample upon it, come not to &s;coff or mock at it, come not to de&s;pi&s;e it, or to revile it, but come and lay it to your hearts, and it may doe you good for ever; there is no better way to make thee holy, then to at|tend on the holy word. But</P>
<P>Fourthly, If ever you would be holy, then a&s;&s;ociate your <MILESTONE N="4"> &s;elves with tho&s;e that are holy; Look as he that walkes with the wi&s;e &s;hall be wi&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 13.20.</NOTE> &s;o he that walkes with the holy &s;hall certainly be pre&s;t and provok't to be holy: As <HI>Socrates</HI> made it his bu&s;ine&s;s to better others by his company, &s;o a holy man will make it his bu&s;ine&s;s to make others holy by his coun&s;ell, pray|ers, and example; he knowes that it is one of the mo&s;t noble and divine imployments in the world to make others holy, and therefore he &s;ets upon that worke with all his might:<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 119.115. P&s;al. 1.1.</NOTE> Look as there is no greater a hinderance to holine&s;s, then the &s;ociety of the wicked, &s;o there is no greater a help to holine&s;s, then the &s;ociety of tho&s;e that are godly: Look as the beginning of un|godline&s;s is to keep Company with tho&s;e that are ungodly, &s;o the beginning of holine&s;s is to keep company with tho&s;e that are holy: Look as one drunkard makes another, and one &s;wearer makes another, and one proud per&s;on makes another, and one worldling makes another, and one formali&s;t makes another, &s;o one holy man makes another; or look as one &s;ober man makes another, and one prudent man makes another, and one re&s;olute man makes another, and one zealous man makes another, and one heavenly minded man makes another, &s;o one holy man makes another. Ah &s;inners, &s;inners, there are no companions in the world that will pitty you as the&s;e, that will weep and
<PB N="308" REF="165"> mourn over you as the&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 10.1. 1 Pet. 3.1.</NOTE> that will &s;trive and wre&s;tle with God for you as the&s;e, there are none that will be &s;o tender of your &s;alvation as the&s;e, nor none that will labour &s;o much for your conver&s;ion as the&s;e, nor none that will &s;o &s;pend them&s;elves to prevent your damnation as the&s;e, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.15. Oh Sirs, upon tryall you will finde that there are none &s;o able to coun&s;el you, nor none &s;o faithfull to reprove you, nor none &s;o ready to help you, nor none &s;o compa&s;&s;ionate to &s;impathize with you, nor none &s;o &s;trong to &s;upport you, nor none &s;o advantaged to con|vert you, as tho&s;e that are holy; and why then will you not la|bour to be one of this &s;ociety? Oh Sirs, of all fellow&s;hips the fellow&s;hip of Saints is the mo&s;t noble, the mo&s;t honorable, the mo&s;t plea&s;ant, the mo&s;t amiable, the mo&s;t de&s;ireable, the mo&s;t profitable, and the mo&s;t commendable fellow&s;hip; and why then will you &s;till live &s;trangers, yea enemies to this fellow<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">hip? Ah Sirs, holy men will &s;till be awakening and alarming of your drow&s;ie &s;pirits, they will be &s;till a knocking at the doore of your hearts, and asking of you, whether it be good going to hell; they will &s;till be enquiring of you, what provi&s;ion you have made for another world, and how all things &s;tands within; they will &s;till be jogging at your elbowes, that you may not dye in your &s;ins, &amp; they will &s;till be whi&s;pering in your eare, that your &s;ouls may live for ever. The <HI>Jewes</HI> have a Proverb, <HI>That two dry &s;ticks put to a greene one, will kindle it.</HI> Oh there is nothing in all the world, that contributes &s;o much to the kindling, to the firing, and to the inflaming of mens hearts after holine&s;s, as the &s;ociety of tho&s;e that are holy. <HI>Algerius</HI> (an <HI>Italian</HI> Mar|tyr) <HI>had rather be in pri&s;on with Cato, then to live with Cae&s;ar in the Senate-hou&s;e.</HI> Oh it is ten thou&s;and times better to live with tho&s;e that are holy, though in a dark pri&s;on, then to live among&s;t tho&s;e that are unholy, though in a Royal Palace. <HI>&V;rbanus Re|gius,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Adam in vita Regii. p. <HI>78.</HI></NOTE> having one dayes conver&s;e with <HI>Luther,</HI> tells us, <HI>that it was one of the &s;weete&s;t dayes that ever he had in all his life.</HI> Oh &s;inners, did you but experience for one day the &s;weete and happine&s;&s;e of the communion of Saints, you would then cry out, <HI>Oh there is no &s;ociety to the &s;ociety of Gods holy ones.</HI> And there|fore as ever you would be holy, let holy men have more heart-roome and hou&s;e-roome with you. But</P>
<PB N="309" REF="165">
<P>Fifthly, If ever you would be holy, then dwell much upon <MILESTONE N="5"> tho&s;e &s;olemn Vowes and Covenants that you have formerly made in the dayes of your di&s;tre&s;s: Ah how often have you in the dayes of your calamity and mi&s;ery, and in the dayes when &s;ickne&s;&s;es and weakne&s;&s;es did hang upon you, and when the terrours of death were upon you, how frequently in tho&s;e dayes did you &s;olemnly vow and promi&s;e, that by the &s;trength and a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the Lord, you would break off your &s;ins by repen|tance, and that you would make it your greate&s;t care, and your greate&s;t bu&s;ine&s;s and worke in this world to minde holine&s;s, and to pre&s;s after holine&s;s, and to give your &s;ouls no re&s;t, till you had experienced the power, excellency, and &s;weetne&s;s of holine&s;s? As <HI>David</HI> by an oath bound him&s;elfe to keep Gods righteous judgements, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 119.106. <HI>I have &s;worne and I will performe it, that I will keep thy righteous Judgments,</HI> (a re|ligious vow is nothing el&s;e but a &s;olemn promi&s;e or oath, where|by a man engages him&s;elfe to the great God, that he will de|cline &s;uch wayes, means, and methods, as lead to wickedne&s;s, and that he will &s;et in good earne&s;t upon the practice of all the wayes and means of holine&s;s, by the &s;trength and a&s;&s;i&s;tance of divine grace) &s;o you have by many vowes and promi&s;es en|gaged your &s;elves <HI>to ca&s;t off the workes of darkne&s;s,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 13.12.</NOTE> <HI>and to put on the Armour of light,</HI> &s;utable to the Apo&s;tles exhortation. And as the people in <HI>Nehemiah's</HI> time did enter into a cur&s;e and an oath to walk in Gods Law, and to ob&s;erve and doe all his Com|mandements, <HI>Neh.</HI> 10.29. So you have in the times of your outward and inward di&s;tre&s;&s;es vowed to the Lord, that you would ob&s;erve all his Statutes, and walke in all his holy wayes, and doe all his righteous Commandements.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 31.1, 2.</NOTE> <HI>Job</HI> once made a covenant with his eyes, that he would not lu&s;tfully look upon a maid; but how often have you made a covenant with your thoughts, that you would not thinke of vanity, and with your eyes, that you would not behold vanity, and with your eares, that you would not heare vanity, and with your tongues, that you would not &s;peak vanity, and with your hearts, that you would not contrive vanity, and with your hands, that you would not act vanity; now your vowes and your covenants are upon you,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 2.17.</NOTE> oh that you would not with the &s;trange woman in the <HI>Pro|verbs,</HI>
<PB N="310" REF="166"> forget the covenant of your God; oh 'tis better ten thou|&s;and times not to vow,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccl. 5.5.</NOTE> then to vow and not to pay: God can take no plea&s;ure in &s;uch as are off and on with him, nor in &s;uch who are forward to vow, but make no con&s;cience to pay their vowes; the&s;e are fools in folio, and therefore God cannot but dete&s;t them, and turne his back upon them. If good <HI>Jacob</HI> who is called <HI>the father of vowes,</HI> was &s;o backward to pay his vowes, that God was forced, not only to round him in the eare againe and againe, with <HI>a goe up to Bethel, and there build me a Chappel,</HI> but al&s;o &s;evercly to puni&s;h his delayes, both in the rape of his daughter, and in the cruelty of his &s;ons, &amp;c. <HI>Gen.</HI> 35. Ah how &s;everely then may God deale with &s;uch, who doe not only de|lay the paying of their vowes, but who live al&s;o in the daily breach of their vowes. Mo&s;t men have need of that coun&s;ell which the Bi&s;hop of <HI>Colen</HI> gave <HI>Sigi&s;mund</HI> the Emperour, that ask't him what he &s;hould doe to be happy; <HI>Live</HI> (&s;aid he) <HI>as you promi&s;ed and vowed to doe when you were la&s;t &s;ick of the Stone and Gout.</HI> Ah that all men would make more con&s;cience of living out, and of living up to the covenants, vowes, and pro|mi&s;es, that they have made to God in the dayes when the hand of the Lord has gone out many wayes again&s;t them, and when terrours of con&s;cience have been &s;trong upon them, O what repentance, O what reformation, O what amendment have they promi&s;ed in tho&s;e dayes, and yet no &s;ooner have the&s;e out|ward and inward &s;tormes been over, but they have been as vaine, and loo&s;e, and ba&s;e as ever. In the time of the great Sweat in King <HI>Edwards</HI> dayes, as long as the heate of the plague la&s;ted, O how did every one cry out, <HI>peccavi, peccavi, I have &s;inned, I have &s;inned, mercy Lord, O mercy, mercy good Lord.</HI> Then Lords and Ladies, and people of all &s;orts, cryed out to the Mini&s;ters, for the Lords &s;ake, Sirs, tell us what &s;hall we doe to avoyd the wrath of the Lord? what &s;hall we doe to be &s;afe in this evill day? O take the&s;e bags and pay &s;o much to &s;uch a one whom I have deceived, and re&s;tore &s;o much to &s;uch a one whom I have in bargaining over-reached, O give &s;o much to the poore, and &s;o much to other pious u&s;es, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But after the &s;ickne&s;s was over, they <HI>returned with the dog to the vomit, and with the &s;owe to the wallowing in the mire againe; and &s;o their
<PB N="311" REF="166"> latter end was wor&s;e then their former.</HI> There was a very great &s;inner, who in the time of his &s;ickne&s;s was &s;o &s;orely terrified in his con&s;cience for his many hainous &s;ins, that he made the very bed to &s;hake upon which he lay, and cryed out all night long, <HI>I am damn'd, I am damn'd, I am damn'd,</HI> &amp;c. and in this his &s;ickne&s;s he made many great prote&s;tations of amendment of life, if God would but be plea&s;ed to recover him, and prevent his going downe to the grave at this time; Well, in a &s;hort time after, he did recover, and being recovered he was as ba&s;e, wret|ched and wicked, as ever he was before: This man with tho&s;e that were cited before him, were like that cunning Devill, of whom the Epigrammati&s;t thus writeth; <Q><L>Aegrota Daemon, Monachus tunc e&s;&s;e volebat,</L>
<L>Convaluit Daemon, Monachus tunc e&s;&s;e nolebat</L></Q></P>
<P>Which is thus Engli&s;hed; <Q><L>The Devill was &s;ick, the Devill a Monk would be;</L>
<L>The Devill was well, the Devill a Monk was he.</L></Q></P>
<P>But tho&s;e who are now like to Satan in &s;in, may hereafter be like to him in torment; &s;uch who now out-live their vows, &s;hall when they dye have hell enough. You count it a very &s;hamefull thing to break promi&s;e or covenant with men, but is it not farre more &s;hamefull to break with God? The <HI>Egypti|ans</HI> (though Heathens) &s;o hated perjury, that if any man did but &s;wear by the life of the King, and did not performe his oath, that man was to dye, and no gold was to redeeme his life.<NOTE PLACE="marg">As <HI>Paulus Fa|gius</HI> ob&s;erves in his Com|ment on <HI>Ge|ne&s;is,</HI> &amp;c.</NOTE> When the <HI>Romans</HI> made Covenants, they took Stones in their hands and &s;aid, <HI>If I make this Covenant &s;eriou&s;ly and faithfully, then let the great Jupiter ble&s;s me, if not, &s;o let me be ca&s;t away from the face of the gods as I ca&s;t away this Stone.</HI> Covenant-breaking was a &s;in greatly dete&s;ted and abhorred among the ve|ry Heathens, and &s;hall Chri&s;tians make nothing of breaking their vows, promi&s;es, and covenants with the great God. Well Sirs, remember this, tho&s;e &s;ins that you have vowed again&s;t, mu&s;t be de&s;erted, and that holine&s;s which you have vowed to
<PB N="312" REF="167"> follow, mu&s;t be pur&s;ued, or a wor&s;e thing then the cur&s;e of <HI>Me|roz</HI> mu&s;t be expected, <HI>Judg.</HI> 5.23. compared with that, <HI>Joh.</HI> 5.14. But</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="6"> Sixthly, If ever you would be holy, then dwell much upon the worth and preciou&s;ne&s;s of your &s;ouls; Chri&s;t that only went to the price of &s;ouls, hath told us that one &s;oul is more worth then all the wo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ld, <HI>Math:</HI> 16.26. Chri&s;t left his Fathers bo&s;ome, and all the glory of heaven for the good of &s;ouls, he a&s;|&s;umed the nature of man for the happine&s;s of the &s;oul of man, be trod the wine-pre&s;s of his Fathers wrath for &s;ouls, he wept for &s;ouls, he &s;weat for &s;ouls, he prayed for &s;ouls, he payd for &s;ouls, and he bled out his heart-blood for &s;ouls. The &s;oul is the breath of God, the beauty of man, the wonder of Angells, and the envie of Devills, 'tis of an Angelical nature, 'tis a heaven|ly &s;parke, a cele&s;tiall plant, and of a divine off-&s;pring, 'tis a &s;pi|rituall &s;ub&s;tance, capable of the knowledge of God, and of uni|on with God, and of communion with God, and of an eternall fruition of God; there is nothing that can &s;uit the &s;oule be|low God, nor nothing that can &s;atisfie the &s;oule without God; the &s;oule is &s;o high and &s;o noble a piece, that it &s;cornes all the world in point of acceptation, ju&s;tification, &s;atisfaction, and &s;alvation. What are all the riches of the Ea&s;t or We&s;t <HI>Indies?</HI> what are rocks of Diamonds, or mountaines of gold, or the price of <HI>Cleopatra's</HI> draught, to the price that Chri&s;t laid downe for &s;ouls? 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.18, 19. Chri&s;t made him&s;elf an offering for &s;in, that &s;ouls might not be undone by &s;in, the Lord dyed that &s;laves may live, the Son dyes that &s;ervants may live, the naturall Son dyes that adopted &s;ons may live, the only begotten Son dyes that ba&s;tards may live, yea the Judge dyes that male|factors may live. Ah friends, as there was never &s;orrow like Chri&s;ts &s;orrow, &s;o there was never love like Chri&s;ts love, and of all his love none to that of &s;oule-love. In a word, the &s;piri|tuall enemies which daily warre again&s;t the &s;oule, the glorious Angels which hourely guard the &s;oule, and the precious ordi|nances which God hath appointed as meanes, both to convert and to feed the &s;oul, doe all &s;peak out the preciou&s;ne&s;s and ex|cellency of the &s;oule. There was once a great conte&s;t among &s;ome Nations about <HI>Homer</HI> (an excellent Poet) they &s;everal|ly
<PB N="313" REF="167"> pleaded their intere&s;t in him; and truly &s;o 'tis this day about the &s;oule of man, many lay claime to it, &s;in lays claime to it, and the world lays claime to it, and Satan lays claime to it, and Chri&s;t and holine&s;s lays claime to it, and O that Chri&s;t and ho|line&s;s might have it before all others. O Sirs, there is no wi&s;|dome nor policy to that of &s;ecuring our precious &s;ouls, for they are Jewels of more worth then all the world; all the honours, riches, greatne&s;s, and glory of this world, are but chips and pibbles to the&s;e glorious pearles; therefore before all and above all other things, make &s;ure worke for your &s;ouls, if they are &s;afe all is &s;afe, but if they are lo&s;t all is lo&s;t: Other things can|not be made &s;ure, riches cannot, for as they are lying, &s;o they are flying vanities, they make them&s;elves wings, and they fly away; Honours cannot, <HI>Haman</HI> is fea&s;ted with the King one day, and made a fea&s;t for Crowes the next; <HI>Herod</HI> is one houre cryed up for a God, and the next houre he is eaten of wormes; Princes Courts are very &s;lippery, a man may quickly get a fall there, that may ea&s;ily break both back and neck, as many in all ages have experienced; the applau&s;e and favour of creatures cannot, for many mens favours are got with an Apple, and lo&s;t with a Nut;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Math. 27.4, 5.</NOTE> <HI>Judas</HI> his heart was hardly warm'd with the high Prie&s;ts favour, before they &s;hut their doores upon him, with a <HI>what is that to us? look thou to that;</HI> mo&s;t mens favours are as light as a feather, and &s;o tos't up and downe with every breath of windy vanity; the Moone do's not &s;o often vary and change, as the re&s;pects of mo&s;t men doe vary and change; how many men have had their names written in golden Characters one yeare, and in letters of blood the next? what is the favour of man, but a bla&s;t, a Sun-&s;hine-houre, a puff of winde, a <HI>magnum nihil,</HI> a great nothing? and who then would &s;pend an houres time to &s;ecure it? neare and deare relations cannot, for the delight of <HI>Ezekiels</HI> eyes is taken away with a &s;troake;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 24.16. Job 1.10.</NOTE> and all <HI>Jobs</HI> children are &s;natcht away in a day; all our neare&s;t and deare&s;t relations are like a No&s;e-gay, which the oftner we &s;mell to it, the &s;ooner it withers. But now holine&s;s may be made &s;ure, witne&s;s the &s;pirits of ju&s;t men made perfect in heaven, <HI>Heb.</HI> 12.23. and witne&s;s the many thou&s;ands of Chri&s;tians this day in the world, who doe experience the principles of holine&s;s in their
<PB N="314" REF="168"> hearts, and who doe evidence the power of holine&s;s in their lives. O Sirs, if the &s;erious con&s;ideration of the preciou&s;ne&s;s and worth of your &s;ouls, will not draw you out to &s;tudy holine&s;s, to love holine&s;s, to prize holine&s;s, and to pre&s;s after holine&s;s, what will? O Sirs, 'tis only holine&s;s that is the happine&s;s of the &s;oul, the &s;afety and &s;ecurity of the &s;oul, the pro&s;perity and feli|city of the &s;oul, and the lu&s;tre and glory of the &s;oul; and there|fore why &s;hould you not labour, as for life, after this ine&s;timable Jewel holine&s;s? O let the remembrance of the preciou&s;ne&s;s of your &s;ouls, be an effectuall means to draw you to heare that you may be holy, and to pray that you may be holy, and to reade that you may be holy, and to mourne that you may be holy, and to &s;igh and groane after holine&s;s, as after that which is the &s;ouls only happine&s;s. O Sirs, there is nothing below heaven &s;o precious and noble as your &s;ouls, and therefore doe not play the Courtier with your &s;ouls; now the Courtier do's all things late, he ri&s;es late, and dines late, and &s;ups late, and repents late; O doe not poy&s;on your precious &s;ouls by gro&s;s enormities, O doe not &s;tarve your &s;ouls by the omi&s;&s;ion of religious duties, O doe not murther and damne your &s;ouls, by turning your backs upon holy Ordinances. I have read of a Woman, who when her hou&s;e was on fire, &s;o minded the &s;aving of her goods, that &s;he forgot her only childe, and left it burning in the fire; at la&s;t being minded of it, &s;he cryes out, <HI>Oh my childe, oh my poore childe, but all too late, all too late;</HI> &s;o there are many men now &s;o mad upon the world, and &s;o bewitcht with the world, that they never mind, they never regard their poor &s;ouls, till they come to fall under everla&s;ting burnings, and then they cry out, O our &s;ouls, O our poor &s;ouls, O that we had been wi&s;e for our &s;ouls, O that we had got holine&s;s for our &s;ouls, O that we had made &s;ure worke for our &s;ouls, but all too late, all too late; the Lord make you wi&s;e to prevent &s;oul-burnings at la&s;t. If he be rather a mon&s;ter then a man, that fea&s;ts his &s;lave, but &s;tarves his wife, what &s;hall we &s;ay of tho&s;e that pamper their bodies but &s;tarve their &s;ouls, and that have thred-bare &s;ouls under &s;ilke and &s;attin Cloaths, and that plea&s;e them&s;elves with deformed &s;ouls under beautifull faces? &s;urely it had been good for the&s;e that they had never been born. I have read of a <HI>Scythian</HI> Cap|tain,
<PB N="315" REF="168"> who having for a draught of water yeelded up the City, cryed out, <HI>Quid perdidi? quid prodidi?</HI> What have I lo&s;t? what have I betrayed? So all unholy per&s;ons will at la&s;t cry out, we have betrayed our immortall &s;ouls, we have lo&s;t a precious Fa|ther, we have lo&s;t a deare Redeemer, we have lo&s;t the company of glorious Angels, we have lo&s;t the &s;ociety of the &s;pirits of ju&s;t men made perfect, and we have lo&s;t all the plea&s;ures and joyes and delights that be at the right hand of the mo&s;t High; We have lo&s;t the&s;e, we have lo&s;t all the&s;e, and we have lo&s;t them for ever and ever; &s;urely there is no hell to this hell. For a clo&s;e of this direction, remember this, that as the &s;oul is the life and excellency of the body, &s;o holine&s;s is the life and excellency of the &s;oul, and as the body without the &s;oul is dead, &s;o the &s;oul without holine&s;s is dead; <HI>This my Son was dead, and is alive:</HI> if you get holine&s;s into your &s;ouls, your &s;ouls &s;hall live for ever, but if you die without holine&s;s, your &s;ouls &s;hall die for ever and ever. I have read, that there was a time when the <HI>Romans</HI> did weare Jewels on their &s;hooes; oh that in the&s;e dayes mo&s;t men did not doe wor&s;e, oh that they did not trample under feete that matchle&s;s Jewel their preci|&s;ouls. But</P>
<P>Seventhly, If ever you would be holy, then &s;et in good ear|ne&s;t <MILESTONE N="7"> upon reading of the holy Scripture; many a man has been made holy by reading of the holy Word.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luther</HI> com. in <HI>Gen. cap.</HI> 19.</NOTE> The Bible is the book of books, 'tis the onely book, all other books in the world are but wa&s;te paper to it: <HI>Augu&s;tin</HI> crys out, away with our writings, that room may be made for the book of God: notwith&s;tanding the greatne&s;s and multiplicity of the affairs of Princes, yet they were diligently to read the word, <HI>Deut.</HI> 17.19. <HI>And it &s;hall be with him, and he &s;hall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this Law and the&s;e Statutes, to do them.</HI> God looks that the greate&s;t Princes on earth &s;hould make u&s;e of this Library. Though <HI>David</HI> was a great Prince, and had a multi|tude of weighty bu&s;ine&s;&s;es upon his hand, yet he was &s;o much in reading &amp; meditating on the word, that he made it his Coun|&s;ellors; the word was <HI>Davids</HI> Learned Coun&s;el,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 119.24.</NOTE> to which he re|forted for coun&s;el, advice, and comfort in all his nece&s;&s;ities and
<PB N="316" REF="169"> mi&s;eries. <HI>Alphon&s;us</HI> King of <HI>Arragon</HI> hath been highly extolled for reading the Scriptures fourteen times over, with glo&s;&s;es and expo&s;itions, notwith&s;tanding his great publike employments. And <HI>Alphon&s;us</HI> King of <HI>Naples</HI> read over the Bible forty times, notwith&s;tanding many great affairs were upon his hand. <HI>Theodo|&s;ius</HI> the Emperor, and <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> the Great, were much taken up in reading of the Scriptures. So Queen <HI>Elizabeth,</HI> when &s;he pa&s;&s;ed in triumph through the &s;treets of <HI>London</HI> after her Coro|nation, and had the Bible pre&s;ented to her at the little Con|duit in Cheap-&s;ide, &s;he received the &s;ame with both her hands, and ki&s;&s;ing it,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Speeds</HI> Hi&s;t.</NOTE> laid it to her brea&s;ts, &s;aying, <HI>That the &s;ame had ever been her chiefe&s;t delight, and &s;hould be the rule whereby &s;he meant to frame her Government.</HI> And 'tis very ob&s;ervable, that the Eunuch was reading the Scripture, when <HI>Philip</HI> was com|manded,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 8.26.40.</NOTE> by Commi&s;&s;ion from the Holy Gho&s;t, to joyn him&s;elf to his Chariot, and to in&s;truct him in the knowledge of Chri&s;t, which proved his conver&s;ion and &s;alvation. And <HI>Junius</HI> was converted by the reading of that fir&s;t of <HI>John, In the beginning was the Word,</HI> &amp;c. being amazed with the &s;trange maje&s;ty of the &s;tile,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lib. <HI>8.</HI> conf. cap. <HI>12.</HI></NOTE> and the profound mi&s;teries therein contained. And <HI>Au|gu&s;tine</HI> was &s;trangely converted by hearing a voice from heaven, &s;aying, <HI>Tolle lege, Tolle lege,</HI> Take and read, take and read; and taking up the Bible, the fir&s;t pa&s;&s;age of Scripture that he ca&s;t his eyes upon, was that <HI>Rom.</HI> 13.13, 14. <HI>Let us walk ho|ne&s;tly as in the day, not in gluttony and drunkenne&s;s, not in cham|bering and wantonne&s;s, not in &s;trife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and make not provi&s;ion for the fle&s;h to ful|fill the lu&s;ts thereof:</HI> and no &s;ooner had he read the ver&s;es, but the work of conver&s;ion was fini&s;hed, and pious re&s;olutions for a through reformation of life was &s;ettled in him. The Go&s;|pel read is &s;ometimes the power of God to &s;alvation, as well as the Go&s;pel heard, <HI>Rom.</HI> 1.16. <HI>Cyprian</HI> confe&s;&s;eth that he was converted from Idolatry and Negromancy by hearing the hi|&s;tory of the Prophet <HI>Jonas</HI> read and expounded by <HI>Cecilius,</HI> whom therefore he calleth the father of his new life: And <HI>Luther</HI> confe&s;&s;eth that he was converted by reading. I have read of a &s;candalous Mini&s;ter that was &s;truck at the heart and converted in reading that <HI>Rom.</HI> 2.21, 22. <HI>Thou therefore which
<PB N="317" REF="169"> teache&s;t another, teache&s;t thou not thy &s;elf? thou that preache&s;t a man &s;hould not &s;teal, doe&s;t thou &s;teal? Thou that &s;aye&s;t a man &s;hould not commit adultery, doe&s;t thou commit adultery? thou that abhorre&s;t Idols, doe&s;t thou commit &s;acriledge?</HI> There is a Schollar now alive, who being per&s;waded by an hone&s;t poor man, to leave reading of Poetry, and to fall upon reading of the Bible, did &s;o, and before he had read out <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> his heart was changed, and he was converted. O &s;irs, as you ten|der your conver&s;ion, your &s;alvation, make more con&s;cience of reading the Scripture then ever you have done; be often in wheting of the&s;e Scriptures upon your hearts, <HI>Deut.</HI> 6.6, 7, 8, 9. <HI>ch.</HI> 31.11, 12. <HI>Jer.</HI> 36.6, 7. <HI>John</HI> 5.39. In the&s;e Scriptures God requires all &s;orts of people, both men, women, children, and &s;trangers, both learned and unlearned, to read the Scriptures, and to &s;earch after the heavenly trea&s;ures that are laid up in them, as men &s;earch for Gold and &s;ilver in the Oar. And <HI>Paul</HI> charges <HI>Timothy</HI> that he gives attendance to reading; <HI>And ble&s;&s;ed is he,</HI> &s;aith <HI>John,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 4.13. Rev. 1.3.</NOTE> <HI>that heareth and read|eth the words of this Book.</HI> Yea Chri&s;t him&s;elf hath highly ho|nored reading with his own example, for coming to <HI>Nazareth,</HI> as his cu&s;tom was, he &s;tood up to read the Scriptures;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 4.16.21.</NOTE> and the <HI>Bereans</HI> for reading and &s;earching of the Scriptures are &s;tiled more noble then the Jews of <HI>The&s;&s;alonica,</HI> or as the Greek has it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 17.11. <GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> they were better born and bred, they were better Gentlemen, they were of a more noble and ingenious di&s;po&s;ition (though they did belong to the Country Town of <HI>Barea</HI>) then the <HI>The&s;&s;alonians</HI> were who dwelt in the rich and &s;tately City of <HI>The&s;&s;alonica:</HI> &s;ometimes there is more true nobility and inge|nuity under a Ru&s;&s;et coat, then there is under a Sattin &s;uit. The Holy Gho&s;t gives a very large Encomium &amp; high commendation of the Scriptures, in that 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.15. <HI>And that from a child thou ha&s;t known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wi&s;e unto &s;alvation, through faith which is in Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</HI> 'Tis ob|&s;ervable that in the&s;e words you have not &s;imply <GAP DESC="foreign"> Holy Scriptures, but <GAP DESC="foreign"> the Holy Scriptures; the Article <GAP DESC="foreign"> there is very emphatical, and 'tis u&s;ed by the Holy Gho&s;t to di&s;tingui&s;h the&s;e &s;acred writings from all prophane writings, and to note the eminency and excellency of the holy
<PB N="318" REF="170"> Scriptures above all other mens writings what<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">oever. Now the Scriptures have this adjunct, this Epithet, Holy, given them in five re&s;pects.</P>
<P N="1">1. In re&s;pect of their Author and original, <HI>viz.</HI> a Holy God.</P>
<P N="2">2. They are holy in re&s;pect of the Pen-men, who were holy men of God, 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.21.</P>
<P N="3">3. They are holy in re&s;pect of their matter, they treat of the holy things of God, a vein of holine&s;s runs through every line of Scripture; the Scripture calls for holy hearts, and holy lives it calls for holy principles, and holy practi&s;es, holy words, and holy works, holy affections, and holy conver&s;ations, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.15.</P>
<P N="4">4. They are holy in re&s;pect of their effects and operations, they are a means to effect and work holine&s;s, and they are a means to compleat and perfect holine&s;s, <HI>Joh.</HI> 17.17. The word is not onely a pure word, but al&s;o a purifying word, 'tis not only a clean word, but al&s;o a clean&s;ing word, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 19.8, 9.</P>
<P N="5">5. They are called holy by way of di&s;tinction, and in oppo|&s;ition, not onely to all humane and prophane writings, but al&s;o to the writings of the be&s;t and choice&s;t men that ever wrote, for they have had their failings, weakne&s;&s;es and infirmities, and therefore mu&s;t have their many grains of allowance, but the holy Scripture is mo&s;t perfect and compleat. Now &s;irs, if ever you would be holy, it &s;tands you upon to make more con|&s;cience of reading the holy Scriptures then ever yet you have done; many a man has been made holy by read|ing the holy Scriptures; and why mai&s;t not thou al&s;o be made holy by reading of the &s;ame holy word? Certainly all the Angels in heaven, and all the men on earth can't tell to the contrary, but that thou maye&s;t be made holy even by reading of the holy word, the Holy Gho&s;t is a free Agent, and he can as well work holine&s;s in thy heart by reading, as by hearing, and therefore &s;et thy &s;elf about this noble and nece&s;&s;ary work. Ah friends, the Scriptures are Gods Epi&s;tle, they are Gods love-letter to the &s;ons of men, and why then will you not read them? <HI>Count Anhalt</HI> (that princely preacher) was wont to &s;ay that the Scriptures were Chri&s;ts &s;wadling bands, the child
<PB N="319" REF="170"> Je&s;us being to be found almo&s;t in every page, in every ver&s;e, and in every line; Oh who would not therefore be often in looking upon and in handling of the&s;e &s;wadling bands? O &s;irs, there are no hi&s;tories that are comparable to the hi&s;tories of the Scripture.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, For Antiquity; <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> is found more antient then all <MILESTONE N="1"> tho&s;e whom the <HI>Grecians</HI> make mo&s;t ancient, as <HI>Homer, He&s;iod,</HI> and <HI>Jupiter</HI> him&s;elf, whom the <HI>Greeks</HI> have &s;eated in the top of their divinity.</P>
<P>Secondly, For rarity. <MILESTONE N="2"> </P>
<P>Thirdly, For brevity; here you have much wrapt up in a lit|tle <MILESTONE N="3"> room he<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> you have <HI>Homers Iliads</HI> compriz'd in a Nut-&s;hell.</P>
<P>Fourthly, For per&s;picuity; the foundations of Religion and happine&s;s are &s;o plain and clear, that every one may run and <MILESTONE N="4"> read them. 'Twas a true &s;aying of <HI>Augu&s;tin (Inclinavis Deus Scripturas, ad infantium &amp; lactentium capacitatem,)</HI> That God hath bowed down the Scriptures to the capacities even of Babes and Sucklings.</P>
<P>Fifthly, For harmony; though there may &s;eem to be a con|trariety <MILESTONE N="5"> between Scripture and Scripture, yet there is a ble&s;&s;ed harmony between all the parts of Scripture, the contrariety is &s;eeming, not real; As when a man is drawing water out of a well with two ve&s;&s;els of a different mettal, the water at the fir&s;t &s;eemeth to be of a different colour, but when he draweth up the ve&s;&s;els nearer to him, the diver&s;ity of colours vani&s;h, and the water appeareth to be of one and the &s;ame colour, and when he ta&s;teth them, they have one and the &s;ame reli&s;h: So though at fir&s;t &s;ight there may &s;eem to be &s;ome contradictions in the Scriptures, yet when we look more nearly and narrowly into them, and compare one place with another, we &s;hall finde no contrariety, no repugnancy in them at all, but a perfect har|mony, and a full and &s;weet con&s;ent and agreement between one place and another, between text and text, Scripture and Scripture.</P>
<P>Sixthly, For verity; the Scriptures are mo&s;t &s;ure and certain, <MILESTONE N="6"> heaven and earth &s;hall pa&s;s away, before one jot or tittle of the Scripture &s;hall pa&s;s unfulfilled.</P>
<P>Seventhly, For variety; there are no varieties to tho&s;e that <MILESTONE N="7"> are to be found in Scripture; as in <HI>Noahs</HI> Ark all &s;orts of
<PB N="320" REF="171"> creatures were to be found, &s;o in this heavenly Ark, the Scriptures, all varieties are to be found; here you may finde Phy&s;ick for every di&s;ea&s;e, and Balm for every wound, and a plai&s;ter for every &s;ore; Here the Lamb may wade, and here the Elephant may &s;wim; here is milk for Babes, and here is meat for &s;trong men; here is comfort for the afflicted, and &s;uccour for the tempted, and &s;upport for the di|&s;tre&s;&s;ed, and ea&s;e for the wearied; here is a &s;taff to &s;upport the feeble, and a &s;word to defend the mighty. That which a Papi&s;t reports lyingly of their Sacraments, of the Ma&s;s, <HI>viz.</HI> That there are as many mi&s;teries in it, as there are drops in the &s;ea, du&s;t on the earth, Angels in heaven, Stars in the sky, Atoms in the Sun-beams, or &s;ands on the Sea &s;hore, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> may be truly a&s;&s;erted of the holy Scriptures; there are many thou&s;and thou&s;and varieties in this garden of Paradi&s;e, the Scrip|ture.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="8"> Eighthly, For fulne&s;s, the Scriptures are full of light, and full of life, and full of love; they are full of righteou&s;ne&s;s, and full of holine&s;s, and full of all goodne&s;s. 'Twas a weighty &s;aying of <HI>Tertullian, Adoro plenitudinem &s;cripturarum,</HI> I adore the fulne&s;s of the Scripture. Many men talk much of the Phi|lo&s;ophers Stone, that it turns Copper into Gold, and of <HI>Cornu|copia,</HI> that it had all things nece&s;&s;ary for food in it, and of the Herb <HI>Panaces,</HI> that it was good for all di&s;ea&s;es, and of the Drugg <HI>Catholicon,</HI> that it is in&s;tead of all purges, and of <HI>Vul|cans</HI> armor, that it was full proof again&s;t all thru&s;ts and blows; but that which they vainly attribute to the&s;e things for bodily good, may &s;afely and honorably be attributed to the ble&s;&s;ed Scriptures in a &s;piritual manner; the Scriptures turns hearts of Copper into hearts of Gold; 'tis a Paradi&s;e that is full of the Trees of life,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 22.2.</NOTE> and the&s;e trees of life are both for food &amp; Phy&s;ick; here is all manner of fruit to feed you &amp; fill you, to delight you and &s;atisfie you, and the very leaves of the&s;e Trees are &s;ingular medicines to heal you and cure you; the Scripture pre&s;cribes the choice&s;t druggs to purge you, <HI>viz.</HI> Repentance, and the blood of Chri&s;t; and 'tis the Scripture that furni&s;hes you with the be&s;t armor of proof again&s;t all principalities and powers, and again&s;t all &s;piritual wickedne&s;&s;es in high places.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 6.11.18.</NOTE> Oh how
<PB N="321" REF="171"> &s;hould the con&s;ideration of all the&s;e things, work you to be much in reading of the holy Scriptures? if you will but make trial, you &s;hould be &s;ure to finde in them &s;tories more true, more various, more plea&s;ant, more profitable, and more com|fortable then any you will find in all ancient or modern writers. Ah friends, if you would but in good earne&s;t &s;et upon reading of the holy Scriptures, you may finde in them &s;o many happi|ne&s;&s;es as cannot be numbred, and &s;o great happine&s;&s;es as can|not be mea&s;ured, and &s;o copious happine&s;&s;es as cannot be defin|ed, and &s;uch precious happine&s;&s;es as cannot be valued, and if all this wo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">t draw you to read the holy Scriptures con&s;cienti|ou&s;ly and frequently, I know not what will.</P>
<P>It's &s;aid of <HI>Mary,</HI> that &s;he &s;pent the third part of her time in reading of the word; and <HI>Caecilia</HI> a <HI>Roman</HI> Maiden of noble parentage, carried always about her the New Te&s;tament, and &s;pent much time in reading it. <HI>Alfredus</HI> once King of <HI>England,</HI> compiled P&s;alms and prayers into one book, and called it a <HI>Manuel,</HI> which he always carried about him, and &s;pent much time in the peru&s;al of it. <HI>Augu&s;tin</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Vide Po&s;. in vita Aug.</NOTE> cau&s;ed <HI>Davids</HI> peniten|tial P&s;alms to be drawn upon the walls of his Chamber, that he might read them as he lay in his bed; he read and wep't, and wept and read. Well if all this will not prevail with you to be much in reading of the Scriptures, con&s;ider, that <HI>Age&s;ilaus</HI> an excellent King of <HI>Sparta</HI> would never go to bed, nor ri&s;e up before he had looked into <HI>Homer,</HI> whom he called <HI>Ama&s;ium &s;uum,</HI> his &s;weet heart; but what was <HI>Homers</HI> books to Gods Book, which is the book of books, as <HI>Charles</HI> the great did &s;ig|nifie when he crowned it with his own crown. And <HI>Scipio Africanus</HI> was much commended,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Plutarch. Mo|ral.</NOTE> for that he u&s;ually had in his hands the books of <HI>Xenophon:</HI> But, Oh how much more commendable will it be for you to have always in your hands the book of God? <HI>Alphon&s;us</HI> had always in his bo&s;om the com|mentaries of <HI>Cae&s;ar,</HI> and he was &s;o much delighted with the hi&s;tory of <HI>Titus Livius,</HI> that he once commanded certain Mu&s;i|tians that were very skilful in that Art, to depart his pre&s;ence, &s;aying, he could read a more plea&s;ant &s;tory out of <HI>Livius;</HI> Alas what are <HI>Livius</HI> his &s;tories to the ble&s;&s;ed &s;tories that be in the Bible? Oh &s;irs, if <HI>Lip&s;ius</HI> when he did but read <HI>Seneca,</HI>
<PB N="322" REF="172"> thought that he was even on the top of <HI>Olympus,</HI> above morta|lity and humane things. And if <HI>Julius Scaliger</HI> thought twelve ver&s;es in <HI>Lucan</HI> better then the German Empire; O then of what infinite worth and value is the ble&s;&s;ed Scripture! &s;hall Heathens take &s;uch plea&s;ure in reading of the Works of Hea|thens, and &s;hall not Chri&s;tians take as much plea&s;ure in reading of the holy Scriptures, wherein there is &s;o much of the Spirit, hand, and heart of God? Shall they &s;et &s;o high a price upon the books of Heathens? and &s;hall we &s;o &s;light and undervalue the books of God, as not to thinke it worth a opening once a day; verily, I am afraid, I am afraid, that there are &s;ome among us, that hardly open their Bibles once a weeke, and others that hardly open their Bibles once a moneth, and not a few that hardly open their Bibles once a quarter, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Certainly, as the ru&s;tine&s;s of &s;ome mens gold,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 5.1, 2, 3.</NOTE> will be a witne&s;s again&s;t them in the great day of the Lord, &s;o the mu&s;tine&s;s of &s;ome mens Bi|bles will be a witne&s;s again&s;t them in that great day.</P>
<P><HI>Que&s;t.</HI> But is it not lawfull for a man to reade other mens books, to reade other mens holy works, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> Doubtle&s;s it is lawfull; and that,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, Becau&s;e other mens holy works (&s;o far as they are holy) are but the fruits, products, and operations of the holy Spirit, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, Becau&s;e their holy labours are of &s;ingular u&s;e for the clearing up of many hard difficult and my&s;terious Scriptures, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, Becau&s;e they have been the means of many mens conver&s;ion; <HI>John Hus</HI> confe&s;&s;eth that the reading of <HI>Luthers</HI> works was the maine cau&s;e of his conver&s;ion. And while&s;t <HI>Ver|gerius</HI> read <HI>Luthers</HI> books with an intent to confute them, him|&s;elfe was converted by them. I doubt not but that there are many now in heaven, and multitudes now on earth, that have been converted by the books and writings of holy men; and therefore it cannot but be lawfull to reade &s;uch books, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, Though it be lawfull to reade other mens holy works, yet the holy Scriptures mu&s;t &s;till have the prehemi|nence, they mu&s;t be fir&s;tly, chiefly, and mo&s;tly read; all other books in compari&s;on of the book of God mu&s;t be ca&s;t by, 'tis
<PB N="323" REF="172"> Gods book that is indeed the book of Books.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Lib.</HI> 20. <HI>cap.</HI> 4.</NOTE> <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> in his book of Antiquities, makes mention of one <HI>Cumanus,</HI> a Gover|nour of <HI>Judea,</HI> that though he were but a Heathen, and a wick|ed man, yet he cau&s;ed a Souldier to be beheaded for tearing a Copy of the book of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> Law, which he found at the &s;acking of a Towne. And venerable in all Ages and among all Nati|ons, have been the books wherein the Laws either of their be|lief or politie have been contained. As the <HI>Talmud</HI> among the <HI>Jews,</HI> and the Laws of the twelve Tables among the <HI>Romans,</HI> and the <HI>Alcoran</HI> among the Turkes, yea all Pagans have highly valued the Laws of their Legi&s;lators, and &s;hall not Chri&s;tians much more &s;et an high e&s;teeme upon the holy Scriptures, which are the Map of Gods mercy and mans mi&s;ery, the touch&s;tone of truth, the &s;hop of remedies again&s;t all maladies, the Ham|mer of vices, and the trea&s;ury of vertues, the di&s;player of all &s;en&s;ual and worldly vanities, the Ballance of equitie, and the mo&s;t perfect Rule of all Ju&s;tice and hone&s;ty. What <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom</HI> &s;aid of old to his hearers, viz. <HI>Get you Bibles, for they are your &s;ouls Phy&s;ick;</HI> that I &s;ay to you all, oh get you Bibles, for they are your &s;ouls Phy&s;ick, your &s;ouls food, your &s;ouls happine&s;s. Ah friends, no book becomes your hands like the Bible; 'twas this book that made <HI>David wi&s;er then his Teachers;</HI> this is the book that makes the be&s;t preachers, and this is the book that is the be&s;t preacher; This book, this preacher will preach to you in your Shops, in your Chambers, in your Clo&s;ets, yea in your own bo&s;omes; This book will preach to you at home and abroad, 'twill preach to you in all companies, whether they are good or bad, and 'twill preach to you in all conditions, whether they are pro&s;perous or afflictive; by this book you &s;hall be &s;a|ved, or by this book you &s;hall be damned; by this book you mu&s;t live, by this book you mu&s;t die, and by this book you &s;hall be judged in the great day, <HI>John</HI> 12.48. Oh therefore love this book above all other books, and prize this book above all other books, and buy this book before all other books (in king <HI>Henry</HI> the Eighths time, and in Queen <HI>Maries</HI> dayes, Chri&s;ti|ans would have given Cart-loads of Hay and Corne, for a few Chapters in the new Te&s;tament; and will not you part with three or foure &s;hillings to buy a Bible, that may &s;ave your &s;ouls,
<PB N="324" REF="173"> that may make you holy here, and happy hereafter?) and reade this book before all other books, and &s;tudy this book more then all other books; for he that reads much and under&s;tands no|thing, is like him that hunts much and catcheth nothing. And let this &s;uffice for this 7th direction.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="8"> Eighthly, If ever you would be holy, then be much in prayer: Prayer is the mo&s;t prevalent Orator at the throne of grace; many that have gon to that throne with tears in their eyes, have come away with prai&s;es in their hearts, and many that have gon to that throne with hearts full of &s;in, have re|turned with hearts full of grace.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;ea 14.4.</NOTE> <HI>Jacob</HI> wep't and prayed, and prayed and wep't, and in the clo&s;e as a Prince he prevailed with God; &s;o many a &s;inner has wep't and prayed, and prayed and wep't, and in the clo&s;e as a Prince he has prevailed with God. Ah Sirs, it may be that there are but a few weeks, nay a few dayes, peradventure but a few houres, between your &s;ouls and eternity, between your &s;ouls and everla&s;ting burnings, be|tween your &s;ouls and a devouring fire, between your &s;ouls and damnation, and will you not then pray and mourn, and mourn and pray for that holine&s;s, without which there is no happine&s;s, yea without which hell and de&s;truction will be for ever your portion. Oh take that ble&s;&s;ed promi&s;e, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 36.25, 26, 27. and urge God with it; oh tell him that he has &s;aid, <HI>that he will &s;prinkle clean water upon you,</HI> and <HI>that ye &s;hall be clean from all your filthine&s;s,</HI> and <HI>that from all your Idols he will clean&s;e you,</HI> &amp;c. Oh tell him,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, That he &s;tands engaged by promi&s;e, to <HI>give his holy Spirit to them that aske it,</HI> Luke 11.13.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, Oh tell him, that none can make an unholy heart holy, but a holy God.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, Tell him that &s;urely 'tis no &s;in to beg holine&s;s of a holy God.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, Tell him that he has made &s;uch who were once notorious in wickedne&s;s to become eminent in holine&s;s, witne&s;s <HI>Mana&s;&s;es, Mary Magdalen, Paul,</HI> the murderers of Chri&s;t, and tho&s;e vile <HI>Corinthians,</HI> 1 Cor. 5.6, 9, 10, 11.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="5"> Fifthly, Tell him that he has given holine&s;s to them that have not &s;ought it, and how then can it &s;tand with his honour to
<PB N="325" REF="173"> deny it to them that &s;eek it? &s;urely if he has <HI>been found of them that &s;ought him not,</HI> he will not hide him&s;elfe <HI>from them that &s;eek him,</HI> I&s;a. 65.1, 2.</P>
<P>Sixthly, Tell him that thou had&s;t rather that he &s;hould de|ny <MILESTONE N="6"> thee any thing, then that he &s;hould deny thee holine&s;s, &s;ay to him, Lord, health is the Prince of outward mercies, and wealth is the &s;pring of many mercies, and wife, children, and friends, are the &s;et offs of mercies, the creame of mercies, and that liberty is the &s;weetner of all thy mercies, and yet tell him that thou had&s;t rather that he &s;hould &s;trip thee of any of the&s;e, nay that he &s;hould deny thee all of the&s;e, then that he &s;hould deny thee holine&s;s.</P>
<P>Seventhly, Tell him that thou did&s;t never reade of any <MILESTONE N="7"> man that did ever make a hearty reque&s;t for holine&s;s, but his reque&s;t was granted. The Leper would faine be clean, and Chri&s;ts an&s;wer is, <HI>I will be thou clean,</HI> Math. 8.2, 3. Chri&s;t do's neither delay him nor deny him; the poor Leper could no &s;oon|er de&s;ire to be clean, but Chri&s;t commands him to be clean, <HI>I will be thou clean;</HI> his prayer was &s;hort and &s;weet, and his an|&s;wer was &s;udden and gracious.</P>
<P>Eighthly, Tell him that thou art unwilling to be mi&s;erable <MILESTONE N="8"> for ever, tell him that thou can&s;t not bare the thoughts of an eternall &s;eparation from him, and yet this mu&s;t be thy portion, except he will glorifie the riches of his grace in be&s;towing of that pearle of price, holine&s;s upon thee; oh tell him, that thy want of holine&s;s is now thy greate&s;t hell, tell him that thou art now fully re&s;olved to give him no re&s;t, till he has changed thy heart, and made thee in &s;ome mea&s;ure to be what he would have thee to be, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>It is ob&s;ervable among&s;t the wor&s;t of men, the Turks, yea among&s;t the wor&s;t of Turks, the <HI>Moores,</HI> that by their Law it is a ju&s;t exception again&s;t any witne&s;s, that he hath not prayed &s;ix times every natural day, it being a u&s;ual cu&s;tome with them to pray for day before the day brake, and when 'tis day they give thanks for day light, and at noone they give thanks to God that halfe the day is pa&s;t, and then at la&s;t they pray that they may have a good night after their day: Ah &s;inners, &s;inners, &s;hall not the&s;e Turks ri&s;e up one day in Judgement again&s;t you that thinke not holine&s;s worth a praying for.</P>
<PB N="326" REF="174">
<P><HI>Object.</HI> But the prayers of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, <HI>Pro.</HI> 15.8. <HI>Chap.</HI> 28.9. and he ca&s;ts their &s;acrifices as dung in their faces, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 1.11.&mdash;16. <HI>Ch.</HI> 58.1.&mdash;7. their very prayers are &s;infull, and therefore they were better neglect prayer till God &s;hall worke graciou&s;ly and &s;avingly upon them, then to pray, and &s;o to &s;in as often as they pray, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> To this I an&s;wer.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, The prayers of the wicked may be materially good, when they are not formally good, yea when they are Theo|logically evil, 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 25.2. <HI>Amaziah</HI> did that which was perfect in the &s;ight of the Lord (as to the matter) but not with a perfect or &s;incere heart; he failed not in the matter, but in the manner; he did not doe that good he did from principles of faith, love, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> nor to a right end, divine glory; many un|&s;anctified per&s;ons may have the gift of prayer, that have not the &s;pirit of prayer,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 78.36, 37. Pro. 1.27, 28. I&s;a. 58.1, 2, 3, 4.</NOTE> nor the grace of prayer, <HI>Math.</HI> 7.21. <HI>Ch.</HI> 23.14. Now certainly where God gives &s;uch a gift, he requires the u&s;e of it; the gift of prayer is from the Spirit, as well as the grace of prayer; and who can tell but that upon the u&s;e of the gift of prayer, the Spirit may give the grace of prayer; however, 'tis dangerous to neglect a gift; the &s;loathfull &s;ervant was not ca&s;t into utter darkne&s;s for rioting out his Talent, but for not improving of his Talent. <HI>Math.</HI> 25.30. That the pray|ers of a wicked man are not formally good, mu&s;t be granted, yea that they are abominable and ineffectual, cannot be denied; they are like the precious &s;tone <HI>Diacletes,</HI> which though it hath many excellent Soveraignties in it, yet it loo&s;eth them all if it be put in a dead mans mouth; &s;o prayer though it hath many vertues and excellencies in it, yet it loo&s;eth them all, when 'tis performed by a man that is &s;piritually dead, that is dead God-wards, and Chri&s;t-wards, and heaven-wards, and holine&s;s-wards; but if you con&s;ider the matter of a wicked mans prayers, &s;o they may be good, yea &s;o good as that they may prevaile with a good God for much temporal good, as I &s;hall &s;hew you before I clo&s;e up all my an&s;wers to this objection. But</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, 'Tis a le&s;s &s;in for an unholy per&s;on to doe a reli|gious dutie, then 'tis to omit it, now of two &s;ins, whereupon, not God, but a mans &s;elfe hath inevitably put him to commit
<PB N="327" REF="174"> one of them, he mu&s;t chu&s;e the lea&s;t, he mu&s;t chu&s;e rather to &s;in in the manner, in not doing of it &s;o well as he &s;hould, then to faile in the matter, and &s;o quite neglect the duty it &s;elfe; for this is mo&s;t certain, when God commands a duty ab&s;olutely to be done, it is a greater &s;in not to doe it at all, then to doe it ami&s;s, and the rea&s;on is evident, becau&s;e our di&s;obedience is totall in not doing at all, and but only partial in doing it other|wi&s;e then we ought. As for a man wilfully and peremptorily to refu&s;e to heare the word, is a greater and a fouler fault, then to heare it with a forgetful or a di&s;obedient heart, there being more hope of the latter, then of the former; for &s;ome that have come to catch, have been caught by the word, <HI>John</HI> 7.46. And therefore <HI>come,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Latimer, to the word, though thou come&s;t to &s;leepe, it may be God may take thee napping.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. Sleidani. Comment.</NOTE> When M^r <HI>Henry Sulphen</HI> was preacher at <HI>Breme,</HI> &s;everal Roman Catholiques &s;ent their Chaplains to trap him in his words; but the power of God was &s;o wonderfully &s;een in his preaching, that the greate&s;t part of them that came to en&s;nare him were converted by him: 'Tis good to come to the word, though a man comes with an ill in|tent; to come, though he &s;hould come with a purpo&s;e to catch, for in &s;o coming he may be catch'd, as <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> was by <HI>Am|bro&s;e:</HI> without doubt there is no di&s;obedience to that which is total; partial di&s;obedience is no di&s;obedience to that which is total; That wife that totally di&s;obeys her husband, and that child that totally di&s;obeys the father, and that &s;ervant that to|tally di&s;obeys his Ma&s;ter, is much more to blame, and doe much more provoke, then tho&s;e that are onely partiall in their di&s;obedience, and &s;o 'tis between God and &s;inners, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, If there were any &s;trength in this objection, it <MILESTONE N="3"> would lye as &s;trong again&s;t a wicked man's civil actions, as it do's again&s;t his religious actions. <HI>Prov.</HI> 21.4. <HI>The plowings of the wicked is &s;in;</HI> not only the prayers of the wicked, but al&s;o the plowings of the wicked are &s;in, not only the &s;piritual but al|&s;o the natural and civil actions of a wicked man are &s;in; and therefore according to their arguing, a wicked man mu&s;t not exerci&s;e him&s;elfe in his calling, in his plowing and &s;owing, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> becau&s;e that his civil actions are &s;infull as well as his religious, and 'tis as impo&s;&s;ible for him to plea&s;e God in the one, as 'tis to
<PB N="328" REF="175"> plea&s;e him in the other; but &s;urely all men that are in their wits, will either &s;igh or laugh at &s;uch kinde of rea&s;onings. But</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, This objection lyes as &s;trong again&s;t wicked mens natural actions, <HI>viz.</HI> their eating, drinking, and &s;leeping, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as it do's again&s;t their praying;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 10.31.</NOTE> when a wicked man eats, he is to eate to divine glory, and when he drinks, he is to drinke to divine glory, and when he recreates him&s;elfe, he is to recreate him&s;elfe to divine glory, and when he &s;leeps, he is to &s;leep to divine glory; in all the&s;e natural and common actions, he is to make the glory of God his &s;upream &s;cope. Now there is not a wicked man on earth, that do's or can eate o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> drink, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> to divine glory, he do's not nor cannot &s;et up the glory of God as the chiefe and ultimate end of his natural and common acti|ons. Now who but fooles in folio will rea&s;on thus, wicked men are to eate and drink, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> to divine glory, but this they cannot doe, <HI>Titus</HI> 1.15. and therefore wicked men mu&s;t neither eate nor drink, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="5"> Fifthly, The force and &s;pirit of this objection (if there were any in it) lyes as flat and full again&s;t all other religious duties, as it do's again&s;t prayer; it lyes as &s;trong again&s;t hearing, reading, and meditating on the word, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as it do's again&s;t prayer, and who but &s;uch who are &s;adly left of God, and wo|fully blinded by Satan, will be &s;o wretched as to &s;ay, wicked men mu&s;t neither heare the word, nor reade the word, nor me|ditate on the word, becau&s;e they cannot doe the&s;e actions in faith, <HI>and what&s;oever is not of faith is &s;in,</HI> Rom. 14. <HI>ult.</HI> But</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="6"> Sixthly, There are tho&s;e that can &s;ay by experience, that the fir&s;t &s;pecial work of God that ever they perceived on their own hearts, was while they were pleading with God at the throne of grace; there are tho&s;e that have brought proud hearts to the throne of grace, but have returned with hearts humbled, and that have brought hard hearts, but have gon away with hearts graciou&s;ly broken and melted, and that have brought carnal hearts, but returned with &s;piritual hearts, and that have brought worldly hearts, but returned with heavenly hearts. God &s;ometimes heares prayers for his own &s;ake, and for his Sons &s;ake, and for his glories &s;ake, and for his promi&s;e &s;ake, when he will not heare prayers for the &s;inners &s;ake. But</P>
<PB N="329" REF="175">
<P>Seventhly, Sinfull omi&s;&s;ions lead to &s;inful commi&s;&s;ions, <MILESTONE N="7"> yea &s;ometimes they lead to ruine; As you may &s;ee in the An|gels that fell from the highe&s;t heaven to the lowe&s;t hell, and in <HI>Adam,</HI> who fell in paradi&s;e from the highe&s;t pinacle of glory, to the lowe&s;t &s;tep of &s;in and mi&s;ery. Tho&s;e Reprobates in that 25 <HI>Math.</HI> did not rob the Saints, but only omitted the relieving of them, and this proved a damning to them: Rich <HI>Dives</HI> did not rob the poore, but his not relieving of them was his ruine, <HI>Luke</HI> 16. <HI>Moab</HI> and <HI>Ammon</HI> were bani&s;hed the Sanctuary to the tenth Generation for a meere omi&s;&s;ion, becau&s;e they met not Gods <HI>I&s;rael</HI> in the Wilderne&s;s with bread and water, <HI>Deut.</HI> 23.3, 4, 6. Look as the omi&s;&s;ion of good dyet breeds natural di&s;ea&s;es in the body, &s;o doth the omi&s;&s;ion of good duties breed &s;piritual di&s;ea&s;es in the &s;oul; all <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">nful omi&s;&s;ions make worke for hell, or for the Phy&s;itian of &s;ouls: Oh man thou doe&s;t not know what deadly &s;in, what deadly temptation may follow up|on a meere &s;ingle omi&s;&s;ion. <HI>Origen</HI> going to comfort and en|courage a Martyr that was to &s;uffer, was apprehended by the Officers, and con&s;trained either to offer to the Idolls, or to have his body abu&s;ed by a Blackamore that was ready pre&s;t for that &s;ervice; being thus hard put to it, to &s;ave his life he bowed to the Idolls, but afterwards when he came to him&s;elfe, he &s;adly bewailes his &s;in, and confe&s;&s;eth that he went forth that morning without making his prayers unto God, which &s;inful omi&s;&s;ion God did &s;o &s;everely puni&s;h, by leaving of him to fal into &s;o great a &s;in, which pierc'd his &s;oul through with many &s;orrows. I am apt to think that many a &s;in, many a &s;nare, and many a fall, might have been prevented, if &s;uch and &s;uch religious duties had not been omitted; &s;inful omi&s;&s;ions prepare the way to &s;inful commi&s;&s;i|ons, and both prepare the way to a fatal de&s;truction. I believe many men had never been &s;o abominable vicious, if they had not fir&s;t ca&s;t off religious duties; he that lives in the neglect of prayer, tempts more Devils then one to be&s;et his &s;oule, yea to de&s;troy his &s;oule, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But,</P>
<P>Eighthly, and la&s;tly, there are &s;everal weighty arguments <MILESTONE N="8"> that may be produced to prove, that 'tis the duty of wicked and unconverted men to performe religious duties, as to pray and &s;eek the Lord, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Among the many that may be brought
<PB N="330" REF="176"> forth, I &s;hall only give you the&s;e fix.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, This is evident from divine commands, as you may clearly &s;ee by comparing of the&s;e Scriptures together, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 55.6, 7. <HI>Acts</HI> 8.21, 22, 23. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 65.2. 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 5.17. <HI>Pray without cea&s;ing,</HI> is an indefinite injunction; and who art thou oh man, that dare&s;t to prohibite what God commands? are not his commands oblieging? and may not di&s;obedience to the lea&s;t of them, co&s;t thee thy life, thy &s;oul, thy all? Gods com|mands are neither to be &s;lighted, cen&s;ured, nor neglected; woe to him that looks upon great commands as little com|mands, and little commands as no commands, <HI>Math.</HI> 23. Oh Sirs, 'tis a very dangerous thing to act or run Counter-cro&s;s to Gods expre&s;s command, it may co&s;t a man deare, as you may &s;ee in that &s;ad Story, 1 <HI>Kings</HI> 13.24. The Heathens indeed would frequently run cro&s;s to their gods commands, for when their gods commanded them to offer up a man, they would of|fer up a Candle; and &s;o <HI>Hercules</HI> when he was to offer up a li|ving man, he offered up a painted man: but do's it become Chri&s;tians to deale thus with the great God, with the living God, with the God of gods, as the Heathens did by their gods? &s;urely no: Gods commands are not like unto the commands of the Heathens that might be contradicted and changed, but they are like to the commands of the <HI>Medes</HI> that cannot be re|ver&s;ed nor changed, they mu&s;t be Evangelically obeyed, or you will be eternally de&s;troyed.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 35.2, 5, 6, 7. P&s;al. 103.20.</NOTE> The <HI>Rechabites</HI> were very rigid ob&s;ervers of their fathers commands, and will you make &s;light of Gods commands? and <HI>the Angels that excell in &s;trength, doe his Commandements,</HI> and will you de&s;pi&s;e them? why &s;hould the pea&s;ant &s;corne that work, in which the Prince him&s;elf is en|gaged? But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, Prayer is a natural wor&s;hip, and is incumbent up|on all men as they are created by God; prayer is a duty which the very Law of nature, as well as the Law of the word, lays up|on men; And this you may &s;ee in tho&s;e Pagans, <HI>Jonah</HI> 1.<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">. <HI>The Marriners cryed every man to his god.</HI> That there is a God, and that this God is to be called upon, are le&s;&s;ons that are taught in natures Schoole; <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 45.20. They pray to a god that cannot &s;ave; for any man to &s;ay, a wicked man ought not to
<PB N="331" REF="176"> pray, is to &s;ay a wicked man ought not to wor&s;hip God, nor ac|knowledge him to be his maker; and who but &s;uch who are ei|ther blinde or mad, dare &s;peak &s;uch language? Certainly they that live in the neglect of prayer under the Go&s;pel, &s;in again&s;t a double light, the light of nature, and the light of the Go&s;pel, and therefore they &s;hall be double-damn'd; there is no hell to the&s;e mens hell, who &s;in again&s;t a double light, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But,</P>
<P>Thirdly, The neglect of prayer is charged upon wicked <MILESTONE N="3"> per&s;ons as their &s;in, as you may &s;ee by comparing of the&s;e Scrip|tures together, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 14.2, 4. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 10.4. <HI>Jer.</HI> 10.21. <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> 7.7. <HI>Zepha.</HI> 1.6. Now doubtle&s;s, if it were not a duty for unregenerate per&s;ons to pray, it could never &s;tand with the ho|line&s;s, ju&s;tice, and righteou&s;ne&s;s of God, to charge the omi&s;&s;ion of prayer upon them as a &s;in; but the omi&s;&s;ion of prayer is char|ged upon them as a &s;in, and therefore without all peradventure 'tis their duty to pray. But,</P>
<P>Fourthly, Wicked and unregenerate per&s;ons are againe and <MILESTONE N="4"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">gaine imprecated again&s;t, for not calling upon the Lord, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 79.6. <HI>Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not knowne thee, and upon the kingdomes that have not called upon thy name.</HI> So <HI>Jer.</HI> 10.25. <HI>Pour out thy fury upon the Heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not upon thy name.</HI> Now certainly, if prayer were not a duty incumbent up|on wicked men, they would never be thus imprecated again&s;t for the omi&s;&s;ion of it; to imprecate that vials, that full vials, that full vials of wrath and fury &s;hould be poured forth (as wa|ter is poured forth) &s;uddenly and plentifully upon tho&s;e king|doms and families, that do not call upon the name of the Lord, is &s;o dreadful a thing, that it had never been mentioned in the Scripture, had it not been to alarme the wor&s;t of men to the work of prayer. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly, If ab&s;olute promi&s;es or precious promi&s;es of &s;peci|al <MILESTONE N="5"> grace and mercy be made to &s;inners as &s;inners, then &s;inners may in prayer plead out tho&s;e promi&s;es, and urge God upon making good his promi&s;es; but ab&s;olute promi&s;es or promi&s;es of &s;pecial grace and favour are made over to &s;inners as &s;inners, <HI>ergo,</HI> That &s;uch promi&s;es are made over to poor &s;inners as &s;in|ners, is evident by comparing the&s;e Scriptures together, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 57.
<PB N="332" REF="177"> 17, 18, 19. The&s;e words drop nothing but myrrhe and mer|cy; if <HI>Ennius</HI> could pick gold out of a dunghil, oh what gold, what comfort may be pick't out of the&s;e golden promi&s;es? In the&s;e words, let us con&s;ider two things; Fir&s;t, the precious promi&s;es that are here made; Secondly, the per&s;ons to whom they are made. In the words you have four precious promi&s;es of &s;pecial grace and favour, they are as &s;o many &s;treames of grace flowing from the covenant of grace.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, You have here a promi&s;e of healing, <HI>ver.</HI> 18. <HI>I have &s;een his wayes, and will heale him,</HI> or as you may reade the words, though I have &s;een his wayes and cour&s;es, and well ob&s;erved how unworthily, how untowardly, and how ob&s;tinately he has carried it, <HI>yet I will heale him, I will heale his back&s;liding nature;</HI> though his di&s;ea&s;e be dangerous, though it be very dan|gerous, yet to an Almightie Phy&s;ician, no di&s;ea&s;e is uncurable; I will heale his in&s;ide by pardoning his &s;in and purging his con|&s;cience,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 103.3. Jer. 3.22. Mala. 4.2.</NOTE> and I will heale his out&s;ide, by removing of judge|ments and calamities from him; and all this I will doe upon the account of my promi&s;e and covenant, <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> 14.4. <HI>Jer.</HI> 32.38. and 40.2. compared.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, You have in the words a promi&s;e of leading, <HI>I will lead him al&s;o,</HI> or as the Hebrew hath it, <HI>and I will lead him, I will conduct him in &s;afety to his own Countrey,</HI> &s;o &s;ome &s;en&s;e it, but you may under&s;tand it doubtle&s;s of a &s;piritual, as well as of a providential leading; I will lead him by my word, and I will lead him by my Spirit, and I will lead him by my coun&s;el, &s;u|table unto many precious promi&s;es of grace that are &s;cattered up and down in the Scripture.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, In the words you have a promi&s;e of comfort, <HI>I will re&s;tore comforts to him,</HI> not <HI>comfort,</HI> but <HI>comforts,</HI> that is, in the roome of all tho&s;e di&s;comforts, &s;orrows, calamities and mi&s;eries that he has been exerci&s;ed with, I will (&s;ays God) lay in abun|dance of comfort, yea I will &s;tore him with all &s;orts of com|forts, both temporal, &s;piritual, and eternal, &s;utable to that word of grace that you have in <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 40.1, 2.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, In the words you have a promi&s;e of peace, <HI>v.</HI> 19. <HI>I create the fruit of the lips, peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near,</HI> &s;aith the Lord; the gemination of the
<PB N="333" REF="177"> word <HI>(Shalom, Shalom) peace, peace,</HI> imports a large extent of peace, it notes true peace, firm peace, &s;ure peace, great peace, abundance of peace, yea con&s;tant &amp; la&s;ting peace; under the name of peace in the Hebrew is denoted all manner of pro&s;perity, and the Geminating of the word always notes a large mea&s;ure of tranquility, plenty, pro&s;perity, and felicity. Oh &s;irs, peace with God, and peace with con&s;cience, and peace with the creatures, are all the products of Gods creating power and grace, 2 <HI>Eph.</HI> 16.17, 18. and &s;o mu&s;t be referred to the Co|venant of Grace.</P>
<P>Secondly, Let us con&s;ider the per&s;ons to whom the&s;e pre|cious <MILESTONE N="2"> promi&s;es are made; and here &s;et us ob&s;erve the&s;e three things.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Their &s;in, and this you have in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 17. <HI>For the ini|quity <MILESTONE N="1"> of his covetou&s;ne&s;s I was wroth;</HI> The &s;in that is charged upon him is a very great and grievous, 'tis a very vile and hainous &s;in, 'tis called not onely covetou&s;ne&s;s, but the ini|quity of his covetou&s;ne&s;s, to &s;hew the height and tran&s;cen|dency of this their wickedne&s;s, for covetou&s;ne&s;s is a Mother-&s;in,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 6.10.</NOTE> 'tis a breeding &s;in, 'tis a &s;in that has all &s;in in the womb of it, 'tis a &s;in not onely again&s;t the light and law of grace, but al&s;o a|gain&s;t the light and law of nature, for it makes the &s;oul terrene which &s;hould be cele&s;tial; and therefore the <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> though Heathens, have a law that no man ought to covet what belongs to any other man; And they have another Law, that they ought not to be worldly minded: No &s;in lays men under greater woes: Wo to him that joyneth hou&s;e to hou&s;e; and wo to you Scribes, Phari&s;ees and Hypocrites, <HI>Mat.</HI> 23: 'Tis an evil that &s;ubjects men to the ba&s;e&s;t and vile&s;t evils, 'tis the root of all evil, it makes a man a fool, <HI>Luk.</HI> 12.20. <HI>Thou fool, this night thy &s;oul &s;hall be taken from thee;</HI> It robes a man of all true peace, comfort, content, and quiet; it brings men into &s;nares which drowns their &s;ouls in perdition; It renders men un&s;atisfi|ed under all their outward enjoyments; though a covetous wretch may have enough to &s;ink him, yet he can never have enough to &s;atisfie him; fir&s;t he wi&s;hes for a bagg full, and then a che&s;t full, and then a chamber full, and then a Church full, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The plague of un&s;atisfiedne&s;s is none of the lea&s;t of
<PB N="334" REF="178"> plagues that covetous men are under. Certainly you &s;hall as &s;oon fill a triangle with a circle, and a che&s;t with grace, and the body with aire, as you &s;hall be able to fill and &s;atisfie a co|vetous mind with money: In a word, covetou&s;ne&s;s is a &s;in that renders a man un&s;erviceable in his generation; a covetous man is like a Swine, that is good for nothing whil&s;t he lives; the Hor&s;e is good to bare and carry, the Ox is good to draw, the Sheep is good for cloth, the Cow is good to give milk, and the Dogg is good to keep the hou&s;e, but the Hogg is good for no|thing whil&s;t he lives; &s;o a covetous man is neither good for Church nor State, he is no wayes &s;erviceable in his generation, onely when he is dead; that Scripture often proves true, <HI>viz. That the riches of a &s;inner are laid up for the ju&s;t,</HI> Job 27. By all which you may &s;ee the greatne&s;s of this &s;in of covetou&s;ne&s;s that is &s;o clo&s;ely charged upon them. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, He grew wor&s;e under the afflicting hand of God, <HI>I was wroth, and &s;mote him, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart;</HI> They were like pevi&s;h, froward, &s;tubborn chil|dren, that grow more cro&s;s, crooked, and perver&s;e under all the cha&s;tenings of their Father; and this was no &s;mall aggrava|tion of their &s;in,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lib. de &s;uper|&s;titione.</NOTE> that they grew wor&s;e under the Rod. <HI>Plu|tarch</HI> writes, that 'tis the quality of Tygres, that if the Drums or Tabou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s &s;ound about them, they will grow mad, and rend and tear their own fle&s;h in pieces; and &s;o 'twas with the&s;e &s;in|ners in the text; Oh how did they fret and fume, and tear, and take on, when they were under the rebukes of God? But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, He per&s;ever'd and went on again&s;t all gain-&s;ayings; <HI>I have &s;een his ways,</HI> that is, I have &s;een his ob&s;tinacy and in|corrigibility in &s;in: Ah poor creature (&s;ays God) he &s;ees not his pre&s;ent mi&s;ery and &s;lavery, he takes no notice of his own folly and vanity, of his own frowardne&s;s and pevi&s;hne&s;s, he &s;corns to bend or bow under my mighty hand, he is re&s;olved to &s;tand it out to the death, he will per&s;i&s;t on in his own wayes, though he eternally peri&s;hes; though hell &s;tands at the end of his ways, yet on he will: Well what is the i&s;&s;ue of all this? God &s;aith, <HI>I have &s;een his ways, and will heal him;</HI> 'tis not I have &s;een his ways, and will cur&s;e him, no, but <HI>I have &s;een his ways, and will heal him;</HI> 'tis not I have &s;een his ways, and will never have any
<PB N="335" REF="178"> more to do with him, no, but <HI>I have &s;een his ways, and will heal him;</HI> 'tis not I have &s;een his ways, and will damn him, no, but <HI>I have &s;een his ways, and will heal him.</HI> Oh the freene&s;s, Oh the un&s;earchablene&s;s, Oh the riches of Gods grace! And thus you &s;ee that the precious promi&s;es la&s;t cited, are promi&s;es that are made over to &s;inners as &s;inners; And this is further evi|dent in that <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 43.22, 23, 24, 25. For &s;ins of omi&s;&s;i|on and &s;ins of commi&s;&s;ion, what can be more charged upon a &s;inful people, then here is charged upon them? they were not onely negligent of his wor&s;hip and &s;ervice, but they were al&s;o weary of his wor&s;hip and &s;ervice, and counted it rather a burden then a benefit, a toyl then a plea&s;ure; in all their out|ward ob&s;ervances they did but court the Lord, they did but complement with God, for whil&s;t they were in his &s;ervice, their hearts were &s;ecretly weary of his &s;ervice; and by their &s;inful commi&s;&s;ions, Oh how did they grieve, vex, oppre&s;s, and bur|den the Holy one of <HI>I&s;rael?</HI> and yet in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 25. God does pa&s;|&s;ionately and emphatically proclaim their free pardon, <HI>I, even I am he that blotteth out thy tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions for mine own &s;ake, and will not remember thy &s;ins.</HI> The Metaphor is taken from mens blotting out of debts out of their debt-book; now when a debt is blotted out of the debt-book, 'tis never charged up|on the debtor more, 'tis never regarded nor remembered more; &s;o when God proclaimes the &s;inners pardon, when he forgives him his tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, he blots, he ra&s;es, he cro&s;&s;es his books, and cancels all bonds, &s;o as that he will never ob|ject his &s;ins again&s;t him, and never charge his &s;ins upon him, but being once forgiven, they &s;hall be for ever forgotten, they &s;hall never come into his remembrance more: And all this he will do for his name &s;ake, and for the prai&s;e and glory of his own Free-grace. So in <HI>Ezek.</HI> 36.26, 27, 28. and 37. com|pared. Now by all the&s;e Scriptures 'tis mo&s;t plain and e|vident, that the precious promi&s;es of &s;pecial grace and mercy, are made over to &s;inners as &s;inners; and if &s;o, then doubtle&s;s &s;inners may lawfully put the&s;e promi&s;es into &s;uit. Oh &s;irs, don't you know that de&s;ire is the &s;oul of prayer? and who but &s;uch as are witle&s;s and gracele&s;s, will &s;ay that a wicked man may not de&s;ire the accompli&s;hment of Gods gracious promi&s;es, that
<PB N="336" REF="179"> will &s;ay an unregenera<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e man may not de&s;ire to be pardoned, &s;anctified and renewed, and that the Lord would be&s;tow his &s;pirit upon him, and that by the finger of the &s;ame &s;pirit, the Law of the Lord may be written in his heart, that he may ob|&s;erve his Statutes, and do them; the&s;e are things that God has engaged him&s;elf to do for poor &s;inners, and therefore certainly &s;inners may put God in mind of his engagements. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="6"> Sixthly and la&s;tly, God would never have encouraged and re|warded with temporal favors, wicked and unregenerate mens religious duties and &s;ervices as he has done, if he would not have had them exerci&s;e them&s;elves in Religious duties; now that he has thus encouraged and rewarded wicked and unrege|nerate men is evident in the&s;e in&s;tances, 1 <HI>Kings</HI> 21.19&mdash;<HI>ult. Jonah</HI> 3.4.&mdash;<HI>ult.</HI> 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 26.5. <HI>&V;zziah</HI> &s;ought God in the days of <HI>Zechariah,</HI> and when he &s;ought the Lord, God made him to pro&s;per; had he been really godly, had he had the root of the matter in him, had he been a &s;incere, a throughout Chri&s;tian, he would have &s;ought the Lord all his days, he would have held on and held out in well-doing, but being carnal hypo|critical and unregenerate, his Religion dies with <HI>Zechariah.</HI> A|nother in&s;tance you have of this among the &s;ailors, that u&s;ually are the wor&s;t of &s;inners, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 107.23.&mdash;30. And another you have in that known ca&s;e of <HI>Jehu;</HI> from all which we may well conclude, that God expects and looks that wicked men, that unregenerate men &s;hould be found in the exerci&s;e of Religious duties. It is an excellent ob&s;ervation of <HI>Calvin</HI> upon Gods re|warding the <HI>Rechabites</HI> obedience, <HI>Jer.</HI> 35.19. God (&s;aith he) oft recompenceth the &s;hadows and &s;eeming appearances of vertue, to &s;hew that complacency he takes in the ample re|wards he hath re&s;erved for true and &s;incere piety. To con|clude, It was as ea&s;ie for <HI>Boaz</HI> to have given <HI>Ruth</HI> as much corn at once as would have yielded her an Ephah of Barly, &amp; &s;o have &s;ent her home without any more ado, but he would not, being re&s;olved that &s;he &s;hould u&s;e her endeavor to gather and glean it, and beat it out too when &s;he had gleaned it; &s;o 'tis as ea&s;ie a thing for God to give his Chri&s;t, to give his Spirit, and to give his Grace immediately to poor &s;inners without their u&s;ing of the means, but he won't, being re&s;olved that they &s;hall u&s;e
<PB N="337" REF="179"> the means of hearing, reading, praying, and conference, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and when they have done, leave the i&s;&s;ue of all their labors and endeavors to his good Will and plea&s;ure. I have taken the more pains fully and clearly to an&s;wer this objection, that it may never more have a re&s;urrection in any of your &s;ouls.</P>
<P>Ninthly, If ever you would be holy, then when you have <MILESTONE N="9"> done all, wait; Oh hear and wait, and wait and hear; pray and wait, and wait and pray; read and wait, and wait and read; con|fer and wait, and wait and confer; watch and wait, and wait and watch. Oh &s;irs, &s;hall the husbandman wait for a good harve&s;t?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 5.7, 8.</NOTE> and the Merchant for good returns? and the Watchman for the dawning of the day? and the Patient for a happy cure? and the poor Client for a day of hearing, <HI>&amp;c?</HI> and will not you wait for Chri&s;t, and wait for the &s;pirit, and wait for pardon, and wait for grace, and wait for glory, <HI>&amp;c?</HI> Oh &s;inners, &s;inners, remem|ber you are at the right doore, and therefore wait; Oh remem|ber that whil&s;t you are waiting for mercy, God is preparing of mercy; Oh remember that 'tis mercy that you may wait for mercy; devils and damned &s;pirits can't wait for mercy, wait they mu&s;t, but, O 'tis for more wrath, anger, and fiery indig|nation: Oh remember your condition be&s;peaks waiting, for you are poor, halt, lame, blinde, and mi&s;erable creatures: Oh remember that mercy is &s;weete&s;t when it comes after a patient waiting, <HI>Deut.</HI> 32.13. <HI>He made him to &s;uck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;</HI> That is, he made him to &s;uck water that was as &s;weet as honey out of the rock, out of the flinty rock: Oh remember that a patient waiting for mer|cy, is the onely way to greaten your mercy. The longer, &s;aid the Emperors &s;on, the Cooks are a preparing the meat, the bet|ter the chear will be; his meaning was, the longer he &s;taid for the Empire, the greater it would be: So the longer a &s;oul waits for mercy, the greater and the better it will be when it comes; as you may &s;ee in that famous in&s;tance of the poor man that lay eight and thirty years at the Pool of <HI>Bethe&s;da.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 5.2.16.</NOTE> Famous was the patience of <HI>Elijah's</HI> &s;ervant,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 King. 18.8.</NOTE> who in obedience to his Ma&s;ters command, went &s;even &s;everal times up and down &s;teep <HI>Carmel,</HI> which could not be without danger and difficulty, and
<PB N="338" REF="180"> all to bring news of nothing, till his la&s;t journey, which made a recompence for all the re&s;t, with the tydings of a cloud ari|&s;ing: Oh &s;o do but patiently wait upon the Lord, and that grace, that favour, that mercy will come at la&s;t, which will fully recompence you for all your waitings; remember that the mercies of God are not &s;tyled the &s;wift,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 55.3.</NOTE> but the &s;ure mercies of <HI>David;</HI> (mercy may be &s;ure, though it be not pre&s;ently upon the wing flying towards us) And the &s;ame Prophet &s;aith, <HI>the glory of the Lord &s;hall be thy rereward;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 58.8.</NOTE> now this we know comes up la&s;t to &s;ecure and make good all the re&s;t, for where Grace leads the Front, Glory at la&s;t will be in the Rere. Oh do but patiently wait,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 10.37.</NOTE> and he that &s;hall come, will come, and will not tarry, not a year, not a quarter, not a month, not a week, not a day, no not an hour beyond the prefixed time that he hath &s;et of &s;hewing mercy to poor &s;inners. O how &s;ad was it that <HI>Saul</HI> &s;hould lo&s;e his Kingdom for want of two or three hours patience? but O how much more &s;ad will it be if thou &s;hould&s;t lo&s;e all the prayers that thou ha&s;t made, and all the Sermons that thou ha&s;t heard, and all the tears that thou ha&s;t &s;hed, and all other pains that thou ha&s;t taken, and all for want of a little more patience? yea how woful &s;ad would it be if thou &s;hould&s;t lo&s;e thy God, and lo&s;e thy Chri&s;t, and lo&s;e thy &s;oul, and lo&s;e an eternity of glory, and all for want of a little patience to wait the Lords lei&s;ure? O therefore re&s;olve to hold on waiting to the death, and if thou mu&s;t peri&s;h, to peri&s;h in a waiting way, (which if thou &s;hould&s;t, thou would&s;t be the fir&s;t that ever &s;o peri&s;hed:) O remember that if God &s;hould come, and mercy come, and pardon come, and grace come, when thy Sun is near &s;etting, when thy gla&s;s is almo&s;t out, and when there is but a &s;hort &s;tep between thee and eterni|ty, it will infinitely recompence thee for all thy waiting; and therefore wait &s;till: and to keep up thy &s;pirits, and to uphold thy &s;oul in a waiting way, O! that thou woulde&s;t make the&s;e following promi&s;es thy daily food, thy daily friends, thy daily companions; <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 27.14. <HI>Wa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">t on the Lord: be of good cour|age, and he &s;hall &s;trengthen thine heart; wait, I &s;ay, on the Lord.</HI> Prov. 20.22. <HI>Wait on the Lord, and he &s;hall &s;ave thee.</HI> I&s;a. 30.18. <HI>And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you,
<PB N="339" REF="180"> and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgement. Ble&s;&s;ed are all they that wait for him.</HI> Chap. 40. ult. <HI>But they that wait upon the Lord &s;hall renew their &s;trength: they &s;hall mount up with wings as Eagles, they &s;hall run and not be weary, and they &s;hall walk and not faint.</HI> Chap. 49.23. <HI>They &s;hall not be a&s;hamed that wait for me.</HI> And Chap. 64.4. <HI>For &s;ince the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye &s;een, O God, be&s;ides thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.</HI> Pro. 8.34. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is the man that hear|eth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the po&s;ts of my doors.</HI> O how &s;hould the&s;e precious promi&s;es encourage your hearts to wait on the Lord? O how &s;hould they lengthen and draw out your patience to the utmo&s;t. But,</P>
<P>Tenthly and la&s;tly, Dwell much upon the memorable judge|ments <MILESTONE N="10"> of God, that even in this life has faln upon unholy per|&s;ons. Remember <HI>Lots</HI> wife. O! remember her &s;in and puni&s;h|ment, that &s;o fearing the one,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 17.32.</NOTE> you may learn to take heed of the other. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 26.9. <HI>When thy judgements are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteou&s;ne&s;s;</HI> that is, they &s;hould learn righteou&s;ne&s;s (for &s;o the words may be read) they &s;hould learn to fear thee, and learn to turn unto thee, and learn to for&s;ake their &s;ins and amend their lives; When thy judge|ments, thy memorable judgements are abroad in the world, it highly concerns all the &s;ons of men to look after holy di&s;po|&s;itions, holy affections, and holy conver&s;ations, that &s;o it may go well with them in the day of the Lords wrath: others &s;en&s;e the words thus, When thy judgements are on the earth, the inhabitants of the world (that is &s;inners as well as Saints) &s;hall learn righteou&s;ne&s;s, that is, they &s;hall learn to fear thee upon the account of thy righteous judgement, &s;uitable to that, <HI>Job</HI> 37.23, 24. <HI>Touching the Almighty, we cannot finde him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgement, and in plenty of ju|&s;tice: Men do therefore fear him: he re&s;pecteth not any that are wi&s;e of heart;</HI> and to that <HI>Rev.</HI> 15.4. <HI>Who &s;hall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorifie thy name? for thou onely art holy: for all nations &s;hall come and wor&s;hip before thee, for thy judgements are made manife&s;t.</HI> The judgements of God upon Antichri&s;t, &s;hall
<PB N="340" REF="181"> &s;o awaken, alarm, and affect the nations, that they &s;hall ca&s;t off all fal&s;e ways of wor&s;hip, and wor&s;hip the Lord in a more pure, &s;piritual, high and noble way then ever yet they have done. God is a free Agent, and he can make &s;inners Saints, as well by judgements, as by mercies. <HI>Waldus</HI> (from whom the <HI>Walden&s;es</HI> had their name) when many were met together to be merry, &s;eeing one among them &s;uddenly fall down dead, it &s;truck &s;o to his heart, that he went home a penitent, and proved a very precious holy man.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rabbi Salomon on</HI> Prov. 9.25.</NOTE> <HI>Pharaoh</HI> was not a pin the better for all the plagues that came upon him; but <HI>Jethro</HI> taking notice of Gods heavy judgements upon <HI>Pharaoh,</HI> and likewi&s;e upon the <HI>Amalekites,</HI> was thereby converted, and became a Pro&s;elyte, as &s;ome ob&s;erve. O &s;irs, who can tell but that a fixed eye upon the remarkable judgements of God that has been inflicted up|on notorious &s;inners, may be a means to change you and turn you to the Lord? forget not the plagues that came upon bloody <HI>Pharaoh;</HI> Remember how crafty <HI>Achitophel,</HI> and proud <HI>Ha|man,</HI> and covetous <HI>Judas,</HI> came all to the halter; forget not how the earth opened her mouth and &s;wallowed up <HI>Corah</HI> and his companions; forget not the Angel that drew upon <HI>Balaam,</HI> nor <HI>Samuels</HI> &s;word that cut <HI>Agag</HI> in pieces, nor the Royal Oake on which <HI>Ab&s;alom</HI> was hanged, nor the Javlin by which <HI>Phinehas,</HI> in his zeal for God, thru&s;t through <HI>Zimri</HI> and <HI>Cozbi;</HI> remember how <HI>Ananias</HI> and <HI>Saphira</HI> were &s;truck dead with a lye in their mouthes; remember how God rained hell out of heaven up|on <HI>Sodom</HI> and <HI>Gomorrah;</HI> remember how &s;uddenly, how unex|pectedly, and how inevitably the flood came upon the old world; and remember how the Angels that kept not their fir&s;t &s;tation of holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">See the The|atre of Gods Judgments, by Dr. <HI>Beard,</HI> and Dr. <HI>Taylor;</HI> and &s;ee Mr. <HI>Clarks</HI> Looking-gla&s;s both for Saints and &s;inners.</NOTE> are now in chains under everla&s;ting darkne&s;s. O who can &s;eriou&s;ly dwell upon the &s;evere judgements of God upon the&s;e per&s;ons, and not re&s;olve upon breaking off his &s;ins, and pur&s;uing after that holine&s;s, without which there is no hap|pine&s;s. O! remember that God is as holy a God as ever, and as ju&s;t a God as ever, and as jealous of his glory as ever, and therefore turn from the evil of your doings that your &s;ouls may live. O! that the dreadful judgements of God that has been executed upon others, might &s;o alarm all unholy hearts, that they may with all their might ca&s;t off the works of darkne&s;s, and
<PB N="341" REF="181"> put on the Armor of light, that &s;o they may be children of the light, and their &s;ouls may live for ever. And thus much for the means whereby men may reach to that holine&s;s, without which there is no happine&s;s.</P>
<P>I come now in the third place to an&s;wer tho&s;e objections which u&s;ually are made again&s;t mens pur&s;uing after holi|ne&s;s. As,</P>
<DIV4 TYPE="objections">
<DIV5 N="1" TYPE="objection">
<P>Object. Fir&s;t, <HI>We have no power to make our &s;elves holy, we are as well able to make a world, to command the winds, and to rai&s;e the dead, as we are able to clean&s;e our own hearts, or change our own natures, or &s;anctifie our own &s;ouls; and therefore to what purpo&s;e &s;hould we be &s;o &s;trongly pre&s;t to do that which we have no power to do?</HI> Now to this objection I &s;hall give the&s;e follow|ing an&s;wers.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, That thou ha&s;t no power to perform any &s;upernatural <MILESTONE N="1"> act, as to believe or love God, or repent, or to change thine own heart, or to &s;anctifie, or make thy &s;elf holy, mu&s;t be granted; that by nature thou art dead in tre&s;pa&s;&s;es and &s;ins, and ha&s;t lo&s;t all thy &s;piritual &s;en&s;es of &s;eeing, hearing, ta&s;ting,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 2.1.</NOTE> and feeling, can't be denyed; 'tis certain that thy nature is &s;o cor|rupted that thou can&s;t not think a good thought,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 3.5. Mat. 12.34. Joh. 6.44. 1 Cor. 2.14.</NOTE> nor &s;peak a good word, nor do a good work; thou art not &s;ick, but dead God-wards, and Chri&s;t-wards, and heaven-wards, and holine&s;s-wards, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> I have read of the Lyone&s;s, how that &s;he brings forth her whelps dead, and &s;o they remain, till after &s;ome time by her roaring aloud over them, they come to live; certainly all unholy hearts are &s;piritually dead, and till Chri&s;t the Lyon of the Tribe of <HI>Judah</HI> comes to roar over them, by uttering his voice in the Go&s;pel, they cannot live, <HI>John</HI> 5.25. 'tis Chri&s;t onely that can quicken the dead; 'twas never known &s;ince the creation of the world, that ever a dead man could make him&s;elf alive.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 King. 8.38.</NOTE> Sin in Dominion is the plague of the heart; now as there is no di&s;ea&s;e &s;o deadly as the plague, &s;o there is no plague &s;o deadly as the plague of the heart; O this is a di&s;ea&s;e that none can cure, but he who is the Phy&s;itian of &s;ouls; an un&s;anctified per&s;on is not half dead, as the Pela|gians, Arminians, and Papi&s;ts &s;ay, but as to &s;pirituals he is &s;tark dead, <HI>Col.</HI> 2.13. An un&s;anctified &s;oul is dead.</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="342" REF="182">1. <HI>Re&s;pectu operis,</HI> In re&s;pect of working, and therefore his works are called dead works, <HI>Heb.</HI> 9.14. There is death writ|ten upon all he does.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Re&s;pectu honoris,</HI> He is dead in re&s;pect of honor, he is dead to all priviledges, he is not fit to inherit mercy; who will &s;et the crown of life upon a deads man head? the crown of life is for the holy Chri&s;tian, and the holy Chri&s;tian is for the crown of life, <HI>Rev.</HI> 2.10. 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.8. When he in <HI>Plutarch</HI> had tried all manner of ways to rai&s;e a dead man, and to make him &s;tand upon his feet, and &s;aw he could not do it, then he cryed out, there mu&s;t be &s;omething within, there mu&s;t be &s;ome|thing within. So when men have &s;aid and done all they can, there mu&s;t be &s;omething within, there mu&s;t be &s;omething of the power and Spirit of Chri&s;t within, that mu&s;t rai&s;e up &s;piritual life in tho&s;e that are &s;piritually dead. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, I an&s;wer, That God gave thee ability and power in <HI>Adam</HI> to obey him in all his commands,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 1.26. Eccle&s;. 7.29. P&s;al. 8.4.&mdash;<HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> and though by <HI>Adams</HI> fall thou ha&s;t lo&s;t thy power to obey, yet God has not lo&s;t his right and power to command thee to obey. Suppo&s;e a father &s;hould furni&s;h a Child with moneys, and all other nece&s;&s;aries to go a journey, and he &s;hould be drawn in by &s;ome &s;tronge temptation to &s;pend his money, his time, and his &s;trength, &s;o as that now he is not able to go his journey, who&s;e fault is this? will you now &s;ay that the father hath lo&s;t his power to command, becau&s;e his &s;on hath lo&s;t his power to obey? Surely no, 'tis no iniquity in God to require that of us, which once he gave unto us. 'Tis no inju&s;tice in the creditor to call for his debt, when the debtor is faln into extream poverty through his own default. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, I an&s;wer, Though an un&s;anctified per&s;on be not able to perform any Theological or &s;piritual action (as to be|lieve or repent, <HI>&amp;c.</HI>) yet he is able to perform all natural acti|ons, as to eat, drink, work, walk, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and he is able to per|form all Political actions al&s;o, as to trade, bargain, buy, &s;ell, plant, and build, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> the &s;oul even in an un&s;anctified per&s;on is not dead, but a living principle; and therefore it is able to under&s;tand, will, de&s;ire, di&s;cour&s;e, rea&s;on, and to attend the means of grace; though he be not able to work grace in his
<PB N="343" REF="182"> own heart, yet he is able to attend on the means of grace. An un&s;anctified per&s;on may as well go to a Sermon, as to a Tavern, he may as well read the Scriptures, as read Play books and Pam|phlets, he may as well a&s;&s;ociate him&s;elf with tho&s;e that fear an oath, as he does with tho&s;e that delight to bla&s;pheme that name that all &s;hould tremble at, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Mans impotency lyes in his ob&s;tinacy, man pretends he cannot believe,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 23.37. Luk. 13.34. Joh. 5.40. Act. 7.5.</NOTE> nor he cannot come to Chri&s;t, nor he cannot repent, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> when he is re&s;ol|ved that he will not believe, nor he will not come to Chri&s;t, nor he will not repent, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Chri&s;t in the Go&s;pel comes and offers pardon, and peace, and reconciliation, and thou turne&s;t thy back upon him; he woes and intreates,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 5 18, 19, 20.</NOTE> and be&s;eeches thee by his Amba&s;&s;adors, but thou wilt not hear, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> he &s;ets life and death, heaven and hell, mercy and mi&s;ery before thee, but thou &s;lighte&s;t all; Chri&s;t brings a cordial in one hand to &s;trengthen thee, and a remedy in the other hand to cure thee,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 3.18.</NOTE> but thou di&s;pife&s;t both; Chri&s;t offers tried gold to inrich thee, and white raiment to cloath thee, and precious eye-&s;alve to en|lighten thee, and thou &s;hutte&s;t up thy heart again&s;t all his offers. Well &s;irs, remember this,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;ea 13.9.</NOTE> in the great Day all un&s;anctified per|&s;ons will be damn'd, not for can-nots, but for will-nots, tis nei|ther men nor devils; 'tis neither the greatne&s;s of thy &s;ins, nor the numberle&s;s number of thy &s;ins that can damn thee, were it not for thy wilfulne&s;s in &s;in. O &s;inners, &s;inners,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 28. t3. 1 Joh. 1.9. Luk. 19.41, 42.</NOTE> if you are but heartily willing to for&s;ake your &s;ins, and to accept of Chri&s;t as your Lord and King, and to re&s;ign up your &s;elves to him to be really his, to be wholly his, to be onely his, and to be eternally his, he will certainly change you, and &s;anctifie you, and &s;ave you; but if you will not be holy, if you will not be happy, if you will not be &s;anctified, if you will not be &s;aved, if you will not go to heaven, but are re&s;olved upon going to hell, what can be more ju&s;t with God, then that you &s;hould be Satans bond &s;laves, and fire-brands of hell, and ve&s;&s;els of wrath to all eternity? But,</P>
<P>Fourthly, I an&s;wer, If thou doe&s;t but &s;tir up thy &s;elf to o|bey <MILESTONE N="4"> the command as well as thou can&s;t, thou do&s;t not know but that a power may go forth with the command, that may inable thee to act &s;utable to the command. In that <HI>Mat.</HI> 9.1.&mdash;9.
<PB N="344" REF="183"> Chri&s;t bid the Pal&s;ie man <HI>ri&s;e and walk, take up thy bed, and go unto thine hou&s;e;</HI> the Pal&s;ie man might have objected, Alas, I am carried by four, I am not able to &s;tir a limb, muchle&s;s to ri&s;e, but lea&s;t of all to take up my bed and walk, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Oh but he puts forth him&s;elf as well as he could, and a power went forth with the command, that enabled him to do what was com|manded. So in that <HI>Mat.</HI> 12.10.&mdash;14. There was a poor man that had a withered hand, &amp; Chri&s;t commands him to &s;tretch forth his hand; he might have objected, my hand is withered, and if I might have a thou&s;and worlds to &s;tretch it forth, I could not &s;tretch it forth, yea, if my life, if my &s;alvation did lye upon &s;tretching forth my withered arm, I could not &s;tretch it forth; Oh but he throws by all objections, and complies as well as he could, and a power went forth and healed his hand. God commanded <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> to go and deliver his people out of <HI>Egypt; Mo&s;es</HI> might have objected his old age, the power of <HI>Pharoah,</HI> and his want of an Army to force their way, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But he turns his back upon the&s;e objections, and addre&s;&s;es him&s;elf to the work, and &s;uch a mighty power went along with him as did effect it;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;h. 6.</NOTE> he commanded the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> to take Rams horns, and with them to go and blow down the walls of <HI>Jericho;</HI> they might have &s;aid, Lord the&s;e are weak and contemptible means, yea Lord, if we may &s;peak after the manner of men, they are &s;uch ridiculous means as will expo&s;e us to &s;corn and laugh|ter; but they pa&s;s over the&s;e things, and apply them&s;elves to tho&s;e weak and de&s;picable means that God had appointed, and &s;uch a divine and glorious power went along with the means as made the walls of <HI>Jericho,</HI> not onely to tremble, but to tum|ble down before them. Chri&s;t commanded <HI>Lazarus</HI> to come out of the grave, and there went a Divine power and vertue with that call of Chri&s;t, which made him to ri&s;e. The means are the Spirits triumphing Chariot, in which he plea&s;es to ride conquering and to conquer the &s;ouls of men;<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 2.14. Acts 10.44.</NOTE> <HI>Whil&s;t Peter yet &s;pake, the holy Gho&s;t fell on all them that heard the word.</HI> O man, thou can&s;t not tell but that whil&s;t thou art in the u&s;e of Divine helps, a &s;ecret power of the Spirit may break in upon thee, and make the means effectual to thy conver&s;ion and &s;alvation; many thou&s;ands have found it &s;o, and therefore addre&s;s thy
<PB N="345" REF="183"> &s;elf to the u&s;e of the meanes, and waite at the pool, thou can&s;t not tell how &s;oone the Spirit may come and move upon thy &s;oul, it may be this day, this houre, yea this very moment where|in I am thus &s;peaking to thee. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly, I an&s;wer, that the &s;en&s;e of thine own inability,<NOTE PLACE="marg">5. I&s;a. 26.3, 4.</NOTE> in|&s;ufficiency, &amp; impotency, &s;hould provoke thee to run to Chri&s;t, and to lay hold on his everla&s;ting &s;trength, and to ply the throne of grace, and to give God no re&s;t till he has renewed and &s;anctified thy &s;oul,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 26.18.</NOTE> till he has effectually turned thee <HI>from darkne&s;s to light,</HI> till he has be&s;pangled thy &s;oul with grace, and fill'd thee with his Spirit,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 12.10.</NOTE> and made thee partakers of his holi|ne&s;s. 'Twas a good &s;aying of One <HI>(Da quod Jubes,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tine.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; jube quod vis) Give what thou commande&s;t, and command what thou wilt.</HI> O goe to God and tell him, that what he has commanded in &s;ome Scriptures, he has promi&s;ed to give in other Scriptures, and therefore pre&s;s him to make good his promi&s;es, that &s;o you may obey his precepts; O tell him, that if he will but <HI>&s;prinkle clean water upon thee, and put his Spirit within thee,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 36.25, 26, 27, 28.</NOTE> <HI>and give a new heart unto thee,</HI> according to his promi&s;e, that then <HI>thou wilt walke in his Statutes, and keep his Judgments, and doe them;</HI> O tell him, that if he will but <HI>put his feare into thy heart,</HI> according to his promi&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 32.40.</NOTE> that then <HI>thou wilt never depart from him;</HI> O tell him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 1.29. James 5.17.</NOTE> that he has commanded thee to be|lieve, and that he has al&s;o promi&s;ed to give thee faith, and therefore if he will but make good his promi&s;e, thou &s;halt be &s;ure to obey his precepts; O tell him, that he has frequently commanded thee to <HI>repent,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 5.31. 2 Tim. 2.25.</NOTE> and that he has al&s;o graciou&s;ly pro|mi&s;ed to give <HI>repentance,</HI> and therefore if he will but per|forme his promi&s;e, thou &s;halt not faile to obey his precepts, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> O tell him, that thou ha&s;t no mind to be damn'd, tell him, that thou tremble&s;t at the thoughts of hell, tell him that thou can&s;t not without much horror think of <HI>dwelling with a de|vouring fire,</HI> of <HI>dwelling with everla&s;ting burnings;</HI> O tell him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 33.14. 2 The&s;. 1.7, 8, 9, 10.</NOTE> that thou dreade&s;t an eternall &s;eparation from him, and there|fore earne&s;tly be&s;eech him, for his Sons &s;ake, and for his glory &s;ake, and his promi&s;e &s;ake, and thy &s;ouls &s;ake, that he would re|new thy nature, and &s;anctifie thy &s;oul, that &s;o thou maye&s;t not peri&s;h to all eternity. But,</P>
<PB N="346" REF="184">
<P> <MILESTONE N="6"> Sixthly, and la&s;tly, What di&s;-ingenuity, yea what inju&s;tice and unrighteou&s;ne&s;s is this, that thou &s;houlde&s;t lye complaining of the want of power, when thou doe&s;t not u&s;e and improve the power thou ha&s;t; without the power and a&s;&s;i&s;tance of &s;pecial grace, thou ha&s;t power to attend religious duties and &s;ervices, thou ha&s;t power to turne thy back upon the infectious and dan|gerous &s;ociety of wicked and ungodly men, thou ha&s;t power to keep at a di&s;tance from the <HI>Harlots door,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 7.</NOTE> thou ha&s;t power to keep thy mouth of bla&s;phemy &s;hut, thou ha&s;t power to keep thy hands from &s;tealing,<NOTE PLACE="marg">James 3.10. Ephe. 4.28. Rom. 3.15.</NOTE> and thy feete <HI>from being &s;wift to &s;hed inno|cent blood;</HI> thou ha&s;t power to bring thy body to an Ordinance, though thou ha&s;t not power to bring thy &s;oul to the Ordinance; the Noble <HI>Bereans</HI> brought their bodies to the Ordinance,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 17.11, 12.</NOTE> and they took the heads of the Apo&s;tles Sermon, and compared them with the Scripture, and yet they were in an unrenewed and un&s;anctified e&s;tate. O Sirs, you have power to come to pub|lick Ordinances, and to &s;et your &s;elves under the droppings of a Go&s;pel powerful Mini&s;try, you have power to lie at the poole of <HI>Bethe&s;da,</HI> and there to waite till the cure be wrought; but where is the un&s;anctified &s;oul that improves the power he has? Tell me, O vaine man, why &s;hould God tru&s;t thee with a grea|ter power, when thou make&s;t no con&s;cience of improving that power thou ha&s;t? Why &s;hould God tru&s;t thee with Ten Tal|lents, when thou ha&s;t no heart to improve the two that he has already tru&s;ted thee withall? What wi&s;e Father or Ma&s;ter will tru&s;t that child or &s;ervant with hundreds or thou&s;ands, who makes no con&s;cience of improving far le&s;&s;er &s;ums to the honour and advantage of the Father or the Ma&s;ter? how doe&s;t thou know, O man, but that upon the faithfull improvement of that power thou ha&s;t, God may adde a greater power to thee? if thou wilt but goe that two miles thou can&s;t, God may &s;trike in with thee, and inable thee to goe Ten. 'Tis a dangerous thing to neg|lect the doing of that which thou can&s;t doe, becau&s;e that thou can&s;t not doe every thing that thou &s;houlde&s;t doe. Suppo&s;e a Father or a Ma&s;ter &s;hould &s;ay to his Son or &s;ervant, take &s;uch and &s;uch wares and commodities, and carry them to &s;uch and &s;uch places, for &s;uch and &s;uch Chapmen, and the Son or &s;er|vant &s;hould &s;ay, well, though there be &s;ome &s;mall light bur|thens
<PB N="347" REF="184"> that I can well enough carry, yet there are many heavie burthens that I cannot carry, and therefore I will carry none at all; may not the Father of &s;uch a Son, or the Ma&s;ter of &s;uch a &s;ervant in much Ju&s;tice and righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;everely puni&s;h &s;uch a Son or &s;ervant? doubtle&s;s yes; Why this is the very ca&s;e of all un&s;anctified &s;ouls; God commands them to believe and repent, and to love him with all their hearts, and to &s;et him up as the object of their feare, and to give him the preheminence in all things, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But the&s;e are &s;upernaturall acts beyond their power; And he commands them to attend on the meanes of grace, and to waire at Wi&s;doms door; he commands them to apply them|&s;elves to publike ordinances, and to keep clo&s;e to family du|ties, and to turne their backs upon &s;uch and &s;uch vicious &s;ocie|ties, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and the&s;e are things they can doe; and yet becau&s;e they cannot doe the former, they wilfully and wickedly refu&s;e to doe the latter; becau&s;e they cannot bare the heavie&s;t burthen, they are re&s;olved they will bare none at all; and becau&s;e they cannot doe every thing they &s;hould, they will doe nothing at all, except it be to complaine that God is a hard Ma&s;ter, and expects to reape where he do's not &s;owe; now how ju&s;t and righteous a thing it is with God to deale &s;everely with &s;uch, I will leave you to judge. And let this &s;uffice for an&s;wer to the fir&s;t objection.</P>
</DIV5>
<DIV5 N="2" TYPE="objection">
<P><HI>Object.</HI> <MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="Object."> But hereafter may be time enough to look after ho|line&s;s, I may yet pur&s;ue after the plea&s;ures and profits of the world, I may yet &s;pend &s;ome years in gratifying mine own lu&s;ts, and in walking after the cour&s;e of the world, I have time e|nough before me, and therefore &s;ome years hence may be time enough to look after holine&s;s. Now to this objection I &s;hall give the&s;e An&s;wers.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Thou wilt not &s;ay that thou can&s;t be &s;aved too &s;oon, nor <MILESTONE N="1"> happie too &s;oon, nor ble&s;&s;ed too &s;oon, nor pardoned too &s;oon, nor in the favour of God too &s;oon, nor out of the danger of wrath, hell, and everla&s;ting burnings too &s;oon, and if &s;o, then cer|tainly thou can&s;t not be holy too &s;oon; for thou can&s;t never be truly happie, till thou art truly holy: No man will be &s;o fooli&s;h and mad, as to &s;ay, he may be rich too &s;oon, and great too &s;oon, and high and honorable in the world too &s;oon, and in fa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters">r and
<PB N="348" REF="185"> e&s;teeme with men (e&s;pecially with great men) too &s;oon; and why then &s;houlde&s;t thou be &s;o mad and fooli&s;h, as practically to &s;ay that thou can&s;t be holy too &s;oon? and yet thus much thou doe&s;t proclaime upon the hou&s;e-top, when thou crye&s;t out, here|after, hereafter will be time enough to &s;eek after holine&s;s. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, I an&s;wer, that 'tis thy wi&s;dom and thy work to &s;et one may be again&s;t another;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccl. 7.14.</NOTE> thou &s;ay'&s;t now, that hereafter may be time enough to look after holine&s;s. O &s;et another may|be again&s;t this may-be,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 55.6.</NOTE> and &s;ay, if I now neglect this &s;ea&s;on of grace, it may-be I &s;hall never have another; if I now &s;light the offers of mercy,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 1.20. to the 33. Heb. 2.1, 2, 3. Luke 19, 41.&mdash;45. Gen. 6.3.</NOTE> it may be I &s;hall never have &s;uch offers more; if I now de&s;pi&s;e this day of &s;alvation, it may be I &s;hall never have &s;uch another day; if I now with&s;tand the tenders of Chri&s;t, it may-be Chri&s;t will never make a tender to me more; if I now re&s;i&s;t the &s;trivings of the Spirit, it may be the Spirit will never &s;trive with my &s;oule more, and then wo wo to me that ever I was borne. O don't put off God, don't put off thy &s;oule, don't put off the thoughts of holine&s;s, don't put off eternity with may-bees,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 3.18.</NOTE> lea&s;t <HI>the Lord &s;hould &s;weare in his wrath, that thou &s;halt never enter into his re&s;t:</HI> and &s;eeing that thou wilt not &s;uffer holine&s;s to enter into thee, thou &s;halt never enter into thy Ma|&s;ters joy: O! why &s;houlde&s;t thou put off thy poor &s;oule, &s;o as thou woulde&s;t not have God to put it off; thou woulde&s;t not have God to put off thy &s;oule with may-bees, as with a may-bee I will pardon thee, it may-bee I wilt lift up the light of my countenance upon thee, it may-bee I will change thy nature, and &s;ave thy &s;oule, it may-bee I will fill thee with my Spirit, and adorne thee with my grace, it may-bee I will bring thee to my kingdome and glory; O thou would&s;t not have God to put thee off with &s;uch may-bees, and why then &s;hould&s;t thou deale more hardly and cruelly with thine own &s;oule, then thou would&s;t have God to deale with thee? But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, I an&s;wer, 'tis a cleare argument that thou art not truly nor throughly &s;en&s;ible of thy pre&s;ent condition and dan|ger who thus objecte&s;t; wert thou but truly &s;en&s;ible of thy lo&s;t and undone e&s;tate out of Chri&s;t, did&s;t thou but indeed know what 'tis to live one houre in a Chri&s;t-le&s;s and grace-le&s;s con|dition,
<PB N="349" REF="185"> did&s;t thou but &s;ee that wrath that hangs over thy head, did&s;t thou but reade the cur&s;es that are pronounced in the book of God again&s;t thee, did&s;t thou but behold how hell gapes to devoure thee, did&s;t thou but &s;ee how farre off thou art from God, Chri&s;t, the Covenant,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 2.39. Ephe. 2.12.</NOTE> and all the glory and happine&s;s of another world; ah how would&s;t thou every day cry out, give me holine&s;s or I die, give me holine&s;s or I eternally die. The Patient that is truly &s;en&s;ible of his di&s;ea&s;e, will not &s;ay, hereafter will be time enough to &s;end for the Phy&s;itian, nor the wounded man will not &s;ay, hereafter will be time enough to fetch the Surgeon, nor the condemned man will not &s;ay, here|after will be time enough to &s;ue for a pardon, nor the needy man will not &s;ay, hereafter will be time enough to look for re|liefe, nor the fallen man will not &s;ay, hereafter will be time enough to lift me up, nor the drowning man will not &s;ay, hereafter will be time enough to bring a Boate to &s;ave my life; now this is the very ca&s;e of all un&s;anctified per&s;ons in the world, and why then &s;hould they cry our, hereafter, hereafter will be time enough to be holy. The Boare in the Fable be|ing que&s;tioned why he &s;tood wherting his teeth &s;o when no bo|dy was neare to hurt him, wi&s;ely an&s;wered, that it would then be too late to whet them when he was to u&s;e them, and there|fore he whetted them &s;o before danger that he might have them ready in danger. Ah Sirs, there is nothing more dange|rous then for you to have your holine&s;s to &s;eek, when temporal, &s;piritual, and eternal dangers are at your heels; there is no wi&s;|dom to that which leads men forth to a pre&s;ent pur&s;uit after holine&s;s, nor no hell to that for a man to have his holine&s;s to &s;eek when he &s;hould u&s;e it.</P>
<P>Fourthly, I an&s;wer, that the brevity, &s;hortne&s;s, and preci|ou&s;ne&s;s <MILESTONE N="4"> of time,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Sumptus pro|tioci&s;&s;imus tempus. <HI>Theo|phra&s;tus.</HI></NOTE> calls aloud upon thee to pur&s;ue after holine&s;s without delay; time pa&s;t is irrecoverable, time to come is un|certaine, the pre&s;ent time is the only time, and on this moment of time depends eternity; this very day is a day of grace, O that thou had&s;t but grace to take notice of it; this very time is an acceptable time, O that thou had&s;t but a heart to accept of it, and to improve it: he that hath a great way to goe, and a great deale of worke to doe in a little time, had not need to
<PB N="350" REF="186"> trifle away his time; and this is the ca&s;e of every un&s;anctified &s;oule; O the &s;ins that &s;uch a &s;oule has to repent of, O the graces that &s;uch a &s;oule has to &s;eek, O the evidences for heaven that &s;uch a &s;oule has to &s;ecure, O the mi&s;eries that &s;uch a &s;oule has to e&s;cape, O the mercies that &s;uch a &s;oule has to pre&s;s after, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and therefore of all men in the world, it &s;tands un&s;anctified per&s;ons upon well to husband and improve their pre&s;ent time; O 'tis a dangerous thing to put off that worke to another day which mu&s;t be done to day, or el&s;e thou maye&s;t be eternally undone to morrow; the old &s;aying was <HI>(Nunc aut nunquam)</HI> now or never, if not now done, it may be never done, and if &s;o, then thou art undone for ever. Many &s;inners are now in hell, who when they were on earth were wont to put off the motions of the Spirit by crying out, <HI>eras, cras,</HI> to morrow, to morrow. Time is &s;o precious a thing that mountaines of gold and rocks of pearle cannot redeem one lo&s;t moment; which that great Lady well under&s;tood, when on her death-bed &s;he cryed out,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Queen <HI>Eliza|beth.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Call time againe, call time againe; a world of wealth for an inch of time:</HI> ah what a precious and gainfull commodi|ty would time be in hell, where for one day to repent, yea for one hour to &s;eek after holine&s;s, a man would give ten thou&s;and worlds, were they in his hands to di&s;po&s;e of. Time is &s;o co&s;tly a Jewel that few know how to value it and prize it at a due rate, witne&s;s that &s;ad and frequent complaint among many, O what &s;hall we doe to drive away the time, come let's goe to Cards to drive away the time, or let's goe to Tables to drive away the time, or let's goe to the Taverne, and take a pint and a pipe to drive away the time, or lets goe and take a walke in the fields to drive away the time, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Thus mo&s;t are lavi&s;h|ly and profu&s;ely prodigall of that precious time which is their greate&s;t intere&s;t to redeem. Time is a precious Talent, and the non-improvement of it God will charge upon men at la&s;t, as he did upon <HI>Jezabel,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 2.21.</NOTE> e&s;pecially upon &s;uch who trifle away, who play away, who idle away, yea who gro&s;sly &s;in away their precious time; how many are there like children, who play till their Candle be out, and then they goe to bed in the dark? &s;o the&s;e play and foole away their precious time, till the Can|dle of life be out, and then they goe to their beds, they goe to
<PB N="351" REF="186"> their graves in &s;orrow, yea they goe to hell in the dark.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Drexellius.</NOTE> I have read of a young man, who living vainly and loo&s;ely, was very fea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ul of being in the dark, who after falling &s;ick and could not &s;leep, cry'd out, <HI>Oh if this darkne&s;s be &s;o terrible, what is eternall darkne&s;s?</HI> he that makes no con&s;cience of trifling away his precious time, &s;hall one day experience the terriblene&s;s of eternal darkne&s;s. The Poets paint time with wings,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Sophocles. Phocilides, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> to &s;hew the volubility and &s;wiftne&s;s of it; O Sirs, if the one &s;en&s;e of the brevity, &s;hortne&s;s, and preciou&s;ne&s;s of time, did but lye in its full weight upon your &s;pirits, it would certainly put you upon a &s;peedy and earne&s;t pur&s;uit after holine&s;s; O then you would never &s;ay, hereafter, hereafter will be time enough to &s;eek after holine&s;s, but you would addre&s;s your &s;elves to a fervent and a con&s;tant pre&s;&s;ing after holine&s;s as the one thing nece&s;&s;ary, and be re&s;tle&s;s in your own &s;pirits, till you had experienced the power and &s;weetne&s;s that is in holine&s;s. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly, and la&s;tly, I an&s;wer, that 'tis the greate&s;t folly and <MILESTONE N="5"> madne&s;s in the world for thee to put off the great God and the great concernments of thy &s;oule, &s;o, as thou dare&s;t not put off thy Superiors: Where is the &s;ubject that dares put off a lawfull duty urg'd upon him by his Prince with a may-be, or with an hereafter it may-be I will doe it, or hereafter I will doe it? or where is that &s;ervant that dares put off his Lords pre&s;ent commands with a may-be, or with an hereafter it may-be I will doe it, or hereafter I will doe it? or where is the ingenious child that dares put off a pre&s;ent duty pre&s;t upon him by his parents with a may-be, or with an hereafter it may-be I will doe it, or hereafter I will doe it? or where is the affectionate wife, that dares put off the ju&s;t de&s;ires and reque&s;ts of her hu&s;|band with a may-be, or with an hereafter it may-be I will an|&s;wer your de&s;ires, or hereafter I will an&s;wer your reque&s;ts? O Sirs, you dare not put off your Superiors with may-bees, or with hereafters, and how then doe you dare to put off the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, with may-bees and with here|afters? it may-be I will look after holine&s;s, it may-be I will &s;tudy holine&s;s, it may-be I will prize holine&s;s, or hereafter I will pre&s;s after holine&s;s, I will pur&s;ue after holine&s;s, hereafter I will follow hard after holine&s;s. O remember, that as there is no|thing
<PB N="352" REF="187"> that do's more incen&s;e, inrage, and provoke a Prince a|gain&s;t his Subjects, a Lord again&s;t his &s;ervants, a father again&s;t his child, and a husband again&s;t his wife, then the putting off of their &s;ervices and commands, with may-bees or with here|afters; &s;o there is nothing that do's more incen&s;e, inflame, and provoke the great God, then to put him off with may-bees, or with hereafters,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 95.6. to the end. Heb. 3.7. to the end.</NOTE> as you may &s;ee by comparing the Scriptures in the margent together. And O that for time to come you would tremble at the very thoughts of a may-bee, and at the very mentioning of an hereafter, that &s;o you may never put off the commands of God, to pur&s;ue after holine&s;s with a may|be, or with an hereafter any more. And let this &s;u&s;fice for an&s;wer to this &s;econd Objection.</P>
</DIV5>
<DIV5 N="3" TYPE="objection">
<P> <MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="Object."> Thirdly, But if we &s;hould thus pre&s;s and pur&s;ue after holi|ne&s;s, then we mu&s;t take our farewell of all joy and comfort, of all delight and plea&s;ure, and never expect to enjoy one merry day more, for we ob&s;erve that there are no per&s;ons under hea|ven, that live &s;uch a melancholy, &s;ad, &s;orrowfull, pen&s;ive life, as tho&s;e who pre&s;s mo&s;t after holine&s;s, and who make mo&s;t &s;tir and noi&s;e about holine&s;s, and therefore if we &s;hould re&s;olve to follow after holine&s;s, we mu&s;t re&s;olve to &s;pend our dayes in &s;orrow and &s;adne&s;s, in &s;ighing and mourning, and this we had as leave die as doe, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Now to this grand objection, I &s;hall give the&s;e eight an|&s;wers.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, It may be thou looke&s;t only on the dark &s;ide of the cloud, and not on the bright, thou looke&s;t only on thy left hand, where the mourners in <HI>Zion</HI> &s;tand, but did&s;t thou but ca&s;t an eye on thy right hand, there thou would&s;t &s;ee many of the pre|cious &s;ons and daughters of <HI>Zion</HI> rejoycing and triumphing;<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 61.1, 2, 3, 10, 11. Chap. 35. <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> Now thus to look, what is it but to look for a &s;traw to thru&s;t out thine own eyes with. O Sirs, 'tis neither wi&s;dom nor righte|ou&s;ne&s;s to look only upon tho&s;e who mourn, and not upon tho&s;e that rejoyce,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 52.8, 9. Jer. 31.7.12.</NOTE> upon tho&s;e that &s;igh, but not upon tho&s;e that &s;ing. Before you pa&s;s a judgement upon the people of God, or the good wayes of God, look on both hands, I &s;ay againe, look on both hands, and then you will be &s;ure to &s;ee &s;ome Saints in their wedding attire, as well as others in their mourning weeds;
<PB N="353" REF="187"> no man in his wits will argue thus, becau&s;e &s;uch and &s;uch men of &s;uch a Calling or Trade, are in their mourning weeds, there|fore all men of that Calling or Trade, are in their mourning weeds, and yet &s;o witle&s;s are many men as thus to argue again&s;t the people of God, and the wayes of God. But,</P>
<P>Secondly, I an&s;wer, As there are tears of &s;orrow, &s;o there are <MILESTONE N="2"> tears of Joy. <HI>Jacob</HI> weeps over <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Compare the&s;e Scrip|tures toge|ther, <HI>Gen.</HI> 43.30. Chap. 45.2. and Ch: 46.29.30. 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 1.13. to the 20. John 4. &amp;c.</NOTE> but 'twas with tears of ex|ceeding joy; the &s;weete&s;t joy is from the &s;owre&s;t tears; tears are the breeders of &s;pirituall joy: A holy mans heart is u&s;ually fulle&s;t of joy, when his eys are fulle&s;t of tears; when <HI>Hannah</HI> had wept, &s;he went away &amp; was no more &s;ad. The Bee gathers the be&s;t ho|ney of the bittere&s;t herbs; Chri&s;t made the be&s;t wine of water: The be&s;t, the pure&s;t, the &s;tronge&s;t, &amp; the &s;weete&s;t joys are made of the de&s;tilled waters of Evangelical repentance. Go&s;pel mour|ning is no way incon&s;i&s;tent with holy joy; though it mu&s;t be gran|ted that the love of &s;in and true joy are incon&s;i&s;tent, and that the reign and dominion of &s;in &amp; true joy are incon&s;i&s;tent, yet it mu&s;t be confe&s;t that mourning for &s;in and holy joy, are con&s;i&s;tent in one and the &s;ame heart; and though Legal terrour &amp; Evangelical joy are incon&s;i&s;tent,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zach. 12.10. 1 Pet. 1.8.</NOTE> yet Evangelical &s;orrow and Evangelical joy are con&s;i&s;tent in one and the &s;ame &s;oule; the &s;ame eye of faith that drops tears of &s;orrow, drops al&s;o tears of joy: A cleare &s;ight of free-grace, of pardoning mercy, and of a bleeding dying Savi|our, will at the &s;ame time fill the &s;oul both with &s;orrow and joy, as the experiences of a thou&s;and Chri&s;tians can te&s;tifie: A Chri|&s;tian alwayes joys mo&s;t, and mourns mo&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 7.</NOTE> when he is mo&s;t under the &s;en&s;e of divine love, the influences and incomes of heaven, the hopes of glory, the reports of mercy, and the precious &s;eal|ings of the ble&s;&s;ed Spirit. Look as Phy&s;ick is the way to health, &s;o godly &s;orrow is the way to holy joy;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 14.13.</NOTE> &amp; look as a wicked mans joy ends in &s;orrow, &s;o a godly mans &s;orrow ends in joy. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 61.3. <HI>To appoint unto them that mourne in Zion, to give unto them beauty for a&s;hes, the oyl of joy for mourning, the garment of gladne&s;s for the &s;pirit of heavine&s;s, that they may be called trees of righte|ou&s;ne&s;s, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.</HI> Godly &s;orrow is the Parent of holy joy; a Godly mans mourn|ing time, is his mo&s;t joyfull time. I have read of a godly man, who lying upon his dying bed, and being askt which was the
<PB N="354" REF="188"> joyfulle&s;t time that ever he had in all his life, cryed our, <HI>O give me my mourning dayes againe, O give me my mourning dayes a|gaine, for they were the joyfulle&s;t dayes that ever I had.</HI> The more a Chri&s;tian <HI>&s;owes in teares,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 126.6.</NOTE> the greater (even in this world) &s;hall be <HI>his harve&s;t of joy,</HI> his merry dayes &s;hall be alwayes an|&s;werable to his mourning dayes. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, I an<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">wer, that this is a fal&s;e charge, a meere &s;lan|der, an unju&s;t calumny that Satan and his bond-&s;laves have ca&s;t upon holine&s;s, and the wayes of holine&s;s, on purpo&s;e to hinder men from pur&s;uing and following after holine&s;s: The language of the objection is quite contrary to the language of the holy Scrip|ture, witne&s;s that <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 138.5. <HI>Yea they &s;hall &s;ing in the wayes of the Lord; for great is the glory of the Lord.</HI> When the Kings of the earth &s;hall be generally converted and &s;anctified, as 'tis in <HI>ver.</HI> the 4^t^h, <HI>Then they &s;hall &s;ing in the wayes of the Lord;</HI> when they &s;hall come to experience and ta&s;te the power, ex|cellency, and &s;weetne&s;s of holine&s;s, <HI>then they &s;hall &s;ing in the wayes of the Lord.</HI> Conver&s;ation and &s;anctification admini&s;ter the highe&s;t grounds of joy and rejoycing; 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.12. <HI>For our re|joycing is this, the te&s;timony of our con&s;cience, that in &s;implicity, and godly &s;incerity, not with fle&s;hly wi&s;dom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conver&s;ation in the world, and more abundantly to you-wards.</HI> A holy conver&s;ation affords the greate&s;t ground of rejoycing: There is no joy to that which &s;prings from the te&s;timony of a &s;anctified con&s;cience. God has given it under his own hand,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 3.17.</NOTE> <HI>that the wayes of wi&s;dom</HI> (which are alwayes wayes of holine&s;s) <HI>are wayes of plea&s;antne&s;s, and all her paths are peace.</HI> There is no plea&s;ure nor felicity to that which flowes from the wayes of &s;anctity: The &s;weete&s;t Ro&s;es, the &s;tronge&s;t comforts, and the greate&s;t plea&s;antne&s;s is to be found in the wayes of holine&s;s. O! the joy, the peace, the tranquilli|ty, the &s;erenity that attends the wayes of purity. I might call in many millions of Saints, who from their own experiences are able to give the lye to this objection, and further to tell you, that they have met with more comforts, &s;weetne&s;s, and plea&s;antne&s;s in one houres communion with God, in one houres walking with God, then ever they have found in all the wayes of ungodline&s;s and wickedne&s;s, wherein they have wandered.
<PB N="355" REF="188"> O! they are able to tell you,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 57.20, 21.</NOTE> that when they walkt in wayes of impiety, they found by experience that God had made a &s;epe|ration between &s;in and peace, between &s;in and joy,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 6.21.</NOTE> between &s;in and a&s;&s;urance, between &s;in and the light of his countenance, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and they are able to tell you from what they have found, that there is no feare, no terror, no horror, no gripes, no grief, no &s;tings, no hells to tho&s;e that attend the wayes of ungodline&s;s; and this were enough to blow off this objection. But,</P>
<P>Fourthly, I an&s;wer, that the joy of the Saints is chiefly and <MILESTONE N="4"> mainely an inward joy, a &s;piritual joy, a joy that lyes remote from a carnal eye; the joy of a Chri&s;tian lyes deep, it cannot be expre&s;&s;ed, it cannot be painted; look as no man can paint the &s;weetne&s;s of the Honey-combe, nor the &s;weetne&s;s of a Clu&s;ter of Grapes, nor the fragrancy of the Ro&s;e of <HI>Sharon;</HI> &s;o no man can paint out the &s;weetne&s;s and &s;piritualne&s;s of a Chri&s;tians joy, it lyes &s;o deep and low in a gracious heart; and look as the life of a Chri&s;tian <HI>is hid with Chri&s;t in God,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 3.3.</NOTE> &s;o the joy of a Chri&s;tian <HI>is hid with Chri&s;t in God;</HI> as their life is a hidden life, &s;o their joy is a hidden joy; the joy of a Chri&s;tian is <HI>hidden Manna,</HI> 'tis the <HI>new name and white &s;tone,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 2.20.</NOTE> <HI>that none knoweth but he that has it.</HI> Pro. 14.10. <HI>The heart knoweth his own bit|terne&s;s, and a &s;tranger doth not intermedd<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e with his joy:</HI> The joy of a Saint is a Jewel that falls not under a &s;trangers eye. Look as the greate&s;t terrors and torments of the wicked are inward, &s;o the greate&s;t joyes and comforts of the Saints are inward; and look as the heart of man is deep,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 17.9, 10.</NOTE> &s;o holy joy is a trea&s;ure that lyes deep, and 'tis not every man that has a golden key to &s;earch into this Trea&s;ury. As a man &s;tanding on the Sea|&s;hore, &s;ees a great heap of waters, one wave riding upon the back of another, and making a dreadfull noi&s;e, but all this while though he &s;ees the water rouling, and hears it raging and roar|ing, yet he &s;ees not the wealth, the gold, the &s;ilver, the Jewels, and incredible Trea&s;ures that lye buried there; &s;o wicked men they &s;ee the wants of the Saints, but not their wealth, they &s;ee their poverty, but not their riches, their mi&s;eries, but not their mercies, their conflicts, but not their comforts, their &s;or|rows, but not their joyes:<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 2.14.</NOTE> O the blinde world cannot &s;ee the joys and rejoycings, the comforts and con&s;olations of the Saints,
<PB N="356" REF="189"> that lye at the bottom of their &s;ouls; their joys are inward and &s;piritual, and &s;o mu&s;t the eye be that di&s;cernes them; the joy of the Saints is like <HI>a Garden inclo&s;ed,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cant. 4.12.</NOTE> <HI>a &s;pring &s;hut up, a foun|taine &s;ealed:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 45.13.</NOTE> And as the glory of the Church is inward, &s;o the joy of the Church is inward;<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 12.3.</NOTE> The waters of con&s;olation lye deep in the wells of &s;alvation: The riche&s;t veines of Oare lye deepe&s;t under ground; and &s;o do's the &s;tronge&s;t and the choice&s;t joyes of the Saints lye deep. The Moone is often dark to the world, when yet that part which faceth the Sun, is very light&s;ome, beautifull, and glorious; &s;o many times if you look upon the out&s;ide of a Chri&s;tian, which is his dark &s;ide, you may &s;ee his countenance clouded, and his carriage and behaviour as to the world, either damped or ob&s;cured; but if you could but now look upon his in&s;ide, which is his be&s;t &s;ide, and which faces the Sun of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, O then you &s;hould &s;ee the light of joy and comfort &s;weetly and gloriou&s;ly &s;hining forth. O Sirs, look as there are many rich men in the world, who make no &s;hew of it by their Garbe, or Table, or Attendance, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> &s;o there are many Chri&s;tians that are rich in divine con&s;olations, who yet don't &s;hew it in &s;uch or &s;uch an outward carnal way, as the men of the world doe u&s;ually expre&s;s their joy in: And look as many a wicked man has heavine&s;s in his heart, when he has laughter in his face; as the wi&s;e&s;t of Princes has long &s;ince ob|&s;erv'd, in <HI>Pro.</HI> 14.13. <HI>Even in laughter the heart is &s;orrowfull, and the end of that mirth is heavine&s;s;</HI> the heart often weepes when the mouth laughs; every laughter is not hearty, for laugh|ter being but a &s;igne of joy, the &s;igne may be where the &s;ub|&s;tance is not; many wicked men are inwardly &s;ad, when they are outwardly glad. 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.12. The fal&s;e Apo&s;tles did glory in the face,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, in the face.</NOTE> and not in the heart, they &s;et a good face on't and &s;eem'd to be upon a merry pin, and yet all their &s;miles were but counterfeit &s;miles, all their joyes were but skin-deep, the joy that was in their faces, was nothing to the terrours, hor|rours, and torments that were in their hearts; &s;o the godly ma|ny times rejoyce in heart, when &s;adne&s;s and blackne&s;s &s;eemes to cover their faces; 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.10. <HI>As &s;orrowfull, yet alwayes rejoycing,</HI> &amp;c. 'Tis very ob&s;ervable that the Apo&s;tle brings in the &s;orrow of the godly with a <HI>qua&s;i,</HI> as it were &s;orrow, not that
<PB N="357" REF="189"> it is &s;orrow indeed, but <HI>as &s;orrowfull,</HI> as if their &s;orrow had been rather a painted &s;orrow then a reall &s;orrow; but when he &s;peaks of their joy, there is no <HI>qua&s;i,</HI> but true joy, he do's not &s;ay <HI>as rejoycing,</HI> but <HI>alwayes rejoycing,</HI> their joy was a reall joy, but their &s;orrow was but a &s;eeming &s;orrow to the weak and childi&s;h opinions of vaine men. When a Chri&s;tian is at wor&s;t, as to the eye of the world, he may &s;ay of his joy, as Chri&s;t &s;peaks of his meate, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> when he &s;aid,<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 4.33.</NOTE> <HI>I have meate to eate that you know not of;</HI> &s;o he may &s;ay, I have joy, I have great joy that the world knows not of. Look as there is life and &s;ap and juice in the roote of the Tree, even in the winter &s;ea&s;on, when there is no leaves, nor blo&s;&s;omes, nor fruit hanging on the Tree; &s;o there is joy, and comfort, and peace in the heart of a Saint, when there are no outward vi&s;ible di&s;coveries of it to others; And you may as rationally conclude, that there is no life, &s;ap, and juice in the roote of the Tree, becau&s;e the Tree has no leaves, blo&s;&s;oms or fruit on it, as you may conclude that the Saints have no joy in their hearts, becau&s;e they doe not expre&s;s it in &s;uch outward vi&s;ible acts, as may convince the world that they have it, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But,</P>
<P>Fifthly, I an&s;wer, That 'tis horrid inju&s;tice and di&s;-inge|nuity <MILESTONE N="5"> in thee, and in &s;uch as thou art, to make the hearts of the righteous &s;ad (whom God would not have &s;added) by your pride, prophanene&s;s, loo&s;ne&s;&s;e, wickedne&s;s, worldline&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 13.22, 23.</NOTE> luke|warmne&s;s, filthine&s;s, carnalne&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and then to cry out again&s;t them, that they are the &s;adde&s;t and uncomfortable&s;t people in the world; What is this but with <HI>Nero</HI> to &s;et the City of <HI>Rome</HI> on fire, and then to lay it upon the Chri&s;tians, and puni&s;h them for it? What is this but to deale by the Saints as the Devill deales by them, he loads them and follows them with mo&s;t &s;ad grievous bla&s;phemous, horrid and helli&s;h temptations, on pur|po&s;e to make them walk heavily, mournfully, and uncomforta|bly, and when he has accompli&s;h't his de&s;igne, then he accu&s;es them &s;ometimes to God, &s;ometimes to them&s;elves,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 12.10.</NOTE> and &s;ome|times to others, for their heavie and uncomfortable walking. O what inhumanity, cruelty, and vanity, was it in the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> to double the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> tale of bricks,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 5.8.17.</NOTE> and to take away their &s;traw, and then to cry out, <HI>that they were Idle, they were Idle;</HI>
<PB N="358" REF="190"> &s;o O what inhumanity and cruelty is this in un&s;anctified per&s;ons, to &s;ad,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 119.136, 158. Jer. 9.1, 2. 2 Pet. 2.7, 8.</NOTE> grieve, and afflict the people of God with their drun|kenne&s;s, wantonne&s;s, and lewdne&s;s, and with their cur&s;ing, &s;wear|ing and lying, and with their &s;corning and &s;coffing at Godli|ne&s;s, &amp; with their &s;landering of the Lord, his people and wayes, and with their re&s;i&s;ting and quenching of the ble&s;&s;ed motions of the Spirit, and with their &s;hifting off the glorious offers of grace and mercy,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 2.4, 5.</NOTE> and with their trea&s;uring up of wrath again&s;t the day of wrath, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And then to cry out, O how &s;adly, O how mournfully doe the&s;e men walke! O what uncomfortable lives doe the&s;e men live! O what &s;orrow and pen&s;ivene&s;s do's &s;till attend them! But is this ju&s;t? is this faire? Suppo&s;e a husband &s;hould doe all he could to afflict and grieve his wife, and a fa|ther his child, and a Ma&s;ter his &s;ervant, and a friend his friend, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and when they had done, then fall a complaining that there were none &s;o melancholy, nor none &s;o &s;ad and &s;orrowfull as they, O what folly, what madne&s;s, and what inju&s;tice were this?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 4.27.</NOTE> and yet this is the common dealing of un&s;anctified per&s;ons with the people of God. Ah &s;inners, &s;inners, if you would but break off your &s;ins by repentance, and cea&s;e from doing evill, and turne to the Lord with all your hearts, and believe on the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and fall in with the wayes of God, and tram|ple upon this wicked world, and &s;eek after the things of a bet|ter life, O how &s;oon would the Saints &s;ighing be turned into &s;inging, and their mourning into rejoycing? O the mu&s;ick, the mirth, the melody, that your conver&s;ion would make, both in their hearts and in their eares! It is very ob&s;ervable, that <HI>Abra|ham</HI> made a Fea&s;t at the weaning of his Son <HI>I&s;aac;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 21.8.</NOTE> he did not make a Fea&s;t on the day of his Nativity, nor on the day of his Circumci&s;ion, but on that day when he was taken from his mo|thers Brea&s;t: O Sirs, if you were but once weaned from your lu&s;ts,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1.18, 19. Ho&s;ea 6.7.</NOTE> and from the vanities of this world, if you were but once weaned from old corrupt cu&s;tomes, and from following after your &s;infull lovers; O how would all Gods faithfull <HI>Abraham's</HI> rejoyce! O what a fea&s;t of fat things! O what a heavenly Ban|quet would this make in all their hearts! About three hundred years after the Apo&s;tles time, <HI>Cajus Marius Victorius</HI> an old Pagan, was converted from his pagani&s;me, infidelity and impie|ty,
<PB N="359" REF="190"> and brought over to the Chri&s;tian faith; which when the peo|ple of God &s;aw, there was wonderfull rejoycing, and &s;hout|ing, and dancing for gladne&s;s, and P&s;almes were &s;ung in every Church, <HI>Caius Marius Victorius is become a Chri&s;tian, Caius Marius Victorius is become a Chri&s;tian;</HI> This was written as a wonder, and &s;ung as a wonder, that this old Pagan, this gray-headed Pagan &s;hould become a gracious Chri&s;tian, that he &s;hould in his old age be renewed and &s;anctified: Ah friends, if you were but once converted and changed, if you were but once turned from darkne&s;s to light, if you were but once brought to Chri&s;t, if the people of God could but once &s;ee that you had pa&s;t the pangs of the new-birth, and that Chri&s;t and holine&s;s was but formed in your &s;ouls; ah how would their hearts be filled with joy, and their mouths with laughter! O what &s;ongs of &s;alvation would they &s;ing! O how would the high prai&s;es of God be in their mouths! Thou &s;ai&s;t, O there are none &s;o &s;ad and &s;orrowfull, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as &s;uch and &s;uch Chri&s;tians; but what is the cau&s;e of their &s;orrow and &s;adne&s;s? is it not thy wicked|ne&s;s and ungodline&s;s? is it not thy unconverted and un&s;anctified e&s;tate? &s;urely yes; O that thou would&s;t therefore cea&s;e from complaining again&s;t them, and fall amending of thine own heart and wayes, and then all tears will be quickly wiped away from their eyes. But,</P>
<P>Sixthly, I an&s;wer, that all the joyes, delights, and plea&s;ures <MILESTONE N="6"> that holine&s;s debars men of, are &s;infull joyes, delights and plea|&s;ures: Un&s;anctified &s;ouls take plea&s;ure in unrighteou&s;ne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1. <HI>ult.</HI> 2 The&s;. 2.12. Amos 6.13. Zeph. 3.11. 2 Pet. 2.13.</NOTE> they rejoyce to doe evill, they make a &s;port of &s;in, and delight to di&s;honour their God, and damn their own immortall &s;ouls. <HI>Pro.</HI> 2.14. <HI>They rejoyce to doe evill, and delight in the froward|ne&s;s of the wicked.</HI> And this is brought in as an aggravation of <HI>Jeru&s;alems</HI> &s;in, <HI>Jer.</HI> 11.15. <HI>When thou doe&s;t evill, then thou re|joyce&s;t.</HI> Ah how madly merry are they that can take delight and content in that which is their &s;hame and mi&s;ery? ah how is man fallen from his primitive glory, that he can now rejoyce in that which is a di&s;honour to God, a reproach to Chri&s;t, a griefe to the Spirit, a provocation to divine wrath, a blot upon his name, a cur&s;e upon his e&s;tate, a wound upon his con&s;cience, and a plague upon his &s;oul? Now what a mercy mu&s;t it be to
<PB N="360" REF="191"> be taken off from that carnall mirth that ends in mourning, and from tho&s;e vaine delights that ends in un&s;peakeable tor|ments,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 18.17.</NOTE> and from that fooli&s;h jollity that leads to everla&s;ting mi&s;ery. I have read of King <HI>Ly&s;imachus,</HI> that when he and his Army were be&s;ieged in one of his Cities,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Plutarch.</NOTE> and in great danger of peri&s;hing by thir&s;t, for a Cup of cold water he delivered up the keys of the City to his enemy, which cold comfort he had no &s;ooner ta&s;ted, but his tongue bewrayed the grief of his heart, &s;aying, <HI>O that in lieu of &s;o momentary a plea&s;ure, I &s;hould be made of a Soveraign a Servant, of a King a Captive.</HI> Ah what fol|ly and madne&s;s is it for men to run the hazard of lo&s;ing the kingdom of heaven,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al. 16.11.</HI> Momentaneum e&s;t quod dele|ctat, aeternum quod cruciet. <HI>Ber.</HI></NOTE> and the plea&s;ures that be at Gods right hand, for tho&s;e &s;hort liv'd plea&s;ures that are but like a blaze, or like the lightning, or like a morning cloud, or the earely dew which &s;oon pa&s;&s;eth away? ah who would endure an Ocean of torture, for a drop of &s;en&s;ual plea&s;ure, or for a few bitter &s;weets? And therefore, doubtle&s;s, God can't doe the &s;oul a greater plea|&s;ure, then to take it off from &s;uch vani&s;hing plea&s;ures; all &s;en|&s;ual plea&s;ures defile the &s;oul, they deba&s;e the &s;oul, yea they debauch the &s;oul, they take off the heart from God, and they deaden the heart towards God. <HI>The widow whil&s;t &s;he lived in plea&s;ure is reckoned dead,</HI> 1 Tim. 5.6. She is dead God-wards, and dead Chri&s;t-wards, and dead Duty-wards, &amp; dead Heaven-wards, and dead Holine&s;s-wards, <HI>&amp;c. Ari&s;totle</HI> writes of a par|cel of ground in <HI>Sicily,</HI> that &s;ends forth &s;uch a &s;trong, &s;uch a &s;weet &s;mell of fragrant flowers, that no Hounds can hunt there; &s;o the carnal plea&s;ures of this world doe &s;end forth &s;o &s;trong a &s;cent, that un&s;anctified per&s;ons cannot hunt after God, nor Chri&s;t, nor holine&s;s, nor the great concernments of another world, and therefore 'tis rather mans felicity then his mi&s;ery to be taken off from &s;uch vaine plea&s;ures: &s;en&s;ual plea&s;ures and delights cannot &s;atisfie the &s;oul of man, they are but frothy and fla&s;hy, they only wet the mouth, they never warme the heart; a man may &s;ooner break his neck, then &s;atisfie his heart with &s;en|&s;ual plea&s;ures; they are <HI>Juno's</HI> in the pur&s;uit, and but clouds in the enjoyment. <HI>Xerxes</HI> being weary of his &s;en&s;ual plea&s;ures, promi&s;ed great rewards to them that &s;hould invent new plea|&s;ures; and when they had invented new plea&s;ures and delights,
<PB N="361" REF="191"> yet then he could not be &s;atisfied nor contented, he would fain have had one plea&s;ure to have taken off the wearine&s;s of another, but it could not be; there is nothing in carnal de|lights but imagination and expectation, for they can neither fill the heart nor &s;atisfie the heart.</P>
<P>O &s;irs, there is no real plea&s;ure in &s;in, all the plea&s;ures of &s;in are counterfeit plea&s;ures, they are but the &s;hapes and &s;had|dows of plea&s;ure, they are the &s;eeds of future grief, they are but an earne&s;t laid down for &s;orrow or ruine. It is ob&s;erved by the Mythologi&s;ts, that plea&s;ure went on occa&s;ion to Bathe her &s;elf, and having &s;tript off her cloaths by the water &s;ide, &s;orrow having hid her &s;elf at hand, &s;teals the cloaths away, puts them on, and &s;o departs: So that carnal plea&s;ures are no|thing but &s;orrow in plea&s;ures cloaths. Certainly if there were the le&s;t real delight in &s;in, hell could never be hell, yea then it would follow that hell &s;hould be the greate&s;t place of plea|&s;ure, for doubtle&s;s hell is the greate&s;t place of &s;in. O don't deceive your own &s;ouls, there can be no real joy in &s;en&s;ual plea|&s;ures. What real delight or plea&s;ure can there be in Tipling and Fudling in an Ale-hou&s;e or Tavern, in &s;waggering and &s;wear|ing, in Dicing and Carding, in Dancing, Masking and Whore|ing, in &s;lighting of Sabbaths, in &s;coffing at Saints, in de&s;pi&s;ing of Ordinances, and in pur&s;uing after lying vanities? &s;urely none. And as for tho&s;e &s;eeming plea&s;ures that attend the ways of &s;in; Ah how &s;oon do they vani&s;h and leave a &s;ting behind them. Now all the plea&s;ures that holine&s;s deprives you of, are only &s;uch that you may better ten thou&s;and times want, then en|joy. Look as all the plea&s;ures that manhood takes a man off from, are Babi&s;h and toyi&s;h plea&s;ures; as from delighting in a Rattle, a Pipe, a Feather, a Hobby-hor&s;e, a wooden Sword, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> So all the plea&s;ures and delights that holine&s;s takes a man off from, they are babi&s;h and fooli&s;h, yea they are ba&s;e, dan|gerous, and devili&s;h; and therefore it mu&s;t needs be rather a high felicity, then a mi&s;ery, for God to take thee off from &s;uch &s;inful plea&s;ures and delights, by laying principles of holine&s;s in|to thy heart. O! remember that holine&s;s will be no lo&s;s unto thee; it will be onely an exchange of &s;inful delights, for tho&s;e that are holy, and of carnal for tho&s;e that are &s;piritual, and of
<PB N="362" REF="192"> earthly for tho&s;e that are heavenly;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 22.</NOTE> <HI>I&s;aac</HI> was not to be &s;acri|ficed, but the Ram; all the delights that holine&s;s will put thee upon to &s;acrifice, are but the Rammi&s;h and rank delights of &s;in and the world, which may better be &s;acrificed then &s;pared; holine&s;s will &s;ecure thy <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> that is, thy &s;piritual laughter, thy &s;piritual joy, and thy heavenly delights and plea&s;ure. Well for a clo&s;e remember this, that &s;en&s;ual plea&s;ures are below a man; witne s <HI>Tully,</HI> who &s;aith, that he is not worthy of the name of a man <HI>(qui unum diem velit e&s;&s;e in voluptate)</HI> that would entirely &s;pend one whole day in plea&s;ures; and witne&s;s <HI>Julian</HI> the Apo|&s;tate, who profe&s;&s;ed that the plea&s;ures of the body were far be|low a great &s;pirit: he that delights in &s;en&s;ual plea&s;ures &s;hall find at la&s;t his greate&s;t plea&s;ures, to become his bittere&s;t pains; all that holine&s;s will do, is but to ea&s;e thee of thy pains, and therefore thou ha&s;t more cau&s;e to pur&s;ue after it, then to turn thy back upon it. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="7"> Seventhly, I an&s;wer, That it may be their pre&s;ent ca&s;e and condition, be&s;peaks rather the exerci&s;e and evidence of &s;or|row and of grief, then of gladne&s;s, joy, and triumph.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Fir&s;t. P&s;al. 51.</HI> Multi con&s;ci|entiam habent, non ad remedi|um, &s;ed ad ju|dicium, <HI>&s;aith One. And</HI> Tolle con&s;cien|tiam tolle om|nia, <HI>&s;aith ano|ther.</HI></NOTE>For fir&s;t, It may be &s;ome wound or guilt at pre&s;ent, may lye hard upon their con&s;ciences, as once it did on <HI>Davids;</HI> and who then is able to rejoyce under a wounded con&s;cience, a guil|ty con&s;cience? As long as <HI>Adam</HI> did Fa&s;t in Paradi&s;e, he &s;tood fa&s;t, but having once wounded his con&s;cience by eating the for|bidden fruit, though he tarried a while in Paradi&s;e, yet he could take no delight nor content in Paradi&s;e; 'tis true the Sun did &s;hine as bright as ever, and the Rivers ran as clear as ever, and the Birds &s;ang as &s;weetly as ever, and the Bea&s;ts played as plea&s;antly as ever, and the Flowers &s;melled as fragrantly as ever, and all the Trees and fruits of the Garden did flouri&s;h as bravely as ever, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Ah but now <HI>Adam</HI> had contracted guilt upon his con&s;cience, and this marrs his joy, and &s;poils his de|light, and unparadi&s;es Paradi&s;e to him; his fall had made &s;o deep a wound in his con&s;cience, that he could take no delight in any of the delights of Paradi&s;e; guilt as an arrow did &s;tick &s;o fa&s;t in his con&s;cience; that in&s;tead of &s;ucking &s;weetne&s;s from the faire&s;t fruits,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 3.10. Jer. 20.4.</NOTE> he runs to hide him&s;elf under the broade&s;t leaves. Guilt makes a man a <HI>Magor-Mi&s;&s;abib,</HI> a terror to
<PB N="363" REF="192"> him&s;elf. Put never &s;uch &s;tately Robes upon a wounded man, he mindes them not; &s;et never &s;uch dainty fair before a woun|ded man, he relli&s;heth it not; lay him on never &s;o &s;oft a bed, yet it plea&s;eth him not; and let him hear never &s;uch &s;weet mu|&s;ick, yet it delights him not; the &s;mart and &s;en&s;e of his wound takes off the &s;weet of all: and &s;o does a wound in the con&s;cience take off the &s;weet of all a mans enjoyments and contentments. A guilty con&s;cience like <HI>Prometheus's</HI> Vulture,<NOTE PLACE="marg">De&s;perare e&s;t in infernum de|&s;cendere. <HI>I&s;id. Mat. 8.19.</HI></NOTE> lies ever gnawing. What the probationer-Di&s;ciple &s;aid to our Saviour, <HI>viz. Ma&s;ter I will follow thee whither&s;oever thou goe&s;t,</HI> that a guilty con&s;cience &s;ays to a fallen &s;inner; if thou fa&s;t, I will follow thee, and fill thy minde with black and di&s;mal appre|hen&s;ions of God, of ju&s;tice, of hell; if thou fea&s;t, I will fol|low thee, and &s;hew thee the hand-writing on the wall,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 5.5.</NOTE> that &s;hall make thy countenance to change, thy thoughts to be troubled, and thy joynts to be loo&s;ed, and thy knees to be da&s;hed one a|gain&s;t another; when thou goe&s;t forth, I will follow thee with terrors, and when thou returne&s;t home, I will follow thee with horrors; when thou goe&s;t to board, I will follow thee with &s;tinging accu&s;ations; and when thou goe&s;t to bed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 7.14.</NOTE> I will follow thee with terrifying and affrighting dreams: Now what joy can be in &s;uch a mans heart?<NOTE PLACE="marg">'Twas guilt that made that de&s;pair|ing Pope &s;ay, That the Cro&s;s could do him no good, he had &s;o often &s;old it.</NOTE> what gladne&s;s can be in &s;uch a mans face? &s;urely none. I remember a &s;aying of <HI>Luther (una guttula malae con&s;cientiae totum mare mundam gaudii ab&s;orbet)</HI> one drop of an evil con&s;cience, &s;wallows up the whole Sea of worldly joy. O 'tis better with <HI>Enagrius</HI> to lye &s;ecure on a bed of Straw, then to lye with a guilty con&s;cience on a bed of Doun, having the Curtains Imbroidered with Gold, and the Fringes be&s;pangled with Pearls. Sin brings &s;uch a &s;tain, and &s;uch a &s;ting with it, as &s;poils all a mans joys and delights. And if this be the pre&s;ent ca&s;e of a Chri&s;tian (as it may) then never wonder to &s;ee him hange down his head, and to walk mourn|fully before his God.</P>
<P>Or Secondly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Secondly.</NOTE> This may ari&s;e from &s;ome great and heavy af|fliction, which for the pre&s;ent may &s;adly di&s;tre&s;s and oppre&s;s a Saints &s;pirit, as <HI>Jobs</HI> did his, or as <HI>Hezekiahs</HI> did his,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 3.38. I&s;a. 9.&mdash;16. Gen. 37.30. to the end.</NOTE> or as <HI>Ja|cobs</HI> did his, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The di&s;ea&s;e may be &s;o violent, the Phy&s;ick may be &s;o &s;trong, the wound may be &s;o deep, the Plai&s;ter may
<PB N="364" REF="193"> be &s;o corroding, the melting-por may be &s;o hot, the Iron chains may be &s;o heavy, the Gaul and Wormwood may be &s;o bitter, that a Chri&s;tian may be &s;o far from joy and rejoycing, as that he may for the pre&s;ent be &s;o &s;hut up under trouble and amazement, and under &s;orrow and grief,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 77.4.</NOTE> as that he may not be able, if you would give him all the world, to open his ca&s;e unto you; his eyes may in &s;ome &s;ort tell what his tongue can in no &s;ort utter: u&s;ually they are the &s;malle&s;t mi&s;eries, when he that hath them can pre&s;ently tell all the world of them; the greate&s;t &s;orrow hath for the mo&s;t part the deepe&s;t &s;ilence attending on it; what Chri&s;tian ever had joy in his heart or gladne&s;s in his face, when God was carrying of it har&s;hly and roughly towards him? Or,</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Thirdly. Lam. 1.16. Gen. 31.2, 5. P&s;al. 30.7. Read the 77. and the 88. P&s;alms. I&s;a. 8.17. Mich. 7.7, 8, 9, 17. P&s;al. 4.6. P&s;al. 42.5, 11, &amp;c.</NOTE>Thirdly, It may be they are de&s;erted, happily God is with|drawn from them, and he that &s;hould comfort them, &s;tands a|far off. Ah what Chri&s;tian can rejoyce when the countenance of God is not towards him as of old? who can be plea&s;ant when God is di&s;plea&s;ed? who can &s;mile when God frowns? who can &s;ing when God &s;ighs? who can be merry when God is &s;or|ry? &s;urely none that have ever experienced what the &s;hinings of his face means. O &s;irs, the proper work of a de&s;erted &s;oul lies not in joy and rejoycing, but in mourning and waiting, and in &s;eeking and &s;uing at the throne of Grace, that God would lift up the light of his countenance, and cau&s;e his face to &s;hine, and his favor to break forth, that the bones that he has broken may rejoyce: As <HI>Hud&s;on</HI> the Martyr, when he was de&s;erted at the &s;take, he &s;lipt from under his chain, and praying earne&s;tly, he was comforted immediately, and &s;uffered valiantly. Look as when <HI>Samp&s;ons</HI> Locks were cut off, his &s;trength was gone; So when God is gone, a Chri&s;tians Locks are cut off, his &s;trength is gone, his &s;trength to joy and rejoyce in God is gone, his &s;trength to delight, and to take plea&s;ure in God is gone: And as <HI>Samp&s;on</HI> when his Locks were cut off, and his &s;trength was gone, fell to prayer, <HI>Judg.</HI> 16.28. <HI>And Samp&s;on called un|to the Lord, and &s;aid, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, onely this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Phi|li&s;tines for my two eyes.</HI> So when God is gone, the work of a Chri&s;tian lies more in praying then it does in rejoycing. Though <HI>Jo&s;ephs</HI> heart was as full of love to his brethren as it could hold,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 42.7.25.</NOTE>
<PB N="365" REF="193"> yet when he look't &s;owrely upon them, and &s;pake roughly to them, they were much afflicted and di&s;tre&s;&s;ed;<NOTE PLACE="marg">See the 3. and 5. Chapters of Solomons Song.</NOTE> &s;o though the heart of Je&s;us be as full of love to his people as it can hold, yet when he looks &s;owrely, and &s;peaks roughly to them, they can't but be grieved and &s;aded. But,</P>
<P>Fourthly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Fourthly. 2 Cor. 12.8, 9, 10.</NOTE> It may be they are &s;adly tempted, and &s;trangely buf|feted by Satan, as <HI>Paul</HI> was, and from thence their pre&s;ent &s;ad|ne&s;s may ari&s;e. Tempted &s;ouls can tell you that 'tis one of the harde&s;t works in the world to rejoyce in the School of temp|tation,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 3. 1 Chron. 21. Job 3.</NOTE> and to be merry when Satans fiery darts &s;tick fa&s;t in the &s;oul. <HI>Adams</HI> tempting time was not his rejoycing time, but his &s;inning time; and <HI>Davids</HI> tempting time was not his re|joycing time, but his mi&s;carrying time; and <HI>Jobs</HI> tempting time was not his rejoycing time, but his complaining time; and <HI>Peters</HI> tempting time was not his rejoycing time,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 26. 2 Cor. 12.7, 8. Our whole life, &s;ays <HI>Au|&s;tin,</HI> is no|thing but a continued tentation.</NOTE> but his cur&s;ing and bla&s;pheming time; and <HI>Pauls</HI> tempting time was not his rejoycing time, but his humbling time. The be&s;t men are mo&s;t tempted, and oftentimes they are followed with the &s;ade&s;t, darke&s;t, vilde&s;t, ba&s;e&s;t, and mo&s;t amazing, affrighting, tormen|ting, and a&s;toni&s;hing temptations; and how is it po&s;&s;ible that they &s;hould be able to rejoyce and be glad, when &s;uch dread|ful &s;torms beat upon them?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 6.10, 11, 16, 17, 18.</NOTE> Certainly the work of a Chri&s;tian in the day of temptation, lies in his putting on the whole Ar|mor of God, and in a prudent handling the &s;word of the Spirit and the &s;hield of Faith, and in earne&s;t praying, and vigilant watching, and a &s;tout re&s;i&s;ting of all Satans fiery darts; for he who thinks by di&s;puting and rea&s;oning, to put Satan off,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 4.7. 1 Pet. 5.9.</NOTE> does but &s;hoot with him in his own Bow, and will find to his co&s;t that Satan will be too hard for him; 'tis open defiance, 'tis down right blows that makes Satan flye, and that &s;ecures the victory; now joy and rejoycing attends not the combate but the conque&s;t: The <HI>Romans</HI> never u&s;ed to ride in triumph, but after conque&s;ts ob|tained: A Chri&s;tians triumphing time is his conquering time; joy is mo&s;t &s;ea&s;onable and &s;utable, when a Chri&s;tian has beaten Satan out of the field. The Cock in the <HI>Arabick</HI> Fable, began to crow and clap his wings, as if he had obtained a perfect con|que&s;t, but behold on a &s;udden a Vulture comes and &s;natches this great conqueror away; they that triumph and rejoyce over Sa|tan
<PB N="366" REF="194"> before they have overcome him, are in no &s;mall danger of being wor&s;ted by him. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Fifthly.</NOTE> and la&s;tly (to gather up many things together) I &s;ay that their pre&s;ent &s;orrow and &s;adne&s;s may ari&s;e from their going a&s;tray into &s;ome by-Path of vanity and folly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 6.1. <GAP DESC="foreign">. Set him in joynt again again; 'tis a Metaphor from Chyrur|gions and Bone-&s;etters, who handle their patients gently and tenderly.</NOTE> wherein they have got a fall, or broke a bone, or put their &s;ouls out of joynt: As children &s;ometimes get a fall, and then they come home by weeping-cro&s;s; &s;o Chri&s;tians too often go a&s;tray, and get a fall, and then they are fain to weep it out. When men keep not the Kings high-way, they are often robbed of their money, and &s;trip't of their clothes, and wounded too, as he was in the Go&s;pel who fell among Theives: So when Chri&s;tians keep not in the King of Kings high-ways, which are ways of righteou&s;|ne&s;s and holine&s;s, then they are often robbed of their com|fort, and joy, and peace, and a&s;&s;urance, and communion with God, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and &s;orely wounded and brui&s;ed, and then 'tis no wonder if they are brought home with tears in their eyes: Or it may be their evidences for heaven are &s;o blotted and blur'd,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 10.30. I&s;a. 35.8. P&s;al. 119.176.</NOTE> that they they can't read their Title to heaven, and then 'tis no wonder if they are perplexed and grieved; or it may be they call in que&s;tion former grants of favor and grace; or it may be a deeper &s;en&s;e of mi&s;-&s;pent time lies harder then ever up|on them; or el&s;e the littlene&s;s and &s;mallne&s;s of their graces un|der &s;uch &s;oul-enriching opportunities and advantages, do &s;orely oppre&s;s them; or el&s;e the latene&s;s of their conver&s;ion may &s;adly afflict them, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Now how ab&s;urd and unrea&s;onable a thing is it for any men to argue thus, that &s;urely godly men have no joy, no delight, no plea&s;ure, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> becau&s;e there are &s;ome parti|cular ca&s;es and conditions, wherein they may be ca&s;t, which rather be&s;peaks &s;orrow then joy, grief then gladne&s;s, mourning then mirth. Certainly you may as rationally &amp; as righteou&s;ly ex|pect mirth, joy and gladne&s;s, from carnal, worldly, and ungod|ly wretches, when they are under burning Feavors, loath&s;ome di&s;ea&s;es, or violent pains of the Stone, or Gout, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as you may expect upon a rational or Religious account, joy and glad|ne&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> in the Saints in the forementioned ca&s;es that are inci|dent to them. 'Twas a very unrea&s;onable reque&s;t that they made to the people of God, in that <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 137.3, 4. <HI>For there
<PB N="367" REF="194"> they that carried us away captive, required of us a &s;ong, and they that wa&s;ted us, required of us mirth, &s;aying, Sing us one of the &s;ongs of Zion. How &s;hall we &s;ing the Lords &s;ong in a &s;trange Land?</HI> And 'tis as unrea&s;onable to expect or look that the peo|ple of God &s;hould &s;ing and be merry, rejoyce, and be glad when they are under &s;oul-di&s;tre&s;&s;es, and under the &s;ore rebuks of God, &amp; poured from ve&s;&s;el to ve&s;&s;el, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Mu&s;ick in times of mourning is as unrea&s;onable as 'tis un&s;ea&s;onable and un&s;avory;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 48.11.</NOTE> <HI>Prov.</HI> 25.20. <HI>As he that taketh away a garment in cold wea|ther, and as vinegar upon nitre: &s;o is he that &s;ingeth &s;ongs to an heavy heart.</HI> Mu&s;ick and mourning, &s;inging and &s;orrow, agree like Harpe and Harrow; there is &s;uch a contrariety between &s;inging and &s;orrow, that he that &s;ings does but add weight to his &s;orrow that cannot &s;ing. O &s;irs, As there is a time for re|joycing, &s;o there is a time for mourning;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 3.4.</NOTE> as there is a time to laugh, &s;o there is a time to weep; and as we mu&s;t rejoyce with them that rejoyce, &s;o we mu&s;t mourn with them that mourn,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 12.15.</NOTE> and weep with them that weep. The condition of Gods peo|ple in this life, is a mixt condition; in this life they have their rejoycing times, and their mourning times, their laughing times, and their weeping times, their &s;inging times, and their &s;orrow|ing times, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> 'Tis true, in heaven there is all joy and no &s;or|row, all gladne&s;s and no &s;adne&s;s; and in hell there is all &s;orrow and no joy, all grief and no gladne&s;s, all howling and no &s;inging, all madne&s;s and no mirth; but in this life 'tis otherwi&s;e, for if there &s;hould be nothing but joy, many would look for no other heaven; and if there &s;hould be nothing but &s;orrow, mo&s;t would look for no other hell; if men &s;hould have nothing but joy, how &s;adly would they be puffed up? And if they &s;hould have nothing but &s;orrow, how ea&s;ily would they be ca&s;t down? but now by a divine hand, our &s;orrows being mixt with our joys, our hearts come to be the more effectually weaned from the vanities of this life, and to long more earne&s;tly after the pure and unmixed joys of a better life, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But,</P>
<P>Eighthly, I an&s;wer, that 'tis po&s;&s;ible that the &s;adne&s;s, &s;orrow, <MILESTONE N="8"> <NOTE PLACE="marg">The cure of Melancholy belongs ra|ther to the Phy&s;itian then to the Divine, to <HI>Galen</HI> then to <HI>Paul.</HI></NOTE> and grief of tho&s;e particular Saints, that thou ha&s;t thine eye upon, may ari&s;e from the natural temper and con&s;titution of their bodies; many Saints are often ca&s;t into a melancholy
<PB N="368" REF="195"> mould, for though grace changes the di&s;po&s;ition of the &s;oul, yet it alters not the con&s;titution of the body. Now there is no greater enemy to holy joy and gladne&s;s, then melancholy, for this pe&s;tilent humor will rai&s;e &s;uch &s;trange pa&s;&s;ions and ima|ginations, 'twill rai&s;e &s;uch groundle&s;s griefs, and fears, and frights, and &s;uch &s;encele&s;s &s;urmi&s;es and jealou&s;ies as will ea&s;ily damp a Chri&s;tians joy, and mightily vex, perplex, trouble, and turmoyle, daunt, and di&s;courage a Chri&s;tians &s;pirit. A Melan|choly con&s;titution is Satans Anvil, upon which he formes many black,<NOTE PLACE="marg">It is an old &s;aying, That <HI>Melancholia e&s;t vehiculum Daemonum.</HI></NOTE> dark, and di&s;mall temptations, which do exceedingly tend to the keeping down of Divine con&s;olation from ri&s;ing high in the &s;oul; this black, dark, dusky humor di&s;turbs both &s;oul and body; it tempts Satan to tempt the &s;oul, and it un|ables the &s;oul to re&s;i&s;t the temptation; yea it prepares the &s;oul to hearken to the temptation, and to clo&s;e and fall in with the temptation, as the experiences of all Melancholy Chri&s;tians can te&s;tifie. Look as coloured gla&s;s makes the very beams of the Sun &s;eem to be all of the &s;ame colour with it &s;elf; if the gla&s;s be blew, the beams of the Sun &s;eems to be blew; if the gla&s;s be red, the beams of the Sun &s;eems to be red; or if the gla&s;s be green, the beams of the Sun &s;eems to be green: So this black Melancholy humor repre&s;ents all things to the eye of the &s;oul, as duski&s;h and dark, and as full of horror and terror, yea many times it repre&s;ents the bright beams of Divine love, and the &s;hinings of the Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;s, and the gracious whi&s;pers of the ble&s;&s;ed Spirit, as delu&s;ions, and as &s;lights of Sa|tan to cou&s;en the &s;oul. I have read of a fooli&s;h Melancholy bird that &s;tands always but upon one legg, for fear her own weight (though &s;he be very &s;mall) &s;hould &s;ink her into the center of the earth, and holding her other legg over her head, le&s;t the Heavens &s;hould fall upon her and cru&s;h her; I &s;hall not di&s;pute the crediblene&s;s of the relation: but certainly there is nothing that fills a Chri&s;tian &s;o full of fears and frights as a Melancholy humor does; and all know that know any thing, that there are no greater adver&s;aries to joy and gladne&s;s, then &s;uch fears and frights, Now how ab&s;urd and unrea&s;onable is it to father that upon holine&s;s, or upon all holy per&s;ons, that proceeds from the &s;pecial con&s;titution of &s;ome particular Saints?
<PB N="369" REF="195"> and yet this is the trade that un&s;anctified &s;ouls drive. And let thus much &s;uffice for an&s;wer to this grand objection; and O that this objection may never have a re&s;urrection in any of your hearts more. But,</P>
</DIV5>
<DIV5 N="4" TYPE="objection">
<P>Fourthly, &s;ome may further object and &s;ay, <HI>We &s;ee that no per|&s;ons <MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="Object."> on earth are expo&s;ed to &s;uch troubles, dangers, afflictions and per&s;ecutions, as tho&s;e are expo&s;ed to, who mind holine&s;s, who follow after holine&s;s; the&s;e are days wherein men labor to frown holine&s;s out of the world, and to &s;corn and kick holine&s;s out of the World; and do you think that we are mad now to pur&s;ue after holine&s;s?</HI> Now to this great and &s;ore objection, I &s;hall give the&s;e follow|ing an&s;wers.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, It mu&s;t be granted, that afflictions and per&s;ecutions has <MILESTONE N="1"> been the common lot and portion of the people of God in this world. <HI>Abel</HI> was per&s;ecuted by <HI>Cain,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Witne&s;s the &s;ufferings of the Patri|archs, Pro|phets, Apo|&s;tles &amp; Saints in all ages. Act. 7.52. Rev. 12.13. Act. 9.16. Lam. 5.5. The common cry of per&s;e|cutors have bin, <HI>Chri&s;tia|nos ad Leones.</HI></NOTE> 1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 3.12. and <HI>I&s;aac</HI> by <HI>I&s;hmael, Gal.</HI> 9.29. That &s;eems to be a &s;tanding Law, <HI>All that will live godly in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, mu&s;t &s;uffer per&s;ecution,</HI> 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.12. A man may have many faint wi&s;hes, and cold de&s;ires after Godline&s;s, and yet e&s;cape per&s;ecution; yea he may make &s;ome a&s;&s;ays and attempts as if he would be godly, and yet e&s;cape per&s;ecution; but when a man is thorowly re|&s;olved to be godly, and &s;ets him&s;elf in good earne&s;t upon pur|&s;uing after holine&s;s, and living a life of godline&s;s, then he mu&s;t expect to meet with afflictions and per&s;ecutions: 'Tis neither a Chri&s;tians gifts, nor his graces; 'tis neither his duties, nor his &s;ervices that can &s;ecure him; whoever e&s;capes, the godly man &s;hall not e&s;cape per&s;ecution in one kind or another, in one de|gree or another; he that will live up to holy rules, and live out holy principles, mu&s;t prepare for &s;ufferings: All the Ro&s;es of ho|line&s;s are &s;urrounded with pricking Briers. The Hi&s;tory of the ten per&s;ecutions, and that little book of Martyrs, the 11. of the <HI>Hebrews,</HI> and Mr. <HI>Fox</HI> his Acts and Monuments, with ma|ny other Treati&s;es that are extant, do abundantly evidence, that from age to age, and from one generation to another, they that have been born after the fle&s;h,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 4.29. Within the fir&s;t 300. years after Chri&s;t, all that made a profe&s;&s;ion of the Apo&s;tles doctrine were cruelly murdered.</NOTE> have per&s;ecuted them that have been born after the &s;pirit; and that the &s;eed of the Ser|pent have been &s;till a multiplying of troubles upon the &s;eed of the woman. Would any man take the Churches picture (&s;aith
<PB N="370" REF="196"> <HI>Luther</HI>) then let him paint a poor &s;illy Maid, &s;itting in a wilder|ne&s;s, compa&s;&s;ed about with hungry Lyons, Wolves, Bores and Bears, and with all manner of other cruel hurtful Bea&s;ts, and in the mid&s;t of a great many furious men a&s;&s;aulting her every moment and minute, for this is her condition in the world. As certain as the night follows the day, &s;o certain will that black angel, per&s;ecution, follow holine&s;s where-ever it goes. In the la&s;t of the ten per&s;ecutions, &s;eventeen thou&s;and holy Martyrs were &s;lain in the &s;pace of one moneth. And in Queen <HI>Ma|ries</HI> days, or if you will in the <HI>Marian</HI> dayes, not of ble&s;&s;ed, but of mo&s;t abhorred memory, the Popi&s;h Prelates in le&s;s then four years, &s;acrificed the lives of eight hundred innocents to their Idols; and O that that precious innocent blood did not &s;till cry to Heaven for vengeance again&s;t this Nati|on. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles hath long &s;ince foretold us, that afflictions and per&s;ecutions will attend us in this world; the Lord hath long &s;ince forewarned us, that we may be fore-arm|ed, and not &s;urpri&s;ed on a &s;udden when they come. Chri&s;t hath &s;hot off many a warning piece in his word, and &s;ent many a Har|binger, that &s;o we may &s;tand upon our guard, and not be &s;ur|pri&s;ed nor a&s;toni&s;hed when afflictions and per&s;ecutions over|take us: <HI>Mat.</HI> 10.22. <HI>And ye &s;hall be hated of all men for my names &s;ake; but he that endureth to the end, the &s;ame &s;hall be &s;a|ved.</HI> Chap. 16.24. <HI>Then &s;aid Je&s;us unto his Di&s;ciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny him&s;elf, and take up his cro&s;s and follow me.</HI> Luk. 21.12. <HI>But before all the&s;e they &s;hall lay their hands on you, and per&s;ecute you, delivering you up to the Synagogues, and into pri&s;ons, being brought before Kings and Ru|lers for my names &s;ake.</HI> John 15.20. <HI>Remember the word that I &s;aid unto you, The &s;ervant is not greater then the Lord: if they have per&s;ecuted me,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Non pote&s;t qui pati timet, ejus e&s;&s;e qui pa&s;&s;us e&s;t.</HI> He that is afraid to &s;uf|fer, cannot be his di&s;ciple, who &s;uffered &s;o much. <HI>Tert.</HI></NOTE> <HI>they will al&s;o per&s;ecute you: if they have kept my &s;aying, they will keep yours al&s;o.</HI> Ah Chri&s;tians, &s;ince they have crowned your head with thornes, there is no rea&s;on why you &s;hould expect to be crowned with Ro&s;e-buds. <HI>God-fry</HI> of <HI>Bullen,</HI> fir&s;t King of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> refu&s;ed to be crowned with a crown of Gold, &s;aying, That it became not a Chri&s;tian there to wear a crown of Gold, where Chri&s;t for our &s;alvation
<PB N="371" REF="196"> had &s;ometime worn a crown of thornes. <HI>Chap.</HI> 16. <HI>ult. The&s;e things I have &s;poken unto you, that in me ye might have peace, in the world ye &s;hall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.</HI> Acts 14.21, 22. <HI>And when they had preached the Go&s;pel to that City, and had taught many, they re|turned again to</HI> Ly&s;tra, <HI>and to</HI> Iconium, <HI>and</HI> Antioch, <HI>confirming the &s;ouls of the di&s;ciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we mu&s;t through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.</HI> As there was no way to Paradi&s;e, but by the flaming &s;word, nor no way to <HI>Canaan</HI> but through a wilderne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Loddela Corda</HI> computeth fourty four &s;everal kinds of torments wherewith the Primitive Chri&s;tians were tryed. <HI>Adv. Sacr. cap.</HI> 128.</NOTE> &s;o there is no way to heaven but by the Gates of hell; there is no way to a glorious exaltation, but through a Sea of tribula|tion. They do but dream and deceive their own &s;ouls, who think to go to heaven upon Beds of Doun, or in a &s;oft and de|licate way, or that think to be attended to glory with mirth and mu&s;ick, or with &s;inging or dancing; the way to happine&s;s is not &s;trewed with Ro&s;es, but full of Thornes and Briers, as tho&s;e of whom this world was not worthy have experienced. Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Hi&s;tories tells us that all the Apo&s;tles died vio|lent deaths; <HI>Peter</HI> was crucified with his heels upward, Chri&s;t was crucified with his head upwards; but <HI>Peter</HI> thought this was to great an honor for him to be crucified as his Lord, and therefore he cho&s;e to be crucified with his heels upward; and <HI>Andrew</HI> was crucified by <HI>Egeus</HI> King of <HI>Ede&s;&s;a;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 12.2.</NOTE> &amp; <HI>James</HI> the &s;on of <HI>Zebedee</HI> was &s;lain by <HI>Herod</HI> with the &s;word; and <HI>Philip</HI> was cru|cified at <HI>Hierapolis</HI> in <HI>A&s;ia;</HI> and while <HI>Bartholomew</HI> was preaching the glad-tydings of &s;alvation, multitudes fell upon him, and beat him down with &s;taves, and then crucified him, and after all this, his skin was fleaed off, and he beheaded; <HI>Tho|mas</HI> was &s;lain with a Dart at <HI>Calumina</HI> in <HI>India;</HI> and <HI>Mathew</HI> was &s;lain with a Spear, &s;ay &s;ome, others &s;ay he was run through with a &s;word; and <HI>James</HI> the &s;on of <HI>Alpheus</HI> (who was called the Ju&s;t) was thrown down from off a Pinacle of the Temple, and yet having &s;ome life left in him, he was brained with a Ful|lers club; <HI>Lebbeus</HI> was &s;lain by <HI>Agbarus</HI> King of <HI>Ede&s;&s;a;</HI> and <HI>Paul</HI> was beheaded at <HI>Rome</HI> under <HI>Nero;</HI> and <HI>Simon</HI> the <HI>Cana|anite</HI> was crucified in <HI>Egypt,</HI> &s;ay &s;ome, others &s;ay that he and <HI>Jude</HI> was &s;lain in a Tumult of the people; &amp; <HI>Matthias</HI> was &s;toned
<PB N="372" REF="197"> to death;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 1.9.</NOTE> and <HI>John</HI> was bani&s;hed into <HI>Patmos,</HI> and afterwards as &s;ome Hi&s;tories tells us he was by that cruel Tyrant <HI>Domitian</HI> ca&s;t into a Tun of &s;calding Lead, and yet delivered by a mi|racle. Thus all the&s;e precious &s;ervants of God (except <HI>John</HI>) died violent deaths, and &s;o through &s;ufferings entered into glory; they found in their own experience the truth of what Chri&s;t had foretold concerning their &s;ufferings and per&s;ecuti|ons. About the year 1626, A book formerly printed, and in|tituled, A preparation to the cro&s;s of Chri&s;t (compo&s;ed by <HI>John Frith</HI> Martyr) was brought in the belly of a Fi&s;h to the Market in <HI>Cambridge,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mr. <HI>Jer. Dyke</HI> in a Fa&s;t Ser|mon at <HI>We&s;t|min&s;ter.</HI></NOTE> and that a little before the Commence|ment time; when there was a confluence of much people from all places of the Land, which was con&s;trued by them that feared the Lord, to be no le&s;s then an heavenly warning to all the people of <HI>England,</HI> to prepare for the cro&s;s; But ah, &s;ince that year, who can recount the heavy cro&s;&s;es that has generally attended the people of this Nation? mo&s;t have walked cro&s;s to God, and cro&s;s to one another, and God has walked as cro&s;s to them; you have cro&s;s't the commands of God, and the truths of God, and the ways of God, and the works of God, and the de&s;igns of God; and God has cros't you in your hopes, de&s;ires, prayers, and endeavors, and God gave you warn|ing of this before hand by a Fi&s;h, by a miracle, to provide for the cro&s;s, but you would not, and therefore 'tis that the cro&s;s lies &s;o heavy upon you this day. When Mr. <HI>Bradford</HI> was told that his chain was a buying, and that he mu&s;t be burnt, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and &s;aid, I thank God for it, I have looked for this along time, it comes not to me &s;uddenly, but as a thing waited for every day, yea every hour in the day, the Lord make me worthy thereof. If upon Gods warning you will but prepare for &s;ufferings, you will never fear nor faint under &s;ufferings, yea then you will be able under the greate&s;t per&s;ecutions to bare up bravely, and with holy <HI>Bradford</HI> ble&s;s the Lord that has called you to &s;o high an honor, as to count you worthy to &s;uffer for his name. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, I an&s;wer that all the troubles, afflictions and per&s;e|cutions that do befall you for holine&s;s &s;ake, &s;hall never hurt you nor harm you, they &s;hall never prejudice you, nor wrong you
<PB N="373" REF="197"> in your main and great concernments. <HI>Exod.</HI> 3.2.<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifies a dry bu&s;h, a bram|ble bu&s;h, and therefore it was the more &s;trange and miraculous, that it was not con&s;um|ed. Deut. 4.24. Heb. 12.29.</NOTE> <HI>And the An|gel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the mid&s;t of a Bu&s;h; and he looked, and behold the bu&s;h burned with fire; and the bu&s;h was not con&s;umed.</HI> Here you have a bu&s;h, a dry bu&s;h, a bramble bu&s;h all on a light fire, and yet not con|&s;umed; this burning-bu&s;h was an excellent emblem of the Church in the fire of tribulation and per&s;ecution; though the Church may &s;eem to be all on fire by rea&s;on of afflictions and per&s;ecutions, yet it &s;hall be pre&s;erved, it &s;hall not be de&s;troy|ed, though God be a con&s;uming fire, yet he will never con|&s;ume the bramble-bu&s;h; the bu&s;h was on fire, and yet the fire did not in the lea&s;t hurt or harm the bu&s;h, it did not one whit prejudice or wrong the bu&s;h: So though the Church of God be on fire by the means of fiery trials, yet the&s;e fiery trials &s;hall never hurt nor harm the Church, they &s;hall never preju|dice it nor wrong it: <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 105.12, 13, 14, 15. when they were but a few men in number, yea very few, and &s;trangers in it, when they went from one Nation to another, from one Kingdom to another people, he &s;uffered no man to do them wrong, yea he reproved Kings for their &s;akes, &s;aying,<NOTE PLACE="marg">That is the King of Egypt and the King of Gerar. Gen. 12.17. &amp; Ch. 20.3. and Ch. 35.5. Zach. 2.8.</NOTE> <HI>Touch not mine anointed, nor do my Prophets no harme.</HI> God would not &s;uffer his anointed ones, his &s;anctified ones, &s;o much as to be touch't, hurt, or harmed by tho&s;e who had malice enough in their hearts, and power enough in their hands, not onely to hurt them, but even to de&s;troy them. Sanctified per&s;ons are &s;a|cred per&s;ons, and they that touch them touch the Apple of Gods eye, and who&s;oever &s;hall be &s;o bold to touch the Apple of Gods eye &s;hall dearly &s;mart for it; 'twas no &s;mall affliction to have no &s;ettled habitation, to flye from place to place, from Kingdom to Kingdom, and from Nation to Nation, was with|out all peradventure, an afflicted condition; doubtle&s;s many fears and frights, many hazards and dangers did attend them, when they con&s;idered that they were as Lillies among the thornes, and as a few Sheep among a multitude of Wolves.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 7.1.</NOTE> In the Land of <HI>Canaan</HI> there were &s;even mighty Nations now for the people of God, who were &s;o few in number, (that they might ea&s;ily and quickly be told) to &s;ojourn and wander among
<PB N="374" REF="198"> the&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">As <HI>David</HI> laid a charge up|on his &s;ouldi|ers, 2 Sam. 18.5. That by no means they &s;hould hurt his &s;on <HI>Ab&s;olom;</HI> &s;o God laid a prohibition upon the e|nemies and per&s;ecutors of his people, that they &s;hould not touch them, that they &s;hould not in in the lea&s;t hurt or harm them.</NOTE> could not but be very dangerous and perilous, and yet &s;uch was the love of God to them, and the care of God over them, that he &s;uffered no man, whether he was high or low, honorable or ba&s;e, rich or poor, civil or prophane, to hurt or harm them. <HI>Dan.</HI> 3.25, 27. <HI>And the King an&s;wered and &s;aid, Lo, I &s;ee four men loo&s;e, walking in the mid&s;t of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like unto the Son of God. And the Princes, Governors and Captains, and the Kings Councellors being gathered together, &s;aw the&s;e men, upon who&s;e bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head &s;inged, neither were their coats changed, nor the &s;mell of fire had pa&s;&s;ed on them.</HI> Though the&s;e holy men were ca&s;t into a furnace, into a fiery furnace, into the mid&s;t of a hot fiery furnace, yet God will work a miracle, yea a glorious miracle, rather then the fire &s;hall in the lea&s;t hurt or harm them: God gives a commi&s;&s;ion to the fire, to burn tho&s;e mighty men that made the fire, and that ca&s;t his children into the fire, and whom the King would have to be &s;pared and &s;aved; and he lays a law of re&s;traint upon the fire, that it &s;hould not hurt nor harm them whom the King would have de&s;troyed: Tho&s;e whom the King of kings will not have hurt, &s;hall not be hurt, let Kings and Princes do their wor&s;t; that fire that burnt their bonds, had no power to burn (no nor to touch) their bodies: God would not &s;uffer the fire to &s;inge a hair of their heads, nor to change the colour of their coats, nor to leave &s;o much as an ill &s;mell upon his people, that tho&s;e heathen Princes might &s;ee how tender he was of them, and how willing he was to put forth his Almighty power, rather then he would &s;ee them wronged or harmed. So <HI>Chap.</HI> 6.21, 22, 23. <HI>Then &s;aid Daniel unto the King, O King live for ever. My God hath &s;ent his Angels, and hath &s;hut the Lyons mouths, that they have not hurt me: fora&s;much as before him innocency was found in me; and al&s;o before thee, O King, have I done no hurt. Then was the King exceeding glad for him, and com|manded that they &s;hould take Daniel up out of the Den: &s;o Daniel was taken up out of the Den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, becau&s;e he believed in his God.</HI> Holine&s;s, innocency, and integrity will pre&s;erve a man even among Lyons. <HI>Daniel</HI>
<PB N="375" REF="198"> preferred the wor&s;hip of his God before his life; he made no great reckoning of his life, when it &s;tood in competition with divine glory, and therefore rather then <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;hall be hurt, God will by a miracle pre&s;erve him, he will &s;top the mouthes of the hungry Lyons, and he will tame their rage, and over|ma&s;ter their cruelty, rather then a hair of <HI>Daniels</HI> head &s;hall peri&s;h; when <HI>Daniel</HI> was taken out of the Den, there was no hurt, no wound, no &s;ore, no brui&s;e found upon him: <HI>Daniel</HI> was a harmle&s;s man, and God keeps him from harms in the mid&s;t of harms. <HI>Acts</HI> 18.9, 10. <HI>Then &s;pake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vi&s;ion, be not afraid, but &s;peak and hold not thy peace, For I am with thee, and no man &s;hall &s;et on thee, to hurt thee, for I have much people in this City. Paul</HI> met with many trials and troubles, bonds and pri&s;ons, oppo&s;itions and per&s;ecu|tions,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 20.23.</NOTE> and yet none of all the&s;e hurt him, but God miraculou&s;ly pre&s;erved him, even to old age. All the troubles,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 9.</NOTE> afflictions and per&s;ecutions that attends holine&s;s, can never reach a Chri&s;ti|ans &s;oul, they can never dimini&s;h a Chri&s;tians trea&s;ure, they reach the &s;hell, not the kernel, the Ca&s;e, not the Jewel, the lum|ber, not the goods, the out-hou&s;e, not the Palace, the ribbon in the hat, not the gold in the pur&s;e; the mo&s;t fiery trials and per&s;ecutions can never deprive a Chri&s;tian of the &s;pecial pre|&s;ence of God, nor of the light of his countenance,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 23.4. 2 Cor. 1.8, 9, 12.</NOTE> nor of the te&s;timony of a good con&s;cience, nor of the joys of the &s;pirit, nor of the pardon of &s;in, nor of fellow&s;hip with Chri&s;t, nor of the exerci&s;e of grace, nor of the hopes of glory; and therefore certainly they can't hurt a Chri&s;tian, they can't wronge a Chri&s;tian in his greate&s;t and chiefe&s;t concernments. O Chri|&s;tian, let per&s;ecutors do their wor&s;t, they can't reach thy &s;oul, thy God, thy comfort, thy crown, thy Paradi&s;e, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and there|fore let no man be kept off from pur&s;uing after holine&s;s, becau&s;e of afflictions or per&s;ecutions, &s;eeing none of the&s;e can reach a Chri&s;tians great concernments. When the Emperor <HI>Valens</HI> threatned to confi&s;cate <HI>Ba&s;ils</HI> goods, and to torment him, and to bani&s;h him, or kill him, <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> makes this noble reply, He needs not fear confi&s;cation of goods, that hath nothing to loo&s;e, nor bani&s;hment, to whom heaven onely is a country, nor tor|ments, when his body may be da&s;h't with one blow, nor death,
<PB N="376" REF="199"> which is the onely way to &s;et him at liberty; the Emperor hearing of him thus undantedly to &s;peak, told him that he was mad, to whom he replyed <HI>(opte me in aeternum &s;ic deli|rare)</HI> I wi&s;h that I may be for ever thus mad. <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> knew that no torments nor &s;ufferings could hurt him or harm him, and therefore he bravely triumphs over them. They may kill me &s;aid <HI>Socrates</HI> of his enemies, but they cannot hurt me: So may a Saint &s;ay, they may kill my body, but they cannot hurt my &s;oul; they may take away my natural life, but they cannot take away my &s;piritual life, for that is hid with Chri&s;t in God;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 3.3.</NOTE> they may take away this and that out|ward comfort,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 11.</NOTE> but they cannot take away my Chri&s;t; they may take away my co&s;tly ornaments, but they cannot take away that Robe of righteou&s;ne&s;s that Chri&s;t has put upon me;<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 61.10.</NOTE> they may take away my earthly crown, but they cannot take away that crown of righteou&s;ne&s;s which Chri&s;t the righteous Judge,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 4.8.</NOTE> has laid up for all that love his appearing. Methinks, &s;aid one of the Martyrs, I tread upon pearls, when he trod up|on hot burning coals,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Vincentius.</NOTE> and I feel (&s;aid he) no more pain, then if I lay in a bed of Doune, and yet he lay in flames of fire. I have read of <HI>Nero,</HI> that he had a &s;hirt made of a Sala|manders skin, &s;o that if he walk't through the fire in it, it would keep him from burning, it would keep him from being hurt or harmed by the fire; our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t is this Salamanders skin that will keep the Saints from burn|ing, yea from being hurt or harmed by the mo&s;t fiery af|flictions and per&s;ecutions that can befall them in this world. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, I an&s;wer, That the condition of per&s;ecutors, of all conditions under heaven, is the mo&s;t &s;ad and deplorable condition; and this will appear by the con&s;ideration of the&s;e five things.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, By the prayers and enditements, that the Saints have preferred again&s;t them in the highe&s;t court of Ju&s;tice, I mean in the Parliament of Heaven, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 35.3.&mdash;9.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;a. 69.22, 29. Neh. 4.3, 4, 5. turn to it.</NOTE> <HI>Draw out the Spear, and &s;top the way again&s;t them that per|&s;ecute me: &s;ay unto my &s;oul I am thy &s;alvation. Let them be confounded and put to &s;hame that &s;eek after my &s;oul:
<PB N="377" REF="199"> let them be turned back and brought to confu&s;ion, that devi&s;e my hurt. Let them be as chaffe before the winde: and let the Angel of the Lord cha&s;e them. Let their way be dark and &s;lippery,</HI> (or darkne&s;s and &s;lipperine&s;s) <HI>and let the Angel of the Lord per&s;e|cute them. For without cau&s;e have they hid for me their net,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Both good and evil An|gels are at Gods beck ready to ex|ecute ven|geance upon his and his peoples ene|mies and per|&s;ecutors; and therefore the Text may be under&s;tood of both.</NOTE> <HI>in a pit, which without cau&s;e they have digged for my &s;oule. Let de|&s;truction come upon him, ar unawares; and let his net that he hath hid, catch him&s;elfe: into that very de&s;truction let him fall.</HI> So in that 83 <HI>P&s;alme, David</HI> &s;ighs out his &s;ad complaints again&s;t his per&s;ecutors, from <HI>ver.</HI> 2. to <HI>ver.</HI> the 9th; and from <HI>ver.</HI> the 9. to <HI>ver.</HI> the 18. he prayes again&s;t them; turne to it, 'tis a text that is worthy of your mo&s;t &s;erious meditation, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 119.84. <HI>How many are the dayes of thy &s;ervant? when wilt thou execute judgement on them that per&s;ecute me?</HI> Jer. 15.15. <HI>O Lord, thou knowe&s;t, remember me, and vi&s;ite me, and revenge me of my per|&s;ecutors; take me not away in thy long &s;uffering: know that for thy &s;ake I have &s;uffered rebuke.</HI> Chap. 17.18. <HI>Let them be con|founded that per&s;ecute me, but let not me be confounded, let them be di&s;mayed, but let not me be di&s;mayed; bring upon them the day of evill, and de&s;troy them with double de&s;truction, or break them with a double breach.</HI> Lam. 3.61.&mdash;<HI>ult. Thou ha&s;t heard their re|proach, O Lord, and all their imaginations again&s;t me. The lips of tho&s;e that ro&s;e up again&s;t me, and their device again&s;t me all the day. Behold their &s;itting down, and their ri&s;ing up, I am their mu|&s;ick,</HI> (or I am their &s;ong) <HI>Render unto them a recompence, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. Give them &s;orrow of heart, thy cur&s;e unto them. Per&s;ecute and de&s;troy them in anger, from under the heavens of the Lord.</HI> 2 Tim. 4.14. <HI>Alexander the Copper-&s;mith did me much evill, the Lord reward him according to his works.</HI> Thus you &s;ee how the hearts of the Saints have been drawn out again&s;t their per&s;ecutors. Prayers are the Armes that in times of per&s;ecution the Saints have &s;till had re|cour&s;e to. The <HI>Romans</HI> being in great di&s;tre&s;s, were put &s;o hard to it, that they were faine to take the weapons out of the Tem|ples of their gods to fight with their enemies, and &s;o they over|came them; &s;o when the people of God have been hard put to it, by rea&s;on of afflictions and per&s;ecutions, the weapons that they have fled to, has been prayers and teares, and with the&s;e they
<PB N="378" REF="200"> have overcome their per&s;ecutors, as is evident in the three Children, in <HI>Daniel,</HI> and many others, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, Per&s;ecutions doe but rai&s;e, whet, and &s;tir up a more earne&s;t and vehement &s;pirit of prayer among the per&s;e|cuted Saints.<NOTE PLACE="marg">See <HI>Acts</HI> 4.17.21, 29, 31. com|pared. Luke 18.7. Lam. 5.59, 60, 61, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Rev.</HI> 6.9, 10. <HI>And when he had opened the fift &s;eal, I &s;aw under the Altar the &s;ouls of them that were &s;laine for the word of God, and for the te&s;timony which they held. And they cryed with a loud voice, &s;aying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, doe&s;t thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?</HI> The blood<NOTE PLACE="marg">Blood hath as many tongues as drops to cry for ven|geance; which made King <HI>James</HI> &s;ay, that if God did leave him to kill a man, he would think God did not love him. 1 Cor. 6. <HI>ult.</HI> 1 Pet. 1.18, 19.</NOTE> of the per&s;ecuted cryes aloud for vengeance upon the per&s;ecutors. By the <HI>&s;ouls under the Altar,</HI> you are to under&s;tand the per&s;ons of the Saints which were martyred and lay &s;laine upon the ground, like &s;acrifices at the foot of the Al|tar, under the <HI>Roman</HI> per&s;ecuting Emperours. There is no blood that cries &s;o loud, and that makes &s;o great a noi&s;e in hea|ven, as the blood of the Martyrs, as the blood of butchered per&s;ecuted Saints. Per&s;ecutors, like the&s;e <HI>Roman</HI> Emperours, in all ages have cau&s;le&s;ly and cruelly de&s;troyed the people of God; they delight in the blood of Saints, they love to wallow in the blood of Saints, they take plea&s;ure in glutting them&s;elves with the blood of Saints, they make no con&s;cience of water|ing the earth, nor of colouring the Sea, nor of quenching the flames with the blood of the Saints, yea if it were po&s;&s;ible they would willingly &s;wim to heaven through their hearts-blood, whom Chri&s;t has purcha&s;ed with his own mo&s;t precious blood, (as all Hi&s;torians know, and as you may all know if you would but &s;earch a little into Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Hi&s;tories) and there|fore 'tis no wonder if the blood of the Martyrs cry aloud for vengeance upon &s;uch de&s;perate per&s;ecutors: The blood and prayers of per&s;ecuted Saints, will fir&s;t or la&s;t bring down wrath and ruine upon their per&s;ecutors. Per&s;ecution puts an edge, yea a &s;harp edge upon the prayers of the Saints; <HI>Acts</HI> 12.5. <HI>Peter therefore was kept in pri&s;on, but prayer was made without cea&s;ing of the Church unto God for him:</HI> The Greek word (<GAP DESC="foreign">) &s;ignifies earne&s;t and &s;tretched-out prayer. When <HI>Pe|ter</HI> was in pri&s;on,<NOTE PLACE="marg">All the&s;e cir|cum&s;tances doe wonder|fully declare the power of God in his deliverance. Some &s;ay he had 16. others &s;ay he had 20 Souldiers for his Guard; the greater was his delive|rance.</NOTE> &s;leeping between two Souldiers, and bound with two chains, and the keepers &s;tanding before the pri&s;on doore; O how earne&s;t! O how in&s;tant! O how fervent! O how
<PB N="379" REF="200"> vehement! O how con&s;tant were the Saints in their prayers for his deliverance! O their hearts, their &s;ouls, their &s;pirits were in their prayers; O their prayers were no cold prayers, no formal prayers, no luke-warme prayers, nor no dull or drow|&s;ie prayers, but their prayers were full of life, and full of warmth, and full of heate; they knew <HI>Herods</HI> bloody intention to de&s;troy this holy Apo&s;tle by his impri&s;oning of him, and by the chaines that were put on him, and by the &s;trong Guards that were &s;et upon him, and by his bathing of his &s;word in the innocent blood of <HI>James,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>James</HI> was the fir&s;t of the Apo&s;tles that dyed a vio|lent death.</NOTE> that his hand might be the more apt and ready for further acts of murther&punc; and cruelty; and O how did the con&s;ideration of the&s;e things whet and provoke their &s;pirits to prayer! O now they will have no nay, now they will give God no re&s;t, till he has overturn'd the Tyrants coun&s;ell and de&s;ignes, and &s;ent his Angel to open the pri&s;on doores, and to knock off <HI>Peters</HI> chains, and to deliver him from the wrath and fury of <HI>Herod;</HI> and their prayers were &s;ucce&s;sfull, as is evident in the 12. <HI>ver. And when he had con&s;idered the thing, he came to the hou&s;e of Mary the mother of John,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">This hou&s;e is thought by many to be the hou&s;e, where the Apo&s;tles com|monly had their meet|ings.</NOTE> <HI>who&s;e &s;urname was Mark, where many were gathered together, praying,</HI> or rather as the Originall has it, <HI>where many thronged together to pray:</HI> the violence and rage of their per&s;ecutors did &s;o rai&s;e, whet, and incourage them to prayer, that they throng together, they crouded together to pray, yea when others were a &s;leeping they were a praying, and their prayers were no &s;leepie prayers, they were no lazy droni&s;h prayers, nor they were no book-prayers, but they were powerfull and prevalent prayers; for as &s;o many <HI>Jacob's,</HI> or as &s;o many Princes they prevailed with God; they prayed and wept, and wept and prayed, they call'd and cryed, and cryed and call'd, they beg'd and bounc'd, and they bounc'd and beg'd, and they never left knocking at heavens Gates, till <HI>Peters</HI> chains were knockt off, and <HI>Peter</HI> given into their Armes, yea their bo&s;omes, as an an&s;wer of prayer. O the power and force of joynt prayer, when Chri&s;tians doe not only be&s;eech God, but be&s;iege him, and be&s;et him too, and when they will not let him goe till he has ble&s;t them, and an&s;wered their prayers and the de&s;ires of their &s;ouls. I have read that <HI>Mary</HI> Queen of <HI>Scots</HI> (that was mother to King <HI>James</HI>) was
<PB N="380" REF="201"> wont to &s;ay, <HI>that &s;he was more afraid of</HI> Mr. Knox's <HI>prayers, and the prayers of tho&s;e Chri&s;tians that walk't with him, then &s;hee was of a knocking Army of ten thou&s;and men.</HI> And that is a re|markable pa&s;&s;age of the P&s;almi&s;t, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 109.3, 4. <HI>They com|pa&s;&s;ed me about al&s;o with words of hatred; and fought again&s;t me without a ca<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">The like &s;peech you have in that <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 120.7. <HI>Vaani uzeph|illah.</HI> But I prayer.</NOTE> <HI>For my love they are my adver&s;aries, but I give my &s;elfe unto prayer;</HI> or as the Hebrew has it, <HI>But I am prayer, or a man of prayer.</HI> Per&s;ecuted Saints are men of prayer, yea they are as it were made up all of prayer. <HI>David</HI> prayed before, but O when his enemies fell a per&s;ecuting of him, then he gave up him&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">lf wholly to prayer, O then he was more earne&s;t, more fervent, more frequent, more diligent, more con&s;tant, and more abundant in the work of prayer.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Plutarch</HI> in the life of <HI>Numa.</HI></NOTE> When <HI>Numa</HI> King of the <HI>Romans</HI> was told that his enemies were in Armes again&s;t him, he did but laugh at it, and an&s;wered, <HI>and I doe &s;acrifice;</HI> &s;o when per&s;ecutors arme them&s;elves again&s;t the people of God, they doe but divinely &s;mile and laugh at it, and give them&s;elves the more up to prayer; when men arme again&s;t them, then they a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">me them&s;elves with all their might to the work of prayer; and woe woe to them that have Armies of prayers marching again&s;t them. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, It will appeare that the condition of per&s;ecutors is the mo&s;t &s;ad and deplorable condition of all conditions under heaven, if you will but &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;ider and lay to heart the &s;ore Judgements that are threatned, and that have been exe|cuted upon them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 28.15.&mdash;<HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Deut.</HI> 30.7. <HI>And the Lord thy God will put all the&s;e cur&s;es upon thine enemies, and on them which hate thee, which per&s;ecuted thee.</HI> Nehe. 9.9, 10, 11. <HI>And did&s;t &s;ee the afflictions of our fathers in Egypt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 3.7. Chap. 14.10. <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> <HI>and hearde&s;t their cry by the red Sea: And &s;hewed &s;ignes and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his &s;ervants, and on the people of his Land: for thou knewe&s;t that they dealt proudly again&s;t them: So did&s;t thou get thee a name, as it is this day. And thou did&s;t divide the Sea before them, &s;o that they went through the mid&s;t of the Sea on the dry land, and their per&s;ecutors thou threwe&s;t into the deeps, as a &s;tone into the mighty waters. Pharaoh</HI> and his Princes and people were very great oppre&s;&s;ors and per&s;ecutors of Gods <HI>I&s;rael,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">As you may &s;ee in the 7, 8, 9, 10. and 12 Chap. of <HI>Exodus.</HI></NOTE> and therefore God vi&s;ited them with ten dreadfull plagues, one after another;
<PB N="381" REF="201"> but when after all the&s;e plagues, God &s;aw that their enmity again&s;t his people was as great, or rather greater then ever, and that they were &s;till &s;et upon per&s;ecuting of his people, then God takes up <HI>Pharaoh</HI> and his mighty Ho&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exodus 15.10.</NOTE> and throwes them as a &s;tone into the mighty waters. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 7.11, 12, 13. <HI>God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turne not, he will whet his &s;word; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath al&s;o prepared for him the in|&s;truments of death; he ordaineth his arrowes again&s;t the per&s;ecu|tors.</HI> God whets before he &s;trikes, he bends his bow befo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e he &s;hootes, he prepares in&s;truments of death, before he brings men downe to the grave, his hand takes hold on Judgement, before his Judgements take hold of men; but if all the&s;e war|nings will not &s;erve their turnes, God will overturne them with a witne&s;s; <HI>He ordaineth his arrowes again&s;t the per&s;ecutors,</HI> or as the Hebrew has it, <HI>again&s;t the hot burning per&s;ecutors;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> from <GAP DESC="foreign"> and from <HI>Dalak</HI> is <HI>Da|leketh</HI> that &s;ignifies a burning Ague.</NOTE> God has his hot burning Arrowes for hot burning per&s;ecutors; let per&s;ecutors be never &s;o hot again&s;t the Saints, God will be as hot again&s;t them; and let them be never &s;o much inflamed a|gain&s;t the people of God, God will be as much inflamed again&s;t them. <HI>Jer.</HI> 20.10, 11. <HI>For I heard the defaming of many, feare on every &s;ide: Report, &s;aid they, and we will report it: All my familiars watched for my halting, &s;aying, peradventure he will be enticed, and we &s;hall prevaile again&s;t him,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">After the Reigne of <HI>Decius,</HI> under whom the &s;eventh per|&s;ecution be|gan; God &s;ent a plague Ten years toge|ther, which made divers places of the world de&s;o|late, e&s;pecial|ly where the per&s;ecution mo&s;t raged, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> <HI>and we &s;hall take our revenge on him. But the Lord is with me as a mighty terri|ble one: therefore my per&s;ecutors &s;hall &s;tumble, and they &s;hall not prevaile, they &s;hall be greatly a&s;hamed, for they &s;hall not pro&s;per; their everla&s;ting confu&s;ion &s;hall never be forgotten.</HI> When mali|cious &amp; mi&s;chievous per&s;ecutors have done all they can, to vex and fret, to daunt and affright, to di&s;may and di&s;courage the people of God, then God will terrifie the mo&s;t terrible among them, and <HI>they &s;hall not prevaile nor pro&s;per, yea they &s;hall &s;tum|ble and fall, they &s;hall be a&s;hamed and confounded.</HI> I&s;a. 33.1. <HI>Wo to thee that &s;poile&s;t, and thou wa&s;t not &s;poiled; and deale&s;t trea|cherou&s;ly, and they dealt not treacherou&s;ly with thee: when thou &s;halt cea&s;e to &s;poile, thou &s;halt be &s;poiled; and when thou &s;halt make an end to deale treacherou&s;ly, they &s;hall deale treacherou&s;ly with thee.</HI> When the time is expired that God has prefixed for his
<PB N="382" REF="202"> peoples &s;ufferings, then God will retaliate upon their per&s;ecu|tors, then they that &s;poyled his people, &s;hall be &s;poyled, and they that dealt perfidiou&s;ly and treacherou&s;ly with them, &s;hall be dealt perfidiou&s;ly and treacherou&s;ly withall; 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 1.6. <HI>Seeing it is a righteous thing with God, to recompence tribulation to them that trouble you:</HI> 'Tis but Ju&s;tice that God &s;hould trou|ble tho&s;e that are the troublers of his people; 'tis but Ju&s;tice that per&s;ecutors &s;hould be puni&s;hed, and that the per&s;ecuted &s;hould be righted; 'tis but Ju&s;tice that God &s;hould trouble them in both worlds, who would be troublers of his people in both worlds; 'tis but Ju&s;tice that God &s;hould trouble them to all eternity, who would be a troubling of his people to all eter|nity, if their power were but an&s;werable to their malice: And God has even in this life been a &s;wift witne&s;s again&s;t the per|&s;ecutors of his people; <HI>Cain</HI> was a per&s;ecutor, and his Brothers blood pur&s;ued him to hell; <HI>Pharaoh</HI> was a great oppre&s;&s;or and per&s;ecutor of his people, and God followed him with plague upon plague, and Judgement upon Judgement, till he had over|throwne him in the red Sea; <HI>Saul</HI> was a per&s;ecutor, and falls by his own &s;word; <HI>Haman</HI> was a great per&s;ecutor of the Saints, and he was Fea&s;ted with the King one day, and made a Fea&s;t for Crowes the next;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 20.1, 2, 3.</NOTE> <HI>Pa&s;hur</HI> was a great per&s;ecutor, he &s;mote the Prophet <HI>Jeremiah,</HI> and put him in the Stocks, and God threatned to make him a <HI>Magor-mi&s;&s;abib,</HI> a terrour to him|&s;elf,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Kings 22.</NOTE> and to all his friends; <HI>Zedekiah</HI> was a per&s;ecutor, he &s;mote the Prophet <HI>Micaiah</HI> on the cheek for dealing plainly and faith|fully with the Kings, and in the day of trouble and di&s;tre&s;s, he goes from chamber to chamber to hide him&s;elfe.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chap. 18.4.13. ver&s;es. 2 Kings 9.30.&mdash;<HI>ult. Eu&s;eb.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Jezabel</HI> was a great per&s;ecutor, &s;he &s;lew the Prophets of God, and &s;he was thrown out of a window, and eaten up of dogs. <HI>Herod</HI> the Great, who cau&s;ed the babes of <HI>Bethlehem</HI> to be &s;laine, hoping thereby to de&s;troy Chri&s;t, &s;hortly after was plagued by God with an in|curable di&s;ea&s;e, having a &s;low and &s;lack fire continually tor|menting his inward parts; he had a vehement and greedy de|&s;ire to eate, and yet nothing would &s;atisfie him; his inward bowels rotted, his breath was &s;ho<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">t and &s;tinking, &s;ome of his members rotted, and in all his members he had &s;o violent a Cramp, that nature was not able to bare it; and &s;o growing mad with paine he dyed mi&s;erably.</P>
<PB N="383" REF="202">
<P><HI>Herod Antipas,</HI> who beheaded <HI>John Bapti&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Eu&s;eb.</NOTE> not long after falling into di&s;grace with the <HI>Roman</HI> Emperour, with his ince|&s;tuous <HI>Herodias,</HI> the &s;ugge&s;ter of that murder, they were ba|ni&s;hed, and fell into &s;uch mi&s;ery and penury, that they ended their wretched lives, with much &s;hame and mi&s;ery.</P>
<P><HI>Herod Agrippa</HI> was a great per&s;ecutor of the Saints,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 12. <HI>Jo&s;eph. Antiq. l.</HI> 19. <HI>ch.</HI> 7.</NOTE> and he was eaten up of wormes. In the third yeare of his Reigne, as <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> ob&s;erves, he went to <HI>Cae&s;area</HI> to keep certain Playes in the honor of <HI>Cae&s;ar;</HI> the Gowne he was in (as the &s;ame Author relates) was a Gowne of &s;ilver wonderfully wrought, and the beames of the Sun reflecting upon it, made it &s;o gli&s;ter that it dazled the eyes of the beholders; and when he had made an end of his &s;tarched Oration in this his bravery, his flatterers extolled him as a God, crying out, <HI>'Tis the voice of a God,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 12.21, 22, 23. <HI>Jo&s;eph: Antiq: lib.</HI> 18. <HI>ch.</HI> 13. <HI>Thales Mile&s;i|us</HI> the prime wi&s;e man of <HI>Greece,</HI> being demanded what he had ob&s;erved to be of mo&s;t difficulty in the world; An&s;wered <HI>Tyrannum &s;e|nem,</HI> To &s;ee a Tyrant live to be an old man.</NOTE> <HI>and not of a man;</HI> whereupon he was pre&s;ently &s;mitten by the An|gel of the Lord, and &s;o dyed with wormes that eate up his ve|ry intrailes; the blow the Angel gave him was an inward blow, and &s;o not vi&s;ible to others, and his torments more and more increa&s;ing upon him, the people put on &s;ackcloth and made &s;upplication for him, but all in vaine, for his paines and tor|ments growing &s;tronger and &s;tronger every day upon him, they &s;eperated his wretched &s;oule from his loath&s;ome body within the compa&s;s of five dayes; And 'tis very probable that the pray|ers of the per&s;ecuted Church did helpe to &s;peed this per&s;ecu|tor out of the world.<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Eu&s;eb.</NOTE> <HI>Caiaphas</HI> the high Prie&s;t, who gathered the Councel, and &s;uborned fal&s;e witne&s;&s;es again&s;t the Lord Chri&s;t, was &s;hortly after put out of his Office, and one <HI>Jonathan</HI> &s;ub&s;tituted in his roome, whereupon he killed him&s;elf.</P>
<P><NOTE N="&dagger;" PLACE="marg">Eu&s;eb. Hi&s;t. li. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>7.</HI></NOTE>Not long after <HI>Pontius Pilate</HI> had condemned our Lord Chri&s;t, he lo&s;t his Deputi&s;hip, and <HI>Cae&s;ars</HI> favour, and being fallen into di&s;grace with the <HI>Roman</HI> Emperour, and bani&s;hed by him, he fell into &s;uch mi&s;ery that he hanged him&s;elfe.</P>
<P><HI>Nero</HI> that Mon&s;ter of men, who rai&s;ed the fir&s;t bloody per&s;e|cution, (to pick a quarrel with the Chri&s;tians) &s;et the City of <HI>Rome</HI> on fire, and then charged it upon them; under which pre|tence he expo&s;es them to the fury of the people, who cruelly tormented them, as if they had been common burners and de|&s;troyers of Cities, and the deadly enemies of mankinde; yea
<PB N="384" REF="203"> <HI>Nero</HI> him&s;elf cau&s;ed them to be apprehended, and clad in wild Bea&s;ts skins, and torne in pieces with Doggs; others were cru|cified; &s;ome he made Bonfires of to light him in his night-&s;ports; to be &s;hort, &s;uch horrid cruelty he u&s;ed towards them, as cau&s;ed many of their enemies to pitty them; but God found out this wretched per&s;ecutor at la&s;t, for being adjudged by the Senate an enemy to mankinde, he was condemned to be whipt to death, for the prevention whereof he cut his own throat.</P>
<P><HI>Domitian</HI> the Author of the &s;econd per&s;ecution again&s;t the Chri&s;tians, was by the con&s;ent of his wife &s;laine by his own hou&s;hold &s;ervants with daggers in his privy chamber, his body was buried without honour, his memory cur&s;ed to po&s;terity, and his Armes and En&s;ignes were thrown downe and defaced.</P>
<P><HI>Trajan</HI> rai&s;ed the third per&s;ecution again&s;t the Church, and the vengeance of God followed him; for fir&s;t he fell into a Pal|&s;ie, then lo&s;t the u&s;e of his &s;en&s;es, afterwards he fell into a Drop&s;ie, and dyed in great angui&s;h.</P>
<P>There was not one of tho&s;e per&s;ecuting Emperours that car|ried on the Ten bloody per&s;ecutions again&s;t the Saints, but came to mi&s;erable ends; yea Hi&s;tories tell us of three and forty per&s;ecuting Emperours, who fell under the revenging hand of God, and came to untimely ends. Among the many thou&s;and thou&s;ands of in&s;tances that might be given of the Judgements of God that have fallen upon the per&s;ecutors of the people of God in the&s;e latter dayes, I &s;hall only give you a few. <HI>Faelix</HI> Earle of <HI>Wartenburge</HI> was a great per&s;ecutor of the Saints, and &s;wore <HI>that ere he dyed he would ride up to the &s;purs in the blood of the Lutherans;</HI> but the very &s;ame night wherein he had thus &s;worne and vowed, he was choaked with his own blood: nothing would &s;erve him but the blood of Gods people, and God makes him drunk with his own blood. Sir <HI>Thomas More,</HI> once Lord Chancelour of <HI>England,</HI> was a &s;worn enemy to the Go&s;pel, and per&s;ecuted the Saints with fire and faggot; and among&s;t all his prai&s;es, he reckons this the chiefe&s;t, <HI>that he had been a per&s;ecu|tor of the Lutherans,</HI> i. e. <HI>the Saints;</HI> but what became of him? he was fir&s;t accu&s;ed of Trea&s;on, and then condemned, and at la&s;t beheaded. Judge <HI>Morgan</HI> was a great per&s;ecutor of the people of God; but &s;hortly after he had pa&s;&s;ed the &s;entence
<PB N="385" REF="203"> of condemnation upon that vertuous Lady, the Lady <HI>Jane Grey,</HI> he fell mad, and in his mad raving fits he would continually cry out, <HI>Take away the Lady Jane, take away the Lady Jane from me;</HI> and in that horror he ended his wretched life. <HI>Dra|homira,</HI> after the death of her husband, u&s;urped the Government of <HI>Bohemia,</HI> and was a cruell per&s;ecutor of the people of God; but by a righteous hand of God it &s;o fell out, that on that very place where the Mini&s;ters bones lay unburied, the earth opened of it &s;elf, and &s;wallowed her up alive, with her Chariot and tho&s;e that were in it, which place is now to be &s;een before the Ca&s;tle of <HI>Prague.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts and Mon. <HI>1911.</HI></NOTE> The Arch-Bi&s;hop of <HI>Toures</HI> was an earne&s;t Su|tor for the erection of a Court called <HI>Chamber Ardent,</HI> for the condemning of the <HI>French</HI> Prote&s;tants to the fire, but before he dyed he had fire enough, for he was &s;tricken with a di&s;ea&s;e called, <HI>The Fire of God,</HI> which began at his feete, and &s;o a&s;cend|ed upward, which occa&s;ioned one member to be cut off after another, and &s;o he ended his mi&s;erable dayes. <HI>Thomas Arun|dell</HI> Arch-Bi&s;hop of <HI>Canterbury,</HI> was a grievous per&s;ecutor of the people of God, and a great &s;u&s;pender and &s;ilencer of good Mini&s;ters; he made u&s;e of his tongue, braines, and power to &s;top the mouthes, and tye up the tongues of Gods faithfull Mini&s;ters; but God in his righteous Judgement &s;o &s;truck him in his tongue, that it &s;wel'd &s;o big, that he could neither &s;wal|low nor &s;peak for &s;ome dayes before his death, and &s;o he was &s;tarved, choked, and killed by this &s;trange tumour of his tongue.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mr. Groves <HI>Gleanings. p.</HI> 155, 156.</NOTE> I have read of one M^r. <HI>W.</HI> who was very bu&s;ie in pro|&s;ecuting an Indictment again&s;t his Mini&s;ter at a Quarter Se&s;&s;i|ons, for omitting the Cro&s;s in Bapti&s;me; and being a man in high favour with the Ju&s;tices, he made no que&s;tion of prevai|ling; at night (according to his u&s;ual manner) he falls to drink|ing, till he was &s;o extream drunk that he was faine to be carried home; in the morning his wife began mildly to blame him for his acting again&s;t the Mini&s;ter the day before, at which he with fearefull oathes &s;wore, <HI>that he would &s;oon rid the Towne of that Puritan;</HI> but behold the hand of God, for as this wretched man was about to ri&s;e, and having put one arme in his Dublet (even as the oathes were uttering) he was taken &s;peechle&s;s, yea and &s;en&s;le&s;s, and &s;o dyed. To conclude, the Judgements of God
<PB N="386" REF="204"> upon the per&s;ecutors of the Saints in <HI>Bohemia</HI> was &s;uch, that it was u&s;ed as a Proverb among the adver&s;aries them&s;elves, <HI>that if any man were weary of his life, let him but attempt again&s;t the</HI> Piccardines (for &s;o they called the Saints) <HI>and he &s;hould not live a yeare to an end.</HI> And thus you &s;ee by the&s;e in&s;tances, that mo&s;t &s;evere Judgements have &s;till followed the per&s;ecutors of the people of God: Let me clo&s;e up this argument thus; look as in Princes Courts they are judg'd but &s;illy &s;hallow, brain'd men, that profe&s;s open and mortall hatred to the greate&s;t favou|rites of the King, becau&s;e in &s;o doing they take the right and ready way to ruine them&s;elves and families; &s;o they are doubt|le&s;s the mo&s;t &s;illy &s;hallow-brain'd men in the world (how wi&s;e &s;oever they may be in their own eyes, or in others eyes who are like unto them&s;elves) who per&s;ecute the favourites of the King of Kings, that being the ready way to their owne ruine and de&s;truction. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, It will appeare that per&s;ecutors are in the mo&s;t &s;ad and deplorable condition, if you doe but con&s;ider that there is a day a coming wherein God will fully reckon with all per&s;ecutors for their per&s;ecuting of his Saints: <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 9.12. <HI>When he maketh inqui&s;ition for blood,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Damim</HI> bloods in the plural; it notes the killings and murderings of Gods af|flicted ones. Gen. 4.10. 1 Kings 9.26. 2 Chron. 24. Chap. 22.</NOTE> <HI>he remembreth them; he forgetteth not the cry of the humble:</HI> There is a time when God will make inqui&s;ition for innocent blood; the Hebrew word <HI>Dor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;h</HI> from <HI>Dara&s;h,</HI> that is here rendred <HI>inqui&s;ition,</HI> &s;ignifies not barely to &s;eek, to &s;earch, but to &s;eek, &s;earch, and enquire with all diligence and care imaginable. O there is a time a coming, when the Lord will make a very diligent and carefull &s;earch and enquiry after all the innocent blood of his afflicted and per&s;ecuted people, which per&s;ecutors and Tyrants have &s;pilt as water upon the ground; and woe to per&s;ecutors when God &s;hall make a more &s;trict critical and carefull enquiry after the blood of his people, then ever was made in the inqui&s;ition of <HI>Spaine,</HI> where all things are carried with the greate&s;t dili|gence, &s;ubtilty, &s;ecrecy, and &s;everity. O per&s;ecutors, there is a time a coming, when God will make a &s;trict enquiry after the blood of <HI>Hooper, Bradford, Latimer, Taylor, Ridly,</HI> &amp;c. There is a time a coming, wherein God will enquire who &s;ilenced and &s;u&s;pended &s;uch and &s;uch Mini&s;ters, and who &s;top't the mouthes
<PB N="387" REF="204"> of &s;uch and &s;uch, and who impri&s;oned, confined, and bani&s;hed &s;uch and &s;uch, who were once burning and &s;hining lights, and who were willing to &s;pend and be &s;pent, that &s;inners might be &s;aved, and that Chri&s;t might be glorified. There is a time when the Lord will make a very narrow enquiry into all the actions and practi&s;es of Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Courts, High Commi&s;&s;ions, Com|mittees, A&s;&s;izes, Se&s;&s;ions, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and deale with per&s;ecutors as they have dealt with his people. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 12.5. <HI>For the oppre&s;&s;i|on of the poore, for the &s;ighing of the needy, now will I ari&s;e,</HI> (&s;aith the Lord) <HI>I will &s;et him in &s;afety from him that puffeth at him.</HI> When oppre&s;&s;ors and per&s;ecutors doe &s;nuffe and puffe at the people of God, when they defie them, and &s;corne them, and thinke that they can with a bla&s;t of their breath blow them a|way, then God will ari&s;e to judgement, as the Chaldee has it; at that very nick of time when all &s;eemes to be lo&s;t, and when the poore oppre&s;&s;ed and afflicted people of God can do nothing but &s;igh and weep, and weep and &s;igh, then the Lord will ari&s;e, and ea&s;e them of their oppre&s;&s;ions, and make their day of ex|tremity, a glorious opportunity to work for his own glory, and his peoples good. <HI>Math.</HI> 22.6, 7. <HI>And the remnant took his &s;ervants, and entreated them &s;pitefully, and &s;lew them: But when the King heard thereof, he was wroth; and he &s;ent for his Ar|mies, and de&s;troyed tho&s;e murderers, and burnt up their City.</HI> Chri&s;t &s;ent his Apo&s;tles and Di&s;ciples to invite the <HI>Jewes</HI> to a marriage fea&s;t, to a &s;tately fea&s;t, to a fea&s;t made by a King, upon the account of his Son, of his only Son, of his beloved Son, of his Son that is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 1.5. Compare the&s;e Scrip|tures, Acts 5.40. ch. 7.58. and ch 12.2. and ch. 21.32. 2 Cor. 11.24. Heb. 11.37, 38.</NOTE> but they en|treated them &s;pitefully, calling them pe&s;tilent fellows, and mo|vers of &s;edition, and &s;ome they impri&s;oned and &s;courged, and others they put to death, as <HI>Stephen</HI> and <HI>James,</HI> &amp;c. and O what &s;pitefulne&s;s and ingratitude was this to returne evill for good, to requite them with reproaches, pri&s;ons, &s;courges, and death, for their endeavouring to &s;ave their &s;ouls, and to make them happy for ever: But will this great King put up the&s;e injuries, indignities and abu&s;es that are done to his &s;ervants? no, he will not; for as &s;oon as he heard of it, he was wroth, and &s;ent forth his Armies to be revenged on them: The murderers in the text were the <HI>Jewes,</HI> and the Armies were the <HI>Romans;</HI> now they
<PB N="388" REF="205"> are called <HI>Gods Armies,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 9.26.</NOTE> becau&s;e God imployed them as the ex|ecutioners of his wrath upon <HI>Jeru&s;alem;</HI> now the&s;e <HI>Roman</HI> Ar|mies did burne up their City,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;ephus. Antiq: lib. <HI>20.</HI> c. <HI>8.</HI></NOTE> which was once the Paradi&s;e of the world, and brought to ruine and de&s;truction a 11 millions of men, women, and children, be&s;ides multitudes that were &s;old for &s;laves, and others that were &s;cattered among all nations; and thus God took vengeance on the&s;e per&s;ecutors, and turn'd their Temple and City into a&s;hes.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Plutar: Lib. de &s;uper&s;titione.</NOTE> <HI>Plutarch</HI> writing of the qua|lity of Tygres, &s;aith, <HI>That if Drums or Tabours &s;ound about them, they will grow mad, and rend and tear their own fle&s;h in pieces;</HI> O there is a day a coming when the la&s;t Trumpet &s;hall &s;ound, and then all the per&s;ecutors of the Saints will grow mad, O then they will fret and fume,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 6.15, 16, 17.</NOTE> and tear and torment them&s;elves, and wi&s;h for the mounta<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">s and rocks to fall upon them, and to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb, who in that day will with a witne&s;s avenge all his afflicted and per&s;ecuted ones. Alas, all the &s;orrows, troubles, afflictions, vexations, torments and pu|ni&s;hments that befall the per&s;ecutors of the Saints in this life, they are but <HI>qua&s;i tales,</HI> as it were &s;uch, they are but the begin|nings of &s;orrows, they are but Types and Figures of tho&s;e ea&s;e|le&s;s, endle&s;s, and remedile&s;s torments and puni&s;hments that will at la&s;t inevitably fall upon all the per&s;ecutors of the Saints. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="5"> Fifthly, and la&s;tly, Per&s;ecutors at pre&s;ent are under an evi|dent token of perdition and de&s;truction, they have the marks and &s;ignes of divine di&s;plea&s;ure upon them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mr. <HI>Bradford</HI> looked upon his &s;ufferings as an evi|dence to him that he was in his right way.</NOTE> <HI>Phil.</HI> 1.28. <HI>And in nothing terrified by your adver&s;aries, which is to them an evi|dent token of perdition, but to you of &s;alvation, and that of God.</HI> Per&s;ecuted Chri&s;tians ought not to be di&s;heartned or di&s;coura|ged, but rather to take heart and courage by all the per&s;ecuti|ons that are rai&s;ed again&s;t them, becau&s;e they are mo&s;t certaine witne&s;&s;es and evidences from God him&s;elf, both of their own &s;alvation, and of their per&s;ecutors perdition and de&s;truction. A &s;tate of unbeliefe,<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 3.18.36. I&s;a. 6.9, 10. 1 Tim. 4.2. John 3.19, 20. P&s;al. 81.12.</NOTE> hardne&s;s of heart, blindne&s;s of mind, &s;ea|redne&s;s of con&s;cience, perver&s;ne&s;s of &s;pirit, &s;lighting and de&s;pi|&s;ing of that which is good, hating of the light, and a mans be|ing given up to the wayes and lu&s;ts of his own heart, are dread|full tokens of perdition, and fearefull witne&s;&s;es and evidences of
<PB N="389" REF="205"> de&s;truction; and the&s;e tokens and evidences, all per&s;ecutors are under, though it may be they want eyes to &s;ee them, and hearts to be affected with them: plaine and evident tokens of wrath and ruine are &s;tampt in Roman Characters upon all per&s;ecutors, and did they but &s;ee tho&s;e tokens, they would be as &s;o many hand-writings upon the wall again&s;t them. And thus you &s;ee by the&s;e five things, that there is no condition under heaven that is &s;o &s;ad and deplorable a condition, as the condition of per&s;e|cutors is. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly, I an&s;wer, that God will bare his people company <MILESTONE N="5"> in all their afflictions and per&s;ecutions; if the Bu&s;h (the Church) be all on a light fire,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 3.2, 6. Math. 10.17, 18, 19, 20. Acts 6.9, 10. Rom. 8.33, 34, 35.</NOTE> the Angel of the Covenant will be in the mid&s;t of it. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 43.2. <HI>When thou pa&s;&s;e&s;t through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they &s;hall not over|flow thee: when thou walke&s;t through the fire, thou &s;halt not be burnt; neither &s;hall the flames kindle upon thee.</HI> Both in the wa|ters of affliction, and in the fire of per&s;ecution, God will bare his people company. So in that <HI>Dan.</HI> 3.24, 25. <HI>Then Nebu|chadnezzar the King was a&s;tonied, and ro&s;e up in ha&s;t, and &s;pake and &s;aid unto his Coun&s;ellers; Did not we ca&s;t three men bound into the mid&s;t of the Fire? they an&s;wered and &s;aid unto the King, true, O King. He an&s;wered and &s;aid, lo, I &s;ee foure men loo&s;e walk|ing in the mid&s;t of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the forme of the fourth is like unto the Son of God.</HI> Chri&s;t is never &s;o neare to his people as when they are in their fiery tryals; and the hot|ter the Furnace is, the more eminently pre&s;ent will Chri&s;t be with his people; Saints never enjoy &s;o much of the &s;upporting, imboldning, comforting, and encouraging pre&s;ence of the Lord, as they doe when the Sun of per&s;ecution &s;hines hotte&s;t upon them. Though Mr. <HI>Glover</HI> wanted the pre&s;ence of God for a time, yet when he came neare to the &s;take where he was burnt, he clapt his hands for joy, and cryed out, <HI>He is come, he is come.</HI> 2 Cor. 4.8, 9. <HI>We are troubled on every &s;ide, yet not de&s;troyed; we are perplexed, but not in de&s;pair; per&s;ecuted, but not for&s;aken; ca&s;t down, but not de&s;troyed.</HI> Divine help is nea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e&s;t when a Saints danger is greate&s;t: It is the deriding que&s;tion which per&s;ecu|tors put to the Saints in the time of their tryals and troubles, <HI>&V;bi Deus? Where is now your God?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 79.10.</NOTE> but they may returne a
<PB N="390" REF="206"> bold and confident an&s;wer, <HI>Hic Deus, Our God is here,</HI> our God is nigh unto us, our God is round about us, our God is in the mid&s;t of us, our God has given us his promi&s;e, <HI>that he will never,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 13.5.</NOTE> <HI>never leave us, nor for&s;ake us;</HI> in every trouble, in every danger, in every death the Lord will be &s;ure to keep us com|pany:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;. 2.14.</NOTE> God will bare his children company, not only whil&s;t they are in a delightfull Paradi&s;e, but al&s;o when they are in a howling wilderne&s;s.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. de Ci|vit. Dei. lib. <HI>2.</HI> cap. <HI>39.</HI></NOTE> When a company of poor Chri&s;tians were going into Bani&s;hment, one &s;tanding by to &s;ee them pa&s;s along, &s;aid that it was a very &s;ad condition that tho&s;e poor people were in, to be thus hurried from the &s;ociety of men, and to be made companions with the Bea&s;ts of the field; True, &s;aid another, it were a &s;ad condition indeed, if they were carried to a place where they &s;hould not find their God, but let them be of good chear, for God goes along with them, and will exhibite the comforts of his pre&s;ence whither&s;oever they goe; his pre&s;ence is infinite,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 139.</NOTE> and filleth all places. The Rabbins put <HI>Makom,</HI> which &s;ignifies <HI>place,</HI> among the names of God; <HI>Bithner</HI> brings them in expounding that text, <HI>E&s;th.</HI> 4.14. thus; <HI>Deliverance &s;hall ari&s;e from another place,</HI> that is, from God; now they call'd God <HI>place,</HI> becau&s;e he is in every place, filling heaven and earth with his pre&s;ence. Where ever God &s;catters his people, he will be a little Sanctuary<NOTE PLACE="marg">A little San|ctuary is op|po&s;ed to that faire and glo|rious one that was at <HI>Jeru|&s;alem.</HI></NOTE> to them. <HI>Ezek.</HI> 11.16. <HI>Therefore &s;ay, thus &s;aith the Lord God, although I have ca&s;t them far off among the heathen, and although I have &s;cattered them among the Coun|treys, yet will I be to them as a little Sanctuary in the Countries where they &s;hall come.</HI> The Heathens were wont to &s;ay of a va|liant man <HI>(Omne &s;olum forti patria)</HI> every &s;oyle is his Coun|trey; &s;o I may &s;ay of a Chri&s;tian, every Countrey is his home, who enjoyes the pre&s;ence of God with him, who finds God to be a little Sanctuary to him; per&s;ecuted Saints &s;hall be &s;catte|red no where but God will be a little Sanctuary to them; in the want of a vi&s;ible Sanctuary, God will be an invi&s;ible Sanctuary to them; in the want of outward ordinances, they &s;hall have the pre&s;ence of his grace and favour, God will be a protection to them, and a &s;pring of joy and comfort in them; his power &s;hall be as a wall of fire about them, and his Spirit &s;hall be the Guide and Leader of them. Though the <HI>Jews</HI> at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> who
<PB N="391" REF="206"> enjoyed their glorious Temple, and their pompious wor&s;hip, and &s;olemn a&s;&s;emblies, and precious ordinances, lookt upon their Brethren in <HI>Babylon</HI> as a poor, mi&s;erable, de&s;picable, for|lorne, and for&s;aken people, yea as a people without God, and without his wor&s;hip and ordinances, and as tho&s;e that had no|thing to doe with their magnificent Temple, they having no outward &s;plendor or glory at all upon them; yet &s;ays God by <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> I will have them to know that I have other thoughts, and better thoughts concerning their Captived Brethren; for I have thoughts of grace, and thoughts of mercy, and thoughts of love, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> for I will dwell among them, and be a little Sanctuary to them, and make up the want of all outward ordinances and priviledges to them. I have read of the <HI>Tyrians,</HI> that they bound their Gods with chains,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;h. 1.5. P&s;al. 89.33, 34. Jer. 32.38, 39, 40, 41.</NOTE> that they might not leave them in their greate&s;t need; but our God has bound him&s;elfe with many Golden chains, I meane promi&s;es, that he will never leave nor for&s;ake his people in their greate&s;t nece&s;&s;ity and extremi|ty. <HI>Theodoret</HI> had a precious pre&s;ence of God with him in his &s;ufferings; for he &s;ound &s;o much &s;weetne&s;s when he was on the Rack in the mid&s;t of his tortures, that he profe&s;t he did not find any angui&s;h in his torments, but a great deale of plea&s;ure; and when they took him down from the Rack, he complained that they did him wrong in taking of him down, and in cea&s;ing to torment him; <HI>for,</HI> &s;aid he, <HI>all the while I was on the Rack, and you were venting your malice again&s;t me, I thought there was a young man in white, an Angel that &s;tood by me, which wiped off the &s;weat, and I found a great deale of &s;weetne&s;s in my &s;ufferings, which now I have lo&s;t.</HI> O! Chri&s;tians, in all your &s;ufferings the Angel of Gods pre&s;ence will bare you company, and he will &s;weeten the mo&s;t cruel torments, and wipe off all the &s;weat,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 63.9.</NOTE> and take away all the paine, yea he will turne your paines into plea&s;ure. If <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> be ca&s;t into pri&s;on,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 39.20, 21. Jer. 36.6. to the 14. P&s;al. 23.4, 5.</NOTE> the Lord will be with him there; If <HI>Jeremiah</HI> be throwne into the Dungeon, the Lord will be with him there; If <HI>David</HI> walk through the valley of death, Gods Rod and his Staffe &s;hall comfort him; If the three Children be ca&s;t into a fiery Furnace, the pre&s;ence of the Son of God &s;hall pre&s;erve them; if <HI>Daniel</HI> mu&s;t to the Lyons Den, God will keep him company there, and chain up the Lyons na|ture,
<PB N="392" REF="207"> and &s;ow up the Lyons mouths, and lay a law of re&s;traint upon the Lyons pawes, that they &s;hall not have &s;o much as a di&s;po&s;ition to touch him, or in the lea&s;t to hurt him, or harme him;<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 4.16, 17, 18.</NOTE> If <HI>Paul</HI> be brought before <HI>Nero's</HI> Judgement &s;eate, God will &s;tand by him, though all men for&s;ake him, and bring him off with credit and triumph. Thus you &s;ee that in all the af|flictions and per&s;ecutions that doe befall the people of God, God will not faile to keep them company; and therefore let not troubles trouble you, let not afflictions afflict you, nor let not per&s;ecutions di&s;courage you. But,</P>
<P>Sixthly, I an&s;wer, That he &s;hall be &s;ure to &s;uffer from Chri&s;t, that refu&s;es to &s;uffer, or that is afraid to &s;uffer for Chri&s;ts &s;ake, or holine&s;s &s;ake, or the Go&s;pels &s;ake; no man can &s;uffer &s;o much for Chri&s;t, as he &s;hall be &s;ure to &s;uffer from Chri&s;t, if he di&s;|daine and refu&s;e to &s;uffer for Chri&s;t. <HI>Mark</HI> 8.35. <HI>For who&s;oe|ver will &s;ave his life, &s;hall lo&s;e it; but who&s;oever &s;hall lo&s;e his life for my &s;ake,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">That Hu&s;|bandman that keepes his wheat loo&s;es his wheat, but he that &s;owes his wheat re|newes his wheat.</NOTE> <HI>and the Go&s;pels, the &s;ame &s;hall &s;ave it:</HI> He that &s;hall attempt to &s;ave his life by cro&s;&s;ing his light, by &s;hifting off of truth, or by for&s;aking of Chri&s;t, &s;hall lo&s;e it; he that thinks to &s;hun &s;uffering by &s;inning, &s;hall be &s;ure to &s;uffer with a witne&s;s; 'tis a gainfull lo&s;s to &s;uffer for the truth, 'tis a lo&s;sfull gaine by time-&s;erving and ba&s;e complying with the lu&s;ts and humors of men, to provide for our pre&s;ent &s;afety, &s;ecurity, plenty, peace, and ea&s;e, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> either by denying the truth, or by betraying the truth, or by exchanging the truth, or by for&s;aking the truth. When <HI>Henry</HI> the fourth of <HI>France</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>French</HI> Hi&s;to|ry.</NOTE> had conquered his enemies, he turn'd Papi&s;t, and gave this rea&s;on of it, <HI>That he might &s;et|tle him&s;elfe in peace and &s;afety. Ravilliak,</HI> who &s;lew him as he was riding abroad in his Coach to refre&s;h him&s;elf, confe&s;&s;ed that the rea&s;on why he &s;tabb'd him was, becau&s;e he was of two Religions; and thus by endeavouring to &s;ave his life he lo&s;t it. One <HI>Philbert Hamlin</HI> in <HI>France,</HI> having converted a Prie&s;t to the profe&s;&s;ion of the truth, was together with the Prie&s;t appre|hended and ca&s;t into pri&s;on at <HI>Burdeaux:</HI> But after a while, the Prie&s;t being terrified with the pri&s;on, and feare of death, re|nounced Chri&s;t, and was &s;et at liberty; whereupon <HI>Philbert</HI> &s;aid to him; <HI>O unhappy and more then mi&s;erable man, is it po&s;&s;ible that to &s;ave your life for a few dayes, you &s;hould &s;o deny the truth?
<PB N="393" REF="207"> Know therefore, that though you have avoided the corporal fire, yet your life &s;hall not be prolonged, for you &s;hall die before me, and you &s;hall not have the honor to die for the cau&s;e of Chri&s;t, but you &s;hall be an example to Apo&s;tates;</HI> And accordingly as he went out of the pri&s;on, two Gentlemen that had a former quarrel with him, met him and &s;lew him: And thus he al&s;o lo&s;t his life by endeavoring &s;infully to &s;ave it. Though life be &s;weet, and every creature makes much of it, from the highe&s;t Angel to the lowe&s;t worm, yet wo to him that is &s;et upon &s;aving of it, when Chri&s;t calls upon him to be divinely prodigal of it; no fool to him who thinks to avoid a le&s;s danger by running him&s;elf into a greater danger, who thinks to &s;ave his body by lo&s;ing his &s;oul, and to &s;ave his temporal life by lo&s;ing eternal life; there is no lo&s;er to him, who by &s;inful attempts to &s;aved his life, &s;hall lo&s;e a better life then ever he can &s;ave. So <HI>ver.</HI> 38. <HI>Who|&s;oever therefore &s;hall be a&s;hamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and &s;inful generation, of him al&s;o &s;hall the Son of man be a&s;hamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy Angels.</HI> Ah friends, what are pri&s;ons and dungeons, and racks, and flames, to Chri&s;ts being a&s;hamed of a man in the great day, when he &s;hall be attended with Troops of Saints, and millions of Angels? when in the face of the Court of Heaven, when all the Princes of glory &s;hall &s;et upon their thrones, Chri&s;t &s;hall di&s;dain a man, and &s;corn &s;o much as to look upon him, or take any notice of him, or &s;hew the lea&s;t re&s;pect or favor to|wards him: O what a Sea of &s;orrow, and a hell of horror will this rai&s;e in him? I have read that when <HI>Sapores</HI> King of <HI>Per|&s;ia</HI> rai&s;ed a violent per&s;ecution again&s;t the Chri&s;tians,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Sozom. Hi&s;t. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>8.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&V;&s;thaza|res,</HI> an old Nobleman, and one of King <HI>Sapores</HI> Eunuches and Courtiers, being a Chri&s;tian, was &s;o terrified, that he left off his profe&s;&s;ion, and &s;etting at the Court-gate, when <HI>Simeon</HI> an aged holy Bi&s;hop was led to pri&s;on, and ri&s;ing up to &s;alute him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">You may &s;ee the &s;ame &s;to|ry in Mr. <HI>Fox</HI> his book of Martyrs, <HI>fol.</HI> 97. 98.</NOTE> the good Bi&s;hop frowned upon him, and turned his face with in|dignation from him, as di&s;daining to look upon a man that had denyed the faith; upon this, <HI>&V;&s;thazares</HI> fell a weeping, and went into his Chamber, and put off his Courtly garments, and then brake out into the&s;e (like) words, Ah how &s;hall I appear before that God that I have denyed? with what face &s;hall I be|hold
<PB N="394" REF="208"> that God of whom I have been a&s;hamed, when <HI>Simeon</HI> my old Familiar acquaintance will not endure to look upon me, but di&s;dains to be&s;tow a civil &s;alute upon me? if he frown now, O how will God behold me when I &s;hall &s;tand before his Tribu|nal-Seat? And this Phy&s;ick &s;o wrought with him, that he re|covered his &s;piritual &s;trength, and went boldly and profe&s;&s;ed him&s;elf a Chri&s;tian, and dyed a glorious Martyr; the applica|tion is ea&s;ie. Well Sirs, remember this, 'tis infinitely better to &s;uffer for God, then to &s;uffer from God, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3.17. <HI>For it is better,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Non poena, &s;ed cau&s;a facit mar|tyrim.</HI> 'Tis not the puni|&s;hment, but the cau&s;e that makes the Martyr. <HI>Acts and Monu. fol.</HI> 835.</NOTE> <HI>if the will of God be &s;o, that ye &s;uffer for well-doing, then for evil-doing;</HI> 'Tis better to &s;uffer for well-doing from men, then to &s;uffer for ill-doing from God. <HI>Cyprian</HI> in his Ser|mon <HI>de lap&s;is,</HI> makes mention of divers, who for&s;aking the pro|fe&s;&s;ion of their faith, were given over by God to be po&s;&s;e&s;t by evil &s;pirits, and &s;o died fearfully and mi&s;erably. The <HI>Angrog|nians</HI> that yielded and complyed with the Papi&s;ts that came a|gain&s;t them, were more &s;adly and cruelly handled by them, then their neighbors that continued con&s;tant in the truth. Un|der the fourth per&s;ecution there were &s;ome Chri&s;tians, who for fear of torments and death, denied their faith, and &s;acrifi|ced to idols, yet did not their bloody per&s;ecutors &s;pare them; and it was ob&s;erved, that being full of guilt, they went to their deaths with dejected and ill-favoured countenances, &s;o that the very Gentiles took notice of it, and reproached them as degenerous per&s;ons, and worthy to &s;uffer as evil doers. <HI>We&s;t</HI> that was Chaplain to Bi&s;hop <HI>Ridley,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts and Mon. fol. <HI>1570.</HI></NOTE> refu&s;ing to dye in Chri&s;ts cau&s;e with his Ma&s;ter, &s;aid Ma&s;s again&s;t his con&s;cience, and &s;oon after pined away with &s;orrow. A Smith in King <HI>Ed|ward</HI> the &s;ixth's days, called <HI>Richard Den&s;on,</HI> was a forward pro|fe&s;&s;or of Religion, and by his Chri&s;tian in&s;tructions, the hap|py in&s;trument of the conver&s;ion of a young man to the Faith; afterwards in the reign of Queen <HI>Mary,</HI> this young man was ca&s;t into pri&s;on for his Religion, who remembring his old friend and &s;piritual father the Smith, (to whom he always carried a re|verend re&s;pect for the good that he had received by him) &s;ent to know whether he was not impri&s;oned al&s;o, and finding that he was not,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Fox Acts and Mon. fol. <HI>873.</HI></NOTE> de&s;ired to &s;peak with him, and when he came, he asked his advi&s;e, whether he thought it be&s;t for him to remain
<PB N="395" REF="208"> in pri&s;on? and whether he would encourage him to burn at a Stake for his Religion? To whom the Smith an&s;wered, that his cau&s;e was good, and that he might with comfort &s;uffer for it; But for my part (&s;aid the Smith) I cannot burn: But &s;hortly after, he that could not burn for Religion, by Gods ju&s;t Judge|ment was burned for his Apo&s;ta&s;ie, for his Shop and hou&s;e be|ing &s;et on fire, and he over-bu&s;ie to &s;ave his goods, was burnt in the flames. They that will not burn for Chri&s;t when he calls them to it, &s;hall burn whether they will or no. O how much better had it been for this Smith to have burnt for Chri&s;t, then that Chri&s;t &s;hould &s;et his hou&s;e on fire, and burn him in the mid&s;t of it? He that will not &s;uffer for Chri&s;t, &s;hall be &s;ure to &s;uffer wor&s;e things from Chri&s;t, then ever he could have &s;uf|fered for Chri&s;t;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ibid.</HI> 1382.</NOTE> and therefore Doctor <HI>Taylor</HI> the Martyr hit it, If I &s;hrink from Gods truth (&s;aid he) I am &s;ure of another manner of death then Judge <HI>Hales</HI> had; who being drawn for fear of death to do things again&s;t his con&s;cience, did after|wards drown him&s;elf.</P>
<P>In the <HI>Bohemian</HI> per&s;ecution,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The famous Poet.</NOTE> <HI>John Campan</HI> having for&s;aken his Religion, &s;aid to his wife, this day is &s;alvation come to our hou&s;e, whereunto &s;he an&s;wered, this day a cur&s;e is brought into our hou&s;e, and &s;o it proved, for he ended his life in de&s;pair.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e Apo&s;tates that left <HI>Galeacius,</HI> to enjoy their &s;inful plea&s;ures and delights, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> were taken by the bloody inqui&s;i|tion, and forced publikely to recant and abjure their Re|ligion, and when they had done it, they became the &s;ubjects of mi&s;ery and infamy, and were equally odious to both parties.</P>
<P>Chri&s;t &s;eems to &s;ay to all that refu&s;e to &s;uffer for him, as King <HI>Rehoboam</HI> &s;aid to the Ten Tribes (the order of the words be|ing onely inverted) <HI>My little finger &s;hall be thicker then your per&s;ecutors loins, and I will add to your yoke,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 King. 12.10.&mdash;15.</NOTE> <HI>and whereas they would have cha&s;ti&s;ed you but with whips, I will cha&s;ti&s;e you with Scorpions.</HI> O my friends, 'tis ten thou&s;and times wor&s;e to be gi|ven up to a proud heart, a hard heart, a worldly heart, a for|mal heart, an hypocritical heart, a per&s;ecuting heart, an im|penitent heart, or a de&s;paring heart, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> for this is to be whipt with Scorpions, then 'tis to be given up to pri&s;ons, or Racks, or
<PB N="396" REF="209"> Lyons, or flames, or bani&s;hment, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> for this is onely to be cha&s;ti&s;ed with whips, yea with &s;uch whips that can onely reach our bodies, but can never touch our immortal &s;ouls. And therefore as you would not &s;uffer &s;uch hard things from Chri&s;t, O take heed of being unwilling to &s;uffer any thing for Chri&s;ts &s;ake, or the Go&s;pels &s;ake. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="7"> Seventhly, I an&s;wer, That great are the advantages that will redown to you by all the troubles,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 21.13.</NOTE> afflictions, and per&s;ecuti|ons that &s;hall befall you for righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;ake, for holine&s;s &s;ake. Per&s;ecutions are the work-men that will fit you and &s;quare you for Gods buildings, they are the rods that will beat off the du&s;t, and the Skullions that will &s;cour off the ru&s;t from your &s;ouls; they are the fire that will purge you from your dro&s;s, and the water that will clean&s;e you from your filthine&s;s. Phy&s;itians, you know apply Hor&s;e-leeches to their de&s;tempered Patients; now the Hor&s;e-leech intends nothing but to &s;atiate and fill him&s;elf with the blood of the &s;ick patient, but the Phy&s;itian has a more noble aim, even the drawing away of that putrified and cor|rupt blood that endangers the life of his patient: So though per&s;ecutors aim at nothing more then to draw out the heart-blood of Gods people, that they may &s;atiate and fill them&s;elves with it, yet God has other thoughts, and other aims, even the drawing away of that corrupt blood, that pride, that &s;elf-love, that worldline&s;s, that carnalne&s;s, and that luke-warmne&s;s, that otherwi&s;e would endanger the life, the health, and welfare of their &s;ouls. But this great truth I &s;hall make more evident by an induction of particulars, thus:</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, hereby you will give an evident proof of the &s;ound|ne&s;s and uprightne&s;s of your own hearts:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 1.27, 28, 29.</NOTE> Afflictions, and per&s;e|cutions, will di&s;cover what mettal men are made of: All is not Gold that gli&s;ters; many there be that gli&s;ter, and look like golden Chri&s;tians, but when they come to the fire, they prove but dro&s;s; he is a golden Chri&s;tian indeed, who remains gold when under fiery trials. The &s;tony ground did gli&s;ter and &s;hine very gloriou&s;ly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 13.20, 21.</NOTE> for it received the word with joy for a time, but when the Sun of per&s;ecution ri&s;e upon it, it fell away. Men that now imbrace the Word, will in times of per&s;ecu|tion di&s;ta&s;t the Word, if it be not rooted in their under&s;tand|ings,
<PB N="397" REF="209"> judgements, wills, affections, and con&s;ciences; men may court the Word, and complement the Word, and ap|plaud the Word, and &s;eemingly rejoyce in the Word, but thy will never &s;uffer per&s;ecution for the Word, if it be onely received into their heads, and not rooted in their hearts.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 7.26, 27.</NOTE> The Hou&s;e built upon the &s;and, was as lovely, as comely, as goodly, and as glorious a hou&s;e to look upon, as that which was built upon the Rock; but when the rain of affliction de&s;cended, and the floods of tribulation came, and the winds of per&s;ecution blew and beat upon that hou&s;e, it fell, and great was the fall of it. No profe&s;&s;ors will be able to &s;tand it out in all winds and weathers, but &s;uch as are built upon a Rock, all others will &s;ink, &s;hatter,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mal. 3.2.</NOTE> and fall when the wind of per&s;ecution blows upon them; as &s;ure as the rain will fall, the floods flow, and the winds blow, &s;o &s;ure will an un&s;ound heart give out when trials come; no heart but a &s;ound heart will hold out bravely, when hard&s;hips attends holine&s;s on both hands; no heart but a holy heart will bear the brunt of per&s;ecution for holine&s;s &s;ake. The three children, <HI>Shadrach, Me&s;hech,</HI> and <HI>Abednego,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 3.17, 18.</NOTE> would rather burn then bow, they would rather &s;uffer then &s;in, which was an evident proof of their &s;incerity and ingenuity; they would be non-conformi&s;ts, though Court, City and Coun|try cryed up conformity, which was a &s;ure argument of their integrity; but now un&s;ound hearts will exceedingly &s;huffle and &s;hift to &s;hift off per&s;ecution; witne&s;s tho&s;e fal&s;e Teachers in <HI>Gal.</HI> 6.12. <HI>As many as de&s;ire to make a fair &s;hew</HI> (or as the Greek has it, to &s;et a good face on it) <HI>in the fle&s;h,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> <HI>they con&s;train you to be circumci&s;ed: onely le&s;t they &s;hould &s;uffer per&s;ecution for the cro&s;s of Chri&s;t.</HI> At this time the Jews out of zeal to their Law, did &s;orely per&s;ecute tho&s;e that did either preach or pra|cti&s;e any thing contrary to their Law: Now the&s;e fal&s;e Teach|ers &s;et a good face on't, and make a fair &s;hew, as if they were all for carnal Rites and Ceremonies, and they urged circumci|&s;ion upon the <HI>Galathians,</HI> but not out of any affection or zeal that they did bare to the Law, but onely to procure favour on the one hand, and to avoid and e&s;cape the malice and per&s;ecu|tion of the Jews on the other hand: they that were no Jews to avoid per&s;ecution, would comply with them that were; they
<PB N="399" REF="210"> would &s;eem to be very earne&s;t for Judai&s;m, but not for Chri&s;ti|ani&s;me, that &s;o they might e&s;cape the fury of the Jews. Un|&s;ound hearts will &s;ay any thing, and do any thing, and be any thing to avoid per&s;ecution, and to ingratiate them&s;elves with per&s;ecutors.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;eph Hi&s;t. Lib. <HI>13.</HI></NOTE> The <HI>Samaritans,</HI> as long as the Jewi&s;h Religion flouri&s;hed and was in honor, cau&s;ed a Temple to be built on Mount <HI>Garazin,</HI> that therein they might not be inferior to the Jews; and they boa&s;ted them&s;elves to be of the progeny of <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> and wor&s;hippers of God with them, but when they perceived that the Jews were cruelly afflicted and per&s;ecuted by <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes,</HI> for wor&s;hipping of the true God, and fearing lea&s;t they &s;hould be handled in the like manner, they changed both their coat and their note, affirming that they were but <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> but <HI>Sidonians,</HI> and that they had built their Temple, not unto God, but to <HI>Jupiter.</HI> Thus times of affliction and per&s;ecution will di&s;tingui&s;h the precious from the vile, 'twill difference the counterfeit profe&s;&s;or from the true. Per&s;ecution is a Chri&s;tians Touch-&s;tone, 'tis a <HI>Lapis Lydius</HI> that will try what mettal men are made of, whether they be Silver or Tine, Gold or dro&s;s, Wheat or Chaffe, &s;hadow or &s;ub|&s;tance, carnal or Spiritual, &s;incere, or hypocritical; nothing &s;peaks out more &s;oundne&s;s and uprightne&s;s, then a pur&s;uing af|ter holine&s;s, even then when holine&s;s is mo&s;t afflicted, pur&s;ued, and per&s;ecuted in the world; to &s;tand fa&s;t in fiery trials argues much integrity within. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, All the troubles and per&s;ecutions which Satan or his in&s;truments rai&s;e again&s;t the Saints of the mo&s;t high &s;hall not dimini&s;h their number, but rather increa&s;e them. The more the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> in <HI>Egypt</HI> were oppre&s;&s;ed, afflicted, and per&s;ecu|ted, the more they increa&s;ed and multiplyed, <HI>Exod.</HI> 1.10, 11, 12, 13.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cyprian</HI> &s;peak|ing of the Chri&s;tians &amp; Martyrs in his time, &s;aith, <HI>Occidi poterant &s;ed vinci non poterant.</HI> They may kill them&punc; but they can|not overcome them.</NOTE> Come, &s;ay they, let us deal wi&s;ely with them, le&s;t they multiply; let us increa&s;e their task, let us lay heavy bur|dens upon them, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and accordingly they did, thinking by low, this means to cow out their &s;pirits, and to have brought them low, and to have le&s;&s;ened their number; but did this &s;trata|gem prevail? O no, As you may &s;ee in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 12. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplyed and grew. There were but &s;eventy &s;ouls that went down to <HI>Egypt,</HI> but
<PB N="398" REF="210"> they multiplyed to &s;ix hundred thou&s;and, be&s;ides children, as is evident by comparing <HI>Exod.</HI> 1.5.7. with <HI>Chap.</HI> 12.37, 38. So the Jews that were carried captive to <HI>Babylon,</HI> were but twelve thou&s;and &s;ix hundred, but they returned fourty two thou&s;and three hundred and three&s;core, be&s;ides their &s;ervants and their Maids, of whom there were &s;even thou&s;and three hundred thirty and &s;even. <HI>Neh.</HI> 7.66, 67, &amp;c. <HI>Ezra</HI> 2.64, 65. The Kingdom of Chri&s;t is &s;et forth by a little &s;tone cut out of a Mountain without hands;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 2.34, 35.</NOTE> and though in all ages there has been many hammers at work to break this little &s;tone in pieces, yet they have not been able to do it, but this little &s;tone has proved a growing &s;tone, and in &s;pite of the devil, and a per|&s;ecuting world will grow more and more, till it comes to be a-great mountain, and filleth the whole earth. In the 8. of the <HI>Acts</HI> you read of a great per&s;ecution, and the &s;torm beat &s;o hard up|on the Churches, that it di&s;per&s;ed and &s;cattered them up and down; and this was &s;o far from le&s;&s;ening of the number of believers that it did mightily increa&s;e their number; witne&s;s <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 4, 5, 6, 8. <HI>Therefore they that were &s;cattered abroad, went every where preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Chri&s;t unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto tho&s;e things which Philip &s;pake, hearing and &s;eeing the miracles which he did. And there was great joy in that city. Samaria</HI> was a very wicked corrupt place, and bewitch't by the Sorceries of <HI>Simon Magus,</HI> yet God had his people there,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver&s;. 14, 15, 16, 17.</NOTE> and by the Mini&s;try of <HI>Philip</HI> (not <HI>Philip</HI> the Apo&s;tle, but <HI>Philip</HI> the Deacon) who was a per&s;ecu|ted brother, he called them home to be partakers of his Spirit and Grace. And thus the &s;cattering of the Church was the great advantage and increa&s;e of the Church;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Witne&s;s <HI>Fa|ber, Farellus, Ruffus,</HI> and many others in <HI>France,</HI> and witne&s;s our Brethren who were forced to fly to <HI>New-Eng|land.</HI></NOTE> the per&s;ecution of one Church may be the gathering, edifying, multiplying, and erecting of many Churches. Such Mini&s;ters who have been by per&s;ecution driven from their own Churches, have been eminently in&s;trumental in the planting of many other Churches. Though the Go&s;pel, and the faithful Preachers and profe&s;&s;ors of it was by the Scribes, Phari&s;ees, High Prie&s;ts, Elders, and great council, exploded, bla&s;phemed and per&s;ecuted at <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem</HI> (which was once the holy City) yet it was with joy recei|ved
<PB N="400" REF="211"> in the poluted, bewitched, &s;corned and di&s;pi&s;ed City of <HI>Samaria.</HI> O the Freene&s;s! O the riches of grace! Per&s;e|cution is the multiplication of the people of God; in all ages the more the Saints have been afflicted, oppre&s;&s;ed, and per&s;e|cuted, the more they have increa&s;ed. The removing of the &s;even Churches in <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> brought the Go&s;pel to <HI>Europe</HI> and <HI>Af|frica.</HI> During the ten cruel per&s;ecutions of the Heathen Em|perors, the Chri&s;tian faith was &s;pread thorow all places of the Empire, becau&s;e the oftner they were mowen down, the more they grew, as <HI>Tertullian</HI> witne&s;&s;eth; and the more we are cut down by the &s;word of per&s;ecution (&s;aith the &s;ame Author) the more &s;till we increa&s;e. Per&s;ecuted Saints are like Cammo|mile which grows and &s;preads by being trod upon; the more per&s;ecutors tread upon the people of God, the more they will &s;pread and grow. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> has long &s;ince ob&s;erved, that though there were many thou&s;and Chri&s;tians put to death for profe&s;|&s;ing Chri&s;t, yet they were never the fewer for being &s;lain. <HI>Julian</HI> the Apo&s;tate devi&s;ed all manner of torments to terrifie the people of God, and to &s;uppre&s;s them, and yet they in|crea&s;ed and multiplyed &s;o fa&s;t, that at la&s;t he thought it his be&s;t cour&s;e to give over per&s;ecuting of them, and this he did not out of love to them, but becau&s;e the more they were per&s;ecu|ted, the more they increa&s;ed.</P>
<P>In <HI>Diocle&s;ians</HI> time under whom the la&s;t and wor&s;t of the ten per&s;ecutions fell, for then Chri&s;tian Religion was more de&s;pe|rately oppo&s;ed and per&s;ecuted then ever, and yet then Reli|gion pro&s;pered and prevailed more then ever;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ruffinus.</NOTE> &s;o that <HI>Diocle&s;ian</HI> him&s;elf ob&s;erving that the more he &s;ought to blot out the name of Chri&s;t, the more legible it was, and the more he la|bored to block up the way of Chri&s;t, the more pa&s;&s;ible it was, and that whatever of Chri&s;t he though to root out, it rooted the deeper, and ro&s;e the higher, thereupon he re&s;olved to en|gage no further, but retired to a private life.</P>
<P>And it is very ob&s;ervable, that the reformation in <HI>Germany,</HI> was much furthered by the very oppo&s;ition that the Papi&s;ts made again&s;t it; yea, and 'tis not to be forgotten, that when two Kings wrote again&s;t <HI>Luther, viz. Henry</HI> the eighth of <HI>England,</HI> and <HI>Ludovicus</HI> of <HI>Hungary,</HI> this Kingly Title being
<PB N="401" REF="211"> entred into the controver&s;ie, made men more diligently and curiou&s;ly to examine the matter, by which means there was &s;tir'd up in men a general inclination to <HI>Luthers</HI> opinion.</P>
<P>I have read of one who ob&s;erving the Chri&s;tian Religion to be &s;o furiou&s;ly per&s;ecuted by bloody <HI>Nero,</HI> concluded that &s;urely that mu&s;t needs be good, yea very good which was &s;o cruelly per&s;ecuted by <HI>Nero</HI> who was &s;o bad, &s;o very bad: if men would &s;it down and &s;tudy which way to make mo&s;t pro&s;elytes to &s;uch and &s;uch opinions and practices that are different from their own, certainly they cannot pitch upon a better way then to per&s;ecute tho&s;e that differ from them; 'tis the &s;word of the Spirit, and not the &s;word of per&s;ecution that will reduce the erroneous; when the di&s;ea&s;e lies in the head, the remedy mu&s;t be an&s;werable to the di&s;ea&s;e: certainly a man &s;hall as &s;oon conquer a Ca|&s;tle by Spiritual arguments, as he &s;hall conquer a con&s;ci|ence by club-law; when our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;ent forth his Di&s;ciples to make a conque&s;t upon an ignorant, erro|neous, and deluded world, he did not &s;end them forth with &s;words, pi&s;tols, or any &s;uch military weapons; O no, but he &s;ent them forth under the choice anointings of his Spirit, and with his everla&s;ting Go&s;pel, and by the&s;e means he turned the world up&s;ide down; the&s;e were the means by which he turned &s;inners from darkne&s;s to light,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 26.18.</NOTE> and from the power of Satan to Je&s;us Chri&s;t. The weapons that the Apo&s;tles u&s;ed were not carnal, but Spiritual. 2 <HI>Corinth.</HI> 10.4, 5. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but Spiritual,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Vide Calvin, Beza, <HI>and</HI> E&s;tius.</NOTE> and mighty through God to the pulling down of &s;trong holds, ca&s;ting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth it &s;elf again&s;t the know|ledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Chri&s;t. Satan had many &s;trong holds, and &s;in had many &s;trong holds, and carnal rea&s;on had many &s;trong holds, and the world had many &s;trong holds in &s;inners hearts; and yet all the&s;e &s;trong holds, Forts, Towers, Ca&s;tles, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> were not able to &s;tand before the Apo&s;tles Spiritual weapons: they all come tumbling down
<PB N="402" REF="212"> before the Spirit and the word of the Lord in the mouths of his faithful Mini&s;ters; by the&s;e Spiritual weapons Satan was di&s;armed, and rebellious tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors were con|quered, captivated, and &s;ubdued to the obedience of the Lord Je&s;us. But,</P>
<P>Thirdly, The troubles, afflictions, and per&s;ecutions that be|fall you in the pur&s;uit after holine&s;s, may i&s;&s;ue in the conver|&s;ion and &s;alvation of others, as is evident in <HI>Acts</HI> 8. which Chapter I recommend to your mo&s;t &s;erious peru&s;al. So in that 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 2.9, 10. <HI>Wherein I &s;uffer trouble as an evil doer, even unto bonds, but the Word of God is not bound,</HI> (though <HI>Paul</HI> was fettered,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, For this cau&s;e.</NOTE> yet the word was free) <HI>Therefore I endure all things for the Elects &s;akes, that they may al&s;o obtain the &s;alva|tion which is in Chri&s;t Je&s;us, with eternal glory. Paul</HI> for preaching of the Go&s;pel clearly and faithfully was impri&s;oned at <HI>Rome,</HI> and handled as if he had been a malefactor, all which he was contented to &s;uffer upon the&s;e very grounds, that the Elect might be called, converted, &s;aved and glorified. 'Tis very ob&s;ervable, that though <HI>Paul</HI> was a pri&s;oner, yet he preacht; though he was in bonds,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Several of <HI>Pauls</HI> Epi&s;tles were written when he was in bonds.</NOTE> yet he preacht; and though he was accounted as an evil doer, yet he preacht, that the Elect might be &s;anctified and &s;aved; Though his per&s;ecutors did lay Irons upon his legs, yet they did not lay a law of &s;ilence upon his lips; and though they &s;hut him up from going to others, yet they did not &s;hut out others from coming to hear him; for even in bonds he exerci&s;ed his mini&s;terial office: As cruel as his per&s;ecutors were, they would not &s;hut the pri&s;on doors upon them that waited on his Mini&s;try. So <HI>Philemon</HI> was converted by <HI>Paul</HI> when he was in bonds, <HI>Phil. v.</HI> 10. <HI>I be&s;eech thee for my &s;on One&s;imus, whom I have begotten in my bonds. Paul</HI> had a ble&s;&s;ing going along with his Mini&s;try, when he was in bonds as well as when he was at liberty. <HI>One&s;imus</HI> was converted when <HI>Paul</HI> was a pri&s;oner; God made <HI>Pauls</HI> pri&s;on to be a Paradi&s;e to <HI>One&s;imus; Paul</HI> by his preaching, patience, and chearfulne&s;s in &s;uffering, converts <HI>One&s;imus</HI> to the faith: pri&s;ons in the&s;e times were turn'd into Churches; And &s;o they were in Queen <HI>Maries</HI> daies;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Act.</HI> and <HI>Mon.</HI> fol. 1457.</NOTE> for as bloody as her Raign was, mo&s;t of the pri&s;ons in <HI>England</HI> were turn'd into Chri&s;tian
<PB N="403" REF="212"> Schools and Churches (&s;aith Mr. <HI>Fox</HI>) &s;o that there was no greater comfort then for Chri&s;tians to re&s;ort to pri&s;ons, and to hear the Martyrs to pray and preach, and to behold their holy, humble, heavenly, gratious conver&s;ation.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ibid.</HI> 1381.</NOTE> So the afflicti|ons and per&s;ecutions of the Saints in the primitive times i&s;&s;u|ed in the conver&s;ion and &s;alvation of many &s;ouls. We read that <HI>Cicilia</HI> a poort Virgin by her gracious behaviour in her mar|tyrdom, was the means of converting 400. to Chri&s;t. <HI>Adri|anus</HI> by &s;eeing the Martyrs &s;uffer &s;o patiently and chearfully, was converted to the faith, and afterwards &s;ealed to the truth with his blood. <HI>Ju&s;tin Martyr</HI> was al&s;o converted in the &s;ame way. In the third per&s;ecution, <HI>Fau&s;tus</HI> and <HI>Jobita,</HI> Citizens of <HI>Brixia,</HI> &s;uffered Martyrdom with &s;uch invincible patience, courage, and chearfulne&s;s, that <HI>Caeloccrius</HI> cryed out <HI>(Vere magnus Deus Chri&s;tianorum)</HI> Verily great is the God of the Chri&s;tians; Upon which words he was pre&s;ently apprehend|ed, and &s;o &s;uffered martyrdom with them. And that was a re|markable &s;aying of <HI>Luther (Eccle&s;ia totum mundum convert it &s;anguine &amp; oratione)</HI> the Church converteth the whole world by blood and prayer. Now if by your troubles, afflictions, and per&s;ecutions, and the exerci&s;e of grace under them, you &s;hall be in&s;trumental to convert and &s;ave a &s;oul or &s;ouls from wrath to come, it will turn wonderfully to your advantage, and you &s;hall <HI>&s;hine as the &s;tars for ever and ever,</HI> Dan. 12.3. That &s;ame power, pre&s;ence, wi&s;dom, and grace, that convert|ed others by the &s;ufferings of former Saints, is able to accom|pli&s;h the &s;ame glorious effects by the &s;ufferings of the Saints of this Generation; and therefore beare up bravely, and neither fear nor faint under your pre&s;ent &s;ufferings. But,</P>
<P>Fourthly, The troubles, afflictions, and per&s;ecutions that <MILESTONE N="4"> Chri&s;tians meet with in their pur&s;uit after holine&s;s, will fur|ther the increa&s;e and growth of their grace; grace never ri&s;es to &s;o great a height as it do's in times of per&s;ecution; &s;uffering times are a Chri&s;tians Harve&s;t times.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 69.7, 8, 9, 12.</NOTE> Let me in&s;tance in that grace of zeal: I remember <HI>Moulin</HI> &s;peaking of the <HI>French</HI> Prote&s;tants, &s;aith, <HI>When Papi&s;ts hurt us for reading the Scri|ptures, we burn with zeal to be reading of them; but now per&s;e|cution is over, our Bibles are like old Almanacks,</HI> &amp;c. All the
<PB N="404" REF="213"> reproaches, frowns, threatnings, oppo&s;itions, and per&s;ecuti|ons that a Chri&s;tian meets with in a way of holine&s;s, doth but rai&s;e his zeal and courage to a greater height. <HI>Micha's</HI> &s;cof|fing at <HI>David</HI> did but inflame and rai&s;e his zeal:<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 6.20.21, 22.</NOTE> <HI>If this be to be vile, I will be more vile.</HI> Look as fire in the winter burns the hotter (by an <HI>Antiperi&s;ta&s;is</HI>) becau&s;e of the coldne&s;s of the air; &s;o in the winter of affliction and per&s;ecution, that divine fire, the zeal of a Chri&s;tian, burns &s;o much the hotter, and flames forth &s;o much the more vehemently and &s;trongly. In times of greate&s;t affliction and per&s;ecution for holine&s;s &s;ake, a Chri&s;tian hath, fir&s;t, a good Captain to lead and encourage him; Secondly, a righteous cau&s;e to prompt and embolden him; Thirdly, a gracious God to relieve and &s;uccour him; Fourthly, a glorious heaven to receive and reward him; and certainly the&s;e things cannot but mightily rai&s;e him and in|flame him, under the greate&s;t oppo&s;ition and per&s;ecution; The&s;e things will keep him from fearing, fawning, fainting, &s;inking, or flying in a &s;tormy day; yea the&s;e things will make his face like the face of an Adamant, as God promi&s;ed to make <HI>Ezekiels:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 3.7, 8, 9. Job 41.24. <HI>Pliny.</HI></NOTE> Now an Adamant is the harde&s;t of &s;tones, 'tis harder then a flint, yea 'tis harder then the nether-mil&s;tone. The Naturali&s;ts ob&s;erve, that the hardne&s;s of this &s;tone is un|&s;peakable; the fire cannot burn it (nor &s;o much as heat it tho|row) nor the hammer cannot break it, nor the water cannot di&s;&s;olve it, and therefore the Greeks call it an Adamant from its untameablene&s;s; and in all &s;torms the Adamant &s;hrinks not, it fears not, it changeth not its hue; let the times be what they will, the Adamant is &s;till the &s;ame; in times of per&s;ecu|tion, a good cau&s;e, a good God, and a good con&s;cience will make a Chri&s;tian like an Adamant, 'twill make him invincible, and unchangeabl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">. When one de&s;ired to know what kind of man <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> was, there was pre&s;ented to him in a dream, &s;aith the Hi&s;tory, a Pillar of fire with this motto <HI>(Talis e&s;t Ba&s;ilius) Ba&s;il</HI> is &s;uch a one, he is all on a light fire for God; per&s;ecuti|ons will but &s;et a Chri&s;tian all on a light fire for God. Look as Well-water is warme&s;t in the winter time, &s;o real Chri&s;tians are warme&s;t for God, his glory, truth, and ways, in the winter of affliction and per&s;ecution: true grace ri&s;es by oppo&s;ition &amp;
<PB N="405" REF="213"> per&s;ecution; many a man had not been &s;o good if the times had not been &s;o bad; many a man had not been &s;o gratious, if the times had not been &s;o dangerous; many a man had not been &s;o holy, if the times had not been &s;o prophane; many a man had not been &s;o zealous, if the times had not been &s;o lukewarm; many a man had not been &s;o &s;tout and re&s;olute again&s;t bowing the knee to <HI>Baal,</HI> if multitudes had not been wor&s;hppers of <HI>Baal.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 14, 1.&mdash;6.</NOTE> All the afflictions and per&s;ecutions that befall the people of God, do but add to their &s;piritual life, light, and lu&s;tre. As Stars &s;hine brighte&s;t in the darke&s;t nights, and as Spices &s;mell &s;weete&s;t when pounded, and as Vines are the better for bleeding, and Gold the brighter for &s;cowring, and Palm-trees the better for pre&s;&s;ing; &s;o the graces of the Saints &s;hine brighte&s;t, and &s;mell &s;weete&s;t, and ri&s;e highe&s;t in times of affliction and per&s;ecution. The Naturali&s;ts have long &s;ince ob&s;erved, that though the South wind be more plea&s;ant, yet the North wind is more healthfull; for the South wind with his warmth rai&s;eth vapours, which breed putrefaction, and cau&s;e di&s;ea&s;es; but the North wind with his cold drieth up tho&s;e vapours, purging the blood, and quickning the &s;pirits: &s;o the North wind of affliction and per&s;ecution, contributes mo&s;t to the drying up of &s;inful vapours, and to the quickning up of a Chri&s;tians Graces. Though the wind may blow, and the rain in &s;tormy weather may beat upon a painted Po&s;t or Sign, who&s;e colour is laid in oyle, yet the wind and rain is &s;o far from blowing or wa&s;hing off the colour or beauty that is upon the Po&s;t or Sign, that it rather adds to their beauty, and makes them &s;hine more beautifull then before; &s;o the rain of affliction and the wind of per&s;ecution, do ra|ther add to the beauty and lu&s;tre of a Chri&s;tians graces, then any way cloud them, or take off the &s;piritual beauty and glory of them. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly, Per&s;ecuting times are uniting times; oh the di&s;|cord, <MILESTONE N="5"> the divi&s;ion, the wrangling, biting &amp; quarrelling that is to be found among profe&s;&s;ors in times of peace &amp; pro&s;perity! but when affliction and per&s;ecution comes upon them, this
<PB N="406" REF="214"> unites them together.<NOTE PLACE="marg">In per&s;ecuting times the Saints have been but as one man; which made their very per&s;ecutors to &s;ay <HI>(Ecce ut invicem &s;e diligunt!)</HI> &s;ee how the&s;e Chri&s;tians love one ano|ther, &s;ee how they knit and clo&s;e toge|ther! <HI>Eu&s;ebius in Hi&s;t.</HI> P&s;alm 83.3. to ver&s;e 9. 2 Chron. 20.1, 4, 12.</NOTE> Though the &s;heep in Sun-&s;hine dayes feed at a di&s;tance, and wander one from another; yet when a &s;torm comes, or the Wolf comes, then they run all together; and &s;o it's with Chri&s;tians: Some Religious Bi&s;hops that could by no means agree when they had their freedom and liberty, yet could well enough agree when they were in pri&s;on together. Though children in a Family may fall out among them&s;elves, yet they quickly unite when a common enemy a&s;&s;aults them. Per&s;ecuting times unite Chri&s;tians clo&s;er toge|ther in their affections, re&s;olutions and prayers: they who formerly could hardly be brought to eat together, or trade together, or live together, or walk together, in per&s;ecuting times will be brought to hear together, and pray together, and fa&s;t together, and communicate experiences together, and &s;tand together, and fall together, and ri&s;e together, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> When <HI>Gebal</HI> &amp; <HI>Ammon</HI> and <HI>Amaleck</HI> did combine, the peo|ple of God kept clo&s;e together: for they very well knew that broken forces were &s;oon di&s;&s;ipated. I have read of <HI>Ptolomeus Philadelphius</HI> King of <HI>Egypt,</HI> that he cau&s;ed the Bible to be tran&s;lated by &s;eventy Interpreters, which &s;eventy were &s;eve|rally di&s;po&s;ed of in &s;eventy &s;everal Cels, &amp; though they knew not the names of one another, nor never &s;aw the faces of one another, yet they did &s;o well agree in their &s;everal Tran&s;lati|ons, that there was no con&s;iderable difference betwixt them in rendring the Text: &s;o when the people of God &s;hall be put into Cells and Pri&s;ons, and Goals, then they will &s;o agree together,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 7.</NOTE> that there will be little or no difference betwixt them. As all the &s;tones that came about <HI>Stephens</HI> ears, did but knock him clo&s;er to Chri&s;t the corner &s;tone: &s;o all the &s;tones that come about the Saints ears, will but knock them the nearer to Chri&s;t, and the clo&s;er one to another. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="6"> Sixthly, As per&s;ecuting times are uniting times, &s;o per&s;e|cuting times are truth-advancing times: truth thrives mo&s;t when it is mo&s;t oppo&s;ed and pe&s;ecuted, <HI>Phil.</HI> 1.12, 13, 14. <HI>But I would ye &s;hould under&s;tand, Brethren, that the things which hapned unto me, have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel; So that my Bonds in Chri&s;t are manife&s;ted in all the palace,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Veritas vincit.</NOTE> <HI>and in all other places. And many of the Brethren in the
<PB N="407" REF="214"> Lord waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to &s;peak the word without fear.</HI> Both Court, City, and Countrey did ring of <HI>Pauls</HI> bonds, and the cau&s;e thereof; <HI>Pauls</HI> Iron chain made more noi&s;e, and was more glorious, and wrought more ble&s;&s;ed effects then all the Golden chains in <HI>Nero's</HI> Court: for by his bonds and chains many of the Brethren were mightily imboldned and encouraged to preach the word without fear; the Brethren when they &s;aw that <HI>Paul</HI> preacht, and kept up the exerci&s;e of his Mini&s;try, though a pri&s;oner, and though he was in bonds and chains, could not but rea&s;on thus with them&s;elves;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Si veritas e&s;t cau&s;a di&s;cor|diae, mori po&s;|&s;um, tacere non po&s;&s;um:</HI> If truth be the cau&s;e of our di&s;cord, I may dye, but I may not be &s;ilent, &s;aid <HI>Jerom</HI> to <HI>Helvidius.</HI></NOTE> if <HI>Paul</HI> a pri&s;oner holds up and holds on in preaching the word, though he be in bonds &amp; chains; ah how much more ought we who are at liberty to hold up &amp; hold on in preaching the truth, and advancing the truth, &amp; in &s;pread|ing of the truth! There were many that took an occa&s;ion from <HI>Pauls</HI> impri&s;onment, bonds, and &s;ufferings, to di&s;grace his Apo&s;tle&s;hip; the Apo&s;tle meets with the&s;e, and tells them, that though they de&s;igned and intended the di&s;grace and hinderance of the Go&s;pel by his impri&s;onment and bonds; yet God had by his wonderfull providence and goodne&s;s &s;o or|dered the matter, that his bonds and impri&s;onment turned to his great honor and fame, and an occa&s;ion of further &s;pread|ing and advancing the Go&s;pel. Though Satan and his in&s;tru|ments may di&s;turb the truth, yet they cannot &s;uppre&s;s it; for <HI>(magna e&s;t veritas &amp; praevalebit)</HI> great is truth, &amp; &s;hall prevail. So upon the per&s;ecution of <HI>Stephen</HI> many of the Brethren preached the word far and near, and the hand of the Lord was with them to the conver&s;ion of many, <HI>Act.</HI> 11.19.&mdash;25. Now they which were &s;cattered abroad upon the per&s;ecution that aro&s;e about <HI>Stephen,</HI> travelled as far as <HI>Phenice,</HI> &amp; <HI>Cyprus,</HI> and <HI>Antioch,</HI> preaching the word to none but the <HI>Jews</HI> only; and &s;ome of them were men of <HI>Cyprus,</HI> and <HI>Cyrene,</HI> which when they were come to <HI>Antioch,</HI> &s;pake unto the <HI>Grecians,</HI> preaching the Lord Je&s;us; and the hand of the Lord was with them; and a great number believed, &amp; turned unto the Lord. Then tidings of the&s;e things came unto the ears of the Church which was in <HI>Jeru&s;alem;</HI> and they &s;ent forth <HI>Barnabas,</HI> that he &s;hould go as far as <HI>Antioch:</HI> who when he came, and had
<PB N="408" REF="215"> &s;een the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpo&s;e of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Gho&s;t, and of faith; and much people were added unto the Lord. The Brethren that were di&s;per&s;ed and &s;cattered by rea&s;on of per&s;ecution, fall upon preaching of the Lord Je&s;us; and though they were Lay-men, yet the hand of the Lord was mightily with them, &s;o that a great number believed and turned to the Lord. God is a free agent, and can work the hearts of men over to him|&s;elf by what hand he plea&s;es, and many times he doth the greate&s;t works by the mo&s;t de&s;pi&s;ed hands,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 1.21, 25, 27.</NOTE> as it is evident in this in&s;tance. The Apo&s;tles did not fret, and fume, and &s;torm, and take on, becau&s;e the&s;e Brethren preacht the Lord Je&s;us without ordination to the work of the Mini&s;try. O no; but they were glad and rejoyced in their bringing in of &s;ouls to Chri&s;t, and they made it their work to exhort, encou|rage and build up tho&s;e that were brought in; neither did they prohibit the&s;e Brethren from preaching, becau&s;e they had not Apo&s;tolical hands laid on them. By the&s;e Lay-mens preaching, Chri&s;t is revealed, and multitudes are converted, and truth is advanced&punc; and the Apo&s;tles are gladded. Now by what hath been &s;aid, it is mo&s;t evident that per&s;ecuting times are truth-advancing times. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="7"> Seventhly, and la&s;tly, As per&s;ecuting times are truth-ad|vancing times: &s;o per&s;ecuting times are a Chri&s;tians re|joycing times: A Chri&s;tians heart is never &s;o full of joy, as it is when he is under &s;ufferings, <HI>Acts.</HI> 5.41.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 7.55, 56. Chap. 16.25. Oh how my heart leapeth for joy (&s;aid Mr. <HI>Philpot</HI>) that I am &s;o near the ap|prehen&s;ion of eternal life! Eph. 3.1. Chap. 4.1. 2 Tim. 1.8. Phil. 1.9.23.</NOTE> <HI>And they departed from the pre&s;ence of the Council, rejoycing that they were counted worthy to &s;uffer &s;hame for his name:</HI> They counted it an honour to be di&s;honoured for Chri&s;t, they took it as a grace to be di&s;graced for Je&s;us. <HI>Stephen</HI> found the joyes of heaven in his heart as the &s;tones came clattering about his ears. So <HI>Paul</HI> and <HI>Sylas</HI> when they were in pri&s;on, their hearts were &s;o full of joy that they could not hold, but at mid-night when others were a &s;leeping, they mu&s;t fall a &s;inging out the prai&s;es of the mo&s;t High; they found more plea&s;ure then pain, more joy then &s;orrow more comfort then torment in their bonds; the Rods with which
<PB N="409" REF="215"> they were whipt,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Col. 4.10. Rom. 16.7. <HI>Paul</HI> rattles his chaine which he bears for the Go&s;pels &s;ake, and was as proud of it, as a woman of her orna|ments, &s;aith <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom.</HI></NOTE> were as Rods made up all of Ro&s;emary bran|ches; divine con&s;olations ri&s;e &s;o high in their &s;ouls, that their pri&s;on was turn'd into a Pallace, yea into a Paradi&s;e. <HI>Paul</HI> was a man that took a great deale of plea&s;ure in his &s;ufferings for Chri&s;t; 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.10. <HI>Therefore I take plea&s;ure in infirmities, in reproaches, in nece&s;&s;ities, in per&s;ecutions, in di&s;tre&s;&s;es for Chri&s;ts &s;ake:</HI> He did not only bare his &s;ufferings patiently, but chear|fully al&s;o; he often &s;ings it our, <HI>I Paul a pri&s;oner</HI> (as you may &s;ee by comparing the Scriptures in the margent together) <HI>of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t;</HI> not I <HI>Paul</HI> an Apo&s;tle, nor I <HI>Paul</HI> wrapt up in the third heaven, nor I <HI>Paul</HI> that have more gifts, parts, and learn|ing then others, but <HI>I Paul a pri&s;oner,</HI> to &s;hew how much he re|joyced in his bonds and &s;ufferings for Chri&s;t. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom</HI> did not hold <HI>Paul</HI> &s;o happy for his rapture into Paradi&s;e, as he did for his impri&s;onment for Chri&s;t. So <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.3, 4. And not only &s;o, but <HI>we glory in tribulations al&s;o, knowing that tribulation works patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.</HI> Old Soul|diers could not glory and joy more in their marks and &s;cars of honour, then the&s;e Saints did in their tribulations and per&s;ecu|tions for Chri&s;ts &s;ake. <HI>Rabbi Simeon Ben Jochai</HI> liv'd twelve years in a dark Dungeon for feare of the <HI>Roman</HI> per&s;ecution in the Reigne of <HI>Trajane</HI> the Emperour; and he call'd his dark Dungeon <HI>Zohar,</HI> that is, <HI>&s;plendor,</HI> becau&s;e God had turn'd his darkne&s;s into light, and made up the want of the light of the Sun, by the light of his countenance, and by the &s;hinings of the Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;s upon his &s;oul. <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI> tells us of <HI>Alge|rius</HI> the <HI>Italian</HI> martyr, how that writing to his friend from a &s;tinking Dungeon, he dates his Letter from my delicate Or|chard;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts and Mon. fol.</HI> 857. And Ma&s;ter <HI>Glover</HI> the Martyr wept for joy of his impri&s;on|ment. <HI>William Hun|ters</HI> Mother (that &s;uffered under <HI>Bonner</HI>) told him that &s;he was glad that ever &s;he was &s;o happy, as to beare &s;uch a childe as could finde in his heart to die for Chri&s;ts &s;ake.</NOTE> &s;uch were his divine con&s;olations that they turn'd his Dungeon into a plea&s;ant Orchard. <HI>I with my Fellowes,</HI> &s;aith Mr. <HI>Philpot, were carried to the Cole-hou&s;e, where we doe rouze toge|ther in the &s;traw, as chearfully (we thank God) as others doe in their beds of downe.</HI> Mr. <HI>Bradford</HI> put off his Cap, and thanked the Lord, when his Keepers wife brought him word that he was to be burnt the next day: And Mr. <HI>Taylor</HI> fetcht a frisk when he was come neare to the place where he was to &s;uffer. <HI>Henry</HI> and <HI>John</HI> (two <HI>Augu&s;tin</HI> Monks) being the fir&s;t that were burnt in <HI>Germany,</HI> and Mr. <HI>Rogers</HI> the fir&s;t that was burnt in Queen
<PB N="410" REF="216"> <HI>Maries</HI> dayes, did all &s;ing in the flames. If men did but know by experience the &s;weet that is in &s;uffering for Chri&s;t, they would de&s;ire with <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom,</HI> if it were put to their choice, rather to be <HI>Paul</HI> a pri&s;oner of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, then <HI>Paul</HI> wrapt up in the third heaven. One of the holy Women that &s;uffered Martyrdom in this Nation, rejoyced that &s;he might have her foot in the &s;ame hole of the Stocks, in which Mr. <HI>Philpots</HI> had been before. And <HI>Luther</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luther.</HI> Fire, &s;word, death, pri&s;on, famine, are all plea&s;ures, they are all delightfull to me, &s;aith <HI>Ba&s;il. Mode&s;tus</HI> Lieutenant to <HI>Julian</HI> the Emperour, told him, that when the Chri&s;tians &s;uf|fered they did but de|ride them, and the tor|ments (&s;aid he) with which Chri|&s;tians are tor|mented, are more terrible to the tor|mentors, then they are to the tormen|ted.</NOTE> r<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ports of that famous Martyr Saint <HI>Agatha,</HI> that as &s;he went to pri&s;ons and tortures, &s;he &s;aid &s;he went to Banquets and Nuptials. <HI>Vincentius</HI> laughing at his Tor|mentors, &s;aid, that death and tortures were to Chri&s;tians <HI>(Jo|cularia &amp; ludicra)</HI> matters of &s;port and pa&s;time, and he joyed and gloried when he went upon hot burning Coales, as if he had trod upon Ro&s;es. <HI>Philip Lan&s;grave</HI> of <HI>He&s;&s;e,</HI> being a long time pri&s;oner under <HI>Charles</HI> the fifth, 'twas demanded, what upheld him all that time, and he an&s;wered, that he felt the divine con|&s;olations of the Martyrs. <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> in his Oration for <HI>Barlaam</HI> that famous Martyr, &s;aith, that he delighted in the clo&s;e pri&s;on as in a plea&s;ant green meddow, and he took plea&s;ure in the &s;everall inventions of tortures, as in &s;everall &s;weet flowers. <HI>William Tims</HI> Martyr, in a Letter to a friend of his a little before his death, writeth thus, <HI>Now I take my leave of you till we meet in heaven, and hie you after; I have tarried a great while for you, and &s;eeing you are &s;o long in making ready, I will tarry no longer for you: you &s;hall finde me merrily &s;inging, Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sab|both, at my journeys end,</HI> &amp;c. And when they kindled the fire at the feete of <HI>James Bainkam, me-thinks,</HI> &s;aid he, <HI>you &s;trew ro&s;es before me.</HI> And <HI>Hawkes</HI> the Martyr lifted up his hands above his head, and clapt them together when he was in the fire, as if he had been riding in &s;tate and triumph. And holy Mr. <HI>Saun|ders</HI> &s;peaking of his con&s;olations in his &s;ufferings, &s;aith, that he found a wonderfull &s;weet refre&s;hment flow from his heart unto all the members of his body, and from all the parts of his body to his heart againe. By all the&s;e in&s;tances 'tis mo&s;t evident that per&s;ecuting times are the Saints rejoycing times; God re&s;erves the be&s;t and &s;tronge&s;t wine of con&s;olation to a day of per&s;ecuti|on; &s;utable to that 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.3, 4, 5. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed be God, even the father of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the father of mercy, and the God
<PB N="411" REF="216"> of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in trouble, by the comfort wherewith we our &s;elves are comforted of God. For as the &s;uffer|ings of Chri&s;t abound in us, &s;o our con&s;olation al&s;o aboundeth by Chri&s;t.</HI> Oh the &s;weet looks, the &s;weet words, the &s;weet hints, the &s;weet in-comes, the &s;weet joggings, the &s;weet imbraces, the &s;weet influences, the &s;weet di&s;coveries, the &s;weet love-letters, the &s;weet love-tokens, and the &s;weet comforts that Chri&s;tians experience in their &s;ufferings for Chri&s;t; in all their afflictions and per&s;ecutions, they may truly &s;ay, we have &s;weet-meats to eate, and waters of life to drinke, and heavenly honey-combes to &s;uck, that the world knows not of; and indeed when &s;hould the Torch be lighted, but in a dark night? and when &s;hould the fire be made, but when the weather is cold? and when &s;hould the cordiall be given, but when the patient is weak? and when &s;hould the God of comfort, the God of all kinds of comfort, and the God of all degrees of comfort, com|fort his people, but under their afflictions and per&s;ecutions? for then comfort is mo&s;t proper, nece&s;&s;ary, &s;ea&s;onable and &s;utable, and then God will be &s;ure to poure in of the oyle of joy into their hearts. And thus you &s;ee the great and glorious advan|tages that will redowne to the people of God by all their af|flictions and per&s;ecutions. But,</P>
<P>Eighthly, I an&s;wer, That to &s;uffer affliction and per&s;ecuti|on <MILESTONE N="8"> for holine&s;s &s;ake, is the greate&s;t and the highe&s;t honour that you are capable of in this world;<NOTE PLACE="marg">To die for Chri&s;t, is the greate&s;t pro|motion that God can bring any in this vale of mi&s;ery unto, &s;aid Mr. <HI>Phil|pot</HI> the Mar|tyr.</NOTE> the crowne of a Mrtyrdom is a crowne that the Angels tho&s;e Princes of glory are not capable of winning or wearing; and O who art thou! what art thou, O man! that God &s;hould &s;et this crowne upon thy head. 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 4.14. <HI>If ye be reproached for the name of Chri&s;t, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory, and of God re&s;teth upon you; on their part he is evill &s;poken of, but on your part he is glorified.</HI> The very &s;uffering condition of the people of God, is at the pre&s;ent a glorious con|dition, <HI>for the Spirit of glory re&s;ts upon them,</HI> and they mu&s;t needs be glorious, yea very glorious, upon whom the Spirit of glo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">y dwells.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 3.</NOTE> The &s;ufferings of the three Children tended very much to their honour and advancement, even in this world; and had tho&s;e ve&s;&s;els of honour &s;lipt their opportunity of &s;uffering, they
<PB N="412" REF="217"> had lo&s;t their glory.<NOTE PLACE="marg">In the primi|tive times, when &s;ome good people came to com|fort &s;ome of the Martyrs that were in pri&s;on, and ready to &s;uf|fer, they cal|led them ble&s;&s;ed Mar|tyrs; O no, &s;aid they, we are not wor|thy of the name of Mar|tyrs. The&s;e holy hum|ble hearts thought Mar|tyrdom too high an ho|nour for them.</NOTE> The Apo&s;tles all along counted their &s;uf|ferings for Chri&s;t their highe&s;t honour. And that is a remarka|ble Scripture that you have in that 11 <HI>Heb.</HI> 36, 37, 38. <HI>And others had tryall of cruell mockings, and &s;courgings, yea moreover of bonds and impri&s;onment. They were &s;toned, they were &s;awn a|&s;under, they were tempted, they were &s;laine with the &s;word; they wandred about in &s;heep-skins, and goat-skins, being de&s;titute, af|flicted, and tormented:</HI> O but the&s;e were &s;urely the mo&s;t &s;ad, mi&s;erable, wretched, and forlorne creatures in all the world; O no; and that is mo&s;t evident if the te&s;timony and judgement of the holy Gho&s;t may be received; for <HI>ver.</HI> 38. <HI>They were &s;uch of whom the world was not worthy;</HI> the per&s;ecuting world was not worthy of their love, nor worthy of their prayers, nor wor|thy of their pre&s;ence, nor worthy of their fellow&s;hip, and there|fore God call'd them home, and &s;et them downe upon thrones by him&s;elf. And to me 'tis very ob&s;ervable, that when that great Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> would glory in that which he accounted his ho|nour, glory, and excellency, he do's not glory in his high Of|fice, nor in his being wrapt up in the third heaven, nor in the in|tere&s;t that he had in the hearts of the Saints, nor in his arts or parts, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but he glories in his &s;ufferings, in that 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 11.23.&mdash;28. <HI>In &s;tripes above mea&s;ure; in pri&s;ons more frequent; in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty &s;tripes &s;ave one. Thrice was I beaten with Rods, once was I &s;toned, thrice I &s;uffered &s;hip|wrack: a night and a day have I been in the deep. In journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own Countrey men, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the City, in pe|rils in the wilderne&s;s, in perils in the Sea, in perils among fal&s;e bre|thren. In wearine&s;s and painfulne&s;s, in watchings often, in hunger and thir&s;t, in fa&s;tings often, in cold and nakedne&s;s.</HI> Thus you &s;ee that this ble&s;&s;ed Apo&s;tle looks upon his &s;ufferings as his grea|te&s;t glory. To &s;uffer for Chri&s;t is the greate&s;t honour and pro|motion that God gives in this world, &s;aid old Father <HI>Latimer. John Noyes</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Latimer. John Noyes.</HI></NOTE> took up a Fagot at the fire and ki&s;&s;ed it, &s;aying, <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed be the time that ever I was borne to come to this prefer|ment.</HI> When they had fa&s;tned <HI>Alice Driver</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Alice Driver.</NOTE> with a chaine to the &s;take to be burnt, <HI>Never</HI> (&s;aid &s;he) <HI>did Neckarchief be|come me &s;o well as this chaine. Balilus</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Balilus.</NOTE> the Martyr, when he was
<PB N="413" REF="217"> to die, reque&s;ted this favour of his per&s;ecutors, <HI>viz.</HI> that he might have his chaines buried with him, as the En&s;ignes of his honour. When <HI>Ignatius</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ignatius.</NOTE> was to &s;uffer it, <HI>'tis better for me</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>to be a Martyr, then to be a Monarch.</HI> What are we poore wormes full of vanities and lyes, that we &s;hould be called to be maintainers of the truth; for &s;ufferings for Chri&s;t are the En|&s;ignes of heavenly Nobility, &s;aid <HI>Calvin.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Calvin.</NOTE> 'Twas a notable &s;ay|ing of a <HI>French</HI> Martyr, when the rope was about his fellow, <HI>Give me</HI> (&s;aid he) <HI>that Golden chaine, and dub me Knight of that noble Order. I am the unincete&s;t man for this high office of &s;uffering for Chri&s;t that ever was appointed to it,</HI> &s;aid ble&s;&s;ed <HI>San|ders.</HI> I &s;hall conclude this head with that excellent &s;aying of <HI>Prudentius; Their names</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>that are written in red let|ters of blood in the Churches Calender, are written in Golden let|ters in Chri&s;ts Regi&s;ter, the book of life.</HI> And thus you &s;ee on all hands that &s;uffering for Chri&s;t is the highe&s;t honour that you are capable of in this world: And therefore there is little rea|&s;on why a Chri&s;tian &s;hould &s;hrink or &s;hrug at &s;ufferings. But,</P>
<P>Ninthly, I an&s;wer, That the afflictions, per&s;ecutions, and <MILESTONE N="9"> &s;ufferings that attend Chri&s;tians in the&s;e dayes, are nothing to the fiery trialls that the Saints and Martyrs of old have met with; For &s;even-fold harder mea&s;ure has been mea&s;ured forth to them, then is this day mea&s;ured forth to us; our &s;ufferings are hardly to be nam'd in the day wherein tho&s;e &s;ore and hea|vy things are mentioned, that tho&s;e precious and famous Wor|thyes of old have &s;uffered. I may &s;ay to mo&s;t Chri&s;tians as the Apo&s;tle did to the <HI>Hebrewes,</HI> Heb. 12.4. <HI>Ye have not yet re|&s;i&s;ted unto blood,</HI> &s;triving again&s;t &s;in; many have, but you have not, you have only met with hard words, when others have met with blowes and wounds; you have been only a contending with men, when others have been a contending with bea&s;ts; you have been only whipt with Ro&s;emary branches, when others have been whipt with Scorpions; you have been only bound with &s;ilken bands, when others have been bound with Iron chaines. Will you be &s;o favourable to your &s;elves as to compare your &s;ufferings with the &s;ufferings of former Saints, and that you may, let me give you a little Breviate of their &s;ufferings of whom the world was not worthy. Hi&s;tory tells us that in the Ten primi|tive
<PB N="414" REF="218"> per&s;ecutions, they exerci&s;ed all manner of cruelty and tor|ments that could be devi&s;ed again&s;t the Chri&s;tians: 1. in the Reigne of <HI>Adrian</HI> the Emperour, there were ten thou&s;and Chri|&s;tians crucified in the Mount <HI>Ararat,</HI> crowned with crownes of Thornes, and thru&s;t into the &s;ides with &s;harp darts. 2. O|thers were &s;o whipt, that their very inward arteries and veines appeared, and their intrailes and bowells were &s;een, and after|wards they were &s;et upon &s;harp &s;hells, (taken out of the Sea edged and &s;harp) and certaine nailes and thornes were &s;harp|ned and pointed (called <HI>Obeli&s;ci</HI>) for them to goe upon, and af|ter all this cruelty they were throwne to wild bea&s;ts to be de|voured. 3. Multitudes were bani&s;hed. 4. Others were drawn a&s;under with wild Hor&s;es. 5. Some were Rackt with bars of Iron. 6. Others were ca&s;t into loath&s;ome Dungeons. 7. Some were burnt in the fire. 8. Others were knockt downe, and had their braines beate out with Staves and Clubs. 9. Some were prickt in their faces and eyes with &s;harp Reeds. 10. Others were &s;toned to death with &s;tones, as <HI>Stephen</HI> was. 11. Some were da&s;hed in pieces again&s;t Mill-&s;tones. 12. Others had their teeth da&s;ht out of their Jawes, and their joynts broken. 13. Some were ca&s;t downe from very high places. 14. Others were beheaded. 15. Some were tormented with Razors. 16. Others were &s;laine with the &s;word. 17. Some were run thorow with Pikes. 18. Others were driven into the wilder|ne&s;s, where they wandered up and downe, &s;uffering hunger and cold, and where they were expo&s;ed to the fury both of wild bea&s;ts, and al&s;o to the rage of the barbarous <HI>Arabians.</HI> 19. Some fled into Caves, which by their per&s;ecutors were rammed up with &s;tones, and there they dyed. 20. Others were troden to death by the people. 21. Some were hanged on Gibbets, with fire under their &s;ides. 22. Others were ca&s;t into the Sea and drown'd. 23. Some were &s;laine in mettal Mines. 24. Others were hanged by the feet, and choaked with the &s;moak of a &s;mall fire, their leggs being fir&s;t broken. 25. Some were poudered with &s;alt and vineger, and then roa&s;ted with a &s;oft fire. 26. O|thers were hanged by one hand, that they might feele the weight of their whole bodies, &s;corching &amp; broyling over burn|ing Coales. 27. Some were &s;hot through with Arrowes, and
<PB N="415" REF="218"> afterwards thrown into &s;tinking Jakes. 28. Others were &s;tript &s;tark-naked as ever they were borne, and turned out of doores in cold fro&s;ty nights, and burnt the next day. 29. In <HI>Syria,</HI> a company of Chri&s;tian virgins were &s;tript &s;tark-naked to be &s;corned by the multitude, then &s;haved, then covered with &s;will and draffe, and then torne in pieces and devoured by &s;wine. 30. La&s;tly, many women had one joynt of their bodies pulled from another,<NOTE PLACE="marg">And another cruelty that they practi|&s;ed in the primitive times was this, They would make Fathers to kindle the Faggots to burne their own chil|dren, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> and their fle&s;h and &s;ides &s;cratched with Tallons of wild Bea&s;ts to the bones, and their brea&s;ts &s;eared with Tor|ches till they dyed. And thus you have an account of thirty &s;everall wayes, by which the precious &s;ons and daughters of <HI>Zi|on</HI> have formerly been afflicted, tormented, and de&s;troyed; and what heart of &s;tone can reade over this bill of particulars with dry eyes? And now tell me, Sirs, whether your fufferings are worth a naming in that day, wherein the &s;ufferings of the preci|ous &s;ervants of God in the primitive times are &s;poken of? O no; well then, take heed of making Mole-hills mountaines, and of crying out, is there any &s;orrow to our &s;orrow, or any &s;uffer|ings to our &s;ufferings? But,</P>
<P>Tenthly, I an&s;wer, That unholy per&s;ons have &s;uffered as <MILESTONE N="10"> great and grievous things for the &s;atisfying of their lu&s;ts and humors, and for the compa&s;&s;ing of &s;ome worldly good, as you have &s;uffered,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Witne&s;s</HI> Je|hu, Ahab, Je|zebel, Balaam, Judas, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> or are like to &s;uffer for your pur&s;uing after holi|ne&s;s. O the hazards, the dangers, the deaths that many have run through to gratifie their lu&s;ts. <HI>Petrus Ble&s;en&s;is</HI> has long &s;ince ob&s;erved, that the Courtiers of his time &s;uffered as many vexa|tions, with wearine&s;s and painfulne&s;s, with hunger and thir&s;t, and with all the Catalogue of <HI>Pauls</HI> afflictions that is reckon'd up in that 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 11. as good Chri&s;tians did for the truth. I have read of a <HI>Roman</HI> &s;ervant, who knowing his Ma&s;ter was &s;ought for by Officers to be put to death, he to &s;ave his Ma|&s;ters life, put him&s;elfe into his Ma&s;ters Cloathes that he might be taken for him, and accordingly he was taken and put to death for him, and all this out of a humor of vaine glory. The <HI>Ro|mans</HI> de&s;ire of the prai&s;es of men (&s;aith <HI>Augu&s;tin</HI>) made them bountifull of their purfes, and prodigall of their lives.<NOTE PLACE="marg">This was in <HI>Anno</HI> 1555. &amp;c.</NOTE> <HI>Servetus</HI> at <HI>Geneva</HI> gave all his goods to the poore, and his body to be burnt, and all for a name, for a little glory among men, &s;aith
<PB N="416" REF="219"> <HI>Calvin.</HI> Ah what cutting, what lancing, what bleeding, what vomitting, and what &s;earching will many men endure upon the advice of their Phy&s;itians, and all for a little health, a little <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">trength, or to pre&s;erve a wretched life for a few dayes, yea for a few houres &s;ometimes? O the tortures and torments that ma|ny <HI>Romans</HI> and others have undergon, &s;ometimes out of love to their Countrey, and &s;ometimes to maintaine their credit and reputation among men, and &s;ometimes out of an affectati|on of future fame and renowne, and to eternalize their names! and why then &s;hould Chri&s;tians thinke &s;o much of &s;uffering af|flictions and per&s;ecutions for holine&s;s &s;ake, the lea&s;t dram of which being more worth then a thou&s;and thou&s;and of tho&s;e things, for which they have &s;uffered &s;uch exqui&s;ite paines and tor|ments? Ah what great things, what hard things doe many men daily &s;uffer to gratifie their own lu&s;ts, and to &s;atisfie the lu&s;ts of others? Ah how frequently doe many venture their lives, their e&s;tates, their names, their con&s;ciences, yea their very &s;ouls to court a <HI>Dalilah?</HI> Oh the hell of horrors and terrors (which are wor&s;e then a thou&s;and deaths) that many a &s;inner daily wades thorough to enjoy his &s;in! and why then &s;hould&s;t thou be &s;tart|led in thy pur&s;uit after holine&s;s, becau&s;e of afflictions and per|&s;ecutions that may attend thee? when they are nothing to what many &s;uffer from within and without, to enjoy that which will undoe them to all eternity, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="11"> Eleventhly, I an&s;wer, Though per&s;ecutions may attend the pur&s;uit of holine&s;s, yet God has a thou&s;and thou&s;and wayes to pre&s;erve his people from being ruined and de&s;troyed by per&s;e|ting hands.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 3.11. Compared with that 13 and 14. of the <HI>Acts.</HI></NOTE> Severall afflictions and per&s;ecutions befell <HI>Paul,</HI> at <HI>Antioch,</HI> at <HI>Iconium,</HI> at <HI>Ly&s;tra,</HI> but out of them all the Lord delivered him: As a righteous cau&s;e led him into &s;ufferings, &s;o a righteous God led him out of &s;ufferings; both Jews and Gentiles, Barbarians and Grecians, Princes and people, were as madly &s;et upon per&s;ecuting of him, as he was once madly &s;et upon per&s;ecuting of the Saints, but God delivered him from e|very hand of violence; divine power and wi&s;dom wrought glo|riou&s;ly for him, both in &s;ix troubles and in &s;even it brought him clearly off, and bravely out, not of &s;ome, but out of all his dan|gers and di&s;tre&s;&s;es, afflictions and per&s;ecutions, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<PB N="417" REF="219">
<P>Fir&s;t, Now God &s;ometimes pre&s;erves his people from being <MILESTONE N="1"> ruined and de&s;troyed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 41.32. Chap. 11.33. Chap. 4. &amp; ch. 31.29 compared.</NOTE> by laying a law of re&s;traint upon the &s;pi|rits of their per&s;ecutors, as he did upon <HI>Labans</HI> and <HI>E&s;aus,</HI> that they could not hurt him, yea in &s;tead of kicking and kill|ing, behold ki&s;&s;ing and embracing: God tyed up tho&s;e cur&s;t Doggs, and laid &s;uch a re&s;traint upon their wrath, rage, and malice, that they could not &s;o much as touch a hair of <HI>Jacobs</HI> head; God &s;top't their mouthes, and bound their hands that they were not able to act any thing to the prejudice of <HI>Jacob.</HI> That God that laid a re&s;traint upon the fierce wild creatures in <HI>Noahs</HI> Ark, that they might not prey upon the tamer, and that chain'd up the Lyons from preying upon <HI>Daniel,</HI> that God chain|ed up the&s;e two Lyons, that they could not make a prey of in|nocent <HI>Jacob.</HI> But,</P>
<P>Secondly, God does this &s;ometimes by &s;etting per&s;ecutors <MILESTONE N="2"> one again&s;t another. When the <HI>Moabites</HI> were confederated with the <HI>Ammonites</HI> and tho&s;e of <HI>Mount-Seir</HI> again&s;t <HI>Judah,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chron. 20.22,23,24. Judg. 1.22. Chap. 9.55. 56, 57. compa|red.</NOTE> God made them turn their &s;words into one anothers bowels, and &s;o they mutually became their own executioners, and by this means poor <HI>Judah</HI> e&s;caped. God &s;ometimes &s;aves his Lambs by &s;etting the Wolf and the Dogg together by the ears. When that Wolf <HI>Saul</HI> was even ready to devour <HI>David</HI> the Lamb, God lets loo&s;e tho&s;e Doggs the Phili&s;tines upon <HI>Saul,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 23.27.</NOTE> and &s;o by this means <HI>David</HI> was p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e&s;erved and &s;ecured.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 23.6, 7, 8.</NOTE> And &s;o <HI>Paul</HI> by &s;etting the per&s;ecuting Phari&s;ees again&s;t the per&s;ecu|ting Scribes, he e&s;caped per&s;ecution. And &s;o the Lord by &s;tiring up the <HI>Per&s;ians</HI> again&s;t the <HI>Babylonians,</HI> he brought about the deliverance of the Jews out of their captivity; and after|wards by &s;tirring up the <HI>Grecians</HI> again&s;t the <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> and the <HI>Romans</HI> again&s;t the <HI>Grecians,</HI> and the <HI>Gothes</HI> and <HI>Vandals,</HI> and other barbarous Nations again&s;t the <HI>Romans,</HI> he brought about the deliverance of his people: In all Ages God by engaging one furious Lyon again&s;t another, has pre&s;erved his &s;heep in quiet. When the Emperor of <HI>Germany</HI> threatned utter ruine to all the Prote&s;tants within his Empire, God let loo&s;e the Turk to fall with great fury upon his Empire, and by that means diverted the Emperors rage, and pre&s;erved his poor people, which were as &s;heep appointed to the &s;laughter. Ah <HI>England,
<PB N="418" REF="220"> England,</HI> if God had not &s;et thine enemies together by the ears, year after year, how had they combined and con&s;pired together to have &s;wallowed thee up long before this day. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, God does &s;ometimes &s;ave his people from per&s;e|cutions, by pa&s;&s;ing a &s;entence of death upon their per&s;ecutors: And thus by his &s;udden and fearful judgement upon <HI>Herod,</HI> he gave re&s;t, liberty and quiet to his people, <HI>Acts</HI> 12.23, 24. And &s;o by his vengeance on per&s;ecuting Emperors, he gave re&s;t to his people. When <HI>Julian</HI> the Apo&s;tate had vowed to to make an oblation of all the lives of the &s;urviving Chri&s;tians (as <HI>Gregory Nazianzen</HI> reports) God &s;truck him with an Ar|row from heaven,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Orat. <HI>4.</HI> in Iul.</NOTE> &s;o that he died reviling of Chri&s;t, and ca&s;t|ing up his blood to heaven, as if he would have ca&s;t it into the very face of Chri&s;t. And when <HI>Eugenius</HI> the Tyrant endea|vored to de&s;troy the Armies of the Chri&s;tians, under the Em|peror <HI>Theodo&s;ius,</HI> God gave the very winds a command to wre&s;t the weapons out of their enemies hands, and &s;o pre&s;er|ved his people. And in 88. how did God make the very winds to fight for his people, and &s;o &s;aved them from that bloody inva&s;ion, by cau&s;ing his winds to blow, and their ene|mies to &s;ink as Lead in the mighty waters. And by giving <HI>Achitophel</HI> Rope enough, he pre&s;erved <HI>David</HI> from peri&s;hing. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, God does this &s;ometimes by altering and chang|ing the very hearts and natures of their per&s;ecutors. And thus by changing <HI>Pauls</HI> nature,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 9.31.</NOTE> by turning that Wolf into a Lamb, that devil into a Saint, he gave the Churches re&s;t throughout all <HI>Judea, Galilee</HI> and <HI>Samaria;</HI> and this is one of the mo&s;t de|&s;irable things in the world, that God would &s;ave his people from outward ruine, by ruining their per&s;ecutors &s;ins, and by changing their hearts and &s;aving their &s;ouls. This way God has taken, and this way God may take (being a free Agent to work, when and where, and how, and on whom he plea&s;es) but I can't turn to a promi&s;e, wherein he has engaged him&s;elf to make converts of per&s;ecutors; his common way of dealing with &s;uch, is to give them up to blindne&s;s of mind, and hard|ne&s;s of heart, and &s;earedne&s;s of con&s;cience, and perver&s;|ne&s;s
<PB N="419" REF="220"> of &s;pirit, that &s;o their hell may be the hotter at la&s;t. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly, God does this &s;ometimes, by taking per&s;ecutors feet <MILESTONE N="5"> in the &s;ame &s;nares that they have laid for others; <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 9.16.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 57.6.</NOTE> <HI>The wicked is &s;nared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion Se|lah. Higgaion Selah</HI> &s;ignifies matter of great admiration, and of deep meditation; that the wicked &s;hould be &s;nared in the work of his own hands is matter of perpetual admiration, and of mo&s;t &s;erious meditation. Who won't admire that <HI>Goliah</HI> &s;hould be &s;lain with his own &s;word, and that proud <HI>Haman</HI> &s;hould hold <HI>Mordecaies</HI> &s;tirrup, and be the Herald of his ho|nor, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 7.15, 16. <HI>He made a pit and digged it,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hi&s;tories would fur|ni&s;h us with many hun|dred in&s;tances of this nature.</NOTE> <HI>and is fallen into the ditch which he hath made. His mi&s;chief &s;hall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing &s;hall come down upon his own pate.</HI> The wicked &s;hall be undone by their own doings, all the Arrows that they &s;hoot at the righteous, &s;hall fall upon their own pates. <HI>Maxentius</HI> built a fal&s;e bridge to drown <HI>Con&s;tantine,</HI> but was drowned him&s;elf. <HI>Henry</HI> the third of <HI>France</HI> was &s;tabbed in the very &s;ame Chambe, where he had help't to contrive the cruel Ma&s;&s;acre of the <HI>French</HI> Prote&s;t|ants. And his brother <HI>Charles</HI> the ninth, who delighted in the blood of the Saints, had blood given him to drink, for he was worthy.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Afterwards he was made Lord <HI>Cobham.</HI></NOTE> Soon after <HI>Thomas Arundel</HI> Arch-bi&s;hop of <HI>Canterbury</HI> had condemned Sir <HI>John Oldca&s;tle,</HI> a godly Knight, it plea&s;ed the Lord to &s;trike the Arch-bi&s;hop &s;o in his tongue, that he could neither &s;wallow down any food, nor &s;peak a word before his death, and &s;o he was &s;tarved to death. The Duke of <HI>Som|er&s;et</HI> (in King <HI>Edward</HI> the &s;ixth's days) by con&s;enting to his bro|thers death, made way for his own, by the &s;ame Ax and hand that beheaded his brother. 'Tis u&s;uall with God to take per|&s;ecutors in the &s;nares and pits that they have laid for his peo|ple, as many thou&s;ands in this Nation have experienced; and though <HI>Rome</HI> &amp; her confederates are this day a laying of &s;nares and traps, and a digging of pits for the righteous, who will ra|ther burn then bow to their <HI>Baal,</HI> yet do but wait and weep, and weep and wait a little, and you &s;hall &s;ee that the Lord will take them in the very &s;nares and pits that they have laid and dig|ged for his people. But,</P>
<PB N="420" REF="221">
<P> <MILESTONE N="6"> Sixthly and La&s;tly, God &s;ometimes pre&s;erves his people from per&s;ecuting hands, by providing Cities of refuge to &s;hel|ter them, and by providing hiding places to hide them in: <HI>Mat.</HI> 10.23. <HI>If they per&s;ecute you in one city, flye to ano|ther:</HI> God has always found one City of refuge or another, to &s;helter his per&s;ecuted people in. And &s;o when bloody per&s;e|cuting <HI>Jezebel</HI> had cut off many of the Lords Prophets, God provided an <HI>Obadiah</HI> to hide an hundred of them by Fifty in a Cave.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><P>1 Kin. 18.4.13. The Learned judge that there were &s;everal others in I&s;rael that kept other Prophets of the Lord from <HI>Jezabels</HI> fury be&s;ides tho&s;e that <HI>Obadiah</HI> hid.</P>
<P>Three years before <HI>Titus Ve&s;pa&s;ian</HI> be|&s;ieged <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem,</HI> there was a voice fre|quently heard, go up to <HI>Pella,</HI> go up to <HI>Pella,</HI> which very many of the Jews did and were &s;aved.</P></NOTE> God never wants a Chamber of pre&s;ence, a chamber of providence, a chamber of protection, a chamber of &s;alva|tion to hide his people in, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 26.20. I have read of one that in the time of the Ma&s;&s;acre at <HI>Paris,</HI> crept into a hole to hide him&s;elf, and as &s;oon as he was in, there came a &s;pider and wea|ved a Web before the hole, the next morning the murderers came to &s;earch for him, &s;earch in that hole, &s;aid one, and &s;ee if he be not there, O no &s;aid another, he can't be there, for there is a Cob-web at the holes mouth, upon which they did not &s;u&s;pect his being there, by which means he was pre&s;erved from the rage and fury of tho&s;e men of blood. <HI>Con&s;tantius</HI> the Emperor promi&s;ed a reward to tho&s;e Captains or Souldiers that &s;hould bring <HI>Athara&s;ius</HI> head to him, but God hid him in a pit, and fed him there a long time by the hand of a friend; but being at la&s;t di&s;covered by a Maid-&s;ervant, the very night before his adver&s;aries &s;earch't for him, the providence of God opened away for his e&s;cape, and &s;ent him into the We&s;t, by which means he was pre&s;erved from the rage and fury of his adver&s;aries. I think no men under heaven have had larger ex|perience of this truth then Engli&s;h men. Ah what Cities of refuge, what hiding places has God provided for them to hide them from the wrath and rage of their per&s;ecutors for many years? And thus I have given you a brief account of &s;ome of tho&s;e ways which God takes to deliver his people out of per|&s;ecuting hands. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="12"> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Quisquis vo|lens detrahit famae meae, no|lens addit mer|cidi meae; <HI>&s;aith</HI> Augu&s;tin.</NOTE>Twelfthly and la&s;tly, I an&s;wer, That all the per&s;ecutions that you meet with on earth, &s;hall advance your glory in heaven; the more Saints are per&s;ecuted on earth, the greater &s;hall be their reward in heaven; as per&s;ecutions do increa&s;e a Chri&s;ti|ans grace, &s;o they do advance a Chri&s;tians glory. <HI>Mat.</HI> 5.10,
<PB N="421" REF="221"> 11, 12. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are they which are per&s;ecuted for righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;ake: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Ble&s;&s;ed are ye when men &s;hall revile you, and per&s;ecute you, and &s;hall &s;ay all man|ner of evil again&s;t you fal&s;ly for my &s;ake. Rejoyce, and be ex|ceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for &s;o per&s;e|cuted they the Prophets which were before you.</HI> Luk. 6.22, 23. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are ye when men &s;hall hate you, and when they &s;hall &s;e|parate you from their company, and &s;hall reproach you, and</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Excommu|nicate and Anathema|tize you as notorious, &s;hameful, and abominable offenders.</NOTE> <HI>ca&s;t out your name as evil, for the &s;on of mans &s;ake. Rejoyce ye in that day, and leap for joy: for behold your reward is in heaven, for in the like manner did their fathers unto the Prophets.</HI> They that are now oppo&s;ed and per&s;ecuted by men, &s;hall at la&s;t be own|ed and crowned by God; yea and the more afflictions and per|&s;ecutions are multiplyed upon them in this world, the greater &s;hall be their recompence in another wo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ld. The Original words (<GAP DESC="foreign">) in <HI>Matthew,</HI> and (<GAP DESC="foreign">.) in <HI>Luke</HI> &s;ignifies exceeding great joy, &s;uch as men u&s;ually expre&s;s by skipping and dancing; let your hearts leap, and let your bo|dies leap for joy, for great is your reward in heaven. Look as wanton young cattle in the Spring, when every thing is in its prime and pride do u&s;e to leap and skip for joy, &s;o &s;ays Chri&s;t, do you leap and skip under all the afflictions and per&s;ecutions that befalls you for righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;ake, for great is your reward in heaven. <HI>Bernard</HI> &s;peaking of per&s;ecutors, &s;aith, That they are but his Fathers Gold&s;miths, who are working to add Pearls to the Saints Crowns. It is to my lo&s;s &s;aid <HI>Gordius</HI> the Martyr if you abate me any thing of my pre&s;ent &s;ufferings; &s;ufferings for Chri&s;t, are the Saints greate&s;t glory; they are tho&s;e things wherein they have divinely glorified <HI>(Crudelitas ve&s;tra gloria no&s;tra)</HI> your cruelty is our glory, &s;ay they in <HI>Tertullian,</HI> and the harder we are put to it, the greater &s;hall be our reward in hea|ven. <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom</HI> hit the nail, when he &s;aid, if one man &s;hould &s;uffer all the &s;orrows of all the Saints in the world, yet they are not worth one hours glory in heaven. By the con&s;ent of the Schoolmen, all the Martyrs &s;hall appear in the Church Trium|phant, bearing the &s;igns of their Chri&s;tian wounds about them, as &s;o many &s;peaking te&s;timonies of their godly courage, that what here they endured in the behalf of their Saviour, may be
<PB N="422" REF="222"> there an addition to their glory. O Chri&s;tians, all your &s;uffer|ings will certainly increa&s;e your future glory; every affliction, every per&s;ecution will be a grain put into the &s;cale of your hea|venly glory, to make it more weighty in that day wherein he will richly reward you for every tear, for every &s;igh, for every groan, for every hazard, and for every hard&s;hip that you have met with in the pur&s;uit of holine&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> for light afflicti|ons, you &s;hall have a weight of glory; and for a few afflicti|ons you &s;hall have as many joys,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 4.16, 17, 18.</NOTE> plea&s;ures, delights, and con|tents, as there be Stars in heaven, or &s;ands on the Sea-&s;hore; and for momentary afflictions you &s;hall have an eternal crown of glory. If you have &s;uffering for &s;uffering with Chri&s;t on earth, you &s;hall have glory for glory with Chri&s;t in heaven. Ah Chri|&s;tians, your pre&s;ent &s;ufferings are but the &s;eeds of your future glory, and the more plentifully you &s;owe in tears, the more a|bundant will be your harve&s;t of glory. <HI>Cyrus</HI> in a great expedi|tion again&s;t his enemies, the better to encourage his &s;ouldiers to fight, in an Oration that he made at the head of his Army, pro|mi&s;ed upon the victory to make every foot &s;ouldier an hor&s;e|man, and every hor&s;eman a Commander, and that every Of|ficer that did valiantly &s;hould be highly rewarded; but Chri&s;t our General promi&s;es more, for he promi&s;es a Crown (<HI>Rev.</HI> 2.10. And a throne, <HI>Chap.</HI> 3.21.) to all his afflicted and per|&s;ecuted ones, which are the greate&s;t rewards that a God can give, or that man can crave. It troubled one of the Martyrs when he was at the &s;take, that he was going to a place where he &s;hould be for ever a receiving of wages for a little work. <HI>Ari&s;tippus</HI> being demanded in a &s;torm, Why he was not as fearful as others were? an&s;wered, That there was great rea|&s;on for it, For (&s;aith he) they fear the torments due to a bad life, but I expect the reward due to a good life. Ah Chri&s;tians! &s;hall not the hopes of that great reward that attends &s;uffering Saints bare you up bravely, and carry you out &s;weetly under all the &s;torms that may beat upon you whil&s;t you are &s;ailing hea|ven-wards, and holine&s;s-wards? Surely yes. I have read that <HI>Lycurgus</HI> could draw the <HI>Lacedemonians</HI> to any thing by tem|poral rewards: And, O then how much more &s;hould I draw all your hearts to a readine&s;s and willingne&s;s to do any thing, to
<PB N="423" REF="222"> be any thing, and to &s;uffer any thing for Chri&s;ts &s;ake, and holi|ne&s;s &s;ake, upon the account of that great reward, that &s;ure re|ward, and that eternal reward that attends &s;uffering Saints. And let thus much &s;uffice for an&s;wer to this fourth objection. I hope none of you will think that I have been too long in an&s;wer|ing this Objection, con&s;idering the pre&s;ent times. But,</P>
</DIV5>
<DIV5 N="5" TYPE="objection">
<P>Fifthly, Others may object and &s;ay, <HI>We would labor after this <MILESTONE N="5"> holine&s;s, without which there is no happine&s;s, &amp;c. But if we &s;hould, then we mu&s;t re&s;olve to be poor, and mean, and beggarly in the world, we mu&s;t re&s;olve then to fare hard, and lye hard, and labor hard, and live low in the world, for we &s;hall never rai&s;e an e&s;tate to our &s;elves by holine&s;s and &s;trictne&s;s, we &s;hall never grow rich and great in the world by godline&s;s; nay by driving this trade of holi|ne&s;s, we &s;hall lo&s;e our Trades, our Cu&s;tomers, and tho&s;e e&s;tates we have, and quickly bring a noble to nine pence,</HI> &amp;c. Now to fence and arm you again&s;t this objection, give me leave to propo&s;e the&s;e &s;ix following con&s;iderations.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Con&s;ider that 'tis not ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary that you <MILESTONE N="1"> &s;hould be rich, or high, or great in this world, but 'tis ab&s;o|lutely nece&s;&s;ary that you &s;hould be holy; the want of riches can onely trouble you, but the want of holine&s;s will certainly damne you; you may be happy in another world, though you are not high in this world; many a man has gone to heaven without a penny in his pur&s;e, or good cloaths on his back;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 16.19.&mdash;31.</NOTE> and doubtle&s;s 'tis infinitely better with ragged naked <HI>Lazarus</HI> to go to heaven, then 'tis with <HI>Dives</HI> to go rich and bravely clad to hell; 'tis better to go to heaven poor, and halt, and maimed, then to go to hell &s;ound and rich; poverty and outward mi&s;ery with &s;alvation, is far better then worldly pro&s;perity and felicity with everla&s;ting perdition: Holine&s;s and not riches is the One thing nece&s;&s;ary; if thou ha&s;t holine&s;s, nothing can make thee mi&s;erable, but if thou wante&s;t holine&s;s, nothing can make thee happy. Outward ble&s;&s;ings are no infallible evidences of a ble&s;&s;ed e&s;tate. Was <HI>Abraham</HI> rich? &s;o was <HI>Abimelech</HI> to: Was <HI>Jacob</HI> rich? &s;o was <HI>Laban</HI> to: Was <HI>David</HI> a King? &s;o was <HI>Saul</HI> to: Was <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> an Emperor? &s;o was <HI>Julian</HI> to. 'Tis onely holine&s;s that &s;ets the crown of happine&s;s upon a Chri&s;tians head. But,</P>
<PB N="424" REF="223">
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, Con&s;ider that 'tis not &s;anctity, but impiety, 'tis not holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 24.33, 34. Ch. 28.19.22.</NOTE> but wickedne&s;s, that expo&s;es men to the greate&s;t po|verty and mi&s;ery; <HI>Prov.</HI> 6.26. <HI>For by the means of a whori&s;h woman, a man is brought to a piece of bread.</HI> Whoredom is a very co&s;tly &s;in; the prodigal had quickly &s;pent his portion among his Harlots.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 15.</NOTE> Whoredom can't be a greater Paradi&s;e to the fle&s;h, then 'tis a purgatory to the pur&s;e, and many great ones have found it &s;o.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mar. 6.23, 24.</NOTE> <HI>Herod</HI> that old fornicator was &s;o inflamed and bewitched with the immode&s;t wanton dancing of his Da|mo&s;el, that he &s;wore he would give her to the half of his king|dom. And 'tis very ob&s;ervable, that whil&s;t <HI>Solomon</HI> in his youn|ger days kept holy,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 King. 10.27, 28. Chron. 1.15, 16, 17.</NOTE> cha&s;t, and pure, &s;ilver and gold was as plentious at <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> and at Court, as the &s;tones of the &s;treet; but when <HI>Solomon</HI> had given him&s;elf up to his Concubines, they quickly exhau&s;ted his Trea&s;uries, and brought him to &s;o low an ebb, that he was forced to oppre&s;s his &s;ubjects with &s;uch heavy taxes,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Kings 12.1.&mdash;20.</NOTE> burdens and tributes, which occa&s;ioned the revolt of the ten Tribes. <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> in his Antiquities, tells us of one <HI>De|cius Mundus,</HI> that offered to give &s;o many hundred thou&s;and Drachmes that came to &s;ix thou&s;and pound Engli&s;h money to &s;atisfie his lu&s;ts one night with a whore, and yet could not ob|tain his de&s;ire. There is no &s;in that has brought more men, and greater men to beggary and mi&s;ery then this has; it is a great mi&s;ery to be brought to a piece of bread, to a &s;crap, a little bit of bread, but to be brought into &s;o low a condition by Harlots, doubles the mi&s;ery; for he that is by a whori&s;h woman brought to a piece of bread on earth, &s;hall be brought to a drop of wa|ter in hell, except there be &s;ound repentance on his &s;ide, and pardoning mercy on Gods. Take another in&s;tance in that <HI>Prov.</HI> 23.20, 21.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><P>The glutton and the drun|kard were to be &s;toned to death.</P>
<P>Deut. 21.20, 21. <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> calls drunkenne&s;s a &s;elf cho&s;en devil. When <HI>Aechines</HI> commended <HI>Philip</HI> King of <HI>Macedon</HI> for a jovial man that would drink freely, <HI>Demo&s;thenes</HI> being by, told him that was a good quality in a Spunge, but not in a Prince.</P></NOTE> <HI>Be not among wine-bibbers, among&s;t riotous eaters of fle&s;h. For the drunkard and the glutton &s;hall come to po|verty; and drow&s;ine&s;s &s;hall cloath a man with raggs.</HI> Many Dukes, Earles, Lords, and Gentlemen of great e&s;tates, have <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">adly experienced the truth of this Scripture; &s;ociety, and lux|urious company hath brought many a man to extream poverty.
<PB N="425" REF="223"> The full cup makes an empty pur&s;e, and the fat di&s;h makes a lean bagg; he that fills thee wine with one hand, and &s;ets be|fore thee dainty di&s;hes with the other hand, will be &s;ure to pick thy pockets with both hands; and this <HI>Caligula</HI> the <HI>Roman</HI> Emperor found by experience, for his gluttony brought him to incredible poverty. <HI>Diogenes</HI> hearing that the hou&s;e of a cer|tain prodigal was offered to &s;ale, &s;aid, I knew that hou&s;e was &s;o accu&s;tomed to &s;urfeting and drunkenne&s;s, that ere long it would &s;pue out the Ma&s;ter. Exce&s;&s;ive drinking is now &s;o great in <HI>England,</HI> that the <HI>Germans</HI> may fear the lo&s;s of their Char|ter. There was a &s;treet in <HI>Rome,</HI> called <HI>vicus&s;obrius,</HI> the &s;o|ber &s;treet, becau&s;e there was never an Ale-hou&s;e in it; but this I think is hard to &s;ay of any &s;treet in <HI>London,</HI> yea of any &s;treet in <HI>England.</HI> It is an ob&s;ervation among&s;t the Marriners, that as the Sea grows daily &s;hallower &amp; &s;hallower on the &s;hoars of <HI>Holland</HI> and <HI>Zealand;</HI> &s;o the Channel of late waxeth deeper &amp; deeper on the Coa&s;ts of <HI>Kent</HI> and <HI>E&s;&s;ex.</HI> Ah &s;irs! what is more evident then this, that as drunkenne&s;s ebbs in <HI>Holland,</HI> &s;o it flows in <HI>England?</HI> O what a deal of ground has this &s;in got within this few months upon Engli&s;h hearts! there was a time when drun|kards were as rare in <HI>England</HI> as Wolves, but now they are as common as Swine. Ah what &s;taggering, reeling, and &s;hame|ful &s;pewing is to be found, both among the great ones, the Prie&s;ts and people of this Nation. The Prophet <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;. 7.5.</NOTE> com|plained in his time, that the Princes upon their Kings day made him &s;ick with bottles of wine. This day of their King was ei|ther his birth day (and &s;o <HI>Pagnine</HI> rendreth it here)<NOTE PLACE="marg">Die natalis ejus.</NOTE> or his Co|ronation day (and &s;o the <HI>Chalde</HI> paraphra&s;t carrieth it) or the day wherein their King <HI>Jeroboam</HI> &s;et up his golden Calves at <HI>Dan</HI> and <HI>Bethel,</HI> as &s;ome others conceive. Now in this day of their King, there was &s;uch carnal triumphing, and &s;uch pampering of the fle&s;h, and &s;uch roaring, carouzing,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Richard</HI> the third drown|ed his brother in a Butt of Sack.</NOTE> and drink|ing of bottles of wine, that the Princes drank them&s;elves &s;ick, drowning their bodies and &s;ouls in bottles and Butts of wine. Memorable is the Kings late Proclamation again&s;t all &s;uch de|bauched per&s;ons, who pretending to drink His Health, de&s;troy their own by a &s;hameful abu&s;ing of the precious creatures of God. But if the Prophet <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> were now alive in this Nation,<NOTE PLACE="marg">If one may credit relati|ons, many hav drunk them|&s;elves dead within this few months.</NOTE>
<PB N="426" REF="224"> Ah what cau&s;e would he have to complain, that both high and low, men and women, young and old have given them&s;elves to this bea&s;tly &s;in, that unmans a man, and that be&s;ots the &s;oul, and that de&s;troys the body, and that proves a Canker-worm to mens e&s;tates? What are mo&s;t Ale-hou&s;es, but hell-hou&s;es, but the Devils-hou&s;es, in which the name of God is notori|ou&s;ly bla&s;phemed, Religion &s;corned, the Saints derided, the Sabbaths prophaned, young ones impoy&s;ned, and old ones hardned, and many thou&s;and families impoveri&s;hed? And why then &s;hould it be almo&s;t as ea&s;ie a task to conquer the We&s;t <HI>Indies,</HI> to overcome the Turke, and to bring down the Pope, as 'tis to bring down &s;uch wretched Ale-hou&s;es, as are the very Nur&s;eries of all &s;in (and the Synagogues of incarnate Devils) and the very &s;inks of all mi&s;ery, poverty, and beggary. By the&s;e in&s;tances 'tis mo&s;t clear, that 'tis not holi|ne&s;s, but wickedne&s;s that expo&s;es men to the greate&s;t poverty and mi&s;ery. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Kings. 17.10.&mdash;17. Mr. <HI>Fox</HI> in his Act. and Mon. <HI>pag.</HI> 1874. <HI>edit. ult.</HI> Speaks of a poor wo|man, who being threat|ned that &s;he &s;hould have but a little bread one day, and a lit|tle water on the next, re|plyed, If you take away my meat, I hope God will take away my hunger, and then 'twill be all one as if I had meat.</NOTE>Thirdly, Con&s;ider, That God can make a little with holi|ne&s;s go a great way. A little with holine&s;s &s;hall &s;erve the turn, and then enough is as good as a fea&s;t. God can make a handful of Meal in the Barrel, and a little Oyl in the Cru&s;e hold out a long while. So <HI>Deut.</HI> 8.4. <HI>Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot &s;well the&s;e fourty years.</HI> Chap. 29.5. <HI>And I have led you fourty years in the wilderne&s;s, your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy Sh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o is not waxen old upon thy foot:</HI> Their raiment in fourty years time was not the wor&s;e for wearing, their gar|ments were not worn out with wearing, in all that time they were not grown old and &s;o unfit to wear; O no, but they were as fre&s;h and &s;trong, and fit for u&s;e at the la&s;t, as they were when they fir&s;t came into the wilderne&s;s, and this was by a divine power that pre&s;erved them from decay. God &s;up|plyed all the backs and bellies of the I&s;raelites in &s;uch &s;tate, as if every I&s;raelite had been a Prince. When God brings his people into a wilderne&s;s condition, he will make their mer|cies la&s;t and hold out as long as their wilderne&s;s condition con|tinues. Some of the learned are of opinion, that the gar|ments and Shoos of children and young men grew up with
<PB N="427" REF="224"> their per&s;ons; &s;o that as their &s;tature increa&s;ed, &s;o their ap|parel and Shoos waxed larger and longer. But I &s;uppo&s;e that 'tis not &s;afe for us to imagine or multiply miracles without ne|ce&s;&s;ity and clear warrant from Scripture; and therefore I &s;hall rather fall in with tho&s;e worthy men who thus judge, <HI>viz.</HI> That when any began to out-grow their Apparel and Shoos, they laid them a&s;ide, and took others that were fit for their pre&s;ent &s;tature, and that tho&s;e which they laid a&s;ide, were as &s;ound and fre&s;h, and fit for &s;ervice as when they fir&s;t began to u&s;e them, and &s;o tho&s;e they put off were fit for others to put on that were of a le&s;s &s;tature; and thus God lengthned out their mercies in their wilderne&s;s condition. So in that <HI>Prov.</HI> 15.16, 17. <HI>Better is a little with the fear of the Lord,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Sheep can live upon bare Com|mons, where fat Oxen would be quickly &s;tar|ved, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> <HI>then great trea&s;ure and trouble therewith. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, then a &s;talled Ox, and hatred therewith.</HI> Chap. 16.8. <HI>Better is a little with righteou&s;ne&s;s, then great revenues with|out right.</HI> Chap. 17.1. <HI>Better is a dry mor&s;el and quietne&s;s therewith, then a hou&s;e full of &s;acrifices with &s;trife.</HI> P&s;al. 37.16. <HI>A little that a righteous man hath, is better then the riches of many wicked.</HI> Where there is a holy God, and a holy heart, a little of the world will go far; a little will be a &s;uffi|ciency to him, who with it enjoys that holy one that is All-&s;uf|ficiency it &s;elf. Though a whole world will never fill nor &s;a|tisfie an un&s;anctified heart, yet a little,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 4.11.&mdash;20.</NOTE> a very little of the world will &s;atisfie and content a holy heart. There are two things that an unholy heart can never finde, it can never finde any &s;weetne&s;s in Spirituals,<NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;th. 5.9.&mdash;14.</NOTE> nor it can never finde any &s;atisfacti|on in Temporals; but a holy heart alwayes findes the greate&s;t &s;weetne&s;s in Spirituals, and is as ea&s;ily &s;atisfied with the lea&s;t and meane&s;t of Temporals. <HI>Gen.</HI> 28.20, 21. <HI>And Jacob vowed a vow, &s;aying, if God will be with me,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Bread &amp; wa|ter with the Go&s;pel is good chear, &s;aid holy <HI>Greenham.</HI> He is rich e|nough that lacketh not bread, and high enough that is not for|ced to &s;erve. <HI>Jerom.</HI></NOTE> <HI>and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, &s;o that I come again to my fathers hou&s;e in peace, then &s;hall the Lord be my God.</HI> Holy <HI>Jacob</HI> does not indent with God for co&s;tly Apparel, or delicate fare, he does not make a bargain with God to be hou&s;ed bravely, and fed daintily, and clothed gorgiou&s;ly, and lodged ea&s;ily, and waited on noblely; O no, bread to eat, and clothes to wear is as much as holy <HI>Ja|cob</HI>
<PB N="428" REF="225"> looks after. Ah friends a little will &s;erve nature, and le&s;s will &s;erve grace, though nothing will &s;erve or &s;atisfie an un|&s;anctified mans lu&s;ts. O &s;irs, the very pul&s;e and locu&s;ts which a holy man eats, reli&s;hes better then all the Gluttons delicious fare; and the very Sheep-skins and Goat-skins which he wears, wear &s;ofter and finer then all the purple and &s;oft raiment that is in Princes hou&s;es; and the very holes, and Caves, and Dens, wherein holy men live, are more plea&s;ant and delightful, then the &s;tately Palaces of the great ones of the world;<NOTE PLACE="marg">It is great riches not to de&s;ire riches, and he hath mo&s;t that co|vets lea&s;t. <HI>So|crates.</HI></NOTE> godline&s;s and contentment does &s;o &s;weeten and &s;o lengthen out all a Chri&s;tians mercies, that he can't but reckon him&s;elf a happy man, though he may be the poore&s;t among many men. Let me conclude this third An&s;wer thus,
<Q><L>This worlds wealth that men &s;o much de&s;ire,</L>
<L>May well be likened to a burning fire;</L>
<L>Whereof a little can do little harm,</L>
<L>But profit much our bodies well to warm:</L>
<L>But take too much, and &s;urely thou &s;halt burn;</L>
<L>So too much wealth to too much wo do's turn.</L></Q></P>
<P>But,</P>
<P>Fourthly, Con&s;ider, That worldly riches and holine&s;s do <MILESTONE N="4"> often meet together; a man may be a very holy man, and yet a rich man too. <HI>Abraham</HI> and <HI>Lot</HI> were as wealthy men as mo&s;t in their time,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 13. I&s;a. 41.2. <HI>Abraham</HI> is cal|led the righ|teous man.</NOTE> and yet behinde none for faith and holi|ne&s;s; <HI>David,</HI> and <HI>Solomon,</HI> and <HI>Jeho&s;aphat,</HI> and <HI>Hezekiah</HI> had crowns on their heads and Scepters in their hands, and very great revenues at their commands, and in all the&s;e grace and greatne&s;s &s;weetly meet.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 1.3.8.</NOTE> <HI>Job</HI> was a very holy man, and yet a very rich man; if you ca&s;t your eye upon the fir&s;t of <HI>Job,</HI> and &s;urvey his e&s;tate, you &s;hall finde that he had &s;even thou|&s;and Sheep, three thou&s;and Camels, five hundred yoke of Oxen, five hundred &s;he A&s;&s;es, and a very great Family; but if you will look into the la&s;t of <HI>Job,</HI> and &s;urvey his e|&s;tate, there you &s;hall finde it doubled. <HI>Jo&s;eph, Nehemiah, Mordecai, Daniel,</HI> and the three children were very graci|ous, and yet very high and great in the world. As every
<PB N="429" REF="225"> wicked man is not a rich man, &s;o every holy man is not a poor man; if you will but &s;et the gracious again&s;t the grace|le&s;s, the holy again&s;t the prophane, I doubt not but for one holy man, who&s;e e&s;tate is low and mean, you will finde thou|&s;ands of wicked men, who&s;e conditions are beggarly and low in this world. God many times delights to confute the devils Proverb, <HI>viz.</HI> That plain dealing is a Jewel, but he that u&s;eth it, &s;hall die a Beggar. Now God by heaping up riches and honor, and greatne&s;s upon the righteous, gives the devil the lye, and lets the world &s;ee that holine&s;s many times is the ready way to worldly greatne&s;s.</P>
<P>'Tis ob&s;ervable, that when all the &s;ons of <HI>Jacob</HI> returned with corn and money in their &s;acks from <HI>Egypt,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 44.</NOTE> <HI>Benjamin</HI> had not onely corn and money in his &s;ack, but he had over and a|bove the &s;ilver cup put into the mouth of his &s;ack, as a &s;ingu|lar pledge of his brother <HI>Jo&s;ephs</HI> favor; &s;o God many times gives to his <HI>Benjamines,</HI> the &s;ons of his right hand, not one|ly as much of the world as he does to others, but more of the world then he does to others; he does not only give them corn and money in common with others, but he al&s;o gives them the Silver-cup, the Grace-cup, he puts in &s;ome &s;ingular temporal ble&s;&s;ings into their &s;acks more then into other mens, for he is the great Lord of all, and therefore may di&s;po&s;e of his own as he plea&s;es. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly, Con&s;ider,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 63.1, 2, 3, 4.</NOTE> That mo&s;t men are be&s;t in a low condi|tion. <MILESTONE N="5"> <HI>David</HI> was never better then when he was in a wilder|ne&s;s condition, for degrees of Grace, and for the exerci&s;e of Grace, and for communion with the God of Grace; 'twas be&s;t with <HI>David</HI> when his condition was low in the world; 'twas never better with <HI>Jacob,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 32.10.</NOTE> then when he pa&s;t over <HI>Jor|dan</HI> with a &s;taff in his hand; <HI>Jobs</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 1.</NOTE> graces never &s;hined &s;o glo|riou&s;ly as when he &s;at upon a dunghil, and could ble&s;s a taking God as well as a giving God; though <HI>John</HI> was poor in the world, yet the Holy-Gho&s;t tells us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 11.11.</NOTE> that he was the greate&s;t that was born of women; <HI>Paul</HI> was but a poor Tent-maker,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 3.20.</NOTE> and yet his conver&s;ation was in heaven; The Church of <HI>Smyrna</HI> was the poore&s;t Church,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 2.8, 9.</NOTE> but yet the be&s;t of all the &s;even Churches in <HI>A&s;ia.</HI> Chri&s;t knew very well that his Di&s;ciples
<PB N="430" REF="226"> would be be&s;t in a low condition, and therefore he fed them but from hand to mouth;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Learned <HI>Ain&s;|worth</HI> had but nine pence a week to live on, whil&s;t he wrote his ex|cellent Com|mentary on the Pente|teuch. Mat. 8.20, 21.</NOTE> he that could have turned &s;tones in|to bread, could as ea&s;ily have turned &s;tones into gold, and &s;o have made his Di&s;ciples rich and great in the world, but he would not; Chri&s;t could ea&s;ily have changed their raggs into Robes, and their Cottages into &s;tately Palaces, and their Bar|ley loaves into co&s;tly Banquets, but he knew that their hearts would be be&s;t when their condition was lowe&s;t; and therefore he makes them live upon &s;hort Commons. As there was none &s;o holy as Chri&s;t, &s;o there was none &s;o poor as Chri&s;t; Chri&s;t lived poor and died poor, for as he was born in another mans hou&s;e, &s;o he was buried in another mans Tombe. <HI>Au&s;tine</HI> has long &s;ince ob&s;erved, that when Chri&s;t died, he made no Will, he had no crown lands,<NOTE PLACE="marg">If there were any happine&s;s in riches, the Gods would not want them, &s;aid <HI>Se|neca.</HI></NOTE> all he had was a coat, and that the &s;oul|diers parted among&s;t them; had there been any true happine&s;s or ble&s;&s;edne&s;s in Gold and Silver, gay clothes, &s;tately Man&s;ions, brave attendants, or in well furni&s;hed Tables, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Chri&s;t who was (and &s;till is) the Lord of all, would certainly have been &s;o favorable to him&s;elf, and &s;o kind to his di&s;ciples, as not to have deprived him&s;elf or his Family of that happine&s;s and ble&s;&s;ed|ne&s;s which they might have enjoyed, by enjoying the brave things of this world; but he very well knew that true happine&s;s and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s was too great and too glorious a thing to be found in any &s;uch worldly enjoyments, and upon that foot was willing to be without them him&s;elf; &amp; in his wi&s;e providence he &s;o ordered the affairs of his own hou&s;e, that tho&s;e whom he loved be&s;t &s;hould have lea&s;t of tho&s;e things wherein there was no true happine&s;s. <HI>Lazarus</HI> was very poor, but very holy; he was hou&s;ele&s;s, but not Lordle&s;s; his body was clothed with raggs, but his &s;oul was adorned with grace; he had no bread to eat, and yet he had bread to eat that the world knew not of; whil&s;t he lived, the Doggs (being more kinde then their Ma&s;ter) lick't his &s;ores, but when he died, the Angels carried him into <HI>Abrahams</HI> bo&s;om. In all Ages this has been an ex|perienced truth, that mo&s;t men are be&s;t in at low condition. Pope <HI>Martin</HI> reports of him&s;elf, that whil&s;t he was a Monke, and lived in the Cloy&s;ter, he had &s;ome evidences for heaven, but when he was a Cardinal, then he began to fear and doubt
<PB N="431" REF="226"> whether ever he &s;hould go to heaven; but afterwards when he came to be Pope, he utterly de&s;paired of ever going thither. Ah how holy, how humble, how heavenly, how gracious, how &s;erious, how zealous, how prudent, how vigilent, and how diligent have many men been in the&s;e late years, whil&s;t their condition was low, and poor, and mean in the world? but when under various changes they changed their Bra&s;s into Sil|ver, their Copper into Gold, their Cottages into Palaces, their Shops into Lord&s;hips, and their Shipskins into Scarlet, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Ah how proud, how &s;tately, how earthly, how carnal, how carele&s;s, how cold, how formal, how lukewarm, how indifferent, how light, how &s;light, how vain, how loo&s;e did they generally grow. I think &s;ince Chri&s;t was on earth, there has not been a more evident proof of mens being be&s;t when their condition was lowe&s;t, then what has been given within the&s;e late years. <HI>Mandrobulus</HI> in <HI>Lucian</HI> offered to his god the fir&s;t year Gold, the &s;econd year Silver, and the third year nothing at all; &s;o many in our times, who were forward in the days of their po|verty and adver&s;ity to offer Gold and Silver (I mean prayers and prai&s;es) to God, yet in the days of their pro&s;perity and worldly glory, they offered either nothing to God, or el&s;e that which was next to nothing. I have read of the Pine-tree, that if you pull off the Barke it will la&s;t a long time, but if the Barke continue on, it will rot the Tree. Ah how has the Bark of honor, the bark of riches, the bark of plea&s;ure, the bark of &s;ucce&s;s the barke of applau&s;e, and the barke of preferment, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> rot|ted, and corrupted, and wor&s;ned many glorious profe&s;&s;ors in the&s;e days? And, O that now their barke is taken off, they may with the Pine-tree grow better and better; O that now they may grow more holy then ever, and more humble then ever, and more heavenly then ever, and more &s;piritual then ever, and more watchful then ever, and more faithful then e|ver, and more friendly then ever, and more united then ever, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Now if mo&s;t men are be&s;t in a low condition, then there is no rea&s;on why any man &s;hould turn his back upon holine&s;s becau&s;e of poverty, that often treads upon holine&s;s heels. The Cypre&s;s-Tree is high, but barren, and the Olive-Tree is low, but fruitful. Ah Chri&s;tians 'tis infinitely better to be an Olive-Tree,
<PB N="432" REF="227"> low and fruitful, to be low in the world, and full of the fruits of righteou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;s, then to be a Cypre&s;s-Tree, high in honors, riches, and worldly greatne&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and to be barren of all grace and goodne&s;s. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="6"> Sixthly and la&s;tly con&s;ider, That &s;piritual riches (which are the be&s;t of riches) do commonly wait on the poore&s;t Saints; u&s;ually there are none &s;o rich in &s;pirituals, as tho&s;e that are poore&s;t in temporals, there are none that have &s;o much to &s;hew for another world, as tho&s;e that have lea&s;t to &s;hew of this world;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Solus &s;a|piens dives,</HI> &s;aith the Phi|lo&s;opher.</NOTE> <HI>James</HI> 2.5. <HI>Hearken my beloved brethren, hath not God cho&s;en the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he hath promi&s;ed to them that love him?</HI> Though they have never a penny in their pur&s;es, nor never a ragg to hange on their backs, nor never a bit to put in their bellies, yet they are rich heirs, and their heads are de&s;tinated to the Dia|dem; u&s;ually the poore&s;t Saints are the riche&s;t Chri&s;tians in comforts,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 1.2, 3, 4, 5. Rom. 5.3.</NOTE> in Graces, in promi&s;es, in experiences, and in &s;piri|tual enjoyments, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The holy &s;oul drives the free&s;t and the greate&s;t Trade heaven-wards; the holy &s;oul may &s;ail to any Port that lies in Gods Dominions, and Trade freely, and what inriches men like a free and a full Ttade? There are infinite Trea&s;ures laid up in precious promi&s;es, and all the&s;e trea&s;u|ries lye open to the holy &s;oul; a Chri&s;tian may lade his &s;oul as deep as he plea&s;es with the precious commodities of heaven. I have read of <HI>Tiberius</HI> the Emperor, who &s;eeing a Cro&s;s &s;et in a Marble &s;tone lying in the ground,<NOTE PLACE="marg">In the year of our Lord, 577.</NOTE> commanded it to be dig|ged up, and when 'twas digged up, he found a rich Trea&s;ure under the Cro&s;s. O &s;irs, under the cro&s;s of poverty, there are trea&s;ures, &s;piritual trea&s;ures, la&s;ting trea&s;ures, and &s;atisfy|ing trea&s;ures to be found; though holine&s;s may be attended with cro&s;s upon cro&s;s, lo&s;s upon lo&s;s, and mi&s;ery upon mi&s;e|ry, and calamity upon calamity, and &s;orrow upon &s;orrow, and vexation upon vexation, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> yet under every cro&s;s and every lo&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> a Chri&s;tian &s;hall be &s;ure to finde &s;uch &s;piritual and Heavenly trea&s;ure, that for weight, worth, u&s;e, delight, and duration, all the trea&s;ures of the world, are not to be compared to it.</P>
<PB N="433" REF="227">
<P>O Sirs, what is a cup of plea&s;ant wine to a condemned man? or a Ships Lading of Gold to a drowning man? or a &s;umptuous Fea&s;t to a &s;ick man? or Royal Robes to a di&s;ea&s;ed man, <HI>&amp;c?</HI> no more are all the riches or trea&s;ures of this world, to tho&s;e &s;pi|rituall riches and heavenly trea&s;ures that attends the poore&s;t Saints. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> hath long &s;ince told us, that <HI>(Divitiae corpora|les paupertatis plenae &s;unt)</HI> earthly riches are full of poverty; they cannot enrich the &s;oul; for oftentimes where the pur&s;e is full of Gold, the heart is empty of grace, and under many &s;ilken Coats, there are Thred-bare &s;ouls to be found. Now what are all the riches of this world to tho&s;e riches of con&s;olation, and riches of &s;anctification, and riches of Ju&s;tification, and riches of &s;alvation, and riches of glorification, that attends the poor|e&s;t Saints? Suppo&s;e that poverty &s;hould break in upon you like an Armed man, whil&s;t you are in the pur&s;uit of holine&s;s, yet if the be&s;t of riches, if &s;piritual riches &s;hall attend your poverty, as certainly they &s;hall, what cau&s;e have you to be di&s;couraged? &s;urely none. And let thus much &s;uffice for An&s;wer to this fifth objection.</P>
</DIV5>
<DIV5 N="6" TYPE="objection">
<P>But Sixthly, Some may further object and &s;ay, Should we <MILESTONE N="6"> pur&s;ue after holine&s;s, it would be a di&s;grace, a di&s;paragement and di&s;honour to us, who are high, and great, and rich, and ho|norable in the earth: We are Gentlemen, we are well bred and high-borne, and holine&s;s &s;eemes to be too poor and too low a thing for &s;uch as we are to look after, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Now to fence and arme you again&s;t this objection, give me leave to propo&s;e to your mo&s;t &s;erious thoughts, the&s;e following Con&s;iderations, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, That holine&s;s is mans greate&s;t honour and excellen|cy, <MILESTONE N="1"> and this I have made evident at large in the third motive to holine&s;s, yea holine&s;s is the crown, excellency,<NOTE PLACE="marg">In the other motives you will finde ho|line&s;s to be the honor of God, Chri&s;t, and Angels, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> and glory of all a mans excellencies and glories, as has been fully proved in the fifth motive to holine&s;s, yea and that which is yet more, holine&s;s reflects honour not only upon a mans own per&s;on, but it reflects honour al&s;o upon a mans neare and deare relations, yea upon the very Countrey, City, or Towne, where he was borne, as is made good at large in the &s;ix<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">h motive to holine&s;s, to which I refer you for more full and compleate &s;atisfaction to this objection. But,</P>
<PB N="434" REF="228">
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, Ah how is man fallen from his Primitive glory, that looks now upon holine&s;s as his di&s;grace, as his di&s;credit and di&s;honor,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mercury</HI> could not kill <HI>Argus</HI> till he had ca&s;t him into a&s;leep, and with an in|chanted rod clo&s;ed his eyes; &s;o the Devill can never hurt the &s;oul, nor kill the &s;oul, till he has ca&s;t the &s;inner in|to a deep &s;leep of car|nall &s;ecurity.</NOTE> which in innocency was the top and crowne of all his glory and felicity! Ah how has &s;in blinded, be bea&s;ted and be|&s;otted the &s;ons of men, that they &s;hould look upon that to be their reproach, which is their highe&s;t honor in this world; and to look upon that to be their di&s;grace, which alone puts a grace upon them; and to look upon that to be their di&s;credit, which can only bring them into credit with God, Angels, and good men.<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. Con|fe&s;&s;. lib. <HI>2.</HI> cap. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> confe&s;&s;eth that it was ju&s;t thus &s;ometimes with him, for he was &s;tricken with &s;uch blindne&s;s, that he thought it a &s;hame unto him to be le&s;s vile and wicked then his compa|nions, whom he heard boa&s;t of their lewdne&s;s, and glory &s;o much the more by how much they were the more filthy; therefore, &s;aith he, lea&s;t I &s;hould be of no account I was the more vitious, and when I could not otherwi&s;e match others, I would feigne that I had done tho&s;e things which I never did, lea&s;t I &s;hould &s;eeme &s;o much the more abject, by how much I was the more in|nocent, and &s;o much the more vile, by how much I was the more cha&s;te. Ah, what will not a &s;oul blinded by &s;in &s;ay and doe, when the work of holine&s;s is not formed in him? Sin has certain|ly ca&s;t that &s;inner into a wofull Lethargy, who is the father of this objection; now 'tis ob&s;erved of tho&s;e that are fallen into a Lethargy, that their bodies are &s;ubject to a continuall drow&s;i|ne&s;s, and their memories are &s;o weak that they cannot remember any thing that they &s;peak or do, nay it do's &s;o far deba&s;e them, that they forget the very nece&s;&s;ary actions of life; and ju&s;t &s;o has &s;in dealt with the&s;e Objectors &s;ouls, it has ca&s;t them under &s;uch a &s;pirituall drow&s;ine&s;s, yea it has ca&s;t them into &s;uch a deadly and fearfull &s;leep, that it makes them forget the <HI>unum nece&s;&s;arium,</HI> the one thing nece&s;&s;ary, <HI>viz.</HI> holine&s;s. Souls under a &s;pirituall Lethargy, forget their lo&s;t and lamentable condition, they forget how far off they are from God, Chri&s;t, heaven, and &s;alvation, and they forget how neare they are to hell, to ruine, to everla&s;ting burnings, and to utter perdition and de&s;truction. It is ob&s;ervable of the Smiths dogge, that neither the noy&s;e of hammers by him, nor the &s;parks of fire flying about him, nor tho&s;e that light upon him, doe any whit awaken him, but he
<PB N="435" REF="228"> &s;norts and &s;leepes on &s;ecurely in the mid&s;t of all; &s;o &s;in has ca&s;t the &s;inner into &s;o deep a &s;leep, that though the &s;parks of hell-fire in the threatnings fly about him, and the hammers of Gods Judgements makes a noy&s;e on all &s;ides of him, yet he is &s;o &s;tu|pified and benum'd, that nothing will awaken him to behold his &s;pirituall and eternall hazard, but he &s;leeps on &s;ecurely, and &s;o is like to doe (if infinite grace and mercy do's not prevent) till he awakes with everla&s;ting flames about his eares. When a man is in a deep Lethargy, if you pinch him with pincers, or prick him with needles, he feels it not, if you &s;courge him he cryes not, if you threaten him he feares not, or if you &s;peak him faire he regards it not, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Now this is the condition of &s;uch that are in a &s;pirituall Lethargy, let the Judgements of God be denounced, and let the terrours of the Law be prea|ched they tremble not, let the flames of hell-fire fla&s;h upon their &s;ouls they regard it not, for they are Sermon-proof, and Judgement-proof, and hell-proof. Now this is thy very ca&s;e O &s;inner, who crye&s;t out that the pur&s;uit of holine&s;s will turne to thy di&s;grace and di&s;credit in the world; for were thy eyes but open to &s;ee the nece&s;&s;ity, beauty, &amp; excellency of holine&s;s, O then thou would&s;t call for holine&s;s, and cry for holine&s;s, and &s;earch for holine&s;s, &amp; pre&s;s for holine&s;s, as that which is the chie|fe&s;t ornament, &amp; the only honor and glory of the Creature. But,</P>
<P>Thirdly, I an&s;wer, That 'tis not holine&s;s but wickedne&s;s, <MILESTONE N="3"> 'tis not &s;anctity but impiety, that is the reproach, the di&s;honor, the di&s;grace, and di&s;paragement of man. <HI>Pro.</HI> 14.34. <HI>Righteou&s;|ne&s;s exalts a nation; but &s;in is a reproach to any people,</HI> or as the Hebrew has it, <HI>to nations.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> Nations or peoples.</NOTE> The world u&s;ually accounts either beggerline&s;s of e&s;tate, or badne&s;s of &s;cituation, or rudene&s;s of behaviour, or changes in Government, or dulne&s;s of invention, or a di&s;u&s;e of Armes, or &s;ome &s;uch like imperfections to be the reproach of Nations; but the holy Gho&s;t tells us, that 'tis &s;in, 'tis &s;in that is the reproach of nations, that is the &s;hame of na|tions, that is the contempt and &s;corne of nations, and that blots and blurres all the excellencies and glories of nations; impi|ous per&s;ons makes the nations infamous, and the more impious any nation, City, or per&s;on is, the more infamous that nation, Ci|ty, or per&s;on is. <HI>Pro.</HI> 6.32, 33. <HI>But who &s;o committeth adul|tery
<PB N="436" REF="229"> with a woman,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">What an in|deleble blot was this &s;till upon <HI>David, viz.</HI> That his heart was up|right in all things &s;ave in the matter of <HI>&V;riah.</HI></NOTE> <HI>lacketh under&s;tanding: he that doth it de|&s;troyeth his own &s;oul. A w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">und and di&s;honour &s;hall he get, and his reproach &s;hall not be wiped away.</HI> There is nothing that is &s;uch a blemi&s;h and &s;uch a wound to a mans honor as &s;in; &s;in leaves &s;uch a blot, &s;uch a blurr, and &s;uch a reproach upon a mans name, fame, and reputation, that no Art, no paines &s;hall ever be able to wipe it out; all the water in the Sea cannot wa&s;h away, nor all the rubbing in the world cannot wipe away the di&s;grace, di&s;|daine, and contempt, that enormities, that wickedne&s;&s;es lays a people under. <HI>Jer.</HI> 24.9. <HI>And I will deliver them to be re|moved, into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach, and a proverb, a taunt and a cur&s;e in all places whether I &s;hall drive them.</HI> 'Twas not for their holine&s;s, their godline&s;s, but for their wickedne&s;s and ungodline&s;s, that God was re&s;olv'd to make them a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a cur&s;e in all places. <HI>Pro.</HI> 10.7. <HI>The memory of the Ju&s;t is ble&s;&s;ed: but the name of the wicked &s;hall rot.</HI> The wickedne&s;s of the wicked heaps &s;o much di&s;grace, di&s;paragement, and di&s;honor upon them, that it makes their very names to rot and &s;tinke above ground; their carka&s;&s;es doe not more rot and &s;tinke under ground, then their very names do rot and &s;tinke above ground; the wickedne&s;s of the wicked, will make their very names &s;uch a dete&s;tation and &s;uch an abhorring, that they &s;hall either not be remembred at all, or if they be, they &s;hall be only remem|bred as a rotten &s;tinking putrified thing. As the cur&s;e of God follows the &s;oul of a wicked man to hell, &s;o the cur&s;e of God follows the name of a wicked man on earth, &s;o that it becomes mo&s;t noy&s;ome and loath&s;ome among the &s;ons of men. Sin do's &s;o deba&s;e and bebea&s;t the great ones of the world, that the Pro|phets (as <HI>Grotius</HI> hath rightly ob&s;erv'd) u&s;e to &s;et forth wick|ed Kings by the names of Bea&s;ts,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 7, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Pro. 28.15, 16.</NOTE> as the Goat, the Ram, the L&eacute;opard, the Beare, to note the bea&s;tline&s;s of their conditions, and becau&s;e they commonly maintaine and exerci&s;e their go|vernment by bruti&s;h violence and Tyranny. And Chri&s;t him|&s;elfe who never &s;poke Trea&s;on nor Sedition, tearmes king <HI>He|rod</HI> a Fox in that <HI>Luke</HI> 13.32. <HI>And he &s;aid unto them, goe ye and tell that Fox, behold I ca&s;t out devils, and I doe cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I &s;hall be perfected. Herod</HI> was
<PB N="437" REF="229"> as crafty and as &s;ubtile as Fox, he was as cruel and as fraudu|lent as a Fox; and therefore he is very fitly tearmed by Chri&s;t a Fox. And &s;o <HI>Paul</HI> de&s;cribes <HI>Nero</HI> by the name of a Lyon, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4.17. <HI>And I was delivered out of the mouth of the Lyon,</HI> that is, out of the mouth of <HI>Nero,</HI> who for his power and cruelty was like a Lyon, for he was a mo&s;t cruell and de&s;perate per&s;e|cutor of the Chri&s;tians, and made a bloody decree, that <HI>who|&s;oever confe&s;&s;ed him&s;elf a Chri&s;tian, &s;hould without any more adoe be put to death a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> a convicted enemy of mankinde.</HI> Now by what has been &s;aid you &s;ee that 'tis not holine&s;s but wickedne&s;s that is the greate&s;t di&s;grace, di&s;honor and di&s;paragement imaginable to the &s;ons of men; and therefore there is no rea&s;on why the great ones of the world &s;hould di&s;daine to pur&s;ue after holine&s;s upon the account of this objection. But,</P>
<P>Fourthly, I an&s;wer, That this objection &s;avours &s;trongly of <MILESTONE N="4"> cur&s;ed pride, and of helli&s;h loftine&s;s and &s;tateline&s;s of &s;pirit; for who art thou, O great mountaine? who art thou O great man?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zech. 4.7. <HI>Calvin</HI> hath this note on that 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 5.5. viz. <HI>(Regis animum qui&s;&abque; intra &s;e habet,)</HI> every man hath in him the minde of a King.</NOTE> or what art thou O mighty man? but that thou maye&s;t be di&s;ho|nored, and di&s;paraged for holine&s;s &s;ake? what are thy great &s;welling Titles, but as &s;o many Rattles? what are thy Honors, but as &s;o many Meteors? and what is all thy worldly greatne&s;s, but a winde that may blow thee the &s;ooner to hell? all thy glo|ry is but a glorious fancy, a <HI>magnum nihil,</HI> a great nothing; and this <HI>Haman</HI> and <HI>Herod</HI> found by experience, and &s;o did <HI>Julius Cae&s;ar,</HI> and <HI>Augu&s;tus Cae&s;ar,</HI> who gave a charge to the Pretors of <HI>Rome,</HI> that they &s;hould not &s;uffer his name to be worne thread-bare. <HI>Bajazet</HI> who was one of the greate&s;t Commanders in the world, was carried about in an I<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">on-grate to be a foot-&s;tool to an in&s;ulting Conquerour. And <HI>Beli&s;arius</HI> the mo&s;t famous Generall that the latter Age of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire knew, and in greate&s;t favour with <HI>Ju&s;tinian</HI> his Prince, was reduced to that great want that he was faine to beg his bread. And thus in all Ages men have quickly fallen from the highe&s;t pinacle of honor, to &s;it with <HI>Job</HI> upon the dunghill. The true honor of a Souldier lyes not in boa&s;ting of the noblene&s;s of his linage, nor in the blazing of his Armes, nor in telling of large Stories of his Pedigrees and Genealogies, nor in his brave Cloaths, nor in his rich plunder, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but his honor lyes in a torne Buckler, a
<PB N="438" REF="230"> crackt Helmet,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Of the&s;e <HI>Biron</HI> the <HI>French</HI> Mar&s;hall boa|&s;ted at his death. And &s;o did many of the <HI>Romans.</HI></NOTE> a blunt Sword, and in the &s;carres and wounds that he has received in the defence of his Countrey; &s;o thy true honor, O thou great piece of vanity, (that make&s;t this objecti|on) do's not lye in thy Coat of Armes, nor in thy great Titles, nor in thy great Lord&s;hips and Mannors, nor in thy high Birth, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but in thy intere&s;t in Chri&s;t, in thy new birth, in thy being an heire of the promi&s;es, in thy Title to heaven, and in thy pur|&s;uit after holine&s;s; and verily, if you &s;hould live and dye with|out the&s;e things, it had been ten thou&s;and times better that you had been brought up in a Cave, then that you had been brought up at Court, and that you had all your dayes laine under a hedge, then that you have &s;it &s;o long upon &s;eats of honor, and that you had begg'd your bread from dore to dore, then that you have had your full Cups and full Tables, and that you had been cloth'd with Raggs, then that you have put on co&s;tly Robes, and that you had rather been a turning of Spits, then a to&s;&s;ing of Pots or Pipes, for the great things of this world do's but lay men the more open to great Temptations, and to great provocations, even to commit the greate&s;t abominations. O! Sirs, Suppo&s;e a criminous per&s;on, who is led to execution, &s;hould ingrave his Coat of Armes upon the Pri&s;on-Gate, would he not be accounted vaine and mad? and yet &s;uch is the mad|ne&s;s and vanity of the great ones of this world, that they endea|vour with the greate&s;t indu&s;try to leave monuments of their dignity in the pri&s;on of this world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 49.10.&mdash;15.</NOTE> but take no care to make provi&s;ion for another world; and all this is out of the horrid pride and loftine&s;s of their &s;pirits. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 10.4. <HI>The wicked through the pride of his countenance, will not &s;eek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.</HI> There is nothing that hinders a man from &s;eeking after a holy God, and from pur&s;uing after holi|ne&s;s like pride; A proud heart is too &s;tout to thinke of holi|ne&s;s, or to mind holine&s;s, or to prize holine&s;s, or to pre&s;s after holine&s;s:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 5.2.</NOTE> <HI>Who is the Lord,</HI> &s;ays proud <HI>Pharoah, that I &s;hould &s;erve him?</HI> &s;o &s;ays the proud heart, who is holine&s;s? and what is holine&s;s, that I &s;hould &s;eek it, and pre&s;s &s;o hard after it? As there is no &s;in that fortifies the heart again&s;t holine&s;s like pride, &s;o there is no &s;in that weakens &amp; di&s;-inables the heart to pur&s;ue after holine&s;s like pride. O! you proud and lofty ones of
<PB N="439" REF="230"> the world, who look upon holine&s;s as a poor low contemptible thing; tell me, what are all your noble births, and great e|&s;tates, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but tri&s;les that God be&s;towes upon the wor&s;t and ba&s;e&s;t of men? <HI>The whole Turki&s;h Empire,</HI> &s;ays <HI>Luther, is but a Cru&s;t that God ca&s;ts to a Dogge.</HI> Tell me, whether the Fly and the Worme, yea the mo&s;t contemptible creature (if there be any &s;uch) was not mans elder Brother at his fir&s;t creation, and if &s;o, why then &s;hould vaine man be proud? O tell me, whether thou ha&s;t ever laid to heart that &s;oul-aba&s;ing and &s;oul-humbling text, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 39.5.<NOTE PLACE="marg">The originall runs elegant|ly.</NOTE> <HI>Verily every man at his be&s;t e&s;tate is altoge|ther vanity. Selah: Verily</HI> lets that in, and <HI>Selah</HI> &s;huts that up, <HI>verily every man,</HI> not &s;ome man, but <HI>every man, Col Adam, Col Hebel,</HI> all <HI>Adam</HI> is all vanity, or every man is every vanity;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE> every man is a comprehen&s;ive vanity, every rich man is every vanity, and every great man is every vanity, and every mighty man is every vanity, and every Noble man is every vanity; yea and that which is yet more, <HI>every man at his be&s;t e&s;tate,</HI> not in his childhood or decrepit age, but in his be&s;t e&s;tate, when he is be&s;t con&s;tituted and under-laid, when he is mo&s;t firmly fixed and &s;etled on his be&s;t bottom, yet even then he is vanity. The Original runs thus, <HI>every man &s;tanding,</HI> that is,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE> (as &s;ome carry it) &s;tanding a Tip-toe in all his Gallantry and bravery, in all his beauty and glory, and in all his pomp and maje&s;ty, is vanity, yea every vanity. Well Sirs, remember this, that as rotten wood and Glow-worms make a glorious &s;hew in the night, but when the day appeares, they appeare to be poore de&s;pica|ble ba&s;e creatures; &s;o though now the high, the great, and migh|ty ones of the earth &s;hine and gloriou&s;ly &s;parkle in the darkne&s;s of this world, yet in that day when the Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;hall ari&s;e, and manife&s;t the &s;ecrets of all hearts to the world, and &s;trip the great ones of all their Titles of honor, and their noble parentage, and their rich and royal Robes, and their Troopes and Traines, and their crowns and chains, then they will appeare to be but ba&s;e and de&s;picable creatures, then their poverty and mi&s;ery, their nakedne&s;s and vilene&s;s will appeare to all the world, then the world &s;hall &s;ee that riches without righteou&s;ne&s;s, power without piety, and greatne&s;s without holi|ne&s;s, will doe the Gods of this world no good. O that thou had&s;t
<PB N="440" REF="231"> now a heart to weep over that pride of heart that keeps thee from pur&s;uing after holine&s;s, that &s;o thou maye&s;t not weep to all eternity in utter darkne&s;s. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="5"> Fifthly, and la&s;tly, I an&s;wer, That there are no per&s;ons under heaven that &s;tand &s;o much obliged to look after holine&s;s, and to pre&s;s with all their might to obtaine holine&s;s, as the rich, the great, the mighty, and the honorable of the earth; For, fir&s;t, <MILESTONE N="1"> why has God made them greater then others, but that they &s;hould labour to be better then others? they are therefore higher then others, that they may be holier then others; the greatne&s;s of their outward glory, calls aloud upon them to ex|cell in &s;anctity; and woe to them that are re&s;olv'd to be wor&s;e then others, becau&s;e God has done more for them then he has <MILESTONE N="2"> for others. Secondly, They of all men have more time, lea|&s;ure, and advantages to heare much that they be holy, and to reade much that they may be holy, and to pray much that they may be holy, and to confer much with all &s;orts and ranks of men, that they may be holy; and therefore it concerns them above all other men in the world to be holy: Other men have neither the time, nor the advantages to gaine holine&s;s as the&s;e men have: The poor people in <HI>Sweden</HI> &s;ay, that 'tis only for <MILESTONE N="3"> Gentlemen to keep the Sabbath. But, Thirdly, Their examples are mo&s;t powerfull and prevalent with the people, either for much good,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 29.12.</NOTE> or for much evill. If the mountains overflow with waters, the vallies are the better; and if the head be full of ill humors, the whole body fares the wor&s;e. The Actions of Ru|lers are mo&s;t commonly rules for the peoples actions, and their examples pa&s;&s;eth as currant as their Coine:<NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;th. 1.10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18. <HI>Vide.</HI> Its no|ted in King <HI>Alphon&s;us</HI> &s;ayings, that a great man cannot com|mit a &s;mall &s;in.</NOTE> If their examples are evill, there are none &s;o dangerous as theirs. <HI>Jeroboam</HI> the Son of <HI>Nebat,</HI> is never mentioned in the Scripture, nor never read of in the <HI>Chronicles</HI> of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> but he draws a Tayle after him, like a blazing Star, <HI>who made I&s;rael to &s;in.</HI> A &s;ick head di&s;|ordereth all the other parts, and a dark eye benights the whole body. The evill examples of great men, corrupts the Aire round about. The common people are like tempered wax, ea&s;ily re|ceiving impre&s;&s;ions from the Seals of great mens vices. If a Pea&s;ant meet with Luxury in a &s;carlet Robe, he dares be &s;uch, having &s;o faire a cloake for it. If the vulgar people meet with
<PB N="441" REF="231"> drunkenne&s;s under a black Ca&s;&s;ock, they dare be &s;uch; they make no bones on't to &s;in by pre&s;cription, and to damn them&s;elves with Authority. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> brings in &s;ome excu&s;ing their com|pliances with the &s;infull cu&s;tomes of tho&s;e times in drinking healths, thus, Great per&s;onages urged it, and it was at the Kings Banquet, where they judged of Loyalty by Luxury, and put us upon this election, drink or die; they thought it a &s;ufficient ex|cu&s;e to plead the examples of great men.</P>
<P>And if their examples are vertuous, there are none &s;o win|ning and drawing as theirs.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Carus</HI> the <HI>Ro|mane</HI> Empe|rour us'd to &s;ay, <HI>Bonus duae bonus comes,</HI> A good lea|der makes a good fol|lower.</NOTE> It is ob&s;ervable in the very cour&s;e of nature, that the highe&s;t Spheres are alwayes the &s;wifte&s;t in their motion, and carry about with them the inferior Orbes by their celerity; &s;o men that are high and eminent in Authority, power, and dignity, and eminent al&s;o in grace and holine&s;s, they carry the inferior people by their examples to a liking of holine&s;s, and to a love of holine&s;s, and to a pur&s;uit after holi|ne&s;s. As the bigge&s;t Stars in the Firmament are alwayes the brighte&s;t, and gives the greate&s;t lu&s;tre to tho&s;e of a le&s;&s;er mag|nitude; &s;o tho&s;e that in re&s;pect both of Greatne&s;s and grace, are as &s;o many &s;hining Stars, they give the greate&s;t light and lu&s;tre to others by their &s;hining conver&s;ations. O! what a world of good will the gracious example of a good Prince provoke unto. 'Twas the &s;aying of <HI>Trajanus</HI> a Spaniard, <HI>Qualis Rex, Talis Grex,</HI> Subjects prove good by a good Kings example. Stories tells us of &s;ome that could not &s;leep when they thought of the Trophies of other Worthies that went before them; the gracious examples of great men are very awakening, quickning, and provoking to that which is good; as is mo&s;t evident in all tho&s;e Kingdomes, Countries, Cities and villages, where &s;uch men live. And therefore great men are the more obliged to be good men, and honorable men to be holy men. But,</P>
<P>Fourthly, Of all men under heaven you will have the grea|te&s;t <MILESTONE N="4"> accounts to make up with God, and therefore you have the more cau&s;e to &s;eek after holine&s;s. Where God gives much,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 12.48. It was excel|lent coun&s;ell that the Hea|then Oratour gave his hea|rers; <HI>Ita vi vamus ut <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">a|tionem nobis reddendam ar|bitremur;</HI> Let us &s;o live as tho&s;e that mu&s;t give an account of all at la&s;t.</NOTE> there he looks for much: O Sirs, God will bring you to an ac|count for that Talent of honor, and that Talent of wealth, and that Talent of birth, and that Talent of power, and that Talent of Authority, and that Talent of intere&s;t, and that Talent of
<PB N="442" REF="232"> Time, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that he has intru&s;ted you with; and how will you be able to &s;tand in the day of account without holine&s;s in your hearts? King <HI>Philip</HI> the third of <HI>Spaine,</HI> who&s;e life was free from gro&s;s evills, profe&s;&s;ing that he would rather lo&s;e all his King|doms, then offend God willingly; yet being in the Agony of death, and con&s;idering more thorowly of his account that he was to give to God, feare &s;truck into him, and the&s;e words brake from him; <HI>Oh, would to God I had never reigned! oh, that tho&s;e years I have &s;pent in my kingdome, I had lived a private life in the Wilderne&s;s! oh, that I had lived a &s;olitary life with God! how much more &s;ecurely &s;hould I have now dyed? how much more confidently &s;hould I have gone to the Throne of God? What do's all my glory profit me, but that I have &s;o much the more tor|ment in my death?</HI> Well Gentlemen, there is a day a coming wherein the Lord will call you to a &s;trict account, both for the principall, and al&s;o for the intere&s;t of all tho&s;e Talents of honor, riches, and greatne&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that he has put into your hands; and how will you be ever able to hold up your heads in this day of account, without you experience principles of holine&s;s in your hearts, and hold forth the power of godline&s;s in your lives? If <HI>Saul</HI> was a&s;toni&s;hed when he heard Je&s;us of <HI>Nazareth</HI> but calling upon him;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 22.7, 8.</NOTE> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mark 6.16. 1 Sam. 21.9. Num. 7.10.</NOTE> If <HI>Herod</HI> was affrighted when he thought that <HI>John Bapti&s;t</HI> was ri&s;en from the dead; If the <HI>Phili&s;tians</HI> were afraid when they &s;aw <HI>Davids</HI> Sword; If the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> were appalled when they &s;aw <HI>Aarons</HI> Rod;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Den. 38.2.</NOTE> If <HI>Judah</HI> was a&s;ha|med when he &s;aw <HI>Thamars</HI> Signet and Staffe; And if <HI>Bel&s;haz|zar</HI> was amazed when he &s;aw the hand writing on the wall;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 5.9.</NOTE> O! how a&s;toni&s;hed? how affrighted? how a&s;hamed? and how ama|zed will the great ones of the world be, who live and die with|out holine&s;s, when God &s;hall bring them to the Barr, and com|mand them to give an account of all the Talents that he has put into their hands? If the <HI>Carthagenians</HI> were troubled when they &s;aw <HI>Scipio's</HI> Sepulchre; If the <HI>Saxons</HI> were terrified when they &s;aw <HI>Cadwallon's</HI> Image; And if the <HI>Romans</HI> were da&s;hed when they &s;aw <HI>Cae&s;ars</HI> bloody Robe; Ah how will all the Great un|holy ones of the earth be troubled, terrified, and da&s;hed in the great day of their accounts? there are none that will have &s;uch large accounts to give up as the great ones of the world, and
<PB N="443" REF="232"> therefore there are none that &s;tand &s;o &s;trongly engaged to look after holine&s;s as they doe. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly, The greater any men are on earth, if they live and <MILESTONE N="5"> die without holine&s;s, the greater will be their torments in hell; all their Greatne&s;s, Glory, and Gallantry, will but &s;ink them the lower in hell. The Scribes and Phari&s;ees were the rich, the high, and the great ones of the times,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Math. 23.14.</NOTE> and the&s;e Chri&s;t lays under the greater damnation. The <HI>Germans</HI> have this proverb, <HI>The pavement of hell</HI> (&s;ay they) <HI>is made of the bare &s;culs of the Prie&s;ts, and the glorious Cre&s;ts of Gallants;</HI> Their meaning is, that the more eminent any are in Church or State, and doe not employ their eminency, power and Authority, in wayes of pie|ty and &s;anctity, the lower they &s;hall lye in hell, yea the&s;e men of all others &s;hall lye lowe&s;t in hell. <HI>Rev.</HI> 18.7.<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 47.8.</NOTE> <HI>How much</HI> (or in as much as) <HI>&s;he hath glorified her &s;elf, and lived deliciou&s;ly, &s;o much torment and &s;orrow give her: for &s;he &s;aith in her heart, I &s;it a Queen, and am no widow, and &s;hall &s;ee no &s;orrow. Babylons</HI> torment and &s;orrow mu&s;t be &s;utable to her &s;in. <HI>Babylon</HI> excell'd all others in pride, haughtine&s;s, luxury, and bla&s;phemy, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and her puni&s;hments mu&s;t be an&s;werable; So the Great, the rich, the high, and the mighty men of the world, they u&s;ually exceed all others, in pride, drunkenne&s;s, uncleanne&s;s, filthine&s;s, oppre&s;&s;ion, vaine-glory, Gluttony and Tyranny, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and an|&s;werable to their &s;ins, will be their torments and their puni&s;h|ments in hell. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 30.33. <HI>For Tophet is ordained of old</HI> (I it may be for the poore, meane, and beggarly of the world) <HI>yea for the King it is prepared, he hath made it deep and large,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Tophet</HI> is the name of a place in the valley, lying on the South &s;ide of <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem.</HI> Jo&s;h. 18.16. Now in this vale &s;tood <HI>To|phet,</HI> wherein the Idolatrous Jews u&s;ed to burne their children in &s;acrifice to the Idol <HI>Mo|loc,</HI> and it had that name from the Drums or Ta|brets that their Idola|trous Prie&s;ts u&s;ed to beat upon at the time of their dete&s;table &s;er|vices, to drowne the hideous &s;hrieks and lamentable cryes of the poore &s;acrifi|ced children.</NOTE> <HI>the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a &s;treame of Brim&s;tone, doth kindle it.</HI> Alas, the Brick-kilns of <HI>E|gypt,</HI> and the Furnace of <HI>Babel,</HI> were but as a blaze of &s;traw to this Tormenting <HI>Tophet,</HI> that has been prepared of old for the great and mighty ones of the earth. Oh how dreadfull mu&s;t that fire be that is prepared by God him&s;elfe, and that is kind|led by the breath of the Lord, and that &s;hall never be quen|ched? and yet &s;uch is the fire that is prepared for the great and mighty ones of the world. O! the ea&s;ele&s;s, the endle&s;s, the remedile&s;s, the un&s;ufferable, and yet the inevitable Tor|ments that are prepared for tho&s;e that are great and gracele&s;s;
<PB N="444" REF="233"> in hell their wanton eyes &s;hall be tormented with ugly and fearefull &s;ights of gha&s;tly Spirits, and their ears that us'd to be delighted with all delightfull mu&s;ick, &s;hall now be filled with the hideous cryes, howlings, and yellings of Devills and dam|ned Spirits, and their tongues of bla&s;phemy &s;hall now be tor|mented with drought and thir&s;t, and though with the Glutton they cry out for a drop to coole their tongues, yet Ju&s;tice will deny them drops, who have denyed others crums; and their hands of bribery, cruelty, and tyranny, &s;hall now be bound with everla&s;ting chaines, and &s;o &s;hall their feete which were once &s;wift to &s;hed innocent blood. In a word, their torments &s;hall be univer&s;all, they &s;hall extend to every member of the body, and to every faculty of the &s;oul. Ah Sirs, fire, &s;word, famine, pri|&s;ons, Racks, and all other torments that men can invent, are but as flea-bitings to tho&s;e Scorpions, but as drops to tho&s;e vials of wrath, and but as &s;parks to tho&s;e eternal flames that all un&s;an|ctified per&s;ons &s;hall lye under. Look as the lea&s;t joy in heaven infinitely &s;urpa&s;&s;eth the greate&s;t comforts on earth, &s;o the lea&s;t torments in hell, doe infinitely exceed the greate&s;t that can be devi&s;ed here on earth: for a clo&s;e remember this, as there are degrees of glory in heaven, &s;o there are degrees of torment in hell; and as tho&s;e that are mo&s;t eminent in grace and holi|ne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Math. 10.15. Chap. 11.22. Luke 12.47, 48.</NOTE> &s;hall have the greate&s;t degrees of glory in heaven, &s;o tho&s;e that are mo&s;t vile and wicked on earth, &s;hall have the greate&s;t degrees of torments and puni&s;hments in hell. Now common experience tells us, that the rich, the great, the high, the hono|rable, and the mighty ones of the world, are u&s;ually the mo&s;t excelling in all wickedne&s;s and ungodline&s;s; and therefore their condemnation will be the greater, they &s;hall have a hot|ter and a darker hell then others, except they labour after this holine&s;s, which will be their only fence again&s;t hell, and their &s;ure path to heaven. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="6"> Sixthly, and la&s;tly, of all men on earth, the rich, the great, and the honorable, will be found mo&s;t inexcu&s;able: The poore and the mean ones of the earth will plead their want of time, and want of means, and want of opportunities, they will be rea|dy to &s;ay,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 127.1, 2.</NOTE> Lord we have ri&s;e earely, and gon to bed late, we have labour'd, and &s;weate, and droyl'd, and all little enough to
<PB N="445" REF="233"> get bread to eate, and cloaths to weare,<NOTE PLACE="marg">As the poore people on the Northerne borders, when to &s;uppre&s;s their Thee|veries, &s;ome pre&s;t upon them the eighth Com|mandement; they to ex|cu&s;e them|&s;elves repli|ed, that that Commande|ment was none of Gods making, but thru&s;t into the Decalogue by King <HI>Henry</HI> the eighth.</NOTE> and to keep the Sarge|ant from the doore, and to pay every man his own, had we had but the time, the meanes, the advantages, that &s;uch and &s;uch Gentlemen have had, and that &s;uch and &s;uch Nobles have had, and that &s;uch and &s;uch Princes have had, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> O how would we have minded holine&s;s, and &s;tudied holine&s;s, and pre&s;t after ho|line&s;s! but &s;eeing it has been otherwi&s;e with us, we hope Lord we may be excu&s;ed; but what excu&s;e will you be able to make, O ye great ones of the earth, who have had time, and opportu|nities, and all advantages imaginable, to make your &s;elves holy and happy for ever, and yet you have trifled away your golden &s;ea&s;ons, and forgotten the one thing nece&s;&s;ary, and given your &s;elves up to the lu&s;ts and vanities of this world, as if you were re&s;olv'd to be damn'd. Let me a little allude to that <HI>John</HI> 15.22. <HI>If I had not come and &s;poken unto them, they had not had &s;in: but now they have no cloak or excu&s;e for their &s;in:</HI> So will God one day &s;ay to the great ones of the wo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ld; Had I not given you riches, and greatne&s;s, and honor, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> to have encouraged you to look after holine&s;s, and that you might have time, and lea&s;ure, and opportunity to &s;eek holine&s;s, and pur&s;ue it, you might have had &s;ome <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">loak, &s;ome excu&s;e for your neglecting &s;o great, &s;o glorious, &s;o noble, and &s;o nece&s;&s;ary a work; O but now you have no cloak, no excu&s;e at all for your &s;in; now you can &s;hew no rea&s;on under heaven, why an eternal doom &s;hould not be pa&s;t upon you; and ah how &s;ilent, how mute, how &s;peechle&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Titus 3.11. <GAP DESC="foreign">. Self|condemned, or &s;elf dam|ned.</NOTE> and how &s;elf-condemned, will all the great ones of the world be, when God &s;hall thus expo&s;tulate with them? O! that &s;uch would &s;eriou&s;ly lay to heart that <HI>Math.</HI> 22.11, 12. <HI>And when the King came in to &s;ee the Gue&s;ts, he &s;aw there a man which had not on a wedding Garment: And he &s;aith unto him, Friend, how came&s;t thou in hither, not having a wedding Garment? and he was &s;peechle&s;s.</HI> By the wedding Garment the Learned under&s;tand holine&s;s of heart and life; now when the King que&s;tions him about the want of this wedding Garment, he is &s;peechle&s;s, or as the Greek word (<GAP DESC="foreign">) imports, <HI>He was muzzled or hal|tered up,</HI> that is, he held his peace, as though he had a bridle or a halter in his mouth, he was not able to &s;peak a word for him|&s;elfe, his own con&s;cience had pa&s;t a &s;ecret &s;entence of condem|nation
<PB N="446" REF="234"> upon him, and he &s;at &s;ilent under that &s;entence, as ha|ving nothing under heaven to &s;ay, why he &s;hould not be ca&s;t into utter darkne&s;s. And this will be the very ca&s;e of all the rich, the great, and the mighty ones of the world, who &s;hall be found without the garment of holine&s;s, when the Lord &s;hall en|ter into Judgement with them. And thus you &s;ee by the&s;e &s;ix Arguments, that there are no per&s;ons under heaven that are &s;o eminently engaged to look after holine&s;s, as the rich, the great, and the mighty ones of the earth. But,</P>
</DIV5>
<DIV5 N="7" TYPE="objection">
<P> <MILESTONE N="7"> Seventhly, and la&s;tly, Others may object and &s;ay, <HI>Should we pur&s;ue after holine&s;s, we &s;hall be &s;ure to be reviled, &s;landered, and reproached on all hands, every one will hoote and hi&s;s at us, we &s;hall become a &s;corne and a by-word to all that live in the family with us, and to all our neighbours round about us, every one will &s;corne us, and hate us, and we &s;hall be their Table-talke, and their &s;ong, and the Butt at which they will &s;hoote in all their meetings and di&s;cour&s;es,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>Now that you may be &s;ufficiently armed again&s;t this objecti|on, I de&s;ire you &s;eriou&s;ly to con&s;ider of the&s;e five following An|&s;wers.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, That tho&s;e that revile and reproach holine&s;s, are &s;uch that have never known the nece&s;&s;ity, nor the excellency of ho|line&s;s, they have never experienced the power, nor the &s;weet|ne&s;s of holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jude 10. 1 Tim. 1.7.</NOTE> they &s;peak evill of things they know not, of things they under&s;tand not; not to know is mans mi&s;ery, but to &s;peak evill of that which a man under&s;tands not, is the heighth of folly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 2.8.</NOTE> and this the&s;e revilers doe. <HI>Had they knowne</HI> (&s;aith the Apo&s;tle) <HI>they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Scientia non habet inimi|cum praeter ignor<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ntem.</NOTE> &s;o I &s;ay, had the&s;e revilers known the &s;plendor, the beau|ty, and the glory of holine&s;s, they would never have reviled it, and &s;corn'd it: Had the Jews known the God-head of Chri&s;t, the divinity of Chri&s;t, the glory of Chri&s;t, they would never have cryed up <HI>Barrabas,</HI> and have rail'd on Je&s;us, as they did; &s;o had the&s;e Railers but known the worth, and the weight of holine&s;s, they would never have cry'd up wickedne&s;s, and de|cry'd holine&s;s as they doe. Now, oh what &s;hame, what folly, what vanity is it for a man to turne his back upon holine&s;s, be|cau&s;e &s;uch revile it, and &s;corne it, who never knew feelingly,
<PB N="447" REF="234"> nor experimentally, what holine&s;s was? Would not a man ei|ther &s;igh or laugh at him, that &s;hould turne his back upon ri|ches, honors, and preferments, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> becau&s;e the blinde, poore and beggarly &s;ort of people, who never experienc'd what the&s;e things meane, ca&s;ts dirt, dung, &s;corne and reproach upon them; and is not this the pre&s;ent ca&s;e? &s;urely yes. The Fox in the Fable, when he could not come at the Grapes, cryed out, <HI>That they were &s;ower, they were &s;ower;</HI> &s;o men that cannot reach to the Riches, the honors, and the great things of the world, O how doe they cry out again&s;t the&s;e things! O what di&s;grace, &s;corne, and contempt, doe they ca&s;t upon the&s;e things! and all becau&s;e they cannot reach them, becau&s;e they cannot gra&s;pe them; the application is ea&s;ie. 'Tis mens ignorance of holine&s;s that makes them cry out &s;o much of holine&s;s. That heathen <HI>A|ri&s;totle</HI> hit the mark when he cry'd out <HI>(Ignorat &s;ane improbus omnis)</HI> Ignorance is the &s;ource of all &s;in; the very well-&s;pring from whence all wickedne&s;s flowes; for ignorance in&s;laves the &s;oul to Satan, it lets in &s;ins by Troops, and then locks them up in the heart, and it &s;huts out all the meanes of recovery, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And who then will wonder to &s;ee ignorant per&s;ons let fly at holine&s;s? Suppo&s;e a Geometrician &s;hould be drawing of lines and Figures, and there &s;hould come in &s;ome &s;illy ignorant fel|low, who &s;eeing him, &s;hould laugh at him, would the Arti&s;t, think you, leave off his employment, becau&s;e of his deri&s;ion? &s;urely no; for he knows that his laughter is but the fruit of his ignorance, as not knowing his Art, and the grounds upon which he goes; and therefore he holds on drawing, though the &s;illy fellow &s;hould hold on in his laughing. O Sirs, though ignorant per&s;ons deride holine&s;s, and laugh at holine&s;s, yet be not you a&s;ham'd of holine&s;s, but hold on, and hold out in your pur&s;uit after holine&s;s; for they under&s;tand not the rules and principles by which you are acted, and therefore 'tis that they throw dirt in the face of holine&s;s; but 'twill be your wi&s;dome to wipe that off, and &s;o much the more to pur&s;ue after holine&s;s, by how much the more the &s;illy ones of the world &s;light holine&s;s, and laugh at holine&s;s. But,</P>
<P>Secondly, There is no fence again&s;t an evill tongue, a man <MILESTONE N="2"> may fence him&s;elf again&s;t an evill eye, and again&s;t an evill hand,
<PB N="448" REF="235"> and again&s;t an evill head, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but there is no fence again&s;t an evill tongue, an evill tongue is &s;uch an unruly, &s;uch a mi&s;chie|vous, &s;uch a dangerous, &s;uch a killing, and &s;uch a de&s;troying member, that there is no fence again&s;t it; a man may fence off the &s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">oak of a &s;word, the thru&s;t of a Rapier, and the &s;hot of an Arrow, but he can never fence off the reproach and the revi|ling of an evill tongue; If the heart be &s;anctified, the tongue is the be&s;t member in the body, if the heart be un&s;anctified, 'tis the wor&s;t.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Bias</HI> one of the &s;even wi&s;e men, told <HI>Ama&s;is</HI> King of <HI>E|gypt,</HI> that the Tongue was the be&s;t or wor&s;t mem|ber of the body. <HI>Tota vita ho|mines linguae delictis e&s;t re|ferta;</HI> The whole life of man is made up of the &s;ins of the tongue, <HI>Ba&s;il.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Ae&s;op</HI> being by his Ma&s;ter &s;ent to buy up all the be&s;t meat he could get in the Market, bought up all the tongues; and being &s;ent againe to buy up all the wor&s;t meat he could get in the Market, he bought up all the tongues againe, and when he was askt why he did &s;o, he an&s;wered, that there was no fle&s;h better then a good tongue, nor no fle&s;h wor&s;er then a bad tongue; which the Apo&s;tle confirmes fully in that 3 <HI>James,</HI> from ver&s;e the &s;econd to ver&s;e the 12^t^h, <HI>Vide.</HI> An evill tongue is wilder then the wilde&s;t Bea&s;t, the Hor&s;e, the A&s;s, the Camel, the Elephant, yea the Lyon, the Leopard, the Beare, and all other Bea&s;ts have been tamed by man, but the tongue no man, no Monarch on earth have ever been able to tame. An evill tongue in &s;ome re&s;pect is wor&s;e then the devill; for the devill may be &s;hunned and avoyded, but an evill tongue no man can &s;hun; and if you re&s;i&s;t the devill, he will fly from you, but the more you re&s;i&s;t an evill tongue, the more it will fly upon you. <HI>Pro.</HI> 16.27. <HI>An ungodly man diggeth up evill: and in his lips there is a burning fire.</HI> An ungodly man, or a man of <HI>Belial,</HI> as the Original has it, <HI>diggs up evill;</HI> &s;uch old evills that have been long &s;ince buried in the Grave of oblivion and forgetfulne&s;s, he diggs up to ca&s;t in the Saints di&s;hes, and to reproach them with: The teeth of malice will be &s;till a digging to finde out &s;omething again&s;t the people of God, and if they can pick up any thing out of the dunghill of fal&s;e reports to object again&s;t them, their lips pre&s;ently are as &s;o many burning Beacons, to di&s;cover it to all the world; now their tongues will be &s;et on fire of hell, and now they will labour to fire the hearts and tongues of others again&s;t the people of God. A wicked tongue (as <HI>Bernard</HI> ob&s;erves) kills three at once; fir&s;t, it kills his name and fame by ill report who is &s;landered; Secondly, it
<PB N="449" REF="235"> kills his belief with a lye, to whom the report is made. 3. It kills the &s;landerer him&s;elf with the &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters"> of detraction. <HI>David</HI> who fell oftener under the &s;ad la&s;hes of evil tongues, com|pares reviling tongues to three fatal weapons, a Razor, a Sword, and an Arrow: 1. To a Razor, in that <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 52.2. Now you know a Razor meets with every little hair, and ma|ny times in&s;tead of &s;having the hair, it &s;la&s;hes the fle&s;h; and &s;ometimes by mi&s;&s;ing the Beard, it endangers the throat. And &s;o the reviling tongue will take the lea&s;t advantage imaginable, to &s;la&s;h and cut the names and reputations of tho&s;e that fear the Lord in a thou&s;and pieces:<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 57.4.</NOTE> 2. To a &s;word that cuts and wounds deep, and &s;o does the revilers tongue cut deeply into the names, fames, and credits of the people of God: And 3. To an Arrow; the &s;word onely cuts when we are near,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 64.3.</NOTE> but the Arrow hits at a di&s;tance; the &s;word can't cut except we be at hand, but the Arrow may hit us when we are afar off; the reviler can ea&s;ily &s;hoot his Arrows of reproach a great way off; he can &s;hoot them from one Town to another,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 73.9.</NOTE> from one City to another, from one kingdom to another, yea from one end of the earth to the other; when the hands are manacled, and the feet fettered and &s;tocked, the tongue travils freely all the world over, and loads the names of men with what reproaches it plea&s;eth. The tongue is the great interpreter of the heart; the tongue is the key that unlocks tho&s;e trea&s;ures of wicked|ne&s;s that be in the heart;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 12.34. That man has commonly mo&s;t of the devil in his heart, that has mo&s;t of the devil in his mouth. The &s;trokes in Mu&s;ick an|&s;wer to the notes that are pricked in the Rules.</NOTE> the corruptions of mens hearts com|monly breaks forth at their lips. Look as a pimpled face di&s;|covers a di&s;tempered Liver, and as a &s;tinking breath di&s;covers corrupted Lungs, &s;o a reviling tongue di&s;covers a ba&s;e rotten heart. When the Pumpe goes you may quickly know whether the water that is in the Fountain or Well, be clear or muddy, &s;weet or &s;tinking; and when the clapper &s;trikes, you may &s;oon gue&s;s of what mettal the Bell is made of: and &s;o by mens tongues you may ea&s;ily gue&s;s what is in their hearts; if the tongue be vil'd, the heart is &s;o; if the tongue be bloody, the heart is &s;o; if the tongue be adulterous, the heart is &s;o; if the tongue be malicious, the heart is &s;o; if the tongue be covetous, the heart is &s;o; and if the tongue be cruel, the heart is &s;o, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> mens minds are known by their mouthes; if the
<PB N="460" REF="236"> mouth be bad, the mind is not good; he that is rotten in his talk, is commonly rotte<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n the heart. Of all the members of the body, there is none &s;o &s;erviceable to Satan as an evil tongue; and therefore when all the body is full of &s;ores,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom. Drexelius,</HI> and others.</NOTE> he will keep the tongue from bli&s;ters, that &s;o a man may the more freely and fully cur&s;e God and die: And this was the rea&s;on why Satan &s;pared <HI>Jobs</HI> tongue, when he &s;adly paid all other members of bis body, that &s;o his grand de&s;igne which was to provoke <HI>Job</HI> both to cur&s;e God, and to charge him fooli&s;hly, might take place; but <HI>Jobs</HI> tongue be oyled with grace, proved his glory in his trying hour, and in&s;tead of cur&s;ing he ble&s;&s;es a taking God, an angry God. O! &s;irs, the world is as full of evil tongues as <HI>Nilus</HI> of Crocodiles, or as <HI>Sodom</HI> of Sulphur, or as <HI>Egypt</HI> of Lice; and there is no fence, no guard again&s;t the&s;e evil tongues; and therefore why &s;hould any man be di&s;courag|ed from pur&s;uing after holine&s;s, becau&s;e of the revilings of evil tongues. <HI>Mun&s;ter</HI> writes of men in <HI>India,</HI> which &s;peak not like men, but barks like doggs, and who regards &s;uch men? no more &s;hould we regard &s;uch foul mouth'd per&s;ons, who are &s;till barking again&s;t holine&s;s, as the doggs bark again&s;t the Moon; but as the Moon runs her race and holds her cour&s;e, though all the doggs in the Town bark never &s;o much at it; &s;o &s;hould you pur&s;ue after holine&s;s, though all the tongues in the Town &s;hould be barking and &s;coffing at you. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, Con&s;ider, That tho&s;e that now reproach holine&s;s, will ere long be of another minde, they that now revile and re|proach holine&s;s, will in a &s;hort time change their minds and their notes; when the&s;e very men who revile holine&s;s &s;hall come to fall under terrors and horrors of con&s;cience, and when they &s;hall come to lye upon their dying beds, and to have their immortal &s;ouls &s;it trembling and quaking upon their pale lips, and when they &s;hall appear before the great God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Numb. 23.10.</NOTE> and awake with everla&s;ting flames about their ears; O, how will they then wi&s;h that they had never reviled holine&s;s! How will they then wi&s;h that they had prized holine&s;s, and that they had &s;pent their All in pur&s;uing after holine&s;s! O how will they then charge them&s;elves, and cen&s;ure them&s;elves, and arraign, and condemn them&s;elves for their &s;corning and condemning
<PB N="461" REF="236"> of holine&s;s! O how will they then wi&s;h that they had never heard of holine&s;s, nor read of holine&s;s, nor thought of holi|ne&s;s! O how will they then wi&s;h that their mothers wombs had proved their Tombes, and that they had rather lived and died in a land of darkne&s;s, then thus to live and dye without holine&s;s! Now, O what folly and madne&s;s is it for thee to neg|lect the pur&s;uit of holine&s;s, becau&s;e &s;uch and &s;uch revile it, who perhaps before the next year, the next month, yea it may be the next Sabbath comes about, will wi&s;h ten thou&s;and times o|ver and over, that they had pur&s;ued after it, and that they had made it their greate&s;t work in this world to obtain it? But,</P>
<P>Fourthly, Such per&s;ons who are revilers, deriders, and ha|ters <MILESTONE N="4"> of holine&s;s, &s;hould rather be divinely contemned, &s;corn|ed and &s;lighted, then any ways gratified, encouraged, plea&s;ed, and &s;trengthned in their evil ways by thy neglect of holine&s;s, and by thy non-pur&s;uance after holine&s;s.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 13.19. <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> O how may thy neg|lect of holine&s;s upon the account of revilings and &s;cornings, &s;trengthen the hands and the hearts of revilers and &s;corners, <HI>&amp;c?</HI> and therefore 'tis much better divinely to &s;light and di&s;|dain them, then by &s;inful omi&s;&s;ions, to gratifie and plea&s;e them. See how &s;lighting <HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> carries it to wicked <HI>Jehoram,</HI> though he was a King, 2 <HI>Kings</HI> 3.13, 14.<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Prophets here &s;poken of, were the remaining Prophets of <HI>Baal,</HI> of the idolatrous groves, and of the Calves of <HI>Jeroboam.</HI></NOTE> <HI>And Eli&s;ha &s;aid unto the King of I&s;rael, what have I to do with thee? get thee to the Prophets of thy father and Prophets of thy mother. And the king of I&s;rael &s;aid unto him, Nay, for the Lord hath called the&s;e three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab. And Eli&s;ha &s;aid, as the Lord of Ho&s;ts liveth, before whom I &s;tand, &s;urely, were it not that I regard the pre&s;ence of Jeho&s;aphat the King of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor &s;ee thee.</HI> 'Twas not the great di&s;tre&s;s and danger that they were in (being like to peri&s;h for want of water) nor the dignity of Kings, nor the number of three, but the goodne&s;s, the graciou&s;ne&s;s and holi|ne&s;s of <HI>Jeho&s;haphat</HI> that wrought upon <HI>Eli&s;ha</HI> to work a miracle to pre&s;erve them and their people alive; the holy Prophet car|ries it very high towards this unholy Prince, for had it not been for <HI>Jeho&s;haphat,</HI> he would not have honored him with a look, no not with a ca&s;t of his eye; the&s;e words, <HI>I would not look to|ward
<PB N="452" REF="237"> thee, nor &s;ee thee,</HI> are words of a very high &s;train, and &s;peak out a great deal of holy-loftine&s;s, &s;tateline&s;s and contempt towards King <HI>Jehoram.</HI> And the &s;ame &s;pirit was working in <HI>Mordecai</HI> towards wicked <HI>Haman,</HI> as you may &s;ee in that <HI>E&s;th.</HI> 3.2. <HI>And all the Kings &s;ervants that were in the Kings gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman, for the King had &s;o com|manded concerning him; but Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.</HI> The <HI>Per&s;ian</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">The <HI>Per&s;ians</HI> manner was to kneel down and re|verence their Kings, and &s;uch as he ap|pointed in chief authori|ty, which <HI>Mordecai</HI> would not do to this proud ambitious, wicked <HI>Ha|man,</HI> though all the Cour|tiers and the Kings Life-Guard, and all that had occa|&s;ions to attend the Court did.</NOTE> Kings (as many other heatheni&s;h Kings) were reverenced by their &s;ubjects, with a kind of Divine ho|nor or &s;ervice; and &s;uch reverence and honor the King com|manded &s;hould be &s;hewed to his great favourite <HI>Haman;</HI> but this renowned <HI>Mordecai</HI> refu&s;ed to do; he was &s;o Divinely no|ble and &s;tout, that he would not reverence &s;uch a wicked wretch in his heart, nor yet yeild to him that outward wor&s;hip that was required by the King, it being more then was due to a man. Some of the Rabbins &s;ay (As <HI>Aben Ezra, &amp;c.</HI>) that <HI>Haman</HI> had the Image of &s;ome fal&s;e god about him, and that therefore <HI>Mordecai</HI> would not bow before him, lea&s;t he might &s;eem to bow to the Idol that <HI>Haman</HI> carried about him: Others of the Rabbins &s;ay (as <HI>R, Salomon, &amp;c.</HI>) that <HI>Haman</HI> did make him&s;elf a God, and required &s;uch wor&s;hip as was due onely to the true God, and that therefore <HI>Mordecai</HI> would not reverence him, nor bow before him: And &s;o <HI>Junius</HI> and other Expo&s;itors &s;ay, that it was more honor then did be|long to a man, that they gave to <HI>Haman;</HI> and that therefore <HI>Mordecai</HI> refu&s;ed to bow to him. And 'tis very remarkable that &s;ome of the wi&s;e&s;t and be&s;t of Heathens have forborn to come into their Kings pre&s;ence, becau&s;e there was expected greater honor and wor&s;hip to be done to their Kings, then was meet to be done to a mortal man; but that which is mo&s;t con&s;iderable, and mo&s;t probable, is this, that therefore <HI>Mordecai</HI> refu&s;ed to reverence <HI>Haman,</HI> and to bow unto him, becau&s;e he was a wicked <HI>Amalekite,</HI> and a bitter enemy to the people of God, and of that Nation, of that &s;tock who&s;e remembrance God would have blotted out under heaven, <HI>Exod.</HI> 17.14. <HI>Deut.</HI> 25.19. and with whom the Lord had &s;worn that he would have war from generation to generation, untill they were utterly
<PB N="453" REF="237"> wa&s;ted and de&s;troyed, <HI>Exod.</HI> 17.16. Compared with that 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 15.3.</P>
<P>It has been u&s;ual with the Saints to &s;light &s;uch who have been &s;lighters of Chri&s;t and holine&s;s.<NOTE PLACE="marg">I &s;hal look up|on <HI>Auxentius</HI> no otherwi&s;e then as upon a devil, &s;o long as he is an <HI>Arrian,</HI> &s;aid holy <HI>Hilary.</HI></NOTE> When <HI>Amphilochius</HI> the Bi&s;hop came into the pre&s;ence of the Emperor <HI>Archadius</HI> and his &s;on (who was then partner with his father in the Em|pire) he &s;aluted the Emperor with all reverence, but &s;lighted his &s;on, whereupon the Emperor was very much di&s;plea&s;ed, and demanding the rea&s;on why he &s;o &s;lighted his &s;on, the Bi|&s;hop an&s;wered, Becau&s;e he had &s;lighted and neglected the e|ternal Son of God (he being at that time a profe&s;&s;ed <HI>Arrian</HI>) whereupon the Emperor received the Bi&s;hop again into favor, and bani&s;hed all <HI>Arrians</HI> out of his Dominions. I have read of one <HI>Maris</HI> a godly Bi&s;hop of <HI>Calcedon,</HI> who being blind, and <HI>Julian</HI> that Apo&s;tate Emperor giving him &s;ome opprobrious words, calling him blind fool, becau&s;e he had rebuked him for his Apo&s;ta&s;ie, the good man an&s;wered thus, I ble&s;s God that I have not my &s;ight to &s;ee &s;uch an ungracious face as thine is. Do your wor&s;t, do your wor&s;t, &s;aid <HI>Ju&s;tin</HI> Martyr &s;lightingly to his pe &s;ecutors, but this I will tell you, you may put all that you are like to gain by the bargain into your eye, and weep it out a|gain. When a great Lord of this Land (who was as gracele&s;s as he was great) met Mr. <HI>Fox</HI> in <HI>London</HI> &s;treets, and ask't him how he did, Mr. <HI>Fox</HI> &s;aid little or nothing to him; whereup|on &s;ays this great Lord, Sir, do you not know me, No not I, &s;aid Mr. <HI>Fox,</HI> &s;ays the Lord, I am &s;uch a one; Sir, &s;aid Mr. <HI>Fox,</HI> I de&s;ire to know nothing but Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and him crucified. <HI>Policarpus</HI> meeting at a certain time with <HI>Marcion</HI> the Heretick, &s;ays <HI>Marcion,</HI> don't you know me? yea &s;aid <HI>Poli|carpus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Eu&s;ebius.</NOTE> I know thee to be <HI>(primo genitum Diaboli)</HI> the fir&s;t be|gotten child of the devil. And indeed why &s;hould we pre|fer him before a piece of Copper, that prefers a piece of Gold before his God, yea that prefers his lu&s;ts and every toy and trifle before Je&s;us Chri&s;t, his immortal &s;oul, and the great concernments of another world? God commanded in the old Law, that what&s;oever did go with its brea&s;ts upon the ground, &s;hould be an abomination to us: O how much more &s;hould we a|bominate that man, who&s;e heart and &s;oul is glued unto a piece
<PB N="464" REF="238"> of earth, or to this or that defiling &amp; de&s;troying lu&s;t? <HI>Pro.</HI> 29.27. <HI>An unju&s;t man is an abomination to the ju&s;t: and he that is upright in the way, is an abomination to the wicked.</HI> The quarrel be|tween the &s;eed of the Woman,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 3.15.</NOTE> and the &s;eed of the Serpent, is almo&s;t &s;ix thou&s;and years old; light and darkne&s;s, heaven and hell,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Antipa|thies that are in nature be|tween the E|lephant and the Boar, the Lyon and the Cock, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> is nothing to that which is between the ju&s;t and the unju&s;t.</NOTE> are not more oppo&s;ite and contrary one to another, then the&s;e are contrary one to another; that &s;eed of enmity that was at fir&s;t between them, is now grown up on both &s;ides to an abomination, and an abhorring of each other; the ju&s;t man &s;aith, what have I to do with thee thou &s;on of <HI>Belial?</HI> and the unju&s;t man &s;aith, what have I to do with thee thou &s;on of <HI>David?</HI> the original in the text la&s;t cited is ob&s;ervable, the ju&s;t abhorreth <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>vir iniquitatis,</HI> the man of iniquity, <HI>i. e.</HI> the man that is made up of iniquity, that is nothing but iniquity; now this &s;hews that 'tis iniquity in the man that makes the man to be an abomination to the ju&s;t; but now wicked men they abhor the upright for their very uprightne&s;s, they ab|hor him that is upright in the way, and could wi&s;h him quite out of the way, and will do what they can to make him away; the uprightne&s;s of the upright is &s;uch a terror to the wicked, that they can't but abominate and abhor the upright, and there|fore no wonder if the upright abominate them; and indeed who can look upon wicked men, as enemies to God, as adver|&s;aries to Chri&s;t, as murderers of their own &s;ouls, as fighters a|gain&s;t the Church, as Champions for Satan, and as the Pe&s;ts and Plague of a Nation, and not abhor them, and not abo|minate them? O &s;irs, not to contemn the wicked is an argu|ment that you your &s;elves are wicked, and not to contemn the wicked, is a means to make them more wicked, not to contemn the wicked is to encourage and tempt the wicked to be &s;even|fold more wicked, yea not to contemn the wicked who con|temn God, Chri&s;t, Heaven, and holine&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> is to contemn God him&s;elf. As for &s;uch that advance the wicked, that mag|nifie the wicked, that flatter the wicked, that &s;trengthen the hands of the wicked, that are mo&s;t In with the wicked, that joy and glory in the pro&s;perity of the wicked, and that &s;igh and mourn, that &s;tamp and take on at the downfall of the wic|ked; the&s;e are certainly wicked, yea they are eminently wic|ked,
<PB N="465" REF="238"> and therefore the more to be &s;lighted and &s;corned by men of integrity and &s;anctity. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly and la&s;tly, To neglect the pur&s;uit of holine&s;s upon <MILESTONE N="5"> the account of this objection, is to deba&s;e the great God, and to overvalue vain man, as if there were more power, ability, policy, and malice, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> in worthle&s;s man to hurt and harm thee, then there is power, all&s;ufficiency, wi&s;dom, goodne&s;s, and graciou&s;ne&s;s in God to defend thee, and &s;ecure thee, and arm thee again&s;t all the reproaches and revilings of &s;landerous tongues. Now who art thou, and what art thou, O vain man, that thou &s;hould&s;t dare to le&s;&s;en God &amp; greaten man, to deba&s;e God and exalt man, yea to &s;et up man above God him&s;elf, and to ungod him as much as in the lyes? and yet all this thou doe&s;t when thou turne&s;t thy back upon holine&s;s, becau&s;e of the revil|ings and reproaches of wicked men.</P>
<P>But I &s;hall &s;ay no more to this objection, becau&s;e I have &s;po|ken very largly to this objection in my former books. If you de&s;ire further &s;atisfaction to this objection, turn to that Treati&s;e called <HI>Apples of Gold,</HI> &amp;c. and from Page 311. to Page 327. you will finde &s;even more di&s;tinct an&s;wers to it. And &s;ee al&s;o my <HI>Mute Chri&s;tian under the &s;marting Rod,</HI> and from Page 304. to Page 326. you will finde eight an&s;wers more to this objecti|on. I confe&s;s &s;everal other objections might be made again&s;t your pur&s;uing after holine&s;s, but becau&s;e I have &s;poken to them at large in my former writings; therefore I &s;hall not trouble you with them here; and therefore let thus much &s;uffice for an|&s;wer to tho&s;e objections that u&s;ually men make when they are pre&s;t home to follow after holine&s;s.</P>
</DIV5>
</DIV4>
<DIV4 TYPE="section">
<P>And &s;o I &s;hall come now to the &s;econd part of the Exhorta|tion, and that relates to Gods holy ones, to his &s;anctified ones, to tho&s;e that have obtained holine&s;s, that have experienced the principles, the power, the life, and the &s;weetne&s;s of holine&s;s. And here let me exhort &s;uch.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, To expre&s;s, declare, evidence, and hold forth both the <MILESTONE N="1"> reality and power of holine&s;s; and that,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, By keeping your &s;elves free from gro&s;s enormities <MILESTONE N="1"> from &s;candalous wickedne&s;&s;es.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 2.23, 24, 25.</NOTE> O remember that one &s;canda|lous &s;in will ob&s;cure and cloud all your graces and &s;piritual ex|cellencies.
<PB N="456" REF="239"> Look as one &s;pot in the face &s;poils all the beauty;<NOTE PLACE="marg">The School|men &s;ay that if a Sow do but wallow in one miry or dirty hole, &s;he is filthy, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> and one blot upon the copy obliterates the whole copy, and as one drop of Inke coloureth a whole gla&s;s of clear water, &s;o one &s;candalous &s;in will blot and blur all former acts of piety and holine&s;s, it will &s;tain all a mans duties and &s;ervices, it will de|face all a mans contentments and enjoyments, it will da&s;h and ra&s;e out all tho&s;e golden Characters of righteou&s;ne&s;s and goodne&s;s that has been &s;tampt upon the &s;oul, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 36.20. The Babylonians beholding the enormities of the Jews, cryed out, The&s;e are the people of the Lord, the&s;e are come out of the Lords land. <HI>Davids</HI> one act of folly with <HI>Bath&s;heba</HI> made the enemies of the Lord to bla&s;pheme. When one commended <HI>Alexander</HI> for his many noble acts, another objected thus a|gain&s;t him, I, but he killed <HI>Cali&s;thenes;</HI> He was valiant and &s;ucce&s;sful in the wars,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Plutarch in vita.</NOTE> I, but he killed <HI>Cali&s;thenes;</HI> He over|came the great <HI>Darius,</HI> I, but he killed <HI>Cali&s;thenes;</HI> his mean|ing was, that this one unju&s;t and unrighteous action clouded and darkned all his mo&s;t noble deeds. A Chri&s;tian can't after his conver&s;ion fall into a &s;candalous &s;in, but 'twill be objected again&s;t him by every one, to the defacing and darkning of all his &s;piritual glory. When <HI>Naaman</HI> the <HI>Syrian</HI> was cured (and as &s;ome think converted) by the Prophet <HI>Eli&s;ha,</HI> he offers gold and rich garments,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 5.1, One flaw in a Dyamond takes away the lu&s;tre and the price of it; and if we fall but once into a puddle, it will defile us, and make e|very one point at us.</NOTE> but he bows in the hou&s;e of <HI>Rimmon;</HI> he &s;eems to be very devoute and religious, but he bows in the hou&s;e of <HI>Rimmon;</HI> he promi&s;es to offer to none but the Lord, but yet he bows in the hou&s;e of <HI>Rimmon;</HI> this <HI>Rimmon</HI> like the flye in the Alaba&s;ter box, &s;poyl'd all his be&s;t intentions, and highe&s;t re&s;olutions; and thus one &s;candalous vice di&s;gra|ceth all the Noble vertues that be in a Chri&s;tian. O &s;uch a man is a very holy man, but; and &s;uch a one is a very gracious experienced Di&s;ciple, but; and &s;uch a one is a very wi&s;e and under&s;tanding man, but; and &s;uch a one is a very active &s;tirring Saint, but, &amp;c. and this <HI>but</HI> marrs all. If there be but one crack in the honey-gla&s;s, there the wa&s;pe will be buzing; and if there be but one &s;candalous &s;in that a Chri&s;tian falls into in all his life, how will the wicked be &s;till a buzing of that about, both in City and Country? O &s;irs, there are no &s;ins that opens &s;o many mouthes, and that &s;ads &s;o many hearts, and that &s;wells
<PB N="457" REF="239"> &s;o many eyes, and that endangers &s;o many &s;ouls, as &s;candalous &s;ins doe; and therefore above all keeping keep off from them. O Sirs, as you would not harden &s;inners, as you would not en|courage &s;inners, as you would not tempt &s;inners,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 14.13.</NOTE> as you would not &s;tumble &s;inners, yea as you would not have a hand in the damnation of &s;inners, take heed of &s;candalous &s;ins. O! Sirs,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Kings 11.9.</NOTE> as you would not provoke the great God, as you would not cru|cifie afre&s;h the Lord of glory, and put him to an open &s;hame, as you would not &s;et the Comforter a mourning, that alone can comfort you, as you would not rai&s;e a hell in your own con|&s;ciences, and as you would not darken the Churches Glory, fly from &s;candalous &s;ins as you would fly from hell it &s;elfe. I have read of holy <HI>Polycarp</HI> (that religious Martyr and Bi&s;hop of <HI>Smyrna</HI>) how that in the time of the fourth per&s;ecution (under <HI>Marcus Antonius Verres</HI>) when he was commanded to &s;weare but one Oath, made this An&s;wer,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eu&s;eb. Hi&s;t. lib. <HI>2.</HI> cap. <HI>15.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Four&s;core and &s;ix years have I endeavoured to doo God &s;ervice, and all this while he never hurt me, and how then &s;hall I &s;peak evill of &s;o good a Lord and Ma&s;ter, who hath thus long pre&s;erved me?</HI> And being further urged to &s;weare by the Procon&s;ul, he an&s;wered, <HI>I am a Chri&s;tian and can|not doe it, let Heathens and Infidels &s;weare if they will, I cannot doe it were it to the &s;aving of my life:</HI> This holy man would ra|ther &s;acrifice his life, then fall into a &s;candalous &s;in. O Chri&s;ti|ans, pray and watch, and watch and pray, that you may never be left to &s;taine your own honor, or the honor of your profe&s;&s;ion, by falling into &s;candalous &s;ins. Well friends, remember this, 'tis not infirmities, but enormities, 'tis not weakne&s;&s;es, but wic|kedne&s;&s;es, that will ca&s;t the crowne from off your heads, and that will &s;trip you of all your glory; and therefore as you would hold fa&s;t your crowne, keep at an everla&s;ting di&s;tance from &s;candalous &s;ins, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But,</P>
<P>Secondly, Declare and evidence the reality and power of <MILESTONE N="2"> holine&s;s, by your cordial thankfulne&s;s for &s;o rare a Jewel,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 103.1, 2, 3, 4, 5. or as the originall will bare, <HI>bow the knee, O my &s;oul.</HI></NOTE> and for &s;o great a mercy; O Sirs, one drop, one &s;park of holine&s;s is more worth then heaven and earth, and how then can you but be thankful for it? Wilt thou be thankful to that God that made thee a man; and wilt thou not be thankful to the &s;ame God that made thee a Saint? Wilt thou ble&s;s him that made
<PB N="458" REF="240"> thee a creature, and wilt thou not ble&s;s the &s;ame God that has made thee a new creature? Wilt thou prai&s;e him for the hea|vens that are but the workman&s;hip of his hands,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 8.</NOTE> and wilt thou not prai&s;e him for holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Augu&s;tin</HI> writ his 49. Ep. to one called <HI>Deo gratias.</HI></NOTE> which is the workman&s;hip of his heart? Tell me, O Chri&s;tian, is not holine&s;s a &s;oul-mercy? and what mercies wilt thou be thankful for, if not for &s;oul-mercies? Tell me, O Chri&s;tian, is not holine&s;s of all mercies the mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary mercy? the want of other mercies might have trou|bled thee, I but the want of holine&s;s would have damned thee; and wilt thou not be thankful for holine&s;s, which is the one thing nece&s;&s;ary? Tell me, O Chri&s;tian, is not holine&s;s an incom|parable mercy? what's thy health, thy wealth, thy wit to holi|ne&s;s? dare&s;t thou mention thy birth, thy breeding, thy arts, thy parts, thy honor, thy greatne&s;s, or thy advancement in the world, in that day wherein holine&s;s is &s;poken of? &s;urely no; and wilt thou not then be thankful for &s;uch an incomparable mercy as holine&s;s is? Tell me, O Chri&s;tian, is not holine&s;s a peculiar mercy, a peculiar trea&s;ure that God intru&s;ts but few men with?<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 John 5.19.</NOTE> Don't the world lye in wickedne&s;s? are not the multitude in all places &s;trangers, yea enemies to holine&s;s? and how then can&s;t thou but be thankful for holine&s;s? Yea once more, tell me, O Chri&s;tian, is not holine&s;s a mercy &s;weetning mercy? is it not the beauty of holine&s;s that puts a beauty upon all thy mercies? is it not holine&s;s that be&s;pangles all thy com|forts and contentments? O how &s;ower would all thy mercies ta&s;t? and how pale and wan would all thy mercies look, were it not for holine&s;s? 'Tis the want of holine&s;s that makes all a mans mercies look as ill-favoured as <HI>Pharaoh's</HI> leane kine,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 41.2, 3, 4.</NOTE> and 'tis the fruition of holine&s;s that makes all a mans mercies look as well-favour'd as <HI>Pharaoh's</HI> fat-kine; 'tis holine&s;s that both puts a colour upon all our mercies, and that gives a ta&s;t and a relli&s;h to them: All our mercies without holine&s;s, will be but as the waters of <HI>Marah,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 15.23, 24, 25.</NOTE> bitter; 'tis only holine&s;s that is the Tree that will make every bitter &s;weet, and every &s;weet more &s;weet; and how then can&s;t thou but be thankful for holine&s;s? O remem|ber how far off thou wert from God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 2.12.</NOTE> and Chri&s;t, and the pro|mi&s;e, and heaven, and happine&s;s, when thou wa&s;t without holi|ne&s;s in this world; O remember what a child of wrath, what
<PB N="459" REF="240"> a bond-&s;lave to Satan, what an enemy to God, and what an ap|parent heire to hell thou wert; when thou wert an oppo&s;er of holine&s;s, and a &s;ecret de&s;pi&s;er of holine&s;s, and then be unthank|ful for holine&s;s if thou can&s;t; O remember, that now by holi|ne&s;s of a &s;lave thou art made a Son, and of an heire of wrath,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 8.16, 17.</NOTE> thou art made an heire of heaven, and in &s;tead of being Satans bond-man, thou art now made Chri&s;ts free-man,<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 8.36.</NOTE> thy Iron-chains are now knockt off (as &s;ometimes <HI>Jo&s;eph's</HI> were) and the Gol|den chaine of holine&s;s is now put upon thee,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 41.14.42.</NOTE> and what do's all this call aloud for, but thankfulne&s;s?<NOTE PLACE="marg">This &s;aying is al&s;o fathered on <HI>Socrates,</HI> &amp;c.</NOTE> <HI>Thales</HI> a Heathen gave thanks to God for three things. 1. That he had made him a man, and not a bea&s;t. 2. That he had made him a man, and not a woman. 3. That he was borne a Greek, and not a Barbarian: And O then what cau&s;e of thankfulne&s;s ha&s;t thou for thy &s;uper|natural being, and for all tho&s;e noble principles of holine&s;s that the Lord has &s;tampt upon thy &s;oul, <HI>&amp;c?</HI> Shall the husbandman be thankful for a plentiful Harve&s;t, and the Merchant for quick returnes, and the Shop-keeper for a full Trade, and the Marri|ner for a good voyage, and wilt not thou be much more thank|ful for holine&s;s? Shall the beggar be thankful for a cru&s;t to feed him, and &s;hall the blind be thankful for a dogge to lead him, and &s;hall the naked be thankful for raggs to cover him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ingratum dixe|ris omnia dixe|ris.</NOTE> and &s;hall the Aged be thankful for a Staffe to &s;upport him, and &s;hall the di&s;ea&s;ed be thankful for a cordial to rai&s;e him, and wilt not thou be thankful for holine&s;s, yea, for that holine&s;s that is bread to &s;trengthen thee, and a Guide to lead thee, and ray|ment to cloath thee, and a Staffe to &s;upport thee, and a cordi|al to comfort thee? O remember, that ingratitude is a mon&s;ter in nature, a &s;oleci&s;me in manners, and a paradox in grace, dam|ming up the cour&s;e of all donations, both divine and humane. <HI>Lycurgus</HI> (as <HI>Mu&s;culus</HI> ob&s;erves) among all his Lawes made none again&s;t the ungrateful, becau&s;e ingratitude was thought a thing &s;o prodigious as not to be committed by man. And the <HI>Per&s;ians</HI> and <HI>Athenians</HI> condemned the ungra<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">eful to death; Ah unthankful Chri&s;tians, how can you think of the&s;e Heathens and not blu&s;h? Shall they ble&s;s God for crums, and will not you ble&s;s God for crownes? &s;hall they ble&s;s God for the gifts of nature, and will not you ble&s;s God for the gifts of grace,
<PB N="460" REF="241"> <HI>&amp;c?</HI> Next to a holy Chri&s;t, holine&s;s is the greate&s;t gift that God can give, and therefore be thankful for it, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, Evidence and declare your holine&s;s by the reality of your con&s;tant pur&s;uit after holine&s;s, by your holding up and holding on in a way of holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;ea 6.3. 1 The&s;. 3.12, 13. 2 Pet. 1.5.<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> 10. Phil. 3.14, 15, 16. 2 Pet. 3, 17, 18. 1 The&s;. 4.1.</NOTE> by your per&s;everance in holi|ne&s;s; this exhortation, <HI>Follow peace with all men, and holine&s;s,</HI> was given forth to &s;uch as had a &s;pirit of holine&s;s, and princi|ples of holine&s;s in them; and the&s;e are the men that the holy Apo&s;tle pre&s;&s;es to pre&s;s after holine&s;s. That holine&s;s will doe us no good, that is not made good by per&s;everance. O Sirs, &s;hall the ambitious per&s;on pur&s;ue after his honors, and the vo|luptuous per&s;on after his plea&s;ures, and the worldling pur&s;ue after his gaine, and the wanton pur&s;ue after his Harlots, and the drunkard pur&s;ue after his full Cups, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And &s;hall not Chri&s;tians much more pur&s;ue after holine&s;s? not to go forward, is to goe backward,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Non progredi e&s;t r<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">gredi.</HI> Rev. 2.10, 17. Jude 20. 1 Cor. 9.24. Heb. 12.1, 4. Pro. 18.6. Cant. 9.</NOTE> and not to grow better, is to grow wor&s;e, and not to grow more holy, is to grow le&s;s holy; the crowne, the new name, and the white &s;tone, is for him that holds out, and that holds on in his pur&s;uit after holine&s;s. A progre&s;s in ho|line&s;s is fitly compar'd to a Building, to a Race, to the morning light, and to the increa&s;ing Moon: Now you know, Hou&s;es are are rai&s;ed from the foundations to the walls, and from the walls to the fir&s;t &s;tory, and then to the &s;econd &s;tory, and then to the third, and &s;o higher and higher, till you come up to the roofe; And in a Race, you know, men run on till they come to the Goal; And the morning light &s;hines brighter and brighter till it be perfect day; And the Moon increa&s;eth more and more till it come to the full; And &s;o mu&s;t Chri&s;tians per&s;evere and hold on in adding grace to grace. O! Chri&s;tians, you mu&s;t not be like to a morning cloud, nor to the early dew; you mu&s;t not &s;tand &s;till in the wayes of holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;h. 10.13. 1 Kings 10, 11.</NOTE> as the Sun &s;tood &s;till in <HI>Gibeon,</HI> much le&s;s are you to goe back, like the Sun on <HI>Ahaz's</HI> Dyal; but as a Bridegroome which cometh out of his chamber, and rejoyceth as a &s;trong man to run his race;<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 19.5. P&s;al. 119.32.</NOTE> &s;o mu&s;t you de|light to run the wayes of Gods commands; you mu&s;t maintaine your progre&s;s in piety what ever comes on't. O Sirs, the way of holine&s;s is the &s;afe&s;t way,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 3.17.</NOTE> the noble&s;t way, the &s;weete&s;t way, the cleane&s;t way, the plea&s;ante&s;t way, and the happie&s;t way,
<PB N="461" REF="241"> and therefore hold on, and hold up in that way, though the world, the fle&s;h, and the devill &s;hould cry out,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pro. 26.13.</NOTE> <HI>There is a Lyon in the way, there is a Lyon in the way.</HI> It is &s;aid of <HI>Hannibal,</HI> that notwith&s;tanding the rough rocks, and the craggy clifts of the <HI>Alpes,</HI> yet he proceeded onward in his de&s;igne for <HI>Italy,</HI> with this re&s;olution, that he would either finde a way or make a way; and &s;o mu&s;t Chri&s;tians hold on in a way of holine&s;s, notwith&s;tanding all the Rocks and lets and difficulties that they meet with in that way.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 44.17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.</NOTE> 'Tis an ob&s;ervation of &s;ome of the Learned,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 9.4.</NOTE> that tho&s;e that were marked to be pre&s;erved in <HI>Jeru|&s;alem,</HI> were marked with the letter &tav; <HI>Tau,</HI> which is the la&s;t of all the Hebrew letters, to &s;ignifie that they mu&s;t run the race of holine&s;s, even to the la&s;t. O Sirs, in the face of all your &s;ins and unworthine&s;s, God holds on in wayes of mercy towards you; and why then &s;hould not you hold on in wayes of &s;anctity towards him? Shall Satan per&s;evere in his enmity again&s;t holi|ne&s;s? and &s;hall wicked men per&s;evere in their oppo&s;ition to ho|line&s;s? and &s;hall formali&s;ts per&s;evere in their neglect of holine&s;s? and will not you per&s;evere in your pur&s;uit of holine&s;s? a good Husbandman will not give over &s;owing, till he has &s;ow'd all his Land; nor a good Phy&s;itian will not give over his patient, till he has cur'd him; nor a good work-man will not give over his work, till he hath fini&s;ht it; no more &s;hould a good Chri&s;tian give over his pur&s;uit of holine&s;s, till he is come up to the high|e&s;t perfection of holine&s;s. Look as God carried on the work of Creation from day to day, till he had fini&s;hed it;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 1. John 17.</NOTE> and as Chri&s;t carried on the work of our Redemption from day to day, till he had compleated it; &s;o Chri&s;tians &s;hould look to a daily carrying on of the work of holine&s;s in their hearts and lives, till that work be perfected and compleated. The Philo&s;opher being asked in his old age, why he did not give over his practi&s;e, and take his ea&s;e? an&s;wered, when a man is to run a Race of forty furlongs, would you have him &s;it downe at the nine and thirti|eth, and &s;o lo&s;e all his paines, and the prize for which he runs? &s;urely no. O Chri&s;tians, you are Racers,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 12.1.</NOTE> and you mu&s;t run to the end of your Race; 'tis not enough to begin well, and to run well for a time, but you mu&s;t hold out in running,<NOTE PLACE="marg">What had it avail'd <HI>Peter</HI> to have e&s;ca|ped the fir&s;t and &s;econd watch, if he had &s;tuck at the Iron Gate, and had not pa&s;&s;ed through that al&s;o? <HI>Finu coronat opus.</HI></NOTE> till you come to the Goal, or el&s;e you will lo&s;e all the pains &amp; labour that ever
<PB N="462" REF="242"> you have taken in Religion, you wil lo&s;e all the prayers that ever you have made, and you will lo&s;e all the Sermons that ever you have heard, and you will lo&s;e all the fa&s;ts that ever you have ob|&s;erv'd, and you will lo&s;e all the tears that ever you have &s;hed, and you will lo&s;e all the Almes that ever you have given, if you do not hold out to the end; if you do not per&s;evere in well|doing, you will lo&s;e your crowne, and be undone for ever after all your doings; a progre&s;s in holine&s;s is requi&s;ite not only to your con&s;olation, but al&s;o to your &s;alvation, <HI>Math.</HI> 24.13. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, Evidence and declare the truth and reality of your holine&s;s, by a re&s;olute &s;tanding up for purity of Religion, and for purity of wor&s;hip and ordinances,<NOTE PLACE="marg">James 1.27.</NOTE> in oppo&s;ition to all mixtures and corruptions what&s;oever. O Sirs, the great God &s;tands upon nothing more in all the world then upon purity in this wor&s;hip; there is nothing that do's &s;o provoke and exa&s;pe|rate God again&s;t a people as mixtures in his wor&s;hip and &s;er|vice;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Math. 21.12, 13. John 2.15, 16, 17.</NOTE> polutions in wor&s;hip do &s;adly reflect upon the name of God, the honor of God, the truth of God, and the wi&s;dom of God; and therefore his heart ri&s;es again&s;t them: The very &s;pi|rit, life, and &s;oul of the &s;econd Commandement lyes in the&s;e words, <HI>Thou &s;halt not make to thy &s;elfe any graven Image,</HI> &amp;c. In matters of divine wor&s;hip God abhors that men &s;hould mix their water with his wine, their dro&s;s with his Gold, their chaffe with his wheate, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> when once men come to be &s;o bold as to defile his wor&s;hip with their mixtures,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lev. 10.1, 2. Ezek. 5.11, 12. Ch. 23.38, 39. Jer. 7.29, 30. Ezek. 8.17, 18. Rev. 2.22, 23. Deut. 4.2. Chap. 12, 32.</NOTE> then God is re&s;olv'd to be a &s;wift and a terrible witne&s;s again&s;t them, as you may clearly &s;ee by comparing tho&s;e notable places of Scripture to|gether in the Margent; there is no &s;in that do's &s;o incen&s;e and provoke God to Jealou&s;ie and wrath again&s;t a people, as mix|tures in wor&s;hip; God can bare with defilements any where rather then in his wor&s;hip and &s;ervice: And that</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t&punc; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ecau&s;e mixtures in wor&s;hip are cro&s;s to Gods expre&s;s commands; and who art thou, O man, that dare&s;t run cro&s;s to his commands, who can command thee into the du&s;t, yea into hell at plea&s;ure, <HI>&amp;c?</HI></P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, becau&s;e this is to accu&s;e the ble&s;&s;ed Scripture of in&s;ufficiency, for if the Scripture be a &s;ufficient rule, to order,
<PB N="463" REF="242"> guide, and direct us in all matters of wor&s;hip;<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Scrip|tures are &s;uf|ficient to di|rect us as to all the parts of wor&s;hip. As 1. That of publick pray|er. 2. And that of reading &amp; expounding. 3. And that of preaching, 4. And that of &s;inging. 5. And that of the Seales both of Bap|ti&s;me and the Supper of the Lord.</NOTE> then how doe&s;t thou, O man, detract from the &s;ufficiency of the Scripture, who mingle&s;t thine own or other mens inventions with divine in&s;ti|tutions, and &s;ette&s;t up thy po&s;ts by Gods po&s;ts? O Sirs, the Scriptures are &s;ufficient to direct us fully in every thing that be|longs to the wor&s;hip and &s;ervice of God; &s;o as that we need not depend upon the wi&s;dom, prudence, care, or Authority of any men under heaven to direct us in matters of wor&s;hip. 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.16, 17. <HI>All Scripture is given by in&s;piration of God, and is profitable, for doctrine, for reproofe, for correction, for in|&s;truction in righteou&s;ne&s;s: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furni&s;hed unto all good works:</HI> The Scriptures are &s;uf|ficient to informe the ignorant, to confute the erronious, to re|forme the vitious, and to guide and direct, &s;upport, and com|fort tho&s;e that are gracious; here a Lamb may wade, and an Elephant may &s;wim; here is milke for babes, and meate for &s;trong men; here's comfort for the afflicted, and &s;uccour for the tempted, and ea&s;e for the troubled, and light for the cloud|ed, and enlargement for the &s;traitned, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> O how full of light, how full of life, how full of love, how full of &s;weetne&s;&s;e, how full of goodne&s;s, how full of righteou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> is every Chapter, and every ver&s;e in every Chapter, yea and every line in every ver&s;e. The Rabbins &s;ay that a mountaine of matter hangs upon every word of Scripture, yea upon every tit|tle of Scripture: God never &s;ends his people to the &s;hop of mens traditions and inventions, but he &s;till &s;ends them to the Scripture. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 8.20. <HI>To the Law and to the te&s;timony; if they &s;peak not according to this word, it is becau&s;e there is no light</HI> (or no morning) <HI>in them.</HI> Chap. 34.16. <HI>Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read; no one of the&s;e &s;hall fail,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE> <HI>none &s;hall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his Spirit it hath gathered them.</HI> And in the New-Te&s;tament Chri&s;t &s;ends his hearers to the Scriptures. <HI>John.</HI> 5.39. <HI>Search the Scrip|tures, for in them ye think ye have eternall life, and they are they which te&s;tifie of me.</HI> The Greek word <GAP DESC="foreign">, that is here ren|dred <HI>Search,</HI> &s;ignifies a &s;trict, narrow, curious, diligent &s;earch; we mu&s;t &s;earch the Scripture, as we would &s;earch for Gold, or for &s;ome precious &s;tones which we would faine finde; we mu&s;t
<PB N="464" REF="243"> &s;earch the Scriptures, as Hunters &s;eek and &s;earch out their Game. And &s;o the Apo&s;tle &s;ends his hearers to the Scriptures. 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.19.&mdash;22. As to a &s;urer word then that of Revelation. All which &s;peaks out the &s;ufficiency of the Scripture, to direct us in all matters that concern our internal or eternal welfare. O that you would for ever remember the&s;e two things.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, That that which bred the Popi&s;h Religion, Super&s;ti|tion, Idolatry, and pompious wor&s;hip, was mens departing from the word, and not cleaving to the word as a &s;ufficient Rule to direct them in all matters of wor&s;hip, And</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, That that which hath occa&s;ioned all tho&s;e di&s;|cords, divi&s;ions, heats, heart-burnings, animo&s;ities, and conten|tions, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> about Ceremonies, Liturgey, formes, Ge&s;tures, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> has been mens not keeping clo&s;e to the ble&s;&s;ed word of God; when men for&s;ake this perfect Rule, whether won't they run? and what won't they doe? Ah who art thou, O vaine man, that accu&s;eth the holy Scriptures of in&s;ufficiency? and how wilt thou blu&s;h, and be a&s;hamed and confounded, when in the great day, the Lord &s;hall plead the excellency, and vindicate the &s;uf|ficiency and Authority of his ble&s;&s;ed booke, in oppo&s;ition to all the mixtures of mens Traditions with divine in&s;titutions?</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, God won't nor can't bare with mixtures in his wor|&s;hip and &s;ervice, becau&s;e to bring them in is to accu&s;e and charge God with weakne&s;s and folly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 3.4, 5, 6. John 4.23, 24.</NOTE> as if God were not care|ful enough, nor faithful enough, nor mindful enough, nor wi&s;e enough, nor prudent nor under&s;tanding enough, to order, direct, and guide his people in the matters of his wor&s;hip, but mu&s;t be beholding to the wi&s;dom,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 39.5.</NOTE> prudence, and care of man, of vaine man, of &s;inful man, of vile and unworthy man, of weak and foo|li&s;h man, to compleat, perfect, and make up &s;omething that was wanting in his wor&s;hip and &s;ervice, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, God won't bare with mixtures in his wor&s;hip and &s;ervice, becau&s;e all mixtures deba&s;es the wor&s;hip and &s;ervice of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 29.13, 14. Math. 15.3, 6, 8, 9.</NOTE> and makes the wor&s;hip a vaine wor&s;hip; as the mixing of water with wine is the deba&s;ing of the wine; and the mixing of Tin with &s;ilver, or bra&s;s with gold, is the deba&s;ing of the &s;il|ver and gold, &s;o for men to mix and mingle their Traditions and inventions with Gods in&s;titutions, is to deba&s;e the wor&s;hip and
<PB N="465" REF="243"> &s;ervice of God, and to detract from the excellency and glory of it. The Kings and Princes of this world, have mo&s;t &s;everely puni&s;ht &s;uch, who by their ba&s;e mixtures have imba&s;ed their coyne; and there is a day a coming, wherein the King of Kings will mo&s;t &s;everely puni&s;h all &s;uch who have imba&s;ed his wor&s;hip and &s;ervice, by mixing their <HI>Romi&s;h</HI> traditions with his holy in|&s;titutions. <HI>Rev.</HI> 22.18.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 22.18.</NOTE> <HI>For I te&s;tifie unto every man that hear|eth the words of the prophe&s;ie of this booke, if any man &s;hall adde unto the&s;e things, God &s;hall adde unto him the plagues that are written in this booke:</HI> And no wonder; for what horrible pride, pre&s;umption, &s;toutne&s;s and ba&s;ene&s;s of &s;pirit is it in fooli&s;h man to be &s;o bold with the great God, as to dare to mix any thing of his own with his wor&s;hip and &s;ervice, which, according to divine in&s;titution, is &s;o perfect and compleat? God will never bare it, to &s;ee men lay their dirt upon his gold, and to put their Raggs upon his Royal Robes. Ah Chri&s;tians, Chri&s;tians, evi|dence your holine&s;s by &s;tanding up for holy ordinances and pure wor&s;hip, in oppo&s;ition to all mixtures what&s;oever; oh don't you touch a poluted wor&s;hip, don't you plead and contend for a po|luted wor&s;hip, but let <HI>Baal</HI> plead for <HI>Baal,</HI> and though all the world &s;hould wander after the Bea&s;t, yet don't you wander, and though every fore-head &s;hould have the mark of the Bea&s;t upon it, yet doe you abhor his mark, and what ever el&s;e it be that do's but &s;mell and &s;avour of the Bea&s;t. It is ob&s;ervable that in Kings and Princes Courts, children, fools, and the rude Rabble, are much taken with fine pictures, and rich &s;hews, and gli&s;tering gaudy cloaths, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but &s;uch as are wi&s;e, &s;erious, grave State&s;men, they mind not, they regard not &s;uch poor things, they look upon tho&s;e things as things that are much below the noblene&s;s and the greatne&s;s of their &s;pirits, who have honorable objects, and the great and weighty affaires of the State to bu&s;ie them&s;elves about; &s;o my Brethren, though the children, the fools, and the Rabble of the world are much affected and taken with &s;uch polutions and mixtures, as makes up a glorious pom|pious wor&s;hip, yet you that have a &s;pirit of holine&s;s, and princi|ples of holine&s;s in you, O how &s;hould you &s;light &s;uch things, and pa&s;s by &s;uch things as things below you, as things not wor|thy of you, who have a holy God, a holy Chri&s;t, a holy Go&s;pel,
<PB N="466" REF="244"> and a holy wor&s;hip, to bu&s;ie your thoughts, your minds, your heads, and your hearts about. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="5"> Fifthly, Evidence the truth and reality of your holine&s;s, by bewailing and lamenting the lo&s;s of holine&s;s. Ah how is this crowne of holine&s;s fallen from our heads!<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lam. 5.16.</NOTE> O the leanne&s;s of &s;ouls! O the &s;piritual witherings and decayes in grace and holi|ne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Its very un|comfortable to &s;ee the dayes grow &s;horter, and to &s;ee friends grow behind-hand in the world.</NOTE> that is to be found among many Chri&s;tians this day! Some complaine of the lo&s;s of Trade, and others complaine of the lo&s;s of e&s;tate; &s;ome complaine of the lo&s;s of c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">edit, and others complaine of the lo&s;s of friends; but what are all the&s;e lo&s;&s;es to the lo&s;s of holine&s;s? and yet how few be there that complaine of the lo&s;s of holine&s;s! holine&s;s is fallen in our hearts, in our fa|milies, in our &s;treets, and in our Churches, and yet how few are there to be found that laments the fall of holine&s;s! O Sirs, will you lament &s;uch as are fallen from riches to poverty, from ho|nor into di&s;grace, and from the highe&s;t pitch of pro&s;perity to the lowe&s;t &s;tep of beggary and mi&s;ery; and will you not lament &s;uch who are fallen from the highe&s;t round to the lowe&s;t round in <HI>Jacobs</HI> Ladder? O Sirs, will you mourne over a decayed e|&s;tate? will you weep over decayed friends? and will you &s;igh and &s;ob over a decayed body? and will you not much more lament and mourne over decayed &s;ouls, <HI>&amp;c?</HI> Ah how many have lo&s;t that love,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 2.4, 5.</NOTE> that life, that heat, that zeale, that readine&s;s, that for|wardne&s;s, and that re&s;olutene&s;s that once they had for God and godline&s;s. Some are fallen from their holine&s;s by giving them|&s;elves elbow-roome to &s;in again&s;t the checks and la&s;hes of con|&s;cience;<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 51.</NOTE> others are decayed in holine&s;s, by their &s;ecret re&s;i&s;t|ing and &s;mothering the gracious motions of the Spirit:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 7.51.</NOTE> Some are fallen frpm holine&s;s, either by their neglect of precious means,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;. 5.20.</NOTE> or el&s;e by their heartle&s;s u&s;ing of the meanes; others are fallen from their holine&s;s, either by the allurements and entice|ments of a tempting world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 4.10.</NOTE> or el&s;e by the frownes and threat|nings of a per&s;ecuting world: Some are fallen from holine&s;s, by their non-exerci&s;e of grace; and others are fallen from holine&s;s, by not di&s;cerning their fir&s;t decayes in grace. So that upon one account or another, multitudes in the&s;e dayes are fallen from that holine&s;s which was once their glory. If you look into fa|milies, there you &s;hall finde Ma&s;ters complaining that their &s;er|vants
<PB N="467" REF="244"> are &s;o carele&s;s, fooli&s;h, frothy, light, &s;light, &s;lothfull, un|faithfull, proud and lofty, that they are not to be &s;poken to, nor tru&s;ted; and if you look againe into the &s;ame Families, there you &s;hall finde &s;ervants complaining that their Ma&s;ters and Mi|&s;tri&s;&s;es are &s;o exceeding froward, pevi&s;h, pa&s;&s;ionate, worldly, neglective of duties, and carele&s;s of their &s;ouls, that 'tis even a hell to &s;ervants to live with them. Now what &s;peaks all the&s;e &s;ad complaints, but either a total want of holine&s;s, or el&s;e a very great decay of holine&s;s: And if you look among all other rela|tions, as husbands and wives, parents and children, Magi&s;trates and people, Mini&s;ters and Chri&s;tians; oh what &s;ad divi&s;ions, what fiery contentions, and what feareful Jars are there to be found? oh what &s;lightings, what revilings, what under-valuings, what heart-ri&s;ings, what heart-&s;wellings, and what heart-burn|ings are to be found among&s;t them? and what doe all the&s;e things declare, but that the Glory of God is departed from <HI>I&s;|rael,</HI> and that holine&s;s is fallen to a very low ebbe? ah friends, were there but more holine&s;s among you, there would be more union among you, and more love among you, and more &s;weet|ne&s;s and tenderne&s;s among you, and more forbearance and pa|tience among you; Oh then you would never be &s;narling one at another, nor biting one of another, nor plotting one again&s;t another, nor devouring one of another any more. Again, if you look among men, who&s;e parts are great, who&s;e gifts are high, who&s;e profe&s;&s;ion is glorious, and who&s;e expre&s;&s;ions and notions are very &s;eraphical, ah what a little holine&s;s will you finde? O Sirs, &s;hall the men of this world vex and fret, &s;hall they weep and waile, and &s;hall their lamentation and mourning be like that of <HI>Hadadrimmon</HI> in the valley of <HI>Megiddo,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chron. 35.24, 25.</NOTE> and that for the lo&s;s of a little wealth, or for a punctilio of honor, or a day of plea|&s;ure, or the &s;miles of a Prince, <HI>&amp;c?</HI> and will not you lament and mourne for the lo&s;s of holine&s;s, which is the choice&s;t Jewel in a Chri&s;tians Crowne? Tears in&s;tead of Gemmes were the or|naments of <HI>Davids</HI> bed, when he was fallen from his holines&s;.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 51.</NOTE> And though the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> Kings would have no mourning nor mourning apparel worne in their pre&s;ence, yet the King of kings loves to &s;ee his people a mourning for the falls of holine&s;s, as well as for the heights of wickedne&s;s. When news was brought
<PB N="468" REF="245"> to <HI>Xenophon</HI> of his Sons death,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Val. Max. lib. <HI>5.</HI> c. <HI>10.</HI></NOTE> he put off his Crowne from his head, and wept. O my Brethren, who can heare of the death of holine&s;s, and behold the death of holine&s;s in mens hearts, lives, and families, and not put off his crowne, and weep, and not put off his ornaments, and weep till he can weep no more, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="6"> Sixthly, Evidence the truth and reality of your holine&s;s, by pur&s;uing, pre&s;&s;ing, and following after the highe&s;t degrees of holine&s;s:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Bernard</HI> in <HI>Cant.</HI> crys out, I would not upon the &s;ud|den attaine to my highe&s;t pitch, but grow to|wards it by little and little. 2 Pet. 1.5.&mdash; 13. Rom. 1.17. P&s;al. 84.7. Mu&s;hromes grow up to perfection in one night.</NOTE> O &s;it not down &s;atisfied with &s;ome drops or &s;ips of ho|line&s;s, but labour after the perfection of holine&s;s; O don't con|tent your &s;elves with &s;o much holine&s;s, as will bring you to hap|pine&s;s, or with &s;o much holine&s;s as will keep wrath and your &s;ouls a&s;under, or hell and your &s;ouls a&s;under, or eternal ruine and your &s;ouls a&s;under. The exhortation in the Text, <HI>Follow peace with all men and holine&s;s,</HI> is an exhortation that was given out to Saints that were holy before, and the life and force of it lyes in this, that tho&s;e that were holy, &s;hould labour to be more and more holy, they &s;hould &s;till be adding of grace to grace, holine&s;s to holine&s;s, they &s;hould &s;till be a going on from faith to faith, and from &s;trength to &s;trength. As holine&s;s hath its con|ception, birth, and infancy, &s;o it hath its full growth, and after that all Chri&s;tians mu&s;t &s;trive. Holine&s;s is not like to <HI>Jonahs</HI> Gourd, that &s;hoote up in a night, but 'tis like Plants and Trees that grows up by degrees, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 92.14. and after the highe&s;t degrees we mu&s;t endeavour.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Kings 19.4, 5.</NOTE> After the Prophet <HI>Elias</HI> had tra|velled a dayes journey in the wilderne&s;s, he &s;ate downe and &s;lept under a Juniper Tree, and there God calls upon him, <HI>up and eate;</HI> and when he found him the &s;econd time he calls a|gaine upon him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver. 7.</NOTE> <HI>up and eate, becau&s;e thou ha&s;t a great journey to goe.</HI> O Chri&s;tians, you have a howling wilderne&s;s to travell through, you have a great journey to goe, you have many a mountaine to walke over, and many an enemy to vanqui&s;h, (even the world, the fle&s;h, and the devil) and many a cro&s;s to bare, and many a mercy to improve, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and therefore you have very great cau&s;e to up and eate, I &s;ay, to up and eate, that is, to grow &s;tronger and &s;tronger in holine&s;s, and to walke from grace to grace, and from vertue to vertue, and to come off from your milke,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 5.12, 13, 14.</NOTE> and to feed upon &s;trong meate, that you may hold
<PB N="469" REF="245"> out to the end of your journey, and not faint nor fall &s;hort of that great &s;alvation, which attends perfection of holine&s;s. And this progre&s;s in holine&s;s is that maine thing that the Apo&s;tle pre&s;&s;es upon the believing <HI>Corinthians</HI> in that 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 7.1. <HI>Ha|ving therefore the&s;e promi&s;es (dearely beloved) let us clean&s;e our &s;elves from all filthine&s;s of the fle&s;h and &s;pirit, perfecting holine&s;s in the feare of God.</HI> The Apo&s;tle having in the former Chapter ar|med the believing <HI>Corinthians</HI> with many &s;trong Arguments a|gain&s;t all communion and fellow&s;hip with Idolaters, he comes at la&s;t to touch upon tho&s;e great and glorious promi&s;es,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver. 16, 17, 18.</NOTE> which upon the account of their high and holy calling they were inte|re&s;ted in, and he pre&s;ents them as &s;ingular motives, and as choice and precious encouragements to move them to perfect holine&s;s in the feare of God. There is no work on earth that &s;o well becomes the Heirs of &s;uch precious promi&s;es, as that of clean&s;ing them&s;elves from all filthine&s;s on the one hand, and that of perfecting holine&s;s in the feare of God on the other hand. Now this being a point of the highe&s;t concernment, and of the greate&s;t importance imaginable to the Saints, I &s;hall therefore endeavour the&s;e three things.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, To lay downe &s;ome motives to provoke you to per|fect <MILESTONE N="1"> holine&s;s in the feare of God, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, I &s;hall propound &s;ome meanes, &s;ome directions <MILESTONE N="2"> that may help you to make a progre&s;s in holine&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Thirdly, I &s;hall &s;hew you how you may know whether you have attained to &s;uch a perfection of holine&s;s as we are all to <MILESTONE N="3"> &s;trive after, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>I &s;hall fir&s;t begin with the motives, that may whet and &s;tir up your &s;pirits to labour after greater degrees and higher mea|&s;ures of holine&s;s, then yet you have attained to; and to that pur|po&s;e, I be&s;eech you &s;eriou&s;ly to con&s;ider of the&s;e following par|ticulars.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Con&s;ider that notwith&s;tanding all the means, and all <MILESTONE N="1"> the advantages, and all the opportunities that you have enjoyed to worke you to perfect holine&s;s in the feare of God, yet you have obtain'd but to very &s;mall mea&s;ures of holine&s;s; you are ra|ther Babes then Men in holines, you are rather &s;hrubs then Ce|dars in grace, you are rather Dwarfs then Giants in godline&s;s to
<PB N="470" REF="246"> this very day: And this &s;ad charge I &s;hall briefly make good again&s;t you by an Induction of eight particulars, thus:</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="1"> Fir&s;t, The &s;trength, the power, the activity, and the preva|lancy of &s;in in you to this day, do's witne&s;s to your faces that you have yet obtain'd but &s;mall mea&s;ures of holine&s;s.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 7.22, 23, 24. I&s;a. 59.12.</NOTE> Oh my Brethren, are not many of your corruptions as powerfull and as &s;trong, as they were five, ten, yea twenty years agoe, notwith|&s;tanding all the prayers that you have made, and all the Ser|mons that you have heard, and all the tears that you have &s;hed, and all the re&s;olutions that you have taken, and all the promi&s;es that you have made, and all the conflicts that you have had? and what do's this &s;peak out, but that holine&s;s is at a low ebbe in your &s;ouls? O Sirs, were but holine&s;s ri&s;en to a greater height in your &s;ouls,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ch. 8.10.</NOTE> how readily would you trample upon your lu&s;ts? and how ea&s;ily would you leade captivity captive? As the hou&s;e of <HI>David</HI> grew &s;tronger and &s;tronger,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 3.1.</NOTE> &s;o the hou&s;e of <HI>Saul</HI> grew weaker and weaker; As holine&s;s ri&s;es in the &s;oul by degrees, &s;o &s;in dies in the &s;oul by degrees; and the more any man abounds in holine&s;s, the more he abounds in his &s;pirituall conque&s;ts over the world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 8.14.</NOTE> the fle&s;h, and the devill. O Sirs, your pride te&s;tifies to your faces, and your &s;elf-love te&s;tifies to your faces,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;ea 5.5. Ch. 7.10.</NOTE> and your worldline&s;s te&s;tifies to your faces, and your pa&s;&s;ion te&s;tifies to your faces, and your diffidence te&s;tifies to your faces, and your hypocri&s;ie te&s;tifies to your faces, and your carnality te&s;tifies to your faces, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that yet you are not got up many rounds in <HI>Jacobs</HI> Ladder, that your degrees in holine&s;s may be ea&s;ily ca&s;t up. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> Secondly, You have not attain'd to much holine&s;s, witne&s;s that high price that you &s;et upon the toyes, the trifles, and the va|nities of this world.<NOTE PLACE="marg">As <HI>Jonah</HI> did upon his Gourd.</NOTE> Ah at what a rate do men value the emp|ty honors, the fading riches, and the declining greatne&s;s of this world? <HI>Democritus</HI> the Philo&s;opher e&s;teemed his Roome cove|red over with green branches,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 24.30, 31. Math. 17.4. 2 Cor. 5.1, 2. Math. 18.1, 2. Mark 9.33, 34, 35, 36.</NOTE> above the Royal Palace. And did not <HI>Peter</HI> prefer a Tabernacle on earth, before a Royal Palace not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens? But what doe I talke of <HI>Peter,</HI> when this di&s;ea&s;e had againe and againe and a|gaine over-&s;pread the hearts of all the Di&s;ciples, as you may evidently &s;ee by comparing the Scripture in the Margent to|gether;
<PB N="471" REF="246"> they had di&s;pute upon di&s;pute,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 9.46, 47. Chap. 22. to the 28. <HI>vide.</HI></NOTE> which of them &s;hould be accounted greate&s;t; they had often &s;harp conte&s;ts among them&s;elves, which of them &s;hould have the greate&s;t honor, the be&s;t office, and the highe&s;t preferment in Chri&s;ts earthly king|dome; and indeed their thoughts, heads, and hearts were &s;o taken up about an outward kingdome, a worldly kingdome, that they little minded either the &s;piritual kingdome of God with|in them, or the glorious kingdome of God above them. As the fooli&s;h <HI>Indians</HI> prefer every toy and trifle before their Mines of Gold; &s;o many Chri&s;tians (who are low in holine&s;s) prefer the trifling vanities of this world, before the glorious trea&s;ures and endle&s;s plea&s;ures that be at Gods right hand:<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 16. <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> O but where holi|ne&s;s is ri&s;en to any con&s;iderable height, there men will make a very foot-&s;tool of their crowns for Chri&s;t to get up and ride in triumph;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 4.10, 11.</NOTE> there all the glory &amp; bravery of this world will be but as dro&s;s &amp; dung,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 3.7, 8.</NOTE> there men would like the woman (the Church) in the <HI>Revelation,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 12.1.</NOTE> <HI>trample the Moon</HI> (that is, all the things of this world which are as changeble as the Moon) <HI>under their feete;</HI> were there but more holine&s;s in your hearts, all the gay &amp; gall|lant things of this world, would be more contemptible in your eyes. O Sirs, if <HI>Midas</HI> was condemned to wear A&s;&s;es ears, be|cau&s;e he preferred <HI>Pans</HI> Pipe before <HI>Apollo's</HI> Lute, (that is, hu|mane policy before divine providence) how &s;everely are they to be cen&s;ured, who prefer the poor, low, empty nothings of this world, before all the glory &amp; happines of another world, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But,</P>
<P>Thirdly, You have attain'd to but little holine&s;s, witne&s;s <MILESTONE N="3"> your fears &amp; faintings in a day of adver&s;ity. Though there be as many feare nots, as there be feares in Scripture,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 51.12, 13. Ch. 41.10.14.</NOTE> yet in a day of calamity, how ea&s;ily and frequently do's your feares get above your faith? and what fainting fits do's then attend you? <HI>Pro.</HI> 24.10. <HI>If thou faint in the day of adver&s;ity, thy &s;trength is &s;mall,</HI> or as the Hebrew has it,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>T&s;ar</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> It &s;ignifies to be &s;traitned as men are &s;trait|ned that are clo&s;ely be&s;ie|ged in time of war, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> <HI>thy &s;trength is narrow</HI> or <HI>&s;traitned.</HI> Look as bodily faintne&s;s di&s;covers bodily weakne&s;s, &s;o &s;oul faintne&s;s di&s;covers &s;oul weakne&s;s; 'tis troubles that are the tri|alls of a Chri&s;tians &s;trength; afflictions will try what &s;ap and life we have within us. As the man is for holine&s;s, &s;o is his &s;trength under trials; he that has no holine&s;s, has no &s;trength, and he that has but a little holine&s;s, has but a little &s;trength, but he that
<PB N="472" REF="247"> has much holine&s;s, has much &s;trength, and accordingly will bare up bravely in a day of tryall;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 49.23, 24.</NOTE> his bow with <HI>Jo&s;eph's</HI> will then abide in &s;trength. Though <HI>Noah</HI> in the building of his Arke met with many a &s;ore tryall, and many a &s;ad affront, and ma|ny a broad je&s;t, and many a bitter &s;coffe; and though the people generally laught at the good old man, thinking that he did not only dote, but dreame, not of a dry &s;ummer, but of a wet win|ter (as we &s;ay) yet <HI>Noah</HI> being eminent in holine&s;s, his bow abode in &s;trength, and he held on building of the Arke, till he had fini&s;hed the worke that God had commanded. But O the &s;adne&s;s, the weakne&s;s, the faintne&s;s that attends mo&s;t per&s;ons in the day of their adver&s;ity. <HI>Jer.</HI> 8.18, 21. <HI>When I would com|fort my &s;elfe again&s;t &s;orrow, my heart is faint in me. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; a&s;toni&s;hment hath taken hold on me.</HI> Chap. 45.3. <HI>Thou did&s;t &s;ay, wo is me now, for the Lord hath added grief to my &s;orrow; I fainted in my &s;ighings, and I finde no re&s;t.</HI> Lam. 1.22. <HI>For my &s;ighs are many, and my heart is faint.</HI> Chap. 5.17. <HI>For this our heart is faint, for the&s;e things our eyes are dim.</HI> Now this faintne&s;s in the day of adver&s;ity &s;peaks out much &s;piritual weakne&s;s; for where ho|line&s;s is ri&s;en to a noble height, there men will bare up coura|giou&s;ly, even in a day of calamity. The Eagle is the King of Birds,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;totle l. <HI>9.</HI> de Hi&s;toria A|nimalium, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> and therefore the <HI>Romans,</HI> who were the greate&s;t Poten|tates on earth, &s;til bore the Eagle in their Standards; now the Naturali&s;t ob&s;erves concerning this Royal Bird, that whereas all other Birds make a noi&s;e when they are hungry, this Princely Bird makes no noi&s;e at all, though he be never &s;o hungry, for &s;uch is the greatne&s;s, and the noblene&s;s of his &s;pirit, that what ever befalls him, he won't cry, and whine, and repine as other Birds will doe when they want their food; his Princely &s;pirit carries him above all hunger, thir&s;t, or danger: So men that are eminent in holine&s;s, are men of &s;uch noble princely &s;pirits, that they won't faint, nor vex, nor fret, nor complaine, nor whine, whatever their wants, tryals, or &s;traits may be; &s;uch afflictions as would break other mens hearts, cannot &s;o much as break their &s;leep, they &s;till hold on their way, &amp; whatever they meet with, they will be &s;till amounting nearer and nearer to heaven. But now where there is but a little holine&s;s, there men will be like
<PB N="473" REF="247"> the common fowls of the air, &s;till a making a noi&s;e, they will &s;till be a crying, whining, and repining under every trial and trouble they meet with. But,</P>
<P>Fourthly, You Have but a little holine&s;s, witne&s;s your ea&s;ie, <MILESTONE N="4"> your ready, and your frequent fallings before temptations and motions to &s;in. O! &s;irs, when the temptation does but touch and take, when you are no &s;ooner tempted but you are conquered, no &s;ooner a&s;&s;aulted but you are vanqui&s;hed, cer|tainly holine&s;s is at a very low-ebb in your &s;ouls. That Garri|&s;on (without all peradventure) is very weak, that is taken at the fir&s;t a&s;&s;ault, and that &s;hip is but meanly man'd that is carried at fir&s;t boarding, and that &s;ouldier is but &s;lightly arm'd that is run through at the fir&s;t thru&s;t; and &s;o that Chri&s;tian has but lit|tle &s;piritual &s;trength in him who is wor&s;ted and vanqui&s;hed up|on the fir&s;t appearance of a temptation. When mens under|&s;tandings are ea&s;ily corrupted with error, or their judgements with levity, or their wills with frowardne&s;s, or their affections with di&s;orderedne&s;s, or their con&s;ciences with unrighteou&s;ne&s;s, 'tis a very great argument that there is but little holine&s;s with|in. O! &s;irs, men eminent in holine&s;s, in their ordinary cour&s;e have been always eminent in the re&s;i&s;ting and with&s;tanding of temptations, as is evident in <HI>Jo&s;eph, Job, Daniel,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 39. Job 1.3. and 6. chap|ters of <HI>Daniel.</HI></NOTE> the three children, <HI>&amp;c. Au&s;tin</HI> thanks the Lord that his heart and the temptation did not meet together. The Devil tempting <HI>Bona|venture</HI> told him that he was a Reprobate, and therefore per|&s;waded him to drink in the pre&s;ent plea&s;ures of this life, for &s;aith Satan, thou art excluded from the future joys with God in heaven; to whom he an&s;wered, No, not &s;o Satan, for if I mu&s;t not enjoy God after this life, I will labor to enjoy him as much as I can whil&s;t I live. When one of the Martyrs was offered riches and honors if he would recant,<NOTE PLACE="marg">And the young con|vert when he was tempted, an&s;wered, <HI>Ego non &s;um e|go,</HI> I am not the man that I was, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> he gave this excellent an&s;wer, Do but offer me &s;omewhat that is better then my Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t&punc; and you &s;hall &s;ee what I will &s;ay to you. When <HI>Vale<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ce</HI> the Emperor offered large preferments to <HI>Ba&s;il,</HI> and told him what a great man he would make him, he an&s;wered, offer the&s;e things to children, and not to Chri&s;tians. When <HI>Bernard</HI> was tempted, tell me not Satan, &s;aid he, what I have bee<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, but what I am and will be through grace. And &s;o when
<PB N="474" REF="248"> <HI>Beza</HI> was tempted in the like ca&s;e, he an&s;wered, what&s;oever I was, I am now in Chri&s;t a new creature, and that is it which troubles thee Satan; I might have continued in my &s;ins long enough ere thou would&s;t have vexed at it, but now I &s;ee thou do&s;t envy me the grace of my Saviour. And when <HI>Augu&s;tin</HI> was &s;adly reviled by the Donati&s;ts for the wickedne&s;s of his youth, he an&s;wered, The more de&s;perate my di&s;ea&s;e was, &s;o much the more I admire the Phi&s;itian. Thus men eminently holy have &s;tood their ground in the face of all temptations and motions to &s;in; but alas, in the&s;e times how ea&s;ily, how readi|ly, and how frequently do multitudes fall before every temp|tation?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;h. 7.21.</NOTE> As &s;oon as <HI>Acan</HI> had but ca&s;t his eye upon the Baby|loni&s;h garment and &s;hekels of Silver, and wedge of Gold, his fingers itch't to be handling of them; &s;o many in the&s;e days, as &s;oon as they do but &s;ee the way to honor or preferment, or a great place, or a high office, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> O how do their fingers itch, how do their &s;ouls long after the&s;e things? and though they &s;a|vor and &s;mell never &s;o &s;trong of <HI>Babylon</HI> or of <HI>Rome,</HI> yet have them they mu&s;t; &s;uch per&s;ons may do well to remember, that <HI>Acans</HI> Babyloni&s;h garment was but a &s;hrow'd to &s;hrow'd him, and his golden wedge was but a wedge to cleave him, and his &s;hekels of &s;ilver were but &s;hekels to hold him the fa&s;ter, both under the wrath of God and man. Such as can turn with eve|ry winde, and clo&s;e with every wor&s;hip, and bow to every Idol that man &s;ets up, have either no holine&s;s, or el&s;e but very little holine&s;s in their hearts; &s;uch as ea&s;ily and readily fall be|fore temptations from within or without, have never it attain'd to any great mea&s;ures of holine&s;s. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="5"> Fifthly, you have but a little holine&s;s, witne&s;s the &s;trange be|haviour and carriage of your &s;ouls, when the Lord &s;mites you in &s;ome near and dear enjoyment; if the Lord does but frown upon your <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> or touch your <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> or call for your <HI>Benja|mine,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 31.15. Gen. 37.35. 2 Sam. 18.33. Jonah 4.9.</NOTE> or wither your Gourd, O now with <HI>Rachel</HI> you will not be comforted, or with <HI>Jacob</HI> you will go mourning into the grave, or with <HI>David</HI> you will cry out, <HI>O Ab&s;alom my &s;on, my &s;on, would God I had died for thee;</HI> or with <HI>Jonah</HI> you will tell God to his face that you do well to be angry. O! now you
<PB N="475" REF="248"> can't look up and tru&s;t in God, you can't look up and delight in God, you can't look up and hope in God, you can't look up and &s;olace your &s;elves in God, you can't look up and lye down in the good plea&s;ure of God, you can't look up and ju&s;tifie God, you can't look up and &s;ay, God is your God, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> O now God has toucht you in your fir&s;t born, you can neither eat, nor drink, nor &s;leep; now you can ta&s;te no &s;weet, nor take no comfort, nor finde no content in any of all your enjoyments; now God has touch't the apple of your eye, you can neither think well of God, nor &s;peak well of God, nor carry it well towards God. O! now no body can plea&s;e you, nor nothing can &s;atisfie you; now you think that there is no &s;orrow to your &s;orrow,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lam. 1.12.18.</NOTE> no cro&s;s to your cro&s;s, nor no lo&s;s to your lo&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> now every &s;weet is bitter, and every comfort is a cro&s;s; and accordingly you car|ry it both towards God and towards man; all which &s;peaks out holine&s;s to be at a very low ebb in your &s;ouls. O! &s;irs, were ho|line&s;s but ri&s;en to &s;ome con&s;iderable heighth in your &s;ouls, you would with <HI>Job</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 1.21.</NOTE> (who was eminent in holine&s;s) ble&s;s a taking God, as well as a giving God; and you would carry it &s;weetly and ingeniou&s;ly towards God, as well when he writes bitter things again&s;t you; as when he is a multiplying of favors and kindne&s;&s;es upon you, but if when the rod &s;marts you kick, and &s;ling, and fret, and fume, and vex, and tear your comforts in pieces, and your &s;ouls in pieces, and your God in pieces (as much as in you lies) certainly the &s;treams of holine&s;s runs low in your &s;ouls. But,</P>
<P>Sixthly, You have but little holine&s;s, witne&s;s the ebbings <MILESTONE N="6"> and the flowings of your &s;pirits according to the working of &s;e|condary cau&s;es; as &s;econdary cau&s;es work, &s;o you are up and down, high and low; now you are full of hopes, and anon you are full of fears; now you believe, and anon de&s;paire; now you are &s;tedfa&s;t, and anone you are wavering; now you &s;ay &s;urely God will once more own us, and anone you &s;ay verily God has for&s;aken us; now you &s;ay you &s;ee the clouds begin to &s;catter,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Can. 2.11, 12. Jer. 8.22. Chap. 46.11. and chap. 51.8.</NOTE> and anone you &s;ay you &s;ee the clouds grow darker and thicker; now you &s;ay the Winter is pa&s;t, and the &s;inging of birds is come; and anone you &s;ay your Winter is like to be longer then ever; now you &s;ay there is Balm in <HI>Gilead,</HI> and
<PB N="476" REF="249"> anon you &s;ay your wound is incurable; now you &s;ay all is your own, and anon you are ready to give up all as lo&s;t, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and thus your hearts ri&s;e and fall according to the working of &s;econd cau|&s;es. When you have full pur&s;es, and powerful Armies, and &s;ubtle Councellors,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 30.6, 7, 8.</NOTE> and great Allies, then you are ready to &s;ay, &s;urely our mountain is &s;trong, and we &s;hall never be removed; but when your bags are empty, and your forces broken, and your cou|n&s;els di&s;&s;ipated, and your Allies faln off, then you are ready to cry out, O now there is no hope, there is no help. O but now were you eminent in holine&s;s, then under the &s;adde&s;t and cro&s;&s;e&s;t workings of &s;econd cau&s;es,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chron. 14.11.</NOTE> you would &s;ay with <HI>A&s;a, O Lord it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kin. 6.16, 17. Exod. 14.13.</NOTE> and with <HI>Eli&s;ha, They that be with us, are more then they that be with them;</HI> and with <HI>Mo&s;es, Stand &s;till,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 118.6.</NOTE> <HI>and &s;ee the &s;alvation of God;</HI> and with <HI>David, The Lord is on my &s;ide, I will not fear what man can do unto me.</HI> Holine&s;s in any con&s;iderable heighth, will &s;et the power of God in oppo&s;ition to all the power of the world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 65.6.&mdash;11.</NOTE> and then divinely triumph over them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Plutarch in vi|ta Pomp.</NOTE> <HI>Pompey</HI> once gloried in this, that with one &s;tampe of his foot, he could rai&s;e all <HI>Italy</HI> up in Arms; but the great God with one &s;tampe of his foot (or with one word of his mouth) can rai&s;e not onely <HI>Italy,</HI> but al&s;o all the Angels in heaven, and all the men on earth in Arms at his plea&s;ure; and in the power of this God, rai&s;ed holine&s;s will enable a man to glory all the day long: Where holine&s;s is weak, there men &s;tand and fall as &s;econd cau&s;es work, but where holine&s;s is emi|nent, there men will live upon the fir&s;t cau&s;e; and however &s;econd cau&s;es may wheel about, yet &s;uch a man will live upon him, and look up to him that hath a wheel within every wheel, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 1.15.&mdash;22. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="7"> Seventhly, You have but little holine&s;s, witne&s;s that &s;oul-leanne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 106.15. I&s;a. 24.16. and Chap. 10.16.</NOTE> barrenne&s;s, and unfruitfulne&s;s that is among you at this very day. Ah how may mo&s;t cry out with the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> O my leanne&s;s, my leanne&s;s; O our leanne&s;s, our leanne&s;s, our barrenne&s;s, our barrenne&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> though God has waited many three years for fruit, yet behold nothing but leaves. I have read of the <HI>Indian</HI> Fig-tree, how that its leaves are as broad as a Target,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Athenaeus de Ipno&s;oph. lib. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> but its fruit is no bigger then a Bean: Ah how ma|ny
<PB N="477" REF="249"> Chri&s;tians be there in the&s;e days, who&s;e leaves of profe&s;&s;i|on are very broad, but their fruits of righteou&s;ne&s;s and holi|ne&s;s are very &s;mall; and as the <HI>Indian</HI> Fig-tree, though it be of fair and goodly dimen&s;ions, yet it riots out all its &s;ap and juce into leaves and blo&s;&s;oms. So many in the&s;e days, who though they carry it fair, and make a goodly &s;hew, yet they riot out all that &s;piritual &s;ap and life that is in them into the mear leaves and blo&s;&s;oms of an empty profe&s;&s;ion. Ah how are many of our hearts like to the I&s;le of <HI>Pathmos,</HI> which is &s;o barren that nothing that is good will grow on't, all the good things that grow there is from the earth that is brought from other places. Look as a company of Ants are very bu&s;ie about a Mole-hill running to and fro, and wearying them&s;elves in their &s;everal movings and turnings this way and that, and yet never grow great, for after all their motions and &s;tiring, they are &s;till the &s;ame as to the &s;lender proportion of their bodies; &s;o, many Chri&s;tians in the&s;e days run to and fro, they run from one duty to another, and from one ordinance to another, and from one opinion to another, and from one principle to another, and from one Mini&s;ter to another, and from one Church to another, and from one way to another, and from one notion to another; and yet they make little progre&s;s in holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 3.18. 2 Tim. 3.6, 7.</NOTE> they grow but lit|tle in the love, the life, the likene&s;s, and the knowledge of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t; they are like tho&s;e &s;illy women that <HI>Timothy</HI> &s;peaks of, who were ever learning, and yet never able to come to the knowledge of the truth; and they are like <HI>Nazianzens</HI> country of <HI>Ozizala,</HI> which abounded, with gay flowers, but was barren of corn; &s;o the&s;e abound in gay notions, and flou|ri&s;hing parts, but are barren of grace and holine&s;s. <HI>Seneca</HI> hath long &s;ince ob&s;erved, that as the Philo&s;ophers in his time grew more and more learned, &s;o they grew le&s;s and le&s;s moral; and is there any thing more evident in the&s;e days then this, <HI>viz.</HI> that as men grow more and more in empty airy notions, and in a pompous Religion and profe&s;&s;ion, &s;o they grow le&s;s and le&s;s zealous and religious. The rea&s;on (&s;ay &s;ome) why Chri&s;t cur|&s;ed the Fig-tree, though the time of bearing fruit was not come, was becau&s;e it made a glorious &s;hew with leaves, and promi&s;ed much, but brought forth nothing. What's a barren
<PB N="478" REF="250"> tree, a barren ground, or a barren womb to a barren heart? Ma|ny in our days are like the Cypre&s;s-tree,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 15.6.</NOTE> which the more it is watered, the more it is withered; &s;o the more many are wa|tered with the means of grace, the more they wither; the more the dews of heaven falls upon them, and the more heavenly Manna is daily rained round about them, the more lean, fruit|le&s;s, and barren they grow; Such &s;ouls may do well to re|member, that tho&s;e trees that are not for fruit, are for the fire, <HI>Heb.</HI> 6.8.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;tin.</NOTE> For a clo&s;e let me tell you, that I fear (with that Father) that many grieve more for the barrenne&s;s of their lands, then they do for the barrenne&s;s of their lives, and for the bar|renne&s;s of their trees, then they do for the barrenne&s;s of their &s;ouls, and for the lo&s;s of their Cattel, then they do for the lo&s;s of Gods countenance. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="8"> Eigthly &amp; la&s;tly, You have but little holine&s;s, witne&s;s that great indifferency and incon&s;tancy that is to be found among you.<NOTE PLACE="marg">My Lord <HI>Pau|let</HI> kept both great favor and places un|der <HI>Henry</HI> the eighth a Pa|pi&s;t, and un|der King <HI>Ed|ward</HI> the &s;ixth a Prote&s;tant, and under Queen <HI>Mary</HI> a Papi&s;t, and under Queen <HI>Elizabeth</HI> a Prote&s;tant, &amp; being ask'd how he could do &s;o, he an|&s;wered that he always imitated the willow and not the oak.</NOTE> Ah how many Chri&s;tians are there in the&s;e days of Go&s;pel-light, who are indifferent who they hear, or what they hear; who are indifferent whether they pray or not, or walk in Go&s;pel-order or not, or keep Sabbaths or not, or maintain clo&s;et communi|on with God or not, or enjoy the Lords Supper or not, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And, O what incon&s;tancy is to be found among many in the&s;e days; many per&s;ons are onely con&s;tant in incon&s;tancy; now they are for Ordinances, and anone they are again&s;t them; now Ordinances are precious and glorious things, and anone they are poor low things; now they cry up this and that for glorious truths, and anone they cry down the &s;ame things as dangerous and pernicious errors; now they cry up <HI>Paul,</HI> and cry down <HI>Apollo,</HI> and anon they cry up <HI>Apollo,</HI> and cry down <HI>Paul;</HI> now they are for this form, and anon they are for that; now they are very zealous, and anon they are very lukewarm; now they are for wor&s;hipping of God according to rule, and anon they are for wor&s;hipping of God according to the pre&s;cri|ptions of men; now they have their gales of devotion, and anon they are quite becalmed; now they are full of life, and anon they are very lumpi&s;h; now they &s;tand fa&s;t, and anon they are wavering; now they are confident all will be well, and anon they give up all as lo&s;t; now they will lay down their lives
<PB N="479" REF="250"> for Chri&s;t, and anon they are afraid to own Chri&s;t, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Now what does this indifferency and incon&s;tancy &s;peak out, but ei|ther a total want of holine&s;s, or el&s;e that holine&s;s is at a very low ebb in the&s;e mens &s;ouls. Now the&s;e eight Arguments do clearly evidence that many (O that I could not &s;ay that mo&s;t Chri&s;tians) have attained but to &s;mall mea&s;ures and degrees of holine&s;s. But,</P>
</DIV4>
<DIV4 TYPE="section">
<P>Secondly, To provoke you to labor after higher degrees <MILESTONE N="2"> of holine&s;s; Con&s;ider that 'tis po&s;&s;ible for you to attain to grea|ter mea&s;ures of holine&s;s then any yet you have reach't unto: Though the work be hard, yet 'tis po&s;&s;ible; and what great things things won't men attempt upon the account of a po&s;&s;ibili|ty. Now that 'tis po&s;&s;ible that you may attain to a greater perfection of holine&s;s, I &s;hall evidence the&s;e five wayes.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, By many precious promi&s;es that are &s;cattered up and down in the ble&s;&s;ed Scriptures; as that <HI>Job</HI> 17.9. <HI>The righte|ous <MILESTONE N="1"> &s;hall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands, &s;hall be &s;tronger and &s;tronger;</HI> Or as the Hebrew has it,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE> <HI>he &s;hall add &s;trength,</HI> that is, he &s;hall go on from one degree of &s;piritual &s;trength to another, he &s;hall go on from a le&s;&s;er degree to a greater degree, and from a lower degree to a higher degree of &s;piritual &s;trength; a holy man &s;hall not onely have his &s;piritual &s;trength maintained, but encrea&s;ed; he &s;hall not onely retain that &s;piritual &s;trength he has, but he &s;hall be &s;till a adding of &s;trength to &s;trength, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 84.7.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Me chaiil el chaiil</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> properly &s;ig|nifies vigor, courage, a|lacrity, pow|er, &s;ucce&s;s, and an Army wherein u&s;u|ally mo&s;t power is re|quired and manife&s;ted.</NOTE> They go from &s;trength to &s;trength, or from power to power, or as the word may be read, from company to company, or from Troop to Troop, in allu&s;i|on to the cu&s;tome of the Jews, when all the Males went up thrice a year to <HI>Jeru&s;alem;</HI> now when they went up to <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem,</HI> they went up with their flocks, and in Troops; now tho&s;e that were lively, active, and &s;trong, they over took this company and that, and this Troop and that, and &s;o they went on, their power and &s;trength increa&s;ing daily more and more, till they appeared before God in <HI>Zion;</HI> or look as the Bee goes from flower to flower to gather Honey, &s;o tho&s;e that had a prin|ciple of grace and holine&s;s in them, they went from one good company to another, from one Troop of Chri&s;tians to another, &s;till gathering up heavenly honey as they went. O Sirs, there
<PB REF="251"> is no &s;uch way to perfect holine&s;s, as to be &s;till a going on from duty to duty, and from ordinance to ordinance; from praying to hearing, and from hearing to praying; from reading to meditat|ing, &amp; from meditating to reading; from publike duties to clo&s;et duties, and from clo&s;et duties to publike duties, <HI>&amp;c. P&s;al.</HI> 92.12, 13, 14. <HI>The righteous &s;hall flouri&s;h like the Palm-tree, he &s;hall grow like a Cedar in Lebanon. Tho&s;e that be planted in the hou&s;e the Lord,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ille non e&s;t bo|nus qui non vult e&s;&s;e mo|lior.</NOTE> <HI>&s;hall flouri&s;h in the Courts of our God. They &s;hall &s;till bring forth fruit in old age, they &s;hall be fat and flou|ri&s;hing.</HI> The promi&s;e of flouri&s;hing is three times repeated in the&s;e three ver&s;es, they &s;hall flouri&s;h, they &s;hall flouri&s;h, they &s;hall flouri&s;h, to note the more then ordinary flouri&s;hing e|&s;tate of the Saints even in their old age. I have read of an old Chri&s;tian, who being asked whether he grew in goodne&s;s or no, an&s;wered, I believe I do, becau&s;e the Lord has promi&s;ed that his people &s;hall bring forth fruit in old age. <HI>Pliny</HI> writ|ing of the Crocodile, tells us, that &s;he grows to her dying day, &s;o Chri&s;tians that are rooted in Chri&s;t, and planted in the hou&s;e of the Lord, they will be &s;till growing up in grace and holine&s;s even to their dying day. 'Tis with real Chri&s;tians as 'tis with wine, the older the better, or as 'tis with the Sun which &s;hines mo&s;t gloriou&s;ly and amiably when 'tis near &s;eting. Gracious &s;ouls are like the Laurel (or the Bay-tree) who&s;e leaves are al|ways green, not onely in the Summer of youth, but al&s;o in the Winter of old age.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pliny.</NOTE> The Palm-tree is always green, it never lo&s;eth his leaves or fruit, and the more it is loaded the deeper it is rooted; and &s;o it &s;hall be with throughout Chri&s;tians. So in that <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 46.3, 4. God has promi&s;ed to carry us on to old age. <HI>Hearken unto me, O hou&s;e of Jacob, and all the remnant of the hou&s;e of I&s;rael, which are born by me, from the belly, which are carried from the womb. And even to your old age I am he, and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear, even I will carry and will deliver you.</HI> That God that begins a work of Grace and Holine&s;s in his peoples hearts, that God will perfect and carry on that work. Mothers and Nur&s;es expre&s;s their tender care, love, and delight, by carry|ing their Babes in their arms, till they can go alone; but God &s;urpa&s;&s;es them in his love, care, tenderne&s;s, and divine fond|ne&s;s,
<PB N="483" REF="251"> for he will carry them even to hoary hairs. This word <HI>I,</HI> that is <HI>Six times</HI> repeated in <HI>ver&s;e</HI> the fourth, is doubtle&s;s of very great importance, and &s;ignifies not onely Gods eternal E&s;&s;ence, and that he will be ever like him&s;elf, but al&s;o his un|changeablene&s;s in regard of us; for whatever our thoughts may be concerning God, yet we &s;hall always find him one and the &s;ame, he will be as good to his people at la&s;t as he was at fir&s;t, even to old age he will carry them. So in that <HI>Prov.</HI> 4.18. <HI>But the path of the ju&s;t is as the &s;hining light, that &s;hineth more and more unto the perfect day.</HI> A holy man proceeds from grace to grace, from vertue to vertue; he goes from faith to faith, and from &s;trength to &s;trength, till at length he &s;hines as the Sun in his &s;trength. So in that <HI>Ho&s;ea</HI> 14.5, 6, 7. <HI>I will be as the due unto I&s;rael: he &s;hall grow as the Lilly, and ca&s;t forth his root as Lebanon. His branches &s;hall &s;pread, and his beauty &s;hall be as the Olive-tree, and his &s;mell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his &s;haddow &s;hall return, they &s;hall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the &s;cent thereof &s;hall be as the wine of Le|banon.</HI> The growth, the fruitfulne&s;s, and the flouri&s;hing e|&s;tate of the Saints in grace and holine&s;s, is &s;et forth by a &s;even-fold Metaphor in the&s;e words; the Similes are all plain and ea&s;ie, and you may ea&s;ily dilate upon them in your own thoughts; and therefore I &s;hall pa&s;s them. I &s;hall conclude with that precious promi&s;e, <HI>John</HI> 4.14. <HI>But who&s;oever drinketh of the wa|ter that I &s;hall give him, &s;hall never thir&s;t: but the water that I &s;hall give him, &s;hall be in him a well of water &s;pringing up into everla&s;ting life.</HI> The Spirit in its gracious operations &s;hall be a con&s;tant &s;pring in believers hearts, and it &s;hall every day ri&s;e higher and higher, like the water in <HI>Ezekiel,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 47.1.&mdash;7.</NOTE> till grace be &s;wal|lowed up in glory. And thus you &s;ee by the&s;e choice promi&s;es, that 'tis po&s;&s;ible for you to attain to a greater mea&s;ure of holi|ne&s;s. But,</P>
<P>Secondly, The prayers that have been put up upon this very account, do clearly evidence the &s;ame. Certainly the people <MILESTONE N="2"> of God would never have prayed for higher degrees of grace and holine&s;s, if they had not been attainable. Now 'tis very ob&s;ervable that the &s;pirits of the Saints have run out much this way, as is evident in the&s;e in&s;tances, <HI>Phil.</HI> 1.9, 10, 11. <HI>And
<PB REF="252"> this I pray,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> brevis penetrat Coe|lum.</NOTE> <HI>that your love may abound yet more and more in know|ledge, and in all judgement. That ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be &s;incere and without offence till the day of Chri&s;t: Being filled with the fruits of righteou&s;ne&s;s, which are by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, unto the glory and prai&s;e of God.</HI> Col. 1.9. <HI>For this cau&s;e we al&s;o, &s;ince the day we heard it, do not cea&s;e to pray for you, and to de&s;ire that ye might be filled with the know|ledge of his will, in all wi&s;dom and &s;piritual under&s;tanding.</HI> Chap. 4.12. <HI>Epaphras, who is one of you, a &s;ervant of Chri&s;t &s;aluteth you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may &s;tand perfect and compleat in all the will of God.</HI> The Greek word (<GAP DESC="foreign">) is a Metaphor from a Ship, who&s;e Sails are filled with wind; <HI>Epaphras</HI> was an humble petitioner that the &s;ouls of the <HI>Colo&s;&s;ians</HI> might be filled with the highe&s;t de|grees of grace and holine&s;s, as the Sails of a Ship are filled with winde, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 3.12. <HI>And the Lord make you to increa&s;e and abound in love one towards another, and towards all men, even as we do towards you:</HI> The Apo&s;tle by doubling his word en|crea&s;e and abound, di&s;covers him&s;elf to be an importunate &s;uitor, that a double portion of grace and holine&s;s might be gi|ven out to the <HI>The&s;&s;alonians.</HI> So in that <HI>Heb.</HI> 13.20, 21. <HI>Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Je|&s;us, that great Shepherd of the Sheep, through the blood of the everla&s;ting Covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-plea&s;ing in his &s;ight, through Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.</HI> The Apo&s;tle can't beg any thing for the&s;e believing Hebrews below perfection. And the Apo&s;tle <HI>Peter</HI> puts up the &s;ame re|que&s;ts for tho&s;e ble&s;&s;ed converts that were &s;cattered throughou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <HI>Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, A&s;ia,</HI> and <HI>Bithynia,</HI> In that 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 5.10. <HI>But the God of all grace, who hath called us into his eternal glory by Chri&s;t Je&s;us, after that ye have &s;uffered a while, make you perfect, &s;tabli&s;h, &s;trengthen, &s;ettle you.</HI> God is called the God of all grace, becau&s;e he is the giver of all kinds of grace, and of all degrees of grace: Now nothing will &s;atisfie this great Apo&s;tle when he comes to plead for the&s;e Saints be|low perfection; though they had as much grace as would bring them to heaven, yet he begs &s;uch a perfection of
<PB N="483" REF="252"> grace as might rai&s;e them high in heaven. And thus it appear|eth by the prayers of the&s;e holy men, that Saints may &s;till be ri&s;ing in grace and holine&s;s. But,</P>
<P>Thirdly, The experience of other Saints does clearly evi|dence <MILESTONE N="3"> this, that you may attain unto higher degrees of grace and holine&s;s, then tho&s;e that yet you have attained unto.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 37.37. Phil. 3.11.&mdash;16. Can. 4.7. Eph. 5.26, 27. Rev. 14.4, 5. Prov. 2.21. &amp; Chap. 11.5. 2 Tim. 3.16, 17.</NOTE> <HI>Gen.</HI> 6.9. <HI>Noah</HI> was a ju&s;t man and perfect in his generation, and <HI>Noah</HI> walked with God: <HI>Noah</HI> was not only perfect with a per|fection of parts, nor onely perfect in re&s;pect of de&s;ires, en|deavors and aims, nor onely perfect <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">n re&s;pect of his ju&s;tificati|on before God by imputed righteou&s;ne&s;s, nor onely perfect in re&s;pect of Gods approbation, acceptation and delight, nor onely perfect in re&s;pect of Gods de&s;igne and intentions to make him &s;o in another world, nor onely perfect in re&s;pect of tho&s;e gifts and graces with which he was adorned and furni&s;hed for the di&s;charge of his place, office, &amp; work to which the Lord had called him, nor onely comparatively perfect in regard of that prophane, ungodly, and debauched generation, among whom he lived; but al&s;o he is &s;aid to be perfect in re&s;pect of an eminent progre&s;s that he had made in grace and holine&s;s, he had attained to con&s;iderable degrees and mea&s;ures of grace and holine&s;s; and though his proficiency in the exerci&s;e of grace and practice of piety fell &s;hort of compleat perfection, yet it ri&s;e to &s;uch a height, that God could not but crown him and and Chronicle him for a perfect man.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 2.2. 1 Joh. 2.12, 13, 14. Heb. 5.12, 13, 14</NOTE> In all Ages of the world there has been four &s;everal Ages of Chri&s;tians, <HI>viz.</HI> Babes, children, young men, and old men. <HI>Noah</HI> was not a babe, nor a child, nor a young man, but an old man in grace and holi|ne&s;s; and therefore he is &s;aid to be perfect. There are &s;eve|ral forms in Chri&s;ts School, &s;ome higher, &s;ome lower; now he that is in the highe&s;t form may be &s;aid to be perfect in regard of tho&s;e that are in a lower or in the lowe&s;t form: now <HI>Noah</HI> was in the highe&s;t form of grace and godline&s;s; therefore he is &s;aid to be perfect; and in this &s;en&s;e, I &s;uppo&s;e, <HI>Job</HI> is &s;aid to be a perfect man, <HI>Job.</HI> 1.1.8. <HI>There was a man in the Land of &V;z, who&s;e name was Job, and that man was perfect and up|right, and one that feared God and e&s;chewed evil. And the Lord &s;aid unto Satan, ha&s;t thou con&s;idered my &s;ervant Job, that
<PB N="484" REF="253"> there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God and e&s;cheweth evil? Job</HI> was a very con&s;ider|able per&s;on, he was a man of a choice &s;pirit, he was caller in goodne&s;s, and higher by the head and &s;houlders in grace and godline&s;s, then any of the Saints in that Age and corner of the world where he lived: <HI>Job</HI> was a man of the greate&s;t weight and worth for holine&s;s that was in all the world: <HI>Job</HI> was a none &s;uch, no Chri&s;tians could come neer him; as he was the greate&s;t, &s;o he was the be&s;t of the be&s;t of all the Saints that were in the Ea&s;t for heighths of grace and holine&s;s, he was a Giant, and all the Chri&s;tians round about him were but as &s;o many Dwarfs; he was the Paragon of his time; for piety and &s;anctity none could parallel him, none could match him: And in this &s;en&s;e we are to under&s;tand the Apo&s;tle, both in that 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.6. <HI>We &s;peak wi&s;dom among them that are perfect;</HI> and in that <HI>Phil.</HI> 3.15. <HI>Let as many as be perfect be thus minded.</HI> He &s;peaks here not of an ab&s;olute perfection,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, I per|&s;ecute, I fol|low with as hot and as ea|ger a &s;pirit af|ter perfection as per&s;ecutors do follow af|ter tho&s;e they per&s;ecute.</NOTE> for &s;uch a per|fection him&s;elf di&s;claimeth in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 12. <HI>Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which al&s;o I am apprehended of Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</HI> By the force of the Original word that is here rendred <HI>follow,</HI> the Apo&s;tle declares that he had perfection in cha&s;e (as it were) and that his &s;pirit was with much heat and eargerne&s;s carried out in pur&s;uing after it, and re&s;olved not to re&s;t till he had attained to it. An ab&s;olutely perfection is very de&s;ireable on earth, but &s;hall never be obtained till we come to heaven. Ab&s;olute perfection is not the priviledge of Saints militant, but of Saints triumphant; and therefore the perfecti|on that the believing <HI>Corinthians</HI> and holy <HI>Philippians</HI> had at|tained to, was not an ab&s;olute, but a comparative perfection, they were perfect incompa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">i&s;on of tho&s;e that were but Babes and Shrubs and Dwarfs in Chri&s;t. And 'tis a very high and honor|able report that the Apo&s;tle gives of the <HI>Corinthians,</HI> in that 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 8.7. <HI>Therefore as ye abound in every thing, in faith, in utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, &s;ee that ye abound in this grace al&s;o.</HI> And 'tis a very large te&s;timony that the &s;ame Apo&s;tle gives of the <HI>Romans,</HI> in that <HI>Rom.</HI> 15.14. <HI>And I my &s;elf al&s;o am per&s;waded of you my bre|thren,
<PB REF="253"> that ye are al&s;o full of goodne&s;s filled with all knowledge, able al&s;o to admoni&s;h one another.</HI> Now the fullne&s;s the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks of, is not a fulne&s;s of parts, for the weake&s;t believer as well as the &s;tronge&s;t, is at fir&s;t conver&s;ion renewed and &s;ancti|fied in every part, though it be but in part and imperfect; and this is a fulne&s;s of parts, but of this fullne&s;s the Apo&s;tle does not &s;peak: but then there is a fullne&s;s of degrees; now this fullne&s;s is either an ab&s;olute fullne&s;s, or a comparative fullne&s;s; the Apo&s;tle is to be under&s;tood of a comparative fulne&s;s; the <HI>Romans</HI> were full of all goodne&s;s and knowledge, in compa|ri&s;on of tho&s;e in whom Chri&s;t was but newly formed, and in whom the work of grace was but newly erected, and they were full of all goodne&s;s and knowledge now, in compari&s;on of what they were at their fir&s;t acquaintance with Chri&s;t, and fir&s;t acceptance of Chri&s;t, and fir&s;t re&s;ignation of them&s;elves to Chri&s;t, and at their fir&s;t marriage-union, and communion with Chri&s;t. And thus you &s;ee by the experiences of other Saints, that 'tis po&s;&s;ible for you to attain to higher degrees of grace and holine&s;s, then any tho&s;e are that yet you have attained to. But,</P>
<P>Fourthly, 'Tis po&s;&s;ible for you to attain to higher degrees <MILESTONE N="4"> and pitches in holine&s;s then any yet you have reach't unto, wit|ne&s;s the prai&s;es and thank&s;givings that has been offered up to God upon their accounts, who have attained to a very great heighth of holine&s;s. Take a few Scripture-in&s;tances for the clearing up of this particular; as that in 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.4, 5, 7. <HI>I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Je&s;us Chri&s;t, That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance and in all knowledge,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Though inju|ries &s;hould be writ in the du&s;t, yet &s;pi|ritual mercies &s;hould be writ on Marble, that our hearts may be the better pro|vok't to thankfulne&s;s for them.</NOTE> <HI>&s;o that ye come be|hind in no good gift;</HI> and that in <HI>Eph.</HI> 1.3, 7, 8. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed be the God and Father of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who hath ble&s;&s;ed us with all &s;piritual ble&s;&s;ings in heavenly places in Chri&s;t: who ac|cording to the riches of his grace, hath abounded towards us in all wi&s;dom and prudence:</HI> Here the Apo&s;tle trumpets out the high prai&s;es of God, for that he had ble&s;t them and enrich't them, though not with corn, or oyl, or wine, or with gold or &s;ilver (which is but red and white clay) that yet he had ble&s;t them with all &s;piritual ble&s;&s;ings, which are the choi|ce&s;t, the chiefe&s;t, and the &s;weete&s;t of ble&s;&s;ings; for &s;piri|tual
<PB REF="254"> ble&s;&s;ings are right-handed ble&s;&s;ings, they are peculiar ble&s;|&s;ings, they are ble&s;&s;ings &s;weetning ble&s;&s;ings, for they &s;weeten all the ble&s;&s;ings man enjoys; and they are ble&s;&s;ings begetting ble&s;&s;ings, for they beget and bring forth many other ble&s;&s;ings to the enriching and adorning of a Chri&s;tians &s;oul; and they are ble&s;&s;ings, &s;anctifying ble&s;&s;ings, they are ble&s;&s;ings that &s;an|ctifie all other ble&s;&s;ings; and they are ble&s;&s;ings pre&s;erving ble&s;|&s;ings, they are ble&s;&s;ings that will pre&s;erve all our other ble&s;&s;ings; &s;piritual ble&s;&s;ings are peculiar ble&s;&s;ings, they are co&s;tly ble&s;&s;ings, they are ble&s;&s;ings that reach to the very &s;pirit and &s;oul of a Chri|&s;tian, they are ble&s;&s;ings that rai&s;es the &s;pirit of a Chri&s;tian, and that enobles the &s;pirit of a Chri&s;tian, and that cheers up the &s;pirit of a Chri&s;tian, and that a thou&s;and ways betters the &s;pirit of a Chri&s;tian; and therefore 'tis no wonder that the Apo&s;tles heart was &s;o affected with &s;piritual ble&s;&s;ings, and that his mouth was &s;o filled with &s;piritual prai&s;es, as indeed it was. And &s;o in that 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.12, 14.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> was overful, redundant, or hath abound|ed to flowing over, as the &s;ea doth over|flow the banks many times, and drown the lower grounds that are neare&s;t to it.</NOTE> <HI>And I thank Chri&s;t Je&s;us our Lord, becau&s;e the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant, with faith and love which is in Chri&s;t Je&s;us.</HI> And thus you &s;ee by others thank&s;givings, that 'tis po&s;&s;ible for you to attain to far higher degrees of holine&s;s, then what for the pre&s;ent you are rai&s;ed to. The Stork is &s;aid to leave one of her young ones where &s;he hatcheth them; and the Elephant to turn up the fir&s;t &s;prig towards heaven when he comes to feed, and both out of &s;ome in&s;tinct of gratitude; and &s;hall not a divine in&s;tinct enable Chri&s;tians to do much more in a way of gratitude, both upon the account of their own graces, and upon the account of tho&s;e eminent mea&s;ures of grace that other Saints are ble&s;t and crown'd withal? though <HI>Seiarus</HI> did dare to &s;acrifice to him&s;elf, yet a Chri&s;tian mu&s;t not dare to &s;acrifice to him&s;elf, nor to his duties, nor to his graces, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> the &s;acrifice of prai&s;e in regard of grace received, is a crown of glory that is due to none but the God of grace. All the Rivers return to the Sea from whence they had their beginning. God will give you his Co|venant, and he will give you his Ordinances, and he will give you his heaven, and he will give you his Son, yea he will give you him&s;elf,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 42.8.</NOTE> but his glory, his glory he will not give unto ano|ther. Whatever he parts with he is re&s;olved that neither An|gels
<PB REF="254"> nor men &s;hall &s;hare with him in the glory of his grace. I have read of a Stork that ca&s;t a Pearl into the bo&s;om of a Maid, which had healed her of a wound. O! Sirs, when God comes to heal you of your &s;piritual wounds and di&s;ea&s;es, and not one|ly &s;o, but &s;hall al&s;o richly be&s;pangle and adorn your &s;ouls and others with his precious graces, what can you do le&s;s then ca&s;t that Pearl of prai&s;e into the bo&s;om of God? as <HI>David</HI> did in that <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 103.1.&mdash;6. The be&s;t means to get more grace, is to be thankful for that grace you have, for God loves to &s;owe much where he reaps much; if your returns are an&s;werable to your receipts, you will &s;till be on the receiving hand; thank|fulne&s;s is Gods impo&s;t for all his ble&s;&s;ings, and they that truely and duely payes this impo&s;t, &s;hall be &s;ure to abound in the be&s;t of ble&s;&s;ings; thankfulne&s;s for one ble&s;&s;ing always draws on a|nother ble&s;&s;ing, as Saints by experience daily find. And thus you &s;ee by the&s;e Arguments, that 'tis po&s;&s;ible for you to attain higher degrees of holine&s;s, then any yet you have reach't unto. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly and la&s;tly, 'Tis po&s;&s;ible for you to attain to higher de|grees <MILESTONE N="5"> of holine&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> witne&s;s tho&s;e choice, tho&s;e rare and &s;in|gular gifts that Chri&s;t has be&s;towed upon many of his &s;ervants, for this very purpo&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI> that they may help on a growth and an increa&s;e of holine&s;s in your hearts, <HI>Eph.</HI> 4.8, 11, 12, 13. <HI>Wherefore he &s;aith, when he a&s;cended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. And he gave &s;ome Apo&s;tles, and &s;ome Prophets, and &s;ome Evangeli&s;ts, and &s;ome Pa&s;tors and Teachers; For the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the Mini&s;tery, for the edifying of the body of Chri&s;t: Till we all come into the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the mea&s;ure of the &s;tature of the fulne&s;s of Chri&s;t.</HI> One main end of Chri&s;ts giving &s;uch e|minent gifts to his Church Officers, is, that his people may be made eminent in holine&s;s; 'tis not onely to bring them in, but al&s;o to build them up; 'tis not onely to convert them, but al&s;o to edifie them; 'tis not onely to begin a work of holine&s;s, but al&s;o to perfect and carry on a work of holine&s;s; and there|fore the Word is not only compared to &s;eed, that begets holine&s;s in mens hearts, but al&s;o to wine and milk, and &s;trong meat that
<PB N="488" REF="255"> helps forward the growth and increa&s;e of holine&s;s in mens hearts:<NOTE PLACE="marg">'Tis only the holy &s;oul that can truely &s;ay <HI>Credo vitam aeternam,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>edo vitam ae|ternam,</HI> Cypri|an, lib. 4. Ep. 6.</NOTE> And &s;o the great end of the Lords Supper is not to work &s;piritual life where it is not, but to encrea&s;e it where it tis; 'tis not to change the heart, but more and more to &s;anctifie the heatt; 'tis not to work holine&s;s, but to perfect holine&s;s in the fear of the Lord; 'tis not to &s;owe the &s;eed of grace in the &s;oul, but 'tis to cau&s;e that &s;eed to grow and flouri&s;h in the &s;oul. The Martyrs in the Primitive Church, when they were to appear before the cruel Tyrants, they were wont, as <HI>Cyprian</HI> &s;hews, to receive the Lords Supper, and thereby they were fired with zeal and fervor, and filled with faith and fortitude, <HI>&amp;c. Chry&s;o&s;tom</HI> &s;aith, that by the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, we are &s;o armed again&s;t Satans temptations, that he fleeth from us, as if we were &s;o many Lyons that &s;pit fire. The Lords Supper is a Cabinet of &s;piritual Jewels: And O then how unmanly and un&s;eemly a thing is it to hang this Cabinet of Jewels (which is more worth then the Gold of <HI>Opher</HI>) in a Swines &s;nout? And how that mother can be guiltle&s;s of the death of her child, that giveth him poi&s;on in a Golden cup, with this caution, that &s;he tells him it is poi&s;on, I know not; no more do I know how that Mini&s;ter can be guiltle&s;s of the body and blood of our Lord, who di&s;pences the bread of Life to tho&s;e who are known to be without &s;piritual life, yea that are known to be dead in &s;ins and tre&s;pa&s;&s;es.<NOTE PLACE="marg">The end of the 43. Ser|mon.</NOTE> And thus you &s;ee by the&s;e five ar|guments, that 'tis po&s;&s;ible for you to attain to greater mea&s;ures of holine&s;s then any yet you have reacht unto; and &s;o much for the &s;econd Motive.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 16.3, 4.</NOTE> con&s;ider, that the more holy you are, the more you will be the delight of God, and the more deare you will be to God, and the more beloved you will be of God. For the right under|&s;tanding of this argument, you mu&s;t carefully di&s;tingui&s;h be|tween Gods love of good Will, and his love of complacency; now Gods love of good Will is equall to all his Saints, whether they are rich or poore, high or low, bond or free, or whether they have a &s;ea of grace, or but a drop of grace; Gods love of good Will runs as much out to the weake&s;t Chri&s;tian, as it do's to the &s;tronge&s;t, to a Babe in grace, as to a Gyant in grace.
<PB N="489" REF="255"> All Saints are equally elected; God never cho&s;e one man a ve&s;|&s;el of glory more then another;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 11.17.</NOTE> the weake&s;t Saint is as much elected as the &s;tronge&s;t. And as all Saints are equally elected, &s;o all Saints are equally redeemed by Je&s;us Chri&s;t;<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 53.3.&mdash;12.</NOTE> Chri&s;t bled as much for one Saint as another, and he &s;weat as much for one Saint as another, and he &s;ighed and groaned as much for one Saint as another, and he trod the wine-pre&s;s of his Fathers wrath, as much for one Saint as another;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 6.19, 20.</NOTE> Chri&s;t paid as great a price for his Lambs as for his Sheep, for <HI>Lazarus</HI> in his Rags, as for <HI>David</HI> in his Royal Robes. And as all Saints are equally redeemed, &s;o all Saints are equally called,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 2.9.</NOTE> one Saint is as much called out of the kingdome of darkne&s;s as another, and one Saint is as much called to Je&s;us Chri&s;t as another; in vocation God looks with as favourable an eye upon one, as he do's upon ano|ther. And as all Saints are equally called, &s;o all Saints are e|qually ju&s;tified;<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 5.19, 20. 1 Cor. 1.30.</NOTE> though one Saint may be more &s;anctified then another, yet no Saint is more ju&s;tified then another; the weake&s;t believer is as much ju&s;tified and pardoned before the throne of God as the &s;tronge&s;t is; that pure, perfect, matchle&s;s, and &s;pot|le&s;s righteou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t, is as much imputed to one Saint, as 'tis to another. And as all Saints are equally ju&s;tified, &s;o all Saints are equally adopted,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 4.4, 5, 6.</NOTE> the weake&s;t believer is as much an adopted &s;on, as the &s;tronge&s;t believer in the world is; God is no more a father to one, then he is to another; the Babe in the armes is as much a &s;on, as he that is of riper yeares. Thus you &s;ee that Gods love of good will is equall in all his Saints, and therefore you are to under&s;tand this Argument of Gods love of compla|cency; now this love runs out more to &s;ome Saints then it do's to others; for they that have much holine&s;s, are much beloved,<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 14.21, 23,</NOTE> but they that have mo&s;t holine&s;s, are mo&s;t beloved; the greater thou art in holine&s;s, the greater wilt thou be beloved of God; <HI>O Daniel,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 9.23.</NOTE> <HI>thou art greatly beloved.</HI> And why do's God love more and delight more in Chri&s;t, then he do's in all the Angels and Saints in heaven, and in all the upright ones that are on earth? but becau&s;e Chri&s;t is more eminent and glorious in holine&s;s then all created beings are;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 1.3.</NOTE> he is more the expre&s;s Image of his Fathers per&s;on, and the brightne&s;s of his Fathers glory then others, and therefore he is more beloved then others. 'Twas
<PB N="490" REF="256"> an excellent ob&s;ervation of one of the Fathers,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu&s;t. Tract. in John. <HI>1.14.</HI></NOTE> <HI>viz.</HI> that God loved the humanity of Chri&s;t more then any man, becau&s;e he was fuller of grace and truth then any man. Now for the fur|ther <MILESTONE N="1"> clearing up of this great Argument, Con&s;ider, fir&s;t, that the more holy any per&s;on is, the more excellent that per&s;on is. All corruptions are diminutions of excellency; the more mixt any thing is, the more aba&s;ed it is; the more you mix your wine with water, the more you aba&s;e your wine, and the more you mix your Tin with Gold, the more you aba&s;e your Gold; but the purer your wine is, the richer and the better your wine is, and the purer your Gold is, the more glorious and excellent it is, &s;o the purer and holier any per&s;on is, the more excellent and glorious that per&s;on is; Now the more divinely excellent and glorious any per&s;on is, the more he is beloved of God, and the <MILESTONE N="2"> more he is the delight of God. But &s;econdly, the more holy any per&s;on is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 11.5.</NOTE> the more that per&s;on plea&s;es the Lord; fruitful|ne&s;s in holine&s;s fills heaven with joy. The Husbandman is not &s;o much plea&s;ed with the fruitfulne&s;s of his fields, nor the wife with the fruitfulne&s;s of her womb, nor the father with the thri|ving of his child, as God is plea&s;ed with the fruitfulne&s;s and thriving of his children in grace and holine&s;s; now certainly the more God is plea&s;ed with any per&s;on, the more he loves that per&s;on, and the more plea&s;ure and delight he takes in &s;uch a per&s;on; if God be mo&s;t plea&s;ed with holine&s;s, he cannot but <MILESTONE N="3"> be mo&s;t delighted in tho&s;e that are mo&s;t holy. But thirdly, the more holy any per&s;on is, the more like to God he is, and the more like to God he is, doubtle&s;s, the more he is beloved of God; 'tis likene&s;s both in nature and grace that alwayes drawes the &s;tronge&s;t love. Though every child is the father multiplyed, the father of a &s;econd edition, yet the father loves him be&s;t, and delights in him mo&s;t, who is mo&s;t like him, and who in feature, &s;pirit, and action, do's mo&s;t re&s;emble him to the life; and &s;o do's the father of &s;pirits al&s;o, he alwayes loves them be&s;t, who in holine&s;s re&s;emble him mo&s;t. There are foure re|markable things in the beloved Di&s;ciple above all the re&s;t. 1.<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 13.23. Ch. 18.16. Ch. 19.26. Ver&s;. 27.</NOTE> That he lay neare&s;t to Chri&s;ts Bo&s;ome at the Table. 2. That he followed Chri&s;t clo&s;e&s;t to the high Prie&s;ts Palace. 3. That he &s;tood clo&s;e to Chri&s;t when he was on the Cro&s;s, though o|thers
<PB N="491" REF="256"> had ba&s;ely de&s;erted him, and turn'd their backs upon him. 4. That Chri&s;t commended the care of his virgin mother to him: Now why did Chri&s;ts de&s;ire, love, and delight, run out with a &s;tronger and a fuller Tyde towards <HI>John,</HI> then to the re&s;t of the Di&s;ciples, doubtle&s;s 'twas becau&s;e <HI>John</HI> did more re&s;emble Chri&s;t then the re&s;t, 'twas becau&s;e <HI>John</HI> was a more exact picture, and lively repre&s;entation of Chri&s;t then the others were. But, fourthly, the more holy any man is, the more communion and <MILESTONE N="4"> familiarity that man &s;hall have with God; As you may &s;ee in <HI>Mo&s;es, Mo&s;es</HI> was a none-&s;uch for meekne&s;s and holine&s;s. <HI>Num.</HI> 12.3. <HI>Now the man Mo&s;es was very meeke, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.</HI> There was no man &s;o &s;lighted, wronged, provoked, teazed, perplexed, and troubled by that wicked, unthankful, unbelieving, and murmuring Gene|ration, as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was, and yet he did neither raile at them, nor revile them, he did neither &s;torme nor rage, he did neither fret nor fling, and though he had a &s;word of Ju&s;tice in his hand, and might ea&s;ily have avenged him&s;elfe on them, yet he would not, but exerci&s;ed all patience, tenderne&s;s, goodne&s;s and &s;weetne&s;s towards them. O the lowline&s;s, the meekne&s;s, the holine&s;s of this man <HI>Mo&s;es!</HI> And O the freene&s;s, the friendline&s;s, the open|ne&s;s, and the familiarne&s;s of God with <HI>Mo&s;es!</HI> Deut. 34.10. <HI>And there aro&s;e not a Prophet &s;ince in I&s;rael like unto Mo&s;es, whom the Lord knew face to face.</HI> To give you a little light into the&s;e words; Some of the Rabbies ob&s;erve that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;urpa&s;&s;ed all the other Prophets, not only in &s;ublimity of Prophe&s;ies, but al&s;o in excellency and number of miracles; for <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> within one Age wrought &s;eventy &s;ix miracles, when all the re&s;t of the Prophets from the beginning of the world quite downe to the ruine of the fir&s;t Temple, wrought only &s;eventy foure: And as for tho&s;e words, <HI>whom the Lord knew face to face,</HI> you are not to under&s;tand them thus, that God hath a face as man hath, nor that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had a view of the e&s;&s;ence of God, which is invi&s;ible;<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 1.18. 1 Tim. 6.16.</NOTE> for in this &s;en&s;e no man hath &s;een God at any time; and indeed the lea&s;t beame of Gods e&s;&s;entiall glory and Maje&s;tie would have &s;wallowed up <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> alive. But the&s;e words, <HI>whom the Lord knew face to face,</HI> are to be under&s;tood of Gods &s;peaking to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in a free friendly familiar and plaine manner; God
<PB REF="257"> did &s;peak to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> by a cleare articulate voice, even as one man &s;peaks to another when they &s;peak face to face. And &s;o when <HI>Aaron</HI> and <HI>Miriam</HI> were &s;well'd with pride and envy, and began to be&s;patter <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and to pick a hole in his Coat, and to cloud, eclip&s;e, and dimini&s;h his glory, &s;ee at what ahigh and noble rate God &s;peaks of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> &s;ee how God magnifies and exalts and lifts up <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in that 12 <HI>Num.</HI> 6, 7, 8. <HI>And he &s;aid, heare now my words; if there be a Prophet among you, I the Lord will make my &s;elf known unto him in a vi&s;ion, and will &s;peak unto him in a dreame. My &s;ervant Mo&s;es is not &s;o, who is faith|full in all my hou&s;e; with him will I &s;peak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark &s;peeches; and the &s;imilitude of the Lord &s;hall he behold: Wherefore then were ye not-afraid to &s;peak again&s;t my &s;ervant Mo&s;es?</HI> Now here you &s;ee how God owns <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and &s;tands up for <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and pleads for <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and tells <HI>Aaron</HI> and <HI>Miriam</HI> to their faces, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was the grea|te&s;t favourite, and that he had far greater re&s;pects for <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> then he had for them, and that there was not a man in all the world that was &s;o inward with him as <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and that had &s;o much of his eare and heart as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had. God did appeare to o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">her Prophets in Dreames and vi&s;ions, which were tran&s;ient, but with <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> God will &s;peak mouth to mouth, God will &s;peak to him without an interpreter, he will &s;peak to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> more fa|miliarly and frequently then he did to others by vi&s;ions, and more clearely, plainly, and a&s;&s;uredly, then he did to others by dreames: God here engages him&s;elfe to hold a more clo&s;e, familiar, friendly, and con&s;tant conference and corre&s;pondence with <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> then with any others in the world. <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was ble&s;t with as cleare, and with as full, and with as apparent &s;ight of God, and communion with God, as he was able to bare and comprehend. Some of the learned are of opinion, that Chri&s;t did conver&s;e with <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in a humane &s;hape, as he had done with <HI>Abraham</HI> before,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 18. &amp; Ch. 32.30. <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> they conjecture that the Lord Je&s;us did very friendly and familiarly &s;hew him&s;elfe to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> with that very &s;ame face and forme of humane nature, which he after|wards a&s;&s;umed; but this I dare not pre&s;s upon you as an Arti|cle of your faith: And whether <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had one hundred and &s;eventy three familiar conferences with God, which none of the
<PB N="493" REF="257"> Prophets had, lyes upon tho&s;e Rabbies to prove that doe a&s;&s;ert it; but this is granted on all hands, that he was a &s;peciall favou|rite, and a man in high communion with God, and one that had very cleare and eminent di&s;coveries and manife&s;tations of God. And &s;o <HI>Abraham</HI> was a man of great holine&s;s, and a man emi|nent in his communion with God, God own'd him as a friend,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 41.8.</NOTE> as an honorable friend, as an eminent friend, as a bo&s;ome friend, as a peculiar friend, and as a faithful friend, and therefore he made him one of his Privy Councell, and open'd his heart and his &s;ecrets to him: <HI>And the Lord &s;aid, &s;hall I hide from Abra|ham the thing which I doe?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 18.17.</NOTE> <HI>Abraham</HI> is &s;til'd the friend of God by a &s;pecialty, though God had many friends, yet 'twas <HI>Abra|ham</HI> that was his &s;ingular friend, his darling friend, his rare friend, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and accordingly, God was mo&s;t free, and full, and rich in the communications of his favours, and &s;ecrets to <HI>Abra|ham;</HI> 'twas not enough for <HI>Abraham</HI> to be of Gods Court, but he mu&s;t be al&s;o of his Cabinet Councell. 'Twas alwayes a prin|ciple in morality, that &s;weet and intimate friend&s;hip cannot be extended to many; Friends u&s;ually goe by paires. And thus you &s;ee that the more holy any man is, the more communion that man &s;hall have with God, and the more communion any man has with God, the more beloved &s;hall that man be of God; the highe&s;t communion is alwayes attended with the highe&s;t love. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly, and la&s;tly, the more holy any man is, the more actu|ally <MILESTONE N="5"> ripe and fit for heaven that man is. A Chri&s;tian at fir&s;t con|ver&s;ion is but ru<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="2 letters">e ca&s;t, but as holine&s;s is encrea&s;ed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 5.26.</NOTE> &s;o he comes more and more every day to be prepared, poli&s;hed, &s;quared and fitted for a full and glorious fruition of God in heaven; though the lea&s;t degree of grace and holine&s;s, puts a man into an habitual preparedne&s;s and fittedne&s;s for heaven, yet 'tis only an eminency in grace and holine&s;s that puts a man into an actu|all preparedne&s;s and fittedne&s;s for heaven; the richer in grace, the riper for glory; the higher you are in holine&s;s, the fitter you are to enter into the joy of your Lord:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Math. 25.19. to ver. 24.</NOTE> though the lea&s;t drop or dram of holine&s;s, is enough to keep a man from drop|ping into hell, yet 'tis only growne holine&s;s that actually pre|pares and fits a man to goe to heaven. Now doubtle&s;s, the
<PB N="494" REF="258"> more actually ripe and ready any man is for heaven, the more plea&s;ure and delight God takes in him; the more the ve&s;&s;els of grace are fitted for glory, the more complacency God takes in them. When God &s;et him&s;elfe upon the creation of the world, in the clo&s;e of every dayes work, (except the &s;econd, for which the opinions of the learned are various) God &s;et to his Seale, <HI>that it was good;</HI> but when he had perfected and compleated the whole Creation, and ca&s;t an eye upon all together, then he concludes,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 1. <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> <HI>that it was very good; And God &s;aw all that he had made, and behold it was very good,</HI> or <HI>extream good,</HI> &s;o &s;ome, or <HI>very plea&s;ant and delightfull,</HI> &s;o others: The work of Creation was &s;o curiou&s;ly and gloriou&s;ly fram'd, and &s;o full of admirable rarities and varieties, that it rai&s;ed delight and complacency in God him&s;elfe:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. in Gen. <HI>1.31.</HI></NOTE> Whereupon <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> ob&s;erves, that even to every grace, yea of the lea&s;t degree of grace, he &s;aith <HI>it is good;</HI> but when he beholds the graces of his Saints fre&s;h and flouri&s;h|ing, your faith acted and &s;trengthened, your repentance daily renewed, your humility increa&s;ed, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> then he concludes, <HI>that all is very good.</HI> O Sirs, if the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t be &s;o ravi&s;hed with one of his Spou&s;es eyes,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cant. 4.9.</NOTE> and with one chaine of her neck, with the lea&s;t drops or &s;ips of grace, or with the lea&s;t grains and drams of grace and holine&s;s, O how much more will great mea&s;ures of grace and holine&s;s take him, and ravi&s;h him! Well, for a clo&s;e of this Argument, remember this, that as the Sun &s;hines hotter on &s;ome Climates, then it doth upon others, and as the dew falls more upon one place then another, and as the water over-flowes &s;ome pa&s;tures more then others; &s;o Gods love of complacency and delight, &s;hines hotter and brigh|ter upon &s;ome Chri&s;tians, then it do's upon others; and the&s;e I have &s;hew'd you to be &s;uch who are mo&s;t eminent and ex|cellent in grace and holine&s;s. And thus much for this third motive.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holine&s;s, con&s;ider, that the more your holine&s;s is encrea&s;ed, the more the great God will be honored and glorified.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Math. 5.16.</NOTE> Fruitfulne&s;s in holine&s;s &s;ets the weightie&s;t crowne of glory upon the head of God. <HI>John</HI> 15.8. <HI>Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bare much fruit.</HI> The more eminent any per&s;on is in holine&s;s, the
<PB N="495" REF="258"> more clearely and convincingly he proclaimes God before all the world, to be a rich God, a full God, a bountiful God, an overflowing good; there is nothing that works men to admire God &s;o much, and to exalt God &s;o high, as a Chri&s;tians fruitful|ne&s;s in holine&s;s. O how good mu&s;t that God be, who&s;e &s;ervants are &s;o good, &s;aid the Heathen! O how glorious in holine&s;s mu&s;t that God be, who&s;e people are &s;o holy! Look as the thriving child is a credit to the Nur&s;e, and the rich &s;ervant an honor to his Ma&s;ter, and a plentiful Crop the prai&s;e of the husbandman; &s;o that Chri&s;tian that thrives in grace, that grows rich in holi|ne&s;s, is the greate&s;t credit, and the highe&s;t honor, and the &s;wee|te&s;t prai&s;e to God in the world. The Tree in <HI>Alcinous</HI> Garden had alwayes blo&s;&s;omes, buds, and ripe fruits one under ano|ther. O! Sirs, tho&s;e Trees of righteou&s;ne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 61.3.</NOTE> that have not only the blo&s;&s;omes and buds of holine&s;s upon them, but al&s;o the ripe fruits of holine&s;s one under another, they are the greate&s;t honor and glory to God in the world. What will men &s;ay, when they &s;hall behold your eminency in &s;anctity? will they not &s;ay, cer|tainly God is no hard Ma&s;ter,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Math. 25.24.</NOTE> he never looks to reape where he do's not &s;owe, nor to gather where he do's not &s;traw; Certainly, he keeps a noble hou&s;e, his Tables are richly &s;pread, his Cups overflow, he feeds, yea he fea&s;ts his &s;ervants with the choice&s;t rarities and varieties that heaven affords, witne&s;s their thri|ving and flouri&s;hing e&s;tate in grace and holine&s;s. And thus you &s;ee that the more your holine&s;s is encrea&s;ed, the more highly the God of heaven will be exalted and magnified. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly, To provoke you to endeavour after higher degrees <MILESTONE N="5"> of holine&s;s, Con&s;ider, that the more holine&s;s thou ha&s;t, the more hee'l give thee. At fir&s;t God gives holine&s;s where there is none; and where this holine&s;s is improved, there God will be &s;till aug|menting and increa&s;ing of it; do thou but make it thy bu&s;ine&s;s to perfect holine&s;s in the feare of the Lord,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 6.7.</NOTE> and the Lord will not faile to make new and fre&s;h additions of more grace and holi|ne&s;s to that thou ha&s;t. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 84.11. <HI>The Lord will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.</HI> Mark tho&s;e words, viz. <HI>that the Lord will give grace and glory,</HI> that is, grace unto glory, hee'l &s;till be adding more grace to that thou ha&s;t, till the bud of grace be turn'd into the
<PB N="496" REF="259"> flower of glory, till thy grace on earth commenceth glory in heaven; the more holine&s;s any man has, the more &s;till God will give him. <HI>Math.</HI> 13.12. <HI>For who&s;oever hath, to him &s;hall be given, and he &s;hall have more abundance:</HI> He that hath princi|ples of grace and holine&s;s laid into his &s;oul, he &s;hall finde a plentifull increa&s;e of tho&s;e &s;anctifying and &s;aving principles; he &s;hall have more abundance; his &s;park of holine&s;s &s;hall grow in|to a flame, his drops of holine&s;s &s;hall be turn'd into a &s;ea, and his mite of holine&s;s &s;hall be multiplyed into millions.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Math. 25.29.</NOTE> The grea|ter harve&s;t of holine&s;s a Chri&s;tian brings forth, the greater en|crea&s;e of holine&s;s &s;hall he experience; every exerci&s;e of grace and holine&s;s is alwayes attended with new increa&s;e of grace and holine&s;s. Look as that arme is greate&s;t and &s;tronge&s;t that is mo&s;t u&s;ed and exerci&s;ed; &s;o that particular grace that is mo&s;t exerci&s;ed and u&s;ed, is mo&s;t &s;trengthned and greatned. Look as earthly Parents when they &s;ee their children to husband and improve a little Stock to great advantage, then they adde to their Stock, they increa&s;e their Stock, they double their Stock; &s;o when the father of &s;pirits &s;ees his children to husband and improve a little Stock of grace and holine&s;s to the great advan|tage of their &s;ouls, then he will increa&s;e their &s;piritual Stock, he will be &s;till a adding to their Stock, yea he will double their Stock. <HI>John</HI> 15.2. <HI>Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.</HI> Such as are fruitful, &s;hall be made more fruitful: Chri&s;t will take mo&s;t paines to make them better, who are already very good; of all Chri&s;tians in the world, there are none that have &s;o much grace as humble Chri&s;tians have, and yet God delights to pour in grace into their &s;ouls, as men pour liquor into empty ve&s;&s;els; humility is both a grace,<NOTE PLACE="marg">James 4.6.</NOTE> and a ve&s;&s;el to receive more grace. And thus much for this fifth Argument. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="6"> Sixthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holine&s;s, Con&s;ider, that the more holine&s;s you attaine to, the greater will be your heaven of joy and comfort in this world. Though the lea&s;t &s;park of true holine&s;s will bring a man to hea|ven, certainly yet 'tis only an eminency in holine&s;s that will make a man walk to heaven comfortably; the more holine&s;s any man has,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 16. <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> the more he &s;hall enjoy him, in who&s;e pre&s;ence is fulne&s;s
<PB N="497" REF="259"> of joy; and the more any man enjoyes the pre&s;ence of God with his Spirit, the greater will be his heaven of joy in this world. Look as a little Star yeilds but a little light, &s;o a little holine&s;s yeilds but a little comfort; and look as the greate&s;t Stars yeilds the greate&s;t light, &s;o the greate&s;t mea&s;ures of holi|ne&s;s alwayes yeilds the greate&s;t comforts: Divine joy ebbs and flowes as holine&s;s ebbs and &s;lowes; &s;oul comforts ri&s;es and falls as holine&s;s ri&s;es and falls. Great mea&s;ures of holine&s;s carries with them the greate&s;t evidence of the reality of holine&s;s; now the more clearely and evidently the reality and &s;incerity of a mans holine&s;s appeares, the higher will the &s;prings of joy and comfort ari&s;e in his &s;oul: Great mea&s;ures of holine&s;s carry with them the greate&s;t evidence of a mans union and communion with God; and the more evident a mans union and communion is with God, the more will that mans &s;oul be fill'd with that joy that is un&s;peakable and full of glory:<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1.8. Acts 9.31.</NOTE> In great mea&s;ures of holi|ne&s;s, a man may &s;ee and reade mo&s;t of the love of God, the face of God, the favour of God, and the heart of God; and the more a man is ble&s;t with &s;uch a &s;ight as this is, the more will that Babe of grace, divine joy, &s;pring in his &s;oul: The greater mea&s;ures of holine&s;s and &s;anctification any man attaines to, the clearer and brighter will the evidences of his Ju&s;tification be;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 5.1, 2, 3. And Ch. 8.30, 33, 34, 35,</NOTE> Now the clearer evidences any man has of his Ju&s;tifica|tion, the &s;tronger will be his con&s;olation; and indeed the &s;tronge&s;t waters of con&s;olation, doe alwayes flow from a cleare &s;ight and a true &s;en&s;e of a mans ju&s;tification; no man lives &s;o comfortably, no man bares the cro&s;s &s;o &s;weetly, no man re&s;i&s;ts the devill and the world &s;o &s;toutly, nor no man will die &s;o chearfully, as he that lives and dies in a cleare &s;ight of his Ju|&s;tification: The more holine&s;s any man attaines to, the more his feares will be &s;cattered, his doubts re&s;olved, and all tho&s;e im|pediments removed that commonly bar out joy and comfort? and what will be the happy i&s;&s;ue of the&s;e things, but the bring|ing in of a &s;ea of joy and comfort into the &s;oul? 'Tis not riches, nor honors, nor applau&s;e, nor learning, nor friends, nor a great name in the world, but an eminency in holine&s;s that can highly rai&s;e the &s;prings of divine joy in a Chri&s;tians &s;oul. Though the windowes of the Temple were broad without but narrow with|in,
<PB N="498" REF="260"> yet the joy and comfort of a Chri&s;tian (that is eminent in holine&s;s) is broad and full within, though it be narrow and con|tracted without. O Sirs, as ever you would have your joy full, labour for a heart fill'd with holine&s;s; your comforts will be al|wayes few and low, if your holine&s;s be low. Why have the Angels alwayes Harpes in their hands, and Hallelujah's in their mouths, but becau&s;e they have attain'd to a fulne&s;s of holine&s;s. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="7"> Seventhly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holine&s;s, Con&s;ider, that the more holy any per&s;on is, the more the Lord will reveale and manife&s;t him&s;elfe, and his mind and will unto him.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 14.21, 23. Ho&s;ea 6.3.</NOTE> <HI>Ezekiel</HI> was a man of eminent holine&s;s, and a man that had glorious vi&s;ions, and deep my&s;teries, and rare di&s;|coveries of God, and of the great things that &s;hould be brought about in the latter dayes,<NOTE PLACE="marg">See 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Chapters of <HI>Daniel.</HI></NOTE> di&s;covered to him. And <HI>Daniel</HI> was a man of very great holine&s;s; and O what &s;ecrets and my&s;teries did God reveale to him! many of tho&s;e great and glorious things which concernes the de&s;truction of the four la&s;t Monar|chies, and the growth, increa&s;e, exaltation, flouri&s;hing, durable, invincible, and unconquerable e&s;tate of his own kingdome, was di&s;covered to him.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 12.2, 4.</NOTE> Among all the Apo&s;tles, <HI>Paul</HI> was a man of the greate&s;t holine&s;s, and of all the Apo&s;tles <HI>Paul</HI> had the mo&s;t glorious revelations and di&s;coveries of God manife&s;ted to him; witne&s;s tho&s;e glorious Revelations that he had, when he was caught up into the third heaven, into Paradi&s;e, and heard un|&s;peakable words,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> or wordle&s;s words, &s;uch as words were too weak to utter, &s;uch as was not po&s;&s;ible for man to utter, and that either becau&s;e they tran&s;cended mans capacity in this life, or el&s;e becau&s;e the Apo&s;tle was forbidden to utter them, they being revealed to him, not for the publike u&s;e of the Church, but only for his particular encouragement, that &s;o he might be the better able to encounter with all the hard&s;hips, difficulties, dangers and deaths, that &s;hould attend him in the con&s;cientious di&s;charge of his mini&s;terial work. Some of the Ancients are of opinion, that he &s;aw Gods e&s;&s;ence; for, &s;ay they, other things in heaven might have been uttered, but the e&s;&s;ence of God is &s;o great, and &s;o glorious a thing, that no man or Angel can utter it, or declare it; but here I mu&s;t crave leave to enter my di&s;&s;ent,
<PB N="499" REF="260"> for the Scripture is expre&s;s in this,<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 1.18. 1 Tim. 6.16. 1 Ioh. 4.12.</NOTE> that no man hath thus ever &s;een the Lord at any time; and that no man can thus &s;ee the Lord and live: And as great a favourite of heaven as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was, yet he could only &s;ee the back parts of God, he could on|ly behold &s;ome lower repre&s;entations of God. Others &s;ay, that he heard the heavenly &s;inging of Angels and ble&s;&s;ed Spirits, which was &s;o &s;weet, &s;o excellent and glorious, that no mortall man was able to utter it, and this of the two is mo&s;t probable, but no man is bound to make this opinion an Article of his faith; this I think we may &s;afely conclude, that in this rapture, be&s;ides the contemplation of Cele&s;tial My&s;teries, he felt &s;uch un&s;peakable delight and plea&s;ure, that was either like to that or exceeding that which <HI>Adam</HI> took in the terre&s;trial Paradi&s;e; doubtle&s;s, the Apo&s;tle did &s;ee and heare &s;uch excellent and glorious things, as was impo&s;&s;ible for the tongue of any mortal man to expre&s;s or utter. And &s;o <HI>John</HI> was a man of mo&s;t rare holine&s;s, and Chri&s;t reveals to him the General e&s;tate of his Church, and all that &s;hould befall his people, and that from <HI>Johns</HI> time unto his &s;econd coming: Chri&s;t gives <HI>John</HI> a true re|pre&s;entation of all the troubles, tryalls, changes, mercies and glories, that in all times, and in all Ages and places, &s;hould at|tend his Church, untill he came in all his glory. About &s;ixty years after Chri&s;ts a&s;cen&s;ion,<NOTE PLACE="marg">'Tis the Ge|neral opinion of the learned that this book of the <HI>Revela|tion</HI> was pen|ned about the latter end of the Reigne of <HI>Domitian</HI> the Emperour, which was about &s;ixty years after Chri&s;ts A&s;|cen&s;ion.</NOTE> Chri&s;t comes to <HI>John</HI> and opens his heart, and unbo&s;omes his &s;oul, and makes knowne to him, all that care, that love, that tenderne&s;s, that kindne&s;s, and that &s;weetne&s;s, that he would exerci&s;e towards his Church, from that very time to the end of the world: Chri&s;t tells <HI>John,</HI> that though he had been ab&s;ent and &s;eemingly &s;ilent for about three&s;core years, that yet he was not &s;o taken up with the delights, con|tents, and glory of heaven, as that he did not care what became of his Church on earth; O! no: And therefore he opens his choi|ce&s;t &s;ecrets, and makes knowne the mo&s;t hidden and glorious my&s;teries to <HI>John,</HI> that ever was made knowne to any man. As there was none that had &s;o much of the heart of Chri&s;t as <HI>John,</HI> &s;o there was none that had &s;o much of the eare of Chri&s;t as <HI>John;</HI> Chri&s;t &s;ingles out his &s;ervant <HI>John</HI> from all the men in the world, and makes knowne to him all the happy providences, and all the &s;ad occurrences that were to come upon the follow|ers
<PB N="500" REF="261"> of the Lamb, that &s;o they might know what to pray for, and what to fit for, and what to waite for; al&s;o he declares to <HI>John,</HI> all that wrath and vengeance, all that de&s;olation and de&s;tructi|on that &s;hould come upon the fal&s;e Prophet, and the Bea&s;t, and upon all that wondered after them, and that were wor&s;hippers of them, and that had received their marks, either in their fore|heads, or in their hands. We reade of holy <HI>Polycarpus,</HI> that as he lay in his bed he &s;aw in a vi&s;ion the bed &s;et on fire under his head;<NOTE PLACE="marg">A vi&s;ion.</NOTE> and thus God did forewarne him, and manife&s;t to him what manner of death he &s;hould die, and accordingly it fell out, for he was burnt for the cau&s;e of Chri&s;t, and rejoycingly &s;ealed to the truth with his blood. Mr. <HI>John Hus</HI> was a man eminent in holine&s;s (he was borne in <HI>Prague</HI> in <HI>Bohemia,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">A Prophe|&s;ie.</NOTE> and was Pa&s;tor of the Church of <HI>Bethleem</HI>) his name <HI>Hus</HI> in the <HI>Bohemian</HI> lan|guage &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">gnifies a Goo&s;e; at his Martyrdome he told them, that if they ro&s;ted him in the fire, out of the a&s;hes of the Goo&s;e, an hundred years after, God would rai&s;e up a Swan in <HI>Germany</HI> that &s;hould carry the Cau&s;e on for which he &s;uffered, and who&s;e &s;ingings would affright all tho&s;e Vulters, which was exactly ful|filled in <HI>Luther</HI> (who&s;e name in the <HI>Bohemian</HI> language &s;igni|fies a Swan) for God rai&s;ed him up as a famous in&s;trument in his hand, who carried on that glorious Cau&s;e with mighty &s;uc|ce&s;s; and upon his death the <HI>Bohemians</HI> under <HI>Ziska</HI> ro&s;e in Armes, and had mo&s;t admirable &s;ucce&s;s again&s;t the Emperour and the Papi&s;ts.<NOTE PLACE="marg">A Prophe|&s;ie.</NOTE> <HI>Luther</HI> was a man of great holine&s;s, and being one time more then ordinarily earne&s;t with God in prayer, he came downe to his Friends, and told them with a very great confidence, that it &s;hould goe well with <HI>Germany</HI> all his dayes; he knew what was done in heaven by that which God had done in his own heart, &amp; accordingly it fell out. The Martyr that was burnt la&s;t in <HI>Smithfield,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">A Prophe|&s;ie.</NOTE> told the people that they &s;hould be of good comfort, for he was fully per&s;waded that he was the la&s;t that &s;hould &s;uffer under Queen <HI>Mary,</HI> and &s;o he was. Thus you &s;ee that men of greate&s;t holine&s;s, have had the cleare&s;t and choi|ce&s;t manife&s;tations &amp; di&s;coveries of God, and of his mind made knowne to them; Suitable to that choice promi&s;e that you have in that 33 <HI>Jer.</HI> 3. <HI>Call unto me, and I will an&s;wer thee, and &s;hew thee great and mighty</HI> (or hidden) <HI>things,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> Hidden as bunches of Grapes are hidden under the leaves of the Vines.</NOTE> <HI>which thou knowe&s;t
<PB N="501" REF="261"> not.</HI> God will make knowne to his holy ones the mo&s;t hidden and ab&s;tru&s;e things, and the more holy they are, the more they &s;hall know of the mo&s;t &s;ecret and my&s;terious things of God. <HI>John</HI> 7.17. <HI>If any man will doe his will, he &s;hall know of the do|ctrine whether it be of God, or whether I &s;peak of my &s;elfe.</HI> Chri&s;t will be mo&s;t open to them that are mo&s;t obedient to him; they &s;hall know mo&s;t of the doctrine of Chri&s;t, who are mo&s;t com|plying with the will of Chri&s;t. <HI>David</HI> was a man of great holi|ne&s;s, as is evident by that glorious te&s;timony that God has gi|ven of him, in that 13 <HI>Acts</HI> 22. <HI>And when he had removed him</HI> (that is, <HI>Saul,</HI> v. 21.) <HI>he rai&s;ed up unto them David to be their King, to whom al&s;o he gave te&s;timony, and &s;aid, I have found Da|vid the &s;on of Je&s;&s;e, a man after mine own heart, which &s;hall fulfill all my will,</HI> (<GAP DESC="foreign">) All my wills; to note the eminency, tran&s;c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ndency, univer&s;ality and &s;incerity of his obedience. Now if you will but look into that 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 7.27. there you &s;hall &s;ee how the Lord declares and makes knowne him&s;elfe and his in|tentions towards him; <HI>For thou, O Lord of Ho&s;ts, God of I&s;rael, ha&s;t revealed to thy &s;ervant, &s;aying, I will build thee an hou&s;e:</HI> But the Hebrew is more full and excellent, in the Original,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE> it runs thus, <HI>Lord thou ha&s;t revealed this to the eare of thy &s;ervant;</HI> Now the empha&s;is lyes in tho&s;e words, <HI>to the eare of thy &s;ervant.</HI> When God makes knowne him&s;elfe and his intentions to &s;uch as are eminent in holine&s;s, he do's it in their eare: God tells <HI>David</HI> in his eare, that <HI>he will build him an hou&s;e,</HI> that is, that he would continue his kingdome to him, and to his po&s;terity af|ter him; this was ble&s;&s;ed newes, and this God tells in his eare. Such as are our &s;pecial friends and favourites, we often whi&s;per them in the eare; when we would acquaint them with our mo&s;t &s;ecret and weighty purpo&s;es, intentions and re&s;olutions, we give them a whi&s;per in the eare; &s;uch per&s;ons that are eminent in holine&s;s, are the great favourits of heaven, and God tells them in the eare of many a rare &s;ecret, which all others are kept ig|norant of. Well Sirs, for a clo&s;e remember this, that there are no per&s;ons on earth that are &s;o prepared and fitted for the clea|re&s;t, fulle&s;t, and highe&s;t manife&s;tations of God, as tho&s;e that are eminent in holine&s;s; nor none that &s;et &s;o high a price upon the di&s;coveries of God, as men that are eminent in holine&s;s; nor
<PB N="502" REF="262"> none that are &s;o able to bare the Revelations of his will, as men that are eminent in holine&s;s, nor none that will make &s;uch an humble, faithful, con&s;tant and through improvement of all that God &s;hall make knowne to them, as men that are famous for ho|line&s;s; and therefore as ever you would have God in an eminent way to manife&s;t and di&s;cover him&s;elfe and his mind unto you, O labour after a greater mea&s;ure of holine&s;s. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="8"> Eighthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holine&s;s, Con&s;ider, that the more holy any man is, the more &s;in|gular delight and plea&s;ure God will take in all his religious du|ties and &s;ervices;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><P>Generally 'twas the cu|&s;tome of the Ea&s;tern coun|tries to wa&s;h before wor|&s;hip.</P>
<P>The very heathen gods would be &s;er|ved in white, the very em|blem of pu|rity.</P></NOTE> holine&s;s puts a divine &s;avour upon all a mans &s;ervices; there are no duties &s;o &s;weet as tho&s;e that have mo&s;t holine&s;s in them. <HI>Mal.</HI> 3.3, 4. <HI>And he &s;hall &s;it as a refiner and purifier of &s;ilver: and he &s;hall purifie the &s;ons of Levi, and purge them as gold and &s;ilver, that they may offer unto the Lord an of|fering in righteou&s;ne&s;s. Then &s;hall the offering of Judah and Jeru|&s;alem be plea&s;ant unto the Lord, as in the dayes of old, and as in former years.</HI> After the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t hath been to his peo|ple as a refiners fire, and as Fullers &s;ope, that is, after he hath refined, &s;coured, and purged his people from their dro&s;&s;ine&s;s, filthine&s;s, earthline&s;s, &s;elfi&s;hne&s;s, and &s;en&s;ualne&s;s, <HI>&amp;c. then their offerings &s;hall be plea&s;ant to the Lord.</HI> Look as light makes all things plea&s;ant and delightful to man, &s;o holine&s;s makes all a mans duties and &s;ervices plea&s;ant and delightful to the Lord. <HI>Zach.</HI> 13.9. <HI>And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them, as &s;ilver is refined, and will try them as gold is tryed: they &s;hall call on my name, and I will heare them: I will &s;ay it is my people; and they &s;hall &s;ay, the Lord is my God.</HI> When God has refined his people as &s;ilver is refined, then he will bow his eare, and open his hand, and grant them the de&s;ires of their hearts. O the plea&s;ure and delight that God takes in the pray|ers, tears, hearings, readings, meltings, mournings and repent|ings of &s;uch who are eminently purged and &s;anctified; the more holine&s;s any man has, the le&s;s of the fle&s;h, polution, and corrup|tion there is in all his duties and &s;ervices; and the le&s;s there is of the old man in all our holy offerings, the more they are the delight of God; the more holine&s;s any man has, the le&s;s there will be of man, and the more there will be of Chri&s;t and the
<PB N="503" REF="262"> Spirit in all his duties and &s;ervices, and doubtle&s;s, the le&s;s there is of man, and the more there is of Chri&s;t in duties, the more plea&s;ant and delightful they will be unto the Lord. The more holy any man is, the more there will be of his heart in his duties, and the more a mans heart is in his duties, the more plea&s;ant and delightful they will be to God; God is a &s;pirit,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 4.23, 24.</NOTE> and he is only taken with tho&s;e duties wherein the Spirit of a man is; the heart is <HI>(Camera omnipotentis Regis)</HI> the pre&s;ence chamber of the king of heaven, 'tis his bed of &s;pices, 'tis his roy|al Throne, on which he delights to &s;it and rule; a &s;anctified heart in duties &s;hall carry it with God for crownes, when a &s;il|ver tongue &s;hall not carry it with God for crums. The more holy any man is, the more delight and plea&s;ure he will take in religious duties and &s;ervices; the more a mans natural &s;trength is, the more ea&s;ily he walks, &amp; the more delightfully he works; the fuller the wings are of feathers, with the more ea&s;e and plea&s;ure the Bird flyes; &s;o the fuller the &s;oul is of holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 40.8. P&s;al. 119.32. Math. 11.29. 1 Iohn 5.3.</NOTE> the more ea&s;ily, the more plea&s;antly, and the more delightfully will it walk, yea run, yea flie in all the wayes of Gods com|mands; every yoak of Chri&s;t is ea&s;ie, and every command of Chri&s;t is joyous to a man that is eminent in holine&s;s; now the more any man delights and takes plea&s;ure in religious duties and &s;ervices, the more God delights and takes plea&s;ure in his religious duties and &s;ervices; the more a Chri&s;tians heart is affected and taken with the duties of Religion, the more the heart of God will be affected and taken with tho&s;e duties. Look as there is no duty that affects the heart of God, that do's not fir&s;t affect our own, or that takes the heart of God, that do's not fir&s;t take our own; &s;o all tho&s;e duties and &s;er|vices that are divinely plea&s;ing and delightfull to our noble part, they are al&s;o plea&s;ing and delightful to God him&s;elfe. The very heathen (as &s;everal Authors report) had their &s;tore pots of water &s;et at the doores of their Temples, where they u&s;ed to wa&s;h before they went to &s;acrifice, having this notion and opinion among&s;t them, that their gods did be&s;t accept and mo&s;t delight in tho&s;e &s;acrifices that were offered by tho&s;e who had wa&s;hed them&s;elves pure and cleane; &s;ure I am that the great God, who is the God of gods, is mo&s;t plea&s;ed and deligh|ted
<PB N="504" REF="263"> with tho&s;e &s;acrifices of prayers and prai&s;es that are offered up with the pure&s;t hands, and with the cleane&s;t heart; and there|fore as ever you would have God to take &s;ingular, plea&s;ure and delight in all your duties and &s;ervices, labour after an eminen|cy in holine&s;s. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="9"> Ninthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holine&s;s, Con&s;ider, that many who have been won over to Chri&s;t later then you, do yet in holine&s;s much excell you, are there not many children, who have been in Chri&s;t but ye&s;terday (as it were) and yet how doe they out&s;trip their parents (not only in parts, but in piety) who have been in Chri&s;t many years before them? And are there not many &s;ervants to be found, who have not been in Chri&s;t &s;eaven years, who yet are more holy, more humble, more heavenly, more &s;piritual, more &s;erious and every way more gracious then their Ma&s;ters, who have been in Chri&s;t long before them? And are there not many poor, meane, negle|cted, de&s;pi&s;ed and &s;corned Chri&s;tians, who have been converted and &s;anctified but a few years, who yet are more fearfull of &s;in|ning again&s;t God, and more carefull of plea&s;ing God, and more &s;tudious of glorifying of God, and more wi&s;e, and watchfull, and circum&s;pect, in their walking with God, and more laborious and diligent in the u&s;e of all holy means, whereby God may be ex|alted and lifted up in the world, then many great and rich Chri|&s;tians in the world, who yet have been in Chri&s;t very many years before them? <HI>Paul</HI> had &s;ome kin&s;men that were in Chri&s;t before him (as you may &s;ee in that 16 <HI>Rom.</HI> 5, 7. <HI>Likewi&s;e greet the Church that is in their hou&s;e, &s;alute my well beloved Epenetus, who is the fir&s;t fruits of Achaia unto Chri&s;t; Salute Andronieus and Junia my kin&s;men,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 1.12. Ch. 11.22.&mdash;30. 1 The&s;. 2.2.&mdash;13.</NOTE> <HI>and my fellow-pri&s;oners, who are of note a|mong the Apo&s;tles, who al&s;o were in Chri&s;t before me)</HI> and yet in grace and holine&s;s he excell'd them all. You know many men in riding a Journey do often &s;et out after their neighbours, and yet they do not only overtake them, but al&s;o get into their Innes many houres before them: And among Sea-men, is there any thing more common then for tho&s;e who &s;et &s;aile &s;ome dayes af|ter others, yet to get into their Ports before them; &s;o there are many Chri&s;tians, who have &s;et out heaven-wards, and holine&s;s|wards, after others, and yet they have not only overtaken them,
<PB N="505" REF="263"> but al&s;o in grace and holine&s;s gone far before them.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 2.46.47 48.</NOTE> As Chri&s;t in his non-age, put all the Doctors in the Temple down; &s;o many Chri&s;tians even in their non-age (as I may &s;ay) do put down other Chri&s;tians,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Hierom</HI> writes of <HI>Paulinus,</HI> that in the fir&s;t part of his life he excell|led others, and in his lat|ter part he excelled him|&s;elf.</NOTE> who in re&s;pect of their years and op|portunities might have been Doctors in Chri&s;tianity. In this great City you have very many, who have &s;et up many years af|ter others, and yet they are grown far greater and richer then tho&s;e of their callings, who have &s;et up many years before them; and doubtle&s;s there are very many in this City who have &s;et upon the Trade of Chri&s;tianity, the Trade of godline&s;s, long after others, who yet are grown greater and richer in grace &amp; holine&s;s then tho&s;e, who have for very many years driven that Trade: And, O how &s;hould this Alarm all &s;uch to double their diligence, and to &s;trive and labor as for life to be eminent in ho|line&s;s, yea to perfect holine&s;s in the fear of the Lord. But,</P>
<P>Tenthly, To provoke you to labor after higher degrees of holine&s;s. Con&s;ider, that there are no per&s;ons under heaven that are &s;o &s;trongly obliged and engaged to perfect holine&s;s in the fear of the Lord, as you are, for you are the onely per|&s;ons on earth that are made partakers of the divine nature,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 1.4. Dan. 6.3. 1 Cor. 2.12.</NOTE> and that have a more excellent &s;pirit in you then the men of this world have, and that have more excellent principles in you, as knowledge, wi&s;dom, faith, love, &s;elf-denyal, humility, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> to help on the advance and increa&s;e of holine&s;s, then others have who&s;e &s;ouls are &s;trangers, yea enemies to tho&s;e noble and di|vine principles: And you are the onely per&s;ons on earth, upon whom all exhortations and commands to grow in holine&s;s, to encrea&s;e in holine&s;s, and to perfect holine&s;s in the fear of the Lord, do's mo&s;t immediately, mo&s;t directly, mo&s;t eminently, mo&s;t roundly, and mo&s;t fully fall, as you may ea&s;ily &s;ee by com|paring the Scriptures in the Margent together. O &s;irs,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 3.18.</NOTE> how gloriou&s;ly &s;hould that hou&s;e be adorned with holine&s;s, that is of Gods own building?<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Corin. 7.1. Ch. 13.11. Colo&s;. 2.7. Heb. 6.1. 1 Corin. 15.58. Jude 10.</NOTE> and how fruitful &s;hould tho&s;e vineyards and gardens be, that are of Gods own planting; and how full &s;hould tho&s;e Wells be that are of Gods own digging? and how &s;weet &s;hould tho&s;e flowers be, that are of Gods own &s;et|ting? and how ripe &s;hould tho&s;e fruits be that are of Gods own Grafting? O &s;irs, &s;hall the Eagle flye higher and higher?
<PB REF="264"> &s;hall the Sun &s;hine brighter and brighter? and &s;hall the Gyant refre&s;hed with wine, run &s;wifter and &s;wifter? and &s;hall the wo|man man that is with child, grow fuller and fuller, and greater and greater? and &s;hall not you who are the people of Gods holine&s;s, flye higher and higher in holine&s;s, and &s;hine brighter and brighter in holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Charles</HI> the Fifth had this for his Mot|to, <HI>&V;lterius,</HI> goe on fur|ther. Math. 13.23. Mar. 4.28. Ezek. 47.3.4.</NOTE> and run &s;wifter and &s;wifter in the ways of holine&s;s, and grow fuller and fuller, and greater and greater in the births of holine&s;s? O &s;irs, holine&s;s in a Chri&s;ti|an is not like a Star in the Skie, nor a Stone in the Center, nor a Bullet in a Gun which is always equal; but holine&s;s is like to the &s;eed, which being &s;own in the furrows of the earth, fir&s;t &s;prings up into a blade, and then into an ear, and then into ripe corn. Holine&s;s is like to the waters in <HI>Ezekiels</HI> Sanctuary that ri&s;e by degrees; Fir&s;t it ri&s;e to the Ancles, then to the knees, then to the Loyns, and then to a mighty river that could not be pa&s;&s;ed over.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 3.1.</NOTE> Holine&s;s is like to the hou&s;e of <HI>David</HI> that grew &s;tronger and &s;tronger, and like to the Cedars of <HI>Lebanon</HI> that grew greater and greater.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;ea. 14.6 7.</NOTE> O Chri&s;tians there are none that are &s;o &s;trongly obliged to go on from faith to faith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1.17.</NOTE> and from &s;treng<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">h to &s;trength, and from holine&s;s to holine&s;s as you are: O!<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Col. 13.</NOTE> you mu&s;t labor to be filled up to the brim with holine&s;s: O! you mu&s;t &s;trive to equalize the fir&s;t three of <HI>Davids</HI> worthies: O!<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Ch. 7.</NOTE> you mu&s;t endeavor to be like the brethren of <HI>Gideon,</HI> eve|ry one re&s;embling the children of a King:<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Chron 11.21.</NOTE> O that you could all &s;ay as <HI>Elihu</HI> once did,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Judg. 8.18. Job. 32.18, 19.</NOTE> <HI>I am full of matter, my belly is as wine, which hath no vent; it is ready to bur&s;t like new bottles.</HI> O my brethren, to be as full of holine&s;s as new bottles are full of wine, or as the Moon is full of light, or as the black clouds are full of Rain, or as Nur&s;es brea&s;ts are full of milk, is the greate&s;t hap|pine&s;s in this world. O &s;irs! there are no per&s;ons on earth that a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e engaged to love the Lord with &s;uch a vehement love as you, nor to t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">u&s;t in the Lord with &s;uch an inflamed faith as you, nor to hope in the Lord with &s;uch a rai&s;ed hope as you, nor to de|light in the Lord with &s;uch ravi&s;hing delights as you, nor to long after the Lord with &s;uch earne&s;t longings as you, nor to fear before the Lord, with &s;o great a trembling as you, nor to be &s;o zealous for God with &s;uch a burning zeal as you, nor to mourn be|fore the Lord with &s;o great a mourning as you, nor to hate all
<PB N="507" REF="264"> things that are contrary to the nature of God, the being of God, the command of God, &amp; the glory of God, with &s;uch a deadly ha|tred as you. Well, remember this, <HI>viz.</HI> 'tis no little &s;in for any Chri&s;tian to &s;et down &s;atisfied under a little mea&s;ure of holine&s;s, con&s;idering the many and the great obligations that lies upon him to perfect holine&s;s in the fear of the Lord. But,</P>
<P>Eleventhly, To provoke you to labor after higher degrees of holine&s;s, con&s;ider, that the more holine&s;s any man attains to,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Corin. 1.8, 9, 10, 11, 12.</NOTE> the more bold, couragious, re&s;olute, Ma&s;culine and He|roick that man will be for God and godline&s;s: holine&s;s eno|bles the heart, it rai&s;es the heart; and the higher the &s;prings of holine&s;s ri&s;eth in the heart, the higher it rai&s;eth the heart, and the more it &s;teels the heart for God and godline&s;s; the more holine&s;s any man has the more re&s;olutely he will &s;et him&s;elf again&s;t &s;in, and the more divinely he will &s;corn the world, and the more couragiou&s;ly he will trample upon tem|ptations, and the more Heroick he will be under all his af|flictions; men of greate&s;t holine&s;s have been men of greate&s;t boldne&s;s, witne&s;s <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> the three children, <HI>Daniel,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Nehe. 6.11.</NOTE> and all the holy Prophets and Apo&s;tles; <HI>Prov.</HI> 28.1. <HI>The wicked flee when no man pur&s;ueth, but the righteous are as bold as a Lyon;</HI> yea as a young Lyon,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"></NOTE> (as the Hebrew has it) that is in his hot blood, and fears no colours, and that is more bold then any o|thers holine&s;s; made <HI>Daniel</HI> not onely as bold as a Lyon, but al|&s;o to daunt the Lyons with his boldne&s;s. <HI>Luther</HI> was a man of great holine&s;s, and a man of great boldne&s;s, witne&s;s his &s;tanding out again&s;t all the world; and when the Emperour &s;ent for him to <HI>Wormes,</HI> and his friends di&s;&s;waded him from going, as &s;ome|times <HI>Pauls</HI> did him, <HI>Go,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts</HI> and <HI>Mon.</HI> 776.</NOTE> (&s;aid he) <HI>I will &s;urely goe</HI> (&s;ince I am &s;ent for) <HI>in the name of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, yea, though I knew that there were as many Devils in Wormes to re&s;i&s;t me, as there be Tiles to cover the hou&s;es, yet I would goe:</HI> And when the &s;ame Au|thor and his A&s;&s;ociates were threatned with many dangers from oppo&s;ers on all hands, he lets fall this heroick &amp; magnanimous &s;peech, <HI>Come let us &s;ing the &s;ix and forty P&s;alme, and then let them do their wor&s;t Latimer</HI> was a man of much holine&s;s (counting the darkne&s;s and profanene&s;s of tho&s;e times wherein he liv'd) and a man of much courage &amp; boldne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts</HI> and <HI>Mon.</HI> 1594.</NOTE> witne&s;s his pre&s;enting to king
<PB N="508" REF="265"> <HI>Henry</HI> the eight for a new years gift, a new Te&s;tament wrapt up in a Napkin, with this po&s;ie or motto about it, <HI>Whoremongers and Adulterers God will Judge.</HI> Dr. <HI>Taylor</HI> the Martyr was a very holy man, and being per&s;waded by &s;ome of his friends not to ap|peare before <HI>Stephen Gardner</HI> Bi&s;hop of <HI>Winche&s;ter,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts</HI> and <HI>Mon.</HI> 1380.</NOTE> but to fly: <HI>fly you,</HI> (&s;aid he) <HI>and do according to your con&s;ciences, but as for my &s;elf I am fully determined, by Gods grace, to go to the Bi&s;hop, and to tell him to his Beard, that he doth naught. Colonus</HI> the <HI>Dutch</HI> Martyr, called to the Judge that had &s;entenced him to death, and de&s;ired him to lay his hand upon his heart, and then asked him who&s;e heart did mo&s;t beate, his or the Judges; here was a man of an heroick &s;pirit indeed. <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> was a man of great holine&s;s, and a man of a mo&s;t ma&s;culine and couragious &s;pirit; when the Empe|rour &s;ent to him to &s;ub&s;cribe to the <HI>Aarian</HI> here&s;ie, &amp; to engage him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hi&s;t: Tripart. lib. <HI>7.</HI> cap <HI>36.</HI></NOTE> promi&s;ed him great preferment; to which he replyed, <HI>Alas the&s;e &s;peeches are fit to catch little children withall that look after &s;uch things, but we that are nouri&s;hed and taught by the holy Scrip|tures, are readier to &s;uffer a thou&s;and deaths, then to &s;uffer one &s;yl|lable or tittle of the Scripture to be altered:</HI> And when the Empe|rour threatned him with impri&s;onment, bani&s;hment, death; he an&s;wered, <HI>Let him threaten boyes with &s;uch Fraybugs, as for my part I am re&s;olved that neither menaces nor flatteries &s;hall &s;ilence me, or draw me to betray a good Cau&s;e, or a good Con&s;cience. Charles</HI> the ninth, king of <HI>France,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">The Hi&s;tory of <HI>France</HI> in the yeare 1572.</NOTE> who had a deep hand in that barbarous and bloody Ma&s;&s;acre of many thou&s;ands of the Saints in <HI>France;</HI> &s;oone after that horrid tragical and perfidious &s;laugh|ter was over, he called the Prince of <HI>Conde,</HI> &amp; propo&s;ed to him the&s;e three things, <HI>Either to go to Ma&s;s, or to die pre&s;ently, or to &s;uffer perpetual impri&s;onment;</HI> To which he returned this noble, bold, and heroick an&s;wer, viz. <HI>That by Gods help he would never chu&s;e the fir&s;t, and for either of the other two, he left to the kings plea&s;ure and Gods providence. John</HI> Duke of <HI>Saxony</HI> was eminent in Chri&s;tianity, and he did heroically a&s;&s;ert and maintaine the cau&s;e of God, again&s;t all oppo&s;ition in three Imperial A&s;&s;emblies; And when it was told him, that he &s;hould lo&s;e the favour of the Pope, and the Emperour, and all the world be&s;ides, if he &s;tuck &s;o fa&s;t to the <HI>Lutheran</HI> cau&s;e; to which he gave this noble an&s;wer; <HI>Here are two ways,</HI> &s;aid he, <HI>I mu&s;t &s;erve God, or the world; &amp; which
<PB N="509" REF="265"> of the&s;e do you think is the better?</HI> and &s;o put them off with this plea&s;ant indignation; and when the States of the Empire forbid all <HI>Lutheran</HI> Sermons, he pre&s;ently prepared to be gone, and profe&s;&s;ed boldly, <HI>that he would not &s;tay there where he might not have liberty to &s;erve God.</HI> And thus you &s;ee by all the&s;e famous in&s;tances, that the more eminent any per&s;ons are in holine&s;s, the more bold, re&s;olute, couragious and heroical they will be for God, &amp; for the things of God; and therefore as ever you would be men of high courage and re&s;olution for God, labour to be high in holine&s;s. Such men who in all Ages have been eminent in holine&s;s, have been like <HI>Shammah,</HI> one of <HI>Davids</HI> Worthies, who &s;tood and defended the field, when all the re&s;t fled. But,</P>
<P>Twelfthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of <MILESTONE N="12"> holine&s;s, Con&s;ider, that the more holine&s;s any man attains to, the more &s;erviceable and u&s;efull he will be in his Generation. <HI>David</HI> was a man eminent in holine&s;s, and as eminently &s;erviceable in his Generation. <HI>Acts</HI> 13.36. <HI>For David after he had &s;erved his own Generation by the will of God, fell on &s;leep, and was laid unto his fathers, and &s;aw corruption.</HI> Men that have but a little Stock of holine&s;s, will be but a little &s;erviceable in their Generation, but men that have a great Stock of holine&s;s, will be greatly &s;ervice|able in their Generation; men that have but little Farms &amp; little Stocks, are but a little &s;erviceable to their Countrey, but men that have great Farmes, and large Stocks, and rich revenues, are greatly &s;erviceable to their Countrey. What a world of good &s;ometimes do's one Rich man doe in a Towne, a City, a Coun|trey? So one Saint that is rich in grace and holine&s;s, O what a world of good do's he do to all that are round about him! Mer|chants that have great Stocks, trade to the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> and <HI>We&s;t Indies,</HI> and &s;o inrich their Countrey, when as tho&s;e that have but weak e&s;tates can only Barter with their neighbours at home, and &s;o are in&s;truments but of little publike good. A Candle inlightens the Roome, but the Sun inlightens the whole world; the more holi|ne&s;s any man has, the more meete for publike u&s;e that man will be: As there was none &s;o holy as Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 2.21. Acts 10.38.</NOTE> &s;o there was none of &s;o publike a &s;pirit as Chri&s;t, he went up and downe doing good, he laid out him&s;elfe, and he laid downe him&s;elfe for publike good; he healed others, but was hurt him&s;elfe; he filled others, but was
<PB N="510" REF="266"> hungry him&s;elf. A man that is eminent in holine&s;s, will be of his minde, who was rather willing to beautifie <HI>Italy,</HI> then his own hou&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Num. 14.11, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20.</NOTE> <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was a man of great holine&s;s, and of famous u&s;e in his Generation; ah how often did he turne away the fierce anger and indignation of God from &s;inful <HI>I&s;rael?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 9.14. P&s;al. 106.23.</NOTE> and O the famous de|liverances and glorious &s;alvations that God brought about by his hand. <HI>Nehemiah</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Nehe. 5.14, <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> was a very holy man, and he laid out him&s;elfe and his great e&s;tate for publike &s;ervice. <HI>Mordecai</HI> was a very pi|ous man,<NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;th. 4. <HI>vide.</HI></NOTE> &amp; a man famou&s;ly &s;erviceable in his Generation. <HI>E&s;th.</HI> 10.3. <HI>For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Aha&s;uerus, and great among the Jews, &amp; accepted of the multitude of his brethren, &s;eeking the wealth of his people, and &s;peaking peace to all his &s;eed.</HI> King <HI>Jeho&s;aphat,</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;huah,</HI> were men of eminent holine&s;s, and of &s;ingular u&s;e and &s;ervice in their Generation; men that have no holine&s;s, &amp; others that have but a little holine&s;s, will be &s;till a carrying on a private intere&s;t of honor, or profit, or friends, or Relations, and this we have &s;een evident among&s;t us in the&s;e lat|ter dayes; &amp; therefore as ever you would be eminently &s;ervice|able in your Generation, labor after an eminency in holine&s;s. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="13"> Thirteenthly, To provoke you to labor after higher degrees of holine&s;s, con&s;ider, that the greate&s;t degrees of holine&s;s are u&s;u|ally attended wirh the highe&s;t degrees of honor.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 3.18.</NOTE> Grace is cal|led glory, and the greate&s;t mea&s;ures of Grace are commonly crowned with the greate&s;t degrees of glory:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 5.27.</NOTE> <HI>Abraham</HI> was a man eminent in Grace and holine&s;s, and he was highly in honor among the people, <HI>Gen.</HI> 23.6. <HI>Hear us, my Lord, thou art a mighty Prince among&s;t us;</HI> Or as the Hebrew has it, thou art a Prince of God among&s;t us, that is, thou art a notable Prince, thou art an excellent Prince, for &s;o the Hebrews &s;peak of all things that are notable and excellent. <HI>Job</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 1.1, 2.</NOTE> was a man that had attained to a very high degree of holine&s;s, and he was highly honored among the people, <HI>Job</HI> 29.25. <HI>I cho&s;e out their way, and &s;at chief, and dwelt as a king in the Army:</HI> in all weighty matters <HI>Job</HI> was the onely man, he was cho&s;en by all, and ad|vanced by all above all in all A&s;&s;emblies and places of Judica|ture, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> whoever was of the Committee, yet <HI>Job</HI> was &s;till Chair-man; who ever was of the coun&s;el, yet <HI>Job</HI> was &s;till Pre&s;i|dent; and whoever was of the Court, yet <HI>Job</HI> was &s;till King, yea
<PB N="511" REF="266"> he dwelt as a King in the Army; <HI>Job</HI> was guarded as a King in the Army, and honored as a King in the Army, and beloved and ad|mired as a King in the Army, and obeyed and &s;erved as a King in the Army, and feared and reverenced as a King in the Army. I might give you further in&s;tances of this in <HI>Jo&s;eph, Mo&s;es, Ne|hemiah, Mordecai,</HI> the three Children, and <HI>Daniel,</HI> but I &s;hall forbear. Faith is but a piece, a part, a branch of holine&s;s; and yet O what an honorable mention doth <HI>Paul</HI> make of the <HI>Romans</HI> faith, in that <HI>Rom.</HI> 1.8. <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">This is a figu|rative expre&s;|&s;ion, accord|ing to the &s;tile and manner of &s;peaking then.</NOTE> <HI>I thank my God through Je&s;us Chri&s;t for you all, that your faith is &s;poken of throughout the world.</HI> The <HI>Romans</HI> had attained to an eminency in faith, and the re|port thereof &s;ounded thoroughout the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, yea throughout the world, for there being a great re&s;ort to <HI>Rome</HI> from all parts of the world, and by every ones di&s;cour&s;ing and admiring of the <HI>Romans</HI> faith, their faith came to be &s;pread a|broad among all the Churches all the world over. Look as Chri&s;ts fulne&s;s of grace was his highe&s;t glory in this world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 45.1, 2.</NOTE> &s;o a Chri&s;tians fulne&s;s of holine&s;s is his highe&s;t honor in this world. O &s;irs, there is no &s;uch way to be high in honor and renown, both in the con&s;ciences of &s;inners and Saints, as to be high in holine&s;s. <HI>Jewel</HI> was a man eminent in holine&s;s, and his holine&s;s &s;et him high in the very judgements and con&s;ciences of the Papi&s;ts: The Dean of the Colledge, though a Papi&s;t, yet &s;peaks thus of him, In thy faith I hold thee an Heretick, but &s;urely in thy life thou art an Angel; thou art very good and hone&s;t, but a <HI>Lutheran.</HI> Among the very Heathens, tho&s;e were mo&s;t highly honored, that were mo&s;t excellent and eminent in moral vertues. <HI>Ari&s;tides</HI> was &s;o famous among the <HI>Athenians</HI> for his Ju&s;tice,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Plutarch.</NOTE> that he was called <HI>Ari&s;tides</HI> the Ju&s;t, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> O Chri&s;tians, 'tis your highe&s;t honor and glory in this world, to be &s;o eminent and famous for holine&s;s, that men may point at you, and &s;ay, there goes &s;uch a one the wi&s;e, &amp; there goes &s;uch a one the humble, &amp; there goes &s;uch a one the heavenly, and there goes &s;uch a one the meek, &amp; there goes &s;uch a one the patient, and there goes &s;uch a one the contented, and there goes &s;uch a one the Ju&s;t, and there goes &s;uch a one the merciful, and there goes &s;uch a one the zealous, and there goes &s;uch a one the couragious, and there goes &s;uch a one the &s;incere, and there goes &s;uch a one the faithful, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> well
<PB N="512" REF="267"> for a clo&s;e, remember this, that though great places, great offi|ces, great revenues, and great honours, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> may exalt you &amp; &s;et you high in the uppermo&s;t &s;eats and roomes among men, yet 'tis only an eminency in holine&s;s, that will exalt you and &s;et you high in the con&s;ciences of &s;inners and Saints. But,</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="14"> Fourteenthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holine&s;s, Con&s;ider, that the times wherein you live calls for this at your hands.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 51.5.</NOTE> Ah how is this Land filled with &s;in, yea with the wor&s;t of &s;ins again&s;t the holy One of <HI>I&s;rael!</HI> Hell &s;eems to be broken loo&s;e, and men &s;trive to exceed and excell one another in all kinds of wickedne&s;s; O the &s;carlet &s;ins that are now to be found under many &s;carlet Robes! O the black tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions that are now to be found under many black Ca&s;&s;ocks! O the new|found oaths, the helli&s;h bla&s;phemies, the horrid filthine&s;&s;es, and the abominable debaucheries that are committed daily in the face of the Sun! ah how &s;hamele&s;s, how &s;en&s;le&s;s are &s;inners grown in the&s;e dayes!<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 3.3.</NOTE> &s;in every where now appears with a whores fore|head; ah what open oppo&s;ition do's Chri&s;t meet with in his Go|&s;pel offices,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Math. 24.12.</NOTE> members, wayes, wor&s;hip and works! ah how do's all iniquity abound, and how bold and re&s;olute are multitudes now in di&s;honoring of God, in profaning his Sabbaths, in poluting his ordinances, in de&s;troying their own &s;ouls, and in trea&s;uring up of wrath again&s;t the day of wrath,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 2.5.</NOTE> <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Now the wor&s;er the times are, the better every Chri&s;tian mu&s;t labour to be; the more profane the Age is wherein we live, the more holy we mu&s;t en|deavour to be: O Sirs, how el&s;e will you recompence the great God (if I may &s;o &s;peak) for all the di&s;honors that are ca&s;t upon him by the matchle&s;s loo&s;ne&s;s and wickedne&s;s of the pre&s;ent times?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 2.15.</NOTE> how el&s;e will you &s;hine as lights in the mid&s;t of a crook|ed and perver&s;e Nation? how el&s;e will you convince the con|&s;ciences,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 2.15.</NOTE> and &s;top (or button up) the mouths of wicked and un|rea&s;onable men? how el&s;e will you be the Lords witne&s;&s;es again&s;t this &s;inful and adulterous Generation?<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 43.10, 12. And ch. 44.8.</NOTE> how el&s;e will you mani|fe&s;t your great love to Chri&s;t, and your exceeding tenderne&s;s of the honor and glory of Chri&s;t? how el&s;e will you give an unde|niable te&s;timony of the glorious operations of the Spirit in you? how el&s;e will you &s;atisfie your own con&s;ciences,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 18.20.&mdash;25. Heb. 11.7.</NOTE> that your hearts are upright with God? and how el&s;e will you with <HI>Noah</HI> con|demne
<PB N="513" REF="267"> a wicked world? well Chri&s;tians, remember this, 'tis more then time for you to perfect holine&s;s in the feare of the Lord, when &s;o many thou&s;ands labour day and night to perfect wickedne&s;s in de&s;pite of the Lord; 'tis time for you to be An|gels in holine&s;s, when multitudes &s;trive to exceed the very de|vill in wickedne&s;s: &s;ince Chri&s;t was on earth, there has been no times that have called louder for the perfecting of holine&s;s, then the pre&s;ent times wherein we live. But,</P>
<P>Fifteenthly, To provoke you to l<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">bour after higher degrees of <MILESTONE N="15"> holine&s;s, con&s;ider, how the men of the world do &s;tudy and &s;trive to abound and encrea&s;e in worldly ble&s;&s;ings. O what ado is there among worldlings to lay hou&s;e to hou&s;e, and field to field,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 5.8.</NOTE> to make a hundred a thou&s;and, and a thou&s;and ten, <HI>&amp;c?</HI> Many men ri&s;e early and go to bed late, yea they cro&s;s their light,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al 127.1, 2.</NOTE> &amp; wound their con&s;ciences, and decline their principles, and endanger their immortall &s;ouls, and all to adde to their worldly &s;tores. This Age is ful of &s;uch <HI>Ahabs,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Kings 21.</NOTE> that are even &s;ick for their neigh|bours Vineyards, yea that rather then they will goe without them, will wade through <HI>Naboths</HI> blood to them. And how ma|ny rich fools be there among&s;t us, who in&s;tead of minding their &s;ouls, and providing for eternity, mind nothing,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 12.16.&mdash;21.</NOTE> nor talke of no|thing, but pullin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> down their Barns, &amp; building of greater. What &s;trugling is there for places of honour? what de&s;perate ventures for rich commodities? and what high attempts are there for large po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions? O the time, the &s;trength, the &s;pirits,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 4.6.</NOTE> that many &s;pend in an eager pur&s;uit after earthly things! O how &s;ad is it to con&s;ider, that Satan &s;hall have more &s;ervice of a worldling for an ounce of gold, then God &s;hall have for the kingdome of hea|ven! though the world in all its bravey, is no better then the Ci|ties which <HI>Solomon</HI> gave to <HI>Hiram,</HI> which he called <HI>Cabul,</HI> that is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Kings 9.13.</NOTE> <HI>di&s;plea&s;ing or dirty;</HI> yet O how mad are men upon it? though all the great, the gay, and the glorious things of the world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 3.</NOTE> may fitly be re&s;embled to the fruit that undid us all, which was faire to the &s;ight, &s;mooth in handling, &s;weet in ta&s;t, but deadly in operation; yet O how fond are men of the&s;e things?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Multi amando res noxias &s;unt mi&s;eri, habendo mi&s;eriores. <HI>Augu&s;t. in P&s;al. 16.</HI></NOTE> and how do mo&s;t long to be touching and ta&s;ting of them, though a touch, a ta&s;t, may exclude them out of Paradi&s;e for ever? O Sirs, what fools in Fo|lio are they, who dare hazard the lo&s;s of a Paradi&s;e for a wilder|ne&s;s,
<PB N="514" REF="268"> of a crowne for a crum, of a kingdome for a Cottage, and of Pearls for trifles; and yet &s;uch fools are all tho&s;e who &s;pend them&s;elves in multiplying and encrea&s;ing of their earthly enjoy|ments. In that 13 <HI>Gen.</HI> 2. 'Tis &s;aid, <HI>that Abraham was very rich in Cattel, in &s;ilver and in gold;</HI> but according to the Hebrew <GAP DESC="foreign"> it runs thus, <HI>Abraham was very heavie in Cattel, in &s;ilver and in gold,</HI> to &s;hew that riches, that gold and &s;ilver (which is the great god of the world) are but heavie burdens, and rather a hinder|ance then a help to heaven and happine&s;s. Gold and &s;ilver which are but the white and yellow guts and garbage of the earth, is fitly called by the Prophet,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hab. 2.6.</NOTE> <HI>thick clay,</HI> which will &s;ooner break a mans back, then &s;atisfie his heart; and O what folly and mad|ne&s;s is it for a man to be &s;till a loading of him&s;elf with the clay of this world! though the Sumpter hor&s;e be loaden with rich trea|&s;ure all the day long, yet when night comes he is turn'd into the dark &s;tinking Stable, with an empty belly, and with his back full of gauls, &s;ores and brui&s;es; &s;o though vaine men may be loaded with the trea&s;ures of this world during the day of their life, yet when the night of death comes, then they &s;hall be turned into a dark &s;tinking hell, with con&s;ciences full of guilt and gauls, and with &s;ouls full of &s;ores and brui&s;es, and then what good will all their trea&s;ures do them?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 16.</NOTE> Though the rich man in the Go&s;pel li|ved like a Gentleman, a Gallant, yet when he died he went to hell. Though <HI>Mammon</HI> as <HI>Aretius</HI> and many others ob&s;erve, is a Syriack word, and &s;ignifies <HI>wealth, riches;</HI> yet <HI>Irenaeus</HI> derives <HI>Mammon</HI> of <HI>Mum,</HI> that &s;ignifies a <HI>&s;pot,</HI> and <HI>Hon</HI> that &s;ignifies <HI>ri|ches,</HI> to &s;hew that riches have their &s;pots; and yet O how un|wearied are men in their adding of &s;pots to &s;pots? men in their pur&s;uit after the things of this world, &s;eeme to act by an untired power, they are never weary of heaping up bags upon bags, nor of enlarging their Tents, nor of encrea&s;ing their revenues, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Now O how &s;hould this provoke every gracious &s;oul to be ad|ding of grace to grace, and holine&s;s to holine&s;s? O let not the men of the world out-doe you, let them not out-act you; O let not nature excell grace; O let the muck-wormes of this world know, that divine principles are too high and noble to be matcht, or to be out-acted by any thing that they can doe. O Sirs, &s;hall children grow in your families, and oxen grow in your &s;talls, and
<PB N="515" REF="268"> fi&s;h grow in your ponds, &amp; gra&s;s grow in your fields, and flow|ers grow in your gardens, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and &s;hall not holine&s;s grow in your hearts? well friends, remember this, 'tis infinitely better to be poore men and rich Chri&s;tians, then to be rich men and poore Chri&s;tians. But,</P>
<P>Sixteenthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of <MILESTONE N="16"> holine&s;s, con&s;ider, that the more holine&s;s you attaine to in this world, the more weighty and heavy, the more bright and glori|ous will be your faithfull Mini&s;ters crowne. O Sirs, as you ri&s;e higher and higher in holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Epi&s;t. of <HI>John</HI> 4.</NOTE> &s;o the &s;prings of joy ri&s;es higher and higher in your Mini&s;ters &s;ouls. O Chri&s;tians, 'tis neither your &s;eraphical notions, nor your pompous profe&s;&s;ion, 'tis neither your good words, nor your &s;weet looks, 'tis neither your civilities, nor your courte&s;ies, that rai&s;es joy in your Mini&s;ters hearts, or that will adde to your Mini&s;ters crowne,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 15.14.</NOTE> but an encrea&s;e of holine&s;s will do both. The <HI>The&s;&s;alonians</HI> were rare Chri&s;tians, they were very eminent &amp; high in holine&s;s, as you may &s;ee in that 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 1.5, 6, 7, 8. And they were the Apo&s;tles joy and crowne of re|joycing, as you may &s;ee in <HI>Ch.</HI> 2.19, 20. <HI>For what is our hope, or joy, or crowne of rejoycing? are not even ye in the pre&s;ence of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy.</HI> The Apo&s;tle tells the&s;e rai&s;ed, the&s;e renowned <HI>The&s;&s;alonians,</HI> that as they were now his hope, his glory, and joy, &s;o at the coming of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, they &s;hould be his joy, and crowne of re|joycing. Look as Chri&s;t has his thou&s;and Shekels of &s;ilver,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Shekels of &s;il|ver were their common money, and a name both for weight and coyne, being in value an|&s;werable to our Engli&s;h half-crowns.</NOTE> &s;o his faithful laborious Mini&s;ters have their two hundred Shekels of &s;ilver, and that indeed is a great reward. <HI>Cant.</HI> 8.12. <HI>My vine|yard which is mine, is before me: thou (O Solomon) mu&s;t have a thou&s;and, and tho&s;e that keep the fruit thereof, two hundred.</HI> O what an honor is it for faithful Mini&s;ters to have a fift part of that Re|ward that Chri&s;t has him&s;elf; in this 12 <HI>v.</HI> Chri&s;t oppo&s;eth his vineyard (his Church) to that of <HI>Solomons</HI> which is mentioned in <HI>v.</HI> 11. and though doubtle&s;s <HI>Solomons</HI> vineyard was one of the ra|re&s;t, choice&s;t, and fruitfulle&s;t vineyards in all <HI>Judaea,</HI> yet it was wonderful inferiour to Chri&s;ts vineyard; and that partly becau&s;e Chri&s;ts vineyard co&s;t him a dearer and a greater price (even the price of his blood) then ever <HI>Solomons</HI> co&s;t him &amp;;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1.18, 19,</NOTE> partly b&eacute;cau&s;e his vineyard &s;erves to more &s;piritual, high, honorable and noble
<PB N="516" REF="269"> ends,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 3.15.</NOTE> then ever <HI>Solomons</HI> did, <HI>viz.</HI> the glory &amp; exaltation of God, the propagating of truth, the bringing forth of the fruits of the Spirit,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 5.22, 23.</NOTE> <HI>viz.</HI> love, joy, peace, long-&s;uffering, gentlene&s;s, goodne&s;s, faith, meekne&s;s, temperance, the bringing in of &s;inners, and the building up of Saints; and partly becau&s;e his eye is &s;till upon it, and his protection is &s;till over it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 121.3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.</NOTE> and his pre&s;ence is &s;till with it. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 27.2, 3. <HI>In that day &s;ing ye unto her, a vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it, I will water it every moment; le&s;t any hurt it. I will keep it night and day.</HI> But <HI>Solomons</HI> eye was not alwayes up|on his vineyard, neither was his hand of protection alwayes over it, neither was his kingly pre&s;ence alwayes with it; and partly be|cau&s;e all his trea&s;ure is laid up in his vineyard (his Church) his trea&s;ures of grace,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 3.10.17, 18, 19, 20.</NOTE> his trea&s;ure of mercy, his trea&s;ures of com|fort, his trea&s;ures of goodne&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> is all laid up in his Church; but <HI>Solomon</HI> as rich &amp; as glorious a King as he was, yet he had no &s;uch trea&s;ures laid up in his vineyard; <HI>Solomon</HI> never made his vineyard his trea&s;ury; and partly becau&s;e his vineyard was given to him for ever,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 2.7. John 6.39. Ch. 17.6, 8, 12.</NOTE> as an everla&s;ting inheritance; but <HI>Solomons</HI> was but temporary and mutable. Now all tho&s;e that are painfull and faithfull labourers in Chri&s;ts vineyard, &s;hall receive a noble a li|berall compen&s;ation and recompence for their labours; no man &s;hall &s;hut a dore nor open a dore in Chri&s;ts vineyard for nought; no man &s;hall labour an houre there without a reward; all faithfull Mini&s;ters are Fellow-labourers with Chri&s;t in the &s;pirituall hu&s;|bandry,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 3.8, 9.</NOTE> they dig with Chri&s;t, &amp; they plant with Chri&s;t, and they prune with Chri&s;t, and they water with Chri&s;t, and they watch with Chri&s;t, &amp; therefore Chri&s;t will allow them a fift part of the glory and reward with him&s;elfe; as he has his thou&s;and pieces of &s;ilver, &s;o he will look to it that they &s;hall have their two hundred pieces of &s;ilver; a thou&s;and is the number of perfection, and here it may note that fulne&s;s of glory that Chri&s;t &s;hould have, &amp; the two hundred may note that very great proportion of heavenly glory that all the faithfull labourers in Chri&s;ts vineyard &s;hall have,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Math. 19.27, 28, 29.</NOTE> who have helpt forward the flouri&s;hing e&s;tate of that vine|yard. Look as the thriving of the child adds to the comfort and the credit of the Nur&s;e, and the fruitfulne&s;s of the field adds to the plea&s;ure and delight of the Husbandman, and the health and increa&s;e of the Flock adds to the joy and reward of the Shep|herd;
<PB N="517" REF="269"> &s;o the increa&s;e of holine&s;s, the thriving, the fruitfulne&s;s of &s;ouls in holine&s;s, adds to the credit and comfort, to the plea&s;ure and delight, to the joy and reward of faithful painful Mini&s;ters, who are Nur&s;es, Husbandmen, and Shepherds, in the language of the holy Scriptures. Though it be true, that faithful Mini&s;ters are a &s;weet &s;avour to God, both in them that are &s;aved,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 2.15.</NOTE> and in them that peri&s;h, though their labour whether it hit or mi&s;s is accep|ted, and &s;hall be rewarded of the Lord,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 49.45.</NOTE> (as the Phy&s;itian has his Fee, though the patient dies, &amp; the Nur&s;e has her wages, though the child don't thrive, and the Vine-dre&s;&s;er has his hire, though the Vines don't bare fruit) yet the more they win men to heaven, and the more by their means the work of holine&s;s is carried on in the hearts &amp; lives of men, the weightier will be their crowne of glory, and the greater will be their joy and rejoycing in the great day of our Lord. O Sirs, did you but &s;ee your faithfull Mi|ni&s;ters tears, did you but heare their heavy &s;ighs and groanes, were you but acquainted with their fervent and frequent pray|ers on your behalfes, did you but believe how they beare their brains, and how willing they are not only to &s;pend them&s;elves, but even to &s;pit out their very lungs in the &s;ervice of your &s;ouls, how would you call upon your own &s;ouls to adde holine&s;s to ho|line&s;s! yea charge your own &s;ouls to perfect holine&s;s in the feare of the Lord. Well friends, as ever you would adde to your faith|full Mini&s;ters comfort here, and to their joy and crowne at the coming of our Lord, labour after higher degrees of holine&s;s. But,</P>
<P>La&s;tly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holi|ne&s;s, con&s;ider, that the more holine&s;s you have here, the more <MILESTONE N="17"> happine&s;s you &s;hall have hereafter; the more grace you have on earth, the more glory you &s;hall have in heaven. Now before I come to make good this Argument, <HI>viz.</HI> that &s;ome Saints &s;hall partake of more glory in heaven then others &s;hall, give me leave to promi&s;e the&s;e few things to prevent mi&s;takes.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, That the object of their happine&s;s, which is God ble&s;&s;ed for ever, will be one and the &s;ame to all Saints, all glorified Saints <MILESTONE N="1"> &s;hall have but one God among them all; God &s;hall be no more one Saints God, then he &s;hall be every Saints God in heaven, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, That the beatifical vi&s;ion &s;hall be &s;een by all the <MILESTONE N="2"> Saints, and communicated to all the Saints, they &s;hall all have a
<PB N="518" REF="270"> happy and ble&s;&s;ed fruition and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of God; all the ve&s;&s;els of glory &s;hall be filled to the brim with a cleare &s;ight of God, and with a full injoyment of God; and yet doubtle&s;s, for all this, &s;ome Saints &s;hall apprehend more of God then others, and com|prehend more of God then others, and enjoy more of God then others; though all &s;hall be filled with tho&s;e everla&s;ting &s;prings of plea&s;ure and delight that be at Gods right hand,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 16. <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> yet &s;ome &s;hall be able to take in more of tho&s;e plea&s;ures of Paradi&s;e then o|thers &s;hall.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 4.3.&mdash;8.</NOTE> Though all the widows ve&s;&s;els were filled to the brim with oyle, yet, doubtle&s;s, &s;ome being greater and larger then o|thers, they accordingly contained more oyle then others; and &s;o 'twill be with the Saints when they come to heaven; There &s;hall be no lack of glory to any of the Saints in glory; all the Saints &s;hall be fill'd with glory according to their capacity. If you bring a thou&s;and ve&s;&s;els of different &s;izes to the Sea, the Sea fills them all, though their &s;izes differ, and &s;ome are bigger, and others le&s;|&s;er, yet all are fill'd, every little ve&s;&s;ell hath its fill as well as the greater; &s;o every Saint &s;hall have his fill of glory when he comes to glory; the felicity of every Saint &s;hall be perfect: God will be all in all to all Saints.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 17.15.</NOTE></P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, All Saints &s;hall be freed from all evills alike, they &s;hall all be freed from the aking head, and from the unbelieving heart; they &s;hall all alike be free from the evill of &s;in, and from the evill of &s;ufferings; there &s;hall not be a Saint in glory that &s;hall ever feele a pricking brier,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 28.24.</NOTE> or a grieving thorne; there all &s;orrow &s;hall be removed from all their hearts, and all tears &s;hall be wipt from all their eyes, <HI>Rev.</HI> 7.17.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> Fourthly, and la&s;tly, the degrees of glory that Saints &s;hall have in heaven, &s;hall not be given out to them upon the account of their merits, or the dignity of their per&s;ons, or the worthine&s;s of their works, but upon the account of Gods meere mercy and grace, who in the day of retribution will delight to crowne his own gifts (not our merits) and where he &s;hall finde the greate&s;t mea&s;ures of grace &amp; holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Deus nihil co|ronat ni&s;i dona &s;ua.</HI> Aug. When God crowneth us, he doth but crowne his own gifts in us, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></NOTE> there he will of his own free mer|cy be&s;tow the greate&s;t mea&s;ure of glory. Well friends, remember this, you mu&s;t alwayes carefully di&s;tingui&s;h between the e&s;&s;ence and &s;ub&s;tance of glory, and between degrees and mea&s;ures of glory. Now the e&s;&s;ence and &s;ub&s;tance of glory (which con&s;i&s;ts in
<PB N="519" REF="270"> the Saints full communion with God, and in their perfect con|formity to God, and in their univer&s;al &s;ubjection to God, and in their everla&s;ting fruition of God) be common to all the Saints, &s;o that no one Saint &s;hall have more of the e&s;&s;ence and &s;ub&s;tance of glory then another has, yet the degrees and mea&s;ures of glory &s;hall be di&s;tributed to &s;ome more, to &s;ome le&s;s. Now that there &s;hall be different degrees of glory in heaven, an&s;werable to the different degrees of grace and holine&s;s that the Saints reach to here on earth, and that God will at la&s;t proportion his Rewards according to the different degrees of labour, &s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ice, and &s;uffer|ings of his people in this world, may be made evident. 1. By cleare Scriptures. 2. By Arguments. Now there are &s;everall Scriptures that &s;peaks out this truth: take the&s;e for a ta&s;te.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, that 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 3.8. <HI>Now he that planteth, and he that water|eth <MILESTONE N="1"> are one, and every man &s;hall receive his own reward, according to his own labour.</HI> The Apo&s;tle having compared his own and <HI>A|pollo's</HI> work together, adds, <HI>That both &s;hould receive their reward according to their work,</HI> that is, as their work differed, &s;o &s;hould their reward differ; though they both preacht one and the &s;ame doctrine, and had both one and the &s;ame de&s;igne and purpo&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI> to bring in &s;ouls to Chri&s;t, and to build up &s;ouls to Chri&s;t, yet according to their different degrees of labour, &s;o &s;hould be their different degrees of reward. Though no man &s;hould work in Gods vineyard for nought, yet he that was mo&s;t faithful, dili|gent, and laborious in planting or in watering Gods Husbandry, &s;hould have the greate&s;t reward. <HI>Paul</HI> and <HI>Apollo</HI> &s;hall at la&s;t receive their different reward according to their different la|bour; or neerer the Original, they &s;hall each of them receive <GAP DESC="foreign">, their proper reward, according to their proper work.</P>
<P>A &s;econd Scripture is that 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">5.41, 42. <HI>There is one glory of the Sun, <MILESTONE N="2"> and another glory of the Moone, and another glory of the Stars; for one Star dif|fereth from another in glory: &s;o al&s;o is the re&s;urrection of the dead.</HI> Mark here is the full &s;top, and the&s;e words are not to be referr'd to tho&s;e following words, <HI>viz. That the body is &s;own in corruption, and ri&s;eth againe in incorrup|tion.</HI> For the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks not here of the difference between glorious and inglorious, corruptible and incorruptible things; but he &s;peaks here of the difference that is between heavenly and glorious things; <HI>for,</HI> faith he, <HI>one Star differs from another in glory.</HI> 'Tis very ob&s;ervable, that the com|pari&s;on runs between the glorified condition of &s;ome Saints that &s;hall
<PB N="520" REF="271"> ri&s;e, and other &s;ome, that &s;hall ri&s;e in the great day. So that look as one Star differs from another Star in glory, &s;o one Saint &s;hall differ from ano|ther Saint in glory at the re&s;urrection of the dead. Though every Star is bright, &s;hining, and glorious, yet &s;ome Stars are more bright, &s;hining and gl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rious then others are, &s;o though every Saint &s;till &s;hine gloriou&s;ly in heaven, yet &s;ome Saints &s;hall have a greater lu&s;tre, glory, and &s;hine upon them then others &s;hall. Look as &s;ome heavenly bodies are more glorious then others; &s;o in the morning of the re&s;urrection &s;ome Saints &s;hall be more glorious then others, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="3"> A third Scripture is that 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 9.6. <HI>But this I &s;ay, He which &s;oweth &s;pa|ringly, &s;hall reap &s;paringly: and he which &s;oweth bountifully, &s;hall reap bounti|fully.</HI> A &s;paring liberality &s;hall be attended with a &s;paring reward, and a bounteous liberality &s;hall be attended with a bounteous reward. Look as the harve&s;t an&s;wers the mea&s;ure of &s;eed that is &s;own, &s;o that he that &s;ows but little reaps but little, and he that &s;ows much reaps much; &s;o Saints reaping at la&s;t will be an&s;werable to their &s;owing here. All mens charities &s;hall at la&s;t be rewarded proportionable to the &s;everall degrees of it; he that gives a pound &s;hall have a greater reward then he that gives a pen|ny; he that &s;ows thou&s;ands, &s;hall reap more then he that &s;ows hundreds; he &s;hall have the mo&s;t plentifull crop in heaven, who has &s;ow'd mo&s;t &s;eed here on earth, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> They &s;hall have intere&s;t upon intere&s;t in heaven, who &s;ow much on this &s;ide heaven.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="4"> A fourth Scripture is that <HI>Luk</HI> 19.12.&mdash;20. Now in this Parable you have a great Lord going into a far Country;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mina</HI> here tran&s;lated a pound, is twelve oun|ces and a halfe, which pound accor|ding to five &s;hillings an ounce, is three pound two &s;hillings and &s;ix pence &s;tarling mo|ney. Math. 2.2. Rev. 17.14. and ch. 1.5.</NOTE> but before he goes he gives ten pounds to ten of his &s;ervants to trade with till his returne. Now upon his returne, he that had increa&s;ed his pound to ten pounds, was made ruler over ten Cities, <HI>v.</HI> 17. And he that made five of one, was made ruler o|ver five Cities, <HI>v.</HI> 19. Here he that gained mo&s;t received the greate&s;t re|ward. The Nobleman in this Parable is our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who is truly and highly noble, he being coeternall and coequall with his Father in re&s;pect of his Deity; he was borne a king, and is now King of kings, and Lord of lords, and Prince of the Kings of the earth. The far Countrey that he is gone to is heaven, for thither he went at his a&s;cen&s;ion; now when he &s;hall returne from heaven to judge the quick &amp; the dead, he will then bring men to an account, to a reckoning about their improvement of all the gifts and graces that he has intru&s;ted them with, and according to the different improvement that men &s;hall make of their Talents, &s;o &s;hall be their reward; he that makes the greate&s;t improvement of his pound, he &s;hall have the greate&s;t reward, he &s;hall be Ruler over ten Cities, that is, he &s;hall be very highly honored and exalted, and he that makes a le&s;&s;er improvement, he &s;hall have a le&s;&s;er reward, he &s;hall be Ruler over five Ci|ties; he that makes a great improvement of a little, he &s;hall, if I may &s;o &s;peak, &s;it at Chri&s;ts right hand, but he that makes a le&s;&s;er improvement, he mu&s;t be contented to &s;it at Chri&s;ts left hand. God will proportion out mens reward at la&s;t an&s;werable to their improvement of that trea&s;ure that he has put into their hands; and yet this doth not infer merit of works, but a gracious di&s;po&s;ition in God to encourage his &s;ervants in a way of well-doing, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<PB N="553" REF="271">
<P>The fift Scripture, is that, <HI>Dan.</HI> 12.3.<NOTE PLACE="marg">From this very Text, your En|gli&s;h An|notators con|clude that there are degrees of glory in Hea|ven, &amp;c.</NOTE> <HI>And they that bee wi&s;e &s;hall &s;hine, as the brightne&s;s of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteou&s;ne&s;s, as the &s;tars for ever and ever.</HI> The glory of Heaven, is here laid out in &s;hining terms, for look how gloriou&s;ly the &s;hining of &s;tars, doth excel the &s;hin|ing of the Firmament; &s;o &s;ome Saints &s;hall as far out-&s;hine others in glory, as the Stars do now out-&s;hine the Firmament; look as the Stars are a more beautiful, and glorious part of the Orb, than the Firmament is; &s;o &s;ome Saints &s;hall have a great deal more beauty and glory upon them, than others &s;hall: And look as there are different degrees of glory, be|tween the glory of the Firmament, and the glory of the Stars now, &s;o there &s;hall bee different degrees of glory, between one glorious Saint and another at la&s;t. All the Saints &s;hall at la&s;t &s;hine as the firmament; but tho&s;e that by their Doctrine, In&s;truction, and Conver&s;ation, turn many to righteou&s;ne&s;s, the&s;e &s;hall &s;hine as the Stars, for ever and ever: Some of the highe&s;t &s;eats in glory, &s;hall bee for &s;uch,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 26.18.</NOTE> <HI>who turn &s;inners from darkne&s;s to light, and from the power of Satan to Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> Tis very ob&s;ervable, that as the Apo&s;tles were very emi|nent in this work, &s;o Chri&s;t has given it under his own hand,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 19 28. Luke 22.28.29.</NOTE> that they &s;hall &s;it upon twelve Thrones, as &s;o many Kings, judging the twelve tribes of <HI>I&s;rael;</HI> they had done and &s;uffer|ed more for Chri&s;t than others, and therefore Chri&s;t will put a greater glory upon them than upon others; though ma|ny learned men differ about the interpretation of tho&s;e words, <HI>yee al&s;o &s;hall &s;it upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of</HI> I&s;rael; and therefore I dare not peremptorily con|clude this or that to bee the &s;en&s;e of them, yet this is mo&s;t plain and evident in the Text, that the Apo&s;tles are under a promi&s;e, of &s;ome peculiar and more eminent degree of ho|nour, glory, and dignity, than others are under? look as their Service to Chri&s;t was a peculiar and eminent &s;ervice, &s;o Chri&s;t promi&s;es them a peculiar and eminent Reward; e|very man of them &s;hall have his particular Throne, and e|very one of them &s;hall have the honour, and dignity of judg|ing, that is of governing, and ruling the twelve tribes of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI> Look as Emba&s;&s;adors, and cheif Coun&s;ellors, and
<PB N="554" REF="272"> Pre&s;idents have the highe&s;t and chiefe&s;t &s;eats in the Kingly A&s;&s;embly;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 12.22, 23</NOTE> &s;o the Apo&s;tles &s;hall have the highe&s;t, and the chiefe&s;t &s;eats in the general A&s;&s;embly, and Church of the fir&s;t born in Heaven, they &s;hall &s;it as it were on the Throne, or on the Bench with Chri&s;t, &s;o highly and greatly &s;hall they bee exalted. If wee cannot hit upon the mean|ings of the Reward here promi&s;ed, yet wee may &s;afely and ea&s;ily gather from the de&s;cription of it, that there &s;hall bee different degrees of glory, in Chri&s;ts Kingdome of glory. The Apo&s;tles followed Chri&s;t through great tribulations and afflictions, and they continued with him in all his temptati|ons, they for&s;ook all to waite on him, and after they had faithfully, laboriou&s;ly, &s;ucce&s;sfully, and very eminently &s;erved him, they made them&s;elves an offering for him (as I have formerly &s;hewed you) and therefore Chri&s;t will at la&s;t in a more eminent way exalt them, and glorifie them, than hee will others that have never &s;een that of Chri&s;t, nor re|ceived that from Chri&s;t, nor done that for Chri&s;t, nor &s;uf|fer'd that for Chri&s;t as they have done&punc; degrees of glory &s;hall at la&s;t bee proportion'd out an&s;werable to tho&s;e degrees of &s;ervice, which in this life men have been drawn out to. Such a thing as this the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> do's more than hint (if I mi&s;take not) in that, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2.19, 20. <HI>For what is our hope, or joy, or Crown of rejoycing? are not even yet, in the pre&s;ence of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, at his coming? For yee are our glory and joy:</HI> the crown that <HI>Paul</HI> &s;peaks of here, is not that common crown of righteou&s;ne&s;s, nor that common crown of life and immortality,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 4.8. Jam. 1.12. Rev. 2.10 1 Pet. 5.4.</NOTE> nor that common crown of glory, that all the Saints &s;hall bee crown'd with at la&s;t; but hee &s;peaks here of an Apo&s;tolical crown, of a &s;pecial, peculiar crown, that &s;hould accrue to him upon the account of his &s;er|viceablene&s;s to their Souls, and of this crown hee &s;peaks a|gain in that, <HI>Phil.</HI> 4.1. <HI>Therefore, my brethren, my dear|ly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, &s;o stand fa&s;t in the Lord my dearly beloved:</HI> hee calls the <HI>Philipians,</HI> his crown, and that partly becau&s;e their &s;piritual growth, con|&s;tancy, and per&s;everance, was now his glory among other Churches, but mainly becau&s;e they &s;hould bee his particular
<PB N="555" REF="272"> crown of rejoycing, in the great day of our Lord Je&s;us; hee knew that the <HI>Philipians</HI> profit would bee his crown, and his advantage another day. The Apo&s;tle alludes here to the cu&s;tome of the <HI>Romans,</HI> who as they had their common crown<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> of Bayes, Ivie, and Lawrell &amp;c. (and the&s;e were &s;uch, that their hor&s;es which won the race were often crown'd with, which occa&s;ioned <HI>Theocritus</HI> to &s;ay, &s;ee what poor things the world glories in; for as their Conquerours are crown'd, &s;o are their Hor&s;es) &s;o they had their peculiar, their &s;pecial crowns that were the rewards of their Con|querors, that had done &s;pecial &s;ervice for their country. So there are common crowns, that belong to all the Saints, as Saints, as the crown of righteou&s;ne&s;s; the crown of life, and the crown of glory; and as there are the&s;e common crowns, &s;o there are &s;pecial and peculiar crowns, that they &s;hall bee crown'd with, that are exerci&s;ed in more high and excellent &s;ervices, than others have been employed in; and this is the crown that here the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks of; hee knew very well that his reward &s;hould bee an&s;werable to his work, for though God never did, nor never will reward men for their works (as if they were, the meritorious cau&s;e of the reward) yet hee will for degrees, reward them according to their works, there are peculiar crowns, &s;pecial crowns, for tho&s;e that have done peculiar, and &s;pecial &s;ervices for Chri&s;t on Earth.</P>
<P>A &s;ixt Scripture is that, <HI>Matth.</HI> 5.11, 12. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are yee, when men &s;hall revile you, and per&s;ecute you, and &s;hall &s;ay all manner of evil again&s;t you, fal&s;ely, for my &s;ake: Rejoyce, and bee exceeding glad: for great is your reward in Heaven:</HI> Suf|fering Saints, per&s;ecuted Saints, &s;hall bee &s;ure of great re|wards? God will reward upon his people, not only their inno|cencie, integrity, patience, and courage under their &s;uf|ferings, but the more their &s;ufferings, revilings, and per|&s;ecutions are multiplyed in this world, the more &s;hall their recompence and reward, bee multiplied in another world. 'Tis true Chri&s;t hath many lovers of his Crown, but few bearers of his Cro&s;s, all would rejoyce with him, but few care to &s;uffer for him, but yet 'tis as true on the one hand
<PB N="556" REF="273"> <HI>viz.</HI> that they who bear mo&s;t of his Cro&s;s, &s;hall bee greate&s;t &s;harers in his Crown; they that &s;uffer mo&s;t for him on Earth &s;hall bee mo&s;t ble&s;t and rewarded by him, when they come to Heaven.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 1.4, 5.</NOTE> Look as the con&s;olation of the Saints, ri&s;es higher and higher in this world, even as their &s;ufferings, ri&s;e higher and higher; &s;o the glory of the Saints, &s;hall ri&s;e high|er and higher in the other world, as their &s;ufferings has ri&s;e higher and higher in this world. The per&s;ecuted Chri&s;ti|ans in <HI>Tertullian</HI> cries out, <HI>Crudelitas ve&s;tra gloria no&s;tra,</HI> your cruelty is our glory, and the harder wee are put to it, the greater &s;hall bee our reward in Heaven. One &s;peaking of the Martyrs, &s;aid, look how many &s;ufferings they have; &s;o many crowns they &s;hall have; for every &s;uffering, God &s;hall &s;et a crown on their heads: By how much mens &s;uffer|ings have been greater (&s;aith <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom</HI>) by &s;o much the more their crown &s;hall bee bright and &s;plendent. The great|er conflicts and buffetings, any Saint hath endur'd, the greater &s;hall bee his reward, and the more ample &s;hall bee his glory &s;aith <HI>Au&s;tin:</HI> As Chri&s;t hath many crowns upon his head, &s;utable to the multitude of his &s;ufferings and victories, &s;o Chri&s;tians at la&s;t &s;hall have crowns &s;utable to the multi|tude of their &s;ufferings,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 19.7.</NOTE> and &s;utable to tho&s;e famous victories they have gained over a tempting Devil, and a per&s;ecut|ing world; certainly it will bee but Ju&s;tice, that they &s;hould receive the weightie&s;t Crown,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 5.4. &amp; chap. 2.13, 14.</NOTE> who have bore the heavie&s;t Cro&s;s.</P>
<P>The &s;eventh and la&s;t Scripture that I &s;hall produce, is that, <HI>Matth.</HI> 10.41. <HI>Hee that receiveth a Prophet, in the name of a Prophet, &s;hall receive a Prophets reward;</HI> that is &s;ay &s;ome, they &s;hall bee partakers of the &s;ame reward, that is laid up for the Prophets. Without all di&s;pute the&s;e two things lyes fair in the Text,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, that there is &s;ome &s;pecial and eminent degrees of re|ward due unto a Prophet above other men. And,</P>
<P>Secondly, that he that &s;hall entertain a Prophet, and per|form any offices of love and favour to him, under that name and notion, hee &s;hall bee partaker of that reward; hee that receives a Prophet, as hee is Gods me&s;&s;enger, and imploy|ed
<PB N="557" REF="273"> in his &s;ervice, and &s;ent about his arrant, and not upon any carnal or worldly re&s;pects, hee &s;hall receive a Prophets reward, that is, hee &s;hall receive either &s;uch a reward as the Prophet him&s;elf &s;hall receive at la&s;t, or hee &s;hall re|ceive &s;uch a large ample and noble recompence as is meet for one to receive, that received a Prophet, as coming from the Lord, and as acted by the Lord: Look as &s;uc<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> who give an honourable reception, to the Amba&s;&s;adours of Kings, or Princes, do highly rai&s;e them&s;elves in the favour and e|&s;teem, of tho&s;e Kings or Princes, that had &s;ent them; &s;o tho&s;e that receive the faithful Prophets of the Lord, as the Amba&s;&s;adours of God, they &s;hall bee highly intere&s;ted in the favour of God, and as nobly bee rewarded by God. I might produce &s;everal other Scriptures,<NOTE PLACE="marg">As that Mat. 6.20. Joh. 14.2. Mat. 20.20. to the 24.</NOTE> that &s;ound to the &s;ame purpo&s;e, as the&s;e Seven do; but enough is as good as a fea&s;t.</P>
<P>I &s;hall therefore in the Second place come to the Rea&s;ons that may further evidence and confirm this great truth, <HI>viz.</HI> That there &s;hall bee different degrees of glory in Heaven; a|mong many other rea&s;ons that might bee given, I &s;hall only give you the&s;e five.</P>
</DIV4>
<DIV4 TYPE="section">
<P>Fir&s;t, there are diver&s;ities of degrees of Angels in Hea|ven; <MILESTONE N="1"> There are Cherubims and Seraphims, and there are Angels and Archangels; now the Cherubims and Seraphims, are a lower rank and order of Angels, and the Archangels, are a higher rank and order of Angels. And the Apo&s;tle &s;peaks clearly of &s;everal ranks and orders of invi&s;ible crea|tures, in that <HI>Col.</HI> 1.16. here you have an enumeration of, <HI>Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, and Powers,</HI> and &s;o in that <HI>Eph.</HI> 1.21. <HI>Far above all Principalities, and Powers, and Might, and Dominion.</HI> The&s;e principalities and powers, are the ble&s;&s;ed Angels that Mini&s;ter before the Lord, and that are &s;ubordinate unto one another; and here they are reck|oned up by a&s;&s;ending, power is above principality, and might above power, and dominion above might. To define tho&s;e orders and degrees of Angels, with which God is invi|roned, is a work too high and hard for mee; and though the Papi&s;ts, and &s;everal School-men are &s;o bold as to define
<PB N="558" REF="274"> their particular offices and orders,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Diony&s;ius. Areo|pagita, Thomas Aquinas, An|&s;elm, &amp;c.</NOTE> yet I dare not be wi&s;e above what is written; where the Scripture is &s;ilent, I love to be &s;i|lent, and where the Scripture hath no tongue, there I de&s;ire to have no ears. There is an order in Hell, an order among the Devils, and therefore you read in<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Mat. 9.34. &amp; chap. 12.34. Mark 3.22. The very &s;up|po&s;ition of or|der &s;uppo&s;eth inequality, and di&s;proportion.</NOTE> three Scriptures of the Prince of Devils; and &s;o much al&s;o that expre&s;&s;ion imports, that you have in that <HI>Mat.</HI> 25.41. <HI>The Devil and his Angels,</HI> which intimates a Prince among tho&s;e unclean and damned &s;pirits. Now &s;hall there be order in Hell, and confu&s;ion in Heaven: Shall there be order among the evil Angels, and &s;hall there not much more be order among the good Angels? Certainly that God that is the God of order, and that hath made all things in order, and that to this day keeps all things in order here below, will never &s;uffer the lea&s;t di&s;or|der and confu&s;ion, to be among tho&s;e Princes of glory, that &s;tand continually before him. Hee that denies order in Hea|ven, denies Heaven to be Heaven; and hee that grants order in Heaven, grants degrees of glory in Heaven. Though there is no difference between the Angels <HI>in natura Angeli|ca,</HI> the Angelical nature being alike in all, yet <HI>in officio,</HI> in office there is a great deal of difference in the glory of the Angels; for God imploys &s;ome of the Heavenly Ho&s;t in more high, noble, and excellent &s;ervices than others, and an&s;wer|able thereunto &s;hall their reward bee. Though all Angels &s;hall &s;hare alike in the e&s;&s;ential, and &s;ub&s;tantial glory of Hea|ven, yet there is an additional glory, an accidental glory, an over-plus of glory, that &s;hall be conferred upon the An|gels, an&s;werable to the &s;everal and various &s;ervices that they have managed and ingaged in. Now the Scripture tells us plainly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 22.30</NOTE> <HI>that in Heaven wee &s;hall be like to the Angels;</HI> and therefore if there be degrees of Angels, and if the Angels in Heaven &s;hall have a different glory and reward, according to the work in which they have been employed, then the glory of the Saints in re&s;pect of degrees &s;hall bee different al&s;o. But</P>
<P>Secondly, There are degrees of Torments in Hell, and therefore by the Rule of Contraries, there &s;hall bee degrees of Glory in Heaven. Now that there are degrees of torments
<PB N="559" REF="274"> in Hell, is mo&s;t evident from &s;everal plain Scriptures, as from that 10th. of <HI>Matth. v.</HI> 14, 15. <HI>And who&s;oever &s;hall not re|ceive you, nor hear your words, when yee depart out of that hou&s;e, or City, &s;hake off the du&s;t of your feet. Verily I &s;ay unto you,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Contempt of Chri&s;t and his Go&s;pel, is wor&s;e than <HI>Sodomy.</HI></NOTE> <HI>it &s;hall be more tollerable for the Land of Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgement, than for that City. Sodom</HI> and <HI>Gomorrah</HI> &s;hall have an ea&s;ier and cooler Hell, than &s;uch Cities &s;hall have, that have contemned the tenders of Grace, and the offers of Mercy. 'Tis very ob&s;ervable, that the puni&s;hments that God in this life hath inflicted upon the <HI>Jews</HI> for their contempt of Chri&s;t, and his everla&s;ting Go&s;pel, have been more terrible, than his raining Hell out of Heaven upon <HI>Sodom</HI> and <HI>Gomor|rah,</HI> for on a &s;udden, and in a moment God con&s;umed them, and burnt them up; but God hath for above this &s;ixteen hun|dred years, been a raining Hell out of Heaven upon the <HI>Jews;</HI> hee hath for a long time vext them with all manner of adver|&s;ity, and to this very day hee hath made them all the world over, a &s;pectacle of his dreadful &s;everity; but all tho&s;e plagues and puni&s;hments that the <HI>Jews</HI> have been, and &s;till are un|der, are but flea-bitings, and &s;cratches on the hand, to tho&s;e dreadful and amazing judgements, that God in the great day of account, will inflict upon all Chri&s;ts refu&s;ers, and Go&s;pel-de&s;pi&s;ers. And &s;o <HI>chap.</HI> 11.20, 21, 22, 23. <HI>Then began hee to upbraid the Cities, wherein mo&s;t of his mighty works were done, becau&s;e they repented not. Woe unto thee Chorazin, wee unto thee Beth&s;aida; for if the mighty works which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have re|pented long ago in &s;ackcloth and a&s;hes. But I &s;ay unto you, it &s;hall bee more tollerable for Tyre and Sidon, at the day of Judgement, than for you. And thou Capernaum, which art exalted up to Heaven, &s;halt bee brought down to Hell; for if the mighty works which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.</HI> The more mercy hath been up|on the bare knee intreating &s;inners to repent; the more ear|ne&s;t the Lord Je&s;us hath been in wooing &s;inners to beleeve on him, and to re&s;ign up them&s;elves wholly and only to him, the more clearly and &s;weetly the everla&s;ting Go&s;pel hath &s;ound|ed in &s;inners ears, and the more neer, and the more often
<PB N="560" REF="275"> Heaven hath been brought to &s;inners doors, and yet they have bid defiance to all, and hardened them&s;elves in their &s;ins, with the greater violence, and with the more dreadful vengeance, &s;hall &s;uch be plunged into the lowe&s;t Hell. And &s;o in that, <HI>Mat.</HI> 23.14. <HI>Woe unto you Scribes, Phari&s;ees, and Hypocrites, for yee devour Widdows hou&s;es, and for a pretence make long prayer; therefore yee &s;hall receive the greater damna|tion.</HI> Hypocrites &s;hall bee double-damned, the hotte&s;t and the darke&s;t place in Hell is re&s;erved for them. Give him his portion with hypocrites; for number and weight there are no torments in Hell to the torments of hypocrites. Counterfeit &s;anctity is double iniquity, and therefore 'tis but ju&s;tice that the hypocrite &s;hould have double torment. And &s;o in that, <HI>Luke</HI> 12.47, 48. <HI>That &s;ervant that knows his Masters will, and doth it not, &s;hall be beaten with many &s;tripes, and hee that knew it not, and did commit things worthy of &s;tripes, &s;hall bee beaten with few &s;tripes.</HI> Sins again&s;t light and knowledge, are &s;ins again&s;t the noble&s;t remedy; they wa&s;te and wound the con&s;cience mo&s;t; they mo&s;t open &s;inners mouths to bla&s;pheme God, and they mo&s;t harden &s;inners hearts in &s;inning again&s;t God; and every way they dare God mo&s;t, and provoke God mo&s;t to &s;trike with an Iron-Rod, and to whip the knowing tran&s;gre&s;&s;or, not with Rods, but with Scorpions. 'Tis very ob&s;ervable, that the more light and knowledge men &s;in a|gain&s;t in this world,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1.21, 22, 23.</NOTE> the greater judgements God gives them up to, even in this life; take a remarkable in&s;tance in the mo&s;t refined and civil Heathens (who are pre&s;umed to have mo&s;t light and knowledge) who were given up to the mo&s;t bea&s;tly errours about the nature of God, as the <HI>Romans</HI> and <HI>Grecians,</HI> who wor&s;hipped Feavers, and humane pa&s;&s;ions, yea every paltry thing, &amp;c. whereas the <HI>Scythians,</HI> and more barbarous Nations wor&s;hipped the Sun, and the Thunder, &amp;c. things terrible in them&s;elves. Oh how much more then will God in the great day give them up to the greate&s;t judge|ments, who have given them&s;elves up to the greate&s;t &s;ins! Certainly the Profe&s;&s;ors of this age, yea of this City, whether they go to Heaven or Hell, will be the greate&s;t debtors that &s;hall be in either place; the one to the Free-grace of God,
<PB N="561" REF="275"> and the other to his Ju&s;tice; that they that have mo&s;t of Hell in their mouths, and mo&s;t of Hell in their hearts, and mo&s;t of Hell in their lives, &s;hould have mo&s;t of Hell in their &s;ouls at la&s;t, is but ju&s;tice. I &s;hall conclude this &s;econd Argument with a &s;aying of one of the Antients;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Augustin.</NOTE> Look (&s;aith hee) as in Heaven one is more glorious than another, &s;o in Hell one &s;hall be more mi&s;erable than another. Now if there be degrees of torments in Hell (which I &s;uppo&s;e the Scrip|tures but now cited doth undeniably prove) then doubtle&s;s there will be degrees of glory in Heaven.</P>
<P>Thirdly, God in this life di&s;pen&s;es the gifts and graces of his Spirit unequally among his Saints; to &s;ome hee gives two Talents, to others five, and to others ten. Hence 'tis you read both of a weak Faith, and of a &s;trong Faith.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 25. and ch. 8.10, 26. &amp; ch. 15.28.</NOTE> <HI>Why are yee afraid, O yee of little Faith?</HI> And, <HI>O woman great is thy Faith.</HI> And, <HI>Verily I have not found &s;o great Faith, no not in I&s;rael.</HI> And hence it is that you read both of weak Chri&s;tians, and of &s;trong Chri&s;tians. <HI>Hee that is weak in the Faith, receive.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 14.1, 2. 1 Cor. 9.22. 2 Cor. 12.10. Heb. 5.13, 14 1 Pet. 2.2. v. 1.</NOTE> <HI>Ano|ther who is weak eateth herbs. And to the weak, I became as weak, that I might win the weak. Wee then that are &s;trong, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to plea&s;e our &s;elves. When I am weak, then am I &s;trong.</HI> And hence 'tis that you read of Babes, and of Children, and of young Men, and of old Men, in the Scripture. Saints are of different growths. Some are but babes in gifts and grace, others are children, others young men, and others old men. That God that di|&s;tributes the good things of this world unequally among the Sons of men, as to &s;ome more, to others le&s;s; to &s;ome great things, to others little things; to &s;ome high things, to others low things; that God unequally di&s;tributes &s;piritual ble&s;&s;ings among his deare&s;t children; to &s;ome hee gives more light, to others le&s;s; to &s;ome a greater mea&s;ure of love, to others a le&s;s; to &s;ome a greater degree of joy, to others a le&s;s, &amp;c. Some Saints &s;hine in grace and holine&s;s as the Firmament, and others &s;hine in grace and holine&s;s as the Stars; &s;ome &s;hine in grace and holine&s;s as the Moon, and others &s;hine in grace and holine&s;s as the Sun, and all this &s;prings from tho&s;e diffe|rent mea&s;ures of grace and holine&s;s, that God be&s;tows upon
<PB N="562" REF="276"> his people. Now doubtle&s;s men may as well plead for e|qual degrees of grace, as they may for equal degrees of glory; they may as well plead for an equal &s;hare in the good things of this world, as they may plead for an equal &s;hare in the happine&s;s and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s of that other world. Doubtle&s;s as God di&s;pen&s;es his gifts and graces unequally in this life, &s;o hee will di&s;pen&s;e his Rewards unequally in the other life. As mens gifts and graces are different here on earth, &s;o their glo|ry &s;hall be different when they come to Heaven; without all peradventure they &s;hall have the white&s;t and the large&s;t Robes of Honour, and the heavie&s;t and the brighte&s;t Crowns of Glory; who&s;e &s;ouls are mo&s;t richly adorned with grace, and who&s;e lives are mo&s;t eminently be&s;pangled with holine&s;s. The more grace and holine&s;s any Saint hath here, the more hee is prepared and fitted for glory, and the more any Saint is fitted for glory, the more that Saint &s;hall at la&s;t be filled with glory. The greate&s;t mea&s;ures of grace &amp; holine&s;s do mo&s;t inlarge the &s;oul, and widen the &s;oul, and capacitate the &s;oul, to take in the greate&s;t mea&s;ures of glory; and therefore the more grace, the more glory; the more holine&s;s the more hap|pine&s;s a Saint &s;hall have at la&s;t. Certainly God will crown his own gracious works in his children, proportionable to what they are, but they are different and unequally in all his children (in re&s;pect of mea&s;ures and degrees) and there|fore God will &s;et different Crowns of glory upon the heads of his children at la&s;t. But</P>
<P>Fourthly, They that have more grace and holine&s;s than others, they are more like to God than others. They bear his glorious Image in a greater print, they have a brighter cha|racter of God upon them, and they are the mo&s;t lively pi|cture of God in all the world.</P>
<P>Now wee know, though Parents love their children well, and wi&s;h all their children well, and do for all their Children well, yet commonly they love them mo&s;t, and pro|vide for them be&s;t that re&s;emble them mo&s;t. Parents cannot but love tho&s;e children mo&s;t, and lay up for them mo&s;t, who have mo&s;t of them&s;elves in them; and I cannot &s;ee how God can do otherwi&s;e than love them mo&s;t, and provide for them
<PB N="563" REF="276"> be&s;t, who mo&s;t re&s;embled him to the life; the nature of God is a holy nature, and &s;o there lies a holy nece&s;&s;ity on his na|ture, to love them mo&s;t who have mo&s;t grace and holine&s;s in them; look as tis natural to God to hate wickedne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 45.7.</NOTE> &s;o tis natural to God to love holine&s;s; and as the higher men ri&s;e in wickedne&s;s, the more a holy God hates them; &s;o the higher men ri&s;e in holine&s;s, the more a holy God loves them; now the more any are like to God, and the more they are beloved of God, the higher doubtle&s;s in glory &s;hall they bee advanced by God. The be&s;t and the large&s;t Portion is laid up for that Childe that is mo&s;t like his Father; the more any man in holine&s;s re&s;embles God on Ear<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">h, the greater and the larger Portion of glory, that man &s;hall have when hee comes to Heaven. But,</P>
<P>Fiftly, and la&s;tly; to deny degrees of glory in Heaven, and to &s;ay that God won't &s;ute mens wages to their works, nor their rewards to their &s;ervices, nor crown the highe&s;t im|provements of grace with the highe&s;t degrees of glory, is to render u&s;ele&s;s, many glorious exhortations, that are &s;cat|tered up and down in the Scripture; as that in the 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 15.58. <HI>Therefore my beloved Brethren, bee yee &s;tedfa&s;t, unmove|able, alwaies abounding in the work of the Lord, for a&s;much as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.</HI> If this were not a truth, that I have been all this while a&s;&s;erting, why then, when men meet with this exhortation, they may &s;ay, why, tis no great matter whether we are &s;tedfa&s;t, unmoveable, and alwaies abounding in the work of the Lord or no, for if wee are, wee &s;hall never advance our reward in Heaven, wee &s;hall never add Pearls to our glorious Crown, wee &s;hall never add one mite to our happine&s;s and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s: and if wee are not, wee &s;hall bee as high in Heaven, and our reward as great, and our crown as weighty, as theirs &s;hall bee who are &s;tedfa&s;t, unmoveable, &amp; alwaies abound|ing in the work of the Lord. And &s;o the denyal of degrees of glory in Heaven, will take off al&s;o the edge of all tho&s;e other exhortations of perfecting holine&s;s, of &s;owing liberally,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 7 1. cap. 9.6. 2 Pet. 3. ult. Joh. 15.8. 2 Pet 1.5, 6, 7.</NOTE> of growing in grace, of bringing forth much fruit, and of ad|ding vertue to vertue, &amp;c. yea, this will cut the throat of
<PB N="564" REF="277"> all divine endeavours, for who will labour to bee rich in grace, and to bee much in &s;ervice, and to abound in all the fruits of righteou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;s, when none of all this will turn to a mans advantage in another world? If hee that &s;ows little, &s;hall have as great a Harve&s;t, as hee that &s;ows much, if hee that is dull and negligent in the work of the Lord, &s;hall have as great a reward, as hee that is active and a|bundant in the work of the Lord. If tho&s;e trees of righteou&s;|ne&s;s which bring forth much fruit, &s;hall have no greater a re|compence, than tho&s;e trees of righteou&s;ne&s;s which bring forth many leaves (of profe&s;&s;ion) but little fruit, &amp;c. who would &s;ow much, and who would bee active, and abundant in the work of the Lord? and who would bring forth much fruit, verily but few, if any. But now the opinion or ra|ther the truth, that I have been labouring to make good, <HI>viz.</HI> that there &s;hall bee different degrees of glory in Hea|ven, and that God will proportion mens reward to their work, and that he will mea&s;ure out happine&s;s and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s to them at la&s;t, according to the different mea&s;ures of grace be|&s;towed upon his people, and according to the work, &s;ervice, and faithfulne&s;s of his people, in this world. This truth I &s;ay held forth in its lu&s;ter and glory, is a marvellous incou|ragement, and a mighty provocation to all &s;incere Chri&s;ti|ans, to labour after the highe&s;t pitches in Chri&s;tianity, and to bee very eminent in grace and holine&s;s; for what man is there that will not rea&s;on thus, the more grace the more glo|ry, the more holine&s;s the more happine&s;s, the more work the more wages, and the greater my &s;ervice &s;hall bee here, the greater &s;hall bee my reward hereafter; and therefore, O my Soul! grow in grace, perfect holine&s;s, and abound in the work and &s;ervice of the Lord, knowing <HI>that thy labour &s;hall not bee in vain in the Lord:</HI> And thus I have given you the rea&s;ons, that prove that there &s;hall bee degrees of glo|ry in Heaven.</P>
<P>Now I have nothing further to do upon this point, but to give a few brief An&s;wers, to &s;uch Objections, as are com|monly rai&s;ed again&s;t this truth, that I have a&s;&s;erted and proved.</P>
<PB N="565" REF="277">
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> Fir&s;t, Some object and &s;ay, that one Chri&s;t bought us all, and that all our portions are bought by the precious blood of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and that therefore all be|leevers &s;hall &s;hare alike in the inheritance of the Saints in light; now to this Objection I &s;hall An&s;wer.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, That all Saints &s;hall bee equal &s;harers, in the &s;ub|&s;tantial, and e&s;&s;ential glory of Heaven, &amp;c. but of this I have &s;poken before: and therefore,</P>
<P>Secondly, Though a Father buyes a rich inheritance for all his Children, yet this laies no nece&s;&s;ity nor obligation at all upon him, to alot to every one of his Children an equal portion? &s;o though our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, hath by his blood purcha&s;ed a rich inheritance for his Children, yet this layes no nece&s;&s;ity nor obligation at all upon Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to divide this rich inheritance, by equal portions among his Children; tis true, that Chri&s;t hath purcha&s;ed all with his blood, and tis as true, that hee may divide his purcha&s;e among his people as hee plea&s;es; if every man may do with his own as hee plea&s;eth why may not Chri&s;t, mu&s;t hee needs bee bound when others are free?</P>
<P>Thirdly, and la&s;tly, I an&s;wer, that as it is true that the merits and &s;atisfaction of Chri&s;t, is the ground and founda|tion of our reward, and that alone which makes our works capable of a reward; &s;o tis as true, that our works are the &s;ubject of reward, and this is mo&s;t agreeable to the compact that was made between Chri&s;t and his Father; that everla&s;t|ing happine&s;s and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, that eternal glory and felici|ty &s;hould bee mea&s;ured out to the Saints, according to their different mea&s;ures of grace, and different degrees of &s;ervice that they have been engaged in, in this world; and all this upon the credit of Chri&s;ts blood; certainly there is nothing under heaven below the blood of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t that can make differing works, capable of a different reward: the Papi&s;ts are mo&s;t &s;adly out, for they are &s;o blinde and bold as to affirm that the more grace any man hath, the more glo|ry hee merits by his grace, the&s;e men make degrees of grace and not the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to be the meritorious cau&s;e of degrees of glory, and therefore of all men I think they are
<PB N="566" REF="278"> furthe&s;t from glory: certainly this is the beleevers glory, and his crown of rejoycing that all recompences and rewards &s;hall flow in upon him, not upon the account of his merits, but upon the account of Chri&s;ts blood, and thus much &s;hall &s;uffice, to have &s;poken by way of An&s;wer to this Objection.</P>
<P> <MILESTONE N="2"> <HI>Obj.</HI> 2. But now in the Second place, I &s;hall come to an|&s;wer their grand and main objection, and that is taken from that Parable in the 20 <HI>Matth.</HI> where the Kingdome of Hea|ven is compared to a vineyard; now in this Parable there is mention made of a Husband-man that call'd &s;everal labour|ers into his vineyard, at &s;everal hours in the day, &s;ome hee call'd at the fir&s;t hour, and &s;ome hee call'd at the third, and &s;ome at the ninth, and &s;ome at the eleventh, now when they came all to receive their wages, the &s;tory tells us that hee gave every man a penny, hee gave every man an equal re|ward, they that laboured from the fir&s;t hour, and they that laboured from the third hour, and they that laboured from the &s;ixth hour of the day, had no greater a recompence than hee that came in at the eleventh hour, and &s;o had labour'd but one hour in the vineyard, and bore but little, if any, of the heat of the day, from whence the Objectors conclude that there are no degrees of glory in Heaven; but that all &s;hall have glory alike, happine&s;s and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s alike, eve|ry man &s;hall have his penny, every man &s;hall have an equal reward, and no mans penny in Heaven &s;hall bee brighter or bigger than anothers.</P>
<P>Now by way of an&s;wer, to this objection, give mee leave to premi&s;e the&s;e three things?</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, That this Parable of the hou&s;holder, in giving to every man a penny, hath no reference at all to Heaven, nor to the reward, nor to the glory that &s;hall bee confer'd upon the Elect, and this I &s;hall clearly and fully prove, by the&s;e four following Arguments.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, This illative particle, <HI>for,</HI> in <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 1. &s;heweth that this Parable is in&s;erted to expound the former conclu&s;ion, <HI>viz. that the fir&s;t &s;hall bee la&s;t, and the la&s;t &s;hall bee fir&s;t,</HI> and therefore the end of the Parable is concluded, with the re|petition of the &s;ame &s;entence, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 16. <HI>the la&s;t &s;hall bee fir&s;t,
<PB N="567" REF="278"> and the fir&s;t &s;hall be la&s;t.</HI> Chri&s;t by this Parable would teach his hearers, that there is no rea&s;on under Heaven why they which are fir&s;t called in re&s;pect of time &s;hould boa&s;t or triumph over others, becau&s;e hee can ea&s;ily call the uncalled at plea&s;ure, and either make them equal with them, or el&s;e prefer them before them which are fir&s;t. The &s;cope of Chri&s;t in this Parable is not to &s;et forth the equality of cele|&s;tial glory, 'tis not to prove that the happine&s;s and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s of the Saints &s;hall be equal in Heaven, but the very drift of the Parable is to &s;hew, that they which are fir&s;t called and converted, have no cau&s;e at all to de&s;pi&s;e the uncalled, &amp; un|converted, or to trample upon them with the foot of pride, con&s;idering that they who are yet in their &s;ins, and in their blood, and in an unconverted, and un&s;anctified e&s;tate, may yet be called, and either made equal to them, or preferred before them. But</P>
<P>Secondly, Interpreters do generally agree in this, that by the Husbandman wee are to under&s;tand God him&s;elf, and by the Labourers men upon earth, and by the Vineyard the Church of God; and &s;everal of them &s;ay,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;tom, Ori|gen, Jerom, Gre|gory, Austin.</NOTE> that by the five hours in the Parable, wee are to under&s;tand the five ages of man.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, By tho&s;e who were called in the morning,<NOTE PLACE="marg">See my Apples of Gold.</NOTE> and &s;ent into the Vineyard, wee are to under&s;tand tho&s;e who in their childhood are called and converted, they are &s;uch who begin to &s;eek the Lord, and to &s;erve the Lord, even as &s;oon as they are capable of the u&s;e of rea&s;on; As <HI>Samuel</HI> did, and as <HI>Jo|&s;iah</HI> did, and as <HI>Timothy</HI> did.</P>
<P>Secondly, By tho&s;e who are called at the third hour, wee are to under&s;tand tho&s;e who are converted, and turned to the Lord in their youth, in the prime, the &s;pring and morn|ing of their daies.</P>
<P>Thirdly, By tho&s;e who were called at the &s;ixth hour, wee are to under&s;tand tho&s;e who are turned to the Lord in their &s;trength, and in their full and perfect age.</P>
<P>Fourthly, By tho&s;e who were called at the ninth hour, wee are to under&s;tand tho&s;e who are converted and turned to the Lord in their declining age.</P>
<PB N="568" REF="279">
<P>And fifthly, By tho&s;e who were called at the eleventh hour, wee are to under&s;tand tho&s;e who are converted and tur|ned to the Lord in their decrepit old age, when they have one foot in the grave, and there is but a &s;hort &s;tep between them and eternity; when with the Theef upon the cro&s;&s;e they are even ready to bee turned off of the Ladder of life. Now the Vineyard being the Church, all that this parable proveth is no more but this, that whether men are cal'd into the Vineyard of the Church either &s;ooner or later; either at the fir&s;t hour, or at the ninth, or eleventh hour. Yet this &s;hall nei|ther greaten nor le&s;&s;en their reward, for if they are called at the fir&s;t hour, their recompence &s;hall bee never the greater upon that account, or if they are called at the eleventh hour, their reward &s;hall be never the le&s;&s;er upon that account; the reward &s;hall not bee different according to the different times of mens being called and converted, and that this Parable proves; but the reward &s;hall bee different according to the diver&s;ity of our works, and that my former arguments prove. But,</P>
<P>Thirdly, If the Penny<NOTE PLACE="marg">The <HI>Roman</HI> penny is the eight part of an ounce, which after five &s;hil|lings the ounce, is &s;even pence half penny.</NOTE> that every one had in the Parable be meant of glory, then it will roundly follow, that mur|murers &s;hall be &s;aved, and glorified as well as others, for the murmurers had their Penny as well as the re&s;t, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 10, 11, 12. <HI>But when the fir&s;t came, they &s;uppo&s;ed that they &s;hould have received more, and they likewi&s;e received every man a Penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good man of the hou&s;e, &s;aying, The&s;e la&s;t have wrought but one hour, and thou ha&s;t made them equal unto us, which have born the burden, and heat of the day.</HI> The Greek word <GAP DESC="foreign">, that is here rendred murmured, &s;ignifies to grunt as Swine grunt; they grumbled and grunted, and they grunted and grumbled, and pray tell mee what &s;hould &s;uch Swine as mur|murers are do grunting and grumb<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ing in Heaven? doubtle&s;s the Crown of Glory is too bright, too noble, too glorious, and too weighty a Crown, to be &s;et upon murmurers heads. Heaven would be no Heaven, if there were but one gruntler or murmure<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> there; in Heaven all the ve&s;&s;els of Glory &s;hall be full, and there &s;hall not be the lea&s;t &s;hadow of envy, or re|pining
<PB N="569" REF="279"> there. In the &s;treets of that new <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> above, none &s;hall ever complain that others have too much, or that them&s;elves have too little; every glorified Saint &s;hall &s;it down fully &s;atisfied and contented with his portion there. Now &s;hould wee by the Penny under&s;tand a glorified e&s;tate and condition, then this would unavoidably follow, that many &s;hall be brought to a &s;tate of glory, which are not e+lected, nor &s;anctified nor prepared for glory; but this can never, nor mu&s;t never be granted; and therefore without all peradventure this Parable doth no way hold out that &s;tate of glory and felicity which all the called and cho&s;en of God, &s;hall have at Chri&s;ts coming to judge the quick and the dead. But</P>
<P>Fourthly, The Penny that is here mentioned in this Pa|rable, cannot, nor may not be interpreted, &s;o as to &s;ignifie an equality of glory, or an equality of happine&s;s and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, that the Saints &s;hall have in Heaven, becau&s;e &s;uch an inter|pretation, &s;uch an expo&s;ition is cro&s;s and contrary to the common and received Rules of interpreting and expounding of Scripture. Now among other Rules that are to be ob|&s;erved in the interpreting and expounding of Scripture, there are the&s;e two.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t. You mu&s;t &s;o interpret and expound one Text of Scripture, that you do not &s;et it at &s;trife and variance with ano|ther Text of Scripture; for though there is a &s;eeming con|tradiction between Scripture and Scripture, yet there is a ble&s;&s;ed harmony, and a glorious corre&s;pondency between all the parts of Scripture, 'Tis a very dangerous thing &s;o to in|terpret Scripture, as to rai&s;e conte&s;ts and oppo&s;ition between Scriptures and Scriptures; 'tis an evil thing to rai&s;e up Scrip|ture again&s;t Scripture, and &s;o to interpret one as to make it affront another. Woe to him that by his interpretations of Scripture proclaims the Scriptures to be at open war among&s;t them&s;elves. Now to interpret the Penny in the Parable, &s;o as to make it &s;ignifie an equality of glory and happine&s;s a|mong the Saints in Heaven, is to &s;et this Scripture at va|riance, and &s;trife, withall tho&s;e Scriptures that I have pro|duced to prove an inequality in the glory and happine&s;s of
<PB N="570" REF="280"> the Saints in Heaven, and therefore &s;uch an interpretation is rather to be abhorred, than to be received. But</P>
<P>Secondly, Another Rule that is to be ob&s;erved in the in|terpreting of Scripture, is this, wee mu&s;t alwaies interpret tho&s;e Scrptures that are more dark and my&s;terious by tho&s;e Scriptures that are more plain and clear, and not in|terpret tho&s;e Scriptures that are plain and clear, by tho&s;e that are dark and my&s;terious,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 38.2.</NOTE> for this were to darken coun&s;el by words without knowledge. Now they that interpret the Penny in the Parable to &s;ignifie an equality of glory a|mong the Saints in Heaven; they tran&s;gre&s;s this &s;econd Rule; for they mu&s;t then interpret all tho&s;e clear and plain Scrip|tures that I have brought to prove degrees of glory in Heaven by this dark and my&s;terious Parable, whereas they &s;hould in|terpret this dark and my&s;terious Parable (if I may &s;o &s;ay) by tho&s;e plain and clear Scriptures that I have already cited; and therefore their interpretation mu&s;t be rejected. 'Tis true, of &s;ome Parables wee may &s;ay as <HI>Gregory</HI> doth, <HI>viz.</HI> That they rather require a Practicer, than an Interpreter. And 'tis as true,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 49.4. &amp; P&s;al. 78.2. John 16.29.</NOTE> that other Parables are &s;o dark, ob&s;cure, and my&s;te|rious, that wee &s;hall never under&s;tand them, without the &s;weat of our brows, and the beating of our brains; and &s;uch a Parable this &s;eems to be, and therefore wee mu&s;t interpret the parts of it rather by other clear Scriptures, than to make clear and plain Scriptures bow to this that &s;eems to have a vail upon it. And thus you &s;ee by the&s;e Arguments that the Penny in the Parable hath no reference at all to Heaven, nor to any equality of glory that &s;hall be among the Saints there.</P>
<P>Secondly, <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI>'s<NOTE PLACE="marg">Vide Chri&s;o&s;tom in hunc locum.</NOTE> coun&s;el on the Text &s;hould be eyed and followed, &s;aith hee, Wee &s;hould not &s;train every particular of a Parable, but only con&s;ider the &s;cope of Chri&s;t in the propounding of it, and accordingly apply it. Wee look not on every particular colour in a well drawn picture, but on the whole peice: &s;o when wee come to view a Parable, 'tis enough that wee ca&s;t our eye principally upon the gene|ral intention and &s;cope of it; hee that is very exact and cu|rious to view and ob&s;erve every particular circum&s;tance a|bout
<PB N="571" REF="280"> Parables, may ea&s;ily draw blood in&s;tead of milk out of the brea&s;ts of Parables.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 2.10. <HI>Hier. in cap.</HI> 2. Ezek.</NOTE> Parables are like to the Role which <HI>Ezekiel</HI> &s;aw in a Vi&s;ion &s;pread before him, which was written within and without; without the Hi&s;tory was written, and within the my&s;tery was written. Now though the out-&s;ide, the hi&s;tory of a Parable be like the Golden Pot, yet the in|&s;ide, the my&s;tery of a Parable, is like the <HI>Manna</HI> that was hid therein, and 'tis the <HI>Manna,</HI> the <HI>Manna,</HI> that wee mu&s;t &s;eek after. Look, as 'tis their wi&s;dome, who deal in curious rich &s;tuffs that are wrought on both &s;ides, to ca&s;t a &s;pecial eye upon the flowers that are on the in&s;ide of tho&s;e &s;tuffs: So 'tis our wi&s;dome to ca&s;t a &s;pecial eye upon the in&s;ide of Parables, upon the my&s;tical reference that Parables have, than to lye poring upon the out&s;ide of Parables. Now the &s;cope of this Parable is not to prove that there is an equality of glory in Heaven, but to reprove the <HI>Jews,</HI> who being called into the Lords Vineyard betimes in the morning, repined and mur|mured that the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> who were called in at the latter end of the day, who were called in &s;ome thou&s;and years af|ter them, that they &s;hould through the riches of grace have an equal &s;hare with them in the reward; and &s;tand upon as good and as noble terms with God as them&s;elves, who had &s;o long bore the heat of the day. God, to &s;hew that his gifts, his grace, and his rewards are free, will give his pennies as well to tho&s;e who have laboured but a little, as to tho&s;e who have laboured much; and this is no prejudice at all to his truth and ju&s;tice, that his grace is free. But</P>
<P>Thirdly and la&s;tly; That by the Penny wee cannot, nor wee may not under&s;tand everla&s;ting happine&s;s and ble&s;&s;ed|ne&s;s; but &s;ome other reward that Hypocrites may attain to as well as &s;incere-hearted-Chri&s;tians, and the rea&s;on is obvi|ous; for hee that was &s;ent away for his envious grumbling and grunting, was &s;ent away al&s;o with his Penny;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Some by the Penny do un|der&s;tand, worldly honour, and the e&s;tima|tion and appro|bation of men.</NOTE> take thy Pen|ny, and be packing. By the Penny &s;ome pious Interpreters do under&s;tand &s;ome competent gift or other (whatever it were) which might be well managed and improved to advantage. The Vineyard is the Church, and every one that is called to labour in the Vineyard, is called to labour in the u&s;e and im|provement
<PB N="572" REF="281"> of Ordinances. Now every one that is laborious in the u&s;e of Ordinances, &s;hall be &s;ure to get &s;omething; no man &s;hall kindle a fire on Gods Altar for nought. And yet it many times comes to pa&s;s, that tho&s;e who have been called and converted long before others, do yet make no greater, nor no better yearnings on it, than tho&s;e do that have been called and converted long after them; hee that is called at the fir&s;t hour &s;ometimes gets no more than hee that is called at the eleventh hour. 'Tis in the Trade of Chri&s;tianity, as it is in other Trades. Now you know that many men who have been &s;et up in this or that Trade, ten, nay twenty years before others, yet they many times make no more yearnings, no more advantage of their Trade, than they that have &s;et up but the other day, as wee &s;ay. Why &s;o many that have been called long to the Trade of Chri&s;tianity before others, yet they make no more yearnings, no more advantage of that Trade, than tho&s;e that have been called to it but ye&s;terday, as I may &s;peak; his gifts, his gain, his yearnings that is cal|led in at the eleventh hour of the day, is many times equal to his that was called in at the fir&s;t hour of the day. Yea I have formerly proved, that &s;ometimes many that are called later than others, do yet in gifts and grace excel tho&s;e that were called long before them. Now the&s;e Objections being an|&s;wered, that Truth &s;tands firm, like <HI>Mount Zion, viz.</HI> That the more holine&s;s you have here, the more happine&s;s you &s;hall have hereafter; the more grace you have here on Earth, the more glory you &s;hall have when you come to Heaven.</P>
</DIV4>
<DIV4 TYPE="section">
<P>And &s;o I come to the &s;econd thing propo&s;ed, namely, To acquaint you with &s;ome means, helps, and directions, that may inable you to make a progre&s;s in holine&s;s, and to perfect holine&s;s in the fear of the Lord. And</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, If ever you would perfect holine&s;s, if ever you would attain to higher degrees of holine&s;s than any yet you have attained to, then labour to bee more and more &s;en&s;ible of your &s;piritual wants and deficiencies of grace and holine&s;s. Ah Chri&s;tians! you mu&s;t bee often in ca&s;ting up your accounts, and in looking over the defects of your holine&s;s; hee that hath mo&s;t holine&s;s, yet
<PB N="573" REF="281"> wants much more than what hee hath attained to, witne&s;s the prevalency of his corruptions, witne&s;s his ea&s;ie falling before temptation, witne&s;s his aptne&s;s to faint in the day of affliction, witne&s;s his &s;taggering in the day of oppo&s;ition, witne&s;s his &s;hifts in the day of per&s;ecution, and witne&s;s his actual unpreparedne&s;s and unfitne&s;s, for the day of his di&s;|&s;olution. The more any Chri&s;tian &s;ees him&s;elf defective in holine&s;s, the more hee will labour after holine&s;s, <HI>P&s;a.</HI> 119.59, 60. <HI>I thought on my wayes, and turned my feet unto thy te&s;timonies: I made ha&s;te, and delayed not to keep thy Com|mandements.</HI> The Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign"> that is here u&s;ed for thinking, &s;ignifies to think on a mans waies accurately, ad|vi&s;edly, &s;eriou&s;ly, &s;tudiou&s;ly, curiou&s;ly; this holy man of God, thought exactly and curiou&s;ly, on all his purpo&s;es and practi&s;es, on all his doings and &s;ayings, on all his words and works, and finding too many of them to be &s;hort of the rule, yea, to bee again&s;t the rule, hee turns his feet to Gods te&s;timonies, having found out his errors, upon a diligent &s;earch, a &s;trict &s;crutiny, he turns over a new leaf, and frames his cour&s;e more exactly by rule: O Chri&s;tians! you mu&s;t look as well to your &s;piritual wants, as to your &s;piritual enjoy|ments, you mu&s;t look as well to your layings out, as to your layings up, you mu&s;t looke as well forward to what you &s;hould be, as backward to what you are; certainly that Chri&s;tian will never be eminent in holine&s;s, that hath many eyes to behold a little holine&s;s, and never an eye to &s;ee his further want of holine&s;s; hee that is more affected with that holine&s;s hee hath, than hee is afflicted about tho&s;e great mea&s;ures of ho|line&s;s that hee needs, will never bee but a Puny, a Dwarf in holine&s;s; the more &s;en&s;ible wee are of our own weakne&s;s and emptine&s;s, the more plea&s;ure God will take to fill us with his own fulne&s;s, and to perfect in us the work of holi|ne&s;s. But,</P>
<P>Secondly, If ever you would perfect holine&s;s, if ever you would attain to higher degrees of holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 41.12. 1 Sam. 2.1.3.</NOTE> then &s;et the Lord alwaies before your eyes, &s;et your &s;elves alwaies as in his pre&s;ence: <HI>David</HI> was a man that was very high and emi|nent in holine&s;s; but how came hee to &s;o great a height?
<PB N="575" REF="282"> why hee tells you how in that 16. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 8.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Athenodorus</HI> a Heathen could &s;ay that all men ought to bee careful in the actions of their lives, be|cau&s;e God was every where, and beheld all that was done. 1 King. 20.39. P&s;al. 39.1. Jer. 20.10. Job 10.12.</NOTE> <HI>I have &s;et the Lord alwaies before mee, becau&s;e hee is at my right hand, I &s;hall not bee moved. David</HI> did not by fits and &s;tarts &s;et the Lord be|fore him, <HI>but hee alwaies &s;et the Lord before him in his cour&s;e,</HI> hee had his eye upon the Lord; and &s;o much the Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign"> imports; I have equally &s;et the Lord before mee, that is, the force of the original word, that is, I have &s;et the Lord before mee, at one time as well as another, without any irregular affections, or pa&s;&s;ions, &amp;c. in every place, in e|very condition, in every company, in every imployment, and in every enjoyment, I have &s;et the Lord equally before mee; and this rai&s;ed him, and this will rai&s;e any Chri&s;ti|an by degrees, to a very great height of holine&s;s; <HI>P&s;a</HI> 119.168. <HI>I have kept thy precepts, and thy te&s;timonies: for all my waies are before thee.</HI> The Hebrew word (<GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>&s;hamar</HI>) that is here rendred kept, &s;ignifies to keep carefully, dili|gently, &s;tudiou&s;ly, exactly; it &s;ignifies to keep as men keep pri&s;oners, and to keep as a watchman keeps the City, or the Gari&s;on, yea, to keep as a man would keep his very life; but now mark what was the rea&s;on that <HI>David</HI> kept the Pre|cepts and the te&s;timonies of the Lord, &s;o carefully, &s;o &s;in|cerely, &s;o diligently, &s;o &s;tudiou&s;ly, and &s;o exactly? why the rea&s;on you have in the latter part of the ver&s;e, <HI>for all my waies are before thee.</HI> O Sirs! tis as nece&s;&s;ary for him that would bee eminent in holine&s;s, to &s;et the Lord alwaies be|fore him, as tis nece&s;&s;ary for him to breathe; in that 31. of <HI>Job</HI> you have a very large narrative of that heigth and per|fection of holine&s;s, that <HI>Job</HI> had attained to, and the great rea&s;on that hee gives you for this, is in the 4. <HI>ver&s;e, Doth not hee &s;ee my waies, and count all my &s;teps?</HI> the eye of God had &s;o &s;trong an influence upon his heart &amp; life, that it wrought him up to a very high pitch of holine&s;s. The Schollar writes mo&s;t exactly, while&s;t his Ma&s;ters eye is upon him, and the Childe walks mo&s;t exactly while&s;t his Fathers eye is upon him, and the Servant works mo&s;t exactly while&s;t his Ma&s;ters eye is up|on him: and &s;o certainly all the Sons, and Servants of the mo&s;t high God, do hear mo&s;t exactly, and pray mo&s;t ex|actly, and walk mo&s;t exactly, when they &s;et them&s;elves
<PB N="574" REF="282"> mo&s;t as in the pre&s;ence of the great God, who is all &s;ight, who is <HI>Totus oculus,</HI> all eye. Ah friends! as ever you would bee high in holine&s;s, po&s;&s;e&s;s your hearts with a &s;erious ap|prehen&s;ion of Gods pre&s;ence, &s;et your &s;elves dayly as in his &s;ight, as under his eye; and remember, though a man may ea&s;ily baffle his con&s;cience, and put out his light, and de|ceive the world, like that counterfeit <HI>Alexander</HI> in <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> his &s;tory, yet hee &s;hall never be able to baffle or deceive the eye of Gods omni&s;ciency; you &s;hall as &s;oon get out of the reach of his hand, as you &s;hall get from under the view of his eye: God hath his windows in all our bre&s;ts, and curiou&s;ly and nar|rowly ob&s;erves all that is done within us, and all that is done by us; and if the &s;erious con&s;ideration of his all &s;eeing eye, will not influence us to labour after the highe&s;t degrees of holine&s;s, I know not what will. It was <HI>Seneca</HI>'s advice to his friend <HI>Jucilius,</HI> that what&s;oever hee was doing hee &s;hould imagine that <HI>Cato</HI> did behold him; and <HI>Plutarch</HI> advi&s;ed his friends to demean them&s;elves &s;o circum&s;pectly as if their e|nemies did alwaies behold them: But my advice to you &s;hall bee this, upon every occa&s;ion, in every condition, and in every action, <HI>&s;et the Lord alwaies before you;</HI> if the &s;harp and &s;evere eye of a holy man, or of a holy friend, or of a holy relation will &s;o over-awe you, and &s;o exceedingly in|fluence you to the be&s;t of actions; then certainly the &s;harp peircing and all-&s;eeing eye of God will do much more, and therefore let the Lord bee alwaies in your &s;ight. But,</P>
<P>Thirdly, If ever you would attain ro higher degrees of holine&s;s, then fix and &s;ettle your &s;elves under a holy Mini|&s;try; re&s;igne and give up your &s;elves to his Mini&s;try who makes it his great bu&s;ine&s;s and work, to preach holine&s;s, to promote holine&s;s, to countenance holine&s;s, to encourage holine&s;s, to exalt holine&s;s, and to remove all ob&s;tructions that may any waies hinder the progre&s;s of holine&s;s. Some there bee that &s;pend their time rather to plea&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 30.10.</NOTE> than to profit, and to tickle their hearers ears than to touch their hearts; from the&s;e turn a&s;ide, and &s;ome there bee who make it their work rather to de&s;troy Churches, than to build them up in faith and holine&s;s, and from the&s;e turn a&s;ide;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 1.23.</NOTE> &s;ome
<PB N="576" REF="283"> there are who make it their bu&s;ine&s;s to delude and deceive the &s;imple,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 4.14. Jer. 14.14.</NOTE> by venting, and &s;etting to &s;ale the devices of their own heads, and the deceits and vi&s;ions of their own hearts. How many are there in the&s;e daies, who&s;e glorious vi&s;ions are but golden delu&s;ions, and who&s;e Seraphical phra&s;es are but brain-&s;ick phanta&s;ies, and who&s;e new notions are but new nothings; from the&s;e turn a&s;ide.</P>
<P>And others there be that build the things that they have de|&s;troyed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 2.18. 2 Pet. 2.20, 21, 22.</NOTE> and are returned (after they had been &s;eemingly wa&s;ht) with the Dog to his vomit, and with the Sow to her wallowing in the mire. They &s;ay that if tame Foxes break loo&s;e and turn wilde, they do more mi&s;chief than any. <HI>Ju|lian</HI> was once a Profe&s;&s;or, but turning back to Heatheni&s;m, hee drew more from the Faith by his fraud, than his predece&s;|&s;ors did by force; therefore from the&s;e turn a&s;ide.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 15 1.&mdash;7. Mark 7.1.&mdash;14.</NOTE>Some there be that cry up the commandements of men a|bove the Commandements of God, and that &s;et up the ordi|nances of men, above the Ordinances of God, and that pre|fer humane in&s;titutions before divine in&s;titutions; from the&s;e turn a&s;ide.</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 King. 20.&mdash;26. 2 Cor. 10.10.</NOTE>And others there be, that have a vein of &s;corning and re|proaching, of di&s;daining and triumphing over the per&s;ons, names, and credits of tho&s;e faithful Mini&s;ters of Chri&s;t, who upon all accounts, excel them, and whom upon a dying-bed, and before a Judgement-&s;eat, they will wi&s;h that they had imitated, and not envied. The&s;e labour to darken and ob|&s;cure others, that their own Sun may &s;hine the brighter; the&s;e labour to le&s;&s;en others reputation, hoping thereby to greaten their own, the&s;e admire them&s;elves, and contemn others; the&s;e look upon them&s;elves as the greate&s;t Doctors, and upon all others as the wor&s;t of Dunces; from the&s;e turn a&s;ide.</P>
<P>Some there be that &s;pend their time and their &s;trength in &s;tudying and preaching of dry and &s;aple&s;s controver&s;ies, which are &s;o far from bettering of mens hearts, and from re|forming of mens lives, that they leave men as much, and ma|ny times more under the power of &s;in, and dominion of Sa|tan, than they were before; from the&s;e turn a&s;ide.</P>
<P>And others there be that &s;tand mo&s;t upon ea&s;ie things, and
<PB N="577" REF="283"> little things, upon things of lea&s;t worth, and weight, and in the&s;e they will be very nice and curious,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 1.5, 6, 7. Mat. 23.25. &amp; ch. 6.3, 4, 5.</NOTE> and yet readily pa&s;s over the great and the weighty things both of the Law and of the Go&s;pel; they &s;tand more upon circum&s;tantials, than upon &s;ub&s;tantials, upon a Saints-day, than upon a Sabbath-day, up|on an <HI>Ea&s;ter</HI>-offering, than upon offering up of them&s;elves to the Lord; upon a Pipe, a Ve&s;ture, a Ge&s;ture, than upon &s;aving of immortal &s;ouls, from the&s;e turn a&s;ide.</P>
<P>Some there be that &s;peak two words for Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 13. 2 Pet. 2.1, 2, 3, 4 Rev. 18.11, 12, 13.</NOTE> and ten for them&s;elves, that are very zealous to fleece their flocks, but are neither headed, nor hearted to feed their flocks; that minde mens goods more than their good, and the &s;erving of them|&s;elves, than the &s;aving of &s;ouls. So they may be clad &s;prucely and fate deliciou&s;ly, and live lazily, they care not though millions of &s;ouls go to Hell yearly; to pick your pur&s;es, they will indulge your con&s;ciences; and &s;o it may go well with them in this world, they care not what becomes of you in the other world; from the&s;e turn a&s;ide.</P>
<P>And others there be that take more pains to make Pro&s;e|lites, than to make men holy; they make it their great bu&s;i|ne&s;s to win over men to their opinions,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 23.15.</NOTE> when they &s;hould be a winning of men over to Je&s;us Chri&s;t; they make it more their work to convert men to their way, than they make it; their work to better mens hearts, or mend their lives, or &s;ave their &s;ouls; they will compa&s;s Sea and Land to make men one with them&s;elves, and yet think all that time and pains lo&s;t, that is &s;pent in indeavouring to make men one with Chri&s;t; the&s;e are Factors for Hell, and re&s;emble the Prince of dark|ne&s;s to the life, for as hee, &s;o they will &s;pare no pains to gain Pro&s;elytes; from the&s;e turn a&s;ide. And give up your &s;elves to their labours, who make it the top of their glory to preach holine&s;s, to advance holine&s;s, to magnifie holine&s;s, and to practi&s;e holine&s;s; and this will be an excellent means to rai&s;e you up to higher degrees of holine&s;s. But</P>
<P>Fourthly, Be mo&s;t in with them that are mo&s;t eminent and excellent in holine&s;s; let the delight and joy of your hearts run mo&s;t out to them, who are &s;till adding to their &s;tock of holine&s;s. Thus it was with that Princely Prophet in that <HI>P&s;al&punc;</HI>
<PB N="578" REF="284"> 16.2, 3. <HI>My goodne&s;s extendeth not to thee; But to the Saints that are in the Earth, and to the Excellent, in whom is all my delight.</HI> The Di&s;ciples by di&s;cour&s;ing with Chri&s;t had a holy flame rai&s;ed up in them, <HI>Luk.</HI> 24.32. <HI>And they &s;aid one to another, did not our hearts burn within us, while hee talked with us by the way,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 18.5.</NOTE> <HI>and opened to us the Scriptures?</HI> And when <HI>Paul</HI> met <HI>Silas</HI> and <HI>Timotheus,</HI> hee burned in &s;pirit; the&s;e two men were eminent in holine&s;s, and by their company and communion, the zeal and courage of the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> was very much heated and rai&s;ed. Look as one flaming Bavin may kindle a thou&s;and, &s;o one precious Saint, in whom grace is &s;trong, and holine&s;s is high, may by a divine and &s;ecret o|peration, convey heat and life, power and vigour into all that touch him, or come neer unto him; even as the Load-&s;tone by a &s;ecret operation conveyeth power and vigour into Iron. The prayers, the conferences, the coun&s;els, and all the carriages of a man eminent in holine&s;s, will mightily help on the work of holine&s;s in their hearts, where the &s;treams of ho|line&s;s runs but low. Look as rich and co&s;tly Banquets do refre&s;h, and rai&s;e, and &s;trengthen their &s;pirits, that are weak and faint. So men that are rich in grace and holine&s;s, will rai&s;e and &s;trengthen their &s;pirits, who are weak in grace, and who for want of greater mea&s;ures of holine&s;s, are apt to faint. Look as young plants will not thrive under dropping-trees: &s;o &s;uch as are weak in holine&s;s, will never thrive &s;o long as they only a&s;&s;ociate them&s;elves with tho&s;e that are weak. Look, as many times one rich man makes many poor men rich: &s;o many times one man rich in holine&s;s makes many rich in holine&s;s; and therefore as over you would a|bound in holine&s;s, look not &s;o much at gifts, as at grace; look not &s;o much at Saints out-&s;ides, as at their in &s;ides; look not &s;o much at their external Garb, as at their internal worth, and alwaies make them your choice&s;t, and your chiefe&s;t companions, who do mo&s;t excel in grace and holi|ne&s;s; their tongues, their lips, their lives, will &s;till be a drop|ing divine marrow and farne&s;s, and therefore be &s;ure to keep mo&s;t in with them. But</P>
<P>Fifthly, If ever you would attain to higher degrees of ho|line&s;s,
<PB N="579" REF="284"> then be much in the exerci&s;e and actings of that ho|line&s;s you have; all the honour and glory that God hath from us in this world, is from the exerci&s;e of holine&s;s. Look, as the frequent actings of &s;in is the &s;trengthening of &s;in, &s;o the frequent actings of holine&s;s is the &s;trengthening of holi|ne&s;s. Look, as the <HI>non</HI>-exerci&s;e of holine&s;s brings upon the &s;oul a decay of holine&s;s; &s;o the exerci&s;e of holine&s;s breeds in the &s;ould an increa&s;e of holine&s;s. Holine&s;s is alwaies made more and more perfect by acting. Look as Wells are the &s;weeter for drawing, and Fountains the better for over|flowing; &s;o holine&s;s is &s;weere&s;t and be&s;t when it is drawn into action. Look as the running-water is the be&s;t and &s;weete&s;t water; &s;o the active Chri&s;tian is the be&s;t and &s;weete&s;t Chri|&s;tian. That mu&s;ical In&s;trument alwaies makes the &s;weete&s;t melody, that is mo&s;t frequently u&s;ed, and &s;o doth that Chri|&s;tian that is mo&s;t frequent in the exerci&s;e of grace and holi|ne&s;s. Wee get nothing by dead and u&s;ele&s;s habits, talents hid in a Napkin, gather ru&s;t, and the noble&s;t faculties are imba&s;ed, when not improved in exerci&s;e; and therefore the Apo&s;tle exhorts <HI>Timothy</HI> to &s;tir up the gift of God that was in him, in that 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.6.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, It &s;ig|nifies to re|kindle, or re|vive, when the world, the fle&s;h, and the Devil, go about to put out that Di|vine Fire that &s;hould bee alwaies <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters">ning in our hearts, wee mu&s;t do all wee can to fo&s;ter it, and keep it burning.</NOTE> The words are an allu&s;ion to the fire in the Temple, which was alwaies to be kept burn|ing, <HI>Paul</HI> would have <HI>Timothy</HI> to be alwaies a blowing his &s;park into a flame. Look as fire is pre&s;erved and maintained by blowing and &s;tirring of it up; &s;o holine&s;s is pre&s;erved and maintained in the &s;oul by being &s;tirred and blown up in the &s;oul. The habits of grace and holine&s;s are like dull coal-fires, which if they are not now and then blown and &s;tirred up, will certainly dye and go out.</P>
<P>O Sirs! 'tis not the having, but the husbanding of holi|ne&s;s that brings glory to God; for a man to have the habit of holine&s;s, and not to put it in practice, is all one as for a man to have a Talent, and to wrap it up in a Napkin. 'Twas a notable ob&s;ervation of <HI>Pliny</HI> upon <HI>Phydeus,</HI> the famous Pain|ter, that had the habit of that Art above all of his time; &s;aith
<PB N="580" REF="285"> hee, That great Art and skill that <HI>Phydeus</HI> had, had been to no purpo&s;e, had hee not exerci&s;ed and practi&s;ed it, upon &s;ome Table, &s;o tis with the habits of grace and holine&s;s in the Saints, if they are not brought forth into exerci&s;e, in|to action, 'tis all one as if they had no &s;uch habits at all; Holine&s;s out of action, is like a candle under a Bu&s;hel, that yeelds no comfort to a mans &s;elf, nor no light to others. Though Gold bee Gold in the myne, and though it bee the mo&s;t precious &amp; de&s;irable mettle in the world, yet &s;o long as tis only in the myne, what profit or advantage have we by it; but now when tis dig'd out of the myne, and becomes a Trea|&s;ure in mens hands, and is fitted for u&s;e and &s;ervice, then it brings profit and advantage to men, and then the lu&s;tre and glory of it appears: So though grace and holine&s;s in the habit (in the myne) bee grace and holine&s;s; yet what pro|fit or advantage is there in tho&s;e habits, till they are brought forth into action, into exerci&s;e, and till then all the lu&s;tre and glory of grace and holine&s;s, lies hid and ob&s;cure; the more the habits of holine&s;s are brought into action, the more holine&s;s will bee augmented and increa&s;ed; and therefore above all, look to the frequent exerci&s;es &amp; actings of that holi|ne&s;s you have: and this will bee a ready way to turn your drop of holine&s;s into a &s;ea, and your &s;park of holine&s;s into a flame, and your two mites of holine&s;s into a va&s;t trea&s;ure. But</P>
<P>Sixtly, If ever you would attain to higher degrees of ho|line&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 6.5, 9.</NOTE> if ever you would perfect holine&s;s in the fear of the Lord, then be much in&s;ecret prayer, be much in clo&s;et duties; Chri&s;t takes a great deal of plea&s;ure to hear and to &s;ee his people pour out their &s;ouls before him in a corner; <HI>Cant.</HI> 2.14. <HI>O my Dove! that art in the clefts of the rock, in the &s;ecret places of the &s;taires, let mee &s;ee thy countenance, let mee hear thy voyce; for &s;weet is thy voyce, and thy countenance is comly.</HI> Look as &s;ecret meals are very fatning, &s;o &s;ecret du|ties are very &s;oul-inriching; &s;ecret Prayers are the Pillars of &s;moak, whereby the &s;oul a&s;cends to God, out of the Wilderne&s;s of this world; &s;ecret Prayers are the wings of the Soul, whereby it flyes to God in a more &s;till and &s;ilent way; for the Increa&s;e and Augmentation of Holine&s;s, the
<PB N="581" REF="285"> tender dew, that falls in the &s;ilent night, will abundantly more cau&s;e &s;weet herbs to flouri&s;h and grow, than grea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;howers of rain that falls in the &s;tirring day; &s;o &s;ecret prayer will abundantly more cau&s;e the &s;weet herbs of grace and holi|ne&s;s to grow and flouri&s;h, than all tho&s;e more open and vi|&s;ible duties of Religion, which too too often are mingled, and mixt, with the Sun and Wind of Pride and Hypocri&s;ie. O Sirs! &s;ecret prayer is <HI>Jacobs</HI> Ladder, where you have God in his fulne&s;s and holine&s;s, de&s;cending down into the Soul; &amp; 'tis that Ladder whereby the &s;oul a&s;cends to the high|e&s;t pitch of communion with God; witne&s;s <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI> who was wont to &s;ay, I am never le&s;s alone, then when I am all alone, for then I can injoy the pre&s;ence of my God, mo&s;t freely, fully, and &s;weetly, without interruption. And witne&s;s that Heaven-born-Lady, who &s;pent mo&s;t of her time in &s;ecret duties, in clo&s;et communion with God; and when per&s;ons of great quality came to vi&s;it her, &s;hee would &s;o entertain them, as &s;hee would bee &s;ure not to omit her &s;et times for &s;ecret prayer; &s;hee would rather rudely take her leave of them (as &s;ome call'd it) than omit her clo&s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> communion with God;<NOTE PLACE="marg">And <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> that great Em|perour, made it his con&s;tant practi&s;e (as <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI> re|ports) to &s;hut up him&s;elf dai|ly in a &s;ecret place in his Palace where hee went to private Pray|er. Cant. 1.11.12,</NOTE> &s;hee had found &s;uch rare advantages by clo&s;et duties, that &s;hee would not upon any terms neg|lect them, or in the lea&s;t turn her back upon them. And 'twas a mo&s;t &s;weet and divine &s;aying of <HI>Bernard,</HI> O Saint! knowe&s;t thou not (&s;aith hee) that thy husband Chri&s;t is ba&s;h|full, and will not bee familiar in company, retire thy &s;elf therefore by meditation into thy clo&s;et, or the fields, and there thou &s;halt have Chri&s;ts embraces. O Sirs! 'tis an ex|perienced truth, that there is no &s;uch way under Heaven to bee rich in grace; and to bee high in holine&s;s, as by driving and maintaining a &s;ecret trade with God. When had <HI>Peter</HI> that glorious vi&s;ion, and manife&s;tation of grace but whe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> hee was alone and on the hou&s;e top a praying?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 10.11, 12.</NOTE> And when was that &s;oul ravi&s;hing, that &s;oul cheering,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 9.20, 21, 22, 23.</NOTE> and that Soul &s;trengthening me&s;&s;age di&s;patcht by the Angel to <HI>Daniel, viz.</HI> that hee was greatly beloved of God, but when hee was a|lone a praying? and doubtle&s;s many thou&s;and Saints have had their hearts melted, their corruptions weakned, their
<PB N="582" REF="286"> fears &s;cattered, their doubts re&s;olved, their holine&s;s rai&s;ed, and their a&s;&s;urance &s;eal'd, whil&s;t they have been in clo&s;et-duties? Look as men many times gives their be&s;t, their choi&s;e&s;t, and their riche&s;t gifts in &s;ecret, &s;o doth God ma|ny times give the choi&s;e&s;t di&s;coveries of his love, and the &s;weete&s;t dainties and delicates of glory, and the riche&s;t mea&s;ures of grace and holine&s;s to his people in &s;ecret. Look as there was none &s;o holy as Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Compare the&s;e Scriptures to|gether, Mat. 14.23. Mar. 6.46. Luk. 5.16. and cap. 6.12. Mat. 26.36, 39, 42, 44. Luk. 22.32, 44, 45. John. 17.17.</NOTE> &s;o there was none &s;o much in &s;ecret prayer as Chri&s;t; look as many men in this famous City, by driving a &s;ecret trade, a private trade, gain very great e&s;tates, beyond what many do, who drive more publick trades; &s;o many Chri&s;tians that drive a &s;ecret trade, a private trade with God in their clo&s;ets, they grow abundantly more rich in grace, in holine&s;s, in communion with God, and in all gracious experiences, than many o|ther Chri&s;tians who make a great deal of bu&s;&s;el in the world, and who are much in the Publick trade of Chri&s;tianity; <HI>viz.</HI> hearing the word, conferences, family duties, &amp;c. but very rarely &s;hall you finde them in their clo&s;ets, as ever you would bee eminent and excellent in holine&s;s, keep up your private trade with God, maintain your clo&s;et communion with the holy one of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI> But,</P>
<P>Seventhly, If ever you would attain to higher degrees of holine&s;s, then fall with all your might upon &s;ubduing and crucifying your mo&s;t raging corruptions, and your mo&s;t dar|ling-lu&s;ts; O do not defer! O do not delay the work of &s;pi|ritual mortification! O do not think that you can both fight and overcome, fight and triumph in one day! O do not think that your golden and your &s;ilver Idols will lay down their Arms,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 2.20.</NOTE> and yeeld the field, and lye at your feet, and let you trample them to death without &s;triking a blow. O remember that bo&s;ome-&s;ins will do all they can to keep their ground, and therefore you mu&s;t ari&s;e with all your &s;trength again&s;t them, and bray them in a morter, and &s;tamp them to powder, and burn them to a&s;hes! O deal with them, as they dealt with the Leviets Concubine, force them to death, and cut them to peeces!<NOTE PLACE="marg">Judg. 19. 2 King. 9.</NOTE> O leave not the Palm, the skull of this cur&s;ed <HI>Jezabel</HI> undevoured unde&s;troyed! O deal by your
<PB N="583" REF="286"> mo&s;t inraged lu&s;ts, as the <HI>Phili&s;tims</HI> did deal by <HI>Samp&s;on,</HI> pluck out their eyes, and make them to grinde in the Mill of Mortification, till their &s;trength be utterly con&s;umed and wa&s;ted. Whil&s;t <HI>Saul</HI> lived and kept the Throne, and was in his &s;trength, little <HI>David</HI> was kept exceeding weak and low; but when <HI>Saul</HI> was dethroned and &s;lain, little <HI>David</HI> quickly grew &s;tronger and &s;tronger:<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 3.1.</NOTE> &s;o all the while a darling &s;in lives, and keeps the Throne in the hear<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> grace and holine&s;s will be kept exceeding weak and low, but when your darling,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.10, 13.</NOTE> &s;in is dethroned and &s;lain by the power and the &s;word of the Spirit, grace and holine&s;s will quickly grow &s;tronger and &s;tronger, and ri&s;e higher and higher. When men would have a rough field fitted for the plow, and fitted to bring forth fruit, will they not fir&s;t fall with all their &s;trength, and with all their might, upon grubbing up by the roots the &s;tronge&s;t Trees, and the &s;turdie&s;t Oaks, knowing that when the&s;e are grubbed up, weaker trees will ea&s;ily fall? So, as ever you would have your hearts and lives full of the fruits of righte|ou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;s, fall with all your &s;trength, and with all your might upon grubbing up by the very roots your be|loved &s;ins, your &s;tronge&s;t lu&s;ts, and then the re&s;t of your cor|ruptions will ea&s;ily fall. When <HI>Galiah</HI> was &s;lain, the <HI>Phi|li&s;tims</HI> fled, and were ea&s;ily brought under; when a General in an Army is cut off, the common &s;ouldiers are quickly routed; down but with your darling-&s;ins, and then the conque&s;t of other &s;ins will be ea&s;ie.</P>
<P>When a man hath eat poi&s;on, nothing will make him thrive, till hee hath vomited up the poi&s;on that hee hath eaten; 'tis not the mo&s;t whol&s;ome food the choice&s;t dain|ties, nor the riche&s;t cordials under Heaven, that will in|crea&s;e blood, and &s;pirits, and &s;trength, in &s;uch a per&s;on, hee will throw up all, and nothing will &s;tay with him to do him good, till his poi&s;on be ca&s;t up, and ca&s;t out. Beloved-&s;ins, they are the poi&s;on of the &s;oul, and till the&s;e are vomited up, and ca&s;t out by &s;ound repentance, and the exerci&s;e of Faith in the Blood of Chri&s;t, the &s;oul will never thrive in grace and holine&s;s; all the whole&s;ome food of the Go&s;pel, and all the dainties and cordials of Heaven, will never beger good
<PB N="584" REF="287"> blood, nor noble &s;pirits, nor divine &s;trength in their &s;ouls, that upon no terms will part with their darling &s;ins; and therefore as ever you would be &s;trong in the grace of the Lord, draw up all the &s;trength that ever you are able to make, and fall on with the greate&s;t courage upon your bo&s;ome-&s;ins, and never cea&s;e till in the &s;trength of Chri&s;t you have got a compleat victory and conque&s;t over them. In the Law 'twas the blood of the Sacrifice, and the Oil that clean&s;ed the Le|per, and that by them was meant the blood of Chri&s;t, and the Spirit of Grace is agreed by all. Ah friends! as ever you would be clean&s;ed from your darling-&s;ins, which do &s;o exceedingly hinder the increa&s;e of holine&s;s, be often in look|ing upon a crucified Chri&s;t, and in the application of his blood to your own &s;ouls.</P>
<P>I have read of five men, that being asked what was the be&s;t means to mortifie &s;in, gave the&s;e An&s;wers; &s;aith the fir&s;t, The be&s;t means to mortifie &s;in, is, to meditate of death. Saith the &s;econd, The be&s;t means is, to meditate of the judgement-day. Saith the third, The be&s;t means is, to medi|tate on the Joyes of Heaven. Saith the fourth, The be&s;t means is, to meditate on the torments of Hell. But &s;aith the fifth, The be&s;t means is, to meditate on the blood and &s;uffer|ings of Chri&s;t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> and doubtle&s;s the la&s;t hit it to a hair; If any thing under Heaven, will &s;ubdue and bring under darling-&s;ins; it will be the daily &s;ight of a bleeding, groaning, dying Saviour. Phylo&s;ophy (&s;aith <HI>Lactantius</HI>) may cover vices, but it never cuts off vices; it may hide a lu&s;t, but it can ne|ver quench a lu&s;t. As black-patches in&s;tead of plai&s;ters may cover &s;ome deformities in nature, but they can never cure them. Ah Sirs! if you do not kill your darling-&s;ins, they will kill your precious &s;ouls.<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 37.</NOTE> When <HI>Senacheribs</HI> Army was de&s;troyed by an Angel, and hee returned home with a hook in his no&s;e, and a bridle in his lips, hee enquired of one a|bout him, what hee thought the rea&s;on might be why God &s;o favoured the <HI>Jews;</HI> to which hee replied, That there was one <HI>Abraham</HI> their Father, that was willing to &s;acrifice his be|loved Son to death at the command of God, and that ever &s;ince that time God favoured that people: well &s;aid <HI>Senache|rib,</HI>
<PB N="585" REF="287"> if that be it, I have two beloved Sons, and I will &s;acri|fize them both to death, if that will procure their God to fa|vour mee; which when his two Sons heard, they (as the &s;tory goes) &s;lew their Father, being more willing to kill,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 37.38.</NOTE> than be killed. Oh friends! you mu&s;t kill, or be killed; if you are not the death of your beloved &s;ins, your beloved &s;ins will prove the death and ruine of your immortal &s;ouls; and therefore never leave looking up to a crucified Chri&s;t, till vertue flow from him to the crucifying of tho&s;e &s;pecial &s;ins that do mo&s;t ob&s;truct and hinder the growth and increa&s;e of holine&s;s. But</P>
<P>Eighthly and la&s;tly, If ever you would attain to higher degrees of holine&s;s, then dwell much upon the holine&s;s of God. O be &s;till a mu&s;ing, be &s;till a pondering upon the ho|line&s;s of God. Certainly, if there be any means under Hea|ven, to rai&s;e you up to higher degrees of holine&s;s, 'tis this, and therefore keep alwaies a fixed eye upon the infinite and mo&s;t glorious holine&s;s of God. Now that this direction may the better work, premi&s;e with mee the&s;e eight things con|cerning the holine&s;s of God.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Premi&s;e this with mee, that God is e&s;&s;entially holy,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 19.17. There is none good but God, that is, there is none e&s;&s;ential|ly good but God, &amp;c.</NOTE> and in this &s;en&s;e none is holy but him&s;elf. Now e&s;&s;ential ho|line&s;s is all one with God him&s;elf; Gods e&s;&s;ential holine&s;s is Gods conformity to him&s;elf; holine&s;s in God is not a quali|ty, but his e&s;&s;ence, <HI>Quicquid e&s;t in Deo, e&s;t ip&s;e Deus,</HI> what|&s;oever is in God, is God; holine&s;s in Angels and Saints is but a quality, but in God it is his e&s;&s;ence. The fallen Angels keep their natures, though they have lo&s;t their holine&s;s; for that holine&s;s in them was a quality, and not their e&s;&s;ence. Look as created holine&s;s is the conformity of the rea&s;onable creature to the Rule; &s;o the increated holine&s;s of God, is Gods conformity unto him&s;elf. Gods holine&s;s, and his na|ture are not two things, they are but one; Gods holine&s;s is his nature, and Gods nature is his holine&s;s. God is a pure Act, and therefore what&s;oever is in God, is God; 'tis Gods prerogative royal, to be e&s;&s;entially holy; the mo&s;t glorious creatures in Heaven, and the choice&s;t &s;ouls on Earth, are only holy by participation, 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 2.2. <HI>There is none holy
<PB N="586" REF="288"> as the Lord,</HI> Gods holine&s;s is &s;o e&s;&s;ential, and co-natural to him, that hee can as &s;oon cea&s;e to be, as cea&s;e to be holy. Holine&s;s in God is a &s;ub&s;tance, but in Angels and men 'tis only an accident, or a quality, the e&s;&s;ence of the creature may remain, when the holine&s;s of the creature is lo&s;t. As you may &s;ee in <HI>Adam,</HI> and the fallen Angels; but Gods e&s;|&s;ence and his holine&s;s are alwaies the &s;ame; his very nature is holy,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 3.14.</NOTE> and therefore 'tis that hee is called <HI>Jehovah,</HI> and <HI>I Am,</HI> becau&s;e what hee is really, that hee is e&s;&s;entially. Though men (for our information) do di&s;tingui&s;h between the At|tributes of God, and the Nature of God, yet in him they are the &s;ame. Look as the Wi&s;dome of God, is the wi&s;e God, and the Truth of God, the true God, and the Power of God, the powerful God, and the Ju&s;tice of God, the ju&s;t God, and the Mercy of God, the merciful God, and the Mightine&s;s of God the mighty God, and the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of God the righ|teous God, and the graciou&s;ne&s;s of God the gracious God; &s;o the Holine&s;s of God is the holy God. Gods Nature, and his Name are one and the &s;ame. God is e&s;&s;entially holy, and that is the top of all his glory. But</P>
<P>Secondly, As God is e&s;&s;entially holy, &s;o God is unmixedly holy, the Holine&s;s of God is a pure Holine&s;s, 'tis an unmixed Holine&s;s, 1 <HI>Joh.</HI> 1.5. <HI>God is light, and in him is no dark|ne&s;s at all.</HI> There are no mixtures in God; God is a mo&s;t clear, bright-&s;hining light; yea hee is all light, and in him is no darkne&s;&s;e at all. The Moon indeed when it &s;hines brighte&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Plato</HI> calls God the horn of plenty, and the Ocean of beau|ty, without the lea&s;t &s;pot of in|ju&s;tice, &amp;c.</NOTE> hath her dark &s;pots, and &s;pecks, but God is a light that &s;hines gloriou&s;ly, without the lea&s;t &s;pot or &s;peck. Now look as that darkne&s;&s;e which hath not the lea&s;t light attend|ing it, is the gro&s;&s;e&s;t, the thicke&s;t <HI>Egyptian</HI> darkne&s;&s;e that can be; &s;o that light that hath not the lea&s;t cloud of darkne&s;&s;e attending it, mu&s;t be the mo&s;t clear, &s;plendid light that po&s;|&s;ible can be, and &s;uch a light is the holy one of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI> 'Tis very ob&s;ervable, the Apo&s;tle to illu&s;trate the perfect purity and &s;anctity of God, adds a Negative to his Affirmative; <HI>In him is no darkne&s;s at all,</HI> that is, God is &s;o pure, that not the lea&s;t &s;pot, the &s;malle&s;t &s;peck can cleave to him; hee is &s;o holy, that no iniquity can be found in him; there is no defect
<PB N="587" REF="288"> not default in the Nature of God; hee is a God of Truth, and without iniquity, ju&s;t and right is hee. As <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;pake in that <HI>Deut.</HI> 32.4. God is a pure, a mo&s;t pure Act, without the lea&s;t potentiality, defectability, or mutability; and there|fore in the highe&s;t &s;en&s;e hee is light, and in him is no darkne&s;s at all. Surely there is no unrighteou&s;ne&s;&s;e in God, no evil can dwell with him, or come neer unto him. God &s;tands at &s;uch a di&s;tance from iniquity, yea hee &s;o abhors it, that hee never did, nor never will be&s;tow a good look upon it, <HI>Hab.</HI> 1.13. <HI>Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.</HI> There are four things that God cannot do. 1. He cannot lye. 2. Hee cannot dye. 3. Hee cannot deny him&s;elf; nor 4. Hee cannot look with a favourable eye upon iniquity. God doth indeed look upon iniquity with a hateful eye, with an angry eye, with a revengeful eye, and with a vindictive eye, but hee never did, nor will look upon iniquity with an eye of delectation, or with an eye of approbation, witne&s;&s;e his hurling the fallen Angels out of Heaven, and his bani&s;h|ing of &s;inning <HI>Adam</HI> out of Paradi&s;e. By all this you &s;ee that the Holine&s;&s;e of God is a pure Holine&s;&s;e, 'tis a Holine&s;&s;e without mixture; but now all the holine&s;&s;e that is in the be&s;t and choice&s;t Saints in the world, is but a dreggy holine&s;&s;e, a mixt holine&s;&s;e, a weak and imperfect holine&s;&s;e; their unholi|ne&s;&s;e is alwaies more than their holine&s;&s;e. Ah what a deal of pride is mixt with a little humility, and what a deal of un|beleef is mixt with a little faith, and what a deal of pa&s;&s;ion is mixt with a little meekne&s;&s;e, and what a deal of earthli|ne&s;&s;e is mixt with a little heavenline&s;&s;e, and what a deal of carnalne&s;&s;e is mixt with a little &s;piritualne&s;&s;e, and what a deal of hardne&s;&s;e is mixt with a little tenderne&s;&s;e. O but now the Holine&s;&s;e of God is a pure Holine&s;&s;e, 'tis a Holine&s;&s;e without mixture, there is not the lea&s;t drop, nor the lea&s;t dregge of unholine&s;&s;e in God; 'tis true, the Gods of the Heathen were &s;uch as had been impure, bea&s;tly, filthy men,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Arnobius, Au|stin, Tertullian, &amp;c.</NOTE> and therefore &s;everal writers have taken a great deal of pains to convince Heathens of their impiety and folly, in wor&s;hipping &s;uch for gods upon whom they fa&s;tened many horrid, ridiculous, la&s;ci|vious, and impious actions, and therefore they conclude
<PB N="588" REF="289"> again&s;t them, that they are no gods; tis mo&s;t certain, that the true God, that Hee that is the high and the holy one cannot bee charged with any iniquity, no nor with the lea&s;t &s;hew or &s;hadow of vanity.</P>
<P>In God there is wi&s;dome without folly, truth without fal&s;hood, light without darkne&s;s, &amp; holine&s;s without &s;inful|ne&s;s. But,</P>
<P>Thirdly, As God is unmixedly holy, &s;o God is Univer&s;ally holy, hee is holy in all his waies, and holy in all his works, his precepts are holy precepts, and his promi&s;es are holy promi&s;es, and his threatnings are holy threatnings, his love is a holy love, and his anger is a holy anger, and his hatred is a holy hatred, &amp;c. His nature is holy, his attributes are holy, and all his actions are holy, hee is holy in puni&s;hing, and holy in &s;paring, hee is holy in ju&s;tifying of &s;ome, and hee is holy condemning of others, hee is holy in bringing &s;ome to Heaven, and holy in throwing others to Hell; God is holy in all his &s;ayings, and God is holy in all his doings, God is holy in what ever hee puts his hand to, and hee is ho|ly in what ever hee &s;ets his heart to, his frowns are holy, and his &s;miles are holy, his liftings up are holy, and his ca&s;tings down are holy, when hee gives, his givings are holy givings, and when hee takes away, his takings are holy tak|ings, &amp;c. But</P>
<P>Fourthly, As God is univer&s;ally holy, &s;o God is emi|nently holy, hee is tran&s;cendently holy, hee is &s;uperlatively holy,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exo. 15.11.</NOTE> and therefore hee is &s;aid to bee glorious in holine&s;s, there is no fathoming, there is no mea&s;uring, there is no comprehending, there is no &s;earching, of that infinite Sea of holine&s;s, that is in God; as neither Men nor Angels, can &s;et banks or bounds to Gods holine&s;s, &s;o neither Men nor Angels can &s;ound to the bottome of Gods holine&s;s; all that holine&s;s that is in Angels and Men, is but a &s;park to Gods flame; tis but a drop to his &s;ea; tis but a beam to his &s;un; tis but a mite to his millions, &amp;c. O Sirs! you &s;hall as &s;oon, &s;top the Sun in his cour&s;e, and change the day in|to night, and rai&s;e the dead, and make a world, and tell the &s;tars of heaven, and empty the &s;ea with a Cockle-&s;hell,
<PB N="589" REF="289"> as you &s;hall bee able, either to conceive or expre&s;s, that tran&s;cendent holine&s;s that is in God. This glorious Name, or Title, the holy one of <HI>I&s;rael;</HI> is a&s;cribed to God about thirty times in the Old Te&s;tament, and all to &s;hew that hee is mo&s;t excellent and tran&s;cendent in holine&s;s, and the Seraphims which &s;tood before the Throne, cryed out three times a row, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of ho&s;ts,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a 6.3.</NOTE> to &s;hew that God is mo&s;t eminently, and &s;uperlatively holy; for &s;o thrice holy in &s;ome languages is mo&s;t holy; for holine&s;s God is a none-&s;uch, there are none to bee compared with him, neither are there any among Angels or among Men, yea, or among the Gods that are like unto him; <HI>who is like to thee among the Gods, glorious in holine&s;s, fearful in prai&s;es, doing wonders:</HI> Gods holine&s;s is infinite, tis &s;o &s;uper-emi|nent, and &s;o &s;uper-excellent, that it can neither bee li|mited, nor le&s;&s;ened, nor augmented, if men &s;hould bla&s;|pheme, or reproach the Lord, hee would bee never the wor&s;e, he would be never the le&s;&s;e holier then hee is; and if men &s;hould ble&s;s him and wor&s;hip him hee would bee never the better, never the holier; unto perfection there can be no addition, a drop taken out of the &s;ea, can no waies add unto the &s;ea. Hee is exalted above all ble&s;&s;ing and prai&s;e?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nehe. 9.5.</NOTE> All the Angels in Heaven, and all the men on earth, can|not add one Ray, one Beam of glory to the e&s;&s;ence of God, to the holine&s;s of God; as God is goodne&s;s in the very Ab|&s;tract, and ju&s;tice in the very ab&s;tract, and mercy in the very ab&s;tract, and righteou&s;ne&s;s in the very ab&s;tract, and lovingkindne&s;s in the very ab&s;tract; &s;o hee is holine&s;s in the very Ab&s;tract; &s;o that no man can flatter him, or add unto him; and hence tis that God glories in the Attribute of his Holine&s;s, more than in any other Attribute: <HI>For,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 57.15.</NOTE> <HI>thus &s;aith the high and lofty one, that inhabiteth eternity, who&s;e name is holy;</HI> when God would lift up him&s;elf in all his Glo|ry, hee doth it by declaring that his name is holy; and &s;o when God would &s;wear by him&s;elf, hee &s;wears by his holi|ne&s;s <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 89.25. <HI>Once have I &s;worn by my holine&s;s, that I will not lye unto</HI> David: and &s;o in that, <HI>Amo&s;</HI> 4.2. <HI>The Lord God
<PB N="590" REF="290"> hath &s;worn by his holine&s;s, that lo the daies &s;hall come upon you, that hee will take you with hooks, and your po&s;terity with fi&s;h|hooks:</HI> Look as the great men of the World are wont to &s;wear upon their honour (when they would give us the greate&s;t a&s;&s;urance of what they will do) becau&s;e &s;uch Oath; are look't upon as mo&s;t &s;acred and inviolable, &s;o the great God &s;wears by his holine&s;s, becau&s;e his holine&s;s is his great|e&s;t Honour, and becau&s;e hee hath no greater, nor no bet|ter, nor no choicer, nor no &s;weeter, nor no preciou&s;er things to &s;wear by; let mee, &s;aith God, bee never owned as a God, nor honoured as a God, nor tru&s;ted as a God, nor feared as a God, nor valued as a God, if I do not In|violably keep my promi&s;es, and make good my threatings, having &s;worn thereunto by my Holine&s;s. Now you know the Scripture &s;aith, <HI>when God could &s;wear by no greater, hee &s;ware by him&s;elf;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 6.13.</NOTE> &s;o I may &s;ay, when God could &s;wear by no great|er Attribute, by no greater Excellency, hee &s;wears by his Holine&s;s; that being the top and the glory of all. Look as all the wi&s;dome of the creatures compar'd with the wi&s;dome of God, is but folly; and as all the goodne&s;s of the crea|tures compared with the goodne&s;s of God is but naughtine&s;s; and as all the fulne&s;&s;e of the creature compared with the fulne&s;&s;e of God is but emptine&s;s; and as all the power of the creature, compared with the power of God is but weakne&s;&s;e; and as all the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the creature, compared with the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God, is but unrighteou&s;ne&s;&s;e: So all the holine&s;&s;e of the creature, compared with the holi|ne&s;&s;e of God, is but unholine&s;&s;e; mans highe&s;t purity, is but impurity, when 'tis compared to the purity of God, yea, the very holine&s;&s;e of Angels, compared with the holi|ne&s;&s;e of God, is chargeable with folly; <HI>Job.</HI> 4.18. That fulne&s;&s;e of holine&s;&s;e that is in Angels or Saints, is only the fulne&s;&s;e of the Ve&s;&s;el, but that fulne&s;&s;e of holine&s;&s;e that is in God, is the fulne&s;&s;e of the Fountain; that fulne&s;&s;e of ho|line&s;&s;e that is in Angels or Saints, is but the fulne&s;&s;e of the Branches, but that fulne&s;&s;e of holine&s;&s;e that is in God, is the fulne&s;&s;e of the Root; that fulne&s;&s;e of holine&s;&s;e that is in Angels or Saints, is but the fulne&s;&s;e of Sufficiency, but that
<PB N="591" REF="290"> fulne&s;&s;e of holine&s;&s;e that is in God, is the fulne&s;&s;e of redun|dancy. But,</P>
<P>Fifthly, As God is infinitely holy, tran&s;cendently holy, &s;uperlatively holy; &s;o God is originally, radically, and fun|damentally holy; the Divine Nature is the root, original, and &s;pring of all holine&s;&s;e and purity; all that holine&s;&s;e that is in Angels and men flows from God, as the &s;treams from the Fountain, as the beams from the Sun, as the branches from the Root, and as the effect from the Cau&s;e. There is no holi|ne&s;&s;e to be had, but from the Holy One, hee is the Author and Original of all the holine&s;&s;e that ever was, or that is this day in the world, all the &s;eeds of holine&s;s, and all the roots of holine&s;s that are to be found in Angels or men,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 1.11.</NOTE> are of the Lords &s;owing and planting. All that holine&s;s that the Angels had in Heaven, and all that holine&s;s that <HI>Adam</HI> had in Paradi&s;e, and all that holine&s;s that Chri&s;t had in his hu|mane nature, and all that holine&s;s that ever any Saints have had was from God, and all that holine&s;s that any Saints now have is from God. The Divine Nature is the fir&s;t root and original fountain of all &s;anctity and purity, <HI>James</HI> 1.17. Mi|ni&s;ters may pray that their people may be holy, and Parents may pray that their children may be holy, and Ma&s;ters may pray that their &s;ervants may be holy, and husbands may pray that their wives may be holy, and Wives may pray that their husbands may be holy; but none of the&s;e can give holine&s;&s;e, none of the&s;e can communicate holine&s;&s;e to their neare&s;t and deare&s;t relations; tis only God that is the giver and the Author of all holine&s;&s;e. If holy per&s;ons could convey ho|line&s;&s;e into others &s;ouls, they would never &s;uffer them to go to Hell for want of holine&s;s; to hand out holine&s;s to others, is a work too high for Angels, and too hard for all mortals; 'tis only the Holy One that can cau&s;e holine&s;s to flow into &s;inners hearts; 'tis only hee that can form, and frame, and infu&s;e holine&s;s into the &s;ouls of men.</P>
<P>A man &s;hall &s;ooner make a man, yea make a world, and unmake him&s;elf, than hee &s;hall make another holy; tis only a holy God that can enlighten the mind, and bow the will and melt the heart, and rai&s;e the affections, and purge the
<PB N="529" REF="291"> con&s;cience, and reform the life, and put the whole man into a holy gracious frame and temper. But</P>
<P>Sixthly, As God is originally, radically, and fundamen|tally holy;<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 44.24. Rev. 1.18.</NOTE> &s;o God is independently holy; the Holine&s;s of God depends upon nothing below God. God is the <HI>Alpha,</HI> the fountain from <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ence all holine&s;&s;e &s;prings, and hee is the <HI>Omega,</HI> the Sea to which all glory runs. As all our holine&s;s is from God, &s;o all our holine&s;s mu&s;t terminate in the honour and glory of God. 'Tis God alone that is independently ho|ly. All that holine&s;s that is in Angels and men, is a depen|dent holine&s;s, it depends upon the Holine&s;s of God, as the &s;treams depend upon the Fountain, the beams upon the Sun, the branches upon the Root, and the members upon the Head. God is <HI>(Unum principium ex quo cuncta dependent)</HI> one beginning, upon whom all things depend. God hath his Being only of him&s;elf, and 'tis hee alone that gives Being unto all o|ther things. God is the fir&s;t cau&s;e, and without all cau&s;es him&s;elf; the very Beings that Angels and men have, they have by participation from God. And 'tis the fir&s;t cau&s;e that giveth unto all cau&s;es their proper operations, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 44.6. <HI>I am the fir&s;t, and I am the la&s;t, and be&s;ides mee there is no God.</HI> God never had a cau&s;e of his Being, as all other creatures have; He is a glorious being, a holy being, without all cau&s;es, either efficient, or formal, or material, or final; and therefore hee mu&s;t needs be independently holy. Look as the power of God is an independent power, and the wi&s;dome of God an independent wi&s;dome, and the goodne&s;s of God an independent goodne&s;s, and the righteou&s;ne&s;s of God an independent righteou&s;ne&s;s; &s;o the holine&s;s of God is an independent holine&s;s. And as it is the glory of his power, that his power is an independent power, and the glory of his goodne&s;&s;e, that his goodne&s;&s;e is an independent goodne&s;&s;e; &s;o 'tis the glory of his holine&s;&s;e, that his holine&s;&s;e is an inde|pendent holine&s;&s;e. And look as all that power that Angels and men have depends upon the power of God, and as all that wi&s;dome that Angels and men have, depends upon the wi&s;dome of God, and as all that goodne&s;&s;e that Angels and men have depends upon the goodne&s;&s;e of God; &s;o all that ho|line&s;&s;e
<PB N="593" REF="291"> that Angels and men have, depends upon the holine&s;&s;e of God, &amp;c. <HI>Philo</HI> could &s;ay, that God is &s;uch a fountain, that hee breaks forth with the &s;treams of his goodne&s;&s;e upon all things, but receives nothing back again from any to bet|ter him&s;elf therewith. There are none in Heaven, nor none on Earth that are ab&s;olutely independent but God a|lone.</P>
<P>Seventhly, As God is independently holy; &s;o God is con|&s;tantly holy, hee is unchangeably holy, hee was holy ye&s;ter|day, and hee is holy to day, and hee will be holy for ever; What is natural is con&s;tant, and la&s;ting: Now Gods holi|ne&s;&s;e is natural, to him; 'tis as natural for God to be holy, as 'tis for us to breathe, yea as 'tis for us to bee unholy. God can as well and as &s;oon cea&s;e to bee, as hee can cea&s;e to be holy; Holine&s;&s;e is his nature, as well as his name; and there|fore his holine&s;&s;e cannot decay; though ours may, whatever wee may lo&s;e of our holine&s;&s;e, yet 'tis certain that God can never lo&s;e one grain of that holine&s;&s;e that is in him. Here our holine&s;&s;e ebbs and flows, but the Holine&s;&s;e of God never ebbs, but is alwaies a flowing, and over-flowing, there is &s;till a full tyde of Holine&s;&s;e in God. Though the Saints can|not fall from that &s;eed of holine&s;&s;e that is &s;own in their hearts,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 3.9.</NOTE> yet they may fall from &s;ome degrees of holine&s;&s;e, that they have formerly attained to, they that have been old men in ho|line&s;&s;e, may fall from being old men, to be but young men in holine&s;&s;e, and they that have been young men in holine&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 2.12, 13, 14. 2 Pet. 2.1, 2, 3.</NOTE> may fall from being young men to be but children in holi|ne&s;&s;e, and they that have been children in holine&s;s, may fall from being children, to be but babes in holine&s;s; but now that holine&s;s that is in God, is never &s;ubject to any decayings, a|batings, or langui&s;hing; that &s;pring, that Sea of holine&s;s that is in God, is no waies capable of diminution, nor of Aug|mentation.</P>
<P><HI>Plato</HI> could &s;ay that God is one and the &s;ame,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Pierius.</NOTE> and alwaies like him&s;elf. And it was a cu&s;tome among the <HI>Turks</HI> to cry out every morning from a high Tower, God alwaies was, and alwaies will bee, and &s;o &s;alute their Mahomet; O Sirs! God hath been alwaies holy, and God will bee alwaies holy;
<PB N="594" REF="292"> whatever men may lo&s;e, yet God is re&s;olved that hee will ne|ver lo&s;e his honour, nor his holine&s;s. But</P>
<P>Eighthly and la&s;tly, As God is continually holy, &s;o God is exemplarily holy.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Levit. 20.26. Remember this, you and I mu&s;t an&s;wer for examples, as well as precepts</NOTE> Hee is the Rule, Pattern, and Example of holine&s;s, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.15. <HI>Bee yee holy, as I am holy.</HI> Gods Holine&s;s is the great example and pattern of all that holine&s;s which is in the creatures. Gods holine&s;s is the Copy that we mu&s;t alwaies have in our eye, and indeavour mo&s;t exactly to write after. Carnal friends, and this blinde world, and An|tichri&s;t, and &s;uch as love to Lord it over the con&s;cience, will be &s;till a pre&s;enting to you other examples and patterns, but 'tis your wi&s;dome, and your work, to ca&s;t them all behinde your backs, and to trample them under your feet, and to follow that form and pattern that the Lord hath &s;et before you. And that is, to bee holy as hee is holy. All our holi|ne&s;s is to be brought to the Holine&s;s of God, as the &s;tandard and mea&s;ure of it; and therefore, oh what cau&s;e have wee to be &s;till a perfecting holine&s;s in the fear of the Lord. And thus I have done with the &s;econd thing, <HI>viz.</HI> Means to in|crea&s;e holine&s;s, and to rai&s;e you up to the highe&s;t pitches and degrees of holine&s;s.</P>
<P>And &s;o I come to the third thing propo&s;ed, and that was, to lay down &s;ome &s;igns or evidences whereby per&s;ons may know whether they have attained to any high pitch, or emi|nent degrees of holine&s;s or no. Now Sirs, if you de&s;ire in good earne&s;t to know whether you have attained to any per|fection of holine&s;s, or no, then &s;eriou&s;ly weigh the&s;e follow|ing particulars, and try your &s;elves by them.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, The more a man can warm his heart at the Promi|&s;es, and cleave to the Promi&s;es, and re&s;t upon the Promi&s;es, and &s;uck marrow, and fatne&s;s, and &s;weetne&s;s out of the brea&s;ts of the Promi&s;es; when Divine Providences (&s;eem to) run cro&s;s to Divine Promi&s;es. The greater mea&s;ure of holi|ne&s;s that man hath attained to, where there are but little mea|&s;ures of holine&s;s, there every &s;eeming contrariety to the Promi&s;e troubles a man, and every little cloud that hangs o|ver the Promi&s;e, will mightily perplex a man, &amp;c. But where holine&s;s is rai&s;ed to any con&s;iderable height, there that man
<PB N="595" REF="292"> will &s;uck hony out of the flint, hee will &s;uck &s;weetne&s;s out of the Promi&s;e, even then when providence looks &s;owrely up|on the Promi&s;e; yea when Providence &s;eems to bid defiance to the Promi&s;e; witne&s;s <HI>Jacob,</HI> in that <HI>Gen.</HI> 32.6, 7, 8. com|pared with <HI>v.</HI> 9, 11, 12. <HI>And the Me&s;&s;engers returned to Ja|cob, &s;aying, Wee came to thy Brother E&s;au, and al&s;o hee cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. Then Ja<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ob was greatly afraid, and di&s;tre&s;&s;ed: and hee divided the people that were with him, and the Flocks, and Herds, and the Camels in|to two bands; And &s;aid, if E&s;au come to the one company and &s;mite it, then the other company which is left &s;hall e&s;cape. And Jacob &s;aid, O God of my Father Abraham, and God of my Fa|ther I&s;aac, the Lord which &s;aid&s;t unto mee, return unto thy Country, and to thy Kindred, and I will deal well with thee: Deliver mee, I pray thee, from the hand of my Brother, from the hand of E&s;au: For I fear him, le&s;t hee will come and &s;mite mee, and the Mother with the children. And thou &s;aid&s;t, I will &s;urely do thee good, and make thy &s;eed as the &s;and of the Sea, which cannot bee numbred for multitude.</HI> Now here you &s;ee holy <HI>Jacob</HI> in the mid&s;t of all his fears, and frights, in the mid&s;t of all his perils and dangers, in the mid&s;t of all his damps and dreads, and in the mid&s;t of all cro&s;s amazing, and amu&s;ing providences, hee turns him&s;elf to the brea&s;ts of the Promi&s;e, and &s;ucks marrow and &s;weetne&s;s out of tho&s;e brea&s;ts. <HI>Jacob</HI> puts the Promi&s;e into &s;uit, hee &s;ues God upon his own bond, and &s;o bears up &s;weetly under dark and di&s;mal providences. And &s;o did <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> in that <HI>Numb.</HI> 10.29. <HI>And Mo&s;es &s;aid unto Hobab, the Son of Raguel, the Medianite, Mo&s;es Father-in law, wee are journying unto the place of which the Lord &s;aid, I will give it you: come thou with us, and wee will do thee good; for the Lord hath &s;poken good concerning I&s;rael. Mo&s;es</HI> had been almo&s;t now forty years in the wil|derne&s;s, and many thou&s;ands were fallen on his right hand, and on his left; yet &s;aith hee to <HI>Hobab,</HI> in the face of all tho&s;e di&s;mal providences, come go along with us, and be as eyes unto us, and wee will certainly do thee good;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver&s;. 31.</NOTE> but <HI>Hobab</HI> might have objected, Alas! what good can I expect in a wilderne&s;s condition, where &s;o many are weak, and &s;o many
<PB N="596" REF="293"> are &s;ick, and &s;o many thou&s;ands are fallen a&s;leep; and where all the people are every day &s;urrounded with a thou|&s;and, dangers, difficulties, and deaths; well, &s;aith hee, though al this be true, yet go along with us, and be &s;erviceable and u&s;eful to us, and wee will do thee good; <HI>for the Lord hath &s;poken good concerning I&s;rael.</HI> Here this holy man <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> turns him&s;elf to the Promi&s;e, and in the face of all &s;ad providences hee draws comfort and incouragement from the P<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">omi&s;e: And &s;o did <HI>Jeho&s;aphat,</HI> in that 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 20. When the children of <HI>Ammon, and Moab,</HI> and <HI>Mount Seir</HI> came again&s;t him to battel, <HI>v.</HI> 1.10. hee turns him&s;elf to the Promi&s;e, <HI>v.</HI> 7, 8, 9. and gathers life and &s;pirit from thence. And &s;o did <HI>David,</HI> in that <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 60. in the 1, 2, 3. <HI>v.</HI> you have a Narrative of many cro&s;s and dreadful Providences, and yet in the face of them all, holy <HI>David</HI> &s;ucks &s;trong con|&s;olation out of the brea&s;ts of the Promi&s;e, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 6. <HI>God hath &s;poken in h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s holine&s;s, I will rejoyce: I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.</HI> God hath promi&s;ed in his Holine&s;s, that <HI>David</HI> &s;hould bee King over all <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and therefore notwith&s;tanding all &s;trange providences, <HI>David</HI> tri|umphs in the Promi&s;e, and looks upon him&s;elf as Ma&s;ter of all tho&s;e &s;trong-holds that are mentioned in <HI>v.</HI> 7, 8, 9. And &s;o <HI>Abraham,</HI> hee wanted a Son, and God promi&s;ed him an <HI>I&s;aac.</HI> Now in the face of all his own deadne&s;s, and natural in<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">bi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ities (as to generation) and <HI>Sarah</HI>'s deadne&s;s and bar|renne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 4.17, 18, 19, 20, 1.</NOTE> hee turns about to the Promi&s;e, and his Faith and Holine&s;s being high, hee draws &s;weetne&s;s and &s;atisfaction from thence. Notwith&s;tanding pre&s;ent providences, the n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ke<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Promi&s;e was a well of Life and Salvation to him.</P>
<P>O Sirs! 'tis an Argument of a very great mea&s;ure of ho|line&s;s, when troubles and difficulties vani&s;h upon the &s;ight of a Promi&s;e; when all things work quire cro&s;s and contrary to &s;en&s;e and feeling. Now for a man to imbrace a Promi&s;e, to hug a Promi&s;e, to ki&s;s a Promi&s;e, and to draw content and &s;atisfaction from a Promi&s;e, argues a great degree of ho|line&s;s. 'Tis a very hard and difficult thing for a man exactly to take the picture of Divine Providence at any time; for ma|ny a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e the voices and the faces of providence, and there are
<PB N="597" REF="293"> as great deeps in Providences, as there are in Prophecies; and many Texts of Providence are as hard, as dark, and as difficult to be under&s;tood, as many Texts of Scripture are; 'tis as hard to reconcile the Works of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 36.6. Rom. 11.33.</NOTE> as 'tis to recon|cile the Word of God; for as in the Word of God there are many &s;eeming contradictions; &s;o in the Works of God there are many &s;eeming contradictions; for here one providence &s;miles, and there another frowns; here providence lifts up, and there providence ca&s;ts down; here providence &s;trokes, and there providence &s;tri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">es;<NOTE PLACE="marg">I have read that <HI>Marica,</HI> a <HI>Roman</HI> Prin|ce&s;s being great with childe, had the Babe in her killed with lightning, when &s;hee her &s;elf e&s;caped.</NOTE> here Providence leads towards <HI>Canaan,</HI> there providence leads towards a wilderne&s;s; here Providence leads towards <HI>Zion,</HI> and there Providence leads towards <HI>Babylon;</HI> here Providence &s;peaks us very fair, and there Providence doth &s;everely threaten; here Providence is bright and lovely, and there Providence is dark and dread|ful. Now under all &s;uch Providences, for a man to run to a Promi&s;e, and to draw out life, and &s;trength, and &s;weetne&s;s from a Promi&s;e, is a clear evidence of a very high pitch of holine&s;s that &s;uch a per&s;on hath attained to. I have read of an Emperour that put on a new-&s;uit every day; O Sirs! when the great God &s;hall every day apparel him&s;elf in &s;trange changeable Providences. Now for a-man to hang upon the brea&s;ts of a Promi&s;e, and to &s;uck milk out of a Promi&s;e argues a very great increa&s;e of holine&s;s. But</P>
<P>Secondly, The mo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e a man can overcome evil with good upon holy and gracious accounts, as upon the account of Gods Command, Gods Honour, the Credit of the Go&s;pel, and the Conviction, Conver&s;ion, and Salvation of Souls; the greater mea&s;ure of holine&s;s &s;uch a pe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;on hath attained to, to return reproach for reproach, reviling for reviling, and cur&s;ing for cur&s;ing, and &s;corning for &s;corning, and defaming for defaming, is exceeding natural to us;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Austin</HI> &s;aith, that Chri&s;t made a Pulpit of the Cro&s;s, and the great Le&s;&s;on hee taught Chri&s;ti|ans, was to love their enemies.</NOTE> but to love them that hate us, to ble&s;s them that cur&s;e us, to do good to them that abhor us, and to pray for them that per&s;ecute us, and that de&s;pitefully u&s;e us, according to Chri&s;ts expre&s;s com|mand, in that <HI>Matth.</HI> 5.44. are things exceeding contrary to nature, and exceedingly above nature; the power of grace and holine&s;s appears in nothing more than in bringing the
<PB N="598" REF="294"> heart to a &s;weet and ready &s;ubjection to &s;uch commands as are mo&s;t cro&s;s&punc; and contrary to fle&s;h and blood. As tho&s;e are in that <HI>Rom.</HI> 12.17.19, 20, 21. <HI>Recompence no man evil for evil. Dearly Beloved, avenge not your &s;elves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, vengeance is mine, and I will repay it, &s;aith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him&punc; if hee thirst, give him drink: Bee not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.</HI> And &s;o that in 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 5.15. <HI>See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among your &s;elves, and to all men.</HI> To return good for evil, and kindne&s;&s;es for injuries, to behave our &s;elves courteou&s;ly, humbly, meekly, tenderly and &s;weetly towards tho&s;e who behave them&s;elves di&s;courteou&s;ly, proudly, pa&s;&s;ionately, har&s;hly and &s;owrely towards us, argues a very great degree of holine&s;s. <HI>David</HI> was a man eminent in holine&s;s, and hee was good at this good work, as you may &s;ee in that 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 1.24. <HI>Yee Daughters of I&s;rael, weep over Saul, who clothed you in Scarlet, with other delights, who put on Orna|ments of Gold upon your Apparel.</HI> Hee doth not envy again&s;t <HI>Saul,</HI> nor in&s;ult or rejoyce over <HI>Saul,</HI> as many carnal &amp; un&s;an|ctified hearts would have done, nor hee doth not provoke, or &s;tir up the Daughters of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> to rejoyce in the death and de+&s;truction of &s;uch a Tyrant, that had hunted him up and down as a Patridge, and that had often de&s;igned his ruine, and that had alwaies returned him evil for good, and that had bathed his &s;word in the blood of <HI>Abimelech</HI> the High-Prie&s;t, and in the blood of four&s;core more of the Prie&s;ts of the Lord, and that had for&s;aken the Lord, and gone to a Witch, yea to the Devil for help in his need: O no! hee conceals what was bad, and remembers what was good; hee pa&s;&s;es o|ver tho&s;e things that were condemnable, and hee in&s;tances only in tho&s;e things that might make his memory mo&s;t ac|ceptable, commendable, and delightful among the weaker Sex, <HI>viz.</HI> his making of bravery and gallantry fa&s;hionable among&s;t them. And &s;o <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> was a man eminent in ho|line&s;s, and hee was good at this hard work, as you may &s;ee in that <HI>Gen.</HI> 50.16,&mdash;23. And <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was a man of great holine&s;s, and hee was good at his difficult work; as you
<PB N="599" REF="294"> may &s;ee in that 106 <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 16.23.33. compared together. And <HI>Stephen</HI> was a man full of the Holy Gho&s;t, and hee was good at praying for them that made a prey of him, <HI>Act.</HI> 7. <HI>ult.</HI> And <HI>Paul</HI> was a man of the &s;ame mind &amp; mettle, as you may &s;ee by comparing the 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 11, 24. with th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> <HI>Rom.</HI> 1.2.3. And <HI>Eu&s;ebius</HI> affirms that when <HI>Paul</HI> was <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">eaded, under <HI>Diocle&s;ian</HI> the Emperour, hee prayed both for <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Gen|tiles,</HI> for the Multitude a&s;&s;embled, and al&s;o for the Judge and Executioner, that his death might not one day, bee laid unto their charge, <HI>Calvin</HI> was a man of great holine&s;&s;e, and therefore though <HI>Luther</HI> (who was a man of a mo&s;t vio+lent bitter pa&s;&s;ionate &s;pirit) had wofully wronged him, and reviled him, yet &s;aith hee let <HI>Luther</HI> hate mee, and in his wrath call mee a thou&s;and times Devil, yet I will love him and honour him and acknowledge him, a choice and preci|ous &s;ervant of God. Mr. <HI>Fox</HI> that writ the Book of Mar|tyrs, was &s;o famous in the practice of this hard peece of Chri&s;tianity, that it became a Proverb; If any man would have Mr. <HI>Fox</HI> do him a good turn, let him do him an in|jury, and hee will bee &s;ure to do him a good turn for it: Send mee to my Toads again [in the Dungeon] where I may pray for your Lord&s;hips conver&s;ion; Said Mr. <HI>Sanders</HI> the Martyr to the Bi&s;hop of <HI>Winche&s;ter,</HI> thus you &s;ee that the more eminent any per&s;ons are in holine&s;&s;e, the more they overcome evil with good, the more good they will do them that do evil to them; and thus to do, is but to conform to Chri&s;t your head, for hee &s;hed tears for them, that were to &s;hed his blood, and hee gave them his blood to drink, who gave him gall to drink and vinegar to drink; <HI>Act.</HI> 2. That man is almo&s;t got up to the very top of Holine&s;&s;e, who&s;e Soul is habituated to overcome evil with good, upon holy and precious accounts: <HI>Julius Cae&s;ar,</HI> and <HI>Augustus Cae&s;ar</HI> (in who&s;e time Chri&s;t was born) and <HI>Titus ve&s;pa&s;ian, Camillus, Darius, Licurgus, Plato, Pericles,</HI> and <HI>He|rod</HI> that is mentioned in <HI>Act.</HI> 12.23. with many other Hea|thens have done &s;omething this way, but what they did they did by fits and &s;tarts, and from poor low principles and to vain glorious ends, and therefore all that they did this way
<PB N="600" REF="295"> is not worth a reciting; well Chri&s;tians the more you can overcome evil with good, the more certainly your hearts are filled with good, that mans heart is full of the fruits of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and holine&s;s, that upon divine con&s;iderati|ons is accu&s;to<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">d, not to bee overcome of evil, but to o|vercome evil with good. But,</P>
<P>Thirdly, When men in the main, I &s;ay in the main are as holy out of religious duties, as they are in religious duties, when in the main, of their lives they are as &s;piritual, as heavenly, as humble, as gracious, as &s;erious, as watch|ful, as circum&s;pect, &amp;c. as they are in their mo&s;t religi|ous performances and duties; this argues not only the truth of holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exo. 34.29, 30.<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">3.35.</NOTE> but a very high degree of holine&s;s; <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> Face did &s;hine as gloriou&s;ly when he came off from the mount, as ever it did &s;hine when he was upon the mount. O Sirs! if when you come off from the mount of duties, there remains &s;ome rayes, and &s;hinings of God upon you, 'tis an argument that the waters of Sanctity are ri&s;en to a con&s;iderable heighth in your Souls.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 47.2.&mdash;6.</NOTE> Ah how lively, how warm, how enlarged; how holy, how humble, how heavenly, how &s;piritual, how &s;erious, how zealous, how religious, how gracious, are many in duties, in ordinances: but ah! how dead, how cold, how &s;traitned, how unholy, how proud, how world|ly, how carnal, how &s;light, and how irreligious are the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> out of duties, out of ordinances, now certainly the&s;e have either no holine&s;s at all, or el&s;e they have attained to but a very little mea&s;ure of holine&s;s: But now when a man in the main, when a man in his cour&s;e is the &s;ame out of du|ties, out of ordinances, that hee is in duties, in ordinances, 'tis a very great, and glorious Argument, that &s;uch a per|&s;on hath in a very great mea&s;ure, perfected holine&s;s in the fear of the Lord. But,</P>
<P>Fourthly, The more a man can Divinely joy and rejoyce under tribulations, and afflictions, the greater mea&s;ure of holine&s;s hee hath attained to; 'tis a mercy not to grumble, not to mutter, not to murmur, nor to fret, not to faint, not to di&s;pond, nor not to de&s;pair, 'tis much to bee &s;ilent under afflictions, and to bee quiet and patient under tri|bulations;
<PB N="601" REF="295"> oh but divinely to joy and rejoyce under afflicti|ons, under tribulations, argues a very great height of holine&s;s <HI>Rom.</HI> 5.3 4. <HI>And not only &s;o, but wee glory in tribulations al|&s;o, knowing that tribulation worketh patience: And patience,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> <HI>experience, and experience hop:</HI> That glorying and rejoyce|ing, are both one in the New Te&s;tament, is &s;ufficiently known; they differ only in degrees, glorying being a &s;tep above rejoycing: 'Tis much to rejoyce in tribulations, but 'tis more to glory in tribulations; yea, to glory in them as an Old Souldier glories in all tho&s;e marks and &s;cars of honour that hee hath met with, in the &s;ervice of his King and Coun|try: and yet to this height, the beleeving <HI>Romans</HI> were rai&s;|ed, which argues a very great mea&s;ure of holine&s;s in them. And &s;o in that 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 7.4. <HI>Great is my boldne&s;s of &s;peech towards you, great is my glorying of you, I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation,</HI> or as the Greek runs I do over-abound exceedingly with joy;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> I have a &s;uperabun|dance of joy in all our tribulation; and &s;o in <HI>chap.</HI> 12.9.10. <HI>Mo&s;t gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Chri&s;t might re&s;t upon me: Therefore I take plea&s;ure in infirmities, in reproaches, in nece&s;&s;ities, in per&s;ecutions, in di&s;tre&s;&s;es for Chri&s;ts &s;ake: for when I am weak, then am I &s;trong.</HI> Paul rejoyces, and glories more in his heavy afflictions, and in his various tribulations, than hee did in his glorious and My&s;terious Revelations; the more hee was afflicted and di|&s;tre&s;&s;ed; the more hee had of the vi&s;ible pre&s;ence of Chri&s;t, and the more hee had of the glorious a&s;&s;i&s;tance of Chri&s;t, and the more hee had of &s;weet communion and fellow&s;hip with Chri&s;t, and the more hee had of the choi&s;e &s;upports and &s;in|gular comforts of Chri&s;t, and therefore hee takes plea&s;ure in all the pre&s;&s;ures that were upon him; and &s;o in that <HI>Jam.</HI> 1.2. <HI>My brethren count it all joy, when you fall into divers temp|tations:</HI> that is, into divers afflictions; O Sirs! to bee di|vinely merry in mi&s;ery, to rejoyce in the Cro&s;s, as men re|joyce in a Crown, to rejoyce in adver&s;itie, as others re|joyce in pro&s;perity; to rejoyce in a &s;tinking pri&s;on, as o|thers rejoyce in their &s;tately palaces; to rejoyce in re&s;traint, as others rejoyce in liberty; to rejoyce in wants, as others
<PB N="602" REF="296"> rejoyce in abundance; to rejoyce in reproaches, as others rejoyce in their honours, &amp;c. is very much, but to bee joy|ful in &s;uch ca&s;es, not with a little joy, but with exceeding great joy is more. All joy is an Hebrai&s;m, and it &s;ignifies great joy, full Joy, exceeding joy, perfect joy; O! thus to re|joyce and that not only when you fall into &s;ome afflictions, but when you fall into divers afflictions, argues a very great mea&s;ure of holine&s;s; but ah! how rare is it to finde &s;uch &s;ouls in the&s;e daies, that can not only bear the Cro&s;s, but al&s;o rejoyce in the Cro&s;s, that can not only bear reproach|es, but al&s;o wear reproaches, as their Crown and Glory. But,</P>
<P>Fiftly, The more exten&s;ive a mans obedience is to di|vine commands,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Num. 14.24. <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Vajemalle,</HI> the Hebrew word, is a Metaphor, taken from a Ship under fail which is &s;trong|ly carryed with the wind, as if it feared nei|ther rocks nor &s;ands.</NOTE> the greater mea&s;ure of holine&s;s that man hath attained to; <HI>Caleb</HI> had a very great mea&s;ure of the &s;pi|rit of holine&s;s upon him, and hee is &s;aid to have followed the Lord fully, or as the Hebrew hath it, hee fulfilled af|ter mee, that is, his obedience was full, univer&s;al, re&s;o|lute, and con&s;tant to the end; the contrary is affirmed of <HI>Solomon</HI> in that, 1 <HI>King.</HI> 11.6. <HI>And</HI> Solomon <HI>did evil in the &s;ight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did</HI> Da|vid <HI>his Father;</HI> or as the Hebrew hath it, hee fulfilled not after the Lord, that is, his obedience was not &s;o full, &s;o univer&s;al, &s;o &s;incere, &s;o re&s;olute, and &s;o con&s;tant, as <HI>Da|vids</HI> his Fathers was. <HI>Zacharias</HI> and <HI>Elizabeth</HI> were per&s;ons of great holine&s;&s;e, and their obedience was very exten&s;ive, for they walked not only in &s;ome, but in all the command|ments, and not only in all the Commandements, but al&s;o in all the Ordinances of the Lord blamele&s;&s;e. <HI>Luke</HI> 1.5, 6. their obedience was of &s;uch an univer&s;al extent and latitude, that it comprehended and took in all the duties both of their general, and particular callings, they had an eye to the duties of the &s;econd Table, as well as they had an eye to the duties of the fir&s;t; and they &s;ubjected them|&s;elves to the duties of their particular calling,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 23.23.</NOTE> as well as to the duties of their general calling. As they had an eye to mint, anni&s;&s;e, and cumming, that is, to the le&s;&s;er, and lower duties of Religion, &s;o they had an eye, to the great|er,
<PB N="603" REF="296"> and weightier duties of Religion; <HI>viz.</HI> Judgement, Mercy and Faith, &amp;c. But now Chri&s;tians at their fir&s;t con|ver&s;ion, and whil&s;t they remain weak in grace and holine&s;&s;e, their obedience is more &s;trait and narrow, for commonly they &s;pend much, if not mo&s;t of their time in praying, fa&s;ting, hearing, reading, Chri&s;tian-conference, &amp;c. and neglect a hundred other duties that are incumbent upon them; they are very forward and warm in the duties of their general Calling, but very cold and remi&s;&s;e in the duties of their par|ticular Calling, they are very frequent and fervent in &s;ome duties, and very rare in other duties; but now the more they grow in grace and holine&s;&s;e, the more exten&s;ive will their obedience be, and the more their hearts will be dilated and ex|tended to all the duties both of the fir&s;t and &s;econd Table. But</P>
<P>Sixthly, The more a man conflicts with heart-&s;ins, with &s;piritual-&s;ins, with invi&s;ible-&s;ins, with &s;ins that lye mo&s;t hid, and ob&s;cure from the eyes of the world, and the more &s;piri|tual victories and conque&s;ts a man obtains over them, the greater mea&s;ure of holine&s;s that per&s;on hath certainly at|tained to. When the heart ri&s;es with all its &s;trength and might again&s;t &s;ecret Pride, &s;ecret Self-love,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chron. 32.26. P&s;al. 119.80. 2 Cor. 12.7, 8, 9. P&s;al. 30.6, 7. Rom. 7.23, 24. 2 Cor. 7..1</NOTE> &s;ecret bublings of Lu&s;ts, &s;ecret Carnal-confidence, &s;ecret Murmuring, &s;ecret Hypocri&s;ie, &s;ecret Envy, &s;ecret Self-applau&s;e, &s;ecret Malice, &s;ecret Hatred, &s;ecret Snares, &s;ecret Temptations, &amp;c. It is an Argument that Holine&s;s is grown up to &s;ome con&s;iderable height there. A little Grace, a little Holine&s;s, will work a man to conflict with gro&s;&s;e &s;ins, with outward &s;ins, with bo|dily &s;ins, with &s;uch &s;ins that every one may &s;et their eyes on, and lay their hands on; yea where there is no Grace, no Ho|line&s;&s;e at all, the light of Nature, the common convictions of the Spirit, the Laws of Men, the eyes of Men, the threats of Men, the examples of Men, a &s;marting Rod, and good Edu|cation, may work men to conflict with &s;uch &s;ins; O but when all the &s;trength and might of the &s;oul is ingaged again&s;t tho&s;e very &s;ins that lye not within the &s;ight or reach of the mo&s;t &s;harp and piercing men in the world, but in the heart, and about the heart, and are only obvious to an Omni&s;cient eye, this argues a great degree of Holine&s;&s;e; And therefore <HI>Au|gu&s;tine</HI>
<PB N="604" REF="297"> hit the mark when hee &s;aid, that it is a harder thing for a man to fight with his lu&s;ts (under&s;tand it e&s;pecially of heart-lu&s;ts, of &s;piritual-wickedne&s;&s;e) than 'tis to fight with the Cro&s;&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aug. Serm.</HI> 4. <HI>de verbis Do|mini.</HI> Jam. 3.7. <HI>Hiraclius</HI> motto was, <HI>a Deo vi|ctoria,</HI> 'tis God that giveth vi|ctory.</NOTE> And <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> hath long &s;ince complained, that wee do not tame the bea&s;ts in our own bo&s;omes. O! 'tis an ea&s;ier thing to tame all the bea&s;ts in the world, than 'tis to tame one bea&s;t in the bo&s;ome; all the bea&s;ts in the world may be tamed, and brought under by a humane power, but no power below that power that rai&s;ed Chri&s;t from the Grave, can tame the bea&s;ts that bee in our bo&s;omes. Now look as conflicts with heart-&s;ins, with &s;piritual-&s;ins, &amp;c. argues &s;ome eminency in Holine&s;&s;e: &s;o victory over heart-&s;ins, over-&s;piri|tual &s;ins, over tho&s;e &s;ins that lye mo&s;t remote from the eyes of others, argues a very great degree of Holine&s;&s;e; when a Chri&s;tian doth not onely re&s;i&s;t heart-&s;ins, but vanqui&s;hes heart-&s;ins, when hee doth not only combate with heart-&s;ins, but conquers heart-&s;ins; when hee doth not only fight with heart-&s;ins, but al&s;o overcomes heart-&s;ins, when hee doth not only wre&s;tle with heart-&s;ins, but al&s;o overthrows heart-&s;ins; this &s;peaks out holine&s;s in its growth. 'Twas a good &s;aying of <HI>Cyprian,</HI> there is no &s;uch plea&s;ure (&s;aith hee) as to have overcome an offered plea&s;ure, neither is there any greater conque&s;t, than that that is gotten over a mans corruptions. And 'twas an excellent &s;aying of <HI>Eu&s;ebius Eme&s;enus,</HI> our Fa|thers overcame the torments of the flames, let us overcome the fiery darts of vices; and indeed 'tis an ea&s;ier thing to overcome the flames, than 'tis to overcome tho&s;e flaming lu&s;ts and corruptions that bee in our own hearts. <HI>Philo&s;ophy</HI> may teach us to indure hard&s;hips, as it did <HI>Calanus</HI> in <HI>Curtius,</HI> who willingly offered his body to the fire, to the flames, but 'tis only grace, 'tis only holine&s;&s;e that can inable us to over|come our lu&s;ts, our heart-lu&s;ts; wee read of many that out of greatne&s;&s;e of Spirit could offer violence to Nature, but were at a lo&s;&s;e when they came to deal with their corruptions.</P>
<P>I remember a notable &s;aying of <HI>Ambro&s;e,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. Ap<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">l. Dav<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d. Post. c. <HI>3.</HI></NOTE> &s;peaking of <HI>Samp|&s;on, vincula &s;olvit ho&s;tium, &amp;c.</HI> Saith hee, hee brake the bonds of his enemies; but hee could not break the bonds of his own lu&s;ts: hee choaked the Lion, but hee could not
<PB N="605" REF="297"> choak his own wanton love: hee &s;et on fire the harve&s;t of &s;trangers, and him&s;elf being &s;et on fire with the &s;park of one &s;trange woman lo&s;t the harve&s;t of his vertue. And this &s;aying of <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> puts mee in minde of a great <HI>Roman</HI> Captain, who as hee was riding in his triumphant Chariot through <HI>Rome,</HI> had his eyes never off a Courtizan that walkt along the &s;treet, which made one &s;ay, Behold how this goodly Cap|tain that conquered &s;uch potent Armies, is him&s;elf conquered by one &s;illy woman. O 'tis not Philo&s;ophy, nor Morality, nor Civility, &amp;c. but holine&s;&s;e, but &s;anctity that will make the &s;oul victorious over iniquity; and the more victories and conque&s;ts a man makes upon heart &s;ins, upon &s;piritual-&s;ins, upon &s;ecret-&s;ins, the greater mea&s;ures of holine&s;&s;e that per|&s;on hath certainly attained to. But</P>
<P>Seventhly, The more a man is exerci&s;ed and bu&s;ied in the mo&s;t internal and &s;piritual duties of Religion, the greater mea|&s;ures of holine&s;&s;e that man hath attained to. You know there are external duties of Religion, and there are internal duties of Religion: There are external duties of Religion, as pub|lick Preaching, hearing the Word, reading the Word,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mar. 6. &amp; ch. 23.</NOTE> fa&s;t|ing, &s;inging of P&s;alms, Chri&s;tian conference, Communion of Saints, and receiving the Lords Supper. Now &s;uch Chri&s;tians as have but &s;mall mea&s;ures of grace and holine&s;&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 1.11.&mdash;19, I&s;a. 58.1, 2, 3.4, 5. Zach. 7.4, 5, 6, 7</NOTE> and Hypo|crites and Formali&s;ts that have not the lea&s;t mea&s;ure of true grace and holine&s;&s;e; the&s;e are mo&s;t commonly exerci&s;ed and bu&s;ied about the external duties and &s;ervices of Religion; but very &s;eldome, very rare &s;hall you finde them in the more in|ward and &s;piritual duties of Religion; but then as there are external duties; &s;o there are internal and &s;piritual duties, as Self-examination, Self-re&s;ignation to God, Self-loathing, Self-judging, Divine-meditation, praying in the Spirit, Watchfulne&s;&s;e over the Heart, and making applica|tion of the blood of Chri&s;t, the death of Chri&s;t, the grace of Chri&s;t, the love of Chri&s;t, and the word of Chri&s;t to a mans own &s;oul. Now the more any Chri&s;tian is exerci&s;ed and im|ployed, in the&s;e internal &s;piritual and Evangelical duties and &s;ervices, the greater heights and degrees of holine&s;&s;e that Chri&s;tian is grown to, <HI>Phil.</HI> 3.3. <HI>For wee are the c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">rcumci&s;ion,
<PB N="606" REF="298"> which wor&s;hip God in the Spirit, and rejoyce in Christ Je&s;us, and have no confidence in the fle&s;h.</HI> The&s;e <HI>Philippians</HI> were emi|nent in grace and holine&s;&s;e, as you may &s;ee in <HI>chap.</HI> 1. And they place no confidence in circumci&s;ion, nor in any &s;uch outward performances, or &s;ervices, but they were much in the exerci&s;e of grace, and in wor&s;hipping of God in the Spi|rit, and in rejoycing in the Per&s;on of Chri&s;t, the Natures of Chri&s;t, the Offices of Chri&s;t, the Di&s;coveries of Chri&s;t, the Communications of Chri&s;t, the glorious Operations of Chri&s;t, the precious Promi&s;es of Chri&s;t, and in the heart-warming and heart-chearing Blood of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>Now to bee much exerci&s;ed in the mo&s;t internal, &s;piritual, and Evangelical duties of Religion, argues a very great height of holine&s;&s;e. But</P>
<P N="8">8thly. The more &s;piritual, internal, &amp; intrin&s;ecal Principles, Motives, and Con&s;iderations, carries a per&s;on on in Religious duties and &s;ervices, the more holy that per&s;on is; when a man is carried on in the duties of Religion, from a &s;en&s;e of Divine Love,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;a. 119.1, 2, 3. 1 Joh. 1.1, 2, 3, 4. I&s;a. 38.16, 17, 19, 20. P&s;a. 63.1, 2, 3.</NOTE> or from a &s;en&s;e of the &s;pecial pre&s;ence of Chri&s;t with his Spirit, or from a &s;en&s;e of the excellency and &s;weetne&s;&s;e of communion and fellow&s;hip with God, or from a &s;en&s;e of the graciou&s;ne&s;&s;e and goodne&s;&s;e of God towards him, or from a &s;en&s;e of &s;ingular influences and incomes from God, or from a &s;en&s;e of the choice and precious di&s;coveries of God, or from a &s;en&s;e of the beauty and glory of God, &amp;c. This argues a very great mea&s;ure of holine&s;&s;e, that &s;uch a per|&s;on hath attained to; The more the &s;weet looks of Chri&s;t, the &s;ecret vi&s;its of Chri&s;t, the private whi&s;pers of Chri&s;t; the di|vine joggings of Chri&s;t, the ble&s;&s;ed Love-tokens of Chri&s;t, and the holy ki&s;&s;es, and glorious embraces of Chri&s;t doth in|cite and provoke a per&s;on to Religious duties; the greater degrees of holine&s;&s;e that per&s;on hath reacht to; but now 'tis an Argument that the &s;treams of holine&s;&s;e runs but low, when external Motives and Con&s;iderations have the greate&s;t hand in carrying a per&s;on on in Religious duties. The more bare cu&s;tome, the eye of the creature, the favour of the creature, the example of the creature, the applau&s;e of the creature, the rewards of the creature, or the keeping up of a mans parts,
<PB N="607" REF="298"> or the keeping up of a mans name, e&s;teem and repute in the world, doth influence a Chri&s;tians heart to Religious duties, the le&s;&s;e holine&s;&s;e that Chri&s;tian hath. Yea 'tis con&s;iderable, that outward Motives, and natural Principles have carried many Heathens to do many great and glorious things in the world. Did not <HI>Si&s;era</HI> do as great things as <HI>Gideon?</HI> the diffe|rence did only lye here, that the great things that <HI>Gideon</HI> did, hee did from more &s;piritual Principles, and rai&s;ed Con|&s;iderations, than any <HI>Si&s;era</HI> was acted by; And did not <HI>Dioge|nes</HI> trample under his feet the great and glorious things of this world as well as <HI>Mo&s;es?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 11.</NOTE> the difference did only lye in this, that <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> trampled under his feet the gay and gallant things of this world, from inward, holy Principles, and from high and glorious Con&s;iderations, and Motives, whereas <HI>Di|ogenes</HI> did only trample upon them from poor, low Prin|ciples, and from carnal and external Con&s;iderations.</P>
<P>I have read of one <HI>Co&s;mus Medices,</HI> a rich Citizen of <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">lo|rence,</HI> that hee confe&s;&s;ed to a neer friend of his, that hee built &s;o many Magnificent Structures, and &s;pent &s;o much on Scholars, and Libraries, not for any love to Learning, but to rai&s;e up to him&s;elf the Trophies of fame and renown. And many of the <HI>Romans</HI> have done very great and glorious things for their Country, but all from natural Principles, and from carnal and external Motives and Con&s;iderations; as for a great name, a puff of honour, a little applau&s;e, &amp;c. and therefore their mo&s;t glorious actions have been but &s;hining &s;ins. God alwaies writes a nothing upon all tho&s;e &s;ervices,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">2.23.</NOTE> wherein mens Principles and their Ends are naught and low. 'Twas a notable &s;aying of <HI>Luther,</HI> one work of a Chri&s;tian (&s;aith hee) is more precious then Heaven and Earth, and if I might have my de&s;ire, I would rather chu&s;e the meane&s;t work of a Country Chri&s;tian, or poor Maid, than all the Victories and Triumphs of <HI>Alexander</HI> the Great, and of <HI>Ju|lius Cae&s;ar,</HI> becau&s;e what&s;oever a Saint doth, though it be ne|ver &s;o &s;mall and mean, yet it is great and glorious, becau&s;e he doth all in Faith, and by the Word. And &s;aith the &s;ame Au|thor further, let our works be never &s;o &s;mall, &s;ervile, woman|i&s;h, yet let but this title be added, the Word of the Lord; and
<PB N="608" REF="299"> then they will be all glorious, yea &s;uch as &s;hall remain to all eternity. O Sirs! all our works and &s;ervices mu&s;t bee wrought from God, for God, in God, and according to God, or el&s;e they will bee but <HI>&s;plendida peccata,</HI> gli&s;tering &s;ins; well the more &s;piritual and internal, the principles, motives, and con&s;iderations are, that carries a Chri&s;tian on in religious duties, the greater mea&s;ure of holine&s;&s;e hath that Chri&s;tian arrived to. But,</P>
<P>Ninthly, The more &s;olid, preci&s;e, exact, and accurate a Chri&s;tian is in religious duties and &s;ervices, the greater mea&s;ure of holine&s;&s;e that Chri&s;tian hath attained to, and the more any Chri&s;tian grows in holine&s;&s;e, the more &s;piritual, the more &s;avory, the more exact, and accurate hee will grow in all his religious &s;ervices and performances: The more a Chri&s;tians heart is endeared to religious duties, &amp; the more his heart is affected with the heavenly nature of religious duties, and the more ea&s;ily, the more holily, the more freely, &amp; the more &s;piritually, he performs religious duties, the more he is thriven &amp; grown in holine&s;s. A young Carpenter gives more blows, &amp; makes more noi&s;e &amp; chips, than an old experienced workman doth, but the old experienced workman doth his work more &s;olidly, more exactly, and more accurately, than the young Carpenter doth; So many young Chri&s;tians that are but newly entred into the trade of Chri&s;tianity, and that are rai&s;ed up, but to a very &s;mall degree of &s;anctity, the&s;e may multiply duties upon duties, the&s;e may abound in religious performances, the&s;e may bee much in adding of &s;ervice to &s;ervice; but yet the aged and experienced Chri&s;ti|an in grace and holine&s;&s;e, doth duties more &s;olidly, more &s;piritually, more exactly, and more accurately, than the young Chri&s;tian doth: Wee mu&s;t never judge of an emi|nency in holine&s;&s;e, by the number or multitude of our duties, but by the &s;eriou&s;ne&s;&s;e, the graciou&s;ne&s;&s;e, the &s;olidne&s;&s;e, the &s;piritualne&s;&s;e, the holine&s;&s;e, the heavenline&s;&s;e, and the accuratene&s;&s;e of our hearts in duties. A young Mu&s;itian may play longer, and more quick and nimble upon an In|&s;trument, than an old Mu&s;itian can, but yet the old Mu|&s;itian playes with more art, accuratene&s;&s;e, skill, judge|ment,
<PB N="609" REF="299"> and under&s;tanding, than a young Mu&s;itian doth; &s;o young Chri&s;tians in grace and holine&s;&s;e may hold out longer and bee quicker and nimbler in religious duties, than others that are more aged in grace and holine&s;&s;e; but yet they that are aged in grace and holine&s;&s;e, do perform religious duties with more &s;piritual art, and accuratene&s;&s;e, and with more divine skill, judgement, and under&s;tanding than they do in whom the &s;pring of holine&s;&s;e runs low. A young Scholar may run over more paper, and write more paper, and make more letters, than his Ma&s;ter doth, but yet his Ma&s;ter writes more under&s;tandingly, exactly, and accurately, than hee doth.</P>
<P>So many young converts may run over more duties than others, and yet others may perform duties more under|&s;tandingly, and more exactly, and more accurately than they do; let the duty bee never &s;o &s;hort, yet if there bee much &s;piritualne&s;&s;e, holine&s;&s;e, brokenne&s;&s;e, &s;eriou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and accuratene&s;&s;e in it, it will carry all before it, 'twill win the ble&s;&s;ing, and obtain the crown, when the longe&s;t duties (wherein there is no &s;uch frame nor temper of &s;pirit) &s;hall not prevail with God at all. <HI>Zach.</HI> 7.4, 5, 6. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 58.1.&mdash;6. It argues a very great mea&s;ure of holine&s;&s;e, when the &s;oul is habitually carried on in religious duties, with much &s;olidne&s;&s;e, &s;eriou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;piritualne&s;&s;e, exactne&s;&s;e, and accuratene&s;&s;e. But,</P>
<P>Tenthly, The more any man makes it his great bu&s;ine&s;&s;e and work, in all his duties, waies, and walkings, to ap|prove him&s;elf to God, and to bee accepted of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 12.3. P&s;a. 17.3. The Hebrew word, <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Chakreni,</HI> &s;igni|fies, a very &s;trict careful, diligent &s;earch, and in|qui&s;ition, &amp;c.</NOTE> the greater height of holine&s;&s;e that man hath attained to; <HI>Da|vid</HI> was a man of great holine&s;&s;e, and how &s;tudious and in|du&s;trious hee was to approve his heart to the Lord, you may &s;ee in that 139. <HI>P&s;alm.</HI> 23, 24. <HI>Search mee, O God! and know my heart, try mee and know my thoughts; and &s;ee if there bee any wicked way in mee, and lead mee in the way e|verla&s;ting.</HI> The P&s;almi&s;t knew that God had an eye upon him, both at home and abroad, both at bed and at board, both in publick, and in private, both in his family, and in his clo&s;et, hee knew that God had an eye in every corner of
<PB N="610" REF="300"> his hou&s;e, and in every corner of his heart, and therefore hee appeals to God, and hee approves his heart to God, and nobly ventures upon the tryal of God; <HI>Search mee O God, and know my heart, &amp;c.</HI> this frequent repetition and doubling of words, <HI>Search mee O God, and know my heart, try mee, and know my thoughts, &amp;c.</HI> doth not only note the earne&s;tne&s;&s;e, and &s;eriou&s;ne&s;&s;e of <HI>Davids</HI> &s;pirit in pray|er, but al&s;o the &s;oundne&s;&s;e, the uprightne&s;&s;e, the plainne&s;&s;e and the unfeignedne&s;&s;e of <HI>Davids</HI> heart, in that hee was very willing and ready to &s;ubmit him&s;elf to the &s;earch, tryal, examination, and approbation of God. And &s;o <HI>Peter</HI> that great Apo&s;tle of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> makes it his great bu&s;ine&s;&s;e to approve him&s;elf to Chri&s;t thrice together,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 21.15, 16, 17.</NOTE> <HI>Lord, thou knowe&s;t that I love thee, Lord thou knowe&s;t that I love thee, Lord thou that knowe&s;t all things, thou knowe&s;t that I love thee,</HI> Chri&s;t be&s;t knew the reality and &s;incerity of <HI>Peters</HI> love, and therefore <HI>Peter</HI> appeals to him, as to a judge, that would bee &s;ure to judge righteous judgement; <HI>Thou knowe&s;t that I love thee.</HI> And &s;o the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> &s;peaking in the Name of his fellow Apo&s;tles, &s;aith, wherefore wee labour, that whether pre&s;ent,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 5.9. <GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> or ab&s;ent, wee may bee accepted of him: The Greek word that is here rendred labour, is a ve|ry Emphatical word, it &s;ignifies to labour and endeavour with all earne&s;tne&s;&s;e and might, to indeavour with a high and holy ambition, to bee approved of by God, and to bee accepted of God, judgeing it to bee the greate&s;t honour, and the mo&s;t de&s;ireable happine&s;&s;e in all the world, to bee graciou&s;ly owned, approved, and accepted of the Lord; as ambitious, indu&s;trious, and laborious, as <HI>Haman</HI> was to bee highly accepted with King <HI>Aha&s;uerus,</HI> yet he was not more ambitious to bee accepted with the King, than the Apo&s;tles were ambitious to be accepted of the King of Kings. O Sirs! when in every Sermon you hear, and in every pray|er you make, and in every fa&s;t you keep, and in every acti|on you do, and in every way that you walk, and in every mer|cy that you enjoy, and in every cro&s;s that you bear, &amp;c. you make it your great bu&s;ine&s;&s;e and work, to approve your &s;elves to the Lord, and that though the world &s;hould di&s;|countenance
<PB N="611" REF="300"> you, and friends hate you, and near and dear Relations reject you, that yet you may find ble&s;&s;ed acceptance with God; this argues holine&s;s to be upon the Throne, when in all your dealings and tradings with God, you make it your Heaven to approve your &s;elves to God; and when in all your tran&s;actions with men, you make it your happine&s;s to approve your &s;elves to God; 'tis an Argument that the &s;prings of holine&s;s are ri&s;en high in your &s;ouls. But</P>
<P>Eleventhly, The more a man lives by the Rule of Expe|diency, as well as by the Rule of Lawfulne&s;&s;e, the greater mea&s;ure of holine&s;&s;e that per&s;on hath attained to.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 16.7. 2 Cor. 8.10.</NOTE> Weak holine&s;&s;e hath only an eye upon the Rule of Lawfulne&s;&s;e, but rai&s;ed holine&s;&s;e hath one eye upon the Rule of Lawfulne&s;&s;e, and the other upon the Rule of Expediency. Weak holine&s;&s;e &s;aith, O this is lawful, and that is lawful! O but &s;aith rai&s;ed holine&s;&s;e, is it expedient? is it expedient as well as lawful! That Angelical Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI> had &s;till his eye upon the Law of Expediency, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.12. <HI>All things are lawful unto mee, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for mee, but I will not bee brought under the power of any.</HI> And &s;o <HI>ch.</HI> 10.23. <HI>All things are lawful for mee, but all things are not expe|dient: all things are lawful for mee, but all things edifie not.</HI> And &s;o in that 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.1. <HI>'Tis not expedient for mee doubtle&s;s to glory.</HI> Many things may bee lawful, that yet may bee very inexpedient for our place, &s;tate, calling, and condition in the world. 'Twas lawful for the Apo&s;tle to eat meat,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 14.</NOTE> but 'twas not expedient for him to eat meat; when his eating of meat would make his weak Brother to offend, or grieve, or &s;tumble, or fall; And therefore hee re&s;olves, that rather than hee will eat meat to offend,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 8.13.</NOTE> hee will never eat meat whil&s;t the world &s;tands. The more unchangeably re&s;olved any per|&s;on is to eye the Rule of Expediency, and to live by the Rule of Expediency, the greater mea&s;ure of holine&s;&s;e that per&s;on hath certainly attained to, the &s;treams of holine&s;&s;e runs low in that Chri&s;tians heart that hath two eyes to behold the Rule of Lawfulne&s;&s;e, but never an eye to &s;ee the Rule of Expe|diency, it argues a very great height of holine&s;&s;e for a man to make as much con&s;cience of living by the Rule of Expedien|cy,
<PB N="612" REF="301"> as hee doth of living by the Rule of Lawfulne&s;&s;e. For a man to be often a looking over his Natural actions, his Mo|ral actions, and his Religious actions, and to be &s;till a putting this que&s;tion to him&s;elf; O my &s;oul! do&s;t thou eye what is expedient? do&s;t thou eye as well what is expedient, as what is lawful? &s;uch a frame and temper of &s;pirit &s;peaks out much of Chri&s;t and Holine&s;&s;e within. O the &s;ins! O the &s;orrows! O the &s;hame! O the reproach! O the troubles! O the tra|vels! O the trials, &amp;c. that might have been prevented, had the Law, had the Rule of Expediency been more minded and followed by Chri&s;tians in the&s;e daies, &amp;c! But</P>
<P>Twelfthly and la&s;tly, The more a man can deny him&s;elf, when hee hath an opportunity, power and authority to rai&s;e him&s;elf, to greaten him&s;elf, to &s;eek him&s;elf, and to lift up him&s;elf, the greater mea&s;ure of Holine&s;s that man hath at|tained to. Providence often puts many a rare and fair oppor|tunity into <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his hand,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 32.9.&mdash;15. Deut. 9.13, 14, 18, 19, 20. Heb. 12.24, 25. Nehem. 5.14. &mdash; <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> whereby hee might have rai&s;ed him&s;elf, and have greatned him&s;elf in the world, and yet then, even then hee denies him&s;elf. And <HI>Nehemiah</HI> was a man of the &s;ame mind and metal; hee &s;tood upon the ad|vantage ground, to have greatned him&s;elf, and to have lifted up him&s;elf, as others had done before him; but in&s;tead of this hee le&s;&s;ens him&s;elf, hee denies him&s;elf, hee degrades him&s;elf, and being of a very noble, generous publick &s;pirit. hee turns his back upon his own worldly intere&s;t, and keeps a very free and bountiful Table, upon the account of his own particular Revenue, and not upon the account of a publick pur&s;e. And &s;o <HI>Daniel</HI> was one in Spirit with the former; when God had brought him into high favour with the Prince of the Eunuchs,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 1.8, 9, 10, 11.</NOTE> and given him a great deal of heart-room there, yet upon no terms would hee defile him&s;elf with the Kings meat, or comply with the reque&s;ts of the Prince of the Eunuchs, it argues a great deal of holine&s;s; for a man to deny his tem|poral &s;elf,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 4.10, 11.</NOTE> to dethrone his temporal &s;elf, when hee &s;tands upon the advantage ground to advance his temporal &s;elf, and to throne his temporal &s;elf in the world.</P>
<P>I have read of <HI>Trojane</HI> the Emperour, how hee &s;ent <HI>Eu|&s;tochius,</HI> one of his chiefe&s;t Captains again&s;t the <HI>Barbarians,</HI>
<PB N="613" REF="301"> who having vanqui&s;hed them, returned home: The Emperour being very joyful at this good news, goes to meet him, and brings him gloriou&s;ly into the City: Now <HI>Eu&s;tochius</HI> be|ing high in the Emperours favour, 'twas but ask and have, &s;peak and &s;peed, but on this very day of Pomp, Triumph, and Glory; hee cho&s;e rather to &s;uffer the Martyrdome of him&s;elf, his wife and children, than with the Emperour to offer &s;acri|fice to <HI>Apollo;</HI> and &s;o denies him&s;elf, and all his pre&s;ent Pomp and Glory, when hee might greatly have inriched him|&s;elf, and advanced him&s;elf. Nothing &s;peaks out greater mea|&s;ures of holine&s;s, than for a man to deny him&s;elf when hee may &s;eek him&s;elf, and exalt him&s;elf if hee plea&s;es.</P>
<P>I have read of a godly man, who being &s;orely tempted by Satan, was much in duty; to whom Satan &s;aid, why take&s;t thou this pains? thou do&s;t watch, and fa&s;t, and pray, and ab&s;taine&s;t from the &s;ins of the times. But, O man! what do&s;t thou more than I do? art thou no Drunkard? no more am I; art thou no Adulterer? no more am I; do&s;t thou watch? why let mee tell thee, I never &s;lept; do&s;t thou fa&s;t? why I never ate nor drank; what do&s;t thou more than I do? why I will tell thee Satan, &s;aid the holy man, I pray, I &s;erve the Lord, nay more than all this, I deny my &s;elf: nay, then &s;aith Satan, thou goe&s;t beyond mee, for I am proud, and I exalt my &s;elf, and &s;o vani&s;hed. O the excellency of &s;elf-denial! and O the holi|ne&s;s and the happine&s;s of that man that can deny him&s;elf, that can deba&s;e him&s;elf, that can even trample upon him|&s;elf, when hee hath power and authority in his own hand to greaten him&s;elf, and to exalt him&s;elf. Power and authority will try what metal men are made of. Ah how many have there been among us of late years, who when they have had no power nor authority in their hands to help them&s;elves, have &s;eemed to be great deniers of them&s;elves; but no &s;ooner had they power and authority in their hands, but ah what &s;elf-love, what &s;elf-intere&s;t, what &s;elf-&s;eeking, and what &s;elf-exalting was to be found among&s;t them! O how have many among them, in&s;tead of loving God to the contempt of them&s;elves, loved them&s;elves to the contempt of God? and who in&s;tead of deba&s;ing them&s;elves that they might ex|alt
<PB N="614" REF="302"> God, have deba&s;ed God, that they might exalt them&s;elves, and who in&s;tead of lo&s;ing them&s;elves that they might finde God, have lo&s;t God, that they might finde them|&s;elves.</P>
<P>The&s;e put mee in minde of the Abbot in <HI>Melancthon,</HI> who lived &s;trictly, and lookt demurely, and walkt humbly, &s;o long as hee was but a Monk, but when by his &s;eeming &s;ancti|ty and humility, hee had got to be Abbot, hee grew mo&s;t intollerable proud, and in&s;olent, &amp;c. and being asked the rea&s;on of it, hee confe&s;&s;ed that his former lowly looks was but to &s;ee if hee could finde the keyes of the Abby; how many &s;uch Abbots wee have had among&s;t us, you all know. Ah how rare is it to finde a man to deny him&s;elf, when hee is advan|taged to &s;eek him&s;elf, &s;uch a man is worth gold, but this Iron|age affords few &s;uch golden-men. Where this frame of &s;pirit is, there the &s;treams of holine&s;s runs deep. And thus much for this U&s;e of Trial and Examination.</P>
<P>And &s;o I come now to the la&s;t U&s;e of this Doctrine, and that is for Comfort and Con&s;olation to all tho&s;e that have this real holine&s;s, without which there is no happine&s;s. O Sirs! open, wide the everla&s;ting doors of your &s;ouls, that not a River, but a Sea of joy and comfort may flow in upon you. For</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, Know for your comfort, That real holine&s;s is the &s;eal of your eternal Election. Some are elected to glorious offi|ces in this world, others are elected to eternal glory in the other world.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 6.70.</NOTE> <HI>Judas</HI> was cho&s;en to be an Apo&s;tle on Earth, but not to be a Saint in Heaven; but the <HI>The&s;&s;alonians</HI> were elected to eternal glory in Heaven,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;. 1.4.</NOTE> though they were not cho&s;en to any glorious offices here on Earth. It may be thou art a poor creature, that never wa&s;t, nor never art like to be elected to any noble or honourable imployments, either in Church or State; O but if thou art a holy per&s;on, then know for thy everla&s;ting comfort, that thy real holine&s;s is a real &s;eal of thine Eternal, Election; 'tis the counterpane, as it were, of all that gracious love, good will, and eternal favour that God bears unto thee, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 1.4. <HI>Hee hath cho&s;en us in him before the foundation of the world, that wee &s;hould be holy.</HI>
<PB N="615" REF="302"> God did not chu&s;e us either becau&s;e wee were holy, or be|cau&s;e hee did fore-&s;ee that in time wee would be holy, but hee cho&s;e us to that very end that wee &s;hould be holy. Look as <HI>E&s;ther</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">E&s;ther 1.</NOTE> was fir&s;t cho&s;en out among the Virgins and then pu|rified and decked with Rich and Royal Ornaments and Gar|ments, before &s;hee was brought into the pre&s;ence of the King: So God fir&s;t chu&s;es poor &s;inners, and then hee puri|fies them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 45.13.</NOTE> and adorns them with the rich and glorious Gar|ments of Grace and Holine&s;s, that &s;o they may be meet and fit to enter into his Royal Pre&s;ence, 1 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 1.4. <HI>Knowing, Brethren, Beloved, your Election of God. Ver&s;.</HI> 5. <HI>For our Go&s;|pel came not unto you in word only; but al&s;o in Power, and in the Holy Gho&s;t. Ver&s;.</HI> 9. <HI>And how yee turned, to God, from Idols to &s;erve the Living and True God.</HI> When the Go&s;pel comes in Power, and in the Holy Gho&s;t, and turns per&s;ons from Idols, to &s;erve the Living God; 'tis a clear and evident &s;ign of their Election, real Sanctification, is a &s;ure evidence, a fair copy of a mans Election. Look as the Pattern is known by the Picture and the Cau&s;e by the Effect; &s;o Election is known by real Sanctification.</P>
<P>A Chri&s;tian need never put him&s;elf to the charge of mak|ing a Ladder to climbe up to Heaven, to &s;earch the Records of Glory, to &s;ee whether his Name is written in the Book of Life, in the Book of Election or no, but rather make a &s;trict and diligent enquiry whether hee be really and throughly &s;anctified, or no; for where there is real &s;anctification, there the glorious Image of Gods Election is in Golden Cha|racters &s;tampt upon the &s;oul. A man may have his Name &s;et down in the Chronicles, yet lo&s;t; wrought in durable Marble, yet peri&s;h, &s;et upon a Monument equal to a Colo&s;&s;us, yet be ignominius, in&s;cribed on the Ho&s;pital gates, yet go to Hell, written in the front of his own hou&s;e, yet another come to po&s;&s;e&s;s it. All the&s;e are but writings in the du&s;t, or upon the waters, where the Characters peri&s;h &s;o &s;oon as they are made, they no more prove a man happy, than the fool could prove <HI>Pontius Pilate</HI> happy, becau&s;e his Name was written in the Creed, but in real Sanctification a man may &s;ee his Name &s;o written in the Book of Gods Election, as that it &s;hall
<PB N="616" REF="303"> remain legible to all Eternity. But</P>
<P>Secondly, If thou are a holy per&s;on, if thou ha&s;t that real holine&s;s, without which there is no happine&s;s, then know for thy comfort, that the Lord takes &s;ingular plea&s;ure, delight and complacency, both in thy holine&s;s, and in thy per&s;on, <HI>P&s;a.</HI> 149.4, 5. <HI>For the Lord taketh plea&s;ure in his people; hee will beautifie the meek with &s;alvation. Let the Saints be joyful in glory; let them &s;ing aloud upon their beds.</HI> The Hebrew word <HI>Rot&s;eh,</HI> that is here rendred plea&s;ure, is from <HI>Rat&s;ah,</HI> that &s;ig|nifies plea&s;ure, delight, complacency, content, &amp;c. O, God takes &s;ingular plea&s;ure, &s;ingular delight, &s;ingular complacen|cy, and &s;ingular content in all his Saints, in all his &s;anctified ones. Holine&s;s is the expre&s;s Image of God, and therefore hee cannot but take plea&s;ure in it, and in all tho&s;e that bear it, <HI>Zeph.</HI> 3.13. <HI>The Remnant of I&s;rael &s;hall not do iniquity, nor &s;peak lies: neither &s;hall a deceitful tongue bee found in their mouth.</HI> Well, here are glorious Characters of their holine&s;s, but what plea&s;ure, what delight, &amp;c. doth God take in the&s;e holy ones? why certainly very much, as you may &s;ee in <HI>ver.</HI> 17. <HI>The Lord thy God in the mid&s;t of thee is mighty: hee will &s;ave, hee will rejoyce over thee with joy; hee will rest in his love, hee will joy over thee with &s;inging.</HI> Look as a Bridegroom re|joyces over his Bride;<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 62.4, 5.</NOTE> &s;o will the Lord rejoyce over his holy ones; and look what delight, complacency and content the Bridegroom takes in his Bride, the &s;ame, yea greater God takes in all his &s;anctified ones. Yea look as a fond Father joyes over his dear childe that hee carries in his arms, or dandles upon his knee, with &s;inging: &s;o God will joy over all his holy ones (which are his fondlings) with &s;inging; &s;uch is the &s;ingular delight, &s;atisfaction and content that hee takes in them. Look as the Husbandman delights much in that ground that was once barren, but is now fruitful; and as the Captain takes a great deal of plea&s;ure in that &s;ouldier that once run from his colours, but is now returned, and fights valiantly and re&s;olutely again&s;t all oppo&s;ers and adver&s;aries; and as the Father takes a great deal of joy, content, and &s;a|tisfaction in the return, reformation, and amendment of his Prodigal Son;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 15.</NOTE> even &s;o a holy God is wonderfully delighted,
<PB REF="303"> plea&s;ed, enamoured, and even overjoyed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 6.7, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> when &s;uch as brought forth nothing but the thorns and briers of wicked|ne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 2.10.</NOTE> do now bring forth the plea&s;ant fruits of righteou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;&s;e; and when &s;uch as have run from Chri&s;t the Captain of their &s;alvation, and run from their profe&s;&s;ion, and run from their principles, and run (almo&s;t) from eve|ry thing that is good, &s;hall now return to the Captain of their Salvation, and fight it out mo&s;t valiantly, and re&s;o|lutely again&s;t the world, the fle&s;h, and the devil; and when &s;uch as have proved Prodigals, and &s;pent all that por|tion, all that &s;tock, and all that trea&s;ure that they have been intru&s;ted with, &s;hall now break off their &s;ins, and humble them&s;elves, and reform their lives, and mend their waies: God is &s;o infinitely plea&s;ed and delighted in the&s;e, that hee Records their Names in Heaven, <HI>Luke</HI> 10.20. <HI>Rejoyce not in this, that the &s;pirits are &s;ubject unto you, but rather rejoyce becau&s;e your names are written in Heaven;</HI> 'tis matter of the greate&s;t joy in the world, for a man to have his name inrol'd in Heaven; look as 'tis the &s;inners hell, that his name is ingro&s;&s;ed in the book of perdition, &s;o 'tis the beleevers heaven that his name is ingro&s;&s;ed in the book of election.</P>
<P>I have read of a Senatour,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tacitus.</NOTE> who relating to his Son the great honours that were a&s;&s;ign'd to &s;ome Souldiers, who&s;e names were written in a certain book, whereupon the Son was very importunate to &s;ee that book, his Father &s;hews him the out&s;ide, and it &s;eemed &s;o glorious, that hee earn|e&s;tly de&s;ired him to open it; no &s;aith the Father by no means, for it is &s;ealed by the coun&s;el; then &s;aith the Son, pray tell mee if my name bee written there, his Father replies no, becau&s;e all the names of tho&s;e Souldiers, were kept &s;ecret in the brea&s;ts of the Senatours: The Son &s;tudying how hee might get &s;ome &s;atisfaction, de&s;ired his Father to acquaint him with the merits of tho&s;e Souldiers, who&s;e names were written in that book, the Father relates to him their noble atchievements, and worthy acts of valour, wherewith they had eternized their names, &s;uch are written &s;aid hee, and none but &s;uch mu&s;t bee written in this book; whereupon the
<PB N="618" REF="304"> Son con&s;ulting with his own heart, that he had no &s;uch. Tro|phies to &s;hew, but had &s;pent his time in courting of Ladies, rather than in encountring of Knights, and that hee was better for a dance than for a march, and that hee knew no Drum but the Tabret, nor no courage, but to bee Drunk and Rant; hereupon hee pre&s;ently retired him&s;elf, repent|ed, entred into a combate with his own lu&s;ts, and affections, and &s;ubdued them, and became temperate, continent, valiant and vertuous: Now when the Souldiers came to re|ceive their Wreaths, their Crowns, their Honours, &amp;c. Hee &s;teps in and challenges a Wreath, a Crown for him&s;elf, but being asked upon what title his challenge was ground|ed, hee an&s;wered, if honours bee given to Conquerours, then they mu&s;t bee given to mee too, for I have gotten the noble&s;t conque&s;t of all, and it being demanded, wherein he an&s;wered, the&s;e have &s;ubdued &s;trange Foes, and con|quered their outward enemies, but I have &s;ubdued my &s;elf, I have conquered the enemies that were in my own bo&s;ome. O Sirs! there are no mens names written in the book of life but theirs who by grace and holine&s;&s;e have &s;ubdued and brought under their &s;inful &s;elves, and who have conquered the corruptions that bee in their own bo&s;oms, that is in re|&s;pect of love, and dominion; many there bee who are ex|ceeding inqui&s;itive to know whether their names are written in Heaven or no; I would &s;ay to &s;uch, there is no &s;uch way to know this,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 4.3. Heb. 11.38. <HI>Seneca,</HI> though a Heathen, &s;aw &s;o much excel|lency, that mo|rality put upon a man, that hee cryes out <HI>(Ip&s;e a&s;pectus boni viri delectat)</HI> the very looks of a good man delights one. <HI>Sapiens dei comes e&s;t,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Philo.</HI></NOTE> as by your holine&s;&s;e; ha&s;t thou broke off thy &s;ins by &s;ound repentance, hath the Go&s;pel chang'd thy in|&s;ide and thy out&s;ide, hath it made thee a new creature, and turned thee from darkne&s;s to light, and from the power of Sa|tan to Je&s;us Chri&s;t? &amp;c. then without all peradventure thy name is written in Heaven, and thou art the per&s;on that ha&s;t the greate&s;t cau&s;e in the world to joy and rejoyce.</P>
<P>Again the Holy Chri&s;tian is the be&s;t Chri&s;tian in the world, nay hee is &s;uch a one of whom this world is not worthy, and therefore God cannot but take &s;ingular plea&s;ure and de|light in him; many there are which are accounted deep Scholars, great Lingui&s;ts, profound Philo&s;ophers, good Grammarians, excellent Mathematicians, &s;harp Logiti|ans,
<PB N="619" REF="304"> cunning Polititians, fine Rhetoritians, &s;weet Mu&s;itians, &amp;c. but the truth is, hee is the be&s;t Grammarian, that hath learn't to &s;peak the truth from his heart, and hee is the be&s;t A|&s;tronomer, that hath his conver&s;ation in Heaven, and he is the be&s;t Mu&s;itian, that hath learn't practically, to &s;ing out the prai&s;es of God, and hee is the be&s;t Arithmetitian, that knows how to number his daies, and hee is the be&s;t read in <HI>Ethicks,</HI> that every day grows holier and holier, and hee is the be&s;t skild in Oeconomicks, that trains up his Fa|mily in the fear of the Lord, and hee is the be&s;t Polititian, that is as good at taking good coun&s;el, as hee is at giving good coun&s;el, and hee is the be&s;t Lingui&s;t, that &s;peaks the language of <HI>Canaan,</HI> and therefore God cannot but take the greate&s;t content and &s;atisfaction in &s;uch.</P>
<P>Again the Holy Chri&s;tian, is the only man for whom God hath wrought the greate&s;t miracles, hee can tell you that he was blinde, but now God hath given him eyes to &s;ee &s;in to bee the greate&s;t evil, and Chri&s;t to bee the choi&s;e&s;t Good, hee can tell you that once hee was &s;o deaf, that though God called very often and very loud upon him, by his word, and by his works, by his rods at home, and by his judge|ments abroad, and by his &s;pirit and con&s;cience that were &s;till a preaching in his bo&s;ome, &s;ometimes Life, &s;ometimes Death, &s;ometimes Heaven, and &s;ometimes Hell, yet hee could not hear; but now God hath given him an hearing ear, &s;o that now hee can with delight hear the &s;weet Mu&s;ick of the promi&s;es, on the one hand; and with a holy trembling li&s;&s;en to the voice of divine threatnings on the other hand;<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 45.1. Jude 3. The very Hea|then could &s;ay <HI>quando &s;apiens loquitur aulea animi aperit.</HI> When a wi&s;e|man &s;peaketh, hee openeth the rich trea|&s;ure and war|drob of his minde.</NOTE> hee can tell you that once hee was &s;o dumb, that if hee might have had the whole world, hee could not have &s;poke a good word for God, nor for his waies, nor for his people, nor for his ordinances, nor for any of his concernments in the world; O but now! his tongue is as the pen of a ready writer, and hee is never better, than when hee is a &s;peak|ing either of God, or for God, and his concernments, now hee can contend for the faith, and &s;peak for Saints, and plead for Ordinances, and though in &s;ome ca&s;es hee may want power to act for God, yet hee never wants a tongue
<PB N="620" REF="305"> to &s;peak for God. The Spou&s;es lips drop honey combs, in that 4 <HI>Cant.</HI> 11. <HI>And the tongue of the ju&s;t is as choice &s;il|ver;</HI> in that 10. <HI>Prov.</HI> 20. yea, his tongue is a tree of life, who&s;e leaves are medicinable, in that 12. <HI>Prov.</HI> 18. Hee can tell you that once hee was &s;o lame, that hee was not able to move one foot Heaven-wards, or Chri&s;t-wards, or Holi|ne&s;s-wards, &amp;c. but now his feet delights, not only to go, but to run in all the waies of Gods commands; <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 119.32. Yea, hee can tell you that once hee was dead, as to all his &s;oul concernments, but now hee is alive, and the life that hee leads in the fle&s;h, is by the faith of the Son of God, that hath loved him and given him&s;elf for him. <HI>Gal.</HI> 2.20. It was by a miracle that the River <HI>Jordan</HI> was driven back, and tis no le&s;s a miracle to &s;ee a &s;inner that was ac|cu&s;tomed to do evil, habituated now to do good. That the tyde of &s;in, which before did run &s;o &s;trong, &s;hould bee &s;o ea&s;ily turned, that the &s;inner which a little before was &s;ailing Hell-ward, and wanted neither wind nor tyde to car|ry him thither, &s;hould now on a &s;udden alter his cour&s;e, and tack about for Heaven; what a miracle is this? To &s;ee the earthly man become heavenly; a carnal man become &s;piritual, a loo&s;e man become preci&s;e, a proud man become humble, a covetous man become liberal, and a froward man become meek, &amp;c. is to behold no le&s;s than miracles. To &s;ee a &s;inner move cro&s;s and contrary to him&s;elf in the waies of Chri&s;t and holine&s;s, &s;hould bee as wonderful in our eyes, as to &s;ee the Sun go backward, or the Earth to fly upward, or the Dead to rai&s;e them&s;elves, or the Bowl to run contrary to its own bya&s;s: Now how can God but take infinite delight and plea&s;ure in his holy ones, con&s;idering the many miracles, that hee hath wrought both in them, and for them?</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;a. 4.6, 7.</NOTE>Again there are no per&s;ons under Heaven, that take any real plea&s;ure, delight, content, and &s;atisfaction in God, but tho&s;e that are holy; the worldling takes plea&s;ure and delight in his baggs, and the ambitious man in his honours, and the vo|luptuous man in his plea&s;ures, and the malicious man in his revenge, and the envious man in the harms that befalls o|thers,
<PB N="621" REF="305"> and the drunkard in his cups, and the adulterer in his harlots, and the gam&s;ter in his &s;hifts and tricks, and the player in his fopperies, fooleries, and mockeries; 'tis only the holy man that takes plea&s;ure and delight in God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job. 22.25, 26. Cant. 2.3. cap. 7.6. P&s;al 33.21. P&s;al. 48.11. I&s;a. 41.16. Joel. 2.23. Hab. 3.18. Zech. 10.7.</NOTE> as you may &s;ee by comparing the Scriptures in the margent to|gether; to delight and take plea&s;ure in God, is a work too high, too hard, too &s;piritual, and too noble for any but holy per&s;ons; there are none headed, nor hearted, nor &s;pirited, nor anointed, nor principled, for taking Plea&s;ure in God, but holy ones. <HI>Abraham</HI> did not take more plea&s;ure in his <HI>I&s;aac,</HI> nor <HI>Jacob</HI> did not take more delight in his <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> nor <HI>Da|vid</HI> did not take more &s;atisfaction in his <HI>Ab&s;alom,</HI> nor <HI>Jonah</HI> did not take more content in his <HI>Gourd,</HI> than a holy man (when hee is him&s;elf) takes plea&s;ure, delight, &s;atisfacti|on, and content in God; and therefore how can God but take plea&s;ure and delight in him: Shall the Childe take de|light in the Father, and &s;hall not the Father delight again in the Childe? and &s;hall the Wife take plea&s;ure and &s;atis|faction in the Husband, and &s;hall not the Husband take plea&s;ure and &s;atisfaction again in her? Look as God hates them that hate him, &s;o hee takes plea&s;ure in them that take plea&s;ure in him; now what a &s;ingular cordial and comfort is this to all Gods holy ones, that God takes &s;ingular plea&s;ure, delight, &s;atisfaction, and content in them? what though the world hate you, and &s;corn you, and de&s;pi&s;e you, and prefer every <HI>Barabas</HI> and <HI>Judas</HI> before you, yet cheer up your &s;pirits with this cordial, and warm your hearts at this fire, that God takes &s;ingular plea&s;ure and delight in you; what cares the Childe though others flight him, &s;o long as his Father at home delights in him; and what cares the Wife though others de&s;pi&s;e her, as long as her Husband at home honours her, and takes plea&s;ure in her; and what cares the Innocent per&s;on though the Malefactor at the Bar rails upon him, as long as the Judge upon the Bench acquits him; and what &s;hould a Chri&s;tian care though all the world &s;hould abhor him, as long as the Lord takes &s;ingular plea&s;ure and delight in him. But</P>
<P>Thirdly, If thou art a holy per&s;on, if thou ha&s;t that real ho|line&s;s,
<PB N="622" REF="306"> without which there is no happine&s;s, then know for thy comfort, that thy real holine&s;s is a &s;ub&s;tantial evidence of thy real union with Chri&s;t; all true holine&s;s is the immediate fruit of our real union with Chri&s;t;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 17.20, 21. ch. 15.5. Eph. 4.16. 1 Pet. 2.4, 5, 6. Eph. 5.25. to the end.</NOTE> upon our union with Chri&s;t, Chri&s;t is made, not only Wi&s;dome, Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Redemption, but hee is al&s;o made Sanctification to us, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.30. Chri&s;t and a holy per&s;on are one, as Father and Son are one, and they are one, as the Vine and the Branches are one, and they are one as Head and Members are one; and they are one, as the Foundation and the Building are one; and they are one as Husband and Wife are one, and that which &s;peaks out their onene&s;s, their union, is their holine&s;s. Hee that is in Chri&s;t is a new creature, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.17. Hee that is ingrafted into Chri&s;t, hee that is initiated into Chri&s;t, hee that is united unto Chri&s;t, hee is a new creature, hee hath a new head, a new heart, a new lip, a new life, a new &s;pirit, new principles, and new ends; hee can truly &s;ay with that convert, <HI>Ego non &s;um ego,</HI> I am not the man that I was; of a Lion, holine&s;s hath made mee a Lamb; of a Wolf, holine&s;s hath made mee a Sheep; of a Raven, holine&s;s hath made mee a Dove, &amp;c. And what doth all this &s;peak out but a mans being in Chri&s;t, but a mans u|nion with Chri&s;t; renovation &s;peaks out union, and union &s;peaks out renovation; renewing by Chri&s;t &s;peaks out the &s;ouls in-being in Chri&s;t, and the &s;ouls in-being in Chri&s;t, &s;peaks out the &s;ouls renewing by Chri&s;t. Look as there could be no depravation but from our union with the fir&s;t <HI>Adam,</HI> &s;o there can be no renovation but through our union with the &s;econd <HI>Adam. Col.</HI> 3.10. But</P>
<P>Fourthly, If thou art a holy per&s;on, if thou ha&s;t that real holine&s;&s;e, without which there is no happine&s;&s;e, then know &s;ort by comfort,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;a. 34.12, 13, 14.</NOTE> that God will certainly ble&s;s all thy ble&s;&s;ings to thee, and hee will ble&s;s every e&s;tate and condition to thee mo&s;t men have many ble&s;&s;ings, but 'tis only the holy man that hath his ble&s;&s;ings ble&s;t unto him, <HI>Gen.</HI> 22.17. <HI>In ble&s;&s;ing I will ble&s;s thee,</HI> &s;aith God to holy <HI>Abraham, i. e.</HI> I will ble&s;s thy ble&s;&s;ings to thee. The holy per&s;on is in Covenant with a holy God, and therefore
<PB N="623" REF="306"> all the ble&s;&s;ings of the Covenant are his,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;a. 50.5. P&s;a. 105.42. Ezek. 36.25, 26. Zach. 3.3, 4. P&s;al. 84.11. Pro. 12.21, &amp;c.</NOTE> all they that par|take of the Holine&s;s of the Covenant, they &s;hall certainly par|take of the ble&s;&s;ings of the Covenant; Now this is one of the ble&s;&s;ings of the Covenant, that all our ble&s;&s;ings &s;hall bee ble&s;t unto us. O Chri&s;tian! all thy right hand ble&s;&s;ings &s;hall be ble&s;t unto thee, and all thy left hand ble&s;&s;ings &s;hall be ble&s;t unto thee, all the ble&s;&s;ings of the upper &s;prings &s;hall be ble&s;t unto thee,<NOTE PLACE="marg">A little ble&s;t is better than a world enjoyed. If thou art a holy man, the God of all mer|cies, and all the mercies of God, the God of all comforts, and all the comforts of God are thine, and what woulde&s;t thou have more?</NOTE> and all the ble&s;&s;ings of the lower &s;prings &s;hall be ble&s;t unto thee; &amp; all the ble&s;&s;ings of the Throne &s;hall be ble&s;t unto thee, and all the ble&s;&s;ings of the foot-&s;tool &s;hall be ble&s;t un|to thee. And as all thy ble&s;&s;ings &s;hall bee ble&s;t unto thee, &s;o every e&s;tate, and every condition &s;hall be ble&s;t unto thee; thou &s;halt be ble&s;t in health, and ble&s;t in &s;ickne&s;s; ble&s;t in &s;trength, and ble&s;t in weakne&s;s; ble&s;t in wealth, and ble&s;t in want; ble&s;t in honour, and ble&s;t in di&s;honour; ble&s;t in life, and ble&s;t in death; thou &s;halt be ble&s;t at home, and ble&s;t abroad; ble&s;t at board, and ble&s;t at bed; ble&s;t lying down, and ble&s;t ri&s;ing up; ble&s;t in liberty, and ble&s;t in bonds. Look as all the ble&s;&s;ings of a wicked man are cur&s;t unto him; and as all the relations of a wicked man are cur&s;t unto him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 3.33. Mal. 2.1, 2, 3. Levit. 26. Deut. 28.</NOTE> and as all e&s;tates and conditions that are incident to a wicked man are cur&s;t unto him; &s;o all the ble&s;&s;ings of a holy man are ble&s;t unto him, and all the relations of a holy man are ble&s;t unto him, and all e&s;tates and conditions that are incident to a ho|ly man are ble&s;t unto him. <HI>I&s;aac</HI> tills the ground,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 26.12. ch. 4.12.</NOTE> and &s;ows his &s;eed, and God ble&s;&s;es him with an hundred-fold; And <HI>Cain</HI> tills the ground, and &s;ows his &s;eed, but the earth is cur&s;ed to him, and commanded not to yeeld to him her &s;trength. But</P>
<P>Fifthly, If thou art a holy per&s;on, if thou art one that ha&s;t that real holine&s;s, without which there is no happine&s;s, then know for thy comfort, that thy holine&s;s is a glorious witne&s;s and evidence of thy Effectual Vocation, 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.15. <HI>As hee who hath called you is holy, &s;o bee yee holy in all manner of conver&s;ation.</HI> Many are externally called, that are not internally called, and many are ineffectually called, that are not effectually called. But now real holine&s;s that &s;peaks out an internal call, an Effectual Call,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 2.9.</NOTE> a call out of darkne&s;s
<PB N="624" REF="307"> into marvelous light; it &s;peaks out &s;uch a call as makes &s;in|ners Saints, &s;laves Sons, enemies Friends, and &s;trangers Favourites.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 41.</NOTE> As <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> a &s;tranger was called out of a pri&s;on, a dungeon, and made a very great Favourite in <HI>Pharaohs</HI> Court: &s;o real holine&s;s is a glorious witne&s;s and evidence that you are effectually called out of the pri&s;on of &s;in, and the dungeon of wrath, and made a Favourite to the King of Glory.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 1.9. 1 Pet. 5.10. Gal. 4.6.</NOTE> The Author of this Call is a holy God; our holy Calling depends upon the purpo&s;e of God, the power of God, and the grace and good plea&s;ure of God; the means of our holy Calling are the Spirit of God, and the Word of God; and the ends of our Calling are Holine&s;s, and the Glory of God. O Sirs! you are not called upon the account of your Parents Faith or Nobility, nor upon the account of any intrin&s;ecal vertues in you, nor upon the account of any extrin&s;ecal &s;ervices done by you, but upon the account of Gods peculiar Election, and particular Vocation; and there|fore by Holine&s;s make good the honour of your High-Calling. And if any &s;hould object again&s;t you the meanne&s;s of your birth, and outward calling, put them in minde of your High and holy Calling, and ask them what they think of <HI>Lazarus,</HI> that is now a&s;leep in <HI>Abrahams</HI> bo&s;ome; And if others &s;hould object again&s;t you your former wickedne&s;s, and ca&s;t your &s;ins as dirt and dung in your faces; let them know, that St. <HI>Paul</HI> can tell them from Heaven, that though once hee was a wretched bla&s;phemer, and a bloody per&s;ecuter, that yet now hee is a glorious Saint in Heaven. But</P>
<P>Sixthly, If thou art a holy per&s;on, if thou art one that ha&s;t this real holine&s;s, without which there is no happine&s;s, then know for thy comfort, that thy holine&s;s is a ble&s;&s;ed evidence of thy Adoption and Son&s;hip.<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 1.12. Rom. 8.17.</NOTE> If thou art a holy per&s;on, then of a childe of wrath, thou art become a childe of God, a childe of love, and of an heir of Hell, thou art become an heir of Heaven; and of a &s;lave, thou art become a Son, <HI>Gal.</HI> 4.4, 5, 7. <HI>But when the fulne&s;s of time was come, God &s;ent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the Law, To redeem them that were under the Law, that wee might receive the A|doption of Sons, wherefore thou art no more a &s;ervant, but a Son,</HI>
<PB N="625" REF="307"> Rom. 8.14. <HI>For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, are the Sons of God.</HI> The leadings of the Spirit are all holy lead|ings, and there are none that are the Sons of God, but &s;uch as are under the holy leadings of the Spirit of God, <HI>Phil.</HI> 2.15. <HI>That yee may be blamele&s;s, and harmle&s;s, the Sons of God, without rebuke, in the mid&s;t of a crooked and perver&s;e Nation, among whom yee &s;hine as lights in the world.</HI> There are none worthy of this title of Honour, <HI>viz.</HI> the Sons of God, but &s;uch who in the main of their lives and conver&s;ations are blame|le&s;s, and harmle&s;s, without rebuke, and that are as &s;hining lights in the world.</P>
<P>There are two waies whereby wee may know fire to bee real fire, and that differences real fire from painted fire, or from imaginary fire; the fir&s;t is by the heat of it, and the other is by the flame of it: Now though &s;ometimes it &s;o falls out, that the fire do not flame, yet at that very time you may know it to bee real fire by the heat it gives: So there are two waies of knowing our Adoption;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 4.6. Rom. 8.16.</NOTE> the fir&s;t is by the Spirit of Adoption, crying <HI>Abba</HI> Father in our hearts; And the other is by our Sanctification and Holine&s;s; now, though &s;ometimes it may &s;o fall out, that the flame, the witne&s;s of the Spirit of Adoption may bee wanting, yet the heat of Sanctification and Holine&s;s remains, and wee may have re|cour&s;e to this fire, and warm our hearts at it, and &s;it down &s;atisfied, and a&s;&s;ured of our Adoption; for as fire may bee known to be fire by its hear, though it want a flame; &s;o though the Spirit of Adoption do not witne&s;s our Adoption to us, yet wee may know our Adoption by our real Sanctification and Holine&s;s. Every holy per&s;on is a high-born per&s;on,<NOTE PLACE="marg">John 3.5.8. ch. 1.12, 13.</NOTE> for as his Divine Birth, &s;o his Divine Adoption is high, very high, exceeding high, yea even as high as Heaven it &s;elf. 'Tis a very high honour to be the Son of a King,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 18.23, 24.</NOTE> yea to be the Son-in-Law of a King, for &s;o <HI>David</HI> reckoned it. <HI>Seemeth it</HI> (&s;aith hee to <HI>Sauls</HI> &s;ervant) <HI>a light thing to you, to bee a Kings Son-in-Law, &s;eeing that I am vile and lightly e&s;teemed.</HI> Oh then what an honour it is to be the Son of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 1.6.</NOTE> to bee the Son of the King of Kings, and Lord of Lord! 'Tis a very high honour to be Gods &s;ervant, and &s;o <HI>David</HI> accounted it,
<PB N="626" REF="308"> as you may &s;ee in that 2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 7.5, 8. (And &s;o did <HI>Theodo&s;ius</HI> the Emperour, and <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> the Great, and many others account it) O then what an honour mu&s;t it be to be Gods Son! The ble&s;&s;ed Apo&s;tle cannot &s;peak of this high privi|ledge; but with great admiration; as you may &s;ee in that 1 <HI>Job.</HI> 3.1. <HI>Behold what manner of love the Father hath be|&s;towed upon us, that wee &s;hould bee called the Sons of God.</HI> 'Tis an infinite conde&s;cention in God, to honour us with the title of Sons, and therefore wee &s;hould never think of it, nor never &s;peak of it, but with much Admiration. O Sirs! what matter of Admiration is this, that the great and glorious God, who hath many millions of glorious Angels waiting on him, that hee &s;hould look upon all holy per&s;ons as his Sons, and that he &s;hould love them as Sons, and delight in them as Sons, and cloathe them as Sons, and feed them as Sons, and protect them as Sons, and &s;tand by them as Sons, and lay up for them as Sons, and lay out him&s;elf for them as Sons, that they that have not de&s;erved a &s;mile from God, a good word from God, a bit of bread from God, or a good look from God, &s;hould be made the Sons of God? What manner of love is this, that they that have &s;o highly provoked God, that they that have walkt &s;o cro&s;s and contrary to God, that they that were &s;o ex|ceeding unlike to God, that they that have preferred every lu&s;t, and every toy and vanity before God, that they that have fought many years under Satans Banner again&s;t God, that they that have refu&s;ed all the offers of mercy that hath been made by God, that they that have de&s;erved to be repro|bated by God, to be damned by God, and to be thrown to Hell by God, that the&s;e &s;hould be made the Sons of God? O &s;tand and wonder! O &s;tand and admire at the freene&s;s of Grace, and at the riches of Grace! But</P>
<P>Seventhly, If thou art a holy per&s;on, if thou art one that ha&s;t that real holine&s;s, without which there is no happine&s;s, then know for thy comfort, that thou art an undoubted heir of everla&s;ting Glory,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.16, 17, 18. James 2.5. 2 Tim. 4.7, 8.</NOTE> <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.29, 30. <HI>For whom hee did fore|know hee al&s;o did prede&s;tinate to be conformed to the Image of his Son</HI> (that is in holine&s;&s;e) <HI>that hee might bee the fir&s;t born a|mong many Brethren. Moreover, whom hee did prede&s;tinate,
<PB N="627" REF="308"> them hee al&s;o called; and whom hee called, them hee al&s;o ju&s;ti|fied; and whom hee ju&s;tified, them hee al&s;o glorified.</HI> Holine&s;s is a mo&s;t &s;ure earne&s;t, and pawn of glory, 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2.13. <HI>God hath cho&s;en you to Salvation through Sanctification of the Spirit,</HI> Mat. 5.8. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are the pure in heart, for they &s;hall &s;ee God.</HI> 1 Joh. 3.2, 3. <HI>When hee &s;hall appear, wee &s;hall be like him</HI> (that is, in glory) <HI>for wee &s;hall &s;ee him as hee is. And every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth him&s;elf, even as hee is pure.</HI> Hee that hath a real hope, a lively hope, of being like to Chri&s;t in Glory, and of reigning with Chri&s;t in Heaven, will &s;et roundly upon the work of &s;elf-purifying; there is no hope to that hope that runs out into holine&s;s, and that leads the &s;oul on to the highe&s;t degrees of purification, and that inables a man to &s;et up Chri&s;ts purity as the mo&s;t perfect Pattern, and exact Coppy for his Imitation, <HI>Titus</HI> 3.4, 5, 6, 7. <HI>But after that the kindne&s;s and love of God our Saviour toward man ap|peared, not by works of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, which wee have done, but according to his mercy hee &s;aved us, by the wa&s;hing of Regene|ration, and renewing of the Holy Gho&s;t, which hee &s;hed on us a|bundantly, through Je&s;us Chri&s;t our Saviour; That being ju&s;ti|fied by his Grace, wee &s;hould bee made heirs according to the hope of eternal Life.</HI> Holine&s;s is an infallible forerunner of glory; 'tis the fir&s;t-fruits of that eternal happine&s;s and ble&s;&s;edne&s;s that God hath laid up for his children in the highe&s;t Heavens. And O what cau&s;e of joy and gladne&s;s &s;hould this be to every holy heart! what though thou &s;houlde&s;t never have a good day more on Earth; what though all the &s;prings of comfort &s;hould be dried upon thy right hand and on thy left hand; what though God &s;hould never &s;mile on thee more in this world; what though the remaining part of thy life &s;hould bee filled up with cro&s;&s;es, lo&s;&s;es, troubles and trials; what though God &s;hould let Satan loo&s;e to tempt thee, and wicked men grow &s;trong to oppre&s;s thee, and friends turn enemies to grieve thee. Yea what if thou &s;houlde&s;t go to thy grave with tears in thy eyes, and with &s;orrow in thy heart; yet as long as thou art &s;ure that thou art an heir of Glory, and that all the happine&s;s of Heaven is thine, and that thy Crown is &s;afe,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 16. <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> and that thou &s;halt be for ever filled and &s;atisfied with tho&s;e
<PB N="628" REF="309"> everla&s;ting plea&s;ures and delights that be at Gods right hand; thou ha&s;t cau&s;e to joy and rejoyce in the mid&s;t of all thy &s;or|rows and &s;ufferings,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 12.28. 1 Pet. 1.3, 4. See my <HI>String of Pearls</HI> on that very Text.</NOTE> yea to glory and triumph in the hopes and expectations of a Kingdome that &s;hakes not, of a Crown that withers not, of Riches that corrupt not, and of an Inheritance that fadeth not away. O Sirs! 'tis not all the Silks of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> nor all the Spices of <HI>Egypt,</HI> nor all the Gold of <HI>Ophir,</HI> nor all the Trea&s;ures of both Indies, nor all the Crowns and Scepters in the world, no nor yet the worth of ten thou&s;and worlds, that are to be compared with that Glory that is trea&s;ured up for all Gods holy ones; they have an Inheritance re&s;erved in Heaven for them that cannot be moth-eaten, nor &s;poiled by ho&s;tile inva&s;ion, nor wrung from them by power, nor won from them by Law, nor mortgaged for debt, nor impaired by publick calamity, nor plundered by Theeves and Robbers, nor changed by Kings or Parlia|ments, no nor violated by death it &s;elf; and therefore what infinite cau&s;e of joy and rejoycing have all &s;uch that are in|tere&s;ted in &s;uch an Inheritance, and in &s;uch a perfect happi|ne&s;s, and compleat ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, that is re&s;erved in Heaven for all Gods holy ones? O what a &s;ingular comfort mu&s;t this be to a Chri&s;tian in the mid&s;t of all his mi&s;eries and di&s;tre&s;|&s;es,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 73.24.</NOTE> when hee is able to look upon God, and &s;ay, This God is my God for ever and ever, and hee &s;hall be my Guide to Glory, and when hee is able to look up to Heaven, and &s;ay, This is my Inheritance; yea when hee is able to look upon all the Glory and Happine&s;s of another world, and to &s;ay, All this Glory and Happine&s;s is mine, for I have that Holi|ne&s;s that is the earne&s;t of it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Qui &s;pirituali exultationis o|leo uncti &s;unt, &amp;c. Macar. Hom. <HI>17.</HI></NOTE> the pawn of it, and the fir&s;t-fruits of it in my own &s;oul. 'Twas an ob&s;ervable &s;aying of <HI>Maca|rius,</HI> They that are anointed with the &s;piritual Oil of glad|ne&s;s, (&s;aith hee) have received a &s;ign of that incorruptible Kingdome, to wit, Gods Spirit for an earne&s;t, they are the Secretaries of the Heavenly King, and relying confidently upon the Almighty, they enter into his Palace (where the Angels, and the Spirits of holy men are) although they be yet in this world; for although they be not yet come to the intire Inheritance, which is prepared for them in that world, yet
<PB N="629" REF="309"> they are mo&s;t &s;ure of it by that pledge, which they have newly received, as &s;ure as if they were already crowned, and had the key of the Kingdome in their own po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P>'Twas a very &s;weet and comfortable &s;peech which the Em|perour u&s;ed to <HI>Galba,</HI> in his childehood and minority, when hee took him by the chin, and &s;aid, <HI>Tu Galba, &amp;c.</HI> Thou <HI>Galba</HI> &s;halt one day &s;it upon a Throne; &s;o 'tis very &s;weet and comfortable for the Saints to con&s;ider, that how mean and contemptible &s;oever they may be in the eyes of the world, that yet there is a day a coming when they &s;hall &s;it upon a Throne and be crowned with Glory, and reign with Chri&s;t to all Eternity. But</P>
<P>Eighthly, If thou art a holy per&s;on, if thou ha&s;t that real holine&s;s, without which there is no happine&s;s, then know for thy comfort, that all things &s;hall be &s;anctified unto thee, <HI>Tit.</HI> 1.15. <HI>Unto the pure, all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled, and unbeleeving, is nothing pure; but even their mind and con&s;cience is defiled.</HI> When a mans heart is once &s;anctified, then all things are &s;anctified to him; when a mans Spirit and way is clean and pure, then all things are clean and pure to him. O Sirs! this is &s;o great, and &s;o glorious a priviledge, to have all things &s;anctified to us, that 'tis more worth than a world, yea than many worlds. Next to a mans intere&s;t in Chri&s;t, hee cannot begge a greater mercy than this, that all things may be &s;anctified to him; that is, that all things may &s;o work, as to make him more and more holy, that every cro&s;s may make him more holy, and that e|very comfort may make him more holy; that every mercy may make him more holy, and that every mi&s;ery may make him more holy, that every Ordinance may make him more holy, and that every Providence may make him more holy, that every Affliction at home may make him more holy, and that every Judgement abroad may make him more holy; every condition is &s;weet when it is &s;anctified to us; &s;ick|ne&s;s is as &s;weet as health, when 'tis &s;anctified to us; and weak|ne&s;s is as &s;weet as &s;trength, when 'tis &s;anctified to us, and poverty is as &s;weet as liberty, when 'tis &s;anctified to us, and di&s;grace is as &s;weet as honour, when 'tis &s;anctified to us; and
<PB N="630" REF="310"> bonds are as &s;weet as liberty, when they are &s;anctified to us; and death is as &s;weet as life when it is &s;anctified to us. Look as no condition can be a happy condition, that is, not a &s;anctified condition, &s;o no condition, can bee a mi&s;erable condition, that is a &s;anctified condition; now this is only the holy man; priviledge, the holy mans mercy, to have every e&s;tate, and every condition &s;anctified unto him; and this indeed is the Cream and Crown of all our mercies, to have them &s;anctified unto us, I and every bitter will bee &s;weet, yea, very &s;weet, when 'tis &s;anctified unto us; what though thy mercies, O Chri&s;tian! are fewer than others, and le&s;&s;er than others, and leaner than others, and &s;hort|er than others, yet thou ha&s;t no rea&s;on to complain, as long as thy mercies are &s;anctified mercies; and what though thy tryals are greater than others, and thy burden is heavier than others, and thy &s;orrows are deeper than others, and thy cro&s;&s;es comes thicker than others, yet thou ha&s;t no cau&s;e to complain, as long as they are &s;anctified. Art thou a Holy per&s;on, O then remember for thy comfort, that every bit of bread thou eate&s;t is &s;anctified, and every draught of beer thou drinkeh is &s;anctified, and every &s;uit of cloaths thou weare&s;t is &s;anctified, the beds thou lie&s;t on are &s;anctifi|ed, and the &s;tooles thou &s;ite&s;t on are &s;anctified, the very aire thou breathe&s;t in is &s;anctified, and the very ground thou treade&s;t on is &s;anctified, every penny in thy pur&s;e is &s;ancti|fied, and every pound in thy &s;hop is &s;anctified, what&s;oe|ver thou ha&s;t at home is &s;anctified, and what-ever thou ha&s;t abroad is &s;anctified: And O! how &s;hould the &s;en&s;e of the&s;e things, &s;weeten all thy bitters, and turn thy Hell into Hea|ven and wipe all tears from thy eyes, and turn thy &s;igh|ing into &s;inging, and thy mourning into rejoycing? &amp;c. But</P>
<P><NOTE PLACE="marg">As tho&s;e Hea|thens that have no hope. 1 The&s;. 4.13.</NOTE>Ninthly, If thou art a Holy Per&s;on, if thou ha&s;t that real holine&s;s, without which there is no happine&s;s; then know for thy comfort, that thou art a per&s;on very high in favour with God, thou art one of his peculiar ones. <HI>Dan.</HI> 14.1. <HI>Yee are the Children of the Lord your God, yee &s;hall not cut your &s;elves, nor make any baldne&s;s between your eyes for the dead.</HI> For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and
<GAP DESC="missing" EXTENT="1 span">
<PB N="631" REF="310"> the Lord hath cho&s;en thee to bee a peculiar people to him|&s;elf, above all the Nations that are upon the Earth. All Gods holy ones, are his peculiar ones; God hath a peculi|ar re&s;pect for their per&s;ons. <HI>Dan.</HI> 9.23. <HI>O Daniel! thou art greatly beloved,</HI> or as the Hebrew word <HI>Chamudoth,</HI> &s;igni|fies thou art a man of de&s;ires; Now <HI>Daniel</HI> is called a man of de&s;ires, becau&s;e the de&s;ires of God run out &s;trongly after him, as one that was &s;ingularly beloved of him, and as one that was highly in favour with him; and as God hath a peculiar re&s;pect for their per&s;ons, &s;o hee hath a peculiar re|&s;pect for their duties and &s;ervices, <HI>Prov.</HI> 15.8. <HI>The &s;acrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.</HI> God takes more delight to hear the prayers of the upright, and to grant the prayers of the upright, than the upright takes delight to pray; how bur|den&s;ome, and trouble&s;ome &s;oever their prayers may bee to others, yet they are &s;till delightfull to God, but more of this in the next Particular. And as God hath a peculiar re|&s;pect for their &s;ervices, &s;o hee hath a peculiar re&s;pect for their tears, for hee puts them into his Bottle. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 56.8. and as hee hath a peculiar re&s;pect for their tears, &s;o hee hath a peculiar re&s;pect for their names, for hee writes them in his Book. <HI>Luke</HI> 10.20. And as hee hath a peculiar re|&s;pect for their names, &s;o hee hath a peculiar re&s;pect for their blood, <HI>P&s;a.</HI> 116.15. and this <HI>Cain</HI> found by wofull experience, from the cry of his Brothers Blood. O Sirs! God by making of you holy, hath made you like him&s;elf, like his Son, like his Spirit, and like his mo&s;t glorious An|gels, which excel in &s;trength; and what doth this &s;peak out but Gods peculiar favour, God makes many rich, and ma|ny great, and many honourable, and many mighty, and many wi&s;e, and many noble, and many beautifull, and many &s;ucce&s;sful, whom hee will never make holy;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 1.3.</NOTE> in mak|ing of you holy, God hath made you &s;piritually great, rich, honourable, wi&s;e, and beautiful, &amp;c. and this &s;peaks you out to bee highly in the favour of God: Holine&s;s is a &s;ingu|lar fruit of Gods &s;pecial favour and love; God hath a com|mon favour and love for all men, yea, for the wor&s;t of
<PB N="632" REF="311"> men,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 2.4, 5.</NOTE> witne&s;&s;e that common pre&s;ervation, and common protection, and common provi&s;ion, that hee vouch&s;afeth to them, and God hath a &s;pecial love and favour, and this runs out only to his holy ones? holine&s;s is a divine beam, a heavenly drop a choice pledge of Gods &s;pecial favour and love; O Sirs! though the world may &s;light you, and ene|mies revile you, and friends di&s;-favour you, yet let this &s;upport you, let this rejoyce you, that you are high in the favour of God. But</P>
<P>Tenthly, If thou art a holy per&s;on, if thou art one that ha&s;t that real holine&s;s, without which there is no happine&s;s, then know for thy comfort, that all thy duties and &s;ervices are very plea&s;ing,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 10.4. Mal. 3.3. 2 Tim. 2.21.</NOTE> delightful, and acceptable to the Lord, and this roundly follows upon the former, for when ever a mans per&s;on comes to bee accepted of God, and to bee high in favour with God, then all his &s;ervices and &s;acrifices comes to bee acceptable to God; <HI>Gen.</HI> 4.4. <HI>And</HI> Abel, <HI>hee al&s;o brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof, and the Lord had re&s;pect unto</HI> Abel, <HI>and to his offering.</HI> God had fir&s;t a re&s;pect to his per&s;on in Chri&s;t, and then to his offering; and &s;o his &s;acrifice was accepted for the man; and not the man for the &s;acrifice. <HI>Heb.</HI> 11.4. <HI>By Faith</HI> A|bel <HI>offered unto God, a more excellent &s;acrifice than Kain, by which hee obtained witne&s;s, that hee was righteous; God te&s;ti|fying of his gifts, and by it, hee being dead yet &s;peaketh:</HI> God will alwaies welcome the holy man into his pre&s;ence, and hee &s;hall alwaies have his ear at command; God will &s;till bee a warming his heart,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 45.11.</NOTE> and a cheering up his &s;pirit, and a &s;atisfying of his &s;oul, in meeting of him in all holy means, and in giving gracious an&s;wers to all his reque&s;ts. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 64.5. <HI>Thou meetest him that rejoyceth and worketh righteou&s;ne&s;s: tho&s;e that remember thee in thy waies:</HI> Prov. 21.8. <HI>The way of man</HI> (that is of unholy man) <HI>is froward and &s;trange: but as for the pure, his work is right.</HI> When God hath clean&s;ed <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> mans heart, and &s;anctified his nature, then his work, his religious work is right; 'tis then right in the eye of God and in the account of God, and in e&s;timation of God; and therefore his Petitions are as &s;oon granted,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 65.24.</NOTE> as they are offer|ed,
<PB N="633" REF="311"> and his reque&s;ts performed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Sealh here is a &s;pecial note of ob&s;ervation, to work us to a &s;e|rious marking of the things that are menti|oned, as things that are of &s;pe|cial weight, and of highe&s;t con|cernment to us.</NOTE> as &s;oon as they are menti|oned: <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 32.5. <HI>I &s;aid I will confe&s;s my tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions unto the Lord, and thou forgave&s;t the iniquity of my &s;in, Selah.</HI> Holy <HI>David</HI> had an inward purpo&s;e and re&s;olution, to con|fe&s;s his &s;in, but before hee could do it, God throws him his pardon; <HI>thou forgave&s;t the iniquity of my &s;in;</HI> God loves to bee before-hand with his people in acts of grace and fa|vour. Gods eye and his ear was in <HI>Davids</HI> heart, before <HI>Davids</HI> confe&s;&s;ion could bee in his tongue. O! the delight of God; O! the plea&s;edne&s;s of God, with the duties and &s;ervices of his holy ones: <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 4.3. But know that the Lord hath &s;et apart him that is godly for him&s;elf: the Lord will hear, when I call upon him; that is, the Lord will ap|prove of my prayer, hee will accept of my prayer, he will delight in my prayer, and hee will an&s;wer my prayer when I call unto him; and what can the Godly man de&s;ire more? <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 61.1. <HI>Hear my cry O God, attend unto my prayer. Aquinas</HI> &s;aith, that &s;ome read the words thus <HI>(Intende ad can|tica mea)</HI> attend unto my &s;ongs (and &s;o the words may bee &s;afely read from the Hebrew word <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Ranah,</HI> which &s;ignifies to &s;hout or &s;hrill out for joy) to note that the prayers of the Saints, are like plea&s;ant &s;ongs, and delightful dirties, in the ears of God; no mirth, no mu&s;ick can bee &s;o plea&s;ing to us, as the prayers of the Saints are plea&s;ing to God:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cant. 2.14.</NOTE> <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 141.2. <HI>Let my prayer come before thee as incen&s;e, and the lifting up of my hands, as the evening &s;acrifize:</HI> What's more &s;weet, what's more plea&s;ing, and what's more perfuming then in|cen&s;e? why the prayers of the Saints,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 5.8. ch. 8.3, 4</NOTE> as they are in the hands of a Mediatour, are as &s;weet and plea&s;ing to God, as in|cen&s;e that is made up of the choice&s;t and &s;weete&s;t &s;pices, are &s;weet and plea&s;ing unto us; 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3.12. <HI>For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers;</HI> or rather as the Greek hath it, his ears are (<GAP DESC="foreign">) to their prayers, that is, when their prayers are &s;o faint and weak, that they cannot reach to God, that they cannot travel as far as Heaven, then God will come down to them, and lay his ears, as it were, unto their prayers? O what matter of joy and comfort, is this
<PB N="634" REF="312"> to all the holy &s;eed, that God will graciou&s;ly bow his ears to their prayers, when hee turns his back with the greate&s;t di&s;dain and indignation upon the mo&s;t co&s;tly &s;acrifices of the wicked. O you precious Sons of <HI>Zion!</HI> that are daily la|menting, and mourning, over the weakne&s;&s;es that cleaves to your be&s;t &s;ervices, know for your comfort and joy, that though with <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> you can but &s;tammer out a prayer;<NOTE PLACE="marg">God once ac|cepted of a handfull of Meal for a &s;a|crifice, and of a gripe of Goats hair for an ob|lation. <HI>Artaxerxes,</HI> the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> mo|narch accepted with a cheerful countenance a little water, as a pre&s;ent from the hand of a poor labourer, &amp;c.</NOTE> or with <HI>Hannah</HI> weep out a prayer, or with <HI>Hezekiah</HI> chatter out a prayer, or with <HI>Paul</HI> &s;igh and groan out a prayer, yet the Lord will own your prayers, and accept your prayers, and delight in your prayers: O what a rare comfort is this for a Chri&s;tian to con&s;ider, that when hee is under outward wants and inward di&s;tre&s;&s;es, that when hee hath &s;ickne&s;s upon his body, and reproach upon his name, and death knock|ing at his door, that in all the&s;e ca&s;es, and in all other ca&s;es hee may run to God as to a Father, and tell God how 'tis with him, and when hee hath done that, hee may &s;it down &s;atisfied and a&s;&s;ured of Audience and Acceptance in Hea|ven? O Sirs! this is a priviledge more worth than a thou&s;and worlds, and had un&s;anctified per&s;ons as many Kingdomes to give, as they have haires on their heads, they would give them all for an intere&s;t in this priviledge, when guilt and wrath is upon their con&s;ciences, and when the arrows of the Almighty &s;tick fa&s;t in them, and when the terrours of death are round about them, and when the dreadful day of their account is every moment remembred by them. O! if it bee &s;o great a favour to have the ears of an earthly King at plea|&s;ure, what a tran&s;cendent &s;avour mu&s;t it bee to have his ear at plea&s;ure, who is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords? and yet this favour hath all his Saints. But</P>
<P>Eleventhly, If thou art a Holy Per&s;on, if thou art one that ha&s;t that real holine&s;s, without which there is no hap|pine&s;s, then know for thy comfort, that Je&s;us Chri&s;t will certainly pre&s;erve thy holine&s;s. Next to Chri&s;t, holine&s;s is a Chri&s;tians choice&s;t Jewel, and this Chri&s;t will bee &s;ure to pre&s;erve; &s;elf-pre&s;ervation is natural to all creatures, holi|ne&s;s is Chri&s;ts Creature, Chri&s;ts Image, and therefore hee will certainly pre&s;erve it, and maintain it; Chri&s;t cannot
<PB N="635" REF="312"> neglect him&s;elf, hee cannot bee wanting to him&s;elf,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. 1.6. Heb. 12.2. 1 The&s;. 5.23. and cha. 3.12, 13. Ephe. 5.25, 26, 27. 1 John. 3.9.</NOTE> now holine&s;s is him&s;elf; and therefore if there bee but a &s;park of holine&s;s in a dunghill of corruption, Chri&s;t will certainly own it, cheri&s;h it, and pre&s;erve it; hee that is once really holy, &s;hall bee for ever holy. Let the World, the Fle&s;h, and the Devil, do what they can, the holy &s;eed &s;hall &s;till remain in all Gods &s;anctified ones; though a holy man may fall &s;trangely, &s;adly, frequently, foully, yet hee &s;hall ne|ver fall totally, hee &s;hall never fall finally, becau&s;e that that holine&s;s that is in him, is a la&s;ting, yea, an ever-la&s;ting and abiding principle, that can never bee de&s;troyed, or extirpated. A wicked per&s;on may bee turned into a holy man, but a holy man can never bee turned into a prophane per&s;on again. A holy change is an unchangeable change, the &s;tate of holine&s;s is an unchangeable &s;tate: 'Tis true the fallen Angels quickly lo&s;t that &s;tock of holine&s;s, that God had put into their hands; and <HI>Adam</HI> lo&s;t all his holine&s;s up|on the turn of a hand, hee broke, and proved a Bankrupt almo&s;t as &s;oon as God had &s;et him up in Paradi&s;e, but the &s;tate and condition of all the Saints, is a better and a &s;afer &s;tate and condition, than either the Angels, or than <HI>Adams</HI> was; and that partly becau&s;e their &s;tate was mutable though perfect, but the &s;tate of the Saints is an unchangeable &s;tate, though it bee (for the pre&s;ent) an imperfect &s;tate; and part|ly becau&s;e God put that &s;tock of holine&s;s, that they had in|to their own hands, but now the Saints holine&s;s is not a &s;tock in their own hands, but in Chri&s;ts hands; for not only their per&s;ons, but their holine&s;s is kept by the power of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1.5.</NOTE> through faith unto &s;alvation. As Chri&s;t is to manage our &s;al|vation for us, &s;o hee is to manage our grace and holine&s;s for us; and therefore as hee will mo&s;t certainly make &s;ure the one, &s;o hee will as certainly pre&s;erve the other; once a Son,<NOTE PLACE="marg">John. 8.35.</NOTE> and for ever a Son; though the &s;ervant may bee turned out of doors, yet the Son abides in the hou&s;e for ever, as Chri&s;t &s;peaks, hee that is once &s;anctified, &s;hall bee for ever ble&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P>Holine&s;s is an abiding &s;eed, an immortal &s;eed; 'tis a royal gift, which being once given, &s;hall never be taken away from him that hath it. I readily grant, that the &s;trength of Holi|ne&s;s,
<PB N="636" REF="313"> and the lu&s;tre and &s;hine of Holine&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 11.29.</NOTE> and the &s;en&s;e and feeling of Holine&s;s, and the comfort and &s;weet of Holine&s;s, and the lively &s;tirrings and operations of Holine&s;s, may bee &s;omewhat abated and le&s;&s;ened in the &s;oul; but the &s;eed of Holine&s;s, the &s;ub&s;tance of Holine&s;s alwaies remains in a changed &s;oul. There is alwaies a divine fire, though &s;ome|times it may be raked up under the A&s;hes; there is alwaies life and &s;ap in the root, though there be neither leaves nor blo&s;&s;omes on the tree; 'tis true, the be&s;t of Saints may have their &s;piritual Autumn; and 'tis as true, that after their Au|tumn, there will certainly follow a Spring of Holine&s;s. 'Tis mo&s;t certain, that the truth and &s;tate of Holine&s;s remains un|der all a Chri&s;tians infirmities, darkne&s;&s;es, weakne&s;&s;es, ec|clip&s;es, clouds, failings, waverings and wandrings; and the rea&s;ons are clear, becau&s;e that great and glorious principle of Holine&s;s flows from Gods unchangeable love, and is a fruit of the everla&s;ting Covenant, and the price of Chri&s;ts Blood, and depends and hangs upon a perpetual union and commu|nion with Chri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 33.26, 27. Gen. 49.22, 23, 24.</NOTE> and is a &s;ure pledge and earne&s;t of a mans eternal enjoyment of Chri&s;t, and is alwaies maintained and uphel<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> by the everla&s;ting Arms of Chri&s;t; to &s;ay that the Saints may fall totally and finally from all that Grace and Holine&s;s they have, is to &s;ay. 1. That the Surety of the New Covenant is grown very poor and weak, which is very little le&s;s than bla&s;phemy, and quite contrary to that <HI>Heb.</HI> 7.21, 22. 2. It is to &s;ay that the Promi&s;es are yea and nay, quite contrary to what the Apo&s;tle affirms, in that 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.20. 3. It is to &s;ay that the Power of God is grown exceed|ing weak and contemptible,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 1.5. Joh. 10.27.&mdash;31.</NOTE> yea it is to make &s;in and Satan &s;tronger than God, which is quite contrary to the current of Scripture. 4. It is to &s;ay that the Decree of God is mutable, which is cro&s;s and contrary to the Apo&s;tle, in that 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 2.10. 5. It is to &s;ay that Gods free, eternal and everla&s;ting love is become changeable and uncon&s;tant, which is expre&s;ly cro&s;s to that <HI>Jer.</HI> 31.3. <HI>Mal.</HI> 3.6. <HI>Joh.</HI> 13.1. with many o|ther Scriptures; and therefore that <HI>Arminian</HI> Principle is to be for ever dete&s;ted and abhorred. But</P>
<P>Twelfthly and la&s;tly, If thou art a holy per&s;on, if thou art
<PB N="637" REF="313"> one that ha&s;t that real Holine&s;s, without which there is no happine&s;s, then know for thy comfort, that all things &s;hall work together for thy good, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.28. <HI>And wee know that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpo&s;e.</HI> All the afflictions,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 2.10.</NOTE> and all the temptations, and all the de&s;ertions, and all the oppre&s;&s;ions, and all the oppo&s;itions, and all the per&s;ecutions that befalls a godly man, &s;hall work for his good: Every cro&s;s, every lo&s;s, and every di&s;ea&s;e that befalls the holy man, &s;hall work for his good; every device, every &s;nare, e|very method, every depth, every &s;tratagem, and every en|terprize of Satan again&s;t the holy man,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 12.9.10.</NOTE> &s;hall work for his good; they &s;hall all help to make him more humble, more holy, more heavenly, more &s;piritual, more faithful,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 38. Ho&s;. 2.5, 6, 7.</NOTE> more fruitful, and more watchful; every day of pro&s;perity, and e|very night of adver&s;ity, &s;hall work for the holy mans good; every &s;torm, and every calm; every bitter, and every &s;weet; every cro&s;s, and every comfort, &s;hall work for his good that is holy; when God gives a mercy, that &s;hall work for his good; and when God takes away a mercy, that &s;hall work for his good; when God gives him large commons, that &s;hall work for his good; and when God cuts his commons &s;hort, that &s;hall work for his good; yea and all the falls, and all the &s;ins of the Saints &s;hall work for their good. As I get hurt by my graces, &s;o I get good by my &s;ins, &s;aid famous Mr. <HI>Fox.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 7.8,&mdash;13.</NOTE> O the rare, the fear, the watchfulne&s;s, the tenderne&s;s, the zeal, the revenge, that God rai&s;es in the &s;ouls of his Saints by their very falls. O the hatred, the indignation, and the dete&s;tation that God rai&s;es in the hearts of his children again&s;t &s;in, by their very falling into &s;in! O what love to Chri&s;t, what thankfulne&s;s for Chri&s;t, what admiration of Chri&s;t, what cleaving to Chri&s;t, what exalting of Chri&s;t, and what draw|ing from Chri&s;t, are Saints led to by their very falls! O what exerci&s;e of grace, what increa&s;e of grace, what magni|fying of grace, what liftings up of Divine Power, and what a high price are holy men led to &s;et upon the precious Blood of Chri&s;t, and all by their falls! 'Tis the glory of Gods Ho|line&s;s, that hee can turn &s;piritual di&s;ea&s;es into holy remedies,
<PB N="638" REF="314"> and &s;oul-poi&s;ons into heavenly cordials, that hee can prevent &s;in by &s;in, and cure falling by falling; one calls that 8th. of the <HI>Romans</HI> and the 28. The blinde mans Promi&s;e, and I may call it the lame mans Promi&s;e, that is holy, and the deaf mans Promi&s;e, that is holy, and the dumb mans Promi&s;e, that is holy, and the needy mans Promi&s;e, that is holy, and the &s;ick mans Promi&s;e, that is holy, and the langui&s;hing mans Promi&s;e, that is holy, and the dying mans Promi&s;e, that is holy. O the comfort! O the &s;weet! O the content! O the &s;atisfaction that this Promi&s;e hath afforded to many a pre|cious Saint, when other Promi&s;es have not been at hand! O Chri&s;tian! what though friends and relations frown upon thee, what though enemies are plotting and con&s;piring again&s;t thee, what though wants like an armed man are ready to break in upon thee; what though men rage, and Devils roar; what though &s;ickne&s;s be in thy family, and death &s;tands every day at thy elbow, yet there is no rea&s;on for thee to fear or faint, becau&s;e all the&s;e things &s;hall work for thy good. Yea there is wonderful cau&s;e of joy and rejoycing in all the af|flictions and tribulations that comes upon thee, con&s;idering that they &s;hall all work for thy good. O Chri&s;tians! I am afraid, I am afraid, that you do not run &s;o often as you &s;hould to the brea&s;ts of this Promi&s;e, nor draw that &s;weetne&s;s and comfort from it that it would yeeld, and that your &s;e|veral ca&s;es may require; and thus I have done with this u&s;e of comfort and con&s;olation to all Gods holy ones. You &s;ee what comfort, what con&s;olation, yea what &s;trong con&s;olation waits upon all Gods &s;anctified ones. I have been the longer up|on this u&s;e, becau&s;e the times require it, and the condition of Gods people calls for the &s;tronge&s;t cordials, and the choice&s;t and the &s;weete&s;t comforts.</P>
<P>And now I have nothing to do, but to lay down &s;ome Po|&s;itions concerning Holine&s;s, which may be of &s;ingular u&s;e, for the preventing of &s;ome Objections and mi&s;takes, and for the giving of &s;atisfaction, e&s;pecially to &s;uch in whom the &s;treams of Holine&s;s runs low, and who are &s;till a lamenting and mourning under the imperfections of their Holine&s;s, &amp;c.</P>
<PB N="639" REF="314">
<P>And the fir&s;t Po&s;ition is this, Where ever real Holine&s;s is, it will appear, it will di&s;cover it &s;elf, it will &s;hew it &s;elf;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 4.15, 16.</NOTE> it is the very nature of Grace and Holine&s;s, to manife&s;t it &s;elf; and therefore it is &s;et forth in Scripture by the names of light, which &s;hines abroad, and of ointment and perfume,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 5.16. Prov. 27.9. Cant. 3.6.</NOTE> which cannot be hid; of Leaven and Salt, which deriveth its own nature and relli&s;h upon a whole lump: And 'tis very ob|&s;ervable, that when the Holy Gho&s;t was given,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 2.1, 2, 3, 4, 5.</NOTE> he was given in tongues, fiery tongues, and with a ru&s;hing of a mighty wind, all which have a quality of &s;elf-manife&s;tation, and notifying of them&s;elves to others.</P>
<P>Take a River that is damm'd and &s;topt up, yet if the cour&s;e of it be natural, and if it commonly runs downward, it will at length bear down all, and ride and run triumphantly over all that is in its way: So though real Holine&s;s in a day of temptation, de&s;ertion, and affliction, &amp;c. may &s;eem to bee damm'd and &s;topt up, yet at length it will make its way through all, &amp; over all, and &s;hew its &s;elf in its native colours. Though fire for a time may lye hid under the A&s;hes, yet at la&s;t it will flame forth, and &s;hew it &s;elf to be fire; Holine&s;s is a divine fire, and though in &s;ome ca&s;es it may for a time &s;eem to bee hid, it will at length break forth and &s;hew it &s;elf to be Holine&s;&s;e. I have not Faith enough to beleeve that that man was ever really holy, who&s;e Holine&s;&s;e is &s;till un<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">er a bu&s;hel, or in a dark Lanthorn. Look as natural life can|not be &s;o hid, but that it will di&s;cover it &s;elf a hundred hun|dred waies: So Holine&s;&s;e, which is a Chri&s;tians &s;piritual life, cannot be &s;o hid, but it will di&s;cover it a hundred, hundred waies.</P>
<P>The &s;econd Po&s;ition is this, That Holine&s;s ri&s;es by de|grees, it ri&s;es gradually in the &s;ouls of the Saints. Though the fir&s;t <HI>Adam</HI> was made a man a holy man,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job. 17.9. P&s;al. 92.12. Mal. 4.2. Ho&s;. 14.5, 6, 7.</NOTE> yea man per|fectly holy, and all at once; yet the Holine&s;s of all that is in|tere&s;ted in the &s;econd <HI>Adam,</HI> ri&s;es by degrees. 'Tis true in the Creation of the world, all the creatures were made in their full and perfect growth and &s;trength at once; but in the new Creation, Holine&s;s, which is Gods own creature, is car|ried on by degrees.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 2.52.</NOTE> Look as Chri&s;t increa&s;ed in wi&s;dome
<PB N="640" REF="315"> and in &s;tature, and in favour with God and man, by degrees. So that Babe of Grace, Holine&s;s, increa&s;es in the &s;oul by de|grees. Look as the &s;eed which is &s;own in the furrows of the earth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 13.23. Mark 4.28.</NOTE> fir&s;t &s;prings into a blade, and then into an ear, and then into ripe Corn: So that immortal &s;eed, Holine&s;s, which is &s;own in the furrows of a Chri&s;tians &s;oul, &s;prings and grows by degrees. Look as the waters in the Sanctuary ri&s;e fir&s;t to the ancles, then to the knees, then to the loins, then to the chin,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 47.3, 4, 5.</NOTE> and then to a River that was not pa&s;&s;able: So Holine&s;&s;e ri&s;es higher and higher in the &s;oul by degrees. Look as the morning light &s;hines more and more unto the perfect day:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 4.18.</NOTE> So the light of Holine&s;&s;e &s;hines more and more clear, and more and more bright, until all darkne&s;&s;e and im|perfection be &s;wallowed up in perfection. Look as the body of a man grows and increa&s;es by degrees in &s;tature and &s;trength till it comes to its full growth and perfection:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 4.16.</NOTE> So Grace and Holine&s;&s;e will grow and increa&s;e by degrees, till Grace bee turned into Glory, till Holine&s;s bee turned into Happine&s;s. Though the Ocean be full, yet the bottle cannot bee filled but by degrees. Wee are poor narrow-mouthed Bottles, and therefore what wee take in of Holine&s;&s;e; mu&s;t bee by degrees; our incapacity is &s;o great, that at pre&s;ent wee are no waies able to take in a fulne&s;&s;e of Holine&s;&s;e; and therefore God drops in now a drop, and then a drop; now a little, and then a little, as wee are able to take it in. And in|deed to difference the &s;tate of Grace from the &s;tate of Glory, the &s;tate of Holine&s;s from the &s;tate of Happine&s;&s;e; 'tis nece&s;&s;a|ry that Holine&s;&s;e &s;hould be communicated to us by degrees, an ab&s;olute fulne&s;s of holine&s;s will make an ab&s;olute fulne&s;s of happine&s;s; when our holine&s;s is perfect, our happine&s;s &s;hall be perfect; and if this were attainable on earth, there would be but little rea&s;on for men to long to bee in Heaven.</P>
<P>The third Po&s;ition is this, that there is a great deal of preciou&s;ne&s;&s;e in the lea&s;t degree of holine&s;&s;e. For</P>
<P N="1">1. 'Tis the &s;pecial work of the holy Spirit; and this I have &s;hewed you already at large; and therefore it mu&s;t needs be precious.</P>
<P N="2">2. 'Tis a part of the Divine Nature, 'tis a beam of God,
<PB N="641" REF="315"> a &s;park of Glory; and therefore it mu&s;t needs be precious.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 1.4. Mat. 12.20. I&s;a. 40 10, 11. ch. 60.22. I&s;a. 35.3, 4. Joel 3.10. Mat. 5.3, 4, 5, 6. Rom. 14.1. ch. 15.7.</NOTE></P>
<P N="3">3. There are many choice and &s;pecial Promi&s;es that are made over to the lea&s;t degrees of Holine&s;&s;e, as you may &s;ee by comparing the Scriptures in the Margint together; and therefore the lea&s;t degree of holine&s;&s;e is very precious.</P>
<P N="4">4. It gives a man a right to precious Priviledges, and to all the precious Ordinances of Chri&s;ts hou&s;e. <HI>Ergo.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5. 'Tis a fruit of the &s;pecial love and favour of God; a man may read more of the heart of God, and of the &s;pecial love of God towards him in the lea&s;t &s;park of holine&s;&s;e, than hee can in his highe&s;t worldly enjoyments. A man may read that &s;pecial grace in the lea&s;t degree of holine&s;&s;e, which hee can never read in the honours, profits, plea&s;ures, delights, and contents of this world. <HI>Ergo.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6. The lea&s;t degrees of holine&s;&s;e gives a man as great a right,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The little hand of a childe may hold a Pearl as well as the hand of the greate&s;t Giant in the world.</NOTE> and as good a title to everla&s;ting happine&s;&s;e and ble&s;|&s;edne&s;&s;e, as the greate&s;t degrees of holine&s;&s;e doth, and the rea&s;on is clear, becau&s;e the promi&s;e of happine&s;&s;e and ble&s;|&s;edne&s;&s;e is not made over to degrees of holine&s;&s;e, but to the truth of holine&s;&s;e; and therefore hee that hath but the lea&s;t &s;park of true holine&s;&s;e, may plead the Promi&s;e, and apply the Promi&s;e, and &s;uck marrow and &s;weetne&s;&s;e out of the Promi&s;e, as well as hee that hath the greate&s;t mea&s;ures of holine&s;&s;e in the world. The Promi&s;es of Salvation are not made over to the &s;trength of Faith, but to the truth of Faith, <HI>Joh.</HI> 6.35. 'Tis no where &s;aid, that only hee that beleeves with the Faith of an <HI>Abraham,</HI> &s;hall bee &s;aved; but 'tis often &s;aid, <HI>Hee that beleeves &s;hall bee &s;aved;</HI> that is, hee that beleeves truly, though hee doth not beleeve &s;trongly, &s;hall bee &s;aved. <HI>Ergo.</HI></P>
<P N="7">7. When unholy per&s;ons are under terrours of con&s;cience,<NOTE PLACE="marg">A little holi|ne&s;s is like a Diamond very little in bulk but of a very high price and value, &amp;c.</NOTE> and upon their dying-beds, and when they &s;hall &s;tand before a judgement &s;eat, had they as many worlds to give, as there bee &s;tars in Heaven, and as there are men on Eart<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, they would give them all for the lea&s;t &s;park of true holine&s;&s;e; and therefore without all peradventure, the lea&s;t degree of holi|ne&s;&s;e mu&s;t bee very precious, con&s;idering what a price the wor&s;t of men would give for it, were it in their power to pur|cha&s;e.</P>
<P N="8"><PB N="642" REF="316">8. The lea&s;t degree of holine&s;&s;e &s;hall at la&s;t bee ble&s;t with a happy triumph over the &s;tronge&s;t corruptions, the lea&s;t de|gree of holine&s;&s;e will lead the &s;oul to Chri&s;t, it will bring the &s;oul into communion with Chri&s;t, it will work the &s;oul to lean upon Chri&s;t, and by degrees to draw that life, that vertue, and that vigour from Chri&s;t, that will inable a Chri&s;tian not only to combate, but to conquer even <HI>Goliah</HI> him&s;elf; and therefore the lea&s;t degree of holine&s;&s;e is doubtle&s;&s;e very pre|cious.</P>
<P N="9"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 18. The lea&s;t fin|ger is of u&s;e to the whole bo|dy.</NOTE>9. The lea&s;t degree of holine&s;&s;e will render a Chri&s;tian in &s;ome mea&s;ure &s;erviceable and u&s;eful to the turnings away of the wrath and judgements of God from a People or Na|tion, and for the bringing down of favours and ble&s;&s;ing up|on a Land; When all the Power, Authority, Greatne&s;&s;e, Grandeur and Glory that wicked men have in their hands, can do ju&s;t nothing either to the diverting of wrath, or the ob|taining of mercy; and therefore the lea&s;t degree of holine&s;&s;e is precious. But</P>
<P>Tenthly and la&s;tly, The lea&s;t degree of holine&s;&s;e is a &s;ure pledge and pawn, of greater degrees of holine&s;&s;e, that in time thou &s;halt attain to. The talle&s;t Oak was once an Acorn; the deepe&s;t Doctor was once in his Horn-book, and the grea|te&s;t Giant was once a childe. Thy &s;park in time &s;hall bee blowed up into a flame; thy drop in time &s;hall bee turned in|to a Sea, and thy penny in time &s;hall bee multiplied into pounds, and thy pounds into hundreds, and thy hundreds in|to thou&s;ands, and thy thou&s;ands into millions; and now tell mee Chri&s;tians, whether the&s;e ten things do not &s;ufficiently prove that there is a great deal of preciou&s;ne&s;&s;e in the lea&s;t degrees of holine&s;&s;e; and O that you that have but a little holine&s;&s;e, would bee often a warming of your hearts at this heavenly fire! and O that you that have a great deal of holi|ne&s;&s;e w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">uld not de&s;pi&s;e tho&s;e that have but a little holine&s;&s;e! O that you that bring forth a hundred-fold, would not de|&s;pi&s;e tho&s;e that bring forth but thirty-fold! and O that you that have ten Talents; would not de&s;pi&s;e tho&s;e that have but two Talents, con&s;idering that there is a great deal of preci|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e in the lea&s;t degree of holine&s;s.</P>
<PB N="643" REF="316">
<P>The fourth Po&s;ition is this, All Saints are not alike holy; &s;ome are more holy, and others are le&s;&s;e holy; in &s;ome Saints the &s;prings of Holine&s;s runs low, in others the &s;prings of Ho|line&s;s ri&s;e very high. Holine&s;s thrives not alike in all Saints;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 13.8.23. Mat. 25.14, 15. Luk. 19.12.&mdash;21.</NOTE> in the Parable; &s;ome brought forth thirty, &s;ome &s;ixty, and others a hundred-fold, and yet all was good ground too: And in that other Parable, every one had not ten Talents; &s;ome had but five, others two, others but one. God never doth di|&s;tribute holine&s;s alike to all; to &s;ome hee gives more, to o|thers le&s;s, according to the good plea&s;ure of his Grace. God never intended that all &s;hould thrive alike in holine&s;s.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Neh. 7.2.</NOTE> Though there were divers that feared God in <HI>Nehemiah</HI>'s time, yet hee tells you that his Brother <HI>Hanani</HI> feared God above many.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 1.8.</NOTE> And though <HI>Jobs</HI> three friends that came to vi|&s;ite him in the daies of his &s;orrows, <HI>viz. Eliphaz, Zophar,</HI> and <HI>Bildad,</HI> were doubtle&s;s all holy men, yet they fell very much &s;hort of <HI>Job</HI> in Grace and Holine&s;s, as is evident not only by that high te&s;timony that God him&s;elf gives concern|ing <HI>Job, That there was none like him upon the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feared God, and e&s;chewed evil.</HI> But al&s;o throughout that whole Book of <HI>Job.</HI> 'Tis true, all Saints are equally ju&s;tified, and equally pardoned, and equally re|conciled, and equally accepted, but all Saints are not equal|ly &s;anctified. All Saints are not of equal &s;tanding in the hou&s;e of God. All Saints have not been partakers of equal means, all Saints have not had equal gales of the Spirit, all Saints have not alike acted that holine&s;s they have; and there|fore no wonder if all Saints are not alike holy. <HI>Davids</HI> wor|thies were not all of equal &s;trength, nor all the &s;tones in the building are not of equal proportion, nor all the members in the natural body are not of equal magnitude; and &s;o 'tis al&s;o in the my&s;tical body of Chri&s;t. In Gods hou&s;e there are ve&s;&s;els of Gold, and ve&s;&s;els of Silver, that is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 12. 2 Tim. 2.20.</NOTE> there are &s;ome that are more eminently &s;anctified, and purified, than others are. You read in Scripture of Babes, as well as of &s;trong Men; of Lambs, as well as of Sheep; of Plants, as well as of Trees. Be&s;ides, you read of a little Faith, and of &s;moaking Flax, and of a brui&s;ed Reed, and of a grain of Mu&s;tard-&s;eed;
<PB N="644" REF="317"> and what doth all this evidence, but that God gives different mea&s;ures and degrees of grace and holine&s;s to his people. Chri&s;t hath not work alike for all Saints to do, nor burdens alike for all Saints to bear, nor mercies alike for all Saints to improve, nor temptations alike for all Saints to re&s;i&s;t, nor difficulties alike for all Saints to grapple withall, nor dangers alike for all Saints to encounter withall, &amp;c. and there|fore hee gives not a like mea&s;ure of holine&s;s to all, but to &s;ome more, to others le&s;s, according as their condition re|quires, Some Saints &s;tand in need of a great deal more grace and holine&s;s than others do. Their place, calling, con|dition, and imployments in the world calls for a greater &s;tock, than others need. One man may better keep hou&s;e with a hundred a year, than another who hath a great family, and great re&s;ort to his hou&s;e, can do with a thou&s;and a year; and &s;o 'tis here. A little may &s;erve a little Farm; but it mu&s;t be a great &s;tock that mu&s;t &s;erve a great Farm. A little &s;tock of Holine&s;&s;e will &s;erve &s;ome Chri&s;tians, but it mu&s;t be a great &s;tock of Holine&s;s that mu&s;t &s;erve to &s;upply the nece&s;|&s;ities, and the wants of other Chri&s;tians; and therefore God gives different mea&s;ures and degrees of holine&s;s among his people as their needs require. Look as one &s;inner excels another in wickedne&s;s, &s;o one Saint excels another in ho|line&s;s, and therefore let not tho&s;e that have much holine&s;s de&s;pi&s;e tho&s;e that have but little; nor let not tho&s;e that have but a little holine&s;s cen&s;ure or judge tho&s;e that have more holine&s;s than them&s;elves.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Read the 77. and the 88. P&s;alms. And indeed mo&s;t of the P&s;alms of <HI>David,</HI> are a full proof of this Po&s;ition, as all may &s;ee that will but read them with a &s;piritual eye, and with, and under&s;tanding heart.</NOTE> All that holine&s;s that any man hath, whether it bee little, or whether it bee much, is all of Grace, it is all of free-grace; and therefore let e|very man improve it, bee thankful for it, and walk humbly under it.</P>
<P>The fift Po&s;ition is this; A Chri&s;tian may bee more emi|nently Holy at one time, than at another, hee may thrive and increa&s;e more in holine&s;s at one &s;ea&s;on, than at another; two men do not more differ one from another, than [the &s;elf &s;ame Chri&s;tian at &s;everal times differs from him&s;elf. Now the Spring-tide of Holine&s;s is ri&s;en high, very high at another time the &s;treams of Holine&s;s runs exceeding low; now hee
<PB N="645" REF="317"> is full fraughted with high thoughts of God, with honourable thoughts of Chri&s;t, with precious thoughts of the Saints, with pious thoughts of the Scripture, with delightful thoughts of Ordinances, with &s;erious thoughts of Providences, and with ravi&s;hing thoughts of Eternity;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Be&s;ides the ex|amples of <HI>Abra|ham, Jacob, Jo&s;eph, Job,</HI> and <HI>Peter,</HI> with the experiences of all other Saints in all ages, &s;peaks out this truth.</NOTE> and at another time you &s;hall have him filled with &s;uch hard thoughts of God, with &s;uch di&s;honourable thoughts of Chri&s;t, with &s;uch low thoughts of the Saints, with &s;uch &s;light thoughts of the Scrip|ture, with &s;uch undelightful thoughts of Ordinances, and with &s;uch confu&s;ed thoughts of Providences, and with &s;uch muddy dark and unplea&s;ing thoughts of Eternity, as if hee were really another man; now hee is very lively and quick, very cheerful and thankful, very fruitful and faithful; now hee is very fearful of offending God, and very careful of plea&s;ing God, and very circum&s;pect and watchful in his walking with God, as if hee were a man fully re&s;olved in|&s;tantly to &s;tart from holine&s;s to happine&s;s; but now if you plea&s;e to look on this man at another time, when hee is ei|ther de&s;erted of God, or tempted by Satan, or wor&s;ted by the World, or enthraled by his Lu&s;ts; and Ah! how un|like him&s;elf will you then finde him, for now hee is flat and dull, and dry (though not quite dead) now hee is much &s;treightned and &s;hut up, now hee can neither joy in God, nor delight in Chri&s;t, nor finde &s;weetne&s;s in Ordi+nances, nor any ta&s;te or reli&s;h in any of his mercies. Now his Apprehen&s;ions are dark, his Thoughts are di&s;mal, his Meditations are confu&s;ed, his Words are unadvi&s;ed, and his waies are crooked; now hee &s;aith <HI>the Lord is my Portion,</HI> and anon hee &s;aith, <HI>will the Lord ca&s;t off for ever, and will he bee favourable no more?</HI> now hee beleeves, anon hee doubts, this hour hee hopes, the next hee fears, to day hee is up|on the mount, joying and triumphing, to morrow you &s;hall have him in the vallies, mourning and &s;ighing; many clouds, many eclip&s;es, many varieties, and many changes, pa&s;&s;es upon Gods holy ones in this life. A Childe, a Tree, a Plant, &s;hoots up &s;ometimes more in a month, than they do in many months; and &s;o doth many a Childe of God, many a Tree of righteou&s;ne&s;s, and many a Plant of renown,
<PB N="646" REF="318"> &s;hoots up more in holine&s;s in a month &s;ometimes, than they do in many months at another time; they thrive and flou|ri&s;h in holine&s;s more in a year &s;ometimes, than they do in many years, at another time. Look as many a man gets more mony in one year, than hee doth afterwards get in &s;e|ven; &s;o many a Chri&s;tian gets more grace and holine&s;s, &s;ometimes in one year, than hee gets afterwards in &s;even. No Saints have at all times a like the &s;ame ble&s;&s;ed gales of the Spirit; 'tis ju&s;t with a holy &s;oul, as 'tis with a &s;hip, &s;ometimes the &s;hip hath a very fair and fre&s;h gale of wind, and then &s;hee cuts her way through the proud waves of the Sea, and the Pa&s;&s;engers &s;ail very &s;peedily and merrily to|wards their de&s;ired Port; but anon the wind is &s;lack, and veres about to another point of the Compa&s;s, and then the Pa&s;&s;engers are all amote, and they &s;ail but &s;lowly and hea|vily towards their de&s;ired Harbour? And &s;o 'tis with a holy heart, &s;ometimes the gales of the &s;pirit blow very fair and &s;weet, very &s;trong and powerful, upon a gracious &s;oul; and then a Chri&s;tian &s;ails mo&s;t &s;weetly, mo&s;t &s;peedily, and mo&s;t &s;ucce&s;sfully on in a way of Holine&s;s, and towards his Port of Happine&s;s; but anon the &s;pirit is either re&s;i&s;ted or griev|ed, or neglected, or quenched, or vexed, or di&s;obeyed; and then his gales, his influences, his breathings are &s;lack|ed, and then a poor Chri&s;tian &s;ails but very &s;low on in a way of holine&s;s, then hee doth but even creep towards the Har|bour of everla&s;ting ble&s;&s;edne&s;s.</P>
<P>Again no Saints have at all times alike the &s;ame external, helps, advantages, and opportunities of being holy, and of thriving in holine&s;s: It may bee they have not the word &s;o clearly, &s;o powerfully, &s;o &s;weetly &s;o faithfully, nor &s;o frequently, preacht to them, as formerly they have had; or it may bee they have not other Ordinances &s;o lively, &s;o purely, &s;o &s;piritually, &s;o evangelically di&s;penced to them, as formerly they have had; It may bee they have had &s;tones in&s;tead of bread, and bones in&s;tead of fle&s;h, and chaffe in&s;tead of wheat, and muddy water in&s;tead of choice wine, and then no wonder if they do not thrive in holine&s;s, as they did when God rained Mannah every day
<PB N="647" REF="318"> about their Tents, and when they were fed with the be&s;t of the be&s;t, that their Heavenly Fathers Table, Wine-&s;eller, and Hou&s;e did afford. When Children have not as good Food, and as good Phy&s;ick, and as good lodging, and as good looking to, as they have formerly had, no wonder if they thrive not, as at other times. And &s;o 'tis here; look as no men have alwaies the &s;ame helps, the &s;ame advantages, the &s;ame opportunities, to grow great, and rich, and high, and honourable in the world, that &s;ometimes they have had; &s;o no Chri&s;tian hath alwaies the &s;ame helps, advantages, and opportunities to grow rich, and high in holine&s;s, as &s;ome|times hee hath had: It may bee hee hath not that commu|nion and fellow&s;hip with the people of God, that once hee had, or if hee hath, yet it may bee their communion is not &s;o pure, &s;o holy, &s;o lively, &s;o heart-warming, &s;o &s;oul-inriching, as once it hath been, or it may bee hee hath not as good coun&s;el as formerly, nor as good examples as for|merly, nor as good encouragement, as hee hath formerly had to bee holy; or it may bee their calling, imployment, and outward condition is &s;o altered and changed from what once it was; that they have not that time for clo|&s;et Duties, and to wait on publick Ordinances, that once they had; or it may bee bodily infirmities, weakne&s;&s;es, di|&s;ea&s;es, aches, and ailements are &s;o increa&s;ed and multipli|ed upon them, that they cannot make that improvement that once they did, of tho&s;e very advantages, and oppor|tunities, that yet by a hand of grace is continued among them; now the&s;e ca&s;es being incident to the people of God, there is no rea&s;on to wonder, if at &s;ome times, Saints are more holy than they are at others; and if at &s;ome &s;ea&s;ons they &s;hoot up more in holine&s;s, than they do at others: The &s;erious weighing of this Po&s;ition, may &s;erve to prevent many fears and &s;cruples, many debates and di&s;putes, that often ri&s;e in the hearts of Chri&s;tians, upon the often ebbings and flowings of holine&s;s in their &s;ouls.</P>
<P>The &s;ixt Po&s;ition is this; There will come a time when in this world, holine&s;s &s;hall bee more general, and more e|minent, than ever it hath been &s;ince <HI>Adam</HI> fell in Para|di&s;e;
<PB N="648" REF="319"> The Scripture &s;peaks clearly, roundly, and fully to this, <HI>Deut.</HI> 30.5, 6, 8. <HI>The Lord thy God will bring thee into thine own Land, and the Lord thy God will circumci&s;e thine heart, and the heart of thy &s;eed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy &s;oul, and thou &s;halt return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do All His Commandements.</HI> This gracious Promi&s;e was made to the <HI>Jews,</HI> above two thou&s;and years ago, and yet to this very day it hath not been fulfilled; and therefore there will certainly come a time wherein God will make it good, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 11.6. <HI>The Wolf &s;hall dwell with the Lamb, &amp;c. and they &s;hall not hurt, &amp;c. for the Earth &s;hall bee Full of the Knowledge of The Lord, As the Waters Cover The Sea.</HI> This glorious Promi&s;e hath not been made good to this day, but there is a time a coming wherein it &s;hall bee accompli&s;hed, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 35.8. <HI>There &s;hall bee a high-way, and it &s;hall bee called a way of Holine&s;s,</HI> THE UNCLEAN SHALL NOT PASSE OVER IT, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 59.21. <HI>This is my Covenant, my</HI> WORD AND MY SPIRIT SHALL NEVER DEPART <HI>from thee for ever,</HI> I&s;a. 60.21. <HI>Thy People &s;hall bee</HI> ALL RIGHTEOUS, <HI>Jer.</HI> 32.40, 41. <HI>I will make an everla&s;ting Covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good. But I will put my fear into their hearts,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">So Ezek. 36.23. to v. 30. Mal. 4.1, 2. 2 Pet. 3.13.</NOTE> <HI>that they &s;hall not depart from mee; yea I will re|joyce over them to do them good, and will plant them in this Land a&s;&s;uredly</HI> WITH MY WHOLE HEART, AND WHOLE SOUL.</P>
<P>Now it is very ob&s;ervable, that this great Promi&s;e mu&s;t bee fulfilled, when the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hall return, and bee &s;ettled in their own Land. And &s;o the Prophet <HI>Ezekiel</HI> &s;peaking of the glorious &s;tate of the Church in the la&s;t daies,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 44.7, 9.</NOTE> adds, <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord, no &s;tranger uncircumci&s;ed in HEART &s;hall en|ter into my Sanctuary.</HI> Zeph. 3.13. <HI>The remnant of I&s;rael SHALL NOT DO INIQUITY, nor SPEAK LYES; neither &s;hall a DECEITFUL TONGUE bee found in their mouths.</HI> Now the context clearly &s;hews that the&s;e words relate to the glorious &s;tate of the Church on Earth, and they have never yet received their accompli&s;hment, but &s;hall in the la&s;t daies, for hee is faithful that hath &s;poken it.
<PB N="649" REF="319"> <HI>Zach.</HI> 14.20, 21. <HI>Upon ALL SHALL BEE HOLI|NESSE TO THE LORD.</HI> I have opened this Text pret|ty fully to you already in my former di&s;cour&s;es on holine&s;s; and therefore &s;hall pa&s;s it by now, <HI>Rev.</HI> 21. <HI>ver&s;e</HI> the fir&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">See the Engli&s;h Annotations on the&s;e words.</NOTE> and <HI>ver&s;e</HI> the la&s;t. <HI>And I &s;aw a New Heaven, and a New Earth, and I &s;aw the holy City New Jeru&s;alem coming down from God out of HEAVEN. Behold the Tabernacle of God is WITH MEN, &amp;c. and there &s;hall in no wi&s;e enter into it any th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ng that DEFILETH, &amp;c. but they that are written in the Lambs Book.</HI> I have formerly proved by &s;everal Ar|guments, as divers of you knows that this chapter cannot be under&s;tood of Heaven, but mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily, and beyond all di&s;pute bee under&s;tood of the glorious &s;tate of the Saints on Earth, which they &s;hall certainly enjoy in the la&s;t daies. By all the&s;e Scriptures it is mo&s;t evident, that there will come a time when holine&s;s &s;hall bee more general, and at a fuller height than ever yet it hath been &s;ince man fell from his O|riginal holine&s;s; and therefore pray and wait, and wait and pray, look and long, and long and look for the breaking forth of this day of glory upon the world.</P>
<P>The &s;eventh and la&s;t Propo&s;ition, is this, That though the people of God ought to bee holy at all times, yet there are &s;ome &s;pecial times and &s;ea&s;ons wherein God calls aloud for holine&s;s, more than hee doth at other times, and where|in hee looks, and expects that his people &s;hould be eminently holy, as well as really holy.</P>
<P>Que&s;t. <HI>But what are tho&s;e &s;pecial times and &s;ea&s;ons, wherein God calls loude&s;t for Holine&s;s, and mo&s;t for Holine&s;s?</HI></P>
<P>I an&s;wer, they are the&s;e.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, After great and &s;ore falls, O now God calls aloud for holine&s;s.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 3. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;al. 51. Job 3. &amp; ch. 12.4, 5. I&s;a. 38.14. Mat. 26. <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> <HI>David</HI> after his great falls greatly humbles him&s;elf before the Lord. And <HI>Job</HI> after his bitter cur&s;ing, and heavy complaining abhorrs him&s;elf in du&s;t and a&s;hes. And <HI>Hezekiah</HI> after his great mi&s;carriage, did chatter like a Crane and mourn as a Dove&punc; And <HI>Peter</HI> after his helli&s;h cur&s;ing hi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> de&s;perate &s;wearing, and his hideous lying, goes forth and weeps bitterly. So <HI>Origen,</HI> after hee had denied the Truth, and &s;acrificed to an Idol, hee <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ame to <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and being
<PB N="650" REF="320"> de&s;ired to preach, and having opened his Bible, the fir&s;t Scripture that his eye was fixt upon was that <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 50.16, 17. <HI>ver&s;es.</HI> What ha&s;t thou to do to take my Word into thy mouth, &s;eeing thou hate&s;t to bee reformed; whereupon hee &s;hut his Book, &s;ate down, and fell into a pa&s;&s;ion of weeping, and &s;o came out of the Pulpit, as not being able to &s;peak to the people. After great falls God expects and looks that his people &s;hould bee more fearful of &s;in than ever, and more careful of plea&s;ing and honouring of him than ever, and more re&s;olute in re&s;i&s;ting of temptations than ever, and more con&s;tant and abundant in a way of duty, than ever, and more thankful and fruitful under mercies, than ever, and more quiet and &s;ilent under afflictions than ever, and more &s;tout and couragious in the face of all oppo&s;ition than ever, &amp; more wi&s;e and circum&s;pect in their walkings than ever, and more vi|gilant and diligent to prevent &amp; avoid future falls than ever; how el&s;e will the honour of God bee repaired, and the glory of Religion bee vindicated, and the Credit of the Go&s;pel be rai&s;ed, and the grieved Saints bee rejoyced, and young begin|ners in Religion be afre&s;h incouraged, and &s;ecure &s;inners bee awakened, convinced and converted. But</P>
<P>Secondly, When God &s;hews &s;ingular mercy to his people, and when hee doth great things for his people, then hee ex|pects and looks that his people &s;hould bee a holy people, and then hee calls loude&s;t for Holine&s;s, <HI>Exod.</HI> 19.3, 4, 5. <HI>And Mo&s;es went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the Mountain, &s;aying, Thus &s;halt thou &s;ay to the hou&s;e of Ja|cob, and tell the children of I&s;rael, Yee have &s;een what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bare you upon Eagles wings, and brought you unto my &s;elf. Now therefore of yee will obey my voice indeed, and keep my Covenant, then yee &s;hall bee a peculiar trea|&s;ure unto mee, above all people; for all the Earth is mine.</HI> Here <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> makes u&s;e of a very elegant expre&s;&s;ion, to &s;hew the &s;ingular love,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Vide Ari&s;totle. l. <HI>9.</HI> de Hi&s;toria Animalium.</NOTE> care, kindne&s;s, and goodne&s;s of God towards his people; Hee bare you upon Eagles wings; the Eagle is a very Princely, Noble Bird, &s;hee fears no Birds from above to hurt her young ones, and becau&s;e &s;hee fears the Arrow from beneath, therefore &s;hee carries her young ones upon
<PB N="651" REF="320"> her wings; &s;o that there is no hurting, nor harming, nor no killing of them, but by &s;hooting through the body of the old one; other Birds carry their young ones in their talons, and &s;o expo&s;e them to danger, but the Eagle carries hers upon her wings, that they may bee &s;afe and &s;ecure. <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> to &s;hew how choice and chary God was of <HI>I&s;rael;</HI> and how much hee &s;tood upon their &s;afety and &s;ecurity tells them, that he carried them upon Eagles wings; that &s;o none of their enemies might ruine or de&s;troy them, yea that they might not &s;o much as in the lea&s;t hurt or harm them; hee carried them out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> and hee carried them through the Red-Sea &s;weetly, &s;wiftly, &s;trongly, and tenderly, as the Eagle carried her young ones when danger is at hand. Now God having expre&s;t &s;uch love, &s;uch care, &s;uch bowels, &s;uch tenderne&s;s, &s;uch &s;weetne&s;s, and &s;uch kindne&s;s to his people; hee looks and expects that they &s;hould bee a holy people, and therefore hee &s;trongly urges them to obey Gods voice indeed, and to keep his Covenant; now what is it for a man to obey Gods voice indeed, and to keep his Covenant, out to bee really holy, yea to be eminent|ly holy, So in that 10th. of <HI>Deut.</HI> where <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> had made a large Narrative of the &s;ingular favours and mercies of God to <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> in the eleven fir&s;t ver&s;es of that chapter; hee falls in the 12, and 13. ver&s;es upon pre&s;&s;ing of them to bee a holy people. And now <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his waies, and to love him, and to &s;erve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy &s;oul? To keep the Commandements of the Lord, and his &s;tatutes, which I command thee this day. The word in the 12th. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> rendred require, is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Shoel</HI> from <HI>Shaal,</HI> which &s;ignifies to ask, to reque&s;t or petition a per&s;on. Now here <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;es</HI> brings in God asking, reque&s;ting, and petitioning of <HI>I&s;r<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> l</HI> that they would fear him, and walk in his waies, &amp;c. and what is that but that they would bee a holy people to him, that had done &s;uch great and glorious things for them; the word in the 13. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> rendred keep is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Shamar,</HI> which &s;ignifies to keep carefully, diligently,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 7.12. 1 King. 20.39.</NOTE> faithfully to keep as watch-men keep the City, or as Souldiers
<PB REF="321"> keep their Garri&s;ons, or as Jaylors keep their Pri&s;oners. Now God would have his people thus to keep his Commande|ments, and his Statutes, and this God would have them to do upon the account of tho&s;e high acts of favour and grace, that hee had &s;hewed unto them; and thus to keep his Com|mandements, and his Statutes; what is it but to be a holy people, yea to be a very holy people unto the Lord? And &s;o in that <HI>Ezra.</HI> 9.13, 14. <HI>Seeing that thou our God ha&s;t puni&s;h|ed us le&s;s than our iniquities de&s;erve, and ha&s;t given us &s;uch de|liverance as this, &s;hould wee again break thy Commandements, and joyn in affinity with the people of the&s;e abominations? woulde&s;t thou not bee angry with us, till thou ha&s;t con&s;umed us, &s;o that there &s;hould bee no remnant, nor e&s;caping?</HI> Free and rich mercy calls harde&s;t and loude&s;t for duty, the more merciful God hath been to his people, the more fearful they &s;hould be of offending of him, and the more careful they &s;hould be in plea&s;ing of him, Divine ble&s;&s;ings &s;hould be the greate&s;t obligations in the world upon a Chri&s;tian to keep at a di|&s;tance from &s;in, and to keep clo&s;e to a holy God; the greater the mercy is, and the more miraculous the deliverance and the &s;alvation is, that God crowns his people with, the greater are the ingagements that God hath put upon them to be a holy people to him. So in that 116. <HI>P&s;al. David</HI> gives in a bill of particulars in the eight fir&s;t ver&s;es, hee gives you a choice Narrative of the &s;ingular favours and ble&s;&s;ings of God both in re&s;pect of his inward, and his outward man; God had been good to his &s;oul, and hee had been kind to his body; hee tells you of Gods &s;paring mercy, and of his preventing mercy, and of his pre&s;erving mercy, and of his delivering mercy, and of his &s;upporting mercy, and of his multiplying mercy, and of his pardoning mercy; hee tells you that God hath heard his prayers, and wip'd off his tears, and pre&s;erved his feet from falling, and his &s;oul from death. And then in the following words hee tells you what his re&s;olution is, upon the whole. <HI>I will walk before the Lord in the Land of the Living,</HI> ver&s;. 9. or rather as the Hebrew hath it <HI>(Ethhallech Liphne Jehovah) I will walk before the face of the Lord;</HI> The Hebrew word that is here rendred walk, &s;ignifies a continued action,
<PB N="653" REF="321"> or the reiteration of an action. <HI>David</HI> re&s;olves that hee will not only take a turn or two with God, or walk a pretty way with God, as <HI>Orpah</HI> did with <HI>Ruth,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ruth 1.10,&mdash; 15.</NOTE> and then take his leave of God, as <HI>Orpah</HI> did of her Mother; but hee re&s;olves what|ever comes on it, that hee will walk con&s;tantly, re&s;olutely, and perpetually before God, or before the face of the Lord; Now walking before the face of the Lord, doth imply a very exact, circum&s;pect, accurate, and preci&s;e walking before God; and indeed no other walking is either &s;uitable, or plea|&s;ing to the eye of God. But is this all that hee will do upon the receipt of &s;uch &s;ignal mercies? O no! for hee re&s;olves to take the cup of &s;alvation, and to call upon the Name of the Lord, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o offer the &s;acrifice of thank&s;giving, <HI>v.</HI> 13. and 17. but is this all that hee will do? oh no! for hee re|&s;olves that hee will pre&s;ently pay his vows unto the Lord in the pre&s;ence of all his people, <HI>v.</HI> 14, and 18. but is this all that hee will do? O no! for hee re&s;olves that hee will love the Lord better than ever, and more than ever, <HI>v.</HI> 1. Hee loved God before with a real love, but having now received &s;uch rare mercies from God, hee is re&s;olved to love God with a more rai&s;ed love, and with a more inflamed love, and with a more active and &s;tirring love, and with a more growing and increa&s;ing love than ever. And &s;o the Apo&s;tle, in that <HI>Rom.</HI> 12.1, 2. <HI>I be&s;eech you therefore, Brethren, by the mercies of God, that you pre&s;ent your bodies a living &s;acrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your rea&s;onable &s;ervice. And bee not conformed to this world&punc; but bee yee tran&s;|formed by the renewing of your mind, that yee may prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.</HI> When this great Apo&s;tle would work up the <HI>Romans</HI> to a full re&s;igna|tion of them&s;elves to God, and to his &s;ervice, and would &s;ence and arm them again&s;t the &s;inful fa&s;hions, cu&s;tomes, examples, di&s;po&s;itions and practices of a corrupt and wicked world; hee &s;ets the mercies of God before them; the Apo&s;tle very well knew that there was no &s;uch &s;pur to holine&s;s, nor no &s;uch pre&s;ervative again&s;t wickedne&s;s as this was; the Apo&s;tle could have &s;et threatnings before them, and the cur&s;e before them, and wrath before them, and former and latter judge|ments
<PB N="654" REF="322"> before them, and hell before them, and yet hee pa&s;&s;es over all the&s;e things, and pre&s;ents the mercies of God before them, as the mo&s;t effectual means under Heaven to engage them to holine&s;s, and to fortify them again&s;t all &s;inful con|formity, and worldly vanity. O Sirs! you are all under &s;e|veral &s;ignal mercies this day; you are out of Hell, and is not that a &s;ignal mercy? you have many mercies that others want, and is not that a &s;ignal mercy? yet God rains <HI>Mannah</HI> every day about your Tents, when others wander &s;everal miles, and are too often put off with &s;tones in&s;tead of bread, and is not that a &s;ignal mercy? That wicked mens hearts &s;hould be &s;o full of wrath, rage, revenge, envy and malice, and you ca&s;t at their feet, and yet not trod to death, is a &s;ignal mercy; that you &s;hould &s;tand when others fall, that you &s;hould be faithful, when others are fal&s;e, that you &s;hould per&s;evere, when others back&s;lide, that you &s;hould be for God, when &s;o many are for <HI>Baal,</HI> and that you &s;hould be followers of the Lamb, when &s;o many thou&s;ands are dancing after Antichri&s;ts Pipes, are all very rare and &s;ignal mercies, and calls aloud upon you to be holy, yea to be eminently holy, &amp;c. But</P>
<P>Thirdly, Times of per&s;onal afflictions, are times wherein God calls aloud for holine&s;s, when the Rod of God is upon our backs,<NOTE PLACE="marg">See my <HI>Mute Chri&s;tian</HI> under the Smarting Rod, &amp;c.</NOTE> it highly concerns us to look that our words are full of grace, and that all our waies and works are full of ho|line&s;s. Now God looks that his people &s;hould be divinely fearful of offending him, and divinely careful in plea&s;ing of him, and divinely willing to re&s;ign up them&s;elves to him, and divinely patient in waiting on him, and divinely humble in &s;ubmitting to him, and divinely wi&s;e in ju&s;tifying of him, and divinely re&s;olute in &s;erving of him, <HI>Heb.</HI> 12.10. But hee afflicts us for our profit, that wee might be made partakers of his holine&s;s; why they were before partakers of his holine&s;s, that's true; and the&s;e words declare that the great reach and de&s;ign of God in all the afflictions that hee brings upon his people, is to make them more and more holy; and therefore for Chri&s;tians to be proud under the Rod, and carnal under the Rod, and worldly under the Rod, and froward under the Rod, and &s;tupid under the Rod, and wanton under the Rod,
<PB N="655" REF="322"> and wicked under the Rod, is to cro&s;s and fru&s;trate the great de&s;ign of God in afflicting of them. In afflictions God looks that his people &s;hould &s;hine brighter and brighter, and grow better and better, and holier and holier; O there is nothing that plea&s;es God more, that delights God more, that affects God more, or that wins upon God more, than to &s;ee his people a holy people in the daies of their afflictions,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Well-waters are hotte&s;t in the winter, &amp;c.</NOTE> <HI>Jer.</HI> 2.2, 3. <HI>Go, and cry in the ears of Jeru&s;alem, &s;aying, Thus &s;aith the Lord, I remember thee, the kindne&s;s of thy youth, the love of thine E&s;pou&s;als, when thou wente&s;t after mee in the wilder|ne&s;s, in a Land that was not &s;own. I&s;rael was holine&s;s unto the Lord, and the fir&s;t-fruits of his increa&s;e: all that devour him &s;hall offend; evil &s;hall come upon them, &s;aith the Lord.</HI> God was wonderfully affected and taken with the love of his peo|ple, and with the kindne&s;s of his people, and with the holi|ne&s;s of his people, when they were in their wilderne&s;s con|dition. Look as &s;tars &s;hine brighte&s;t in the darke&s;t nights, and as Torches are the better for beating, and Spices the &s;weeter for pounding, and young Trees the fa&s;ter rooted for &s;haking, and Vines the more fruitful for bleeding, and Gold the more glittering for &s;couring: So God looks that his childrens graces &s;hould &s;hine brighte&s;t in the darke&s;t nights of afflictions, hee looks that his children &s;hould be the better for his Fatherly beating, and the &s;weeter for being pounded in the morter of affliction, and the fa&s;ter rooted in grace and holine&s;s, by all divine &s;hakings, &amp;c.</P>
<P>In times of affliction God looks that his children &s;hould be true <HI>Salamanders</HI> that live be&s;t in the fire. Where afflictions hangs heavie&s;t, hee looks that there corruptions &s;hould hang loo&s;e&s;t; hee looks that that grace and holine&s;s which lies hid in nature, as &s;weet water doth in Ro&s;e leaves, &s;hould then be mo&s;t fragrant when the fire of affliction is put under to di|&s;til it out, &amp;c. But</P>
<P>Fourthly, When per&s;ons that are under a great Profe&s;&s;ion, or in Church Communion, &s;hall <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">all pre&s;umptuou&s;ly and &s;candalou&s;ly, when they &s;hall not only do weakly, but wicked|ly, when not only infirmities, but inormities may be ju&s;tly and righteou&s;ly charged upon them. When &s;uch per&s;ons walk
<PB N="656" REF="323"> &s;o loo&s;ely, and vainly, as that they occa&s;ion the Name of God to be bla&s;phemed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 2.21, 22, 23.</NOTE> Religion to be &s;corned, the Go&s;pel to be de&s;pi&s;ed, Profe&s;&s;ion to be abhorred, the Saints to be reviled, and young comers on to be di&s;couraged, and the ungodly in their wickedne&s;s to be hardened and confirmed. O this is a time wherein God calls aloud upon his people to be holy! O now God expects an extraordinary mea&s;ure of holine&s;s in his people! O now hee looks that his people &s;hould rather walk like Angels, than live like Saints, that &s;o they may in &s;ome mea&s;ure repair, and make up the &s;ad breaches that have been made upon his honour, and the cre|dit of Religion, and that they may live Profe&s;&s;ion into ho|nour and e&s;teem once more in the world. Such ble&s;&s;ed ef|fects as the&s;e, the horrid &s;in of the ince&s;tuous per&s;on did oc|ca&s;ionally work in the hearts and lives of the <HI>Corinthians,</HI> as you may &s;ee by comparing the Scriptures in the Margint to|gether.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 5.1, 2, 3. 2 Cor. 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. &amp; ch. 7.11.</NOTE> O Sirs! in the&s;e daies are there not many that have made a very high Profe&s;&s;ion, that have &s;hined as the &s;tars in the Firmament, who are now fallen from their Profe&s;&s;ion, from their Principles, and from all things that are good? How many now do build the things that they have de&s;troyed? what betraying of Chri&s;t, what betraying of Truth, and what be|traying of Saints is there this day among many that have pre|tended very high to Religion? how many now approve of tho&s;e things that before they would never own, and that ju|&s;tifie tho&s;e things now that they have formerly condemned, and that comply with tho&s;e things now that formerly they have abhorred, yea that contend for tho&s;e things now for which they have formerly &s;uffered; and therefore certainly the&s;e are the very times wherein God calls aloud upon his people to be holy, yea to be eminently holy, &amp;c. But</P>
<P>Fifthly, In all our approaches, addre&s;&s;es, and drawings neer to God; God calls aloud for holine&s;s, <HI>Levit.</HI> 10.<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">3. <HI>Then Mo&s;es &s;aid to Aaron, This is it that the Lord &s;pake, &s;aying, I will bee &s;anctified in them that come nigh unto mee&punc; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nd before all the people I will bee glorified; and Aaron held his peace.</HI> There is nothing more evident than this, through|out the Old Te&s;tament, that the people of God were alwaies
<PB N="657" REF="323"> to &s;anctifie them&s;elves, when they were to draw nigh to God.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 4.23, 24.</NOTE> God is a holy God, and there is no drawing nigh to him without holine&s;s; the wor&s;hip that God &s;tands mo&s;t upon, and that is mo&s;t plea&s;ing and delightful to him, is Spiritual Wor&s;hip, and none can offer this but a holy people. Such as draw nigh to God without holine&s;s, may, if they were not deaf, hear God &s;aying to them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 50.16, 17.</NOTE> <HI>What have you to do to take my Name into your mouths, &s;eeing you hate to bee reformed? And who required the&s;e things at your hands?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 1.12. The <HI>Renians</HI> taught, that a man might be &s;aved in any Religion. I&s;a. 29.13, 14. Mat. 15.8, 9.</NOTE> The <HI>Per&s;ians</HI> e|very morning wor&s;hip the ri&s;ing Sun, and the <HI>Turks</HI> their <HI>Mahomet;</HI> and the Papi&s;ts their Images, and &s;ome of the <HI>Indians</HI> wor&s;hip the fir&s;t thing that they meet with in the morning, and others of them wor&s;hip a red Ragge, and o|thers of them wor&s;hip the Devil. The <HI>Romans</HI> u&s;ed to wor|&s;hip <HI>Jupiter,</HI> a hurtful god among&s;t them, not becau&s;e they loved him, but becau&s;e they would not be hurt or harmed by him. And <HI>Praxitelles</HI> the Painter made the &s;illy people wor|&s;hip the Image of his Strumpet under the title and pretence of <HI>Venus.</HI> And verily all the wor&s;hip that thou offere&s;t to God, is little better, if thou drawe&s;t nigh to him with thy body without holine&s;s in thy &s;oul. O Sirs! remember that in all your publick duties God calls aloud for holine&s;s, and in all your family duties God calls aloud for holine&s;s, and in all your clo&s;et duties God calls aloud for holine&s;s; times of drawing neer to God &s;hould be alwaies times of much holi|ne&s;s; you may come to a duty, but you will never come to God in a duty without holine&s;s; you may come to an Ordinance but you will never come to God in an Ordinance without ho|line&s;s; and therefore in all your drawings nigh to God, remem|ber that God calls for holine&s;s in a &s;pecial manner then. But</P>
<P>Sixthly, When God eminently appears in the execution of his judgements upon wicked and ungodly men; O that is a time that God calls aloud for holine&s;s, when hee is a raining Hell out of Heaven upon unholy per&s;ons; God now lo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ks that his people &s;hould be holy, yea eminently holy. So in that <HI>Exod.</HI> 19.4, 5. <HI>Yee have &s;een what I did unto the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">gyptians;</HI> you have been eye-witne&s;&s;es of my dealings with them in <HI>Egypt,</HI> you have &s;een how I have followed them with plague
<PB N="658" REF="324"> upon plague, becau&s;e they did &s;o &s;orely oppre&s;s you, and would not let you go to wor&s;hip mee;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 24. <HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> and &s;erve mee accord|ing to my own pre&s;criptions. And when they were judgement-proof, you &s;aw mee drown them in the Red Sea before your eyes, and upon this very ground hee urges them to obey his voice, and to keep his Covenant, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 5. And &s;o in that <HI>Rev.</HI> 15.1, 2, 3, 4. <HI>And I &s;aw another &s;ign in Heaven, great and marvelous, &s;even Angels having the &s;even la&s;t plagues, from them is filled up the wrath of God. And I &s;aw as it were a Sea of gla&s;s, mingled with fire, and them that had gotten the victory over the Bea&s;t, and over his Image, and over his Mark, and over the number of his Name, &s;tand on the Sea of gla&s;s, ha|ving the harps of God. And they &s;ing the &s;ong of Mo&s;es the &s;er|vant of God, and the Lamb, &s;aying, Great and marvelous are thy works Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy waies thou King of Saints. Who &s;hall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorifie thy Name? for thou onely art holy; for all Nations &s;hall come and wor&s;hip before thee, for thy judgements are made manife&s;t.</HI> In this and the following chapters the utter overthrow of An|tichri&s;t is de&s;cribed. In this chapter you have a new Vi&s;ion of the Go&s;pels re&s;toring, and of Antichri&s;ts ruine. By the Sea of gla&s;s mingled with fire, wee are to under&s;tand the fiery trials, and dreadful per&s;ecutions by fire and faggot that Antichri&s;t will inflict upon &s;incere and faithful Chri&s;tians. The allu&s;ion is to the Red Sea, and <HI>Pharaohs</HI> per&s;ecuting of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> but the addition of fire is plainly to di&s;tingui&s;h the Popes per&s;e|cution from <HI>Pharaohs;</HI> for though <HI>Pharaoh</HI> did &s;orely op|pre&s;s the people of God both in their liberties and con&s;cien|ces, and though hee had plotted and contrived a way to de|&s;troy their male children, yet hee was never &s;o cruel, hee was never &s;o bloody as to burn the people of God with fire and faggot, as Antichri&s;t hath done in all ages. But now mark, when the vials of the wrath of God comes to be poured out upon Antichri&s;t, yea upon what ever &s;mells of Antichri&s;t, or looks like Antichri&s;t, why then the people of God will in a very eminent way lift up God as the great object of their fear, and then the generality of the Nations &s;hall be &s;o deeply affected with the dreadful amazing and a&s;toni&s;hing judge|ments
<PB N="659" REF="324"> of God upon Antichri&s;t, that they &s;hall repent, wor|&s;hip him, and give glory to him. O Sirs! when God &s;trikes &s;laves, Sons &s;hould tremble; great judgements upon &s;inners &s;peaks out a great deal of the ju&s;tice and holine&s;s of God; and the more the ju&s;tice and holine&s;s of God appears, the more holy his people &s;hould grow. Ah Chri&s;tians! had you grown more holy by tho&s;e &s;evere judgements of God, that hath been inflicted upon others before your eyes, you had not been un|der tho&s;e &s;mart rebukes of God that now you are under this day. But</P>
<P>Seventhly, When men are called forth to war by God, O! that's a &s;pecial time and &s;ea&s;on wherein God calls aloud for holine&s;s. The man of war mu&s;t have holine&s;s written up|on the bridles of the hor&s;es, <HI>Zach.</HI> 14.20. When men carry their lives in their hands, they had need of holine&s;s in their hearts; when in every encounter a man mu&s;t expect to en|ter upon a &s;tate of eternity; hee had need be very holy, that &s;o if hee &s;hould fall in the encounter,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The <HI>Romans</HI> lived more or|derly in time of war, than in the times of their greate&s;t peace.</NOTE> hee may be &s;ure to be happy, <HI>Deut.</HI> 23.9, 14. <HI>When the H<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t goeth forth again&s;t thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing. For the Lord thy God walketh in the mid&s;t of thy Camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee: therefore &s;hall thy Camp be holy, that hee &s;ee no unclean thing in thee, and turn a|way from thee.</HI> When the &s;word devoureth on both hands, when it eats the fle&s;h of Nobles, and drinks the blood of Nobles; when it feeds upon the fle&s;h of the poor, and drinks the blood of the needy, then every &s;ouldier had need be a Saint, when an eternity of glory and mi&s;ery is every moment before every &s;ouldier; every &s;ouldier had need walk very ac|curately, hee had need live very holily. Mark, though the people of God were to keep them&s;elves from every wicked thing, at all other times, yet when they went out again&s;t their enemies, then in a &s;pecial manner it highly concerned them to keep them&s;elves not from &s;ome, but from every evil thing, or rather as the Hebrew hath it, from every evil word, <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Da<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ar;</HI> hee that is in danger of death every &s;tep hee takes, and that carries his very &s;oul in his hand, had need pre|ci&s;ely to ab&s;tain not onely from every evil work, but
<PB N="660" REF="325"> al&s;o from every evil word, as here God expre&s;ly charges <HI>I&s;rael</HI> to do. When God findes holine&s;s in <HI>I&s;raels</HI> Camp, then God will quickly give up <HI>I&s;raels</HI> enemies into <HI>I&s;raels</HI> hands; but when the Camp becomes a Den of iniquity, then God will depart from the Camp; and when God who is the bulwrk of a Camp, is departed, all the world cannot pre|&s;erve that Camp from being de&s;troyed.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 17.14.</NOTE> The Lamb looks that all tho&s;e brave hearts that ingage with him again&s;t Antichri&s;t, &s;hould be called, and cho&s;en, and faithful; there is no ar|mour of proof to that of holine&s;s; let a man be never &s;o well mounted, cloathed; armed, weaponed, yet if hee be un|holy, hee lies naked and open to all di&s;a&s;ters, calamities and mi&s;eries. O Sirs! 'tis one of the dreadfulle&s;t things in the world to hear &s;uch a cur&s;ing, &s;wearing, lying, and damn|ing of them&s;elves, and to &s;ee &s;uch a giving up them&s;elves to work all manner of wickedne&s;s with greedine&s;s, who carry their lives in their hands every hour in the day yea at who&s;e elbows damnation &s;tands every moment. O Sirs! when God gives the &s;word a Commi&s;&s;ion to eat fle&s;h, and drink blood, to &s;tay both old and young, to &s;pare none that come before it, and to pitty none that come nigh unto it; it highly concerns all men to be holy; this is a &s;pecial &s;ea&s;on wherein God calls aloud for holine&s;s.</P>
<P>I confe&s;s I am for Peace and Truth, for Peace and Righ|teou&s;ne&s;s, for Peace and Holine&s;s again&s;t all war in the world, but when ever the Lord &s;hall call forth his people to fight his battels again&s;t Antichri&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Sam. 25.28. Dan. 2.31.&mdash;<HI>ult.</HI></NOTE> and to &s;mite <HI>Daniels</HI> Image in peeces, it &s;tands them very much upon to be a holy people, yea to be eminently holy, as they would have the pre&s;ence of God with them, and the power of God ingaged for them, and the mercy, goodne&s;s, and ble&s;&s;ing of God &s;ucceeding and pro&s;pering of them, though hee that goes to war had need carry his pur&s;e with him, yet hee mu&s;t be &s;ure to leave his &s;ins behinde him, or el&s;e his &s;ins will do him more mi&s;chief than all his enemies, for they will &s;et God again&s;t him; and how can &s;traw and &s;tubble po&s;&s;ibly &s;tand before a con&s;uming fire?</P>
<P>I have read of <HI>Xerxes</HI> that viewing almo&s;t an innumerable
<PB N="661" REF="325"> Army of men, hee fell a weeping, &s;aying, Where will all the&s;e men be within a hundred years; hee wept to think that all that mighty Army would be in their graves within a hun|dred years. Ah what cau&s;e of weeping is there, when wee be|hold mo&s;t Armies in the world, con&s;idering that within a few years yea months, for any thing wee know, they may be mo&s;t in Hell, except there be &s;ound repentance on their &s;ides, and pardoning mercy on Gods, they are &s;o abominable, debauch|ed and wicked. But</P>
<P>Eightly, When God hath &s;eparated and &s;evered his people from the corrupt and &s;inful cu&s;tomes and manners of the world, and brought them into fellow&s;hip with him&s;elf, and into Go&s;pel-Communion with one another, O then in a &s;pecial manner hee calls aloud upon them to be holy, <HI>Levit.</HI> 20.23, 24, 26. <HI>And yee &s;hall not walk in the manners of the Nation, which I ca&s;t out before you; for they committed all the&s;e things and therefore I abhorred them. But I have &s;aid unto you, ye &s;hall inherit their Land, and I will give it unto you to po&s;&s;e&s;s it, a Land that floweth with milk and hony: I am the Lord your God, which have &s;eparated you from other people. And yee &s;hall be holy unto mee: for I the Lord am holy, and have &s;evered you from other people, that yee &s;hould bee mine.</HI> Di&s;tingui&s;hing mercies &s;hould breed and nouri&s;h di&s;tingui&s;hing qualities. O Sirs! 'tis not for you who are &s;eparated and &s;evered from the world by God, to be proud and carnal, and formal, and di&s;tru&s;tful, and hypocritical, and earthly, and froward, &amp;c. as the world is, 'tis not for you to deny your principles, to de|bauch your con&s;ciences, to change your notes, to turn your coats, to defile your &s;ouls, to blot your names, and to &s;canda|lize your profe&s;&s;ion: O Sirs! if God hath &s;eparated you, and &s;evered you from the world by a call from Heaven, it highly concerns you not to think as the world thinks, nor to &s;peak as the world &s;peaks, nor to judge as the world judges, nor to walk as the world walks, nor to wor&s;hip as the world wor|&s;hips; but &s;o to think, &s;peak, judge, walk, and wor&s;hip as may make mo&s;t for the honour of God, the glory of the Go&s;pel, and as be&s;t becomes tho&s;e that have had the honour and the happine&s;s of being &s;eparated and &s;evered by God from the world. But</P>
<PB N="662" REF="326">
<P>Ninthly, When the day of the Lord draws neer, and when wee look for the accompli&s;hment of great things; O then! God calls aloud upon his people to bee holy; 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3.10, 11, 12, 13, 14. <HI>But the day of the Lord will come as a Theif in the night, in the which the heavens &s;hall pa&s;s away with a great noi&s;e, and the Element &s;hall melt with fervent heat, the Earth al&s;o, and the works that are therein, &s;hall bee burnt up. Seeing then that all the&s;e things &s;hall bee de&s;olved, what man|ner of per&s;ons ought yee to bee in all holy conver&s;ation and godli|ne&s;s. Looking for, and ha&s;ting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the Heavens being on fire &s;hall bee de&s;olved, and the Element &s;hall melt with fervent heat. Never-the-le&s;s, wee, according to his promi&s;e, look for a new Heaven and new Earth, wherein dwelleth righteou&s;ne&s;s. Wherefore (Beloved) &s;eeing that yee look for &s;uch things, bee diligent that yee may bee found of him in peace, without spot, and blamele&s;s.</HI> The neerer the day of Chri&s;t is to us, and the more great and glorious things wee expect from God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 65.17, 18, 19, 20.</NOTE> the more holy, the more &s;potle&s;s, and the more blamele&s;s wee mu&s;t labour to bee. I know there are many that look for new heavens, and a new earth, that is, for a glorious Church-&s;tate here on earrh, wherein &s;hall dwell righteou&s;ne&s;s; 'tis certain that the highe&s;t Heavens, where God keeps his Royal Court, was never without righ|teou&s;ne&s;s; righteou&s;ne&s;s hath been alwaies the habitation of his Throne, righteou&s;ne&s;s hath alwaies dwelt in the highe&s;t Heavens; and indeed Heaven would bee no Heaven, yea, it would rather hee a Hell than a Heaven, if righteou&s;ne&s;s did not alwaies dwell there: neither can the highe&s;t Heaven ever wax old, neither were they ever made of Earth, or Brittle mouldering matter; the Pallace of the great King will bee alwaies new, fre&s;h, &s;hining, and gloriou&s;ne&s;s; but in|deed the Earth in all Ages, have been full of inju&s;tice un|righteou&s;ne&s;s, wickedne&s;s, tyranny, cruelty, and oppre&s;&s;i|on; &s;o that righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;eems to have been bani&s;hed out of the world, ever &s;ince <HI>Adam</HI> fell from his primitive righ|teou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;s: O! but there is a glorious day a com|ing, wherein the Earth &s;hall bee full of righteou&s;ne&s;s and holine&s;s, as I have formerly proved at large, from other
<PB N="663" REF="326"> Scriptures. Now Chri&s;tians the more great and glorious things you expect from God, as the downfall of Antichri&s;t, the conver&s;ion of the <HI>Jews,</HI> the conque&s;t of the nations to Chri&s;t, the breaking off of all yo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ks, the new <HI>Jeru&s;alems</HI> coming down from above, the extraordinary pouring out of the &s;pirit, and a more general union among all Saints, the more holy, yea, the more eminently holy in all your waies and actings it becomes you to bee; many there bee that will talke high, and &s;peak big words, and tell you &s;tories of great things that they expect, and look for in the&s;e daies which are the la&s;t of the la&s;t times, and yet if you look into their lives, you &s;hall finde them loo&s;e and vain, and what not? O! that the&s;e would for ever remember, that the more great and glorious things wee expect and look for from God, the more holine&s;s God expects and looks for from us; and therefore as wee would not have God fail our ex|pectation, let not us fru&s;trate his, and the higher your ex|pectation ri&s;es, the higher alwaies let your holine&s;s ri&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle. 12, 2, 3, 4, 5.</NOTE> for there is nothing that will ha&s;ten that de&s;irable day of glo|ry upon the world, like this. But</P>
<P>Tenthly, and la&s;tly, When you draw neer your end, when there are but a few &s;teps between you and the Grave, between you and Eternity; when you have but a little time to live, when death &s;tands at your backs, and treads on your heels, and knocks at your doors, when the eyes be|gin to grow dark, when the grinders begin to cea&s;e, when the keepers of the hou&s;e, the hands, and the arms, begin to tremble, and when the &s;trong men, the legs and thighs, begin to bow, and &s;tagger, and totter, as being too weak to bear the bodies burden: O then! what a holy people &s;hould you bee? this very con&s;ideration, had a very great influence upon that great Apo&s;tles &s;pirit, in that 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.12, 13, 14, 15. <HI>Wherefore I will not bee negligent, to put you alwaies in remembrance of the&s;e things, though yee know them and bee e&s;tabli&s;hed in the pre&s;ent truth, Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> To rou&s;e you up The Greek word &s;ignifies, to awaken, rou&s;e, and rai&s;e &s;uch as are a &s;leep. There is a &s;inful &s;lug|i&s;hne&s;s and drou&s;ine&s;s, that often hangs upon the be&s;t of men, and therefore they &s;tand in much need of being awakned and rou&s;ed up, to look after their &s;piritual and e|ternal concern|ments.</NOTE> <HI>to &s;tir you up, by putting you in remembrance; knowing that &s;hortly, I mu&s;t put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;hewed me. More|over
<PB N="664" REF="327"> I will endeavour, that you may bee able after my decea&s;e, to have the&s;e things alwaies in remembrance.</HI> The Apo&s;tle having the &s;entence of death in him&s;elf; O! how doth hee be&s;tir him&s;elf, and how doth hee &s;tir up all that grace and holine&s;s that was in his heart, yea, and all his Mini&s;terial and Apo&s;tolical gifts, and all to better him&s;elf, and to make tho&s;e that were really holy, to bee eminently holy? <HI>Peter</HI> being very &s;en&s;ible of the neer approaches of death, did very earne&s;tly de&s;ire, and greatly endeavour &s;o to act his part before he went off the &s;tage of live; that (when his head was in the du&s;t, and his &s;oul in heaven) tho&s;e Saints that &s;hould &s;urvive him, might bee very famous in grace and ho|line&s;s. That of <HI>Eleazer</HI> is very remarkable, who would not do any thing which might &s;eem to bee evil, becau&s;e he would not &s;pot his white head: O Sirs! when once the Gray hairs of holine&s;s and righteou&s;ne&s;s are upon you, it highly concerns you to &s;hun the very &s;hews and appearances of evil, that &s;o you may not &s;pot nor &s;tain the honour of your white head. I have read of <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> that valliant Souldier, that when hee was a young man, and in the prime and flower of his daies, when his bones were full of marrow, and his brea&s;ts full of milk (as <HI>Job</HI> &s;peaks) that then hee was lea&s;t in vigour and valour for God, and how that &s;ometimes in ca&s;es of eminent danger, hee would conceal him&s;elf, but when hee grew older, and found the &s;trength of nature declining and de|caying, then hee be&s;tired him&s;elf exceedingly for God: O Sirs! when you have one foot in the Grave, God calls a|loud upon you to be&s;tir your &s;elves exceedingly for his honour and glory, and for your own internal and eternal welfare. <HI>Solon</HI> was not a&s;hamed to &s;ay that hee learned much in his old age. And <HI>Julianius</HI> (the Lawyer) was wont to &s;ay, that when hee had one foot in the Grave, hee would have the o|ther in the School: O Sirs! &s;hall nature do more than grace, &s;hall morality excel real piety? 'Twas the glorious commen|dation of the Church of <HI>Thiatira,</HI> that her la&s;t works were more than her fir&s;t; <HI>Rev.</HI> 2.19. <HI>I know thy works, and chari|ty, and &s;ervice, and faith, and thy patience, and thy work, and the la&s;t to bee more than the fir&s;t:</HI> O the happine&s;s! of
<PB N="665" REF="327"> that man that is be&s;t at la&s;t, that brings forth mo&s;t of the fruits of Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Holine&s;s in old age. O the ble&s;|&s;edne&s;s of that man, who&s;e Faith is more &s;trong at la&s;t than at fir&s;t, and who&s;e love is more inflamed at la&s;t than at fir&s;t, and who&s;e hopes are more rai&s;ed and elevated at la&s;t than at fir&s;t, and whole knowledge is more clear at la&s;t than at fir&s;t, &amp; who&s;e zeal is warmer at la&s;t than at fir&s;t, and who&s;e thoughts are more heavenly at la&s;t than at fir&s;t, and who&s;e heart is more &s;piritual at la&s;t than at fir&s;t, and who&s;e communion with God is more high at la&s;t than at fir&s;t, and who&s;e life is more holy at la&s;t than at fir&s;t.</P>
<P>If there be any man in the world that is ripe for Heaven, and that injoyes a Heaven (in his own &s;oul) on this &s;ide Hea|ven, this is the man who&s;e graces, and who&s;e gracious works are more at la&s;t than at fir&s;t. Well Chri&s;tians, for ever re|member this, the neerer death makes her approaches to you, the louder God calls upon you to be holy. And thus by a hand of grace, that hath been in mee, upon mee, and with me, I have &s;hewed you what tho&s;e &s;pecial times and &s;ea&s;ons are wherein God calls loude&s;t for holine&s;s, and &s;o according to my weak mea&s;ure, I have given out all that the Lord hath graciou&s;ly given in concerning that mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary, that mo&s;t noble, that mo&s;t glorious, and that mo&s;t u&s;eful point of points, <HI>viz.</HI> Holine&s;s; and therefore I have nothing more to do, but earne&s;tly to pray, that what hath been &s;poken and written, may be &s;o ble&s;t from on high, that it may work mightily to the internal and eternal welfare both of Writer, Reader, and Hearer, that &s;o when their Race is run, and their Work done here on earth, they may be everla&s;tingly ble&s;t with a happy &s;ight of the Beatifical Vi&s;ion of God in Heaven. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV4>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="publisher's advertisement">
<PB REF="328">
<HEAD>Books &s;old by <HI>Henry Cripps</HI> in <HI>Popes-Head-Alley.</HI></HEAD>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>SIbbs</HI> Saints Cordials.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Reynors</HI> Government of the Tongue.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Armetages</HI> Sermons.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Roman</HI> Antiquities.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Burtons</HI> Melancholy.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Youngs</HI> whole duty of a Chri&s;tian.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Supplication of Saints.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Cradocks</HI> Works.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Huit</HI> on <HI>Daniel.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Sarah Wight.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Cotton</HI> on the &s;even Viols.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Hookers</HI> Souls-preparation for Chri&s;t:</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Goodwins</HI> Childe of Light walking in darkne&s;s.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Reynolds</HI> on <HI>Ho&s;ea.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Tichburns</HI> Clu&s;ter of <HI>Canaans</HI>-Grapes.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Baxters</HI> Doctrine of Self-po&s;eing.</ITEM>
<ITEM>An Ab&s;tract of the A&s;&s;emblies Catechi&s;m.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>J. Goodwins</HI> Saints Intere&s;t in God.</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Dingly</HI> of Thunder.</ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="publisher's advertisement">
<HEAD>Books &s;old by <HI>Henry Mortlock,</HI> at the &s;ign of the Phoenix in <HI>St. Pauls</HI> Church-yard, near the Little North-door.</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="folio" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>Folios.</HEAD>
<P>A Commentary upon the whole Epi&s;tle of <HI>Paul</HI> to the <HI>E|phe&s;ians,</HI> wherein the text is learnedly and fruitfully open|ed, with a Logical Analy&s;is, &s;piritual, and holy Ob&s;ervations, Confutation of Armiani&s;m and Popery. By Mr. <HI>Paul Bain.</HI></P>
<P>A Commentary on the <HI>Proverbs, Eccle&s;ia&s;tes, Canticles,</HI> and the <HI>Major</HI> Prophets. By <HI>John Trapp,</HI> M. A.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="quarto" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>Quartoes.</HEAD>
<P>An Expo&s;ition of the Prophecy of <HI>Ezekiel.</HI> By <HI>W. Greenhill.</HI></P>
<P>Some Sermons preached upon &s;everal occa&s;ions. By <HI>P. Sterry.</HI></P>
<P>A Way to <HI>Zion,</HI> &s;ought out and found for Beleevers to walk in. By <HI>Daniel King</HI> Preacher of the Word neer <HI>Coventry.</HI></P>
<PB REF="328">
<P><HI>Funebria Florae,</HI> The Downfall of May-Games; By <HI>Tho. Hall,</HI> B.D. and Pa&s;tor of <HI>Kings-Norton</HI> in <HI>VVorcester&s;hire.</HI></P>
<P>The loath&s;omne&s;s of long Hair, or, A Treati&s;e wherein you have the Que&s;tion &s;tated, many Arguments again&s;t it produ|ced, and the mo&s;t material arguments for it, refelled, and an|&s;wered, with an Appendix again&s;t Painting, Spots, naked-brea&s;ts, &amp;c. By the &s;ame Author.</P>
<P><HI>Samuel</HI> in Sackcloth, or a Sermon a&s;&s;aying to re&s;train our bitter Animo&s;ities, and commending a &s;pirit of moderation and right con&s;titution of &s;oul, and behaviour towards our Bre|thren, upon 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 15.35.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="octavo" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>Large Octavoes.</HEAD>
<P>The Hypocrites Ladder, or Looking-Gla&s;s, or a Di&s;cour&s;e of the dangerous and de&s;tructive nature of Hypocri&s;ie, the reign|ing and provoking &s;in of this age; wherein is &s;hewed how far the Hypocrite, or formal Profe&s;&s;or may go towards Heaven, yet utterly peri&s;h, by three Ladders of &s;ixty &s;teps of his A&s;cending. By <HI>John Sheffield,</HI> Mini&s;ter of the Word at <HI>Swithins, London.</HI></P>
<P>An Improvement of the Sea, upon the nine Nautical Ver|&s;es, in the 107. <HI>P&s;alm,</HI> wherein among other things you have a very full and delightful De&s;cription of all tho&s;e many vari|ous and multitudinous Objects, which they behold in their Travels (through the Lords Creation) both on Sea, in Sea, and on Land, <HI>viz.</HI> All &s;orts and kinds of Fi&s;h, Fowl, and Bea&s;ts, whether wilde, or tame; all &s;orts of Trees and Fruit; all &s;orts of People, Cities, Towns, and Countries. By <HI>Daniel Pell,</HI> Preacher of the Word.</P>
<P>A Caveat again&s;t Seducers, in a Sermon preached by <HI>Rich. Stand-fa&s;t,</HI> Rector of Chri&s;t-Church in <HI>Bristol.</HI> Together with the Blind Mans Meditations, by the &s;ame Author.</P>
<P>A Treati&s;e of Divine Meditation, by that faithful Servant of Je&s;us Chri&s;t <HI>John Ball,</HI> late Mini&s;ter of the Go&s;pel at <HI>Whit|more</HI> in <HI>Stafford-&s;hire,</HI> publi&s;hed by M. <HI>Simeon A&s;h,</HI> Preacher of the Go&s;pel at <HI>Au&s;tins, London.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Irenicum,</HI> A Weapon-Salve for the Churches Wounds. Or the Divine Right of particular Forms of Church-Govern|ment, di&s;cu&s;&s;ed and examined; by <HI>Edward Stillingfleete,</HI> Rector of <HI>Sutton</HI> in <HI>Bedford-&s;hire.</HI> The &s;econd Edition corrected.</P>
<PB REF="329">
<P>An Expo&s;ition by way of Supplement on the 4th. 5th. 6th. 7th. 8th. and 9th. Chapters on the Prophecy of <HI>Amos,</HI> where you have the Text fully explained, other Texts occa&s;ionally cleared, many Ca&s;es Stated, many practical Ob&s;ervations rai&s;ed, and many Polemical Points debated; by <HI>Tho. Hall,</HI> B. D. and Pa&s;tor of <HI>Kings-Norton.</HI></P>
<P>A Clu&s;ter of Grapes taken out of the Basket of the Wo|man of <HI>Canaan:</HI> or, Coun&s;el and Comfort for Beleeving Souls; By <HI>John Durant,</HI> late Preacher of the Go&s;pel in <HI>Can|terbury.</HI></P>
<P>A Call to the Unconverted; By <HI>Richard Baxter.</HI></P>
<P>A Latin and Engli&s;h Grammar; By <HI>Charls Hool,</HI> M. A.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="publisher's advertisement">
<HEAD>Books &s;old by <HI>John Sims,</HI> at the Cro&s;s-Keyes in St. <HI>Pauls</HI> Church-yard.</HEAD>
<P>CHri&s;t the Pattern of a Chri&s;tians Practi&s;e; By Mr. <HI>Ralph Robin&s;on. Octavo,</HI></P>
<P>Several Peeces of Mr. <HI>Ralph Venning</HI> collected into one Volume, <HI>viz.</HI> Orthodox Paradoxes, My&s;teries and Reve|lations: <HI>Canaans</HI> Flowings. A Warning to Back&s;liders. The Way to True Happine&s;s. Mercies memorial. 8<HI>to.</HI></P>
<P>A Practical Di&s;cour&s;e of Prayer, wherein is handled the Nature, the Duty, and the Qualifications of Prayer; By <HI>Tho. Cobbet,</HI> Mini&s;ter of the Go&s;pel. 8<HI>to.</HI></P>
<P>Two Treati&s;es of Mr. <HI>Brin&s;eley.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. A Groan for <HI>I&s;rael.</HI> 2. The Spiritual <HI>Vertigo:</HI> with two other Treati&s;es, <HI>viz.</HI> Three Sacred Emblems. 2. Tears for <HI>Jeru&s;alem;</HI> By the &s;ame Author. 8<HI>to.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Irenicum,</HI> A Weapon-Salve for the Churches Wounds, Or the Divine Right of particular Forms of Church-Govern|ment, di&s;cu&s;&s;ed and examined; By <HI>Edward Stilling fleete,</HI> Rector of <HI>Sutton</HI> in <HI>Bedford-&s;hire.</HI> The &s;econd Edition cor|rected. 4<HI>to.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="table of contents">
<PB REF="329">
<HEAD>THE TABLE.</HEAD>
<P>CHri&s;tian Reader, take notice that the Pages are misfigured, for next to page <HI>240.</HI> followes page <HI>280.</HI> yet doe thou but follow the directionss laid downe in the Table; and without any fur|ther trouble to thy &s;elf, thou will find any particular that thou ha&s;t a mind to be &s;atisfied in.</P>
<LIST>
<HEAD>A.</HEAD>
<ITEM>_OF <HI>Adams</HI> holine&s;s in innocency, <HI>Page 5, 6, 7.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The greatne&s;s of <HI>Adams</HI> &s;in, in four particulars. <HI>Page 52.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Adoption.</HI> Reall holine&s;s is a &s;ure evidence of a mans Adop|tion. <HI>Page 624, 625, 626.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Admiration.</HI> Holy per&s;ons are much taken up in the Admiration of the holine&s;s of God. <HI>Page 102, 103, 104</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of being <HI>Afflicted.</HI> Holy per&s;ons are much afflicted. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> with their own unholyne&s;s. <HI>Page 123, 124, 125, 126.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>And much affected and afflicted with the unholi|ne&s;s of others. <HI>Page 139, 140, 141.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Afflictions.</HI> Of great and heavy afflictions. <HI>Page 363, 364,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The more a man can divinely rejoyce under afflicti|ons, the greater mea&s;ures of holine&s;s that man
<PB REF="330"> has certainly attained to. <HI>Page 600, 601, 602.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>All</HI> Things. All things &s;hall be &s;anctified to the holy man. <HI>Page 629, 630.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Approving</HI> a mans &s;elf to God. The more a man makes it his great bu&s;ine&s;s to approve him&s;elf to God, the greater mea&s;ure of holine&s;s that man has attained to. <HI>Page 609, 610, 611.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Authors.</HI> That unholy per&s;ons are to be &s;hut out from &s;pecial Communion with the people of God, is made evident by the Judgements of many Learned and approved Authors. <HI>Page 51, 52, 53, 54.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>B.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Bea&s;ts.</HI> &V;nholy per&s;ons are Bea&s;ts, yea, the wor&s;t of Bea&s;ts. <HI>Page 54, 55, 56.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Ble&s;&s;ings.</HI> God will certainly ble&s;s all a holy mans ble&s;&s;ings to him. <HI>Page 622, 623.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Boldne&s;s.</HI> The more holy any man is, the more bold and couragious that man will be for God and Godline&s;s. <HI>Page 507, 508, 509.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>C.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Of &s;everall <HI>Cannots.</HI> There is a threefold Cannot. <HI>1.</HI> A natural Cannot. <HI>2.</HI> A contracted and habi|tuated cannot. <HI>3.</HI> A judicial cannot. <HI>Page 21-25.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Conformity</HI> to Chri&s;t. True holine&s;s is confor|mable to the holine&s;s of Chri&s;t. <HI>Page 138, 139.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Civil</HI> men. Meere civil men &s;hall not go to Heaven. <HI>Page 77, 78, 79.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Company.</HI> He that will be holy, mu&s;t keep com|pany with tho&s;e that are holy. <HI>Page 307, 308.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>And he that will perfect holine&s;s in the feare of the Lord, mu&s;t be mo&s;t In with them that are mo&s;t
<PB REF="330"> excellent in holine&s;s. <HI>Page 577, 578.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Communion.</HI> There is no &s;piritual communion with God in this world, without holine&s;s. <HI>Page 28, 29, 30.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>&V;nholy per&s;ons are to be &s;hut out from &s;acred and &s;pecial communion with the people of God in this world: This proved by an induction of ten particulars. <HI>Page 44-54.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The more holy any man is, the more communion that man will have with God. <HI>Page 491, 492, 493.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Comparing</HI> your &s;elves with others. Take heed of comparing your &s;elves with tho&s;e that are wor&s;e then your &s;elves. <HI>Page 284, 285.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Contrariety.</HI> &V;nholy per&s;ons are full of contra|riety to God. <HI>Page 27, 28.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of being <HI>Condemned.</HI> &V;nholy per&s;ons are adjudg|ed and condemned to hell. <HI>Page 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Conver&s;ion.</HI> The per&s;ecutions of the Saints may i&s;&s;ue in the conver&s;ion of &s;inners. <HI>Page 401, 402, 403.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Many that have been converted later then others, do yet in holine&s;s much excell them. <HI>Page 504, 505.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>D.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Death.</HI> Take heed of putting the day of death far from you three arguments to per&s;wade to this. <HI>Page 288-296.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Degrees.</HI> A holy per&s;on will be &s;till reaching after higher degrees of holine&s;s. <HI>Page 107, 108, 109.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Chri&s;tians mu&s;t pre&s;s after the highe&s;t degrees of holine&s;s. <HI>Page 468, 469.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>About degrees of glory in Heaven, &s;ee Heaven.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Delight.</HI> The more holy any man is, the more he will be the delight of God, <HI>&amp;c. Page 488, 489.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="331">
<ITEM>Tbis is further proved by five Arguments. <HI>Page 490, 491, 492, 493, 494.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>God takes &s;ingular delight, both in a holy mans per|&s;on, and in his &s;ervices to. <HI>Page 616, 617, 618, 619.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Self-denyall.</HI> The more a man can deny him&s;elf when he hath power and opportunity to rai&s;e him|&s;elf, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> the greater mea&s;ure of holine&s;s he has attained to. <HI>Page 612, 613, 614.&mdash;620, 621.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Di&s;cord.</HI> No &s;peciall communion to be held with tho&s;e that cau&s;e di&s;cord and divi&s;ion a|mong the Saints. <HI>Page 46.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of the <HI>Doctrine.</HI> The Doctrine is this; That reall holine&s;s is the onely way to happine&s;s: All men mu&s;t be holy on earth, or they &s;hall never &s;ee the Beatifical Vi&s;ion, they &s;hall never reach to a glorious fruition of God in Heaven. <HI>Page 5.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The Doctrine proved by ten Arguments. <HI>Page 18-62.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of holy <HI>Duties.</HI> The holy mans duties are mo&s;t de|lightfull to God. <HI>Page 632, 633, 634.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Reall holine&s;s naturali&s;eth holy duties to the &s;oule. <HI>Page 126, 127, 128.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The more holy any man is, the more &s;ingular delight and plea&s;ure, God will take in all his Religious duties and &s;ervices. <HI>Page 502, 503, 504.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>When men in the maine are as holy out of Religi|ous duties, as they are in Religious duties, tis an evidence of a great mea&s;ure of holine&s;s that they have attained to. <HI>Page 600.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The more a man is exerci&s;ed in the mo&s;t &s;pirituall and internall duties of Religion, the more holi|ne&s;s he hath attained to. <HI>Page 605, 606.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The more &s;olid and exact a Chri&s;tian is in religious duties and &s;ervices, the more holy he is. <HI>Page 608, 609.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<PB REF="331">
<LIST>
<HEAD>E.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Election.</HI> Reall holine&s;s is a &s;ure evidence of election. <HI>Page 614, 615, 616.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of not <HI>Enduring.</HI> Such as cant endure holine&s;s in others, &s;hall never goe to Heaven. <HI>Page 87, 88, 89.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Ends.</HI> A holy man propounds holy ends to him|&s;elf, in all his actings and undertakings. <HI>Page 157, 158, 159.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>How per&s;ons may know when they make the glory of God their end, an&s;wered five wayes. <HI>Page 159-168.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Errors.</HI> We are to have no &s;peciall communion with &s;uch as erre in foundation truths. <HI>Page 44, 45, 46.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Exerci&s;e.</HI> He that would have more holine&s;s, mu&s;t be much in the exerci&s;e of that holine&s;s he has. <HI>Page 578, 579, 580.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Expediency.</HI> The more a man lives by the rule of expediency, the more holine&s;s he has attained to. <HI>Page 611, 612.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of the <HI>Eye of God.</HI> He that would attain to greater mea&s;ures of holine&s;s, mu&s;t alwayes remember that the eye of God is continually upon him. <HI>Page 573, 574, 575.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>F.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Fellow&s;hip.</HI> &V;nholy per&s;ons have familiarity and fellow&s;hip with Satan. <HI>Page 26, 27.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of the <HI>Favour</HI> of God. Holy per&s;ons are highly in Gods favour. <HI>Page 630, 631, 632.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of the <HI>Fewne&s;s</HI> of tho&s;e that &s;hall be &s;aved. The number of tho&s;e that &s;hall goe to Heaven are but few. <HI>Page 67, 68, 69.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="332">
<ITEM>Of <HI>Flatterers.</HI> Take heed of flatterers. <HI>Page 285-289.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Formali&s;ts.</HI> Formali&s;ts &s;hall not goe to Heaven. <HI>Page 75, 76, 77.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>All unholy per&s;ons are fooles, they have all the cha|racteri&s;tical notes and properties of fooles: And this is &s;hewed in eight particulars. <HI>Page 30-44,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Chri&s;tians are to have no &s;peciall communion with fooles. <HI>Page 49.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>G.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Of our <HI>Generation.</HI> The more holy any man is, the more &s;erviceable and u&s;efull he will be in his generation. <HI>Page 509 510.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The meer gifted man &s;hall not goe to Heaven: Where you have &s;eventeen differences between gifts and grace. <HI>Page 84, 85, 86, 87.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Growth.</HI> The afflictions and per&s;ecutions of the Saints, will further the growth and increa&s;e of their grace. <HI>Page 403, 404, 405.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Guilt.</HI> Of guilt upon the con&s;cience. <HI>Page 362, 363.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>H.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Hatred.</HI> Where there is true holine&s;s, there is a hatred of all ungodline&s;s. <HI>Page 109-123.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Heaven.</HI> Ten arguments to prove that unholy per&s;ons have no mind to goe to Heaven. <HI>Page 64, 65, 66.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Heaven.</HI> The more holy any man is, the more actually ripe for heaven that man is. <HI>Page 493, 494.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>That there are degrees of glory in Heaven: That &s;ome Saints &s;hall partake of more glory in Heaven then others &s;hall, is approved by Scripture and Arguments from <HI>p. 517.</HI> to <HI>p. 565.</HI> only ob&s;erve,
<PB REF="332"> that next to <HI>p. 520.</HI> followes <HI>p. 553.</HI> all this mi&s;figuring of the pages will be prevented in the next impre&s;&s;ion.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Objections again&s;t degrees of glory in Heaven, an|&s;wered from <HI>p. 565.</HI> to <HI>p. 572.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Hell.</HI> &V;nholy per&s;ons are doomed adjudged and &s;entenced to Hell. <HI>Page 57-62.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of an <HI>Heir.</HI> Reall holine&s;s is a &s;ure evidence that thou art an Heir of glory. <HI>Page 626, 627, 628, 629.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Holine&s;s.</HI> There is a &s;ixfold holine&s;s. <HI>Page 5-19.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Holine&s;s is the honor and the glory of the creature. <HI>Page 183, 184, 185, 186.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Holine&s;s is very attractive drawing and winning. <HI>Page 186, 187. 188.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Holine&s;s is the excellency of all a mans excellencies. <HI>Page 188, 189, 190.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Holine&s;s is an honor and an ornament both to the per&s;ons that have it, and al&s;o to the very places where they were borne. <HI>Page 190, 191, 192, 193.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Holine&s;s is the very ear-mark, the very livery and and badge of Chri&s;ts &s;ervants and &s;ubjects. <HI>Page 193, 194.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>A man of holine&s;s is a common ble&s;&s;ing, a publick mercy. <HI>Page 194, 195, 196, 197.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Holine&s;s is of the greate&s;t antiquity. <HI>Page 197, 198, 199.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Holine&s;s will render you mo&s;t beautiful and amiable. <HI>Page 199, 200, 201, 202.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Holine&s;s is the mo&s;t gainefull trade in the world, This is made good by five Arguments. <HI>Page 202-216.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Holine&s;s will put the greate&s;t &s;plendor and maje&s;ty upon per&s;ons, that can po&s;&s;ibly be put upon them. <HI>Page 216, 217, 218.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The times wherein we live calls aloud for holi|ne&s;s.
<PB REF="333"> <HI>Page 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Holine&s;s will render you mo&s;t like. <HI>1.</HI> To God. <HI>2.</HI> To Chri&s;t. <HI>3.</HI> To the ble&s;&s;ed Angels. <HI>Page 224. 225, 226, 227, 228.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Without holine&s;s there is no &s;eeing, no enjoying of of God. <HI>Page 228, 229.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Eight arguments proving that mo&s;t Chri&s;tians have but a little holine&s;s. <HI>Page 466-479.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The more holine&s;s any man has, the more holine&s;s God will give him. <HI>Page 495, 496.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The more holine&s;s any man has, the more God will reveale him&s;elf to him. <HI>Page 498, 499, 500, 501, 502.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>None under Heaven are &s;o &s;trongly obliged to perfect holine&s;s in the feare of the Lord, as holy ones are. <HI>Page 505, 506, 507.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>The times require greater mea&s;ures of holine&s;s, <HI>Page 512, 513.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Chri&s;t will certainly pre&s;erve thy holine&s;s. <HI>Page 634, 635, 636.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of the <HI>Holine&s;s</HI> of God. <HI>1.</HI> God is e&s;&s;entially holy. <HI>Page 585, 586.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>2,</HI> God is unmixedly holy, the holine&s;s of God is a pure holine&s;s. <HI>Page 586, 587, 588.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>3.</HI> God is univer&s;ally holy. <HI>Page 588.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>4.</HI> God is eminently holy, he is tran&s;cendently holy, he is &s;uperlatively holy. <HI>Page 588, 589, 590, 591.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>5.</HI> God is origin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">lly, radically and fundamentally holy. <HI>Page 591, 592,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>6.</HI> God is independently holy. <HI>Page 592, 993.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>7.</HI> God is con&s;tantly holy, he is unchangeably holy. <HI>Page 593, 594.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>8.</HI> God is exemplarily holy. <HI>Page 594.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Holine&s;s.</HI> Where ever reall holine&s;s is, it will
<PB REF="333"> di&s;cover it &s;elf. <HI>p. 639.</HI> Holine&s;s ri&s;es by de|grees. <HI>p. 639, 640.</HI> There is a great deale of pre|ciou&s;ne&s;s in the lea&s;t degrees of holine&s;s; and this is evidenced by an induction of Ten particulars. <HI>640, 641, 642.</HI> All Saints have not a like mea&s;ure of holine&s;s. <HI>643, 644.</HI> A Chri&s;tian may have more holine&s;s at one time, then at another. <HI>644, 645, 646, 647.</HI> There will come a time when even in this world holine&s;s &s;hall be more generall and more eminent. <HI>Page 647, 648, 649.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Honor,</HI> and of honoring of God. The more holi|ne&s;s is increa&s;ed, the more the great God will be honored. <HI>494, 495.</HI> The highe&s;t degrees of holi|ne&s;s are commonly attended with the highe&s;t de|grees of honor. <HI>Page 510, 511, 512.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Hypocrites.</HI> Hypocrites &s;hall not goe to Heaven. <HI>Page 82, 83, 84.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>I.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Idlene&s;s.</HI> We are to have no &s;pecial communion with idle per&s;ons. <HI>Page 43, 44.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Joy.</HI> Of Joy &s;everal con&s;iderable things. <HI>Page 352-369.</HI> <LIST>
<ITEM>The more holine&s;s any man attains to, the greater will be his Heaven of joy in this world. <HI>Page 496, 497, 498.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of the <HI>Judgements</HI> of God. He that will be holy, mu&s;t dwell much upon the memorable Judgements of God, that in this life has fallen upon unholy per&s;ons. <HI>Page 339, 340, 341.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>K.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Four rea&s;ons why the <HI>Kingdom</HI> of Heaven is called the kingdom of God. <HI>Page 19.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>L.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Labour.</HI> A holy heart will labour to make others holy. <HI>Page 132, 133, 134, 135.</HI></ITEM>
<PB REF="334">
<ITEM>Of <HI>Life.</HI> Several Arguments proving the life of man to be but &s;hort. <HI>Page 292-296.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Little</HI> &s;ins. Five Rea&s;ons why a holy heart ri|&s;es again&s;t little &s;ins. <HI>Page 113-120.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of a <HI>Little</HI> holine&s;s. Mo&s;t Chri&s;tians have but a little holine&s;s, this is proved by eight Arguments. <HI>Page 469-479.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>M.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Melancholy.</HI> Of Melancholly and the effects of it. <HI>Page 367, 368, 369.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Manife&s;tations.</HI> The more holy any man is, the more God will manife&s;t him&s;elf to that man. <HI>Page 498, 499, 500, 501, 502.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Marriages.</HI> Holy per&s;ons are not to marry with tho&s;e that are unholy. <HI>Page 56, 57.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of a &s;candalous <HI>Mini&s;try,</HI> and of a holy mini&s;try. Settle not your &s;elves under a lewd &s;candalous Mini&s;try. <HI>296, 297-299.</HI> See many con&s;iderable things in the Epi&s;tle concerning prophane, igno|rant, &s;candalous, debauched Mini&s;ters. He that would perfect holine&s;s in the feare of the Lord, mu&s;t fix and &s;ettle him&s;elf under a faithful holy Mini&s;try. <HI>Page 575, 576, 577.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Mockers.</HI> Mockers &s;hall not goe to Heaven. <HI>Page 71, 72, 73, 74, 75,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Mortifying</HI> of &s;in. He that would be more holy mu&s;t fall in good earne&s;t with all his might upon mortifying his mo&s;t raging corruptions, and mo&s;t darling &s;ins. <HI>Page 582, 583, 584, 585.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Mourners</HI> and mournings. Seven rea&s;ons why a holy man mournes for other mens &s;ins. <HI>139-145.</HI> He that would be holy mu&s;t mourne over his own unholine&s;s. <HI>299, 300, 301.</HI> Mourne over the lo&s;s
<PB REF="334"> of holine&s;s. <HI>Page 466, 467, 468.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Motives.</HI> Seven Motives to move you to try whe|ther you have any real holine&s;s or no. <HI>89-101.</HI> Fifteen Motives to get holine&s;s. <HI>170-209.</HI> Se|venteen Motives to perfect holine&s;s in the feare of the Lord. <HI>469-517.</HI> The more &s;piritual Mo|tives and con&s;iderations, carries a man on in re|ligious duties and &s;ervices, the greater mea&s;ures of holine&s;s has that man attained to. <HI>Page 606, 607; 608.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>N.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Nece&s;&s;ity.</HI> The nece&s;&s;ity of holine&s;s. <HI>Page 170, 171, 172, 173, 174.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Neuters.</HI> Neuters &s;hall not goe to Heaven. <HI>Page 79, 80, 81, 82.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Number.</HI> The Number of Saints not dimini&s;hed, but increa&s;ed by per&s;ecutions. <HI>Page 398, 399, 400, 401.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>O.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Objections. 1. Ob.</HI> We have no power to make our &s;elves holy, an&s;wered from <HI>341-347. 2 Ob.</HI> But hereafter may be time enough to look after holine&s;s; we may yet &s;pend a few more years in pur&s;uing after the profits, plea&s;ures, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> of the world. An&s;. <HI>347-352. 3. Ob.</HI> If we &s;hould pre&s;s and pur&s;ue after holine&s;s, then we mu&s;t take our farewel of all joy and comfort, of all delight and plea&s;ure, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> An&s;. <HI>352-369. 4. Ob.</HI> We &s;ee that there are none &s;o afflicted and per&s;ecuted as tho&s;e who mind holine&s;s, who follow after holi|ne&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> An&s;. <HI>369-423. 5. Ob.</HI> If we &s;hould la|bour after holine&s;s, then we mu&s;t re&s;olve to be poore and meane, and low in the world, for we &s;hall never grow rich by godline&s;s. An&s;. <HI>423-433. 6. Ob.</HI> Should we pur&s;ue after holine&s;s, it would
<PB REF="335"> be a di&s;grace and di&s;honour to us, who are hono|rable, great, rich and high in the world; we are high borne, we are Gentlemen, and well bred, and holine&s;s &s;eems to be too poore, and too low a thing for &s;uch as we are to looke after, An&s;. <HI>433-446. 7. Ob.</HI> Should we pur&s;ue after holine&s;s, we &s;hall be &s;ure to be reviled, reproached and &s;lande|red, and we &s;hall become a &s;corne and a by-word, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> to all that are round about us. An&s;. <HI>Page 446-456.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Ob&s;tinate</HI> &s;inners. No &s;pecial communion to be held with ob&s;tinate &s;inners. <HI>Page 48, 49.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Overcoming.</HI> The more a man can overcome evill with good, upon holy and gracious accounts, the greater mea&s;ure of holine&s;s that per&s;on has attained to. <HI>Page 597, 598, 599, 600.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>P.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Per&s;ecution</HI> and per&s;ecutors. Per&s;ecution has been the common lot and portion of the people of God. <HI>369, 370.</HI> Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles has long &s;ince foretold us that afflictions and per&s;ecu|tions will attend us in this world. <HI>370, 371, 372.</HI> Per&s;ecutions that befalls the Saints for holine&s;s &s;ake, &s;hall never hurt nor harme the Saints. <HI>372, 373, 374, 375, 376.</HI> That the condition of per&s;e|cutors of all conditions under Heaven is the mo&s;t &s;ad and deplorable condition, is made good by five Arguments. <HI>376-389.</HI> That God will bare his people company in all their afflictions and per&s;e|cutions. <HI>389, 390, 391, 392.</HI> He &s;hall be &s;ure to &s;uffer from Chri&s;t, that refu&s;es to &s;uffer, or that is afraid to &s;uffer per&s;ecution for Chri&s;t. <HI>392, 393, 394, 395, 396.</HI> Many great advantages that will redowne to Chri&s;tians by all the afflictions and per&s;ecutions that does befall them. <HI>396-411.</HI>
<PB REF="335"> To fuffer afflictions and per&s;ecutions for holine&s;s &s;ake, is the greate&s;t honour that Chri&s;tians are capable of in this world. <HI>411, 412, 413.</HI> The afflictions and per&s;ecutions that commonly attend Chri&s;tians in the&s;e dayes, are nothing to the fiery tryalls that the Saints and Martyrs of old have been exerci&s;ed with. <HI>413, 414, 415.</HI> &V;nholy per&s;ons have &s;uffered as great and grievous things for the &s;atisfying of their lu&s;ts, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as Chri&s;ti|ans are like to &s;uffer for their pur&s;uing after ho|line&s;s. <HI>415, 416.</HI> Though per&s;ecutions may attend the people of God, yet he has very many wayes to pre&s;erve his people from being ruin'd and de&s;troy|ed by per&s;ecuting hands. As <HI>1.</HI> By laying a Law of re&s;traint upon per&s;ecutors. <HI>2.</HI> By &s;etting per|&s;ecutors one again&s;t another. <HI>3.</HI> By pa&s;&s;ing a &s;entence of death upon per&s;ecutors. <HI>4.</HI> By alter|ing and changing the hearts of per&s;ecutors. <HI>5.</HI> By taking of per&s;ecutors feet in the &s;ame &s;nares that they have laid for others. <HI>6.</HI> By providing Ci|ties of refuge and hiding places to &s;helter them. <HI>416-420.</HI> All the per&s;ecutions that the Saints meet with on earth, &s;hall advance their glory in Heaven. <HI>Page 420, 421, 422, 423.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Per&s;everance.</HI> Chri&s;tians mu&s;t per&s;evere in their pur&s;uit after holine&s;s. <HI>Page 460, 461, 462.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of what is <HI>Po&s;&s;ible.</HI> 'Tis po&s;&s;ible for unholy per&s;ons to be made holy; this is proved by eight arguments. <HI>174-183.</HI> 'Tis po&s;&s;ible for tho&s;e that are holy to attain to greater mea&s;ures of holine&s;s then any yet they have attained to; and this is proved by five Arguments. <HI>Page 479-488.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Prophane</HI> per&s;ons. Prophane per&s;ons &s;hall not goe to Heaven. <HI>Page 70, 71.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Fal&s;e</HI> Prophets. No &s;peciall communion to be held with fal&s;e Prophets. <HI>Page 47, 48.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Prayer.</HI> He that will be holy mu&s;t be much in Prayer, and be &s;ure</ITEM>
<GAP DESC="missing" EXTENT="1 span">
<PB REF="336">
<ITEM>Of <HI>Vowes.</HI> He that will be holy mu&s;t dwell much upon his &s;olemne vowes. <HI>Page 309, 310, 311, 312.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Univer&s;al</HI> Obedience. The more univer&s;al a mans obedience is, the more holy that man is. <HI>Page 602, 603.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Unbeleevers.</HI> We are to have no &s;acred, no &s;peical communi|on with unbeleevers. <HI>Page 42, 43.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of the <HI>Unholy.</HI> A holy per&s;on will be holy among the unholy. <HI>Page 154, 155, 156, 157.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of the <HI>U&s;e</HI> of earthly things. Holy per&s;ons will be holy in the u&s;e of earthly and common things. <HI>Page 136, 137, 138.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Uprightne&s;s.</HI> Enduring of per&s;ecution, an argument of up|rightne&s;s. <HI>Page 396, 397, 398.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LIST>
<HEAD>W.</HEAD>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Waiting.</HI> He that will be holy mu&s;t waite upon the word faith|fully preacht, <HI>304-307.</HI> He that will be holy when he has done all mu&s;t waite. <HI>Page 337, 338, 339.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Wants.</HI> He that would perfect holine&s;s in the feare of the Lord, &s;hould labour to be more acquainted and affected with his &s;piri|tuall wants. <HI>Page 572, 573.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of the <HI>Word.</HI> A holy man loves the word for its holine&s;s. <HI>144-147.</HI> How a per&s;on may know when he is affected, and taken with the word as 'tis a holy word, An&s;wered <HI>5</HI> ways. <HI>Page 147-154.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of the <HI>World.</HI> Take heed of the world, and why. <HI>239-284.</HI> But here remember once for all, that by the Printers mi&s;take, next to page <HI>240.</HI> followes <HI>280.</HI> The next Impre&s;&s;ion will pre|vent this, and other mi&s;takes al&s;o. The more worldlings &s;trive after the world, the more Christians &s;hould &s;trive to perfect holine&s;s. <HI>Page 513, 514, 515.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Wor&s;hip.</HI> Chri&s;tians mu&s;t &s;tand for purity of wor&s;hip, and why. <HI>Page 462, 463, 464, 465, 466.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>Of <HI>Working.</HI> All things &s;hall work for good to the holy man. <HI>Page 636, 637, 638.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="336">
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
