A saint or a brute the certain necessity and excellency of holiness, &c. ... / by Richard Baxter.

LUKE 10. 41 , 42. And Jesus answered and said unto her , Martha , Martha , thou art careful and troubled about many things ; but One thing is Needful : and Mary hath chosen the good part which shall not be taken away from her .

IN order to the decision of the Great Controversie practically managed through the the world , Whether Godliness , or worldliness and sensuality be better ? I have already performed the first part of my task , in proving the Certainty of the Principles of Godliness , and of Christianity ; which of it self will inferr the Conclusion , which I undertake to prove ; that the Reasons for Godliness are so sure , and clear , and great , that every one must be A SAINT or A BRUTE : He that will not choose a life of HOLINESS , hath no other to fall into but a life of SENSUALITY : Either the superiour faculties proper to a Rational Nature must be predominant ; and then we can be no less than SAINTS ▪ Or else the inferiour brutish faculties will be predominant ; and then , ( though from your natural Powers you are called MEN , yet ) if you may be denominated from your intended END , and from the USE of your faculties in order to that END , you are but an ingenious kind of BRUTES ; exceeding A●●● and Monkies in the cunning contrivance of your unhappy designs ; but incomparably worse in your successes ▪ because you were indeed entrusted with the noble faculties and gifts of MEN , while you captivated them unto your Appetites and Sense , and lived but to the END of BEASTS .

The second thing that I have to do , for the conquering all opposition to this Conclusion , is , to prove the NECESSITY of HOLINESS : which ( being now to speak to such as profess to believe the holy Scriptures , ) I may easily do from this plain and pregnant Text : To which I shall annex such cogent REASONS as may silence those that will not acquiesce in the authority of the holy Word .

So great is the difference between a dreaming Opinion in Religion ( called a De●● Faith ) ; and a serious , hearty , practical Belief , that if they that say ( and do but say ) they believe the holy Scriptures , and yet are ungodly , had soundly Believed , Considered and digested this very Text , it would have made such a change both in their Hearts and Lives , as would have told them by happy experience , that the Gospel is not a dead letter , nor saving faith a lifeless uneffectual thing ; and that God sent not his son into the world only to be complemented with , and reverently treated with a few good words ; nor his Gospel and Ministers meerly to be entertained with a demure , silent , and respectful audience ; nor hath proposed his Kingdom to be meerly the matter of commendation or discourse : But that as man is a creature of a Noble and Capacious Nature , so he hath an high and noble End , and consequently the highest imployment for his Reason ; and that Religion is the most NECESSARY , and must be the most SERIOUS business in the world . Did they believe this Text , as verily as they pretend to believe the Gospel , it would help to the recovery of the understandings of the Ambitious , and make the proud ashamed of their glory , and settle the drunken aspiring minds of those that think it worth more than their salvation , to sit upon the highest pearch : It would call off the covetous worldling from his immoderate seeking provisions for the flesh , and save them that are drowned in the cares of this life , by shewing them the true and necessary treasure : It would spare them many a vexatious thought , and a great deal of unnecessary labour , and prevent the shame and horrour that must befall them , when in the end they find their labour lost , and all their expectations frustrate : It would quickly stop the mouthes which prejudice , ignorance , malignant enmity and deliration , have opened against a life of faith and serious Godliness ; and cause them that scorn it as a Needless thing , to make it their daily business and delight . It would tell the sluggish sensless sinner , that he hath work of everlasting confequence upon his hand , and that it is no time to dream or loyter : And it would tell the brutish sensualist that there are more sweet and durable delights ; and the time-wasting fool that time is precious , and he hath none to spare and cast away , having so great a work to do . It would set men on seeking with greatest diligence , the Kingdom which before they did but dream of ; and would turn the very stream of their hearts and lives on that which before they minded but as on the by . In a word , it would make the earthly to become heavenly , and the fleshly spiritual , and the sloathful to be diligent , and rotten-hearted sinners to become renewed SAINTS , as all must do that ever will be saved . And if these words of Christ be not thus received by you , and work not such wonders on mens hearts , it is not because there is any want of fitness in the Text , but because mens hearts are hardned into a wilful contempt of the most precious truths , which in themselves are apt to change and save them .

Of all waies of Teaching , History is accounted One of the most effectual ; because it hath the greatest advantage on our apprehensions , as setting our lesson before our eyes in the great character of Example , and not only in the smaller letter of a naked precept . And of all History , What can be more powerful , then I Where one of the actors is the eternal son of God : and that not above our reach in Heaven , but here in our flesh , on the stage of this sublunary world . 2. And the other actors are such as most ●itly represent the different actions of all the world , at least that live within the sound of the Gospel ; and lay open the great question about which the world is so much divided . 3. And when the matter it self is of the greatest consequence , that can be imagined ; even concerning the present choice and resolution of our hearts , and that expending of our Time , and that business and employment of our lives , on which our Endless life dependeth . All this you have here set out even to the life , before your eyes , in the glass of this example in my Text : And the Lord of Life doth call you all to see your faces in it ; and here plainly sheweth you what will be expected from you ▪ and what you must be , and do , and trust ●o ; and this not in any long and ●edio●● discourse ; that might overcharge your memories , or weary your attentions ; but in very brief , though full expressions .

As Jesus entred into Bethany , Martha ( who it seems was the Owner of the house ) received and entertained him : No doubt but a great company followed Jesus ; or his Disciples that ordinarily accompanyed him , at the least . Martha thinks that having entertained such a guest , it were a great neglect , if she should not provide for him and for his followers : and therefore she is busie in doing what she can ; but the number is so great , that she is oppressed with the care and trouble , and findeth that she hath more to do then she is able : Her sister that she thought should have helped her in such a case , is sitting with the Disciples , at the feet of Christ , to hear his Word . Martha seeing this , is offended at her sister , and seems to think that Christ himself is too neglective of her , or partial for her sister ; and therefore thus ●●e●●s her cause with Christ , [ Lord , dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone ? bid her therefore that she help me . ] As if she had said , [ Is it a fit thing that both thy self and all this company should be unprovided for , and have neither meat no● drink ? O● is it fit that all should be laid on me , even more then I can do , while she sits hearing with the Disciples ? Deal equally and mercifully and bid her help me . ] And indeed most people would think that this was but a reasonable motion , and that when Christ was made the Judge between them , he should have decided the case on Martha's side : But he did not so : But 1. instead of commending Martha for her care and diligence , he sheweth her errour , by a gentle , but yet a close reproof : [ Martha , Martha , thou art careful and troubled about many things ] . 2. Instead of reproving Mary for negligence of her duty in the house , he highly commendeth her for the seasonable doing of a greater work . [ Mary hath chosen the good part . ] 3. He groundeth the Reason of his Judgement on the different Nature and Use of their employments : [ One thing is Needful ] in comparison of which , the rest were all unnecessary things , and such as then might have been neglected . 4. And so he passeth sentence on Marie's side , that the good part which she hath chosen [ shall not be taken away from her ] : In which ●e not only answereth Martha with an express denyal , as if he should say , [ I will not take off Mary from the work which she hath chosen ] ; but also on that occasion doth point out the durable nature of the Good which she had chosen , and promise the continuance of it .

Concerning Martha , some expositors run into two extreams . ●…e think that she was an unregenerate worldling , and savour●… only fleshly things , and that these words of Christ , describe 〈…〉 state as one that had not yet made choice of the one thing ●…edful , and the better part . But it is only her present action that Christ doth reprehend and censure , and not her state : Her entertainment of Christ , and speeches to him , and other passages , ●…we us great probability that she was a true disciple , as after it is ●aid that Jesus loved her , John 11. 5.

On the other side , One Learned Annotator thus Paraphraseth ●…e words of Christ to Martha , [ Thou takest a great deal of unnecessary , though not culpable pains ] ; as if Christs words were ●o reprehension of her , nor her course blame-worthy .

But the plain truth lieth between these two extreams : Martha , though most probably a true Disciple , was here too blame , in preferring a lesser duty before a greater , and doing that unseasonably , which in due time was to be done , and in neglecting an opportunity for the hearing of Christs word , which Mary took . It was not only blameless , but a duty in it self , to make provision for Christ and his attendants : but ●he should have been hearing first while he was preaching , and taken that opportunity for the benefit of her soul : It was no ordinary Preacher that was come under her roof : His stay was not like to be long : his doctrine concerned her salvation : She knew not whether ever she should have the like opportunity again : And therefore she should have rather stayed for his own direction , when to go make provision for their bodies , then to have omitted the hearing of his word .

But you 'l ask perhaps , [ When a Sermon and other worldly business fall out at once , are we alwayes bound to hear the Sermon ? ]

I answer , No , not alwayes : For else in great Cities that have frequent preaching , you should do nothing ●lse but hear : We have a Body as well as a Soul ; and must have meet imployment for both ; and must make due provision for both ; and must be serviceable to the bodily welfare of others , and to the common good . Our bodily labour and temporal employment must be conscionably followed , as well as our spiritual ; For God hath determined that in the sweat of our faces we shall eat our bread , Gen. 3. 19. and even in innocency Adam was put into the garden to dress or till and keep it , Gen. 2. 15. with quietness we must labour and eat our own bread ; and if any will not work , neither should he eat , 2 Thess. 3. 12. 10. See Pauls example , v. 8. [ Neither did we eat any mans bread for nought : but wrought with labour and travail night and day , that we might not be chargeable to any of you ] We must labour , working with our hands , that we may have to give to him that needeth , Eph. 4. 28. And if our bodies have not competent employment ; they will grow such rusty unfit instruments for the soul to work by , that when Melancholy , or other diseases have disabled them , the soul it self will have the loss ; and he that will do nothing but hear , and pray , and meditate , is likely shortly to be scarce able to pray and meditate at all , ( unless it be one of a very strong and healthfull constitution . )

No one therefore from this determination of Christ to Martha , is to be driven from their lawfull Calling into a contrary extream . But this was not the case between Mary and Martha : It was a special opportunity which then was to be taken : We must first seek Gods kingdom , and its righteousness : and prudently take such opportunities for our souls as we can , without omitting greater duties , and as our case requireth : not taking as much food as we can ingest , but as much as we can digest : It is possible to eat too much , but not to digest too well . A Christian must have prudence , when two duties come together , to know which at that present time is the greatest , and to be preferred : which dependeth much on the necessity , and the ends : the good that will follow the doing of them , and the hurt that will follow the omission : And without this prudential discerning of time and duty , we shall never order our conversations aright , but shall live in a continual sin , when we are doing that , which in its own nature and season is our duty .

A poor man may not Read and Hear so frequently as a Rich ( ordinarily , ) nor a Servant as the Master ; because there would greater evils follow the omission of their common labour at that time .

Thus much being said for the Explication of the Text , there is no more necessary but what will fall in most conveniently with the Matter : The sense is as if Christ should have said 〈…〉 Martha , Martha ; I know thou dost all this in love to me , and ●…anest well in it ; and it is no more then what 's thy duty in its ●…per season : But O what is the food that perisheth in compari●… of that which endureth to everlasting life ! It is my meat ●…d drink to do the will of him that sent me , in feeding and in ●…ing souls : Thou hadst now an opportunity to hear my word ; 〈…〉 word of the Son of God , thy Saviour , and thereby to have ●…moted thy Everlasting happiness , as Mary doth ; and this should have been preferred even before this provision for our bodies : and 〈…〉 for this thou hadst now omitted thy care and labour about eat and drink , I would not at all have been offended with thee : thou hadst thy choice , and Mary had her choice ; Thou hast chosen ●…e and trouble about many things , and made thy self a great ●…al ado ; but Mary hath chosen that one thing that was necessary , which is the better part , and therefore it shall not be taken from ●…er , but she shall possess the benefit of her choice . ]

Where note for the fuller understanding of it , the true oppo●ition between the case of Mary and Martha .

1. As to the Matter , Martha had many things in hand ; multifarious care and trouble ; but Mary had but One.

2. As to the Manner and effects of their employments : Martha was full of care and troubles , distracted or disturbed by the ●…mberance of her businesses : but Mary was quietly hearing and learning how to be free from care and trouble , and how to ●…ttain Everlasting rest .

3. As to the quality of their business ; Martha's was of less necessity or concernment , though good and honest in its place : but Mary's was about the thing of absolute necessity .

Also Martha's was Good in its season , but a lesser good : but Mary's was [ that Good part , ] which containeth all other good , or referreth to it , and therefore was to be preferred .

4. And therefore as to the continuance , Mary's being a more eligible imployment , and about an everlasting treasure , shall not be taken from her , when the fruit of Martha's imployment will quickly have an end .

Yet in these different cases , each one had her choice : Had Martha chosen better , she had had better . And the choice much proceeded from the judgement and disposition : Had she judged better , and been inclined better , Martha would have chos●● better .

Before we come to the principal Doctrines , we may profitably note these Observations by the way .

1. Note here that [ the neerest Natural Relations ( as Brothers and Sisters , yea , Parents and Children ) are not alwayes of one mind or way in the matters of their salvation . ] Greater difference may be between them , then this between Martha and Mary in the Text. They may rise up against each other , and seek each others lives , as Christ foretold , Mark 13. 12. And therefore Father , Mother , Brother Sister , and all are to be denyed for Christ ( that I say not hated , as Christ saith , Luke 14. 26. ) when they stand in opposition to him . The same parentage and education made not Esau and Jacob of a disposition , or of one mind or way : nor Isaac and Ismael : nor Sem and Cham : not would restrain Cain , the first man born into the world , from cruel murdering his brother , upon a difference about their Religions , caused by his own ungodly mind ; even because his own works were evil , and his brothers righteous and acceptable to God , 1 John 3. 12. And therefore Parents must patiently submit ( having done their duty ) if even the children of their bodies should prove reprobates : And Brothers and Sisters must submit , if these in so neer a relation be Cast-awayes : God hath not promised that all our kindered shall be saved . Rejoyce that you are not your selves forsaken ; and be glad that any and so many are sanctified , though further from you in the flesh ; and love them in their more excellent relation to Christ and you .

2. Note here , how our Lord doth spend his time in the place and company where he is . When he entreth into a house , he is presently at work in teaching poor souls the way to God ; Or else how could Mary have been imployed in hearing him ? In our places and measure we should imitate him in this : Can you come into any house or company , and find nothing to say or do for God ? Is there none wiser then your selves that you may learn of , as Mary did of Christ ? nor none more ignorant whom Charity requireth you to teach ? Nor none that need a quickening word , to mind them of their everlasting state ? As soon as worldly , or vain ungodly people get together , they are presently upon some worldly , or vain discourse : And if you be indeed a heavenly and spiritual people , should you not be more ready when you come together , for heavenly spiritual discourse ? Have you not a thousand fold more to set your tougues on work ? The necessities of the hearers : the hopes of doing good ; the presence of God ; the sense of the duty ; the sweetness of the subject ; the avoiding of sin ; and the blessing of Gods acceptance to your selves ? O had we but the skill , and will , and diligence , that this interlocutory preaching by holy conference doth require , what a supply party would it be for the promoting of mens salvation , where the more publick preaching of the Gospel is wanting ? Who can forbid us by familiar discourse to exercise our charity , in minding poor regardless sinners of the life to come ? and exhorting them to due preparation , and repentance ; and to open to them the riches of Christ , and set forth his love , and draw them to embrace him .

3. Note here , how carefully we should take the present opportunities for our souls , to hear and learn as Mary did . She stands not carelling like our full stomackt hearers , that ask , How can you prove that I am bound to hear such a Lecture , or to come to Church and hear a Sermon twice on the Lords day , or to come to the Minister to ask advice , or be instructed by him ? No more then a hungry man will ask , How prove you that it is my duty to eat every day ? Or then a sick man will say , How prove you that I am bound to seek to the Physicion , to go or send to his house , and to look after him ? As there is much in the very New nature , and health , and relish of a gracious soul , to decide such Controversies as these without any subtilty of argument ; so a Christians prudence and care of his salvation will tell him , that when Christ hath a voice to speak to him , it beseemeth him to have an ear to hear ; and that the Sermon telleth the hearer the season of his duty , and the offer of a mercy telleth us when it is our duty to accept it , without any other more particular obligation : unless when we can truly say as before God , that some duty that at that time is greater , hindreth us . These are easie questions to those that savour the things of the Spirit . When Christ is speaking , Mary will be hearing ; and lesser things shall not call her off .

If any shall say , [ So would we too , if we could 〈…〉 Christ ] I answer ; Remember that he never intended to 〈…〉 himself on earth , and teach his Church personally by his own mouth ; but hath appointed Messengers and Officers to proclaim his Laws unto the world , and tender them his grace , and saith , [ He that heareth you heareth me ; and he that despiseth you despiseth me , Luke 10. 16. and he that despiseth , despiseth not man but God , 1 Thes. 4. 8. And he that will not now believe and hear Christ speaking by his Ministers , when he is acknowledged to be the son of God , and his sealed Word hath had so long possession in the world , would hardly have regarded Christ himself in a time when he appeared in the form of a servant , and was found in fashion as a man , and was believed on but by a few persons then counted but inconfiderable .

4. Note also , the humility and teachableness of Disciples in those times , who were wont to sit learning at their Teachers feet : Which was then an ordinary case , and not of Christ Disciples only . Paul was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel , Acts 22. 3. Not like the proud and self-conceited part of our hearers in these times , that come to hear somewhat for their malicious or contentious minds to quarrel with , and expect that their Teachers tell them nothing but what is agreeable to their own conceits , and think us to be injurious to them , if we would heal their ignorance or impiety , and make them any wiser or better then they are ; and that reproach us and set themselves against us as their enemies , if we will not be ruled by them and humour them in all our administrations , as if we were the patients and they the Physicion , we the learners and they the Teachers , yea we their servants , and they our Guides and Rulers in the matters of our own Office .

But let us come closer to the words themselves , and consider of the Instructions which they afford us . which are these .

Doct. 1. It is but One thing that is of absolute necessity ; but it is many things that those are taken up with , that neglect that one . Doct. 2. The One thing needful leadeth to content ; but the many things of the world do trouble , and disquiet , and distract the soul . Doct. 3. All men where the Gospel is preached , have their choice whether they will seek and have the one thing necessary , or trouble and distract themselves with the many things that are unnecessary . Doct. 4. They that choose the One thing necessary , do choose the good part ; and they that choose any other , do make an evil and unhappy choice . Doct. 5. The One thing needful shall not be taken from them that choose it : but they that choose it not , shall have no better then they choose . Doct. 6. Those that make the bad unhappy choice , are apt to grudge at them that choose better , and will not think and do as they . Doct. 7. When the matter is brought before the Lord Jesus Christ , he will not take part with those that murmure at his servants choice , and speak against them ; but will commend their choice , and condemn the contrary .

All this you see lie plain here in the Text , and it is all worthy our larger consideration : But the first is like to hold me so long , that to avoid prolixity , the rest shall be but touched under that .

DOct. 1. One thing is Needful : It is one thing only that is absolutely Necessary ; but many things that men busie themselves about , that neglect this one .

In handling this , I must shew you , 1. In what respect it is that this Needful thing is said to be but One.

2. How it is that the troublesom matters of the world , are called many .

3. Whereto and how far this one thing is necessary .

4. Whether the rest are indeed unnecessary .

5. I shall assist you in the application of it to your selves , that it may reach the end to which I do intend it .

I. In what respect is the Needful thing but One ?

Which will be the easier understood , when you know what the One thing Needful is : And it is , most directly , that which is our End , To be saved , and to Please the Lord , or to Glorifie God and enjoy him in Glory for ever : Which comprehendeth or implyeth the necessary means .

And this blessed state is One , considered 1. Objectively : It is One God that we have to please , and to behold , and love , and praise for ever . 2. It is One formally : that is , It is only the souls fruition of this One God that is our End and Blessedness . And thus the End being principally meant , it is said that One thing is necessary ; though the Means may be more then One that are necessary to obtain it .

And yet even with respect unto the means , it may be said that One thing is necessary , by a General Comprehensive speech , as One containeth many parts : As to cure a sickness may be said to be the One thing needful to preserve a mans life ; when yet that cure must be done by many acts and means : The means are but One thing as denominated from their End ; even our everlasting happiness . And they are but One as denominated from their Original , they being all but the Will of God revealed in his Word for mans direction to salvation . And they are all One in the principal stock that proceedeth from this Original or root : and that is , the Lord Jesus Christ himself , who is therefore eminently called the way ; because there is no other way or means , but what standeth in a due subordination to the Redeemer as the chief means , as well as to the pure God-head as the End .

Also as all the means of Gods appointment , have a union of Nature or similitude with the End : And as Gods Image is One in all his children , so is it , in their kind and measure , in all his Ordinances and Means : They also in their kind and place are partakers of the Divine nature : The name of God is as it were written upon them , and his blessed nature legible in them .

Also the means are all but One , as all are parts of One holy frame , which most harmoniously concurr to the doing of one work : As all the wheels and other parts are but One Coach which carryeth us to our journeys end . As Christ and his Church are one Body , 1 Cor. 12. 12. So Christ and all subordinate means for the recovery and salvation of his own , are one Kingdom of God , and one way to the Father , and one salvation : I shall fullyer open it under the next head .

And now for the Negative , you may discern by what is said , 1. That here is no such unity as even in the end must confound God and man , or his glory and our salvation .

2. Nor is here any such Unity as doth confound the End and Means : no not the God-head with the man-hood of the Redeemer , much less with the inferiour kind of beings .

3. Nor is there any such Unity as doth confound all the means among themselves , and make all one ; or exclude the rest by exalting one ; but rather each one doth suppose the rest , to constitute the perfect frame . Christ doth not exclude Faith ; nor Faith ●xclude Repentance ; nor Faith and Repentance exclude Obedi●nce ; nor doth the office of one of these exclude the use and ●ffice of the rest . Publike duties exclude not private ; nor do ●rivate exclude publike : One part excludeth not another : ●eading excludeth not preaching , nor both of them praying ; ●ut their nature and use bespeaketh a conjunction ; The whole ●ody is not an eye or hand ; nor doth the Unity exclude but in●lude even the smallest members .

4. Nor is there such a Unity as excludeth difference of Degrees : ●or one means may be more necessary and excellent then another : ●nd the same person by growing doth differ from himself as he ●as before : and one will hereafter excell another in Glory , ●s now they do in holiness and faithful improvement of their ●alents .

II. Let us next lay both together ; and see how the troubling matters of the world are called [ Many ] in opposition to ●his One .

And 1. Every creature to a sensual man , is made by him in ●ome sort , his End and God : For he doth not Use it only , and ●eferr it as the godly do , to an end that is One ; but he would En●y it , and make it objectively his end it self , and so idolize it . And ●herefore though in the general notion of Delight they all ageee ; yet materially what abundance of ends and gods have carnal men ? Every sense must have its own delight : the eye must have its delight , and the appetite its delight ; and so of the rest .

2. And also these fleshly baits and pleasures are discordant even among themselves : They draw the sinner several waies ; and one of them fighteth against the other : The riches of the sensualist do usually contradict his ease ; and often his voluptuous humour : and his ambition and pride doth bridle his disgraceful lust ; and one sin will not let another have its end , but robbeth him of the poor expected fruit : And thus they do distract the sinners , and tear their very hearts in pieces ; and divide and dismember them , where God would heal them and unite them in himself . And the toilsome cares and labours by which these things must be obtained , are many , and oft contrary to each other ; and a great deal of stir it is that a deluded sinner ▪ makes to little purpose .

The summe then of both these Heads is this . The matter of a Christians Faith , and Religion , Desire , Hope and Love , is therefore called One thing , because God who is One , is the summe of all . It is but One Sun , though it hath many beams , and all these beams are nothing but the emanations of the Sun ; and have nothing but what they have from it : God is All to the Religion and the Soul of a true Believer : and therefore All to him is One : Creatures , and Duties , and Ordinances which are many , are all but One to him in God . His Faith beholdeth them , and his Affections relish them as united all in God . 1. As their spring from whom they flow . 2. And as the Life by whom they are all animated ; and as the matter and sense which they signifie and import . 3. And as their end to which they tend , and in which they all terminate and agree .

Many branches are but One Tree , and have One Stock : and many members are One body , because they are animated with One soul . Many letters , syllables and words may make One sentence ; and many leaves may make One Book , and treat but of One subject . Many actions of a Plow-man are called Plowing , and of a Weaver , Weaving , &c. as being all united in One end : I know these similies have their dissimilitude , but this is the summe ; that It is God that the Believer seeth , and seeketh , and loveth , and converseth with , and intendeth in all the Ordinances of grace , in all his duties , and in all the creatures : and in God they are united , and One thing to him . He hath nothing to do at Church , or at home , in private or publike , but live to God , and seek after the everlasting enjoyment of him . If weakness and temptation put any other business into his hands , he is so far stept out of the Christian way . In his very common labours and mercies , ( so far as he is Holy ) God is to him , the spring , the life , the sweetness , the beauty , the strength , the meaning , and the end of all , and therefore All in All.

But the creatures in the hands and use of the ungodly , ( or of the godly so far as they use them sinfully ) have no such Unity . Though in themselves they so depend on God , that none can make a separation , nor can they at all exist without him ; yet in the sense , estimation , ends and use of the ungodly , the creatures are separated from God , and are as branches cut off from the tree ; and departing from God , these men are gone from Unity , and are lost , distracted and confounded in the multitude of the creatures ; and will never have Unity till they return 〈…〉 God .

III. In the next place let us consider , What is the Necessity ●…t is here spoken of , and How far this One thing is Necessary 〈…〉 .

And 1. One thing is Necessary Morally [ for it self ] which ●…ur ultimate end : When other things are Necessary but [ for ●…t . ]

2. Comprehensively of the Means we may say , that One thing , ●…t is , Sanctification , is Necessary to the Pleasing of God ; which ●…o be regarded , 1. As the end of Obedience , and 2. As the end 〈…〉 Love : by the obedient soul in way of duty ; and by the loving ●…l devoted to God , as its Delight .

The world hath many contrary Masters , and therefore hath ●…ny things to do to please them ; and when they have done ●…ir best , they cannot please them all , but may leave more dis●…ased then they please : For those that they must please , expect 〈…〉 possibilities ; and many a single person perhaps may look for 〈…〉 much as you can give to all : And they have such contrary ●…rests , which you must serve if you will please them ; and con●…y minds which you must humour , that the same things that 〈…〉 expects to please him , will vehemently displease another ; and ●…rhaps the more displease the other , because it is pleasing to ●…t one .

And our selves have our contrarieties in our selves , and are as ●…rd to be pleased by others or our selves . We have our sensual ●…sires which are unreasonable and inordinate , unseasonable and ●…portunate , and will take no Nay . A sensual , covetous , ambi●…ous fantasie , is a bottomless vessel : Your pouring in doth no ●…hit fill it : It is a devouring gulf ; a consuming ( that I say ●…ot an unquenchable ) fire : Like the horse-leech it cryeth , ●…ive , Give , and the more you give , the more it craveth , and is ●…ever less satisfied , then when it hath glutted it self with that ●…rom which it seeketh satisfaction ▪

But God is One , and with this One thing is he pleased ; even with a Holy heart and life : He hath no contradictory interests or assertions : and therefore hath no contradictory ▪ commands ▪ ●hat which must please him , must be suitable to his blessed nature ▪ He is infinite in Wisdom , and therefore hath no pleasure in fools , that bring him sacrifice , and refuse obedience , and know not that they do evil , Eccles. 5. 1. and have not the wit to know what they do , and whom they speak to ; and to know that which only is worth the knowing : How often do we read him rejecting the sacrifice of the wicked , and casting their costliest offerings in their faces , as things that he abhorreth , when they come to him without that humble , loving , and obedient heart , which he requireth ! Psalm 50. 8 , &c. Isa. 1. 11 , 12. to ver . 20. Their oblations are v●in , the multitude of their sacrifie is to no purpose , and incense is an abomination to him ; their Feasts and Sabboth● his soul hateth , they are a trouble to him , he cannot bear them , if they come without the One thing necessary . Without this he careth not for their fastings , or formalities , Isa. 58. 5. It is not thousands of rams , or ten thousand rivers of oyle , nor the fruit of their body , if they would give it for the sin of their soul , that he will accept : But he hath shewed thee O man what is good : and what doth the Lord require of thee , but to do justly , and love mercy , and walk humbly with thy God ? Mic. 6. 7 , 8. The conclusion of the whole matter is this ; Fear God and keep his commandments : for this is the whole duty of man , Eccles. 12. 13.

You are never the better beloved of God for being Rich , or honourable in the world , nor yet because you are poor , or in a mean condition , nor because you are sick or well , weak or strong ▪ comely or uncomely ; but because you Love him through his Son , and Believe in him whom the Father hath sent , John 16. 27. Without faith it is impossible to please God : Heb. 11. 6. The new man must be put on , which is renewed in knowledge , after the Image of him that created him , where there is neither Greek , ●●r few . Barbarian , Scythian , bond nor free , but Christ is all and in all , ] Col. 3. 10 , 11. [ For in Christ Jesus circumcision avail●th nothing , nor uncircumcision , but a New Creature , and Faith that works by Love , and the keeping of the commands of God , Gal. 5. 6. & 6. 15. 1 Cor. 7. 19.

This One thing ( even Godllness which is profitable to all things ) is necessary in us , ( supposing the necessaries in Christ ) to render us acceptable to the Holy God : and without this all the accomplishments imaginable , will make us but as sounding brass , or as a tinkling Cymbal , 1 Cor. 13. 1.

3. One thing is needfull to the saving of our souls ; without which all things else are vain . There are many wayes to Hell ▪ but to Heaven there is but One : There are a thousand wayes to delude and blind a soul , but only one for its true and saving illumination . Erroneous Sectaries are blinded in some particular points , by the seducing words of men : And ungodly sensualists are blinded in the main , and damnably err from the necessary practical doctrines of salvation , being deceived by the inclination of their own concupiscence : Errors are multifarious ; and abound even in many that inveigh most fiercely against the erroneous : But Truth is simple ; We have One Teacher to instruct us ; One Spirit to enlighten us , One Word of God to be our Rule ; One Light to guide us through all the darkness and mazes of the world , and recover our deluded darkened minds . Thousands are ready to draw us away from God ; Temptations lye thick on every hand ; Within us , and without us ; before us and on each side : Which way can you look or go , but you will meet with baits and snares ? And if Eve be once deceived , Adam is the easilier overcome . When the appetite and senses are ensnared by their objects , and the imagination corrupted , the understanding is in danger of deceit . You may go into an Hospital , and see variety of diseases : but Health is one and the same : One hath the pestilence , and another hath the leprosie , and another a palsie , and another is distracted : but among a thousand people in Health , you see no such difference : Health only is formally the cure of all .

What abundance of miserable sinners be in the world , that are almost at Hell already ? But only one sort of men , even the regenerate , are rescued by grace , and shall be saved from it . Many inventions have men found out for their destruction ; but there is no way but by Christ , through faith and holiness , to their salvation . Set as light by Christ and Holiness as you will , and deride it as foolishly and perversly as you please , you will find at last , that this way or none must bring you to Heaven . Either ignorance , or pride , or covetousness , or malice , or gluttony , or drunkenness , or voluptuousness or lust , or any one sin of an hundred may be your ruine : But there is only One salve to heal these sores ; and only one cordiall or antidote that can expell these several sorts of poison from your hearts : Godliness is profitable to all things , 1 Tim. 4. 8.

Drudge for the world as long as you will , and gape after honour and applause from men , and try a thousand wayes for your content ; but when you have all done , you must return by sound Repentance into the way of holiness , or you are lost for ever . When you have slighted grace , you must give up your selves to the power of that grace : When you have set light by a life of holy Love to God , and the fruition of him in Glory , you must make it your treasure and delight , and your hearts must be upon it , or you are undone : Matth. 6. 21. When you have made a jeast of a Holy life , you must come about , and take your selves that course that you jeasted at , though you be as much jeasted at by others ; yea , and make it the principal business of your lives , or perish in hell under the vengeance of the Almighty , whose justice you provoked , and whose mercy you neglected : Choose you whether , but one of them will be your part . Even as Saul that was exceeding mad against Believers , and persecuted them even to strange Cities , Acts 26. 10 , 11. was glad to become one of them himself though he suffered as much as he had caused them to suffer ; and accounted it the greatest mercy of his life , that God vouchafed him such a change , what ever it cost him .

IV. Quest . But is nothing necessary but this One ? Are not other things also Needfull in their places ?

Answ. I told you that other things are not other , so far as they stand in due subordination to this one , or are the parts of it : He that saith to a sick man , [ You would do well if you had such a skilfull man for your Physicion ] doth not by these words intend to exclude his Apothecary , or his medicines , or the taking of them , or the instruments and means by which they are applyed ; but rather includeth and implyeth all these in the One thing mentioned to which they do subserve . So all Gods graces , and all the means of grace , and Christian duties , are contained or implyed in the One thing Necessary , or supposed to it . Because it is One thing that is necessary as the End , therefore many means are necessary to the obtaining of it : Though there be also a kind of unity ( as hath been shewed ) among those means .

Quest. But are not outward things also necessary : Must we not have food and rayment ? and must we not labour and provide it , and take care for our families , and follow our callings ? Must we not by lawfull means avoid reproach and poverty in the world ?

Answ. In the way of Duty it is as necessary that we labour in our callings , and provide things honest , and subserve Gods providence for the maintenance of our selves and others ; And the things of this life and Needful so far as Life is needful , that we may have Time and strength to do our works , and be supported while we seek the One thing needful . But that which is not Necessary for it self , but for another thing , is not simply or principally Necessary . So far as Heaven may be obtained , and the work of Christianity done without the accommodations of the flesh , so far these worldly things are needless . There is no Necessity that you be Rich or Honourable , or that you live in Health or Wealth ; or that you escape the hatred , and reproach , and trouble of a malicious world : There is no Necessity that you should save your lives when Christ requireth them : For he that so saveth his life , shall lose it , Matth. 16. 25. And that Usefulness ( which you may in a lower sense call Necessity ) that any of these things are of , is but in their respect to the One thing Necessary , as they are sanctified means to the service of God and our salvation : If your daily bread be to be called Necessary , it is not for it self , or for your fl●shly pleasure , nor ultimately for your life it self ; but to sustain your life while you are seeking after life eternal , and serving him that is the Lord of life : Your Credit , or Honour , or Pleasure in the world , are no further Necessary or Usefull to you , then they promote this great End for your selves or others : Nothing but God is simply Necessary for himself , and Nothing else is any way truly Necessary but for him .

And therefore as by Necessity of precept you must labour in your Callings , and seek provision for your selves and families , you must most carefully watch your Hearts that your desires and labours be not carnal , as tending only to carnal ends ; ●ut that you sincerely subject the things desired , to the One thing necessary , for which you must desire them ; and therefore that you desire but such measures and proportions as are most suitable to that End which is only for it self desireable : Even life it self must not be desired simply and ultimately for it self .

As you must pray but for your daily bread , and be content with food and rayment , so you must see , that these be but for better things ; even in order to the doing of the Will of God , the promoting of his Kingdom , and the Hallowing of his Name , which must be first and most desired . The order of your duty is , to seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness , and then other things are promised with it , Matth. 6. 33. and therefore for it , must be desired and sought .

And if your very food and life must be desired but for this everlasting End , then it is still but one thing that is necessary , and finally to be desired . For the Means is willed but with an imperfect willing , because not for it self ; and that only hath our full and perfect Love , which is Loved for it self : Even in the act of Love unto the Means , it is more properly the End that is Loved then the Means , and the Means is chosen for that End . So that you see that for all the necessity of creatures , and of diligence in our Callings , the truth is still clear , that it is only One thing that is truly Necessary .

Use .

THE understandidg is the subservient faculty , to let in that light , which may by direction and excitation , guide the will : Having shewed you the Truth , I am next to shew you how you may improve it , and so to apply it , as may best help you to apply it to your selves .

And if I should here fall upon things impertinent , or make it my work to claw your ears , or exalt my self in your esteem , by an unseasonable ostentation of learning or eloquence , or carry on any such corrupt design , while I should faithfully do the work of God , my Text it self would openly condemn me . If One thing be needful , it is that One that I must do my self , while I am exhorting you to do it : And woe be to me , if I should lay by that , to do any other unnecessary work , even to fish for the applause of Carnal wits , while my very subject is the Reproofs of Christ against a much more tolerable error .

And as to the manner of my admonition , if One thing be needful , I hope you will allow me to be as plain and serious as I can , about this One : And my first address to you shall be for tryall .

And I shall make it now my earnest request to you , that you ●ill bethink you how much you are concerned , to compare your ●arts and lives with this passage , and judge your selves by the Word of God that is now before you : And for your own sakes ●● it seriously and faithfully , as passengers that are hasting to the ●●eat Assize . What say your Consciences , Sirs , to this Question ? Have you indeed lived in the world as men that believe that One thing is necessary ? Hath this One had your chiefest care and labour , and have you chosen rather to neglect all other things then ●is ? Look behind you , and judge of the course that you have taken by the light of this one text . I do not ask you Whether you have heard that One thing is Necessary : nor whether you have talked of it , and confessed it to be true : nor whether you have been called Christians by your selves and others , and have come to Church , and forborn those sins that would have most ●●emished your honour in the world : This is nothing to the question : Thus many thousands do , that were never acquainted with the One thing Necessary . Nor do I ask you , Whether you have used to allow God half an hours lip-service or formal ●rowsie prayer at night , when you have served the world and ●●esh all day ? Nor whether you have been Religious on the by , and given God some lean devotion which cost you little , and which your flesh can spare without any great diminution or de●iment in its ease , and honour , and profit , and sensual delights : Nor whether you run to some kinde of duties of Religion , to make all whole , when you come from wilful reigning sin ; and so make Religion a fortress to your lusts , to quiet your Consciences while you serve the flesh : I confess such a kind of Religioussess as this , the world is acquained with : But this is unanswerable to the Rule before us .

But the question is , Whether this One thing hath been the Treasure and Jewel of your estimation ; the darling of your affections ; the prize of your most diligent endeavours , and the only felicity of your souls ?

Sirs , as lightly as you hear this question now , you will One day find that your lives , yea your salvation lyeth upon your answer to it . Can you say truly , as before the searcher of hearts , that it is he that hath had your hearts ? That this One thing hath been more esteemed by you , than all the world besides ? That other things have all stooped unto this One , and served under it ? And that this hath had the stream of your heartiest affections , and the drift of your endeavours , and hath been the matter that you have had first to do , and the thing for which you have lived in the world ?

If this be not so , never talk of your Christianity for shame : Your Religion is vain , if this be not your Religion . Alas I know that we have all of us yet too much of the flesh , and are too cold in our affections , and too slow and uneven in our endeavours for our end : But yet for all that I must still tell you , ( as I have often done because it is necessary ) that here lyeth the difference between the truly sanctified soul , and all the hypocrites and half-Christians in the world : [ Every true Christian is devoted unto God , and hath made an hearty and absolute resignation of himself and all that he hath unto him ; and therefore loveth him with his superlative , most appretiative love , and serveth him with the best he hath , and thinks nothing too good or too dear for God , and for the attainment of his everlasting Rest : Christ hath the chiefest room in his heart , and the bent and drift of his life is for him : He studyeth how he may best serve and please him with his time , his interest , and all that he hath : and if he fall , as it is contrary to the habitual resolution of his soul , and contrary to the scope and current of his heart and life , so he riseth again by repentance with sorrow for his sin , and loathing of himself , and sincerely endeavours to amend , and goeth on resolvedly in his holy course . ] This is the state of every one that is in a state of life .

But for all hypocrites and half-Christians , their case is otherwise : The world and flesh is dearest to them , and highest in their practical estimation , though not in their speculative : and it hath their highest affections of Love and Delight , and the very bent and stream of heart and life , while God is served heartlesly on the by , for fear lest they be damned , when they can enjoy the world and sin no longer , and is put off with the leavings of the flesh , and hath no more of their hearts , their tongues , their time , their wealth , then it can spare : They ask their flesh how far they shall be Religious , and will go no further then will stand with their prosperity in the world : With the first and best they serve the flesh , and with the cheapest and the refuse they serve the Lord : When they go highest in their out-side carnal Religiousness , they go not beyond this hypocritical reserved state ; ( and usually , as Cain , they hate Abel for offering a more acceptable sacrifice ) : God must take up with this from them , or ●● without : They alway serve him with this reserve , though it 〈…〉 not alwayes explicite and discerned by them , [ Provided that ●● may go well with me in the world , and ▪ I may have some competent proportion of honour , profit or pleasure , and Religion may not ●●ose me to be undone : ] If God will not take them on these 〈…〉 , ( as most certainly he never will ) he must go look him ●●●er servants : and so he will ; and make them know at last 〈…〉 their sorrow , that he needed not their service , but it was 〈…〉 that needed him , and the benefits of his service .

I thought meet ( though I have done it oft before ) to give ●●● this difference between the Hypocrite and the sincere : And ●●w it is my earnest request unto you all , that you will presently ●● your souls to an account , and know which of these two ●●rses you have taken ; and which of these two is your own ●●ondition .

If nature had made you such strangers to your selves , as that 〈…〉 were unable to answer such a question , I would never trouble 〈…〉 with it : but I suppose by faithful enquiry , you may know 〈…〉 much of your selves , if you are but willing . You know where it is that you have dwelt , and what it is that you have been ●●●ng in the world , and you can review the actions of your lives , though they have been of smaller consequence . Why then may 〈…〉 not quickly know if you will , so great a thing , as What hath ●● the very End and Business for which you have lived in the ●●rld till now ? Have you been running so long , and know not ●● what is the prize that you have run for ? Have you forgot the ●● and that you have been so long going on ? Have you been ●●sie all your daies till now , and know not about what or why ? ●ertainly this is a thing that may be known , if you are willing and ●igent to know it : It is for one of these two that you have , ●●ed ; for the world , or for God : To please your flesh , or to ●ease God and be saved : Either to make provision for Earth or ●raven : Which of these is it ? Deal plainly with your selves , ●or your salvation is deeply concerned in the account .

Perhaps you will say , that It was for both : for as you have a soul and a body , so you must look to both : Yea , but so as one ●●at knoweth , that One thing is Needful : As your body is but ●●e prison , the case , the servant of your souls ; so it must be pro●●ded for and used but as a servant , and maintained only in a fit●ess for its work : But the question is , Which of them hath had the preheminence ? Which hath had the life of your affections and endeavours ? Which of them was your end ? and about which hath been the chief business that you have most carefully and diligently carryed on ? This is the great question .

You cannot have two masters , though you may have many instruments and fellow-servants : You cannot acceptably serve God , if you serve Mammon : Every wicked man may do somthing in Religion , and every good man may do something that is contrary to Religion : A carnal man may do something for God , and for his soul ; and a spiritual man ought to do something subordinately for his body , and too often , alas , doth something for it inordinately : But which bears the sway ? and which is first sought ? and which comes behind , and hath but the leavings of the other ?

Be not deceived : God is not mocked : Whatsoever a man soweth , that shall he reap : If you sow to the flesh , of the flesh you shall reap corruption : but if you sow to the spirit , of the spirit you shall reap everlasting life : Gal. 6. 7 , 8. Love not the world , nor the things that are in the world ( for themselves ) : for if any man love the world , ( with his chiefest Love ) the Love of the Father is not in him , 1 John 2. 15. Is it not a wonder that any reasonable man can be such a stranger to himself , as not to know what he lives for , and what hath had his heart , and what hath been the principal business of his life ? Some by-matters you may easily forget or over-look : but can you do so by your end , which hath been your chiefest care and business ?

If indeed you no more know your own minds , nor what you have all this while been doing in the world , ask those that you have conversed with ; ▪ and judge by the effects and signs : Others can tell what you have most seriously talked of : They may conjecture by their observation , what you have most carefully sought , and resolutely adhered to . Whether it be God or the flesh ; this world or Heaven ? The One thing Needful , or the many troubling trifles in your way : It is like that wise and godly observers can help you to discern it ; though sensualists will but deceive you .

A mans Love , at least his chiefest Love , cannot be hid , but will appear in his behaviour : If you Love God above the world , you will seek him and his Glory before the world : and if you do so , it may partly be discerned , if you have conversed with discerning men : Heaven and earth are not so like , nor the way to each of them so like , but it may partly be discerned which way men are going , and what they drive at in their daily course .

But I will urge you no further to the tryal : I will take it for granted that your Consciences are telling many of you , that you have been troubled about many things , while the One thing Needful hath been neglected : And if indeed this be your case , suffer me to tell the guilty plainly , what it is that they have done .

1. Whatever you have been doing in the world , you have lost your Time , if you have not been seeking the One thing necessary . If you have been gathering riches , or growing up in honour as the rush groweth in the mire , ( Job 8. 11. ) or filling your purses or your barnes , or pleasing your fantasies and flesh ; you have but fooled away your time , and done just nothing , and much worse : Nothing is done , if the One thing Necessary be undone Believe it , Time is a precious thing , and ought not to have been thus cast away . When you come to the end of it , the worst and proudest of you shall confess it is precious . Then O for one year more ! O for a few daies or hours more , to make sure of this One thing , which you should have spent your lives in making sure of . Will you then think thus , and yet can you now afford to cast away twenty or thirty years upon Nothing ? If Time be worth Nothing , your Lives are worth Nothing : And why should a man desire to Live for Nothing ? You Love your lives too much , and yet will you so contemptuously cast them away ? He hath lost his life , who hath lost the End of his life . The loss of an hundred pound in money is not ( to your selves ) so great a loss , as the loss of a dayes or hours time . What then is the loss of so many years ? Did you ever well consider of this ? If you live a thousand years , it is all lost , if you have not spent it in making sure of the One thing Necessary . For is not that lost , and worse a thousand times then lost ; that is spent in crossing the End that it is given for ? and which is no comfort , but terrour in the review , and which leaveth no fruit , but grief and disappointment ? Let me tell you , if you hold on thus unto the end , you will wish and wish a thousand times , either that you had never had an hours time , or else that you had had hearts , to have better perceived the worth and use of it , then to cast it away as you have done upon nothing . It is but One thing that is worth your Time and Lives .

2. Whatsoever else you have been doing , you have lost all your Labour with your Time , if this One thing Needful have been neglected . No doubt you have been busie since you came into the world , but to little purpose . You might as well have been idle , as so laboriously doing nothing . No doubt many a journey you have rode and gone , and many a hard daies labour you have taken , and sharpened perhaps with care and grief : But you have lost it all , if it were an hundred times more , if it have not been ●aid out upon the One thing necessary .

And is it not a pittiful thing that men of reason , should vex themselves , and coil their bodies , and suffer hunger , and thirst , and weariness , and make such a stir and pudder in the world , and all for nothing , and in a vain shew ? How many mornings have you risen to your labour , and how many dayes and years have you spent in it , and now it is all lost ? How many thoughts and fears , and cares , have possessed and pestred your minds , and now they are all lost ? Some of you have followed your trades , and some your husbandry , and some have run up and down after recreations : some of you have been scraping riches , and some contriving to keep up their reputation , and some to satisfie their appetites , and live in pleasure and contentment to the flesh ; and now look back upon all that you have done and gotten , and tell your selves whether all this be not lost , yea alas much worse then lost : If you be not ready to pass this conclusion at the very heart , it is because your hearts are yet blinded and hardened in sin ; but God will soon bring that to your hearts , that shall convince you of it . If God have made use of any worldly sensual person of you , for publick good , of Church or state , as men do of thorns for hedging to their lands , or of bryars to stop a gap , or of fire-wood to warm their family ; yet as to any durable benefit to your selves , I may well say that all your Labour is lost .

And this is not all ; but the pains also that you have taken in your formal hypocritical Religion , your hearing , reading , receiving Sacraments , and pretended prayer , all the thoughts that ever you had of death , and judgement , and the life to come , and all that you have done with reservations and by halves for your own salvation , this also is all lost : Except as a less measure of misery may go for gain . If you miss of the One thing necessary , you do but lose your labour , whatever else you seem to gain .

A great stir you make in seeking for preferment , or dominion over others , or about your lands , your honours or your delights ; so great that your neighbours can scarce live quietly by you ; and the Kingdom cannot be quiet for some of you , nor your own consciences be quiet within you for the desperate work that you engage them in , which they know must be heard of another day : And when all is done , you will find you have been but hunting of a feather : You would see this now if God would open your eyes by grace : but if you miss of so seasonable an information , you will see it too late in the land of darkness : When death hath opened your eyes , and your impenitent souls do suddenly awake in another world , you will understand that you made all this stir but in your sleep : As busily and seriously as you acted the parts of Lords and Ladies , of Gentlemen , Tradesmen , or Husbandmen in the world , if you did not seriously and first do the work of true Believers for the world to come , you will then find too late that your labour is lost , and all was acted but as in a dream .

Do you believe this now , or do you not ? If you do , will you yet go on ? If you do not believe it , shew me now what you have gotten by all the stir that you have made in the world , that will follow you one step further then the grave , and that you can say shall be your own to morrow ? If you were to die this hour , will it be any lasting comfort to you , that you have laboured to be Rich or Honourable , or that you have attained it ? or that you had your glut of sensual delights ; and a merry life as to the fleshly pleasure as long as it would last ? Will you dye the more comfortably for any of this ? or much the less ? That yet you are alive , is the great mercy of God , and not to be ascribed to any of these : And when you cease to live , then these will be your greif and torment .

Beloved Hearers , I have no desire the Lord knows to discompose your minds , or to disquiet you with any molesting unnecessary scruples ; nor causelesly to dishonour either you or your imployments : But I must needs say , that it is a dolefull case , that men in their wits , should spend a life of precious time , and also a great deal of care and labour , in doing ▪ Nothing , and much worse then Nothing , when they have a work of everlasting consequence to do , and they know that the Devils chiefest hopes do consist in the success of these diversions ! I must seriously profess to you , that I am constrained by the word and teachings of God , and by undenyable reason it self , to look upon all the labour of your lives , the highest , and the busiest , but as the picking of straws , or playing with a feather , or riding upon a staff or a hobby-horse , or such like actions as children , fools or mad men use , as long as you mind not , and seek not after the One thing necessary . What ever they may be to others , they are no wiser or better to your selves : This is my judgement ; yea , this is the judgement of the Spirit of God : Phil. 3. 8. If Paul was not mistaken , your gain it self is to be accounted Loss , and all but dung in comparison of the knowing and winning of Christ , that you might be found in him , and have his righteousness : Think not the name of dung too base , when God himself hath written it here upon your highest endowments and honours , by his Spirit . And indeed what will they all do more then dung to procure you the favour of God , or the pardon of your sins ? If you offer him gold , will it do any more then if you offered him so much dirt ? Is not the prayer of a beggar heard as soon as of a Lord or Gentleman ? If they would do any thing to buy you peace of Conscience , or everlasting life , or if they would but keep you alive on earth , I should not marvail at your course : But when they will do none of this , but make your way to Heaven more difficult , yea , your salvation a thing impossible while you thus live after the flesh ( Rom. 8. 13. ) how then can any easier sentence be past upon your choice ? Be you the Greatest or the Wisest in your own esteem , or in the esteem of others of your mind , I believe , yea , I am sure , that you are all this while but laboriously idle , and honourably debasing your selves , and delightfully tormenting your selves , and wisely befooling your selves , and thriftily undoing your selves for ever . I have reason to say that your rising and honourable and voluptuous imployments , are not only like childrens playing in the sand , and making them houses with sticks and stones : but so much more pitifull , as the reason which you abuse exceedeth theirs . And could you all attain to be Lords and Ladies , I should look upon you but as a King or Queen upon a Chess-board , as to any felicity that it bringeth to your selves ; whatsoever use the over-ruling providence of God may make of you for his Churches . The wise Merchant is he that seeking pearls doth find this One of greatest price , and selleth all that he hath and buyeth it ; even all the worldly treasures which you so highly value : Mat. 13 ▪ 45 ▪ 46. There is more true Riches in this One pearl then in a thousand loads of sand or dirt . If you will load your selves with mire and clay conceiting it to be your treasure , your backs will be broken before you will have enough to make you rich .

O Sirs , with what eyes , with what hearts do you use to read such passages of Christ that speak so plainly to you , as if he named you , and so piercingly as one would think should make you feel , Luke 12. 19 , 20 , 21. Soul , thou hast much goods laid up for many years ; take thine ease , eat , drink , and be merry : But God said to him , Thou fool , this night shall thy soul be required of thee ; and then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ? so is he that layeth up treasure for himself , and is not rich towards God . ] Would you have Christ speak plainer to to you : or closelyer apply it , that you may perceive he speaks to you ? You have lost all the Labour of your lives ; but that 's not all .

3. But furthermore consider , that if the One thing needfull have been neglected , whatever else you have been doing , or whatever you have got , ( unless as preparatory to this ) you have not only lost your labour , but you have all this while been busily undoing your selves , and labouring for your own perdition .

If it were but the loss of your Time and Labour , you would then die but as brutes , and be as if you had never been : and to those that have brutified themselves , this will seem more tolerable , then to live in holiness to God : But alas , you have done much worse then this ; You have not only been digging your own graves , but barring up against your selves the doors of heaven , and kindling the unquenchable fire to torment you ; Mar. 9. 44.

I beseech you give me a considerate hearing , you ambitious Gentlemen , you covetous worldlings , and you that serve your lusts and pleasures ! Do you think you had been doing the the work of wisemen , if you had all this while been burning your own fingers , or cutting your own flesh , or setting your own or your neighbours houses on fire ? What would you have us call that man that would live in such imployments as these , and yet would be accounted wise or honourable ? Do I need to tell thee , as Nathan did David , that [ Thou art the man ? ] Do I need in so plain a case to tell you , that you have been doing worse , ( I speak not rashly ) a thousand times worse , against your souls , then this would have been which is supposed to be only against your bodies ! Alas self-destroyers , what do you mean ? Did God send you hither on no better an errand than to kindle and blow the fire of his wrath , and fall into it when you have kindled it ? Have you no better work in the world to do , then to prepare your selves a place in hell ? and with a great deal of care , and cost , and stir , to labour for damnation , as if you were afraid of losing it ?

I know you will say , [ God forbid , we hope better , we intend no such thing ] But alas the question is not , What you intend , but what you are doing ? Not whether it be your desire that everlasting death should be the wages of sin , but whether it be the Law and unchangeable will of God ? Rom. 6. 23. If you seek not first Gods Kingdom and his righteousness , and look not after the One thing needful , with your chiefest Estimation , Resolution , and Endeavours , as sure as Christ is true , this will prove your case at last , though now you wink , and wilfully go on , and will not believe it : As sure as the Gospel is true , this is true . There are but two Ends , Heaven and Hell ; and if you miss the former , you fall into the latter . If you live after the flesh , you shall die , whatever you imagine : and you must mortifie the deeds of the flesh by the spirit , if you will live , Rom. 8. 13. If you see a man cutting his own threat , and you ask him , [ What are you doing man ! will you kill your self ? ] and he answereth you , No , God forbid ; I have no such meaning ; I will hope better ] . Would you think that this would save his life ? or that his hopes and meanings would prove him ever the wiser man ? I tell you from the Word of God , it is one of the plainest truths that is there contained , that if you value not , choose not , and seek not the One thing Needful above all other things whatsoever , you are all this while but sowing the seeds of endless misery , whose fruit you must reap in outer darkness , where will be weeping , and wailing , and gnashing of teeth , Mat. 13. 42 , 50. You are treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath , and the revelation of the righteous judgement of God , who will give to every man according to his works , Rom. 2. 5 , 6. You are sowing in pleasure to the flesh , in eating , and drinking , and mirth , and honour : but you shall reap in corruption , lamentation and woe . Gal. 6. 7 , 8. For woe to you that now laugh , for you shall mourn and weep : Woe to you that are rich ( and have no better , but want the everlasting riches ) , for you have received your conselation : Woe to you that are full , ( and yet are empty of Christ and grace ) for you shall hunger , Luke 6. 24 , 25. These are the words of Christ himself ; and therefore true if Christ be true .

Yea more then this , let me have leave to tell you , ( for why should I not tell you of your greatest folly , and that which is necessary for you to know ? ) As long as you neglect the One thing necessary , you are acting the part of the most deadly enemies against your selves . No enemy that you have in all the world , could do that against you , as you do against your selves . You abhorr the Devil ; and I blame you not ; for his malice and enmity deserveth it : But you do much worse against your selves then the Devil himself could ever do . To tempt you to sin is not so much as to Consent to it and commit it . He can but entice you , and not constrain you : It is you that are the neglecters of your Maker and Redeemer , and the wilful rejecters of your own felicity : Satan doth bad enough against you by temptation ; but you do worse by yielding and sinning ; much worse then all the Devils in hell could do against you . For God hath not given all of them so much power over you , as he hath given you over your selves .

Lord , what a distracted case is the ungodly world in ! They hate any man else that they do but imagine is their enemy ! Though he do but diminish their worldly wealth or honour , they cannot forgive him : If a man give one of them a box on the ear , he cannot bear it : And as for the Devil , who is the common enemy , they spit at his name , and ( think they ) bless themselves from him : And yet these same men do spend all their care , and time , and labour , in doing more against themselves , then all their enemies could do in earth or hell : and are worse then Devils to themselves ; and yet they never fall out with themselves for it ; but can forgive themselves as easily as if they did themselves no harm .

This is true , too true Sirs , as harsh as it seemeth to your ears ; And if it displease you to hear of it , bethink your selves what it is to do it ; and how God and all wise men must judge of you that have no more mercy on your selves : Certainly it is much worse to do it , then to tell you what you do . God tells men of their sin , and God doth nothing but what is good ; but it is themselves only that commit it : I beseech you do but understand what you are doing , as long as the One thing necessary is neglected by you .

4. Consider also , that whatsoever else you have been doing in the world , if you have not done the One thing needful , you have unman'd your selves , and lived below your Reason , and in plain English , you have lived as be sides your wits .

I give you no harder language then God himself hath frequently given you in his Word , and then you will shortly give your selves , if you repent not ; yea and sooner if you do repent . If you have ( in this ) the use of your Reason , you must needs know what you have your Reason for : And I beseech you tell me for what you have it , if not to serve and please your Maker , and prepare for your everlasting state ? Is it only that you may know how to plow and sow , and follow your trades and pleasure in the world , and satisfie your flesh a little while , and then die as the beasts that perish ? None of you , I suppose , will say so , that calls himself a Christian : If God had made you for no higher things then beasts , he would have given you no higher faculties and endowments . As they be not made to enjoy God , so they have no knowledge of him : he sendeth not his Word to them , and calleth them not to learn the knowledge of his will : But you know , or may know , that there is a God , and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him ; and are capable of Loving him , intending him , and serving him , and therefore of enjoying him : Beasts are not ruled by the hopes and fears of a life after this : For their nature and end do not require it . But men must be thus ruled , or else there can be no sufficient ruling of them , in an ordinary way : Which shews that the Nature of man is capable of the things which are the matter of their hopes and fears .

Verily Sirs , I think , as to any good that cometh by it , there is very little difference between having Reason , and having none , if we had nothing to do with it , but cunningly to lay up our food , and make provision for this corruptible flesh , and had not another life to mind . It were no such great difference , in my opinion , as it commonly goes for , whether we were men or dogs , if it were only for the matters of this transitory life . For though I may not deny but yet man were the nobler creature , yet alas the difference would be but graduall and small , as an Ape or Dog excells a Swine : And as to his Happiness , it is doubtful whether Man would not have the worst of it . For as brutes have not mans knowledge , so they have not his toil and trouble of mind , his care , and fear , and griefs , and disappointments : Nor have they so terrible fore-thoughts of death through all their lives , as man must have , much less such fears of what would follow after death .

And therefore I may boldly say , that you have thrown away your wits , and laid by your Reason as to the principal use of it , if you have forgot , or have not chiefly sought the One thing necessary . Where were your wits when a lump of flesh was preferred before immortal souls ? and when the trouble and dung of a transitory world , was more esteemed then God and endless Glory ? Where were your wits when you might have had Christ , and Life in him , and his pardoning , healing , sanctifying grace , and you had no mind of him , and were not sensible of your necessity , and past him by with as much neglect , as if you could have been saved without him ? When you might long ago have made sure of Heaven ; and now you are even ready to drop into Hell , and stay but for a Feaver , or Consumption , or some other disease to cut the thred , and turn the key , unless a speedy sound conversion shall yet prevent it . What have you done in all your life-time , that should make a wise man judge you Reasonable ? Is that your Reason to be penny wise and pound foolish ; to be wise to do evil , and to have no knowledge to do good ? Jerem. 4. 22. To run up and down for I know not what , and to leave that undone that you were created and redeemed for ? Can you think that it is Reasonable to make such ado for the air of dying mens applause , and to be well thought of , or to live like Gentlemen , or to the contentment of a fleshly mind , when you know that you are just ready to pass out of this world into an endless life of Joy or Torment , ( yea certainly of torment , if you thus hold on ) ? Where all these things will afford you no relief or benefit ; but the memory of your course will be the fuell of your misery : Can that man be wise that damns his soul ? Can he deserve the name of a sober man , that will sell his salvation for so short , so small , so filthy a pleasure as sin affordeth ? Is he worthy the name or reputation of a wise man , that hath not wit enough to scape eternal fire ? nor wit enough to forbear laying hands upon himself , and doing all this against his own soul ? What think you , is not the case here plain enough ?

Be not offended if I speak yet plainlyer to you ; for in a case so lamentable , how can we be too plain or serious ? Suppose you knew a Prince or Lord , that had an itch upon him , which the Physicion offereth speedily and easily to cure ; but he hath so much pleasure in scratching , that he doth not only refuse the cure , lest it deprive him of his delight , but he will give his Kingdom or Lordship to one that will scratch him but a little while , though he be sure to live a beggar after it all his dayes . I put it to your selves , What name you would give this man , or what esteem you would have of him : Do you think that any ungodly worldly person is wiser than this man ? Alas their case is so much worse , that there is no comparison : They are more foolish then your hearts can now conceive , or then I am able fully to express . You have now the itch of Pride and Lust ; and your throats must be pleased in your meats , and drinks ; and you itch after riches , and honour , and recreations ; and Christ telleth you by his Word , that these are but your sick desires , and that the pleasing of them tends to kill you ; and he offereth you for nothing , a safe , and certain , and speedy cure : But you refuse it , and will not hearken to him : You must be scratcht whatever it cost you : You must have your riches , and honour , and fleshly pleasure , as the felicity which you cannot part with , though it cost you your salvation . Though God be neglected , and his favour lost , and your souls be lost , and the One thing needful cast aside , you must have your carnal imaginations gratified : And is this your wisdom ? The Lord bless us from such a kind of wisdom .

Yet this is not the worst : I will shew you one strain more of the distraction of the ungodly world . If these men do but see one person of an hundred that are more diligent for Heaven then earth , to fall into Melancholy , or distress of soul ; or suppose it were into some loss of reason ; they presently cry out against Religion , and strictness , and preciseness , and making so much ado to be saved ; and say it is the way to make men mad : Hence comes the proverb of the Papists [ Spiritus Calvinianus est spiritus melancholicus ] ; and of the prophane among our selves , that [ A Puritane is a Protestant frightned out of his wits ] : They dare not study the Scripture so much , nor meddle with such high matters as their salvation , nor be so godly , nor meditate on the world to come , lest it should drive them out of their wits . O miserable men ! As if it were possible for you to be more dangerously mad , then you are already ! ( Unless by growing unto greater wickedness ! ) Do you lay out your wit , and strength , and time , in feeding a corruptible body for the grave , and spend your lives in running after your own shaddows , while your everlasting life is forgotten or neglected ! Do you sell your Saviour with Judas for a little money ; and change your part in God and Glory , for the brutish pleasures of sin for a season ? And are you afraid of altering this course of life , and turning to God , lest it should make you mad ? Lord , what a besotting thing is sin ! What a cunning cheater is the Devil ! What a deluded distracted sort of people are the ungodly ? Will you run from God , from Christ , from Grace , from mercy , from Scripture , from the godly , and from Heaven it self for fear of being mad ? Why what greater madness can you fear then this ? What worse is humane nature capable of ? Unless it be the addition of a further measure of the same , and unless it be to hold on in that way , and persecute the contrary with such like aggravations of your madness , I know not of any worse that you should fear . Will you run to Hell to prove your selves to be in your wits ? Again I say , the Lord bless us from such a kind of wit . Nay Hell it self hath no such distractedness as yours : The difference between the One thing needful , and your many things , is there better , though too late understood ! Is Loving God the way to be mad ? and loving the world and fleshly pleasures the way to be wise ? Is conversing with God in humble prayer , and believing his love , and loving him , and delighting in him , and speaking of his name , and word , and works unto his praise , and hoping to live with him for ever , I say , is this ( which is the work of a Believer ) a liker course to make men mad , then serving the Devil , and drudging in the world , and living under the curse of God , and in continual danger of damnation ? What men are they , that dare entertain such horrid and unreasonable suggestions ?

I confess we are not unacquainted with the sadness and melancholy that some persons have contracted by Religious employments ; and perhaps one of a thousand may lose their wits : But I must tell you , all these folowing points , that will shew you that Religion is not to be blamed for it , nor avoided .

1. It is ordinarily persons of the weaker sex , or of very weak brains and very strong passions , that are naturally inclined to it , and are not able to bear any long and serious thoughts , about matters of that moment , which are apt to make the deepest impressions : But persons that naturally are of sound and calme dispositions , are seldom troubled with any such affects .

2. It is usually the case of persons that mistake the nature of Religion , though not in the main , yet in some particulars of great concernment : That study not sufficiently the Love of God declared to us in our Redeemer , but feed their griefs and troubles only by the thoughts of their own infirmities ; and that consider not that the chief part of Religion doth consist in Love , and Joy in the Holy Ghost , and in Thanksgiving and delightful praising our Creator . So that it is not long of Religion if men will leave out the chief parts of Religion , and make themselves a Religion of so much only as may breed their trouble .

3. And I must further tell you , that as I have had opportunity of knowing the state of as many troubled distempered minds , as any one of you whoever he be ; so I must needs bear witness , that I have met with many that have been distracted by worldly cares , or sorrows , or discontents , for one that ever I knew distracted with the cares about the matter of their salvation . And yet though it be worldly care and sorrow that most commonly bringeth death and madness , you will not therefore give over your Callings , and resolve that you will meddle no more with meat , or drink , or cloathes , or houses , or lands , or friends , or children : Nay it were well if you would be brought to moderation , and taken off your inordinate desires .

4. And yet in the conclusion I must tell you , that , though I know that the loss of a mans understanding is a very grievous affliction , and such as I hope God will never lay upon me , yet I had a thousand times rather go distracted to Bedlam with the excessive care about my salvation , then be one of you that cast away the care of your salvation for fear of being distracted , and will go among the infernal Bedlams into hell for fear of being mad . The height of your carnal wisdom is more deplorable then their distraction . For God will condemn no man because he is distracted , nor so much as blame him for it , ( unless as it is the fruit of sin , ) no more then he will condemn or blame an Ideot or a beast , because they have no use of reason : If David had been as he feigned himself to be , 1 Sam. 21. 13 , 14. it would not have cast him out of Gods favour , so far as one sin did , much less so far as the ungodly are . A man may go to Heaven from such a madness . But you that have Reason for the world , but none for God ; that are wise to do evil , that have wit to destroy your selves and serve the flesh , but none to look after your recovery and salvation , it s you that shall have the stripes , the many , the great , the endless stripes . You that have so much wit as that you glory in it , and think your selves wiser then the rest of the world , and yet have not wit to know , and love , and serve your maker : nor to value and seek first the One thing necessary , it is you that will prove the miserable fools .

If you had not had a natural capacity of understanding , you had had no sin : But now you have no cloak for your sin , when you have the worldly wisdom which is foolishness with God , and have a sinning , self-destroying wit , and are wilfully void of the wisdom that should save you , ( 1 Cor. 1. 25. & 3. 19. Jer. 8. 9. ) when you have not a necessitated , but a voluntary distraction : and this is your condemnation , that Light is come into the world , and you have loved darkness rather then Light , because your deeds were evil , John 3. 19.

If you think this wilfull and sensless neglect of the One thing needfull is not a sufficient evidence to prove that miserable distraction which I charge upon you , will you but believe your Maker , and let the word of God be Judge between us , and mark what language it giveth to such as I now describe 2 Thess. 3. 2. Jer. 4. 22. Eccles. 7. 25. 2 Pet. 2. 12. Psalm 92. 6. & 94. 8. Jer. 10. 8. 14. Deut. 32. 6. Psalm 73. 3. 22. 2 Sam. 14. 10. In these places your course hath no better titles , than unreasonable , foolish , brutish , sottish , &c. even from the God of Wisdom himself , who is the fittest to give you the character that you deserve . When you have truly considered of your way , if indeed you find that you have dealt like wise men , hold on and say so at the last , when you have eaten the fruit of your doing , and have seen the End .

5. Furthermore Consider , that what ever else you have been doing in the world , if the one thing necessary be yet undone , you have lost and abused all the mercies that God hath bestowed on you : Many a thousand pretious mercies have been given you : And to what use , but to help you to everlasting mercy , and to prevent your everlasting misery ! This is the End , and this is the Life and excellency of all your mercies : For all present mercies have the Nature of a Means to a further End : And the Goodness and nature of the Means consisteth in its fitness to promote the End . And therefore you have lost all the Mercies that you have received , if you are never the nearer your End for them ; and if they have not promoted the Love of God , and your salvation . You have had health , and strength , and time , and peace , and liberty , and some of you also wealth and honour in the world . But you have lost them all , if your salvation be not furthered by them . Many a preservation you have had , when others have been cut off before your faces , and many a deliverance from dangers known or unknown , and much of the fruit of that Patience of God , which hath till now attended you in your sin : Many a Sermon you have heard , and many a warning you have had , and you have been planted in God , Vineyard , and daily watered with the Ordinances of grace : But all these are lost if the One thing necessary hath been neglected : Nothing in this world doth you good indeed , any further then it promoteth your Everlasting good . And do you think that you have dealt kindly or justly with God , to deal so contemptuously with all his mercies , as to cast them away , and tread them under foot ? When you want but food , or rayment , or liberty or health , you value them and pray for them ; and when you have them , what do you with them , but throw them as in the channel , and sacrifice them to your lusts and enemies : When Death looketh you in the face , you begin to know the worth of Time , and then O what would you not give for a little more , and that God would try you a few years longer : And when you have Time , what do you with it , but serve the Devil , and cast it away for nothing , and spend it in preparing for everlasting sorrows ? How can you for shame cry to God for Mercy in your next distress , when you have contemptuously thrown away the Mercies of twenty , or thirty , or forty years already : If your own children should ask you for meat or drink , and when they have it should throw it to the dogs ; or ask you for money , and cast it into the dirt , and do thus an hundred and an hundred times over , would you go on to give it them because they cry for it ?

O Sirs , that you could but use your Reason in the matters for which it was given you by your Maker ! Either time and mercy is worth something , or nothing : If it be worth nothing , never beg for it , and never be sad when it is taken from you . Why make you such a stir for that which is nothing worth ? ( I mean your corporal mercies , for spiritual mercies you can be too well content to be without ) But if they be worth any thing , why do you cast them away , and make no better use of them ? What good do you with them ? or what good do they do you ? Believe it , sinners , God doth not despise his mercies as you do . He will not alway give you meat , and drink , and health , and strength , and life , to play with , and do nothing with . He will teach you better to value them before he hath done with you . Not that he thinks them too good for you ; but he would have them be better to you then you will let them be . He would have every bit you eat , to be used to strengthen you in your walk to heaven , and every hour of your time to help you towards eternal happiness , and every present mercy to further your everlasting mercy ; that so by the improvement , their value may be advanced , and they may be mercies indeed to you . Be ruled by God , and you shall receive more in one mercy , then you do now in a thousand . But if you will do nothing with them , blame him not if he take them from you , and leave you destitute of what you knew not how to use .

Nay your sin is greater then meerly to cast away your mercies : You do not only lose them , but turn them all into a curse , and undo your souls with that which is given for the sustentation of your bodies : While you know no better use of mercies , then to please your senses , and accommodate the flesh , and forget the One thing needful , which is the End of all , you turn them all into sin , and fight against God by them , and strengthen his enemy and your own , and block up your way to Heaven by them , and treasure up wrath for the dreadful day , when your wealth shall be a witness against you , and shall eat your flesh as it were fire , Jam. 5. 1 , 2 , 3. Rom. 2. 5. You contemptuously cast that bread to dogs , which he giveth you to supply your own necessities : You treacherously carry over his provision to the enemy . Consider this , you that say you hope to be saved , because God is merciful : You have found indeed that God is merciful , by large experience : But if you do not learn , and quickly learn to make a better use of his mercies , abused mercy will prove your everlasting misery : O what a reckoning will you have ? What a load to press you down to Hell ? Unless you would have used them better , it had been easier for you , if these temporal mercies had been denyed you : Can that man look to be saved by mercy , that would not be intreated to consent that mercy should save him in the day of salvation ? in the accepted time ? but served the Devil with those very mercies that would have saved him ? God sendeth you his mercies to kill your sins , and sanctifie you , and engage you to himself ; and if you will feed your sins with them , and make them your idols , and forsake God for them , and be false to him , to your Covenant , and your duty , and neglect that One thing for which he gave them to you , you do not only lose them , but turn them to a curse . And , alas , poor sinners , what will you have to fly to , to trust in , or to comfort you , when mercy abused hath not only forsaken you , but falls upon you as a mountain , and feedeth your aggravated endless misery ?

6. Moreover , whilest you neglect the One thing necessary , you neglect Christ himself , and reject the saving benefit of his bloodshed , and refuse the healing work of his Spirit , and the precious benefits which he hath offered you in the Gospel . And how can you escape if you neglect so great salvation ? Heb. 2. 3. How will you be saved , when you refuse the only Saviour ? There is indeed enough in Christ to heal and save the humbled soul , that thirsteth for his righteousness and salvation , and valueth and seeketh him as a Saviour : and if you would thus come to him , you might have life , John 5. 40. But whiles you give your selves to please the flesh , and follow the world , and look so little after Christ , or after the ends and benefits of his sufferings and grace , Christ is as no Christ to you ; and Grace is as no Grace to you ; and the Gospel is as no Gospel to you ; and you will be never the more saved , then if there had no Saviour ever come into the world , or there had never Grace been given to the world , or there had never been promise made , or Gospel preached to the world : For Christ will not save them that continue to neglect him , and set light by all the mercy that he offereth , and the salvation which he hath purchased , and do not esteem and use him as a Saviour , and cannot find enough in God and Glory , to take off their hearts from the pleasures and idols of the flesh . If Christ would have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings , and you would not ( Matth. 23. 37. ) you will be as far from being saved by him , as if you had never heard of his name .

And yet that is not all : If you prevent it not by true Conversion , you will wish a thousand and a thousand times , that this were all : But there is worse then this : For Christ will not leave a man of you as he finds you : If you are so far in love with worldly wealth and fleshly pleasure , that you can taste no sweetness in his Grace , and see no desirable glory in his Kingdom , he will make you taste the bitterness of his wrath , and feel the weight of his severest justice . The most compassionate Saviour is the most dreadful Judge , to those that will not be saved by his grace . It will be easier for Sodome and Gomorrah in the day of Judgement , then for those that were the obstinate refusers of his Gospel , Matth. 6. 11 , 12. He that despised Moses Law dyed without mercy , under two or three witnesses ; of how much sure punishment shall he be thought worthy , that hath trodden under foot the son of God ? Heb. 10. 28 , 29. See therefore that ye refuse not him that speaketh : For if they escaped not that refused him that spake on earth , how much more shall not we escape , if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven ? Heb. 12. 23.

7. As long as you neglect the One thing Needful , whatever good conceits of your selves you have entertained , and whatever hopes , or peace , or comfort , you have built upon those conceits , they are all but meer delusions and irrational , like the laughter of a mad man , that is no comfort to the standers by , who know that it is but the fruit of his distemper , and maketh him an object of more compassion . What wisdom is it to look high and carry it gallantly in the world , when you know not but vengeance may overtake you the next hour ? Alas man , thou hast to do with God : Though thou see him not , it is he that upholds thee , and observeth thee , and looketh for Love and Duty from thee , and will be Glorified by thee , or thou shalt dearly answer it : God will not be neglected and abused at so cheap a rate as sottish Infidels imagine . He despiseth thee , if thou despise him , 1 Sam. 2. 30. and thou despisest him , if thou despise his Messengers , and Word , and Wayes , Luke 10. 16. 1 Thes. 4. 8. And if God despise thee , what honour is it to thee to be stout-hearted and high in thy own conceit , and to live applauded by thy self and others ? Think of your selves as well as you will , God counteth you worse then the basest brutes , as long as you make your selves so , by neglecting the One thing for which you have your reason . When you swagger it out in the world , you do but gingle your fetters , and glory in your shame , Phil. 3. 18 , 19. While fools admire you , God abhorreth you ; he langheth you to scorn , and hath you in derision , as he expresseth himself after the manner of men , Prov. 1. 26. 27 , 28. Psalm 2. 4. When you are proud of your riches , or honour with such as your selves , you are but proud of the bonds of your captivity , 2 Tim. 2. 26. Though you live as carelesly and merrily , and laugh as heartily , and sport your selves as fearlesly as if all were safe , and nothing ailed you , yet your mirth is but your madness , Eccles. 7. 4 , 6. and 2. 2. and God seeth that your day ( a woful day ) is coming , Psalm 37. 13. and you know not but you may the next hour be tormented in hell , that this hour are so pleasant and confident on earth . And is this a desirable or rational kind of mirth ? Did you but now foresee the end ; did you see what you must see , or feel a little of what you must feel , you would presently be far from mirth or laughter ; it would spoil your sport , and turn your tune to doleful lamentations . O short unsatisfactory pleasure ! O endless , easeless woe , how quickly wilt thou surprize them that little dream of such a change ! You say Religion is a Melancholy thing , but verily your condition is so much worse then melancholy , that it may make a man melancholy to think of men in so sad a case . If any thing in the world will make a man melancholy , methinks it should be to stand in your unhappy state , and thence to look into eternity ! and to think of your enmity to heaven , and that you have no part in Christ , no title to his Kingdom , and to think what haste you are making to your infernal home , and how fast the wheels of night and day do hurry your unprepared souls to Judgement , and that your judgement lingreth not , and your damnation slumbreth not , as the Holy Ghost speaketh , 2 Pet. 2. 3. Whether you sleep or wake , be sure it sleepeth not . In a word , to neglect the One thing needful , is to neglect Heaven it self and your salvation : to neglect Heaven is to lose it : and lose Heaven and lose all . And what comfort can the fore-thoughts of life everlasting afford a soul in a state of sin , that is passing to everlasting misery ? And what comfort can any thing in this transitory life , afford that man that hath no matter of comfort in the life to come , yea that must there live in endless sorrows ! O let me not taste of that frantick and unreasonable mirth , that tendeth to such heaviness , and driveth away those wise recovering thoughts that are necessary to prevent it ! For the Lords sake , and for your souls sake , all you that neglect the One thing needful , will you but search the Scripture , and soberly consider whether all this be not certain truth : and if it be , how it should affect you , and what a change in reason it should make upon you ! I have done with this Use : If you have taken a survey of your own hearts and lives , will you next for the exercising of your compassion look a little further .

Use 2.

IF One thing be Needful , and the neglect of this be so unreasonable , so unmanly , and so dangerous , as we have seen it proved , then what an object of compassion and lamentation is the distracted world ? Look upon this text of Scripture , and look also upon the course of the earth , and consider of the disagreement , and whether it be not still as before the flood , that all the imaginations of mans heart are evil continually : Gen. 6 5. were it but possible for a man to see the affections and motions of all the world at once , as God seeth them , what a p●●tisul sight would it be ? What a stir do they make , alas poor souls , for they know not what ? while they forget , or slight , or hate the One thing necessary . What a heap of gadding ants should we see , that do nothing but gather sticks and straw ? Look among persons of every rank , in Citie and Countrey , and look into the families about you , and see what trade it is that they are most busily driving on , whether it be for Heaven or earth ? and whether you can discern by their care and labours that they understand what is the One thing necessary ? They are as busie as bees , but not for honey , but in spinning such a spiders web , as the beesome of death will presently sweep down , Job 8. 14 ▪ They labour hard ; but for what ? for the food that perisheth , and not for that which will endure to everlasting life John 6. 27. They are diligent seekers ; but for what ? Not ●●st for God , his Kingdom and Righteousness ; but for that which they might have had as an addition to their blessedness . Matth. 6. 33. They are still doing ; but what are they doing ? even undoing themselves by running away from God , to hunt after the perishing pleasures of the world : Instead of providing for the life to come , they are making provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts , Rom. 13. 14. Some of them hear the Word of God ; but they choak it presently by the deceitfulness of riches and the cares of this life , Luke 8. 14. They are careful and troubled about many things , but the One thing that should be all to them , is cast by as if it were nothing . Providing for the flesh , and minding the world , is the employment of their lives . They trouble themselves with it , and trouble their families , and nearest relations , and oft-times trouble the whole Towns or places where they live ; so that unless we will let them have their bone to themselves , and give them our cloak when they have taken our coat , and say as ●…sheth [ Let him take all ] there is no living quietly by 〈…〉 A dog at his carrion , or a swine in his trough , is not more greedy then many of these sensualists , that labour of the Caninus app●titus to their trash : But to Holiness they have no appetite , and are worse then indifferent to the things that are in●…sirable : They have no covetousuess for the things which 〈…〉 commanded earnestly to covet , 1 Cor. 12 31. They have ●…tle hunger and thirst after righteousness , that a very little or none will satisfie them : Here they are pleading alwayes for ●●deration , and against too much , and too earnest , and too long : And all is too much with them that is above stark naught , or dead hypocrisie : and all is too earnest and too long that would make Religion seem a business , or would engage them to seem serious in their own profession , or put them past jeast in the worship of God , and the matters of their salvation . Let but their servants or children neglect their worldly business , ( which I confess they should not do ) and they shall hear of it with both ears : But if they sin against God , or neglect his Word or Worship , they shall meet with more patience then Eli's sons did : A cold reproof is usually the best ; and it is well if they be not encouraged in their sin ; and if a child or servant that begins to be serious for salvation , be not rebuked , derided , and hindred by them . If on their dayes of labour they over-sleep themselves , they shall be sure to be called up to work , ( and good reason ) ; but when do they call them up to prayer ? When do they urge them to read , or consider , or conferr of the things that concern their everlasting life ? The Lords own day , which is appointed to be set apart for matters of this nature , is wasted in idleness or worldly talk . Come at any time into their company , and you may have talk enough , and too much , of news , or of other mens matters , of their worldly business , sports and pleasures : But about God and their salvation , they have so little to say , and that so heartlesly and on the by , as if they were things that belonged not to their care and duty , and no whit concerned them . Talk with them about the renovation of the soul , and the nature of holiness , and the life to come , and you shall find them almost as dumb as a fish , or as dry as a chip , or as erroneous or insensible as those that speak but words by rote , to shew you how little they savour or mind the things of the Spirit . The most understand not matters of this nature , nor much desire or care to understand them : If one would teach 〈…〉 personally , they are too old to be catechized or to learn , though not too old to be ignorant of the matters which they were made for , and are preserved for in the world : They are too wise to learn to be wise , and too good to be taught how to be good ●…ough not too wise to follow the seducements of the Devil ●…he world , nor too good to be the slaves of Satan ▪ and the de●…rs and enemies of goodness . If they do any thing which the●… a serving of God , it is some cold and heartless use of word●…ake themselves believe that for all their sins they shall be saved ; so that God will call that a serving of their sins and abomination , which they call a serving of God . Some of them will confess that Holiness is good ; but they hope God will be merciful to them without it : And some do so hate it , that it is a displeasing irksom thing to them , to hear any serious discourse of holiness , and they detest and deride those as fanatick troublesome Precisians , that diligently seek the One thing necessary . So that if the Belief of the most may be judged by their practices , we may confidently say , that they do not practically believe that ever they shall be brought to Judgement , or that there is any Heaven or Hell to be expected ; and that their confession of the truth of the holy Scriptures , and their profession of the Articles of the Christian Faith , are no proofs that they heartily take them to be true . Who can be such a stranger to the world , as not to see that this as the case of the greatest part of men ? And which is worst of all , they go on in this course against all that can be said to them , and will give no impartial considerate hearing to the truth which would recover them to their wits , but live as if it would be a felicity to them in Hell , to think that they came thither by wilful resolution , and in despight of the remedy . And is it not a sad prospect to a man that believeth the Word of God , and the life to come , to look upon such a distracted world ? O Sirs , if Jesus Christ be wise that condemneth their course and them , then certainly all these men are fools : And if Christ knew what he said , we must needs think that they know not what they do . O what is the matter that reasonable men should have no more use of their reason in things of such importance , then thus to neglect their everlasting state for a thing of naught ? Did God make them unreasonable , or give them understandings uncapable of things of such high concernment ? Or rather , have 〈…〉 not drowned their reason in sensuality , and wilfully poiso●…th malicious aversness to God and Holiness ? What is ●…ter that the One thing needful is no more regarded ? Hath God made them believe that they shall dwell here for ever , and never die ? No surely , this is so gross a lye , that the Devil himself cannot make them believe it . They know that they mus●… sure as they are alive : And yet they prepare not , but w●…eir dayes in scraping in this dunghill world , as if they wer●…o no further . Did God never warn them by a Sermon , or 〈…〉 , to prepare for the life which they must live for ever ? Yes ●…y a time ; but they would take no warning . Did God never ●●ll them that after this life there is another , where they must live in endless joy or torment ? Yes , and they professed that they did believe it : They heard it an hundred times over , till they were weary of hearing it . Did God make them believe that they shall die like beasts that have no further to go , nor any other life to live ? No : if they do believe this , it is the Devil and not God that maketh them believe it . What then is the matter that the One thing needful is no more regarded ? Hath God shut up their souls in desperation , so that it is in vain to seek , or trouble themselves for that of which there is no hope ? Oh no! his compassion hath provided them a full remedy : by the death of his Son Redemption is procured , and he hath made them a deed of gift , of Christ , and pardon , and eternal life , and tendred it to them , that upon the●● acceptance it may be theirs . Many a time hath he offered this mercy to them , and many a time hath he urged them to accept ●…t : He hath set before them life and death , and given them their choice , and directed and perswaded them to choose aright : Impossibility of attainment is not their hinderance ; for Mercy be●eecheth and importuneth them to accept it , and grace and salvation are brought unto their hands . O wonderful ! What then ●s left to take off a reasonable creature , from minding and preferring its own everlasting great concernments ? Is it because they have done their work already , and having made sure of heaven , have time to turn themselves to other matters ? Alas no : the most are far from any such assurance ; and have done but little to procure it . If they were to die this hour , they know not where their souls shall be the next : And if death even now should lay its terrible hands upon them , they have no other comfort then to yield ●●to necessity , and leave their souls by a short security , to 〈…〉 passage of their unavoidable change : Unless they are com●… by such presumptuous self-deceit , which the next moment after death will vanish , and never return unto them more . Job 8. 13 , 14. & 11. 20. & 27. 8. Prov. 11. 7.

This is the case of the miserable world ; but they have not hearts to 〈…〉 themselves , nor can we make them willing to be delivered ▪ ●…use we cannot make them know their case . If a man fall in 〈…〉 pit , we need not spend all the day to perswade him that he is there , and to be willing to be helpt out of it : But with these fleshly●●iserable souls , the time that should be spent by themselves and us for their recovery , must be spent to make them believe that they are lost ; and when all is done , we leave them lost , and have lost our labour , because we cannot prevail with them to believe it . Drown they will and perish everlastingly , because the time that should be spent in saving them , must be spent in making them know that they are sinking , and after all they will not believe it ; and therefore will not ●ay hold on the hand that is stretched forth to pull them out . The Narrative of the savage people of Soldania doth notably represent their state : Those people live naked , and feed upon the carrion-like carkasses of beasts , and hang the stinking guts about their ●ecks for ornament● , and wear hats made of the dung , and carve their skins , and will not change these loathsom customs : Some of them being drawn into our Ships , were carried away for England : when they came to Landon , and saw our stately buildings , and cloathing , and provisions , they were observed to sigh much , which was thought to have been in compassion of their miserable Countrey , which so much differed from ours : When they had stayed long among us , and got so much acquaintance with our civility , and order , and all that belongs to the life of man , as that they were thought fit to communicate it to their Countrey-men , the next Voyage they were brought back , and set on shoare in their own Countrey , to draw some of the rest to come into the Ships , and see and enjoy what they had done ( who had purposely been used as might most content them ) : But as soon as they were landed , they lept for joy , and cryed , Soldania , and cast away their cloathes , and came again in the sight of our Ships , with dung on their heads , and guts hanging about their necks , triumphing in their sordid nakedness . Just so do worldly sensual men , in the matters of salvation : If against their wills they are carryed into cleaner wayes and company , and the beauty of holiness , and the joyes of heaven are opened to them , they are aweary of it a● the while ; and when we expect they should delight themselves in the felicity that is opened to them , and draw their old acquaintance to it , and be utterly ashamed of their former base and sinful state , they are gone when the next temptation comes , and return with the dog unto their vomit , and with the washed Swine to wallow in the mire , 2 Pet. 2. 21 , 22. and glory in their filth and shame , and only mind their earthly things , Phil. 3. 18.

Use 3.

BY this time you may see your selves that the disease of sinners is in their own hearts , and it is that that must be healed if they will be saved . But what should we do to get into those hearts , to search your sores , and work the cure ? I come now to the principal part of my message to you ; but will you indeed entertain it , if it prove it self to be from God ? How the case standeth with mankind , you have heard in my Text from Christ himself : How One thing is needful ; and how the busie-idle world is diverted from this One thing , by many needless troublesom things to their own destruction : If hence I warn you of your danger , and tell you of your duty , and exhort you to take another course then you have done , I hope you will confess I do but what is needfull both for you and me , and what you have no reason to contradict . Come then , for the Lords sake , and let us treat practically and successfully about so great a business ; and make something of it before we leave it ; and end not till we amend what we find amiss . What course then will you take for the time to come ? Will you go on to trouble your selves about Many things , and neglect the One thing needful as you have done ? Dare you harbour such a purpose ? Or dare you stifle those thoughts and motions that would tend to better purposes ? Or may I not hope that the Light hath shamed your sleepiness and works of darkness , and that you are grieved at the heart for the sinful negligence of heart and life , and resolved now to be new men ? For Gods sake Resolve , Sirs . What will you do ? Waver not , but Resolve : It s more then a thousand lives that lyeth on your Resolution : I come to you this day as the Minister of the great Pastor of the flock , that spake these words , not only to acquaint you , if you know not , or to remember you if you know , that One thing is needful ; but also with authority to command you in his name , to Value it , to Love it , to Choose it , to seek it , and labour for it as the One thing needful . What say you , will you or will you not ? This unspeakable mercy I offer you from the Lord : He is willing to put up at your hands , all that is past , and to lay all your sins on the score of Christ , and freely to forgive you through the vertue of his blood , if you will now at last bethink you better , and come to Christ , and live as men that know what they have to do : If you will but see your former folly , and heartily bewail it , and set your hearts on the One thing needful , he will encourage you , and help you , and bid you welcome , and number you with his sons , though you have lived as his enemies . Though you have lived like Swine and Serpents , he will put you into his bosom , if you will but be washed and changed by his grace . Though you have set more by your worldly riches then by his glory , and have set more by the favour of mortal man , then by his favour , and though you have set more by your bellies , and your brutish pleasures , and little toyes , then you have done by everlasting life , he will yet be merciful to you , and put up all these indignities at your hands , and take you into his dearest love , if you will but Now become new creatures , and give your hearts to him that made them , and seek that first that is worth the finding , and lose not the rest of your lives and labour upon unprofitable things . What can you say against this offer ? Is it not unconceivable and unspeakable mercy ? O what would the damned give for such an offer ? O what would you your selves give another day for such an offer , if you now neglect it ? What say you then , will you accept of this offer of mercy while it may be had , and close with Grace , while Grace would save you , or will you not ? As ever you look for mercy in the hour of your distress , when nothing but mercy can stand your souls in any stead , take mercy now while it may be had : Refuse it not when it is offered you , as you would not be refused by it when Hell and Desparation would devour you . If you slight it because it is free , you slight it because it is great , and therefore greatly to be valued . Think not hereafter to have it at your beck , if you neglect it now when it seeks for your acceptance . Do not say , I will a little longer keep my sins , and a little longer enjoy my pleasures , for I can have Christs offer at any time before I die . O little dost thou know what a stab such a trifling purpose may give to the very heart of all thy hopes and happiness ! and how terribly God may make thee know , how ill he taketh thy unthankfulness and contempt ! and how dear one other week of sinful pleasure may cost thy soul ? In the name of God I warn you , do not so despise everlasting happiness ! Do not so trample on the blood of Christ , if you would be saved by it : Do not abuse the Spirit of Grace , if you would be sanctified by it : Play not any longer with the consuming fire , the wrath of a jealous and Almighty God : Jest not with damnation . Though Grace be now offered you , it will not be at your command : Despise this motion , and you may be out of hearing before the next . What can you expect , if you will slight such mercy , but either that Death should shortly bring you to your reckoning , or that God should leave you to your selves , and give you up to the hardness of your hearts : And if you will needs choose the world , and fleshly pleasure , and God and Glory shall be thus contemptuously past by , you may take your choice , and see what you will get by it : But remember what an offer you had this day , and that heaven was once within your reach , and that it might have been yours for ever if you would .

But because I am loth to leave you so , I will try by some such Arguments as the Reason of man must needs approve , Whether yet you may not be brought to your selves , and yield to grace that you may be saved . And they shall be the Arguments that lie before you here in the Text.

1. REmember , it is Necessity that is pleaded with you in my Text. One thing is Necessary . Necessity , and your own Necessity , is such an Argument , as one would think of it self should turn the scales , and fully resolve you , and put you past any further deliberation or delay . If Necessity , your own Necessity , and so great Necessity to so great an End , will not prevail with you , What will ? Necessity is that ingens telum that natural reason taketh to be unresistible . Men think they may do almost any thing , if they can say Necessity commandeth it : Omnem legem frangit , magnum illud humanae imbecillitatis patroeinium , saith Seneca . What is it that Necessity seemeth not sufficient to justifie with the most ? And we will grant the Argument to be undenyable , if it be from absolute Necessity indeed , and if men will not dream that it is more Necessary to be Rich , or Honourable , or to Live , then to be Holy , and to be Blessed with God , and to please him that created them . Ubi necessitas incumbit , non ultra disputandum est , sed celerrimè & fortiter agendum . Words signifie nothing against Necessity : Reason is but hindering troublesom folly , when it pleadeth against Necessity . Omni arte , omne ratione officacior necessitas . Curt. In worldly matters , how quick-sighted , how resolute , how active is Necessity ? What conquerable difficulties will it not overcome ? What labour will it not endure , if it have but the encouragement of hope ? And yet this Necessity is indeed no true Necessity at all . For that which is Necessary but to my credit , or estate , or health , or life , can be no more Necessary then is my credit , and estate , and health , and life it self . When men do but fancy a Necessity where there is none , yet that will carry them through thick and thin . But O Sirs , you have a real undenyable Necessity to be Holy , and to set your selves to the work of your salvation ; such a Necessity as is founded in your Nature , and laid on you by your Maker , and as all the true Reason in the world will confess to be indispensable Necessity . Faxis ut libeat quod est necesse .

Make no more words then , but Resolve and stirre when it is a matter that must be done . It is pitty and shame that the Amiableness of God and Holiness will not prevail with you of themselves : But if you cannot yet perceive them to be Delectable , acknowledge them to be Necessary . Be ashamed that pretended Necessity for the Body , should be more powerful with others , then real Necessity for salvation is with you . Look upon almost all the travel and labour that is under the Sun , and all the diligence that is used here in the world , and consider Whether it be not a thousand fold smaller Necessity then I am now pleading with you , that setteth almost all on work ? The Rich will not toil and labour , but will take their ease , because they think they are under no Necessity : but the poor will labour , because they must : Though the command of God to Rich and poor should make them equally diligent in their several callings , in obedience to their Creator , yet many thousands that labour all the year in obedience to their own Necessities , would soon give it over and take their ease , if they could but be well maintained without it , notwithsanding the commands of God : And the poor that reproach the rich for idlendss , would be idle themselves if they were but rich . The Tradesman followeth his trade , and the Husbandman his hard labour all the year : and What reason will they give you , if you ask them why they do it , but this , We cannot live else : We must do it to maintain cur selves and families . And is not the reason thousand times stronger for our souls ? May we not better say , [ We must please God , and set our hearts on the life to come , and mind and seek the One thing needful , whatever becomes of other things ; for me cannot live else ; we cannot be saved else . ]

Necessity makes the Traveller trudge from morning till night ; and the Carryer to follow his horses through fair and foul from year to year ; it makes some dig into the bowells of the earth , in mines and cole-pits ; and some to hale Barges ; and some to cut through the terrible Ocean , and venture their lives among the raging waves and storms ; and some even to beg their bread in rags from door to door : And O what will not Necessity do that can be done ? And yet how many thousands trisle or do nothing for their souls , as if there were no Necessity of being saved ; or no Necessity of being Holy that we may be saved . When alas , all the Necessity in the world , is no necessity at all , in comparison of this . You must beg , or starve , or famish , if you do not work : But you must burn in Hell , if with fear and diligence you work not out your own salvation , Phil. 2. 12. ( for all that it is God that worketh in you ) . You must lie in prison if your debts be not paid : But you will be cast into outer darkness , if by the pardon of your sins , you be not discharged from your debt to God . You may become beggars if you be idle in your Callings : But you will be the prisoners of Hell , and shut out of all the Happiness of the Saints , if you labour not for the food that doth not perish , and strive not to enter in at the strait gate , and give not diligence to make your Calling and Election sure . John 6. 27. Matth. 7. 13. Luke 13. 24. 2 Pet. 1. 10. You must suffer hunger and nakedness , if you have not food and rayment : But you must suffer everlastingly the wrath of God , if you have not the One thing necessary . You will be the scorn and laughing-stock of men , if you fall under their contempt and lose your honour : But you will be the enemies of God , and hated by him , if you continue to contemn his grace .

O had you but seen the Life to come , you would say , There is a Necessity of attaining it ! Had you been one hour in Hell , you wou'd think that there is a Necessity of escaping it , and that there is no Necessity to this .

What say you to all this ? Is it not of Truth and Weight ? Can you deny it ? Or should you make light of it ? None but an Infidel can deny it ; and none but a dead-hearted sinner can make light of it . Believe the Word of God , and the Truth of it will be past question with you : Consider but that you are men that have immortal souls ; and the weight of it will appear inestimable to you ; above contempt ; above neglect . Believe it Sirs , you may as well see without light , and breath without air , and be supported without earth , or live without food , as be saved without Holixess , or happy without the One thing necessary . Heb. 12. 14. John 3. 3 , 5. Matth. 18. 3. And when this is resolved of by God , and stablished as his standing Law , and he hath told it you so oft and plainly , for any man now to say , [ I will yet hope for better ; I hope to be saved on easier terms , without all this ado ] is no better then to let his face against the God of heaven , and instead of believing God , to believe the contradiction of his own u●godly heart ; and to hope to be saved whether God will or not ; and to give the lie to his Creator , under the pretence of trust , and hope : It is indeed to hope for impossibilities : To be saved without Holiness , is to see without eyes , and to live without life : And who is so foolish as to hope for this ? Few of you are so unreasonable as to hope for a crop at harvest , without plowing or sowing ; or for a house without building ; or for strength without eating and drinking ; or to sleep and play , when you have nothing to maintain your families , and say , You hope that God will maintain both you and them . And yet this were a far wiser kind of hope , then to hope to be saved without the One thing necessary to salvation ; and without a heart that is set upon it , and a life that is imployed for it . It is the Holy Ghost that calleth you to answer the question , Heb. 2. 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation ? If you know how , then enter the lists with God , and dispute the case with him : How will you escape , if you be neglecters of the Only way that he hath provided for your escape ? Is there any device or shift of wit , that can procure your escape ? Is there any power or interest of men or Angels that can procure your escape ? How can that be done , that God hath resolved shall not be ?

I beseech you now , beloved Hearers , to remember this urgent motive of Necessity , and use it when you are tempted to delay or trifle about the business of your salvation , as if it were some indifferent needless thing . Without worldly Riches you may be rich in faith : Without worldly honours , you may have the honour of being the sons of God : and without worldly pleasures , or health , or life , you may have the favour of God and Life eternal : But without the One thing needful , you have nothing that is durably or satisfactorily good , but are undone for ever . Without the things of the world , you will live in want for a little while , and then you will be equal to the greatest Princes : But without this One thing , you must live in endless woe and misery , and be far worse then the basest prisoner in the Dungeon , or than the toades and vermine that lie in the uncleanest holes or sinks of the earth . And yet dare you delay another day before you make so Necessary a change ? You have hearts of stone , if your Own Necessity thus urged upon your Consideration will not awake you . If your hearts were not dead within you , while you hear these things , one would think suth a Necessity should make you feel , and resolve upon a speedy change , and make you stir in the diligent performance . Can you go on in security , in negligence and worldliness , when you hear of your Necessity , that you must change , or you are lost for ever ? O stupid souls , that will not be moved with Necessity of everlasting consequence ! O what hath God , or Christ , or heaven , or holiness , done against these men , that will rather lie in Hell for ever , then they will live in the love and service of this God , and in the practice of holiness , and in the hopes of Heaven ! How meet are they for Hell , that will venture upon it deliberately and upon choice , to scape the trouble of living in the holy Love , delight and service of the ever blessed God ? that is , to scape the trouble of Heaven . Is it so great a sin to shut up the bowels of compassion against our brother in his need ? 1 John 3. 17. And is it not more unnatural to deny compassion to your selves in your own necessity ? and in the greatest necessity ? O poor sinners , remember your Necessities ! Your own , your great , your absolute Necessities : When you hear men that gather alms cry [ Remember the poor ] doth it make thee think [ What a poor necessitous soul have I to remember ? ] As Paul saith of Preaching to others , I may say much mote to you , of minding and practising this great work of your salvation [ Necessity is laid upon you , and woe to you if you do it not . ] 1 Cor. 9. 16. Woe to you that ever you were born , and that ever you were reasonable creatures , or rather , that ever you so abused your Reason , if you neglect and miss of the One thing necessary .

I know you have other wants to be supplyed , and other matters to look after in the world : But alas , how small are they ! God will supply all your other wants , if you will first and saithfully look after this . Phil. 4. 19. Matth. 6. 33. 1 Pet. 5. 7. Or if life and all go , you ▪ will find all in heaven : But if you miss of this One thing , nothing in the world can make supply , or do you good . And though now your feeling tell you not these things , alas how quickly will God make you feel , and teach you by that sensible way that you would needs be taught by ?

Awake then you sluggish careless souls ! Your house over your heads is on a flame ! The hand of God is lifted up ! If you love your selves , prevent the stroke : Vengeance is at your backs : The wrath of God pursueth your sin ; and woe to you if he find it upon you when he overtaketh you : Away with it speedily : Up and be gone , return to God ; make Christ and mercy your friend in time , if you love your lives . The Judge is coming , for all that you have heard of it so long , till you believe it not : You shall shortly see the Majesty of his appearance , and the dreadful glory or his ●a●● , and yet do you not begin to look about you , and to ma●e ready for such a day ? Yea , before that day , your separated souls shall begin to reap as you have sowed here . Though now the partition that stands between you and the world to come , do keep unbelievers strange to the things that most concern them ; yet Death will quickly find a Portal to let you in ; and then sinners you will find such doings there , as you little thought of , or at least did sensibly regard on earth . Before your Corpse can be wrapt up in your Winding-sheets , you will see and feel that which will tell you to the quick , that One thing was necessary . If you do die without this One thing Necessary , before your friends can have finished your funerals , your souls will have taken up their places among the Devils in endless torment and despair : and all the wealth , and honour , and pleasure , that the world afforded you , will not ease you . This is sad , but it is true , Sirs ; for God hath spoken it .

Up therefore and bestir you for the life of your souls . Necessity will awake the sluggard . Necessity we say , will break stone walls : The proudest will stoop when they perceive Necessity . The most sloathful will bestir them when they feel Necessity . The most careless will look about them and be industrious in Necessity . Necessity is called the Tyrant of the world , that can make men do any thing that is possible to be done . And yet cannot Necessity make you cast away your sins , and take up a Holy and Heavenly life ? Necessity will make men fare hard , and work hard , and travel hard , and go bare , and suffer much ; yea it will even cut off a leg or an arm to save their lives : And yet can it not prevail with reasonable creatures , to cast away the poison of a fruitless , filthy , deceitful sin ? and to be up and doing for their salvation ! O poor souls ! Is there , think you , a greater Necessity of your sin then of your salvation ? and of pleasing your flesh for a little time , then of pleasing the Lord , and scaping everlasting misery ? I beseech you consider your own Necessities .

2. COnsider also , that , It is but One thing which God hath made Necessary for you . And I shewed you before , how that the means themselves though they are many , have a certain unity in their harmony and connexion , and as they center in the ultimate end , which is One. If God had sent you upon such a multitude of errands as the flesh and the world doth ; and set you on such disagreeing contrary works , then you had been excusable , if you had neglected some of them : But he hath sent you but upon One errand , even to seek and make sure of everlasting life ; and therefore if you neglect this One , you are unexcuseable . If the world be divided into a thousand opinions , or go a thousand several wayes , they may thank themselves who are the Authors of this confusion ; but God is no cause of it , or friend to it . He hath made them but One work , and set them but One way to heaven , and given them One Master , Jesus Christ , to teach that way ; and written but One Law , even his holy Scripture , to be their sure and constant guide : And if men would stick to this One Master , and not make flesh and blood their master , or the multitude their master , or the Rulers of the world , or the custum of their fore fathers the master of their fatih : and if they would stick to this One Word of God , and not run after the Traditions of men , they would not be in such a maze , nor of so many minds as now they are : But they do in their doctrines as they do in their practice : God hath marked them out but One way in the holy Scripture , which is the good and the sure way , the way that Peter and Paul and the rest of the Apostles went to heaven in , and this way will not serve mens turns , but they will run an hundred waies instead of this One : and they must make new wayes which the Apostles of Christ were never acquainted with .

If God had loaded your memories with many things , you might possibly have said [ we cannot remember them all ] but he hath set you finally but one thing to remember , even to lay hold on everlasting life , and press on to the Crown that is set before you ; and he hath an ill memory that cannot remember One thing , and such a thing as this is too .

It may be you are Ignorant and cannot learn many things ; but God hath set you but this One thing to learn as of Absolute Necessity : And he is dull indeed that cannot learn one thing , and such a thing too . If you cannot understand the depths of Sciences , nor reach the height of learning that others do attain , yet learn this One thing , to know God in the Redeemer ; and if you know this , you know all . Paul was not only contented with this knowledge , but resolved to know nothing else but Christ and him crucified ; that is , Nothing that is wholly alien to this : Nothing but what doth keep its due subordination to this , and so may be reduced to the knowledge of Christ , 1 Cor. 2. 2 He would not own any other knowledge as knowledge , but disclaimeth it as Ignorance and Foolishness , though it seemed wisdom in the eyes of the world , 1 Cor. 3. 19. This seeming knowledge and wisdom of the world , that is totally disjunct from Christ , is part of the [ all ] that we must sell to buy the Pearl , if we will obtain it . Matth. 13. 46. and part of the [ all things ] which Paul accounted dung and loss , that he might win Christ and be found in him . Phil. 3. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. For they that know not this One thing , know nothing , whatsoever they may seem to know : and they that would go beyond the knowledge of Christ , and think it too low for them , and trouble their brains and the Church with their speculations , they do not know indeed , but dream . And if they would see their faces in the glass of Scripture . 1 Tim. 6. 4. They are proud knowing nothing , but doating about Questions and strifes of words ; whence cometh envy , railing , evil surmisings , perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds , and destitute of the Truth .

Moreover , if your strength be so small that it will not suffice for every thing , at least you should lay it out on this One thing .

Your time , I know , is small , your lives are short , and therefore you may say , We have not time for many things ; but when you have but One thing given you to do , that must be done , you may sure find time for this for which you have your time .

If you set your servant to work , and bid him be sure to do one thing , whatever else he do , you will not take it well if that one shall be neglected . If you send him on an errand , and bid him be sure to remember one thing , whatsoever he forget , you will not take it well if he forget that one . If you trust him but with one thing , and bid him be sure to keep that one , you will not take it well if that be lost ; especially if he wilfully throw it away .

O consider , Whether this be not your case . God hath sent you into this world but on one errand , even to make sure of everlasting life , and will you neglect that one ? He hath trusted you with one thing , and will you cast away that one ? He hath given you one lesson to learn , even to please him and to save your souls , and will you not learn and remember that one ? If you had forgot your food and raiment , or forgot the houses you dwell in , it had been a small matter in comparison : but to forget that one work that must be done , that one friend that you must alwayes trust to , that one place that you must live in for ever , this is most unreasonable ; and when you have recovered your understandings , you shall confess it to be so .

3. COnsider further , that this one thing is that good part : You see it is here called so . [ Mary hath chosen that good part ] Other things seem good to sense , and to perverted reason that is blinded by sense ; but this is it that seemeth good to reason illuminated by the spirit of Faith . Other things seem good for a while , but this is that good that will still be good .

I may not only say , that the Good of other things is small in comparison of this , but that it is nothing at all , but as it is related unto this . This is that good that makes all things else good that are good . As they come from God , and reveal God to us , and lead us up to God , and are means to this eternal life , so they are good ; but otherwise there is no goodness in them .

And therefore , seeing that Goodness is naturally the object of mans will , one would think you should quickly be resolved of your choice . Sensual good , is but a nominal good , if it reach not higher . All that you hunt after so eagerly in the world , is nothing but real vanity and vexation , a shadow of good , a picture of profit , a dream of d●●●ght , which one frown of God will turn into astonishing horrour and despair . Like a tender flowre that is nipt with one frosty night , or withered with one scorching day ; but it is only this one thing , that is the solid , substantial , and enduring good . The pleasure of the flesh is a good that is common to men with brutes ; They can eat , and drink , and play , and satisfie their lusts , and master one another as well as you . But it is the spiritual good that is proper to a reasonable creature . The pleasure of the flesh may melt you into foolish mirth , and make you like drunken men , that are gallant fellows in their own eyes , while sober men are ashamed of them , or pitty them , or they become a laughing-stock to others . But it is this One thing only which is that Good which wisdom it self will justifie . A man that is tickled may laugh more then he that is possessed of a Kingdom , or hath the desires of his heart ; but he is not therefore to be accounted the happier man , nor will any wise man so account him . Oh Sirs , one would think , that to men that have read and heard what we have done , and have had that experience which we have had , these things should be plain and past all question ; and that spiritual , heavenly , everlasting things should be confessed by us all to be that good part that should possess all the fervent Desires of the soul .

But oh that we could see the Truth of this Belief in the choice of your wills , and the drift of your endeavours . If God would open your eyes and shew you things as they are , and save you from your wilful blindness , you would then see which is the better part , and you would be ashamed that ever you should make any question of it . That is the good part , which beareth the most lively Image of God , which is goodness it self , yea which possesseth us of this good : That is the good part which will make us good , and not that which deceiveth us and makes us worse : That is the good part which the wisest and best men judge to be so , yea which God himself doth judge to be so ; and not that which the most blind deluded sinners do judge the best : That is the good part which is best at last , and which is an enduring Good , and not that which perisheth in the using , and flyeth from us when we have greatest need : That is the good part which all men will say is good in the Conclusion , which the wicked themselves that are now of another mind , will confess at last to be the best ; and not that which is commended only in prosperity , while the frensy or dream of sensuality doth beguile men , ●●● which they will all cry out against at last . If you would know which is the best part , take counsel of God , and see what he saith , and ask men of wisdom and of greatest experience , that have tried both , and men that have staid the end , and seen what fleshly pleasures , and profits , and honours can do for them : For how can men make so true a judgement that do not either stay the end , or else foresee the end by faith ? Do not take their judgements that are drunk with their sensual delights , and that will confess they must repent themselves , and therefore confess they must be of another mind : Take not their judgements that neither have seen nor yet foresee the end ; the worst is yet to come with them : Their states and minds are near a change : The day is near when they will say , that heaven was the better part , and be convinced by punishment , that would not be convinced by instruction .

Surely Sirs , it is so easie a Question to reason it self , where sin hath not blinded it , whether God or the world be the better part , that one would think there should be left no room for doubting . Dare any of you speak out and say , that earth is better then heaven , or sin then grace , or temporal pleasure then eternal happiness ? I think you dare not : Shame will forbid you , and Conscience will contradict you , if you should say so : And will you commend God by your words , and discommend him by your lives ? Will you say , heaven is best , and yet seek the world before it ; and not let it have the best of your affections and endeavours ? Shall it be highest in your mouthes , and lowest in your hearts and lives ? Shall it have the first place in your prayers , and the last in your labours ? Why then you commend God but to his dishonour , and your condemnation : You extoll heaven and heavenly things but to the confusion of your own faces , that your own confessions may be brought in hereafter as witnesses against you . In the name of God therefore I charge you , if you know which is the better part , condemn not your selves by making choice against your knowledge .

4. COnsider also , that , this good part is offered you , and you have your choice , whether God or the world , whether heaven or earth shall be your portion .

It is not Purchasing , or proper meriting , but choosing the good part , that you are called to : It is not [ Mary hath purchased or merited the better part ] but [ hath chosen the better part . ]

Two things are here contained . 1. That it is not matter of Impossibility that you are called to ; you are not excluded from the hopes of salvation , by any exceptions that God hath put in against you , in his promise , but it is conditionally made as well to you as to others .

2. And the condition is not any thing ●●reasonable , but your own consent . Christ and salvation are offered to your choice : If you will but prefer them before the trifles of the world , you may have them . The door of Grace is open to you as well as to others ; if you will but enter you may live : you are not left in a remediless case , nor given over to desperation : you cannot say , [ Repenting and Believing will do us no good ; we cannot have Christ though we were never so willing : ] You cannot say , [ We would fain have Christ and his Spirit to s●nctifie us , but we cannot : we are willing to be his Disciples , but he is not willing to accept us , and to be our Saviour ] you cannot say so , and say truly : you cannot say he is set to sale to you , and that he expecteth such a price as you are unable to give ; for you are called to take him freely ; and though this be sometimes called buying , yet it is a buying without money and without price , Isa. 55. 1 ; 2 , 3 , 4. And though you must sell all you have for this unvaluable pearl , Matth. 13. 46. yet that is but a Metaphorical selling , a parting with your sin and fleshly pleasure , as troubles and impediments that would keep you from salvation : As a sick man sells his diseases for health ; or at least , as he hath health by forbearing some hurtful things that please him : Or as a prisoner purchaseth the liberty that is freely given him , by consenting to come forth and cast off his fetters . Your hands are full of dirt , and God offers you gold , and you cannot receive it till you throw away the dirt . This is your Purchase : You give God nothing as a valuable price for his mercy , but you throw away the sin that is inconsistent with your happiness . Still I shall tell you , [ you may have Christ if you will ] pleasures and profits are flattering you to your destruction , and God calls you from them , and offereth you his son and everlasting life , and intreateth you to accept them . And here you have your choice . The offer is , whosoever will , let him take of the water of life freely ▪ Rev. 22. 17. And if you will but chuse that happiness that is offered you , and Christ the way to that happiness , all the world cannot bereave you of your choice : It is brought to your hand and urged on you . You have now your choice , whether you will have Christ or the flesh , grace or sin , heaven or hell : As you chuse , so you shall have : And if you miss of life , it will be because you did not chuse it : Even because you would not come to Christ that you might have life ▪ John 5. 40. and would not have him to rule over you , Luke 19. 27. and would not have the Lord indeed for your God , P●●●m 81. 11. and did not chuse the fear of the Lord , Prov. 1. 29. yea , when Christ would have gathered you , you would not be gathered , Matth. 23. 37. It is this turning away of the simple that doth slay them , because they refuse when Christ calls them , and regard not when he stretcheth forth his hand , but set at naught his counsel , and will have none of his reproof , Prov. 1. 24 , 25 , 32. See therefore that you refuse not him that speaketh ; for if you turn away from him that speaks from heaven , and neglect or make light of so great salvation , how do you think it possible you should escape ? Heb. 12. 25. & 2. 3. Mat. 22. 5.

But perhaps some of you will think to excuse your selves for want of Free-will , and say , How is it in our choice when God must give us to will and to do ? and we can do nothing of our selves ? have we free-will or power to chuse the better part ? You must not set up the power or will of man too high .

Answ. No : it s you that would set up your wills too high , in making us believe that you are not wilfully ungodly and impenitent , but omit all the good and do all the evil that you do , because you cannot help it . You cannot but know that he is the sinner to be blamed and punished , that Can and Will not , rather then he that would but cannot do good , and forbear the contrary . You know that it is wilfulness , and not unwilling impotency that the venome of malice and naughtiness lyeth in ; and therefore you are excusing your wills , and laying all upon your Impotency , which is but to excuse your faults . I would make you know the baseness of your wills , and that it is long of your badness that you are like to be undone , if grace prevent it not by your through Conversion . I do not say that you have any power , but what you have from God ; but I say you have the Natural and Legal Power , and more then Power , even a Grant and Offer of such a mercy from God : You have humane faculties , and leave , and offers , and entreaties , and you may have Christ and life as he is offered if you will . When I say , It is in your choice , I do not say that you have the wit or the heart to make a right choice . No : if you had but so much wit and grace , I need not use all these words to you , to perswade you to chuse the better part . Your Wills are free from any force that God puts upon them to determine them to sin ; or from any force that Satan or any enemy you have , can use to determine them to sin : All they can do is morally to entice you . God do●●●ot make you sin . If you chuse ●●ur death , and forsake your own mercy , it is not God that determineth your Wills to make this choice . Yea , he commandeth , and perswadeth , and urgeth you to make a better choice : And though Satan tempt you , he can do no more . You have so much power , that you may have Christ if you will : you cannot say , I am truly willing to have Christ and cannot . Thus much free-will undoubtedly you have .

But I must confess that your Wills are not free from the misguiding● of a blinded mind , nor from the seduction of a sensual inclination ; nor from a base and wicked disposition of your own . This kind of free-will you shew us that you have not . But is your wickedness your excuse ? and is your wilfulness your innocency ? What then can be culpable ?

Sirs , I would not have you abuse God , and befool your selves with names and words , saying , You have not power and free-will , as if you might thus excuse your sin : I have opened the matter in plain terms to you , that children may understand it , though learned men have endeavoured to obscure it . God giveth you your choice , though your own wickedness do hinder you from chusing aright . You have a price in your hands , but fools have not a heart to their own good , Prov. 17. 16. I know you want both wisdom and a sanctified will ; and I know that your minds and wills are contrarily disposed . You need not tell me that you are wilful and wicked , when there must be so many words spoken , and so many Books written , and so much mercy and patience of God , and so many afflictions from his hand , and all will not serve to make you chuse the better part . But if you were willing , if you were truly willing , the principal part of the work were done : For if you are willing , Christ is willing ; and if Christ be willing , and you be willing , what can hinder your salvation ?

Having laid this ground-work from the plain Word of God , methinks I may with this advantage now plead the case , even with common Reason . One thing is needful ; the Good part is that one ; and this is tendred to you by the Lord : What is it then that you do make choice of ? and what do you resolve ? May you have Christ , and Pardon , and Everlasting life , and will you not have them ? Shall it be said of you another day , that you had your choice , whether you would have Christ and life , or sin and death ; and you chose destruction and refused life ? I beseech the● Reader , whosoever thou art that readest these lines , that tho●…ouldst a little turn thine ears to God , and withdraw thy self from the delusions of the flesh and world , and use thy reason for thy everlasting peace ; and consider with thy self what a dreadful thing it will be , if thou be everlastingly shut out of the presence of God , upon thy own choice ? And if thou lose thy part in Christ , and Pardon , and everlasting Glory upon thy own choice : And if thou must lie in Hell fire , and Conscience must tell thee there for ever ▪ Thou hast but the fruit of thine own choice : Heaven was set open to me as well as others . I had life , and time , and teaching , and perswasions as well as others ; but I chose the pleasure of sin for a season , though I was told and assured that hell would follow , and now I have that which I made choice of ; and taste but the fruit of my own wilfulness ! Will not such gripes of conscience be a hellish torment of themselves , and an intolerable vexation , if thou hadst no more ? Had you rather have sin then Christ and Holiness ? Alas , I see by your lives you had ! But had you rather have Hell then God and Glory ? If not , then chuse not the way to Hell . Why do you give God such good words , and prefer your sin when you have done , before him ? Why do you speak so well of Christ and Heaven , and yet refuse them ? Why do you speak so ill of sin and the world , and yet chuse them to the loss of your salvation ? Surely if you were soundly perswaded that Christ is better then the world , and holiness then sin , you would chuse that which you say is the best : For that which men think indeed to be the best , and best for them , they will chuse and seek after . And therefore , when you have said all that you can in commendation of Grace and a holy life , no wise man will believe that you are heartily perswaded of the Truth of what you say , as long as you run away from Christ , and follow the flesh , and take that course that is contrary to your profession . For that which you like best you will certainly chuse and seek with the greatest care and diligence . Now you have your choice ; if you would have the better part , now choose it .

5. I Have one other Motive yet from the text to perswade you to chuse the better p●… If you chuse it , it shall never be taken from you . You hear 〈…〉 Resolution of Christ himself concerning Marie's cho●… that which is spoken of her will be as true of you , if ●…he same choice . If all the enemies you have in the world should endeavour to deprive you of Christ and your salvation , they cannot do it against your choice . If by Power or by Policy they would rob you of your Portion , they cannot do it : For which way should they do it ? They cannot turn the heart of God against you , nor make him break his Covenant with you , nor repent him of his Gift and Calling which he hath extended to you . For he is unchangeable , and loveth you with an everlasting love . Mal. 3. 6. Jer. 31. 3. Isa. ●●● . 8. Jer. 33. 20 , 21 , 23. 50. 5. Rom. 11. 29. They cannot undermine the rock that you are built upon , nor batter the fortress of your souls , nor overcome your great Preserver and Defence , nor take you out of the hands of Christ . Psal. 73. 26. & 31. 2 , 3. & 62. 2. & 59. 9 , 16. Joh. 10. 28. Cast not away the salvation that is offered you , and then never fear least it be taken from you . See that you chuse the better part , and resolvedly chuse it , and it will be certainly your own for ever . For man cannot take it from you , nor Devils cannot take it from you , and God will not take it from you . Rust and moths will not corrupt this Treasure ; nor can thieves break through and steal it from you , Mat. 6. 19 , 20.

But you cannot say so of worldly riches . If you chuse to be Lords and Princes on the earth , you cannot have your choice ; but if you could , you cannot keep it . If you chuse the wealth and credit of the world , and were sure to get it , you were as sure to leave it : For naked you came into the world , and naked you must go out , Job 1. 21. If you chuse your ease , and mirth , and pleasure , these will be taken from you : If you chuse the satisfying of your fleshly desires , and all the delight and prosperity that the world can afford you , yet all must be taken from you ; Yea quickly and easily taken from you . Alas ! one stroak of an Apoplexy , or a few fits of a Fever , or the breaking of a small vein , or many hundred of the like effectual means , are ready at the beck of God , to take you from all that you have gathered for your flesh : And then , whose shall all these things be ? None of yours , I am sure ; nor will they redeem your souls from death or hell . Luke 12. 20. Psalm 49. 7. If you be in honour ▪ you abide not in it , but are ( as to your body ) as the beasts that perish . If you think to perpetuate your houses and your names , this your way is but your ●olly , though your posterity go on to approve your sayings , and succeed you in your sins . Psalm 49. 11 , 12 , 13. The worldly wise man doth perish with the fool : as sheep they 〈◊〉 laid in the grave , Death shall feed on them , and the upright shall have Dominion over them in the morning , ver. 10 , 14. They shall soon be cut down like the grass , and whether as the green herb . Psal. 37. 2. I have seen the wicked in great prosperity , and spreading himself like a green bay-tree ; yet he passed away , and loe he was not ; yea I sought him , but he could not be found . v. 35 , 36.

You think it a fine thing to have the fulness of the creature , to be esteemed with the highest , and fed and cloathed with the best , and fare deliciously every day , as the rich man , Luke 16. but hath he not paid dear think you for his riches and pleasure by this time ? His feeding and fulness was quickly at an end ; but his torment is not yet ended , nor ever will be . You think it a brave thing to clamber up to riches , and that which you call greatness and honour in the world : but how quickly , how terribly must you come down ! Go into the Sanctuary of God and understand your end : Surely God hath set them in slippery places , and casteth them down into destruction : How are they brought to desolation as in a moment ! They are utterly consumed with terrours . As a dream when one awakeneth , so at the awakening , shall their Image ( or shadow of honour ) be despised , Psalm 73. 17 , 18 , 19 , 20.

How short is the pleasure , and how long is the pain ! How short is the honour , and how long is the shame ! What is it under the Sun that is everlasting ? You have friends , but will they dwell with you here for ever ? You have houses , but how long will you stay in them ? It is but as yesterday since your houses had other Inhabitants , and your Towns and Countries other Inhabitants , and where are they all now ? You have health , but how soon will you consume in sickness ? You have life , but how soon will it end in death ? You have the pleasure of sin ; you say unto your selves Eat , drink and be merry , but how soon will all the mirth be mar'd , and turned into sadness , everlasting sadness ! When you hear , Thou fool , this night shall they require thy soul , and then whose shall these things be ? Luke 12. 20.

Oh miserable wretch ! If thou hadst chosen God instead of thy sin , and the everlasting Kingdom instead of this world , thou wouldst not have been thus cast off in thy extremity : God would have stuck better to thee : Heaven would have proved a more durable Inheritance : For it is a Kingdom that cannot be moved , Heb. 12. 28. The day is near when thy despairing soul must take up this lamentation , [ My dearest friends are now forsaking me , I must part with all that I laboured for , and delighted in . I have drunk up all my part of pleasure , and there is no more left . My merry company , and honours , and recreations are past and gone ; I shall eat , and drink , and sport no more : but God would not have used me thus , if I had set my heart upon him and his Kingdom . Oh that I had chosen him , and made him my portion , and spent these thoughts , and cares , and labours , for the obtaining of his love , and promised Glory , which I spent for the pleasing and providing for my flesh . Then I should have had a happiness that death could not deprive me of , and a Crown that fadeth not away . Neither life nor death , nor any creature could have separated me from his love . I need not then have gone out of the world as a prisoner out of the Gaol , to the ●●rr and to the place of execution . My departing soul should not then need to have been afraid of falling into the hands of an unreconciled God , and so into the hands of the Devils as his executioners , nor of passing out of the flesh to hell .

Oh poor sinners , for how short a pleasure do you sell your hopes of everlasting Blessedness , and run your selves into endless pains ! O what comparison is there between the time of your pleasure , and the everlastingness of your Punishment ! How short a while is the cup at your mouthes ? or the drink in your bellies ? or the harlot in your embracements ? or the wealth of the world in your Possession ? And how long a time must you pay for this in hell ? How quickly are your merry hours past ! but your torments will never be past . When your corpses are laid in the grave , men can say , [ Now he hath done his satisfying the flesh and following the world ] but never man can truly say , [ Now he hath done suffering for it . ] Your life of sin is passing as a dream , and your honours as a shadow , and all your business as a talc that is told : but the life of Glory which you rejected for this , would have endured for evermore . Suppose as many thousand years as there are sands on the Sea , or piles of grass on the whole earth , or hairs on the heads of all men in the world , yet when these many are past , the Joy of Saints and the Torments of the wicked are as far from an end as ever they were : The eternal God doth give them a duration , and make them eternal .

When our joyes are at the sweetest , this thought must needs be part of that sweetness , that their sweetness shall never have an end . If our short fore-taste be Joy unspeakable and full of glory , what shall we call that Joy which flows from the most perfect fruition and perpetuation ? 1 Pet. 1. 7 , 8. We have Joy here , but alas how seldom ! Alas how small in comparison of what we may there expect ! Some Joy we have , but how oft do Melancholy or crosses , or losses in the world , or temptations , or sins , or desertions interrupt it ! Our sun is here most commonly under a cloud , and too often in an Ecclipse ; and we have the night as often as the day . Yea our state is usually a Winter ; Our dayes are cold and short , and our nights ▪ are long . But when the flourishing state of glory comes , we shall have no Interscissio●s nor Ecclipses . T●● path of the just is as the shining light , that shineth more and more unto the perfect day , Prov. 4. 18. And the perfect day is a perpetual day that knows no interruption by the darkness of the night . For there shall be no night there , nor need of candle or Sun ; for the Lord God giveth them light , and they shall reign for ever and ever , Rev. 22. 5. This is the life that fears no death ; and this is the feast that fears no want or future famine ; the pleasure that knows nor fears no pain ; the health that knows nor fears no sickness ; this is the treasure that fears no moth , or rust , or thief ▪ the building that fears no storm nor decay ; the Kingdom that fears no changes by Rebellion ; the friendship that fears no falling out ; the Love that fears no hatred or frustration ; the Glory that fears no envious eye ; the possessed Inheritance that fears no ejection by fraud , or force , or any failings ; the Joy that feels or fears no sorrow ; while God who is Life it self is our life ; and while God who is Love , is the fountain and object of our Love , we can never want either Life or Love : And whiles he feeds our Love , our Joyful praises will never be run dry , nor ever go out for want of fewel . This is the true perpetual motion , the c●rculation of the holy blood and spirit from God to man , and from man to God . Being prepared and brought near him , we have the blessed Vision of his face , by seeing him ; and by the blessed emanation of his love , we are drawn out perpetually and unweariedly to Love him and Rejoyce in him ; and from hence uncessantly to praise and honour him . In all which , as his blessed Image and the shining reflections of his revealed glory , he taketh complacency , which is the highest end of God and man , and the very term of all his works and wayes .

I Thought here to have ended this First Part of my Discourse ; but yet compassion calls me back : I fear lest with the most I have not yet prevailed ; and lest I shall leave them behind me in the bonds of their iniquity . I daily hear the voice of men possessed by a spirit of uncleanness , speaking against this Necessity of a holy life , which Christ himself so peremptorly asserteth . I hear that voice which foretelleth a more dreadful voice , if in time they be not prevailed with to prevent it . One saith , What need all this ado ? This strictness is more ado then needs . Another saith , You would make men mad , by poring so much on matters that are above them . Another saith , Cannot you keep your Religion to your selfe ; and be Godly with moderation , as your neighbours be ? Another saith , I hope God is more merciful then to damn 〈…〉 that ●● not so precise . Another saith , I shall never endure so strict a life ▪ and therefore I will venture as well as others . The summe of allis , They are so far in love with the world and sin , and so much against a holy life , that they will not be perswaded to it ; and therefore to quiet their consciences in their misery , they make themselves believe that they may be saved without it , and that it is a thing of no Necessity , but their coming to Church and living like good neighbours may serve the turn without it , for their salvation . And thus doth the malicious Serpent , in the hearts of those that he possesseth , rise up against the words of Christ . Christ saith that this is The One thing needful : And the Serpent saith , It is more ado then needs : and What needs all this ado ? Though I have fully answered this ungodly objection already in my Treatise of Conversion , sect. 36. pag. 284. &c. and more fully in my Treatise of Rest , Part 3. Chap. 6. yet I shall once more fall upon it . For death is coming , while poor deluded souls are loytering : and if Satan by such sensless reasonings as these , can keep them unready in their sin , till the ●atal stroak hath cut them down , and cast them into endless easeless fire ; alas , how great will be their fall ? and how unspeakably dreadful will be their misery ? Whoever thou be , whether h●gh or low , learned or unlearned , that hast disliked , opposed or reproached serious godly Christians , as Puritanes , and too precise ; and that thinkest the most diligent labour for salvation to be but more ado then needs , and hast not thy self yet resolvedly set upon a holy life , I require at thy hands so much impartiality and faithfulness to thy own immortal soul , as seriously to peruse these following Questions , and to go no further in thy careless , negligent , ungodly course , till thou art able to give such a rational answer to them , as thou darest stand to now at the Barr of thine own Conscience , and hereafter at the Barr of Christ .

Quest. 1. Canst thou possibly give God more then is his due ? Or love him more then he deserveth ? Or serve him more faithfully then th●● art bound , and he is worthy of ? Art thou not his creature ? made of nothing ? and hast thou not all that thou art and hast from him ? and if thou give him all , dost thou give him any more then what is his own ? If thou give him all the affections of thy soul , and all the most serious thoughts of thy heart , and every hour of thy time , and every word of thy mouth , and every penny of thy wealth ( in the way that he requireth it ) is it any more then is his due ? Should not he have all that is Lord of all ?

Quest. 2. Is it not the first and great Commandment . [ Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart , and soul , and might ? ] And do not heathens confess this by the light of nature : And hath not thy tongue confest it many a time ? And doth not thy conscience yet bear witness that it is thy duty ? And is it possible thou shouldst thus Love him , with all thy heart , and soul , and might , and yet not seek and serve him with all thy heart , and soul , and might ? Or can the most sanctified person do any more , if he were perfect ?

Quest. 3. Dost thou not confess that we are all sinners ? And that the best is still too bad ? And that he that loveth and serveth God most , doth yet come exceeding short of his duty ? And yet wouldst thou have such men come shorter ? and darest thou perswade them to do less ? Must not the best confess their daily failings , and beg pardon of them from the Lord , and be beholden to the blood of Christ , and lament their imperfections ? And yet wouldst thou have them be such odious hypocrites , as to think they serve God too much already , while they confess that they come so short ? Shall they confess their failings , and reproach those that endeavour to avoid the like ? Shall the same tongue say , [ Lord be merciful to me a sinner ] and [ Lord , I am good enough already : What need there so much ado to please and serve thee any better ? ] What would you think of such a man ?

Quest. 4. Is it not an unquestionable duty to grow in grace ? and to press towards perfection as men that have not yet attained it ? 2 Pet. 3. 18. Phil. 3. 12 , 13 , 14. And must Paul , and Peter , and the holyest on earth , still seek to grow and labour to be more holy ? and shall such a one as thou say , What need I be any more holy ? that art utterly unsanctified .

Quest. 5. Is it not one of the two grand Principles of faith and all Religion , without which no man can please God , Heb. 11. 6. Whoever cometh to God must believe , first , that God is ( that there is a God , most powerful , wise and good ) secondly , that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him ? ] yea this is one of natures principles . It is the Diligent seekers of God that he will reward . And yet dare a fleshly negligent sinner , reproach the diligent seeking of God , and take it for a needless thing , and say , What needs all this ado ? Are not these the Atheists seconds ; even next to them that deny that there is any God , or that blasphem● him ? And indeed , if he be not worthy of all the Love and service that thou canst give him , he is not the true God! Consider therefore the tendency of thy words , and tremble .

Quest. 6. Doth not that wretch set up the flesh and the world abo●● the Lord , that thinks not most of his thoughts , and cares , and words , and time , and labour for the world to be too much ado , and yet thinks less for God and heaven to be too much ? And dost thou think in thy conscience that the flesh is better worthy of thy Love , and care , and labour ▪ then the Lord ? or that earth will prove a better reward to thee then Heaven ? Who , thinkest thou , will have the better bargain in the end ? The fool that laid up riches for himself , and was not rich to God , and shall lose all at once that he so much valued , and so carefully sought , ( Luke 12. 20 , 21. ) or he that laid up his treasure in Heaven , and there set his heart , and sought for the never fading Crown ? Matth. 6. 20 , 21 , 33. and counted all as loss and dung for the excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ , Phil. 3. 8. Do you think that there is any thing more worth your care , and time , and labour , or can you more profitably lay it out ?

Quest. 7. Have you not immortal souls to save or lose ? And are not your bodies for their service ? and to be used and ruled by them ? And should not your souls then have more of your care and diligence , then corruptible flesh that must turn to dirt ?

Quest. 8. Dare any one of you say that you are wiser then the All-knowing God ? Is not thy wisdom less to his , then a glow-worms light is to the Sun ? And hath not God most plainly and frequently in his Word commanded thee a holy life ? Yea every part and parcell of it , is nothing else but the obeying of that Word : For if it be not prescribed by the Lord , it is not Holiness , nor that which I am pleading for . And when the living God hath told the world his mind and will , shall a sinful man stand up and say , I am wiser then my Maker ? I know a better way then this ? What need there all this stir for Heaven ? What dost thou less then thus blaspheme , and set up thy folly above the wisdom of the Lord , when thou condemnest or reproachest the holiness which he commandeth ?

Quest. 9. Dare you say that God is not only so unwise , but so unrighteous and tyranical , as to give the world unnecessary Laws , and set them upon a needless work ? What King so tyranical as would require his subjects on pain of death to go pick straws against the wind ? What Master or Parent so foolishly cruel as to command their servants or children , to weary themselves with hunting butter-flies , and following their own shadows ? And darest thou impute such foolish tyrannie to the God of heaven ? as if he had made a world , and set them upon a needless work ? and commanded them to tire themselves in vain ?

Quest. 10. Can a man be too diligent about that work which he was made for , and is daily preserved and maintained for , and for which he hath all the mercies of his life ? Thou hadst never come into the world but on this business , even to serve and please God , and prepare for everlasting happiness : And are you afraid of doing this too diligently ? Why is it , thinkest thou , that God sustaineth thee ? Why dyedst thou not many years ago ? but only that thou mightest have time to seek and serve him . Was it only that thou mightest eat , and drink , and sleep , and go up and down , and fill up a room among the living ? Why beasts , and fools , and mad-men do all this , as well as thou . Why hast thou thy Reason and understanding , but to know and serve the Lord ? Is it only to know how to shift a little for the commodities of the world ? Or is it not to know the way to life eternal ? Look round about thee on all the creatures , and on all the mercies which thou dost possess ; every deliverance , and priviledge , and accommodation ; every bit of bread thou eatest , and every hour of thy precious time , are all given thee for this One thing needful : And yet wilt thou say that this One thing is needless , for which thou hast all things ? Thou mayest then say , that God made the world in vain ; and preserveth and governeth it in vain . For all this is but for his service , which thou callest vain .

Quest. 11. Doth not Reason tell thee , that the place in which thou must live for ever , should be more diligently minded ( and prepared for ) then this in which thou must continue but for a while ? Alas , it is so short a time that we must be here , that it makes all the matters of this world ( as such ) to be inconsiderable things , as dreams and shadows . What great matter is it for so short a time , whether we be rich or poor , well or sick , in credit or in contempt ! whether we laugh or weep ! When our part will be so quickly acted , and we must go naked out of the world as we came into it . For so short a time , a poor habitation may serve the turn , as well as the most splendid Palace : A painful , obscure , afflicted life , may do as well as the most plentiful provisions , and the greatest ease and worldly honours . The purple and fine linnen , the silks and bravery will be soon forgotten ; and the soul in Hell will be no more the better for them , then the rotten carkase in the grave . The taste of the delicious meats and drinks will quickly be forgotten : and sportful youth will be turned into cold and languid age : and the most confirmed health into dolorous sickness ; and mirth and laughter into mournful groans . And is such a transitory life as this , more worthy of your care and greatest diligence , then life eternal ? O one would think that the world that you must be ever , ever in , should never , never be forgotten ! There is the company that you must live with for ever : There is the state that you shall never change : There is the Joy or Torment that shall have no end ; and while you forget it , you are posting to it , and are almost there . And can you be too careful for eternity ?

Quest. 12. Consider also but the infinite Joyes of Heaven , and tell me , Whether thou dost think , they are not worthy the greatest cost or pains that thou canst be at to get them ? Dost thou think that Heaven is not worthy of the labour ; that is bestowed for it by the holyest Saints on earth ? Will it not requite them to the full ? Will any that comes thither repent that they obtained it at so dear a rate ? If now thou couldst speak with one of those Believers , mentioned in Heb. 11. that lived as strangers and pilgrims on earth , as seeking a better , even a heavenly Countrey , that preferred the reproach of Christ before the treasure of the world , and chose affliction with the people of God , before the pleasures of sin for a season , that were tortured , not accepting deliverance , that they might receive a better resurrection ; that had tryal of cruel m●●kings and scourgings , and of bonds and imprisonments , and were s●oned , sawn asunder , tempted , slain with the sword , wandred about in sheep-skins , and goat-skins , being destitute , afflicted , and tormented , though men of whom the world was not worthy : Would any one of these now tell you , that they did or suffered too much for Heaven ? Or that it was not worth ten thousand times more ? If thy tongue dare say that Heaven is not worth the cost or trouble of a holy life , ( or if thy life say so , though thy tongue dare not ) thou judgest thy self unworthy of it , and sentencest thy self unto damnation .

Quest. 13. And are the torments of Hell so small and tolerable , that thou thinkest a holy life too dear a means for to prevent them ? Dost thou believe the threatnings of the Lord , that he will come in flaming fire to take vengeance on them that know not God , and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord , and from the glory of his power ! 2 Thes. 1. 8 , 9. and yet canst thou say , What needs all this ado , to scape such endless misery ! Thou wilt take any medicine to cure but the gowt or stone , if once thou have felt them ? Thou wilt draw out a tooth to prevent the pain of it . And is Holiness so hateful or grievous a thing to thee , that thou wilt venture on Hell it self to avoid it ? If so much of Hell be in thy heart already , blame none but thy self if thou have thy choice .

Quest. 14. Why wast thou baptized into the Covenant of holiness , to God the Father , Son and Holy-Ghost , if thou think it n●●dless to perform thy Covenant ? A holy life is no more then ▪ in Baptism thou wast solemnly engaged too : There didst thou renounce the flesh , the world and the Devil ; and tookest God for thy portion and absolute Lord , and gavest up thy self to be ruled by him , and saved by Christ , and sanctified by the holy Spirit ; and dost thou now say , What needs all this ado ? Are we all by our Baptismal Vow engaged to a needless thing ? I tell thee , there is not the holyest man on earth , that doth any more then what he is bound to by the Covenant-Relations which he undertook in Baptism .

Quest. 15. Moreover , What an Hypocrite art thou to profess thy self a member of the Holy Catholick Church , if Holiness which is the life of the Church , seem needless to thee ? Why dost thou profess to believe and desire the Communion of Saints , if the life of Saints seem needless to thee , and thou wilt not have Communion with them in their sanctity ? Dost thou not plainly renounce thy Covenant , and faith , and duty , when thou renouncest a holy life as a thing unnecessary ?

Quest. 16. Dost thou think , or darest thou say , that the bloody death , and holy life of Jesus Christ were more then needs in order to thy salvation ? Unless thou be a prosessed Infidel , I know thou darest not say so : And if thy soul were worth the sufferings of the Lord of Life , is it not worth all the cost and labour of thy duty ? Christ lived a life of perfect holiness : he never sinned : he fulfilled all righteousness : he prayed all night , and with greatest fervency : preaching and doing good was his employment . Though he hated Pharisaical superstition , and the teaching for doctrines the Commandments of men , and serving God according to mens traditions , yet was there never so holy , and pure , and precise , and strict , and heavenly a life as Jesus Christ's : And this was for our redemption , and our example . And darest thou say that this was needless ? Should we not endeavour to imitate our pattern ? Are they better that are likest Christ , or they that are most unlike him ? And which dost thou think is liker Christ , the holy or the unholy ? Sure we that fall so short of the example that Christ hath given us , are far from being more diligent then needs , when Christ went not too far , nor was too strict , that went so very far beyond us .

Quest. 17. Look upon all the institutions of the Lord : On Magistracy , and Ministry , and the great works of their office : On prayer , and preaching , and Sacraments , and Discipline , and all other Ordinances of God ; and also on all the frame of the holy Scripture ; and also on all the workings and graces of the Holy-Ghost ; and tell me whether thou darest say , that all or any of these are in vain ? and whether that Holiness which all these are appointed for , can be a vain and needless thing ?

Quest. 18. Darest thou say that Christ doth more then needs , in his Intercession for us with the Father now in Heaven ? It is he that sendeth the spirit to sanctifie us : It is he that prayeth that we may be sanctified by the truth ? We have no grace and holiness but what we have from him . And darest thou say he doth too much ? It is he that sends his Ministers to call men to a holy life : Look into his Word , and see whether the doctrine which they preach be not there prescribed to them ; and the duties of holiness there commended . If therefore it were erroneous or excessive , it would be long of Christ , and not of his Messengers or Disciples , that speak and do no more for holiness , then he bids them ; but fall exceeding short .

Quest. 19. Art thou wiser in this , and more to be believed , then all the antient Prophets , and Apostles , and servants of God in former ages , and then all that are now alive on earth , that ever tryed a holy life ? The Scripture will tell thee that Abraham , Isaac , Jacob , David , and all the rest of the Saints that were then most dear to God , were so far from thinking that a holy life was more then needs , that they thought they could never be holy enough , and blamed their defects when they excelled such as now thou blamest as too precise . And if thou wilt preferr the words and example of a worldling , or of a sottish sensual man , before the judgement and example of these Saints , the company that thou choosest , and the deceivers whom thou followest , shall be also thy companions in calamity , where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth , when ye shall see the Saints from East and West , from North and South , sit down with Abraham , Isaac , Jacob , and all the Prophets , in the Kingdom of God , and you , and such as you thrust out : Even when the last in time ( whom you here despised ) shall be equal to the first and antient Saints , Luke 13. 27 , 28 , 29 , 30. Why do you hypocritically honour the names and memorials of the Prophets , Apostles , and other former Saints , and keep Holy-dayes for them ▪ and yet reproach their holy course , and preferr the judgement of a drunkard or a malignant enemy of godliness before theirs ? For so you do when you argue against a holy life .

Quest. 20. Dost thou think that there is now one soul in Heaven or Hell , that is of thy prophane opinion , and would say , that a diligent holy life is more ado then needs for mens salvation ? Certainly those in Heaven have more knowledge ; and experience , and love to God and man , and goodness , then to be of so impious a mind , or once to entertain such beastly thoughts : And those in Hell , though still ●● holy ▪ have learned to their cost to know the great Necessity of ●…ss : And would tell you , if they could speak with you , that the most strict and heavenly life for millions of ages were not too dear , for the escaping of the everlasting misery . Why else do we find one of them in Luke 16. described as so desirous , that o●… the dead might be sent to his Brethren , to warn them that they come not to that place of torment ? And what is it that he would have had them warned of , but that they should live a holy self-denying life and with all their diligence lay up a treasure in the life to come , instead of liying so sensual , and voluptuous , and ungodly a life as he had lived . The scope of the story tells us that this would have been his message , if he might have sent .

Quest. 21. Dost thou think in thy Conscience that at the hour ●● thy death , or at least at Judgement , thou shalt think thy self that Holiness was unnecessary ? Doth not thy heart tell thee that then thou shalt be of another mind ? and wish with the deepest desires of thy soul , that thou hadst lived as strictly , and prepared for everlasting life as seriously , and served God as diligently , as ever did any Saint on earth ? But alas , those wishes will be then too late . Now is thy day : and now thou takest thy work to be needless : And to see the Necessity when time is gone , will be thy torment , but not thy remedy . Not one in this Congregation , or Town , or Countrey , not one in England , or in all the world , but shall be forced at last , whether he will or no , to justifie the wisdom of the godly , and the worst of you shall then with ten thousand fruitless groans desire , that you had imitated the holyest persons that you knew . Not a tongue then shall say , What needs all this ado for heaven ? Not a man there dare call his neighbour Puritane , nor take up a contemptuous jear , against the diligent servants of the Lord .

Quest. 22. Is not that man at the heart against the Lord , that reproacheth his serious diligent servants , and counts his work a needless thing ? Men are more willing to please those that they love ; and more ready to do the works they love . If your son or servant speak against your service , but as you do against Gods , what would you think of their affections ? Doubtless it is no better then a secret hatred to the holiness of God , and a Serpentine e●●ity to his holy wayes , that causeth all these sensless cavils , and impious speeches , against the life that he hath commanded us to live .

Quest. 23. Is it not most unreasonable impiety , for that man ●● speak against too strict exact obedience , and against serving God ●● much , that hath served the world , the flesh , and the Devil in ●● vigour and flower of his dayes , and this with pleasure , and never said , It is too much ? When thou wast drinking and sporting , thou wast not aweary : When it comes to a matter of riches , or honour , or ease , or pleasure , to gratifie thy worldliness , pride , laziness and voluptuousness , then thou never saist , It is too much ? And is all too little for sin and the Devil , and all too much for thy soul and God ? Let Conscience tell thee whether this be just .

Quest. 24. Is it not a foolish wickedness , for that man to cry out against making haste to heaven , and going so fast in the wayes of God that hath loytered already till the evening of his dayes , and lost so much time as thou hast done ? If thou hadst begun as soon as thou hadst the use of reason , and remembred thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth , and never lost an hour of thy time since then till now , thou hadst done no more then what thy God , thy soul , and all right reason required of thee ! For surely he that made thee , hath in wisdom proportioned thy time to thy work , and hath not given thee an hour too much . A long life is short enough to prepare for everlasting . And shall a loytering Rebell that hath wasted so much of his little time , cry out , What needs so much ado ?

Quest. 25. Is it not the graceless miserable sort of men , that cry out , What needs all this ado ? Certainly it is : For Scripture , and Reason , and Experience tell us , that all that are godly , are of another mind : The more grace they have , the more they would have : The more they love God , the more they would love him . The more good they do , the more they would do . Do you not see how they labour after more grace ? and hear how they complain that they are no better ? O how it would glad them to be more Holy and more Heavenly ! It is therefore the strangers and despisers of grace , that never knew by experience , the nature , and power , and sweetness of it , than say , It is more ado then needs . And is it not a most unreasonable thing for a man that hath no saving grace and holiness at all , to cry out against excess of holiness ? And for a man that is in the captivity of the Devil , and ready suddenly to drop into Hell , if death do but strike the fatal blow , before he be regenerate , to talk against doing too much for heaven ? And for a man that never did God one hours pleasing service , ( Heb. 11. 6. ) to prate against serving God too much ? O poor wretch ! were thy eyes but opened , thou wouldst see that of any man in the Town or Countrey , this language ill beseemeth thee . When God hath been so long offended ; and thy soul is almost lost already , and death and hell is hard at hand , and may swallow thee up in endless desperation for ought thou knowest , before thou hast read this Book to the end , or before thou see another year , or moneth , or day , is it time for such a one as thee to say , What needs so much ado ? One would think if there be any life in thee , thou shouldst stir as for thy life : and if thou have a voice to cry , thou shouldst cry out to God both day and night in the fervour of thy soul , even now while mercy may be had , lest time should over-slip thee , and thou be shut up in the place of torment : If Hell-fire will not make thee stir , What will ? Should a weak Christian that is cast behind hand by his negligence , but once speak against a diligent life , he were exceedingly too blame . But for thee that art yet in the gall of bitterness , and the misery of an unregenerate state , to speak against holy diligence for salvation , when thou art in such great and deep distress , and like a man that is drowning , or a house on fire , that must presently have help or perish ; this is a madness that hath no name sufficient to express it by ; which its a wonder that a rational soul should be guilty of .

Quest. 26. Art thou not afraid of some sudden vengeance from the Lord , for thus making thy self his open enemy , and contradicting him to his face ? Mark his language , and then mark thine . Christ saith , [ Enter in at the strait gate : For wide is the gate , and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction , and many there be which go i● thereat : because strait is the gate , and narrow is the way , which leadeth unto life , and few there be that find it . ] Matth. 7. 13 , 14. [ Strive to enter in at the strait gate : for many , I say unto you , will seek to enter in , and shall not be able . ] Luke 13. 24. [ See then that ye walk circumspectly ( or exactly ) not as fools , but as wise , redeeming the time . ] Ephes. 5. 15 , 16. [ For I say unto you , th●● except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scrib●s and Pharises , ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of heaven . ] Matth. 5. 20. [ Wherefore brethren , give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure . ] 2 Pet. 1. 10. [ Workout your salvation with fear and trembling . ] Phil. 2. 12. [ Seeing then all these things shall be dissolved , what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness , looking for and hasting to the coming of the day of God . ] 2 Pet. 3. 11 , 12. [ And if the righteous scarcely be saved , where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear . ] 1 Pet. 4. 18. [ Lay not up for your selves a treasure on earth , &c. but lay up for your selves a treasure in heaven , &c. For where your treasure it , there will your hearts be also . ] Matth. 6. 19 , 20 , 21. [ Seek first the Kingdom of God , and his righteousness ] Matth. 6. 33. [ Labour not for the meat that perisheth , but for that which endureth to everlasting life . ] John 6. 27. [ The Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence , and the violent take it by force . ] Matth. 11. 12. [ Know ye not that they which run in a race , run all , but one receiveth the prize ? So run that ye may obtain : And every man that striveth for the mastery , is temperate in all things : Now they do it to obtain a corruptible Crown ; but we an incorruptible . I therefore so run , not as uncertainly : so fight I , not as one that beateth the air : but I keep under my body , and bring it into subjection ; lest that by any means when I have preached to others , I my self should be a cast-away . ] 1 Cor. 9. 24 , 25 , 26 , 27. [ Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread , and your labour for that which satisfieth not ? Hearken diligently unto me , eat ye that which is good , and let your soul delight it self in fatness ; encline your ear , and come unto me ; hear and your soul shall live ; and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you . ] Isa. 55. 1 , 2 , 3. [ Be servent in spirit , serving the Lord . ] Rom. 12. 11. [ For the grace of God that bringeth salvation , hath appeared to all men ; teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts , we should live soberly , righteously , and godly in this present world : Looking for that blessed hope , and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ ; who gave himself for us , that he might redeem us from all iniquity , and sanctifie to himself a peculiar people , zealous of good works . ] Tit. 2. 11 , 12 , 13 , 14. [ Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully . ] Jer. 48. 10. [ Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do , do it with thy might : For there is no work , nor device , nor knowledge , nor wisdom in the grave whether thougoest . ] Eccles. 9. 10.

These and such like are the sayings of God , by which thou mayst easily understand his mind concerning the necessity of a serious , diligent , holy life . And shall a blind and wretched worm come after , and dare to contradict him , and unsay all this , and say , What needs so much ado ? What! darest thou thus openly resist God to his face ? What art thou ? and what is thy word , that we should regard it before the Word of God ?

Quest. 27. Dost thou not know that by thy speaking against a diligent holy life , thou gratifyest the Devil , and openly servest him , and saist the very things that he would have thee say ? What can more please him , and advance his Kingdom , and suit his malicious ends , then to stop and cool men in the service of the Lord , and make them believe that holiness is but a needless thing ? If the Devil might have leave to walk visibly among men , and speak to them in their language , he would speak to them as thou dost , and say the same things which he 〈…〉 into thy mouth ; and would do all that he could to keep men from a holy life . And darest thou thus openly play his part ?

Quest. 28. Canst thou think ( when eternal life is at the stake ) that a man so weak in the midst of so many hindrances and enemies , hath cause to count his diligence unnecessary ? When Satan like a roaring Lyon , is seeking day and night to devour thee ( 1 Pet. 5. 8. ) when his malice , subtilty , and diligence is so great , and so unwearied ; when his instruments are so many , so subtile , and so powerful ; when the world aboundeth round about thee with such dangerous enticing snares and baits ; when thy trayterous flesh so near thee is thy most perilous enemy , uncessantly drawing thee from God unto the creature ; and when thou art so impotent to resist all these assaults ; art thou then in a condition fit to cry out against the greatest diligence for thy soul ? Should a man going up the sleepest hill , when it is for his life , be afraid of going too fast ? When thou hast done all thou canst , it is well for thee that ever thou wast born if it suffice . If weaknesses and enemies cause such a difficulty that the righteous themselves are scarcely saved ( that is , with much ado ) is it then time for thee to ask What needs so much ado ?

Quest. 29. D●st thou not deal exceeding unthankfully and unequally with God ? When he thinks not the Sun and Moon and all the creatures too good to serve thee , nor all his mercies too great for thee ; no not the blood of his beloved Son , nor his Spirit , nor Heaven it self if thou wilt accept them in his way ; wilt thou think thy best too good for him ? and thy most diligent service to be too much ? When thy All is next to Nothing ; and thy Best doth not profit the Almighty , but thy self , and the gain will be thy own . If a man should think it too much to put off his hat and thank thee , when thou hast given him a thousand pound ; or to go a mile for thee , when thou hast saved his life ; thou wouldst say he were not a man , but a monster of ingratitude . But thy unthankfulness is ten thousand-fold worse to God , who would deliver thee from everlasting torments , and give thee everlasting glory , and save thee from Satan and all thy sins , if thou wilt but take his safe remedies ▪ and thou churlishly refusest , as if all were not worth so much ado .

Quest. 30. Dost thou know what a life it is that thou accountes● an unnecessary toil ? It is a life of the greatest Safety , Commodity , Honour , and Delight , ( besides the justice and honesty of it ) of any in the world ; and indeed thou canst not choose any other but at thy peril , and to thy greatest loss and ruine , and to thy present and everlasting shame and sorrow : It is the sweetest and most pleasant life on earth , that thou ignorantly accountest such a tedious toyl . The manifestation of this shall be my work in the second Part of this Discourse .

And now I dare affirm , that when the dreadful God shall shortly judge thee who hast read or heard these words , it will be found indelibly written upon thy Conscience , that thou hadst here such Reasons laid before thee , to prove the Necessity of a serious , diligent , holy life , as all the wit in earth or Hell , is not able solidly to confute ; and that an ungodly sensual life is most unreasonable ; and that , if after this , thou continue in an unsanctified fleshly state , thou shall justly perish as one that wilfully refused salvation , as in despight of God , his mercies and his messengers , and of the plainest undenyable Truth and Reason : And that in refusing to be a SAINT , thou madest thy self in the greatest matters no better then a BRUTE , wilfully subjecting thy Reason to thy sensuality , and judging thy self unmeet for everlasting Happiness .

BUt here I know the self-deceiving Hypocrite will object , That all this that I am proving so diligently is confest , and nothing to the point in question : Which is not , Whether One thing be needful , and Holiness be of Necessity to salvation ? For who denyeth this ? But the question is , Whether it be this Puritanical precise way of serving God which only deserves the name of Holiness ? and Whether they be net as truly godly and sanctified that say their prayers morning and night , and go to Church on Sundayes , and follow their businesses the rest of the week , without any more ado ?

Answ. Either it is the substance of holy duties , or but the circumstances , which you quarrel at as Puritanical and precise . If it be only the circumstances , ( as Whether we should receive the Lords Supper standing , or kneeling , or sitting ? Whether we should pray publickly without Book , or on the Book ? and Whether a Scripture-form or another be better ? and Whether a continued speech , or versicles , anthems , and oft-repeated words and sentences be better ? What form of Church Government is best ● by Diocesane Bishops , or by all the Pastors ? and the like ) It is not of such things as these that I am pleading with thee : Though some of them are matters of considerable moment , for the helping or hindring men in godliness ; yet it is greater matters then these , that I am now contending for . Agree with us practically in the substance , in Faith , Repentance , Love , Obedience , Mortification , Heavenliness , Humility , Patience , and serious diligence and zeal in all , and then I am none of those that will condemn or censure you ; but one that will rejoyce in you , as those that I hope to rejoyce with for ever .

But if it be the substantial duties of godliness that you resist , while you own but the Name of godliness in the general , I must tell you that it is not Names and Generals that will save you ; nor prove that you have your selves one spark of Grace . Nothing more eafie and common then for the most ungodly to say , they are all for a godly life ; and God forbid that any should be against it ; when yet they hate and reject it indeed , when it comes to the practice of those particular duties in which it doth consist . It is not godliness that they hate and reproach , but it is fervent prayer , holy conference , meditation , self-denyal , mortification of the desires of the flesh , heavenly mindedness , &c. In general , they will say that Gods Law must be obeyed , and his Will preferred before their own : But when it comes to the particulars , they Love him not above all , they take his name in vain , they keep not holy his day , they disobey superiours that would reform them , they are envious , malicious , covetous , lustful , and break all the Commandements in particular , which in general they profess to keep . As if your servant should promise to do your work ; and when you set him to it , one thing is too hard , and another he is not used to , and so he hath his exceptions against the greatest part which he undertook . As if one should wound one of you in the head , and stab you to the heart , and cut off an arm or a leg , and say , I wish the man no harm ; It is not the man that I hate or hurt , but only the head , the heart , the arm , &c. Even so , it is not holiness that these men hate , and speak against ; but it is so much praying , and meditating , and reading the Scriptures , and making such astir about Religion , when less ado way serve the turn .

But wretched soul , if thou have not the wit to see the contradictions of thy deceitful tongue , and the venome of the malignant heart , dost thou think that such sottish shifts as the● will blind the eyes of heavenly Justice , and save thee from the vengeance of a Holy God , which he hath denounced against rebellious hypocrites ? But come on ; let us try whether the several parts of godliness which thou questionest , or callest Puritanism or preciseness , are not most expresly and peremptorily commanded in the Word of God .

1. Is it so much preaching and hearing Sermons that thou quarrellest with ? Hear then how Christ and his Apostles preached , and how they required men to hear . Mark 1. 35 , 37 , 38 , 39. [ And in the morning rising up a great while before day , he went out and departed into a solitary place , and there prayed : And Simon and they that were with him followed after him ; and when they had found him they said unto him , All men seek for thee : And he said , Let us go unto the next Towns , that I may preach there also ; for therefore came I forth : and he preached in their Synagogues throughout all Galilee . ] Mark 2. 2. [ And straight-way many were gathered together , insomuch that there was no room to receive them ; no not so much as about the door , and he preached the Word unto them . ] Mark 3. 19 , 20 , 21. [ And they went into an house , and the multitude cometh together again , so that they could not so much as eat bread : and when his friends heard of it , they went out to lay hold on him ; for they said , He is beside himself . ] Acts 5. 42. [ And daily in the Temple , and in every house , they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ . ] Acts 4. 4. [ They that were scattered went everywhere preaching the Word . ] Acts 20. 20 , 28 , 31. [ I kept back nothing that was profitable to you , but have shewed you , and have taught you publickly and from house to house — Take heed therefore to your selves and to all the flock over which the Holy-Ghost hath made you Over-seers , to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood — Therefore watch , and remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears . ] Rom. 10. 14 , 15. [ How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard ? and how shall they hear without a Preacher ? ] Phil. 1. 18. [ Every way whether in pretence or in truth Christ is preached , and I do therein rejoyce , yea and will rejoyce . ] 1 Cor. 1. 21. [ It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe . ] Col. 1. 28 , 29. [ Whom we preach , warning every man , and teaching every man , in all wisdom , that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus , &c. ] 2 Tim. 4. 1 , 2. [ I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ , who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom , preach the word ; be instant in season , out of season , reprove , rebuke , exhort , with all long-suffering and doctrine . ] 1 Cor. 9. 16. [ Necessity is laid upon me ; yea woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel . ]

What say you now ? do we not fall much short of those that we should imitate , rather then do too much in preaching ? But what need we more then the text it self , where for hearing , Mary is so commended , and her sister blamed for neglecting it , though it was to make provision for Christ himself and those that were with him ? Acts 20. 7. [ And upon the first day of the week when the Disciples came together to break bread , Paul preached to them , being to depart on the morrow , and continued his speech until midnight . ] Jam. 1. 19. [ Let every one be swift to hear . ] Rev. 2. 7. &c. [ He that hath ear , let him hear . ] Luke 8. 21. [ Jesus said , My mother and my brethren are those which hear the Word of God and do it . ] I hope you see this duty is past question .

2. Is it the reading of the Scripture that is the Puritanism or too much ado that you blame ? Or is it the frequent meditating on such high and holy things ? Hear what the Spirit saith of this : Psalm 1. 1 , 2. [ Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly , nor standeth in the way of sinners , nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful ; but his delight is in the Law of the Lord , and in his Law doth he meditate day and night — The ungodly are not so . — ] Psalm 119. 97. [ O how I love thy Law ! it is my meditation all the day . ] 99. [ Thy testimonies are my meditation . ] v. 148. [ Mine eyes prevented the night watches , that I might meditate en thy Word . ] . Job 23. 12. [ I have esteemed the words of his mouth more then my necessary food . ] Psalm 119. 72. [ The Law of thy mouth is better unto me then thousands of gold and silver . ] Mark 12. 10. [ Have ye not read the Scriptures ? ] John 5. 39. [ Search the Scriptures . ] Acts 8. 28. [ The Euuuch sitting in his Chariot read Esaias the Prophet . ] 1 Tim. 4. 13. [ Give attendance to reading , to exhortation , to doctrine . ] I hope you see also that this part of godliness is past question .

3. Is it much and fervent prayer that is the preciseness or too much ado that you make question of ? Hear then what the Holy Ghost doth say of that : Phil. 4. 6. [ In every thing by Prayer and supplication with thanksgiving , let your requests be made known to God . ] 1 Thes. 5. 17 , 18. [ Pray without ceasing : In every thing give thanks : for this is the will of God concerning you ] Luke 18. 1. [ And he spake a parable to them to this end , that men ought alwayes to pray , and not to wax faint , &c. ] Luke 11. 8 , 9. [ I say unto you , though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend , yet because of his importunity , he will rise and give him as many as he needeth : And I say unto you , Ask and it shall be given you ; seek and ye shall find ; knock and it shall be opened unto you . ] Luke 6. 12. [ He went out into a mountain to pray , and continued all night in prayer to God . ] Daniel would not give over praying three times a day in his house , for thirty dayes space , at the Kings command , no not to save his life from devouring Lions . David saith , Psalm 119. 164. [ Seven times a day do I praise thee . ] Lam. 2. 19. [ Arise : cry out in the night : in the beginning of the watches pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord : ] Psalm 14. 4. it is part of the wicked Atheists description , that [ They call not upon the Lord . ] Jer. 10. 25. [ Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not , and the families that call not on thy name . ] Psalm 145. 18. [ The Lord is nigh to all that call upon him ; to all that call upon him in truth . ] When Paul was converted , the Lord lets Ananias know it by this token , Acts 9. 11. [ For behold he prayeth . ] Acts 1. 14. [ These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication . ] Acts 2. 42. The three thousand Converts [ continued stedfastly in the Apostles doctrine , and fellowship , and in breaking of bread , and in prayers . ] Col 4. 2 [ Continue in prayer , and watch in the same , with thanksgiving ; withall praying also for us , that God would open to us a door of utterance , to speak the mysterie of Christ . ] Rom. 12. 12. [ Continuing instant in prayer . ] Jam. 5. 16. [ The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much . ] 1 Tim. 4. 5. [ For ( every creature ) is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer . ] 1 Tim. 5. 5. [ She that is a widdow indeed and desolate , trusteth in God , and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day . ] Jude 20. [ Praying in the Holy Ghost . ] 1 Thes. 3. 10. [ Night and day praying exceedingly . ] Ephes. 6 18. [ Praying alwayes with all prayer and supplication in the spirit , and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all Saints ; and for me , &c. ] 2 Chron. 6. 29. [ What prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man , or of all thy people Israel , when every one shall know his own sore , and his own grief , and shall spread forth his hands in this house , then hear thou from Heaven , &c. ]

I hope by this time , if you have eyes you see , that more frequent and fervent prayers then any of us use ( and that without Book ) were used by the antient servants of the Lord , and were not thought too much ado , nor more ado then God requireth of us .

4. Is it constant , diligent teaching , instructing , and catechizing your families , and labouring that your selves and they may understand and practise the Law of God ? Hear also what the Spirit saith of this : and then judge whether it be too much preciseness .

Prov. 2. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. [ My son , if thou wilt receive my words , and hide my Commandements with thee ; so that thou encline thine ear unto wisdom , and apply thy heart to understanding : yea if thou cryest after knowledge , and liftest up thy voice for understanding : if thou seekest her as silver , and searchest for her as for hidden treasures ; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord , and find the knowledge of God . ] Deut. 6. 5 , 6 , 7. & 11. 18 , 19 , 20. [ And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart , and with all thy soul , and with all thy might : And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thy heart , and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children , and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house , and when thou walkest by the way , and when thou lyest down , and when thou risest up : And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand , and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes ; and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house , and on thy gates . ] Gen. 18 , 19. [ For I know Abraham that he will command his children and his houshold after him , and they shall keep the way of the Lord . ] Josh. 24. 15. [ But as for me and my houshold , we will serve the Lord . ] Prov. 22. 6. [ Train up a child in the way he should go , and when he is old he will not depart from it . ] Eph. 6. 4. [ Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord . ] These and many such passages shew you that the most diligent instructing of your families , is not more ado then God requireth , but a most weighty needful part of godliness .

5. Is it the meeting of divers neighbours together ( distinct from Church-meetings ) that you question ? Why , if it be Schismatical in opposition to the publick meetings , or to do any unlawful work , we are against it as well as you . But if it be but for the redeeming of their time , for their spiritual advantage , and orderly , peaceably , and soberly observed , by some that have more time , or care of their souls , then the rest of their neighbours ; sure you will not for shame imagine , that neighbours may lawfully meet to make merry , and feast , and sport , and conferr about their worldly business , and yet may not meet to pray , and praise God , and repeat what instructions they have received of their Teachers , and prepare for and improve the publick Ordinances ? Hear what the Spirit saith also in this . In the text here you find just such a meeting , where Christ was teaching , and Mary and his Disciples hearing , and Martha cumbred with providing for the company , and blamed for neglecting the advantage for her soul . Acts 12. 12. Peter came out of prison to the house of Mary , where many were gathered together praying . ] Acts 10. 24. [ Cornelius called together his kinsmen and near friends ] to hear Peter ; who there preached to them , converted and baptized them . I need to instance in no more , because this was the ordinary practice of Christ and the Apostles . If you say , Those were times of persecution : I answer , True : But , 1. yet such times in which publick Assemblies were ordinarily held , and publick preaching used . 2. And as the good of mens souls required it in times of persecution , so when the good of souls requires it , in times of liberty , it is from the same general reason a duty ; but never forbidden by Christ in any times of greatest prosperity and peace .

6. Is it the holy observation of the Lords day that is the preciseness that you cannot away with ? Of all men , it beseems not them to quarrel at this , that own our Homilies , and with the Common-prayer , use after the fourth Commandment to say , [ Lord have mercy upon us , and encline our hearts to keep this Law ; ] When they have heard , [ Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day , thou , thy Son , thy daughter , thy man-servant , thy maid-servant , thy cattle , and the stranger that is within thy gates . ] You see all the foresaid duties must be performed , and publick Assemblies for Gods worship and our instruction continued : And therefore there must be some known appointed time for these . And do you know any other day that is fitter ? I think you will not pretend to that : You would not have another day instead of this ; but you would have no day at all for such holy works ; but a day for ease , and idleness , and sports , and vain discourse , and pleasures , with some little formal publick worship intermixt to cheat your souls . It is not then the Day , but the serious , diligent , holy employment and duty that you are against ; and that I have proved to be Gods will before . Doubtless if you leave all men to serve God when they will , without any stated time , his worship will soon be brought to nothing , and they that pretend to keep every day holy , will keep none . Look upon the places where the Lords day is kept holy , and see whether godliness flourish not there incomparably above all other places . And I think none can doubt but that more souls have been converted and brought home to God on that day , then on any day of the week , if not then all the rest beside . And there is not the peevishest malignant soul of you , that can with any shew of reason prove that the holy observation of the Lords day is unlawful , if it were not necessary : So that we are at least on the safest side of the hedge : For we can say that we take a most happy opportunity for the good of our own souls , and the worshipping of God ; and that we are sure we do that which is no sin ; our adversaries themselves do not charge us with doing that which is forbidden , but that which they conceit unnecessary : But if we should do as they , and neglect this day , we are not sure but it may be a great sin ; ( nay indeed we are sure it would be so . )

But what saith the Holy-Ghost now to this question ? To pass by the fourth Commandement , at this time , the letter of it , and the equity and reason of a seventh day ; the advantage of reason why there should be no less under the Gospel , and such like ; I shall only now say these two things . 1. It is plain in Scripture that ( de facto ) the Apostles and Churches used to meet for holy Communion in Gods worship on the Lords day : And consequently that this was appointed by the Apostles , or immediately by Christ himself , there being then no other that pretended to any such authority : and that Apostolical allowance no man questioneth . The Apostles then having the extraordinary gift of the Spirit , by which they were enabled infallibly to make known the will of God , and being commissioned as well as enabled here unto ; as their writing of the holy Scriptures , so their constitutions for the ordering of the Church , being the effects of that Authority received from Christ , and that Ability given them by the Spirit , are Divine , and principally the acts of Christ and the Holy Ghost , whose agents the Apostles were . Now that the first Churches did by their appointment , observe the Lords day for holy actions , is apparent . As Christ first laid the ground-work by R●sing on that day , so he began that very day to preach unto Mary the comfortable doctrine of his Ascension , in words that deserve to be written in gold , or rather in the deepest room of every true Believers heart : [ John 20. 17. Go to my Brethren , and say unto them , I ascend unto my Father , and your Father , and to my God and your God ] ; The first Sermon that ever was preached on a Lords day , even on the first Lords day by Christ himself , even to a beloved penitent woman , whom he chose to be as it were his Apostle to his Apostles , to deliver them this Message as from him .

On the same day the Disciples being Assembled , he owned and blessed their Assembly , and gave them the Holy Ghost and Apostolicall power .

When Thomas being absent from the Assembly the first Lords day , did miss the sight of Christ and was unbelieving , Christ left him a whole week in his unbelief , and would not heal him till the next Lords day , which he honoured with that cure . Then the Disciples being met again , Christ came among them , and convinced Thomas .

On another Lords day , they were all with one accord in one place , and the Holy Ghost was in the extraordinary measure given them . And Acts 20. 7. it is mentioned as the custom of the Disciples , to come together on the first day of the week to break bread ; and Paul then preached to them even till midnight . And 1 Cor. 16. 1 , 2. the Collections for the Saints were made every first day of the week in all the Churches of Galatia , and at Corinth , because they had then their holy Assemblies . And therefore Rev. 1. 10. it is called peculiarly the Lords day .

2. But to clear this past all rational doubting , we find in all the writings of the antients , and historie of the Church , that all the Churches through the world unanimously observed the Lords day as instituted by Christ or the Holy Ghost in the Apostles ; none ever questioning or contradicting it , that ever I read of . He that hath read the writings of the Antients , and denyeth this , is unworthy to be disputed with . The practice of the universal Church is a full exposition of the fore-cited Scriptures ; and though it be no Law to us it self , yet is it a full discovery of the fact ( telling us what was the primitive practice ) and so a discovery of the Law . And shall any private ignorant man , come in alter one thousand six hundred and twenty six years , and say the Apostles and all the Churches in the world have been deceived till this day , and we must rectifie the mistake ? Shall these fellows come in at the end of the world , and call the Apostles and all the Churches of all ages Puritanes , for keeping holy the Lords day ? Or will any but a brain-sick person hearken to such shameless men as these ?

Object . But the antient Churches did not keep that day as a Sabbath , but only as a day for publick worship .

Answ. We will not stick with you for the name : We urge you not to call it the Sabbath , ( though the Antients sometimes did so : See our Homilies of the Place and Time of Prayer ) if you will call it as Scripture and the Churches did , by the name of the Lords day . And it was then the custom of the Churches , to spend almost all the day in publick Worship and Holy Communion , and therefore they had but little time for any private duties that day . And yet ( though the private practises of particular persons on that day be little mentioned in Church-history ) no man can prove that they used to spend any remaining hours of that day as common time in common business . So that to quarrel against the holy observation of the Lords day , is but to quarrel with the Holy Ghost and the Apostles , and all the Churches of all ages since , and with the happyest season for the worshipping of God , and seeking our own and other mens edification .

7. What is there yet remaining then that you quarrel with as too much preciseness ? Is it the strictness of mens lives in forbearing sin , and not doing as their neighbours do , in rioting and vain recreations , and delights ? For this I need not stand to justifie them , with any impartial sober man . If sin be evil , and displease God , and deserve damnation , he that most fully and carefully avoideth it , is the honestest and the wisest man . You will not blame your child or servant for being loth to offend and disobey you even in the smallest matter . You like not him that offereth you the least abuse , so well as him that offereth you none . You had rather be well then have the least disease . You will not take a little poyson ; nor would you feel a little of hell : Why then should we not avoid the least sin so far as we are able ? If sinning be good , then Devils are the best creatures , and Angels and Christ ( in his manhood ) the worst . But if sin be the greatest evil , What will you call those men that do not only wilfully commit it , but plead for it , and reproach those that would fain avoid it ? Or what if some of those that you reproach , are mistaken in some point , and 〈◊〉 that to be a sin that is none ? Or what if you think it to be no sin which they scruple ? Will you blame a man that loves God , to be afraid of that which he suspecteth may offend him ? Or will you blame him that cares for his salvation , to make as sure of it as he can ? and to keep as far from the brink of hell as he able ? How is it that you observe not that your very reproaches do confute themselves ? What is it that you are offended at in the servants of the Lord ? Is it Good or Evil ? Surely it is some fault or other of theirs , that you will pretend to be the cause . For scarce any but the Devil himself will openly and professedly oppose Goodness under the name of Goodness . And if it be a ( real or supposed ) fault that you speak against them for , doth it not intimate that they should avoid all faults as far as they are able ? And yet will you at the same time reproach them for being too strict and fearful to offend ? as if it were their fault that they are unwilling to be faulty ?

But let us hear what God saith of this . Prov. 14. 9. [ Fools make a mock at sin . ] vers. 34. [ Righteousness exalteth a Nation : but sin is a reproach to any people . ] And yet you would make the avoiding it , a reproach . ) Gen. 4. 7. [ If thou do well , shalt thou not be accepted ? and if thou dost not well , sin lyeth at the door . ] Numb. 32. 23. [ Be sure your sin will find you out . ] Jam. 1. 15. [ Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death . ] 1 Thes. 5. 22. [ Abstain from all appearance of evil . ] Matth. 12. 36 , 37. [ But I say unto you , that every idle word that men shall speak , they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement : For by thy words thou shalt be justified ; and by thy words thou shalt be condemned . ] Matth. 5. 19. [ Whosoever shall break one of the least of these Commandements , and shall teach men so , shall be called least in the Kingdom of heaven : but whosoever shall do and ●e●●h them , the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of heaven . ] vers. 22. [ But I say unto you , that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause , shall be in danger of the judgement — but whosoever shall say , Thou fool , shall be in danger of hell fire . vers. 28. [ I say unto you , that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her , hath committed adultery already with her in his heart . ] Vers. 34 , 35 , 36 , 37. [ I say unto you , swear not at all : Neither by heaven for it is Gods throne : nor by the earth ; for it is his footstool : — But let your communication be Yea , Yea ; Nay , Nay ; for whatsoever is more then these cometh of evil . ] Jam. 4. 12. [ But above all things , my Brethren , swear not ; neither by heaven , neither by the earth , nor by any other oath : but let your Yea be Yea , and your Nay , Nay , lest you faell into condemnation . ] Epes . 5. 3 , 4. [ But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness , let it not once be named amongst you as becometh Saints : Neither filthyness , nor foolish talking , nor jeasting , which are not convenient but rather giving of thanks . An hundred such passages of Scripture I might recite , that might quickly satisfie you , what God expecteth , and whether it be too much preciseness to fear the smallest sin .

8. But perhaps it is the rigor of their Church discipline that maketh you offended with those that you count too pure and precise : because they will not let other men alone , but are reproving them , and bringing them to open penitence and confession of their open sins , and casting those out of the Communion of the Church , which do refuse it . Answ. But do they do this of themselves , or doth God command it them ? Do you think that the Communion of Saints , is to be turned into a rabble of impiety ? and the Church into a swine-stye ? Do you not know that the Canons of the antient Churches for many hundred years after Christ , are stricter in this Discipline by far , then those that now offend you by their strictness ? And hear what he Holy-Ghost ●aith . Lev. 19. 17. [ Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy 〈…〉 : thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour , and 〈…〉 . ] Matth. 18. 15. 16 , 17. [ If thy broth●● 〈…〉 t●ll him his fault between thee and 〈…〉 gained thy brother . But if 〈…〉 thee one or two more , that 〈…〉 every word may be established : And if 〈…〉 unto the Church ; but if he neglect 〈…〉 the Church , let 〈…〉 be unto thee as an Heathen mar or a 〈…〉 . ] ● Cor. 5. For I verily at absent in body but present in ●●irit , have judged already as though I were present concerning him that hath done this deed , that in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ when ye are gathered together , and my spirit , with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ , to deliver such a one to Satan , for the destruction of the flesh , that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus — Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump ? Purge out therefore the old leaven — Now I have written to you not to keep company , if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator , or covetous , or an idolater , or a railer , or a drunkard , or an extortioner , with such a one no ●ot to eat — therefore put away from among your selves the wicked person . ] 2 Thes. 3. 6 , 14. [ Now we command you , Brethren , in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ , that ye withdraw your selves from every brother that walketh disorderly , and not after the tradition which he received of us — And if any man obey not our word by this Epistle , note that man , and have no company with him , that he may be ashamed . ] 2 John 10. [ If there come any to you , and bring not this doctrine , receive him not into your house , neither bid him God speed : for he that biddeth him God speed , is partaker of his evil deeds . ] Jam. 5. 16. [ Confess your faults one to another . ] Josh. 7. 19. [ Give , I pray thee , glory to the Lord God of Israel , and make confession unto him , and tell me now what thou hast done ; hide it not from me . ] Prov. 28. 13. [ He that covereth his sins shall not prosper , but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy . ] Doth not all this justifie the exercise of Discipline , and condemn the neglect of it ?

9. But ( saith the impious person ) why make they such a difference between themselves and other men ? extolling themselves as the only servants of the Lord , and condemning others as ungodly and children of the Devil , and terrifying mens consciences with the fears of hell ?

Answ. If any do so against such as are sanctified and renewed , and have the Spirit of Christ , and live to God , they deal uncharitably ; and if you dislike their censoriousness , so do I , and so do all the sober , considerate servants of the Lord . But if it be only against the carnal unsanctified world that they do thus , it is God that maketh the difference and not they . Do you not find the whole Scripture dividing all the world into two ranks , the godly and the ungodly ? the regenerate and unregenerate ? the converted and unconverted ? the sanctified and unsanctified ? the carnal and the spiritual ? the earthly-minded and the heavenly-minded ? the pardoned and unpardoned ? the justified and unjustified ? the children of God , and the enemies of God ? the servants of God , and of the Devil ? the heirs of heaven , and the heirs of hell ? To prove this would be to repeat the Bible . Read Psalm 1. & 37. & 15. & 10. Matth. 5. Rom. 8. Joh. 3. Matth. 13. 1 Joh 3. &c. Do you not find Christ himself acquainting you before hand that one sort shall be set at his right hand in judgement , and the other at his left ; and one part sent to life everlasting , and the other to everlasting punishment ? Matth. 25. Do they speak any mo●e of the everlasting torments , the worm that dyeth not , the fire that is unquenchable , then Christ himself hath done ? Matth. 13. 2 Thes. 1. &c. Do you love to be flattered into Hell ? and deceived in a matter of everlasting consequence ? Is it not better for you to search your hearts , and try whether you have the spirit of Christ or not , and then search the Scripture , and try whether any ma● be his that hath not his spirit , Rom. 8. 9. or can be saved that i● not converted and born again of the spirit , Matth. 18. 3. John 3. 3 , 6. [ Examine your selves whether you be in the faith : Pr●● your own selves . Know ye not your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except you be reprobates ? 2 Cor. 12. 5.

10. But you will say , that the Reason of your distaste against these that are so forward in Religion is , that they are inwardly ●● bad as others , and as proud and worldly ; and why do they not excell others in good works , as much as they do in their de●●tions ?

Answ. 1. So they do , according to their ability : Twenty years tryal and more I have had of them since I was a Minister of Christ ; and I can truly say , that ordinarily I have known of many a shilling , if not pounds , that have come from the purses of these that you call Puritanes and precise , for one groat or penny that I have known come from most others about me of their rank , to any pious and charitable use . But all that are godly , a●● not rich : and though Christ extolleth the widows two mites , the standers by regarded them not : Matth. 12. 42. 43. 2 Cor. 8. 12. [ If there be first a willing mind , it is accepted according to that a man hath , and not according to that he hath not . ] And he that hath said , [ Take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them ; otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven , Matth. 6. 1. ] hath hereby kept his servants from making the world acquainted with much of their deeds of charity : And for the sins of the heart that you charge them with , they 〈◊〉 known to none but God , unless they be discovered in their lives . But malice in all ages hath been used to such unproved slanders of the servants of the Lord .

2. But suppose them as bad as malice doth imagine : Is that any reason why both they and you should not be better ? It is Holiness and not sin that I am pleading for . Is their godliness and care of their salvation necessary , or not ? If it be , why do you not imitate them in that ? and if you know any fault in them , take warning and avoid it : But be not so mad as to run into Hell , because some fall in the way to Heaven , or some miss the way that seemed to go thither . Imitate not the Judas in Christs family , but the rest of his Disciples , and that not in their falls , but in their faith and piety . All that shall be saved , have both Holiness towards God , and Justice and Charity to men . The wisdom from above is first pure , then peaceable , gentle , easie to be entreated , full of mercy and good fruits , Jam. 3. 17. If you want the first , you are ungodly ; if the later , you are hypocrites : And if the hypocrite and the ungodly will stand snarling here at one another , they shall perish together , in that misery that will convince them that neither of them were the heirs of life : when Saints indeed , and none but they , shall live with Christ .

Object . But it is but a few that are of so strict a mind and life ; and shall none be saved but these few ?

Answ. Christ hath told you whom he will save : He will not falsifie his word , nor take the unsanctified into heaven for want of company . He hath told you that the gate is strait , and the way narrow that leads to life , and few there be that find it , Matth. 7. 13 , 14. and that it is a little flock to whom the Father will give the Kingdom , Luke 12. 32. You shall not want company in heaven , nor find comfort in your company in hell .

But if you would have the number of the godly to be greater ▪ why do you not increase it by your joyning with them ? Why do not all the Town and Parish agree together , and bind themselves in a Covenant to serve and seek the Lord , as the Israelites . Josh. 24. 2 Chron. 15. 12 , 13. O happy people that will thus accord , and heartily perform it .

And now , Beloved Hearers , I have finished this first Part of my task , and proved to you the Necessity of a Holy life ; That One thing is needful , while you pittifully cumber your selves about many things , is the message that from Christ I have been hitherto delivering to you . What say you ? Are you yet resolved to seek this One thing with the chiefest of your desires , and care , and labour , or are you not ? Dare any one of you say that you have not heard that which should resolve a sober considerate man ? I think you dare not . But if you dare , I am sure you shall never be able to make it good , and justifie your words , to God , or to your Consciences at last , or to any wise impartial person . Now take your choice , whether you will now be SAINTS and for ever like ANGELS ; or now be like BRUTES , and for ever like DEVILS : For one of these must be your case , as sure as you have heard these words .

FINIS .

A Saint or a Brute . The Second Part.

CHAP. 1. Holiness and its fruits are the Best part : Wherein the Happiness of Saints confisteth . Luke 10. 42. But One thing is Needful : and Mary hath chosen the good part , which shall not be taken away from her .

THough I have before taken up this latter part of the Text by way of Motive , in the Conclusion of the former Part of this Treatise , I am very loth that a subject of so great importance should be so lightly passed over : And therefore by Gods assistance , I shall attempt a fuller handling of it . The Necessity of Holiness I have spoken of already : It is the Goodness of it that I am next to speak of .

And before I enter upon it , let me intreat thee Reader , whoever thou art that openest this Book , to remember that I am writing and thou art reading of the greatest and highest matters in the world ; and therefore come not to it with common affections , and read not this as thou wouldst do a History or a Rheroricall Oration , to find delight for a curious mind , but confessing thy self a Scholar to Christ , with reverence take thy L●… from him , as that which thou camest into the world to L●… which all thy comforts , thy hopes , thy safety , and thy ev●… happiness depend upon .

And here in the entrance , I will freely tell you what more me to fall upon this subject , and be so earnest with you in th●● point . One thing is the observation of the carelesness and wilfulness of the most , that live in the neglect of Holiness and Everlasting Life , for all that can be said to perswade them to a wiser course : While they all profess themselves to be Christians , and to take the Scripture for the Word of God , and confess this Word in particular to be true , that it is Heaven and Holiness that are the most Necessary , and most to be desired and sought after , yet will they not be moved to Live according to this Profession , nor to Love that Most which they confess to be the Best , nor to seek that first which they confess to be most Needful . They have the case here decided by the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ himself , and as plainly , and fully , and peremptorily decided ●● they could wish . If they were Infidels , and understood but the Law of Nature , even Reason might tell them that there is no doubt of it , but that Eternal Life is more to be sought after then transitory things : And yet they live as if the case had never been decided by Christ or by reason ; or as if they had never heard of any Life but this : Look into most Towns , and see whether there be not more at Martha's work , ( and worse ) then at Mary's ▪ Look into most families , and see whether they be not 〈…〉 Martha , troubling themselves with many things , when the 〈…〉 part is almost cast aside . Even in the Families of Lords , K●… and Gentlemen , that are doubly obliged to God , and pr●… be wiser then the ignorant Vulgar , the matters of their 〈…〉 are turned out of doors , or thrust into a corner , and the 〈◊〉 of their bodies do take up the day . How many Martha's , ●● one Mary , shall we find among both Rich and Poor ▪

Yea that is not the worst , but they that are so blind , and wicked as to choose the worser part themselves , would have all about them do so too ; And as Martha grudged at Mary's practice , and conplaineth to Christ against her , so these repine at the choice of the Godly , and think them but melancholy crack-br●ind people that make more ado for their salvation then they need : And th●● are not content to keep such ungodly thoughts in their brea●… to their Own damnation , but they must be the Devils mouth to spit reproach in the face of Holiness , and consequently in the face of Christ , as if they bid defiance to the Lord , and would make it their employment to jeere and scorn mens souls from Heaven . If one in a family do with Mary choose the better part ( though without any neglect of their calling in the world , ) the rest make a wonder of them , and some deride them : and some hate and vilifie and threaten them , and few will imitate them : and who more forward to distaste and despise them then the Masters of the Families that are bound to teach and lead them in that way ! so that a poor soul ( even in a Land and Age that countenanceth Holiness more then almost any other in the world ) can scarcely sit at the feet of Christ , and Learn his word , and seek his Kingdom and Righteousness first , but they are gazed at , and censured and derided , as if they did some very foolish , needless , yea or wicked thing ! As if it were the only folly for a man to follow Jesus Christ , and obey his God , and save his soul , and do that work with greatest diligence , for which he is a man , for which he hath his Life , and Time , and Mercies , and which if he neglect , he is lost for ever ! The Lord have Mercy upon the poor deluded world ! whence comes this general dampe and dottage upon the understandings and the hearts of men ! of Great men , of Learned men , of men that are accounted wise in the world !

It is Good and Evil that constituteth all that wonderful difference that is between the Reasonable creatures , both here and hereafter : The Good of Holiness , and the evil of sin do make the difference , between the Godly and the wicked : the Good of Everlasting Happiness , and the Evil of Everlasting Misery , doth make the difference between the Glorified and the Damned . Goodness in General is so naturally the object of mans will , that Evil as Evil cannot be desired , and Good as Good cannot be hated . What then is the matter that few attain the greatest good , and few will scape the greatest misery ? It is because they would not Choose that Good , and refuse the way and cause of Misery . But how cometh it to pass that men will make no wiser a choice ? Is the case so doubtful that they cannot be resolved in it ? every man would have that which he thinks is Best for him . Why do men follow after wealth , or pleasure , or credit in the world , but because they take it to be Best for them ? Why do they set so light by Holiness , and Christ and Heaven , b●… cause they apprehend them not to be Best for them ? W●… men refuse , and obstinately against all perswasions refuse a Holy life , if they took it practically to be Best for them ? what ! will they contrive their own destruction ? do they long to do themselves a Mischief , and the greatest Mischief in the world ? No , that 's not the case ; But the matter is this : Their senses draw them another way ; Their eye , their ear , their taste , their feeling , every sense hath a Pleasure of its Own , and this sense or flesh is violent and unreasonable , and would fain be satisfied : and Reason that was given us to Rule it , is bribed and blinded and perverted by it , and so is ready as a servant to obey it , and to take its part ; and the fleshly mind discerneth not the things of God , for they are spiritually discerned : the Will also and the Affections are by the byas of a fleshly inclination corrupted , and habitually lean to the fleshly part : And that which men Love , they will easily think well of , and are glad of any thing like Reason to defend it ; and that which is against the Inclination of the Will , will hardly be thought well of , and any thing like Reason will serve against it . This depravation of the mind and will of man , enslaved and ruled by the Flesh or sensuality , is the very cause that most men will not choose the Better part , and so the cause of their perpetual misery . And till the Holy Ghost send in a heavenly light of Wisdom into the mind to shew them the true difference between the Good and the Evil , and a new Inclination into the Will , that shall turn their hearts from the Evil to the Good , they will still go on , and the matters of God will seem foolishness to them ; and they will take those men for the veryest fools that follow the Wisdom of the Lord , and provide most carefully for eternal life ; and they will take those for the wisest men , that are most contrary to the God of Wisdom , and that dare leap most fearlesly into Hell ; Or if this be not their Opinion , but conviction force them to a wiser kind of language , yet will it be their Practical estimation and their Hearts , as their Choice and Lives will easily declare . For that which is born of the flesh is flesh , and that which is born of the spirit is spirit , Joh. 3. 6. The fleshly man will have a fleshly mind and will , and openly or secretly will Live after the flesh , and such are the heirs of death , Rom. 8. 5 , 7 , 13. Fleshly generation cannot make a spiritual mind or heart in any , but it must be by spiritual Regeneration : and therefore except a man be born again of the spirit as well as of water , he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven , Joh. 3. 3 , 5.

This inward difference of Inclinations is the true cause of the difference of the judgements and the courses of men , about the matters of God and their salvation .

This is it that makes so many to think none wise but those that are more dangerously mad then men in Bedlam ; and that makes so many others stand in doubt as men unresolved what to choose , and what course to follow : As if it were really a difficult point for a man to be resolved in , Whether it be best and wisest to follow the teachings of God , or of the flesh : and to seek first the Kingdom and Righteousness of God , or to make a pudder for nothing in the world ; and to claw this itching flesh a while , though they must smart for it for ever , or to master the flesh and live to God!

In a word , the world are half unresolved , [ whether it be better to be Holy with Gods promise of Eternal Glory , or to take the Pleasures of sin for a season , and neglect this Holiness , though this course be threatned by the Living God with Everlasting torments ? ] This is the true state of the Question , which I say one part of the world doth seem to be unresolved in , and another part are resolved on the worser side , against their souls and a Holy life ; and only those that the illuminating sanctifying spirit hath resolved , do choose the needful better part .

The reason of this distracted judgement of the most , is within themselves . It is not because that there is any such difficulty in the case , as should put a wise man to a stand ; Nor it is not because they have not sufficient evidence in the word , or that God denyed them Teachers , Books , or any Necessary Means for their information . The Light is among them ; but they Love it not because their hearts and deeds are evil , and their darkness doth not comprehend it ; and this is their delusion , and their condemnation , Joh. 1. 6 , 7 , 8. & 3. 19.

When I am preaching to a congregation of many hundred or thousand souls , if the salvation of all that people did lie upon any other question no harder then this that we have in hand , so it were such as fleshly interest , and corrupted minds and wills had no quarrel against , how easily , how surely should I save the souls of all that heard me ! Reader , let me have thy judgement . If the Question were , Whether Light or Darkness be the Better ▪ Whether a dead corps be better then a Living man ? Whether a cottage for a day , or a Rich habitation for term of life be better ? Whether as much drink as will make thee drunk , or a nights lodging with a wh●re , be better then Lands and Lordships for thy life time , or for a thousand years ? Whether one sweet cup with shame and beggery all thy life after , or one bitter draught with perpetual prosperity , should be rather chosen ? Whether a sick man were better take an unpleasing medicine that would cure him , or a pleasant poyson that would kill him ? Whether he were better pay a little to the Physicion , or dye to save his money ? Whether that Prince be wise that will sell his Kingdom for a cup of wine , or for childrens rackets ? Or whether that child ●e vertuous that cannot abide his Fathers sight or house or commands , but loveth better to do that which he knows displeaseth him , or to tumble in the dirt with swine ? I say , if any of these were the Question to be Resolved , and the salvation of all that heard me lay upon the true Resolution , I leave it to your own judgements , Whether I were not like to save the souls of all that heard me ? And yet in a case as clear in it self , and much more clear , how few do we prevail with ? Is not the Question [ Whether God or the Creature , Holiness or Sin , Earth or Heaven , Short or Everlasting pleasures should be preferred ? ] as plain to a wise man as any of those that I mentioned before ? Is it not as plain a case to a man of judgement , [ Whether Holiness , with Everlasting joys , be better then fleshly pleasures with damnation ? ] as whether a Kingdom be better then a Jayle , or Gold then dirt , or health then sickness ? Yet do your salvations lie upon this Question , this easie Question . I must again repeat it ; All your salvations lie upon the practical resolution of this easie Question . Be but Resolved once that God is Best for you , and Heaven is Best for you , and accordingly make your Resolute Choice , and faithfully Prosecute it , and God will be Yours , Heaven will be yours as sure as the Promise of God is true . But if you will not Choose God and Glory as your Best , but will Choose the world and simple pleasures as Better for you , you shall have no better then you chose , and shall suffer a double condemnation , for neglecting and refusing so great salvation .

You hear now by mens talk , and you see by their lives that the world is divided upon this Question , What it is that is Best for a man , and which is his Best and Wisest course ? One part ( and the greater ) think in their hearts that present prosperity is best , because they think that the promised happiness of the life to come is a thing uncertain ; or i● there be such a thing , they may have it after the pleasures of sin ; These are the Infidels .

Another part have a superficial dead Opinion that Heaven and Holiness are Best : but the Love of the flesh and the world lyeth deeper at their hearts , and beareth the greater sway in their lives : and these are the Hypocrites ; that is , Christians in Opinion and Profession , and so much of their Practice as will stand with their fleshly interest , but Infidels in their Practical estimation , and at the Heart , and in the reserves and secret bent of their lives .

Another part , being illuminated and sanctified from above , Believe the Certainty and Excellency of Glory , and see the vanity and vexation of this life , and taste the sweetness of the Love of God , and perceive the Necessity and sweetness of that Holiness , which others so abhor , and hereupon give up themselves to God , and set themselves to seek for the Immortal treasure , and make it the principal care of their hearts and business of their lives to escape damnation , and live with Christ in endless Glory .

All the world consisteth of these three sorts of men , Infidels , Hypocrites , and true Believers . Now the Question is , Which of these three are in the right ? Both the other do condemn the Hypocrite that halteth between two opinions ; and One thinks that Baal is God , that the World is Best , and therefore he gives up himself to it : and the other thinks , that The Lord is God , and Heaven is best , and therefore he gives up himself to it . And if it would do any thing with those that doubt , towards the turning of the scales , to tell you which side Christ is on , it s told you here in my Text , as plain as the tongue of man can speak [ One thing is Needful : Mary hath chosen that Good part , which shall not be taken away from her .

THe Doctrine which I am now to handle to you from the plain words of the Text , is this .

Doct. That those that prefer the Learning of the word of Christ , to guide them by Holiness to Everlasting Happiness , before all the lower matters of this world , are they that choose the Better part , even that which shall never be taken from them .

If now the word of Christ alone would serve your turn , I had done my work : I needed not to go any further : You would be now resolved , that Heaven and Holiness is best , and would set your hearts and lives to seek it ; and so it would be your own for ever . But this Text hath long stood in the Gospel , and men have heard and read it often , and yet the most are not perswaded ; and therefore I must try to open it a little farther to you , and plead it with you , and work the Reason of it upon your minds .

Reader , our business is but to enquire , What it is that is Best for Man to set his heart on and seek after in his Life , and Enjoy for ever ? I say , it is the Everlasting Enjoyment of God in Heaven : For Christ saith so . If thou think otherwise , let us debate the case . If thou believe as I do , Live as thou professest to believe . If men did but deeply and soundly know what it is that is best for them , it would set right their hearts and lives , and make them happy . But not knowing this , is it that keepeth them from God and Holiness , and everlastingly undoes them .

Though I have often opened this heretofore on other occasions , yet my present subject now requireth , 1. That I tell you , What that is that here is called [ The Good part . ] 2. What it is that is set against it , and by fleshly minds , preferred before it ? And having briefly opened these two things , I shall come to the Comparison , and shew you which is the better part .

1. That which Christ calls here [ that good part ] is 1. Principally , the end of man , or our everlasting Happiness with God in Heaven . 2. Subordinately , the Means by which it is attained . 3. That Happiness which is the end , comprehendeth in it these particulars , which if you distinctly apprehend , you will much the better understand the nature and excellency of it .

1. The true Believer hath the small beginnings , and earnests , and foretastes of the Everlasting Blessedness in this Life , in his approaches to God , and living upon him by Faith and Love , and ●● his believing apprehensions of the Favour of God , the Grace ●● Christ , and the Happiness which in Heaven he shall enjoy for ever .

2. At death , the souls of true Believers do go to Christ , and enter upon a state of Happiness .

3. At the last day , the body shall be raised and united to the soul , and the Lord Jesus Christ will come in glory to judge the world , where he will openly absolve and justifie the Righteous , when he condemneth the ungodly , and will be glorified in his Saints , and admired in all them that do believe , and the Saints shall also judge the world , and be themselves adjudged to everlasting Glory .

4. Their everlasting habitation shall be in the Heavens , even near unto God , and in the presence of his Glory .

5. Their company will be only Blessed Spirits , even the holy Angels and glorified Saints , with whom we shall be One Body , and constitute the New Jerusalem , and be perfectly one in God for ever .

6. Their Bodies shall be perfected and made immortal , spiritual , incorruptible and glorious bodies , shining as the Stars in the Celestial Firmament : No more subject to hunger , and thirst , or cold , or weariness , or shame , or pain , nor any of the frailties that now adhere unto them , but be made like the glorified body of Christ .

7. The Souls of the Saints united to these Bodies shall also be Perfected , having far larger capacity to know God and enjoy him then now we have ; being freed from all ignorance , errour , unbelief , pride , hard-heartedness , and whatsoever sin doth now accompany us ; and perfected in every part of the Image of God upon us .

8. The eyes of the Glorified Body shall in Heaven have a Glory to behold that is suitable to their Bodily capacity : Heaven being not a place where the Essence of God is confined , but where a prepared glory will be manifested to make Happy the Angels and Saints with Christ . And whatever other senses the Glorified Bodies shall then have ( whether formally or eminently , we cannot now conceive what they will be ) they will all be satisfied with suitable Delights from God .

9. The Blessed person of our Redeemer in our Nature Glorified , will there be the Everlasting object of our delightful i●●uition and fruition : An object suitable to the eye of the Glorified Body it self . We shall for ever live in the sight of his face , and in the sense of his unspeakable Love .

10. The Glorified Soul ( whether mediately or immediately ) shall behold the Infinite most Blessed God , and by knowing him , be perfected in knowledge : As we shall see the person of Jesus Christ , and the glory of God with open face , and not as in a glass as now we do , so we shall know so much of the Essence of the Deity as we are capable of , to our felicity .

11. With the Knowledge of God and the Beatifical Vision will be joyned a perfect Love unto him , and closure with his blessed will : So that to Love him , will be the everlasting employment of the soul .

12. This Love will be drawn forth into everlasting praise ; and it will be our work before the Throne of his Glory , to magnifie the Lord for ever .

13. In all this Love , and Praise , and Glory , and in the full fruition of the Eternal God , we shall Rejoyce with full and perfect Joy , and we shall have full content , delight and rest .

14. In all this Blessedness and Glory of the Saints , the Glory of God himself will shine , and Angels shall admire it , and the condemned spirits with anguish shall discern it , that God may be Glorified in our Glory .

15. In all this Happiness of Believers , and his own Glory , the Lord will be well pleased , and that Blessed Will which is the Beginning and the End of all , will be accomplished , and will have an Eternal complacency , as the Saints shall have an endless complacency in God .

This is the Glory promised to the Saints ; This is that Good part which they choose . I cite not the Texts of Scripture that prove all this , because the things are all so plainly and frequently expressed in the premises . And I shall have occasion to do somewhat of this anon . And so ( in brief ) I have told you what the Good part is .

2. We are next to enquire , What it is that is put by worldly ▪ carnal men , into the other end of the scales , and is set up in comparison with all this Everlasting Glory ? Yea what it is that is preferred by ungodly men before it ? What is it that fin and the world will do for men ? What do they find that lose the Lord ? What do they get that miss of Heaven ? What do they choose , t●●● refuse the Needful , Better part ?

And here I am even amazed at that which I must give you an account of ; O wonderful astonishing thing , that ever such base unworthy trifles should by Reasonable men be put into any comparison with God! Wonderful , that so much madness and wickedness can enter into the mind and heart of man , as to let go all this Glory for a toy ? And yet more wonderful , that this should be the case of the greatest part of men on earth ! And yet more wonderful , that so m●●y make so mad a choice , even when the case is opened to them , and plainly opened , and frequently opened ; and when they are earnestly entreated to be wiser , and importuned to make a better choice !

In a word , All that is set against the Lord , and All that is preferred before this Everlasting Life , and All the Portion of ungodly men , is no more then this ; The Pleasure of sin for a season : The satisfying of the flesh : A little ease , and pelf , and fair words from men as miserable as themselves ; and all this but for a little , a very little time , when Temperance is as sweet at least ; a little that is excessive or forbidden , in wealth , or meat , or drink , or cloathes , or lust , or other fleshly pleasures , is the Joy , and the Heaven , and the God of the ungodly . The fleshly pleasures which are common to the beasts , and a little vain-glory among men , and this for a short uncertain time , ( and then to pa●● to everlasting punishment ) this is the chosen portion of the wicked . This is All for which they refuse the Lord , and for which ●●●y refuse a Holy life : This is All 〈◊〉 which they part with 〈◊〉 and part with their Everlasting Peace ! This is All that they have for Heaven and their salvation ! and All for which they se●● their souls ! To the everlasting shame of sin and sinners , it shall be known that this was All ! To the abasing of our own soul● ▪ that sometime were guilty of this madness , I shall tell you again that this is All ! To the humbling of the best , to the con●ounding of the wicked , and the amazement of us all , I must say ●●●● this is All ! This dirt , this dream , this cheat i● 〈…〉 wicked have for God and Glory ! This Nothing ●● 〈…〉 obstinately preferr and choose , before him that 〈…〉 O wonderful madness , stupidity , and deceit● ▪ so 〈…〉 wilful ! and so uncureable ! till tender 〈…〉 cure it , in them that shall be saved .

Well , the ballance is now set before yo●… in the One end and in the other : You see the 〈…〉 choose , and the part that is chosen by the rest of the world ; And are you not yet resolved which is Best ? and which to choose ?

TWo sorts I look to meet with here , to whom I shall apply my self distinctly , before I come to the comparative work . First some will tell me that all these are needless words ; and that there is no man so senseless as to think that Temporal things are better then Eternal , or the world then God , or sin then Holiness .

Answ. O that this were true ! how happy then were all the world ? I grant that many are superficially convinced , that are not converted ; and that many have a slight opinion that Heaven and Holiness is best , that yet have no Love to it , and will not seek it above All. But their practical judgement doth not go along with their Opinions . Thy relish the world as sweetest unto them . In the prevailing deepest thoughts of their hearts , they set most by the pleasures of this world ; Why else is their Heart most towards them ? Why else do they choose them , and refuse to Live a Holy life ? Why have they no delight in God ? and why have we so much ado with them , to bring them to a heavenly mind and life , and all in vain ? What! will not men be perswaded to choose that which they know is best for them ?

Object . Temptations are strong , and men are weak , and so men go against their knowledge .

Answ. 1. What do Temptations prevail with you to do ? Is it not to think well of sinful pleasures , and to think more hardly of the wayes of God ? Is it not to like a worldly fleshly life better then a Holy life ? If not , how can you follow those temptations ? And if it be so , then they draw you for that time to think that fleshly pleasures are the better part .

2. But if indeed it be as you say , you are the most unexcuseable miscreants in the world . What! do you know that God is best for you , and yet will you fly from him ? Do you know that heaven is the only happiness , and yet will you seek this world before it ? Do you know what is Best for you , and will not h●●● it ? and what is worst , and yet will keep it ? Will you go to 〈…〉 and know whither you are going ? And will you run from ●…ven and damn your selves , and know that you do so ? Yea ; 〈◊〉 that while we day by day entreate you to the contrary ? If this be the case of any one of you , the God of Justice shall teach you to know what you are doing , by his everlasting vengeance : Heaven and earth shall be witness against you ; your own Consciences , and such Confessions of your own shall bear witness against you , that you justly perish , and are damned , because you would be damned , and are shut out of Heaven , because you would not be perswaded to come thither .

Object . But we hope we may have Both , Pleasure here and Heaven hereafter : and that we may be saved by the mercy of God and the blood of Christ , without the sanctification of the spirit , and though we do not live a Holy life .

Answ. And who gave you these hopes ? Is it God on whom you pretend to trust ? or the Devil that doth deceive you ? Certainly not God ; For he hath told you over and over , that he will save none but the sanctified , Acts 26. 18. and that except a man be born again , even of the Spirit as well as of water , he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God , John 3. 3 , 5. and that without holiness none shall see the Lord , Heb. 12. 14. And is it God that perswadeth you that his Word is false ? Doubtless it is the Devil . When God had told Adam and Eve , [ That in the day that they did eat the forbidden fruit , they should die the death ] was it not the Serpent that gave them hopes of living , and told them that they should not die ? If you be at that pass that you will take on you to trust in God , and yet will not believe him , but your trust is but trusting that God is a lyar , you are as sottish in your presumption , as Heathens are in their Infidelity : For who is worse ? he that believeth that there is no God ( as Atheists do ) or he that believeth that God is a Lyar , which is to be no God and worse ?

If therefore you do believe indeed that Heaven is Best , you must needs believe that Holiness is Necessary ; yea and Best too , when Heaven consisteth so much in perfected holiness . And therefore you must choose and seek with greatest diligence , that Happiness which you confess is Best , or never hope that it will be yours . O did you at the heart believe it to be Best , and that for you , you would love it , and seek it , and be a holy people without delay . You cannot so turn away from that which you heartily judge to to be Best for you indeed .

But the most that I have to deal with , are they that cannot be perswaded at the heart , but that feasting , and drinking , and lust , and wealth , and worldly honour are Better for them then a Holy life , with such promises of Heaven as God hath left us . For all or most ungodly men have this perswasion next their hearts , whether they observe it , and know of it , or not .

Now with such deluded unbelieving souls , I am next to plead this weighty cause . If thou that Readest this be one of them , that takest a worldly felicity , with Gods threatnings , to be Better and rather to be chosen , then Holiness with his Promise of future happiness , I will now debate the case with thee , and undertake by the light of Christ , to open the horrible folly of thy mistake ▪ And if I do not give thee such sound and weighty undenyable evidence , that no man of Reason should resist , to prove the choice of Holy persons to be the wisest , and their part the best , I will give thee leave to call me a Lyar , and a deceiver for ever .

CHAP. II. What in Reason he must do that would be certainly resolved which is the best part and way . And who shall be Judge .

BUt before we come to the debate , I have two Questions to p●● to thee , that in Reason must be first resolved .

The first is , Whether thou art willing to know the Truth , and resolved to choose the best part when thou knowest it ? It is in vain for me or any man to Reason with thee , if thou wouldst not k●●● ; and to shew thee the Truth , if thou hate it , and wilt not acknowledge it when thou seest it ; and to bring thee in the clearest light , if thou be before hand resolved to shut thy eyes . And if thou wilt not choose that which thy conscience shall be convinced thou shouldst choose , as being absolutely best , to what purpose then should it be revealed to thee ? Wouldst thou be a happy man or no● ▪ Wouldst thou have Joy or Sorrow ? Good or Evil ? stop here , and before thou goest any further , make me this Promis●… before the Lord , [ That thou wilt not wilfully resist the ligh●… that thou wilt choose , and presently , and resolvedly choose that 〈…〉 that thy conscience shall tell thee upon certain evidence is the 〈…〉 Promise but this , which no man of Reason 〈…〉 and then we may make something of our debate .

My second Question is , [ Who it is that shall be Judge between us in this debate ? or whose witness it is that you will take for currant ? ]

I am willing to stand to the Judgement of any that understand the case , and are impartial . I hope you will consent that we shall take the most competent witnesses and Judge . And if so , 1. You know that the Devil is no competent Judge . It is he that perswadeth you that present delights are the better part , and rather to be chosen then a Holy life . But he is Gods enemy , and therefore no wonder if he speak against him : He is your deadly enemy ; and therefore no wonder if he would deceive you : He is cast out of heaven himself , and would not have you possess the room that he hath lost : He is a wicked lying spirit : and therefore is not to be believed . He is a murderer from the beginning , and therefore will not speak for your salvation , Joh. 8. 44. If the Devil be to be believed , then none are wiser then the ungodly sensual worldly men ; and none are in a worse condition then those that are despised by the world for Holiness , and that suffer all things for a Life unseen . But the enmity that is planted in your very natures against the Devil , I hope , will help you to confess , that he must not be the Judge .

2. And truly Ignorant ungodly men are unmeet Judges . And it is they that bawle against Religion , and speak against they know not what . 1. They are Blind by nature , and more blind by customary sin : And must a Blind man be your Judge or witness , in a case of everlasting moment ? 2. They are unexperienced in the ways of God . How can they judge of a state that they were never in , and of a way that they never went ? They never tryed the work of the new birth , nor never tryed the holy exercise of faith , or Love or any Grace ; and therefore you may as well take the Judgement of a simple man concerning another countrey that was never there , or concerning Navigation , that never was at sea , or concerning Learning that never read a book , or concerning Musick that never toucht an Instrument , as the Judgement of an unsanctified man concerning Holines● ▪ and Communion with God : unless it be those that have a common convincing light , that causeth them to approve of that which they neglect themselves .

3. And certainly your own s●…y and fleshly mi●d● are unfit Judges of the case : For they also are Blind and unexperienced : They are not suited unto spiritual things . To which I may add , 3. That they and all ungodly men are Partial in the case , and 〈…〉 unfit to be witnesses , or Judges ? All the Scripture speaks against the Devil , and the wicked , and the lusts of the flesh : and therefore they are a party , even the party that is to be ejected . 4. Yea they are enemies , and therefore their testimony or judgement is not to be regarded . And what else will speak a word against a Holy life , but the Devil , the flesh and wicked men ? Not any ▪ And therefore let it be concluded that these are incompetent Judges in the case .

But who then shall be Judge ? Let God be Judge , let Christ be Judge ; Who can , who dare refuse this Judge ? Refuse him not : for none but he is fit and competent : Refuse him not ; for he will be Judge whether you will or no ; and therefore your refusal will be vain . 1. He is most wise , and knoweth all things : and therefore cannot be deceived . 2. He is Infinitely Good , and therefore cannot do any wrong : He is impartial and respecteth not the persons of the greatest ; He is most just , and therefore cannot pass an unjust sentence . 3. He only is the Judge that hath full authority to make a final decision of the case . 4. And in a word , he is so absolutely perfect , that he is lyable to no just exceptions , nor can men or Devils have any thing to say against his judgement . Are you agreed then that God shall be your Judge ? Will you take that for the better part , which he calls better ? If so , the controversie is at an end . The living God hath given us his judgement long ago . If you ask me , Where ; I le tell you anon , when I have examined some of the witnesses of the case .

And though I am resolved to own no proper final Judge but God , yet under him there are many witnesses that are worth the hearing . Indeed I am content to refer the cause to any one that doth but know what he saith , and is not unfaithful , ( reserving to God the final judgement . )

And 1. Go to the wisest men on earth , and let them be witnesses ▪ What think you of all the Prophets and Apostles , and of all the antient Fathers of the Church ? Were not these men wiser then you , or then the sottish scorners that revile the way● which they never went , and speak evil of that which they understand not ? I● Prophets and Apostles were not for Holiness 〈…〉 a fleshly worldly life , then I will be of your mind . But if they all as with one heart and mouth do cry down sin , and cry up Holiness , why should you then refuse their Testimony ? Are you wiser then all these ?

2. What think you of all the godly able Ministers of Christ that are now alive , or ever were ? Are they not wiser then you , and a few drunkards that have scarce wit enough to do the Devils service without such sottishness as shames his cause ? Have none of Christs Ministers , that spend their days in studying and searching after knowledge , more wit even in the matters of God , then a carnal Gentleman , or ignorant malicious wretch , that never used the means for Knowledge as these have done ? In any other matter you will allow men that have made it the study of their lives to know more then you . If you want counsel for your states , you 'l go to one that hath studied the Law . If you are sick , you will sooner seek advice of one that hath made it the business of his life to understand diseases and remedies , then to one that never studied it . You 'l sooner take the judgement of every tradeseman in his trade , then your own or anothers that never learned it . Allow but those men to be competent witnesses that have bent their thoughts and prayers and cares this way , and the controversie is resolved . For what is it that all our Sermons plead for but Holiness in order to Everlasting Happiness ? What is it that so many thousand Books are written for , but for Holiness ? Open the Books of the wisest men , and see which side it is that they are on ? Go to the wisest ablest Ministers , and aske them which is the better part ?

3. If Wisdom suffice not , let the best and honestest men be witnesses . Who better then Christ , then his Apostles , then all the holy Martyrs and Confessors of the Church , and all the Doctors and faithful Ministers of Christ ? which side think you were they on that laid down their lives for the cause of Christ ? sure they that would rather burn at a stake , or suffer all the scorns and torments of the world , then forsake a Holy heavenly life , did take it to be better then all the pleasures or profits of the world . Sure all the holy Doctors and Pastors of the Church that lived so Holy lives themselves , and spent their days in Praying , and watching , and meditating , and preparing for the life to come , contemning all the vanities of the world , did think that this was the Better part , which they followed after with so much diligence and patience as they did .

Hear me a few words , you proud and self-conceited sinners , that will plead for your ungodly ways , and plead against a holy life , and quarrel with the most faithful administrations of you● Pastors : It is a matter of Everlasting moment that you and we do differ about : and which of us is liker to be in the right ? I confess I am a weak and ignorant man ; but is the sottish ungodly quarreller any wiser then I am ? How camest thou man to thy knowledge , that thou thinkest thy self wiser then me , and all the Pastors of the Church ? My Knowledge that is but little , hath cost me almost forty years hard study ? Hast thou read and meditated and studied more ? Hadst thou better helps and means of Knowledge ? God usually giveth his gifts in the painful use of means . If I should think my self wiser in thy trade , and able to control thee , thou wouldst judge me a self-conceited fool . What hast thou done for thy knowledge that I have not done ? Hast thou prayed for it day and night ? So have I. Hast thou had any private way of Learning that no man knoweth ? Truly I have marvelled at the ●aces of many ignorant careless men , that they do not blush when we have thus expostulated with them , when they quarrel with their Teachers , and set against them with as brazen a face as if they were all Doctors , or had studied forty years , and we were as they are : Yea as if they were wiser th●n all the Apostles , Doctors and Pastors of the Church . Were it not a wonder indeed if God should give more knowledge about the matters of salvation to a sensual voluptuous Gentleman , or to an idle droan , or a fellow that scarce ever read over the Bible , and to such as live a worldly fleshly and ungodly life , then to all his Ministers and Servants that love his Laws , and meditate in them day and night , and live in Prayer , and other holy exercises , and make it their daily care and business , to conform their hearts and lives to the holy Doctrine which they study ? Surely God will sooner reveal his mind to a diligent searcher , that feareth and loveth him , then to a lustful Epicur● , or a drunken , swearing , worldly sot . He that every day abuseth the Holy Ghost that should be his Teacher , is not so likely to come to Knowledge , as he that humbly learneth and obeyeth him . It is ● strange evidence that most wicked men do give us to prove themselves wiser then their Teachers : when they can scarce give 〈◊〉 wise account of the Principles of Religion contained in a Catechis●● , they will prove themselves wise by despising wisdom , and railing at the Wise . They prove themselves Learned by reproaching the learned : They prove themselves godly enough to be saved , by hating and scorning them that are Godly ; and prove themselves the servants of Christ by speaking against his service ; They prove themselves wise enough to Teach or quarrel with their Teachers , by refusing to Learn , and to be any wiser , and by babling out their sinfull folly . And when they have done , they prove that their hearts for all this are as good as the precisest , by prating against that Holiness which is the only health and goodness of the heart , and by shewing us to our grief that they neither know what Goodness is , nor what is in their hearts . They prove to us that they have Hopes for all this , of being saved and seeing the face of God , by hating them that are Pure in heart , that have the promise of seeing his face , Mat. 5. 8. and by reviling or forsaking the way of salvation , and by shewing us on their souls the open Marks of the wrath of God , and of a state of condemnation . This is the Devils Logick . And this is the wisdom of the wicked . They may next go further ▪ and prove that they are chaste by reviling chastity ; and prove that they are sober by speaking against sobriety , and by wallowing in their vomit : or prove that they know all arts and trades , and sciences by reviling them : And as they now prove that they are the freemen of Christ , by shewing us the Devils fetters upon them , so if they hold out , they will shortly have nothing to prove themselves in Heaven , but by shewing us the flames of Hell which they endure .

If therefore all the Holiest and wisest men on earth may be admitted to be witnesses , then Holiness must be your Best , and all things else be nothing worth in comparison of it .

5. Moreover , if yet you would have more witness , shall those be heard that have tryed both states ; the state of Sin , and the state of Holiness ? and that have gone both wayes ; and therefore are able to speak to us by experience ?

If you were to take advice about any worldly business , you would choose a man of Experience for your Counsellor , an experienced Physicion for your bodies : and an experienced Tradesman for your work . You will sooner believe a Traveller that ●ath seen the places that he speake of , ( if he be honest ) then another ; godly men have tryed both wayes . Alas they have known , and too much known the way of sin ; and they have tryed the Holy way that you dislike . I think therefore that they are competent Witnesses : And if their witness be worth any thing ▪ the cause must go against the ungodly . For their Lives tell you their Judgement . Their hatred to sin , their diligent seeking after God , their constant endeavours in a Holy course , their suffering any thing rather then forsake this Holy way , when once they have sincerely chosen it ; all these do fully acquaint you with their judgement . Do you think it is for Nothing that the holy servants of the Lord , do stiek so close to him , and labour so constantly in his work ? surely if they had not found that this way is beyond comparison the best , you might draw them from it , into a state of ungodliness again ; at least fire and sword and torment might perswade them to forsake it . Something he findeth in it that is good , that will let go his life and all the world for it .

What say you now ! have you any just exceptions against the testimony of these Experienced men ? The ungodly cannot be competent witnesses ; for they have tryed but one side : They have had experience of a prophane , a fleshly , worldly life : but they never yet tryed a Holy life . And therefore how should they be fit to tell you , what Good is in the way of God , which they never travelled in ? Or what Gain is in the Heavenly Treasure ▪ which they never traded for ? Or what Beauty is in the face of Christ and Glory , which they never had an eye of faith to see ? Or what sweetness is in the Hidden Manna , which they never tasted ? If you say that many that have tryed the way of Godliness , have turned from it , and are against it ! I beseech you weigh my answer .

1. It is not One of a hundred that doth so , no not in these apo●●● tizing times , when all seducers are let loose . And is one mans judgement more regardable then a hundred , yea , many hundred ?

2. Nay , it is no One at all ! Those that you say turn off , ar● only such as tryed an Opinionative Religiousness , and some of the Outward duties of Christianity , but they never tryed the power of a living rooted faith , nor the predominant Love of God in the soul , nor a Living Hope of the Heavenly Glory , nor the sweetness of a Heavenly life ; nor the mortification of the fleshly inte●●●● ▪ and true self-denyal : These are the vital parts of Christian●●● which these few Apostates never tryed ; though some of them have had some acquired counterfeits of them , and some good gifts of common grace , and think that none had more then they had .

Sinner , I beseech thee for the Lords sake , deal faithfully with thy poor soul , when all lies at the stake . Wilt thou take the judgement of a swaggering Gallant , or a scoffing , worldly or ungodly Sot , that none of them ever truly tried a state of Holiness : And wilt thou refuse the judgement of God , and of all his servants that have tryed it ? Go to any Godly man , and ask him which of these wayes he hath found by experience to be best ? and hear what he will say to thee ? He will be ashamed to hear thee make a Question of it . He will tell thee [ Alas friend , I was once deceived by sin , and deceived with the pleasures of my flesh , and the glittering glory and riches of this world , as you are now ! I once was a stranger to the life of faith , and the Hopes of Heaven , and the Holiness of the Saints . But it was by the meer delusion of the Devil , and it was the fruit of the blindness , and deadness of my heart . I knew not what I did , nor where I stood , nor what I chose , nor what I set light by ! I never well considered of the matter , but carelesly followed the sway of my fleshly inclination and desires ! But now I seee I was the Devils slave , and my Pleasures were my fetters , and my own corrupt affections were my bondage ; and I now find that I did but delude my soul ; I got nothing by all that the world did for me , but provision for my after-sorrows : I had been now in Torments if I had but dyed in that condition . I would not be again in the case that I was in for all this world , or a thousand such worlds ! That life that once I thought the best , hath cost me dear , even the breaking of my heart : and a thousand thousand fold dearer would have cost me , if the dearest blood , and recovering Grace of my dearest Lord had had not prevented it . O had I not been unspeakably beholden to the Mercy of the Lord , even to that Mercy which I then made light of , I had been undone for ever ; I had been laid under Everlasting desperation before this . Now I find that there is no life so sweet as that which I then was so loth to choose ! Now it is my only grief that I was holy no sooner , and can be no more Holy then I am . O that I had more of that quickning , comforting , saving Grace ! O that I were further from my former sinful fleshly state ? O that I could get nearer God , though I parted with all the prosperity of this world ! I now find what I lost by my continuing in sin so long : but then I knew it not . O friend , as you love your soul , take warning by me , and make use of my experience , and give up your self to God betimes ! ] This , or to this purpose , would the answer of an experienced person be , if you should ask him , Which is the better way ?

But if you say , that thus we would be our selves the Judges , and bring the matter into our own hands , I answer you , 1. It is true , we would be our selves your Helpers , and do the best we could for your salvation : And if you will neither help your selves , nor give us leave to help you , take what you get by it ; we have done our part .

But , 2. I will not yet so part with you . I will further make you this reasonable offer . I demand of thee , whoever thou art that Readest these words , Whether thou know of any man on earth that thou thinkest to be a wiser man then thy self ? If not , thou art so like the Devil in Pride , that no wonder if thou be near him in malignity and misery . If thou do know of any wiser then thy self , go with me , or with some faithful Minister to that man , and ask him , Whether a diligent holy life , be not much Better then any other life on earth ? and if he do not say as I say here , and as Christ saith in my Text , that [ the godly choose the better part ] or else if I prove him not a very sot before thy face , I will give thee leave to brand my understanding in thy esteem , with the notes of in●amy and contempt .

Yea more then so , I will allow thee to go to one that differeth from me in the way of his Religion : Ask an Anabaptist , if thou think him more impartial , whether A Holy and Heavenly heart and life be not the best ? and try whether he will not say as I do . Ask those that you call Episcopal , or Presbyterian , or Independents , or Separatists : Ask an Arminian , or one of the contrary mind : Yea ask a Papist , and see whether he will not say as I do ? It is true , they are every one of them of minds somewhat different about some points in the order and manner of their seeking God . But all of them , that are but sober men , will confess as with One mouth , that God should be loved above all , and sought and served above all , and that all should live a Holy , Diligent , Heavenly life .

2. But yet if all this will not satisfie you , I will come yet lower : Who is it that you would have to be Judge or Witness in th●… case ? Is it thy malignant , or worldly , or drunken , and ungodly friend ? I am contented that the case be referred even to him , and to as many of them as thou wilt , upon condition that he will but first Try the way that he is to judge of . Let him but make an unfeigned tryal of a life of Holy Faith , and Love , and Obedience , and Self-denyal , as long as I have done , and we will receive his Testimony : Nay more , let him thus try a life of Holiness , ( inwardly and outwardly ) but one year , yea or but one moneth , or day , or hour , and we will take his Testimony : But to be judged by a man in a matter of salvation , that speaks of what he never knew nor tryed one hour , but speaks against he knows not what , this is a motion too bad to be made to a very Bedlam .

6. If yet you are not resolved which is the Better part and way , to whom do you desire to referr it ? Shall Heathens , Jews , and Infidels be Judges ? Why if they be , they will give the cause against you . Jews and most of the Heathen world do profess to believe a life to come , where some are happy and some are miserable ; and they commonly profess that all men should obey their Maker , and make it their chiefest care and labour in this life , to be happy in the next : Heathens will confess this . And yet I suppose you will easily confess that these men are none of the fittest Judges . The way to Life by Jesus Christ they do not understand : But that the world is vanity , and nothing to be preferred before our happiness in the world to come , this they will commonly acknowledge . And if the lives of the most of them contradict this profession , yet still they are forced to confess the truth : and truth is not the less truth , because they that confess it will not obey it . Nay what greater testimony can you wish to silence your unbelieving thoughts , then the witnesses of the enemies of the truth , who as they condemn themselves by bearing witness to that which they refuse to practise , so shall their witness aggravate your condemnation , if you will live below it . What , are you Christians ? and yet refuse to come up in your choice and lives to the doctrine of Heathens and Infidels ?

7. I know you will think at least that those Hereticks that are daily here bawling against us , will not be partial on our side : ●f you think that this Doctrine is contrived by us for any ends and interests of our own hearken then to our enemies . These railing Quakers that can scarce tell how to speak a word of the Ministers of Christ , but what is the spawn of venemous , fiery , bitter malice , do for all this cry up Holiness of life . Though they corrupt the doctrine of Christ so odiously , and speak like Heathens in many of their extasies and writings , yet do they openly cry down your sensual worldly wayes . Do you not hear how they rail at us for your sakes that are vicious and ungodly , and tell us that you are the fruit and shame of our Ministry ? Though these words be the fruit and shame of their malicious Heresie ( for all the world may know that it is our daily work to procure your Conversion , and that you keep your sins , and refuse a holy heavenly life , in despight of us ) yet I must tell you , that these wretches shall condemn you . The streets and Congregations have heard them cry out against your ungodly lives : and yet you will not turn to God . Must good and bad , must Ministers and raging Hereticks give in their testimony against you , and yet will you not be satisfied and come in ?

8. If yet you know not the better part , to whom will you appeal ? Will you go to the Multitude and put it to the vote , not only among Christians , but throughout the world ? Truly there is no great reason for this , when most men are so blind and wicked : but yet if you should , they would go against you , twenty , if not an hundred to One. I know well enough that when it comes to practice , they will not live a holy Life , and shew thereby a root of bitterness : But if you ask them what their judgement is , Whether God or the world , whether Heaven or earth , whether Holiness or sin be best and to be chosen , most men are against you , and would give it you as their judgement under their hands , that God and everlasting life should be first sought : Though by this Confession they condemn themselves , yet is it their Confession . As I told you before , the Jews are for this doctrine ; the Turks and other Mahometans are for it ; most of the Heathen world is for it , doctrinally , though they will not practice it : Only there are three sorts against it in the world , that ever I heard of . One sort are the Cannibals that eat mens flesh , and go naked , and live like beasts , and never heard of another life ; and some such savages as they . Another sort is a few of the Heathen Philosophers and and their followers , that differ in this from all the rest . A third sort is here and there a debauched apostate , that by the righteous judgement of God are so far forsaken by his Grace , for their pride and falshood against the truth , that they have lost the belief of a Life to come , and live under the visible plagues of God upon their souls , as men that have sinned wilfully against the truth , and have no more sacrifice for sin , but a fearful looking for of judgement and fire that shall devour the adversary , Heb. 6. 6 , 7. & 10. 26. and are near the state of the Devils themselves , that are reserved in the chains of spiritual darkness to the judgement of the great day , Jude 6. Job 21. 30. And will you take the judgement of here and there a forlorn wretch , a deplorate apostate , an Epicure , or a Countrey of inhumane Cannibals , before the judgement of the most wise and godly , and of almost all the world ? What excellency hath the understanding of these singular men , that it should be so valued above all others ? You know partly in this place , who they be that are of this Opinion : And is their Number , or Wisdom , or Conversation such as should move you to be of their Opinion ? Shall half a dozen desperate apostates of ungodly lives , seem wiser to you then all the world ? And yet I am perswaded that if you go to any even of these few apostates , whatever they think , they will confess that a Holy life is best : And yet have you not witness enough against you ?

9. Who then shall be the Judge ? Shall we appeal to the very Things themselves , and to the daily experience of the world ? You see that worldlings labour for the wind . You see that all their care and pains will not avoid the stroak of death , that turneth the proudest flesh into a clod , and maketh dirt of the greatest Prince . You see that wealth and honour do but mock men , and leave them in the grave , to darkness and corruption . And when you are sure that this will be the upshot of all your fleshly pleasure and worldly gains , are you not satisfied past all doubt , that the smallest hopes or possibility of another life should be sought with far more care then this ?

10. If none of these witnesses be regarded by thee , I know not whom to appeal to , but thy self ! And wilt thou needs thy self decide the case ? Hast thou knowledge and experience , honesty , and impartiality enough to fit thee to be judge : If thou hadst , thou wouldst make no doubt of it , but have been resolved for Heaven and Holiness ere this . Thy unresolvedness proves thee blind and partial , and very much forsaken by the spirit of light : And should such a one be judge ? But go to , I will much referre thy case to thy self ( reserving still the final judgement to the Lord ) upon these just and resonable conditions .

1. Wilt thou first thy self but use those necessary means for knowledge , in Reading , Fasting , Praying , Watching , Meditation , Conference with the wise , and such like , as all those do that come to ripe and saving Knowledge ? If I referr my health to thee as my Physicion , thou must not refuse to try my pulse , and see my urine , and use the means to find out the disease . Wouldst thou be my Lawyer , and refuse to read my Evidences , and study my case ? And wilt thou needs be judge thy self of the matters of thine own felicity or misery , and yet refuse to read and hear and pray and meditate , and use the necessary means of understanding ? Wilt thou lie in bed and work out thy salvation ? Wilt thou make use of no ones eyes but thy own , and yet wilt thou wink or draw the Curtains , or shut the windows , and cast away thy spectacles , and neither come into the sunshine , nor use a candle ? This is but to say , I will willfully condemn my soul , and none shall hinder me .

2. But yet another condition I must propose . If thou wilt but ( as I said before of others ) a while make Tryal of a holy life , and try in thy self what Faith , and Hope , and Charity are , and try what selfdenyal is , I will then referr the matter to thy self . Go back from God if thou find any Reason for it : and turn from Christ and Heaven and Holiness if thou do not like them . But if thou wilt needs be the judge , and wilt not be perswaded to try the thing , thou art a partial self-deceiving judge .

3. But it this much cannot be obtained , at least be Considerate in thy judging . If thou wilt but take thy self aside from the noise of wordly vanities and deceits , and commune seriously with thy heart , and bethink thee as before the Lord , and as one that knows he must shortly dye , Whether Heaven or Earth should be sought most carefully , and Whether God or thy flesh should be served most resolvedly and diligently ; and if thou wilt but dwell so long upon these manlike thoughts till they are digested , and Truth have time to shew its face , I dare then leave the question to thy self . The next time that the Sermon or any affliction comes near thee and awakeneth thy Conscience , do but withdraw thy self into secret , and soberly bethink thee of the matter , what hopes thou hast from the world , and what thou 〈◊〉 have from God : what Time is , and what Eternity is , and give ●●● Conscience leave to speak , and then I will venture the issue upon thy Conscience : For thee I mean , though I must stick to a better judge my self . Doth not Conscience sometime tell thee , that the Holyest persons are the wisest , and that thy labour is liker at last to be lost and repented of , than theirs ? Doth not Conscience sometime make thee wish that thou wert but in as safe a case as they : and that thou mightest but die the death of the Righteous , and that thy last end might be as theirs ?

4. But if all this will not serve the turn , thou shalt be Judge thy self : but it shall be when thou art more capable of judging . If God by Grace shall Change thy heart , I will stand to thy Judgement : If he do not , when thy graceless guilty soul shall pass out of thy pampered dirty flesh , and appear before the dreadful God , I will then leave the case to thy Conscience to judge of . To all Eternity it shall be partly left to the judgement of thy Conscience , whether sin or Holiness be better ? and whether Saints or careless sinners were the wiser ? and whether it had not been better sor thee to have spent that life in preparing for thy Endless life , which thou spentst in slighting it , and caring for the world and flesh . Then thou shalt be Judge thy self of these matters : but under a more severe and righteous judge : And so as shall make thy tearing heart to wish with many a thousand groans , that thou hadst judged wiselier in time .

But because that Judgement will be to desperation , and too late for hope or any help , let Conscience speak when thou lyest sick , and seest that thou art a dying man ! Then judge thy self whether a Holy or a worldly life be better ? and whether it had not been thy wiser course to have sowed to the spirit , that so thou maist reap everlasting life , then to have sowed to the flesh , from which thou now lookst to reap no better then corruption . Be not deceived : God is not mocked : whatsoever a man soweth , that shall he also reap , Gal. 6. 6 , 7.

But because it will be very late to stay till thy own Death draw so neer thee , go but to thy neighbours that lie in sickness , looking for the stroak of death ; Yea to thy companions in sin and folly , and ask them then which way is better ? Ask them then which is the better part ? Whether now they had rather be the Holyest Saints , or such as they have been ? Whether now they had not rather they had spent their time in the most careful seeking for Everlasting life , then in doing as they have done ? Say to thy old companion now , [ Brother , I see you are near your end ! the mortal stroak of death is coming ! you are now leaving all the pleasures of this world : I pray you tell me now your Judgement , whether mirth , and sport , and feasting , and drinking , and wealth , and honour be more to be sought then life eternal ? and whether Hearing and Reading the word of God , and Praying , and meditating , and flying from sin , be as bad or as needless a thing as we have formerly taken it to be ? Had you rather appear before the Lord in the case of those that we derided as Puritans and too precise for making such a doe about salvation , or in the case that you and I have lived in ? ] Ask but this Question to thy old companions , and try whether the Consciences of almost all that approach their end , do not bear witness against ungodliness , and do not justifie the holy diligence of the Saints . It is but two days since a poor drunkard of a neighbour Parish , being ready to pass out of this world , did send hither ( and to other Parishes ) in the terrours of his soul , to desire our Congregations to take warning by him , and to strive with God if possible , for some mercy for his soul , that was passing in terrours into another world , because of the guilt of his odious sin . ]

Well sirs , I have gone along with you to all the creatures in this world , that have any fitness to judge in this case : and if all these will not serve , we must go to another world for Judgement , or stay till you come there .

11. And really do you think if we could speak with Angels or departed Souls , that they would not consent with God and all Believers in their Testimony ? O how they would rebuke their madness , that make any doubt of so great , so plain , so sure a truth , as this of the necessity and the excellency of a Holy life . None are so fully resolved of this question as they that have tasted the End of both , and past the righteous judgement of the Lord . They that are feeling the anguish of their Consciences , and the tormenting displeasure of Almighty God , are satisfied by this time : whether the Godly or ungodly were the Wiser men , and whether sanctity or sensuality were the Better course ? They that are rejoycing with Christ in Glory , are sati●fied perfectly of this question , and are far from repenting of their choice . Luk. 16. Christ tells you enough , in the case of the Rich man and Lazarus , how men judge in the life to come .

12. But if all these witnesses will not serve you , what shall we say to you ? Whom will you choose to be your Cousellor ? There is none left that I remember , unless you will go the Devil for advice . But against this I have told you enough before . Will he speak for Holiness that is a spirit of uncleanness ; and will he shew thee Heaven that laboureth purposely to hide it from thee , till thou have lost it ? Or will he let thee see the odiousness and danger of thy sin , when it is the snare and bait by which he hopeth to undo thee ; But yet for all this , let me tell thee , that thou mayst learn even from the Tempting Enemy himself , the Truth of that which I am now asserting . For as the Devil himself believeth it , when he perswadeth thee not to believe it ; so the very nature and manner of his Temptations , may help thee to perceive that Heaven is attainable , and Holiness is the only way . Would he make so much ado about it , to keep thee from the believing it , and seeking it , if there were not a Heaven for thee to find ? why is he so eager to draw thee unto sin , if sin be not hurtful to thee ? Dost thou not feel the importunity of his Temptations ? It s easie to observe them . Why is he so much much against a Holy doctrine , and a Holy life , and a Holy people , if it were not that he knows the Necessity and worth of Holiness for thy good ? The actions of a Knowing Enemy , may do very much to acquaint us with the truth . Besides this , he hath oft appeared in bodily shapes ( as I am able to prove by undenyable evidence ; ) sometime to entice men to sin , and sometime to be Gods executioner to afflict them for it , and sometime to make a Covenant with witches and Conjurers for their souls , as many a hundred of them have confessed at their death . And why should he be so desirous of thy soul , if thou hadst none to lose ? or so desirous to deceive thee , and deprive thee of salvation , if there were none for thee to lose ? and if this were not the chief concernment of thy soul , why should thy chief enemy so much regard it ? Thou seest that he is not so careful to deprive thee of thy fleshly pleasure : He careth not how much thou hast of this : The more the glutton is pleased with his chear , and the more the drunkard delighteth in his cups , and the more the fornicator is pleased in his filthiness , and every voluptuous person in his voluptuousness , the Devil is pleased so much the more . He cares not if thou have all the Kingdoms of the world , if he can deprive thee of the Everlasting Kingdom : Nor will he grudge thee the glory and honour of the world , if he can but keep thee from the heavenly Glory . He will allow thee the Hypocrites Reward , which is the applause of men , if he can but keep thee from the Saints Reward , which is the savour of God . He cares not how much of thy Good things thou hast here , if he can deprive thee of the Everlasting Good . It is his desire that thou have thy Portion in this life , that thou mayst miss of the Believers Portion in the next . Certainly the Devil himself by his Temptations , Apparitions , and Contracts , doth plainly tell us of a life to come , and what it is that conduceth most to our Good or Hurt , our Joy or Torment ; and consequently teacheth us what to choose , by tempting us so palpably and eagerly to refuse it .

You see now what a Jury of Witnesses I have brought in , to testifie which is the Better part : The Devil and the wicked are added to the rest , because you will hear no better witnesses . If you will , here are enow whose testimonies are unquestionable .

But when all is done , it is the Lord that is and will be Judge . All these are but witnesses to dispose thee to receive his sentence . Thou art no Believer , till the Authority of the Word of God , will serve to satisfie and resolve thee .

CHAP. III. Full proof ( in twentie Queries ) from Reason it self that there is a Life to come , and Holiness is the way to it ; and the Better Part : And that the Gospel is the certain Word of God ( in fifteen Queries more ) with Answers to the Infidels Objections .

ANd by this time I come somewhat nearer to the Infidel , and am ready to answer his fore-going Question , [ Where shall I find the Judgement or Testimony of the Lord ? ] O , saith the Unbeliever , if I were but sure that there were a life hereafter , where the godly and the wicked shall be differently Rewarded , as the Scripture speaks , then I must confess he were no better then a ●●● man that would prefer this world , or wilfully live in sin and Would not seek Heaven with all his might , and be as earnest i● Holi●… the strictest Saint ! But I am not sure that this is true , and that there is any such difference after death , to be expected .

Answ. Alas poor wretch ! Art thou at that pass ! Hast thou so far lost the Knowledge of God , and of thy self , and of thy end and business here , and of the word and works of God , as to turn worse then Jew , or Turk , or Heathen , even to think thy self a beast , that hath no life nor happiness but this ? If this be thy case , I cannot now stand to deal with thee according to thy necessity . I am now dealing with them that confess a Life hereafter : And because we cannot in all our writings repeat over the same things , I desire thee to peruse what I have already written for such as thee , in the Second Part of The Saints Rest , and in a Treatise called The unreasonableness of Infidelity ; and at present take only some brief advertisments for thy conviction .

1. And first , whereas you say you are not sure of a Life hereafter , I demand of you , Whether you are sure that there is no such life ? I am sure you are not . If you think you are , ( which none but a debauched man can think , that hath put out the eye of Natural Light ) let us hear your Proof , and you shall soon be told the vanity of it . But if you are not sure that there is no such life , then I would know of you , Whether a Possibility of such Everlasting things deserve not greater care and diligence then is used by the Holyest Saint on earth ? You say , You are not sure that there is a Heaven for Saints . But what if it prove true , ( as nothing more true ) will you sit still , and lose it for you know not what ? or for want of a little care in seeking it ? You say , You know not whether there be a Hell for ungodly men , or no : But what if it prove true ( as certainly it will ) where are you then ? Will you venture your selves upon the Possibility of such an Endless Loss and Torment , which now you might on reasonable terms escape ? You will confess that a Possibility of a Kingdom should be more regarded , then a Certainty of a pin or a feather : And a Possibility of some Tormenting disease but for twenty years , should more carefully be avoided then the Certain stinging of a Nettle .

Quer. 2. You say , You are not sure that there is a life to come ? But are you sure to continue the life you have ? Or is it any great matter that you are called to lose , for the obtaining of 〈…〉 that you are not sure of ? You know the contrary , or easily may do . You are sure that you have not long to be here . Nothing more sure then that you will shortly die . And your are not sure but it may be to morrow . And while you are here , it is nothing worth the naming ( but what hath reference to another life ) that you do possess . What have you to your flesh , but meat , and drink , and sleep , and lust , and such kind of beastial delights ! Which it is better be without , then have , if we could also be without the need of them . Can you call these by the name of Happiness , without renouncing your Reason and Experience ? You say , You know not what God will do for you hereafter : But you know what sin and the world will do for you here : Even Nothing but hold you in a transitory dream , and then dismiss you into rottenness and dust . If you were not certain of another life , as long as you are most certain of the vanity of this , doth not Reason tell you , that a Possible Everlasting Glory , should be preferred before a Certain vanity ? If you were not sure to get any thing by God and a Holy Life , yet as long as you are sure , even as sure as you live , that you can lose nothing by it , that is worth the talking of , is not the case then resolved , which way is the Better ? If you say , you shall lose your fleshly pleasures ; I answer , They are not worth the having . The pleasure doth not countervail the trouble : no more then the delight of scratching ( as I said before ) doth countervail the trouble of the itch . Moderation and temperance is sweeter then excess . If too much be better then enough , and that which hurteth nature better then that which helpeth it , then self-destroying and fighting against your bodily welfare , would be best . Is not a temperate meal more pleasant then a gluttonous surfet , that is worse to the feeling of the glutton the next day ? Is not common food that costeth not much , and kindleth no troublesom itch in a mans appetite , more pleasant then enticing costly dainties ? Is not so much drink as nature requireth , much better then that which makes the stomack sick , the brain witless , if not the purse pennyless , and breedeth many noysom diseases to the flesh , and hasteneth death , that hasteth of it self ? By that time the gawdy apparel , the dainty fare , and drink is paid for ; and by that time the flesh hath suffered all that pain and sickness that are the ordinary followers of excess , me thinks you should say , that if there were no Hell , your sin were a punishment it self , and that in this life it brings more pain then pleasure , and that such kind of pleasure is no● worth the keeping , to the hazard of the least Possibility of 〈◊〉 Everlasting life . Wouldst thou under thy hand and seal give away thy hopes and possibility of everlasting life , and run the hazzard of an everlasting Torment , for the Pleasures of sin , or to avoid the trouble of a Holy life ? Why then thou maist as well even sell it all for pins , or points , or childrens rackets Then thou art as foolish as the worst of Witches , that sell their souls to a lying spirit , that , whatever he doth promise them , doth pay them with nothing but calamity and deceit . When thou comest to know better what it is that the world can do for thee , thou wilt then confess there was nothing in it , that should not have been sleighted for the smalest hopes of an Everlasting life . Do●t thou think the world will be much better to thee , for the time to come than hitherto it hath proved ? Deceive not thy self ; it will prove the same : yea and worst at last . Look back now upon all the pleasures of thy life , from thy infancy to this day , and tell me what the better thou art for them . If this were the hour of thy death , would all the profits or pleasures of thy life , be any comfort to thee , or make thy death a whit the easier ? Have the dust or bones of the Carkasses of Voluptuous sinners , any comfort or benefit now , by all the pleasure of their former sin ? Surely I need not all these words to a man of common understanding , to convinee him that if Heaven were as uncertain as the Infidel doth imagine , a man of Reason should venture all that he hath upon the meer Possibility ; because his All indeed is Nothing , and he is sure he can be no loser by the bargain : it being not so much as the venture of a pin for the Possibility of a Crown .

Quer. 3. But that 's not all . What if I shall prove to thee past all denyal , that even in this life , Holiness is far the most delightful , gainful , honourable life , and that the ungodly live in a continual misery ? Will not this serve turn to convince thee that a Holy life , should be undertaken for a meer Possibility of Heaven , if we had no more ? Read but the Proofs of this anon , and if I make it not good to thee , call me a deceiver . But if I prove that Holiness is the sweetest life on Earth , and Heaven the sure Reward hereafter ; and that sin is a misery it self to the sinner , and Hell the certain punishment hereafter , then see that thou confess that God is a good Master , and the Devil a bad one ; for at last thou shalt be forced to confess it .

Quer. 4. Well ▪ You say You are not sure that there is another life for man . But have you used the Means to make it s●● to you , and to be well-resolved ? If you have , then you have impartially searched , and prayed , and meditated on the Word of God , and heard what can be said by Wiser men , for that which you say you are not sure of ; but if you have trusted to your own understanding , and neglected Meditation , Prayer , Enquiry , and other needful means , what wonder then if you be uncertain , Even whether there be a Heaven or Hell ? It s no disgrace to Physick , or Astronomy , or Musick , or Languages , or Navigation , but to you , if you say that you are uncertain of all their conclusions , when you never studied them , or at least never studied them with that diligence and patience as those must do that will attain a certain satisfying knowledge .

Quer. 5. Moreover , if you are so uncertain of a Life to come , I would ask you , Whether in all your search and study , you have behaved your selves as Learners , or rather as proud self-conceited men , that think themselves wise enough before they learn , to try and judge their Books and Teachers . If this be your case , no wonder if you be Infidels . If you come with such a disposition to read a Book of Astronomy or Physick , you will never learn . If you go to any Schoolmaster , or to learn any language or science , and think your selves able before you have learnt them , to try and judge your Teacher and all the Books you read , and so will reject all that you do not understand , or agreeth not with you former conceits , you will sooner prove doting fools then Schollars , and sooner be the derision of Rational men , then come to the knowledge ●●●ch you pretend to seek . Come to Christs School as little children in meekness and humility and a willingness to be taught , and patiently continue in the use of means till Learning can be attained , before you think your selves fit to censure the Truth of God which you are learning , and then tell me whether God doth not resolve you .

Quer. 6. Moreover , I would know of you that doubt so of the life to come , Whether you have been true to so much Light as you received , and have lived in obedience to the Truth which God revealed to you . Or rather whether you have not wilfully and knowingly lived in some secret or open sin , and striven against the Light and Spirit of Christ , and abused the truth which you have known , and used violence with your own conscie●●●● If so ( which it s ten to one is your case ) it is no wonder 〈◊〉 are Infidels , forsaken of God whom you first forsook , and given up to Pride and Self-deceit .

Quer. 7. If Man have no Life to live but this , and no further End of his Actions then a Beast , nor any further account to give , then he is indeed but one of the higher sort of Beasts , differing but gradually from a Dog , as a Dog doth from a Swine . And if this be indeed thy judgement of thy self , I demand , Whether or no thou be content to be used as a Beast ? Wilt thou not take it ill to be called or judged a Beast by another ? Or wouldst thou have others judge better of thee then thy self ? Wouldst thou have no man regard thy Propriety , or Life any more then a Beast is to be regarded ? A Beast hath no Propriety , no not of that which Nature hath given him . You accuse not your selves of doing him any wrong , when you deprive the sheep of his fleece , nor when you make a constant drudge of your Horse or Ox. And do you think it lawful before God , for any one that can but master you , to do the like by you ? to strip you naked , and to make pack-horses of you , and use you as their slaves ? We take it to be no sin to take away the lives of Beasts , if it be but for our own commodity : We kill Oxen , and calves , and sheep , and swine , and fowle and fishes for our daily food . And is it lawful before God for others to do so by you ? Should nothing restrain them but want of Power to overcome you ? If you say that you are Beasts , as Beasts you should be used .

Quer. 8. Moreover I would know of you , Whether you think that there is any other world , which spiritual inhabitants do possess ? If you say , No , you go against all Reason and experience . Against Experience : because that many a hundred Witches , and many Apparitions and haunted houses have put the matter out of question ( for all that many reports of such things have been false . ) And against all Reason ; because we see that this inferiour world is everywhere replenished with inhabitants : The earth hath men and beasts , the aire hath birds , the water hath fishes ; And can a man of common Reason then think that the superiour Regions which we see and which we see not ( which for greatness and for spendor and excellency are a thousand fold above this earth ) should all be uninhabited and destitute ! and that there are not creatures also there for excellency and Number incomparbly beyond the inhabitants of this lesser lower world ? Certainly nothing is made in vain ; nor are the works of God so monstrously disproportioned and discomposed , as for the Nobler parts to be only for the baser . The Heavens that are over us , and all the vast and most excellent parts of the Creation , have a use that is answerable to their excellency . God makes not cottages to be inhabited , and Pallaces and Cities to lie wast and desert to no use .

But if you grant there is another world proportionaby thus replenished with creatures , you may easily see from thence a Probability , that man shall be translated thither . Why not the soul of man , as well as those spirits that in assumed shapes have made their appearances unto man ? As all things ripen to their perfection , why should it seem any more improbable that the soul shall pass hence into the world of spirits , then that the chicken shall come out of the shell , and the infant out of the wombe , into so wide and light a world as this , when before they were shut up in a narrow darkness , and never heard nor knew any thing of that world , which they enter into ?

Quer. 9. Do you know why it is that God hath given man that knowledge , and free-will , and capacity to seek another life , which beasts have not , if he be intended for no other life then beasts ? If God be no most Wise , he is not God . If he be , then he maketh not so excellent faculties as these in vain , but fitteth all his Creatures to their uses . Every workman will do so by his work . Why is a knife made keen , but to cut with ? And what are the wheels of your watch or clock made for , but to shew you the hour of the day ? Look now into the whole frame of the soul of man , and judge by its aptitude what it is made for .

1. Man is capable of Knowing that there is a God , and knowing his Attributes , which Beasts are not ; because they be not made to enjoy him .

2. Man is capable of knowing his Relation to this God , that he is our Creator , and we his Creatures ; he our Lord and we his Own ; he our Ruler , and we he Subjects ; he our Benefactor , and we his Benificiaries : And we are capable of Knowing our Duty in these several Relations . And certainly all this is not in Vain .

3. Man is capable of Knowing that the Everlasting Love of God is that alone that can make him Happy : And why would God shew him this , if he were not capable of enjoying it ? Reason tells men that nothing here can make us Happy , and that 〈…〉 do it .

4. Man is capable of Knowing that certain Duties are to be performed in order to the Pleasing of his Lord , and what those Duties are : which would not be , if we were not capable of Pleasing him , and so of being happy in him .

5. Man is made capable of Desiring after the Everlasting Love of God ; and that above all things in this world . And God hath not made such Desires in vain .

6. Man is capable of Loving God as an Object Everlastingly to be enjoyed , and that above all other things .

7. Man also is capable of referring all the creatures unto God , and using all things but as Means to this Everlasting end . Thus do believers , And surely all this is not in vain .

8. Man is a Creature that cannot regularly be moved according to his nature , to the performance of his Duty to God and Man , unless it be by Motives fetcht from the life to come . Take off that poise , and all his orderly motion will soon cease . Nothing below such Everlasting things are fit or sufficient Morally to govern him , and cause him to live as man should live ▪

9. He is possessed of actual fears of Everlasting Punishment ▪ and shall never perfectly overcome these fears by his greatest Unbelief .

10. He is capable of fetching his highest Pleasures from the fore-thoughts of Everlasting . Happiness , and receiving from hence his encouragement in well doing and foretast of the Reward . Now this being the Natural frame of man , as is past denyal ( when Brutes have no such thing at all , ) let Reason judge whether the God of Nature have made this nature of man in vain that we see hath suited every other creature to its use : our horses to carry us , and our Ox to draw for us , and the earth to bear its several ▪ fruits for them and us : And hath he mistaken only in the making of man , and gone beyond his own Intention , and fitted him for those uses and enjoyments that he was never meant for ? These are not Imputations to be cast upon the most wise and gracious God .

Quer. 10. Moreover I demand of you , What is the End of man and all these special faculties , if there be no life for him after this ? Either he hath an End which he is to intend , or he hath ●one . If none , then he hath nothing to do in the world . For all actions of man are nothing else but the Intending of some End , and the choise and use of means for the attaining it . Man must lie down and sleep out his days , if this be true that he hath ●● end . Nay sleep it self hath some . And he cannot choose but Intend some End and seek it , if he would never so fain , unless he will take some opiate stupifying potion , or run mad . And he that made him also and placed him here , had some End in it : For if man had thus no End , he could have no Maker or Efficient cause : For every Rational efficient intendeth an end in all his works . ( And he that made men Rational , is Eminently much more Knowing then his Creature ) And if we had no Maker , then we have no Being , and so are no Men.

But if Man unquestionably have an End , it is either something that is Nobler or Baser then himself , and some state that is Better or Worse then that in which he seeks his end . Baser it cannot be : for that were Monstrous , that Baser things should be the End of the more Noble . Beasts are made for Man , and therefore not Man for Beasts . The Earth is made for Beasts and Men , and therefore we are not made for the Earth . Our Means is not our End . If you grant that we are made for God that made us ( as nothing more sure ) then How is it that God can be our End if there be no life but this ? 1. Here we are but in seeking him , and still are forced to complain that we fall short . Here we are but in the use of means . 2. We find that our Knowledge , Desires , and Love , will here reach no higher then to carry us on towards that perfection that is in our eye , and not to satisfie the soul . The creature that doth attain his End , hath Rest in it , and is better then before . But we have nothing here like Rest , and should be in a worse condition hereafter , if we had no more . 3. Here we sin against the Lord , and wrong him more then we serve him : we know but little of him and his work ; and serve and praise him but a little , and not according to the capacity of our nature . And therefore if he have not a higher end for us , and we a higher end to seek then any is in this world to be found , our Natures seem to be in vain . For my part , though it be in weakness , I must needs say it is my trade , and daily work to serve my God , and seek after an immortal blessedness : And if I thought that there were no such thing to be had ▪ and no such use for me , I must needs stand still , and look about me , or in my practice unman my self by a brutish life , as I had brutified my self in my estimation and Intention . For what 〈◊〉 I find to do in the world ! What should I do with my Reason and Knowledge , or any faculty above a beast , if I had no higher a work and end then beasts ? Verily , if I had lost the Hopes of another life , I knew not what to do with my self in the world ! but must become some other creature , and live some other kind of life , then now I live .

Quer. 11. Moreover , I desire you to consider , Whether it 〈◊〉 credible to a man of Reason , that God made his noblest creature in this world with a Nature that should be a Necessary Misery and Vexation to it self above all the misery of the baser creatures ? and that the wiser any man is , the more miserable he must needs be ?

This is not credible . Yet thus would it be , if there were no life but this . For 1. the Knowledge that man hath of a superiour Good ( which beasts have not ) would Tantalize him and torment him : To know it , and must not partake of it , is to be used as a Horse that is tyed near his Provender , which he must not reach .

2. The Love , and Desires , and Hopes , that I before described , would all be our Vexation . To Love and Desire that which we cannot attain , and that with the chief of our Affections , is but to make us miserable by vertue .

3. To use all those Means , and do the Duties before-mentioned in vain , when we are not capable of the End , is but to roll at Si●iphus stone , and to be made to wash Blackamores , or to fill a bottomless tub ?

4. No creature here but man , hath Fears ▪ of any misery after death , and therefore none would be here so miserable . There is no Infidel but must confess , that for ought h● knows there may be a life of punishment for the wicked . And this [ may be ] will breed more fears in a confiderate man , then Death it self alone could do .

5. Or if there were no Fear of that , yet Man hath Reason to think before-hand of his Death , and to think of his abode in Darkness , which Beasts have not . To think of being turned to ●●tinking carrion , and to a clod , and so continuing for ever , without any Hope of a Resurrection , would be matter for continual horrour to a considering man , which Brutes are not molested with . And wise men that can fore-see , would be tormented more then fools . All this is incredible , that God should make his nobler creature to be Naturally most miserable ; and give him Knowledge and Affections , and set a Certain Death , and Possible Torment continually before his eyes , to Torment him , without any Remedy ! And besides the Hoped Life hereafter , there is none .

Quer. 12. Do you think that the Belief of another life , is needful or useful , to the well governing of this world , or not ? If you say no , 1. Why then do Infidels and Brutists say , that Religion is but the device of men for the Governing of the world ? and that without it subjects would not be Ruled ? You confess by this your frivilous objection , that the world cannot be Ruled well without the Belief of a life to come .

2. And it is most manifest from the very nature of man , and from the common experience of the world . 1. If man be well-governed , it must be either by Laws containtng Rewards and penalties , or without . Not without . For , 1. All the world doth find it by experience , that it cannot be ; and therefore every Common-wealth on earth is Governed by Laws , either Written , Customary or Verbal .

2. If the Love of Vertue for it self should prevail with one of a thousand , that would be nothing to the Government of the world .

3. Nor could any man be effectually induced to love Vertue for it self , according to the doctrine of the Brutists : For Vertue it self is made no Vertue by them , but a deformity of the mind , while they overthrow the End , and Object , and Law that it is measured and informed by ( as I shall more fully open to you anon ) . It is therefore most certain that no Nation is or can be Governed as beseemeth man , without Proposed punishments and Rewards .

And if so , then these must be either temporal punishments and benefits , or such as are to be had in the Life to come . That Temporal punishments and benefits cannot be Motives sufficient for any tolerable ( much less perfect or sufficient ) Government , is a most evident Truth : For 1. de facto we see by experience , that no people live like men that be not Governed by the Belief of another life . The Nations that believe it not , are Savages almost all ; living naked and bestially , and knowing nothing of vertue or vice . , but as they feel the commodity or discommodity to their flesh : They eat the flesh of men , for the most part , and live as brutishly as they believe . And if you say that in China it is not so , I answer , one part of them there believe the Immortality o● the soul , and most of them take it as probable , and so the Nation hath the Government which it hath , from everlasting Motives .

And if you say that the antient Romans had a sufficient Government , I answer , 1. The most of them believed a life to come , and it was but a few that denyed the Immortality of the soul : and therefore it was this that Governed the Nations . For those that believed another life , had the Government of the few that did not believe it , or else the Government it self had been more corrupt . 2. And yet the faultiness of their belief appeared in the faultiness of their Government . Every Tyrant took away mens lives at pleasure . Every Citizen that had slaves ( which was common ) at pleasure killed them , and cast them into the fish-ponds . The servants secretly poysoned their masters , and that in so great numbers , that Seneca saith , Epist. 4. ad Lucul . that the [ Number of those that were killed by their servants , through treachery , deceit , or force , was as great , as of them that were killed by Kings ] ; which was not a few .

2. It is apparent that the world would be a Wilderness , and men like wild and ravenous beasts , if they were not Governed by Motives from the Life to come .

1. Because the Nature of man is so corrupt and vicious , that we see how prone they are to evil , that everlasting Motives themselves are too much uneffectual with the most .

2. Every man naturally is selfish , and therefore would measure all Good and Evil with referrence to themselves , as it was commodious and incommodious to them . And so vertue and vice would not be known , much less regarded .

3. By this means there would be as many Ends , and Laws , or Rules , as Men ; and so the world would be all in a Confusion .

4. If Necessity forced any to combine , it would be but as Robbers , and strength would be their Law and Justice ; and he that could get hold of another mans estate , would have the best Title .

5. All those that had but strength to do mischief , would be under no Law , nor have any sufficient Motive to Restrain them . What should restrain the Tyrants of the world , that rule over many Nations of the earth , if they believe no Punishment after death , but that their Laws and Practises should be as impious and bestial , as their lusts can tempt them to desire ? What should restrain Armies from Rapes and Cruelty , that may do it unpunished ? Or popular tumults that are secured by the multitude .

6. And there would be no restraint of any villany that could but be secretly committed . And a wicked wit can easily hide the greatest mischiefs . Poysoning , stabbing , burning houses , defaming , adultery , and abundance the like , are easily kept secret by a man of wit , unless a special Providence reveal them ( as usually it doth ) .

7. At least , the probability of secrecy would be so great , and also the probability of sinful advantage , that most would venture .

8. And all those sins would be committed without scruple ▪ which the Law of man did appoint no punishment for : as Lying , and many odious vices .

9. If one man , or two , or ten should be deterred from poysoning you , or burning your houses , or killing your cattle , &c. by humane Laws , a thousand more would be let loose and venture .

10. All the sins of the heart would have full Liberty , and a defiled soul have neither cure nor restraint . For the Laws and judgments of men extend not to the heart . All the world then might live in the Hatred of God , and of their neighbours , and in daily Murder , Theft , Adultery , Blasphemy of the heart . Wit his they might be as bad as Devils , and fear no punishment ; for man can take no cognizance of it . And it is the heart that is the M●n . You see then what persons the Infidels and Brutists would have us all be ! What hearts and lives mankind should have according to their Laws ! Be Devils within , and murder , and deceive , and commit adultery as much as you will , so you have wit to scape the Gallows , and you are Schollars fit for such bestial Masters .

11. Yea let me add this one more mischief : Hereby they would destroy all Charity and Good works , except the very bestial Love of those that please mens lusts . For no Laws of men compell men to the Love of God or man : Nor much to Good works ! Who would do any thing comparatively , that believed not a Reward and Punishment hereafter ? If we give all that we have to the poor , we can here have no Reward , but the breath of ●●●●● mouth , which at death we understand not . Take down the everlasting Ends and Motives , and all good works , and inward virtues too that should produce them , are taken down .

And by this time you may see , what a litter of bears , what a pack of ravening dogs , what Cannibals the world should be turned into , by the doctrine of the Brutists , that deny the life to come .

Well! but perhaps you will by this time have so much sense , as to confess that Threatnings and Punishments , Hopes and Fears of the State of another Life are necessary to the well governing of this world . And if so , I desire no more , to satisfie any man that believes that there is a God , ( and that is any man that hath not drowned his wits in sin . ) For 1. This will then shew that the Nature of man , is formed for another life : and God did not make him such in vain . 2. And certainly if everlasting Motives must be put into the Laws that govern us , and into our Hopes and Fears , then it is not possible , but such things there are to be expected . For any man to imagine that God would make a world , which he cannot Govern but by falsehood and deceit , this is to say that God is no God . For all lying and falshood comes either from a want of Power , or Wisdom , or Goodness , when men either cannot make good their words or otherwise attain their ends ; or when they have not wit to know what is , or was , or will be , or when they are so bad as to be disposed to deceive . But he that ascribeth any of these to God , doth worse then to say that there is no God . If I hate deceit and Lying my self ; the God that gave me all that little Good which I have , must hate it more . Dream not of any but a worm , or fool , or impious tyrant , that needs or loves deceit and falshood to attain their ends . Judge by the frame of Heaven and Earth , and by that little Good that is in Good men , whether the living God be one that needs such Hellish Engines to Rule the world .

If therefore in order to the Government of mankind we must needs Believe a ●●fe to come , it is certainly True ; And why do not you believe that which Government requireth you to believe .

Quer. 13. Moreover I demand of you , Whether you take God indeed to be the Governour of this world , or not ? By [ Governour ] I mean properly , One that Ruleth the Rational Creature as such , by Moral Means , even Laws and Executions . I exclude not his Potential , Efficacious operations , but conclude a Necessity of Moral Government . I know a self-conceited Popish Infidel hath endeavoured to perswade the world , that Gods Soveraignty and Moral Government are Metaphorical expressions , arising from the misconceivings of weak men ; and that Wiser men like himself do conceive of Gods Government only as of an Artificers disposal of his works , that Physically accomplisheth all his Will. As if Gods Natural Causations , and his Moral were inconsistent ; Or as if God were not Wise and Good as well as Almighty ! or did not in his Government of man demonstrate his sapience in his Laws , and his Goodness in Attractive Benefits , as well as his Power in meer Natural Motion ! Or as if man were not a Rational Creature , and a free-agent , and were not to be governed according to his Nature , by Objects suited to his Intellect and Will : but must be used and ruled like a stone , or beast ! Or as if God could not infallibly attain his Ends by a Sapiential Government , and by preserving the liberty of the Will , as well as by a meer Necessitating causation ! This man was so enamoured upon his supposed skill in Physicks and Metaphysicks , that he not only lost his Morality , but grew to be such an Enemy to it , as to blot out all true Morality , Civility , Policy , Oeconomy at a dash ; and stands with the rest of the Proud fraternity , as a Monument of Gods justice against the Proud , so deplorately forsaken even in the Reason that he glorieth of , that children may perceive his folly . He that is all for Operations of Power , as excluding Sapiential Government by Laws , and their just executions , doth think sure that a horse hath more of the Image of God then a man : For he is much stronger . Bruitish force would be more excellent then the Attraction of Goodness and the Conduct of Wisdom , if the Government ( which is no Government ) that these men dream of , were the most excellent . As he will allow his Artificer to shew as much at least of his wit , by making a Watch or Clock that shall , though by a necessity , move without the finger of the workman continually moving it ; so methinks he should allow the Infinitely Wise and Gracious God , to be nevertheless Wise or Gracious , if he Rule the Rational-free-agent , without a forcible Physical Necessitation , by a Gracious Attraction and Sapiential Conduct , agreeable to the Reason and Liberty of the Creature , as long as we exclude not the Co-working of Omnipotency , nor deny the infallibility of Divine Predefinition , which may be secured with the security of the Creatures Liberty .

In a word , to deny God to be the Soveraign Governour of the world in proper sense , 1. Is a denying him to be God : it being a term of Relation , comprizing Government , and not of meer Nature : When it is commanded us that we have no other Gods , and when we are required in the holy Covenant to take the Lord for our God , and give up our selves to him as his people , it most plainly expresseth that his Governing Authority , or his Soveraignty is comprehended in the term God . And indeed having made a Rational-free-creature , whose Nature requireth Moral Government , it followed by necessary resultancy that he that had sole Authority and sufficiency , must be his Soveraign .

2. These Proud Blasphemers that deny Gods proper Government , do contradict the very drift of Scripture , that calleth him our King and Governour , and requireth our subjection and obedience .

3. They deny the being of Gods Laws , both the Law of Nature , and the Written Laws , and so blot out the Word of God , and the sense and use of all his works . Though they allow them a certain Physical operation on us , yet as Laws they do obliterate them : that is , as they are Norma officii & judicii , our Rule of duty , and expectation , and Gods resolved way of Judging .

4. They hereby overthrow all Duty as such ; and make Good actions to be but as the motion of the arrow that hits the white , and to have none but a Physical goodness in them . For there can be no proper obedience , where there is no proper Government or Law .

5. Hereby also they deny all Inward Virtue : For this also can have but a Physical Goodness , if Government and Laws be down .

6. Hereby they deny the Being of sin : For where there is no Law and Government , but meer Physical necessitating motion , there is no Transgression . And therefore when they make a deal of talk about Purging away sin , it is not sin indeed , that they mean ; but a meer Physical disease to be Physically expugned .

7. Hereby they deny all the proper Judgement of God by Christ at the last day , and make his Judgement to be nothing but Execution .

Yea , and 8. All proper Execution is denyed , as Vindictive , or Remunerative , and so all Justice .

9. The Authority of every Prince on earth is overthrown . For there can be no Authority but from Gods Soveraign Authority , any more then any Being without derivation from the first being . They may talk to the ignorant of Contracts , and Peoples Wills being the Original of Governing Authority , and deifie the multitude and make them give that which they never had ; but a mean understanding may perceive their folly .

10. Hereby they destroy all humane Laws , that must receive their strength from Gods Laws , or have none : and so they absolve all subjects in the world from conscientious obligations to obedience . If God have no proper Governing Laws but Physical motions , then we are no further obliged to obey men , by any Law of God , then we are effectually moved to it , and then we do obey them . And if so , then we can owe no more obedience to Parents , Masters , or Princes then they force us to ! If they can make us obey them , well and good : If not , we break no Law of God by disobedience .

These and many such like are the consequents of that horrid doctrine that denyeth God to be the Soveraign Ruler of the world . In a word , it dasheth out at once all Government , Laws , Justice , Obedience , Good Works , and all Morality , dissolving the whole frame of the Universal Monarchy of the world , and d●nying God to be our God , and man to be man and his subject .

But if you yield that God is the Governour of the world , it is then most evident that there 's a life to come . For if he Govern us , it is by Laws , and Judgement : And if by Laws , which are they ? There is nothing known among Rational men , by the name of a Law of God , which containeth not Promises and Threatnings of Rewards and Punishments hereafter . He hath no Laws for the Governing of this world , that contain no Motives but from Temporal things . And I shewed you before , that he need not , he cannot Govern the world by falshood and deceit . And we see here by experience , that there is no such Execution in this life , of the Laws of God , as are sufficient to the ends of Government . The wicked prosper , and destroy the just : The best do most deny their flesh , and are opprest by others . You see this your selves , and make it an Argument for your Infidelity . But stay a little till the Assizes come . It follows not that there is no Government or Justice , because the Thief or Murderer is not hanged before the Assizes , or as soon as he hath done the fact . Eternity is long enough for their punishment . If God then be the Governour of the world as most certainly he is , then is there a Reward and Punishment hereafter ; and Gods Day will come , when Mans is past .

Quer. 14. My next Question is , Whether you think that God should be Loved , and Obeyed , or not ? If not , then certainly none should be Loved or Obeyed . For none deserves it , if he deserve it not , from whom we are , and have all our benefits . But if he be , then I further Question you .

Whether it be likely or possible , that any man , or at least all the best people in the world , should be losers by God , and their Love and obedience to him ? And whether it be Credible , that Goodness and Obedience to the Lord , should be the constant certain way to mens undoing , loss or misery ? I think you will say , if you believe that there a God , that this cannot be . For certainly , he that sets us a work , will own us in it , and save us harmless . An honest man will take it for a disgrace to him , that his service should be the shame and misery of his servants , and he should make them no satisfaction . If God be not Able to bear us out , he is not God . And his Wisdom and Goodness assure us that he Will do it . So that there is no Possibility that Goodness should be mans loss , and any should finally be losers by God . On this assurance I am encouraged to lay out all my time and labour , and dare boldly venture all that I have , in the work of God : For I am sure I cannot lose by him .

But be thou judge thy self whether his service would not make us losers , if there were no life but this ( though I confess the loss would be small and short : ) Who are so hated , and persecuted as they that serve God best ? How many thousands of them have been fain to give up their bodies to Tormentors , and their lives to the devouring flames ? The very work of God consisteth in flesh displeasing things : To deny our selves and contemn this world , and live soberly , and righteously and godly in the world , and to be for this the scorn of men , is the lot of the obedient .

If you say , This is not the Lot of any but those that are over-righteous , I answer 1. We cannot be over obedient to God . 2. You contradict the experience of all ages . Even the form of Godliness is hated by the Profane ; and temperance by the drunkard ; and he shall be their scorn that runs ▪ not with them to excesses of ryot : Seneca tells us that it was so even at Rome among the Heathens , that he was their derision that would not be as bad as the rest . If therefore in this life only we had hope , we were of all men most miserable , 1 Cor. 15. 19. Not but that even here we have the far better life then wicked men : But that is because it savoureth of the life to come to which it hath relation . Otherwise we should lose our credit , ease , pleasure , profit in the world , and have nothing for it . Faithfully Labour for God , O my soul ; and never fear being a loser by his work .

Quer , 15. I further aske , Whether you would be alone of this brutish Opinion , or would you have all others of your mind ? If you would not have others Believe as you do , it seems you think not well of your own opinion but take it to be naught for men to hold . And why should not all men hold it if it were true ? But if you would have all of that mind , it were time for you to look about you . Certainly the Law makers would make other Laws then now they do , and men would lead other kind of lives : And what security you would have of your goods ; or houses ; or lives a week , from the malice or covetousness of others , I cannot imagine . You would not dare to travel by the way , or look out among men : You could not trust your servants , nor your wives , or husbands , because there would be nothing but temporal punishment to restrain them , which cunning might escape . I do not think but you would rather have servants , or neighbours or husband , or wife , that believe a Life to come , then those that do not , if you had tryed others but a little while , and seen how little they were to be trusted , and consequently how bad your opinion is .

Quer. 16. And I would know , Whether you pretend to any honesty and Conscience , or not ? If not , you will give us leave to judge of you , and trust you accordingly . If you do , then upon what ground is it possible for you to be honest ? If you believe no life to come , you must take your pleasure here on earth for your chiefest happiness : and you cannot believe any proper Government of the world by the Laws , Rewards , and punishment , sufficient to restrain men from their sin . Vertue can be no Vertue , if God no more regard it ; and sin is no sin , if against no Law . Indeed while you live among Believers , where vice is in disgrace , you may for your credit seem to be vertuous : But your Profession alloweth us to judge that you avoid no evil that you dare commit , if it do but suit with your fleshly interest . He that believeth no Life to come , and tells me so , doth bid me , in effect , to suppose him resolved for all the wickedness imaginable , so far as he dare , and hath temptations and opportunity . Are you of this Brutish judgement ! I shall expect from you then no better then a brutish life : and trust you less then I would do a brute , because you have more interest and temptation to do evil , and more cunning to perform it . Are you Brutists in opinion ? Then you are already habitually perfidious , cruel , covetous , malicious , murderers , whoremongers , thieves , lyars , and worse , if any thing be worse ! For honest you cannot for shame expect that any should esteem you . I will not believe a word you say , further then some interest of your own is concerned in the truth of it .

Qu. 17. If it be not the very Light and Law of Nature that teacheth and obligeth a man to believe a life to come , how comes it to pass , that all the world , except a few Savages and Cannibals , and here and there an Apostate among us , do universally profess to believe it ? The Jews , the Turks , the Heathens of most Nations , besides the Christians , do all make it an Article of their Belief . We differ indeed about the way ( and yet are all agreed that Godliness and Honesty ; fearing God , and doing Righteousness , are necessary ) ; but that there is another life , we are in almost all the world agreed . And will you go against the light of humane Nature it self ? Or with what face can you expect that here and there such a wretch as you , should be though wiser then all the world , till you give us better evidence of your wisdom ? And how justly do they perish that will follow you ?

Quer. 18. Are not those that Believe the Life to come of Holyer lives ( for the generality ) then those that do not ? And whether is it like that God should reveal his mind to them , or unto wicked wretches ? and is it liker that he should forsake all the holy persons of all ages , and give them up to deceit in the greatest matters , who most diligently study and pray for Knowledge , rather then forsake those sensual wretches that wilfully forsake him ?

Quer. 19. Is there not in thy own Conscience , at least sometimes , some fears yet left of a life to come ? I believe there is : and when thou hast done thy worst , thou wilt hardly perfectly overcome them . Doth not conscience say , O but what if there should be a Hell for the ungodly ? Where am I then ? Hearken then to thy Conscience .

Quer. 20. Dost thou believe that spirits in borrowed shapes have oft appeared unto men , and in voio●s spoaken to them , to draw them to sin , or to perdition ? If thou do believe it , thou maist easily believe that there is a Hell which they are so busie to perswade us to , and a Heaven of which they would deprive us . If thou believe not that there have been such Apparitions , I am able to give thee undenyable testimonies . Read what I have said in my Treatise against Infidelity of this . Read Remigius , Bodin , Dan●us , Malle●s Maleficorum , &c. of Witches ; and Read a little Book called The Devil of Mascon , where is abundant testimony of his Vocal conference , for about a quarter of a year together , in the house of a godly Minister in a populous City , before Papists , Protestants , and all . Many I could give you that were done here at home .

In these twenty Questions I have but endeavoured to prepare you to Believe , by shewing you the very Light of Nature : But it is a lively faith in the word of God that effectually prevaileth against Infidelity : and therefore next let us come to that . I will not so much lose my time as to cite particular Texts of Scripture , for that which is the very work and drift of the Scripture . But because thou canst have no shift in the world for thy Brutish unbelief , but by denying the Scripture to be the Word of God , I referr thee to that which I have written in the Books forementioned to prove it : And at this time shall add to what is there said , but these few Questions .

Qu. 1. If the Scripture be not the Word of God , How could it tell us of the making of the world , and such like things , which none but God alone could tell ? I know you will say , I know not whether it tell us true or not ; or whether the world were not , as Aristotle thought , from eternity . But tell me this then ( to pass by the rest now ) How comes it to pass that in all the world , there are no Books or Monuments known of any longer standing then the time that Scripture assigneth to the Creation ? It is not six thousand years since the Creatiou . If the world had lasted thousands and millions of years before , is it possible that all its Antiquities should be lost , and not one to be seen , nor mentioned by man in all the world , ( For the sabulous tales of some in China , without all proof , are not worth the mentioning . ) Certainly some Book would have been saved , or some Cities , or lasting piles or stony monuments preserved , or some sign or tradition kept alive , of some of all those many thousand years .

If you say , that Writing or Printing were not then known ; you come to that which confounds you more . How is it possible that in so many hundred thousand years , the world grew to no more experience , and Arts and Sciences were ripened no more , when now they have ripened in a shorter time ? How is it that Printing and Writing were not found out ? and that all Sciences and Arts are of so late invention , and as it were , but in their youth ? Certainly Knowledge is the daughter of Experience , and Experience the daughter of Time ; and therefore if the world had been from eternity , it must needs have been many a hundred thousand years ago at ● far higher state of Knowledge then is yet attained in the world . For every age receiveth the experiences and writings of the former , and hath opportunity still to make improvement of them . At least the world could not have been ignorant so long , of Printing , Writing , and a hundred things that are certainly of late invention . It is therefore an incredible thing that an Eternal world should lose all the memorials and monuments of its Antiquity , before the Scripture-time of the Creation . And therefore doubtless it began but then .

Qu. 2. And if God were not the Author of the Scripture , how come so many clear and notable Prophesies of it to be fulfilled ? How punctually doth David , and Isaiah ( 53 ▪ ) describe the sufferings of Christ , and Daniel foretell the very year ? and so of many others ?

Qu. 3. And how comes it all to contain but one entire frame , conspiring to reveal the same doctrine of grace and life , ( at first more darkly , and in types and promises , and afterwards more clearly in performance ) when ▪ the writers lived at hundreds and thousands years distance from each other ?

Qu. 4. And if thou hadst not a blinded prejudiced mind , thou wouldst perceive an unimitable Majesty and spirituality in the Scripture , and wouldst savour the spirit of God in it as its author : and wouldst know by the image and superscription , that it is the Word of God . It beareth unimitably the Image of his Power , and Wisdom , and Goodness ; so that the blessed Author may to a faithful soul be known by the work .

Qu. 5. If the Scripture came not from the Spirit , it could not give or cause the spirit ; and if it bore not Gods Image it self , how could it print his Image upon the souls of so many thousands as it doth ? The Image of God is first engraven on the seal of his holy Doctrine , and thereby imprinted on the heart . There is no part of that holy change on man , but what that holy Doctrine wrought . If therefore the change be of God , the Doctrine that wrought it is of God : For both of them are the same Image , answering each other , as that on the seal and on the wax . But it is most certain that the Holy change on the soul , is of God . The nature of it sheweth this : For it consisteth in the destruction of our sin , and the denyal of our selves , and the raising the heart above this world , and the total Devoting of our selves and all that we have to God , and conforming our selves to his will , and resting in it , and seeking and serving him with all our power , against all temptations , and living in the fervent Love of God , and of our Brethren , and desires after everlasting life ; and a taking Christ for our Lord and Saviour , to reconcile us to God , and do all this in us by his Spirit : And surely such a work as this must needs be of God . If it be Good , it must needs be Originally from him that is most Good : this is undenyable . ( And he that will say , this is Evil , is so much of the Devils nature and mind , that it is no wonder if he follow him , and be Brutified ) . And you cannot say , that the Work is good , and the Doctrine bad : For the Work is nothing but the Impress of the Doctrine : And God doth not use to appoint or use a frame of falshoods and deceits , as his ordinary means to renew mens souls , and work them to his Will.

Perhaps you will say , that you see no such change made by the Word , nor any such spirit given by it unto men , but only the effects of their own Imaginations . But , 1. The Question is , Whether they are True or false Imaginations ? Gods truth causeth that Impress on the mind of man , which you call his Imaginations : For where should Truth be received , but in the mind ? and how should it work , but by cogitation ? They are cogitations above and contrary to those of flesh and blood , that are wrought by this holy Doctrine . It is nevertheless os the spirit , because it moveth man by consideration .

2. And if you see not a work on the hearts of the regenerate appearing in their lives , which raiseth them to a far better state then others , it can be no better then strangeness or malice that can so far blind you .

3. But if it be so with you , give leave yet to the persons that know this holy change in themselves , to believe the more confidently the Word that wrought it . We know that we are renewed and passed from our former spiritual death to life : and therefore that it was the Truth of God that did the Work of God upon us . Nothing but Truth can sanctifie : But the Word doth sanctifie : therefore the Word is Truth .

Indeed the Holy Church of Christ throughout all ages of the world , hath been his living Image , and so a living Witness of his Word , as shewing by their lives the transcript of it in their hearts . It is easie for any that know them , except the maliciously blind , to perceive that the true servants of Christ are a more purified , refined , honest , conscionable , holy , heavenly people then the rest of the world . For my part , I am fully convinced of it ; I see it ; there is no comparison : for all their imperfections which they and I lament , I am fully satisfied that there is much more of God on them then on others . And therefore there is much more of God in the Doctrine that renewed them , then in any other : The Church is the living Scripture , the pillar and ground of the truth , 1 Tim. 3. 15. the Law is written in their hearts , Heb. 8. 10. better then it was in the Tables of stone , 2 Cor. 3. 3. And by their holy Love and Works , the world may know that Jesus Christ was sent of the Father , and may be brought to believe in him , by their Unity , John 17. 21 , 22 , 23. Matth. 5. 16. God would not concurr so apparently and powerfully with a false doctrine , to make so great a change in man ; nor so far own it , as to use it for the doing of the most excellent work in all this world , even the gathering him such a Church , and sanctifying to himself a peculiar people , zealous of good works , Tit. 2. 14.

If you say that some of the Heathens have been as good : I answer , 1. The Goodness found in them , is but in temperance , fidelity , and such like ; and not a holy spirituality , or heavenliness , no nor a through-conscienciousness in what they knew .

2. That good was rare in comparison of that which the Gospel worketh , as well as small .

3. That good which they had , was wrought only by some ●eraps or parcels of the same holy Truth that is contained in the Scriptures . And therefore even so much Truth among the Heathens as proficed them to any Reformation , was the word of God , and owned by him .

Quer. 6. Do you believe that Jesus Christ did rise again from the dead , or not ? and that he and his Disciples did work those many uncontrolled Miracles , or not ? If you do believe it , then what need you further testimony to prove the doctrine to be of God ? or to prove that there is a Life to come ? Shall the Captain of our Salvation himself Rise from the dead , and conquer death , and ascend up into Heaven , to shew us that there is a Life to come , and yet will you not believe it ? Or would God lend to any man his Power to confirm a false doctrine to the world ? If so , then 1. It would be God himself that should mislead us : For it is he that worketh the Miracles , or granteth special Power to the instrument to do it . 2. Man should be unavoidably misled . For if a man rise from the Dead , and raise others , and give to thousands the guifts of Languages , healing , and the like , and all this have no greater contrary evidence from God of some contradiction or controllment , I am unavoidably deceived ; and neither my greatest innocency , or diligence , or any other help from men , could possibly relieve me . And he that can believe that the Infinitely Powerful , Wise , and Good , is either necessitated or disposed to deceive the world , and Rule them by deceit and falshood , and to lend his power to confirm a doctrine that he hateth , and is against himself , this man indeed believeth not that there is any God . 3. Even the Brutists themselves and all the Infidels with whom we talk , will confess that if they should see Christ Rise , or see such Miracles , they would believe : and therefore they do confess that they are cogent Evidence to those that know of them .

Obj. Did not the sorcerrers in Egypt work Miracles ? Ans . 1. Wonders they did , but not Miracles . 2. They were controlled and shamed and disowned by God , by Moses his contradictory conqueting Miracles .

Obj. But some might have dyed between the Magicians wonders and Moses controlment , and so have been unavoidably lost . Answ. 1. The time was neer , and that not likely of those that knew of them . 2. At the first wonder of the Magicians , Aarons Rod swallowed up their Rods , Exod. 7. 12. and therefore the conquest obliged them to suspend belief of the other . 3. The Miracles of Moses were not to reveal a new doctrine of salvation that could not otherwise be known : but partly to convince Pharaoh that the Lord was God , and partly to cause him to let go the Israelites . The peoples salvation lay not on the later ; and the former they had abundant means to know by the works and light of Nature it self . And the Magicians wonders were not to reveal a New false doctrine any further then to contend againg Moses Miracles ; and if they had , yet being against the doctrine of the whole Creation , that revealeth the Creator , no man could be excusable for believing them , because God hath given so full a testimony before against them , so that this objection is plainly but an impertinent cavil .

But I doubt not but you will say , that you are not sure that Christ rose again , and that ever such Miracles were done . I Ask therefore ,

Quer. 7. Whether it be possible , that so many and so wise and godly men ( as their writings prove them ) should give up their lives and all that they had and could have hoped for in this world , to perswade the world that they saw Christ Risen , if it were false ; and to draw them to believe a falshood that tended to the worldly ruine of them all ?

Quer. 8. And is it possible that if they had been so bad and mad , that so many thousands would have believed them , when their own frequent Miracles , Language , &c. were the witness of their fidelity to which they openly appealed ? and this in the very age and place where all these things might easily be confuted if untrue ? If I should pretend to convince the world by Languages not learned , and by other Miracles and guifts which I never had , would countreys , or any sober persons believe me ? or should I not be the common scorn ? Would the Churches of the world have been planted by pretended Miracles that never were ? would they all have given up estates and lives upon an evident lye ? It was easie for them all to see and hear whether these things were done or not . And therefore he that seeth those Churches which were the proper effects of Miracles , may know the Cause ; A real effect had a real cause .

Quer. 9. Was it possible that so many hundred or thousand persons , dispersed about the world on a sudden , could without coming neer each other , agree both upon one and the same false doctrine throughout , and on the same practices to deceive the world ?

Quer. 10. Is it possible that among so many thousands , that torments , or death , or common ingennity , would not have forced some to have repented , and opened the deceits of all the rest ?

Quer. 11. Is it possible that so many Hereticks that did fall from them and set against the true Aposles , would none of them have disclosed the deceit , if really the Miracles had not been done ?

Quer. 12. Is it possible that none of the Jews , their bitter Enemies , nor any of the Learned Romans of that age , would have discovered the fraud , and by writing confuted the matters of fact , being publik , and if false , so easily confuted ? Where are the Books that ever any one of them wrote to disprove any of these Miracles ? If you say , The Christians burnt them ; give us the least proof of it if you can . When did any Jew complain of such a thing ? Nay how could the dispersed persecuted Christians destroy the writings of their reigning enemies ? The writings of Jews and Romans then written remain to this day , and had fuller humane advantages of preservation , then any that are against them . No Jews or Romans complained or to do this day complain of such a thing ; nor tell us of any such writings of theirs , that ever were in the world .

Quer. 13. Nay the Jews confessed the Miracles themselves , and had no shift left for their unbelief , but by Blaspheming the Holy Ghost , and saying that they were done by the Power of the devil .

Quer. 14. All the dispersed Churches and Christians of the world , have universally concurred in delivering us down these matters of fact , and the Writings that contain them ; and this as a thing that they grounded all their hope of Salvation on , and for which they contemned this present world : And the Enemies that gainsaid their doctrine , did not gainsay these matters of fact . Could this be feigned ?

Quer. 15. Have I not fully manifested in my Book against Infidelity ( to which I must again dismiss you ) that there is a full and infallible Evidence , that this Scripture was written by the Apostles , and Evangelists , and these Miracles done , as there is that any of the Statutes of this Land are the currant Statutes of those Parliaments that are said to make them ? And your Lands and Lives are held by the credit of these Statutes .

A word or two to the objections of a Masked Infidel of this Countrey , Clem. Writer .

Saith he , Men be not commanded to believe these Statutes on pain of damnation : Therefore the case is not like .

Answ. But men are commanded to obey them upon pain of death ; and believing is prerequisite to obeying : therefore the case is like . Death is the utmost penalty that man can inflict : or if there be greater , it all runs on the same foundation : And sure that evidence that proves men culpable for breaking mans Laws , must prove him culpable for breaking Gods . You have no other eyes to read the Laws of God , then those by which you read mans Laws ▪ And doth it follow that God must not condemn you for breaking his Laws , when men do but hang you for breaking theirs ? Sure Gods Laws and mans may be printed in the same Character , and read with the same eyes , and both have the same Natural means of delivery , and yet the sin and punishment differ as the Authority doth .

Objection . But ( saith he ) Can the Miracles confirm the Scripture , when it is the Scripture that reports the Miracles ?

Answ. 1. Cannot a Statute tell you what Parliament made it , and what matters of fact were the occasion , and also what shal be your duty upon pain of death ? so that the Makers and facts shall give force unto the Law , and yet the Law reveal the makers and facts ? Do not Church Constitutions do the same ? The Scripture hath two parts : the History and the Doctrine . May not the History confirm the doctrine , and that doctrine oblige us to our duty ?

2. But you suppose that the Miracles and facts can only be known by a Divine belief of the History ? But that is false . The common Evidence that all Statutes , Histories , and Actions in the world have to make them certain to posterity , ( as Cicero's or Virgils Writings , or Caesars Reign , &c. ) the same have the Books and Miracles of Scripture to us . And by these we can know them de facto to be such , before we believe them by a Divine faith . And as the Scripture is a History that hath the same Evidence as the best of Histories have , so it may concur with abundance of other Evidence ( which I have recited in my my Determination against Infidelity , and in my Key for Catholicks , ) to prove the Facts : and then those Facts will fully prove the Truth of all the Doctrines which they attest , and consequently , we shall add to our humane Faith and Knowledge , a Divine faith concerning the History it self .

Object . 3. But ( saith Writer ) If God had means that the Scripture should be a Law to all , he would not have writ it in a language which they understand not ? ]

Answ. Any thing will serve to make an Infidel , when the mind is corrupted and deplorate . Were they no Laws which the Romans wrote in Latin , for the Government of all the Nations of the Roman World ? It was enough that the Rulers of the Previnces caused them to be so far understood by the People as was necessary to a righteous Government . I mean , those Laws that were added to the proper Laws of that people .

2. Was there any one Language then that all the world understood ? And was it not enough that God appointed the Ministerial Office purposely to preserve and publish this Gospel to the world from generation to generation ? And is not Translating ( whether by Voice or Writing ) a part of that preaching or explication ? Did not the Ministers of Christ preach the same doctrine to the world then , in the several languages of the Nations where they came ? And were not the Scriptures presently translated according to the use of the Churches ? Upon how silly a pretence then would your silly Imperial Majesty impose it on the God of Heaven , to write his word in as many Languages as are in the world , if he would be believed ?

I 'le trouble you with no more such wretched Cavils : These three are the main strength of three Pamphlets written against the Holy Scriptures and me , by this Apostate . Their sum is [ Man is man : therefore we are not sure that Scripture is true , or that God is God : ] I mean [ Men cannot understand the minds of others but by signs : All signs whether words or deeds , have some ambiguity , or lyableness to misunderstanding ; therefore nothing can be known concerning God or man by signs . ] These are not his words ; but the true scope and life of all the Writings of him and all the Infidel Seekers .

If you chide me for troubling the Christian Reader here with so much against the Infidels and Brutists : I answer , 1. I did it because that sort increase , and threaten the Land . 2. Because the strengthening of the Belief of the best Christians , is the removing the Cause of all their weakness and complaints . 3. And Principally , because when once the certain Truth of another Life is manifested , he must be a Bedlam or worse that will not be Godly , or that will open his mouth any more against a Holy Life . What! is it possible for a sober man to Believe that he is so near an Everlasting Joy or Misery and yet to neglect it , and oppose them that make it their chiefest care and labour to prepare for it ? The Brutist hath drowned his Reason ; and the careless Professor laid it to sleep ; the Malicious ungodly Professor of Christianity sights against it : and only the serious Holy Christian doth use it for his Everlasting good .

CHAP. IV. Holiness is Best for all Societies .

REader , if thou be but a man that hast the free use of thy reason , I have already removed the greatest impediment out of thy way , and said enough by confuting thy Infidelity , to prove that godliness is the Better part . Thou hast nothing left now to say against it , but what fighteth against Reason in the open light , and therefore I shall find an easier task with thy understanding in all that follows , though with thy corrupted Will and Concupiscence the conflict yet may be as strong .

Well! if yet thou art not resolved , that Diligent Serious Godliness is that Good part that all should choose , and better then all thy worldly pleasures , I shall now discover it to thee in these particulars .

1. I shall shew you that Godliness is Best for all Societies . 2. That it is Best for every Person . And that 1. It is the safest way . 2. It is the Honestest way . 3. That it is the most gainful way . 4. That it is the most Honourable way : and 5. That it is the Pleasant and Delightful way . Yea , that there is no other true Safety , Honesty , Profit , Honour or Delight but what is to be found in this way . I lay not only all the reputation of my understanding , but all the hopes and happiness of my soul upon the proof of this point . If I prove it not , I will confess my self a fool and undone for ever . But if I prove it , let the ungodly make this sad Confession , and choose the Better part while they may have it .

1. And first , That Godliness is the Best for all societies , ( that are just ) I prove thus .

1. Godliness doth Unite or Center all Societies in the Only Head and Center of Unity ; that is , the Blessed God himself . A Common-wealth will never have Peace in a state of Rebellion against their Soveraign , ( unless he be one that they can overcome : ) Nor Souldiers in a state of Mutiny against their General : nor Schollars in shutting out their Master . God is the only Soveraign of the whole world . The godly all unite in him . Ungodliness is Rebellion against him . The Rebels are alwayes in his Power . There is no Peace nor safety therefore , nor any Unity , but an Agreement in Rebellion for a while , to any that are not by Holiness united in him , and Loyal subjects to him , Isa. 48. 22. There is no Peace , saith the Lord , unto the wicked . ]

Object . But do we not see that the main Divisions of the world are about Religion ? Answ. 1. It s true ; but not by the truly Religious . The great quarrel of the world is against Religion in the life and practice of it . 2. It is unholy men that cannot abide to be accounted unholy , that are the chief dividers . 3. Among the truly Godly , there is no division in the main , but only diffetences about the smaller Branches of Religion , which are Numerous , and less discernable , and less necessary then the common Truths . They are all Agreed of Truth enough to bring them to Heaven ; and therefore enough to unite them in dear Affection upon earth . Nay there is not one of them that hath not a special love to all that he discerneth to be the servants of the Lord . If any be without this , he is ungodly . And we are not to answer for the miscarriages of every Infidel or ungodly man , that will put on the Name of Christianity and Godliness . If there should be fallings out among the godly , they cannot rest till they are healed and set in joynt again . But you must not then be so unjust as to conclude , that we can have no Unity , till we are in all things of a mind . May not men of various complexions be of one Society ? Are not the multitudes of Veins and Arteries in your Bodies , united in the trunks and roots ? It not the Tree one , that hath many branches ?

Object . But God whom you will needs unite in , is far from us , and his mind unknown , and so is not the mind of Princes : and therefore we cannot unite in God .

Answ. In things Necessary to our future Happiness and present unity in special Love , the mind of God is more plainly and fully opened to us , then the mind of any Prince unto his subjects . What precepts can be plainer , then to Love God above all , and our Neighbour as our selves , and first to seek the Kingdom of God , and to Repent and Believe in Christ ? How plain are the Articles of our Faith and the ten Commandments ? Divisions have been about niceties ; I hope God will call back his Churches to the Antient simplicity and Practical Godliness , and then the Christian world will be agreed , except the wicked .

2. Godliness propoundeth and prosecuteth the most Uniting , Excellent , Powerful End , for all that duty that should advance Societies : and therefore must needs be Best for all Societies . God and Heaven is the common End of all the Godly . They are Agreed every man of them in One End ; and so are not others . Their End hath that Power in its attractive Excellency , by which it can do the greatest things that are to be done with the will of man . The Ends of the ungodly are small and childish toye● ▪ Our End also is as the Sun , sufficient for all ; and therefore 〈…〉 matter of contention : All may have God as well as One , without diminishing the happiness of any .

3. Godliness takes away the Ball of the worlds contention , that sets men everywhere together by the ears . It teacheth men to slight the Honour and Vain-glory that the Gallants will fight and die for : And to contemn that wealth , that Towns , and Countries , and Kingdoms are divided and destroyed by . It teacheth men to slight that Money , the Love of which is the root of all evil , 1 Tim. 6. 10. It sheweth men a better Treasure , and not only Verbally , but Effectually teacheth them to trample upon that which the tumultuous world doth so much scramble for , and seek by such rapine , oppression , deceit and blood . If all the Ambitious climers and State-troublers , were truly godly , they would quietly seek for higher Honours . If all the covetous Noblemen , Souldiers , Landlords , and Rich men were truly Godly , they would never set both City and Countrey into combustions , and poor oppressed families into complaints , for the Love of Money . If thieves turned godly , you might travail safely , and spare your locks , and , keep your purses . If Tradesmen were all truly Godly , deceit would not so break their peace . What is there for Societies to strive about , when the bone of contention is taken away , and Godliness hath cast down the Idol of the world , that did disturb them ?

4. Godliness takes down the great disturbing and dividing Principle in mans soul ; and that is , Selfishness : And it both commandeth and worketh self-denyal . Every ungodly man hath a private End , and a private Spirit , and Interest , that is dearer to him then any other . So many ungodly men as there are , so many Ends and Interests : And how then can there be a Possibility of Unity ? The wisest Law-givers could never yet contrive an effectual course for the uniting of all these . If Selfishness were down , I scarce know what should trouble the peace of Kingdoms , Cities , Families , or any other Societies . Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self : Or , [ Thou shalt not covet ] is the summe and conclusion of all the Law of God , concerning our carriage one to another . And it is Godliness and nothing else that perfectly teacheth , and truly ( though imperfectly here ) effecteth this Self-denyal : ( But of this elsewhere . )

5. Godliness hath the most perfect Righteous Laws ; and therefore is 〈…〉 all Societies . If God can make better Laws then man , then this is past all question . His Laws require nothing but what is for mens good . They prescribe nothing that is dishonest or unjust : They promise the greatest Rewards to the obedient : They drive on the backward by the threatning of the greatest punishments . Their Authority is highest and most unquestionable . They all proceed from one absolute Soveraign , and are the same to all the people of the world : They change not , but are to endure to the worlds end . Whereas all the Laws of men , are limited to their own Dominions , and endure but while their power can enforce them . They are subject to errour and injustice ; and are not the same in one Countrey as in another ; or in one age as in the former : and their Rewards and punishments are but temporal : and therefore though under the Laws of God , they are necessary for the Government of Common-wealths , yet without Gods Laws they would be utterly insufficient .

6. The way of Holiness is contrary to all Evil whatsoever , and therefore hath nothing to disturb a Common-wealth : It is true , we cannot say so of the persons , because they are but imperfectly sanctified . Were they in all things such as their Lord , and Rule , and Religion do require , they would have nothing that might be injurious to any . But surely as a sick man or a lame , is better then a dead corps ; and as a man of mean understanding is better then an ideot , and a mean Schollar better then the illiterate ; so a man imperfectly sanctified , is better in a Common-wealth , then the ungodly . You blame not the Laws of this Land , because that Thieves and Murderers break them : The Laws are Good , if they oblige men to nothing but what is Good , though bad men break them . The Rules of Christian Religion are most perfect , and direct or command men nothing that is evil . There may be faults in us , but there is none in the holy Laws which we desire and endeavour to obey . Religion therefore is the way to the perfecting and securing of all Societies , and the want of it subverteth them .

7. Holiness doth not only tell men of a right way , and shew them their duty , but also effectually Disposeth their very minds to the performance of it , and causeth them to walk therein . The nature of it is , to be the very Right Disposition of the heart , and right ordering of the life . The truly gracious soul is habitually an enemy to all known sin , and addicted to obey in all known Duties : And surely persons thus habituated , are liker to live according to their Dispositions , then others to live well that hate the good in their hearts which they should practise . Mens Laws can command good , but cannot give men good hearts to practise it , as God doth by his servants . If you cannot tell whether wicked men that love sin , or godly men that hate it , are better members of a Common-wealth , you know not what Societies are for .

8. Holiness destroyeth the root of iniquity , and teacheth men to hate even secret sins , which are in the heart , or which none can see but God alone . The Laws of men restrain the Subjects but from open injuries : but Holiness restraineth men from doing the most secret wrong to others , or once thinking , speaking , or contriving any evil against them . It reacheth the conscience ; it cleanseth the heart , from whence all evil doth proceed . 2 Sam. 12. 12. Deut. 27. 24. Psalm 90. 8. Eccles. 12. 14. A man fearing God , as such , dare not deceive or wrong another , though he were sure that it would never be known on earth : For he knoweth that the Lord is the avenger of such things , 1 Thes. 4. 6.

9. Holiness cementeth the members of all Societies with the strongest cement of endeared Love . It bindeth them together in the bond of Charity . He is not Godly that Loveth not all men , even his enemies , with that common Love that is due to humanity , and that Loveth not all that Fear the Lord with a special Love . Psalm 15. 4. Joh. 13. 34 , 35. & 15. 12 , 17. 1 Joh. 3. 14 , 23. & 4. 7 , 11 , 12 , 20. Luke 6. 27.

10. Holiness maketh Princes and Rulers a double blessing to their people . It maketh them the more Divine , and bear the more excellent Image of God : How precious is the name of a David , an Hezekiah , a Josiah , a Constantine , a Theodosius , ( though they had all their falls ) in comparison of the name of a Saul , a Jeroboam , an Ahab , a Nero , a Julian ▪ O how sweet is the name of a Godly King in the Subjects mouthes ? Even those that are enemies to Godliness as in themselves , ( because they cannot endure to be curbed and troubled with it ) do yet use to admire and honour it in their Kings and Governours . Authority and Holiness conjunct are two such rayes of the Heavenly Majesty and Goodness as place man in the state of highest excellency on earth , and make him so much to resemble his Creator , as hath given such the highest place in the esteem and honour of the world , of any mortals : And it is not easie for a people to value such Holy and Pious Princes and Governours too highly , or to be sufficiently thankful for them unto God .

1. Holiness effectually teacheth Governours to Rule for God : To set him highest , and make it their work to seek his Glory , and to avoid all selfish contradictory interests ; and to own nothing that stands at enmity with his honour : but to judge that they have most happily attained the ends of their Government and lives , if they have promoted the Gospel and Kingdom of Christ , and the work of Holiness in the world .

2. Holiness will cause Rulers to preferr Gods Laws before their own ; and to be examples to their Subjects of obedience to God ; and to desire that all men should stand in far greater awe of God then of them : It will make them careful to form all their Laws and Government to the pleasing of God , and promoting mens obedience to his Laws ; and to take heed that there be nothing in them injurious to Christ , or contrary to his Will. It will teach them with David to enquire of God , and make him their Counsellour : And with Josiah , to search the Book of the Law , and humble themselves when they have violated it . And with Joshua , Not to suffer it to depart out of their mouthes , but to meditate in i● day and night , that they may observe to do according to all that is written therein : And then God hath promised to make their way prosperous , and to give them good success , Josh. 1. 8.

3. Holiness will cause the Rulers of the world to Love those that are Holy , and to promote the Communion of Saints , and to be Nursing Fathers to the Church , even that part of the Holy Catholick Church which they are entrusted with ; and to protect them from the violence of men : It will keep them from the sins of Jeroboam that corrupted Gods worship , and put forth his hand against the Prophet that spoke against it : Whereby God will be engaged to be their Protector in Peace and War : When Princes and people that fall out with Holiness and take part with the flesh , and set themselves against the servants , the worship , and the wayes of Christ , do put themselves from under his protection , and put themselves under the battering and piercing stroakes of his displeasure : And wo to him that striveth with his Maker , and that kicks against the pricks of his severity , Isa. 45. 9. Acts 9. 5. & 26. 14. The fatal ruine of the Kingdoms of the world , or at least the final ruine of the persons , is from their enmity and rebellion against the Lord , and because they will not be his Kingdoms , but hate and quarrel with his wayes , and persecute his servants : And Godliness preserveth Princes and Magistrates from this sin and ruine .

4. Holiness will cause the Rulers to hate sin in themselves and others , and to remove the abominable thing from before the eyes of Gods jealousie ; and to drive away the froward ; and not to know the wicked and the proud , and to cut off the slanderer , and the wicked doers ; and to set no wicked thing before their eyes , Psalm 101. In their eyes a vile person will be contemned , but they will honour them that fear the Lord . By this means their Kingdoms may be Holy , and God will delight in them , and dwell among them , and it shall be said of them , as Jer. 31. 23. [ The Lord bless thee , O●habitation of Justice , and mountain of Holiness . ] And when Israel is [ Holiness to the Lord ] all that devoure him shall offend , evil shall come upon them , saith the Lord . ] Jer. 2. 3. The holy examples , and holy Government of Godly Kings and Magistrates , will draw the hearts of the people to Holiness , and cause it to flourish in the Lands : Whereas the wicked examples and government of the ungodly , tendeth to make all about them wicked : For , as Solomon saith , Prov. 29. 12. [ If a Ruler hearken to li●s , all his servants are wicked ] And then they are fuell for the wrath of God , both as offenders , and as enemies : For they will be still rebelling and opposing him ; and carnal interest and enmity will pervert them to use the reprovers as Asa , and Amaziah , and Jeroboam , and Jezebel , and Joash did : and to think with Saul that Doeg was the best subject that would kill the Priests at his command , and those the worst that would not betray them , or destroy them : and to say to false accusers as he did to the Ziphites , 1 Sam. 23. 21. Blessed be yee of the Lord , for yee have compassion on me . ] And saith the Lord , Isa. 27. 4. [ Who would set the briers and thorns against me in battel ? I would go through them , I would burn them together . ]

5. Holiness will save Princes and Rulers from the great and dangerous temptations of their Riches , and Honours , and Power , and Pleasures , and will teach them to mortifie the flesh , and live after the spirit ( Rom. 8. 1 , 6 , 13. ) and will keep them hereby from those sins that would subject them to the consuming wrath of the impartial God , and will bring them to Heaven notwithstanding all the impediments of the world , even as a Camel through a needles eye , by the power to which all things are possible . And doubtless that which maketh men most acceptable to God , and tendeth to the everlasting happiness of the persons , must needs be better for all societies then that which prepareth them for damnation , and keepeth them here under the indignation of the Lord . See 2 Sam. 23 3. Lev. 25. 46 , 53 , 43. Isa. 32. 1. Rom. 3. 4 , 5 , 6. & 12. 8.

11. And as Holiness thus maketh the most excellent Princes and happy Governours , so it maketh the most Loyal and obedient Subjects , and is the most powerful preserver of peace in all Societies .

If any shall say , that the people that are accounted Holy have caused as great contentions and rebellions in the world , as any other , witness the wars in France , Savoy , Bohemia , Scotland , England , &c. ] I shall first prove undenyably from the nature of the thing , that true Godliness must needs make the best Subjects , and tend to the happiness of Common-wealths , and then I shall more nearly answer the Objection .

1. Holiness effectually teacheth subjects to know themselves ; To know their weakness and meaness and unworthiness , and to know their places and their proper work . It kills that pride that makes men think that none are so fit to Rule as they ; and it makes them so humble as to think themselves unworthy of protection in the meanest station . And also it so takes them up with a higher ambition , and sets their heart on the greater things , that they are dead to the Ambition of the world , and can easily leave these things to others : Their Kingdom is not of this world : They are taught to expect affliction and persecution , and not to aspire after crowns . No man can deny that this is the lesson set them by their Lord , and the Covenant which they make with him when they become his Servants . Whereas the ungodly having their portion in this life , and relishing and minding most the things of the world , will snatch and scramble and turn every stone and do any thing within their reach for worldly honours .

2. Holiness teacheth subjects to see God in their Rulers , and honour and obey them as his officers , even with an honour and obedience participatively Divine ; And no men can give them a higher honour then they that thus honour them on Gods account : and no men can give them so full and firm and constant obedience , as they that obey God in their Governours : No man can give them higher titles , then they that take them to be the Officers of God . Carnal men obey their Governours meerly as men that are able to do them good or hurt . If they were sure to receive no dammage by contemning them , they cared not to trample them in the dirt . Though that people sinned in desiring a King , yet when they had chosen that kind of Government , and Saul was set over them , those that went with him were such [ whose hearts God had touched : but the Children of Belial said , How shall this man save us ? and they despised him and brought him no presents ] 1 Sam. 10. 27.

3. Holiness causeth subjects to obey and submit for conscience sake : They do it because God himself hath commanded them to do it . They pay tribute , and give honour and obedience because it is part of their Obedience to God , required of them in the fifth Commandment , which is the first with promise : Outward prosperity is especially promised to them that honour their Parents and superiours . And the commands and promises of God with the bonds of Conscience do tie men faster to their duty , and restraine more effectually from disobedience then the words of men alone can do . Conscience holdeth strongly and constantly ; and it holdeth as well in secret as in publike ; so that if a man were sure to do a mischief and never be discovered , he would never the less abhor it , as being not unknown to God and conscience . A man that feareth not God ●nd conscience , will never stick to do a mischief , if he may escape the eye and revenging hand of man : Faux will set fire to the train to blow up King and Parliament , if he see but a probability of escape . But he that feeleth the bonds of God upon him , dare not rebel .

4. Holiness destroyeth Self-love which is the Spring of all discontents , and disobedience : and teacheth a man to own no Ends or interests but what stand in due subodination to the honour of God and the common good ; and in due coordination with the welfare of our neighbours : Whereas the ungodly are every man of them an Idol to himself : self is the only Lord and Law , set up against God and King and Countrey ; And if God or King , or Countrey be served by them , it is but in subserviency to themselves , as they look to attain some wealth or dignity or honour by it . The self-seeking man is faithful and trusty to no man but himself . And the self-denying man hath no great temptation to be unfaithful .

5. Holiness doth partly consist of charity , and teacheth men to do as they would be done by : And how can it goe ill with any societies where Love prevaileth , and men are as loth ▪ to wrong as to be wronged , and to do hurt to others as to themselves !

6. Holiness brings down Gods blessing on each particular subject : and maketh a people the delight of God ; and brings them under the promise of his favour . Godliness is profitable to all things , having the promise of the Life that now is , and of that which is to come , 1 Tim. 4. 8. What abundance of promises are there to the obedient ? Isa. 1. 19. Deut. 4. 30. Exod. 23. 22. Deut. 11. 27. & 13. 4. & 30. 2 , 8 , 20. Jer. 7. 23. & 11. 4 , 7. &c.

7. Holiness maketh men meek and patient , and teacheth subjects not to make too great a matter of any injury that is done them ; nor to censure unwarrantably the actions of their superiours : nor to murmur and stir up discontents ; but quietly to bear all in obedience to God , and for the common good .

8. Holiness disposeth men to Unity and Concord , and is as much against discord and division as healthful nature is against wounds and sickness . Whence are wars , but from the lusts that war in your members ? Jam. 4. 1. The servant of the Lord must not strive : The new Command of special Love to one another , and the strange forbearance , concession , condescension , forgiving and loving enemies themselves , required in the Gospel , must needs do much if truly practised to preserve the Peace of any nation .

9. Holiness assureth us of so great a Reward to those that obey their superiours in things lawful , and offereth us so much better things upon our patience , and submission , then ever disobedience or rebellion can attain , that hereby it must needs tend to the quiet and benefit of Societies . He that is bound to rejoyce and be exceeding glad in his persecution , because his reward in heaven is great , hath small reason to contrive , or fight , or sin to escape the persecution together with the reward , Matth. 5. 11 , 12.

10. Holiness teacheth men both to continue obedient and faithful against all temptations , and also to propagate the same resolutions , and to draw all others to obedience with us . It was the excellency of Christs example , that he would be obedient even when he was falsly accused of treason , and charged as an usurper of Cesars right . If we should be called seditious , disobedient , rebellions , when we are most loyal , it must not move us from our loyalty at all . In all these ten particulars I have shewed , that in the nature of the thing , it is undenyable that Godliness is the strength and beauty and safety of Kingdoms and of all Societies : in that it engageth the subject as well as the Governours , in all that tendeth to their peace and wellfare .

And now you may see by what is said , that there can be no weight in the Objection which pretendeth from the Case of the Waldenses , Albigenses , Bohemians , French , &c. to produce experience against what I am proving . Health may as truly be said to be the cause of sicknesses , as Godlinesse to be the cause of treachery , rebellion or disloyalty ; there being nothing in all the world except God himself , so contray to these as Godliness is .

But you will aske , Whence is it then that we have the foresaid instunces ? I answer sometime not authority but malice and cruelty driveth poor Christians to a stone , wall , and if they turn again when they can fly no further , accuseth them of Rebellion ; As it was with the Waldenses , the Bohemians , &c. Sometime Princes and States fall out among themselves , and cannot agree about their Titles , and the Bounds and degrees of their Power : And then whoever the people are against , they are sure from that side to hear the most opprobrious Titles , and be used accordingly if it be in their power . Sometime the right of Government is not easily or generally known : as in the contention between the houses of York and Lancaster here : And then as one party conquereth one year , and another the next , so the people must be called Traytors and Rebells by each party that prevaileth , if they obeyed and served the other party against them : And if they refuse to obey and defend either of them , they will be condemned by both . Sometime the Politie of Empires and Common-wealths is so imperfect and obscure in the constitution , that the several parties that pretend to interest , cannot agree about their Rights , nor the Lawyers agree among themselves : And the people cannot be thought to be wiser then the Lawyers in the affairs of their profession : If Nero and the Senate of Rome had each of them commanded the Christians to aid them against the other , it would not have been easie for the wisest and holiest of the Christians then to know which part they should have adhered to and assisted : Paul thought not meet to decide any such controversie : He commanded every soul to be subject to the higher powers , and not resist : but he tells them not whether Caesar or the Senate was the higher powers in a case of contest and division . Sometime a Traytor usurpeth the Government , and Christians think when they see him setled and in possession , that , though they hate his usurpation , yet they are bound to honour and obey him as being possessed of the Government : Thus Gregory the great too hastily and flatteringly owned and applauded Phocas : and the Christian Bishops ordinarily subjected themselves to the Emperours that came in by blood and violence : Thus the Bishops of Rome , and of other Churches in Italy and the adjacent parts , submitted themselves ( I think too soon ) as soon as they perceived him to be conquerour , to Theodorious : and so they did to other conquerours . Sometimes , as the General Councils of Basil , Constance , &c. determined that a Council is above the Pope , and declared the contrary to be a damnable Heresie , and commanded the Bishops and people to obey them against the Pope : so Senates and Parliaments and the Majority of the States men and Lawyers may tell the people that are unacquainted with such Law-cases , that in this or that they are bound to obey them , upon highest penalties , and that they shall receive to themselves condemnation if they resist them ; and so may mislead such as intend nothing but to obey the higher powers for Conscience sake . And though the errour and commands of Councils and Parliaments excuse not à tote an illiterate Laicke that understandeth not those matters , yet surely à tanto it is some excuse .

And sometime oppression maketh a wise man mad , Eccles. 7. 7. And sometime impatience prevaileth with the weak to do things unwarrantable : & humane passion blindeth , Reason : & sometime Temptations prevail in this as in other cases : And sometimes Hypocrites , that never had any true Religion , do shew their carnal dispositions , and unmortified lusts and passions and pride , by their rebellion against their lawful Governours : and then Religion must bear the blame of the actions of those that counterfeit Religion : and of those crimes which it doth most prohibite and condemn .

In a word , Be the accusation against any particular person just or unjust , nothing is more sure and clear then that he is most unjust that will charge the Christian Religion as guilty of Countenancing any Rebellions , Conspiracies , sedition , disobedience , faction or divisions . Christ went before us in his own example to pay tribute to Casar : and commanded us to give to Caesar the things that are C●sars : and their false accusing him and condemning him as an offender against Caesar , did no whit move him from the duty of his state of humiliation . What can be more against all Treason and perfidiousness , then that holy doctrine which commandeth us the exactest performance of every lawful promise , much more of our Oaths , and duties of Allegiance ? what can be more against Rebellions then that holy doctrine which teacheth us a life of patience and meekness , condemning private revenge , and commanding us rather to turn the other cheek to him that smiteth us , and to give our coat to him that taketh away our cloak , and go two miles with him that would compell us to go one , that is , to suffer yet more , rather then revenge our selves or break peace , or order , or raise wars , to escape such injuries ? It is a crucified Christ that conquered by suffering , that is your example : And our Religion is but our Conformity to him in his sufferings and his holiness . He hath made it part of our duty to himself to obey Kings and Rulers , and all Superiours , not only the good , but the froward , and to take it patiently if we suffer for well-doing , and not to return so much as a reviling , dishonouring word , or murmuring , rebellious thought . It is not fighting for our selves , but following him with the Cross , and forsaking all that we have , that Christ hath made the work of his disciples , and the necessary condition of his promise of salvation , Luke 14. 33. There is no Master in all the world that so strictly commandeth Patience and forbearance , and forgiving and Love , and Peace and submission to one another as Jesus Christ doth : He sets the hearts of all his servants on another Kingdom , and tells them they have greater things to mind then riches or honours or domination upon earth . He taketh the bone of contention from before them , and bids them leave such things as these to the men of the world , that have their portion in this life . You may as honestly say that the Sun is the greatest cause of darkness , as that Christ and holiness are the cause of seditions , rebellions , treasons , or perfidiousness in the world . All the world set together hath not done so much as he hath done against them . If men threaten hanging and quartering to such offences , Christ threatneth damnation in hell fire to them : And would you wish him to inflict a sharper punishment , or more severely to manifest his hatred of the crimes !

I tell you therefore if you should find Rebellion and Sedition among Christians , it is but as you may find corruption in the bodies of the living , which is contrary to life and health , and to be found much more among the dead . I am not here pleading for individual persons , but for Christianity and Godliness . If any professed Christians forsake the way of Patience and Subjection , and turn to Rebellion and disloyalty , they do far forsake Religion and Godliness , and much more wrong and offend their heavenly master , then their King and Governours . Plead who will for the wickedness of such men ; for my part I will not . I am sure Christ will not plead for their sin which he condemneth . He may justifie them from it , upon repentance ; but he will never justifie them for it and in it . It is not because they are godly but for want of Godliness , that any men have ever been guilty of rebellions , or resisting Lawfull powers : As Dr. Ward hath fully proved in his Sermon on Rom. 13. 2. Nothing more tendeth to the ruine of Rulers and people , then to hearken to the Devil and the Enemies of Holiness , that would perswade the world into a conjunction with them in the Enmity against the way of Godliness and the faithful servants of the Lord , upon pretence that they are adversaries to Governours and Government . It is a weighty truth that the foresaid Doctor begins his Sermon with [ Among all the stratagems of the Devil , tending to the undermining of Religion , and the subversion of the souls of men , though there cannot be any more unreasonable , yet there was never any more unhappily succesful then the creating and fomenting an Opinion in the world , that Religion is an Enemy to Government , and the bringing sincerity and zeal in Religion into jealousie and disgrace with the Civil Powers . ] It was by this Jealousie blown into the heads of the High Priests and the Sanhedrim amongst the Jews , and of Herod and Pontius Pilate , that Christ himself was accused , condemned and executed on a tree : By this the Apostles were haled before the Governours of Provinces ; forced from one City to fly to another : for this they endured bonds and sundry kinds of death . It was through this fancy that the Christians for three hundred years together endured the rage of Heathen Emperours , being destitute , afflicted and tormented : Our Lord Christ was traduced as an enemy to Caesar , a man refractory to the Roman Laws , and a Non-conformist to the Religion and Laws of his Countrey . ] Thus and more that Author . So that it is no new thing for the most innocent and holy and excellent persons to suffer as enemies to the Government where they lived ; nay it hath been the common case : nor is it strange to hear Religion and Holiness charged with these crimes which they are most against .

As for the malicious slanders of the Papists against the Reformed Churches , as if they had promoted all their Reformations by Rebellion , they have been confuted sufficiently by many . At this time , I shall only desire the Reader that would be satisfied in this , and understand the Protestant doctrine in these points , to read Bishop Bilsons [ Difference between Christian subjection , and unchristian Rebellion : ] Especially pag. 382. and from 494. to 522. Also Hookers Eccles. Polit. the last Book ( lately published . )

And if he would know whether it be an Article of the very Religion of the Papists , that the Pope may give away the Dominions of Temporal Lords that deny Transubstantiation , or hold such like points which he calleth Heresie , or that will not exterminate all that hold them out of their Dominions , and that he may discharge their subjects and vassals from their Allegiance : I only intreat him with his own eyes to read the Decrees of their approved general Council at the Laterane under Pope Innocent 3. and set him but believe his eye-sight . And for their case and confutation , let him also read King James his Answer to Perron's Oration .

Having thus interposed an Answer to their Objection , that say , Religion hath brought forth Rebellions ( which I confess that Religion which teacheth Rebellion hath done ; but the Christian Religion which condemneth it , and engageth men against it as aforesaid , doth not ) I now proceed to some other proofs , that Godliness is the greatest security and establishment to Kingdoms and all Societies .

12. Godliness above all things engageth men to be true to their Covenants ; to keep all their Oathes and Promises of Obedience to Kings and to other superiours ; and to be faithful and trusty in all their duties to one another : So horrid is the sin of Perjury and Covenant-breaking , that God hath condemned it , not only in the holy Scriptures , but also in the Law of Nature . He will not bear with it in the Greatest Princes ; how then shall Perfidious subjects scape ? What fair excuses had Saul for his breaking the Vow and Covenant with the Gibeonites ? He might have said , 1. They procured it from Joshua by a meer cheat . And therefore no benefit belonged to them from their own sin and fraud . 2. That Joshua not knowing who they were , ignordutis non est consensus . 3. That God had forbid to spare any of those Nations . 4. That it was not Saul that made this Oath and Covenant , but Joshua . 5. That Saul did it in zeal for the people of Israel . Yet for all this in Davids dayes there was a famine in the land , for this sin of Saul , which was not expiated till seven of his sons ( or posterity ) were hanged at the Gibeonites request : And though David might well see that he might be censured as contriving all this himself for the extirpation of the sine of Saul , yet would be not forbear the execution , 2 Chron. 21. And when the people murmured at Joshua and the Heads of Israel for sparing them at first , they are answered with the Obligation of the inviolable Oath , Josh. 9.

So though Zedekiah was the King of Babylons Captive , force could not excuse his perjury and Covenant-breaking , but God severely condemned and avenged it .

So that every Subject that hath but bound himself in Allegiance to his Soveraign , is under such an Obligation as to a true Believer is more dreadful to violate , then it is to suffer death .

Yea God hath written such a Law against Perjury , even in Nature it self , that he must needs be afraid of it , that is not a flat Atheist , lest his appeal to God , do bring the vengeance of God upon him : And in this life the perjured ordinarily meet with that Divine revenge which is the fore-runner of eternal vengeance : The perjured are unfit for humane Society ; hated by God , and never more to be trusted by man , till sound Repentance make a change : Which made Augustine determine , that he that urgeth another to forswear himself , is as much worse then a murtherer , as killing the soul is worse then killing the Body . Seeing then that Religion doubleth these sacred bonds , and casteth Hell-fire into the face of the perjured and perfidious , it must needs be a singular perserver of Kingdoms and all Societies , which fall in pieces where these bonds are loosed ; and fall into the hands of God , who is a consuming fire , especially to perjured men .

13. Moreover it is only Godliness that obeyeth with true Loyalty , and carryeth on all works methodically for the common Good . As he that will obey every Justice of Peace in all things that he commandeth , without respect to the Laws or will of the Soveraign Power , may be sooner a Traytor then truly obedient ; ( for every Justice or Lord may arm him against his Prince ) so he that will obey the Princes of the earth , without respect to the Will or Interest of the Eternal God , will be but a Traytor to God , under pretence of obeying Princes , that are but his Officers and Servants . But the godly begin at God in their obedience ; and therefore they proceed methodically , and obey men upon right grounds and in their proper places . It is not the most absolute obedience to man that is the best . He that should command men causelesly to fire his Countrey , or to destroy the innocent , or to ravish Virgins or mens Wives , were not to be obeyed , as Doeg obeyed Saul ; but God is first to be obeyed . It is he that begins , proceeds , and ends with God , that is sure to do no wrong , nor be misled .

14. Holiness possesseth men with a publike spirit , and maketh the ●●se ●● others to be our own , and teacheth us to do as we would be done by ; and giveth every man that hath it , a compassion to others in their distress , and an earnest desire after their welfare , and a rejoycing in it ; when ungodly men are all for themselves . Psalm 137. 1 Cor. 12. 25 , 26 , 27. & 13. Acts 2. 44. Mat. 7. 12 ▪ Mark 12. 33.

15. Godliness engageth men in Doing good , as the very business of their lives , which is to be Rewarded with everlasting Happiness : So that besides what is forced from men by Law , they are to be still in the exercise of Charity , and to be zealous of good works ; and to make it their study to do all the good they can : And therefore they are certainly the profitablest members in any Society , that are most truly Godly , Luke 10. 29 , 30 , &c. Deut. 15. 9. Luke 6. 38. Gal. 6. 9 , 10.

16. Moreover Holiness teacheth men to forgive wrongs , and to Love our enemies , and to let go our right , rather then to break Peace and revenge our wrongs : and to forbear even going to Law contentiously , and where our putting up injuries meerly to our selves , may suffice for the avoiding of it . Luke 6. 27 , 28 , 29. Mat. 6. 14 , 15. 1 Cor. 6. 7. And what contention can there be where these Rules are practised ? except when the interest of God or others is violated ; which is not in our power to remit . If you say , that These things are good if they were practised : I answer , 1. You confess then that Holiness is good : For the Rule is Good , whether it be practised or not . 2. I answer , that so much as any man is sanctisied , he doth practise it . And therefore if any man live not according to the Rule which he professeth to live by , that is from the remnant of that sin within him , which the wicked plead for , and for want of more of that Godliness which you distaste . Make him more holy , and he will do all this .

17. Holiness secureth every Society , and interesteth them in the most impregnable defence ; even in the Love and favour of the Lord ; and in his many sure and precious promises . He hath engaged his Almightiness and Fidelity for such , and rendreth them as the apple of his eye , and hath promised that he will be their defence , Zech. 2. 8. Psalm 5. 11. & 7. 10. & 59. 9 , 16 , 17. & 62. 2. whereas the ungodly are under his curse , Psalm 1. 6. & 37. And which of these Societies is liker to be happy ?

18. Godliness is the surest way to furnish every Society with all the blessings that are truly good for them . For they have the favour and promise of him that is the giver of them all . Rom. 8. 28. Psalm 34. 10. & 84. 11. & 23. Godliness is profitable to all things , having the promise of the life that now is , and of that which is to come , 1 Tim. 4. 8. & 6. 6. Mat. 6. 33. But wickedness is the certain way to ruine . Even one sinner destroyeth much good , Eccl. 9. 18. and one godly man hindreth much evil , as the case of Joseph , Moses , Daniel , and many others tells you .

19 Moreover it is Godliness that is the honour of all Societies : Without this their wisdom is meer folly , and their Riches are but the ●etters of their slavery , and canker to gnaw them and testifie against them , and their greatest victories may be but murders which shall damn them : and their splendour in the world is but the sign of their misery in the eyes of all fore-seeing men : Prov. 14. 34 [ Righteousness exalteth a Nation ; but sin is a reproach to any people . ] What Glory can be equal to the Glory of our interest in God , and of our being his people , and doing his work , and having his presence ?

20. Lastly , How can that be worst on earth , that is so good in Heaven ? The perfection of Holiness hereafter , with the Holy Love , and Praises , and Enjoyments of the Saints , will be their Glory . If you think this worst in your Societies on earth , what do you but renounce it ? If Heaven be worst for you , come not thither . If the participation of that which is the felicity of the glorified , be not the felicity of all Societies , I desire none of their felicity .

What if Saints from Heaven would come down and dwell among you here on earth ? I beseech you as men of reason , answer me these two Questions .

1. Whether you do not know or verily believe , that they would be more Holy , and Pure , and Exact , and strict , and more averse to all sin , then any of those are that now you dislike as too precise ?

2. Whether you would therefore call them Puritanes , and hate them , and cast them out , or imprison them , or take them for the troublers of your Countries , or rather for the honour and blessing of your Countries ? What you would do by them , that do by those that come nearest to them among you .

CHAP. V. Times of Holiness are the Best Times .

AND now I have given you all this Evidence , I dare leave it to the judgement of any man that is fit to judge , Whether it be the godly or ungodly that are the Better Magistrates , or Better Pastors of the Churches , or Better Members of the Common-wealth , or of any Society ? Judge now whether the Places and Times are not Best that are most Godly ? And whether it be the Godly or the Ungodly , that are the Troublers of the world ?

And yet it hath ever been the practice of ungodly men , to charge it upon them that Fear the Lord , that all the troubles of the world are long of them . We were all quiet , say they , before this Religion and preciseness troubled us ; and this is it , that since it came among us , hath set us all together by the ears . ] But if these men be yet reasonable , I desire them to consider ,

1. That this hath alwayes been the old complaint of the most wicked men , which God himself hath testified against : When Lot did but gently admonish the abominable Sodomites to forbear a villany not to be named , Gen. 19. 7 , 8 , 9. [ I pray you Brethren , do not so wickedly ] What said they to him ? and how did they take it ? Why [ they said , stand back : and they said again , This One fellow came in to sojourn , and he will needs be a Judge ! Now will we deal worse with thee then with them . ] Is not this the case between us now ? How are we unpeaceable ? Because we are against sin ? If we would hinder men from wronging God , and from condemning their own souls , and others , then forsooth , we are their troublers , and we judge them , and we disturb their Peace ? Just like the Sodomites , [ These precise fellows , say they , will neede be our Judges , and we must be ruled by them ; before they came among us we had none of this ado ; ] But did not God , think you , decide the controversie aright ? He first took Lot and his family away , that the Sodomites might be troubled with that precise and busie fellow no more ; and then he sent fire from Heaven on Sodom , and consumed them all , making them an example , suffering the vengeance of eternal fire , Jude 7. Or as it is fully set forth by the Holy Ghost . 2 Pet. 2. 6 , 7 , 8 , 9. [ Turning the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes , he condemned them with an overthrow , making them an example to those that after should live ungodly : ( Mark this ) And delivered just Lot , vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked ( For that righteous man dwelling among them , in seeing and hearing , vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds ) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations , and to reserve the unjust to the day of Judgement to be punished . ]

And now who is it that was troublesom , and the cause of evil ? Was it Lot , or was it Sodom ? Take heed lest God take the Lots that trouble you from among you , and when you are rejoycing that you are rid of them , he serve you worse then he served Sodom .

In the daies of Noah , no question but that Preacher of Righteousness seemed to the world a singular and a self-conceited fellow : But did not God decide the controversie whether it were Noah , or they , that were the troublers of the world ? Saith Peter 2 Pet. 2 , 5. [ God spared not the old world , but saved Noah the eighth person , a Preacher of righteousness , bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly . ]

When Israel ●ell before the men of Ai , it was a doubt who it was that was the cause of that calamity ; but God proved it to be Achan , who is stoned upon this sentence of Joshua , Josh. 7. 25. [ Why hast thou troubled us ? the Lord shall trouble thee this day .

2. And consider I pray you , What a Quietness it is that you have , before you are troubled by the Godly ? It is a Quietness in the high way to Hell : You had the priviledge of damning your souls without disturbance from these precise controllers . Hath not Christ told us , that the Devil is thus like a strong man armed , that while he keepeth his Palace , his goods are in Peace : but when a stronger then he shall come upon him and overcome him , he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted , and divideth the spoils . ] Luke 11. 21 , 22. The hearts and the Nations that are not conquered by Christ , are the Devils Garrisons and possessions : Do you think that it is best that he possess them still in Peace ? Or that the Preachers of Christ , that plant his Ordinance against them , and batter them , till they are forced to yield , are therefore busie troublesom fellows ? What is it for , but for your deliverance , that are Satans captives at his will ? 2 Tim. 2. 25 , 26.

3. And might you not on this ground also account Christ himself the troubler of the world , as much , and a thousand times more then us ? For be doth more to disturb men in their sins then any of we : and be doth more for Holiness then all the world besides . And in this sense he confesseth and fore-tells us , that , he came not to send Peace , but division into the world , into Towns , and Countries , and Families , Luke 12. 51 , 52 , 53. If we can have no Peace with you , unless we will disobey our Lord , and serve the Devil and the flesh , and damn our own souls , and suffer you to do the like , then keep your Peace among your selves ; we will none of that Peace : we have no mind to buy your friendship and good words at such a rate ! If your peace will stand with our peace with God , and peace of Conscience , we will gladly accept of it : If it will not , we can be without it . Your souls are like sores that may not be searched , or a broken bone that must not be set , for fear of hurting you : You are like men that must have that which would kill them ; or like children that will cry if they be but taken out of their dung , or kept from fire , or from knives . If we do but cross you in the way to Hell , we trouble you , and we break the peace ? Yea , and if we will not cast away our souls everlastingly for company ? And is this the case ? Is this the breaking of your Peace ? The Lord will shortly be a Righteous Judge between you and us , and tell you , who it was that was the Troubler of the Towns and Countries , and of the world .

You find Ahab and Elijah at this contest . Ahab takes him for the Troubler of Israel when a heavy famine was among them : Elijah saith , No ; but it was Ahab and his Fathers house that had troubled Israel● by their wickedness , 1 Kings 18. 17 , 18. And which think you was in the right , the Prophet or the King ?

Why Sirs , What is it that Godliness doth , that it should be taken for the Troubler of the world , when ungodliness is taken for your peace ? Is it our perswading or hindring you from sin that troubleth you ? And will not the everlasting fruit of it trouble you more ? Then even say , that washing you , or sweeping your houses , or curing your sores , or sickness , or perswading you not to kill your selves , is a troubling of you ! Or is it , ( as the Lord hath told us it will be , Matth. 5. 10 , 11. John 15. 18 , 19. 1 Pet. 4. 4 , 5. ) because we are not such as you , and will not do as you do , and be of your opinion , and forsake our Lord to keep you company ? Is it not with good reason ? When we know you cannot save us harmless : and will not answer for us before the Lord ? We know that every man must answer for himself , and therefore we durst not trust you , if you would promise us to bring us off : It is best for you to study better how to answer for your selves . But if you are resolved on it , that ungodly you will be , and that you will venture on Hell to scape a holy life , why should not you give us leave to pitty you , and to forbear your folly , and to save our selves ? Will it do you any harm that others should be saved ? Or that others should be Godly ? Your own sanctification indeed cannot stand with your lusts and fleshly pleasures : but another mans may . It will take none of your vain-glory , or wealth , or sensual delights from you , that another man is sanctified , or devoted unto God . And therefore be not angry with us , if we obey the Holy Ghost , that calleth to us , Acts 2. 40. [ Save your selves from this untoward generation . ]

Object . O but ( saith the ungodly crew ) it was never a good world since there was so much Religion , and preaching , and preciseness , and so much ado about serving God! It was a better world , when we had but a short Service read on Sundaies , and played , and merrily talkt together the rest of the day ! There was more Love and good neighbourhood then amongst men then there is now : There was not then so much deceit , and consening , and oppressing , and covetousness in the world : There was more peace , and plenty , and a better world it was then now .

Matters of peace and plenty change often in the same age . And certainly you have as little hinderance now , from being as good as you have a mind to be , as ever your fore-fathers had . Two things I have to say to your Objection .

1. If this be true that the world is so bad , which part is it of the world that you mean ? Is it all , or some ? Not all sure ; that were too horrible censoriousness to say . Then God would presently destroy the world . Sodome had one Lot , and his family in it Well ? it is but some then that are so bad . And which part is it ? Is it the Godly , or the Ungodly ? If Godliness be naught , then Heaven is naught , where there is nothing else ; And then take it not ill to be shut out ? If it be the Ungodly that are naught , that 's it that I am saying . It is time then to leave it , and to turn to God . Is it not you your selves that make the complaint that are the men that make the world so bad ? Is is not you that are so Covetous and worldly that you have nothing for the poor , and no time to spare for the work that you were made for ? nor scarce any room , to think or speak of the life to come ? Is it not you that have so little Charity that you even hate men for Loving and serving God , and seeking diligently to save their souls ? It s true , that there was never greater wickedness in the world then since there hath been so much Preaching . But What is that wickedness , and in whom ? It is the despising and disobeying the calls of God ; and the hating and neglecting of a holy life . Those that are saved by the Gospel , may say that it was a happy messageunto them : but those that slight it , and willfully sin in the openest light , may well say that it is a bad world with them : and worse it is , and will be for ever , if they be not converted , then if they had never heard the Gospel : It is you , and such as you that despise the mercies of the Lord , that make it a bad world ; and then you impudently complain of it , and charge it on them that will not be as bad as your selves : and take away the candle and shut the windows , that the light may not trouble you .

2. Well! but say you the world was better when there was less preaching , and less ado about the serving of God , and our salvation . I do not believe you , and I will tell you why , yea , Why I am certain that your words are false .

1. Because you contradict the Lord . God saith those times are best when there is most of the Light of the Gospel , and most helps for our salvation , and when the people are most Holy . The increase of Light and Holiness is a principal part of the Glory of the Kingdom of Christ , and of the Promises to the Gospel Church , as you may see , Isa. 9. 2. & 36. 26. & 42. 6. & 60. 3. Mat. 4. 16. Luk. 2. 32. Joh. 3. 19 , 20. The word of God is the greatest blessing under heaven : together with a heart to obey and practise it , Luk. 11. 28. Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it . ] Psal. 106. 3. & 119. 1 , 2. & 1. 1 , 2. God himself pronounceth them blessed that meditate day and night in his Law , and that make it their whole delight ; and because of the increase of Light and Holiness extolleth the times of the Gospel far above those of the Law , affirming the least in this Kingdom of God to be greater as to the honour and priviledge of his station , then the Prophets , or John Baptist , Matth. 11. 11 , 12. And would you wish me to believe such ignorant men as you , before the God of Heaven that contradicteth you ?

2. I will not believe you , because your objection is nothing but a Blasphemous accusation of the Living God . If it were true that Preaching is bad , it is Christ then that is bad that doth command it . But I am sure that Christ is not bad : and that such as Blaspheme him , do it to their cost . It is he that hath laid a Necessity on us , and woe be unto us if we preach not the Gospel , 1 Cor. 9. 16. and that chargeth us to feed the flock of God , 1 Pet. 5. 2. Yea the spirit chargeth us before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom , that we preach the word and be instant in season , out of season , reprove , rebuke , exhort with all long suffering and doctrine . ] If any one be to be blamed for all this preaching and stir for heaven , it is Christ that chargeth it so strictly upon us . And if thou dare lay the blame upon the Lord , speak out , and stand to it at judgement .

3. I know it is false that you say , that the world is the worse for all this preachig and Godliness , because it is against the very office of Christ , and of the Holy Ghost . Christ was a diligent preacher himself , and dare you accuse him for it ? He came into the world to bring us the Light of heavenly Truth : and dare you say that it were better be without it . It is the work of the Holy Ghost to illuminate and sanctifie men , and do you think that he doth us hurt ? Christ dyed to wash and purifie by the word and Spirit , the Church which is his Body , that he might present it spotless to the Father , Eph. 5. 26. 27. And darest thou say that Christ came to do us harm ? By this thy despising of his benefits , thou shewest that thou hast yet no part in him or in his saving benefits , but art in the gall of bitterness and bond of thy iniquities , and thy heart is not right in the sight of God .

4. Moreover you are not to be belived because you speak against the experience of all the Prophets and Apostles of Christ . David had rather be a door keeper in the house of God , then dwell in the tents of wickedness ; and judged a day in his Courts to be better then a thousand , Psal. 84. 10. and accounted them the blessed men that might even dwell in the house of God , and be daily taken up in holy praise and worship , Psal. 65. 4. & 92. 13. & 23. 6. When he was forced from the house and publick worship of God , it was his daily lamentation , and he fainteth , and panteth , and longeth after the house and worship of God again , Psal. 42. & 84. 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. [ How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of hosts ? My soul longeth , yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord : My bea rt aad my flesh cryeth out for the living God : — Blessed are they that dwell in thy house : they will be still praising thee : Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee , in whose heart are the ways of them ] The Prophet Isaiah saith [ In the way of thy judgements O Lord have we waited for thee : the desire of our soul is to thy name , and to the remembrance of thee : with my soul have I desired thee in the night ; yea with my spirit within me will I seek thee early . ] This was the mind of all the Prophets and Apostles : and God hath told us that it is the practice of all blessed men , to Meditate in Gods word day night , Psal. 1. 2. And yet will you say that it was a better world when there was less of this ? O self-condemning Hypocrites ! Why do you so much profess to honour the Prophets , Apostles and Martyrs of Christ , if you think that they were the troublers of the world , and that their doctrine and practice makes us worse ? Why do you honour them with the name of Saints , and yet despise both their doctrine and practice in those that do but endeavour seriously to imitate them ! Why keep you Holy days in remembrance of the dead Saints , and say that the world in the worse for the living Saints ? O horrible hypocrisie ! to honour their names , and hate their doctrine and course of life , and say that the world was never good since it was troubled with such as they ! Do we trouble you with our Preaching , and praying , and our stir for heaven ? How would Christ and his Apostles have troubled you , that went so far beyond us in all these , and made a greater stir then we , and turned the world ( as their enemies charged them ) up side down ! Act. 17. 6. so busie w●s Christ in preaching and doing the work of God , that he neglected to eat his meat for it , Joh. 4. 34. and his fleshly kindred would have laid hands on him as if he had been beside himself , Mark . 3. 21. It seems if you had then lived , you would have been among the wicked enemies of Christ and of his Disciples , and have said [ It was never a good world , since these busie fellows made so much a doe with their Religion !

5. Moreover , you speak against the inward feeling and certain experience of all true Christians in the world . They all have tasted and found that excellencie in the holy ways and Ordinances of the Lord , that they value them above all the world . With David they esteem them above Gold and Silver , Psal. 119. 72. With Solomon they say that all the things that we can desire are not to be compared to them , Prov. 3. 15. & 8. 11. And with Job they value the word of God above their necessary food , Job . 23. 12. And with Paul they count all things Loss aud dung in comparison of the excellent knowledge of Christ , Phil. 3. 7 , 8. They know that it is a thousand times better with them , since God converted them to a holy life then it was before , as well as you know that you are better in your health , then you were in sickness . Try whether you can make men that ever were among those where plague and war and famine raigned , to believe that [ it was never a good world , since this plague and war and famine ceased . ] You may as soon make wise men believe this , as make experienced godly men , to believe that it is worse with them for their turning to the Lord , and living , holy , heavenly lives . You can never by all your doating and self-conceited prating , make those believe whom God hath sanctified , that they were in a better case before , when they were the slaves of Satan , and served sin , & were under the wrath and curse of God . They feel that within them that will never suffer them to believe you . The health of their recovered souls : their experience of the Goodness of the ways of God : the comforts they have had in the pardon of sin and the hopes of Glory , do make them know that you talke distractedly , when you tell them that they were better before , or that the world is the worse for the grace of God .

6. And we cannot believe you , when you speak evil of a holy course , because your words are against all Religion , and common reason ; and much more , destructive of the Christian faith . If God be not to be Loved with all our hearts , and served with our greatest care , then he is not God : or then there is no such thing as Religion to be regarded . A God that is worse then the Creature , is no God . If we must not seek first the Kingdom of God , and the Righteousness thereof ( Matth. 6. 33. ) as Christ hath commanded , then it is in vain to seek it at all . If there be no Heaven or Hell , let us lay by all Religion . But if there be , that man that thinks it not worth his greatest care and diligence to be saved , doth forseit the reputation of his reason with his soul . Will you believe that man that saith he believeth that there is an Everlasting Glory to be sought , and made sure of in this life of our pilgrimage and warfare , and yet thinks it not worth our seeking for above all , and worthy all our cost and labour ? He speaks a gross and blockish contradiction . A Heaven no better then Earth , is no Heaven . A Heaven that is not worthy the labour of a holy life , is no Heaven . And a God that is not worthy of all that we can do , is no God . Either plainly say that you are Pagans and worse , and believe not any life but this : Or else live as Christians , if you will be called Christians ; say not that you believe there is a Hell , if you think a Holy life too dear to scape it .

7. Yea this is not all , but your words do tend to Brutishness it self . Pagans did believe ( for the most part ) a life after this . And Julian that Apostate Infidel himself doth prescribe to all his Idols Priests a very strict and Religious life , according to the Religion which he owned ; and professeth that all care and temperance and piety should be used to please God , and obtain the happiness to come . And shall men called Christians take the very Infidels for Puritanes , and be worse then Heathens ? If we have not another life to look after , then what are we but beasts that perish ? If you think that you die like beasts , call your selves beasts , and never more own the name of men . If you are not beasts but men , that have you souls to save or lose , to be happy or miserable for ever . And is it not worth all our care & labour to look after them ?

8. Another reason why I will never believe you , that the world was better when there was less preaching and Religion , is because you speak against the very end and nature of preaching and Religion . For the word of God is written and preached to this very end , to make men better . And is that the way to undoe the world , to perswade them to amend ! O Impudent malignant tongues ! What doth the word of God speak against but sin ! Doth it anywhere speak against any thing that is Good ? or doth it anywhere command you any thing that is bad ? Let the bitterest enemy of God upon earth , say so , and prove it if he can . I here in defiance of the Devil , and all his instruments and servants , challenge them in their bitterest malice , to say the worst they can of the Gospel , or of true Religion , and prove that ever it encouraged men to sin , or that ever any was a loser by it ! O wonderful ! Must the God of heaven indite such Laws against all evil , condemning it , and threatning damnation for it : and yet will these wretches have the faces to say that it is long of the Scripture or of Religion that the world is Evil ? What! Will preaching against your wickedness make you wicked ? If it do , be it known to the faces of you , that it is you , and not preaching that shall be one day found to be the cause , and be condemned for it . Must Princes and Parliaments make Laws to hang thieves and murderers ! and when they have done , will you say it is long of them and their Laws that men are robbed and murdered ? Why this is not yet so impudently unjust as you deal with God . For they threaten but hanging , and he threatneth everlasting damnation against sin ; and executeth it on all the unconverted , as sure as he threatneth it . And would you have him yet do more to testifie his dislike of sin ? Tell me , thou that blasphemest the holy commands of thy Creator ? Wouldst thou have him do more then everlastingly to damn unconverted sinners , to prove that he is no friend or cause of sin ? what should he do more ? Is there a greater plague then Hell to threaten ? Or wouldst thou have him do more to shew how much he loveth Goodness , then to command it , and perswade men daily to it , and to promise Everlasting Glory for their Reward ? Is there any greater Reward to be promised ? I tell thee blasphemer , to the Justifying of my Lord , that all the world hath never done the thousandth part against mens faults , as God hath done . Never were there stricter Laws against them , then his Laws . And never more terrible executions . And yet wilt thou say , that its long of God , or Scripture , or Religion , that the world is naught ? If thou stay a little longer impenitently in thy blasphemy , till death have but given thee the mortal stroak , ( and it s hard at hand ) thou shalt then be answered in another manner , and God will easily justifie himself , and stop all such vile and arrogant months , and confute thee with an everlasting Vengeance . Remember that thou wast forewarned .

9. Yea furthermore , you are confuted and shamed by your own complaints . What is it that you quarrel with the Law of God for ? is it not because it is so strict , and forbiddeth sin , and threatneth damnation for it ? Is it not because it requireth so much goodness , and telleth you that none of the unconverted ungodly shall be saved ? And what is it that you quarrel with the godly for ? Is it not for serving God , and because they will not be as bad as others ? And yet the same tongues dare blaspheme the Laws of God , and say , the world is the worse for them ! And the same tongue dares revile the godly as the cause that the world is so bad ! What should one say to such unreasonable men , that will at the same time murmur at the Holy word and wayes of God , because they contradict the wickedness of the world , and threaten them with Hell fire because they repent not , and yet say it is long of this very word , and the preaching and obeying of it in a holy life , that the world grows worse ! O impudent mouths ! that at once revile the servants of Christ , because they will not be as bad as others , and yet say that its they that make the world so bad . God will very shortly stop such unreasonable mouths .

10. And if your words were true , then it would follow that all Gods greatest Mercies are worth nothing , yea , that they are a hurt to us , and curses rather then blessings . What is the Gospel worth , if the reading , and preaching , and practising of it , do make the world worse , and only trouble men ? What are all Gods Ordinances worth , if this be the fruit of them ? And why hath he appointed Pastors and Teachers for his Church , if this be all the good they do ? Nay what is Christ himself worth to the world , if those are the worst men that most obey him , and study his word , and diligently seek him ! O unworthy souls ! is this all your thanks to God for a Christ when you are lost by sin ? and for the Gospel that offereth you everlasting life ? and for the Ministry of your Pastors that would teach you the way of life ? May we not take up the Prophets exclamation , Isa. 1. 2. Hear O heavens , and give ear O earth : I have nourished and brought up children , and they have rebelled against me : The Ox knoweth his Owner , and the Ass his Masters crib : but this people doth not know the Lord , nor Consider . ] Your beast doth not take his provender to be naught for him , and rather choose to be without it . And you are worse then beasts in your dealing with the Lord : and when he hath provided you a Christ , a Gospel , Teachers , and holy Ordinances , even the preciousest things in the world , you unthankfully refuse them , yea and reproach them ; and take them to be naught for you , and say that it is long of them that the world is so bad ! O horrid ingratitude ! when miserable souls are in the captivity of sin and Satan , and within a few steps of everlasting fire , the God of Mercy sends his Son , his Word , and Ministers , to help them out , and set them free , and save them from Hell before it be too late ; and what entertainment have they ! They are reviled by these wretches as if they came to make them worse , and do them a mischief , and not to save them ! Righteous is the Lord that condemneth such as would not be saved , and as took salvation for an injury . And just were God , if he should take away the Gospel , and his Ministers and his people , from so unthankful and unworthy a generation as this that are weary of them , and say they are the troublers of the world , and think that they do them more hurt then Good ; and as the Gadarens by Christ , desire him to depart out of their coasts , Matth. 8. 34. Be content a while , unworthy souls ! You shall not long be troubled with a Christ , or with the Gospel , or with Preaching , or with Praying , or with the company of these precise people , that you so much dislike . Sleep on but a few nights more , and pass on but a few dayes further , and you shall come to a place before you look for it , where you shall never have their company more , and where you shall be out of the reach of Preaching , and Praying , and Holiness , and of Hope . And in the mean time , were it not for the sakes of those whom God will convert and save , this troublesome Gospel and Holy people should be taken from you , and given to a people that will be more thankful and more fruitful , because you put it from you and have judged your selves unworthy of everlasting life , Acts 13. 46. Matth. 21. 41. No thanks to you that England is not like the Indians , and as miserable as you would have it .

11. And why should we believe you when we see that you judge clean contrarily for your bodies , then you do for your souls ? I have never heard any of you say , [ It was never good world since our land was fruitfull , and since so much corn came to the the market ; It was a better world when men had nothing but roots to feed on . ] And yet would you be believed , when you say that it was better when men had not so much of the Scripture , and of Christ and holiness , the food , the life , the health of souls ?

12. And I the less believe you , because I find that this hath been the common speech of others in all former ages . They that lived in the dayes of your fathers , said so of the former times [ It was formerly a better world then now . ] And if you had lived in those dayes of your fathers fore-fathers , you would have heard them say the same . It s common with men to feel the evil that 's present , and to praise the days that are past , whose evil they felt not , or have forgotten . But hear what God saith , Eccles. 7. 10. [ Say not thou , What is the Cause that the former dayes were better then these ? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this . ] Eccles. 1. 9. The thing that hath been , it is that which shall be : and that which is done , is that which shall be done , and there is no new thing under the Sun . ]

13. And little cause have we to believe you , when we have present experience that your words are false . We see that those are the best , that are most Godly . He is blind that seeth not an exceeding difference betwixt them and such as you that speak against them . Do not we see that they are sober , when some of you are drunken ? and that they are seeking heaven when you are seeking the world ? and that they are providing for their souls and pleasing God , and imployed in the most sweet and heavenly works , while you are pampering the flesh , or making provision to satisfie its lusts ? Do we not hear their speeches are of God , and their salvation , and things that edifie , while you curse or swear , or talk filthily , or idly and unprofitably like dreaming or distracted men ? And yet would you make us believe that you are as good as they , and that Religion makes men worse ?

But you say , that for all this they are secretly as bad as others . Foolish malice ! If it be secret , how do you know it ? If you know it , how is it secret ? and its marvail that you do not make it known ! Is it not easie to say so by a Job , or a Samuel , or by Christ himself , if saying so may serve turn , and a wicked tongue may pass for proof ? You may say that in secret I commit all the sins imaginable : and how can I disprove you , when I have no witness , but only by desiring you to prove it if you can ? But O happy are the servants of the Lord , that are even in secret alwayes in the presence of their Judge , who will bear witness for them , and justifie them against malignant tongues !

But you say , that they are as covetous as other men , though they are more Religious . But this is as shameful a falshood as the former . Do we not see the contrary in the open fruits ? Covetous men are the forwardest to call others Covetous , because they would have no body hinder or cross them in their Covetous desires or designs . And then they are saying , [ O such a professor used me thus , and such a one did thus ] ; and usually they partially relate the case , as their own Covetous hearts encline them passionately to judge it . And perhaps they may meet with a worldly hypocrite that seemeth Religious ; which is no more to the disgrace of Religion , then Cham was in the Family of Noah , or Absolom in the house of David , or Judas in the Family of Christ . Do not you call your selves Christians your selves ? And yet Christianity is never the worse , because you are wicked that profess it . But sure I am that the servants of Christ are not comparable to you in Coveteousness . For as I find God describing them in his Word , to be a people dead to the world , whose conversation is in heaven , so I see that they can spare time from worldly business , while they and their housholds serve the Lord ; and so cannot you : They are seeking Heaven , when you are seeking earth ; And we may know , what a man loveth , if we know what he seeketh . And again I , must bear witness from my own experience , that in this place where I live , I have reason to believe , that where other men of their ability give a penny to the poor for charitable uses , those that you call precise and think too Religious , do give six , if not twice six , and some of them much more then I will express . There are few weeks but we have occasion to try it by voluntary collections for some needy persons , or charitable uses ; and therefore we have much opportunity to know : besides contributions at Sacraments , and other publick occasions .

But you say , that in former times there was more Love among neighbours then is now : Then there was more familiarity and kindness , and less hatred , and malice , and contention , then now ▪ I answer , Am I not sure by constant experience , that there is far more love among the godly then among you ? Do I not see how dear they are to one another ? and how sweetly and familiarly they converse together , and joyn in prayer and holy exercises , and conferr about their everlasting state ? Do I not see that they are ten times more liberal to relieve each other in distress , then you are ? Many and many a time I have seen them give ten or twenty ▪ shillings in collections to relieve godly people in distress , when those of you that are richer give but two pence or a groat to your companions , in the like Collections ? And what makes them be so much together , if there be not Love among them ? I profess to you , I never yet saw any thing that is worthy the name of Love and Peace among any other sort of men .

But perhaps you will say , that there are contentions and differences among them about Religion , which the world was never troubled with before . To which I answer , 1. What differences or contentions do you see among them in this Town or Parish ? Among five hundred people that you count Precise , what one is there among us that is either Anabaptist , or Separatist , or Antinomian , or Arminian , or of any other sect ? What one that separateth from any Ordinance of publick Worship ? What differences do you know among us ? Is there here any more Churches then one ? Do you hear any contendings ? Do you see any thing like a difference among us all ? For my part , I know of none : Nor but of one in the Parish ( that is turned from us ) which is a simple , ignorant , harmless man , that turned Anabaptist . For as for the Apostate Infidels that joyn with you that are ungodly , we have nothing to do with them , but lament their misery .

14. Another thing that hindreth our Belief of you , is that we see that it is only ignorant or wicked men that are of this opinion , and say that the world is the worse for Godliness , or the Preaching of the Gospel . Not a man saith so that knoweth what he saith , and that ever felt the power and sweetness of the Gospel upon his soul : But only those that are blinded by the world , and serve the flesh , and are drowned in lust , and know not what they speak against . And shall we regard the judgement of such men ?

15. And moreover , when you say that the world was better when there was less Godliness and Teaching , you contradict all history , and therefore are not to be believed . You know not well what is before you : much less do you know what hath been in your fore-fathers dayes . Be it known to you , we have as full advantage to know that , as you have . Many and many a large Volume have I read , concerning the state of the world before us , which tell us of far greater wickedness in our fore-fathers daies , then are in these . If you will not believe me , I will shew it to any of you , that can read and understand , at any time when you will come to me : I will shew you the words of the Chroniclers , and Historians of those ages , that make more lamentable complaints of the vices of those times , and tell us of far more evil then , and of a far greater scarcity of good , then can be truly spoken concerning us . And are you that never saw those daies , to be believed before them that saw them ?

16. And I am sure also that you speak falsly ▪ , because you make the most barbarous Heathens to be most happy , and the worst of men to be the best . If it be best where there is least Religion , and least Teaching , or meddling with holy things ; then are the naked Indians the best , and the Cannibals that live on the flesh of men . These be they that are least troubled with Preaching and Religion . And if you think that these miserable souls are best and happyest , I pray you go to them , and be happy with them . And by my consent the Magistrate shall promote your happiness , and send you thither .

17. And would you have us believe you , when you contradict your selves ? Out of your own mouthes will we silence or condemn you . It is Christ that teacheth us to be Holy . And do you not pretend your selves to believe in Christ ? That which you dislike as a troublesom or needless thing , is nothing but serious Christianity it self . And do you not say your selves that you are Christians ? Do not you profess the Articles of the Christian Belief ? And what do we but practice that which you profess ? We do but obey that God whom you say you believe in , as the Father Almighty , maker of heaven and earth , and all things . We do but love the Lord our Saviour , whom you say you believe in as your Saviour . We do but obey the Holy-Ghost that sanctifieth all that God will save , whom you also profess to believe in your selves . We practise that Communion of Saints which you deride , and yet profess that you believe . We seek after the remission of sin , and that life everlasting , which you take on you to believe your selves . And will you profess to Believe these things , and yet say they are naught , or that it was never a good world since they were regarded and practised ? And do you not profess to take the ten Commandments for the Law of God , which all men should obey ? And what do we but endeavour to obey them ? All that which you hate as too much preciseness , is nothing but the obeying of these ten Commandments . And O that we could do it better ! And do you not use in the saying of the Lords Prayer , to pray that the Name of God may be Hallowed , and his Kingdom come , and his Will be done , yea even as it is done in Heaven ? And yet 〈◊〉 you say with the same mouth , that it was never a good world since Gods name was Hallowed , and since his Kingdom was ●●vanced , and his Laws so much regarded , and his Will obeyed ! O hypocrites ! Is this your praying ? and do you look such prayers should be accepted , which you hate and speak against your selves ? You pray that you may not be led into Temptation , but delivered from evil ! and yet you run into temptation , and take that Evil to be Good . How oft have I heard men , when the Commandments have been repeated , which require us to take the Lord only for our God , and not to take his Name in vain , and to Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day , to joyn to it as their prayer , [ Lord have mercy upon us , and encline our hearts to keep this Law ] and when they come home , revile those people that are willing to keep it , and that will not take Gods Name in vain , and forbear the keeping holy of his day , as they do themselves . Either give over professing the Christian Belief , and using the Lords Prayer , and praying that you may keep the Commandments of God , or else give over reviling those that do it . Either say plainly that you are Heathens and no Christians ; or else never say , that a Christian Life is hurtful to the world , nor make it the matter of your reproach .

18. And I must needs say that I am the more assured that your words against Religion are false , because I know that they please ▪ the Devil , who is the Father of lyes ; and are just such as he would have you speak , and would speak himself if he had but liberty , and his appearance would not marr h●● cause . When thou art railing at Godliness , and saying that this Religion is the trouble of the world , and that the servants of Christ are but a company of busie hypocrites , just so would the Devil have thee speak . I can prove it fully from the Scriptures , and from his Nature and designs . You could not speak more agreeably to his mind . If he had hired you , and written down every word which he would have you speak , you could not more punctually obey him . Do you plead against Holiness , and for a careless and ungodly life ? Do you despise the righteous , and justifie the wicked ? Just so would the Devil have you do . If he stood by you and prompted you ( as indeed he doth , though you do not know it ) those are the very words that he would have you say . Indeed when he is compelled , the Devil himself speaketh better then you : as in Acts 16. 17. he saith , [ These men are the servants of the most high God , which shew unto us the way of salvation ] These are better words then yours : But when he is left to himself , and speaketh of his own , he speaketh just as you do : and shall we believe you when the Devil sets you on , and you speak the words of the lying spirit ?

19. And I the less believe you , when you say that the world is the worse for Preaching and Religiousness , because I know from whence this comes . You take that to be the best , that is the worst ; and that to be the worst , that is indeed the best . You judge after the flesh , and take those for the best times when you have most prosperity , and may sin with least contradiction and molestation , and be least troubled in your sensual course . These are your good daies , which wise men know to be your slavery and misery . It is never a good world with you , when your consciences are troubled , and your sores are lanced , and Satan cannot keep his garrison in peace ; and when you cannot be permitted to drink , and swear , and game , and revell without controll . And if this be your good world , I had rather have a prison or a pair of stocks with Christ and the Gospel which you despise , and with the means and hopes of the world to come , then to have your good world , which is but thee quietest passage to damnation . You are not yet to be believed : stay till you see the end , and what comes of it , and then tell us which was the good world .

20. Lastly , if all this will not serve , I will silence you and shame you , if you have any shame left . If Religion and so much serving of God do make the world worse , and those be the worst times where there is most of these , then Heaven would be worse then Earth or Hell , even the worst place in all the world . For no place hath so much Holiness as Heaven . Nowhere is there so much ado about the Praise and Service of God , as there is in Heaven . There they do nothing else but that which you revile , and that in highest fervour and perfection . They Rest not day or night saying , Holy , Holy , Holy , Lord God Almighty , which was , and is , and is to come , Rev. 4. 8. Dost thou know the man on earth that is most precise , and holy , and diligent for God ? Why the lowest of the Saints in Heaven go quite beyond him . And in good sadness , dost thou take Heaven to be the worst place ? and think that so much Holiness will make it troublesom ? Bear witness then against thy self , Out of thy own mouth art thou condemned . How canst thou expect to be admitted into Heaven , that takest it for so bad a place ? Thou teachest God to thrust thee back , and say to thee , Be gone ; here is nothing but Holiness , which you could not alive : You shall go to a place where Religion and Holiness shall not trouble you .

Well Sirs , Consider now as men of Reason , of all these twenty Reasons which I have given you , and then tell me , whether that be not the better world , and the better soul , where there is most Faith and Holiness .

CHAP. VI. Holiness is the only way of Safety .

I Have proved to you that Holiness is best for Common wealths , and given you many General undenyable evidences , to prove that it is Best for all men in particular : I shall now come to the particular evidences , and shew you wherein it is that it is Best for all men .

There are three sorts of Good that men have to look after . The first is the security of their Life and Being ; the second is their moral well-being ; and the third is , their Natural well-being . This last also is divided into three branches , and consisteth in our Profit , our Honour , and our Pleasure .

So that here are five several sorts of Goodness to be considered of ; and you will find that Holiness is Best , beyond all comparison , in each respect . 1. In respect of Safety . 2. In point of Honesty . 3. In point of Gain . 4. In point of Honour . And , 5. In point of Pleasure or Delight . If I prove not every one of these , then tell me , I promised more then I could perform : But if I do prove them , I look that you that Read it , should promise presently to come in to God , and a Holy life , and faithfully perform it .

1. And that HOLINESS IS THE SAFEST WAY , I prove thus . 1. That man is in a safer state that is delivered from the power of Satan , then he that is in his bondage , and taken captive by him at his will . But all the unsanctified are in this captivity , and all the sanctified are delivered out of it ; as the Scripture most expresly tells us , Ephes. 2. 1 , 2. 3 [ And you hath be quickened , who were dead in trespasses and sins ; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world , according to the Prince of the Power of the air , the Spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience : among whom we also bad our conversation in times past , in the lusts of our flesh , fulfilling the desires of the flesh , and of the mind , &c. ] So 2 Tim. 2. 25 , 26. [ In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves , if God eradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth , and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil , who are taken captive by him at his will . ] And Acts 26. 17 , 18. [ I send thee to open their eyes , and turn them from darkness to light , and from the power of Satan unto God . ] And Col. 1. 13. [ Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness , and hath translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son . ] Satan is the Ruler and the Jaylor of the ungodly , that leadeth them to sin , and so to destruction , and keepeth them for torments at the day of wrath . And is he safe that is in the Devils power ? If he should appear to thee , and lay hold of thee , thou wouldst not think that thou were safe . But his possession of thy soul is far more dangerous . Thou dost not believe that thou art in his power : But thy blindness sheweth it ; and thy enmity to the way of Holiness sheweth it ; and thy ungodly life doth fully shew it ; and the Scripture affirmeth it of all such : and what need there any further proof ? But the sanctified are all dilivered from this slavery ; and though the Devil may rage against them , he shall not prevail .

2. Moreover , those that are United to Jesus Christ , and are become the living Members of his Body , are certainly safer then those that are yet strangers to him , and have no special interest in him : But all that are sanctified are thus united to Christ , and made his members : and all the unsanctified have no part in him . He that hath the Son hath life , and he that hath not the Son hath not life , 1 John 5. 12. [ John 15. 6 , 7 , 9 , 10. If a man abide not in me , he is cast forth as a branch , and is withered ; and men gather them , and cast them into the fire , and they are burned . If ye abide in me , and my words abide in you , ye shall ask what ye will , and it shall be done unto you . As the Father hath loved me , so have I loved you ; continue in my love . If ye keep my commandments , ye shall abide in my love : ] Yee are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you , v. 14. ] Eph. 5. 25 , 26 , 27 , 29 , 30. [ Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it , that he might sanctifie and ●●●a●●● it , with the washing of water , by the word : that be might present it to himself a glorious Church , not having spot or wrinkle , or any such thing , but that it should be holy and without blemish . No man ever hated his own flesh , but nourisheth and cheri , ●ath it , even as the Lord the Church . For we are Members of his Body , of his flesh , and of his bones . ]

Judge by these passages whether the sanctified are not safe . If the Love of Christ , and his Merits , and his Power cannot keep them safe , then nothing can . If the Saviour cannot save them , none can . Is not the very flesh of Christ safe ? are not the members of his Body safe ? are not his friends , his spouse and beloved safe ? If Christ can save us , we are safe . For who can conquer him ? Or who can take us out of his hands ? John 10. 28. If he be for us , who shall be against us ? and if he justifie us , who shall condemn us ? Rom. 8. 33 , 34 , 35.

But is it so with the ungodly ? No : they have no part nor l●t in this matter , but are in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity , because their heart is not right in the sight of God , Act. 8. 21 , 23.

3. Moreover , he that hath escaped the Curse of the Law , and hath his sins forgiven him , and is justified from all things that could by the Law be charged on him , is safer then he that is under the Curse , and hath all his sins yet lying on his soul ; But the first of these is certainly the case of the sanctified , and the other of the unsanctified , Gal. 3. 10 , 13. As many as are of the works of the Law are under the Curse : for it is written , Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the Law to do them . — — Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law , being made a Curse for us ] Rom. 3. 23. For all have sinned , and come short of the glory of God ] And Mark 4. 12. shews , that the unconverted have not their sins forgiven them . ] Joh. 3. 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned , but he that believeth not is condemned already ] And Act. 26. 18. To open their eyes , and turn them from darkness to light , and from the power of Satan unto God , that they may receive forgiveness of sins , and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith that is in me . ] Rom. 8. 1. There is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus , that walk not after the flesh but after the spirit ] Abundance more such passages of holy Scripture do assure us that all the unsanctified are unpardoned , and all the sanctified are Justified , and delivered from the Curse . And which of these are in the safer state ?

Did one of you owe ten thousand pounds more then he were worth , or had you committed twenty known selonies or murders , would you think your selves safe , without a pardon ? Would you not be looking behind you , and afraid of allmost every man you see , lest he came to apprehend you ? O what a case is that man in that hath so many thousands sins to answer for ? and hath such a load of guilt upon his soul ? and so many terrible threatnings of the Law in force against him ? Do you not fear every hour , lest death arrest you , and bring you to the prison of the bottomless pit ? But the sanctified is delivered from this danger . A thousand sins indeed were against us ; but we have a pardon of them all to shew . In Christ we have Redemption through his blood , the forgiveness of sins , Col. 1. 14. The law hath nothing now against us : and therefore we are safe .

4. Those are safer that are dearly beloved of the Lord , and reconciled to him , and taken for his Children , then those that are his Enemies , and hated by him , and under his displeasure . But most Certainly the former is the state of all the sanctified , and the later is the state of the ungodly .

You shall see both in the words of God . Psal. 5. 4 , 5. Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness ; neither shall evil dwell with thee ; The foolish shall not stand in thy sight : thou hatest all the workers of iniquity . ] Psal. 7. 10 , 11. My Defence is of God which saveth the upright in heart : God judgeth the Righteous ; and God is angry with the wicked every day . ] Psal. 45. 7. Thou lovest righteousness , and hatest wickedness . ] Luk. 19. 27. Those mine enemies that would not I should raign over them , bring them hither , and stay them before me . ] Ephes. 2. 3. We were by nature the children of wrath . ] A hundred more such places , shew you the state of the unsanctified .

But how different is the case of the renewed upright soul ? 2 Cor. 6. 16 , 17 , 18. [ Yee are the Temple of the living God : as God hath said I will dwell in them , and walk in them , and I will be their God , and they shall be my people : Wherefore come out from among them , and be ye separate , saith the Lord , and touch not the unclean thing , and I will receive you , and will be a Father unto you , and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty . Job . 1. 12. But as many as received him , to them gave he power to become the sons of God . ] Rom. 8. 16 , 17. The spirit it self beareth witness with our spirit , that we are the children of God : And if Children then heirs , heirs of God , and joynt heirs with Christ ] Mal. 3. 17. And they shall be mine saith the Lord of hosts in that day when I make up my Jewels ; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him . ] Heb. 8. 12. I will be merciful to their unrighteousness , and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more . ] Col. 1. 21 , 22. [ And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works , yet now hath he reconciled , in the body of his flesh through death , to present you holy and unblameable , and unreproveable in his sight . ] Psal. 32. 1 , 2. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven , whose sin is covered ; blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity , and in whose spirit there is no guile . ] Zech. 2. 8. He that toucheth you , toucheth the apple of mine eye . ]

Judge now by these plain expressions form the Lord , who it is that is in the safer state , the godly or the ungodly . Is he the safer that is hated by the God of heaven , or he that is most dearly loved by him ? He that is under his displeasure , or he that is his delight ? Why man ! if God be against thee , thou art no where safe ? not in the strongest Castle ! not in the greatest Army ! not in the highest dignity ! not in the merryest company ! Thou knowest not but a Commission is gone out for death to strike thee in thy next recreation , or fit of mirth ? How knowest thou but death is ready to strike , while thou art eating , or drinking , or talking , or sleeping ? Thou hast no security from an angry God . Till he be reconciled , thou art nowhere safe ! This may be thy fatal day or night for ought thou knowest . And if once the mortal blow be struck , and thy soul be taken from thy body unrenewed , O man , where then wilt thou appear ! O wonderful stupidity ! that thou dost not eat thy bread in fear , and do thy work in fear , and sleep in fear , and live in fear , till thou be sanctified !

But to the soul that hath God for his security , what can be dangerous ? or what condition ( while he keeps close to God ) can be unsafe ? The Father that gave us unto Christ , is greater then all , and no man can take us out of his hands , Joh. 10. 28 , 29. Conquer Heaven , and conquer the Saints ! There is their City , their garrison , their conversation , Phil. 1. 20. Heb. 11. 10 , 16. what enemy , what policie , what power can endanger him , that God will save and hath undertaken for ? We were never safe one day or hour , till we were friends with God . [ Deut. 33. 27. The Eternel God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms . ] Psal. 46. 1 , 2 , 5 , 7. God is our refuge and strength , a very present hel● in trouble : therefore will not we fear , though the earth be removed , and though the mountains be carryed into the midst of the sea — God is in the midst of her , she shall not be moved : God shall help her , and that right early — The Lord of hosts is with us , the God of Jacob is our refuge ] Psal. 91. 1 , 2 , He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high , shall abide under the shaddow of the Almighty . I will say of the Lord , He is my refuge and my fortress ; my God , in him will I trust . ] This is the confidence , and joy and glory of the Saints , Psal. 59. 16 , 17. I will sing of thy Power , yea I will sing aloud of thy mercies in the morning , for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble : Unto thee O my strength will I sing : for my God is my defence , and the God of my mercie . ] Psal. 89. 26. Thou art my Father , my God , and the Rock of my Salvation . ] See Psal. 27. 5. & 61. 2. & 62. 2 , 6 , 7. & 94 22. Prov. 18. 10. The Name of the Lord is a strong tower : the righteous run into it and are safe . ] Prov. 21. 31. safety is of the Lord ] Psal. 4. 8. Quietly may we repose our selves to rest , for it is the Lord only that maketh us dwell in safety . ] But is it thus with the ungodly man ! O no : when they say Peace and safety to themselves , suddenly destruction cometh upon them as travel upon a woman with child , and they shall not escape , 1 Thes. 5. 3. [ For their Rock is not like our Rock , even our enemies themselves being judges ] Deut. 32. 31. Why else do they desire in times of danger that they were in the case of the Servants of the Lord ? If they thought themselves as safe as the Regenerate , why do they wish at the hour of death , that they might but die the death of the Righteous , and their later end might be as his ? Numb. 23. 10.

5. Moreover , he is certainly more safe , that is an heir of the promises , and hath the word of God engaged for his safety , then he that hath no promise from God at all . nor any such security to shew : But all the faithful have interest in the promises ; in which the ungodly have no share . Surely he is safe to whom the Lord hath promised safety . O what a precious treasure might I here open , to shew you the safety of true believers ? I will cull out but a few of the Promises for a tast . Prov. 1. 32 , 33. [ The turning away of the simple shall slay them , and the prosperity of fo●●s shall destroy them . But who so hearkenneth unto me , shall awell safely , and shall be quiet from fear of evil . ] Prov. 29. 25. Who so putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe . ] Prov. 3. 21 , 22 , 23. My Son , let them not depart from thine eyes : keep sound wisdom and discretion ; so shall they be life unto thy soul and grace unto thy neck : then shalt thou walk in thy way safely , and thy foot shall not stumble . When thou lyest down , thou shalt not be afraid : yea , thou shalt lie down , and thy sleep shall be sweet : Be not afraid of sudden fear , neither of the desolation of the wicked when it cometh . For the Lord shall be thy confidence , and shall keep thy foot from being taken . ] Deut. 33. 12. [ The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him , the Lord shall cover him all the day long , and he shall dwell between his shoulders . ] Psalm 55. 22. Cast thy burden on the Lord , and he shall sustain thee : he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved . ] Psalm 14. 5. God is in the generation of the righteous . ] Psalm 34. 15 , 17 , 19 , 20. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous , and his ears are open to their cry . The righteous cry , and the Lord heareth , and delivereth them out of all their trouble . Many are the afflictions of the righteous ; but the Lord delivereth him out of all . He keepeth all his bones — Evil shall slay the wicked , and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate , ] Psal. 37. 28. For the Lord loveth judgement , and forsaketh not his Saints , they are preserved for ever : but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off . ] Ver. 37 , 39 , 40. [ Mark the perfect man , and behold the upright : for the end of that man is peace : But the transgressors shall be destroyed together : the End of the wicked shall be cut off : But the salvation of the Righteous is of the Lord , he is their strength in the time of trouble : And the Lord shall help them and deliver them from the wicked , and save them , because they trust in him . ] Psalm 73. 26. [ My flesh and my heart faileth : but God is the strength of my heart , and my portion for ever . ] Isa. 49. 15. [ Can a woman forget her sucking child , that she should not have compassion on the Son of her womb ? Yea , they may forget : yet will not I forget thee ] He hath said , I will not fail thee nor forsake thee , Heb. 13. 5. Matth. 6. 25. Take no thought for your life , what ye shall eat , or what ye shall drink . &c. ] Matth. 10. 28 , 30 , 31. Fear not them which kill the Body , and are not able to kill the soul — The very hairs of your head are all numbred ] Isa. 41. 10. [ Fear thou not , for I am with thee : be not dismayed , for I am thy God : I will strengthen thee : Yea , I will help thee : yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness ] See ver. 13 , 14. Isa. 43. 1 , 2. Fear not , for I have redeemed thee : I have called thee by thy name : thou art mine . When thou passest through the waters , I will be with thee ; and through the rivers , they shall not overflow thee ; when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt , &c. ] The Lord preserveth the way of his Saints , Prov. 2. 8. ] Psalm 31. 23. [ O Love the Lord all ye his Saints : for the Lord preserveth the faithfull ] Psal. 97. 10. he preserveth the souls of his Saints ; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked ] Psalm 145. 18 , 19 , 20. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him : to all that call upon him in truth : He will fulfill the desires of them that fear him : he also will hear their cry , and will save them . The Lord preserveth all them that Love him : but all the wicked will he destroy . ] Prov. 20. 22. [ Say not , I will recompence evil : but wait on the Lord , and he will save thee . ] Heb. 10. 23. He is faithfull that hath promised . ]

I hope the believer will not be weary to read over all these precious promises , which are his security from God , for soul and body . I summ up all in that one , 1 Tim. 4. 8. Godliness is profitable to all things , having promise of the life that now is , and of that which is to come . ] Judge whether Godliness be the safest state . Can a man of so many promises be unsafe ? But instead of these the ungodly are threatned with everlasting vengeance .

6. He is safer that hath continually a guard of Angels , as certainly all the faithful have , then he that hath none , but is a prisoner of the devil , as the ungodly are .

Hear the Scriptures , Psalm 34. 7. The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him , and delivereth them . ] Psalm 91. 11 , 12. He shall give his Angels charge over thee , to keep thee in all thy wayes : They shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone . ] Matth. 18 , 10. [ Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones : for I say unto you that in heaven their Angels do alwayes behold the face of my Father which is in heaven . ] Heb. 1. 14. [ Are they not all ministring spirits sent forth to Minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation ? And have the wicked any such attendance for their security ? No : but a fearful captivity to the Devil .

7 Lastly , that is the safest state where a man is safe from the Greatest Evil. Everlasting misery is the great evil , which the Godly are initially saved from : They are lyable to afflictions as well as others ; but not to Damnation , and therefore they are safe . They must be sick and die as well as others : but they shall escape Eternal death . Yea , they are already passed from death to life , 1 John 3. 14. and have Eternal life begun within them , John 17. 3. He that hath the Son hath life : 1 John 5. 12. [ John 5. 22. Verily , verily I say unto you , he that heareth my word , and believeth on him that sent me , hath everlasting life , and shall not come into condemnation , but is passed from death unto life . ] ver. 28 , 29. Marvail not at this : for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice , and shall come forth ; they that have done good to the Resurrection of life , and they that have done evil , to the Resurrection of damnation . ] Psalm 1. 4 , 5 , 6. The ungodly are not so ; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away : therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the Judgement , nor sinners in the Congregation of the righteous : For the Lord knoweth the way of the Righteous ; but the way of the ungodly shall perish . ]

If yet you are unresolved whether Godliness be the only way of safety , I dare say it is because you believe not the holy Scriptures . For there the doubt is as fully decided as any one in all the world . O how blessed is the state of the poorest most afflicted Saint , that may alway say , My soul is safe ! If my health , or wealth , or friends be gone ; yet am I safe from everlasting misery . Other things I shall have as God seeth best for his honour and my spiritual good : but salvation I may be sure of , if I abide in Christ . ] What needs he fear , that hath escaped Hell ! But O the dreadful case of the ungodly ! that are passing to damnation when they never think of it ! Their Bodies may be strong , their riches great , and they may fare sumptuously every day , Luke 16. 19. But O what a case are their poor souls in ! and where will they be when this mirth is ended ! Luke 16. 25. They are not safe from Hell one hour .

CHAP. VII . Holiness is the only Honest Way .

WEE have tryed whether the way of Godliness or Ungodliness be the safest . Let us next try which is the Honestest , of which one would think we should never meet with a man so shameless as to make a question . But experience telleth us that such there are , yea and that they are very common : Even in their reproaching of a Holy life , they will joyn the boastings of their own Honesty ; and say , Though we swear or are drunk now and then , and make not such a stir about Gods service and our salvation , yet we are as Honest as these , preciser people , that make more ado , and censure us as ungodly . ] As truly and wisely as if a common whore should say , [ I am as Honest as these precise people that will not play the harlots as I do : ] And as wisely as if a Thief should say , Though I steal for need , I am as honest as these precise people that will not steal . ] But yet we have this advantage by these shameless boasts , that still the Name of Honesty is in credit , and the worst men honour it , by pretending to it , while they dishonour themselves by their renouncing the Thing it self and by the impudency of their pretences .

Honesty is nothing but true Virtue , or the Moral Goodness of the Mind or Action : An Honest man and a Good man , is indeed all one : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 with the Greeks ; one that is both inwardly virtuous , and manifests it in the cleaness and integrity of his life , in the sight of men . All men for ought I can perceive , would be accounted Honest . This reputation Honesty hath among its vilest enemies , that they approve the Name , and would not appear to be its enemies , till they have put some other Name upon it : While they hate Honesty , and persecute it , they would be called Honest men themselves . And therefore by the consent of all the world , friends and foes , that is the Best way which is the Honestest .

O that you would all but stand to this , in the choosing of your course , and in your daily practice ! Will you all agree upon a Holy life , if I prove it past all doubt to be the Honestest ? O that you would ! Yea , if I prove that there is no man truly Honest in the world , that is not truly Godly ? If you would stand to this , you would soon be changed . Indeed it is nothing but but Dishonesty that we would have you changed from . And if you will not stand to this , but will refuse Honesty when you know it , for shame lay by the Name of Honesty , and wish not men to call you Honest any more . Either be what you would be called ; or give men leave to call you as you are . Let us come then to the tryal , and see who is indeed the Honest man ; the Godly or the ungodly .

1. I have already told you , that God who is the most infallible Judge , hath given his sentence on his peoples side . If you will think your selves that it is not those that Thieves and Harlots call Honest that are so likely to be Honest , as those that wise men and vertuous men call so : We have then far greater Reason to conclude , that it is not those that you call Honest , that are so fit to be judged such , as those that God calls so . How say you ? will you not freely give us leave to take Gods judgements or Word before yours ? If not , we will take leave . And God calls all the ungodly by the name of Evil and Wicked men ! and the godly are they that he calleth Upright , Good , and Honest . The whole Scripture , you know , if you know any thing of it , speaketh in this language . Luke 8. 15. It is they that hear the Word and keep it , and bring forth fruit with patience , that receive it into honest and good hearts . This is the life that is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour , which is [ in all Godliness and Honesty . ] These are inseparable , Godliness and Honesty . 1 Tim. 2. 2 , 3. Indeed the Greek word here is that which signifieth gravity and seemliness of behaviour : but that which is frequently translated [ good ] is it which signisieth the truly Honest . And you know none of the ungodly are ever called Good in Scripture , but clean contrary . Prov. 11. 6. The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them , but transgress●rs shall be taken in their own naughtiness . ] So vers. 18. 19 , 20. [ The wicked worketh a deceitful work , but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward . As righteousness tendeth to life , so he that pursueth evil , doth it to his own death . They that are of a froward heart are an abomination to the Lord : but such as are upright in their way , are his delight . ] Everywhere you see how God abhorreth the ungodly , and extolleth those that love and fear him . Christ calleth the ungodly [ Evil men , that ●●t of the evil treasure of their hearts do bring forth evil things ] Matth. 12. 35. All is evil ; the life evil , the heart evil , and the man evil . Prov. 12. 26. [ The Righteous is more excellent then his neighbour , but the way of the wicked seduceth them . ] And Psalm 16. David calleth the godly [ The excellent in whom is all his delight . ] It is an excellent spirit that is in them , Dan. 3. 12. 14 ▪ and 63. and an excellent way in which they go , 1 Cor. 12. 31. and an excellent knowledge which the spirits illumination causeth them to attain , Phil. 3. 18. Ephes. 3. 18 , 19. You have Gods judgement of the case , if that will satisfie you , who it is that is the Best and Honestest man , the Holy or the unholy .

2. Do you think that man is an Honest man , that will deny you your due , and rob you of all that is your own ? Or rather is not the Just man the Honest man , that will give every man his own ? I know you will give your voices for the latter . O then take heed lest you condemn your selves ! If you be not Holy , your own testimony doth condemn you . For it is only the Godly that give God his own , when the ungodly rob him of it : Hast thou not thy Life , and Time , and Maintenance from God ? Hast thou not thy Reason , and thy Affections , and all thy faculties from him ? And should not all thou hast be employed for him ? Thou art a dishonest man that grudgest , yea denyest him one day in seven , when thou owest him all . Thou art a dishonest man that givest away thy Makers due unto his vilest enemies . That wastest thy means or strength on sin : that spendest thy precious time on vanity : that abusest his creatures to the satisfying of thy lusts ! and that livest to thy flesh , when thou shouldst live to God . Thou robbest him of all which thou givest to his enemies ; and of all which thou dost not use for his service . It is less dishonesty to rob thy Master that trusteth thee with his goods , then to rob the Lord that trusteth thee with thy time , and parts , and all things . O blind unworthy sinners ! What makes you think him an honest man that robbeth his Maker , or denyeth him his own , when you call him a dishonest man that robbeth but such silly worms as you , that in respect of God have nothing of your own ! Art thou better then God , that it should be called dishonesty to wrong thee , and no dishonesty to wrong him , or deny him that which is his own ? God hath an absolute Title to you , and that on more accounts then one . You are his own , as you are his creatures . All souls are mine , saith the Lord , Ezek. 18. 4. And he hath Title to thee by Redemption , as well as by Creation : For to this end Christ dyed , and rose , and revived , that he might be Lord of the de●d and of the living , Rom. 14. 9. We are not our own ; we are bought with a price ; and therefore should glorifie God in our bodies and our spirits which are his , 1 Cor. 6. 19 , 20. For if one dyed for all , then were all dead , that they which live should not henceforth live to themselves , but to him that dyed for them and rose again , 2 Cor. 5. 14 , 15. And as you your selves are Gods own as he is your Creator and Redeemer , so all that you have is his own as the bestower , or as your Master that trusteth it in your hands . Exod. 19. 5. [ Now therefore if ye will obey my voice indeed , and keep my Covenant , then ye shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people : for all the earth is mine . ] And saith God to Job , Job 41. 11. [ What soever is under the whole heaven is mine . ] Psalm 50. 10 , 11 , 12. [ Every beast of the Forrest is mine : the wild beasts of the field are mine : the world is mine , and the fulness thereof . ] 1 Cor. 4. 7. What hast thou which thou didst not receive ? ] Thou hast not a minute of time which thou owest not to God ; nor a thought , nor a word , nor a farthing of thy estate . And is it not the basest injustice and dishonesty to give these to thy flesh , and deny them to him , and think his service an unnecessary thing ? If thou wilt give the world and thy lusts any thing , let it be that which thou canst truly call thine own . As God saith to the Idolators , Ezek. 16. 18 , 19. [ Thou hast set mine oyl , and mine incense before them ▪ my meat also which I gave thee , &c. ] so may he say ●o thee : It is his Time which thou hast consumed in idleness and in sinful delights ; and his Provision by which thou hast ●ed thy lusts . But the sanctified man is devoted to God . His study is to give him his own . All the business of his life which you account his over-much strictness and preciseness , is nothing but his Honesty to God , in giving him his own . You look your horse should travail for you , and your Oxe should labour for you , and your servant work for you , because they are your own : And shall not we give up all that we have to God , that are much more his own ? Will you hang them that take your Own from you ? and count them Honest that deal worse with God ? Say not , If Christ were here , we would give it him . For he hath told you how you should use all his talents in his Laws ; and if you deny them to the poor , or any holy use that he requireth them , you deny them unto him . Read Mat. 25. & 10. 40 , 41 , 42.

3. Do you think that an unnatural man is an Honest man ? One that will abuse his Father or Mother , and scorn the bowels from which he sprung . All the world is agreed on it , that such are dishonest : [ Honour thy Father and Mother ] is called the first Commandment with promise . Exod. 21 17. [ He that curseth his Father or Mother , shall surely be put to death . ] See Prov. 20. 20. & 30. 17. [ The eye that mocketh at his Father , and despiseth to obey his Mother , the Ravens of the valley shall pick it out , and the young Eagles shall eat it . To be [ without natural affections ] is the brand of highest wickedness , Rom. 1. 31. and 2 Tim. 3. 3.

And do you not know that it is worse to be without holy affections to the God that made you , and the Christ that bought you ? and to despise , forsake or abuse the Lord ? Thou hadst thy Being more from him then from thy Parents . They knew not how thy parts were formed ! It was he that gave thee thy immortal soul : It is by him that thou hast lived until now ; much more then on the food thou eatest , or the air thou breathest in . And art thou so unnatural as to be ungodly , and deny him thy love , and care , and service , that hath made thee ? and to call a holy , heavenly life , a needless toyl ? Deut. 32. 6. [ Do you thus requite the Lord , O foolish people and unwise ? Is he not thy Father that hath bought thee ? hath he not made thee and established thee ? ] If an unholy man be an honest man , that is so unnatural as to cross the end of his Creation , and deny his service to the Lord that made him ; then he is honest that spits in his Fathers face , and despiseth his Mother that brought him forth .

4. Do you think that he is an honest man that is unthankful ? It is agreed on by all the world , that unthankfulness is a principal point of dishonesty . He is no honest man that will abuse or despise those by whom he liveth , or that have engaged him by kindness . If you were so used your selves , by one whose lives or estates you had preserved , would you not say , [ What an unworthy wretch is this ? have I deserved this usage at his hand ? ] Why all the unthankfulness against men in the world , is not to be compared to thy unthankfulness against God . What are the Benefits which man hath given thee in comparison of his ? Did ever man do any thing for thee that is comparable to thy Creation , and Redemption , and offering thee salvation from everlasting misery , and a room with Angels in everlasting glory ? besides every hour● mercy that ever thou hadst here in this world . And is that an honest man that will requite this God with prophaneness and ungodliness , and return him sin for all his mercies , and refuse to live a holy life ? Doth thy flesh deserve all thy care and labour , and is this God unworthy of it , and dost thou call his service a needless work ? If ingratitude can make a man dishonest , thou art then a dishonest man . But it is the business of the godly to give up themselves to him that made them , and to exercise their thankfulness , in their capacities , for these greatest mercies .

5. Do you think that a cruel unmerciful man , or a loving and merciful man is the more honest ? Surely I shall here have all your voices . He that hateth those that hurt him not , and would kill them , and set their houses on fire , and carryeth malice in his face and speeches , will be called an honest man but by few . And he that is Loving , and studyeth to do Good to all about him , will be counted Honest : Why try the ungodly and the Saints by this : No more malicious men in the world then the ungodly . They have an enmity even to the God that made them , Col. 1. 21. and to the Christ that bought them , Luke 19. 27. and to the Word of God that offereth them salvation , and would lead them to eternal life , and hate the Knowledge of the way of life , Prov. 1. 22. They are enemies to the servants of the Lord , and hate the upright that desire their salvation , and would but draw them from their sins , Prov. 29. 10. & 9. 8. They curse those that bless them , and persecute those that pray for them , Matth. 5. 44. The first wicked man that was born into the world , did kill his brother , because his own works were evil , and his brothers righteous , 1 John 3. 12.

But this is not their greatest cruelty : They are enemies to their own salvation : They will run into Hell in despight of Christ and all the Preachers in the world . For there is but one way thither , the way of ungodliness , and that way they will go . Yea that is not all , but bloody wretches , they would have all the Countrey do as they do , and be damned with them . They are angry with a man if he will not live an ungodly life , and tipple , and swear , and do as they : They revile him if he will not give over his diligent serving of the Lord : which is all one as to fall out with men because they will not forseit heaven , and run from God , and damn their souls , and all for nothing ! When they might more mercifully scorn us because we will not give over eating , or that we will not cut our own throats . And are these cruel persons honest men ? Is that merciless wretch an honest man , that is not content to cast away his own everlasting happiness for nothing upon his fond conceits , but must needs have others do so too ? That is not content to wrong the Lord , but would have others wrong him also ? The Devil is Honest if these be Honest .

But for the Godly , it is their desire , their care , their work to save themselves , and further the salvation of all others . O how they long to hear of the Conversion of Towns and Countries ! and how glad are they when they hear it ! Not for any worldly commodity to themselves , but because they rejoyce at the good of others . And what would they not do to promote it , which they could do ?

6. Do you think that a perfidious unfaithful man , or a faithful man that will not be hired to break his word , is the honester man ? Sure this is no hard question neither . A Knight of the Post , that will say and unsay , swear and forswear , and will betray his dearest friend for a groat , is taken by few for an honest man , in comparison of him that will rather die then lye or be unfaithful . Why nothing is more plain , then that all you that are ungodly , are treacherous to the Lord himself : You are perfidious Covenant-breakers : You owe him your selves wholly on the grounds that I before expressed : and yet you are unfaithful to him . You have all from him , and you serve his enemy with it : You call him your God , and will not Love , nor honour , nor serve him as your God , Mal. 1. 6. You bound your selves to him in your Baptism , and many a time since , by a solemn Vow or Covenant : but you live in the treacherous breach of it continually . You Covenanted to take the Lord for your God ; and yet you will not seek him , nor be Ruled by him . You Covenanted to take Jesus for your saviour , and yet will not be saved by him from your sins , Matth. 1. 21. You Covenanted to take the Holy-Ghost for your Sanctifier , to purifie your hearts and lives ; and yet you resist his holy motions , and hate his sanctifying word and work , and some of you will mock at Sanctification and the Spirit . And can the soul of man be guilty of greater unfaithfulness or treachery ? You Covenanted to forsake the flesh , the world , and the Devil : and now you serve them more then Christ , and think your time is better bestowed for them , then in the service of the Lord ! And is this your Covenant-keeping ? No Traytors , no perjured wretches in the world are dishonest men , if these be not dishonest .

But now it is the care of godly men to keep the Covenants they have made with God . All that which you reproach them for as too much preciseness , is but the performance of their Baptismal Vow . And if you be against the keeping our Covenants with God , should you not be against the making them ? Are you not ashamed to be so forward to engage your children to God in Baptism , and when you have done , would have them he ungodly , and break the Vow they make ? Will you by your Profession of Christianity , and coming to the Lords Table , renew your Covenants with Christ your selves , and yet make no conscience to break them , and plead against the keeping of them ? We promise Holiness , and the serving of God , and forsaking the world , at every Sacrament , and whenever we promise but to be Christians : And are you for the making of these promises , and yet for the breaking of them , and revilers of those that endeavour but to keep them ? O fearful impudency ! Is this your Honesty ? and would you have us all as faithless and dishonest , even with God ? This was the perfidiousness of the Jews , Ecek . 16. 8. [ I sware unto thee , and entredinto a Covenant with thee ; and thou be●●●est mine . ] We are married in Baptism to Christ ; and is Ad●●tery with the world , and forsaking our Husband , no dishonesty ! Why then what is ?

7. Moreover , do you think that a Murderer is an honest men ▪ I know you will say No. Why nothing more sure then that ungodly men are murderers of themselves , and as I said , would undo others . They hate their own souls , saith God , Prov 29. 24. They destroy themselves , Hos . 13. ● . There is but one way to Hell , and that they will take , and that when they are plainly told of it . Not a man in Hell , but brought himself thither . And O how many do their mocks , and perswasions , and evil examples keep out of Heaven ▪ and bring to the same misery ! And are these Honest ?

8. Do you take them to be Honest men that are common cheaters , or deceivers , and that in matters of greatest value ? I think you do not . Why such are the ungodly : They deceive and are deceived , 2 Tit. 3. 13. They deceive themselves , Gal. 6. 3. by thinking themselves something when they are nothing . They make themselves believe that they have Honesty and saving grace when they have none ; and that they are in a state of safety and in the favour of God , when they are near to everlasting misery , and in Gods displeasure . And thus they will think , though their souls are at the stake , and the mistake be the greatest hinderance of their conversion ; and though God have plainly told them in his word , whom he will save , and whom he will not : Yet against all the plain discoveries in the Scripture , and all the Marks of death upon themselves , and the open ungodliness of their lives , and all the warnings of their teachers , they will needs believe that their state is safe , and that they may be saved without conversion ; what wilfull self deceivers are these ! Their hearts are deceitful above all things , and they know them not , Jer. 17. 9. And thus they are hardened by the deceitfulness of their own sin , Heb. 3. 13. sin first deceiveth them , and so killeth them , Rom. 7. 11. If they were not foolish and deceived , they would not serve their lusts and pleasures , Tit. 3. 3. These miserable men did never yet learn that lesson , 1 Cor. 3. 18. which one would think they should willingly learn [ Let no man deceive himself ▪ ] They will needs think that they are Christians , and have so much Religion as will save them , when God expresly telleth the curser , swearer , railer , scorner , and all that live in wilfull sin , Jam. 1. 26. that [ If any man seem to be Religious and bridle not his tongue ( and so for other wilful sine ) but deceiveth his own heart , that mans Religion is in vain , ]

And as they Deceive themselves , so they are the common cheaters of the world . They tell them as smooth a tale as if all were fair and right , when they are pleading against God , and reasoning men out of their faith and reason . When Eve had sinned , she tempted Adam . The drunkard will tempt others to be his companions : and so will the fornicators , and voluptuous senfualists . The ungodly will perswade those about him to be ungodly ; and when he hath not a word of solid reason to speak against the holy diligence of the Saints , a jeer or scorn shall serve to deceive instead of Reason . And if he dare not stand to what he saith to the face of a minister , or any but the ignorant that cannot gainsay him , he will take his time , and speak when none are present that can contradict him ▪ O how many thousand are now in misery that were cheated thither by the scorn● and cavils of ungodly men ! And how many thousands have lost all hopes of Heaven by their deceits ! Could you but ask many thousands that are now in misery , [ How came you to choose so unhappy a way ? ] they would tell you [ We were deceived by the words of wicked men ! The cavils and scorns of ignorant sinners have cheated us of our Salvation . ] The very calling a diligent servant of Christ by the name of a Puritan or Precisian , hath kept many a thousand even in England , from the fear and diligent serving of the Lord . And surely this is a silly argument . And are these Honest men that are the factors of Satan the great deceiver , in cheating themselves and others into Hell ?

But the Godly deal plainly with themselves and others . They are willing to know the truth of their condition , and not to make themselves believe that which God never made them believe . They promise not salvation to themselves on any lower terms then God hath promised it . They have no hope of being saved without Holiness . They set not Gods mercy against his Truth , nor the Merits of Christ against his Covenant . They know that God is better acquainted with the ways and effects of his own mercies then we are . And therefore though they hope to be saved by Gods mercy , it is by his sanctifying mercy , and not to be saved without sanctification , that is , without salvation it self and the necessary means . They know that it is abundant mercy to be saved in a way of Holiness , and desire no other saving Mercy . Yea they know that sanctification and glorification both , are greater mercy then Glorification alone , if it were possible to be alone . This is the doctrine that the Godly do believe , and this they practise , and this they teach others , and this they have learnt of God : and therefore they are no deceivers .

9. Moreover , do you think that he is an Honest man that is an enemy to the publike Good ? or rather he that is a common benefactor ? The best of the Heathens thought it one of the highest parts of virtue , to be serviceable to many , and devote our selves to the common good . But wicked men are the very plagues of a land . For their sakes it is that judgements come upon us . It is they that would let in the plague of sin which would undoe us . He that sets fire to the thatch , doth do no worse against your towns , then wicked men that would kindle the fire of the wrath of God by their crying sins . Read the Scriptures and see who it was that caused Israel to perish in the wilderness , but unbelieving sinners . Who troubled Israel , and made them fly before their enemies , but one Achan ? Josh. 7. And what but sin was the cause of their captivity , and present desolation ? was it Lot or the Sodomites that brought down from heaven the fire of vengeance ? Was it Noah or the world of the ungodly that brought down the flood ? Are these Honest men that provoke God to forsake the Land , and are the vermine and destroyers of our peace and happiness ? But you know that God hath promised his blessing to the Godly , and to the places where they live ofttimes for their sakes , as Josephs case and others tell us .

10. That man can be no Honest man that wanteth the very principle of Honesty , and that intendeth not the End that 's necessary to make any action truly Honest : But such are all ungodly men .

1. The Principle of true Honesty is the high esteem of God and everlasting life , in our undestandings , and the belief of Gods revelations necessary to the attaining of that life , and the prevailing Love of God in the heart , and the Love of man for his sake . Without these Principles of Honesty , no man can be Honest . How can he be an Honest man that Believeth not his maker ? He that taketh God for a lyer , hath no reason to be taken for any better himself . For would he be thought better then he takes God himself to be ? nor can he in reason be expected to believe any man else : For none can be better then God . And is that an honest man that professeth himself a Lyer , and taketh all men to be so too ?

And how can that be an Honest man , that Loveth not Go●… well as his fleshly lusts and pleasures ? And this is the case of all the wicked . If they did not Love their Riches and honour and sensual pleasures more then God , they would not keep them against his command , nor lose his favour rather then lose them , nor seek them more carefully then they seek him and his Kingdom , and think of them and speak of them with more delight . And certainly he that Loveth his Riches , or Honours , or filthy sins , better then God and Heaven it self , must needs be thought to preferr them before his neerest Friends , or the common good . And is that an Honest man that would rather cast off Father or Mother then cast off his filthy sins ? and that would rather forsake his chiefest friend , then forsake his vices ? and would sell his friend , or the Commonwealth , for a little gain , or pleasure , even for a whore , or for drunkenness or such like things ? I think you would none of you say that this were an Honest man , that would not leave so small a matter for the life of his friend , or for the preservation of the Common wealth : And can you expect that he should prefer any friend before God and his Salvation ? If he will sin against God , and sell his salvation for his sin , can you think he should more regard any man , how dear soever ? There is no true Honesty in that man where the Love of God doth not command .

2. Moreover if the Honouring and Pleasing of our Lord , and the saving of our souls be not the End and principal motive of our actions , there can be no true Honesty . It is essential to Honesty that God be our End . If you would know what a man is , first know what he Intendeth , and maketh the End and marke of his life : And so you must do if you would judge of his actions . The End is the principal ingredient that makes them Good or Bad. If a Thief Love God because he prospereth him in stealing , or because he giveth him strength and opportunity ; this is a wicked Love of God . If a drunkard Love God for giving him his drink , and a Whoremonger Love God for strenthening him in his lust , will you call this Honesty ? Every wicked man doth make his sensual present pleasure his principal End through all his life . If he love his neighbour , it is but carnally , as a dog loveth him that seedeth and stroaketh him . If he seem to be a good Commonwealths man , it is but for vain-glory or carnal accommodati●… : and he fighteth for his King or Countrey but as a dog doth ●●● his bone . If he give to the poor , it is but that which he can spare from his Belly ; and it is either in a common pitty , or for vain applause , or he thinks by it to stop the mouth of Justice , that God may let him alone in his sins , or save him after all his wickedness . This is no more an Honest man , then he that makes a trade of stealing , and will pay Tythes of all that he steals ; or give some part to the Church or Poor , that God may pardon him , and save him when he hath done . All the Religion , and all the charity of wicked men , is but for themselves : and that which hath no higher End then Carnal self , is truly no Religi●… Charity : It is only the sanctified man that is Honest : for it 〈…〉 he that is devoted to God , and doth the works of his life to 〈…〉 and glorifie his maker . There is more Honesty in the very 〈…〉 ing and drinking of the sanctified , then in the prayer and sacrifices and alms deed of the ungodly . Or else God would never have said as he hath done that [ Unto the Pure all things are pure : but to them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure , but even their mind and Conscience is defiled , Tit. 1. 15. And that every creature is sanctified by the word of God and by Prayer , 1 Tim. 4. 4 , 5. And that the prayer and the sacrifice of the wicked is abomination to the Lord , and he abhoreth and loatheth them , when the prayer of the upright is his delight , Prov. 15. 8. & 21. 27. Isa. 1. 13. Prov. 28. 9. & 8. 7. & 11. 20. For the sanctified in their very eating and drinking do make it their end to Glorifie God , and to be fitted for his service , 1 Cor. 10. 31. But the ungodly do all , even in their duties that seem most Holy , but for a selfish carnal End . So that it is plain that he that wanteth the necessary Principles and End , that must inform an Honest mind and life , can have no Honesty of mind or life . [ Now the end of the Commandment is Charity , out of a pure heart , and of a good conscience , and of faith unfeigned ] 1 Tim. 1. 5.

But perhaps you will say , that there hath been Honesty found among Heathens : and therefore this doctrine cannot hold . To which I answer , 1. If this were true , yet it is proved , that there is no comparison between their Honesty and the true Christians . 2. But indeed , there was never true Honesty found in any ungodly man . But something that is like to Honesty they may have . Materially they may do the same outward acts that Honest men do ; and this the world accounteth Honesty , that seeth not the inside , and the Ends , and therefore give the name to the Matter without the Form . And such may be Honest secundum quid , but not simplicitur . An Analogical Honesty they may have ● and be less dishonest then some others . And so as Robbin Whood was called an Honest thief that would rob none but the rich , and sometimes bring a yoake of Oxen that he had stoln and give them to a poor that had none ; so may a Heathen and ungodly man be Honest . But men must be Denominated ( and so must their actions ) according to what is predominant in them . And therefore we must say , if we will speak properly , that no ungodly man is Honest .

If you ask , How then it comes to pass that such are accounted Honest men , and t●…neth , not the : Hone●ty ●…th in a Holy 〈…〉 . Because that ●●● the 〈…〉 have an Enmity to Holiness : And malice blindeth men , that they cannot see the Good that is in those they hare . 2. Because they do not know what Godliness is , and therefore know not the Honesty of it appearing in its Principles , Ends and Rule . For it is not effectually known by any but those that have it . 3. Because all carnal men do judge after the flesh ; and as they are to themselves their highest End , so they do judge of all things else according to that End . He is an Honest man with them , that is for them , and furthereth their commodity , or answereth their desire . Mark them whether they judge not those to be the Honestest men , that suit themselves most to their minds and wills , and say and do as they would have them . And so among Thieves there is none so honest men as their companions : nor among drunkards none so honest as they that will sit with them , and waste their time , and prate like ideots over a pot of Ale , forgetting that death and judgement are posting toward them while they sit there : And among Harlots their Mates seem Honest. So that dishonest men are no fit Judges of Honesty . That which is suted to their corrupted mind is best with them . And this is their Honesty .

By this time you may see , if you are not willfully blind , that the way of Godliness is the only Honest way : and therefore you must either be Godly or Dishonest ; and pretend not any longer that you are Honest while you are ungodly : unless you will increase your shame by your contradictions . The Scripture description of one that is Honest is , that [ in simplicity and godly sincerity , not in fleshly wisdom , but by the grace of God , he hath his conversation in the world ] 2 Cor. 1. 12. The Honesty which the Gospel teacheth , and which God will own is this , [ that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts , we live soberly , righteous●● and godly in this present world , looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God , and our saviour Jesus Christ ] Tit. 2. 12 , 13. [ A Godly Seed ] is opposed to the fruit of Adultery , Mal. 2. 15. And when David lamenteth the decay of Honesty in the world , his language tells you whom he took for Honest men , Psal. 12. 1. [ Help Lord , for the Godly ●●● ceaseth : for the faithful faile from among the Children of 〈…〉 and vers. 8. you may perceive what he thinks of 〈…〉 [ The wicked walk on every fi●●● , when the 〈◊〉 m●n 〈…〉 To [ serve God with reverence and godly fears , ●● 〈…〉 Honesty , Heb. 12. 28. And now choose you whether you will be Honest or ungodly : but be sure that it is the Godly that are esteemed Honest and accepted by the Lord : and how ever the world judgeth , [ Know that the Lord hath set apart him that is Godly for himself ] as he tells you , Psal. 4. 3.

CHAP. VIII . Holiness is the most Gainfull way .

VVEE have certainly found out already the SAFEST Way , and the HONESEST way : We are next to enquire which way is most Profitable . And one would think that this should be as easily resolved as the rest . I am sure if God be wiser then man , and his holy word to be believed , the question is decided , and beyond dispute . Saith Paul , 1 Tim. 6. 5 , 6. Men of corrupt minds , and destitute of the truth , suppose that Gain is godliness , ] or that it is better then Godliness , and therefore their Godliness to be suited to their worldly gain : [ But ( it is ) Godliness with contentment which is the great Gain ] Yea [ Godliness is profitable to all things , having Promise of the life that now is , and of that which is to come . ] 1 Tim. 4. 8.

But to what end should I cite more words of Scripture , for a point which all the Scripture proveth ? It is not possible that any man can be unresolved in this , that understandeth and believeth the word of God . But yet because I see that Commodity is so much lookt after in the world , and almost all are for the Gainful way , as they apprehend it , and therefore its plain that Godliness is not Practically believed to be the most gainful way ( or else men would follow it as eagerly as they do their worldly gain ; ) I shall therefore open to you somewhat of that Gain that Godliness doth bring ; and if you can say that any other course will prove as gainful , and make it good , then take that course : But if you cannot , consider what you have to do , and do not refuse your own Commodity .

1. The first part of our Gain , which is the sum of all the rest , 〈◊〉 himself who is become our God , through Jesus Christ . He is in Covenant with all the Saints , ( Psalm 50. 5. ) and this is the Covenant [ I will be your God , and you shall be my People . ] Jer. 7. 23. Ezek. 36. 28. Jer. 11. 4. & 30. 22. Lev. 26. 45. 12. Ezek. 11. 20. & 37. 23 , 27. 2 Cor. 6. 16. He is a God to others as a King is a King to Traytors whom he will condemn : But he is a God to his People , as a King is related to his faithful subjects , and a Father to his dearest child . When he calleth himself [ Our Father ] he speaketh so much of his childrens Happiness , as is their admiration as well as their joy . But when he calleth himself [ Our God ] he speaks as much as much as can be spoken .

To be [ our God ] is to be [ the Infinite , Power , Wisdom and Goodness engaged to us for our Good , and to be ours according to our necessity and capacity . ]

This , O ye worldlings , is the Riches of the Saints ! This is the Wealth that we will boldly boast of . Boast you of your houses and lands and money , and we will boast of our God . Have you Houses , and Towns and Countreys at command ? Be it so : but the Saints have the God of the world , to be their God . Have you Kingdoms and Dominions ? We have the God of all the earth ; the King of Kings , and Lord of Lords . Set all your Riches in the ballance against him , and try what they will prove . Set all the world , and the Kingdoms , and Glory , and Wealth of it in the ballance , and try whether they are any more to God , then one dust or feather to all the world ; yea they are nothing , and less then nothing ; vanity and lighter then vanity it self . Isa. 40. 16 , 17. This one Jewel containeth all our Treasure . He is ours that hath all things : What then can we need ? Psal. 23. 1. He is ours that knoweth all things : Who then can overreach us , or undo us by deceit ? He is ours that can do all things : What then should we fear ? and what power shall prevail against us ? He is ours that is Goodness and Love it self . How then can we be miserable ? or what imperfection can there be in our Felicity ? ] They that trust in their wealth , and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches , none of them can by any means redeem his brother ( nor himself ) that he should live for ever and not see corruption . ] Psalm 49. 6 , 7 , 9. [ But God will redeem us from the power of the grave ; for he shall receive us ] Ver. 15. Let the workers of iniquity boast themselves a while ! ( Psalm 94. 4. ) Let the wicked 〈…〉 desire , and bless the cove●●●● whom the Lord abhorreth . ] Psalm 10. 3. It is the Lord that is King for ever and ever ; that heareth the desires of the hamble ; that prepareth our hearts , and prepareth his ear to hear . Ver. 16 , 17. Our souls shall make their boast in God , Psalm . 34. 2. [ O tast and see that the Lord is good ! blessed is the man that trusteth in him . ] But you cannot say truly [ Blessed is the man that hath Lands and Lorships : Blessed is the man that hath Crowns and Kingdoms : ] Yea , truly may you say , [ Cursed is the man that trusteth in man , and maketh flesh his arm , and withdraweth his heart from the Lord . ] Jer. 17. 5. [ Fear the Lord ye his Saints , for there is no want to them that fear him . ] Psalm 34. 8 , 9 , 10. But when you have all the world , you cannot say that you have no want . Confounded then be the covetous Idolaters , that boast themselves of their Idols ( Psalm 97. 7. ) But in God will we boast all the day long , and praise his name for evermore . Psalm 44. 8. What have you but the gleanings of our harvest ? and the crums that fall from the childrens table ? Our God is he that giveth you your prosperity : He droppeth you these leavings , from the redundancy of his Goodness , when he hath given himself , his Son and all things to his own . All that we want , and all that our souls desire , is in God . We have none in heaven but him , nor any in earth that we desire besides him , Psalm 73. 25. His loving kindness is better to us then life : Psalm 63. 3. [ Our flesh and our heart faileth us ( and all the creatures fail us ) but God is the strength of our hearts and our portion for ever . ] Psalm 73. 26. Verily the Riches of all the Princes of the earth is less in comparison of him that is the Treasure and Portion of the Saints , then a straw is to all the earth , or a little dung to the shining Sun .

2. Would you yet hear more of the Riches of Believers ( though more then God there cannot be ) The Lord Jesus Christ is their Head and Husband ; their Saviour and Intercessour at Gods right hand : They are Married to him ! His Merits are th●irs for all those uses to which they need them . It is he that Justifieth : Who then shall condemn them ? He that spared not his own Son , but gave him up for us all , how shall be not with ●i● ▪ also freely give us all things ? Rom. 8. 32 , 34. Christ is the Pearl of infinite valu● , for whom we have willingly sold all . Matth. 13. 45 , 46. And what are all your Treasures to this Treasure ? Ask ●●●l and he will tell you , that had tryed both , Phil. 3. 7 , 8. His 〈…〉 ●e counteth Loss for Christ : yea , all things he accounted but loss and dung , for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ . ] It is Love incomprehensible , surpassing knowledge , that is revealed to us in Christ , Eph. 3. 18 , 19. The Riches of Christ are unsearchable Riches , Eph. 3. 8. It is Christ that bindeth up our broken hearts ; that is the Peace-maker and Reconciler of our souls to God . What he hath done for us , and what he will do , I shall tell you anon . But the ungodly have no part in him , nor have they any such treasure , that will do for them what Christ will do for us . Their Treasure is the wrath of God , which they are heaping up against the day of wrath , and revelation of the righteous judgement of God , Rom. 2. 5. All the Treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid . in Christ , Col. 2. 3. And he hath them for us , according to our measure : as being our Treasurie , our Head , and made of God to us Wisdom , and Righteousness , and Sanctification , and Redemption , 1 Cor. 1. 30. They are exceeding Riches of Grace that are shewed in the kindness of God through Jesus Christ , to all that are sanctified by that grace , Ephes. 2. 6 , 7 , 8. Yea , that you may see there is no comparison , even that which you abhorr in a Christians case , and account his misery and the worst of Christ , is better then the best of your condition , and then that for which you lose your souls . For the very Reproach of Christ , is greater riches then the Treasures of the world , Heb. 11. 26. And it is the reproach that we undergo for Christ , that you most abhorr , and the treasures of the world that you highlyest esteem . It is greater Riches to be one of them that are scorned and derided for the sake of Christ , then to be one of them that hath the wealth of the world at his dispose . And if the Reproach of Christ be greater Riches then all yours , What then is his Life , and Love , and Benefits ? his Grace and Glory ?

3. Would you have the Riches of the Saints yet further opened to you ? Why the Holy-Ghost is in Covenant with them as their Sanctifier and Comforter : And he is not only theirs himself , by Covenant and Relation , but he also dwelleth in them by his gra●●s , and restoreth the image of God upon them . They are the ●…ples of the Holy-Ghost which is in them , 1 Cor. 6. 19. And by the Spirit , and by Faith , Christ dwelleth in their hearts , Ephes. 3. 17. Rom. 8. 11. 1 Cor. 3. 16. God himself doth dwell in them , and converse with them , and write his Law in their hearts , and teach them himself by this his Spirit . 2 Cor. 6. 16. Heb. 8. 10. & ●● . 1● . [ Hereby we know that he dwelleth in us by , the Spirit which ●e 〈…〉 given us , 1 John 3. 24. Yea he that is joyned to the Lord , is One spirit , 1 Cor. 6. 17. For [ the Lord is that Spirit , and where the Spirit of the Lord is , there is liberty . ] 2 Cor. 3. 17. [ We are an habitation of God through the Spirit . Ephes. 2. 22. ] [ Because we are sons , God hath sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts , whereby we cry Abba Father , Gal. 4. 6. ] By this Spirit the Saints have access unto the Father , Ephes. 2. 18. and by this it is that they are quickened to prayer and holy worship , and their infirmities are helpt , Ephes. 6 , 18. Rom. 8. 11 , 26. By this they fight against the flesh , and overcome it , Gal. 5. 17 , 18. Rom. 8. 13. In this they live , and walk , and work , Rom. 8. 1 , 5. Gal. 5. 16 , 25. This Spirit is the Testimony of their Adoption . Rom. 8. 16. and the seal and earnest of their heavenly inheritance , 2 Cor. 1. 22. & 5. 5. Ephes. 4. 30. By this they are new born , John 3. 5 , 6. And put off the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts , and being renewed in the spirit of their minds , do put on the new man , which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness , Ephes. 4. 22 , 23 , 24. By the illumination of this spirit , they have a new understanding , and are brought out of darkness into the marvellous Light of Christ , 1 Pet. 2. 9. that they may know what is the hope of the Christian Vocation , and what is the Riches of the glory of Christs inheritance in the Saints , Eph. 1. 18. In a word , by this Spirit their sins are mortified , their souls renewed , and made like to God , and they become a holy Priest-hood , a peculiar people unto Christ , and in this Spirit have Communion with him , Rom. 8. 13. Tit. 3. 5. 1 Pet. 2. 9. Tit. 2. 14. 2 Cor. 13. 14. And what is all the Riches of this world , to this Heavenly Treasure , the Spirit of the Lord ? They that have this Spirit , are taught by it to set light by all your Riches , and to esteem one dayes Communion with Christ , above all the Gold and Glory of this world . And that which sets the soul of man so far above Riches , is better then those Riches . As your Lands and honours do set you above the pins and points that children take for their treasure , and set as much by as you do by yours ; so the Spirit of Christ and the Life of Faith , doth set the souls of true Believers a thousand●old more above your Riches , then you are above your childrens ●oyes .

If yet you see not the Riches of Saints , consider but the wonderful expression , ● Pet. 1. 4. that they [ have exceeding great 〈…〉 precious promises given them ▪ that by these they may be partakers of the Divine nature , having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust . ] And can there be more on earth bestowed on man , then to be made partakers of the Divine nature ? As it would be a greater gift to a bruit , to be made a man , and have manly Riches , then to have store of Provender suited to his brutishness ; so is it greater Riches to the ungodly to be sanctified and made partakers of that nature that is called Divine by God himself , then to have provision for unmortified lusts , and to have all the contentments of a fleshly mind . It were a greater gift to an Ideot , to be made a wise and learned man , then to be furnished with feathers or sticks to play with . So is it here .

4. Every truly sanctified man , is restored from the misery that he was brought into by sin . He hath all his sins forgiven him , and is freed from the curse of the Law , by the merits of Christ , and the promise of the Gospel . For in him we have Redemption through his blood , even the forgiveness of sins . Col. 1. 14. And by him all that believe are justified from all things , from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses . Acts 13. 39. When we were dead in our sins , we were quickened with Christ , and had all our trespasses forgiven us , Col. 2. 13. Ask a wounded Conscience that groaneth under the weight of sin , and under the sense of Gods indignation , Whether forgiveness of sin be a Treasure or not ? I am sure they that now are past forgiveness , and feel what sin is in the bitter fruits , would give ten thousand worlds , if they had them , for the pardon of their sins ; and would account forgiveness a greater mercy then all the Riches and Kingdoms of the world . What a heavy curse did the Spirit of God pass upon Simon Magus , for thinking that money was a valuable thing to purchase the Holy Ghost with ! Acts 8. 20 , 21. Thy money perish with thee , because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased by money : Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter , for thy heart is not right in the sight of God : repent therefore of this thy wickedness , &c. The name of Simon Magus is odious to us all ; and yet I doubt that most among us exceed him in the sin for which he is thus cursed . For he thought the gift of the holy-Ghost to be better then his money , or else he would not have offered his money for it . But most men take their money to be better then the gift of the Holy-Ghost . If he that would have purchased the Holy-Ghost , yea a lower and less necessary gift of the spirit , was pronounced wicked , and cursed with such a heavy curse ; What are they that set more by their money then by the special gift of the Holy-Ghost , yea that hate and deride it , and plead against its Sanctifying work ? The time is near when your Riches will fail you , and your prosperity die , and your sins will live ; and then there is none of you all but will say that Pardon and Grace are greater Riches then all the world .

5. Moreover , the godly have Angels to attend them and be their guard , as I have proved to you before . And are horses , and kine , and oxen , think you , greater Riches then the Guard and Ministration of the Angels of God ? Heb. 1. 14. Psalm 91. 11 , 12.

6. And surely the very Communion of Saints and Ordinances of God which in the Church we here enjoy , are greater Riches then all the world . We are now no more strangers and forreigners , but fellow-Citizens of the Saints , and of the houshold of God . Ephes. 2. 19. We are members of that well-tempered body ; where all the members are obliged and disposed to have the same care one for another , that if one suffer all suffer , and if one be honoured all rejoyce , 1 Cor. 12. 25 , 26. As weak as Christians are , and as worthless in your eyes , one of their hearty spiritual prayers , and one word of their holy savoury conference , doth profit us more , then all your Treasures will ever profit you . While the Divine nature is in them , somewhat Divine will proceed from their mouthes , and be seen in their lives , which is worth more then all the Riches of the world . And O how fruitful are the holy Ordinances which we partake of , both in the Churches Communion , and alone in our retirements ! A poor Christian can get more in a Sermon which you sleep under , or deride , then you will get by your trades or livings while you live . He findeth greater Treasures in one Chapter of the Bible , or in one good Book , then you can get out of all your lands or labours . The best of your livings will not yield you so much commodity in seven years , nor in seven thousand years , if you could so long keep them , as a believing soul can get from God in one hours prayer , even in secret , where he is not by man observed . You do not believe this , that are ungodly : I know you do not heartily believe it ; for else you would try it , and not continue in your ungodliness . But they that try it , know it to be true . Or else what makes them continue in it , and live upon their holy Communion with God and his servants , more resolvedly then you do on your lands and labours . Somewhat you may conjecture they find in holy duty , that makes them so instant in it as they are .

7. Another part of our commodity by Holiness , is , the Promise and Assurance of the Love of God and of our salvation ; and the Peace of Conscience that followeth hereupon . All true Believers have objective certainty : that is , the thing is certain in itself , whether they perceive it or not . And they may have subjective or Actual certainty in themselves , if they do their parts . And is not a certain Title to a Lordship or a Kingdom , a greater Treasure then the possession of a straw ? Much more is Gods Promise of Everlasting Glory , a greater Treasure then all your wealth . As Heaven is infinitely better then earth , so the Promise of God is the best security . Though we be not with Abraham , Isaac and Jacob , and do not yet see the face of God , yet have we a Promise that speedily we shall be there , and shall see that which they see , and enjoy all that which they enjoy . The poorest Christian hath all that in Promise under the hand of God himself , which Angels and Glorified Saints have in possession . They can shew you a better Title to Heaven , though they are unworthy in themselves , then any of you can shew to your lands or houses , in your Deeds or Leases . As poor and simple as that Godly man is whom you despise , he is an Heir of Heaven , and a fellow-Heir with Christ , Rom. 8. 17. Gal. 3. 29. Heb. 1. 14. & 11. 9. When we had the washing of Regeneration , and the renewing of the Holy-Ghost , and were justified by grace , we were made the Heirs of eternal life , according to the hope that is given us by the Gospel , Tit. 3. 5 , 7. And God that hath given them those [ Better things that accompany salvation ] is not unrighteous to forget their work and labour of love , if they do but shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end , and be not sloathful , but followers of them , who through faith and patience inherit the Promises . ] Heb. 6. 9 , 10 , 11 , 12. For this cause was Christ the Mediator of the New Testament , that by means of death , for the redemption of the Transgressions under the first Testament , they which are called may receive the Promise of the eternal inheritance . Heb. 9. 15. And we know that he is faithful that hath promised . And if your Bills , and Bonds , and Deeds , and Leases , be part of your Riches , we shall much more take the Promise of God , for our everlasting happiness in Heaven , to be far greater Riches .

8. And yet we may put this among our Riches , or at least as the Over-plus given us by God , that we have better advantage , even for the matters of this world , then the ungodly have . For we have a Promise that we shall lack nothing that is good for us , Psal. 34. 10. and so have not they . We have warrant to east all our care on God , who by promise is engaged to care for us , 1 Pet. 5. 7. We are commanded to be ( anxiously ) careful for nothing , but in all things to make known our requests to God , as little children that care not for themselves , but go to their father for what they want : Phil. 4. 6. It is enough for us whatever we want , that our heavenly Father knoweth that we want it , Matth. 6. 32. who hath charged us to disburden our minds of these vexatious cares , and to seek first his Kingdom and the Righteousness thereof , and promised us that other things shall be added to us , Mat. 6. 33. We have also a promise that all things shall work together for our good , Rom. 8. 28. And therefore we shall have more from the things of this life , then the ungodly have : Yea more by the want of them , then they by the possession . For if they do us good in our graces and communion with God , and in the matter of our salvation , they help us to that which is of far higher value then themselves . Poverty to a true Believer , is better then Riches to the ungodly that destroyeth himself by them , when the Believer is helped by his poverty . Imprisonment to Paul and Silas , was better then liberty to their persecutors . And thus in the fruits and saving benefits , all things are ours , 1 Cor. 3. 22. We have the Love of God with what we possess , be it more or less , when the wicked have his wrath with it . And who would have their Riches on such terms ?

9. Another part of the Gain of Godliness is , that it puts us into a Readiness to die , and a fitness to appear before the Lord . Though all the Godly have not so great a readiness as to desire to be presently dissolved , yet all of them are in a safe condition , and are so far ready , that death shall pass them into a blessed state . For we know that if our earthly house of this Taberna●le were dissolved , we have a building of God , an house not made with h●… , eternal in the heavens . And in this we groan earnestly , desiring to be cloathed upon with our house which is from heaven : And God that hath given 〈…〉 the earnest of his Spirit , hath wrought in us ; to be alwayes confident ( or at least given us cause ) knowing that whilest we are at home in the body , we are absent from the Lord ( For we walk by faith , and not by sight ) we are confident I say and willing , rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord , 2 Cor. 5. 1 , 2 , 8 , 9. Though the abode of the godly in the flesh is usually more needful to those about them , yet to themselves their death is gain , and therefore they have cause to desire to depart , and be with Christ , as being far better , Phil. 1. 21 , 23 , 24. For sin which is the sting of death is mortified , and the curse of the Law which is the strength of it , is relaxed or null fied to us by the Gospel : so that the Believer may triumph and say . O death where is thy sting ? O grave where is thy victory ? 1 Cor. 15. 55 , 56. and to give thanks to God that giveth us the victory , through our Lord Jesus Christ , vers . 57. Verily I would not exchange my part ( though alas too small or dark a part ) in this one priviledge of true Believers , for all the wealth and dominions on earth . O the face of Death will soon make the Glory of all your greatness to vanish , and the beauty of your flourishing estates to wither ; and all that you now glory in , to appear as nothing . And then how glad would you be to change Portions with the holy servants of the Lord , whom you now despise ! When once you hear , [ Thou fool , this night shall they require thy soul ! and whose then are all those things that thou hast provided ? ] Luke 12. 20. then in a moment you will change your minds , and cry out of the world as nothing worth , and wish you had busied your hearts and hands in laying up a better treasure . This is one difference , O ●ngodly wretch , between a holy servant of God and thee ! Death cannot undo him , but it will undo thee . It cannot take his Riches from him ; for his God , his Christ , his Holiness , the Promises are his Riches : but it will separate thee and thy wealth for ever . It will put an end to all his troubles , and fears , and griefs : and it will put an end to all thy prosperity , and to all thy mirth , and hope , for ever . A godly man dare die ; or if he ignorantly fear it , yet shall it be the end of all his fears : but thou darest not die , and yet thou must : or if thou ignorantly hope of a happiness after it , yet will it nevertheless end all thy hopes . O what a mercy is it to be ready to die !

10. But the great unspeakable Riches of the Saints is in the Life to come . We have here the Hope and the fore-taste ; but it is only there that we shall have our Portion . You see what a poor Christian is according to his outward appearance . But you see not what he will be to eternity . There is the Kingdom for which we hope , and for which we run , and wait , and suffer . If God be true , and his Gospel true , then Heaven shall be the Portion of the sanct●fied . But if it were otherwise , then we would confess their hopes are vain : Heaven is our Riches , or we have none . There have we laid up all our Hopes ; and in these Hopes we will live and die , as knowing they will not make us ashamed . Rom. 5. 5. & 9. 33. 1 John 2. 28. We believe that we shall live with Christ in glory , and shine as stars in the Firmament of our Father , and be made like to the Angels of God , and shall see his face , and praise his name , and live in his everlasting Love and Joy ; For all this he himself hath promised us . 1 Thes. 4. 17. 18. Da● . 12. 3. Mat. 13. 43. Luk. 20 36. Rev. 22. 4. Mat. 25. 21.

And now , poor worldling , what is all your Gain and Riches in comparison of the least of these ? Do you think in your judgements that there is any comparison ! Or rather doth not sin and the world even brutifie you , and make you lay by the use of your reason , and live as if you knew not what you know ? Your Treasure is all visible , when ours is unseen , and therefore I may bid you bring it forth , and let us see it , whether indeed it be better then the Treasure of the Saints : Let us see what that is that is better then God , and everlasting glory ! What! is a little fleshly ease or mirth ? a little meat , and drink , and pleasure ? a little more money , or space of ground to use then your neighbours have ; are these the things that you will change for Heaven , and preser before the Lord that made you ? O poor miserable sinners ! Are you not told that you have your good things here ? but what will you have hereafter when this is gone ? Luke 16. 25. When your wealth is gone , and your mirth is gone , your souls are immortal , and therefore your misery and horrour will continue , and never be gone . As the wealth of the godly is within them , and above the reach of their enemies , and surer then yours , so is it the more durable , even everlasting : When all your Riches are upon the wing , even ready to be gone , and leave you in sorrow , when you are most highly valuing them , you have it now , but it is gone to morrow . [ And what is the Hope of the Hypocrite though he hath gained , when God taketh away his soul ? Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him ? Job 27. 8 , 9. Let the words of Christ decide the Controversie , if indeed you take him for your Judge . [ Mat. 16. 2● , 25 , 26 , 27. If any man will come after we , let him deny himself , and take up his Cross , and follow me : For whosoever will save his life shall lose it , and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it : For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world , and lose his own soul ? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? For the Son of man shall come in the Glory of his Father with his Angels , and then he shall reward every man according to his works .

Well sirs , you that are all for Getting , and for wealth , judge now if you have not lost your Reason , whether a Holy or unholy , ● Heavenly or an Earthly life , be the more Profitable way ! I would not draw you to any thing that you should lose by . If I speak not for your Gain , reject my words as contemptuously as you please . But if I do , then be not against your own commodity . Will such silly Gain as the world affords you , do so much with you as it doth : and shall not the Heavenly inheritance do more ? shall all this stir be made in the world for that which you are ready to leave behind you , and will you not lay up a Treasure in heaven , where rust and moaths corrupt not , and where you may live for ever ? Matth. 6. 20. What profit now have all those millions of souls , that are gone from earth , by all the wealth they here possessed ! Hear sinners , and bethink you in the name of God . You are leaving Earth , and stepping into Eternity , and where then should you lay up your Riches ? Would you rather have your Portion where you must stay but a few days , then where you must dwell for ever ? O Labour not for the meat that perisheth , in comparison of that which endureth to everlasting life , which Christ will give you , if you will follow him , Job . 6. 27. Make you friends of this wealth that the world abuseth to unrighteousness , that when all fails below , you may be received into the everlasting habitations , Luk. 16. 9. Make not your selves a Treasure of corruptible riches , and set not your heart on Gold and Silver , lest the rust of it be a witness against you , and eate your flesh as it were fire ; and lest yee heap up another kind of treasure then you dream of , against the last days . How many of you have cause to weep and howl , for your approaching miseries , even then when you are glorying in your prosperity ? Jam. 5. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. Are you for Commodity ? Refuse not then the best Commodity ? Be not enemies to them , or to those holy motions , that make for your everlasting Profit . Take but the Gainfullest 〈…〉 selves , and we are pleased . If you know 〈…〉 then God and Glory , and any riches that will endure any longer then Eternity , why do you not shew it us , that we may joyn with you ? But if you do not , why will you not hearken to the servants of the Lord , and joy● with them ? [ Wherefore , saith the Lord , do you spend money for that which is not bread : and your labour for that which satisfieth not ? Hearken diligently unto me , and eate ye that which is good , and let your soul delight it self in fatness : Encline your care , come unto me , hear and your soul shall live , and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you , ] Isa ▪ 55. 2 , 3. If there be not more to be Gotten by Christ , and by prayer , and by the promises , and a holy life , then there is by sin , or then there is by all your friends , or lands , or trades , or care , or labour here , then take your course , , and turn your back on God , and spare not . But if you are ashamed to say so , be ashamed to think so , or to live so .

Verily sirs , if the Gospel be true , you must be every man of you Saints or Miserable . Holiness is the only thriving way : Yea the only Saving way . If you forsake this way , you are 〈…〉 while you are Gaining , and Losing by your Gains . You 〈…〉 making Achans bargain , that by his Gold did purchase a ●corm of stones that dasht out his brains , Josh. 7. You are running after Gehezie's gains ; that thought he had got Riches , and it proved a Leprosie . You are trading with the Devil , though you see him not , and will not believe it , even as certainly as the miserable witches , that sell him their souls for a few fair promises , and when they have done , have the miserablest life of any . You are laying up but Judas's treasures , which quickly grew too hot to hold , and too heavy for his conscience to bear : and he would fain rid his hands of it if he knew how , and because he cannot he hangs himself , and rids himself out of the ashes into the flames . O covet not such undoing gains , which you all know as sure as you breath , that you must let go . Believe but your Redeemer and you shall know , that there are greater and better things before you . Gather not stones when you may be gathering pearls . Hear me poor sinner ! If God and Heaven , if Grace and Glory seem not better Riches then 〈…〉 world , thou judgest thy self to have no part in them .

CHAP. IX . Holiness is the most Honourable Way .

WE are resolved if Scripture and Reason can resolve us , that Godliness is the Safest , the Honestest , and the Gainfullest course : I shall next shew you that it is the Most Honourable course . I know the world thinks otherwise of it . In most places it is a matter of reproach to be but serious and diligent in Gods service . And though in this place and at this time , through the great mercy of God ▪ it is not so with us , unless it be with here and there a sottish drunkard , yet there are too few places that are so much freed from this plague . And it is not yet I fear forgotten of God , since the very practice of a Godly life , was a matter of greater scorn and derision , then to have been the prophanest swearer or drunkard . If a man would not have gone to the Ale ▪ house with them , nor sworn , or spoke prophanely as 〈…〉 did : and if he made any serious mention of the Scripture , ●●●● life to come ; if he reproved any gross offendor , if he prayed and instructed his family , and spent the Lords Day in holy exercises , this was enough to brand him with the name of Puritan or Precisian , and make him the common by-word of the town , and ( let him be never so conformable to Bishops and Ceremonies ) if once he went under the name of a Puritan , he was looks upon as Lot in Sodom , by the open enemies of Piety , who insulted over them , and lived securely in open wickedness . This is the chiefest sin that God hath been scourging this nation for , if I am able to understand his judgements : I know men are apt to interpret providences according to their own interests and conceits . But I take the help of the Scripture and the experience of former ages for my interpretation : and I am verily perswaded ( not excluding other sins ) that the great sin for which God hath plagued England by a sharp and bloody war , was the common scorn that was cast upon his service , it being made the derision of too many in the land . I never came into any place , where me●er serious diligence for salvation , was not branded with the name of Puritanism and too much Preciseness ; and those that abstained from iniquity were as Owles among their neighbours , even the very wonder and the reproach of those about them . When this is made a Principle that all must hold that ever hope to be accepted with the Lord , in Heb. 11 6. that he is a Rewarder of them that Diligently seek him . This is the next point in our faith , to the Believing that there is a God . And yet among us that called our selves Christians , the Diligent seeking of the Lord was so far from being thus esteemed of , that it was the surest way to make a man contemptible and odious unto many . The jealous God did long endure this horrible indignity , but would not still endure it from us . Must he make a Holy Law for the Government of the world , and shall the obeying of it be derided ? Is he our Soveraign Lord , having by Creation and Redemption the right of Ruling us , and shall we scorn them that will be Ruled by him ? Those that will not have Christ rule over them , will surely be destroyed , Luk. 19. 27. and shall those escape that scorn his service ? Holiness is the Image of God , and unholiness the Devils image : And when the Image of God is made a scorn , and the Devils image had in honour , and that by them that call themselves Christians , was it not time for God to arise to judgement ? Was it not enough that God was sleighted by them , and his service turned out of doors , but it must be made a by-word ? Is there but one way Pleasing unto God , and but one way that leadeth to salvation , and must that one way be the common scorn ? For these things God had a controversie with this land ; and he hath pleaded his cause with fire and sword , and spoke by a voice that will not be derided : he hash entered into judgement with Priests and people : He will not always support and maintain a people to deride him . Oh England , hadst thou none to make the foot-ball of thy scorn , but the servants of the most High God ? Did he not tell theé that they were his Jewels , Mal. 3. 1. and that he that touched them did touch the apple of his eye ? Zech. 2 8. Will he give his son for them , and will he Glorifie them with himself , and make them equal to the Angels , Luk. 20. 36. and didst thou think he would give thee leave to make them the scorn and off-scouring of the world ? Hadst thou none to make the football of thy contemptuous sport , but the sons of God , the spouse of Christ , yea his members , and the heirs of heaven ? Oh foolish nation , hadst thou none to deride and make thy by-word but Christ himself ? Yea , it was Christ himself , though thou wilt not believe it ▪ In as much as thou didst it to one of the lest of these his Brethren , thou didst it unto him , Mat. 25. 40. In all their afflictions he was afflicted , Isa. 63. 9. and therefore in all their reproaches he was reproached . All those that were derided for Holiness , were derided upon Christs account . If Holiness be vile and to be scorned , then God himself is vile and to be scorned , and consequently is no God : and what greater Blasphemy could be uttered by the tongue of man ? For God is Holiness it self . In us it is but a beam , from him the shining glorious Sun . If a little in us imperfect worms be hated by thee , how wouldst thou hate the perfect Holiness of God ? And if we deserve thy scorns for our obedience , ( alas , our too imperfect obedience ) it must fall upon him that made the Law , and gave us these commands . If he be too precise that imperfectly obeyeth God , what will you say of God himself that commandeth more then any of us all performeth ? and that chargeth us on pain of damnation to obey him . O how much wiselyer would you daily do , if you daily studied , and diligently obeyed those Laws your selves ! If the Rulers of the earth would remember him that is the King of Kings , and did serve the Lord with fear , and rejoyced before him with trembling , and kist the Son to prevent his anger , and their perishing in the way , Psal. 2. 11 , 12. O England ! had thy disobedient inhabitants never heard , how vain their rage and imaginations would be , when they set themselves and took counsel against the Lord and his annointed , saying , let us break their bands asunder , and cast away their cords from us ? Did they never hear that the deriders were derided by him that sitteth in the heavens , and how he will shortly speak to them in wrath , that speak against his ways in malice , and will vox them in his sore displeasure , that vext his servants for the doing of his pleasure ? Will they not believe till Hell have taught them that in despight of all his Enemies , he will set his son the King of Saints upon his holy hill of Sion ? Psal. 2. 1. to 9. Had they never heard how hard at last it will prove for them to kick against the pricks ? Act. 9. 5. And will they not know by any other means but feeling , that he will destroy those as his enemies that would not have him to raign over them , Luk. 19. 27. and that he will break them with a Rod of iron , and dash them in pieces like a Potters vessel ? Psal. 2. 9. O Scorners , did you never read his words , 1. S●● . 2. 30. [ Them that honour me I will honour , and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed ] Behold ye despisers , and wonder and perish : for this word shall be fulfilled upon you , and the work be wrought which you would not believe when God foretold it , and will not yet understand and believe , though it be declared to you , Acts 13. 41. Think not that the infirmities of the Godly do justifie your contempt of Godliness . Think not that a Judas in Christs family will Justifie you for making a scorn of his family , and persecuting his disciples ? or that a Cham in the Ark , or the sin of Noah will warrant you to make them as bad as the destroyed world , whom God had done so much to save ? Think not when you have jeered at a Holy life , that God will take it for a good excuse , to tell him that you had found a fault in his servants , or an hypocrite crept into his Church . He hateth their faults much more then you : but will you therefore hate their goodness ? Condemn the breaches of his Laws and spare not ; but will you therefore condemn the keeping of them ? O England ! if thou hadst had the grace or wit to use Christ better in his wayes and servants , he would have used thee better , and dealt more gently with thy inhabitants , and flames and calamities might have been prevented . Often wast thou told from 2 Chron. 36. 14. what it was that captivated Israel , and made their Priests and people to be the Heathens slaves [ When the Lord God sent unto them by his Prophets , because he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place , they mocked the messengers of God , and despised his words , and misused his Prophets , untill the wrath of the Lord arose against his people , till there was no remedy . ] But alas , thou hast gone much further then this . Israel mocked the Prophets ; but I remember not that it is ever said of them , that the way of godliness it self was made a common scorn among them : but still they gloried in the Lord , and in the Law , and in the Temple , and the Holy Worship . But here , if a man did but talk of heaven , or of any holy subject , or reprove a swearer , or not joyn with them in their impieties , the common cry was [ This is one of the holy Brethren : here is is one of the Saints : It will never be well till we are rid of these Puritans and Precisians . ] How oft have I heard almost the same words from English men , as Lot did from Sodomites , Gen. 19. 9. [ This one fellow same in to sojourn , and he will needs be a Judge . ] when they lived in their lasciviousness , lusts , excess of drink , revellings , banquettings , and abominable prophanation of holy things , they thought it strange that we ran not with them to the same excess of riot , speaking evil of us , but forgetting the account that their Judge was ready to require of them , 1 Pet. 4. 3 , 4 , 5.

Well! have you yet taken warning by the Judgements of the Lord ? God hath begun to take away the reproach of Holiness , and through his great mercy to us , it is more Honourable in England then formerly it hath been . Is it Honoured by you ? Or are you hardened to perdition ? Fearfull is the case of him whoever he be , that after all the gentle and terrible warnings of the Lord , dare think or speak reproachfully of a Holy life ! Yet hear the calls of the Eternal Wisdom , Prov. 1. 20 , 21 , 22 , &c. [ How long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity , and the scorners delight in scorning , and fools hate knowledge ? Turn you at my reproof . ] But mercies and judgements are lost on the hard-hearted , Isa. 26. 10 , 11. Let favour be shewn to the wicked , yet will he not learn righteousness : in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly , and will not behold the Majesty of the Lord . When the hand of the Lord is lifted up , they will not see ; but they shall see and be ashamed for their envy at his people , and the enemies own fire shall devour them . ] And then as they set at nought his counsell , and would none of his reproof , but mocked them that feared God ; so will he also laugh at their calamity , and mock when their fear cometh . — For that they hated knowledge , and did not choose the fear of the Lord , ] Prov. 1. 25 , 26 , 27 , 29.

I will add but this one word of terror . To scorn at Holiness , is to scorn at the Holy Ghost , whose office or work it is to sanctifie us . As the Father hath commanded us to be Holy as he is Holy , 1 Pet. 1. 16. and made it his Image on us ; and as the Son hath come to destroy unholiness , 1 John 3. 8. and give us an example of perfect holiness , and sanctifie to himself a peculiar people , Titus 2. 14. so is it the undertaken work of the Holy Ghost , as sent therefore from the Father and the Son , to make Holy all that God will save . And though I say not that it is the unpardonable Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost to scorn his very work and office , yet I say it is a Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost ▪ so near that which is unpardonable , that the thoughts of it should humble all that have been guilty , and make men fear so horrible a sin . But [ Bessed is he that walketh not in the Counsel of the Ungodly , ●or standeth in the way of sinners , nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful : but his delight is in the Law of the Lord , and in his Law doth he meditate day and night . ] The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked , but he blesseth the habitation of the just : Surely he scorneth the scorners , but he giveth grace unto the lowly , Prov. 3. 33 , 34. These are the true sayings of the Lord .

I thought not meet to pass by this necessary reproof of the contempt of Holiness , which this Land hath been so guilty of , and which hath undone so many souls , and made such desolations in the Land . And now you shall see , that I am able to make good the grounds of this reproof , and that Holiness is no Dishonourable thing .

1. The Holy servants of the Lord have the most Honourable Master in all the world . This only is sufficient to weigh down all the Honours of the world , if it were ten thousand worlds . When the builders of the Temple were asked their names , by the Officers of King Darius , Ezra 5. 10 , 11. their answer was [ We are the servants of the God of Heaven and Earth . ] No King on Earth , no Angel in Heaven hath a more honourable Master . To be the highest Officer of the greatest Prince , is a Title as much more base then this , as man is baser then the Infinite God . If God can not put sufficient Honour on those that are Related to him , tell us , who can ? When Moses went to Pharaoh for the Israelites deliverance , he was to speak in the name of the Lord ; and when Pharaoh spake contemptuously of the Lord , as one that he knew not and would not obey , how wonderously doth God vindicate his honour & his people ! Let other men be called Knights , and Lords , and Kings , and Emperours ; may I but be truly called the servant of the God of Heaven , I shall not envy them their honours ! Our relation to so glorious a Majesty doth put an unexpressible Honour upon the poorest person and the lowest works . A servant of the Lord is more Honourable in rag● , in a smoaky cottage , or the meanest state ▪ then the Emperour of Constantinople or Tartary is in all their Wealth and Worldly Glory ▪ And if you think not so your selves , why do you so much honour them when they are dead ? What was Peter and Paul , and the rest of the Apostles , but poor despised men in the world , that travailed about to preach the Gospel ? and what was their honour but to be the Holy Servants of the Lords ? Yet now they are dead , you are desirous to keep Holy dayes in an honourable memorial of them : and Kings and Princes reverence their names . What were the Martyrs whose memories are now so Honourable with us , but a company of hated persecuted men , that were used by others as Butchers do their beasts , and worse ? But because they were the servants of the Lord , and suffered for his truth and cause , their names are honourable , and the names of their greatest persecutors do even stink . It s said of Constantine the Great ( who himself was Greater by his Holiness then his Victories ) that he was wont to reverence the Bishops that had been sufferers for Christ , and kissed the place where the eye abode that one of them had lost for the Gospels sake . The Christian Princes that ruled the world , were wont to Honour the poorest mortified retired servants of Christ , that had cast off the world ; as perceiving that he is more Honourable that contemneth it , then he that enjoyeth it . The nearest to God undoubtedly are the ▪ most Honourable .

2. Consider , that as it is God that the Saints are thus Related to , so their Relation is so near , and their Titles so exceeding high , which God himself hath put upon them , that it advanceth them to the greatest height of Honour , that men on earth can reasonably expect . Yea , with holy admiration we must say it , so wonderful is the Honour which the Glorious God hath put upon his poor unworthy servants , that they durst not have owned it , nor thought such Titles meet for men , if God himself had not been the Author of them ! Nor could they have believed that God would so advance them , if he had not both revealed it , and given them faith to believe his revelation . As if it were not enough for us to be his servants ▪ he calleth us his friends ! Joh. 15. 13 , 14 , 15. [ Greater Love hath no man then this , that a man lay down his life for his friends . Ye are my friends , if ye do whatsoever I command you : Henceforth I call you not servants : For the servant knoweth not what his Lord doth : but I have called you friends : for all things that I have heard of my Father , I have made known unto you . ] Jam. 2. 23. [ Abraham was called the friend of God . ]

2. And they are called the Lords Jewels , Mal. ● . 17.

3. They are called his Beloved , and dearly Beloved , Deut. 33. 12. Psalm 60. 5. & 127. 2. Cant. 2. 16. & 6. 3. & 7. 10. Holy and Beloved are inseparable . Rom. 4. 7. [ Beloved of God , called to be Saints . ] Col. 3. 12. [ the elect of God , Holy and Beloved . ] They are the dearly beloved of his soul , Jer. 12. 7. For they are accepted in the Beloved , Eph. 1. 6. Even in the Beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased , Matth. 3. 17. & 17. 5.

4. They are called children , or adopted sons , Gal. 4 6. John 1. 12. And he disdaineth not to be called their Father , Heb. 12. 9. Matth. 23. 9. 2 Cor. 6. 18. [ I will be a Father to you , and ye shall be my sons and daughters , saith the Lord Almighty . ] Mal. 3. 17. He will spare them , as a man spareth his son that serveth him . ]

5. They are called also the Heirs of Heaven , Rom. 8. 17. A more Honourable heritage then earth affords .

6. They are called a peculiar people to the Lord , Tit. 2. 14. and his peculiar treasure , Exod. 19. 5. Psal. 135. 4.

7. They are called Kings and Priests to God , Rev. 1. 6. They are a chosen generation , a Royal Priest-hood , a Holy Nation , a peculiar people , 1 Pet. 2. 9.

8. The sanct fied are called the Spouse of Christ , Cant. 4. 8. to 13. Because of the similitude of the holy Covenant which they make with Christ , to a marriage Covenant ; and because of the dearness of his love to them , and the nearness and sweetness of his Communion with them , Mat. 21. 2 , 4 , 9. The Lord is said to be married to them , Jer. 3. 14. And their Maker calls himself their Husband , Isa. 54. 5.

9. Yea more , they are called the Members of Christ , 1 Cor. 6. 15. & 12. 12. They are the Body of Christ and members in particular . vers. 27. We are members of his body , of his flesh , and of his bone , loved and cherished by him , as a man doth his own flesh ▪ Ephes. 5. 25 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 32. They are kept by the Lord as the apple of his eye , Deut. 32. 10. And he that toucheth them toucheth the apple of his eye , Zech. 2. 8. What nearness ! what dearness do those terms express !

10. Yea they are said to be one with Christ , 1 Cor. 6. 17. [ ●● that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit . ] John 17. 21 , 22 , 23. [ That they all may be one , as thou Father art in me , and I in thee , that they also may be One in ●● , that the world may believe 〈…〉 ●●o● hast sent me — that they may be One , even as we are one , I in them and thou in me , that they may be made perfect in one . ] Not that they are One in God-head , or personality , or office with Christ , but most nearly conjoyned as subjects to their Prince , that make One Body Politick , and as a wise to a husband , and nearer then these can express , in that they have the communications of his Spirit .

Judge now by all these wonderful Titles , whether any but an Atheist or Infidel can deny , that the Godly are the most Honourable people in the world . If it be not a contemptible thing to be the son of a King , much less to be the sons of the eternal King . Deny the Honour of those that are so nearly related to him , and you deny the Honour of God himself , and consequently deny him to be God . Atheism is the beginning and end of all .

3. Moreover the servants of the Lord have the most Honourable Natures or Dispositions in the world . And the Honour that ariseth from a mans intrinsecal Disposition , is far greater then that which accrueth to him from his parentage , or wealth , or worldly greatness , or any such extrinsick accidents . Many a proud and worthless person doth boast of the Nobility of their Ancestors , and tell you what blood doth run in their veins ; when they have debased souls , and nothing advanced them of their Ancestors , but their Riches , or the pleasure of some Prince ; and they know that the beggars at their doors did come from Noah as well as they . The Surgeon findeth no purer blood in their veins , then in the beggars ; nor are their carkasses any more sweet or lovely ; and therefore if their manners are worse , they are more base then honest beggars . It is the mind that beareth the true stamp of Nobility . They are the Noblest that have the Noblest souls . All the Silks and Velvers in the world , will not make an Ape as Honourable as a Man , nor an Ideot as a wise man . Solomon in all his Royalty was not cloathed like some of the flowers in the field , Mat. 6. 28. 29. and yet he was more Honourable then they . A Corpse may be most sum●tuously adorned : A Crown may be set on the head of an image . Such as the mind is , such is the man . And that the souls of the sanctified are more Nobly qualified then of other men , is easily demonstrated . For ,

1. Christ dwelleth in them by faith , and by his Spirit , Ephes. ● . 17. & 2. 22. We are the Temples of the Holy Ghost , 1 Cor. 6. 19. The new nature of the Saints hath no meaner an Author then the Lord himself . It is the Divine Power that giveth us all things that pertain to life and godliness , 2 Pet. 1. 3. As it is the Honourable work of God the Father to be our Creator , and of God the Son to be our Redeemer , so is it the Honourable work of God the Holy-Ghost to be our Sanctifier . And therefore as it is a Blaspheming of the Creator to vilifie the Creation ; and a Blaspheming of the Redeemer to vilifie the Redemption ; so is it a Blaspheming of the Sanctifier to vilifie Sanctification . Though ● I say not that it is the unpardonable Blasphemy , yet a fearful Blasphemy it is . O that those wretches knew their crime , that mock at the special work of the Holy-Ghost .

2. The new creature is illuminated with a Heavenly light , and cured of its former mortal blindness , and is brought out of darkness into marvellous light , Eph. 1. 18. Acts 26. 18. Col. 1. 13. 1 Pet. 2. 9. and is taught of God , John 6. 45. 1 Thes. 4. 9. 1 Joh. 2. 27. And it is more Honourable to see , then to be blind , and to live in the open Light , then in a dungeon . And it is the highest matters in the world that the gracious soul is savingly acquainted with . It is more Honourable to have the Knowledge of profoundest Sciences , then of some low and poor employment . And it is more Honourable to have the saving Knowledge of God , and of the life to come , which the poorest sanctified person hath , then to have the most admired fleshly wisdom , or all the common learning in the world . What high , and excellent , and necessary things doth Grace acquaint the Christian with ? He knoweth him that is the cause of all things else , having himself no cause : He knoweth him that is knowledge it self ; and that knoweth all things : He knoweth him that is Eternal ; that never began , and shall never end . That is Greater then the whole world : that is more glorious then the Sun : that can do all things because he is Almighty ; and yet can do no evil , because he is most Good and Holy . He knoweth him that made the world and all things , and holdeth them in the hand of his Omnipotency , and Ruleth them by his wisdom , and doth all things according to the good pleasure of his will . He knoweth him that is mans felicity , to know whom is eternal life . He knoweth the Redeemer , and the Riches of his Grace and Promises . He knoweth the diseases of his own soul , and their danger and cure . He knoweth what end he hath to aim at , and the work that he was made and Redeemed for to do : the Temptations which he must resist ; the enemies which he must conquer , the duties which he must perform : He knoweth his Redeemers Laws and Covenants . What he commandeth , promiseth and threatneth , and to whom . He knoweth what will be hereafter ; and where he shall live when this life is ended : and what he shall do ten thousand years hence , yea unto all eternity . He knoweth what will become of all the Godly and ungodly ( that die such ) in the world ; and where they shall be for evermore . In a word , he knoweth whence he came , whithet he is going , and which way he must go . He knoweth God as his Maker , Governour and End : He knoweth that God that he must Please , and how to Please him , and how to be saved , and to live with God for ever . This is the honourable Knowledge of the Sanctified ; which no men have but they alone . The cunning Polititians of the world have none of it , ( as such ) . The Speculators of nature , the great Mathematicians , the Learned Doctors , famous for their skill in Languages , Philosophy , and the Theorie of Divinity , are o●t without it . They have more of the words , and notions , and forms , and methods , then unlearned Saints have : but they want the Thing that these are made for . They have the signs , and the Godly have the thing signified . They have the Body of Theologie , and the Godly Christian hath the Soul . The ungodly Doctors have better skill to break the shell , but the Godly Christian only knows how to eat the kernel . The Learned may be better at the office of a Cook , to dress the meat ; but only the Godly do feed on it , and digest it . Knowledge is to be valued , ( as all creatures are ) according to its usefulness . As it is more Honourable to know how to Govern a Kingdom , Command an Army or Navy , or save mens lives , then to make a fiddle or an hobby horse ; so is it ten thousand-fold more Honourable , to know how to Order our hearts and lives , and to walk with God , and obtain the everlasting Glory , then to know how to get the riches , and pleasures , and vain-glory of the present world .

3. The sanctified are made Alive to God , when other men are Dead in sin . Rom. 6. 11 , 13. Eph. 2. 1 , 2. And the poorest man alive is more Honourable then the carkase of an Emperour . Eccl. 9. 4. A living dog , is better then a dead Lyon .

4. The sanctified are cleansed from the filthyness of their sins ▪ which are the most odious defilements in the world : and they are purified by the blood and spirit of Christ . 1 John 1. 7 , 9. Ephes. 5. 26. 2 Cor. 7. 1. The word of Christ hath made them clean ▪ John 15. 3. Their hearts are purified by faith , Acts 15. 9. 1 Pet. 1. 22. 1 John 3. 3. And therefore the most odious part of their dishonour is removed ; sin is a reproach to any people , Prov. 14. 34. Whatever it may seem before ungodly men , it is sin that is your shame before the Lord : And this reproach the godly are now cleansed from . Though it be a dishonour to them that they were ungodly once , it is their honour that now they are not such ; and that they are cloathed with the righteousness of Christ .

5. The Holy nature of the Saints disposeth their hearts , and ●nclineth their wills to the highest and most Honourable things . As in their Knowledge , so in their Inclinations , they are above the baseness of the world . The nature of man is not to feed as beasts and horses , and dogs do : he is above their food ; and above their converse and kind of life : that will not content him that contenteth them . And the new nature of a sanctified man , is above the delights and contents of the ungodly . His heart cannot endure to take up with their kind of life . To mind nothing but this world , and to have no pleasure but to the flesh , and live as an utter stranger to God , and not to feed on the Heavenly delights , and riches of the Gospel , but live as if there were no such things ; this sensual life is below his Inclination , ●s feeding on dross , or conversing only with swine or cattle , is below the nature of a man . The noble soul is that which is inclined to the noblest objects : even to God , and Holiness , and everlasting life : and cannot endure the poor , and low , and sordid life of men , that have their portion here . Psalm 17. 14. Nothing that is corporeal , or transitory , yea nothing below God , can satisfie a holy soul . It is this Holy Disposition , that fits men for holy Duties : and that is their fitness for eternal Happiness . If Angels were not Holyer then Devils , and godly men then the ungodly , Heaven could not hold them , nor could they any more see or enjoy the Lord , then they that are cast into outer darkness . And therefore if you dare say that the Holy are no more Honourable then the unholy , you must say that the Holy Angels are no more Honourable then the devils : which sure you will scarce be so desperate as to spe●● ▪

6. Holiness in the godly is the Image of God , in which we were created : and according to which we are renewed by the Holy Ghost . Eph. 4. 24. Col. 3. 10. Gen. 1. 27. And what can be spoken more Honourable of a creature , then that he hath his Makers Image ▪ unless as to the Degree , that some have more of it then others . It is the honourable Title of the Son himself , that he [ is the Brightness of his Fathers glory , and the express image of his person ] This is above the honour of any , or of all the Saints . But to have the Image of God in Wisdom , and Holiness , as all have that are sanctified , is a wonderful dignity to be given to a creature , and so low and unworthy creatures as we are . His commands tell us what are the qualifications of his people . [ As he which hath called you is Holy , so be ye Holy , in all manner of conversation : For it is written , Be ye Holy , for I am Holy . ] 1 Pet. 1. 15 , 16. And how high a command , and strait a Rule is that , given us by Christ , Matth , 5. 48. [ Be ye therefore perfect , even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect ! ] Well may it be called an exceeding Righteousness , surpassing the Scribes and Pharisees , which all have that enter into the Heavenly Kingdom , Matth. 5. 20. There is nothing under Heaven , that is known to man so like to God , as a Holy soul . Remember this the next time you reproach such . All you that are the Serpents ●eed , remember when you spit your venome against Holiness , that it is the Image of God that your enmity is exercised against . O what a strange conjunction of malignity and hypocrisie appeareth in the enemies of God among us ! A picture of Christ that is drawn by a Painter , or a forbidden Image of God that is carved by an Image-maker in stone , that hath nothing but the name of an Image of God , these they will reverence , and honour , ( though God hath forbidden them to make such Images of him ) The Papists will 〈◊〉 before them , and the prophane among us are zealous for them : when in the mean time they hate the noblest Images of God on earth . Forbidden Images of God have been defended , by seeking the blood of his truest Images . Do you indeed Love and Honour the Image of God ? Why then do you hate them , and seek to destroy them ? And why do you make them the scorn of your continual malice ? Can you blow hot and cold ? Can you both Love and Hate , both Honour and Scorn , the Image of God ? Search the Scripture , and see whether it be not the sanctified , heavenly , diligent servants of the Lord that are the Honourable Image which he owneth , and magnifieth , and gloryeth in before the world . If this be not true , then go on in your hatred of them and spare not . These are not Images of stone , but of Spirit : not Images made by a Carver or a Painter , but by the Holy-Ghost himself : Not hanged upon a wall for men to look on , but living Images , actuated from Heaven , by spiritual influence from Christ their head , and shining forth in exemplary lives to the honour of their Father whom they resemble , Matth. 5. 16. It is not in an outward shape , but in spiritual wisdom , and Love , and Holiness of heart and life , that they resemble their Creatour . Whether you will believe it now or not , be sure of it , you malignant enemies of Holiness , that God would shortly make you know it , that you chose out the most excellent Image of your maker under Heaven , to pour out your hatred and contempt against . And in as much as you did it to his noblest Image , you did it unto him .

7. If all this be not enough to shew you the Honourable Nature of Holiness , I will speak the highest word that can be spoken of any created nature under heaven , and yet no more then God hath spoken ; even in 2 Pet. 1. 4. where it is expresly said , that the Godly are [ partakers of the Divine Nature . ] I know that it is not the Essence of God that is here called the Divine Nature that we partake of : we abhor the thoughts of such blasphemous arrogancy , as if that grace did make men Gods . But it s called the Divine nature , in that it is caused by the Spirit of God , and floweth from him , as the Light or sunshine floweth from the sun . You use to say , the sun is in the house , when it shineth in the house , though the sun it self be in the firmament : so the Scripture saith that God dwelleth in us , and Christ and the spirit dwelleth in us , when the Heavenly Light and Love and Life , which streameth from him dwelleth in us ; and this is called the Divine Nature . Think of this , and tell me whether higher and more Honourable things can easily be spoken of the sons of men , 1 Joh. 4. 16. [ God is Love ; and he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God , and God in him . ] O wonderful advancement ! high expressions of a creatures dignity ! Blessed be that Eternal Love that is thus communicative , and hath so enobled our unworthy souls : with what alacrity and delight should we exalt his name by daily praises that thus exalteth us by his unspeakable mercie ? Psal. 75. 10. & 89. 16 , 17. [ Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound : they shall walk O Lord in the light of thy countenance : In thy name shall they rejoyce all the day : and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted : For thou art the glory of our strength ; and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted : For the Lord is our defence , and the holy one of Israel is our King . ] Psal. 148. 13 , 14. [ Let them praise the name of the Lord : for his Name alone is excellent : his Glory is above the Earth and Heavens : He also exalteth the horn of his people ; the Praise of all his Saints . ] He hath first exalted our blessed Head , even highly exalted him by his own right hand , and given him a name above every name , Act. 2. 33. & 5. 31. Phil. 2. 9. and with him he hath wonderfully exalted all his sanctified ones , Heb. 2. 10. 11. For it became him for whom are all things , and by whom are all things , in bringing many sons to Glory , to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings : For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified , are all of One : for which cause he is not ashamed to call them Brethren . ] 1 Cor. 12. 12. [ For as the Body is One , and hath many members , and all the members of that one body , being many are one body : so also is Christ . ] What greater honour can man on earth be advanced to ? And the Honour of the just is communicative to the societies of which they are members . The Churches are called Holy for their sakes . [ Prov. 11. 11. By the blessing of the upright the City is exalted : but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked ] Prov. 14. 34. [ Righteousness exalteth a nation : but sin is a reproach to any people ] Let therefore both the persons and Congregations of the Saints continually exalt the name of God : [ O Bless the Lord for ever and ever , and blessed be his glorious name , which is exalted above all blessing and praise . ] Neh. 9. 5. [ The Lord liveth : and blessed be our Rock : and exalted be the God of our Rock of our salvation . ] 2 Sam. 22. 47. [ Psal. 30. 1. I will extoll thee O Lord , for thou hast lifted me up . ] Psal. 27. 6. [ And now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me : therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy ; I will sing , yea I will sing praises unto the Lrrd. ] Psal. 28. 8 , 9. [ The Lord is their strength , the saving strength of his annointed : He will save his people , and bless his inheritance , and feed them also , and lift them up for ever . ] Psal. 147. 6. The Lord lifteth up the meek , and casteth the wicked down to the ground . ] Thus shall it be done to them whom God doth delight to Honour . He will Deliver them and Honour them ? Psal. 91. 15.

4. And as the sanctified have the most Honorable dispositions , so have they the highest and most Honorable Designs . The End of their lives is incomparably above other mens . The rest of the world ( though they may talk of Heaven , and wish for it rather then Hell , when they can live no longer ) do indeed drive on no greater trade , then providing for the flesh , and feathering them a nest which will quickly be pulled down : and like the spider , spinning themselves a web , which death will shortly sweep away . But the Design and daily business of the Godly is for everlasting Glory . Heb. 11. 10. They look for a City that hath foundations , whose builder and maker is God . ] vers. 13 , 14 , 15 , 16. They confess themselves strangers and pilgrims on earth , thereby declaring that they seek a Countrey . And truly if they were mindful of that ( deceitful world ) which they came out of ( and have forsaken ) they may have opportunities ( and too many invitations ) to return to it : But now they desire a better Countrey , that is , an Heavenly : Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called Their God : for he hath prepared for them a City ] This Noble End ennobleth both the persons and conversations of believers . To Rule a Kingdom is a Nobler design then to play with children for pins or points . But to seek the Everlasting Kingdom is far above all the highest designs that are terminated upon earth . If Everlasting Glory with God in Heaven , be a nobler state then a worldly life , then must the seeking it be a nobler design . Paul sheweth you the difference very pathetically , Phil. 3. 18 , 19 , 20. [ For many walk ( of whom I told you often , and now tell you weeping ) that they are the enemies of the Cross of Christ ; Whose end is destruction , whose God is their belly , and whose glory is in their shame , who mind earthly things : But our Conversation is in Heaven ] that is , we live as Citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem , and not as those that are here at home . It is Heaven that sanctified persons mind ; that they study and care for , and labour and live for in the world . And therefore , though in their Natural capacity , they are but as other men , yet in their Moral and Relative capacity , I think I may say without Hyperbole , that they are much more advanced above the dignity of the great unsanctified Princes upon earth , then Reason , and learning , and manly designs advance a man above a beast . It is the Nobleness and baseness of the end that doth honour or abase the agent : and therefore none are truly . Honourable but those that seek the spiritual , the high , eternal Honour .

5. The Employment as well as the Designs of the Godly , do prove them to be the most Honourable . Both the End and Matter do shew the excellency of their Work . As the End Honoureth the person , so doth it Honour all the works that are Means thereto . The first thoughts of a Godly man when he awaketh , and the last when he lyeth down ( if he observe his Rule ) are usually for Heaven . When you are conversing with worldly men , about these common worldly things , they are in prayer or holy meditation conversing with God , about the matters of his service and their salvation . Their hearts are toward him : their thoughts are on him : They are devoted to him : Their daily business is to serve him . [ When I awake ( saith David , Psal. 139. 28. ) I am still with thee . ] Psal. 16. 7. 8. [ I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel : my reins also instruct me in the night seasons . I have set the Lord always before me : because he is at my right hand , I shall not be moved ] The life of the Godly is called in Scripture [ a walking with God ] such was the course of Henock , Noah , and Abraham , Gen. 5. 22 , 24. & 6. 9. & 17. 1. & 24. 40. They walked before God , Gen. 48. 15. and in his ways , Deut. 28. 9. They love the Lord their God with all their heart and soul ( as to the sincerity of it : ) and walk after him , and fear him , and keep his commandments , and obey his voice , and serve him and cleave unto him , Deut. 13. 3 , 4. And can an inhabitant of this world have a more honourable imployment then to serve the Lord ? and a more honourable state then to walk with God ? should we not have thought such words intolerable to be used of the best on earth , if God had not been himself the author of them , and put them into our mouths ? Hear more of his own expressions concerning the conversations of his servants [ 1 Cor. 1. 9. God is faithful by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ ] 1 Joh. 1. 3. [ And truly our Fellowship is with the Father , and with his Son Jesus Christ ] By [ fellowship ] is not meant here [ a society of equals . ] God forbid we should think so blasphemously : But it is a Communion of the beloved sanctified Creature with his blessed Creator , agreeable to his distance . In their secret addresses , his servants have communion with him : Their Prayer is nothing else but a humble speaking to the living God , for the supply of all their wants . In their Praises and Thanksgivings it is God that they deal with : and the words of their mouths and the meditation of their hearts , are acceptable is the sight of their Redeemer , Psal. 19. 14. They poure out their souls before him : and he openeth his ears and his bosome unto them , Psal. 62. 8. & 10. 17. [ He will feed kis flock like a shepherd : he will gather the lambs with his arm , and carry them in his bosom , and shall gently lead those that are with young . ] Isa. 40. 11. And in the publick Worship of God in the holy Assemblies , his servants also have communion with him : It is him that they hear whoever be the messenger : It is him that they adore , and praise and magnifie [ Come ( say they ) and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord : to the house of the God of Jacob , and he will teach us of his wayes , and we will walk in his paths — Come , and let us walk in the light of the Lord ] Isaiah 2. 3 , 5. [ We have thought of thy loving kindness , O God , in the midst of thy Temple ] Psalm 48. 9. [ In his Temple doth every man speak of his glory . ] Psalm 29. 9. Yea , the common employments of the Godly are sanctified , and thereby advanced above the highest actions of the wicked . For it is God and Glory that is in all their ultimate End . [ Whether they eat or drink , or what ever they do , they do it to his glory , 1 Cor. 10. 31. That is , They intend his Glory as their end , and they do it in reverent obedience to his Will , and in a holy manner behaving themselves as may honour him whose work they do . And he that hath the face to say , that Prayer , Praise , Thanksgiving , Meditation , holy conference and other works of Holiness and Righteousness , are not a more Honourable employment then the sordid drudgery of the world , must say also that the life of a worldling is more Honourable then the life of the holy Angels and the heavenly host . They are obeying and praising God , and living in the sense of his dearest love , while you are sinning and scraping in this Earth . And can you believe that your life is more Honourable then theirs ? If not ; you must confess , that the Godly that come nearest the work of Angels , do live a more Honourable life then you . When Christ called Peter to leave his fishing and follow him and be his servant , he tells him that he will make him a fisher of men : as intimating that it was a more honourable work to catch souls by the Gospel , and win them to God and to salva●ion , then to catch fishes . To please God and save our souls , and further others in obeying him to their salvation , is the Highest work that the sons of men are capable of while they live in flesh .

As the Priests were sanctified to draw nearer unto God , then the common people , and to be employed in his most Holy service , so are the godly separated by grace from the ungodly world , and brought nearer God , and used by him in the noblest works . [ In a great house there are not only vessels of Gold and of Silver , but also of wood , and of earth , and some to honour , and some to dishonour . ] 1 Tim. 2. 20. [ If a man therefore purge himself from sin , he shall be a vessel unto honour , sanctified , and meet for the masters use , and prepared unto every ▪ good work . ] Ver. 21. The Vessel that Swine are fed in , is not so Honourable as that which is used at a Princes table . If you would know what use the Godly are employed in , read 1 Pet. 2. 5 , 9. [ As lively stones they are built up a spiritual house : they are a holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices unto God , which shall be acceptable by Jesus Christ . They are a chosen generation , a royal Priesthood an holy Nation , a peculiar people that they should shew forth the praises of him who hath called them out of darkness into his marvellous light : ] ▪ The holy Scriptures tell you the work of Saints : Compare them with the work of the drunkard , the glutton , the gamester , the fornicator , or the covetous or ambitious worldling , and let your reason tell you which is the more Honourable , Psalm 34. 9. [ O fear the Lord ye his Saints : for there is no want to them that fear him . ] Psal. 31. 23. [ O Love the Lord all ye his Saints : for the Lord preserveth the faithful . ] Psal. 89. 5 , 7. [ The heavens shall praise thy wonders O Lord : thy faithfulness also in the Congregation of the Saints . God is greatly to be feared in the Assembly of the Saints : and to he had in reverence of all them that are about him . ] These are the employments of the Saints .

6. Moreover , the Godly have the most Honourable entertainment by the God of all the world . They are bid welcome when others are rejected . The door is opened to them that is shut against the wicked . They are familiar with Jesus Christ , as the children of the family , when others are strangers whom he will not know . Cant. 5. 1. Matth. 25. 10. Matth. 7. 23. [ I will profess unto them , I never knew you : depart from me ye workers of iniquity . ] Psalm 1. 6. [ For the Lord knoweth the way of the Righteous : but the way of the ungodly shall perish . ] The faithful are feasted by him , when the rest are examined with a [ Friend , how comest thou in hither , not having on a wedding garment ! bind him hand and foot and cast him into outer darkness , ] Matth. 22. 12 , 13. They are called the children that have the bread , and the rest are called the dogs ; of which some are without , and those within do feed but on the crums that fall from the childrens table , Matth. 15. 26 , 27. Revel. 22. 15. Hear the Lords invitation and his promise : Isa. 55. 2 , 3. [ Hearken diligently unto me , and eat ye that which is good ; and let your soul delight it self in fatness ; Encline your ear , and come unto me , hear and your soul shall live , and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you . ] Who is it that is admitted into the Tabernacle of the Lord , and who shall dwell in his holy hill ? He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness , and speaketh the truth in his heart . — In whose eyes a vile person is contemned , but he honoureth them that fear the Lord , Psalm 15. 1 , 2 , 4. The upright shall dwell in the presence of the Lord . ] Psalm 140. 13. [ God will save Sion , — and the seed of his servants shall inherit it ▪ and they that love his name shall dwell therein . ] Psal. 69. 35 , 36. And [ Blessed is the man whom thou choosest , O Lord , and causest to approach unto thee , that he may dwell in thy Courts : he shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy House , even of thy holy Temple . ] Psal. 65. 4. Saith David [ Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the Land , that they may dwell with me : he that walketh in a perfect way , he shall serve me . ] Yea , Christ entertaineth faithful souls with a spiritual feast of his own flesh and blood . His flesh to them is meat indeed , and his blood is drink indeed , John 6. 55. and he that eateth and drinketh these , shall live for ever , Verse 54 , 56. The returning Prodigal is met with joy , and quickly embraced in his Fathers arms ; the fatted Calf is killed for him : a ring and new apparell is provided him : and musick must express the Joy for his recovery , Luke 15. O how welcome are converted sinners to the God of mercy ? And as they are welcome at their first return , so are they in all their attendance on him , and addresses to him , and service of him , while they continue in his family . They have boldness now to enter into the Heliest , by the new and living way that is consecrated : and are invited to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith , Heb. 10. 19 , 22. [ In Christ we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him . ] Ephes. 3. 12. And God hath made us accepted in the beloved , to the praise of the glory of his grace , Ephes. 1. 6. We are living sacrifices , acceptable unto God , Rom. 12. 1. And our services , though weak , are sacrifices acceptable and well-pleasing to him , Phil. 4. 18. 2 Tim. 2. 3. & 5. 4. when the prayers of the wicked are abhorred of the Lord ; his people serve him acceptably in reverence and godly fear , Heb. 12. 28. He answereth their prayers , and often speaketh peace unto them , and signifieth his acceptance of them . If they could bring him a house full of Gold and Silver , they would not be so welcome to him as they are in bringing him their hearts , their humbled hearts , their broken , tender , melted hearts , that burn in Love to him , and flame up towards him in desires and in holy praise . [ To this man will I look , saith the Lord , even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit , and trembleth at my Word ] Isa. 66. 2. This is the Honourable entertainment of the Saints .

7. And they are members of the most Honourable Society in the world . The Church is the Kingdom of Jesus Christ , Luke 1. 33. Col. 1. 13. The Kingdom of God , Luke 17. 21. & 18. 17. The Kingdom of Heaven , Mat. 3. 2. & 13. 31 , 33 , 44. It is the School of Christ , or his University , in which Believers are his Schollars , learning to know him , and serve him , and praise him for ever , and trained up for everlasting life , Acts 11. 26. Luke 6. 13. Mat. 5. 1 , 2 , &c. It is the family or houshold of God , Eph. 2. 19. 1 Tim. 3. 15. Heb. 10. 21. 1 Pet. 4. 17. It is the Spouse , yea the Body of Christ , Eph. 5. 25. So loved by him , that he gave himself for it , becoming the price of our Redemption , and thought not his life too dear a Ransom , nor his blood too precious to cleanse and save us , Eph. 5. 25 , 26. Tit. 2. 14. The Church , which every godly man is a living member of , is a Society chosen out of the world , to be nearest unto God , and dearest to him , as the beloved of his soul ; to receive the choicest of his mercies , and be adorned with the righteousness of Christ , and to be employed in his special service , 1 Pet. 2. 4 , 5 , 9. John 15. 19. Eph. 1. 4. Psalm 132. 13. & 135. 4. Eph. 5. 1. The Lord that Redeemed them is their King and Head , and dwelleth in the midst of them , and walketh among them , as the people of his special presence and delight , Psalm 2. 6. & 89. 18. & 149. 2. & 46. 5. Isa. 12. 6. Jer. 14. 9. Zeph. 3. 5 , 15 , 17. Rev. 1. 13. & 2. 1. Psalm 95. 2. The Church is a Heavenly Society , though the militant part yet live on earth : For the God of Heaven is the Soveraign and the Father of it : The glorified Redeemer is their Head : The Spirit of Christ doth guide and animate them : His Laws revealed and confirmed from Heaven , direct and govern them : Heaven is their end ; and heavenly are their dispositions , employments and conversations : There is their portion and treasure , Matth. 6. 20 , 21. and there is their very heart and hope . They are risen with Christ , and therefore seek the things that are above : For their life is hid with Christ in God , Col. 3. 2 , 3 , 4. Their Root is there : and the noblest part of the Society is there : For the glorified Saints , and in some sort the Angels , are of the same Society with us ; though they are in heaven and we on earth . The whole family in Heaven and earth is named from one and the same Head , Eph. 3. 15. [ Heb. 12. 22 , 23. 24. We are come unto Mount Sion , and unto the City of the living God , the heavenly Jerusalem , and to an innumerable company of Angels , to the General Assembly and Church of the first born , which are written in Heaven , and to God the Judge of all , and to the spirits of just men made perfect , and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant , and to the blood of sprinkling , &c. ] This is the Honourable Society of Saints : the eye , the pearl of the whole Creation .

8. Moreover , the Godly have the most Horourable Attendance . The creatures are all theirs : though not in point of Civil propriety , yet as means appointed and managed by God their Father , for their best advantage . The Angels of God are ministring spirits for them : not as our servants , but as Gods servants for our good . As Ministers in the Church are not the servants of men , but the servants of God for men : And so whether Paul , or Apollo , or Cephas , or the world , or life , or death , or things present or to come , all are ours . ] 1 Cor. 3. 22. The Shepherds servant is not the servant of the sheep , but for the sheep . And so the Angels disdain not to serve God , in the guarding of the weakest Saints . As I formerly shewed from Heb. 1. 14. & Psalm 91. 11 , 12. & 34. 7. [ The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him , and delivereth them . For he giveth his Angels charge over us , to keep us in all our wayes : they shall bear us up in their hands , left we dash our foot against a stone . ] Sun and Moon , and all the creatures , are daily employed in our attendance . O how wonderful is the Love of God to his unworthy servants , in their advancement ! Remember it , when thou art scorning at the servants of the Lord , or speaking against them , that those poor , those weak despised Christians , that thou art vilifying , have their Angels beholding the face of God their Father in the Heavens : Take heed therefore that you despise not the least of these . It is the warning of Christ , Matth. 18. 10. The same blessed spirits that attend the Lord , and see his face in blissful Glory , do attend and guard the meanest of the godly here on earth . As the same servants use to wait upon the Father and the children , in the same family , or the bigger children to help the less .

9. And it is the Honour of the Godly , that they that are themselves most Honourable , do Honour them . To be magnified by a fool , or wicked flatterer , is small Honour : but to be magnified by the best and wisest men , this is true Honour . We say that Honour is in him that giveth it , and not in him that receiveth . But it is God himself that Honoureth his Saints : It is he that speaketh all these great and wonderous things of them which I have hitherto recited . Search the Texts which I have alledged , and try whether it be not he . And surely to have the God of Heaven to applaud a man , and put Honour upon him , and so great Honour , is more then if all the world had done it . Yet we may add , ( if any thing could be considerable that is added unto the approbation of God ) that all his servants , the wisest , and the best , even his holy Angels , are of the same mind , and honour the godly in conformity to their Lord .

And here Christian , I require thee from the Lord , to consider the greatness of thy sin and folly , when thou art too desirous of the applause of men , especially of the blind ungodly world ; and when thou makest a great matter of their contempt or scorn , or of their slanderous censures . What! is the approbation of the eternal God so small a matter in thy eyes , that the scorn of a fool can weigh it down , or move the ballance with thee ? If a feather were put into the scales against a mountain , or the whole earth , it should weigh as much as the esteem or dis-esteem of men , their ▪ honouring thee , or dishonouring thee , should weigh against the esteem of God , and the honour or dishonour that he puts upon thee , ( as to any regard of the thing it self ; though as it reflecteth on God , thou maist regard it . ) He is the wise man that God calls wise : and he is the fool that God calls fool : ( and that is every one that layeth up riches for himself , and is not rich towards God , Luke 12. 20 , 21. ) He is the Happy man that God calls Happy ; and he is a miserable man that God counts miserable : and who those are , you may see in Psalm 1. and many Scriptures before-cited . Hear the words ( and you that are Believers , lay up the blessed promise ) of Christ himself , John 12. 26. [ If any man serve me , him will my Father Honour . ] And who cares then for the dishonours of all the wicked of the world ? Our tryed faith as preciouser then Gold , will be found unto praise , and honour , and glory , at the appearing of Jesus Christ . ] 1 Pet. 1. 7. See 2 Tim. 2. 21. We must learn therefore to imitate our Lord , John 5. 41. and not to receive our Honour from men ; and not to imitate the wicked , vers. 44. that receive Honour one of another , and seek not the Honour that cometh from God . There is enough for us in Gods approbation . And yet all his servants do imitate their Lord ; and his Judgement is their Judgement ; and whom he honoureth , them do they honour ; Angels , and Saints , and all that enter into the Tabernacle of the Lord , do contemn the vile , and honour them that fear the Lord , Psalm 15. 4. And though no mans Judgement or Praise be valuable in comparison of the Lords ; yet the Honour and Praise that is given by the wise and Godly , is more then a thousand times as much from ignorant ungodly men . If the Athenian Orator regarded the censure of Socrates more then of all the rest of his auditors , we have cause to judge he Elogies of experienced holy men a greater honour then of thousands of the wicked , & greater then all their contempt or scorn is able to weigh down . The applause of the wicked is oft-times a dishonour in wise mens eyes . Was it not Balaams chiefest honour to hear from Balak , [ I thought to promote thee to great Honours , but the Lord hath kept thee back from Honour . ] Numb . 24. 11. The Honour that God keepeth a man from , is no Honour : but it is an Honour to be kept from such Honour by the Lord : innocent poverty is incomparably more Honourable then Riches by iniquity , which is the greatest shame .

10. Lastly it is unspeakable everlasting Honour that holiness doth tend unto , and which holy men shall enjoy with God . The very Relation of a Godly man to his everlasting Glory , is an Honour ten thousand times surpassing the Honour of all the Kingdoms of the world . If you did but know that one of your poor neighbours should certainly be a King , would you not presently honour him , even in his rags ? You may know that the Saints shall raign with Christ , as sure as if an Angel from heaven had told you so , and more ; and therefore how should a Saint be honoured ? If God had but legibly marked out some among you for salvation , and written in their fore-heads , [ This man shall be saved ] would not all the Parish reverence that man ? Why a Heavenly ▪ mind , and the Love of God , and self-denyal , and holy obedience , are Heaven-marks infallible , as true as the Gospel , and written by the same hand as the Gospel was , I mean by the Spirit of God himself : If a voice from Heaven should speak now of any person in the Congregation , and say , [ This man shall raign in Heaven for ever ] would it not be an Honour above all your worldly Honours ? Why Holiness is Gods Image , and the Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance , and beareth witness with our spirits , that we are the sons of God , and we have the promise , and seals , and oath of God for our confirmed certainty ; yea and the Knowledge of God in Christ is the beginning of eternal life , John 17. 3. and what would we have more ? The presence of Christ in a little of his Glory upon the Mount , transported the three Disciples : And the glympse of the Glory of God which Moses saw , did make his face shine that the Israelites could not behold it . The approaches of the Saints to God in holy Worship here on earth , are exceeding Honourable , because they participate of heaven , and it is upward that they look : 1 Chron. 16. 27. [ Glory and Honour are in his presence : strength and gladness are in his place . ] The soul that is beholding God by faith , and conversing with the Heavenly inhabitants , is quite above all earthly things : and as Angels are more honourable then men , and Heaven then Earth , so are Believers that converse in Heaven with Angels , yea with Christ himself by faith , more honourable then terrestrial carnal men .

But the great Honour is behind ; yet near at hand ; when the promised Crown is set upon their heads : O mark the Honour that is promised them by the Lord of truth . The soul it self before the Resurrection of the body , shall be with Christ , Phil. 1. 23. Even present with the Lord , 2 Cor. 5. 1. 8. John 12. 26. [ If any man serve me , let him follow me , and where I am , there shall also my servant be . ] And at the Resurrection Christ that hath loved the Church and gave himself for it , that he might sanctifie and cleanse it — will present it to himself a glorious Church , not having spot or wrinkle , or any such thing , but that it should be holy and without blemish , Eph. 5. 25 , 26. Will they not be Honourable even in the eyes of the ungodly world , when they hear the sentence of their Lord , [ Come ye blessed of my Father , inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world , Mat. 25. 34. ] and vers. 23. [ Enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord : ] [ When Christ shall come to be Glorified in his Saints , and admired in all them that believe ] 2 Thes. 1. 10. Mark here ; that it is one end of the coming of Christ , to be Glorified and admired in his Saints . [ Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his Saints , to execute judgement upon all , and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed , and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him ] Jud. 14. 15. Our hearts shall be established unblameable in holiness before God even our father at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with all his Saints ] 1 Thes. 3. 12 , 13. we shall then praise him [ that hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood , and made us Kings and Priests to God , ] Rev. 1. 5 , 6. He that overcometh shall be cloathed with white rayment , and confessed by Christ before the Father and the Angels of heaven , Rev. 3. 5. Yea he shall be a Pillar in the Temple of God , and go out no more : and Christ will write on him the Name of God , and the name of the City of God . New Hierusalem , which cometh down out of Heaven from God , and his own name , vers. 12. Yea he will grant to him to sit with him in his throne , as he himself hath overcome and is set down with the Father in his Throne : vers. 21. And he will honour his Saints to be Judges of Angels , and of the world , 1 Cor. 6. 2 , 3. And they that overcome and keep his words unto the end , to them will he give power over the nations , and they shall rule with a rod of iron , and break them to shivers as the vessels of a potter ; even as Christ received of his Father : and he will give them the morning star , Rev. 2. 26 , 27. He that hath an ear to hear , let him hear the Glorious things that are promised to the Saints . The high praises of God shall be in their mouths , and the two-edged sword in their hands — to execute on the wicked the Judgement written , such Honour have all his Saints , Psal. 149. 6 , 9. Then shall we hear the Praises of the Heavenly society saying [ We give thee thanks O Lord God Almighty which art and wast , and art to come , because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned , and the Nations were angry , and thy wrath is come , and the time of the dead that they should be judged , and that thou shouldst give reward unto thy servants the Prophets and to the Saints and them that fear thy name , small and great , and shouldst destroy them that dwell on the earth . ] [ then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father : Who hath ears to hear , let him hear , Matth. 13. 43. ] Yea [ they shall be equal to the Angels of God , Luk. 20. 36. ] This is the Inheritance of the Saints in Light of which God is now making us Meet to be partakers , Col. 1. 12. If [ all that s●●● in the Council against him , saw Stevens face as it had been the face of an Angel ] Act. 6. 15. what shall be the glory of the Saints when themselves shall see the face of God , and his name shall be written in their foreheads , Rev. 22. 4. when the ungodly world shall know , that Holiness was the most Honourable State ?

But perhaps some will say , that [ this language will make 〈…〉 Proud : To tell men that they are the most Honourable person● in the world , is the way to make them the Proudest persons . ]

To which I give you a manifold answer that your Objection may not have the least pretence that it is unsatisfied .

1. Worldly Honours are of a more swelling nature then Heavenly Honours : and yet it would scarcely be taken well , if this conclusion should pass for currant , that the most Honourable are the most Proud . For then it would follow that none are so vile , so like the Devil , so unlike God : and so the Princes and nobles of the earth would become the most despicable persons in the world , and their very Honour it self would be their dishonour , and so no Honour . And if worldly Honours will not warrant you to conclude the persons to be most Proud , much less will the Heavenly Honour .

There is the more Need and the less Fear of the Honour of the Godly , because it is the blessing of an Humbled soul . God casts them down before he lifts them up : It is only the Humble that he exalteth . They feel their sin and misery before they know their Honour . A Broken heart hath need of healing , and a fainting soul is fittest for a Cordial . You need not fear when you refresh the sick , lest it should make them wanton as it may do the sound . A comfortable word to one that is samenting over the dead , and weeping at a grave , is not so likely to make them Proud , as to others in prosperity . A drooping and discouraged soul , is hardly raised high enough , and kept from sinking : They have had the sentence past upon them , and have had the rope as it were about their neck : they have been at the very gates of Hell : they have seen by faith what work , what woes there are for sin in the life to come , and therefore these souls have need to hear of their Felicity .

3. Moreover , they have a great deal of work to do ; and their strength and courage is too small : and the work is such as flesh and blood cannot away with , much less afford them sufficient strength for . Such labourers must have encouraging strengthening food . Their work is such as will keep them under . God doth not keep his servants idle : and therefore they are in the less danger of ●●xing Proud and wanton . Isa. 35. 2 , 3 , 4. [ They shall see the glory of the Lord , and the excellency of our God . ] And why is this foretold them ? [ strengthen ye● the weak hands , and confirm the feeble knees : say to them that are of a fearful heart , Be strong , fear not ; behold your God will come with vengeance , even God with a recompence ; he will come and save you ] Heb 12. 1● , 13. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down , and the feeble knees , and make strait paths for your feet , lest that which is la●e , be turned out of the way , but let it rather be healed ] we are commanded 1 Thes. 5. 14. as to warn them that are unruly , so to comfort the feeble-minded , and support the weak .

4. Moreover , the Godly have the greater need of such encouragements , because they have much suffering to undergo . They have all your hatred and scorns to suffer , and all the adversities of the world , with which their Father shall please to exercise them . And he that layeth the burden on them , will give them strength by strengthening mean● . Gods not hath corks as well as leads . If birds had not feathers as well as flesh , they would be unable to fly . As Christ himself was encouraged to endure the contradiction of sinners , and to bear the cross , and despise the shame , by looking at the joy that was set before him , and so for the suffering of death was ●●owned with Glory and ●●●● ] Heb. 12. 2 , 3. & 2. 9. so will he have his people ●read in his steps , and take up their ●●oss and follow him ▪ and deny themselves and all the world ; yet so as to look at there compence of reward , and seek for glory , honour , and immortality , and by these to be animated to the work and patience of the Saints , as ●…ing to be Glorified with him ▪ wh●● they have suffered with 〈…〉 Matth. 16. 24. 〈…〉 Heb. 1● . 26. ●o● . 2. 7. & 8. 17 , 18. As the Angel said to Elijah , 1 King . 19. 7. Arise and eate , because the journey is too great for thee ] so God encourageth his servants by his Honours and rewards , because the journey , the labour , the suffering is too great , without such encouragement to be cheerfully undergone : And in the strength of these consolations , they bear the cross .

5. The objection is most against the Lord . If it be an errour to Honour and extol the Godly , as tending to make them Proud , it is God himself that is the owner of it . The words that I have recited to you are his own words . Do we devise these sayings ? Or do we not shew them you in the Scripture ? And dare you charge God with errour , or encouraging Pride ? Do you think he knew not what he said , when he spake such Honourable things of his servants . Did he need you to have taught him to have endited his word , and to have warned him that he make not his servants proud ! As if he hated not pride as much as you !

6. Yea God will do more then this for his servants , he will advance them to Salvation , and yet he will not make them proud . There is no Pride in Heaven , though there be the greatest Glory . The Angels are most glorious , and yet least proud . If you would not wish God to keep men out of Heaven lest it make them proud , you should not grudge at his Honouring them on earth , with the mention of their Heavenly titles , upon that account .

7. The Exaltation of the Saints is a spiritual exaltation , which is not so apt to make men Proud , as carnal exaltation is . Charity puffeth not up , as ●ery knowledge doth . It is selfishness that is the Life of Pride , ( which consisteth in excessive self-esteem , and desire of an excessive esteem with others , and to be magnified by them ) And nothing but Grace can subdue this selfishness , and therefore nothing else candestroy Pride .

8. Moreover the Honour of the Saints , is the less like to make them Proud , because Humility is part of the Grace that ●● bestowed on them . To be Proud and Holy , is to be sick and Holy , to be Light and Dark : they are plain contraries . No man is proud but for want of Holiness : and therefore that Holiness should efficiently make men proud is impossible , any more th●n Health can make men sick , or Darkness can be caused by Light . And if objectively any be Proud of his Holiness , 〈…〉 but in such a measure as he is noholy . Holiness doth ever 〈…〉 Pride , and contain Humility and self-denyal , as an essential part : All Christs Disciples learn of him in their measure to be meek and lowly .

9. Let experience tell you whether it be not some worldly Honour or parts and gifts , that are the much commoner object of Pride then Holiness . I have oft heard talk of mens being proud of their Humility and Holiness : but the Temptations of my own soul , have comparatively layn but little that way ; nor have I observed it the common case of others , in any proportion with other kinds of Pride . Riches and Honours , and Beauty and Dignity , I see people ordinarily proud of . And I see many Proud of Counterfeit Graces , that have none that is sincere ( as far as may be perceived by others ) to be proud of . And I see many Proud of their Learning , and Knowledge and nimble t●ngnes , a hundred fold more then ever I found true Christians , Proud of the Love of God , and a Heavenly mind . Alas we have much a doe for the most part , to discern that we have any of this at all , and to find so much of it in our selves as is necessary to our support and thankfulness .

10. Lastly consider , what abundance of Means the Lord hath adjoyned as Antidotes with his servants Honours to keep them from being puffed up with Pride ; and then tell me whether you dare charge God with errour or want of wisdom in this thing .

1. The nature and life of Holiness consisteth in the souls retiring home to God , and adhering to him , and walking as before him . And there is not a more powerful means in the world , to keep Humble the soul , then the Knowledge of God . O when a poor sinner hath but any lively apprehensions of the Greatness , and Glory of the Lord , it amazeth him , and levelleth him with the dust , and abaseth him in his own esteem , and maketh him say with Job 40. 4 , 5. [ Behold I am vile , what shall I answer thee ? I will lay my hand upon my mouth . ] & 4 , 5 , 6. [ I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear , but now mine eye seeth thee ; wherefore I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes ] One glympse of God were enough to humble any soul that truly knoweth him . A Godly man hath still to do with that Majesty that continually aweth him . His 〈…〉 is with him : His thoughts are on him ; his work is with him . 〈…〉 his word that he readeth , and heareth and discourseth of , and therefore a● his word , with reverence and Godly fear , as knowing that our God is a consuming fire , Heb. 12. 28 , 29. It is God that he prayeth to , that he meditateth on , and he praiseth , and hath still to do with . And therefore no wonder if he walk hambly with so holy and great a God .

2. The sin and misery that once they were in , while they knew not God , will do much to keep humble a gracious soul , as long as they live . Though God so forget our sins as to forgive them , yet we can scarce forgive our selves , or at least can never forget them . Though he see no fin in his servants , as he seeth it in the world , nor so as to hate and condemn them for it ; yet they see that once they were as bad as the world , and were children of wrath as well as others ; They condemn themselves when God doth justifie them ; and set their sins before their faces , which God doth cast behind his back . O those dark , those ungrateful , and those perilous dayes , will never be forgotten by the renewed soul . The thoughts of them shall ever keep us humble . When we look on the wicked miserable world , to think that such were many of us , though mercy have washed , and sanctified , and justified us .

3. Moreover , God hath so contrived the way of their salvation , that they shall have all by a Redeemer , and by freest Grace , and none shall be justified by the works of the Law , nor by any merit of his own ; but Boasting is excluded by the Law of faith , Rom. 3. 19 , 27 , 28. and we shall have nothing but what we receive besides and contrary to our desert .

4. And alas too much corruption still remaineth in us : We have flesh that fighteth against the spirit , Rom. 7. 24. Gal. 5. 17. We know but in part , and Love God but in part , and serve him with such constant weakness , that these things are usually such humbling matters to a gracious soul , that were it not for the Comforter , they would be unable to look up . O to feel how dark we are ! how far from God! how strange to heaven ! how little we believe , and know , and love ! these are humbling thought indeed to a soul that is acquainted withit self 〈…〉 ●●verty , beggery , or the reproach in the world , would be so humbling to them . To find such remnants of that odious sin , that cost them dear , and had cost them dearer , if it had not cost their Lord so dear , this is constant matter of humiliation .

5. And too often do their corruptions get advantage of them , and produce some actual sin , of thought , word or 〈…〉 and this also must be grievous to them .

6. The very Bodily informities of Believers , are a constant help to keep them humble . They have all this treasure but is earthen vessels , 2 Cor. 4. 7. Their souls are here so poorly lodged in corruptible Tabernacles of earth , and so meanly cloathed with frail , diseased , mortal flesh , that it is madness to be proud .

7. And the many and great afflictions of the godly , are medicines that are purposely given them by their Physicion to cure Pride , and keep them humble . Why else must their sufferings be so many ? and why must they daily bear the Cross ? but that they may be conformed to the image of Christ .

8. And to the same end it is that God doth let loose upon them so many enemies . All Satans temptations , and the worlds allurements and vexations , and all their disappointments here , and all the scorns and mocks of the ungodly , and the censures and slanders of wicked tongues , and often bitter persescutions , what are they but the bitter medicines of God ( permitted and ordered by him , though caused by the Devil and wicked men ) to save the servants of the Lord , from the sin and danger of being lifted up ? Do you say that their Honour will make them proud ? Why you that thus oppose them and despise them , are ●uring them of their pride , and do not know it : as Scullions scoure the rust off the vessels for their Masters use ; and as Leeches draw out the blood that causeth the disease ; and as the Jews by their sin promoted the Redemption of the world by the death of Christ . When God seeth his servants in danger of being lifted up above measure , he oft sendeth a messenger of Satan ( who may be an Executioner of Gods chastisements ) to buffet them , ( 2 Cor. 12. 7. ) Sometimes by slanders , sometime by reproaches , sometime by imprisonments or greater sufferings , and sometimes by horrid troublesom temptations .

9. The very foresight of death it self is a humbling means : and the last enemy Death , is yet unconquered , and our Bodies must corrupt in dust and darkness , and be kept in the grave as common earth , till the Resurrection , that the soul may not grow proud that hath such a body .

11. And the Day of Judgement is so described to us in the Scripture , as tends to keep the soul in awe and in Humility . To think of such a day , and such a reckoning , before such a God , me 〈…〉 should humble us .

11. And our Absolution and Glorification at that day , is promised us now but conditionally ( though God will see that the condition be performed by all that he will save . ) And therefore the poor soul is oft so far to seek about the certain sincerity of his own Faith and Repentance , that most of the godly are kept in fears and doubtings to the death . Yea and Humility and Self-denyal are part of this Condition : And all their Honour and Glory with Christ is promised to the Humble only : Humility is commanded them in the Precept : Humility is it that they are exhorted to by the Ministers : And Pride is threatened with everlasting wrath , and described as the Devils image . So that Holiness hath all the advantages against Pride that can be here expected .

12. To conclude , the Godly know that as they have nothing but from God , so they have nothing but for God : so that their own Honour is for him , more then for themselves ; and it is essential to their Holiness , to make God their end , and set him highest , and referr all to his Pleasure and Glory . So that you see now that we may Honour them that fear the Lord , ( Psalm 15. 4. ) without being guilty of making them proud , and that we must not deny them the Honour that God hath given them as their due , for fear of their being proud of it . Though this , as all things else , must be prudently managed to particular persons , according to their various states .

And therefore let me here warn all you that profess the fear of God : Take heed lest you be proud of any thing that God hath Honoured you with : For if you be , you see what an Army of Reasons and Means you sin against ; and consequently how great your sin will be . And your consciences and the world shall be forced to justifie God and his Holy wayes , and to prove against you , that it was not long of them that you were proud : and that none in the world was more against it then God and Holiness : and that it was not because you were so Religious , but because you were no more Religious . And if Pride of Knowledge , Gifts , or whatsoever , be unmortified in you , it will certainly prove that you are none of the sanctified ; when your profession of Sanctity will never prove that Sanctity was a cause or confederate in your sin .

AND now I have shewed you the Honour of Godliness , let us briefly , ( and but briefly ) consider of your Honour that reject it , and see then whether the godly or ungodly are more Honourable .

1. Ungodly men have the Basest Master in the world . Would you know who ? Let Christ be Judge , John 8. 44. [ Ye are of your father the Devil , and the lusts of your father you will do . ] 2 Tim. 2. 26. They are taken captive by the Devil at his will ; that is , to do his will : It is he that stirreth you up to filthy talking , to speak against Godliness , to curse and swear , and you do his will . His will is , that you should neglect a holy life , and you do his will . His will is , that you live not after the spirit , but after the flesh , and you do his will . O poor souls ! Do you think it is only Witches that expresly Covenant with him , that are his miserable servants ! Alas , it is you also , if you do his will . For ( if you will believe either God or common reason ) [ to whom you yield your selves servants to obey , his servants you are to whom you obey , whether of sin unto death , or of obedience unto righteousness . ] Rom. 6. 16. The godly themselves were the servants of sin , till they obeyed from the heart the doctrine of the Lord , v. 17. And are you not come to fair preferment , to be the Devils drudges ! Though he should cloath your Bodies with Purple and fine linnen , and feed you sumptuously every day , yet indeed you are no better , as the case of that miserable man may tell you , Luke 16. It is the greatest Baseness to have so Base a Master .

2. And it is but an ignoble Base de sign that the ungodly carry on in the world . What is it but to provide for , and please their flesh ? It aimeth at nothing beyond this life . And a beast can eat , and drink , and sleep , and play , and satisfie his lust , as much as they . A swine can carry a mouth full of straw to his lodging , and a bird can build a nest for her young ones . And what do ungodly men more in the world ! whether Gentlemen or Beggars , the flattered Gallants or the poor day-labourers , if they be not such as first seek Heaven , and live to God , what do they but make a pudder in the world , about a little dirt or smoak ? and find themselves somewhat to do that is next to nothing , instead of that for which they were created ; and busie themselves about nothing till their time is gone , and the night is come when none can work ? If you would judge of a mans Designs , fore-see his Attainments . If you can tell what End it is that they come to , you may know how to judge of their intentions and their course . Their corpses you know , have no greater a Happiness , ( after a few foolish merry hours ) then to lie in the earth as filth or dust . You can see no Honour attained there . It is a child indeed that thinks a guilded Monument over a rotten carkase , is any great matter of Honour or Benefit to it . And if you look after the soul , ( by the prospective of the Word of God ) alas , it goeth to far greater dishonour . And is this it that worldlings make such a stir for ?

3. The work also that they are employed in , is like the Design . Sin , which is the Basest thing in the world , is their employment . The work of a Scullion , or the basest honest trade you can imagine , is a thousand times less dishonourable , then sin : Yet flattered Gallants believe not this , when they can please their flesh without losing the teputation of worthy Gentlemen ! Nor will our common ungodly people be perswaded of it , that are more ashamed to be found praying then sinning , and to be called a Puritane then a Good-fellow or a Swearer : and that think they are as good men as others , when up to the ears in the drudgery of the Devil : As if the filth of sin were no dishonour to them , which nothing but the Spirit and blood of Christ is able to wash out . These are the men that Paul mentioneth with weeping , Phil. 3. 18. that mind earthly things , whose God is their belly , and who glory in their shame .

4. Moreover , it is a Base disposition that ungodly men are possessed with . Though their Natures are essentially noble as being the work of God , and capable of most glorious things ; yet have they made them Dispositively Vile : They are fleshly-minded , earthly-minded , ignorant of Heavenly things , not savouring the things of the Spirit , but like the Serpent , crawling on earth , and feeding on the dust Grass is sweeter to a horse then junkets ; and a little money or vain-glory is sweeter to a fleshly mind then God and Glory , and all the treasures of Saints and Angels . A swine never thinks of God or Heaven , but of his draffe and stie : Ease , and good chear , and money , and the flattery of men , are the God and the Heaven of sensual men . And are not these men of Base dishonourable spirits ? Unworthy men ! might you have an Everlasting life , and will you preferre a few dayes fleshly pleasure ? As surely as you may know the Basenss of a swine or dog by what they feed upon , so surely may you know the baseness of a carnal mind , by the baseness of its desires and delights .

5. It is also a Base Society that ungodly men are members of . They are in the Kingdom of darkness , Col. 1. 13. Acts 26. 18. and are dead in sin , in which they walk according to the course of the world , according to the Prince of the power of the air , the spirit that now walketh in the children of disobedience , among whom they have their conversations , Eph. 2. 1 , 2 , 3. Devils are their invisible companions , and wicked men their visible : but they have none of the presence and favour of the Lord , nor any communion with him in the spirit .

6. The greatest Dishonour of the ungodly is , that the God of Heaven refuseth to Honour them : yea he despiseth them : yea he dishonoureth them with most contemptuous titles . And certainly God knoweth what he saith of them ; and it is impossible that he should do them wrong . Yet doth he call them the seed of the Serpent , that stand at enmity with his flock , Gen. 3. 15. he calls them his enemies , and accordingly will use them , Luke 19. 27. He calls them Dogs and Swine , and the Children of the Devil , John 8. 44. Matth. 7. 6. They dishonoured and despised him , and he will dishonour and despise them , and hath resolved that their very names shall rot , Prov. 10. 7.

7. But it is the Everlasting shame that will tell us what was the Honour of the ungodly . When Christ shall be ashamed of them before his Father and the Heavenly Angels , Matth. 8. 38. and shall tell them that he never knew them , Matth. 7. 23. When all their former pomp and splendour , will be turned into perpetual shame and sorrows , then where is the Honour of the ungodly world ? Where then are their flatterers ? Who boweth to them , and calleth them Right Honourable and Right Worshipfull any more ? Where now are their sumptuous houses and attendance ? Now they have other kind of servitours ; and other language , and other usage then they had on earth . And the poor wretches that stormed at a faithful Minister for foretelling these woeful changes to them , and speaking so dishonourably of them , as to tell them of their sin , are at last saying an hundred fold worse of themselves , then ever we did say against them . Then they shall need none to call them fools , and vile , and wretches , but their own Consciences , that will speak it out , and speak it again ten thousand times , and never be bribed to forbear . O how base a despicable Generation will the ungodly then be ( that now speak so stoutly and look so high ) when God shall everlastingly frown them into contempt and misery , and the glorified Saints shall look down upon them without compassion , even prasing the Justice that for ever doth torment them ! Then let the Kings and Nobles of the earth maintain their antient Honours if they can : Or let them take comfort in the remembrance of their former dreams : and try whether this will be to them instead of a drop of water .

Well , Sirs , I have faithfully told you from the Word of God , of the Honour of the Godly , and the Baseness of the ungodly , that you may be resolved , which is the Better part . If yet you will not see , you shall see and be ashamed , Isa. 26. 11. When you have heard your last and dreadful doom , and seen the Lord make up his Jewels , then shall you discern between the Righteous and the wicked ; between him that serveth God , and him that serveth him not , Mal. 3. 17 , 18.

CHAP. X. Holiness the most Pleasant Way .

I Have proved beyond all reasonable contradiction that Holiness is the Safe , the Honest , the Profitable and the Honourable state and course : But my hardest task is yet to be done ; and that is , to prove it the most Pleasant way . And the difficulty of this is not at all from the matter , but from the persons with whom I have to do . For nothing is Pleasant unto men , but what is sutable to their natures , and apprehended by them to be for their good , or in it self more excellent then their good . That is Pleasant to one man that is loathsom to another . As the food and converse is delightful to a beast , that is loathsom and as ●ad as death to man : So one mans Pleasure is anothers Pain . Even about the common matters of this life , variety of complexions , educations , customs , dispositions , doth cause a variety of affections ; the difference between the sanctified and unsanctified , the spiritual and the carnal mind , doth cause a greater contrariety . If therefore the errour of wicked minds , or the distemper of your souls , do make the Best things seem the worst , and the sweetest things to seem most Bitter , this is no confutation of my Argument , that proves the way of Godliness most Pleasant . If I would prove that wine is pleasanter then Vinegar , or Bread then dirt or ashes , I mean not to appeal to the appetites of the sick ; It is the sound and healthful that must be judges . If a man will suffer his mind to be possessed with prejudice and base thoughts of God himself , no wonder if he cannot love him , nor take any delight in him ▪

And if men have a malignant enmity to Godliness , no reason will perswade them that it is most pleasant , but what perswades them from that enmity . No Reason will perswade a sloathful person that Labour is better then sleep and idleness ; no Reason will perswade a drunkard , glutton , or voluptuous wretch , that abstinence and continence are the sweetest life . Could we change their Hearts , we should change their Pleasures . Such as men are , such are their delights But the thing that I undertake , is , to manifest to any competent discerner , that Holiness is the most Pleasant course ; and that all the Pleasures of the Earth are Nothing to the Pleasures which the Godly find in God , and in a Holy life : and if any be not of this mind , it is because his souls diseases have made him an incompetent judge . And that Godliness is the Pleasant State of life , will appear to you , 1. From the Nature of the thing it self . 2. From the encouragements and helps with which it is attended . 3. From the effects and fruits .

I. The Nature of Holiness is to be found , 1. In the Understanding , 2. In the will and affections , and 3. In the Practice of mens lives . And in all these I shall shew you that it is the most Delightful course .

1. Knowledge in it self is a pleasant thing to humane nature . Ignorance is the blindness of the soul . It is not so pleasant for the eye to behold the sun , as for the mind of man to discern the truth . To Know Good and Evil , had never been the matter of so strong a Temptation to Adam , if Knowledge had not been very desirable to innocent nature . How hard do many even ungodly persons study to know the mysteries of Nature ? And nothing hath more strongly tempted some wretches to witchcraft or contracts with the Devil , then a desire of knowing unrevealed things , which by his means they have hoped to attain . A studious man hath far more natural valuable Delight , in his reading and succesful studies , then a voluptuous Epicure hath in his sensual Delights .

But it is a special kind of Knowledge that Holiness doth ( initially ) consist in , which transcendeth in true Pleasure all the common wisdom of the worid : For

1. How Pleasant a thing must it needs be to know things of so high a Nature ? To know the Almighty , Living God : to behold his wisdom , goodness and power , in his glorious works , to be led to him by all the Creatures , and hear of him by every Providence , and find his Holy Blessed Name in every leaf of his sacred word , how sweet and pleasant a thing is this ! To know the Divine Nature , Persons , Attributes , and Will , to know the mystery of the Incarnation , of the person , natures , undertaking , performance of the blessed Mediator Jesus Christ , to know his birth , his life , temptations , conquests , his righteousness , his holy doctrine and example , the Law and promise , the Law of Nature , and the Covenant of Grace , the sufferings , Resurrection , ascension , glorification and intercession of our Lord : to know his Kingdom , Laws , and Government , and his Judgement , with his Rewards and punishments ; to know the sanctifying works of the Holy Ghost , by which we are prepared for everlasting life ; and to know that life ( though but by faith ) for which we are here prepared , how high and pleasant a thing is this ! If it be pleasant to know the course of nature , in those higher parts that are above the vulgar reach , what is it to know the God of Nature , and the true use and End of Nature ? What high things doth the poorest Christian know ? He knoweth the things that are invisible .

Think not that faith is so void of Evidence as not to deserve the name of Knowledge : We Know the things which we do believe . Nicodemus could say from the Evidence of Miracles , Joh. 3. 2. We know that thou ar● a Teacher come from God : for no man could do these miracles that thou dost , except God be with him . ] Joh. 9. 29. We know that God spake to Moses , ] say the Jews . We know that the Scripture testimony is true , Joh. 21. 24. 2 Cor. 5. 1. We know ( even by believing ) that if this earthly house of our tabernacle were dissolved , we have a building of God , an house not made with hands , eternal in the heavens ] 1 Joh. 3. 2. We know that when we shall appear , we shall be like him , for we shall see him as he is ] Joh. 14. 20. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father , and you in me , and I in you ] We know that no whoremonger ▪ 〈…〉 such like shall inherit eternal life , Eph. 5. 5. We know that ●●● Labour is not in vain in the Lord , 1 Cor. 15. 58. Many such passages of Scripture tell us , that Faith is a certain Knowledge , and that Invisible things revealed by God , are certainly known . We know what Saints and Angels are now doing in the highest heavens : for God hath told us . We know the most high and glorious things revealed by God , which we never saw . And is not the Pleasure of such knowledge greater then the Pleasure of all the wealth , the honour and sensual enjoyments in this world ! I durst almost refer the case to one of you that are most befooled by your own sensuality . If you could go tomorrow and meet with a soul from Heaven , or with an Angel , that could tell you what becomes of souls , and what is done in another world , Would you not rather goe to such a conference , then go as far to a drinking , or a bowling , or some such recreation ? I think you would , if it were but to satisfie your curiosity and desire of Knowing . Why then should not the servants of Christ more Delight , in the reading and hearing the words of Christ , that came from the bosome of the Father , that hath seen God , and is with God , and is God himself , that telleth them more certainly of the Invisible things then any Saints or Angels can tell them ? Why should not this , I say be sweeter to them , then all the fleshly pleasures in the world ? O that I could know more of God , and more of the mystery of Redemption , even of an obedient , crucified , glorified Christ ; and more of the invisible world , and of the blessed state of souls , on condition I left all the Pleasures of this world , to sensual men ! O that I had more clear and firm apprehensions of these transcendent glorious things ! How easily could I spare the Pleasures of the flesh , and leave those husks to swine to feed on ? O could my Soul get nearer God , and be more irradiated with his heavenly beams , my mind would need no other recreation , and I should as little relish carnal Pleasures , as carnal minds do relish the heavenly delights . As earthly things are poor and low , so is the knowledge of them . As things spiritual and heavenly are High and Glorious , mysterious and profound , the knowledge of them is accordingly Delighful [ And without controversie great is the mystery of Godliness ; God was manifest in the flesh , justified in the spirit , seen of Angels , preached to the Gentiles , believed on in the world , received up into glory , 1 Tim. 3. 16. Faith is the Evidence of things not seen , Heb. 11. 1. It is far pleasanter by faith to see the Lord , th●… to see any Creature by the eye of flesh : and sweeter ●y faith to see Heaven opened , and there behold our Glorified Lord , then to see a horse-race , or stage-play , or any of the folleries of the world .

2. The knowledge of things to Come is specially desired , and Godliness containeth that Faith which knoweth things to come . How glad would men be to be told what shall besall them to the last hour of their lives ? The woman of Samaria Joh. 4. called out her neighbours with admiration to see Christ , as one that had told her all that shee had done : But if he had told her all that ever she would do , for the time to come , and all that ever should befall her , it might have astonished her much more . Believers know what hath been even before the world was made , and how it was made , and what hath been since then , and they know what will be to all eternity . A true Believer knows from Scripture , whither mens Souls go after death , and how their Bodies shall be raised again , and how Christ will come to Judge the world , and who shall then be justified , and who shall be condemned : and what shall be the case of the godly and the ungodly to all eternity . And is it not more pleasant to know these things , then to possess all the vain delights of the earth ? Can the flesh afford you any thing so delightful ?

3. Especially , it is desireable and Pleasant to Know those things that most concern us : Needless speculations and curiosities we can spare : There is a Knowledge that brings more pain then pleasure ; Yea there is a Knowledge that will torment . But to know our own affairs , our greatest and most necessary affairs ; to know our threatened misery to prevent it , and to know our offered Happiness to obtain it ; to know our Portion , our Honour , our God , what can be more Pleasant to the mind of man ! Other mens matters we can pass by : But to Know such things concerning our own souls , as what we must be and do for ever , and what course we must take to be everlastingly happy , must needs be a feast to the mind of a wise man . Ask but a soul that is haunted with temptations to unbelif , whether any thing would be more welcome to him , then the clear and satisfying apprehensions of a lively faith ? Ask one that lyeth in tears or groans , through the feeling of their sin , and the fears of the wrath of God , and doubtings of his love , whether the satisfying Knowledge of pardon , and reconciliation , and divine acceptance , would not be more pleasant to them , then any of your merriments can be to you ? Ask that poor soul that hath lost the apprehension of his Evidences of grace , and walks in darkness , and hath no light , that seeks , and cryes , and perceives no hearing , whether the discovery of his Evidences , the assurance that his Prayers are accepted , and the light of Gods countenance shining on him , would not be Better to him then any Recreation , or any Pleasure the earth affords . Ask any man at the hour of death , that is not a block , Whether now the Knowledge of his salvation would not be Better and more Pleasnt to him , then all the lust , or sport , or honours of the world .

4. The Knowledge of the Best and Joyfullest matters , must be the Best and Pleasantest Knowledge . And nothing can be Better then God and Glory . Nothing can be sweeter then salvation ; and therefore this must be the sweetest Knowledge . I had rather have the pleasure of one hours clear and lively Knowledge of my salvation , and of the special Love of God , then to be exalted above the greatest Prince , and to have all the Pleasures that my senses can desire . The Delights of the flesh are base and brutish , and nothing to the spiritual Heavenly Delights of the renewed mind .

5. The manner of our Holy Knowledge , maketh it more Delightful . 1 : It is a Certain and Infallible Knowledge . It is not a [ may be ] , or bare possibility : It is not , It is possible there may be a Heaven and Happiness hereafter : But it is as true as the Word of God is true : We have his own hand , and seal , and earnest for it : Even his precious promises , and oath , confirmed by miracles , and fulfilled-prophecy , and bearing his own image and superscription , and shining to us by its own light : We have in our hearts the spirit which is Gods earnest , by which we are sealed up to the day of our final full redemption . And if the soul yet stagger at the promise of God through the remnants of unbelief , that shall not make the promise of God of none effect ; but his foundation shall still stand sure : His word shall not pass till all be fulfilled , though heaven and earth shall pass away . A message by one that were sent to us from the dead , were not more credible then the Word of God . And this Certainty of Holy Faith and Knowledge is a very great contentment to the soul . When the Glory of the Saints is a thing as sure as if we saw it with our eyes , and as sure as these things which we daily see ; it is a great pleasure to the soul , when it can but apprehend this joyful Certainty .

2. And that there is a certain easiness and plainness in the great and necessary points of faith , as to the manner of Revelation , doth add much to Faith's , Satisfaction and Delight . The points that life and death lie on , are not left so obscure as might perplex us , lest we did not know the meaning of them . But they are so plain , that he that runs may read them ; and the simple , that are but honest-hearted , may certainly understand them : Which quiets , and pleaseth , and satisfies the mind .

3. And yet there is an exciting Difficulty in many things that are offered to our Knowledge , which doth but make our holy studies the more delightful . If the Word of God were so plain and obvious to all , that it might be all understood at the first reading , the plainness would bring our Sacred Knowledge into contempt , as being an easie common thing . Things common and easily got , are little set by : But when the plainness is such as may prevent our despair and dissatisfaction , and yet the Difficulty such , that it may hold us in study , and prevent our contempt , it makes the most delightful Knowledge . It is Pleasant to find some daily addition to our Light , and to be on the gaining and thriving hand , and this upon our diligent search : Successes are as pleasant as a present fulness of supplies : The daily blessing of God upon our studies , and humble learning , addeth to our delight . So that all this set together , may shew you how pleasant a thing it is to have the Knowledge of a Saint .

Especially if you add that he hath an Exporimental , and so a sweeter Knowledge , then the most learned men have that are ungodly . He hath tasted that the Lord is gracious , and he hath tasted the sweetness of his Love , and of all the Riches of his Grace in Christ , and of his full and precious promises , and of the inward powerful workings of his spirit . His experimental Knowledge is the most Delightful Knowledge .

The Pleasure of Natural Knowledge is great , but the Pleasure of saving Knowledge is much greater . I do not believe that ever any of the Ambitious troublers of the world , that let go Heaven that they may Rule on Earth , have half the Pleasure in their Greatness and usurped Dignities , as an honest Student hath in his Books , and studious exercises and successes : But if you compare the Pleasures of their Greatness and Commands , with the Pleasure of a true Believing soul , in his life of Faith , and sweet fore-thoughts of his Heavenly Inheritance , I must plainly tell you that we disdain the comparison . Again I say , that if you will compare the Drunkards , the Fornicators , or the Ambitious or Covetous mans delight , with the solace that I find in my retired studies , even about natural common things , I disdain the comparison : But if you compare their Pleasure , with that little , alas too little , pleasure that I find in the believing thoughts of Life Eternall , I do not only disdain your comparison , but detest it .

Were I minded to be long , I would shew you from these twelve particular Instances , the abundant Pleasure of Holy Knowledge .

1. What a Pleasant thing is it to know the Lord , the Eternal God , in his blessed Attributes ! The dimmest glimmering Knowledge of God , is better then the clearest Knowledge of all the mysteries of nature .

2. How Pleasant is it to know the works of his Creation ? How , and why , and when he made the world , and all that is therein ?

3. How Pleasant is it to know the blessed Son of God , and to behold the face of his Fathers Love that is revealed in him as his fullest Image ?

4. How Pleasant is it to know the Law and Gospel : the Matter and the Method : the litteral and spiritual sense : to see there the mind and will of God : and to see our Charter for the Heavenly Inheritance ; and read the Precepts , and the Promises , and the Examples of the faith and patience of the Saints ?

5. How Pleasant is it to know the Heavenly operations of the Holy Ghost , and the nature and action of his several Graces , and the uses of every one of them to our souls ; and especially to find them in our selves , and to be skilled in using them ?

6. How Pleasant is it to know the nature and frame of the Church of Christ which is his Body , and to know the difference and use of the several members ? To understand the office of the Ministry , and why Christ hath set them in the Church , and how much love he hath manifested therein : that they should preach to us , and offer us Reconciliation in his name and stead , 2 Cor. 5. 19. and marry us unto Christ in Baptism , receiving us in his name into the Church and holy Covenant : and that in his name and stead they should deliver us his body and blood , and absolve the penitent sinner from his sins , and deliver him a sealed pardon , and receive the returning humbled soul into the Church of Christ and Communion of the Saints !

7. How Pleasant is it to know the nature and use of all Christs Ordinances : The excellencies of his Holy Word : the use of Baptism , and the refreshing , strengthening use of the Supper of the Lord : the use and benefit of Holy prayer , and praises , and thanksgiving , and Church-order , and all parts of the Communion of the Saints !

8. Yea there is a holy Pleasure in knowing our very sin and folly . When God bringeth a sinner to himself , though his sin be odious to him , yet to know the sin is Pleasant ; and therefore he prayeth that God would shew him the bottom of his heart , and the most secret or odious of his sins .

9. And it is Pleasant to a Christian to know his Duty . It very much quieteth and delighteth his mind , when he can but know what is the will of God : When the way of Duty is plain before him , how chearfully can he go on , whatever meet him ? and how easie doth it make his labour and his suffering ?

10. Yea it is Pleasant to a Believer to understand his very danger : Though the Danger it self be dreadful to him , yet to know it , that he may avoid it , is his desire and his delight .

11. And how Pleasant is it to understand all the Helps , Encouragements and Comforts that God hath provided for us in our way ? and how many more are for us , then against us ?

12. But above all , how Pleasant is it to know by faith , the life that we must live with God for ever ? and what he will do for us to all eternity , in the performance of his holy Covenant .

I do but briefly name these Instances of Delightful Knowledge , which are sweeter to the holy soul then all the Pleasures of sin to the ungodly . Do you think that any of you hath such solid Pleasure in your sins , as David had in the Law of God , when he meditated in it with such delight , and saith , How sweet is it to my mouth ? even sweeter then the honey and the hony-comb . Surely you dare not compare with him in Pleasures .

2. Another part of Holiness that is Pleasant in the Nature of it , is that which is subjected in the heart or affections . And here is the chiefest of its sweetness and delights .

1. The very compliance of the Will with the Will of God , and its Conformity to his Law , doth carry a quieting Pleasure in it . That soul is happyest that is nearest God , and likest to him ; and that soul may well be fullest of Delight , that is most Happy : And that soul is nearest and likest unto God , whose Will is most conformed to his Will : The trouble of the Heart is its unsettledness , when it is not bottomed on the Will of God : When we feel that Gods Will doth Rule and satisfie us , and that we would fain be what he would have us be , and rest in his Disposing Will , as well as obey his Commanding Will , this gives abundant Pleasure and quietness to the soul .

2. The holy workings of Charity in the soul , are exceeding Pleasant . All the acts of Love to God and man are very sweet . This is the holy work , that is its own wages .

1. The ●●●● of God is so sweet an exercise , that verily my soul had rather be employed in it with sense and vigour , then to be Lord of all the earth . O could I but be taken up with the Love of God , how easily could I spare the Pleasure of the flesh ? Might I but see the Loveliness of my dear Creator , with a clearer view ; and see his glory in his noble works ; Might I but see and feel that saving Love which he hath manifested in the Redeemer , till my soul were ravished and filled with his Love , how little should I care who had the Pleasures of this deceitful world ! Had I more of that blessed spirit of Adoption , and more of those filial affections to my heavenly Father , which his unutterable Love bespeaks ; and were I more sensible of his abundant mercy , and did my soul but breath and long after him more earnestly , I would pitty the miserable Tyrants of the world , that are worse then Beggars while they domineer , and tast not of that Kingdom of Love and Pleasure that dwelleth in my breast . All the Pleasures of the world , are the laughing of a mad man , or the sports of a child , or the dreams of a sick man , in comparison of the Pleasures of the Love of God .

2. And the Love of Holiness , the Image of God hath , its degree of Pleasure . And so hath the Love of the Holy servants of the Lord . There is a sweetness in the soul in its goings out after any Holy object , in spiritual Love . Yea more , our very common Love of men , and our Love of Enemies , hath its proportion of pleasure , far better then the sensual Pleasure of the ungodly . To feel so much of the operations of grace , and to answer our holy pattern , in Loving them that hate us , doth give much ease and pleasure to the mind . The exercises of Love to God and man , and that for his sake , are the exceeding Pleasure of a gracious soul .

And here by the way , you may take notice of one reason why Hypocrites and ungodly men find no such sweetness in the exercises of Religion ; Because they let alone the inward Pleasant work of Love , which is the soul and life of Outward duty ▪ This inward work is the Pleasant work : while they are strangers unto this , their outward duties will be but a toll , 〈…〉 seem a drudgery or a wearysome employment .

There is a Pleasure even in Holy Desires : When a Christian feeleth his heart enlarged , in longing after the wellfare of the Church and the good of others . Though the absence of the thing desired be a●…e , yet the exercise of holy desire ( which is an act of Love ) is pleasant to us . If the Lustfu have a pleasure in their vile Desires , and the Ambitious and the Covetous have a pleasure in their vain and delusory desires , the wise well-guided desires of a true believer must needs be pleasant .

4. Especially when Desire is accompanied with Hope . All the Pleasures of this world , are far short of affording that Rest and quiet to the soul , as the Hope of Glory doth to the believer . O happy soul that is acquainted by experience , with the lively Hopes of the everlasting Happiness ! It is not the Hope of corruptible Riches , nor of a fading inheritance , but of the Crown that fadeth not , and of the precious , certain , durable treasure ! It is not a Hope in the promise of a deceitful man , but in the word of the everliving God! The soul that hath this Anchor , needs not be tossed with those fears and cares and anxieties of mind , that worldly men are subject to . This Hope will never make them ashamed . If a man were in a consumption , or sentenced to Death , would not the Hopes of Life , upon certain Grounds , be pleasanter to him , then sport , or mirth , or lustful objects , or any such present sensitive delights ? Much more if with the hopes of Life , he had the hopes of all the felicities of Life , and of the perpetuity of all these ? O may I but be enabled by faith to lift up the eye of my soul to God , and view the everlasting mansions and by hope to take possession of them , and say , All this is mine in Title , even upon the Promise of the faithful God! what greater Pleasure can my soul possess , till it enter on the full Possession of those eternal Pleasures ! O poor deluded worldly men ! What is the Pleasure of your wealth to this ? O brutish sinners ! what is the Pleasure of your mirth and jollity , your meat and drink , your pride and bravery , your lust and filthiness in comparison of this ! O poor Ambitious dreaming men , that make such a stir for the Honour and Greatness of this world ! What is the Pleasure of your Idol-honour , and short vainglory in comparison of this ! while you have it , you have no Hope of Keeping it : you are troubled with the thought of leaving it : Had we no higher Hopes then yours , how miserable should we be ?

5. The Trust and repose of the soul on God , which is another part of the life of grace , is exceeding Pleasant and quieting to the soul . To find that we stand upon a Rock , and that under us are the everlasting arms , and that we have so full security for our salvation , as the promise and Oath of the immutable God , what a stay , what a Pleasure is this to the Believer ? The troubles of the godly are most from the remnants of their unbelief : The more they believe , the more they are comforted and established : The life of faith is a Pleasant life . Faith could not conquer so many enemies , and carry us through so much suffering and distress , as you find in that cloud of testimonies , Heb. 11. if it were not a very comfortable work . Even we that see not the salvation ready to be revealed , may yet greatly rejoyce , for all the manifold temptations , that for a season make us subject to some heavyness , 1 Pet. 1. 5 , 6. And we that see not Jesus Christ , yet Believing can love him and rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory , v. 8. The God of Hope doth sometimes fill his servants with all Joy and peace in believing , and makes them even abound in Hope through the Power of the Holy Ghost , Rom. 15. 13.

6. Yea Joy is it self a part of the Holy qualification of the Saints , and of the renewed state that grace hath brought them into . For the Kingdom of God consisteth as in Righteousness , so in Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost , Rom. 14. 17. Believers receive not the spirit of bondage again to fear , that is , they are not under the bondage of the Law , nor have the spirit or state of mind which is suited to those Legal impositions and terrible comminations : but they have received the spirit of Adoption by which they cry Abba father , that is , As they are brought under a more gracious dispensation , and a better Covenant and promises , and God is revealed to them in the Gospel as a Reconciled Father through his son , so doth he treat them more gently as reconciled children , and the spirit which answereth this gracious Covenant , and is given us thereupon , doth qualifie us with a child-like disposition , and cause us with boldness , Love and confidence , to call God Father , and fly to him for succour and supply , in all ou● dangers and necessities . And how Pleasant it must be to a believing soul , to have this spirit of Adoption , this childlike Love and confidence , and freedom with the Lord , methinks you might conjecture , though its sensibly known by them only that enjoy it , Gal. 5. 22. The fruit of the spirit is Love , Joy , Peace ▪ &c. ] when the word is first received by Believers , though it may be in much affliction , through the persecutions and cross that attend the Gospel , yet is it ordinarily in the Joy of the Holy Ghost , 1 Thes. 1. 6. The Holy Ghost is the Comforter of true Believers : And if he have taken it upon him as his work , he will surely do it , in the degree and season fittest for them . And if Joy it self be part of the state of Grace and Holiness , you may see that it is the most delightful Pleasant course .

7. Yea that we may have a Pleasant and comfortable life , the Lord hath forbidden our distracting cares and fears and doubts , and our inordinate sorrows ; and commanded us to cast our care on him , and promised to care for us , 1 Pet. 5. 7. and he hath bid us be careful for nothing , but in all things make our wants known to him , Phil. 4. 6. And can there be a course of life more Pleasant then that which dost consist in faith , and Love , and hope , and Joy , that 's built on God , and animated by him , and that excludeth inordinate cares and sorrows , as health doth sickness ? where it is unlawful to be miserable and to grieve our selves , and no sorrow is allowed us , but that which tendeth to our joy ; where it is made our work to Rejoyce in the Lord , yea always to Rejoyce , Phil. 4. 4. A servant or tradesman will judge of the pleasure of his life by his work . If his work be a drudgery , his life is tedious and filled with grief : If his work be Pleasant , his life is Pleasant . Judge then by this of a Holy life . Is it care , and fear , and anguish of mind that God commandeth you ? no : it is these that he forbiddeth . [ Care not : Fear not ] are his injunctions , Isa. 35. 4. & 41. 10. Do you fear Reproach ? Why , you do it contrary to the will of God , who biddeth you , [ Fear not the reproach of men , Isa. 51. 7. ] Do you fear the power and rage of enemies ? Why it is contrary to your Religion so to do : God biddeth you , Fear them not , Isa. 43. 5 , 13 , 14. & 44. 2 , 8. Do you fear persecution or death from the hands of cruel violence ? why it is contrary to the will of God that you do so , Matth. 10. 26 , 28 , 31. Fear not them which kill the body , &c. ] O blessed life ! where all that is against us is forbidden : and all that is truly Joyous and delightful , and necessary to make us happy , is commanded us , and made our duty : which is contrary to misery , as life to death , and as light to darkness . Come hither poor deluded sinners that fly from care , and fear and sorrow : If you will but give up your selves to Christ , you shall be exempted from all these , except such as is necessary to your joy . You may do any thing , if you will be the servants of the Lord , except that which tendeth to your own and other mens calamity . Come hither all you that call for pleasure , and love no life but a life of mirth . Let God be your master , and Holiness your work , and Pleasure then shall be your business : and holy Mirth shall be your employment ; While you serve the flesh , your pleasure is small , and your trouble great : vexation is your work , and unspeakable vexation is your wages . But if you will be the hearty servants of the Lord , Rejoycing shall be your work and wages : If you understand not this , peruse your lesson , Psal. 33. 1. Rejoyce in the Lord O ye Righteous , for Praise is comely for the upright . ] Psal. 97. 11 , 12. Light is sown for the righteous , and gladness for the upright in heart : Rejoyce in the Lord ye Righteous : and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness . ] Phil. 3. 1. Psal. 5. 11. [ Let all those that trust in thee rejoyce : let them ever shout for joy , because thou defendest them : let them also that Love thy name , be joyful in thee . ] Psal. 32. 11. Be glad in the Lord , and rejoyce ye righteous , and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart . ] Psal. 132. 9. 16. [ Let thy Priests be cloathed with Righteousness , and let thy Saints shout for joy : 16. I will also cloath her Priests with salvation , and his Saints shall shout aloud for joy ] such precepts and promises abound in Scripture , which tell you if you will be Saints indeed , that Joy and gladness must be your life and work . I know objections will be stirring in your minds : But forbear them but a while , and I shall fully answer them anon .

2. I have told you wherein the Inward part of Holiness is Delightful ; I shall briefly shew you that the Outward part also is very Pleasant , and fit to feed these inward joys . And 1. let us view the Duties that are more directly to be performed unto God : and 2. The works of charity and righteousness unto men .

1. How sweet is it to be exercised in the word of God ? In hearing or reading it with serious meditation ? For the man that hath been revived by it , renewed , sanctified , saved by it , to hear that powerful heavenly truth , by which his soul was thus made new ! For the soul that is in Love with God , to hear or see his blessed name , on every leaf ! to read his will , and find the expressions of his Love , his great , eternal , wonderous love , how sweet this is , experience tells the Saints that feel it : If you that feel no sweetness in it , believe not them that say they feel it , at lea●● believe the word of God , and the professions of his ancient Saints , Psal. 119. 97. [ O how I love thy Law ! it is my meditation all the day ] v. 103. How sweet are thy words unto my tast ? yea sweeter then the honey , and the hony-comb ] v. 14. 16. I have rejoyced in the way of thy testimonies as in all riches . I will delight my self in thy statutes : I will not forget thy word ] 24. [ Thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors ] 47. [ I will delight my self in thy Commandments which I have loved , and I will meditate in thy statutes . ] 72. [ The Law of thy mouth is better to me then thousands of Gold and Silver . ] 92. [ Unless thy Law had been my delight , I had perished in my affliction ] 93. I will never forget thy precepts for with them thou hast quickned me . ] 111. [ Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever : for they are the rejoycing of my heart ] 117. I love thy commandments above Gold , yea above fine Gold : ] 162. I rejoyce at thy word as one that findeth great spoile ] 165. Great peace have they that love thy Law , and nothing shall offend them . ]

I should but weary you to recite one quarter of the expressions of holy men in Scripture concerning the sweetness and Pleasures which they found , in the Law of God . In a word , it is the work and marke of the Blessed man , that His delight is in the Law of the Lord , and in his Law doth he meditate day and night , Psal. 1. 1 , 2. Do you think that an unpleasant tedious life that doth consist in such employment ?

2. Another Holy Duty is Prayer , both secret , and with others , in familie , and publike Assemblies . And do you think it is a grievous tedious work , for a needy soul to beg of God , that is so ready to relieve him ? For a guilty soul to pray to God that is so ready to forgive him ? for a sinful soul to return to God , ( and confess his sins , and beg for mercy , ) that is so ready to meet him and entertain him ! for a Loving soul to converse with God , when there is a mutual complacency between them ? Is it grievous for a child to speak to his Father ? ? or are you weary of the presence of your dearest friend ? What is there in holy prayer that should grieve or weary us ? sure it is not his company that we speak to : For it is his presence that makes Heaven● And sure it is not the employment . For it is but Asking , and asking for the best and choicest thing , and asking in our necessities for that which we must have or we are undone for ever . And is it unpleasant to pray to a bounteous God , in our necessity , and that for the best and pleasantest things ? Perhaps there may be some of you that think it is but labour lost , and that you could better spend those hours , and that God regardeth not our prayers , and that indeed we speed never the better for them , and therefore you have no pleasure in them . ] And no wonder ! If you are Atheists and believe not that there is a God , you cannot love him , or rejoyce in him . If you believe not his Promises , how should they give you any comfort ! If you believe not that he regardeth Prayers , no wonder if you have no heart to pray : They that say It is in vain to serve the Lord , and it is no profit to us to keep his ordinances , Mal. 3. 14. Will also say , what a weariness is it ! Mal. 1. 13. and will give him but a lame and lifeless service . If you did believe your friend to be your enemy , you would have small pleasure in him : Mis-conceits may easily make you loath the things that are most delightful . The thoughts of Heaven it self yield little Pleasure to them that believe not that there is a Heaven , or what it is . The Light is not pleasant to the blind : nor any object of our tast or smel to those that have lost these senses . Is musick unpleasant , because it delighteth not the deaf ? For shame do not charge the sweet and blessed ways of God with that which is the fruit of your own corruption . If your lungs be rotten , you may be out of breath with speaking the most delightful words , or walking in the most pleasant fields or gardens ; But the cause of the weariness is within you . If you have the hearts of Infidels , or graceless stupid worldly sinners , you are so unfit to approach the most Holy God in holy prayer , that I marvail not if you go to it as a Bear to the stake , as an Ox to the yoke , or as an offender to the stocks ; For the God that you pray to , is a bater of all the workers of iniquity , and a consuming fire ; and therefore no wonder if his terrours should meet you and leave you but little delight in prayer ( Though its wonder that they do not follow you , and meet you in all your ways , and leave you less delight in the omission of it ) But if you had the hearts of believing holy men , and had tasted in prayer what they have tasted , and had their experience of the success , you would then be easily perswaded that prayer is neither a Vain nor an unpleasnt work . Surely it is not unpleasant to a burdened soul to dis-burden it self before the Lord : nor to a sinner that hath felt the weight , the smart , the sting of sin , to cry for mercy , and healing to him that is able and willing to shew mercy ; nor i● it unpleasant for him that knows the worth of grace and glory , to lie upon his knees in begging them of the Lord . All those that have felt how good it is to draw near to God , had rather have leave to pray in hope , then to please their senses with any delights that earth affordeth . There is force in Prayer ( through the grace that hath appointed and doth accompany it ) to procure comfort to the distressed mind , and safety to them that are in danger , relief to them that are in want , and strength to them that are in weakness . Prayer is good for all things that are good ; and good against all things that are evil . It is good against temptations , dangers , enemies and sin : It is good against sorrows , fears , and cares : yea against povery , shame and sickness . For the God that Prayer goes to , and makes use of , is sufficient against all , and our only help . Turn away now from God if you dare , and cast off earnest constant Prayer , as if it were a tedious unpleasant thing ! but be sure the time is coming when thou , even thou that thus despisest it , wilt betake thy self to Prayer , and cry Lord , Lord , when it is too late , or when anguish and terrour seise upon thee . Sickness , and death , and the terrours of the Lord will teach thee to pray , as useless and tedious as now you think it : Yea and teach you to do it earnestly , that now put off all with a few frozen heartless words . But O it is seasonable believing prayer that is comfortable : It is the prayer of Faith , and Love , and Hope that is pleasant : but the prayer of too late repentance in Hell , and the prayer of despair and horrour , that cannot procure a drop of water , afford no pleasure , as they procure no relief .

3. Another duty that Holiness consisteth in , is Thanksgiving and Praise to the God of our salvation . He that knows not that this work is Pleasant , is unacquainted with it . If there be any thing Pleasant in this world , it is the praises of God , that flow from a believing , loving soul , that is full of the sense of the mercies , and goodness , and excellencies of the Lord ; Especially , the ●●animous conjunction of such souls , in the high praises of God in the holy Assemblies . Is it not pleasant , even to Name the Lord ! to mention his Attributes ! to remember his great and wonderous works ! to magnifie him that rideth on the Heavens , that dwelleth in the light that cannot be approached , that is cloathed with Majesty and Glory , that infinitely surpasseth the Sun in its ●rightness ; that hath his Throne in the Heavens , and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him ; and yet he delighteth in the humble soul , and hath respect to the contrite , yea dwells with them that tremble at his Word . Is any thing so pleasant as the Praises of the Lord ! How sweet is it to see and praise him as the Creator , in the various wonderful creatures which he hath made ! How pleasant to observe his works of providence , to them that read them by the light of the Sanctuary , and in Faith and Patience learn the interpretation , from him that only can interpret them . But O how unspeakably Pleasant is it to see the Father in the Son ; and the God-head in the man-hood of our Lord , and the Riches of Grace in the glass of the holy Gospel , and the manifold wisdom of God in the Church , where the Angels themselves disdain not to behold it ! Ephes. 3. 10 , 11. The praising of God for the incarnation of his Son , was a work that a chore of Angels were employed in as the instructors of the Church , Luke 2. 13 , 14. There is not a promise in the book of God , nor one passage of the Life and Miracles of Christ , and the rest of the History of the Gospel , nor one of the holy works of the spirit upon the soul , nor one of those thousand mercies to the Church , or to our selves , or friends , that infinite Goodness doth bestow , but contain such matter of Praise to God , as might fill believing hearts with Pleasure , and find them most delightful work : Much more when all these are at once before us , what a feast is there for a gracious Soul !

O you befooled fleshly minds , that find no pleasure in the things of God , but had rather be drinking , or gaming , or scraping in the world , awaken your souls and see what you are doing ! With what eyes do you see , with what hearts do you think of the Works , and Word , and Wayes of God , and of the Holy employments that you are so much against ! For my own part , I freely and truly here profess to you , that I would not exchange the Pleasure that my soul enjoyeth in this one piece of the holy Work of God , for all your mirth , and sport , and gain , and whatever the world and sin affords you : I would not change the delights which I enjoy , in one of these holy dayes and duties , in the mentioning of the eternal God , and celebrating his praise , and magnifying his Name , and thinking , and speaking of the riches of his Love , and the glory of his Kingdom , no not for all the pleasure of your lives . O that your souls were cured of those dangerous diseases , that make you loath the sweetest things ! You would then know what it is that you have set light by , and would marvail at your selves , that you could taste no sweetness in the sweetest things ! Can you think that your work or your play , your profits or your sports , are comparable for pleasure to the Praises of the Lord ! If Grace had made you competent Judges , I am sure you would say , There is no comparison . Hear but the testimony of a holy soul , yea of the Spirit of God by him . [ Psal. 147. 1. Praise ye the Lord , for it is good to sing Praises to our God : for it is pleasant , and praise is comely . Psalm 149. 1 , 2. Praise ye the Lord : sing unto the Lord a new song : and his Praise in the Congregation of Saints . Let Israel rejoyce in him that made him , let the children of Zion be joyful in their King . For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people : he will beautifie the meek with salvation . Let the Saints be joyful in Glory : let them sing aloud upon their beds . Let the high Praises of God be in their mouth , &c. ] Psal. 95. 1 , 2 , 3. O come let us sing unto the Lord , let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation : Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving , and make a joyful noise to him with Psalms . For the Lord is a great God , and a great King above all Gods . ] Psalm 96. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4. O sing unto the Lord a new song : Sing unto the Lord all the earth . Sing unto the Lord : bless his Name : shew forth his salvation from day to day . Declare his glory among the Heathen ; his wonders among all people : For the Lord is great , and greatly to be praised — Honour and Majesty are before him , strength and beauty are in his Sanctuary . ] Did not this holy Prophet find it a Pleasant work to Praise the Lord ? Yea all that Love the Name of God should be Joyful in him , Psalm 5. 11. Every one of his upright ones may say with the Prophet , Isa. 61. 10. I will greatly rejoyce in the Lord : My soul shall be joyful in my God : For he hath cloathed me with the garments of salvation , he hath covered me with the robes of righteousness , as a Bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments , and as a Bride adorneth her self with her Jewels . For as the earth springs forth her bud , and as the Garden causeth the things sown in it to spring forth : so the Lord will cause Righteousness and Praise to spring forth before all the Nations . ] It is a promise of Joy that is made in Isa. 56. 6 , 7 , 8. To the sons of the stranger that joyn themselves to the Lord , to serve him , and to love the Name of the Lord , to be his servants , every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it , and taketh hold of my Covenant : Even them will I bring to my holy mountain , and make them joyful in my House of Prayer . ] What a joyful thing is it to a gracious soul , when he may see the reconciled face of God , and feel his Fatherly reviving Love , and among his Saints may speak his Praise , and proclaim his great and blessed name , even in his Temple , where every man speaketh of his Glory ! Psalm 29. 9. If the Proud are delighted in their own praise , how much more will the humble holy soul , be delighted in the Praise of God! When the Love of God is shed abroad in the heart , and Faith doth set us as before his Throne , or at least doth somewhat withdraw the veil , and shew us him that lives for ever , and when the force of Love doth open our lips , that our mouthes may shew forth his praise , it is pleasant both to God and us . The Lord himself doth put on joy , as delighting in his peoples praise ; and when they joyn obedience with holy worship , they are pleasant in his eyes , Jer. 9. 24. Isa. 62. 4. & 42. 1. Zeph. 3. 17. He meeteth him that Rejoyceth and worketh righteousness , and that remembers him in his wayes , Isa. 64. 5. Would you taste of the sweetest life on earth ? Learn then to Delight your selves in God . Do you want recreation ? Be acquainted with his Praise . Is there not a better cure for Melancholy here among the servants of the Lord , then in an Ale-house , or in the company of transgressors ? Their carnal pleasures are unwholsom for you , like luscious fruits that will make you sick : But the delights of Faith are safe and healthful . Fleshly pleasure is windy and deceitful , and weakeneth and befools the soul : But the Joy of the Lord is our strength , Neb. 8. 10. A little may be too much of fleshly pleasures ; and it is of very hard digestion , and leaves that behind that spoils the sport : But the further you go in the Delights of Faith , the better they are , and the sweeter you will find them . You may quickly catch a dangerous surfet of your fleshly pleasures ; but of spiritual Delights , the more , the better : For they are curing , reviving , and much confirm and exalt the soul . Our spiritual pleasures are so heavenly , and have so much of God and Glory in them , that they must needs prepare the soul for heaven , and be excellent helps to our salvation .

O therefore if you would live a Pleasant life , draw near to God , and by Faith behold him , and by Love adhere to him , and take a view of his infinite Goodness and all his perfections ; and behold him in his wonderous works , and then break forth into his chearful praises , and you shall taste such pleasures as the earth affordeth not . Lanch forth into the boundless Ocean of Eternity , and let your hearts and tongues expatiate in the Praise of the Heavenly Majesty , and use this work and ply it close , and be not too seldom , or customary , or careless in it , and you shall find the difference between the Pleasures of Faith and of the flesh , of a Holy and of a sensual life , Psalm 135. 2 , 3. Ye that stand in the House of the Lord , in the Courts of the House of our God : Praise the Lord , for the Lord is Good : sing praises to his Name , for it is pleasant . ] Psal. 71. 8. Let my mouth be filled with thy Praise , and with thy honour all the day . ] Psal. 96. 2. 6. Sing unto the Lord ; bless his name ; shew forth his salvation from day to day . Honour and Majesty are before him : strength and beauty are in his Sanctuary . ]

O that the Lord will but shine upon my soul with the Light of his countenance , and open my heart to the entertainment of his Love , and hold a gracious Communion with my soul , by his holy Spirit , and keep open these doors to me , and continue this liberty of his House and Ordinances which we enjoy this day , that I may joyn with a faithful humble people , in holy Communion , and in his Praise and Worship , and that with a heart that is suitable to these works ! I shall then say with David , Psal. 16. 6. The lines ●●faln to me in pleasant places ; I have a goodly heritage . I will ●● for no greater pleasures , or honours , or advancement in this world ! Let who will surfet on the pleasures of the flesh ! Here doth my soul delight to dwell ! Psalm 27. 4 , 5 , 6. One thing have I desired of the Lord , that will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the daies of my life , to behold the beauty of the Lord , and to enquire in his holy Temple : For in the time of trouble he will hide me in his pavilion ▪ & in the secret of his Tabernacle shall he hide me : he shall set me up upon a Rock : And then shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me : therefore will I offer in his Tabernatle sacrifices of Joy , I will sing , yea I will sing Praises to the Lord . ] Till I come to the promised Ever●… Pleasures , I shall ask of God no greater Pleasures . These would be as much as my soul in the prison of flesh can bear . Till 〈…〉 to the Land of Promise , may I but have these clusters of 〈…〉 in my present Wilderness , I shall not repine ▪ My heart 〈…〉 shall be glad , and my glory shall rejoyce , and at death , my flesh 〈…〉 in hope . For as the Lord now sheweth me the path of 〈…〉 so in his presence is 〈…〉 of Joy ; and at his right hand are 〈…〉 for 〈…〉 P●…

4. Another Pleasant Holy Duty , is , Our holy Communion with Christ and his Church in the Lords Supper .

This is a holy Feast that is purposely provided by the King of Saints , for the entertainment of his family ; for the refreshing of the weary , and the making glad the mournful soul . The night before his bitter Death , he instituted this Sacramental Feast ! He caused his Disciples to sit down with him , and when they had partaked of the Passover , the Sacrament of Promise , and had their taste of the old wine , he giveth them the New , even the Sacrament of the better Covenant , and of the fuller Gospel-Grace : He teacheth them that his Death is Life to them : and that which is his bitterest suffering , is their Feast : and his Sorrows are their Joyes ; as our sinful pleasures were his sorrows . The slain Lamb of God our Passover that was sacrificed for us , that taketh away the sins of the world , was the pleasant food ; which Sacramentally he himself then delivered to them , and substantially the next day offered for them . The bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven , and giveth life unto the world , John 6. 33. He is the Living Bread which came down from Heaven : If any man eat of this Bread , he shall live for ever : and the bread that he giveth is his flesh , which he hath given for the life of the world . ver. 50 , 51. Except we eat the flesh of the Son of man , and drink his blood , we have no life in us : Whoso eateth his flesh and drinketh his blood , hath Eternal life , and he will raise him up at the last day : For his flesh is meat indeed , and his blood is drink indeed : He that eateth his flesh , and drinketh his blood , dwelleth in Christ , and Christ in him : As the Living Father hath sent the Son , and he liveth by the Father , so he that eateth him , shall live by him . This is that bread that came down from Heaven : not as the Fathers did eat Ma●●● and are dead : he that eateth this bread shall live for ever . ]

I know that to an unbelieving carnal wretch , the Sacrament is but a common thing . For Christ himself and his Gospel is ●o better in his eyes . He discerneth not the Lords body : He only quieteth and deludeth his conscience with the outward form . He hath not faith to feed on Christ : But to a lively faith , what sweet● ness doth such a Feast afford ?

We have here Communion with the blessed Trinity , in th●… three parts of this Eucharistical Sacrament ! As the Father 〈…〉 both our Creator and the offended Majesty , and yet he hath 〈…〉 his Son to be our Redeemer ; so in the first part , which 〈…〉 the CONSECRATION , we present to our Creator the creatures of Bread and Wine , acknowledging that from him we receive them and all , and we desire that upon our Dedication , by his Acceptance , they may be made Sacramentally and Representatively the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ .

In the second part of the Eucharist , which is the COMMEMORATION of the sacrifice offered on the Cross , we break the bread and pour forth the wine , to Represent the breaking of Christs Body , and shedding of his Blood for the sin of man ; and we beseech the Father to be Reconciled to us on his Sons account , and to accept us in his Beloved , and to accept all our sacrifices through him . So that as Christ now in Heaven , is Representing his sacrifice to the Father , which he once offered on the Cross for sin , so must the Minister of Christ Represent and plead to the Father the same sacrifice by way of Commemoration , and such Intercession as belongeth to his Office .

The third part of the Eucharist is the OFFER and PARTICIPATION : in which the Minister Representing Christ , doth by Commission deliver his Bedy and Blood to the penitent , hungry , believing soul ! and with Christ is delivered a sealed ●●●don of all sin , and a sealed gift of life Eternal . All which are received by the true Believer .

An unbeliever knoweth not what transactions there are between the Lord and a holy soul in this Ordinance , where the appearances are so small . A bit of bread and a sup of wine are indeed small matters : But so is not this Communion with God the Father , Son , and Holy Ghost . What a comfort is it that the offended Majesty will accept a sacrifice at our hands , and enter a treaty of Peace with the offendours ? Yea that he will provide the sacrifice himself , and the preciousest in the whole world : that he will signifie this his acceptance of the sacrifice , and how he is pleased in his well-beloved Son ! and that he accepteth his Sons Intercession in the Heavens , and his Ministers intercession , and his Churches prayers on earth through Christ ! Seeing Christ 〈…〉 be glorified with his Father , and not continue visible among 〈…〉 what could we desire more from him , then the three fold Re●●●sentative which he hath left behind him , to supply the room ●● his Bodily presence ! Even the Representation of himself by 〈…〉 , by his Ministers , and by the Holy Ghost , which is 〈…〉 substitute within for the efficacy of all . O what unspeakable mysteries and treasures of mercy are here-presented to us in a Sacrament ! Here we have Communion with a Reconciled God , and are brought into his presence by the great Reconciler . Here we have Communion with our blessed Redeemer , as Crucified , and Glorified , and offered to us , as our quickning , preserving , strengthening Head : Here we have Communion with the Holy Ghost , applying to our souls the benefits of Redemption , drawing us to the Son , and communicating light , and life , and strength from him unto us : increasing and actuating his graces in us . Here we have Communion with the Body of Christ , his sanctified people , the heris of life : When the Minister of Christ by his Commission Representeth a Crucified Christ to our eyes , by the Bread and Wine appointed to this use , we see Christ Crucified as it were before us ; and our Faith layeth hold on him , and we perceive the Truth of the Remedy ; and build our souls upon this Rock . When the same Minister by Christs Commission , doth offer us his Body , and Blood , and Benefits , it is as firm and valid to us , as if the mouth of Christ himself had offered them : And when our souls Receive him , by that Faith which the Holy Ghost exciteth in us , the participation is as true as that of our bodies receiving the Bread and Wine which represent him . O do but ask a drooping soul , that mourns under the fears of Gods displeasure , how he would value a voice from Heaven , to tell him that all his sins are pardoned , and that he is dear to God , and judge by his answer , what is contained and offered in a Sacrament ! Ask him how he would take it , if Christ should speak those words himself to him , which he hath given his Minister Commission in his name to speak ! [ Take , eat , this is my Body , which is broken for you ] It is the same Christ , the same pardon , and salvation , that is offered us by the Messengers of Christ , and which he personally offered himself to his Disciples . When you must all appear at the Barr of God , O what would you not give for a sealed pardon , which in a Sacrament is given freely now , to the believing soul ! Judge now by this , whether it be a Joyous Ordinance ! When the poorest Christian this day receiveth , that which the greatest Prince that is ungodly , would then give all the world for it he had it . For want of that pardon , Christian , which thou must now receive , many thousands will tremble at the bar● of God , and be overwhelmed with his wrath for ever ! Ask a soul that groaneth under the languishings of his grace , and the burden of any strong corruption , how he would value the mortifying and quickning grace of the Holy Ghost , that would break his bonds , and give him light and life and strength ; and by his answer judge of the value of a Sacrament . We have here the greatest mercies in the world , brought down to us in sensible Representations , that they might be very neer us , and the means might be suited to the frailty and infirmity of our present state .

If the sealed message of Gods Reconciliation with us , and a sealed pardon of all our sins , and a sealed grant of Everlasting life , be not more pleasant and desirable to your thoughts , then all that earth and flesh can yield you , it is because your are alive to sin , and dead to God , and want that spiritual sence and appetite , by which you might be competent judges . If God , if Christ , if grace , if the foretasts of glory can afford no pleasure to the soul , then Heaven it self would not be pleasant . But if these are sweet , the Sacrament is sweet that doth convey them .

Well , poor stubborn carnal sinners ! you have been invited to this feast as well as others ! we are sent to call you , and even compel you to come in ( though upon the terms and in the way of Christ ! ) but you have no great list ; but somewhat else doth please you better ! And will it prove better indeed to you at the end ? Well , take your own choice ! If an Alehouse be better then the Table of the Lord ; if your merry companions do please you better then the Communion of the Saints , or if you cannot submit to the order and discipline of the family of Christ , that you may partake of his provision , you may follow your own corrupt desires , and see whither they will lead you ! But here it is that I shall choose my pleasures till I reach the everlasting pleasures . And though in this low communion of imperfect Saints , we see but in a glass , and have but some small imperfect Sasts of the glorious things which Hope expecteth ; yet this is more then all that earth and flesh can yield : and it is most perfect Pleasure that by these is revealed , sealed , and Represented . Sacraments can assure us of perfect joys , though they give us but little joy in hand .

Obj. But if Sacraments be so pleasant , why then ( saith a disconsolate soul , ) have I found no more pleasure or comfort in them ? Answ. Even in the soul that 's made alive by Grace , diseases may much corrupt the appetite , and make the sweetest thing seem bitter . Are not Sacraments sweet to you ? and do you not delight in the communion of God and of his Saints ? I will not say much to you , lest it seem degrestive , but briefly ask you these few Questions .

1. Are the thoughts of God , of Christ , of Heaven sweet to you ? If they be , me thinks the Ordinances should be sweet ! If they be not , it s no wonder that you sét light by Sacraments , if you can set light by Christ and heaven it self .

Quest. 2. Is not sin grown sweet to you ? If it be , the ordinances will not be sweet : no nor unless your sins grow bitter .

Quest. 3. Doth not the world grow sweet to you , and your condition or expectations , and your thriving state , more plesant to you then heretofore ? If so , no wonder if Sacraments and all spiritual things , do lose their sweetness .

Quest. 4. Have you been faithful in your preparation , by free confession , true humiliation , strong resolution , hungring and thristing after Christ , and all this furthered by diligent self-examination ? An unprepared soul must blame it self , if it find not the sweetness of the Ordinance . The holy appetite and relish , that is necessary to your Delight , must be stirred up much in your Preparations .

Quest. 5. Are you careful and conscionable , humble and holy in your lives ? If you neglect God in your ordinary conversations , and walk not with him on other daies , you are unlike to meet him comfortably here . And if you are slight and careless in your ordinary duties , you will find here that God took notice of it .

Quest. 6. Do you faithfully endeavour to exercise Faith , Repentance , Love and all Sacramental Graces in the use of the ordinances ? You come not to a meer receiving but to a Work Have your souls been adorned with the wedding garment ? and do you come hither for a meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ ? Do you see him by faith , and take all that is here Represented to you , as if you had seen the things themselves ! Do you remember that your Lord is coming , and do you lift up your heads in the expectation of your Redemption , and do this in remembrance of him till he come ? An idle loytering in Gods work is not the way to find the sweetness of it .

Clemens Alexandrinus Strom. l. 1. init . gives it as a Reason why every one took his own part of the Bread of the Sacrament in those times , because man being a free agent must be the chooser or refuser of his own happiness : The Papists on the contrary do but gape , and the Priest doth pop the bread into their mouths ( having first perswaded them that it is not bread . ) Do you not expect to receive the spiritual benefits , just as the Papists do receive the Bread ? as if you had nothing to do but gape ? As if your presence here were as much as is to be expected from you for your edification ! How can you tast the sweetness that is offered , when you do not exercise your spiritual senses .

Quest. 7. Do you exercise faith , as well as feeling , in judging of the benefit of Sacraments ? Pardon , and Justification , and Title to Salvation are benefits which in themselves you cannot feel . It is by Believing the promise that you must know them . If God have promised a blessing on his Ordinance , it is sure to the faithful soul as if we felt it , though perhaps we may seem long without it . Heaven it self which is the principal end of Ordinances , will not be attained in this life : and yet the Ordinace is not in vain .

Quest. 8. Have you the true understanding of the use of Sacraments ? of the abundant Love that is here set forth ? and the freeness and fulness of the Promise here sealed ? If not , no wonder if you taste not the sweetness , when you know not how to break the shell , that you may feed on the kernel of the Ordinances .

Quest. 9. Have you not troubled your own souls , and muddyed your comforts by causeless doubts and ignorant scruples , about the gestures , or manner , or persons that you joyned with , or some such circumstances as these ? If so , no marvel if you lose the comfort .

Quest. 10. Or at least , have you not been negligent in the review and after improving of the Ordinances ? and have you not thought that all was done when you had received ? Any one of these miscarriages may make this pleasant duty bitter , or at least deprive you of the most of the delight . But if your hearts be suted to the work , and you deprive not your selves of the offered consolation , you shall find that God deals bountifully , with you , and will feast you even with Angels food .

5. The publike worship being all thus sweet , how sweet are the Lords days , these holy seasons that are wholly consecrated to this work ? How light is the Christian , that hath this day cast off his worldly cares and business and cogitations , and hath set himself apart for God , as if there were to world to mind ? On the week days he doth walk with Goa : But so that his necessary worldly business doth frequently divert and distract his mind . But what a sweet and happy day is this , when he may strip himself of these distractions , as he doth of his work-day courser cloaths , and may wholly apply himself to God ? As the Bee goes from flower to flower , labouring at all , but with a Pleasant labour , to gather Honey , and prepare for winter ; so doth the Christian , especially on the Lords day , employ himself in labour and delight ; and the more he laboureth , the more is his delight : From Prayer he goeth to Reading ; and to the instructing his family , if he be a superiour ; or learning if he be an inferiour and have helps : From private worship to publike ; and from publike to private again ; and gathering Honey ( food and sweetness ) to his soul from all .

Tell me you childish brutish wantons ; Do you think in your heart , that you have as much solid joy and pleasure , in a play day , or in your idle games , or in spending the Lords day in idleness or sports , as we have in the holy works of God ? Do you think our Delight is not more then yours ? To our shame , but to the praise of God , we must say , that we have tryed both ways . We know what it is to play away much of the Lords day , and what it is to imploy it in waiting on the Lord . But since we knew the later , we wish we had never known the former . That 's our recreation which is your toile : and that would be our prison , and stocks , and toile , which is your sport and recreation .

6. Another Delightful portion of our work , is Holy Conference with the experienced servant of the Lord . There are many things considerable in holy conference that maketh it delightful .

1. It is the conference of dearest friends : the special Love that all the Godly have to one another , doth exceedingly sweeten their communion . The very presence of those that we most dearly love , is a pleasure to us : Much more their sweetest edifying discourse .

2. Their conference proceedeth from the spirit of grace , and therefore is gracious , savouring of that spirit : and all the breathings and manifestations of that blessed spirit , are very acceptable to those that have the spirit themselves , and so can savour spiritual things .

3 Their conference is about the highest , the most necessary , the most excellent things : About the most Blessed God and his several Attributes ; his will , and works , of Creation , and disposing-Providence , of nature and Grace ; about the wonderful mysteries of Redemption , the person , life and sufferings of the Redeemer , his Offices and the performance of them , on earth , and in Heaven , in his Humiliation and his Exaltation ; and of the sweet Relations that we and all his Church do stand in , to Christ our Head , our Saviour and Redeemer ; as also about the gracious workings of the Holy Ghost , in first begetting and increase of holiness ; To open to each other the powerful workings of that Grace that hath raised them above all the creatures , and brought them to a contempt of earthly glory , and set their hearts on the invisible God , and on eternal things , that hath renewed them in the inner man , and made them hate the things they loved , and mortified their oldest strongest sins , and quickned them in the exercise of every grace ; all this is edifying sweet discourse to gracious souls .

4. And the rather because it is about the most pertinent affairs : They are things that do so neerly concern us , that we are glad to speak with those that understand them . It is our own case , which we hear our brethren open : They speak our very hearts , as if they had seen them ; because it is the same work of the same spirit that they describe . Yea when they complain of their Infirmities , it is with our complaints , and they tell us of that which we are troubled with our selves ; and we perceive that we are not singular in our troubles , but that our case is the case of other servants of the Lord .

5. And it is the more pleasant to converse with the Godly , because they speak not by hearsay only , but by experience : They tell us of the discoveries that illuminating grace hath made to their own souls ; and of the many evils they have been saved from ; and the communion they have had with God , and the prayers which he hath heard , and the many and great deliverances he hath granted them ; They relate their conflicts with temptations , and their conquests ; their strivings against their ancient lusts , and how they have overcome them ; and the sweet refreshings which their souls have had in the exercise of Love , and faith , and hope ! They can dive into the Ocean of mercy , and speak of the abundant kindness of the Lord , and earnestly awaken and invite each other to praise him for his Goodness , and to declare his wonderous works for the children of men ; They can direct each other in their difficulties , and encourage each other in holy ways , and strengthen one another in holy resolutions , and comfort one another with the same comforts that they themselves have been comforted with by the Lord ! And may not our hearts rejoyce and burn within us , while we discourse of such important things as these , in such a serious , experimental , edifying manner ? They can discourse together of their meeting before the throne of Christ , and of the blessed converse which they shall have in Heaven , with the Lord himself , and with the holy Angels , and where they shall be , and what they shall do , to all eternity , in the presence of God where is fulness of joy , and before him where are the eternal pleasures .

O Christians , did not your graces languish by your own neglects , and your souls grow out of relish with these spiritual and most excellent things , your speeches of them would be more savoury ; you would be more frequent , lively , and cheerful in your discourse of holy things ; and then your converse would be more edifying and delightful to each other . We shew so little of Grace in our conference , that makes it to be but little different from other mens ; And ( which is the commonest case , and very doleful ) we most of us remain so ignorant and imprudent , that we marr holy conference by our mixtures of unwise expressions , and disgrace it to others by our injudicious weakness : This is the bane of Christian discourse ; even the want of holy skill and wisdom , and of understanding to speak of the things of God , according to their transcendent worth and weight , as much ( and more ) then the want of zeal . But if we could discourse of these holy matters aright , with wisdom and with seriousness , how sweet , how fruitful would the company of holy persons be ! We should be still among them , as in the family of God , and should hear that which our souls do most defire to hear ; and we should preach to one another the riches of grace in our familiar discourse ; and souls might be converted by the conference of Believers , and not all left to the publike ministry : Every man would be a helper to his neighbour . For the tongue of the just is as choice silver , though the heart of the wicked is little worth : the lips of the righteous feed many , but fools die for want of wisdom , Prov. 10. 20 , 21. The lips of the wise disperse knowledge , Prov. 15. 7. Righteous lips are the delight of Kings , Prov. 16. 13. and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning , v. 21. The lips of Knowledge are a precious Jewel , Prov. 20. 15. A mans belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth , and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled , Prov. 18. 20. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom , and his tongue talketh of judgement ; the Law of his God is in his heart , Psal. 37. 30 , 31.

Tell me I beseech you , you that can be so merry in an Ale-house , or in any vain and idle company , why should you think that it is not to us a far sweeter thing to talk of holy edifying matters , then it is to you to talk of vanity ? Is the subject of your discourse more fit to delight a man of wisdom ! Do you talk of better things then God , or of higher things then Heaven ? or of things that nearlyer concern you , then the matters of everlasting consequence ?

When I have heard such people talking and laughing , as if they had been the merryest people in the world , I have sometimes hearkened to their discourse , to hear what talk it was that made them so merry ; and it hath been nothing but impertinency and folly , like a mans talking in his sleep ; enough to make a mans head ake to hear them : I should be quickly tired with their delights : The blowing of the wind , or the falling of the rain , or as Solomon saith , the crackling of thorns in the fire , hath as much in it to please my ear , and much less to displease it , then such mens discourse .

Go to a company of merry fellows , as you take them , and to a company of serious , godly , prudent people , and secretly write down all the words that you hear from both companies ; and read them over together when you come home , and tell me which is the pleasanter discourse . What a hodg-podge of non-sense , impertinency , levity , immodesty , worldliness , pride , and folly shall you find in one ; and what savoury , necessary , edifying , encouraging and comforting speeches will you find you have gathered from the other !

It is far pleasanter to be among the singing birds , the bleating sheep , yea the chattering daws , then these idle , prating , foolish companions . For with the former you shall have some natural good , without any mixture of sinful evil : But in foolsh , prating company , what shall you perceive , but how Nature is depraved , how sinners are beside themselves , how Satan doth befool them , and how God is forgotten while he is present with them , and they are laughing in the Devils chains , and at the very brink of death and hell ! And can a man be merry to hear such mirth as this ? It is a sad spectacle to see men laugh in Bedlam : but much more to see them merry in the fetters of their sin , and under the threatnings and wrath of God . Were you but men of right composed minds , I durst referre it to your selves , whether holy company and discourse be not like to be be much pleasanter then yours .

Do you think that the discourse of Learned men , about Arts and Sciences , History and the like , is not more pleasant then your idle talk ? Much more is the holy discourse of Saints about the things of their salvation . Whether do you think the company and discourse of Christ , and his Prophets and Apostles , or of your merry companions , should be the more delightful ? Can you fo● shame say , that the later were the best ? Why , you know that Christ , and his Prophets and Apostles , had no such idle talk as yours . It was holy things that they discoursed of .

Can you for shame say that you Love God above all , and yet have more pleasure in prating over a pot of Ale , then in speaking reverently of God ? Or would you be believed when you say , that your hearts are set on Heaven , when you have more delight in talking of any earthly trifle ? Well! I shall leave it to your consciences , and to the judgement of any that will speak with Reason , whether the holy converse and conference of the godly , be not in it self a more Delightful thing , then all the merriments , the dotages and fooleries of the ungodly . If you think not so , it is because your relish and appetite is depraved , the Devil hath deluded you , and sin bereaved you of your wits .

2. I have told you of the Pleasantness of the Duties of Holiness , which are to be performed more directly toward God ? Let us now consider of the rest of a Christian life : Which consisteth in our duties to be performed towards men : And these are all comprehended in the works of Charity and of Justice .

1. And certainly the works of Charity are Delightful . There is not a pleasanter work in the world then to do good . Even proud men find a great delight in the Reputation or Name of doing good : that they may be accounted the great Benefactors of the world , that is , to be as earthly gods among their neighbours , and as the Sun is to the lower world , that all may be below them , and live by their influence . This is the top of that prosperiity that sinful ambition doth aspire to . And if the Name of Well-doing be so pleasant to the Proud , the Conscience of the thing it self should be more pleasant to the upright . Open bounty is the hypocrites glory : But to do good in secret is the believers pleasure ; for their Father which seeth in secret , shall reward them openly : Yea the very delight of doing good , and especially a great or publike good , a spiritual and everlasting good , is a reward unto it self . It is the speech of Christ recited by Paul , Acts 20. 35. that it is more blessed to give then to receive .

There are many things concurring that make it very Pleasant to do good . It proceeds from the power of Love : and the exercise of Love is pleasant . And Love makes our Brethren to be to us as our selves , and consequently their welfare is as our own , and rejoyceth us as if our selves received , all that they receive . And what abundant pleasure then hath a Believer ? When so many thousand of his brethren , do receive so many thousand benefits daily from God himself : and all these are to the Christian , through the union and power of Love , as if he had received them all himself . But especially when he himself is the instrument of conveyance . The poor have comfort in receiving of relief ; but nothing in comparison of his that gives it , if it be done for the sake of Christ , in uprightness of heart . A poor man receiveth from the giver perhaps but an outward small commodity : But the upright giver receiveth from God , the sense of his acceptance , and peace of conscience , with the promise of an everlasting recompence : A mite , or a cup of cold water , given to a Prophet in the name of a Prophet , or to a Disciple in the name of a Disciple , shall certainly be rewarded , Matth. 10. 40 , 41 , 42.

A true Believer is Covetous to do good , as others are to receive it : and studyeth for opportunities of laying out his gifts and wealth for God , as others study to gather it for themselves . As a worldling studyeth for a good bargain , that he may grow rich ; a true Believer studyeth for opportunities to lay out that he hath for God , and to improve his Masters stock to the best advantage . The Covetous doth not more long to get more , then Believers do to be rid of that they have , in the way and on the terms , as may do most good , and be best accepted : And they are even afraid lest opportunities of doing good should over-slip them , and the seed-time should pass by : A Believer knows that , as his life and soul , so his worldly riches , are nowhere sure but in the hand of God : And therefore if they can procure his security , and get him to receive it , and return it them in Heaven with the promised advantage , they have then secured it indeed : All is lost that God hath not , in one way or other : and all is secured that he hath , and for which we have his promise . This is laying it up in heaven , Matth. 6. 21. While we keep it , we cannot secure it from thieves : When we have disposed of it according to the Will of God , upon the warrant of his promise , it is then in his Custody , and then it is safe : Neither rust or moath can then corrupt it , nor the strongest thieves break through and steal . To be Good , and do Good , is to be likest unto God ; and therefore must needs be the sweetest life .

2. Works of Justice also have their pleasure : For they demonstrate the Justice of God himself , from whom they do proceed . That which is most Pleasant to God , should be most Pleasant unto us . And as he hath bid us , not forget to do good and to communicate , because with such sacrifice he is well pleased , Heb. 13. 16. so he hath told us that he delighteth in the exercise of loving-kindness , judgement , and righteousness in the earth , Jer. 9. 24. He hath shewed us , what is good : and what doth he require of us , but to do justly , and love mercy , and walk humbly with our God ? Mich. 6. 8. And therefore he commandeth Israel , Hos. 12. 6. [ Turn thou to thy God : Keep Mercy and Judgement : and wait on thy God continually . ] Private justice between man and man , and family-justice between parents and children , masters and servants , and Political justice between the Magistrates and the people , do all maintain the order of the world , and procure both publike and private peace . It is selfishness and injustice , tyrannie , oppression , disobedience and rebellion , that procure the miseries of the world : But Righteousness is safe and sweet .

2. You have heard of the Pleasure of Holy Actions , both Internal and External : The truth is evident also from the Objects of these Acts , and the matter from which a believer may derive his Pleasures . And O what an Ocean of delight is here before us ! Were our powers , capacities and acts but answerable to the Objects , we should presently have the Joyes of heaven .

1. A Believer hath the ever blessed God himself to derive his comforts from . He hath his Nature and Attributes to be his comfort : He hath his near Relations to afford him comfort ; and this is more then to have all the world . It is a God of Infinite Power , and Wosdom , and Goodness , that we believe in , that we Love , and Worship , and Obey . It is also a Father Reconciled to us , that hath taken us in Covenant to him as his people , through Jesus Christ . And where shall we find comfort if not in God ? It is in vain to look for that from any creature , that is not to be found in him . Poor worldlings ! you have nothing that is worth the having , but the crumms that fall from the childrens table . God is our Portion , and the world is yours : and yet you have less even in this world then we . You have the shadow , and we have the substance : You have the shell , and we the kernell : You have the straw and chaff , and true believers have the corn : Your comforts are shaken with every storm ; and tost up and down by the Justice of God , or the Pride of man : But God that is our Portion is unchangeable : Yesterday , to day , and the same for ever : We have a Kingdom that cannot be moved , Heb. 12. 28. Persecutors cannot take our God from us , nor can any thing separate us from his Love , Rom. 8. 36. They may separate us from our houses , from our Countries , from our friends , from our riches , our liberties , our lives , from our Books , our company and Ordinances , but not from God , who is our great Delight . In poverty , in persecution , in sickness , and at death , we have still our interest in God : A Christian is never in so low a state , but he hath a God to whom he may go for comfort , who is more to him then your sweetest pleasures . Is it not a pleasure to have such a God as can cure all diseases , supply all wants , overcome all enemies , deliver in all dangers , and hath promised that he will do it so far as is for our good ! If he want water that hath the Sea , or he want land that hath all the earth , or he want light that hath the Sun , yet doth he not need to want delight that hath the Lord to be his God , if ●e do but keep in the pathes of grace . And are you yet unresolved , whether Godliness be the most Pleasant Life ? Take all your pleasures , and make your best of them , may I but have the Lord to be my God , and I hope I shall never desire to change with you .

2. A Holy life is therefore Pleasant , because we have a full sufficient Saviour , from whom we may daily fetch delight . The E●ernal Son of God is become the Healer of our wounds , our Peace-maker with the Father , the Conquerour of our enemies , the Ransom for our sins , the Captain of our salvation , the Head of his Church , and the Treasure of all our Hopes and Joyes ! Sin and misery are the works of Satan , which Christ came into the world to destroy . If Hypocrites can steal a little Peace to their Consciences , from a false conceit that they have a part in Christ , what comfort may it be to the true Believer , that hath a sure and real interest in him ! That is the sad and miserable life , when you are out of Christ , and strangers to his Covenant , and cannot say his benefits are yours , but you are yet in your sins , without his righteousness : But when we have a special interest in him , the foundation of our everlasting joy is laid , and the heart of sin and misery is broken : What fear or sorrow can you name , that I may not fetch a sufficient remedy against from Christ ? What can the Prince of darkness say to our discomfort , which we may not answer by Arguments from Christ ? By this judge of the Comfort of a Holy life . If the Godly over-look the Grounds of Joy , that are laid in Christ , and live in a mistaken sorrow , that is not for want of Reasons and warrant to rejoyce , but for want of a right discerning of those Reasons . But what have you that are ungodly , to answer against all the terrours of the Law ? or to answer against all the accusations of your consciences ? or to comfort you against the remembrance of your approaching misery ? While you have no part in Christ , you have no right to comfort . One thought of Christ to a believing soul , may afford more Delight then ever you will find in a sinful life .

3. Moreover , we have the Holy spirit of Christ , that is purposely given us to be our Comforter : And if that be not a pleasant life that is managed by such a Guide , and that be not likest to be a joyful soul , that is possest by the Spirit of joy it self , there is no joy then on earth to be expected . Hath God promised his Spirit to comfort you that are wicked in your sin ? No , it is the malicious deceiving spirit that is your Comforter : that by his comforts he might keep you from solid , spiritual , everlasting comforts : But the Repenting , Believing soul that is united unto Christ , and hath already had the spirit for his conversion , it is he that hath the promise of the spirit for his consolation . And if that be not the most comfortable life , where the God of Heaven becomes the comforter , we cannot then know the effect by the cause . If Life it self will quicken ; if light it self will illuminate ; the comforting spirit will certainly comfort , in the degree and season as God seeth meet , and the soul is fitted to receive it .

4. Moreover , we have the whole treasurie of the Gospel to go to for our Delight . And little doth the sensual unbelieving soul know what sweetness , what supporting pleasures may be from thence derived . I had rather have the holy word of God to go to for contents , then the treasures of the rich , or the pleasures of the sensual , or the flatteries and vain glory of the ambitious man : All that the world doth make such a pudder about , which they ride and run for , which they so much glory in , will never afford them so much Content , as one Scripture promise will do to a truly faithful soul . I must profess before Angels and men , that I had rather have one Promise of the Love of God , and the life to come , which is contained in the holy Scriptures , then to have all the riches , pleasures , and honours of this world . My God , this was my Covenant with thee , and to this I stand . O blessed be the Lord , that hath provided us such a Magazine of Delight as is this heavenly sacred Book ! The Precepts appoint us a pleasant work : The strictest prohibitions do but restrain us from our own calamities , and keep out of our hands the knife by which we would cut our fingers : The severest threatnings do but deterre us from running into the consuming fire ; and hedge about the devouring gulf , lest we should foolishly cast our selves therein . And these are the bitterest parts of that holy word . But when we read the promises of a Saviour , and the wonderful history of his Incarnation , and of his holy self-denying life , his conquests , miracles , death , resurrection , ascension , intercession , and his promise to return ; when we read of the foundation which he hath laid , and the building which he intends to finish , of his rich abundant promises to his chosen , what provision do we find for our abundant joys ! No strait can be so great , no pressure so grievous , no enemies so strong , but we have full consolation offered us in the promises , against them all . We have promises of the pardon of all our sins , and promises of heaven it self ; and what can we have more ! we have promises suited to every state , both prosperity and adversity . What do we need which we have not a promise of ? And the word of God is no deceit . What but a promise can comfort them that are short of the possession ? May I not have more joy in sickness with a promise , then the ungodly without a promise in their health ? A promise in prison sets a man as at liberty ! A promise in Poverty is more then riches . A promise at death is better then life ▪ What I have a promise of , I may be sure of : but what you possess without a promise , you may lose ( and your souls and hopes with it ) this night . There is no condition on earth so hard to a man that hath interest in the promises , in which he may not have plentiful relief . We live by faith , and not by sense ; And we reckon more on that as ours , which we hope for , then which we do possess . We are sure that there is no true felicity on earth ; It then we have a promise of Heaven , when Infidels lie down in the dust with desperation , have we not a more comfortable life then they ?

5. Moreover we have Heaven it self to fetch our comfort from . Not Heaven in sight , or in Possession ; but Heaven in Promise , and seen by faith . And if Heaven will not afford us pleasure , whence shall we expect it ? Even sensual men can rejoyce as well in what they see not , if they are assured it is theirs , as in what they see : And why then may not Believers do so much more ? A worldling when he seeth not his money in his chest , or at use , or his lands and cattel that are far from him , can yet rejoyce in them , as if he saw them : And should not we rejoyce in the certain Hopes of Heaven though yet we see it not ? when I am pained in sickness , and role in restless weariness of my flesh , if then I can say [ I shall be in Heaven , ] may it not be the inward rejoycing of my soul ? You know where you are , but you know not where you shall be . The Believer knoweth where he shall be , as truly as he knoweth where he is ( unless it be one that by his frailty hath not reacht unto assurance ; who yet hath reached unto Hope . ) What great matter is it if I lay in greatest pain , if I can say [ I shall have everlasting ease in Heaven ] Or if I lay in prison , or in sordid poverty , and can say [ I shall shortly be with Christ . ] Or if I had lost the love of all men , and could say [ that I shall everlastingly enjoy the Love of God ? ]

Most of your comforts do come in by the way of your thoughts . And what Thoughts should so rejoyce the soul as the thoughts of our abode with Christ for ever ? If a day in the Courts of God be so delightful , what is ten thousand millions of ages in the Court of Glory ? and all then as fresh as at the first day ? There it is that our sin will be put off : Our carnal enmity laid by : our temptations will be over : our enemies will all have done : our fears and sorrows will be at an end ; Our desires will be accomplished : Our differences be reconciled : Our charity perfected , and our expectations fully satisfied , and Hope turned into full fruition . O may I but be able with stronger faith , and fuller confidence to say [ that Heaven is mine , and when this tabernacle is dissolved , I shall be with Christ , ] my life and my death will be delightful , and I need not complain for want of pleasure . Let who will take the pleasures of the flesh , may I but have this . In prayer , in meditation , in holy conference , in every duty , it is the expectation of approaching blessedness that drops in sweetness into all . No wonder if it can sweeten a course of duty , when it can make light the greatest sufferings , and turn pain into pleasure , and death into life , as being unworthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed .

But the wicked have none of these delights , unless they steal a little by self-deceit : They may make their best of their present pleasures , and of the cup while it is at their mouths , and of their wealth and honour while it is in their hands : but its little pleasure that they can fetch from Heaven ! The thought of it may rather feed their terrours . What pleasure they can pick out of the dirt , let them make their best of : But heavenly pleasures are above their reach .

So much for the Objects of a Holy life , from whence a Believer may fetch his pleasure .

Object . But you tell us only of the Pleasant part ; but the troublesome and bitter part you say nothing of .

Answ. Come on , and say your worst of a Holy life , and tell us which is that bitter part .

Object . 1. The scripture requireth us to mortifie the flesh , to renounce the world , to forbear our Pleasures , to deny our selves , and to take up our Cross and follow Christ ; and will you call this a pleasant life ?

Answ. And do you indeed think this so sad a business ? Here are three things contained in this objection , as the matter that seemeth so displeasing to you . 1. The parting with your sins . 2. The sufferings that are principally for sin . 3. The sufferings that are principally for the cause of Christ .

1. And do you think that sin is so lovely a thing that a man cannot live merrily without it ? sin is the breach of the Laws of God , and the injury of the Heavenly Majesty , and the provocation of his hot displeasure , and the poison and sickness of the soul . And is it your sport to abuse the Lord ? Is your pleasure gone , if you may not injure the God that made you ? What natures , what sinful hearts have you , that must have such pleasures ? Cannot a man live merrily unless he may provoke the God of Heaven , and trample upon mercy and despise salvation ! Can you not live in pleasure , unless you may drink poyson , or keep your sickness , or tumble in the dirt ! One would think that mischief to our selves or others should be small pleasure to an honest mind . It s no pleasure to you to spit in the face of your dearest friends , or to abuse your parents , or to provoke your neighbours ; and is it such pleasure as you cannot forsake , to abuse the Lord , and wrong your souls ! The pleasures of sin do tend to pain : some pain doth usually attend it here , and much more hereafter : God would prevent your pain and misery , by preventing or destroying your sin : And do you accuse his word because it would keep you from so costly , so bitter , so dangerous delights ! It is for your Pleasure , that this pleasure is forbidden you . The sweeeness of the poyson of sin ▪ will be soon gone , when the gripings of the tormented Conscience do remain . You will forbear the most delightful fruits or drinks , if your Physicion tell you they will hazzard your life , or torment you afterward . You are short-sighted , and short-witted , and look but to the present relish of things , and choose them if you taste them sweet ; but God looks to your everlasting pleasures . So that you may well reckon it among the pleasures of a holy life , that you have such preservatives against the greatest sorrows : and that you are kept from the pleasures that will be bitterness in the latter end .

Yea at the present hath not drunkenness more trouble attending it then sobriety ! Reckon up the consuming of mens estates , the troubles of their families , the sicknesses of their bodies , the shame and contempt that it bringeth on them here , and the wounds of their consciences , and tell me whether it were not more pleasure to forbear those cups then to drink them . And hath not Gluttony more trouble attending it then temperance ! By that time the charge be paid , the sickness that fulness breedeth be endured , the physicion paid , and all the effects of gluttony overcome , you will find that the pleasure was little to the pain . The like I may say of Uncleanness , worldliness , passion , pride , and all other sins that usually bring a punishment with them .

2. And then for Castigatory sufferings , it is not Godliness that is the cause of them ( as sufferings . ) Sin less , and suffer less . Provoke not God , and he will spare the rod. Do you hurt your selves like careless children , and then blame God for bidding you , [ Take heed ? ] God doth not punish men for Holiness , and well doing . It is for want of Holiness that you are punished . I think therefore that it is part of the Pleasure of a Holy life , that it keeps men out of the way of punishment . You must have pain , and unpleasant physick , when once you have taken a surfet of sensual delight , and made your selves sick with too much of the creature . Holiness would have prevented this : And when that 's too late , it would cure it by the cheapest means that your health will bear . Is it not then unreasonable when you have troubled your selves , to blame your physicion for troubling you in order to a cure ?

3. And for those sufferings that are principally for Christ , con●ider , 1. That they are also originally from sin , and therefore you may know what to blame for the bitter part . Though the Time , and place , and manner and measure of your sufferings may proceed from the gracious providence of your Lord ; yet that supposeth that sin had brought you into a state of suffering in general before ; which Christ did not presently and plenarily remit and take off , but disposeth of them by his wisdom , as may make most for his Glory and your good . 2. And will you grudge at a little transitory pain , that is usually requited with comforts in this life , and rewarded with pleasures unspeakable hereafter ! You grudge not to cast away your seed in hope of an increase at harvest ; nor do you murmur at your daily labour if it be but blessed with success . And will you grudge to pass through sufferings to glory , and to sow in tears that you may reap in joy ? It is but few that suffer Martyrdom , or any great matter for the cause of Christ , especially in our dayes : And those few have usually more joy then sorrow . If you knew the joyes of Martyrs , you would never so shrink at the sufferings of Martyrs . And for a few mocks and scorns of foolish men , it is scarcely worth the name of a suffering : Nor is it so much as wicked men suffer in their sin . As Godliness is a shame among the foolish wicked men ; so wickedness is a shame among all that are pious , wise and sober . And why should not the shame of sin be more loathed then the undeserved shame of honesty ? Alas , all this is nothing to the sorrows of the ungodly . A little of the vinegar of affliction will make us relish our prosperity the better , and through our frailtie is become a necessary sauce to that luscious state that we are so apt to surfet on ! Do you not see what lamentable work prosperity , victories , honour , and worldly wealth and power have made in the world ? and shall we grudge at that necessary moderate affliction that saveth us from the like overthrows ? O how few are able to withstand the temptations of great or long prosperity ! Experience of the frequent , woful falls of prospering men , that seemed once as firm as any , hath made me fear when I hear of the exaltation of my friends , and the less to grieve for their adversity or my own . Holiness therefore is the most pleasant way , notwithstanding the afflictions that do attend it : And if God will give me an increase of Holiness , ( of Faith , and Love , and a Heavenly mind ) though it be with an increase of my Afflictions , I hope I shall take it as an incerease of my pleasure , and give him the praise of so merciful a dispensation . And thus I have proved to you from the Nature of Holiness , that it is the most Pleasant way .

II. I Should next shew you the Delights of Holiness , from the Helps and Concomitants that promote our pleasure . But because I am afraid of lengthening my discourse too much , I shall only name a few things of many .

1. God being our God in Covenant , his Love is to the holy soul , as the Sun is to our bodies , to illuminate , warm , revive , and comfort them ; and did not sin cause some ecclipses , or raise some clouds , or shut the windows , we should rejoyce continually , and find how sweet a thing it is , being justified by faith , to have peace with God .

2. We are in Covenant with Jesus Christ , who intercedeth for our peace with God . And the Father alwayes heareth his intercession , John 11. 42. And therefore that measure of comfort which he seeth suitable to our present state , we shall be sure of . Who shall condemn us ? when it is Christ that dyed , yea rather that is risen again , who is even at the right hand of God , who also maketh intercession for us , Rom. 8. 34. We have a great high-Priest that is passed into the heavens , even Jesus the Son of God ; one that is touched with the feeling of our infirmities , and was in all points tempted like as we are , but without sin ; and therefore through him we may come boldly to the throne of Grace , that we may obtain mercy , and find grace to help in time of need . ] Heb. 4. 14 , 15 , 16. What comforting words hath he spoken to us in the Gospel ? and what comfortable relations hath he put us into ? He calleth us his friends , if we do his Commandments , as if servanes were too low a title , John 15. 14 , 15. Peace he leaveth with us : his Peace he giveth to us ; not as the world giveth : commanding us that we let not our hearts be troubled or afraid , Joh. 14. 27. To those that Love him , he hath promised his Fathers Love , and that they will come to him , and make their abode with him . John 14. 23. If any man serve him , let him follow him ; and where Christ is , there shall his servant be ; if any man serve Christ , him will the Father honour , John 12. 26.

3. That we might have sure Consolation , the Spirit of Christ is given to be our Comforter : and we are in Covenant with him also , who surely will perform his Covenants .

4. The servants of Christ have his holy image , the mark of his children , which is the in-dwelling Evidence of his Love , to assure them of their happiness .

5. They have manifold experience of the kindness of their Father , in hearing their prayers , and helping them in their straits , and delivering them in their distresses .

6. They have also the help of the Experience of others , even of all the godly with whom they do converse , who can comfort them with their comforts , and tell them how good they have found the Lord .

7. They have the Ministers of Christ appointed by office to be the helpers of their Faith and Jey : to be the messengers of glad tidings to them , and to tell them from God of the pardon of their sins , and of his favour to them in Christ : and to heal the broken-hearted , and preach deliverance to the captives , and recovering of sight to the blind , to set at liberty them that are bruised , &c. Luke 4. 18. To have a deputed Officer of Christ to absolve the penitent , and deliver them pardon in the name of Christ , and to pray for them , and direct them , and resolve their doubts , and shew them the promises that may support them , and help to profligate their temptations , must needs be much to the comfort of believers : As the care of a father is the comfort of the child ; and the care of the Physicion is a comfort to the sick .

8. They have all the Ordinances suited to their comfort : the Word read , preached and meditated on : the Sacraments and the publike praises of God , and Communion of the Saints ( of which before . )

9. They have multitudes of Mercies still about them , and every day renewed on them , to feed their comforts .

10. They have a promise that all things shall work together for their good ; and so that all their afflictions themselves shall be their commodities , and death it self shall be their gain , Rom. 8. 28. Phil. 1. 21. and all their enemies shall be subdued by Christ the Prince of their salvation .

So that from this much you may see , that for Joy and Pleasure , there is no life that hath the advantages that a holy life hath . As for the ungodly , they are not so ; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away , Psalm 1. 4. These pleasures grow not in their wicked way , nor do such strangers know Believers joyes .

III. LAstly , I should also have shewed you the Pleasure of Holiness by the Effects : But here also to avoid prolixity , I will but name a few .

1. Holiness is Pleasing to God himself ; and therefore it must needs be pleasant to the Saints that have it : For it is their end and chiefest Pleasure to please God . They know that this is the end for which they were Created , Redeemed , and renewed : and therefore that is the most Pleasant life to them , in which they find that God is best Pleased . And therefore they labour , that whether present or absent , they may be accepted of him , 2 Cor. 5. 9. They are an holy Priest-hood , to offer up spiritual sacrifice , acceptable to God by Jesus Christ , 1 Pet. 2. 5.

2. Holiness must needs be Pleasant to the soul , because it is the spiritual health of the soul , and the means and certain evidence of its safety . And Health is a constant sensible delight : And to know that our souls have scapt the danger of the wrath of God , and everlasting misery , must needs be a greater Pleasure then any the matters of this world can afford . One serious thought of the salvation , which Holiness is the earnest of , may give that true contentment to the soul , that all the wealth and glory of the world can never give .

3. Holiness removeth fears and troubles , and therefore must needs be a Pleasant state . It removeth the fears of the wrath of God , and of damnation : and the fears of all destructive evils : It tends to heal the wounded soul , and pacific the clamorous conscience , and abate all worldly and groundless sorrows ; for which the wicked have no true cure .

4. Holiness is the destruction of sin : and sin is the cause of all calamities : and therefore Holiness must needs be Pleasant .

5. Holiness doth consist in rejoycing Graces , that are exceeding pleasant in the exercise ; as Faith , Hope , Love , Patience , &c. yea it consisteth in Joy it self , Rom. 14. 17.

6. It fits the soul for Communion with God , who is the fountain of Delights ; and it brings us near him , and acquaints us with him as a God of Love : and therefore must needs be a Pleasant state .

7. You see by experience , that when once men have tryed a Holy life , they think they can never have enough of it : The more Holy they are , the more Holy they would be . He that hath most , would fain have more : And the weakest desireth no less then to be perfect . And do you think men that have tryed it , would so long after more and more , if it were not pleasant ?

Judge also by the labour and diligence of the godly , who seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness , and make it the principal business of their lives : Would they make all this ado for nothing ? Or for that which is a matter of no delight ?

Judge also by the delights which they voluntarily forsake , when they let go all their sinful pleasures , and renounce all the glory of the world ; would they make this exchange , if they had not found a more pleasant course , and that which tends to everlasting pleasure ?

8. You see also that the truly Godly , when once they have tryed a holy life , will never go back again to their former pleasures , but loath the very remembrance of them : It is not all the honours , and riches , and pleasures in the world , that can hire them to forsake a holy life . Sure therefore they find it the most pleasant course ; if not in sensible delights , yet at least in easing their consciences , and securing their minds from the terrours that sinful pleasures would produce . If they found that Godliness answered not their expectation , they have leisure enough , and temptations too many , to turn back into the state from whence they came . But how would they abhorr such a motion as this ?

9. If Holiness were not a Pleasant thing , it could not help us to bear up under all afflictions , nor make us rejoyce in tribulation , as it doth . That which can sweeten gall and wormwood , must needs be very sweet it self . That which can make reproach , and scorn , and poverty , and imprisonment , either sweet or tolerable , is sure it self a pleasant thing .

10. Lastly , if Holiness were not pleasant , it could not make Death it self so easie , nor take off its terrours , nor cause the Martyrs to suffer so joyfully for Christ : Death is the King of terrours , and so bitter a cup , that it must needs be a pleasant thing indeed , that can sweeten it .

BEsides all this that hath been said , let me briefly have some general aggravations , of the Delights of Holiness . And compare it as we go with the Delights of the ungodly .

1. The Delights of Holiness are the most Great , and Glorious , and Sublime delights . They are fetcht from the most Great and Glorious things . It is God , and his Grace , and everlasting glory that feed our pleasures . Whereas the Delights of sensual men , are fed with trifles : What do they rejoyce in but the fooleries of sin , and the filthyness of their own transgressions ! What is it that contenteth them , but a dream of honour , or the good will and word of mortal men , or a brutish sportfulnesse , or the pleasing of the itch of lust , or the provision that they have laid up for the flesh ? The treasures of a Kingdom excell not the treasure of a childs pin-box the thousandth part so much as Heaven excells the treasure of the ungodly . Judge therefore by the matter that feeds their pleasure , which of the two is the more pleasant life : to sport in their own shame , and laugh at the brink of misery , with the ungodly ; or to delight our selves in the Love of God , and rejoyce in the assured hope of Glory with the true believer ?

2. The Delights of Holiness are the most rational , well-grounded , sure delights . They are not delusory , nor grounded on mistakes or fancies . They are warranted by the truth and All-sufficiency of God , and the certainty of his promise , and the immutability of his counsels , and the sure Reward prepared for his Saints . None but a lying malicious Devil , or his instruments that participate of his nature , or a blind , corrupted , partial flesh , will ever go about to question the foundations of our faith and comforts . The hopes and comforts that are built upon this Rock , will never fall , nor make us ashamed .

But the ungodly rejoyce in their own delusions : It is ignorance and errour that they are beholden to for their mirth . They laugh in their sleep , or as mad men in their distraction . Did they know that Satan rejoyceth in their joyes ; and that an offended God is alwayes present , and how poor a matter it is that they rejoyce in , it would marr their mirth . If they saw the Hell that they are near , or well-considered where they stand , and what a case their souls are in , they would have little list to play or laugh . If they knew aright the shortness of their pleasures , and the length of their sorrows , and in what a doleful case their wealth and fleshly delights will leave them , it would turn their laughter into mourning and lamentation . So that they rejoyce but ( as a sick man in a phrensie , or as a fool upon some good news to him that is false ; ) upon meer mistake .

3. The Delights of Holiness are the most pure Delights , and most entire and compleat . There is no Evil in it , mixed with the Good , and therfore nothing to interrupt the joy . Our joyes indeed are too much interrupted : but that is not from any hurt that is in a holy life ; but by the contrary sin , which Holiness must work out . If men take poyson , let them not blame nature that strives against it , if they are sick ; but let them blame themselves , and the poyson , that puts nature to expell it . In Holiness it self there is nothing but Good , and therefore nothing that should grieve us .

But it is far otherwise with sensual delights : As they are sinful , they are wholly evil : As they are natural , feeding upon the creature alone , they are as it is , a mixture of Vanity and Vexation . Every creature hath its unsuitableness and imperfection , by which it disturbeth even where it pleaseth , and troubleth where it comforteth , and frustrateth and disappointeth more then it satisfieth . The more we Love it , usually the more we suffer by it . That thing which we most excessively love , is ordinarily our sharpest scourge . That friend whom we most excessively love , is usually our greatest sorrow : either by their failing our expectations , or by our failing theirs , or our insufficiency to accomplish the good which we desire of them . If they prove unkind , it is more grievous then the unkindness of many others : If they prove faithful , how deeply do we suffer with them in all their sufferings ? Their wants do pinch us as our own : Their reproaches are our shame : Their losses take as much from us : Their sickness paineth us : Their death half killeth us : And he that is so happy as to have many such friends , is so unhappy as to have more burdens , fears and griefs to suffer , and more deaths to die then other men . But especially to ungodly men , these earthly comforts are uncomfortable , because they have none of the Divine delights that are the kernel and the spirits , but take up with the shell or husk : And because their mirth is mixt with their own misery , which conscience sometime gripes them for with such deep remorse as cools their comforts : And some thoughts of the shortness of their pleasures will be stepping in , and ending them before their time : So that the bitterness of worldly things surpasseth the delight .

4. The Delights of Holiness are Deep and Solid , and therefore do stablish and corroborate the Hearts . But sensual delights are like childrens laughter : they are slight , and outside , and flitting and vain : As children laugh in one breath , and cry in the next ; so worldly joys are followed at the heels by sorrows ; For they lie not deep , and fortifie not the heart against distresses , as the delights of faith and holiness do .

5. The Pleasures of the Saints are the gift of God , and allowed of by him ; commanded by his word , and promoted by his promises and mercies , and are but the fruits of his Everlasting Love : And being so Divine , they must needs be excellent .

But the Pleasures of ungodly worldly men are partly forbidden and condemned by God , and partly contradicted and confounded , by his terrible threatnings , and the discovery of his wrath . There is no Peace saith the Lord , to the wicked , Isa. 48. 22. & 57. 21. God doth disown and protest against their peace . If they will keep it , and make it good , it must be against his will . He forbiddeth joy to a rebellious people , Hos. 9. 1. Rejoyce not O Israel for joy as other people : for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God . He calleth them to weeping and mourning , and renting of the heart , Joel . 2. 12 , 13. Hear what God saith to them in their greatest pleasures , Jam. 5. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. Go to now ye rich men , weep and howle for your miseries that shall come upon you : Your riches are corrupted and your garments moath-eaten : Your gold and silver is cankred , and the rust of them shall be a witness against you , and shall eate your flesh as it were fire : yee have heaped treasure together for the last days : — Yee have lived in pleasure on earth , and been wanton : Yee have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter — ] A man would think it should either Turn them , or Torment them , and fill their hearts with continual horrour , to sind God thus solemnly protesting against their peace , and sentencing them to woe and sorrows .

6. The Pleasures of the Godly are clean and noble , and honest and honourable . They delight in things of greatest worth , for which they had their Natures , their Time and all . But the Pleasures of sinners are base and filthy : They Delight as swine in wallowing in the mire : and as the dog to eat his own Vomit , 2. Pet 2. 22. They delight to wrong the God that made them , and by whom they live , and to cross the ends of their lives and mercies ; and to drive away all true delights , and to undo themselves . This is the matter of their delight .

7. The Devil is a great enemy to the Delights of Holiness ; which is a sign that they are excellent . He doth what he can to keep men from the Holy State , lest they should meet with the Happiness that attends it . And if he prevail not in this his chief design , he doth what he can to fill up the lives of believers with calamities . All the enemies that he can raise up against them , shall by temptations , scorns or injuries , assault their comforts ; All the storms that he can raise shall be sure to fall upon them . How busie is he to fill them with fears and doubtings ? and to cast perplexing thoughts into their minds ? or to mis●ead them into some perplexing ways ? and fasten on them entangling doctrines , or disquieting principles ? How cunningly and diligently will he argue against their peace and comforts ? and seek to hide the Love of God , and dishonour the blood and grace and covenant of Christ ? and cross the comforting workings of the spirit ? How subtilly will he question all our Evidences ? and extenuate all Gods comforting mercies ? and do all that he can , that the godly may have a Hell on Earth , though they shall have none hereafter . It is sure an excellent Joy and Pleasure , which Satan is so great an enemy to .

8. The Delights of Holiness do make us better ; They are so far from disordering the mind , and leading us to sin , that they compose and purifie the mind , and make sin much more odious to us , then before . No man hates sin so much as he that hath seen the pleased face of God , and tasted most the sweetness of his grace , and tryed the pleasant paths of life . And therefore it is , that when a believer comes from fervent prayers , or from heavenly conference or meditation , or from hearing the blessed word of life , laid open plainly , and applyed powerfully to his soul , he would then abhor a temptation to sensual delights , if they were set before him . Till we lose the relish of Holy things , and suffer our Delight in God to fade , we are seldome taken in the snares of any fleshly vanities . Money is dirt to us , and honour a smoak , and lust doth stink , as long as we maintain our delight in God . He is the best and highest Christian , that hath most of these spiritual delights .

But fleshly Pleasures make men worse ; They intoxicate the mind , and fill it with vanity and folly ; They are the snares to entrap us ; and the harlots that do bewitch us , and defile the soul that should be chaste for God ; The noise of this sensual foolish mirth , doth drown the voice of God and Reason , so that in the needfullest matters they cannot be heard . In their hunting and hawking , di●ing and carding , drinking and revelling , feasting and dancing how little of God or heaven is on the sinners mind ? seldome is the soul so unfit for duty , so uncapable of instruction , so hardened against the word and warnings of the Lord , as in the depth of sensual delights . Then it is that they are [ foolish , disobedient , and deceived , ] when they are [ serving divers lusts and pleasules ] as Paul that had tryed both ways , confesseth , Tit. 3. 3. None so unlike to be the servants of Christ , as they that are cloathed in purple and fine linnen , and that fare sumptuously or deliciously every day , Luk. 16. To live in rioting and drunkenness , in chambering and wantonness , in strife and envying , and to make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof ] is the description of one that walks not honestly , and is far from a Christians life and hopes , Rom. 13. 13 , 14. It is those voluptuous sensual sinners , that most obstinately shut out all reproofs , and refuse him that speaketh to them from heaven , and will not so much as soberly consider of the things that concern their everlasting peace ; and therefore are oft so forsaken of grace , that they grow to be scorners of the means of their salvation , and [ being past feeling do give themselves over to lasciviousness , to work all uncleanness with greediness ] Eph. 4. 19. Which then is most desirable ? the healing or the wounding pleasures ? the quickening or the killing mirth ? the wholsome or the poysonous sweet ? the delights that mend us and further our salvation , or corrupting pleasures that drown men in perdidition ?

9. The Delights of Holiness are kin to Heaven : They are of the same nature with those that Saints and Angels have with God ( though we must acknowledge an unconceivable difference ) . It is the same God , and the same Glory that now delighteth us as seen by faith , which shall then delight us , when seen by intuition with open face . We are solacing our selves in Love and Praise , with the same employment that we must have in Heaven . And therefore if Heaven be the state of Greatest joy and pleasure , the state of Grace , and work of Holiness , that is likest to it , must needs be next it .

But sensual pleasures are beastial and sordid , and so far unlike the Joys of Heaven , that nothing more withdraws the mind , or maketh it unmeet for Heaven .

10. Lastly , the delights of Holiness are durable , even everlasting . The further we goe , the greater cause we have of joy . It is not a mutable good that we rejoyce in , but in the immutable God , the antient of days , and in that Christ that loveth his spouse with an everlasting love ; and in the sure and faithful promises ; and in the hopes of the Kingdom that cannot be moved . The spring of our pleasures is in Heaven : and our rejoycing is but the beginning of that which must there be perpetuated . Death cannot kill the joys of a believer : the grave shall not bury them : millions of ages shall not end them● Here they may be interrupted , because the pleased face of God may be ecclipsed , and sin and Satan may cast malicious doubt into our minds ; and the neighbourhood of the flesh will force the mind to participate of its sufferings . But still God will keep their comforts alive , at least in the root ; and help them in the act , as we have need of them and are fit for them : And in the world of Joy for which he is preparing us , our Joy shall be perfected , and never have interruption or end . Holy-Festivals , and Ordinances , and sweetest Communion of Saints , and dearest Love of truest friends , and perfect health and prosperity in the world , and all other comforts set together , that this world affords , are but short emblems and small fore-tastes of the Joyes which the face of God will afford us , and we shall have with Christ , his Saints and Angels , to all eternity .

But sensual Pleasures are of so short continuance , that they are gone before we feel well that we have them . The drunkard , the glutton , the fornicator , the gamester are drinking but a sugered cup of poyson : and merrily sowing the seeds of everlasting sorrow : Satan is but scratching them ( as the butcher shaves the throat of the swine ) before he kill them : One quarter of an hour ends the pleasure and leaves a damp of sadness in its room : He that hath had 40. or 50. years pleasures , hath no relish of it when it is past ; but it is as if it had never been : and much worse . He that hath spent a day , or moneth , or year in Pleasure , hath no more at night , or at the years end , when it is gone , then he that spent that time in sorrow . The bones and dust of thousands lie now in the Church yard , that have tasted many a sweet cup and morsel , and have had many a merry wanton day : And are they now any better for it , then if they had never known it ? And are not the poor and sorrowful there their equals ? And doubtless their souls have as little of those pleasures as their dust . In Heaven they are abhorred : In Hell they are turned into tormenting flames , and remembred as fuel for the devouring fire . There are Gluttons , but no more good cheer : There are Drunkards , but no more drink : There are Fornicators , but no more lustful pleasures : There are the playful wasters of their time , but no more sport and recreation : There are the vain-glorious , proud , ambitious souls , but not in glory , honour and renown ; but their aspiring hath cast them into the gulf of misery , and their pride hath covered them with utter confusion , and their glory is turned to their endless shame . Those that are now overwhelmed with the wrath of God , and shut up under desperation , are the souls that lately wallowed here in the delights of the flesh , and enjoyed for a season the pleasures of sin ; and now what fruit have they of all their former seeming happiness ? He that is feasted and gallantly adorned and attended to day , is crying for a drop of water in vain tomorrow , Luk. 16. 23 , 24 , 25 , 26. Christ tells you the gain of earthly riches , and the duration of earthly pleasures , to the ungodly , Luk. 6. 24 , 25. [ Woe to you that are rich , for you have received your consolation : Woe to you that are full , for you shall hunger : woe to you that laugh now , for you shall mourn and weep . ] that is , You that live a sensual life , and take up your pleasure and felicity here , shall find that all will end in sorrow . But [ blessed are ye that hunger now , for ye shall be filled : blessed are ye that weep now ; for ye shall laugh , v. 21. that is , You that are contented to pass through sorrows and tribulation on earth , to the Kingdom where you have placed your happiness and hopes , shall find that your sorrows will end in joy ; and therefore you are blessed while you seem miserable to the world , Joh. 16. 20. [ Ye shall weep and lament ; but the world shall rejoyce : and ye shall be sorrowful , but your sorrow shall be turned into joy . ] v. 22. [ Now you have sorrow : but I will see you again , and your heart shall rejoyce , and your joy no man taketh from you ] We have a constant interest in the Foutain of all Joy ; and if our sun be clouded , it is but for a moment . [ Our maker is our Husband : the Lord of hosts is his name : and our Redeemer the holy one of Israel ; the God of the whole earth : — For a small moment may he forsake us , but with great mercy will he gather us : In a little wrath he may hide his face from us for a moment ; but with everlasting kindness will he have mercy on us , saith the Lord our Redeemer . As he swore that the waters of Noah should no more goe over the earth , so hath he sworn that he will not be wroth with his people , nor rebuke them . For the mountains shall depart , and the hills shall be removed ; but his kindness shall not depart from us , nor the covenant of his peace be removed , saith the Lord , that hath mercy on us ] Isa. 54. 5 , to 19. [ For his anger endureth but for a moment : in his favour is life : weeping may endure for a night , but joy cometh in the morning . ] Psal. 30. 5. Storms may arise that may affright us : but how quickly will they all be over ? [ Come my people ( saith the Lord , Isa. 26. 20. ) enter into thy chambers , and shut thy doors about thee : hide thy self as it were for a little moment , untill the indignation be overpast . ]

And as the momentany sorrow of the Godly is forgotten in everlasting Joy , so the Joy of the wicked is but for a moment , and is drowned in everlasting sorrows . Job 20. 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9. [ Knowest thou not this of old , since man was placed upon earth , That the triumphing of the wicked is short , and the Joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment ? Though his excellency mount up to the heavens , and his head reach unto the clouds ; yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung : They which have seen him shall say , Where is he ? He shall flie away as a dream , and shall not be found : Yea he shall be chased away as a vision of the night : the eye also which saw him , shall see him no more ; neither shall his place any more behold him . ] Job 21. 12 , 13. [ They take the Timbrell and Harp , and rejoyce at the sound of the Organs : they spend their daies in wealth , and in a moment go down to the grave . ]

It would grieve a considerate believer to look on a worldly sensual gallant , in the midst of his vain-glory , or any unsanctified man in his mirth and pleasure , and to think where that man will shortly be , and how the case will be altered with him , and where his sport and mirth will leave him . As it would sadden our hearts to see one of them struck dead in the place , or to see the Devil fetch them away , and spoil the game ; so should it grieve us to fore-see the stroak of death , and the condemnation of their souls to everlasting misery . And can that man much value the pleasure of ungodly men , that doth fore-see this end ? Would you not laugh at him that were a Prince but for a day , and must be the scorn of the world to morrow ? or that would choose one day of mirth and pleasure , though he knew it would fill the rest of his life with pain and misery ? If folly and stupidity were any wonder , it were a wonder that ungodly men can be merry , when their consciences tell them that they are not sure to stay one hour out of Hell ; nor to hold on their mirth till the end of the game : But while they are saying , [ Soul , take thy ease , eat , drink and be merry : ] they may suddenly be told from God , [ Thou fool , this night shall thy soul be required of thee ] and then whose is thy wealth ? and then where is thy sport and mirth ? Luke 12. 19 , 20. As the tender flowers and Roses of the Spring , do fall before the nipping Frosts , and will not live in Winter storms ; no more will your fading mirth endure the frowns of God , the face of death , nor scarce a serious fore-thought of the day that you are near . And such matter of horrour is continually before you , while you are under the wrath and curse of God , in a carnal unregenerate state , that you are beholden to folly , security and stupidity for that ease which hindreth your everlasting ease .

So that all things considered , I must seriously profess , that ( however the ungodly have some pleasant dreams , and may live a while in carelesness and stupidity , or fleere in the face , while the beginning of hell is in their consciences , yet ) I must judge , that a life of Faith and Holiness are unspeakably sweet , if it were but for this , that they save the Conscience from the gripes , and fears , and terrible thoughts , that either sometime feed on the ungodly , or are ready to devour their mirth and them . So sad and frightful a thing it is , to be unsanctified , and in a state of sin , that it is an high commendation of the delights of Holiness , that they so much deliver us from those grievous terrours , and are so powerful an Antidote to preserve the heart from the wickeds pangs and desperation . Believe it , when conscience , death , and judgement , are the messengers to declare your endless sorrows , you will then wish , and ten thousand times wish , that you had some of the Faith and Holiness of the Saints , to be a Cordial to your sinking hearts ; and then you would take it as a matter of unspeakable joy , to be found in such a state as you now count sad and melancholy . Ask but a dying man , whether fleshly pleasure or Godliness be the sweeter thing ? Now when the delusions of prosperity are gone , which do men most relish ? and which is it that they would own ? By the consent of all the wise men in the world , I may well conclude , that a Holy life is incomparably the most pleasant .

BUT I know there are many things that seem to cross all this that I have spoken , which will be the matter of the Objections of ungodly men , and therefore must have an answer , before we pass any further . And the principal Objection is from the too common case of those that fear God , who walk so sadly , and doubt , and complain , and mourn so frequently , and shew so little chearfulness and joy , when many of the ungodly live in mirth , that you will think I speak against experience , when I say that a life of Holiness is so pleasant , and therefore that it is not to be believed . You will say , [ Do we not see the contrary in the sadness of their faces , and hear it in their sad lamenting words ? ]

To this I must give many particulars in answer , which when you have laid together , you may see , that all this makes nothing against the Pleasantness of the waies of God .

And , 1. You must difference between the Entrance into holiness , and the Progress : and between a new beginner , that is but lately turned from his ungodliness , and one that hath had time to try and understand the wayes of God . Those that are entering , or but newly come in , must needs have sorrow . But what is the cause of it ? Not their Godliness , but their ungodliness . I mean , It is their ungodliness which they lament , though it be godliness that causeth them to lament it : Can you expect that an ingenuous man should see his sin , and look back on so many years transgressions , and not be grieved ? To see that he hath so long abused God , and lost his time , and neglected his salvation , and that he hath lain so long in so miserable a state , must needs cause remorse in the conscience that hath any feeling . And will you say that Godliness is unpleasant , because it makes a man sorrow for his ungodliness ? If a man that hath killed his dearest friend , or his own Father , be grieved for the fact when he cometh to repentance , will you blame his Repentance or his Murder for his grief ? Will you say , [ What a hurtful thing is this Repentance ? ] or rather [ What an odious crime was it that must be so repented of ? ] Would you wish a man that hath lived so long in sin and misery , to have no sorrow for it at his return ? Especially when it is but a healing sorrow , preparing for remission , and not a sorrow joyned with despair , as theirs will be that die impenitently ? Observe the complaints of penitent souls , whether it be their present Godliness or their former ungodliness , which they lament ? Will you hear a man lament his former sinful careless life , and yet will you lay the blame on the contrary course of duty , which now he hath undertaken ? You may as wisely accuse a man for landing in a safe harbour , because he there lamenteth his loss by shipwrack while he was at Sea . Or as wisely may you blame a man for rising , that complaineth how he hurt himself by his fall . And as honestly may you accuse the chastity of your wife , because she lamenteth her former adultery ; or the fidelity of your friend or servant , because he lamenteth his former unfaithfulness .

But though the pangs of the New birth be somewhat grievous , and we come not into the world of Grace without some lamentation , yet this is not the state of the Holy life , into which we enter ; nor are those pangs to continue all our daies .

2. You must distinguish between the weaker and the stronger sort of Christians : and consider , that children are apt to cry ; but it is not therefore better to be unborn : Sickness is querulous , and the weak are froward ; but it is not therefore better to be dead . The godly are not perfectly godly : They are sinners while they are Saints : They have Holiness ; but they have corruption with it : Their sin is conquered , but yet not totally rooted out . The relicks do remain , though it do not raign . And it is the remnant of their unholiness that they lament , and not their holiness : They grieve not that they are godly , but that they are no more godly . It troubleth them not that they are come home to Christ , but that they have brought so much of their corruption with them . Hearken whether they complain of their Humility or their Pride ? of their Faith , or their unbelief ? their confidence or their distrust ? their repentance or their hardness of heart ? It is not their heavenly mindedness that troubleth them , but their earthly-mindedness . Nor is it their spirituality , but their carnality : Nor is it the D●ties , but the weakness and faultiness of their souls in duty : Not that they do it : but that they do it no better . It is more holiness that they beg for , and lament the want of . And will you say that Holiness is unpleasant , because men would so fain have more of it ? You would reason with more wisdom in another case . If a man that hath tasted meat or drink , complain because he hath no more , you would not blame his food for that ; nor gather from thence , that it is unpleasant , or that famine is more delightful .

3. You must distinguish between those Christians that have saln since their conversion , into any great and wounding sin , or ●●uris● some vexatious distempers ; and those that walk more uprightly with God , and maintain their integrity and peace . No wonder if David after his sin , complain of the breaking of his bones and heart : and if Peter go out and weep bitterly . The servants of Christ do know so much of the evil of sin , that they cannot make so light of it , as the blind and obdurate world that are past feeling . That sin which hath cost them formerly so dear , and hath cost Christ so much dearer on their behalf , must needs cause some sm●rt in the penitent soul . Sickness is felt , because it supposeth the subject to be alive : but the dead feel not that they are dead and rotten : And it doth not follow that therefore death is more desireable then sickness . It is because they are so like to the ungodly , that the servants of Christ do grieve and complain . But so far as they feel the healthfulness of their souls , and are conscious of their sincerity and upright conversations , they have greater comfort then the world can afford them .

4. You must distinguish between those Christians that by misapprehensions are unacquainted with their own felicity , and those that better understand their state . If a man be never so holy , and know it not , but by temptations is brought to doubt , whether he be not yet in his unsanctified state , no wonder if this man be grieved with these fears . But his grief is not because he is sanctified , but because he is afraid lest he be unsanctified . And this shews that Holiness is most lovely in his eyes : or else why should he be so much troubled , when he doth but doubt whether he be Holy or not ? If a Rich man by a false report should believe that he is rob'd of his goods and treasure , or that his houses are burnt , when it is not so , he will mourn or be troubled till he know the truth . And will any be so foolish as to conclude from thence , that Riches are more uncomfortable then beggery ? Had you not rather be rich , though for a time you know it not , then to live in certain continual want ? If a man that is in health , be perswaded by mistake that he is in a Consumption , he will be troubled by his mistake : But will you thence conclude that sickness is more comfortable then health ? Is it not better to have health with those mistaken fears , then to live in sickness ? Methinks you should rather argue on the contrary side , [ How sweet is Health , when the fear of losing it is so troublesom ? and how bitter is sickness and death , when the very fear of them is so grievous ? ] And so you should say , [ How sweet is Holiness , when it is so troublesome to those that have it , so much as to fear lest they have it not ? and How miserable a life is it to be ungodly , when it is so grievous to the servants of Christ , even once to fear lest they are ungodly ? ]

But go to those Christians that know themselves , and are truly acquainted with their sincerity and their priviledges , and see whether they walk so uncomfortably as those mistaken doubting souls ; You will find them in another case , and hear other kind of language from their mouths ; even the joyful praises of their Redeemer , and the thankful acknowledgements of his abundant love . How sweet unto their souls is the remembrance of kindness ? and how delightful a work is it from day to day to magnifie his name ?

5. You must also distinguish between those weak mistaken Christians , that understand not the extent of the Covenant of grace , and those that do understand it . If a believer by mistake should think that the grace of the Gospel extendeth not to such as he , because he is unworthy , and his sins are great , no wonder if he be troubled : As you would be if you should conceive that your lease were not made to you , but to another : or as a malefactor would be if he thought his pardon belonged not to him , but to another man . But hence you should rather observe the riches and excellencies of the Gospel , and the happiness of the heirs of promise , then dream that its better be strangers to the holy Covenant still . They are better that have a promise of life and understand it not , then they that have none . But those that know the freeness and fulness of the promise , and study with all Saints to comprehend what is the bredth , and length , and depth , and heighth , and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge , ( Eph. 3. 18 , 19. ) do use to walk more comfortably according to the riches of that grace wich they do possess .

6. Consider also , that most of these complaining Christians are glad that they are in any measure got out of their former state , and therefore apprehend their cause to be better then it was before : Or else they would turn back to the state that they were in ; which they would not do for all the world . And therefore they take a godly life to be far more pleasant to them that do attain it .

7. Moreover , the sorrow of believers is such as may consist with Joy . At the same time while they are grieved that they are no better , they are gladder of that measure of grace which they have received , then they would be to be made the rulers of the world . While they are mourning for the remnant of their sins , they are glad that it is but a remnant that they have to mourn for . Yea while they are troubled because they doubt of their sincerity and salvation , they are more sustained and comforted with that little discerning which they have of their evidences , and with their hopes of the everlasting love of God , then they could by all your sinful pleasures . Try the most dejected mournful Christian , whether he would change states and comforts with the best and greatest of the ungodly . The soul of man is so active and comprehensive , that it can at once both rejoyce and mourn . While they mourn for sin , and feel affliction , believers can have some rejoycing taste of Everlasting Life .

8. Yea the godly sorrow of a believer is the matter of his joy . He is gladder when his heart will melt for sin , then he would be to be your partner in your carnal pleasures . He would not change the comfort that he findeth in his penitent tears for all your laughter .

9. The Joy of a believer is intimate and solid , as I said before , according to the object of it , and not like the fleering of a fool , or the laughter of a child , or the sensual mirth that Solomon called Madness . And therefore it is not so discernable to others as carnal mirth is . And therefore you think that the servants of Christ are void of pleasure when they have much more then you . It is little ridiculous accidents and toys that make men laugh ; but great things give us an inward sweet content and joy , which scorns to shew it self by laughter . And what can be a fitter object of such great content , then to be a member of Christ , and an heir of heaven ?

10. Moreover , this sorrow of the Godly is but medicinal , and a preparative to their after-Joys : It doth but work out the poison of sin , which would marr their comforts , and drive them to Christ , and fit them to value him , and tast the sweetness of his love and grace .

11. And as it is not the state and life of a Christian , but his fasting days , or time of Physick , so the comforts of the godly ordinarily do far exceed their sorrows , at least in weight , if not in passionate sense . They have their hours of sweet access to God , and of heavenly meditation , and delightful remembrance of the experiences of his love , and perusal of his promises , and communion with his people ; and of the exercise of faith , and hope , and love . And with those Christians that have attained stability and strength , these comforting graces are predominant : and their life is more in Love and Praise , then in vexatious fears and sorrows : And it should be so with all believers : Love is the Heart of the new creature . It is a life of Love and Joy and praise that Christ calls all his people to ; and forbids them all unnecessary doubts and sorrows ; and keepeth them up so strictly from sin , that he may prevent their sorrows . And if you will judge whether Holiness be a pleasant course , you must goe to the prescript , and consider the nature and use of Holiness , and look at those that live according to the mercies of the Gospel ; and not look at the dejections and sorrows of those that grieve themselves by swerving from the way of Holiness : as if you would judge that Health is unpleasant , because you hear a sick man groan . And yet even these weak and mournful Christians usually have more joy then you . The very preservation of their souls from that despair which sin would cast them into if they had not a Christ to fly to , and the little tasts of mercy which they have felt , and the revivings that they find between their sorrows , and the hopes they have of better days , are enough to weigh down all your pleasures and all their own sorrows .

12. Lastly , consider that this is not the life of perfect Joy , and therefore some sorrows will be intermixt . Comfort will not be perfect till Holiness be perfect ; and till we arrive at the place of perfect joy . What 's wanting now while we live in a troublesome malignant world , shall shortly be made up in the Heavenly Jerusalem , when we have admittance into our Masters joy . And then all the world shall be easily convinced , whether sin or duty , a fleshly or or Holy life , hath the greater Pleasures and contents .

Object . But it is not only the weakness of professors , but the very way that is prescribed them , that must bear the blame : For they are commanded to fast , and weep , and mourn .

Answ. 1. That is but with a medicinal necessary sorrrw , for preventing of a greater sorrow ; as bitter medicines and blood-letting , and strict diet , are for the prevention of death . God first commandeth them to take heed of sin , the cause of sorrow : But if they will fall and break their bones , they must endure the pain of setting them again .

2. And doth not Christ command his servants also to Rejoyce ? and again Rejoyce , and always to rejoyce ? Phil. 3. 1. & 4. 4. 1 Thes. 5. 16. Doth he not command them to live in the most delightful works of Love and Joy and thankful mention of his mercies ? I tell you , if Christians did but live as God requireth them , and by his plenteous mercies doth encourage them to live , they would be the wonder of the world for their exceeding joy ; they would triumph as men that are entering into rest , and make the miserable ungodly Princes and great ones of the world observe their low contemptible condition , and see by the comforts of believers , that there are far higher joys then theirs to be attained . Did Christians live as God would have them , according to their dignity and selicity , they would make the world admire the spirit , and hopes and comforts that do so transport them ; They would be so taken up in the Love and praise of their Redeemer , that they would scarce have leisure to observe whether they be rich or poor , or to regard the honours or dishonours of the world . These little things would scarce find room in their affection , they would be taken up so much with God . If they were sore with scourging , and their feet were in the stocks , they would there sing forth the praise of him that hath assured them of deliverance and everlasting joy , as Paul and Silas did , Act. 16. They would rejoyce in poverty , in disgrace , in pain , and nothing would be able to overcome their joy . They would pitty the tyrants and sensual Epicures that have no sweeter pleasures then those that the flesh and this deceitful world affords . O the joy that believers would have in their secret prayers ! in their heavenly meditations ! in their holy conference ! in their reading of the promises ! and much more in their publike praises and Communion , if they did but follow more fully the conduct of that spirit that hath undertaken to be their Comforter ! What makes believers slight this world , and take all your pleasures to be unworthy of their entertainment or regard , but that they have had a taste of sweeter things , and by faith are overgrown these childish vanities ? If God and his favour be better then such worms as we ; and the heavenly Glory be better then these transitory toyes , you may well conceive that the believers joy , that is fed by these , must be greater , ( at least in worth and weight ) then all the pleasures of this sublunary world . If therefore you love a life of pleasure , come over to Christ , and live a holy heavenly life ; and believe one that hath made some tryal , yea believe the Lord himself , that Holiness is the only Pleasant life .

ANd now as we have seen it plainly proved , that the life of Holiness is the most Pleasant life , so from hence we may see two sorts reproved , that ( in different measures ) are found to be trangressors .

The first is , Those blind ungodly wretches , that can find no pleasure in a holy life , when they can find pleasure in their worldly drudgery , and in their sensual uncleanness , and their childish vanities . They have the God of infinite Goodness to delight in ; but to their impious hearts he seemeth not delightful . They have his Power , and wisdom , and holiness , and truth to love , and admire , and trust upon , and his excellent works to behold him in , and his holy laws , and gracious promises to meditate on ; but they have small delight in any such imployment . They have leave as well as any others to open their hearts to God in secret , and in prayer and praise to recreate their souls , and to hold communion with the Saints of God , and to be exercised both in publike and private in his worship , and to order their families in his fear , and to mannage their affairs according to his word : but they find no pleasure in such a life as this , but are as backward to it as if it were a toilesome and unprofitable business , and are weary of that little outside worship which they do perform . They have Heaven set before them to seek after , and to make their portion and delight , but they have small delight to think or speak of it . Their hearts are unsutable to these high holy and spiritual things . They are matters that they are strange to , and have no firm and confident belief of , but an uncertain wavering weak opinion : and therefore they are too far off , to be their delight [ They say to God , Depart from us ; for we desire not the knowledge of thy way ; What is the Almighty that we should serve him ? and what profit should we have if we pray unto him ? Job 21. 14 , 15. ] If they do come to the publike Assemblies , and joyn there in the outward part of worship , they find little life and pleasure in it , because they are strangers to the reward and spiritual part which is the kernel . They look more at the Preachers gifts , and the manner of his doctrine and delivery , then at the spiritual necessary matter that is delivered . They have some pleasure in a neat composed speech , that seemeth not to accuse them any more then others , and grateth not on their tender ears with plain and necessary truth ; but suffers them to go home as quietly as they came thither . But if the Preacher touch them to the quick , and endeavoureth faithfully to acquaint them with themselves , or if he have no eloquence or accurateness of speech to please them with , but be guilty of any unhansomness of expression , or m●d●●● imperfections , they are weary of hearing him , and think it long till the glass be run , and perhaps instead of tasting the sweetness of wholsom truth , they make it the matter of their dension and contempt .

But let them be at Cards or Dice , at Hawking or Hunting , at any idle sports and vanities , and they can hold out longer with delight . At drinking , or feasting , or idle talking , they are not so weary . Yea in the labours of their calling , when their bodies are weary , their minds are more unwearyed ; and in their fields and shops they have more delight , then in the spiritual holy service of the Lord . They are never so merry as when there is least of God upon their hearts and in their wayes . And it is one of the reasons that hindreth their Conversion , lest it should deprive them of their mirth , and cause them to spend the remainder of their dayes in uncomfortable heavyness . If sin were not sweet to them , conversion would be more easie : The Pleasure which they find in creatures by their sin , is the prison and fetters of their souls captivity . If this be thy case that readest these lines , I beseech thee lay to heart these following aggravations of thy sin .

1. How blind and wicked is the heart that can find more pleasure in sin than holiness ? Is the creature pleasant to thee , and God unpleasant ? What a shame is this to thy Understanding and thy Will ? It proclaimeth thy pernicious Folly and Impiety . If thou hadst no more wit then to be Pleased more with stones then gold , with dung then meat , with shameful nakedness then cloathing , thou wouldst not be judged wise enough to be left to thy own dispose and government . But the folly which thou dost manifest , is unspeakably greater . Darkness is not so much worse then Light , and Death is not so much worse then Life ; as sin is worse than Holiness , and the world than God . And is the Worst more Pleasant to thee then the Best ? It is a fool indeed , to whom it is a sport to do mischief , Prov. 10. 23. and so great a mischief as sin is : and yet hath no delight in understanding , Prov. 18. 2. Delight is not seemly for such fools , Prov. 19. 10.

And how wicked is that Heart as well as Blind , that is so averse to God and Holiness ? Doth not this shew thee , 1. The absence of Gods holy image , 2. And the presence of Satans image upon thy soul ?

Nothing doth more certainly prove what a man is , then the complacency and displacency of his Heart . If you know what it is in your selves or others , that pleaseth and displeaseth most , you may certainly know whether you have the spirit and grace of Christ or not . This is the durable infallible Evidence , which Satan shall never be able to invalidate , and which the weakest Christians can scarce tell how to deny in themselves : Could they be more Holy , it would please them better then to be more rich : Could they believe more , and Love God more , and trust him more , and obey him better , it would please them more then if you gave them all the honours of the world : They are never so well pleased with their own hearts , as when they find them nearest Heaven , and have most of the Knowledge of God , and impress of his attributes , and sense of his presence . They are never so well pleased with their lives , as when they are most holy and fruitful , and may fullyest be called A walking with God . They are never so much displeased with themselves , as when they find least of God upon their hearts , and are most dark , and dull , and undisposed to holy Communion with him . They are never so much weary of themselves , as when their lives are least fruitful , holy and exact . And this is a certain Evidence of their sincerty : For it shews what they Love , and what it is that hath their Hearts or Wills . And it is the Heart or Will that is the man , in Gods account . God takes a man to be what he sincerely would be . As he is , so he Loveth and Willeth : and as he Loveth and Willeth , such he is . His complacency or displacency are the immediate sure discoveries of his bent or inclination : This certain Evidence poor doubting souls should have oft recourse to , and improve .

And on the contrary , it is as sure an Evidence of your misery , when you savour not the things of the Spirit , Rom. 8. 5 , 6 , 7. and when it pleaseth you more to be great , then to be good ; to be rich , then to be religious and righteous ; to serve your lusts , then to serve the Lord : When you set more by the applause of men , then by the approbations of God : and had rather be far from God then near him , and be excused from a holy life then used to it , and constant in it : When you take the world and sin for your recreation or delight , and a godly life for a melancholy , wearisom , and unpleasant course : This certainly shews that you have yet the old corrupted nature , and Serpentine enmity against the Spirit and Life of Christ , and are yet in the flesh , and therefore can no more please the Lord , then his holy wayes are pleasing unto you , Rom. 8. 6 , 7 , 8. and it proveth that you are yet in the gall of bitterness , and the bonds of your iniquity , and that your hearts are not right in the sight of God , and that you are the slaves of Satan , whose nature you partake of , by which you are thus alienated from the Lord .

Didst thou know God as Faith doth know him , his Loving kindness would be better to thee then life it self , Psalm 63. 3. If thou didst Love him ( as it is like thou wilt pretend thou dost ) it would be meat and drink to thee , to enjoy his Love , and do his Will. And if thou know him not by Faith , nor cleavest to him by unfeigned Love , how canst thou pretend to have his Image ?

How would you judge of that mans heart , that were no better affected to his friend , to his parents , or children , or other relations , then you manifest your selves to be to God ? If he can take no pleasure in the company of his wife or children , but is glad when he is far from them , in the company of strangers , or harlots , or prodigals , would you not say this man had a base unmanly disposition ? Express but such an inclination in plain words , and try how honest sober men will judge of them . Much more would it be odious to Christian ears , if you should tell God plainly , [ We can find no pleasure in thee , or in thy holy wayes ; thy Word and Service are unsavoury and wearisom unto us : We had rather be talking or busied about the matters of the world : We have far more pleasure in recreations and sensual accommodations , then in remembring thee and thy Kingdom , and then we find in the life that is called holy . ] Would not such words as these be called impious , by every Christian that should hear them ? And is not that an impious heart then , which speaketh thus , or is thus affected , and that an impious life that manifesteth it ? though dissembling lips are ashamed to profess it ?

If God be not most to be loved and delighted in , then any thing or all things else , he is not God . If Heaven and Holiness be not sweeter then all the pleasures of earth and sin , let them have no more such honourable names . Let sin and earth then be called Heaven ; but wo to them that have no better .

2. What monstrous ingratitude is that man guilty of , that when God hath provided , and Christ hath purchased such high delights , and freely tendred them to unworthy sinners , will say , I find no pleasure in them , and take them for no delights at all ? When the Lord beheld thee wallowing in thy filth , and laughing in thy misery , and making a sport of thine own perdition , he pittied thee , and provided and offered to thee the most noble and excellent delights , that thy nature is capable of enjoying : And wilt thou cast them back unthankfully in his face , and say , They are unpleasant tedious things ? If your child did so by his meat or cloathes , yea or a beggar at your door did so by his alms , you would think it proved his great unworthyness : If he throw away the best you can give him , and say , [ It is naught , there is no sweetness in it ] would you not think it fit that want should help to mend his rellish , and cure his ingratitude ? And will you do so your selves by Christ and Holiness , and say as those , Mal. 1. 13. What a weariness is it ? Take heed lest you provoke the Lord to cast you into a state in which you shall have more cause to be aweary . If you are weary of reading , and praying , and hearing , and other holy exercises , and weary of heart-searching , penitent meditations , will you not be wearyer of Hell-fire , and of the dolorous reviews of this your folly , and of the endless , easeless , remediless sense of the wrath of God , and gripes of your own self-tormenting consciences ! How just is it with God to give those men somewhat that they have cause to be aweary of , that will be thus aweary of his sweetest service , and reject the greatest mercies he can offer them , as if they were some burdensom worthless things !

3. Will you have any pleasure at all , or will you have none ? If any , in what then will you place it , and whence will you expect it , if not from God in a holy life ? If God be thy trouble , what then is fit to be thy delight ? Darest thou say in thy heart or with thy tongue , that sin and sensuality is better ? Darest thou say that a good bargain , or other worldly gain , or cards , or dice , or other sports , or ease , or good chear , or an Ale-house , or a Whore , are pleasanter things then walking with thy God in faith and holiness , and expectation of the everlasting joyes ? Heaven and earth shall bear witness against thee , and common Reason shall bear witness against thee , for this inhumane , impious folly and ingratitude , if ever thou appear at the barr of God , with the guilt of such unreasonable sin . What! is God no better in thine eyes , then a filthy brutish sinful pleasure ? and is the Love of God no sweeter a work , then the Love of sensual delights ! Saith blessed Augustine , He that will sell or exchange his soul for transitory commodities , doth censure Christ to be a foolish Merchant , that knew no better what he a●● , when he gave his Life for those souls , that you will not lose a sin for . So I may say here : Hath Christ bought for you Holy and Everlasting pleasures , at the price of his own most bitter pains , and precious blood , and do you now think them no better then your fleshly beastial delights ? Is it Christ or you , think you , that is mistaken in the value of them ? Did he shed his blood to purchase you that which is not worth the parting with a cup of drink for , or the parting with your pleasure , or unjust commodity for ? Sure he that judgeth thus of Christ , is far from believing in him , with any true Christian saving Faith .

4. If you can find no pleasure in God and in a holy life , you may be sure that he will have no pleasure in you . Wonder not if you find in your greatest need , that you are abhorred and loathed by the Lord , when you loathed the very thoughts and mention of him , in the day of your visitation . Marvail not if the most Holy God do take no pleasure in a leathsem sinner , when the sinner is so ungodly , that he takes more pleasure in the most sordid fading trifles then in God . You may offer the sacrifice of your heartless hypocritical prayers and praises unto God , and he will count them abomination , and cast them back as dung into your faces , and tell you that he hath no pleasure in the sacrifice of such fools : Read it in his own words , Prov 15. 8. & 21. 27. Isa. 1. 13. Eccles. 5. 4. As you are weary of serving him , so he is ●●●ary of your services , and it is a trouble to him 〈…〉 them , and when you spread forth your hands , he will hide his eyes from you , yea when you make many prayers he will not hear , Isa. 1. 14 , 15. When the Jews offered their lame deceitful sacrifices , and said , [ Behold what a weariness is it ? ] God sends them word , that he hath ●o pleasure in them , nor would regard their persons , nor accept a sacrifice at their hands , Mal. 1. 8 , 9 , 10. and their solemn feasts he counteth [ dung ] : And dung would be no acceptable present or feast to your selves , if it were offered you instead of meat , Mal. 2. 3. [ My soul ( saith the Lord ) loathed them , and their soul abhorred me ] Zech 11. 8. As he that despiseth him , shall be lightly esteemed by him , 1 Sam. 2. 30. So he that loatheth him , shall be loathed by him . [ If any man draw back , saith the Lord , my soul shall have no pleasure in him . ] Heb. 10. 38. For he is not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness , neither shall evil dwell with him : the foolish shall not stand in his sight : he hateth all the workers of iniquity , Psalm 5. 4 , 5. And little do you now imagine what a horrour it will be to you in the day of your extremity for God to tell you that he hath no pleasure in you : When you look before you into an eternity of woe , which you have no hope to escape but by the mercy of the Lord , and he shall dash that hope by telling you that he hath no pleasure in you , it will give your souls the deadly wound that never shall be healed . In vain then shall you wish that you had chosen in time the durable delights , and not the pleasures of filthy sin for so short a season : and to your torment you shall know , whether God or the world was more worthy of your sweetest affections and delights : and how deservedly they are [ all damned that obeyed not the truth , but had pleasure in unrighteousness , 2 Thes. 2. 12. Who knowing the judgement of God , that they which commit such things are worthy of death , not only do the same , but have pleasure in them that do them , Rom. 1. 32. If you will count it your pleasure to ryot in the day-time , rather then to walk and work by the light , you must look to receive the due reward of such unrighteousness , 2 Pet. 2. 13. If it be your sport to sin and to do mischief , ( Prov. 10. 23. ) you shall have small sport in suffering the punishment of your willful folly .

5. If God and Holiness seem not pleasant to you , then Heaven it self cannot seem pleasant to you , if you consider it truly as it is . For the Heavenly felicity consisteth in the perfection of our Holiness , and the perfect fruition of God himself , by Sight , and Love , and Joy for ever . If the little Holiness be unpleasant and irksom to you , which appeareth in the imperfect Saints on earth , what pleasure could you take in that supereminent Holiness which is the state and work of the celestial inhabitants ? If the thoughts and mention of God be unpleasant to you , and ▪ his holy praises do seem to you as matters of no delight , What then would you do in heaven where this must be your everlasting work ? And if Heaven seem a place of toyle and trouble to you , how just will it be that you are everlastingly shut out ? How can you for shame beg of God to glorifie you , when you take the Glory that he hath promised for a misery ? If you think that there is a Heaven of such sensual pleasures as you desire , or that any shall be saved that only choose Heaven as a less and more tolerable misery then Hell , you will shortly find your expectations deceived .

Lay all these five considerations together , and you may perceive what miserable souls those are , that can find pleasure in perishing trifles of the world , and none in a Holy and Heavenly life . Be assured of this , whosoever thou art , that if God and Heaven and a Holy life , be not a thousand times sweeter and more delightful to thee , then any thing that this world can afford to thy contentment , it is not for want of matter of superabundant delight to be found in God and in his holy ways ; but it is for want of reason , or faith , or consideration , or a sutable Heart in thee , which may make thee fit to know and taste the pleasures which now thou art unacquainted with . And is it not pitty that such infinite delights should be set before men , and they should lose them all for want of a Heart and appetite to them ? and should perish by choosing the lowest vanities before them ?

I do therefore earnestly beseech thee that readest these words , if thou be one of these unhappy souls , that canst find no pleasure in God and Holiness , that thou wouldst speedily observe and lament that blindness and wickedness of thy heart , that is the cause of this infatuation and corruption of thine apprehension and rational appetite : and that thou wouldst presently apply thy self to Christ for the cure of it ; To which end I advise thee to these following means .

Direct . 1. IF you would taste the pleasure of a holy life , bethink you better of the necessity and excellency of it ; and cast away your prejudice and false conceits , which have deceived you , and turned your minds against it : A child may be deluded to take his own Father for his enemy , if he see him in an enemies garb , or be perswaded by false suggestions that he hateth him . A man may be perswaded to hate his meat , if you can but make him believe that it is poyson : or to hate his cloaths , if you can make him believe they are infected with the plague . If you will suffer your understandings to be deluded , so far as to overlook the amiable nature of holiness , and to think the image of God is but a fancie , or that a heavenly life is nothing but hypocrisie , and that it is but pride that maketh men seek to be holyer then others , and that makes them they cannot goe quietly to Hell in despight of the commands and mercies of the Lord , as others do ; I say , if the Devil the great deceiver , can possess you with such frantick thoughts as these , what wonder if you hate the very name of Holiness ? How can you find pleasure in the greatest good , while you take it for an evil ? If you will believe all that the Devil and his foolish malicious instruments say of God and of a holy life , you shall never love God , nor see any loveliness , or taste any sweetness in his service .

Dir. 2. Come neer and search into the inwards of a holy life , and try it a little while your selves , if you would taste the pleasure of it : and do not stand looking on it at a distance , where you see nothing but the out side : nor judge by bare hearsay , which giveth you no taste or relish of it . The sweetness of honey , or wine , o● meat is not known by looking on it , but by tasting it . Come neer and try what it is to live in the Love of God , and in the belief and hope of life eternal , and in universal obedience to the laws of Christ ; and then tell us how these things do relish with you . You will never know the sweetness of them effectually , as long as you are but lookers on . It was the similitude which Peter Martyr used in a Sermon , which converted the Noble Neopolitane Marquess of Uicum , Galeacius Caracciolus , ( who forsook wife , and children , and honours , and lands , and countrey , and all for the liberty of the Reformed Religion at Geneva : ) saith he , [ If you see the motion of dancers a far off , and hear not the Musick , you will think they are frantick : but when you come near and hear the musick , and observe their harmonical orderly motion , you will take delight in it , and desire to joyn with them . ] So men that judge at a distance of the truth and holy ways of God , by the slanderous reports of malignant men , will think of the godly as Festus of Paul that they are beside themselves . But if they come among them , and search more impartially into the reasons of their course , and specially if they joyn with them in the inwards and vital actions of religion , they will then be quickly of another mind , and not go back for all the pleasures or profits of the world . In the works of Nature , ( and sometimes of Art ) the outside is so far from shewing you the excellencies , that it is but a comely vaile to hide them . Though you would have a handsome cover for your watch , yet doth it but hide the well ordered frame , and useful motions that are within : You must open it , and there observe the parts and motions , if you would pass a right judgement of the work . You would have a comely cover for your Books : but it is but to hide the well composed letters from your sight , in which the sense and use and excellency doth confist . You must open it , if you will read it and know the worth of it . A common spectator when he seeth a Rose or other flower or fruit-tree , thinketh he hath seen all , or the chiefest part : But it is the secret unsearcheable motions and operations of the vegetative life and juice within , by which the beauteous flowers and sweet fruits are produced , and wonderfully differenced from each other that are the excellent part , and mysteries in these natural works of God . Could you but see these secret inward causes and operations , it would incomparably more content you . He that passeth by and looketh on a Bee-hive , and seeth but the Cover , and the laborious creatures going in and out , doth see nothing of the admirable operations within , which God hath taught them : Did you there see how they make their wax and honey , and compose their combs , and by what laws , and in what order their Common-wealth is governed , and their work carryed on , you would know more then the out side of the ●ive can shew you . So it is about the life of Godliness : If you saw the inward motions of the quickening spirit upon the soul , and the order and exercise of every grace , and by what laws the thoughts and affections are governed , and to whom they tend , you would then see more of the beauty of Religion , then you can see by the outward behaviour of our assemblies . The shell is not sweet ; but serves to hide the sweeter part , from those that will not storm those walls , that they may possess it as their prize . The kernel of Religion is covered with a shell so hard that flesh and blood cannot break it ; Hard sayings , and hard providences to the Church , and to particular believers , are such as many cannot break through , and therefore never taste the sweetness . The most admired feature and beauty of any of your bodies , ( which fools think to be the most excellent part of the body ) is indeed but the handsome well-adorned case , that God by nature doth cover his more excellent inward works with . Were you but able to see within that skin , and 〈…〉 once to observe the wonderful motions of Heart and Braine , and the course of the blood in the veins and arteries , and the several fermentations , and the causes and nature of chylifications , and sanguifications , and the spirits and senses and all their works : and if you saw the reason of every part and vessel in this wonderous frame ; and the causes and nature of every disease ; much more if you saw the excellent nature and operations of that rational soul , that is the glory of all ; you would then say that you had seen a more excellent sight , then the smooth and beauteous skin that covers it : The invisible soul is of greater excellencie then all the visible beauties in the world . So also if you would know the excellencies of Religion , you must not stand without the doors , or judge of it by the skin and shell , but you must come neer , and look into the inward Reasons of it , and think of the difference between the high imployments of a Saint , and the poor and for did drungery of the ungodly ; between walking with God , in desire , and love , and in the spiritual use of his Ordinances and creatures , and conversing only with sinful men , and transitory vanities : between the life of faith and hope , which is daily maintained by the foresight of Everlasting Glory , and a life of meer nature and worldliness and sensuality , and idle complement and pompe , which are but the progenitors of sorrow , and end in endless desperation . Come neer , and try the power of Gods Laws , and of the workings of his spirit ; and think in good sadness of the place where you must live forever , and the glory you shall see ; and the sweet enjoyment and employment you shall have in the presence of the eternal Majesty , and think well of all the sweet contrivances and discoveries of his love in Christ ; and how freely all these are offered to you ; and how certainly they may be your own ; peruse the promises and sweet expressions of Love and Grace ; and exercise your souls in serious meditation , prayer , thanksgiving , and praise ; and withall remember , that none but these will be durable delights ; and then tell me , whether a life of sport and pride , and worldliness , and flesh-pleasing , or a life of faith and Holiness , be the better , the sweeter , and more pleasant life .

Direct . 3. If you would taste the Pleasures of a Holy life , you must apply your self to Christ in the use of his appointed means , for the renewing of your natures : that his Spirit may give you a new understanding and a new heart , to discern and rellish spiritual things : For your old corrupted minds and hearts will never do it . They are unsuitable to the things of God , and therefore cannot Receive them , nor savour them , nor be subject to the holy laws , 1 Cor. 2. 14 , 15. Rom. 8. 5 , 6 , 7 , 8. The appetite and rellish of every living creature is agreeable to its nature . A fish hath small pleasure in the dry land ; nor a bird in the deeps of water ; grass and water is sweeter to an Ox then our most delicate meats and drinks ▪ Corruption and Custom have made you so vitious , that your natures are not such as God made them at the first , when he himself was mans desire and delight : but they are now inclined to sensual things , being captivated by the fleshly part , and have contracted a strangeness and enmity to God . And therefore those Hearts will never rellish the sweetnesses of a life of Faith , and Holiness , till Faith and Holiness be planted in them , and they be born again by regenerating grace : For that which is born of the flesh is flesh , ( and but flesh ; and therefore doth reach no higher then a fleshly inclination can move it ) ; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit ; and therefore will rellish and love things Spiritual .

Direct . 4. Lastly , if you would taste the pleasures of a Holy life , you must forbear those sinful fleshly pleasures , which now you are so taken up with . For these are they that infatuate your understandings , and corrupt your appetites , and make the sweetest things seem loathsom to you . As the using of vain sports , and filthy lust , abroad , doth make such persons a weary of their own relations , and families , and business at home ; so also the glutting of the mind with vanity , and using your selves to sinful pleasures , is it that turns your hearts from God , and maketh his Word and Wayes unsavoury to you . You must first with the Prodigal , Luke 15. be brought into a famine of your former pleasures , and be denyed the very husk , and then you will remember that the meanest servant in your Fathers house is in a far better case then you , having bread enough , while you perish through hunger . And hence it is that God doth so often promote the work of Conversion by Affliction ; and by the same means carryeth on the work of Grace in most that he will save . Cannot you tell how to leave your sensual pleasures ? What will you do when sickness makes you weary of them ? Weary of your meat , and drink , and bed ; weary to hear talk of that which now doth seem so sweet ? and to say , I have no pleasure in them ? Cannot you spare your friends , your sports , your bravery , your wealth and other carnal accommodations ? What will you say of them , when pain disgraceth them , and convinceth you of their insufficiency to stand you in any stead ? These things that you are now so loth to leave , may shortly become such a load to your souls , as undigested meat to the stomack that is sick , that you can have no ease till you have cast them off .

Away therefore with these luscious Vanities betime , which vitiate your appetites , and put them out of rellish with the things that are truly pleasant . O what a shame it is to hear a man say [ I shall never endure so godly , and spiritual , and strict a life ; ] when he can endure and take pleasure in a life of sin ! You may wiselyer lie down in the dunghill or the ditch and say , [ I shall never endure a cleaner place ; ] or feed on carrion , and say , [ I shall never endure a cleaner dyet ; ] or accompany only with enemies and wild beasts , and say [ I shall never endure the company of my friends . ] What! is God worse then the creature , and Heaven then earth ? and so much worse , as not to be endured in your thoughts and affections in comparison of them ? You will never know your friends till you forsake these deceivers ! Nor ever know the Pleasures of a Holy life , till you will let go the poysonous pleasures of sin : And then you may find that Sanctification destroyeth not , but changeth and recovereth your Delights : and giveth you safety for the greatest peril , health for sickness , friends for enemies , gold for dross , life for death , and the fore-tasts of Rest for tiring vexation .

2. THE second sort that are hence to be Reproved , are , Those weak and troubled servants of the Lord , that live as sadly as if they found more grief then pleasure in the wayes of God .

Indeed it is to be lamented that few of the heirs of life do live according to the happiness and dignity of their Calling ; nor are the great things that God hath done for them so apparent in the cheerfulness and comforts of their lives as they should be : But some that are addicted to dejectedness , do in a greater measure wrong Christ and themselves , being alwayes feeding upon secret griefs , and torturing themselves with doubts and fears , and acquainted with almost no other language but lamentations , self-accusations and complaints . These poor souls usually discover honest hearts , that are weary of sin , and low in their own eyes , and long to be better , and do not dis-regard the matters of their salvation as dead-hearted ungodly sinners do . Their complaints shew what they would be : and what they would be sincerely , that they are in Gods account . But yet they live so far below the sweet delights which they might partake of , and so far below the provisions of their Fathers house , and the riches of the Gospel , that they have cause to lament their excessive lamentations , and more cause to reform this sad distemper , and no cause to indulge it , as usually such do . And though with the most of them some natural passions and weaknesses , and some melancholy distempers are so much the cause , as may much excuse them , yet because it is an evil which must be disowned , and Reason must be the means , where people have the free use of Reason , I shall lay down some of the great inconveniences of this sad distemper , and beseech those that tender the honour of God , and would do that which is most pleasing to him , and love not their own calamity , that they will soberly consider of what I say , and labour to regulate their minds accordingly .

1. I desire the dejected Christian to consider , that by his heavy and uncomfortable life , he seemeth to the world to accuse God and his service , as if he openly called him a rigorous , hard , unacceptable master , and his work a sad unpleasant thing . I know this is not your thoughts : I know it is your selves and not God and his service that offendeth you ; and that you walk not heavily because you are holy , but because you fear you are not holy , and because you are no more holy : I know it is not of grace , but for grace that you complain . But do you not give too great occasion to ignorant spectators to judge otherwise ? If you see a servant alwayes sad , that was wont to be merry while he served another master , will you not think that he hath a master that displeaseth him ? If you see a woman live in continual heavyness ever since she was marryed , that lived merrily before , will you not think that she hath met with an unpleasing match ? You are born and new born for Gods honour : and will you thus dishonour him before the world ? What do you ( in their eyes ) but dispraise him by your very countenance and carriage , while you walk before him in so much heaviness ! The child that still cryes when you put on his shoes , doth signifie that they pinch him : and he dispraiseth his meat that makes a sower face at it : And he dispraiseth his friend , that is alway sad and troubled in his company ! He that should say of God [ Thou art bad , or cruel and unmerciful ] should blaspheme . And so would he that saith of Holiness [ It is a bad , unpleasant , hurtful state . ] How then dare you do that which is so like to such blaspheming ? when you should abstain from all appearance of evil ? 1 Thes. 5. 22. Canst thou find in thy heart thus to dishonour and wrong the God whom thou so much esteemest , and the grace which thou so much desirest ? For a wicked man that is far from God , to go heavily or roar in the horrour of his soul , is a shame to his sin , but no dishonour to God and Holiness . But for you that are near him , in relation , engagement , and attendance , to walk so heavily , reflects on him to whom you are Related , and from whom you look for your Reward .

2. Consider also , What a lamentable hinderance you are hereby to the conversion and salvation of souls ? Your countenances and sad complainings do affright men from the service of the Lord , and as it were call to them , to keep off and fly from the way that you find so grievous . You gratifie Satan , the enemy of Christ , and Holiness , and souls , and become his instruments ( though against your wills ) to affright men from the way of life . As the Papists keep their deluded Proselytes abroad from Truth and Reformation , by giving them odious descriptions of the Protestants , as if they were Hereticks , proud , frantick , mad , and scarcely men , and when they burn them , they adorn them with pictures of the Devil ; even so doth Satan keep poor souls from entertaining Christ and Truth , and entering the holy pathes , by making them believe that the servants of Christ are a company of distempered melancholy souls , and that Godliness is the way to make men mad ; and that he that will set his heart on Heaven , must never look more for a merry comfortable life on earth . Hence comes the proverb of the Malignant Formalists and Prophane , that A Puritane is a Protestant frightened out of his wits . And will you confirm this slander of the Devil and his instruments ? Will you entice men to believe him ? Will you make your selves such pictures of unhappiness ? and wear such a Vizor of calamity and misery , as shall frighten all that look on you and observe you , and discourage them from the way which they see accompanyed with so much sorrow ? As you hang up dead crows in your field to frighten the rest from the Corn , and as murderers are hanged in irons to terrifie all that see them from that crime , or as the heads of Traytors are set up to the same end , as proclaiming to all passengers , [ Thus must you be used if you will do as they : ] Just so would Satan fill you with terrours , and overwhelm you with grief , and distract you with causeless doubts and fears , that you may appear to the world a miserable sort of people ; and then all that look on you will be afraid of Godliness , and think they see it as it were written in your fore-heads , [ Such drooping pittiful creatures must all be , that will lead so precise and heavenly a life . ] Do you think your carnal neighbours and acquaintance will not be deterred from a holy life , when they see that since you turned to it , you do nothing but complain , and droop , and mourn , as if you were worse then you were before ? And was it not enough that you hindred their conversion before , when you were in your ignorance and sin , by your wicked examples and encouragements , but you must hinder it still by your dejected discouraging countenances and conversations ? Yea perhaps your later excessive troubles may do more to hinder their conversion , then your perswasions and examples did before . And can you find in your hearts to lay such a stombling block as this in the way of your miserable acquaintance , to keep them from salvation ? Will it not grieve you to think that you should have so great a hand in mens damnation , even since you are returned to God your selves ? I know by your sorrows and complaints , that the perdition of a soul is no small matter in your eyes : O therefore take heed of that which may procure it . The use that Satan would have you make of these very words is , to go away with more dejection , and to say , [ What a wretch am I ? even unmeet to live , that by my griefs am not only miserable my self , but also hinder the salvation of others : ] And thus he would draw thee to grieve over all thy griefs again , and because thou hast exceeded in thy sorrows , to be more excessive : and so to add one sin unto another ; and to do more , because you have done too much : ●o that grief is all that he can allow thee ; and one grief shall be made the reason of another , that thou maist run thus in a round of misery , and stop in grieving , and go no further : Whereas thou shouldst so grieve for such grief as may call thee off , and stay thy grieving : and thy repenting should be the cure and forsaking of thy sin , and not the renewal of it .

But on the other side , if thou couldst live a heavenly joyful life , that the glory of thy hopes might appear in thy countenance , thy conference and conversation , how many might hereby be drawn to Christ , and caused to think well of the ways of God ? Did the Godly but exceed the rest of the world , in holy joy and cheerfulness of mind , as much as they exceed them in happiness and in the causes of true joy , what an honour would it be to Christ and holiness ? and what an attractive to win the ignorant to embrace the motions of salvation ? How easily would they let go their sinful pleasures , their gluttony , and drunkenness , and filthiness , and gaming , if they did but see by the carriage of believers , that they were like to exchange them for much greater joys ? You cannot expect that ignorant men , that never tryed a holy life , and have a natural enmity against it , should see the excellency of it immediately in it self ; But they will judge of Religion by the persons that profess it : That shall seem to them the best Religion , that hath the best and happiest professors : And those seem to them the happiest and best , that have the greatest comforts , and conquer most the troubles of their minds . You can expect no other , but that countrey people , that know not the nature of medicines themselves , should judge of them by the success , and think that he followeth the best advice , who is most healthful , and of longest life . And so will the ignorant judge of the holy doctrine and commands of God , by the lives of those that seem to follow them . O therefore behave your selves in the Church of God , as those that remember , that they live in the presence of a world of men , whose happiness or misery hath much dependance on your lives . If you were debating the case with a sensual wretch , would you not tell him that Holiness is a state of greater pleasure then his sin ? Tell him so then by your example as well as by your words : Let him see as well as hear of the confidence and comforts of true believers . Were Christianity exemplified in the lives of Christians , how excellent a state would it appear ? were we but such as the holy doctrine and Christian pattern requireth us to be , even the blind malicious world would be forced to admire the attainments of the Saints : Though they might hate them , yet they would admire them . Were we such as Stephen , that was full of faith and of the Holy Ghost , and could stedfastly look up to heaven by faith , and see there the Glory of the living God , and Jesus standing at his right hand , till we were raised to his boldness in defence of the truth , and his quiet submission to the greatest sufferings , the world would not then be able to resist the wisdom and spirit by which we speak , but the faces of believers would sometime appear to the terrour of their persecutors , as the faces of Angels ; as Act. 6. 5 , 10 , 15. & 7. 51 , 55 , 56 , 60. They are high and glorious things that are assured to us in the promises of the Gospel . Did but these things appear , in the stedfast faith , the confident hopes , desires , and joys of us that do expect them , believers then would be the wonder of the world ; and our joys would so shame their dreaming , childish , brutish pleasures , that doubtless multitudes would flock in , to see what it is that so delighteth us , that they might be made partakers of our joys . Even as Simon Magus himself when he saw the Miraculous guift of the Holy Ghost , would fain have bought that guift with money ; so men that are yet carnal , in the gall of bitterness and bond of their iniquities , will yet see a desirable excellency in the Joy of the Holy Ghost , and wish they were partakers of such joys , though yet they are unacquainted with the way to attain it .

I do therefore intreat you all that believe and hope for an everlasting Crown , that you will shew the poor deceived world the preciousness of your faith and hopes , and the high prerogative of the Saints , in your ●●answerable cheerfulness and joy , and live not with as dead and uncomfortable hearts as those that have nothing but a vexatious transitory world to comfort them : much less to be more dejected then these wretched souls . Do you not desire the conversion of your carnal friends , and all about you ? would you not be glad if you could further it ? O that you could try this pleasant way ! and shew them that you have found the unvaluable treasure ! And as the Rich live in greater pompe , and at higher rates then the poor , so you that speak of the Riches of Grace , and live in the family of the Lord , O shew the world the dignity of your state , by your holy courage and comfortable behaviour , and by your living above the pleasures and griefs of unbelievers ! When they glory in their prosperity , do you Glory in the Lord : When they boast themselves in their riches or reputation , do you imitate holy David who professeth , Psal. 34. 1 , 2 , 3. [ I will bless the Lord at all times : his praise shall continually be in thy mouth . My soul shall make her boast in the Lord : the humble shall hear thereof and be glad : O magnifie the Lord with me , and let ●…lt his name together . ] And Psal. 44. 8. [ In God will we boast 〈…〉 the day long , and praise thy Name for ever . ] By such spiritual joyfulness your lives would be a continued Sermon ; and you might thus preach home more souls to Christ , then the most excellent preacher by bare perswasions . Poor sinners would begin to pitty themselves that live so far below the Saints ; and they would think with themselves [ It is not for nothing that these men rejoyce , and are comfortable even in the loss of all those things that we take all our comfort in ! ] For the honour of your dearest Lord , and for your own felicity , and for the sake of the miserable souls about you , I beseech you Christians do your best to reach this sweet and joyfullest life , and to avoid those inordinate troubles and despondencies which are like to cross these blessed ends . And pray for me and the rest of his servants , that the Lord will forgive us our dishonouring of his name , our wronging our own souls , and our discouraging the world from living unto God , by our living so far below his mercies , and so unanswerable to the unspeakable treasures of his Saints : and that for the time to come , we may lay this duty more to heart , and by the comforting spirit may be elevated to the performance of it .

But I suppose some will say [ T●● tell me how I should live for the encouragement of others is but to draw me to an hypocritical affectation and counterfeiting of joy and courage ; as long as I am unable inwardly to rejoyce , and can see no sufficient cause of my rejoycing in my self . ]

Answ 1. I shall by and by shew you that you have sufficient , yea unspeakable cause of joy . 2. And now I shall only say that you are not to suspend and forbear your comfort , till you have full assurance of your own sincerity : your probabilities , and weakest faith , and hope , will warrant a more comfortable life then you can live . And it is not hypocrisie , but a necessary duty to do the outward actions that are here commanded us , though we cannot reach to that degree of inward comfort that we desire : For we do not hereby affirm our selves to have the joy which we have not : ( I am not perswading any man to lye : ) but only we express as fully as we are able that little which we have : And a little indeed , a very little of such a high and heavenly nature , grounded on the smallest hopes of everlasting life , will allow you in the expression of it , to transcend the greatest delights of the ungodly : And also we do perform the external part , both as a commanded duty , and as a means to further the inward rejoycing of the soul . So outward solemnity and feasting in dayes of Thanksgiving , are as well to further inward Joy , as to express it : Even as mean attire , and fasting , and humblest pro●trations before the Lord , on dayes of Humiliation , are as much to further inward Humiliation as to express it . The behaviour of the body hath an operative reflexion on the mind : and therefore should be used not only for the discovery , but for the cure of the soul . If you cannot restrain your anger as you desire , it is no hypocrisie , but your duty to hide it , and to refrain from the sinful effects . And if you can but use your selves some time to behave your selves in your anger , as if you had no anger , in meekness of speech and quietness of deportment , anger it self will be the quicklyer subdued , and in time will be the easier kept out . If you cannot restrain your inordinate eppetite to meat or drink , for quality or quantity ; it is yet no hypocrisie , but your duty , to hold your hands and shut your mouthes and refrain the things to which you have an appetite . And if you will but use your selves a convenient time to forbear the thing , you will subdue the appetite . If the drunkard will forbear the drink , and the glutton his too much desired dish , and the sportful gamesters their needless and sinful recreations , they will find that the fire of sensuality will go out , for want of fuell . As the too wanton Poet saith concerning wanton Love ,

Intrat amor mentes usu : dediscitur usu : Qui poterit sanum fingere , sanus erit .

Use kindleth it : and use quencheth it : He that can but live as a sound man , shall at last become a sound man . If you cannot overcome your inward Pride as you desire , you must not therefore speak big , and look high , and swagger it out in bravery , and accompany with gallants , to avoid Hypocrisie : But you must speak humbly , and be cloathed soberly , and accompany with the humble ; And 1. this is the performance of one part of your duty ; 2. and it is the expression of your Desires to be more humble , and consequently of some humility contained in these desires ; 3. and it is the way to work your hearts to that humility which you want ; or the way in which you must wait on God for the receiving of it : So if you cannot overcome the Love of the world as you desire , do not therefore forbear giving to the poor , for fear of Hypocrisie : But give the more , that you may perform so much of your duty as you can , and may the sooner overcome your worldly love . Some trees will be killed with often cropping : But if they will not , it is better that a poysonous plant should live only in the root , then sprout forth and be fruitful .

Even so , if you cannot overcome your inward doubts , and fears , and sorrows , as you desire , yet let them not be fruitful , nor cause you to walk so dejectedly before the world , as to dishonour God and your holy profession : And if you have not the inward comfort you desire , express your desires , and the hopes and smallest comforts that you have , to the best advantage for your Masters honour : And you will find that a holy chearfulness of countenance , expression and deportment , will at last much overcome your inordinate disquietments , and much promote the joyes which you desire . But yet that you may see cause for the cheerfulness to which I now exhort you , I next adde .

3. If thou have but one spark of saving grace , it is not possible for thee now to conceive or express the happiness of thy state , and the cause thou hast to live a thankful jeyous life . If thou have no grace , thou art not the person that I am now speaking to . If thou have no grace , whence is it that thou so much desirest it ? What is it that causeth thee to lament the want of it , and walk so heavily , but because thou art so much in doubt of it ? If thou truly Love it , thou hast it , ( for it is only grace that causeth an unfeigned Love of grace ) . And if thou love it not , why canst not thou more quietly be without it ? Why dost thou make so much ado for it ? But if thou have it in the least degree , and so art born again of the spirit , thou hast with it an unspeakable treasure of delights : The God of Life and Love is thine : The Lord Jesus Christ is thine : The Spirit is thine : The promises are thine : and Heaven it self is thine in title , and shall be thine in full perpetual possession . The God that made and ruleth all things , is Reconciled to thee , and is thy Father , having by grace in Christ adopted thee to be his Son ; Rom. 5. 1 , 2 , 10 , 11. & 8. 1 , 16 , 17. Gal. 4. 6. 2 Cor. 6. 18. The Son of God is become thy Head , and thou art become a member of his body , as flesh of his flesh , and bone of his bone , ( which no man ever yet hath hated ) Ephes. 5. 23 , 27 , 29 , 30. Thou art become the Temple and residence of the Holy Ghost . Thy title to Heaven is incomparably more sure , then any mans humane title to his possessions or inheritance on earth : And what rejoycing can be too great for a man in thy condition ? O what a Life should that man live ? with what sweet delight should he be transported , that hath the Spirit of Christ now living in him , to prepare him and seal him up for an endless life with Christ ? He that shall be shortly so full of joy , should not be empty now when he remembreth what he must shortly be . Doth it beseem him now to dwell in grief , and refuse consolation , that must in a few dayes be swallowed up with Joy ? If thou that fittest here in heaviness , wert assured that shortly thou shouldst be with Christ , and made a blessed companion of Angels , and possessed of thy Masters joy , a joy that hath no bounds or end , would not thy Conscience then tell thee , that thou greatly wrongest such abundant mercy , in that thou art no more affected with it ? and that thy want of joy doth express thy too much want of thankfulness . Dost thou sit there like a child of God , and like an heir of Heaven , and a co-heire with Christ ? ( Rom. 8. 16 , 17. ) Doth that sorrowful heart , and that dejected countenance become one that must live with Christ for ever , in such resplendent glory as thou must do ? and that hath but a few more dayes to live , till thou take possession of these endless joyes ? The Lord pardon and heal our unbelief . Did Faith more effectually play its part , as it is the evidence of things not seen , and withdraw the veil , and shew us , though but in a glass , the glory which we must see with open face , it would be wine to our hearts , and oyl to our countenances , and make our poverty , sickness and death , more comfortable then the wealth , and health , and life of the ungodly .

I know you will say still , that you could rejoyce if you were sure all this were yours : but when you rather think you have no part in it , it can be but small comfort to you .

Answ. 1. But who is it long of that you have still such fears ? Have you not in your souls that Love to Holiness , that desire after it , that hatred and weariness of sin , that Love to the searching discovering use of the Word of God , that Love to the Brethren , which are the evidences of your title , and to which God hath plainly promised salvation ? If then you have your Title in the Promise , and your Evidences in your hearts , and yet will be still questioning whether you have them or no , and whether the Kingdom shall be yours , your weakness and inconsiderateness causeth your own sorrows : And when you have sinfully bred your doubts , will you insist on them to excuse your following sins ?

2. Are you not sure that Christ and his benefits are yours ? I am sure they are yours , or may be if you will : and nothing but your continued refusal can deprive you of them . For this is the very tenor of the promise : And if you will not have Christ and his offered benefits , why do you so dissemble as to take on you to mourn because you have them not ? But if you are willing , they are yours .

Object . But ( you will say ) if we had nothing but cause of comfort , we could rejoyce : but we have cause of sorrow also : How can we live comfortably under so much sin and suffering ?

Answ. By this account you will never rejoyce till you come to Heaven ; for you will never be free from sin and suffering till then . Nay it seems you would have no man else rejoyce , and so would banish all comfort from the world : For there is no man without sin and suffering .

But what can there be of any weight to prohibit a sincere Believer from seasonable spiritual rejoycing ? Have you sin ? It is not gross and reigning sin : And sinful infirmities , the best of the Saints on earth have had . As your sin must be your moderate sorrow ; so the pardon of it , and the degree of mortification which you have attained , and the promise you have of full deliverance , should be the matter of your greater joy . Are your Graces weak ? Be humbled in the sense of that your weakness ; but rejoyce more that they are sincere and will be perfect . Are your afflictions great ? Be humbled under them : But rejoyce more that they are but Fatherly chastisements , proceeding from Love , and tending to your greater good ; and that you are saved from the consuming fire , and shall live in everlasting rest , where affliction shall be known no more . Is it possible for that man that hath the love of God , and shall have heaven for ever , to have any sufferings that should weigh down these , and be matter to him of greater sorrow then this of joy ? Can you imagine that there is more evil in your infirmities and sufferings , then there is good in God , and happiness in Heaven ? Is it reason and equity that you should look at sin only , and not at grace ? and at what you want only , and not at what you have received ? Seeing you have more cause of joy then sorrow , should you not distribute your affections proportionably as there is cause ? I disswade you not from seasonable moderate sorrows : But should not your joy be much greater , as long as the cause of it is much greater ?

4. And here I would intreate you to consider well of the tenour of Gods commands concerning this matter in the Gospel , and of the examples of the Saints there left on record : And then tell me , which course it is that God is best pleased with . Your chearful or your dejected course of life : I find that though I pitty the sad and miserable , yet I had rather my self have a chearful , then a drooping , grieving , troubled companion and friend : Because I desire one suitable to my self in the state I would be in ; and I delight in the welfare , and not in the distress and misery of my friend . And surely God that is Love it self , and hath created Joy in man to be his Happiness , and hath placed so much of misery in sorrow , can never be so delighted in our distress and trouble , as in our content and joy . As he hath sworn that he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked , but rather that they repent and live ; so we may boldly conclude that he takes no pleasure in the anguish and dejectedness of his children , but rather that they walk in Love and chearful Obedience before him . But his Word will fully and plainly tell you , what temper it is that is most pleasing to him . It is a light and easie burden that Christ doth call us to bear ; and it is his office to ease us and give us rest that labour and are heavy laden with burdens of our own . Mat. 11. 28 , 29. He was anointed to preach the Gospel , or glad tidings of salvation to the poor ; and sent to heal the broken-hearted ; to preach deliverance to the captives , and recovering of sight to the blind , and to set at liberty them that are bruised , and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord , Luke 4. 18 , 19. When he was to leave the world , how carefully did he provide for the comfort of his Disciples ? Commanding them not to let their hearts be troubled , Joh. 14. 1. and promising to send the comforter to them , and that he would come to them , and not leave them Comfortless , vers. 16 , 18 , 26. Repeating it again , v. 27 , 28. [ Peace I leave with you : my peace I give unto you : not as the world giveth give I unto you : Let not your heart be troubled , neither be afraid ] Nay , he engageth them as they Love him to rejoyce , even because he went unto the Father : He engageth them in the decrest Love to one another that their lives might be the more comfortable , He foretelleth them of his sufferings and of their own , lest being surprized , their sorrow should be the more . He promiseth them that their sorrow shall be turned into joy , Joh. 16. 20. and that in him they shall have peace , when in the world they have tribulation , v. 33. directing them to prayer , and promising to hear them that their joy may be full , v. 24. and promiseth that none shall take it from them , v. 22. telling them of the mansions that he prepareth for them , and that it is his will , that they be with him , and behold his glory , that nothing might be wanting to their joy , Joh. 14. 2 , 3. & 17. 23 , 24. When he appeareth to them after his Resurrection , his salutation is , [ Peace be unto you ] Joh. 20. 19 , 21 , 26. The abounding and multiplying of this holy Peace , is the desire and salutation of Paul to the Churches in all his epistles , Gal. 6. 16. Ephes. 6. 23. Rom. 15. 33. 1 Cor. 1. 3. Rom. 1. 7. Gal. 1. 3. Phil. 1. 2. Col. 1. 2. 2 Thes. 1. 2. 1 Tim. 1. 2. Tit. 1. 4. Philem. 3. So Peter 1 Pet. 1. 2. & 2. 1 , 2. & 2 Joh. 3. & 3 Joh. 14. The Gospel it self is a message of glad tidings Luk. 8. 1. Act. 13. 32. And it is the work of the ministers of Christ , to preach Peace to the sinful world through him , Act. 10. 36. and to beseech them to be reconciled to God , 2 Cor. 5. 19 , 20. and to bring Peace to the houses where any of the sons of Peace abide , Matth. 10. 12 , 13. Luk. 10. 6. Triumphing joys and proclamations of Peace were the entrance of Christs Kingdom : This Angels proclaime , Luk. 2. 14. [ Glory be to God in the highest : on Earth Peace : Good will towards men ] This the new inspired Disciples proclaim , Luk. 19. 37 , 38. [ The whole multitude of the Disciples began to rejoyce , and praise God with a loud voice , for all the mighty works that they had seen , saying , Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord : Peace in heaven , and Glory in the Highest ] what abundance of commands for Rejoycing are in the Scripture ? Psal. 31. 1. [ Rejoyce in the Lord O ye righteous : for praise is comely for the upright . Psal. 97. 11 , 12. Light is sown for the righteous , and gladness for the upright in heart . Rejoyce in the Lord ye righteous , and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness ] 1 Thes. 5. 16. Rejoyce evermore . Phil. 3. 1. Finally my Brethren , Rejoyce in the Lord ; Phil. 4. 4. Rejoyce in the Lord always , and again I say rejoyce . 6. Be careful for nothing : but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanks giving , let your requests be made known unto God ] And thus are the godly ordinarily described , even in their deepest sufferings and distress , Rom. 5. 1 , 2. Being justified by faith we have peace with God — and rejoyce in hope of the glory of God : And not only so , but we glory in tribulation — ] Phil. 3. 3. It is the description of a regenerate man [ to worship God in spirit : to rejoyce in Christ Jesus : to have no confidence in the flesh ] 1 Pet. 1. 6 , 8. It is the description of believers [ to Rejoyce greatly in a Christ not seen , even with joy unspeakable and full of glory : though for a season if need be , they may be in heaviness through manifold temptations , 1 Pet. 4. 12 , 13. 14. even in the fiery tryal we must rejoyce , as being partakers of the sufferings of Christ , that when his glory shall be revealed , we may be glad also with exceeding joy ] when all manner of evil is spoken of us falsly , for the sake of Christ , and when we are hated of all men and reproached , we must rejoyce and be exceeding glad , and leap for joy , as knowing that our reward in heaven is great , Luk. 6. 22 , 23. Matth. 5. 11 , 12. The Apostles were [ as sorrowful , yet alway rejoycing : as having nothing , and yet possessing all things ] 2 Cor. 6. 10. rejoycing in their suffering for believers , Col. 1. 24. even when they were beaten , rejoycing that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ , Act. 5. 39 , 40. The rich must Rejoyce in that he is made low , as well as the brother of low degree in that he is exalted , Jam. 1. 9 , 10. The Eunuch when he was but newly converted , [ went on his way rejoycing ] Act. 8. 39. There was great joy in Samaria when they had received the word of God , Act. 8. 8. The voice of rejoycing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous . The statutes of God are the rojoycing of their heart , Psal. 119. 111. & 19. 8. All those that trust in God should rejoyce , and shout for joy , and all that love his name should be joyful in him , Psal. 5. 11. & 33. 21. [ Let the righteous be glad : let them rejoyce before God , yea let them exceedingly rejoyce , Psal. 68. 3. Let us therefore desire [ to see the good of his chosen , and rejoyce in the gladness of his nation , and glory with his inheritance , Psal. 106. 5. [ Sing unto the Lord : sing Psalms unto him : talk of all his wonderous works : ] Glory ye in his holy name : let the heart of them rejoyce that seek the Lord ] Psal. 105. 1 , 2 , 3. The Saints shall shout aloud for joy , Psal 132. 9 , 16. [ Be glad in the Lord , O ye righteous , and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart ] Psal. 32. 11. [ Behold my servants shall rejoyce ; but ye shall be ashamed : Behold my servants shall sing for joy of heart : but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart , and shall houle for vexation of spirit , Isa. 65. 13 , 14. ]

Abundance such passages tell you what manner of persons it is that God delighteth in , and what he would have you be and doe . These I have recited to shame the godly out of their undecent troubles and dejectedness , as you would shew a child his face in a glass when he cryeth , that he may see how he deformeth it . The very Kingdom of God consisteth in righteousness , and Peace , and joy in the Holy Ghost . If you would live as is most pleasixg unto God , and as beseemeth those that are indeed believers , let the joy of believers be ( as far as is possible ) your ordinary frame : And if by sin you wound your souls , and bring smart upon your selves , dwell not in that wounded smarting state ; but go to your Physicions , and beg of God that he will restore to you the joy of his salvation , and make you to hear the voice of joy and gladness , that your broken heart and bones may rejoyce , Psa. 51. 8 , 12.

And take notice throughout all the Scripture , whether you find the servants of God so much complaining of their want of assurance , and of their frequent doubtings of their own sincerity and his love . I think you will find this a very rare thing in the ancient Saints . They were sensible of sin as well as we ; and they were as sensible of Gods afflicting hand , and oft ( as Job , David , Hezekiah , &c. ) complained under it , perhaps with some excess , and too much questioning Gods favour to them as if he had forsaken them . But ( besides and without any such affliction ) to live in ordinary trouble of mind through the doubting of their sincerity , and of Gods special love , and to be exercised in the complaining and disconsolate way as now abundance of Christians are , this I find little of the Scripture Saints . The reason was not because they had more holiness and less sin than many that now are thus cast down : For the Gospel time excelleth theirs in degrees of grace ; and I think the greater care that Christians have of their hearts , and of inward rectitude , and communion with God , and their fuller apprehensions of the life to come , and so of their greatest hopes and dangers , is one great cause . But yet there are worse concurring causes . The Love of God , and his readiness to shew mercy , should not be more questioned now , when it is so abundantly revealed by Christ , then it was in times of darker revelation . The servants of God did formerly conceive , that nothing but sin could make man miserable ; and therefore when they had sinned , they repented ; and instead of continuing doubts and fears , they bent their resolutions against their sins ; and having cast away their gross and wilful sins , and continuing the conflict against their unavoidable infirmities , which they hated , they knew that the door of mercy was still open to them ; and that if any man sin , we have an advocate with the Father , who is the propitiation . The time that is now spent in doubting and complaining , and asking How shall I know that I sincerely repent , was then spent in Repenting , and reforming , and using the means that God hath appointed for the conquering of sin ; and then trusting to his grace and Covenant in the blood of Christ for pardon . And it would be better with us if we did thus . Judge now by all these Scriptures , and by the course of former Saints , how God would have you behave your selves . Do you not read an hundred times of their joy , and thanks , and praising God , and calling upon others to praise him , for once that they perplexedly question their sincerity ?

But perhaps you●le say , that your strength is so weak , and your sins and enemies so strong , and all your duty so imperfect and unworthy , that having such continual cause of trouble , you cannot choose but walk in heaviness , and in fears .

I answer you , 1. But why do you not tell what you have , as well as what you want ? Have you not greater cause to say [ My sins being mortified at the root , and all forgiven , and my soul renewed , and reconciled unto God , and I being made an heir of Heaven , how can I choose but live in joy ? ]

2. Are you heartily willing to forsake your sins , and overcome the things of which you so complain ? or are you not ? If you are not , why do you complain of them ? and why will you not consent to let them go ? and use Gods means to overcome them ? If you are willing , then they are but your pardoned infirmities ; For that 's the difference between infirmities and reigning sins : [ Whatsoever sin consisteth with a greater Habitual willingness to avoid that and all other sin , then to keep them , is but an Infirmity ] for it stands with present saving grace , and is always Habitually or virtually repented of , and actually , when grace , by knowledge and consideration , hath opportunity and advantage to produce the act .

3. And when once you are truly ingraffed into Christ , he is your worthiness , and your righteousness , and the treasury of your souls ; and what you want in your own possession , you have in his hands ; and as what you have is but his gift , so what you want he is able and ready to supply . Look not too much to your selves , as if your safety and happiness were principally in your own hand . God hath given us eternal life , I. C. Scaliger Epidorp . 1. 7. p. 296. Hoc quod Valeo ; Non queo quod debeo : Quid 〈◊〉 Mensura mea●es , tu Domine , immensa potestas : Non ego tua : Quodque habe● , tu mihi dedisti : Quodque do , non do , sed accipis ; hoc enim dedisti . Tu solus tibi satis es : tu mihi , tibique Nec te laudo , ubi laudo : sed ipse te ipse laudas Me persiciens , non tua , sic laudibus ornans : Queis me ad te trahis : haud ego te traho super me : Me praeveniens hic ades : ut mihi superfis . and this life is in his son . He that hath the son , hath life , 1 Joh. 5. 10 , 11. It is through him that we can do all things , so far as he strenghteneth us : and without him we can do nothing . Make use of him therefore as the Lord of life , and joyfully acknowledge all that you receive , and stand not dejectedly lamenting that you need him . If you would have the waters of life , goe to the fountain , and do not sit down and fruitlesly vex your selves with complaining of your wants , instead of seeking for supplyes . Is there not an all sufficient Physicion of souls at hand ? Doth he not freely offer you his help ? what though you are not suddenly cured ? wounds may be caused in an hour , but they use not to be cured in an houre . Stay his time , and use his remedies , and cheerfully trust him , and you shall find the cure successfully ; go on , though it will not be finished till death .

5. Consider also , that it must needs be the best and most desirable life , which is likest to our life in Heaven . And therefore as Heaven is a state of Joy , so Joy is the highest and best condition on earth . He is the best and happyest man , that is likest to the glorified Saints and Angels ; And judge your selves whether a dejected or a rejoycing Christian be liker to these inhabitants of Heaven ?

Object . But ( you will say ) by that rule we should not mourn at all ; ( for they do not ; ) Whereas God delighteth in the contrite soul , Christ blesseth mourners and weepers .

Answ. 1. Your resemblance of the Saints in Heaven , must be propertionable in all the parts . You must labour first to be as like them as you can in Holiness , and then in Joy . If you could be as far from sin as they , you need not mourn at all . But because you cannot , you must have moderate , regular sorrows and humiliation , while you have sin . But yet withall you must endeavour to imitate the heavenly Joyes , according to the measure of your Grace received .

2. And it is such a regular contrition , consisting in humble thoughts of our selves , and tending to restore us from our falls and sorrows , unto our integrity and joy , which God delighteth in : And it is such mourners as these , and such as suffer for righteousness sake from men , that Christ pronounceth blessed : But the inordinate troubles of the soul , that exclude a holy delight in God , though he pardon , yet he never doth encourage .

6. Consider also , that a great part of your Religion , yea and the most high and excellent part , doth consist in the causes , form and effects of this holy joy and chearfulness . 1. As to the causes of it , they are such as in themselves are requisite to the very being of the new creature . Faith and Love , which are the Head and Heart of sanctifying grace , are the causes of our spiritual joy . An unwilling , heavy , forced obedience , may proceed from mee● Fears , and this will not prove an upright heart . But when once we Believe Everlasting Glory , and Love Christ as our Saviour , and the Father as our Father and felicity , and Love a holy frame of heart and life , as the image of God and that which pleaseth him , then our obedience will be chearful and delightful , unless accidentally we trouble our selves by our own mistakes . If you can truly make God and his will and service your Delight , you may be sure you Love him , and are beloved by him , as being past the state of slavish fear .

2. And I have shewed you that Joy in the Holy-Ghost is it self one part of that grace in which Gods Kingdom doth consist ; Though not such a part as a Christian cannot possibly be without , yet such as is exceeding suitable to his state , and necessary to his more happy being .

3. And without this holy Delight and Joy , you will deny God a principal part of his service . How can you be thankful for the great mercies of your Justification , Sanctification , Adoption ▪ and all the special graces you have received , or for your hopes of Heaven it self , as long as you are still doubting whether any of these mercies are yours or not , and almost ready to say that you never received them ? Nay you will be less thankful for your health , and life , and food , and wealth , and all common mercies , as doubting le●t they will prove but aggravations of your sin and misery . And for the great and excellent work of Praise which should be your daily sacrifice , but specially the work of each Lords day , how unfit is a doubting , drooping , distressed soul for the performance of it ? You stiffle holy Love within you , and stop your mouthes when they should be speaking and singing the praises of the Lord , and disable your selves from the most high , and sweet , and acceptable part of all Gods service , by your unwarrantable doubts and self-vexations . And when all these are laid aside , how poor and lean a service is it , that is left you to perform to him ? Even a few tears , and complaints , and prayers ? which I know God will mercifully accept , because even in your desires after him there is Love ; but yet it is far short of the service which you might perform . Nay your Heavenly-mindedness will be much supprest , as long as you are sadly questioning whether ever you shall come thither , and it will be yours or not .

7. Are you not ashamed to see the servants of the Devil and the world so jocund , and your selves so sad that serve the Lord ? Will you go mourning so inordinately to Heaven , when others go so merrily to Hell ? Will you credit Satan and Sin so much , as to perswade men by your practice , that sin affordeth more pleasure and content then Holiness ?

8. You could live merrily your selves before your Conversion , while you served sin : And will you walk so dejectedly now you have repented of it ? As if you had changed for the worse , or would make men think so ? I know you would not for all the world be what you were before your change . Why then do you live as if you were more miserable then before ?

9. You would be loth so long to resist the sanctifying work of the Spirit : And why should you not be loth to resist its comforting work ? It is the same Holy Ghost that you resist in both : Nay you dare not so open your mouthes for wickedness , and plead against Sanctification it self , as you open them on the behalf of your sinful doubtings , and plead for your immoderate dejections . If you should , how vile would you appear ?

10. Lastly consider , that God will lay sufferings enow upon you for your sins , and suffer wicked men to lay enow on you for well doing , and you need not lay more upon your selves . You have need to use all means for strength to bear the burdens that you must undergo : and it is the joy of the Lord , and the hopes of Glory that are your strength . And will you cast away the only supports of your soul , and sink when the day of suffering comes ? How will you bear poverty , or reproach , or injuries ? how will you meet approaching death , if you feed your doubts of your salvation and of the Love of God in Christ , which must corroborate you ? O weaken not your souls that are too weak already : Weaken not your souls that have so much to do and suffer : and that of so great necessity and importance . While you complain of your weakness , encrease it not by unbelieving uncomfortable complaints . Gratifie not the Devil and wicked malicious men so far , as to inflict on your selves a greater calamity then all their malice and power could inflict . It is a madness in them that will please the Devil , to the displeasing of God , though the pleasing of their own flesh be it that moveth them to it . But for a man to please the Devil , and displease God , even when he displeaseth his own flesh by it also , and bringeth nothing but sorrow to himself by it , this is in some respects more unreasonable then madness it self . Many cast away their souls for Riches , and Honours , and carnal accommodations ; but who would do it for poverty , sickness , or disgrace ? So though many undo their souls for fleshly pleasures and delights ; yet he is a strange man indeed that will offend God even for self-tormenting grief and trouble . O therefore dear Christians , as you have let go all your sensual pleasures for the pleasing of your Lord , do not let go the pleasures of his love , for which you have let go all . The Lord taketh pleasure in his people , even in them that fear him , in those that hope in his mercy , and the meek he will beautifie with salvation , Psalm 147. 11. It is meet therefore that his people take pleasure in the Lord : that the Saints be joyful in glory ; that they sing aloud upon their beds , and that the high praises of God be in their mouthes , Psalm 149. 4 , 5 , 6.

O let not the Spirit of God be thought to be like the evil spirit that vexed Saul , that filled his mind with melancholy anguish and confusion : It is the evil spirit that renteth and tormenteth those that it possesseth ; though the spirit of God doth humble , and by ordinate sorrow prepare for joy : But its proper work is to sanctifie , and to comfort , and to establish the Believer with Peace that passeth understanding . As it is a greater sign of the operation of the Spirit of Christ , to restore the lapsed by a spirit of meekness , and to bear one anothers burdens , and exercise tenderness , compassion and charity , then to censure and envy , and call for fire from heaven : So even at home ( though there we are allowed to be more rigid and censorious ) it is a more sure and satisfactory discovery of the Spirit of Grace within us , if we are raised to a sweet delight in God , and quieted in his Love , and carryed out in chearful obedience , thankfully acknowledging the grace that we have received , and waiting in the use of means for more , then if we are only turmoiled and troubled in our minds , and tossed up and down with unprofitable griefs and fears , that abate our Love to God , and our holy joyes . It is the still voice that doth most fully acquaint us that it is Christ the Prince of Peace that speaketh to us : Though at first when he findeth a sinner in a state of enmity and rebellion , he often useth to thunder and lighten , and call to him as to Saul , [ Why persecutest thou me ? ] Wilt thou kick against the pricks ? Wilt thou fight against heaven ? Or canst thou bear the wrath of God Almighty ? Yet to the humbled penitent soul , there is none in all the world so tender as Jesus Christ , the Lamb of God , the Churches husband , that cherisheth them as his own flesh . O that you did but know the greatness and tenderness of his love to you , while you lie trembling under the unjust apprehensions of his wrath ! It would then so transport you with ravishing delights , that the world would see that the Saints of the most High have higher Pleasures then the world affordeth .

BUt I know you will say , [ Alas , what need you exhort us to spiritual pleasures and consolations ? Do you think there is any man in love with sorrows ? or unwilling to live a joyful life ? O that you could tell us how we might attain it ; and you should quickly see that we are willing . ]

Answ. And if you are so willing to attain it , as to be also willing to use the means , you shall quicklyer see that I shall certainly inform you how you may attain it ; and how you may come to find a life of Holiness to be the most sweet and pleasant life . I therefore desire and require you to practise these Directions following .

Direct . 1. Make it your first and principal business to attain the fullest fixed knowledge of God in his Attributes , and Covenant-Relations to you . ]

1. Study him in his Attributes . If infinite Goodness take not up the soul with Love and with Delight , it is because it is not known . Where there is all things that the soul of man desires to its highest felicity and content , and yet contentment and delight is wanting , it must needs be ignorance and distance that is the cause . If the Sun seem not light to you , it is because you have not eye-sight , or look not on the light . If you find no pleasure in the most pleasant food , it is because your appetites are diseased , or you do not taste it . If your most suitable and most affectionate friend seem not amiable to you , it is because you know not his suitableness and love . So if the eternal God , that is infinitely powerful , wise and good , most perfect and most suitable to your highest affections , do not possess you with abundant Pleasures and Delights of Love , it is because you are unacquainted with him . Study then his infinite perfections : and be much with him in secret prayer and meditation , where the retired soul having fewest avocations , is fittest for the most near familiar converse . And still remember that it is Love it self that you have to do with . For God is Love . It is the fountain of all delights and pleasures that you draw near to . It is a cold heart indeed that fire it self cannot warm : and a dead heart indeed that life it self cannot revive : Conceive of God as God , and you will delight in him : Abhort all unworthy diminutive thoughts of him : Set up his Love and Goodness in your estimation , as infinitely above all the creatures . Believe it , the Love of your dearest friends , is an inconsiderable drop to the Ocean of his Love . Think not of him as cruel , or an enemy , if you would love him , or delight in him . Love and Delight are never forced by bare commands and threatnings , but drawn forth magnetically by attractive Goodness . Were not God most amiable , and friendly , and desirable to us , it is not saying , [ Love me , or I will damn thee , ] that would ever have caused man to love him ; but rather to fear , and hate , and fly from him . Think but of Gods Love , and Goodness , and Fidelity , as you do of his Power , and then you will find that there are rivers of pleasure in his presence , and fulness of joy at his right hand , the fore-tastes whereof are the only delights that can quiet the troubled thirsty soul .

2. And if you say , [ What is all this to me , any more then to the ungodly world , on whom the wrath of God abideth ? ] I answer , Thou art in Covenant with him , and he is thine in the Covenant Relations , even thy Reconciled Father , thy Saviour and thy Sanctifier . No husband is so inviolably bound to a wife , nor will so faithfully answer his Relation , as the blessed Creator , Redeemer and Sanctifier unto thee . Didst thou well know and consider , what it is to have God himself to be thine in Covenant , to all these uses , and to all the ends that thou canst reasonably desire , it would fill up thy soul with satisfying delights .

There is nothing that thou wantest , but what belongs to God to give thee , in one of these three great relations . And sooner shall the day be turned into night , and the frame of nature be dissolved , then God will violate his Covenant of Grace . Jer. 33. 20 , 21. [ Thus saith the Lord , If you can break my Covenant of the day , and my Covenant of the night , and that there should not be day and night in their season : then may also my Covenant be broken , &c. ] Isa. 54. 4. 5 , &c. [ Fear not ; for thou shalt not be ashamed , &c. For thy Maker is thy Husband : ( the Lord of Hosts is his name ) and thy Redeemer , the Holy one of Israel , the God of the whole earth shall he be called : For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit , and a wife of youth , when when thou wast refused , saith thy God : For a small moment have I forsaken thee , but with great mercies will I gather thee : In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment , but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee , saith the Lord thy Redeemer . For this is as the waters of Noah unto me : For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth : So have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee : For the mountains shall depart , and the hills be removed ; but my kindness shall not depart from thee , neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed , saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee . ] And though yet we have our troublesom imperfections , it belongeth to our God , through the blood of the everlasting Covenant , to make us perfect in every good work , to do his will , working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ , that to him may be the glory for ever , Heb. 13. 20 , 21. It is his work [ to comfort all that mourn ; to appoint to them that mourn in Zion , and to give them beauty for ashes , the oyl of joy for mourning , the garment of praise , for the spirit of heaviness , that they migh● be called trees of righteousness , the planting of the Lord , that he might be glorified — They shall be named The Priests of the Lord ; men shall call them The ministers of our God — Everlasting joy shall be unto them — For the Lord will direct their work in truth , and make an everlasting Covenant with them — All that see them shall acknowledge them , that they are the seed whom the Lord hath blessed : Therefore should we greatly rejoyce in the Lord ; and our souls should be joyful in our God : For he hath cloathed us with the garments of salvation ; he hath covered us with the robes of righteousness , as a Bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments , and as a Bride adorneth her self with her Jewels . ] Isa. 61. [ A new heart also will I give you , and a new spirit will I put into you , and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh , and I will give you an heart of flesh : and I will put my spirit within you , and cause you to walk in my statutes , and ye shall keep my judgements and do them — and I will save you from all your uncleanness , &c. ] Ezek. 36. 25 , 26 , 27 , 29. [ And they shall be my people , and I will be their God : And I will give them one heart and one way , that they may fear me for ever , for the good of them , and of their children after them ; and I will make an everlasting Covenant with them , that I will not turn away from them to do them good ; but I will put my fear in their hearts , that they shall not depart from me : Yea I will rejoyce over them to do them good , &c. Jer. 32. 38 , 39 , 40 , 41. [ Happy are the people that are in such a case : yea happy is that people whose God is the Lord , Psal. 144. 15.

Nature doth not give you such security that the Sun shall shine , and that the streams shall run , that the earth shall be fruitful , as the covenant of the Lord doth give you of all that is necessary to you Happiness . Study therefore the mercies and riches of the Covenant .

Dir. 2. Understand and remember that it is your Covenant consent , that it is the condition of your title to all the following blessings of the Covenant . ]

I add this as supposing you will say [ What are all these benefits to me , unless I were sure that I were indeed in the Covenant ? ] It is not your merit , but your consent that is required : God offereth himself to be your Reconciled Father , and Christ to be your saviour , and the Holy Spirit to be your sanctifier . Do you consent to this , or not ? All the question is whether you are willing ? and whether your sin be not so sweet to you , that you will rather venture your souls on the wrath of God , then you will be saved from it . If you heartily consent , assuredly you are in the Covenant , and the benefits are yours ; and therefore the Joy and comfort should be yours . If you do not consent ; instead of despairing , presently consent ; and refuse not your happiness while you lament your misery .

Object . But it is not only Covenant-making , but Covenant-keeping that must save us : and I have broak my Covenant , and therefore have no title to the benefits . Answ. What Covenant have you broken ? This Covenant in question that engageth you to God , the Father , Son , and Holy Ghost ? If you have broken this , you have withdrawn your Consent : For while you heartily consent , you break it not in any essential part . As it is not every breach of the Laws , that makes a man a traytor or rebel , nor every fault or falling out between husband and wife that dissolveth their relation ; so is it not every sin , nor any that is consistent with true consent to the terms of the Covenant , that is a Covenant-breaking forfeiture of the benefits . If you would not have God to be your Portion , your Father , your Saviour , and your Sanctifier , you are then Covenant-breakers ; And if you be so , Consent yet , and return to your fideli●y , and the comforts of the Covenant may yet be yours , for all your former violation .

Dir. 3. Moreover , if you would find the Pleasure of a Holy life , see that the flesh be fool you not into an over high estimation of any worldly thing : that so your appetites may not be corrupted with such contrary unwholsome Pleasures , nor your hearts be overwhelmed with worldly cares , or griefs or troubles . If you will glut your selves with other kind of pleasures , you cannot expect that Holiness should be your pleasure . You cannot find your delight in God , when you turn from him to seek it in the creature . If you ●ought for less in friends , and health , and prosperity in the world , you might have more in God . How should you find content in God , when you set so light by him , that the promise of beholding him in endless glory , will not please you , unless you may also have your fleshly desires , or selfish inclinations pleased here ? This is it that perverteth your judgements and affections , and causeth you to injure God and your selves . You first fancie that it is an excellent thing to be Rich and Renowned and to rule over others , or to have plenty of all accommodations for your flesh : and then because God satisfieth not these carnal fancies , you think he neglecteth you , o● deals hardly with you ! As if every person in the Town should murmur because they are not B●yliffs or Justices ; when if they had the wit to know it , they are but kept from a double encumberance , and from a burden which perhaps would break their backs . When the people are thus befooled by the flesh into brutish conceits of the nature of felicity , and into an over-valuing of these worldly things , they are then always eitheir tickled by deluding pleasures , or troubled for the crossing of their carnal wills , so that they grow out of relish and liking with the true and durable delights . Take heed therefore of this carnality .

Dir. 4. Study the greatness of the mercy which you have received : You abound with mercies ; and yet undervalue them , and over look them , and sweeten not your souls with the serious observation and remembrance of them : you study principally your afflictions and your wants : And thus when you live in a land that floweth with milke and honey , you will not feed on the prepared feast , but keep still the gall and wormwood in your mouths ; and how then should you be acquainted with the pleasures of a holy life .

Yea you must use to look more to the spiritual part of all your mercies ; and see the love of God that appeareth in them ; and taste the blood of Christ in them ; and lose not the kernel : and take not up with the common carnal part , which every wicked man can value and enjoy . Consider in all your mercies , what there is in them for the benefit of your souls , much rather then how they accommodate your flesh . Could you do thus , you would find the benefit of afflictions ; and that the denyal of what you have accounted your necessary mercies , is not the smallest of your mercies . And thus judging truly by the spirit , and not by the flesh , there is no condition ( except that of sin ) in which you might not find cause of joy .

Dir. 5. Take heed of sinning : Keep still upon your watch against temptation ; sin is the cause of all your sufferings ; when it promiseth you delight , it is preparing for your sorrow ; when it flattereth you into presumption , it is preparing for despair ; when it promiseth you secresie and security , it prepareth for your shame : and be sure your sin will find you out , Numb. 32. 23. If therefore you have offended , delay not your Repentance ; and spare not the flesh in your return ; but ( unless the honour of God forbid it ) take shame to your selves by free confession , and make the fullest reparation of the injury that you can to God and man . If you would thus get out the thorn that vexeth you , the ways of God would be more pleasant .

Dir. 6. Daily live in the exercise of faith , upon the everlasting pleasures : Dwell as at the gates of Heaven ; as men that are waiting every hour when they are called in , and when death will draw aside the vaile , and shew them the blessed face of God . And take heed that the enmity of interposing Death , prevail not against the Joys of faith . But look to Christ that hath conquered it , and will conquer it for you ; And if thus you could live as strangers here , and as the Citizens of Heaven , that are ready to step into the immortal pleasures , you would then taste the Pleasures of a holy life , in the first fruits and foretasts thereof . It is your Treasure that must Delight you ; As your Heart must be there , so your pleasure must be derived thence . Strangers to Heaven will be strangers to the Believers Joys ; As the pleasure of the Carnal world , consisteth in the sense of what they have in hand ; so the pleasure of Believers consisteth in the fore-apprehensions of what they shall enjoy with God for ever . If therefore you exercise not those apprehensions ; if you look not frequently , seriously , and believingly into the world that you must live in for ever , how can the comforts of that world illustrate and refresh you in this present world ? The Light and Heat , which is the Beauty and Life of this lower world , proceedeth not from any thing in this world , but from the Sun which is so far above us , and sends down hither its quickning influence and rays . They are not the genuine comforts of Christianity , which are not fetcht from the world above .

Dir. 7. If you would have the experience of the Pleasures of a life of Faith and Holiness , neither desire nor cherish any fears or sorrows , but such as as are subservient to Faith , and Hope , and Love , and preparatory to Thankfulness and Joy . Think not Religion consisteth in any other kind of sorrows . Nay if any other should assault you , be so far from taking them for your duty or religion , as to resist them , and lament them as your sin . That is true and saving Humiliation , 1. which makes you vile in your own eyes , and loath your selves for sin . 2. And maketh you more desirous to be delivered and cleansed from your sin , than to live in it , how sweet or gainful soever it may seem , and 3. which maketh you set more by a Saviour to deliver you , than by all the pleasures , riches , and honours of the world . What ever want of Grief or tears you find , if you have these signs , your Repentance and humiliation is sincere . Do not therefore refuse your Peace because you have not greater sorrows ; nor disturb your souls by strugling for excessive sorrow : Take not part with them , but do your best to cast them out , if they are such as would destroy your Love and Joy , and drive you from Christ , and hinder your Thansgivings . Know that the Life of your Religion consisteth in the Holy Love of God and of his Image and servants and holy ways . Love is your duty and your felicity and reward : Therefore let all tend to the exercise of Love , and value most those means which most promote it ; and think your selves best when you abound most in Love ; and not when you are overwhelmed with those Fears and Griefs which hinder Love . Study therefore above all , the Love of God revealed in Christ , which is the best attractive of your Love to him : and hate all suggestions which would represent God unlovely and undesirable to you .

Dir. 8. Use cheerful company : Not carnal , but holy ; not such as waste their time in unprofitable frothy speeches , or filthy , or prophane or scornful jeastings : But such as have most of the sense of Love and mercy on their hearts ; and are best acquainted with a Life of Faith , and whose speeches and cheerful conversations , do most lively manifest their sense of the Love of God , and of the Grace of Christ , and the eternal happiness of the Saints . There is a delightful and encouraging virtue in the converse of joyful , thankful , heavenly believers : Use it therefore if you can have it .

Dir. 9. In your addresses to God in holy worship , be sure that Praise and Thansgiving have its due proportion . They are the chief and most excellent and acceptable part , and therefore let them not have the smallest room . Though your sins and wants be as great as you imagine in your complaints , it is yet your duty to Praise the Excellencies and Attributes and works of your Creator , and to be Thankful for the preparations made by Christ , and freely offered you , so that they shall certainly be yours , if you accept them . But much more Thankful should you be that have but the evidence of Desire and Consent to prove your Interest in Christ and in his Covenant .

I would intreat poor troubled fearful souls to Resolve upon this one thing , which is reasonable , necessary and in their power , that when they are upon their knees with God , they will spend as much of their Time and words in confessing mercies and Praising God , as in confessing sin , and condemning themselves and lamenting their wants , and weaknesses , and distress . Though they cannot do it cheerfully as they should , let them do it as they can . And at last while they keep in the right way of duty , and use themselves to the commemoration of that which is sweet and grateful to the soul , Religion it self will become sweet and grateful ; and chearfulness of heart will be promoted by our own considerations & expressions .

The same I desire of them as to their Thoughts ; that they will do their best to spend as many thoughts and as much time upon Mercy as upon sin and misery ; and upon the Goodness , and Love of God in Christ , as upon his threatnings and terrous .

Dir. 10. If you would taste the comforts of a holy life , be sure that you give up your selves to Christ without reserve , and follow him fully , and place all your hopes and confidence in his promised rewards : Serve him with your best , yea with your all ; and not with some cheap and heartless service . Comforts are the Rewards of faithfulness : They that do God the most sincere and costly service , and save nothing from him which he calleth them to lose , are likest to be encouraged by his sweetest comforts . It is sluggish neglects , and unfruitfulness , doing no good in the world , but thinking to be saved by a dull profession ▪ that makes so many uncomfortable professors as there be : Though I know that on the other extream , too many live in pining sadness , by not understanding the Covenant of Grace , which accepteth of sincerity , and secureth the weak and infants in the family of Christ . But yet the barren unprofitable . Christians ( I mean that comparatively are such , though they be sincere ) shall find that God will not encourage any in sloathfulness by his smiles and consolations .

Direct . 11. If you would know the Rest and Comfort of Believers , see that you Rest in the Will of God in all Conditions , as the Center and only bottom for your souls . His will is not to be reduced to yours : strive therefore to bring yours most fully and quietly to his . Gods Will is the Universal Original and End of all things , and there is no Felicity or Rest for man , but in the fulfilling , and pleasing and disposals of his will . Be not too desirous of the fulfilling of your own wills , and murmure not against the disposals of the Will of God . It cannot but be Good which proceedeth from that will which is the Spring of good . The accomplishment of Gods Will , is the perfection of all created beings , being that End for which they are all created . If you Rest in your own wills , your Rest will be imperfect , disturbed and short of duration ; For your wills are the wills of weak and vicious men : They are frequently misguided by an ignorant mind , and perverted by a corrupt and byassed heart : But Gods will is never misguided ; nor ever determined of any thing but for the best . If you Rest here , you Rest in safety ; you may be sure you shall never be deceived by him : You may Rest in constant peace and quietness ; for God is unchangeable , and will not be off and on with us , as we are with him , and with our selves . As you pray that his Will may be done , acquiesce in the doing of his Will ; and whatever befall you , repose and satisfie your hearts in this .

Direct . 12. Lastly , let me add , that when you have all the Directions that can be given , you trust not too much to your own understanding and skill for the application of them to your selves , in any weighty difficult cases . But as you will not think it enough for the health of your bodies , to have Physick Books and Physick Lectures , unless you have also a Physicion who knoweth more then you , to direct you in the application ; so think it not enough that you have the best Books and Sermons , unless you have also a faithful and judicious Pastor , whose advice you may crave in particular difficulties , and who may direct you in the discovery of your own diseases , and applying the fittest remedies in their seasons and measures , with such Rules and Cautions as are necessary to the success . If God had not known that there would still be many children and weak ones in his family , that would stand in need of the instruction , support and encouragement of the strong , he would never have settled Pastors in his Church to watch over all the flocks , and to be alwayes ready at hand , for the confirmation and encouragement of such as need their help . There had been no Physicions , if there had been no diseases . Tire not your Physicions with needless consultations , for easie and ordinary cases : but be not without them in your greater straits , and wants , and doubts . And [ blessed be God , even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ , the Father of Mercies , and the God of all comfort , who comforteth us in all our tribulation , that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble , by the comfort wherewith we our selves are comforted of God : For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us , so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ . And whether we be afflicted , it is for your consolation and salvation , which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings , which we also suffer : or whether we be comforted , it is for your consolation and salvation . ] 2 Cor. 1. 4 , 5 , 6. While you are sick or infants , the stronger must support you . You cannot stand , or go , or suffer of your selves : And God is so tender of his weak and little ones , that he hath not only given strength to others for their sakes , and commanded the strong to bear the burdens and infirmities of the weak , Gal. 6. 1 , 2. Rom. 15. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4. but also established the Ministerial office much for this end . Mal. 2. 7. For the Priests lips should keep knowledge , and they should seek the Law at his mouth ; for he is the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts . Not that we should disclose our Consciences , and depend for guidance on every ignorant or ungodly man , that hath the name and place of a Priest ; Even among the Papists , men have leave to choose such Confessors as are fittest for them . If the Priests [ depart ou● of the way , and cause many to stumble at the Law , and corrupt the Covenant of Levi , the Lord will make them contemptible and base before all the people , according as they have not kept his wayes , but been partial in the Law . ] Mal. 2. 8 , 9. But use those that are qualified and sent by the Spirit of God ; who [ in simplicity and godly sincerity , not with fleshly wisdom , but by the Grace of God , have had their conversation in the world , especially to you-wards . ] 2 Cor. 1. 12. Such as [ you have acknowledged in part , that they are your rejoycing , as you also are theirs in the day of the Lord Jesus . vers. 14. ] Not using them as such as have dominion over your faith , but as those that by office , qualification , and willingness and disposition are Helpers of your Joy . vers. 24.

In the saithful practice of these Directions , you will find that Holiness is the most Pleasant way ; and that the Godly choose the better part ; and that the ungodly sensualists do live as BRUTES , while they unreasonably refuse to live as SAINTS .

FINIS .